As we reach the end of my salute to the achievements of 2009 here are my top films. I have been lucky, of the 42 times I went to the cinema I only consider 6 outright failures, and none of the films were so dreadful they had nothing to recommend them. That doesn't make the compilation of a top ten list any easier, in fact the overall quality has meant that many films which were very good ended up being left out. All but the top 3 could easily have been displaced by the dozen other contenders.
I won't be giving any commentary to list, not even a brief sentence, but please note that I have chosen these films because they moved me, gave me pure unadulterated pleasure or just led to more conversation than any of the other films I saw (number 10 for instance has led to 4 different viewings with deep discussions about the outcome).
1. Where the Wild Things Are
2009. Dir: Spike Jonze. Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara and Lauren Ambrose. My Review
2. Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments
2008. Dir: Jan Troell. Starring: Maria Heiskanen, Mikhail Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen, Emil Jensen and Ghita Nørby. My Review
3. Che Part 2
2008. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring Benicio Del Toro, Franka Potenta, Joaquim de Almeida, Demián Bichir and Lou Diamond Phillips. My Review
4. A Serious Man
2009. Dir: Ethan and Joel Coen. Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick and Aaron Wolff. My Review
5. Away We Go
2009. Dir: Sam Mendes. Starring: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Carmen Ejogo, Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels. My Review
6. Milk
2008. Dir: Gus van Sant. Starring: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna and James Franco. Not Reviewed.
7. Antichrist
2009. Dir: Lars von Trier. Starring: Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. My Review
8. Avatar
2009. Dir: James Cameron. Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez. My Review
9. Drag me to Hell
2009. Dir: Sam Raimi. Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao and David Paymer. My Review
10. Doubt
2008. Dir: John Patrick Shanley. Starring: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis and Joseph Foster. My Review
Thursday, 31 December 2009
2009 in Review - Best Film
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
2009 in Review - Best Actor
Compared to the last three days the Best Actor category is by far the starriest group with a couple of massively popular performers, but it still has it's fair share of wtf selections so I'm looking forward to hearing comments on this. Tee hee.
1. Benicio Del Toro - Che Part 1 and 2. There are few biopics where the actor so inhabits the person that we can't see the affectations and walls the actor has copied off the original. As far as I'm concerned Del Toro is Che Guevera.
2. Russell Crowe - State of Play. This superior thriller may not be the sort of film you would imagine as an acting showcase, but in casting Crowe as the archetypal news hound they managed to make it one. Everything he does is natural and built around an solid believeable characterisation.
3. Max Records - Where the Wild Things Are. Few child actors can make me sit up and notice their performance, often they come across as mannered or "stage schooly". As the one real wild thing in the movie Records was equally impressive when having a temper tantrum as when feeling isolated in his fantasy island.
4. Willem Dafoe - Antichrist. The He in Lars von Trier's nightmarish vision was a tough role for anyone to take on, both loving yet arrogant and mentally abusive, the performance had to be perfectly balanced to prevent it from going over the edge. Dafoe managed that and with Charlotte Gainsborough salvaged the humanity in the film.
5. Sean Penn - Milk. It's a tough choice for number 5, with both Penn and Mickey Rourke fighting for it. In the end I had to decide which performance spoke to me more, and Harvey Milk recruited me.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Antichrist
2009. Dir: Lars von Trier. Starring: Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. ●●●●○
I don't normally pay too much attention to other cinema goers, the films I go to see are either too mainstream (and therefore the audience too numerous to get an idea of them) or seem to be a fairly even mix of people. For Antichrist this was not the case. For one thing there were very few groups, most of the audience arrived and left the auditorium as singletons (myself included). The audience was also over-whelming male. Only 13% of the punters were female, an incredibly small percentage, and apparently that was close to the national average. I say this only as an interesting side point. I don't believe the film was excessively violent, or that it's a reflection of von Trier's misogynistic subconscious. Merely that the press furore that has attached itself to the film has attracted many more men than women to see it.
The story is relatively simple, so simple it could be the basis for any number of standard horror movies. Couple lose their son in freak accident, suffer immense guilt, go to summer home to recuperate, she goes a bit crazy. In the hands of Rob Zombie or Eli Roth the violence (screws through the leg, fox intestines) would still be the same, albeit with less obvious sexual activity, but the build of tension would not.
That opening scene, Dafoe and Gainsbourg having explicit sex in the shower whilst their boy tries to catch snowflakes is beautifully filmed. A touch cliched perhaps with the black and white palate, but effective nonetheless.
Dafoe's therapist then ignores the cardinal rule of never treating your family and sets about helping Gainsbourg out of her deep depression. The sessions that follow are painful, both in the way that Charlotte exhibits physical symptoms of anxiety, but also in the emotional intensity of the actors. It is during these scenes that the film really soars.
During the third act, once they decide to meet Gainsbourg's demons at 'Eden", the Grand Guignol begins in earnest. From talking foxes to female circumcision, the extremes are huge. And whilst the violence seems over the top it never appears to be gratuitous, and more importantly it's never celebrated. Each blow revolted me - far from the excitement that the injuries of Saw seems to celebrate. And the violence also seemed difficult to do. One of the characters is asphyxiated; it appears very real, and like it was taking the correct amount of time and effort. Horrifying but you couldn't take your eyes away.
Both of the actors give 100% into their performances, which seem wholely dedicated and effective.
