First the bad news: the Cone of Shame. I was very tempted to hand this to Aquaman - quite how this nonsense is heading to $1bn beggars belief. It's not as bad as Justice League, but it's not a whole heap better. But the Cone of Shame goes to the hopelessly misguided snorefest that was Peterloo. Buried beneath the endless speeches was an important slice of history, but I firmly believe Ken Loach would have done a better job because he would have realised the importance of telling a story - something that apparently escaped Mike Leigh's attention. Leigh's approach might have worked if stretched across four one-hour episodes of quality television, but as a 2.5-hour movie, it massively under-delivered.
The Best Score of 2018 was Paul Sanderson's sympathetic soundtrack to Three Identical Strangers: as the narrative shifts from triumph to mystery to tragedy, so his score shifts too, never abruptly, emphasising and reinforcing the story.
The Golden Stan for Best Cinematography is a somewhat one-sided affair even though there was so much great work to admire, including:
- Martin Otterbeck's 72-minute single take in Utoya - 22 July, running, crawling, splashing through the water helped to make the film even more unbearable to watch;
- Robbie Ryan's fish eye and non-Steadicam (in natural light) add greatly to the Kubrickian air of The Favourite;
- Linus Sandgren embraced and overcame the challenges set by his director, working across 16mm, 35mm and IMAX, creating significant levels of immersion at First Man's dramatic height;
- Julie Kirkwood caught the disorientating sun-bleaching of LA perfectly in Destroyer;
- Lukas Zal, working in 4:3 ratio, produced only the second-best black and white work of the year (although noticeably higher contrast than the ultimate winner) in Cold War; and
- Matyas Erdely repeated his stunt for Son Of Saul, the camera always in the face or seemingly on the shoulder of Sunset's hero, immersing the audience in her fever dream.
But none of these scoop the trophy. With his preferred DOP, Emmanuel Lubezki, unavailable, Alfonso Cuaron shot ROMA himself: and what a job he did! The resulting beautiful black and white compositions linger long in the memory.
The Best Adapted Screenplay goes to Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for Avengers: Infinity War. For my money, they just about pulled off the impossible. Their key decision early on was to make the villain the protagonist, the super heroes the pesky kids trying to thwart his plan. The high stakes were clear from the beginning, the character beats perfectly deployed, and the action well-staged. The mismatch of heroes was well-thought through: the Beard Brothers of Tony Stark and Stephen Strange absolutely not getting on; the comedy tag team of Thor and Rocket ("Rabbit"); and the 'sisters' of Black Widow, Scarlet Witch and Okoye doing it for themselves. And the decision to give Steve Rogers the best gag in the movie was particularly inspired.
The Best Original Screenplay Golden Stan is another one-sided affair: in fact, it's a one-space affair. The hands-down winner is The Guilty, written by Gustav Moller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen. This Danish thriller in the Hitchcockian tradition was simply perfect: a humdinger of an idea, well thought-out and sublimely executed.
And now on to the acting categories. First up, Best Supporting Actress; the shortlist is:
- Allison Janney/I, Tonya
- Rachel McAdams/Disobedience
- Lesley Manville/Phantom Thread
- Sissy Spacek/The Old Man & The Gun
- Marina de Tavira/ROMA
- Jodie Whittaker/Journeyman
Janney's casting as Tonya's mother was hardly against type, but she was absolutely right for the role. McAdams delivered a timely reminder that there's so much to her than romcoms and a super hero's girlfriend. Manville comfortably held her own against Daniel Day-Lewis, her eyes hinting at an almost Lady Macbeth command of the man in her life. Spacek lit up the screen in her scenes with Robert Redford. De Tavira had arguably the more challenging role in ROMA, her character's heart always there as she shifts from the hero's boss, to discarded wife, to benevolent matriarch. And Dr Who played a significant part in Journeyman and that phone call scene (possibly the gut punch scene of the year). The award goes to Lesley Manville.
The shortlist for Best Supporting Actor is:
- Josh Brolin/Avengers: Infinity War
- Kevin Costner/Molly's Game
- Ben Foster/Leave No Trace
- Nicolas Hoult/The Favourite
- John Krasinski/A Quiet Place
- Alessandro Nivola/Obedience
Brolin's Thanos is almost up there with Andy Serkis's Gollum for the best motion-capture performance. In truth, Costner's appearances in Molly's Game are little more than extended cameos, but he nails them perfectly, in particular the free psych session in the park. Foster deserves much wider recognition than he's getting for his broken soldier. Hoult is a hoot in The Favourite - he might do better to focus on comedy in the future, with this performance acting as a calling card. Krasinski juggled the role of playing support to his wife while directing her very well. Nivola was a sympathetic 'wronged' man, his accent spot-on. But the winner has to be Ben Foster.
