The Golden Stans 2008

It’s that time of year again: it’s the Golden Stans, 52 weeks and 53 films after The Fountain controversially took three awards (Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Score).

2007 was tough to judge, but 2008 was a little easier – unfortunately – due to the large number of event pictures that disappointed. Thankfully the great films were diverse: animated (fiction and documentary), crowd pleasers, horror, intense character pieces, etc.

So, on to the first category: Original Score. This was a contest between the two composers who fought out 2007’s award - Clint Mansell and Clint Eastwood, nominated this time for The Wrestler and Changeling respectively - and The Dark Knight tag team of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. Both Clints delivered appropriately haunting soundtracks, but the full scope of the Zimmer/Howard team's output and how they worked with the director swings the award their way.

The Best Cinematography Award features nominations for outstanding work from: Roger Deakins (In The Valley Of Elah); Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood); Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight); Tom Stern (Changeling); and Anthony Dod Mantle’s huge leap from Dogme lenser of choice (and all that entails) to embracing colour for colour’s sake on Slumdog Millionaire. However, there can be only one winner: and it’s Wally Pfister for his magisterial command of the IMAX format – and indeed the non-IMAX sequences – in The Dark Knight. This was jaw-dropping stuff.

The Best Adapted Screenplay Award also wings its way towards The Dark Knight as well, the brothers Nolan and David S Goyer pulling the very essence of Batman, The Joker and Harvey Dent from the very best – and numerous – sources to winning effect. Honourable mentions should go to Peter Morgan for Frost/Nixon and JMS for Changeling – both bringing considerable authority to their work.

The Best Original Screenplay Award features a fight between ridiculously scary The Orphanage, the surprisingly funny In Bruges, and the sublime Wall*E. However, the winner, if only for the central conceit is Wall*E.

Now on to the big six categories, starting with Best Supporting Actress; the nominations are:
Amy Adams in Charlie Wilson’s War
Laura Linney in The Other Man
Evan Rachel Wood in The Wrestler
Amy Ryan in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead and Changeling
Charlize Theron in In The Valley Of Elah
Marisa Tomei in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead and The Wrestler
And the winner is… Marisa Tomei.

The nominations for Best Supporting Actor are:
Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood
Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight
Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
John Malkovich in Burn After Reading and Changeling
Sam Neill in Dean Spanley
All five would be worthy winners: Dano holding his own against Daniel Day-Lewis; Eckhart’s descent from white knight to hideous villain; Kapoor’s duplicitous, media-hungry gameshow host; Ledger’s savage and absolute burial of the memory of Jack Nicholson’s comical turn as The Joker; and Neill’s, er, twitching. But the winner is… Heath Ledger. I desperately wanted to give Sam Neill the nod for playing something he most definitely is not [I’m trying to avoid plot spoilers here!], but Ledger's Joker is a modern screen classic.

The nominations for Best Actress are:
Martina Gedeck in The Baader Meinhof Complex
Angelina Jolie in The Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Belen Rueda in The Orphanage
Johanna Wokalek in The Baader Meinhof Complex
There’s a theme here: they’re all mothers who are forced to question the world around them and who all ultimately go down entirely unexpected roads that lead them to question some fundamental beliefs. They are also all stronger than the men that surround them. Picking a winner is exceedingly difficult, but a winner there must be and it is… Belen Rueda.

The nominations for Best Actor do not include Robert Downey Jnr’s immensely charismatic turn as Iron Man, nor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s diverse work in Charlie Wilson’s War, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead and Synecdoche, New York, nor Andy Lau and Jet Li in Warlords, nor the scary but theatrical ham of Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Instead the best six are:
Josh Brolin in W.
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley Of Elah
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Michael Sheen in Frost/Nixon
Benicio del Toro in Che
Ultimately this is a three-way fight between Langella’s impersonation of tricky Dicky, Rourke’s spotlight-hugging, tour de force comeback and Jones’ career-best turn.
A while back I described the winner’s performance thus: “[His] journey from stout, proud Vietnam veteran to painful realisation that he has failed as a father, and indirectly as a husband, is one of the great performances of American cinema. Hank Deerfield might well be the most finely drawn and observed character to emerge in American film for generations: his history is revealed in every gesture, every thought, every word.” Thus, the winner is… Tommy Lee Jones.

Best Director is another hard-fought category. Missing are the likes of Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon), Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler), Andrew Stanton (Wall*E) and Uli Edel (The Baader Meinhof Complex), but making the list are:
Juan Antonio Bayona for The Orphanage
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Clint Eastwood for Changeling
Paul Haggis for In The Valley Of Elah
Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight
Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood
It's so very difficult to split Nolan and Haggis; I don't want to see either go unrewarded for their full realisations of their ambitions, and therefore I'm going to cheat: they can share the award!

And so finally, Best Film. There follow the 15 nominees in alphabetical order:
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Changeling
Dean Spanley
Frost/Nixon
In Bruges
In The Valley Of Elah
Iron Man
Religulous
Slumdog Millionaire
The Dark Knight
The Orphanage
The Wrestler
There Will Be Blood
Wall*E
Many on the list deal directly, indirectly or subliminally about America and its corrupt heart (Baader Meinhof, Changeling, Frost/Nixon, Elah, Iron Man, Religulous, Dark Knight and Blood). Thankfully there are also some truly uplifting humanist stories (Anvil, Dean Spanley and Wall*E) in there too.
Picking a winner was of course difficult. However, the films I reacted to the most during the year were Anvil, Changeling, Dean Spanley, Frost/Nixon, Elah, Religulous, Dark Knight, Orphanage, Wrestler and Wall*E, which at least makes it a 10-way battle!
There’s a lot of raw emotion and righteous anger in that list, which doesn’t help me come to any kind of rational decision. Ultimately, it’s a fight between Anvil, Frost/Nixon, Elah, Dark Knight and Wall*E.
So, for better or worse, the winner of the Golden Stan 2008 for Best Film is… The Dark Knight.

Roll on 2009!

2009 preview

2009 is about to begin so it’s time to see what’s in store. The year starts heavy with Oscar-bating product before moving into the box office heavy hitters as the year winds on. May, in particular, is the month of the geek: Wolverine, Star Trek, Coraline and Drag Me To Hell!

Che Part One 1 January
Benicio del Toro is successful revolutionary Che…

The Reader 2 January
Already nominated for a fistful of Globes, this concerns a young man who falls a woman who works in a Nazi prison camp. That woman is current Oscar fave Kate Winslet. Stephen Daldry directs.

The Spirit 2 January
Frank Miller’s adaptation of Will Eisner’s comic strip hero in the 300/Sin City-style. Expect no lightness of touch… Already flopped in America.

Defiance 9 January
With a cast including Daniel Craig and Liev Schrieber, and with Ed Zwick at the helm this WWII film carries WEIGHT. Early reviews have not been kind.

Frost/Nixon 9 January
A must-see!

Slumdog Millionaire 9 January
Danny Boyle’s Indian Who Wants To Be A Millionaire crowd pleaser.

Seven Pounds 16 January
The new Will Smith is mentioned here simply because somes critics have praised the originality of the script – and the twist that can’t be mentioned.

The Wrestler 16 January
The Darren Aronofsky/Mickey Rourke comeback special.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 23 January
David Fincher delivers an Oscar-friendly picture about the man who ages backwards. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star.

Milk 23 January
Sean Penn goes for Oscar number two in Gus Van Sant’s biopic of San Fran’s first openly gay elected official.

Franklyn 30 January
British sci-fi/fantasy ensemble piece. The visuals alone make this a must-see.

Revolutionary Road 30 January
Sam Mendes directs Leo and Kate. More Oscars?

Valkyrie 30 January
Bryan Singer directs the plot to kill Hitler, led by Tom Cruise.