On the technical side the stand out id Anthony Dod Mantle's cinematography. From the gorgeous opening to the mist in the trees every frame is filled and balanced perfectly. If Slumdog Millionaire wasn't enough to let us know how good his talents are, then Antichirst seals the deal on his genius.
Overall I was more interested in the act of dealing with grief rather than the fanciful witchcraft related elements, so I think the film would have pleased me more if it stayed in the city, but a fascinating picture nonetheless.
Friday, 24 July 2009
Out this Week (24/07/09)
Whilst I'm usually a bit of a fan of the arthouse circuit it's extremely rare for the films to break out of the ghetto and receive widespread commentary. Lars von Trier has managed it with Antichrist. Ever since it premiered in Cannes, with Lars' typically understated press statements, it's been dividing audiences and critical opinion. It is unsurprising that it comes out as the film of the week. Nothing can come close to the anticipation of a film like this.
Antichrist
This is what the hype's all about. He and She lose thei only son in a tragic accident which he is able to move on from but she blames herself. They go to "eden", their cabin in the woods for some therapy. It's ends up being not the sort of therapy they had originally planned.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Just another Love Story
Plot seems to start with a While you were Sleeping vibe, with Anders W. Berthelsen visiting the girl he ran over and put into a coma, and then being mistaken for her lover. Except he then starts to take the role too seriously, finding out a lot of weird things about her missing partner.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Luck
British Asian movie starting with a letter to God asking for answers. When the letter is seen by a generous hearted postman the actions he takes, albeit a small and simple offering of kindness, are the catalyst for great changes in our protagonists life.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Modhi Vilayadu
I have absolutely nothing on this film. A cast that I can't find any other details on and no director. I can tell you it's from a prominent Bollywood distributer and it's a drama.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
The Proposal
Sandra Bullock returns to rom-coms for the first time in 5 years with this opposites attract love story. When her high-powered Canadian executive forces her US assistant to marry her so she isn't deported he has to take her to the backwoods family in order to fool immigration. Don't expect any originality, but if you wants sizzling chemistry and Ryan Reynolds in the buff then this is the film for you.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Skin
True story about a black skinned girl born to white parents in Apartheid era South Africa. Should be worth seeing for the performances (Sophie Okonedo and Sam Neill head the cast) as well as the politics of the time. Could become a little preachy.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Tuesday Trailers - Antichrist
I was thinking of holding this until next week, and therefore not spoiling this Saturdays Box Office news, but frankly I'm too excited about the release of Lars von Trier's contoversy fest. It's Cannes debut is sure to go down as legendary, and the best actress win for Charlotte Gainsbourg will only help to cement it's status. Personally any film that gets that sort of response is one for me.
Antichrist will be released on 24 Jluy 2009.
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Coming Soon (Maybe)
Antichrist
Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsborough have signed on to Lars von Trier's Antichrist. I love saying that: Lars von Trier's Antichrist. Personally I'm not sure which is more unlikely; that Scorcese's Christ turns up in this or that Charlotte Gainsborough would be married to him.
The Challenge
George Clooney's Smoke House production company has picked up the rights to Jonathan Mahler's legal thriller left. It's too early to say what involvement Clooney may have with the final product, but with this sort of liberal firework (it's based on the true story of Bin Laden Chaffeur's fight for a fair trail) he's sure to be front and centre of the final product.
Anjelina Jolie is lining up Edwin A. Salt as her next action project. Given that Wanted was sold on her (and sold well) and she's kind of dead in that this is just the sort of thing she needs to keep at the top of the box office, even if the CIA agent lead needs a couple of tweaks to make it work.
Tenn
The Warrier
Gavin O'Connor seems undeterred by the delays and problems he's faced with Pride and Glory and has moved production on his next film, The Warrier, to the next level. It's about mixed martial arts so there's about a 25% chance it will be any good. Fingers crossed. In any case looking at the net it's bound to involve sculpted guys with few clothes on beating the crap out of each other so who really cares about the quality.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Coming Soon (Maybe)
It's time to do a quick catch-up of the latest rumours and news that have hit my interest.
Inglorious Bastards 
The casting of Quentin's new flick carries on with Brad Pitt, Eli Roth and B.J. Novak all signing on the dotted line. I'm still pretty ambivalent about this at the moment (although Brad is making me change my mind). Satying that if the promises of a completed film for Cannes next year are kept to than I'll have to see it just to see how the project comes across.
Don Quixote
Terry Gilliam is taling about resurrcting his Don Quixote. Originally planned in 2001 the adaptation of Cervantes' novel was due to star Johnny Depp and Jean Rochefort and was beset by as many disasters as the titular hero. It's a perfect fit for Gilliam's style and way of thinking and Lost in La Mancha 2 would be fantastic.
Antichrist
Lars von Trier has secured funding for his Antichrist project. It's a horror film. From the director of Dogville and Dancer in the Dark. How can you not want to see it?
Scared Straight 
Nicolas Cage. In a prison. There's a riot. He has to rescue people from the really baad men. Is this Con Air, without the Air?
Finally Bioshock
I wouldn't normally look twice at a videogame adaptation (luddite snob that I am) but as this is being developed by Gore Verbinski whose Pirates movies, or at least the first one, showed that he's capable of making something from the most unlikely sources then my interest is piqued. The game seems to be an underwater Doom of sorts (feel free to correct me in the comments) so there could be some opportunities for suspense and less chance of multiple unnecessary double crosses. 