The Best Actress shortlist runs to 10 exemplary performances:
- Emily Blunt/A Quiet Place, and Mary Poppins Returns
- Olivia Colman/The Favourite
- Clare Foy/Unsane
- Juli Jakab/Sunset
- Nicole Kidman/Destroyer
- Eva Melander/Border
- Chloe Grace Moretz/The Miseducation of Cameron Post
- Margot Robbie/I, Tonya
- Emma Stone/The Favourite
- Rachel Weisz/Obedience, and The Favourite
The Best Actor shortlist also runs to 10 excellent performances:
- Jakob Cedergren/The Guilty
- Paddy Considine/Journeyman
- Steve Coogan/Stan & Ollie
- Jim Cummings/Thunder Road
- Ethan Hawke/First Reformed
- Oleg Ivenko/The White Crow
- Hugh Jackman/The Front Runner
- Rami Malek/Bohemian Rhapsody
- Mads Mikaelsen/Arctic
- Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
The Best Director shortlist is:
- Ali Abbassi/Border
- Damien Chazelle/First Man
- Alfonso Cuaron/ROMA
- Craig Gillespie/I, Tonya
- Debra Granik/Leave No Trace
- John Krasinski/A Quiet Place
- Yorgos Lanthimos/The Favourite
- Christopher McQuarrie/Mission: Impossible - Fallout
- Gustav Müller/The Guilty
- Laszlo Nemes/Sunset
Ok, let's get the big shock out of the way: Cuaron doesn't win! ROMA while brilliantly shot by Cuaron, is perhaps a little cold, a tad removed from the heart of the narrative. The other shock: yes, I've nominated McQ for M:I6, an outstanding piece of action cinema. Chazelle showcased his range, while challenging himself and his crew technically. Krasinski came from nowhere to helm the year's best horror with apparent ease and solid judgment. Nemes conjured a dreamscape that lingers long in the memory. Abbassi embraced the modern fairytale, imbuing it with touches of Lynch and Shyamalan. Granik drew excellent performances from her two stars, handling the story with sensitivity. Gillespie clearly played a significant role in the year's most audience-challenging movie. Lanthimos continued his Kubrickian observations of the human condition. But the winner is Gustav Moller for the Hitchcockian perfection of The Guilty.
A new category for 2018 is Best Documentary, reflecting how many great non-fiction works there were last year. Here's the shortlist:
- Fahrenheit 9/11
- The Bill Murray Stories
- They Shall Not Grow Old
- Three Identical Strangers
To an extent, Peter Jackson's WWI reimagining is beyond criticism for all the right reasons, but I felt a little short-changed having seen the Somme movie a few years back. Fahrenheit 9/11 was an angry, passionate and timely investigation that deserves a bigger audience. Three Identical Strangers was compelling, shocking and horrifying. But the Golden Stan goes to the Bill Murray Stories because it's that rare documentary - it preaches and offers hope - and I suspect it will stand up to repeat viewings.
And finally, the big one, its Best Film. There's no shortlist here, but a long list of the films that affected me in 2018 (in the order in which I saw them) and I recommend each and every one of them. There are some notable absences: The Square (at times brilliant, but there was just too much going on, emphasised by the madness throughout); Cold War (I struggle with the hashtagMeToo of it); and Hereditary (had some great sequences, but didn't journey to its shock, folk horror finale smoothly enough; too many plots points borrowed from masterpieces of the genre). Here, then, is the list:
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: blackly funny as hell, almost theatrical in its timing and the audience reactions; great script and great performances.
- Darkest Hour: a surprise mega-hit in the UK, Oldman's finest hour occasionally brought a lump to the throat; only one or two trick shots from Joe Wright - hopefully the critical and commercial reaction to this means his got his mojo working again after the disaster that was Pan.
- I, Tonya: a giant 'fuck you' of a movie with Margot Robbie on top form edges towards greatness thanks to the intelligence of its approach - [spoiler alert!] arguably, once you're into the second half of the movie, you should be questioning yourself, 'am I complicit in the (gender- and class-based) judgement and the media's intrusion and shaming of an athlete? Am I part of the problem or part of the solution?'
- Journeyman: the boxing and the boxing community feels utterly authentic as do the performances, particularly from Paddy and Jodie. As previously mentioned, the most emotionally devastating moment of the year was the phonecall between the two, almost matched by the lump in the throat that accompanies the finale.
- A Quiet Place: a superior horror - indeed, is it more chiller than horror? Whatever, Krasinski's brilliant re-working of the script, his sure touch behind the camera and his wife's outstanding performance made this the must-see of the spring. I might have held off on revealing so much of the beasties though.
- Avengers: Infinity War: the Marvel motherlode! The Russo Brothers, in combination with Markus and McFeely, almost delivered a riposte to Logan: while lighter in tone, it was just as thematically dark and just as brave, concentrating on the villain. The decision to end with the simple text, 'Thanos will return', just rammed the point home: this was the Thanos movie - and he was right. But the Marvel humour was there, especially in Cap's timeless reply to Groot: "I am Steve Rogers!"
