Lessons learned from a year in film...

Here's a fun little piece I wrote for today's Irish Times...

Mindless entertainment? On the contrary, it’s amazing the gems of wisdom you can pick up from a few visits to the multiplex

AH, 2010. With stupid reality doling out harsh lessons for everyone in the country, it’s no wonder that we flocked to the cinema en masse. (The Irish are still among the most frequent cinema attendants per capita in the world.) But mainstream cinema isn’t just a jaunty trip to another world; it can offer some useful life lessons, unless I’m misinterpreting things, of course.

Here are some lessons I’ve learned at the cinema in 2010.

1 OVER 60S ARE HARDER TO KILL THAN UNDER-60S

You would think that the opposite would be true, but according to this year’s films, you’d be wrong. Us Facebook-updating, moisturiser-applying, under-60 Nancy boys shouldn’t bother picking a fight with the old folks. As shown in Red, The Expendables and Machete , grizzled old action stars like Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Danny Trejo and (yes) Helen Mirren are hard to kill.

It’s best summarised in a fight scene in Red : “Kordeski trained you . . .” Willis says to a young agent before he breaks his arm, “I trained Kordeski.”

Killing people isn’t horrific, incidentally, but is actually jaunty and romantic. Again, my preconceptions were overturned by Hollywood films, this time in the ostensibly cheerful romps Killers and Knight Day . In the former, Katherine Heigl marries Ashton Kutcher who turns out to be some kind of assassin. After initially being horrified to see him kill countless people, she finds that the danger (and murders) serves to spice up their marriage.

Heigl even gets in on the fun – punching a middle-aged woman square in the face. Bless. In Knight Day Tom Cruise woos Cameron Diaz by dragging her into a dangerous game of espionage, (again) killing people in her presence and on numerous occasions drugging and kidnapping her. Who says romance is dead?











2 BAD REPRESENTATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST ARE NO LONGER JUST THE DOMAIN OF ACTION MOVIES

Middle Eastern minorities must have been pleased to see a certain era come to an end when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone (at least temporarily) stopped making brawny, xenophobic action movies. What an unpleasant surprise it must have been to see cartoonish stereotypes return in (of all things) Sex and the City 2 . The film featured religious fundamentalists, handsome servants who stay up all night unless dismissed, and most shocking of all, liberation of Middle Eastern women symbolised by wearing pointlessly expensive clothes beneath their burqas.


3 CHARACTERS PLAYED BY HARRISON FORD AREN’T NICE TO WORK WITH

If you walk into your first day at work and Harrison Ford is there, fasten your seat belt, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Ford the interviewee has a reputation for being intelligent, but taciturn and grouchy, and he doesn’t help things by repeatedly playing similar men in movies. In the underrated Extraordinary Measures he was a brilliant scientist who played obnoxiously loud music in the lab and butted heads with nice-guy Brendan Fraser. In Morning Glory (coming soon), he plays (you’re way ahead of me) a taciturn, brilliant and grouchy morning news presenter who butts heads with nice girl Rachel McAdams.


4 MARRYING LEONARDO DiCAPRIO IS A PERILOUS BUSINESS

Leonardo DiCaprio has come a long way since breaking hearts in two era-defining romantic tragedies ( Titanic and Romeo & Juliet – like you needed reminding). But even when he’s making respected epics for the hottest directors in Hollywood, he still can’t say no to tragic love stories. Consider the two poor wives in Inception and Shutter Island , and you’d hesitate before you’d let him put a ring on it.



5 JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE AN ASSASSIN, EMBEZZLER, BANK ROBBER/KIDNAPPER, OR MEGALOMANIACAL CARTOON VILLAIN, THAT DOESN’T MAKE YOU A BAD PERSON

Those soft Hollywood types showed sympathy for all sorts of rascals this year. In The American , George Clooney killed people for a living, but he was also sensitive, as shown by his love for butterflies and voluptuous Italian prostitutes. Even more audaciously, Oliver Stone tried to make us sympathise with a high-flying embezzler in the sequel to Wall Street .

In The Town , Ben Affleck played a bank-robber and kidnapper, but he was a good soul beneath it all. And even in kids’ movies Despicable Me and Megamind , traditional movie badguys got a chance to (respectively) befriend children and fall in love, proving that you’re never too young to enjoy post-modern deconstructions of traditional villains.


