For 2013

10. Byzantium

Director: Neil Jordan
Writer:Moira Buffini (play)
Stars:Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley

Nearly 20 years after his star power fuelled Vampire Romp Interview With The Vampire (1994) Director Neil Jordan returns to the genre with one of the years more underrated films.  Byzantium brings together a pair of contrasting beauties with Arterton’s spitefully seductive good looks and Ronan’s laser blue eyed innocence both preserved in eternal life as Soucriants (Vampires) living a transient lifestyle in order to both survive and escape the darkness of their origins. The Seaside setting which becomes our subjects adopted home transcends the vampirism they exhibit, with its transformational qualities of day and night, light and dark with the coming and going like the tide making it a less than ideal place to hide in the plain sight of normality. Sexy, dark and loaded with expositional back story Byzantium is a must see for Vampire fans.

9.Don Jon

Director:Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Writer:Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Stars:Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore

The personal nature of debut movie making has never been more evident than in Joseph Gordon Levitt’s razor sharp writing and directorial effort Don Jon. There is the imposing presence of the film that arguably made his name in (500) Days of Summer, Levitt for at least half of the movie sets out to recreate a similar style of reoccurring motifs and busy camera tricks which catch the eye and draw the audience in. Jon is an oily haired lothario obsessed with his six pack, sin, casual sex and internet pornography but somehow managing to conjoin them all into a lifestyle in which he is overly content. When love interest Barbara (Johansson) arrives on the scene her own obsessions of outwardly projecting success and romantic movies mix like oil and water with Jon’s and in this we have the films key dynamic.

8.Spring Breakers

Director:Harmony Korine
Writer:Harmony Korine
Stars:Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson

The year’s most controversial and outrageous movie was without doubt this tale of 4 girls turned bad in the pursuit of the ultimate spring break. Spring Breakers directed by Harmony Korine boasts an orgy of flesh and violence but also delves deep within the psyche of his characters to find what makes them tick. When a group of Friends are left behind due to financial constraints they embark on an odyssey of crime to satisfy their hedonistic hunger. In the process they form an incongruous alliance with James Franco’s gangster which threatens to destroy their friendship. Detractors will argue the film is dripping with male fantasy and only exists for that purpose, but in actual fact the Spring Breakers is a far more inclusive experience expressing strong feminine thoughts, feelings and actions.
 
7.Arbitrage

Director:Nicholas Jarecki
Writer:Nicholas Jarecki
Stars:Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling

When a seemingly successful Investment Specialist (Gere) seeks to sell off his firm and live off the proceeds, his private, family and business lives begin to unravel in the most unimaginable way. Arbitrage explores the narrow path which divides everyday dishonesty with that of corporate corruption and overt criminality, doing so with a small measure voyeurism we peer into these sets of lives watching on whilst the subjects ride each dramatic wave with ignorance of the cross each other has to bare.

6.The Butler

Director:Lee Daniels
Writers:Danny Strong, Wil Haygood
Stars:Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo

The Butler can and will be criticised for its sprawling tale of revisionist history, but revisionist history rarely felt this poignant and heartfelt. The Butler reflects on a 40 year chunk of the American civil rights movement through a triumvirate of souls, Forest Whittaker’s Cecil Gaines represents the subservient African American who journeys from farm house to Whitehouse soaking in the political and personal quirks of each passing administration. Louis Gaines, Cecil’s eldest son fights from the front and is implanted into every major civil rights event throughout the period in an attempt to take the audience into the heart of those moments and offer insight. Thirdly Cecil’s wife Gloria played beautifully by Oprah Winfrey reflects the inner struggler, places where at times the heft of freedom fighting and pain of the times strike deepest, whilst at other times barely at all instead the creating a loving family environment take precedent. 

