Top 5 (2010)

5. The Karate Kid

Director: Harald Zwart
Writers: Christopher Murphey (screenplay), Robert Mark Kamen (story)
Stars: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith and Taraji P. Henson

 Spotlight: 2010 in the remake stakes was supposed to be the year of The A-Team, however this modification of the 1984 original would transpire into one of the years pleasant surprises. The key to Director Harald Zwartz's success is in its ability to forgo nostalgic sentiments, the story is taken to new places and different faces trading Los Angeles for the mystique and beauty of Beijing. Of course the core components are in tact Jaden Smith is "the Kid" - Dre ripped from all he has ever known in Detroit, and forced to belie his early years in order to assimilate with the cultural, educational and social transitions of a new life in the far east. There is a girl, there are beatings to take and lessons to learn too. The most difficult task for the project would be to replace the iconic Mr Miyagi and who better than a legend of Jackie Chan's standing, Chan play's Mr Han a janitor and inwardly tortured soul who guides Dre from tears to glory. Chan's performance is subtle, gracious and most importantly real- Far above the buffoonery of his earlier works but still recognisably Chan when it comes to the physical elements of his martial arts. The Karate Kid shifts effortlessly between near operatic grandeur, terrier like spirit and sweeping melodrama whilst still preserving all the charm and innocence of the original and maybe more.


4. Another Year 
Director: Mike Leigh
Writer: Mike Leigh
Stars: Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville
Low down: Tom and Gerri have a solid marriage but those around them are crumbling in Mike Leigh’s follow up to Happy Go Lucky (2008) which is part character study, part comedy, part tragedy portrayed with a devastating sense of triviality and observational terror. 

3. Mr Nice 
Director: Bernard Rose
Writer: Bernard Rose (screenplay)
Stars: Rhys Ifans, Chloë Sevigny and David Thewlis
Low down: International drug trafficking has never felt more innocuous in cinema than Rhys Ifans Pot pedalling depiction of  Howard Marks. Mr Nice based on Marks’ Autobiography of the same name is a real gem that smokes, cries, cheats and shags its way to oblivion and back at least twice. 

 
2. The Town  
Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Peter Craig (screenplay), Ben Affleck (screenplay)
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm 

Spotlight: The Bank robbery is Hollywood’s favourite criminal pastime, whether it’s a suave Thomas Crown or a maniacal comic book villain heist movies come and go, year in year out with almost inevitable certitude. Charlestown is “The Town” and is to Bank Robbers what Orlando is to theme park junkies. Further it is a brutish Boston suburb painted in much the same way as in Scorsese’s Departed (2006) as a criminal municipality where the boundaries between the right sides and the wrong sides of the law are faded lines of obscurity and communal division. Ben Affleck is the architect on and off screen, firstly he plays Doug Macray a career Bank-buster at a sudden cross roads in his life following a partially bungled recent job. An equivocal middle-manager Doug begins to question his career prospects but between his subordinates including out of control crime partner Jem (Jeremy Renner) and superior big boss Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite) getting out wont be easy. An equal measure of irony and fate provide the real complication when Bank manager and former victim Claire (Rebecca Hall) becomes the catalyst for his change of heart as they fall in love. 

Secondly and perhaps most impressively is Affleck's work behind the camera, The Town is a slick, confident almost self assured crime thriller. Affleck in his second directorial offering captures absorbing dramatics, finding his characters weakness' and magnifying their strengths. It's more than just cops and robbers pastiche, a tale of forbidden love, a metaphor for inner less tangible imprisonment, with misplaced loyalties and displaced enemies.

 

 
1.Inception 


Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page


Spotlight: Prior to Inception's release Christopher Nolan's greatest triumph was arguably a battle between  2000's mercurial masterstroke Memento, a deeply cerebral thriller, driven by an uncompromising flair for invention or The Dark Knight (2008) a giant of a movie rich in cinematic bluster, yet at the same time a diligent exploration of character and goods relationship with evil. When it comes down to it Inception manages to take the best of both worlds Cobb played by Leonardo Dicaprio is every bit the broken man that Memento's Leonard Shelby is, both are widowers paradoxically tortured by the memories of their wives but live only to preserve them. As with our adventure with the Caped Crusader Inception is a team effort, everyone has a role to play be it Ariadne's (Ellen Page) DIY psychology, Arthur's efficiency or Eames' (Tom Hardy) creativity it's all part of the plan.