Doubt 6 February
Oscar-bating performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep in the adaptation of the stageplay in which a vicar is accused of abusing a child.

Push 6 February
Another post-Heroes, this-isn’t-a-super-hero-movie-it’s-a-movie-about-people-with-special-powers film.

Che Part Two 20 February
Benicio del Toro is the not-so successful revolutionary Che…

Gran Torino 20 February
Clint’s final performance in front of the camera may be his greatest – and Oscar may reward him for it.

Outlander 20 February
Vikings v aliens: what’s not to like?

Watchmen 6 March
Fox have won the court case against Warners, so this might yet be delayed. Can this get anywhere close to the source graphic novel?

State of Play 17 April
Kevin ‘Last King of Scotland’ Macdonald directs the adaptation of the hit BBC series. Casting is off the charts: Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Jason Bateman, and Helen Mirren to name a few.

Wolverine 1 May
Hugh Jackman brings us the origin of Logan. Snikt!

Star Trek 8 May
JJ Abrams brings us the origin of Trek.

Coraline 15 May
Henry Selick brings his stop-motion magic to Neil Gaiman’s story.

Drag Me To Hell 29 May
Sam Raimi returns to horror.


Terminator Salvation 5 June
Not content with saving Gotham, Christian Bale also wants to fight for our future against the machines as John Connor.

Public Enemies 3 July
Michael Mann directs the Dilinger movie. Johnny Depp is the gangster, while Christian Bale (does the man ever stop?) is the cop trying to capture him.

2012 10 July
Roland ‘Independence Day’ Emmerich does another planet in peril flick.

Harry Potter 17 July
Pretty much does what it says on the tin.

The Wolf Man 6 November
Che, sorry Benicio del Toro is the wolf man. Directed by Joe Johnston.

Avatar 18 December
James Cameron does sci-fi. Could be monumental or an utter flop…

Also without dates allocated yet:
Kick-Ass
Matthew ‘Layer Cake/Stardust’ Vaughan directs the adaptation of Mark ‘Wanted’ Millar’s violent comic about a kid who decides to police the streets as a costumed hero.

The Soloist
Joe ‘Atonement’ Wright directs Robert Downey Jnr as the journalist trying to help mad but musical genius Jamie Foxx get back on his feet.

Dorian Gray
Oliver Parker directs a rather classy British cast in this remake.

Review: Changeling

Changeling is yet another great movie from Clint Eastwood that benefits from a superb performance from Angelina Jolie in the central role and a meticulously researched script by JMS.

Indeed, the 95% factual script and Eastwood’s delicate, unfussy direction have led the film to be docked points by some critics since its sensational opening at Cannes. Some have accused it lacking nuance or warmth, that it’s too removed. Well, poppycock, I say. JMS’s script simply tells the story largely in chronological (look, no jumpcuts and fractured story!), the author believing that a story this fantastic needs no bells and whistles – the drama is inherent in the story.

Angelina Jolie is almost a revelation as the mother whose son disappears, who must then fight the corrupt LAPD when they return ‘a’ child to her and claim it to be hers before the massed ranks of the press. The trailer may make the film look too ‘female’, however, the only scenes of hysteria are in the trailer – and, within the context of the story and the film structure, they do not grate.

Jolie’s Christine Collins is an immensely capable woman, but not necessarily worldly wise. She wins instant empathy from the audience, and while her suffering is great, it is not too harrowing – although there clearly are a number of heart-breaking scenes, especially with her ‘non-son’.

The story takes a turn for the entirely unexpected deep into the second act, and briefly the focus shifts to another boy in the hands of the one good cop. What follows beggars belief – but is documented fact and only makes you wonder how Jolie’s Collins could be born so unlucky.

Support is exceptional from: Jeffrey Donovan as the shister cop Jolie crosses; John Malkovich as the preacher who backs her case; the ever-excellent Amy Ryan as Jolie’s only friend in the asylum; Michael Kelly as the only cop who believes her; and Geoff Pierson as the attorney who fights her corner in court.

The sense of period (20s/30s Hollywood) is effortlessly evoked, and shot with love (but not rose-tinted spectacles) by Tom Stern. The opening and closing crane shots, in which the stock transforms from B&W to colour and vice versa, are stunning. Oh and a final word should go to Eastwood for another beautiful score.

This is mature, affecting, thoughtful cinema and quite why it’s being overlooked in awards season I simply don’t understand. Perhaps once again, it’s because it ends on a hopeful note.
Score: 9

Golden Globe nominations

So the Golden Globes have been announced with only a few shock omissions. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, and Doubt lead the race with five noms each.

The main news points are: two noms for both Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet; an astonishing four noms for Woody Allen’s awful VCB; and deserved three noms for In Bruges.

In terms of omissions none of the following have been recignised for their outstanding performances: Robert Downey Jnr in Iron Man; Michael Sheen in Frost/Nixon; Josh Brolin in W; and Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.

At this stage, there’s only one sure-fire winner: Wall*E in the animated category.

1. BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

FROST/NIXON

THE READER

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE


2. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
ANNE HATHAWAY – RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

ANGELINA JOLIE – CHANGELING

MERYL STREEP – DOUBT

KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS – I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
KATE WINSLET – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

3. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
LEONARDO DICAPRIO – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

FRANK LANGELLA – FROST/NIXON

SEAN PENN – MILK

BRAD PITT – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

MICKEY ROURKE – THE WRESTLER

4. BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
BURN AFTER READING
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

IN BRUGES

MAMMA MIA!

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

5.BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
REBECCA HALL – VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

SALLY HAWKINS – HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

FRANCES MCDORMAND – BURN AFTER READING

MERYL STREEP – MAMMA MIA!

EMMA THOMPSON – LAST CHANCE HARVEY

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JAVIER BARDEM – VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
COLIN FARRELL – IN BRUGES

JAMES FRANCO – PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

BRENDAN GLEESON – IN BRUGES

DUSTIN HOFFMAN – LAST CHANCE HARVEY

7. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
BOLT

KUNG FU PANDA

WALL-E

8. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
EVERLASTING MOMENTS
GOMORRAH
I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

9. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
AMY ADAMS – DOUBT
PENELOPE CRUZ – VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
VIOLA DAVIS –DOUBT
MARISA TOMEI – THE WRESTLER
KATE WINSLET – THE READER

10. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
TOM CRUISE – TROPIC THUNDER

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. –TROPIC THUNDER

RALPH FIENNES – THE DUCHESS

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – DOUBT

HEATH LEDGER – THE DARK KNIGHT

11. BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
DANNY BOYLE – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

STEPHEN DALDRY – THE READER

DAVID FINCHER – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

RON HOWARD – FROST/NIXON
SAM MENDES – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

12. BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
SIMON BEAUFOY – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

DAVID HARE – THE READER

PETER MORGAN – FROST/NIXON

ERIC ROTH – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN

JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY – DOUBT

13. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

CHANGELING

DEFIANCE

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

FROST/NIXON

Review: The Wrestler

The Wrestler is a magnificent comeback for both its director Darren Aronofsky and its star Mickey Rourke. Villified by many (although not me) for The Fountain, Aronofsky has not so much bounced back as entirely re-invented himself, while Rourke reignites the screen charisma that marked him out at his early 80s height.

Rourke is The Ram, a professional wrestler, who like his chosen profession has fallen on hard times. Like Rourke, The Ram clearly has talent, clearly has good intentions, but can’t help but fuck up whenever he’s close to being happy. The film charts in a slightly predictable fashion how the ageing hero decides he will no longer wrestle, how he seems to turn his life (love- and family-) around and how he fucks all that up.

