MD - FIlms of 2012

Hi all. So 2013 – will be the year of reviews, yes? Short, pithy and frequent may be the order of the day….

To kick off here’s my top ten. Caveat – I didn’t catch The Master or Rust & Bone as I was in India. And whilst some of these were acknowledged in last year’s award rounds I’m judging on basis of UK release in 2012. Forgotten what you’ve seen? Check out http://www.launchingfilms.com/release-schedule

Worst movies of the Year
The Iron Lady
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Carnage

Best....

Actor

Micheal Fassbender (Shame)

Actress

Michelle Williams (Take This Waltz)

Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin (Argo)

Supporting Actress

Carey Mulligan (Shame)

Just outside the top ten…

Looper

Skyfall

Chronicle

Take this Waltz

The Muppets

Top Ten

10       Margin Call

Appropriately just in my top ten mainly for the quality of the ensemble acing and the pertinence of the tale.

9          Frankenweenie

When Tim Burton really tries he can do it. Forget the dreadful Alice and Dark Shadows. This is a reverential and pleasing tale splendidly crafted and delivered.

8          A Royal Affair

A grand, sweeping and classy affair. Superbly acted and engaging and an extraordinary insight.

7          Marvel Avengers Assemble

Tight storytelling for such a cast of characters, includes some snappy interplay and ‘marvelous’ set pieces.

6          The Dark Knight Rises

Big, bold and visceral. A satisfying conclusion to, arguably, the best movie-trilogy of all time.

5          Argo

A class bit of 70’s thriller inspired and paced filmmaking. Tight and gripping with some deft touches.

4          Sightseers

Funny, dark and thankfully, after Kill List, a proper ending.

3          Shame

Back to week 1 of 2012…at the time I called it “powerful and vital”  and “Woody Allen on Benzos”.  Tough and essential – a companion piece to….

2          Michael

Six months with a peadophile. A challenging and extraordinary bit of filmmaking that left me chilled, anxious and astounded. And so prescient for what was to pan out in 2012.

1          Life of Pi

In 3D! A magical, entrancing interpretation and movie experience which brightens the image and uses the technology to its ultimate potential whilst still having the heart and daring of independent cinema. Wonderful.

See you all soon.

The Hunger Games - DM review

Apparently Suzanne Collins (the author of The Hunger Games) had never seen Battle Royale....hmmmm. However, I'll judge the film on its own merits and it had many.
Dark and gritty in parts, at times a little too sanitised and sweet but on the whole gripping. Jennifer Lawrence turns in a great performance and does the "bad-ass" but vulnerable and likeable heroine role perfectly. All support was great too and the whole 2 and a bit hours were very watchable and entertaining. PLUS Lenny Kravitz looking fine!


Score: 7/10

Wild Bill - DM Review

I felt like I had seen this film before...East End gangster with a heart trying to make good but facing obstacles. So a little formulaic but the performances saved this. A film with heart.


Score: 7/10

The Raven - DM Review

This film had it all...shoddy acting, weak plot and Edgar Allan Poe as a crime fighter.


I'm waiting for CSI Austen.


Score: 2/10

Michael - DM Review

My main problem with this film is that I do not understand why it was made. I do not understand its intent. I can hypothesise...perhaps it is a cold, clinical, non-hysterical look at paedophilia; perhaps a study in the mundaneness and banality of evil; perhaps it is an attempt to show paedophiles have day jobs as office workers, take skiing holidays and go to supermarkets to buy pickles....so what? 

This film taught me nothing. It tried so hard to be objective that all emotional engagement was absent. The only emotions I felt were boredom, anger and frustration at this film.

I didn't want obvious signposting or explicit explanations of the situation but more characterisation  was needed. If the film's intent was to "humanise" sex offenders, then some explanation is needed. You can't just say things happen.

Score: 2/10

Michael - MD Review

A scene midway through Michael ends with Wolfgang - the ten-year-old boy kept prisoner in the cellar of the eponymous balding thirtysomething insurance broker - putting away a jar of pickles following another tense and fearful meal with his captor. Cut to the next scene, as Michael walks through supermarket aisles a worker cleans up a similar jar, broken with the pickles spewed helplessly across the floor. Michael is that sort of film. Contained, considered and absolutely captivating in all senses of the word.

