The Best and Worst of 2009

Nearly at the end of this list-or-ama...

1- The Hurt Locker
Thrilling, surprisingly apolitical Iraq war movie that captured both the fear and the addictive excitement of being in a bomb-disposal unit. Jeremy Renner’s performance put him on the map, while it was nice to see a comeback from a director I really like; Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Near Dark, and Strange Days).

2- Moon
Super-smart, heart-rending lo-fi science fiction about the exploitation (and unraveling sanity) of a solitary worker on a moon base. Sam Rockwell was amazing as both the employee and the clone who may be a figment of his imagination. It also had lovely little details, like Kevin Spacey’s voicework as the computer and use of the rickety little moon buggy (much nicer than computer-generated effects). Director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) is one to watch.

3- Star Trek
Shimmering, smart, funny and sexy re-invention of Star Trek directed by JJ Abrahms (creator of Lost, director of Mission Impossible 3). The casting (especially Chris Pine as Kirk), the pacing, the special effects were all top notch. It was easily the most fun mainstream film of the year and (I suspect) will become a Christmas TV staple.

4- The Wrestler
One of only two films this year to make me cry (the other was Pixar’s Up). This was the story of an ageing wrestler, Randy ‘The Ram’ unforgettably played by Mickey Rourke. With his bleach blonde hair, resilient humour, hearing aid and anoraks, he’s one of the most iconic characters of 2009 and Rourke’s speech to Evan Rachel Wood is one of the best scenes of the year. It’s also a nice return to form for director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain).

5- Inglourious Basterds
Audacious, original re-working of the history of World War 2 by Quentin Tarantino. Many scenes are genuinely tense, especially the Hitchcockian opener, filled with colorful characters, Christof Waltz as Hanz the Jew-hunter is a villain for the ages, and, as usual Tarantino elicits a good performance from an actor I previously hadn’t taken seriously: this time it’s Diane Kruger.

6- District 9
7- Up
8- Milk
9- The White Ribbon
10- Anvil

Honorable mentions…Fish Tank, The Cove, Just Another Love Story, A Serious Man, The Good the Bad the Weird, Red Cliff, In the Loop, (500) Days of Summer, Adventureland, Thirst, Drag me to Hell, Paranormal Activity, The Descent Part 2 Let the Right One In and Avatar


Worst films of 2009

Antichrist: Not only was it boring and pretentious (which Von Trier’s films sometimes are), but it was also offensive. Part pop psychology, part gothic horror, but mostly just an exercise in juvenile shock value, Antichrist is the worst kind of bad film: the kind that has ideas above its station. The gratuitous female mutilation scene was in particular bad taste: if you’re going to show such graphic imagery, please have something to say.

Transformers 2: Even with a budget the size of a small country’s gross national product, Michael Bay failed to deliver so much as a superficially entertaining popcorn movie: the humour was juvenile and sometimes distasteful (2 of the jive-talking robots were clearly caricatures of dumb black teenagers), the story was needlessly muddled, it was fatally overlong at 2 and a half hours, and, worst of all, the action scenes were incomprehensible because you couldn’t tell the robots apart!

Disappointments
Watchmen was based on a rightfully revered graphic novel (the only comic to be in Time Magazine’s top 100 books of the 20th century) but was, sadly, a mess. Based on the source material and the filmmakers’ apparent sincerity, it should have been one of the films of the year.
An Education was easily (in my opinion) the most jaw-droppingly overrated film of the year. It was a reasonably well-made coming-of-age story, which became one of the most critically lauded films of 2009. Strangely, Adventureland, which only got okay reviews, did the same thing with much more humour and panache. I suspect the high praise was because An Education had good pedigree (based on Lynn Barber’s memoir, screenplay by Nick Hornby) and it had posh English accents, which makes a lot of English and American critics swoon.

Avatar review

Oh James Cameron, I imagine you’re difficult to work for. Your perfectionism and temper are legendary, not to mention your titanic ego. But as infrequent and imperfect as your films are, I’m glad you’re around. Even if Avatar had been a colossal failure, it would have been an interesting one. Its spiralling budget (of course), the revolutionary special effects, its huge digital canvas and the endless speculation on how it will all pan out are an interesting narrative in itself. The brouhaha surrounding Avatar is reminiscent of the gossip that preceded your last major film, so it’s fair to say that the world is more interesting with you in it.