But it’s not unrelentingly bleak: there are so many beautiful scenes of real, aching emotion and psychological breakthroughs, particularly with Marisa Tomei (his possible squeeze) and Rachel Evan-Wood (his estranged daughter), while the first time The Ram works on the deli counter at the supermarket will warm even the coldest cockles (Aronofsky displaying a previously untapped lightness of touch).

Like Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight, much will be written about Rourke’s powerhouse performance – and all of it entirely justified. It’s not simply a case of Rourke playing himself, for there is more to The Ram than just a potted history of Rourke’s mistakes. Nevertheless it’s hard not to see The Ram’s journey as enormously therapeutic for Rourke, rehabilitating him into Hollywood.

Two films cast shadows over The Wrestler, namely Rocky and Raging Bull, but for my money, it’s better than both. It has shares a similar gritty 70s attitude with those two, but it’s warmer than Raging Bull but not as sentimental as Rocky.

The conclusion is pleasingly open-ended, the support from Tomei and Evan-Wood outstanding and the score from Clint Mansell is top-notch.

The film is likely to be widely nominated and rewarded by every awards body going

In short, a must-see.
Score: 8.5

Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire, directed with characteristic verve by Danny Boyle and written by Simon ‘Full Monty’ Beaufoy, is gathering huge awards season momentum, many critics suggesting, like Little Miss Sunshine ($98m) and Juno ($228m) in the past two years, this could be the little film that makes it big.

It is a fantastically crowd-pleasing film that needs to be seen in a packed cinema, but I fear it may not crossover as easily as Little Miss Sunshine and Juno did. Ultimately, it’s a light (but not lightweight) twenty-something romance that asks much of its male cast, but relatively little of the key female, played by Freida Pinto, who is called upon simply to be beautiful and be in love with Dev Patel’s hero, Jamal.

The film opens with slum-born orphan Jamal being questioned by police for suspected cheating on India’s version of Who wants to be a millionaire – and crucially if he can prove his innocence, he’s just one Q&A away from winning 20 million rupees. Using the structure of the show itself, the film reveals, question-by-question how a boy from the slums of Mumbai could possibly know all the answers by flashing back to his youth, growing up in and trying to escape from the horror of the slums with his brother Salim and the girl of his dreams Latika.

The flashbacks, while vividly shot, edited and exquisitely composed, do not pull their punches: the reality of the Mumbai slums is revealed in all its colourful, awful horror. And it’s these elements that lift Slumdog to awards season contender.

Any sense of unease the audience might feel about a ‘greed is good’ mantra being the film’s ultimate message is smashed by all the shit the hero quite literally crawls through to attain his dream and the fate of his brother. Inevitably, love wins out – at which point, there shouldn’t be a dry eye in the house.

In many ways, Slumdog is closer in spirit to City of God than Little Miss Sunshine or Juno. Its feelgood charm, counterpointed by the reality it depicts, is something Golden Globe, Bafta and Oscar voters will probably warm too as so many other contenders are just too dark for the dark times in which we live.
Score: 8

Review: Waltz With Bashir

Waltz With Bashir is a visually overwhelming, animated documentary. That’s right, the entire film is a doc, only presented in the animated medium, rather than live action. The animation is both the film’s strength and its weakness.

Written and directed by Ari Folman, the film is essentially a therapy session for him, as he tries to remember the massacre (during the 1982 Lebanon war) of Palestinians in Beirut by militant Christian Phalangists, which the Israel Defence Forces (in which Forman served at the time) did nothing to prevent. Unable to remember the event, his mind having apparently blocked out the horror, he sets about contacting his old comrades, and he asks them what they remember. Slowly he pieces it all together in his mind, realisation finally hitting home at the dramatic and chilling conclusion to the film.

Folman’s journey to memory recovery is an unsettling mixture of reality and dream (or nightmare) for both him and the audience, combining both the literary mechanics of Catch 22 with the war is just a bad acid trip attitude of Apocalypse Now. The freedom allowed by opting for animation (most of it by illustrator and artistic director David Polonsky) means that the full extent of the nightmarish memories are realised so vividly that the audience forgets it’s watching an animated film.

In fact the film is insanely brilliant to watch – and therein lies its weakness: the visuals are so strong, the story can’t quite match them. Nevertheless, this is very definitely worth the price of admission - and could be seen as a companion piece to Persepolis.
Score: 7.5

Review: Body of Lies

Body of Lies is a curiously mixed bag of a ‘current’ thriller from Ridley Scott. Set in the tangled web of America’s war of terror in the Middle East, the film is strangely distant from its protagonists and antagonists, divesting the film of any strong emotional core.

Opening like Spooks on steroids with a botched raid on a terrorist safehouse in Manchester, action soon centres on Leonardo DiCaprio’s CIA agent, run on an almost entirely virtual basis by a complacent, corpulent Russell Crowe. DiCaprio’s agent is torn between loyalty to the CIA and to his opposite number in the Jordanian investigation bureau (a great turn by Mark Strong), and by his own growing moral concerns about how America chooses to take the fight to the terrorists – and yet he is no innocent.

There is marked mirroring, as characters up and down the chain of command use each other: Crowe using DiCaprio, DiCaprio using Strong, and Strong using DiCaprio, etc. Inevitably, DiCaprio gets in above his head. If the finale is welcome, while not entirely right in the light of the realistic bent of the film, the ensuing coda brings us back down to earth.

Ridley’s bravura visuals are present throughout, but that oft-mentioned failing of his – an inability to tell a story – remains evident here too. The story is too complex (although that could be taken as being simply realistic), set in too many theatres of operation, with too much spy jargon getting in the way of progressing the story.

The overall politics of the piece are uncomfortable as well: while America comes in for a load of criticism in its handling of the Middle East ‘situation’ (to quote DiCaprio’s character), the Middle East and all its people are painted as potential terrorists, their funders and sympathisers.

Nevertheless, there are many scenes to enjoy, notably when there’s hardware involved or the delicately etched budding relationship between DiCaprio and the Iranian nurse he takes a shine too – and the reaction of her sister and neighbours.

Ultimately Body of Lies is a more action-packed, less overtly left-wing version of Syriana – and joins the growing list of war on terror movies that have flopped at the US box office.
Score: 6.5

Review: Quantum of Solace

Bond is back – but he’s not back in style I’m afraid (well apart from the Tom Ford-supplied wardrobe). While its opening weekend figures are higher than Casino Royale in every territory, including a whopping $25m three-day total in the UK, Quantum of Solace trails behind its predecessor as a film.

There are a number of essential problems, not least a leaden plot, a damp squib of an ending and an awful theme from Jack White. The all-too Bourne-esque fight scenes are just that, and while the prologue is bravely teased out (cross-cut, with no sound, between closing helicopter shot and extreme fast-cut car-to-car action), it’s not a patch on the inventive opening to Casino.

Some bold decisions were taken with the script. Conceptually they are intriguing, but they’ve been poorly developed and realised. Judi Dench’s M is now Bond’s moral compass and effectively the only woman he has anything close to a relationship with. The laughably awful Gemma Arterton makes for the flimsiest of Bond girls that the current James has seduced, while Olga Kurylenko as the vengeful Camille is interesting but doesn’t have quite enough to do (or is it simply the creative team trying to be realistic?).

Bond’s mission of revenge is hollow – he learns no lesson from it. His target, eco-magnate Dominic Greene is played by Mathieu Amalric without any charm – and seems a rather flimsy, light-weight villain (but, as the plot reveals, he is only a small cog in a very large wheel).

Having said all that, there is still much to enjoy. While the fight scenes are Bourne-esque, Bond still has to suffer (indeed Daniel Craig must have done himself an infinite number of injuries), adding realism, while the anti-US undercurrent of Casino is developed to become a strong sentiment running throughout Quantum.

The Tosca sequence (in counterpoint to the opening) is artfully staged and edited together, and concludes with a satisfying punch (and one of a number of passing nods to previous Bonds).