As a peadophile Michael is cunning, conniving and despicable. His trip to the local go-kart track looking for a 'playmate' for Wolfgang is particularly disturbing.  As a person Michael is never empathetic but we are given opportunities to reflect on the why and how of who he is. Most challenging perhaps are the occasions of normative father / son behaviour.

This is an extraordinary film with exquisite acting across the board. More chilling then a dozen women in black; more akin to one woman in a red duffle coat. It is shot with a harshness that doesn’t evoke or signpost a particular response and as such the trepidation in each scene, and within every character interaction, takes us to our own dark places

Such is the ratcheting of tension, I was uncertain that it could be maintained and prepared myself for disappointment in the third act. However the shift in power and denouement are genuinely shocking and ultimately the finale is only the start of another dimension of the story.

So, thus far, my two favourite (or perhaps I should say most rewarding) films of the year are about a sex addict and a paedophile. Thank heavens for The Muppets.

Score: 10/10

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - MD Review

The first ten minutes of this movie contains some of the most unnecessary racist lines I’ve every heard in mainstream cinema. From cockney Maggie Smith in the “oh bless ‘er” confines of her wheelchair, no less. No matter how her character arc developed – and it was obvious that it would – I couldn’t get the racism, or the giggling complicity of the Fulham populous I was unfortunate enough to be watching it with, out of my head.

Equally, the preposterous contrivances that pitched these characters into India and the telegraphed ‘journeys’ they made were grating to the extreme. The more I reflect on this movie the angrier it has made me.

I know it’s only a bunch of middle class actors have a paid holiday…and it doesn’t mean anything.  But they should know better. It was actively racist and passively xenophobic, oh and they killed off the gay. And as I write it’s number one in the box office…grrr

Score 1/10 (takes into account retrospective anger)

This Means War - MD Review

Confession time. I have an unexplainable and un-defendable liking of the first Charlie’s Angels movie; and of Tom Hardy’s lips. So…

Oh dear. It tried but ultimately was just trying. There were one or two laughs and Tom was doing his damnedest. But it ultimately failed because Mc G (short for McGuffin?) took sides with his protagonists; and compounded it with a hideously misogynist coda. Left me feeling sour.

What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.

Score 2/10

Rampart - MD Review

In Rampart we see a forceful performance from Woody Harrelson as the anti-villain archetype - the unorthodox cop with a complicated personal life both revered and despised. The story presents a picture of individual vs. organisational corruption. There's only ever likely to be one winner.

Ultimately the movie, like the protagonist, gets a bit lost towards the end but it takes us on an interesting journey of relational and personal conflict to get there. 

Score: 6/10

Man On A Ledge - MD Review

There is an interesting premise here. Unfortunately the potential simplicity - a grandstanding distraction to cover up something else - was lost in too much superfluous backstory to justify the motivations and ‘twists’ that were signposted in neon.

It was good to see Jamie Bell having fun in the flesh, however Sam Worthington proves once again he has the charisma of a suet pudding and Ed Harris is cheesier than a Brie convention.

I wish he'd have jumped in the first thirty minutes.

Score: 4/10

Woman in Black - MD Review

There’s been lots of comment about Daniel Radcliffe being too young for the role of widowed lawyer – nonsense he’s positively middle aged by Victorian standards. More problematic is his singularly unique acting style whereby he’s great at looking shocked by creaky effects and CGI but not much cop at anything involving human interaction. And with the supporting throng consisting of the usual stereotype locals unwilling to share their communal secret it was hard to feel too much for anyone involved. 

Ultimately the story is by numbers, but it looks authentic, there’s a pulpible underlying menace and the odd genuine scare.