In case you, dear reader, have been living on a faraway planet, Avatar is a science fiction epic set on the planet Pandora. Exploited by earthlings for its precious minerals, tensions among the native Navi (think humanoid cat-people) and humans is reaching boiling point. Enter Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a bitter, crippled ex-marine who will occupy a Navi body (his titular Avatar) to get to know the locals. Will he go native, and be forced to choose between his own people and the Navi? Take a guess…


One of the primary and most persistent reasons for the invention of cinema has been escapism. Avatar is like a whole world has been created from the ground up: Pandora feels complete and authentic, from the plants to the cliffs to the primates to the canines to the humanoid Navi, Pandora is rich and overflowing in detail. While the story is basically a rip-off of Dances with Wolves, the experience is original. With 3D, the likes of which I have literally never seen before, it’s an utterly immersive film.


Some have complained about the look of the film – all My Little Pony colours and feminine glitter, but it makes a nice change from the cobalt blue and metallic greys that were a hallmark of Cameron’s other films (and indeed science fiction in general). The soft edges, the glowing plants and floating mountains all seem to have been informed by the director’s numerous excursions to the deepest oceans. (Cameron has been obsessed with the sea for some time, ever since the mid-90s, when he dived into the world of deep sea exploration starting with an expedition to the sunken Titanic.)

As for the natives, the Navi feel like a real, hitherto undiscovered ethnic group and Jake’s entry into their world is compelling. Engaging and impressive as it is, Cameron might have given the film and script a trim and a polish: for all the gorgeous detail of the planet itself, the pace could have been quickened and the characterisation is done with broad strokes (the stoic hero, the ruthless villain, the noble savages). In Avatar's climax, however, Cameron plays to his strengths, with an eye-popping conflict between the Navi and the humans.


Yes, Avatar is thankfully not only an alien love story, but a robust action movie. Cameron has always had a great gift for choreographing chaos and for fetishising technology and his long-term fans will be foaming at the mouth at the futuristic helicopters, planes, and exoskeletons. When the malevolent Colonel Quartich (Stephen Lang, apparently channelling Custer and Shwarzkopf) commandeers a giant robot in an early scene, you know he’ll be using it later.

Avatar’s unique appearance, gorgeous alien world and thrilling climax make it a must-see, but with prudent editing it might have been even better. Definitely recommended nonetheless.

First Among Sequels

A little catch-up time here on the blog, with a feature and two reviews from the Irish Times, starting with...

First Among Sequels
With the unwelcome sequels to St Trinians and Alvin and the Chipmunks (above) on the horizon, Joe Griffin suggests some more enticing second chapters that have yet to see the light of day...

Quick, name a recent major Hollywood film that’s not a sequel, nor based on a toy, book, TV series or cartoon. It’s tricky, isn’t it? While franchises and follow-ups have been a long tradition in Hollywood, many recent sequels have been especially lazy: Did 2009 really need Transformers 2, The Pink Panther 2 or a fourth (yes, fourth) Fast and the Furious? The rush to capitalize on recent successes seems to get exponentially faster: New Moon, for example, hit cinemas less than a year after Twilight, and The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels were filmed back-to-back. But in this rush, promising follow-ups are often left behind. If filmmakers insist on returning to the well, here are some neglected franchises with true potential…


Point Break: Indochina
The stylish Point Break (a cross between Endless Summer and Heat) has deservedly grown in stature and popularity since 1991, and its star Keanu Reeves and director Katherine Bigelow have each seen their stock rise over the past decade. As recently as this year, Point Break: Indochina was set to go ahead, with Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down) directing relative unknown Rick Otto. The ending of Point Break left it wide open for another chapter, but the sequel is stalled indefinitely. Maybe this will give producers to go back to the drawing board? There's huge potential there if they look hard enough.


Midnight Run 2
Why has Robert de Niro made follow-ups to Meet the Parents and Analyze This but not to Midnight Run? In far and away his funniest film, he starred as scruffy bounty hunter Jack Walsh on a road trip with a troublesome white-collar crook (Charles Grodin). There’s endless scope for the character to return and to deal with a pesky new criminal, perhaps played by a comparatively young comedian (Dave Chappelle? Dylan Moran? Eddie Izzard?). Yes, we know that there was a brief TV spin-off starring Christopher McDonald as Walsh, but that doesn’t really count.