The central idea is intuitive if not simple, "Dream Sharing" is a concept that allows multiple persons access to the dreams of another. "Extraction" is the art of manipulating the dream to steal ideas and information from the dreamer. "Inception" is the seemingly unknown feat like a pre-conquered Everest where its possibility is questioned, this time an idea needs to be implanted rather than supplanted and Cobb a is set the challenge which stands between him and a return to normality. 

Quietly Nolan has become a master of the action set-piece and Inception is filled with all of the white-knuckle thrills that wouldn't look out place if his surname where Bay or Mann. We get everything from explosions and adrenaline fueled chase scenes to zero gravity punch-ups and a multitude of shoot out sequences which adds tension at the same time as providing relief from the mind bending narrative. All of which is perhaps Nolan's most significant accomplishment here, in that Blockbuster budget is parted from Blockbuster cliche, a film that both engages and explodes with imagination at the simultaneously.. 

New - Chatroom (2010)

In a year that served us with the Social Network and Inception we have a piece in the way of Chatroom (2010) that as strange as it may seem manages to drop between the weightier concepts of its two more esteemed colleagues. Nolan's world is the looser comparison but whereas dream and dream space are used as an extension of the psyche, Director Hideo Nakata attempts a physical representation of the Internet chat room, caught somewhere between abstract fantasy and an extension of ones persona in a domain that allows endless creative freedom for it.

Whilst you will not find any reference to Facebook directly, there is clear comparison to the Social Networks look into the effect of the internet on younger generations and their communicative dependence on it. The insight however comes from a different angle as we see consequence- Ostracism, broken parental relationships and obsession. Thematically we are in a darker world of Paedophilia, Suicide, Self harm and so on, our Subjects are teen caricatures Aaron Johnson (Kick Ass) plays the lead as William a seemingly causeless rebel and leader of the group which includes posh girl Eva (Imogen Poots), loner Jim (Matthew Beard), geek Emily (Hannah Murray) and self doubting Mo (Daniel Kaluuya).

When it comes to the execution Chatroom suffers from an overdose of its own ideas, all of which never materialise into anything remotely as interesting as the abundant pretences. For example there are two occasions where the film breaks out stop motion animation sequences in a naive attempt to deliver some parts of the narrative. Naïve is also an apt way to describe the cast whose performance is little more than comprehensive school drama club standard, coupled with a script which paints it's characters as vaguely existential. Nakata must take some of the blame also, the film is horrifically paced and even the 90 minute run time feels like a slog, lack of discipline is his ultimate flaw here multiple ideas without substance are no match for substantial development of a single idea.

5/10

New Burlesque (2010)

From seemingly nowhere there has been a recent outburst of interest in all things Burlesque, transmogrified by fashion, dance and other mediums in an attempt to modify the niche into something more commercial and accessible. So it's no surprise that Hollywood would get in on the action with Burlesque (2010) a feature length debut for Christina Aguilera alongside fellow musical behemoth Cher.

Stylistically Burlesque is a musical, although luckily there are no spontaneous outbreaks of song and dance except for when Cher decides to sing us a song to signify how fed up she is. Ultimately everything is constructed around the theatre and performance, driven by a collection of music/cabaret video sequences glued together by what turns out to be a fairly interesting set of characters and stories. Centrally we have a little cliché, Ali (Aguilera) is a small town girl from Iowa who decides she wants to leave behind everything to pursue the dreams and promise of Los Angeles. Destiny guides her to would be mentor Tess (Cher) the divorced, struggling owner of a neo-Burlesque club "The Burlesque Lounge". Ali becomes enamoured with the club, as well as Jack (Cam Gigandet) a hunky barman whose already complicated love life is thrown into further turmoil when he find himself with Ali as a makeshift roommate.

The tagline reads "It takes a LEGEND... to make a STAR!" which is sort of embolismic of the Aguilera/Cher partnership, Cher herself has managed to put together a fairly impressive acting career and her young on screen protégé is quite impressive in this debut. We see Ali jumble the juxtapositions of her womanhood, love life, her career and the accompanying emotions they bring to good effect. Christina already has the look of a Hollywood star and the talent is on show here to suggest that she could have a substantial big screen future. Cher does her bit too playing the struggling business woman married to her struggling club which she faces losing, until Ali's hidden singing talents re-energises her club and show. The Sharks are circling meanwhile and Tess must fight them off if the club is to survive, among the predators are an Ex-husband (Peter Gallagher) she must buy out, an aggressive Tycoon (Eric Dane), and the destructive jealousy of her former star pupil (Kristen Bell).