Bond is also called on to do some actual spying and detection work rather than just killing everyone in sight while searching for the McGuffin.

And let it be said: Daniel Craig is Bond, he absolutely owns the role. Two more Bond movies with this level of performance and physical commitment and he will be pushing Connery for the title of best Bond.

And yet the two-part conclusion to his Quantum mission is thoroughly unsatisfying. Many have said this film feels like the second part of a trilogy – and I’d agree with that.

Ultimately this is a disappointing affair: the creative team could have done so much better. But Bond is Bond, and, like the films of David Lynch and Charlie Kaufman, it’s hard to measure the film other than by its own established yardstick.
Score: 6

LFF review: The Brothers Bloom/Vicky Cristina Barcelona

The Brothers Bloom and Vicky Cristina Barcelona are a pair of character-driven, four-hander comedies, achieving quite different levels of success. In the first, Brick writer/director Rian Johnson spins the ripping yarn of the two best con-men in history – the titular brothers, Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody – and their last mark Penelope, played by Rachel Weisz.

Johnson’s intention was to give equal priority to the characters as to the con itself, contrary to most con movies – and while he does that, the con itself loses focus and arguably goes on too long.

The art direction and production design lend the film a timeless feel, while the cast varies in performance and sympathy/empathy: Ruffalo is good as the older brother/bully but there’s still something slightly vacant or absent in his screen persona; Brody is appropriately moody, but brings some warmth to the loneliness and bitterness of the younger brother; Weisz almost steals every scene she’s in, playing the eccentric, kooky Penelope; and Rinko Kikuchi (Oscar-nominated for Babel) plays wonderfully dumb for most of the movie.

The essence of the con movie is that it even as it reveals the working of its tricks it must con the audience as much as target in the narrative: and The Brothers Bloom does leave you guessing until the very end.
Score: 7

Woody Allen’s VCB is not the ever-trumpeted return to form. It’s neither that funny, nor insightful and squanders a fantastic cast: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall and Patricia Clarkson.

And just as Match Point presented a post card picture London, so VCB gives us the titular city as all tourists see it, not as the inhabitants live it.

For what it’s worth, the film tells the story of Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson), two friends, with polar-opposite views of love, on holiday in Barcelona, where they meet Bardem’s free spirit artist and eventually his crazed ex-wife Cruz. Vicky’s and Cristina’s views of love and themselves are changed through their relationship with Bardem and Cruz (both stereotypically Spanish…).

The more I think about it, the more offended I am by how inoffensive, unchallenging and uninspired this film is. Woody: do better – or don’t do at all!
Score: 3.5

LFF review: Synecdoche, New York

Synecdoche, New York is quite possibly one of the maddest and most baffling films I’ve ever seen. This is not entirely surprising when you consider that not only did Charlie Kaufman write it, he also directed it too. This goes beyond Lynchian non-linear madness, elevating Kaufman-esque into a whole new league of craziness.

The cast reads like a whos-who of indie cinema: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hope Davis, Catherine Keener, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samantha Morton, Emily Watson and Michelle Williams to name a few.

The story, such as it can be detected within the madness, concerns theatre director Hoffman’s emotional, psychological and physical breakdown as he ponders the meaning of his life and death and his fear of failure that utterly constrains him. Ultimately his meditation/investigation of his own soul becomes living theatre in a huge warehouse.

Using a time-slip device, not dissimilar to the internal dream logic that held Spotless Mind together (or apart!), Kaufman subjects Hoffman to witnessing those around ageing hundreds of times faster than him, so that the four-year-old daughter he’s missed for a week is suddenly 10 years old.

There are many genuine laughs as well as the trademark unsettling stuff from Kaufman, backed by some heart too. It’s nowhere near as emotionally nourishing as Spotless, but the relationship between Hoffman and Morton is well-staged and played and represents the emotional core of the film.

There will be some reviewers who’ll say that you need to watch this stoned, but that’s simply a cheap escape from trying to make sense of the madness – for there is method behind. Nevertheless this is challenging viewing and maybe better suited to home viewing.
Score: impossible to calculate!

LFF review: Che Parts 1 and 2

Epic in length (4.25 hours in total), if not in scope, Che Parts 1 and 2 is a vain-glorious folly for Steven Soderbergh. Wilfully self-indulgent, intimate without being revealing, this biopic of Ernesto Guevara is an ambitious failure. Part 1 focuses on Che's part in Castro’s revolution in Cuba, while Part 2 charts Che’s attempt to replicate their success in Bolivia

The film’s (or films’) considerable problems should not prevent awards recognition for co-producer Benicio del Toro, who turns in another highly committed performance in the title role. Although it should be noted that demands of the narrative in Part 2 give him little to play with.

Part 1 is the much more satisfying experience, having something close to a narrative arc to follow, rather than Part 2’s by rote history lesson. Part 1 also benefits from more substantial characters for Che to interact with.

Artfully filmed throughout by Soderbergh, both Parts are beautiful to watch. But, and it’s a big but, if you want to see an entertaining, revealing film but Che, you would do better to re-watch the Motorcycle Diaries…
Score: Part 1 – 6.5; Part 2 - 4

LFF review: The Baader Meinhof Complex

While not quite in the exalted company of Downfall and The Lives Of Others, The Baader Meinhof Complex provides a riveting account of the terrorist organisation’s founding and its first decade or so.

With the cream of German acting talent and director/co-writer channelling John Frankenheimer’s touch for classy 70s-style international thrillers, this is a must.

The film successfully draws all the strings of the 60/70s protest movements together, ensuring that we don’t see the Baader Meinhof as lone gunmen but more part of a greater worldwide struggle. Let’s be clear though, the film does not glorify terrorism nor does it overly criticise the West German government – the failures and the costs of action/inaction of both parties come under the spotlight. Indeed, the only likeable character, somewhat perversely, is the chief of police.

The principal leads – Martina Gedeck as Ulrike Meinhof, Moritz Bleibtreu as Andreas Baader, and Johanna Wokalek as Gudrun Ensslin – are all superb, ably backed by an arguably more glittering support cast and cameos.

The film is action-packed, intelligent and revealing. That the film has so much resonance for a modern audience simply highlights the similarities between the 70s and the Noughties: for Nixon, read George W; for US imperialism, read, er, US imperialism…

Highly recommended.
Score: 8.5

LFF review: Broken Lines/Frozen River

These two films, the first British and the second American, are about isolation, but the latter is the more satisfying experience.

In Frozen River, two mothers, unified by their circumstances of loss and driven by desperation, join forces to smuggle immigrants across the border between New York state and Canada. The crossing point is a frozen river that forges thorugh the Mohawk reservation, meaning the smuggling is not illegal until the immigrants leave the reservation.

Melissa Leo is tremendous as the resourceful mother crossing lines to support her family, while Misty Upham also does well with the less sympathetic role of the Mohawk mother. The relationship between the two mothers never truly thaws until the end – again, like the genesis of their relationship, this is as much driven by circumstance as the need to acknowledge the sacrifice of the other.

There’s an air of Lynchian dread throughout, and a fascination with nature’s power.

By no means a happy film, the conclusion is at least satisfying and the characters are believable and sympathetic. Score: 6.5

The same can not be said of Broken Lines. This is a typically unsatisfying slice of London-as-dystopia; indeed if I was to be really harsh, I could say that Broken Lines is nothing more than an 18-rated, feature-length episode of East Enders.

The film depicts the journey of shallow, young property developer (Dan Fredenburgh) as he returns to his Jewish London roots for his father’s funeral. Unable to successfully establish connections with his past and failing to deal with the loss of his father, he hooks up with a woman (Doraly Rosa) working in a nearby café, who’s never the left the locale. Inevitably they have an affair – and of course they force each other to take their first steps towards resolution and maybe happiness.