Score: 5/10

Hugo - DM Review

I was a little late to the party on this one but Cineworld were showing again. On the evening I watched this, Hugo picked up 5 Oscars all for technical achievements and I can certainly see why. Although I still dislike the current 3D technology, this was by far the best exponent of it I have seen to date. But like the automaton that is the central plot device, this film was too clockwork and mechanical. It lacked emotional bite (not even schmaltzy emotion) and had no fun. If this was intended for children, it was far too long and serious. If it was intended for adults, it was too lightweight. 

Visually impressive but failed to hit the mark.

Score: 5/10

The Woman in the Fifth - DM Review

Filmed in a dream-like style, this movie floated along with no real impetus. There was nothing to engage my interest and I held no sympathy for the lead.

Kind of washed over me with no lasting impression.

Score: 4/10

The Muppets - MD Review

“It’s time to start the music…” yadder, yadder you get the drift. I recently caught up with the Muppet’s last big screen adventure Muppets From Space which was highly dubious to say the least. So, despite the overwhelmingly positive reviews of The Muppets, having been 8 years old when the Muppet Show started and having a lifelong affinity I went into this movie with some trepidation.

Essentially – it was a triumph. A full-bodied throwback to the early shows with loads of references to past glories but, hopefully, enough goofiness and originality to appeal to anyone. All the original characters were there (some just milling about in the background in that classic Muppet way) doing the same skits with the usual varying degrees of success.

Story wise – it’s a "road" / "48 hours to save the theatre" movie. A loose framework on which to hang the gags. And don’t worry if the odd gag misfires there’s another along in a minute.

To their credit the human leads play it straight and even Jack Black is watchable.

It was wonderful to see such essentially low-tech filmmaking being able to astound and entertain. Highlights included the Swedish Chef disposing of waste food, Miss Piggy leading a kidnap, 80’s robot (modem) and singing chickens.

And you have to check this out….

                                    

So, am I a Man or a Muppet? …….

                                           

…I’m happy to be both if the return is this much fun.

Score 8/10

Prey Alone

I had never seen this before. It's great

http://www.saintandmather.com/html/prey.htm

Young Adult - DM Review

Exactly the kind of comedy I like...dark with a flawed heroine, this was "laugh out loud" funny. Don't be put off by the thought that this is a "rom-com"...there is no romance in this comedy.
Charlize Theron is incredibly good in this role and a reminder that she is a great actress (validating her Oscar win a few years back). The character illustration and her flaws are mildly  sketched and hinted at throughout the film. The reason for her atrocious behaviour emerges in a later scene but I enjoyed the fact that this wasn't explicitly explored.


A cracking film


Score: 8/10

A Dangerous Method - DM Review

Yaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnn...what an utterly boring film. This did nothing for me. The subject matter held no interest for me, the plot ambled along with no drama and the acting was solid but nothing exciting. A cold fish of a film which contained nothing I could connect with.

Score: 3/10

This was my first Cronenberg film...I hope he has done better. Which of his previous works should I watch to redeem him?

Chronicle - DM Review

Unexpectedly and surprisingly good fun. A refreshing look at the human side of "superhuman". This film could have easily followed the route of conspiracy theory/alien invasion movies but the actual cause of the powers bestowed was never examined. And of this I was glad, as I was having too much fun to even care.
My only criticism is that the final showdown sequence, although genuinely pulse-raising and with absolutely enthralling special effects to start with, went on for too long. This seemed a little out of sync with the "low fi" feel of the rest of the film.

Super good fun

Score: 7/10

P.S - Why "Chronicle" as a title though?

Martha Marcy May Marlene - MD Review

Not the wife of Glengarry Glen Ross...

Elizabeth Olsen shines brightly amongst the dimness. I can understand the plaudits but for me this is an indie movie that tries to hard. The relentless cutting between now and recent past is jarring and consequently the narrative never gets the chance to settle. The 'cult' is too Manson-ic. Repeating actual activities of the Family but asking us to believe them in a contemporary setting was both lazy and distracting. And for all its disturbing imagery the key character of cult leader Patrick was not fleshed out enough to let us understand the omnipresent fear that Marcy was so concerned by.

