Roper Review Review of the Year 2012

It’s a time to reflect on the year that has passed. As we approach what, according to the Mayan calendar, is the year the world will end, we can go safe in the knowledge that 2011 was a good year for film. Slightly reducing the number from last year, I saw 65 films at the cinema. This is a list of the best at worst of those, from 10 (being the 10^th best/worst and 1 being, in my opinion, the definitive worst or best film of the year).

Best 10 films of the year

10. Submarine: Richard Ayoade’s (The I.T Crowd) debut film is a rarity as it displays real cinematic flair from someone whose previous background was purely television. A moody and comic exploration into teen angst and first love, the excellent direction and a spot on performance by the unknown Noah Taylor captures the heartache of a teenager’s first love.

9. 50/50: The description of this plot is enough to turn many away, ‘a comedy about cancer staring Seth Rogan and the kid from third rock from the sun.’ However this is fantastic film, equally tragic and comic and demonstrates in an honest and candid fashion the impact cancer can have on someone’s life. Mercifully the film is in no way exploitative and in instead, in every way, enjoyable and moving.

8. Red State: Kevin Smith’s (silent bob) return to the indie scene, this is a brave film about religious terrorism and post 9/11 America. In turns a stoner comedy, a torture horror, a melodrama, a thriller and a nihilistic political statement, somehow Smith pulls it all together. The most unpredictable film I’ve seen in years.

7. 127 Hours: Behind Blue Valentine, this is the most moving film of the year. Causing a friend of mine to faint, and many more to break down into tears, Danny Boyle’s seminal film manages to transcend the screen and put its audience between a rock and a hard place, helped along with a career making performance from James Franco.

6. The Tree of Life: This film has caused more walkouts than the Human Centipede 2, with audiences baffled with its non-linear narrative and meandering ventures into the birth of humanity when they were expecting a Brad Pitt star vehicle. In turns thrilling, tedious and profoundly introspective, it invites the audience to reflect on their life a rare feat for a medium associated with escapism.

5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: James Franco’s second appearance in this list, only he keeps his arm and hangs out with a CGI monkey (sorry, a Damn Dirty Ape). Restarting a franchise destroyed by sub-par sequels and an awful Tim Burton reboot this was the summer’s most thrilling and constantly engaging film.

4. We need to talk about Kevin: A mother trying to atone for an atrocity committed by her offspring, this film is an intense exploration of grief and shock. Lynne Ramsay brings her art house background to create a hypnotic film and Tilda Swinton’s performance as Kevin’s mother, is the best acting work this year.

3. Blue Valentine: An incredible bleak representation of a broken marriage, this film is almost as deflating as the very act of being dumped. Ryan Gosling and Michele Williams give brave, intimate and very physical performances as the unhappy couple who slowly realise that are in a unworkable relationship. Not one to watch twice, but to experience once.

2. Kill List: The scariest and most surprising film of the year, Kill List is the best British film of the decade, although certainly not for everyone. Two hit men descend into the dark heart of the Sheffield countryside as they try to complete a simple task, kill some people on a list. Incredible unnerving throughout with jet black humor and an ending that provokes eons of analysis and debate it is a must see.

1. Drive: Ryan Gosling speaks with actions not words in this spellbinding film by Danish director Nicholas Refn. A visually stirring amalgamation of violence and emotion it warrants multiple viewings to take everything in. A simple revenge plot leaves room for stellar direction and the best soundtrack in recent memory. On paper, it sounds like a direct to DVD thriller, when it fact it is the best film of the year! See it.

Honorable Mentions:

The Guard, Hanna, Midnight in Paris, Black Swan, True Grit, Insidious, Super, Super 8, The inbetweeners.

Worst 10 of the year

10. Tinker, Tailor, Solder Spy: Despite universal critical acclaim, I found the film well directed, superbly acted but all together rather dull. Sorry.

9. In Time: An interesting concept, set in the future where time is used as currency. However it quickly decends into incredible dull action sequences and Bonnie and Clyde style bank heists. Unacceptably lazy direction

8. Final Destination 5: Déjà vu for the fourth time as the horror franchise recycles the plot and even the set ups. Considering the fourth film was called, ‘The final Destination’, it appears 3D is breathing new life into this increasingly stale series

7. The Adjustment Bureau: Plot holes aplenty in this bizarre romantic sci-fi, lacking any chemistry between its stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, and the most boring chase sequences ever filmed.

6. New York I Love You: Along with Valentines Day and New Years Eve, this is a series of dull stories, when even those lasting five minutes feel stretch beyond their running time.

5. Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Michael Bay continues his assault on cinema. Somehow, the third installment is longer, louder and more stupid than the first two, and this time it was in migraine inducing 3D! Enough already.