- Beast: intriguing, quintessentially British folk chiller that might just herald the arrival of a talent to watch in writer-director Michael Pearce.
- Leave No Trace: Debra Granik's very worthy follow-up to Winter's Bone. Featuring a turn from Ben Foster that deserves more awards heat than it's getting, this quiet, sensitive movie delves into another tribe that America has chosen to forget, offering no easy or pat answers. As with so few movies, it dares to suggest that some people just can't be or don't want to be saved in the space of a 90-minute narrative - and I'm more than OK with that.
- First Reformed: a top flight performance from Ethan Hawke anchors this Taxi Driver update. Ascending to heaven and descending to hell while resolutely stuck in a harsh reality, Paul Schrader's film does have some issues, not least that it doesn't, for my money, fully earn its more fantastical, fanciful moments nor its finale.
- The Miseducation of Cameron Post: one of the few films that I strongly recommend you watch at home. Why? The gossamer-light tone is easily spoiled by other cinema-goers' reactions. An inclusive, non-judgmental look at a teenager forced to 'pray the gay away' that, while set in the 90s, remains horribly relevant. Chloe Grace Moretz is outstanding in the lead.
- Ant-Man & The Wasp: funny and engaging romp, with Evangeline Lilly to the fore. In so much that nobody dies, this is Marvel's first family movie. Pure joy!
- Black k Klansman: Spike Lee's best and most relevant film in ages. Hugely enjoyable and full of righteous anger, but would the film be half the experience that it is without it's factual, modern day crushing depth charge of an epilogue?
- Mission: Impossible - Fallout: more than one impossible stunt after another, the sixth IMF movie just about made sense and even had some genuine emotion at the heart of it. The next Bond (due Valentine's Day 2020) has a lot to live up to.
- The Guilty: an impossibly perfect Hitchcockian thriller; the experience of watching it is greater than the sum of its still excellent parts.
- Arctic: the virtually dialogue-free survival movie template of All Is Lost and Gravity is transplanted to the Arctic with considerable power. Mads is terrific, but watch out for the polar bear!
- Border: the year's best (only?) modern, Grimm's fairytale. Great direction and performances, a genuine sense of 'otherness' seeps through the film.
- Green Book: as the world becomes more divided, so Peter 'Dumb and Dumber' Farrelly delivers a feel-good movie in the Hollywood grand tradition. Not challenging, but a source of light and hope in a world that seems hellbent on going to the dogs.
- The Old Man & The Gun: quite old school, slightly mischeivous, this hinges on Robert Redford's easy screen charm. His scenes with Spacek are an absolute delight.
- Utoya - 22 July: in no way was this entertainment, but it sure was one of the most unrelenting immersive experiences you could endure in a cinema in 2018. Excellent editorial decision to not give the crazed killer the oxygen of publicity.
- First Man: while not quite the critical hit that both Whiplash and La La Land were, and not in the same commercial league as the latter, Chazelle nevertheless made the most of the impact of IMAX. Even though you know the outcome, my palms were sweaty with the tension of the moon landing.
- ROMA: Cuaron's intimate epic recreation of his childhood is a considerable achievement, and while he posits film-making as a team effort, he wrote, shot, directed, edited and produced this piece and thus it's a true auteur's work. See it on the big screen to marvel at the black and white cinematography and the outstanding sound design.
- Sunset: Nemes's follow-up to Son of Saul doesn't quite scale the same heights, but the fever dream foretelling of the coming war in Europe in the early 20th century is hypnotic stuff.
- Duplicate: excellent, small-scale sci-fi musing on mental health. Catch it if you can.
- The Favourite: already Lanthimos's most successful commercially, it's hard to fail to observe that he did not write the script. Nevertheless, his print is evident in all areas of the film. It would have been very easy to shoot the script as a straight Blackadder-style comedy, but Lanthimos loads the film with his touches and his concerns. Exquisite performances from the leads. And the best deployment of the C-word since 48-Inch Chest.
- Bohemian Rhapsody: by some substantial margin not perfect, but this is the movie that Freddie would have wanted. Is it gay enough? No. Is it debauched enough? No. Does the recreation of Queen's Live Aid in full IMAX blow you head off? Hell, yes! Does Rami Malek become Freddie? Absolutely. If the BFI IMAX screens it on the anniversary of Freddie's death every year, will I be there? Most definitely!
- Disobedience: outstanding performances from Weisz, McAdams and Nivola in this even-handed tale of love and faith in a cold climate. Deserves much wider recognition than it's getting.
- Stan & Ollie: an absolute joy. Predictable, but with buckets of old world charm from a more innocent age.
Bring on 2019!
No comments:
Post a Comment