The Incredibles 2
Possibly Pixar’s greatest triumph, The Incredibles, was an original story and far smarter than many high-profile comic adaptations, including Watchmen and Fantastic 4. It told the story of a dysfunctional family of superheroes: The parents were returning to the fray while the children were coming to terms with their powers. The Incredibles ended with the introduction of a new villain, The Underminer, and the spin-off video game expanded on the film’s plot. They could also return another villain, the Gallic pyromaniac, Bomb Voyage. The rumoured Incredibles sequel seems forever in limbo, but if The Punisher warranted 3 films, surely The Incredibles deserves at least two?


Superbad: Spring Break
Laugh-for-laugh the funniest film to emerge from Judd Apathow’s stable, its stars have yet to create characters more memorable than Seth, Evan and McLovin. Also, while the original brought a shot in the arm to the high school comedy genre, the next stage in their education has even more scope for farce. Will Seth and Evan miss each other in their respective new colleges? Will McLovin’s attempts at reinvention continue successfully? Will the bumbling cops Slater and Michaels (played by Bill Hader and Seth Rogen) return as detectives? Only a spring break weekend will provide the answers…


Top Gun: Afghan Wings
Of all of Jerry Bruckheimer’s blockbusters (including Bad Boys, National Treasure and Beverly Hills Cop), Top Gun has to rank as one of the most conspicuously sequel-free. It established memorable characters, launched its lead actor into the stratosphere (and arguably beyond reality) and, most importantly, is still remembered. Considering that the first film was all about training, it would be fun to see Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Iceman (Val Kilmer) in a real war zone. One of them could play an instructor (they’ve both aged well and are still reasonably famous), which would make room for some young blood.


Apocalypto: Rise of the Conquistadors
Director Mel Gibson’s phenomenal adventure was set among the ancient Mayans. It showed a young man fighting for his life in the face of - among other things - kidnappings, the threat of human sacrifice and a jaguar. It also established a terrifying world and showed the director’s knack for action scenes. But what makes Apocalypto most sequel-friendly was the time period: the film suggests that the chaos was just beginning, as the Mayan civilization was in decline and the conquistadors were just about to arrive.


Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 2: Kiss Harder
Shane Black’s underrated comedy noir was like a violent, foul-mouthed Bing Crosby and Bob Hope movie. The smart-ass sort-of straight man (Val Kilmer), the bumbling, loveable rogue (Robert Downey Jr) and the sassy girl (Michelle Monahan, in her first major role) all became a lively team by the time the film ended. It would be so nice to see them solve another case.


The Truman Show: Reality Bites
This oddly prescient 1998 film showed a young man who learns that his entire life was a TV show. The ultimate reality star (played by Jim Carey) found redemption when he made the first steps towards the real world. But what happened next? Did he meet his first love again? Did he make it to Fiji? Did he embrace his life as a celebrity? Did he sue the show’s producer (Christof, played by Ed Harris)? The further adventures of Truman Burbank would be a good opportunity to delve further into the issues raised by Peter Weir’s film.

The Merry Gentleman review

My review for The Merry Gentleman review for the Times....

Starring: Michael Keaton, Kelly Reilly, Tom Bastounes, Darlene Hunt and Bobby Cannavale
Directed by Michael Keaton
15A, general release, 97 mins


The following recipe might lead you to think of a cheery Christmas concoction: Michael Keaton, an upbeat title, stirred in a yuletide theme. Maybe you’re thinking of Keaton’s last major role, Jack Frost? Think again. The Merry Gentleman is a peculiar film, a relationship drama crossed with a lonely hitman movie.

Keaton is Frank Logan, a solitary assassin contemplating suicide. Kelly McDonald is Kate Frazier, a young woman who’s relocated after escaping an abusive marriage. One evening, Kate sees Frank teetering on a roof’s ledge. Her scream startles him and he falls backwards onto the roof. Not long afterwards, they develop a quiet, tentative friendship. Meanwhile, podgy detective Dave Murchesen (Tom Bastounes), who has designs on Kate, is investigating a series of suspicious deaths.