4. Your Highness: A medieval stoner comedy completely devoid of laughs. Even James Franco and Natalie Portman cannot save this.

3. Cowboys and Aliens: This film has Cowboys…and Aliens….and they fight. Whoever wins between the two the audience loose.

2. Battle Los Angeles: Oooo look more aliens, this time fighting US Marines. Noisy and ugly, the camera doesn’t stop shaking throughout but cannot mask the lack of plot or excitement.

1. The Hangover Part 2: The first one was ok, the second one recycles the same spirit and mixes them with shots of xenophobia and homophobia making a cinematic cocktail that could induce vomiting. Rubbish!

Let me know if you agree or disagree and happy film watching!

Roper Review Round Up

Busy times means less time to indulge at the movies and even less time to review. My film viewing over the last two months has been limited and there are loads of films, probably better than these, that I would have love to have seen. Here is a round up of the mostly mediocrity that has met our silver screens in feb/march.

John Carpenter's The Ward (John Carpenter, 2011)

This is an awful John Carpenter horror film that lacks any real scares and is no better than an average episode of Buffy the Vampire slayer, complete with man in a costume running about making growing noises. Set on a psychiatric ward and full of slightly offensive ‘wacko stereotypes’ it is not worth the ninety minutes it takes to watch. A last minute plot twist can be spotted a mile off and this film demonstrates that the once seminal director may have completely lost it.

*

The Fighter (David O. Russell, 2011)

A run of the mill sports drama. Very well acted and when the boxing kicks in you are right in the ring with them, I found my arms flinching. A satisfying but unremarkable film.

***

Rabbit Hole (John Cameron Mitchell, 2010)

A sad little picture following a couple as they try to move on after the death of their child. Nicole Kidman is excellent as the mother trying to repress her emotions whilst Aaron Eckhart makes up for the awful Battle: Los Angeles through his excellent performance. Tirelessly sad with little sparks of humour, this is neither the hart wrenching melodrama nor exploitative weepy it could have been. An original picture.

***1/2

True Grit (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, 2011)

The Coen’s first true Western, after using the genre in their work from their early pictures, this is a fantastic and unusually mainstream picture from the best brothers working in film today. A story of revenge and ultimately redemption which sees a young girl (a flawless performance from Hailee Steinfeld) trying to find the man who murdered her father. It feels so authentic that it is impossible to fully understand Jeff Bridge’s southern drawl, which is shame as the dialogue is rich and full of humour. A little lacking in the usual Coen originality, this is still a beautiful and enthralling film.

****

Drive Angry 3D (Patrick Lussier, 2011)

‘I’m not going to rest until I drink beer from his skull’ claims Nicolas Cage’s Milton, the aptly named escapee from hell who is after the kidnapper of his child. Disappointingly there isn’t much angry driving in this film, Cage is largely emotionless as he fights his way through Texas after a psychotic cult leader. This film seems to come from the Roger Corman school of 3D as bodily parts and fluid flies out of the screen. At its’ best it is a Tarantino light Grind House picture, at its worst it is a mindless action flick.

**1/2

The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi, 2011)

The biggest disappointment of the year so far. It has an interesting premise as Matt Damon and Emily Blunt fight against fate personified who forbid their love as it is not ‘meant to be’. The film works as a romantic drama but utterly fails as a fantasy thriller. Spectres of fate can kidnap and take Damon away to hidden warehouses and stop him in his tracks but cannot out run him up a building? Ultimately it is a very dull experience.

**

Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011)

An artistically impressive but overlong animation from Gore Verbinski. Johnny Depp is brilliantly cast as the easy going chameleon who finds himself lost in the Nirvada desert. Its’ short comings arrive from a confusion towards which audience to pander resulting in some jokes falling flat for entire audiences. Kudos to the director for giving us an animation that is mature enough for adult audience and not in 3D! There’s hope for the animated film outside of Pixar yet.

***

Battle: Los Angeles (Jonathan Liebesman, 2011)

An astoundingly stupid film. Aliens invade LA and an army of clichéd characters fight back. The fact that it is an alien invasion is seemingly irrelevant, this is the most ridiculous war film in years. It is like watching someone play a video game and not being able to play. I slept through large portions of this.

*

Hall Pass (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, 2011)

Another entry in the post-hangover series of comedies seeing middle aged men trying to rekindle their youth. Two married men are granted a hall pass allowing them a week off from marriage. There is some fun to be had seeing two men fail miserably in their persuade for young women but as a picture from the gross-out mixed with sentiment Farley Brothers there is only one direction they can do. Worth seeing solely for a sequence in the credits in which our own Stephen merchant gets a hall pass, the single most funny moment this year.