The cast perform superbly – but we’ve seen it all before. Disappointing.
Score: 4

LFF review: W.

W. is a curious piece that ultimately disappoints. Oliver Stone’s imagining of the life and times of George W Bush is simply not as critical as one might have expected or as the material demands – indeed it’s too even-handed.

W is cast as an unworthy son trying to earn his unforgiving father’s respect and trying to serve penance for his many sins. Stone picks up on W’s conversion to Christianity (off the back of AA meetings, natch) and ultimately the father and son relationship is presented as God and Moses.

While the film is revealing about what a black sheep W was, there is still so much of his journey from there to president that isn’t touched on.

The cast, generally, are superb, especially Josh Brolin, who is superb in the title role. The voice and the physical posturing are spot-on to the point you forget it’s an actor performing. James Cromwell is his usual effective self as George Bush Snr.

And while Stone is not critical enough of W, he’s quite happy to paint the joint chiefs of staff as venal, self-serving incompetents.

W. is a strange hybrid, an ‘imagined biopic’ of a world leader while technically still in power; the trailer presents the film as a comedy – however the only moments of humour in the film are those in the trailer, so it’s no satire. There’s also a sense of West Wing-lite going on too.

It was intriguing seeing this a few days after Religulous: W runs for president because God told him too (a moment so shocking, even W’s preacher is incredulous!).

Come back the hectoring, angry Ollie Stone: all is forgiven!
Score: 5

LFF review: The Warlords

The Warlords is a brutal Shakespearean tragedy set in late 19th century China during the Taiping rebellion. While it never quite scales the heights it is striving for, it does so with class.

The powerhouse Far Eastern cast, Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro (the Hollywood equivalent would be Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Leonardo di Caprio), play three sworn brothers: the first a failed army general and the other two bandits. Circumstances bring all three together, running their own army against the rebels to gain favour with Li’s former masters.

Remarkable battlefield success after success sees Li moving up the greasy pole – but at what cost to the blood bond with Lau and Kaneshiro (appropriately wild-eyed and passionate as the youngest of the three). Ultimately, absolute power must corrupt absolutely and so it does with tragic consequences.

While the battles are impressively and viciously staged, the emotional journeys and political intrigues are less well-handled – look past the epic sweep, the costumes and the gravitas the cast lend to the script and there’s not that much there.

The film swept the board at the Hong Kong Film Awards, taking eight gongs including Best Film, Director (Peter Chan), Actor (Li) and Cinematography, and was a huge hit throughout the Far East. However, I can’t help but wonder if it might have been better served with Tony Leung in Li’s role. Li is by no means out of his depth, effectively portraying his character’s deep need to prove himself to his superiors, but there’s not enough of the character’s heart for us to fully understand his relationship with Lau’s wife upon which some of the tragedy is founded – this may have of course be a failing in the script or the editing.

But I can set all this aside because the battle scenes are magnificent, all death and glory. Indeed the sheer weight of the blood bond between the three is similar to that of the Fellowship of the Ring – if one of the three leads urged you into battle, you’d surely follow.
Score: 7.5

LFF review: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is an indie rom-com lifted above its station by its charismatic leads, Michael Cera and Kat Dennings.

The story is largely predictable: boy’s been dumped, girl is mostly single, friends push them together at a gig but can they escape their baggage and find each other? What do you think?!?! But there is a charm, a sweetness (without being saccharine) to it all that makes this almost impossible to resist.

Indeed Dennings could charm birds from trees, while Cera is so innocent and good-natured (without being naïve) that he must be an angel. In fact as worldy-wise, nerdy geeks go, Cera is the MAN.

The New York locations are appropriately offbeat, and the direction by Peter Sollett of Raising Victor Vargas fame is spot on.
Score: 8

LFF review: Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Anvil are a metal band that never made it. Despite influencing future million-sellers Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, Anvil never had a hit record. But that hasn’t stopped founders Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow (vocals and lead guitar) and Robb Reiner (drums) striving for success for 30 years.

This documentary charts their attempts at one more shot at glory. It’s an emotional roller coaster ride, filmed with full access by Sacha Gervasi, a British writer/director who ran away from home at the age of 16 to join Anvil on tour. He’d lost touch with them for 20 years before hooking up again a few years ago. The film is not a fan’s unquestioning review – the full access means we do see the band in warts and all reality.

This inspirational film has already won audience awards at the Sydney and LA Film Festivals – and must stand a chance of picking up the LFF award, particularly as the band came on stage at the end to perform some of their classics to a cheering audience (below).

















This is the metal film that you don’t have to enjoy metal to like as it’s as much about universal human values like friendship, passion and dogged determination as anything else.

Ultimately, this knocks spots off Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster. Where that revealed how thoroughly unlikeable the band were and how bloated by success they’d become, Anvil reveals two honest, hard-working guys who are not yet prepared to give up on their dreams.

That thanks to the film they may yet achieve their dreams gives hope to us all.
Score: 9
(Photograph courtesy of J Moore Esq)

LFF reviews: The Class/A Perfect Day/A Christmas Tale

I’m lumping these three foreign films together because they were all more than slightly disappointing. The Class (or Entre les murs) won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival.

Based on a script written by a real teacher (who then acquits himself superbly in the lead role), this is the story of the academic year as experienced by a class of kids (real kids, not actors) and their French language teacher.

Set in an inner-city school, with children drawn from different races and religions, this touches no new ground for a British audience well versed in the likes of At The Chalkface and Teachers. The cinema verite style is something of a hinderance too.

It’s well made, well-acted – but has nothing new to say.
Score: 6

A Perfect Day is anything but – don’t be fooled by the name or the poster! This Italian melodrama, while beautifully shot and acted, is really quite depressing.

Borrowing from Tarantino and Arriaga, there’s multiple connections between the characters that seems to serve the script in no positive way.

Isabella Ferrari suffers exquisitely as the single working mother with two kids by her estranged wifebeating husband – who is a cop. There’s no set-up, so we don’t see any of the former couple’s history – which makes them hard to care about.

Horror upon horror is heaped upon Ferrari until her depressed husband does the inevitable and takes his life as well as those of the kids.

Pointless, really.
Score: 3

A Christmas Tale is written and directed by Arnaud Desplechin. Before the screening, he said the film was partly inspired by Wes Anderson’s Royal Tenenbaums – that was the first and only warning! This marathon 150 minutes of dark French so-called humour, anchored around a family Christmas, left me cold.

Catherine Deneuve, at her detached best, is the matriach of the family, hit with a fatal illness. The patriach, a wonderfully resigned Jean-Paul Roussillon, calls the clan together, part in hope of finding a bone marrow donor among the family, and part in hope healing old family wounds in the light of the bad news.

The principal wound is one of the script’s key problems: the reasons for the estrangement between the daughter, the beautifully depressed Anne Consigny, and her eldest brother, played to the manic hilt by Matthew Amalric, is never adequately explained, ensuring we can feel no sympathy for her and the long-term impact it has on the family.

Once again, as with the previous films, it’s all done with style and class and intelligence – but no humanity. So, in the end who cares? Er, I certainly didn’t.
Score: 3

LFF review: Religulous

Religulous is a painfully, shockingly funny documentary in the style of Michael Moore. Fronted by US comedian Bill Maher, who’s always probed religious dogma in his stand-up routines, and directed by Larry Charles, co-creator of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm and director of Borat, this is a timely work, investigating religious beliefs of all shades throughout the world.

Maher’s basic thesis is why do rational people believe and allow their beliefs to over-rule their reasoning – and where does that lead us?

Maher doesn’t just use his comedic talents to shoot down his interviewees – he’s done plenty of research too, and frequently runs (apparent) rings round his subjects. In fact more than a few seem at points to be lost, almost questioning their faith.