All a bit ho-hum

Score 5/10

Carnage - DM Review

Oh dear...oh dear. Where to begin? Firstly with my own admissions. I have not seen the play nor knew anything of the plot before viewing...now having seen the film I don't want to either. I'm sure on stage, this is a great and uncomfortable watch but on the screen it lacked excitement and entertainment. Neither funny nor dramatic, this was a damp squib of a film.
What on paper should be a stonking cast truly disappointed me and I left underwhelmed. Proof that you can put as many Oscar winning actors as you like into a room, mix well and yet have no chemistry. They also prove that it is incredibly difficult to act convincingly drunk. I didn't believe any of them in their role or as couples and I felt removed from the film (as far as Polanski is from NYC).

If I want to watch an film adaptation of a play where people get drunk I would much rather watch the infinitely better "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Score: 3/10

PS - I didn't see Jodie Foster's "Beaver" (snigger) last year but heard it was not good. Controversial point...but has she been truly good in anything? I can only think of Silence of the Lambs.

Oscar Nominations

For all our assertions of 2011 being a great year for British films...what a disappointment. And no 'Drive' or 'Shame' to be seen. Of the nominated movies my favourite is The Descendents. And whilst I'm sure George is looking likely (and deserved) - recognition for Gary Oldman is overdue. Though he might have to wait for the long service award option...this year going to the 100% shoe-in that is Christopher Plumber. As for Meryl - pah.

Chronicle – MD Review

Blimey this was fun. Just when ‘found footage’ seemed to have hit the nadir (Paranormal 3) this reinvigorates the genre. Intelligent, funny and moving – three high-school students discover (via a presumed extra-terrestrial mishap) and share a superpower and react like… well three high-school students.

This is essential a teen staple about school hierarchy, popularity and alienation. But done with some great geekiness, humour and real pathos as we see that with great power come great personal responsibility; it’s not about saving others but whether we can ultimately save ourselves. With its knowing nods to comic book mythology, clever use of multi-perspective found footage and some cool SFX, Chronicle thankfully leaves the 3D to the characterisation.

It’s alienation courtesy of an alien nation. Great stuff

Score 8/10

Margin Call – MD Review

Not withstanding my major soft spot for producer and star Zachary Quinto I had a good time with Margin Call. There was something old fashioned about a movie ostensively played out on one set.  It was like Twelve Angry Men or Glengarry Glen Ross with lots of cracking actors knocking chunks out of each other - and Demi Moore.  Relevant, realistic and reckless it got the characterisation balanced so I was able to maintain my general antipathy to the whole business of corporate banking whilst investing something in some of the people I was watching. Ultimately it revisionist and undoubtedly won’t be recognised by the people it portrays, but a solid attempt to start unpacking and understanding some of the drivers of why we are where we are.

And ZQ is so hot.

Score 7/10

War Horse – MD Review

Bore Horse more like. This movie lacked everything the play had that made it so enchanting - innovation, imagination and heart. Bar a couple of wartime set-pieces Spielberg gives us a plodding, episodic and unengaging narrative with an intrusive score letting us know just when to 'feel'.  The adults were bland caricatures and the children just irritating. I cared more for the puppets on stage than for the real creatures on screen. Neigh.

Score 3/10

Haywire – MD Review

That Michael Fassbender can do no wrong is a given – his twenty minutes here being the highlight sequence of the movie – but there was a lot right elsewhere with Haywire too. Ostensively a dumb popcorn movie is beefed up by some brutal fight scenes, lots of double cross and a credible lead role supported by lots of thesps having fun. Whilst the narrative is haywire at times it’s done with passion, honesty and some smiles particularly where physical as well as person fallibilities are exposed.

Score 6/10  

The Darkest Hour (and a half) – MD Review

Intersting premise and setting. Cliched execution – though one unexpected death (albeit far too noble). Bit pants really.

Score 3/10

Like Crazy - DM Review

A pleasant film that lacked any bite or hooks for me to grab onto. The naturalistic approach to the acting and camera work pleased me but unlike last year's "Weekend" the result was not as appealing. I felt no sympathy for the protagonists and ultimately their fate but I felt that I didn't waste 90 minutes watching it.  