***

Submarine (Richard Ayoade, 2011)

My film of the year so far. First time director Richard Ayoade shows real cinematic flair in a drama about growing up in Wales. Oliver Tate tries to woo his girl and save his parents’ marriage in a selfish quest for fulfilment. The stroke of genious in this film is that he isn’t a likeable character, like a less violent Alex from A Clockwork Orange, he indulges in ‘a light bit of arson’ to charm his lady and breaks into his neighbours house to investigate his mother’s private life. Originally shot using fantastic colours and a soundtrack from Alex Turner it is a moving and amusing film that sound be seen by everyone.

*****

Limitless (Neil Burger, 2011)

A high-concept thriller which finally shows that Bradely Cooper has what it takes to take a lead in a film. This enjoyable film begs the question, what it would be like to take a pill that made you a genius. The answer seems to be pretty fantastic as Cooper goes from zero to hero. Director Neil Burger pulls all the tricks out of the bag as he zooms his way through New York City capturing the intoxicating and trippy adventure the wonder pill leads our hero on.

****

Source Code (Ducan Jones, 2011)

Duncan Jones follow up to his brilliant debut ‘Moon’ is equally mind bending and only slightly less successful due to a faltering conclusion. Jake Gyllenhaal playing a US army helicopter pilot wakes up to find himself in the body of a complete stranger on a train, eight minutes away from death when a bomb goes off. He is tasked with reliving the last eight minutes on this train repeatedly too find the bomber to prevent a second attack. Whilst this would be enough of a story for your average thriller, Jones troubles us with bigger questions such as where exactly is Gyllenhaal’s character operating from, why has he been chosen and how the hell does this time travel even work? A frequently thrilling, surprisingly funny thriller that would have got 5 stars if it had finished five minutes early than it does. A last act twist which defies any logic and reason taints what has been an enthralling mind-bending journey.

****

Insidious (James Wan, 2011)

I was lucky enough to attend the UK premier of this film and meet its’ writer and director. As the lights dimmed the film makers told us to prepare to ‘scream and gasp in fear’ like our American counter-parts had in screenings. Being typically British, nothing could be heard but the film and a few nervous giggles and then finally a polite reserved round of applause. This was a suiting response to an fun but unremarkable horror film.

Horror films run in trends, from the slasher revival of the 1990s to the Japanese remakes of the early 2000s, the graphic ‘torture porn’ films of the last few years and now the ‘haunted house flick’ which harks back to the early 50s. It is nice to see that blood and guts has being substituted for bumps in the night but real fear has also been diluted to a few jolts and chills.

The films tag line ‘it’s not your house that’s haunted, it’s your son’ gives you all the plot you need to know. The story concerns the Lambert family who have just moved into a new home. Their son has an accident causing him to go into a coma which the doctors just can’t find a cause for. It appears there are more sinister goings on as his mother, a strong performance by Rose Byrne, witnesses spooky goings on including whispers through a baby monitor and apparitions in her son’s room. So far, so ‘Paranormal Activity.’ Wan uses sound and shadow to create a tense, foreboding atmosphere that caused me to assume my safety position in horror films (squinty eyes and fingers in ears) on several occasions. His clever use of framing means that you’ll be searching your peripherals for any sign of movement and he exploits this well. Unlike recent horror films that pretend to be found footage, this is satisfyingly cinematic and gothic so worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.

All good things must come to an end however and once the plot exposition kicks in and we get into the realms of ‘astral projection’ things get less scary and more silly. Things unfold like a Goose Bumps book as a team of ghost hunters come in to set things straight and the sweats of fear turn to groans of cliché.

It’s a shame that the excellent sound design and startling imagery are tainted by the ultimately ridiculous plot that warranted unintentional laughter as po-faced actors deliver absurd lines with the utter most sincerity. It will make you jump and laugh, but not always for the right reasons.

Verdict

First half frights turn to second half foolishness in an enjoyable but silly horror flick that will leave you comfortable leaving the lights off.

***

Bafta Predictions 2011

Lots to blog on and not enough time.

First a few scores before I catch up and get a chance to review them properly.

True Grit 4/5: Good but surprisingly straight forward for the Coen Brothers. There first truly mainstream film has lots of suspense and warmth but not many quirks.

Rabbit Hole 2/5: Moving but not much else

The Fighter 4/5: Solid if unspectacular sports drama.

Green Hornet 3/5: It has its charm and flaws but is an enjoyable two hours with surprisingly good use of 3D

The Ward 1/5: Awful John Carpenter Horror

Tonight is the Baftas, and here are my predictions for the winnders and in brackets who I think should actually win out of the nominees!