While many of the interviews are akin to shooting fish in a barrel, they are very dangerous fish and for our sakes need to be shot!

Maher’s final call to arms (almost literally) tells non-believers to get in the fight (well, debate) before it’s too late – and he’s right.

In an ironic coda to the showing of the film, the Q&A with Larry Charles was hijacked by a Christian eco-warrior…
Score: 8.5

LFF review: Frost/Nixon

The making of one man’s reputation, the final dismantling of another’s, Frost/Nixon is a tremendous work and a fitting continuation of Fourth Estate movies at the London Film Festival (Good Night, And Good Luck in 05; Lions For Lambs in 07).
Brilliantly adapted by Peter Morgan from his own award-winning play, this is compelling, thrilling, darkly funny and tragic cinema, reflecting on living history, and while time and place are beautifully realised, it has points to make about the present and future too.

There are several keys to the success of this movie: one, Morgan’s script which is as unflinching on Frost as it is on Nixon; two, the superb cast, including Michael Sheen and Frank Langella reprising their London and Broadway performances and chemistry, backed by well-picked support (Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Bacon, Toby Jones and Rebecca Hall); and three, consummate, unintrusive direction by Ron Howard.

Shot as a faux documentary, the film charts both protagonists’ reasons for wanting to do the interviews, Frost’s trials and tribulations in setting the interviews up, the preparation (noticeably more focus on Frost here) and then the interviews themselves and their aftermath.

The interviews, if predictably set up as rounds within a boxing match, are astonishing - and the excerpts well-chosen to highlight the protagonists’ strengths and weaknesses. The confession, when it comes, is riveting cinema.

At times in fact, it’s hard not to see Langella replaying one of his great roles: there is more than a whiff of Dracula about Nixon – and the relationship between the ex-president and the TV celebrity is not dissimilar to that between the Count and Jonathan Harker.

At first acquaintance, Frost/Nixon seems endlessly watchable – I suspect repeated viewings will not diminish its power.
At this stage, it’s hard to see any film beating it to all the key Oscars and BAFTAs. This is just plain outstanding.
Score: 10

LFF review: The Other Man

The Other Man is Richard (Notes on a Scandal, Iris) Eyre’s latest effort – and it continues with some of the themes established in his earlier work (loss, betrayal, broken relationships, loneliness).

Using Hitchcockian or even Shyamalan-esque storytelling techniques, this adult drama bears witness to Liam Neeson’s reaction to finding out that his apparently missing wife (the ever excellent, ever beautiful Laura Linney) was/is having an affair. It doesn’t ruin the story to tell you that the other man is played by Antonio Banderas. It almost goes without saying that no-one is quite what they seem.

While the film could be described as charting the problems of rich people’s lives, the performances from all the cast keep it grounded in reality. Neeson is as Neeson does, and unravels excellently; Banderas gets to subvert his Latin machismo; and Linney is given just enough to do to make Neeson’s behaviour understandable.

The shocks and surprises as they come are well-handled by Eyre. However, one of the many criticisms levelled at him on Notes was the intrusive score: he seems to have learnt his lesson, but only a little – the score is always there in The Other Man, but is certainly not as intrusive.

This won’t play as well as Notes on a Scandal, but is worth seeking out when it opens.
Score: 8

LFF review: Dean Spanley

An absolutely fantastic start to my festival, Dean Spanley almost defies description. How do I tell you how good it is without revealing the story? How do I persuade you to see it (and you should) without you thinking it sounds completely mad?

Based on Baron Dunsany’s novel, the story is set at the turn of the 20th century and focuses on the transmigration of souls and essentially four characters: the curmudgeonly Horatio Fisk (Peter O’Toole), his son Henslowe (Jeremy Northam), a colonial fixer (Bryan Brown) and Dean Spanley (Sam Neill) from the local church.

As a diversion to entertain his father, Henslowe and Horatio attend a lecture on the transmigration of the soul where the four first meet each other. Henslowe, dealing with some family trauma, is keen to spend time with the Dean to find out his thoughts about transmigration. To persuade the Dean to come to dinner to discuss the matter, Henslowe procures rare Hungarian wine, Tokay, from Brown’s fixer.

Under the influence of the Tokay, it becomes apparent that the Dean may be living proof of the transmigration of souls – and that proof affects the lives and relationship between father and son and hints at revelations to come for the fixer.
By turns whimsical, uproariously funny, and moving, the film is well directed by Toa Fraser. It’s hard to say who fares best among the cast: early on O’Toole is just playing O’Toole, but further depth and character is revealed; Northam adds some soul to his normal stiff upper lip; Brown reveals himself to be a fine character actor; and Sam Neill delivers a performance that will live long in the memory.

There is so much to say about this film – but only once it’s been seen! Certainly offbeat, definitely worth seeing.
Score: 8.5

Summer box office round-up

Well, no surprise that The Dark Knight is the world’s biggest summer hit with a take of $900m-plus (an astonishing $504m in the US – and still counting – and $400m-plus in the rest of the world), but further analysis reveals some intriguing ‘anomalies’.

Its victory in the US was clear-cut, but second in the US was Iron Man, just out-grossing Indy 4 ($317.8m to $315.8m). However, factor in international grosses of $252m and $466m respectively and Dr Jones wins the fight for second worldwide and first place in the international market. It’s hard to gauge whether Indy 4 under-performed at home or not; there were some early expectations that its take would be closer to $400m in the US.

Iron Man’s success must be considered a shock: he’s hardly up there in the wider public consciousness with Spidey, Supes, the Bat and the X-Men (although he has gradually risen to be arguably the most important Marvel character of the past three or four years). But that crucial early May opening (Marvel month as it’s now known for the success of the Spidey and X-Men franchises) and strong word of mouth did the business, taking the leader of the Avengers to fifth place overall. It wasn’t quite the same break-out success in the UK, taking £17.2m for eighth place.

While Dark Knight was huge in the UK - £45.8m and counting, beating Indy’s £39.8m – it was beaten by Pierce Brosnan’s atrocious singing in Mamma Mia!, which has so far pulled in £54.5m, having spent eight weeks in the top three and will probably pass the £60m mark (only passed by Titanic, the first Harry Potter, and the first and last parts of the Rings trilogy). Indeed, the Abba-fest has now passed Casino Royale on the all-time UK list for fifth place. Mamma Mia!’s performance has been a little lop-sided, as more than one-third of its $258m international haul has come from the UK. Throw in a surprising $132.5m in the States, and its total takes it to ninth on the worldwide list.

Just shy of $600m worldwide was Kung Fu Panda, placing sixth in the US at $213.8m, but pulling in $385m internationally for third place overall. In the UK, it came in seventh on £19.6m.

Fourth-most successful movie worldwide was another super hero: Hancock. The Will Smith vehicle pulled in $350m-plus internationally, backed by $227.4m at home. In the UK, he came in fifth on £24.5m – where he was beaten by a gang of girls led by Sarah Jessica Parker.

SATC was another surprise hit – not a surprise that it was a hit, but that it was such a huge hit: a cool $400m worldwide for seventh place, $248m from the international market alone. In the UK, it pulled in £26.3m.

Just ahead of the girls overall was Narnia’s Prince Caspian, picking up $405m. This was another surprise, falling well-short of the $700m-plus haul of the Lion & the Witch, principally due to the US and UK. In the US, the sequel was more than $150m short of the franchise launch, while in the UK it fell £30m short of its parent.

Wall*E finished just behind the girls for eighth place, just shy of $400m. A box office success or not? The reviews were off the charts, but this enchanting, mesmerising tale fell short of a number other Pixar films. Its take was geared slightly to the US ($218.5m), while the UK saw a not unhealthy £21.5m (which technically means fewer people in the UK paid to see saw Wall*E in the cinema than the first Toy Story...).