The Merry Gentleman has a strange atmosphere akin to a song being played slightly off-key. It’s hard to resist American films that acknowledge the pain and loneliness of the Silly Season, and Keaton’s directorial debut certainly does that. Not one, but three separate characters contemplate suicide, and the office Christmas party is painted as a sad collage of joyless dalliances and awkward jokes.

Keaton, while obviously not the draw he once was, has always been versatile, but The Merry Gentleman is his most restrained performance so far. It’s easy to see why the kinetic actor wanted to do something more subdued, but the characters played by McDonald (brave, vulnerable) and Bastounes (tenacious, insecure) are much more rounded.

Leon without the action, Grosse Point Blank without the comedy, The Merry Gentleman will perplex as many as it will captivate. Its pace is deliberate and it’s not without its flaws (the subplot of the killings could have been clearer, for example), but with its calm, strange tone and its portrait of an oddball friendship, The Merry Gentleman is a curiously ingratiating Christmas present.

Joe Griffin


Abridged version:
The Merry Gentleman***
Starring: Michael Keaton, Kelly Reilly, Tom Bastounes, Darlene Hunt and Bobby Cannavale
Directed by Michael Keaton
15A, general release, 97 mins

Lonely, quiet hitman Michael Keaton strikes up a tentative friendship with former abused spouse Kelly McDonald. Meanwhile, an overweight detective is investigating a series of mysterious deaths.

Not the jolliest film of the Silly Season, but that’s largely the point: Leon without the action, Grosse Point Blank without the comedy, Keaton’s directorial debut will perplex as many as it will captivate. Its pace is deliberate and it’s not without its flaws, but with its calm, strange atmosphere and its portrait of an oddball friendship, The Merry Gentleman is a curiously ingratiating Christmas present.

Cracks review

Here's my review of Cracks for The Irish Times...


Starring: Eva Green, Juno Temple, Maria Valverde, Imogen Poots and Sinead Cusack
Directed by Jordan Scott
15A, general release, 104 minutes

Welcome to Stanley Island, England circa 1934, or more specifically to a Catholic girls’ boarding school on the remote isle. The girls seem quite normal here – they go to confession, practice their hymns, lust after boys and idolise the enigmatic teacher “Miss G”, played by Eva Green, sporting the same flinty accent she used in Casino Royale.

Glamorous and worldly, Miss G coaches the girls in diving and regales them with far-fetched stories of her travels. Her biggest fan is Di (Juno Temple), who, as captain of her dorm room, happily abuses her petty power. Both of their lives are shaken by the arrival of new student Fiamma (Maria Valverde) from Spain. With her exotic accent and hornet-stung lips she soon becomes an object of curiosity, adulation and, in some corners, dangerous jealousy.

Comparisons to other inspirational teachers are hard to resist, but while the surrogate parents in Dead Poets Society or The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie mostly improve their students’ malleable minds, Miss G is a more volatile creation. It’s suggested from the moment Fiamma arrives that things will not end well.

With canny use of some locations in Kells and Wicklow, director Jordan Scott (daughter of Ridley) has built a world that’s both vast and claustrophobic: the wide fields and shimmering bodies of water make a mockery of the students’ collective isolation. The cast is well chosen, and Scott capitalises on the most striking aspects of the three lead actresses: Green’s intimidating eyes, Valverde’s quiet confidence and especially Temple’s mean little face.

Cracks is well-acted and atmospheric, so it’s a shame that the languid pacing prevents this period thriller from hitting the bull’s eye. Still, as a director’s daughter’s debut, it’s far more likely to be compared to Sophia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides than Jennifer Lynch’s Boxing Helena.

By the way, you’d be well advised to avoid the trailer, which insists on giving too much away.

Top 20 films of the decade

This was a hard list to compile. It was a great, great decade for cinema. I think that's reflected not just in the quality of the films listed, but also in their diversity. Feel free to comment if I've made any outrageous inclusions or omissions...


1- There will be Blood












It’s a performance so over-the-top that it almost shouldn’t have worked, but with Daniel Plainview, Daniel Day Lewis has created a character for the ages. Painted on a huge canvas that seemed to reach beyond the screen, Paul Thomas Anderson crafted an epic morality tale of greed and diminishing humanity. Paul Dano was pretty great as well, as Planview’s sanctimonious nemesis.