Distinctly average


Score: 5/10

The Descendants - DM Review

What a lovely film. A tender performance from George Clooney, full of restraint and subtlety, genuinely moved me. What could have been an immensely annoying film (essentially a tale of the problems of a millionaire white man) had me in tears. I think this was done by forsaking melodrama and hysterics. This paid dividends for me in this perfectly paced film. Masterfully and confidently constructed, the relationships forged on screen were believable and won me over.


It is between George and Jean for the Best Actor Oscar...my money is on George


Score: 7.5/10

Coriolanus - DM Review

As neither a huge fan nor aficionado of Shakespeare, I think I was always going to struggle with this one. Ultimately this bored me. Strong performances all round (especially Jon Snow!) were not enough to hold my interest. I have enjoyed previous modern adaptations of Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Richard III with Ian McKellen) but this failed to hit the mark with me. I can see why this isn't one of his big hitting plays...the plot is light. I guess it is more of a character assessment but I didn't get that from this film.


Definitely one for true Shakespeare lovers


Score: 4/10

Touch of Evil, what a shame...

It’s official: Touch of Evil is no touch of genius. Geoff and I saw it at the Greenwich Picturehouse the other night and I think overall we both came away disappointed by it. A few good scenes here and there, the expected camera angles, shadowy bits, all the tried, tested and loved clichés of the noir genre, but considering the stellar cast, it didn’t really add up to much. You’d have to watch this through pretty rose-tinted spectacles to call it a masterpiece. All the talent in the world can’t make up for a sub-par script, I suppose. Even the famous opening extended sequence, seen through the haze of the many subsequent homages and imitations, came over stagey and unconvincing. All those ‘extras’ waiting for their cue to walk into frame at exactly the right moment, took me out and I never fully got back in. I suppose some things are best left to the realm of sweet twisted memory where anything and everything is possible (star wars, I’m talking to you).

I do think it’s worth a remake though. I’m thinking the Dardennes? Something gritty and French, anyway. Give Depardieu the Welles role (c’est évident, n’est-ce pas?), rewrite the Marlene Dietrich character and, yeah, Marion Cotillard (I’ll watch anything she’s in). Francois Cluzet can take on Charlton Heston, and his wife (Janet Leigh) goes to Kristen Scott Thomas - French law stipulates that she has to appear in every French film made now anyway. So, sorted.

On a side note, my favourite Orson Welles moment is a TV advert he did back in '81 or '82 for the Milton Bradley board game “Dark Tower”. I’ve got it if any of you guys fancy a game!!

Score: 5/10

Shame - DM review

I fucking loved this film!

On the surface a fascinating and brutal study of an individual afflicted with addiction. But unlike drugs or alcohol, the substance craved is held in the power of other people thus adding an interesting layer of complexity. A flirty encounter on the tube, which is beautifully crafted and acted with no words (much more effectively than The Artist!) frustratingly leads to nowhere. The "score" is never certain. 

The film is extremely stark, cold and the protagonist deliberately detached. I have heard this as a criticism of the film but I believe that this is its major asset. The atmosphere of the film perfectly reflects the condition Brandon occupies. He cannot physically function (quite literally) when any emotion or human relation is present. We want to understand him but he won't allow us. The coldness of the film also allows the moments of emotion to come hurtling out of the screen. The moment where Brandon breaks the fourth wall with a look of pure pain and anguish, at the supposed moment of ecstasy, electrified me.

The direction is bold, beautiful and brave. Scenes are intentionally strung out...and they do go on. A lot of the camera shots are steady frames (except with the stunning and much talked about "running scene" which is breathtaking). This entrusts and allows the actors to go free and the benefits are reaped. Fassbender and Mulligan give outstanding and totally believable performances and the messed-up relationship between the two is a wonder to watch. In my screening (as with Mark's) people were leaving the theatre...McQueen has prolonged the sex scenes, daring us to turn away, making us confront our own ideas of sex. 