Now you might have expected The Incredible Hulk or Wanted to be scrapping over tenth place worldwide, but there’s another surprise. The sequel that surely no-one needed, Mummy 3, trumped the lot with $340m, more than two-thirds from the international market as it eked its way to just shy of $100m in the US. In the UK, it scored £11m.

What does any of this tell us? Not a whole lot. Don’t be fooled by the legs displayed by Dark Knight and Mamma Mia!, both being driven by strong repeat business: big launch weekends are as important as ever. Comics rule, while clever promotion of a new type of chick-flick (Mamma Mia! And SATC are not your straight Julia Roberts rom-coms) can work and deliver big boy-threatening numbers. And the more product Hollywood pumps out at more cost, the greater the number of casualities…

Cinema: the autumn/winter collection

So the summer is nearly over, The Dark Knight has conquered the world and far too many people have discovered Pierce Brosnan can’t sing… It’s time to look to the future. And that future should be more than good: the next seven months are full of exciting and challenging movies from topline directors with class casts.
As ever, some will disappoint, while others will surprise – and who knows who’ll get the Oscar.
Listed below are 30 movies, the first two-thirds in order of release date; the final third do not have UK releases set yet.

How To Lose Friends And Alienate People
3 October
Simon Pegg stars as Toby Young as he hits New York, ready to impress New York with his publishing prowess. Of course, it doesn’t quite play out as he planned…
What does IMDb say?

Body Of Lies
10 October
It’s October, so it must be time for a Ridley Scott-directed two-handed thriller. This time it’s Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio in Iraq.
IMDb

What Just Happened?
10 October
Barry Levinson directs Robert De Niro as a Hollywood producer whose life and movie are going off the rails. Features Bruce Willis as a bearded, overweight, and arrogant version of himself. Part The Player, part Wag the Dog, this could well attract Globe and Oscar noms by the bucket load.
IMDb

Burn After Reading
17 October
The Coens’ follow-up to No Country features Clooney, Pitt, Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and JK Simmons. This is a comedy – so it could be raging success or a glorious failure.
IMDb

Quantum Of Solace
31 October
You know the name; you know the number. Nuff said.
IMDb

W
7 November
Oliver Stone’s comedic biopic of George W Bush will doubtless dominate headlines upon its release, but will the film live up to the coverage. The trailer looks like Stone’s best work for 20 years – and Josh Brolin, as the president, should win awards by the truckload.
IMDb

Blindness
14 November
Fernando Meirelles’ follow up to The Constant Gardener features Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore in a city hit by contagious blindness. As society breaks down, the couple must survive, their one hope: the wife conceals that she is not blind…
IMDb

Changeling
28 November
Clint Eastwood’s first film of the ‘season’ sees him firmly behind the camera, coaxing a likely second Oscar for Angelina Jolie as a mother whose son is kidknapped and then apparently returned. Only the boy returned to her is not her son… Based on real events in 1920s America.
IMDb

Hamlet 2
28 November
A festival favourite, this stars Steve Coogan as a failed actor who ends up as a teacher, directing a politically incorrect high school performance of Hamlet.
IMDB

Lakeview Terrace
5 December
A typically provocative piece from Neil LaBute: middle class, mixed race couple move into middle class suburb and are made to feel spectacularly unwelcome by Samuel Jackson next door, who is of course a cop…
IMDb

The Day The Earth Stood Still
5 December
Er, not much to say: it’s another Hollywood remake, but it could be good.
IMDb

Australia
26 December
Baz Luhrmann mixes the history of Australia with a remake of Out Of Africa: instead of Meryl Streep, we have Nicole Kidman, and in place of Robert Redford, we have Hugh Jackman. Looks like Baz is trying to have his cake and eat it. Could be a flop, but not without its merits.
IMDb

The Spirit
2 January
Using the technology that made Sin City and 300 possible, comics god Frank Miller brings Will Eisner’s visually inventive comic series to the screen. There’s a great supporting cast, but while Miller was a protégé of Eisner, there are concerns in the geek community as to how Miller will approach the material. Will undoubtedly look marvellous, but the rest remains to be seen.
IMDb

Frost/Nixon
9 January
The stage play comes to the big screen courtesy of Ron Howard. While that sentence fails to inspire hope, the original stage cast (Michael Sheen and Frank Langella) are in place. Oscars ahoy.
IMDb

Doubt
16 January
Meryl Streep is a nun who confronts Philip Seymour Hoffman’s priest whom she suspects has abused a student. Just might kick up some fuss in the media.
IMDb

The Road
16 January
Starry cast (Viggo Mortenson, Robert Duvall and Charlize Theron) lead this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalypse survival story.
IMDb

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
23 January
This will either be enormous or another Joe Black. David Fincher directs the Eric Roth-penned story of a man who ages backwards.
IMDb

Revolutionary Road
30 January
Sam Mendes directs his wife, Kate Winslet, and Leonardo DiCaprio as a couple in 1950s Conneticut. Adapted from Richard Yates' 1961 novel. Awards ahoy?
IMDB

Defiance
6 February
Ed Zwick’s latest epic, this time focusing on WWII and three Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell and Liev Schreiber) who escape the Nazis in their native Poland and fight for the Russians. There’s strong buzz on this already.
IMDb

The Soloist
6 February
Joe Wright, director Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, turns to America with this piece about a homeless musical genius, Jamie Foxx, and the journalist, Robert Downey Jnr, who befriends him as he tries to realise his dreams.
IMDb

Che
20 February
Steven Soderbergh’s long-gestating biopic of Che, complete with an awards-worthy turn from Benecio del Toro.
IMDb

Watchmen
6 March
The graphic novel to end all graphic novels finally hits the screen. While not a high street-known name like Spider-Man, X-Men, Superman and Batman, this will likely break 300’s March opening record in the US. The fans are crazy for it; the trailer looks good; fingers are crossed. The benchmark is set very high for this, and it will be a major challenge to not only deliver the product the fans want, but also to make non-fans see it.
IMDb

Without confirmed dates

Appaloosa
If you need a Western, then this should fit the bill. Ed Harris directs himself, Viggo Morternson, Rene Zellweger and Jeremy Irons. Looks good.
IMDb

The Brothers Bloom
From Brick director Rian Johnson comes this follow up with Adrian Brody and Rachel Weisz.
IMDb

Crossing Over
Ensemble piece, possibly in the style of Crash, featuring Penn and Harrison Ford, focusing immigrants attempting to gain legal status in America.
IMDb

Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood’s second film of the season sees both behind and in front of the camera. Clint plays a racist old man who takes a local Asian youth under his wings and tries to improve his lot. More noms for Dirty Harry?
IMDb

Milk
Based on real events, Sean Penn is in Oscar-grabbing mode as the first openly gay official in San Fran. It almost goes without saying that there is no happy ending…
IMDb

Miracle at St Anna
Spike Lee goes to war. Well, sort of, as he directs the true story of four black soldiers trapped in a Tuscan village in WWII.
IMDb

The Burning Plain
The writer of 21 Grams and Babel directs his first feature, focusing on four interweaving stories (natch!). The cast includes Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron. A probable awards contender.
IMDb

Valkyrie
Bryan Singer’s much-delayed black and white epic of the attempt by SS officers to assassinate Hitler. While Tom Cruise takes the lead, the starry British supporting cast (some playing the same senior Nazis for the second or third time) may well secure all the awards nods. Should be excellent.
IMDb

Review: WALL*E

Wall*E deserves every great review it's garnered; it might well be the most entertaining movie of the year. This is the simple tale of a waste collection and compaction droid falling shamelessly and hopelessly in love with a sleek, ipod-influenced recon droid and inadvertently saving humanity from itself. Visually it is breathtaking, but crucially, as with all Pixar works, real care and love have gone into crafting the script: I was in tears of joy and awe throughout.

