2009 in Review - Best Film

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

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2009 in Review - Best Actress

In the other three categories there are fillers - I will admit that. I have only seen 42 films, so there have been performances that probably should have been put aside for greater achievements. I don't think that is the case for Best Actress, in fact I could have easily done a top ten with tremendous performances.

1. Maria Heiskanen - Maria Larssons Eviga Ogonblick(Everlasting Moments). By far the most moving performance I saw this year was by a little known Swedish actress in a art-house release that I almost missed at the cinemas. Playing an abused wife, who falls in love with another man but does nothing about it, she ripped my heart in two.


2. Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married. We may have seen Anne's boobs in the past but this was the film where she truly performed as an adult. Playing the destrutive sister of the titular bride, Anne was a torrent of self-pity and rage with an undercurrent of pure guilt. Excellent.


3. Sasha Grey - The Girlfriend Experience. A deeply unsettling and naturalistic performance where all we see are the layers a professional hooker places around herself. Throughout the film we see them falling apart, and the impact that has on the understanding of your own identity.


4. Michelle Pfeiffer - Cheri. The second courtesan of the list, with Pfeiffer playing someone who knows her best days are behind her and enters into her final doomed love affair. No-one does brittle like Michelle, and the look into the mirror at the close of the film tells us everything we need to know about her future.


5. Abbie Cornish - Bright Star. We end with more doomed love affairs - this time separated by society and by death. Abbie's Fanny Brawne is unafraid to announce her passions to the world (and to do some first class sulking) and this confidence is striking in the final performance.

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Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments

2008. Dir: Jan Troell. Starring: Maria Heiskanen, Mikhail Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen, Emil Jensen and Ghita Nørby. ●●●●●



I am so very glad I had the opportunity to watch this beautiful and moving film from Sweden, and I can fully recommend the picture to anyone with even the slightest interest in love stories in film.

Essentially it is a tale of a woman (Heiskanen) who falls in love with 2 men. The first is her husband (Persbrandt), a strong, rebellious manual labourer, who drinks, womanises and evetually beats his wife and children. The second is a more cultured photographer (Christensen - Mr. White from Casino Royale) who the woman meets whilst trying to pawn her camera. The photographer teaches her how to use the camera, and through that Mrs. Larsson finds a new outlook on life, the camera becoming a symbol of her independence and strength against her brutish husband.



It's a curious thing, love, and this film gets right into the heart of how a woman can love 2 people equally but vastly differently. With her husband the love is borne of duty and family, and there are times when he is surprisingly touching and romantic to her. Her love for the photograher, whilst wholey chaste is no less powerful, and when he moves away to be with his granddaughter there were tears running down my face at what might have been.

All three of the leads put in superb performances, Heiskanen is especially moving as the woman torn. At the same time Persbrandt finds enough humanity in the role of Sigge to stop him from becoming a cardboard cut out monster.

The script is perfect with even the cliched narration by one of the duaghters and end of a last frame left in the camera seeming to be natural rather than forced. Importantly the film doesn't shy away from the effects of domestic violence and the terror of living with a volatile bully.

The film stock is desaturated giving the cinematography a sepia tinge, entirely in keeping with the themes. The set decoration is also incredibly real, with exactly the right amount of detail.

The use of Carter Burwell's theme from Gods and Monsters is also incredibly moving, and used at just the right time to get maximum effect.

Overall this is a superb film, and one I would recommend to everyone.

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Out this week (22/05/09)

Lots of films in the mix for this weeks top spot, but the winner is going to be chosen on geographic ease of seeing the film. As you know I've been looking forward to Everlasting moments for some time, but the closest screen this weekend is in Nottingham, 65 miles away. Another films that could have been a top choice, Mark of an Angel is also no closer than 65 miles - if you're in Nottingham go to the Broadway Cinema, it seems to get all the foreign arthouse fare. So with these out I'm going to recommend Brit horror Tormented, if only because it premiered here in Birmingham last night.



Awaydays

Semi autobiographical adaptation about a boy growing up in Liverpool and getting in with a gang of knife-wielding thugs and punk fans. Reviews hint at homoerotic subtext so that might be a reason to see this.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○



Everlasting Moments

The Swedish entry at last years foreign oscar submissions, was highly praised but missed out on a nod. Follows an abused wife as she escapes her life through photography.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

A Girl Cut in Two

Claude Chabrol directs Ludivine Sagnier as she chooses between her two wildly differnet lovers. Ignore the cliches you'd expect from this sort of story, Chabrol has the class to overcome the pedigree.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Mark of an Angel

French drama about a mother who becomes convinced the daughter she lost soon after being born has been brought up by another family. Harrowing and unsettling.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Nandhalala

The sort of plot that would either wins awards or total derision surfaces in this Bollywood drama. A young boy and a man with mild learnign difficulties go on a road trip.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

Night at the Museum 2

Ben Stiller is back as the night security guard presiding over exhibits that return to life, supported by Robin Williams and Amy Adams. Ironically for a film about exhibitions springing to life Stillers performance looks the most wooden. Maybe one to take the kids to.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Tormented

British grammar school set horror, where the bullied boy turns on his tormentors from beyond the grave. No doubt the attractive set, led by Stormbreaker's Alex Pettyfer, will be picked off one by one in grusome and interesting ways. I hear it's a cross between Skins, Grange Hill and Final Destination.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

By the way there are also a lot of docs opening this weekend in London, mainly concerning the art world. I'm not a fan of cinema documentaries, prefer to watch them when I don't have to fork out £6, but there may be some good ones to look out for if you like that sort of thing.

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Trailers - Everlasting Moments

I'm going to be optimistic and put out the Everlasting Moments trailer agian. Last time I did this it took only a couple of days before it was delayed at the cinema, so fingers crossed that they won't mess with the schedules this time.



The film comes out on 22 May (hopefully).

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Trailers - Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments

I'm a bit of an odd fish when it comes to movie choices - whilst I don't really fit into the blockbuster hypers, I'm equally not a true indie darling. Most of the films I go for have solid pedigree, are mainly dramatic types and may even have a Oscar speech or two in preparation. As a result I tend not to see many foreign language films.

However I will be seeing Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick as it does hit all 3 of my triggers:

1. Directed by Jan Troell (The Emigrants) and starring Maria Heiskanen (Miehen työ) and Jesper Christensen (Quantum of Solace, The Interpreter).
2. Turn of the century biopic about a victim of domestic violence who frees herself through her camera.
3. Was in the final 9 for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, but sadly missed out on a nomination.

Enjoy the trailer, and let me know what you think.

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