I found this film truly thought-provoking and affecting. I have kept returning to question it and the more I do so the more I love it. I could easily go on and on and on (much like a scene from this film) but I shall refrain.

The "Top 10 Films of the Year" list is 12 months away, but I think I have found my winner within the 1st couple of weeks.

Score: 9/10

The Artist - DM Review

No pun intended but I am struggling to find the words for this one!


Light, fluffy, charming and mildly comical in parts but it ultimately left me cold. I guess the film was harking back to a more innocent and naive period but I felt the plot/performances/direction weren't strong or entertaining enough to warrant my approval. I certainly don't understand all the praise and hype it has received....but Hollywood will adore a movie about Hollywood and so Oscar success is guaranteed.


Not charming enough for me


Score: 4/10 

The Iron Lady - DM Review

First, let me start with the positive (never a good start to a review)...

Meryl Streep is astounding in this role. This is not only a piece of superb technical mimicry but she goes beyond mere impersonation to fully take on the character of Thatcher, right to the ends of the blow-dried bouffant. As a Thatcher in power, the voice (and not an easy one to get right) was pitch-perfect. This performance will deservedly reap all the gongs this awards season.

However, this is where my enjoyment ends. My main problem is that I do not understand the intent of this film. It is impossible to make a biopic about a politician as controversial and divisive of opinion and not to include a political slant. This film seemed to attempt just that. The setting of a large proportion of the film in the present day was an interesting but poor decision. For me, the portrayal of MT as a senile old woman (which is all speculation) bored and frustrated me. Much more interesting to me was the stuff we know...her time in power, the influence of this time on the people of the UK and the international stage, the betrayal by her inner circle and her downfall was where the drama was at. However, this was glossed over in a few minutes (aided by the appalling use of a newsreel style montage) in favour of watching a doddery old woman put clothes into bin bags. If this film had picked a specific time in her premiership and stuck with that, it may have fared better.

Meryl saves this film.

Score: 4.5/10 

Shame

It’s gratifying to see Carrie Mulligan getting a BAFTA supporting actress nomination for Drive and it could have easily been for Shame, which feels like a companion piece to Nicolas Winding Refn’s movie. Both cast Mulligan as the foil to a complicated and monosyllabic protagonist whose single-minded dubious pursuit is the manifestation of their own alienation.

As Brandon, Fassbender strides this movie like a Colossus - in every way - but it is Mulligan that powerfully contextualises the nature of Brandon’s underlying addiction, his own self-aggrandising isolation.

Steve McQueen directs with flair and minimalism making NYC the third major character - the pusher who always has something on offer and readily available. This is Woody Allen on benzos. A single-take night time jog, and an interpretation of New York, New York that captures more about the city than a thousand overhead sweeps ever could, are both majestic. Abi Morgan’s screenplay is a framework that allows the characters to find the words for themselves - a remarkable achievement after her cloying signposting throughout The Iron Lady.

Fassbender shows the despair of addiction and inability to countenance support, therefore perpetrating the devastating fallout for those around him. We have to want to believe in Brandon for this story to work; and Fassbender gives us a performance that is truly believable.

In the screening I watched, five people walked out during the third-act sex scenes, demonstrating why Shame is such a powerful and vital film. Using the most human of instincts as its catalyst it hypothesises a version of our individual isolation in an ever more disconnected world and offers very little in the way of potential redemption, and that can be hard to take. Shame tells us how it is with naked honesty and panache.

Score: 9/10

BAFTA Nominations

Whaddya think guys? Very conservative choices. for me the British Film category stronger than the overall Best Film, and that's without nominations for Weekend, Tyrannasaur and Submarine. Not seen The Descendants, but always found Alexander Payne underwhelming, Election the exception.

The Artist - GM Review

For me a real lost opportunity, am pleased that someone came up with the idea but displeased that the director of the appalling OSS movies got to the helm.

Bland, conventional, lacking in originality, little use of in-jokes given the opportunities available, hackneyed screenplay and gutter poor humour. It didn't have to be this way. Uggie the dog is Eddie from Frasier, the plot is A Star is Born but give me James Mason and Judy Garland any day and nothing of originality arises from the mire - you can pay homage and be clever.