Best Film: THE KING’S SPEECH (What should win: Inception)

Best Actor: COLIN FIRTH (Who should win: JAMES FRANCO, although Ryan Gosling should easily take this but hasn’t been nominated)

Best Actress: NATALIE PORTMAN (Who should win: HAILEE STEINFELD –True Grit)

Best Supporting Actor: GEOFFREY RUSH (Who should win: ANDREW GARFIELD, although Outside chance that the late Pete Pothethwaite may get this in tribute to him)

Best Supporting Actress: AMY ADAMS (Who should win: Again not nominated but Chloe Moretz should get it for her performance in Kick-Ass)

Best Director: INCEPTION - Christopher Nolan (Who should win: Christopher Nolan)

Animated film: TOY STORY 3 (What should win: Toy Story 3)

Original Music: INCEPTION - Hans Zimmer (Who should win: Inception – Hans Zimmer)

Cinematography: True Grit – Roger Deakins (Who should win: Roger Deakins)

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2011)

Overblown, melodramatic, absurd. All of these words can be aptly applied to Black Swan, and I mean them all as compliments.

Darren Aronofsky is a director obsessed with obsession. In ‘Pi’ he looked at an obsession with numbers, in ‘Requiem for a Dream’ the obsession was drugs, in ‘The Fountain’ it was the denial of death. His last work, ‘The Wrester’ was about an obsession with one’s work and body and Black Swan serves as an intentional and interesting companion piece. It is a stylish study of a dancer’s obsession to produce perfection and to ultimately become perfect. This is, of course, an impossible task, and her unrelenting hard work to achieve this goal leads her to some very dark areas of the psyche.

I am no dance expert, and I must admit the one ballet I have seen hardly set my soul alight, but thanks to the expert direction and editing in this film, I understood the power, emotion and physical precision that must go into creating a ballet. Aronofsky made the wise decision to make heavy use of Tchaikovsky’s original score which, when mixed with the stylish lighting and intoxicating melodrama, comes closer to catching the frenzy and energy of theatre than any other film I have seen.

Natalie Portman quite rightfully won a Golden Globe for her passionate and incredibly physical performance as Nina; she is a woman who is consumed with her work, largely thanks to her creepy, possessive mother who seems determined to live out her own dance fantasy through her daughter. She obsessively paints portraits of her and tucks her into her bed in a bedroom that can’t have changed since Nina was 12. Nina has led a sheltered life which makes it hard for her to channel the emotional core needed to take on the difficult role of the Black Swan, a dark twisted character key to the Ballet.

Nina is advised by the choreographer, played brilliantly by Vincent Cassel, to lose herself in order to become the Black Swan on stage, and this leads Nina into a series of sexual and violent events. Aronofsky mixes fantasy with horror in these sequences to ensure that there is never a dull moment. Eventually the fantasy elements of the film overtake the realism; the ambiguity of this is played on to such an extent that the film literally becomes wild. It looses all restraint and only a director as brave and talented as Aronofsky could handle it. What could have been a potential disaster is a near masterpiece.

Verdict

Scary, absorbing and consuming, the film affects the audience almost to the extent that the Black Swan affects Nina. See it at the cinema for a truly theatrical experience.

****1/2

Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010)

The end of a relationship is never easy, never mutual and never forgettable. Blue Valentine, a powerful, raw and all real examination into the making and breaking of a marriage makes this explicitly clear.

The always excellent Ryan Gosling and Michele Williams deliver startling realistic performances throughout the films duration showing what it’s like to be in and out of love with one another. The film is similar in structure, though far less optimistic, than 500 Days of Summer as it flashes back and forth between the beginning and the end of the characters relationship.

It’s a film that divided the audience that I sat in, half the cinema was bored, no doubt due to the gentle pacing and bleak tone, the other half where the ones that remained in the cinema whilst the credits rolled feeling as broken as the characters on screen. Make no doubt about it; Blue Valentine is not an easy ride, nor overtly entertaining. What you get is a startlingly honest look at how individuals can make life heaven or hell for each other.

Complaints have been made that the film never makes it clear why the couple’s marriage is breaking down, but that’s because the characters aren’t sure themselves. Their fractures are seen through their body language, their abject sexual chemistry and eventually their harsh unforgiving dialogue. The films flashbacks provide relief, a few laughs and some warming romance, but eventually these flashbacks are heartbreaking to watch as the audience realises how naive the couple are to where they are heading.

Verdict

If 127 hours was a transcendent film in that it made you feel the pain of losing an arm, this film makes you feel the pain of losing a partner. It is a hard film to recommend for a good night out, but one worth watching for two of the most honest and open performances in a decade.

****