New True Grit (2010)

It’s been 27 years since Joel and Ethan Coen’s first deliverance of brotherly genius with the snarling brilliance of Blood Simple (1984) which set the foundation for glimmering catalogue of revered and treasured timeless classics that which have become synonymous with the Coen brothers brand. When studying the aforementioned filmography one cannot help but locate a Shakespearean style split within their cinematic portfolio. And it isn’t hard to find your equivalent Comedies or Tragedies. Especially when you think they do the frenetic and the farcical sublimely in offerings such as Burn After Reading (2008), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)  and perhaps to this day their signature piece The Big Lebowski (1999), which fulfil the Comedic end of this comparison. Black humour even swings it’s way into the more darkened choices making Tragedies are a little tougher to distinguish but there is no denying that there is much that is tragic in the Coen’s most underrated exhibit The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) a hang dog expression of a film, whilst Fargo (1996) and the mighty No Country for Old Men (2007) also fit the bill.

So where to place True Grit? A Gun slinging, Horse Riding adventure of true Western pastiche, conjured up with undoubted Coen Wizardry and idiosyncrasy. Aesthetically the film is a triumph, set in late 19^th Century Arkansas  True Grit captures the beauty of the American old west by combining elegantly crafted and selected sets with powering scenery. Held in a delicate time incumbent of post civil war savagery and yet preserved in a pre-industrialised grace. Structurally it follows in the simplistic path of other Coen works, a reoccurring methodology is designing the narrative around a man hunt or a goose chase and we get the former here. Mattie Ross played irresistibly by the irresistible rookie Hailee Steinfeld is caught somewhere between the lines of vengeance and justice brought about by her back story predicament, having lost her father to a botched robbery she seeks out see the now fugitive man who did it punished, but there is one problem she is a puny 14 year old girl who gets by on a brazen wordy tongue, fuelled by unrelenting smarts and courage. 

So by putting her self-taught virtues to the test Mattie finds the man the who she believes can get the job done which comes in the shape of the human Cyclopes Rueben Cogburn an ostensibly uncompromised man ravaged by war and alcohol, almost burdened by his tough guy reputation as much as he abides by it. And it’s funny that the word abides allows an easy set up to introduce Jeff Bridges as the man to detail Cogburn in his first Coen reunion since reprising the “Dude” and the performances aren’t too dissimilar in the sense that Cogburn and the Dude are self ostracised, alcoholics who care little for what others may think of them. It will be difficult to say how Bridges career will be most remembered, but Jeff is on top form here and his leisurely and casual style works wonders with Rooster. Matt Damon chips in as the “all the gear, no idea” Texas Ranger Leboeuf, jangling spurs and all, is the third member of the group and a quiet success. “LeBeef” as his is name is somewhat amusingly uttered, allows Damon to provide some comic relief with a performance of deliberate overtone and lacking of sophistication. 

The Coen’s cap it all off by immersing our heroes in a wondrous adventure that takes pseudo fantastical elements reminiscent of O Brother, encountering mystifying corpse collecting Indians, and bear suited dentists are undeniable Coen touches. The film has a pulsating No Country like mode of deadly cat and mouse, filled with all shoot-outs and chase scenes to keep the audience on seats edge. All in all True Grit is another fluent outing from Joel and Ethan, a sharp and convincing statement of their talent.

8/10

New The Fighter (2010)

The key to success of most sports drama’s is in its ability to capture a binding quintessence of both sport and hero or heroine. Boxing in itself embodies a wealth of humanistic teachings such as resilience, endurance and discipline. In the case of David O Russells biopic The Fighter manages to broaden the parallel past the notion of one man’s fight into gripping family drama, a statement of brotherly and motherly love, galvanised by the thematic complexities of obscured loyalties and conflicted priorities.

Mark Wahlberg leads the line as Pro Boxer “Irish” Micky Ward, an embattled soldier like man of noble but crushed spirit, who we meet at a cross roads in his seemingly mediocre career. Wahlberg’s performance bares shades of the hapless loss of control that eventually evolves in Boogie Nights (1997) as well as the bulldog spirit of Invincible (2006). Early in the film the question is raised about the validity of his tutelage. Ward is governed  by a coalition of blood firstly inside the ring with star of the show Christian Bale, playing brother Dicky a decayed local boxing legend turned trainer, whose life is in near terminal free fall through Crack addiction and accompanying petty criminality. Bale gives by far the most authentic performance of his career, an emotionally rangy tour de force, maneuvering through Dick Eklunds crippling self destruction.