Have a look at L'Atalante re-released this week, City Lights, The Gold Rush and especially Sunrise, romantic witty movies made ninety years ago that have more thought, humour, charm and art in any one scene than in the entire ninety minutes of this fraud.

Silence needn't signify staleness.

2/10

Iron Lady II

Very generous Conor. Whilst not expecting any great political insight from the team behind Mamma Mia, the Abba inspired frivolity felt like Citizen Kane against this mess of a movie. Yes there was way too much dotage and prosthetics, and the recurring Jim Broadbent in amusing 80's leisurewear was beyond tedious. What was the point in using such a potentially interesting protagonist if the filmmakers want to tell as story about old age and loss. The exquisite fifteen minutes in Up was far more poignant than anything offered here. The direction was ponderous and the editing was at times bizarre. It was Mags Headroom.

Most annoyingly the neutrality of the film removed any sense of reality and interest in the politics. And, regardless of our own political viewpoint, where was any representation of the real impact on British people through her premiership. Apparently we spent 11 years rioting and protesting; and took a few hours to stick the flags out after a dodgy bit of warfare.

With an intelligent script, a director of movies not musicals and, crucially, a position to take the Iron Lady should have been a provocative tale of the rise and fall of one of the 20th Centuries most enigmatic characters. Instead it was a risible and tiresome lost opportunity. I doubt I will see a more poorly judged and badly directed movie this year.....although Madonna's take on Wallis Simpson is just around the corner.

Score: 2/10

Iron Lady

Streep's stellar performance is trapped within a less than stellar film. For me, too much focus of Thatcher's mental decline whilst they rushed through and squandered the dramatic potential of many key events in her tenure. Streep's transformation into Thatcher is incredible and holds the film together but only just about.

Props to Olivia Colman for the dodgiest prosthesis I have seen in some time.

6/10

The Artist

Amid the cacophony of noise and clarity of image it's rare that modern cinema takes the time to consider what an audience might feel rather than what it experiences . The masters of (e)motion picture history have used simple and the sophisticated devices to make us feel and care; and in 2011 a number of filmmakers plundered cinematic roots trying to rediscover its heart and soul. Hugo, Drive and Super 8 revisited genre almost sycophantically, though not always successfully, and The Artist crackles into 2012 with a most literal homage.


Whilst focussing its (1:33 ratio) vision retrospectively The Artist posses modern questions about cinema. As new trends in cinema emerge what happens to the exponents of the old? Does a great story require additional flourishes of innovation to make an audience want to engage?


The Artist begins with protagonist George Valentin adored but far from adorable - despite his four-legged personality appendage - at the top of his game at the height of silent cinema; and charts his downfall and potential resurrection. Its a simple story with flourishes of the reverential and the innovative. Set pieces pay homage to the time but also reference contemporary classic scenes; it take liberties with the music and its 'silentness' (in a great sequence) and there are some fab wipes and fades. It's engaging from the off, and its initial naivety and peppiness (no pun intended) a joy. There's a point midway where Valentin begins to lose empathy and whilst we can understand the complexity of the relationship with prodigy turned nemesis Peppy Miller, its much more difficult to understand why Mrs V has bothered to stay around as long as she has.


However, just when it is in danger of losing itself, the third act brings it all round; its terrific. Dark, emotive, fun, heart-warming and just staying the right side of melodrama. That The Artist is silent and black and white is irrelevant. That it allowed me to 'feel' (and has a stunner of a pay off comparable with Some Like It Hot) makes it a worthy addition to the art form it so wonderfully pays homage to.

Score: 8/10

Our Top Ten of 2011

The collective scores are in.....and the winners are

Joint 1st     Drive
Joint 1st     Submarine
Joint 3rd    Blue Valentine
Joint 3rd    Weekend
5th             Senna
6th             Animal Kingdom
7th             We Need To Talk About Kevin
Joint 8th    Bridesmaids
Joint 8th    Tyrannosaur
10th           Black Swan