5.Blue Jasmine

Director:Woody Allen
Writer:Woody Allen
Stars:Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard

The year’s best performance came courtesy of Cate Blanchett’s not so blissfully ignorant socialite looking to rebound from the despair of her personal oblivion. Through Blanchett’s stunning performance we start with the recovery and work back, landing at her sisters San Francisco pad escaping her documented New York Heaven turned Hell of shady husband (Baldwin) whose bout of financial and fidelitous indiscretions have plunged all connected into a sea of hardship and heartache. Blue Jasmine is a film about opposites; blonde and brunette, rich and poor, east and west, past and present; Woody Allen of course brings his obsession with cheating partners and elusive romances to this most poisoned of dinner parties.

4.Prisoners

Director:Denis Villeneuve
Writer:Aaron Guzikowski
Stars:Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis

Possibly the highest praise one could heap upon Canadian Director Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners is to suggest that it really is the closest thing anyone has really come to emulating David Fincher’s classic Thriller Se7en (1995). What begins as an ostensive cat and mouse kidnap narrative turns into something far more profound and metaphoric. Keller’s (Jackman) young daughter and her friend go missing under mysterious circumstances he grows frustrated with the pace of the investigation led by an unconventional detective (Gyllenhaal) and takes matters into his own hands.
Villenueve fills the screen with visual puzzles and recurring patterns, whilst the psyche of those on screen are challenged by moralistic dilemmas and deeply buried emotions.   

3.Kick Ass 2

Director:Jeff Wadlow
Writers:Jeff Wadlow (screenplay), Mark Millar (comic book),
Stars:Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz,

Even with Iron Man and Superman being amongst the year’s many superhero releases somehow a purple clad teenage girl managed to kick both their asses and claim the crown as the year’s best Comic book hero.  Kick Ass 2 in many ways is a typical sequel doubling up on new characters, gags, action and profanity but what it does do is find a narrative to support the extra baggage, whilst holding onto the unique cross genre chemistry of its predecessor dipping in between spoof, satire, comedy and thriller. Mindy Macready aka Hit Girl is still reeling from the effects of the first chapter and as a result decides to forsake the purple wig in order restore what is left of her childhood. Kick Ass meanwhile is left to join a band of

 masked crime fighters lead by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim

Carey), however when a deadly rival gang emerges will they be up for the challenge?

2.Behind the Candelabra

Director:Steven Soderbergh
Writers:Richard LaGravenese (screenplay), Scott Thorson (book),
Stars:Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Michael Douglas

There is a real sense of tragedy and sadness which tinges the riotous offerings of Behind The Candelabra. Matt Damon plays Scott Thorson who whirlpool like is sucked into the flamboyant, extrovert but also lonely heart of his lover; the great pianist Liberace. Few would have contemplated Michael Douglas taking on such a role when for much of his career he has been entrenched as the snarling alpha male, here his performance is full of the camp zest required to effectively and convincingly don the plethora of sequin attire.  Tucked beneath the extravagant exterior Director Steven Soderbergh creates a spiteful, controlling and disingenuous world born of an emptiness created by the shallow entities of fame and fortune.

1.Rush

Director: Ron Howard
Writer: Peter Morgan (screenplay)
Stars: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth,


Ron Howard’s Rush is towering success of a movie, creating and immersive experience which binds thought with pure thrill in this tale of sporting rivalry which transcends its own deeply philosophical intentions through its character’s lives. Centred around a pair of juxtaposing heroes who through their intense personal battle within the F1 arena find a piece of themselves within each other. Austrian Niki Lauda played meticulously by Daniel Bruhl is coldly and calculating whose driving reflects all that he is and does, Lauda is adverse to risk and weighs up each pro and con in order to seek his advantage. James Hunt (Hemsworth) is the fire to the Austrian's Ice, his brash cocky persona is absorbed into his driving style where he embraces the dangers of his vocation.  Both sets of idiosyncrasies’ can’t escape the added strain brought about by relationships Lauda lacks passion and emotional intelligence, whilst Hunt’s reckless pursuit of opposite sex leads to added and messy tabloid attention.
Rush has a something in it for everyone even those not enamoured with motorsport or sport in general, a truly must see gripping drama.