 

Outside the ring Melissa Leo in her portrayal of mother Alice Ward attempts at being the matriarchal adhesive that must forge Family and Business, whilst a pack of Hyena like sisters also seem to be feasting from Micky’s trough. The disorganised managerial set up soon becomes an unsuspecting triumvirate when an incredulous Wahlberg falls in love with Amy Adams who plays a Charlene, a tough talking waitress eager to apply her own wisdom and perspective to the situation roundly rejected by the rest of the Ward clan. These performances provide the foundation for the feature, complimenting each other leaving sparks flying around the screen with Wahlberg’s pathos comes Bales preposterousness whilst Leo’s motherly devotion is countered by Adam’s  divisibility.

Beyond the character study is an effective social commentary as the Ward/Eklund family are products of their drab and at times oppressive surroundings of Lowell, Massachusetts. Boxing is an outlet for many to lash out in a controlled environment, whilst those who don’t submit to the temptations of drug addiction, alcoholism and crime. 

Other iconic Boxing films of differing eras will no doubt draw comparison but we aren’t romanticising as in Rocky (1976) or partaking in the savage poetry of Raging Bull (1980). The Fighter finds a place of its own within the pantheon of great Boxing pictures telling a story both of and for its time.

8/10

2 Talk About

Bad Guys

Like many no doubt Christmas was a time for relaxation, indulgence and of course a chance to melt into your favourite seat and watch a few films be they DVD stocking fillers or terrestrial TV offerings.One such moment for me was Scorcese's Cape Fear (1991) starring Robert De Niro as the maniacal Max Cady. Cady is a formidable piece of work combining a hulking physique illustrated by a plethora of menacing Tattoo's with a deceptive intelligence, vocalised by a primitive sounding southern drawl. Beneath the surface is a walking contridiction of a man who is part violent sociopath and cunning criminal mind with a little bit of religious fanaticism thrown in for good measure too.

So I started to think of some of my all time favourite bad guys, such as recently you had the late Heather Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in the Dark Knight (2008) where the charismatic and the chaotic become one.  Or Lee Van Cleef's devilish Angel Eyes from the iconic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966),

So the question is who are your most vivid movie villains? Here are the two I am bringing to the table.

1. Frank Booth 
Dennis Hopper  
Blue Velvet (1986) 


The late great Dennis Hopper will no doubt be remembered for many roles throughout his career, but arguably his finest on screen moment was in detailing the ferocious complexities of Frank Booth in David Lynch's conflicted classic Blue Velvet (1986). Hopper was if anything an intense on screen presence and in Booth it will never be more evident, whether it's his bizarre sexual behaviours or seemingly uncontrollable, unabated appetite for violent confrontation Booth is an intimidating puzzle that few would want to put together.
Hopper's however attempts to in performance which is both daring and extreme, portraying violent misogyny, substance abuse and wall to wall psychopathy, key to the films polarisation of it's audience but at the same time to it's striking impact. Director David Lynch had offered the role to other big name actors who no doubt recoiled at the thought of taking on the task, not Hopper however who after reading the script simply exhorted.... 
"You have to let me play Frank! Because I am Frank!" 

2. Anton Chigurh
Javier Bardem  
No Country for Old Men (2007)

Ostensively calling a coin toss or checking into a hotel room would have no reason to cause alarm or panic. Yet the modus operandi of Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men (2007) somehow manages to. Armed with a Cattlegun, a fateful coin and an unstoppable sense of purpose Javier Bardem is trailing the plains of West Texas to distribute his own form of accountability . Ruthless and relentless, poised and precise Chigurh has all the qualities of a real life Terminator if not the look of the colossal Austrian synonymic with the concept. On screen rival Josh Brolin's rhetoric sums up Chigurh's unassuming threat memorably mid-film "What's this guy supposed to be, the ultimate badass?" a question that almost answers itself by the time it is asked. There is much to be said for Bardem's work here which is calculating and structured much like the persona and propensity of his character, exuding true remorseless terror with chilling conviction and genuine fear.

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