There are some problems however, script and resulting dialogue are a little misjudged, often being overly fluffy and cute instead of really taking on some of it's themes with real bite. Hence the message of the film is a little lost somewhere between feminist empowerment and the true nature of Burlesque as an art form, with the latter summed up by the repeated lines "They're not here to hear us sing" which appears to fall on deaf ears. As a result Burlesque's audience is a little ambiguous, it doesn't feel like a girls night out in the way a Sexy In The City Movie might, but still mature enough to halt teenagers flocking en masse, all of which is possibly the price to pay when bringing a niche into the mainstream.

Surprisingly solid.

6/10

New The Tourist (2010)

Stop me if you’ve heard this before in 2010: Hollywood A-list male and Hollywood A-list female thrust together in part funny, part romantic, part action-thriller movie madness. Ring any bells? Well cast your mind back to the summer where Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz teamed up in James Mangold’s rollercoaster Knight and Day (2010). The Tourist appears to work along similar lines, most prominently we get another glowing partnership with co-stars Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp this time taking center stage, which in itself affords The Tourist slightly more potential due to Jolie and Depp's greater talents.

Venice is the beautiful and idyllic setting for the story to take place, a labyrinth of Canals symbolic of the divisive narrative awash with twists and turns keeping both audience and subjects off balance. Elise (Jolie) is an elegantly poised English beauty, whose demeanour combines a fierce sophistication with near aristocratic sensibilities. Elise is attempting to rendezvous with a criminal love interest named Alexander Pearce, whilst simultaneously shaking off surveillance from international law enforcement hoping to track down the same person. Elise fatefully becomes acquainted with Frank (Depp) the American tourist a widowed Maths teacher. The plot then takes on a Keyser Soze-esque dynamic which sees all parties including a sinister Steven Berkoff searching Venice for Pearce yet his identity nobody knows or even can be sure exists at all. 

  

Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck it would seem has a difficult job to knead the ingredients into something worth watching, he manages to abstain from the wall to wall buffoonery of the aforementioned Knight and Day by focusing more on the aesthetic delights of his stars and scenery, allowing Jolie and Depp room to conjure up an at times engaging on screen chemistry. The viewing experience in the end is fairly satisfying as the tourist does little more than flaunt its good looks in an entertaining fashion that masks successfully its flaws.

7/10  

2 Talk About

Cars In Film

The other night I am watching Collateral (2004) which is essentially a typical Michael Mann movie where we have 2 central male leads and some how in our exploration of them Mann is going to demonstrate that they are two ends of the same stick. Anyway the reason I bring this up is that one of the highlights for me of the film is the opening scene in which takes place inside the Taxi of Max (Jamie Foxx) as we observe an at times insightful conversational exchange with Jada Pinkett Smith's character Annie, whilst a quite soulful Groove Armada number adds a lush tone to the scene.

So it had me think about other classic in car movie moments, and in an effort to become more interactional I thought I'd invite you to share you most revered in car movie memories. It could be a car chase like some of my favourites such as Nic Cage tearing up the streets of San Francisco in the The Rock (1996) or Steve McQueen doing likewise in Bullitt (1968). It may be a Road Movie or as mentioned earlier a one off scene.

Any way this is what I'm bringing to the table.

1. Seven (1995)

Scene: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey

In order to complete his murderous masterpiece John Doe (Spacey) strikes a deal with detectives Mills (Pitt) and Somerset (Freeman) which culminates in the trio's fated car journey. What makes the scene work is the dynamic of control and restraint, Somerset is the driver but Doe is the navigator shackled in hand cuffs, yet Mills is the one who seems caged. It's a classic 3 way battle for supremacy with an atmosphere you could cut with a spoon, highlighted by Morgan Freeman's occasional glances into to his rear view mirror which sit somewhere between fear and fascination.




2. Vanishing Point (1971) 

Barry Newman's task appears simple as Kowalski he must deliver a white 1970 Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco by Monday. After small bet and and troubled encounter with law the delivery in addition becomes a chase. With only the help of DJ Super Soul to guide him Vanishing Point is a superbly cool and psychedelic race against the odds, filled with a smoothly joyful soundtrack and a sense of infinite wonder and open interpretation.

What are yours?