WALL*E is the only robot left working on Earth (mankind having long since left the planet in massive starliners, overwhelmed by climate change and the detritus of the consumer-based society: waste), building skyscrapers out of the rubbish he compacts, his only a friend a redoubtable cockroach.

He collects man’s ephemera with charming curiosity: plastic cutlery (that after 700 years still hasn’t biodegraded), a Rubic’s cube, a video recording of Hello Dolly (that he watches every night when he gets back to his ‘home’), an egg whisk and a light bulb. Rather disturbingly, he also collects replacement parts for himself from long-since shut-down WALL*Es with nary a second glance.

His tidy little life is opened up when EVE, the sleek, ultra-modern vegetation search robot is dispatched from a passing ship.
WALL*E’s reaction to EVE’s arrival moves swiftly from fear to awe and then to love. While she fails to reciprocate his feelings, she clearly senses a kindred spirit in WALL*E. Their future together comes to a grinding halt when she discovers he has found a plant: her directive fulfilled, she takes the plant and goes into ‘sleep’ mode until the ship returns.

WALL*E attempts to re-awaken her to no avail, and decides that she just needs to go on some dates; while beautifully realized by Pixar’s animators, WALL*E’s thoughtfulness is in vain: the ship returns and removes EVE.

If there’s a criticism to be made of this film, it comes now. Up to this point in the story, Pixar produces its bravest and most original work to date: the only dialogue uttered by the two robots are their names and ‘directive’, otherwise all other emotions are communicated via WALL*E’s beeps and whistles (created by the sound engineer behind R2D2), his body language and the soundtrack. The storytelling is sleek and minimal, pared down for maximum impact. Arguably once the distraught WALL*E smuggles himself on board the ship, the film echoes the likes of Monsters Inc, devolving (with no loss of character, mind) in to series of chases and face-offs.

But that may be a petty criticism in the face of such brilliance and audacity, for the script still has many highs to hit and, indeed, points to make: WALL*E uncovers the full horror of what has happened to humanity: waited on hand and foot by robots, humans are so overweight they no longer walk, instead carried around on hover chairs. Drama, conspiracy, awakenings and near-death ensue, but love ultimately must triumph.

The film features many nods to sci-fi classics (and some not so classics), some conscious (Sigourney Weaver voicing the starliner’s computer announcer), some unconscious (WALL*E’s design is reminiscent of Johnny 5 in Short Circuit). And while the temptation must have been there, there are no pastiches of classic sci-fi scenes: the focus remains on the two hearts at the core of the story.

There are a few intriguing observations that emerge: while the foundations of the story are rooted in a form of apocalypse, its message is one of hope; humanity’s dependency on robots leads them to exist in the same way, lifeless, unquestioningly following a series of procedures and protocols with no curiosity (a frightening warning as computer geeks continue to inherit the earth, their developments almost determining how we live; and yet, perversely, without that hardware and software, this film could not exist); that waste, more than climate change, might be our ultimate downfall; and while we never find out if androids do dream of electric sheep, we do learn that even robots want to hold hands.

Superb stuff. A hanky may be necessary.

Score: 9.5/10

Review: The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best comic book adaptations yet produced by Hollywood. Indeed it might even be the best as it distills so much Bat-lore into an intelligent, gripping, menacingly beautiful summer actioner/character study. It easily stands comparison with Superman (The Movie and II), Spider-Man (the first two), the first two X-Men, and its own parent Batman Begins.

The film starts as it means to go on with a stunning, action-packed bank heist that puts Messrs Bourne and Bond - and Michael Mann's vaunted machismo - in their place. The seven-minute scene is a superb example of script, storyboarding, shooting panache and crisp editing dovetailing to winning effect. It also sets the tone of the film: it might be a 12A, but this is no film for kids - it's psychologically black, it's violent, and it venerates an anarchist terrorist.

That terrorist is of course the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. This is not meant disrespectfully: it's probably best he died because he would never have risen to this level again; the Joker would have been an albatross around his neck. Yes, everything you've heard about his performance is true: it goes way beyond acting, he utterly becomes the Joker - there is no residual trace of Heath Ledger. And the memory of Jack Nicholson's Joker is destroyed. The Joker, as envisioned here, is the best cinematic expression of Batman's arch-villain yet.

While very much the protagonist of the piece, Ledger/Joker is not the character at the film’s emotional core: that role goes to Aaron Eckhart's DA, Harvey Dent, Gotham's white knight. Dent's ascent to DA and his subsequent actions while in office mark him out as much a thorn in the side of Gotham's crime bosses as the Batman - but the brightest flame burns quickest, so his tragic descent is gut-wrenching in every way - and as worthy of Oscar in its restraint as Ledger's intensity and exuberance. Dent also gets the best, and most telling line: "You either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

What about the titular hero? Christian Bale once again handles the post-modern take on classic DC duality (Batman is the ego/Bruce Wayne the alter-ego) well and is a muscular screen presence. His scenes with Michael Caine's Alfred and Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox (gravitas personified) unearth the humanity beneath the Wayne/Bat mask, but ultimately the role is always secondary to the colourful villains, who crucially have no rules, no boundaries, no personal codes.

Indeed, the question of personal codes is one of the key themes of the script: Dent's integrity, Wayne's disdain, Batman's crusade tempered by his desire to not kill, Jim Gordon's blinkered approach to the corruption all around him, and the Joker's belief in no codes at all. Ultimately each character is asked to step up, their code put to the test - and not all emerge honour intact.

What of the story? Batman's got the mob running scared, the mob ‘hire’ the Joker at the same time as new the DA marches into town, chaos ensues (mostly wrought by the Joker), many die and Batman, Gordon and Dent must save themselves and Gotham time and again as the screenplay's operatic vision sweeps to its twisted, but righteous conclusion.
Ultimately, the Joker’s anarchy forces lessons of self-knowledge upon Batman, Dent, Gordon and the citizens of Gotham. The final lesson learnt is that there is no room for white knights when the likes of the Joker are around. It is impossible for white knights to defeat his ilk without succumbing to their darkness – or without sacrifice.

The Dark Knight was conceived by director/co-writer Christopher Nolan, in concert with his brother and David Goyer: and they clearly know their Bat facts. The presence and echoes of key Bat works are evident throughout: Loeb and Sale’s Long Halloween, Miller’s Year One (the template for much of Batman Begins) and The Dark Knight Returns, and Moore and Boland’s Killing Joke (the latter two books really set the modern template of the Joker as a psychotic knowing no limits). It would be lazy to compare The Dark Knight to the Godfather – but it’s the only other film that springs to mind that so successfully meets its operatic goals.

The duality of many of the lead characters and their questioning of their own beliefs are themes that Nolan is clearly drawn to, as evidenced by his earlier works Memento (indeed the Joker never explains the origin of his ‘smiling’ wound the same way twice), Insomnia, Batman Begins and The Prestige. But here he worries the bone of those themes, dissects them further.

Nolan’s direction, along with top-notch technical credits (particularly Wally Pfister behind the camera, and the paranoid score), mean The Dark Knight ranks as one of the three best films I’ve seen this year. The action sequences are breathtaking, jaw-dropping – and are aided by full IMAX presentation, reinforcing the dynamism and (vertigo-inducing) scope.

The Dark Knight is brilliant, no doubt. If you're going to see it, then I heartily recommend you do so at an IMAX screen to really wow your senses and enjoy Nolan’s vision to the full.

The score below is not a ‘10’: I’ll reserve judgment, see it again and then wait to see how it ages. I suspect it will age exceptionally well – unfortunately for us it will remain relevant as the fabric of society continues to decay.
Score: 9.5/10