2- Apocalypto



Yes, Mel Gibson has issues, and yes, this film wasn’t 100% accurate. Instead, Apocalypto is a thrilling, otherworldly adventure about ancient Mayans.



3- The Incredibles



What makes us special? Is family more important than a sense of duty? How would superheroes be treated in the real, litigious world? Brad Bird’s colourful, witty and lively animated film is the best in Pixar’s canon. Philosophical cinema shouldn’t be this much fun.



4- Brokeback Mountain



The most moving cinematic love story of a generation, Brokeback Mountain is achingly painful and sensitive. Ang Lee is best when working with tortured, repressed characters, and he found a perfect backdrop in the short story by Ann E. Proulx.



5- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King



Even if Peter Jackson’s ambitious Tolkein adaptation didn’t have emotional heft, it would have been a staggering adventure. As it happened, the characters were so well drawn and cast that by the final act, the sentimental finale was more than earned.



6- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon












Ang Lee again: Masterful martial arts, moving performances (especially by the great Chow Yun Fat) and a distinctive story made this film an instant genre classic.




7- Almost Famous



Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Say Anything) may have lost his way in recent years, but when he hits the mark, his films are glorious love letters to the world, and in this case, to music itself. Bursting with warmth and humour, you just want to give the film a great big hug.



8- The Proposition


Sweat soaked, fly-addled atmosphere dominates John Hilcoat’s, violent dusty Australian western (southern?) about an Irish outlaw forced to betray his dangerous brother. Nick Cave wrote the smart script and provided the gorgeous soundtrack.



9- Oldboy


Stop! Hammer-time. What to say about Park Chan-Wook’s film that hasn’t been said before? A wholly distinctive story that gets right under your skin, it’s a disturbing, engrossing revenge parable.



10- Lantana

A missing person case resonates across numerous disparate lives in this sophisticated drama. Anthony Lapaglia leads an impressive ensemble in this intelligent, distinctly Australian study of male angst.

11- The Departed
Not the deepest film on the list, but one of the most outrageously entertaining, a Boston (or Bawwwston) cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) goes undercover with a crime lord (Jack Nicholson, having a ball) while a crook (Matt Damon) goes undercover as a cop. Martin Scorsese choreographs the duplicity deftly.

12- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Definitely too stately for some tastes, but I think this meditative western breathes like a fine wine. Brad Pitt plays one of America’s first celebrities while Casey Affleck, in a star-making performance, is his number one fan.

13- The Dark Knight
Of all of the influences on The Dark Knight, from its source comic characters to Michael Mann’s Heat, the film this most resembles is Brian de Palma’s The Untouchables. It’s exciting, elegant stuff with a barnstorming performance by Heath Ledger.

14- Memento
A mind-bending, non-chronological puzzle from budding director Christopher Nolan (who went on to make The Dark Knight). An amnesiac tries to solve his wife’s murder, one clue at a time. Guy Pearse is one of the most underrated actors in modern film.

15- Casino Royale
Muscular, confident reinvention of James Bond starring an intense Daniel Craig as a newly minted secret agent. I'm confident that this will be remembered as the best film in the franchise.

16- The Beat that my Heart Skipped
Bravura French drama about a young man who tries to escape his sleazy real estate employers. The tone and energy are reminiscent of 70s era Scorsese and Romain Duris is sensational as the tortured, piano-playing antihero.

17- Bad Santa
Billy Bob Thornton’s signature performance (surpassing Sling Blade) is as a misanthropic department store santa. His unlikely journey to redemption makes for infinitely re-watchable comedy/drama.

18- Donnie Darko
Debut director Richard Kelly channels John Hughes and David Lynch in this era-defining directorial debut. Jake Gyllenhaal made his name playing the troubled teenager who has a strange relationship with physics and the universe.

19- Minority Report
Stephen Spielberg hasn’t been this playful since Raiders of the Lost Ark. The story by Phillip K Dick (about pre-emptive murder convictions in the near future) is thought-provoking and Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell are in top form.

20- Lost in Translation
Sophia Coppolla’s film reminded us of the marvel of Bill Murray and introduced us to a young actress called Scarlett Johansson. It’s a simple, sensitive little mood piece about two wandering souls who connect in Japan.