6 WATCHING SOMEONE’S HOLIDAY VIDEO IS BORING, EVEN IF THEY’RE MOVIE STARS

It was pioneered by Couple’s Retreat last year, but in 2010, movie stars really enjoyed going on paid holidays in a string of unremarkable movies. Julia Roberts got to eat pasta in Italy, meditate in India (she converted to Hinduism after the film) and swim in Bali in Eat, Pray, Love .

Angelina Jolie admitted that one of the reasons she starred in The Tourist (one of her worst films – which is saying something) was because it was shot in Venice. Producer/star Adam Sandler got to hang out by a lake with famous pals Chris Rock and Kevin James in the lazy comedy Grown Ups . Sandler cast Salma Hayek as his wife and Rock had such a good time filming that he recently said it was the only movie where he hoped to return for reshoots.

And in Somewhere Stephen Dorff ordered room service and played videogames in LA’s Chateau Marmont. It’s exactly as interesting as it sounds.

Films of the Year

Finally! Here's my list of best films of the year...

In descending order...



10- Winter’s Bone
What hasn't been said about this one already? Stunning locations and cinematography, star-making performance, strong story, memorable characters and faces. I loved it.



9- Kick-Ass
Yes, we've had our share of postmodern superheros (from The Incredibles to Watchmen and beyond), but Kick Ass was filmed and performed with such passion and panache, it was irresistible. A bratty, punky, violent companion piece to The Incredibles.



8- The Town
Old-school cat-and-mouse crime movie with strong turns from Jon Hamm (pictured) and Ben Affleck, not to mention Jeremy Remmer as the obligatory loose cannon in the team.



7- Monsters
A gorgeous love story/travelogue that happens to be set in Mexico after an alien infestation. Fabulous chemistry between the leads and the final scene has a sense of wonder that Spielberg would be proud of. This film really hangs around in your consciousness long after the credits roll.



6- A Prophet
Jaques Audiard (Read my Lips, The Beat that My Heart Skipped) made his best film yet about the ascent of a young criminal with the confines of a prison. A completely satisfying crime epic.



5- Good Hair
Laugh for laugh the funniest movie of the year, but this documentary (presented by Chris Rock) about black women's relationship with their hair weaved in some interesting debate about politics, race, vanity, fashion, feminism and femininity.



4- Mother
Riveting and utterly original murder mystery from Joon-Ho Bong, director of The Host.



3- Toy Story 3
God, Pixar really knocked it out of the park with this one - hilarious, thrilling, emotionally hefty (that incinerator scene is more harrowing than Schindler's List) and utterly warm.



2- Inception
Probably my favourite kind of film - a mainstream, entertaining Hollywood film with some big ideas. As well as stylised action scenes and dazzling special effects, it had some things to say about love, reality and the power of an idea. Awesome score by Hanz Zimmer, too.



1- The Social Network
God, I loved this. From Aaron Sorkin's exquisite script to David Fincher's confident, stylish direction to the fine performances (from Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer) to the fabulously Machiavellian and relevant story.



Best Actor - Joaquin Phoenix, I'm Not There

Best Actress - Leslie Manville, Another Year

Breakthrough - Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Best Irish Film - His & Hers (followed by Savage)

Best Director - Christopher Nolan for Inception

Best Documentary - Good Hair, but I also loved His and Hers and The Pipe

Worst Film - Killers - Take a bow, Katherine Heigl. You made last year's worst film (The Ugly Truth) as well! Dishonourable mention - You Again

Overrated - Greenberg - why would I want to spend time with such a horrible little man? And why did critics like it? This felt like the biggest gap between critical acclaim and audience taste in some time. The Kids are All Right was just alright.

Underrated - The Crazies - why didn't more people go see this efficient and smart little horror movie? and why was Michael Cera's funniest film since Superbad (Youth in Revolt) ignored by critics and audiences alike?

Games of the Year

As some of you know, I've been writing about games for The Irish Times since February. It's been a blast so far, and last Friday they published my top ten games of 2010. Here's the list with a little more detail (movie list is coming soon)...


1 Red Dead Redemption (above)
Compelling story, expansive game, gorgeous, cinematic graphics and nice historical detail made this western game truly compelling.

2 Limbo
I gave this a rave review when it came out. It's a haunting, original little piece.

3 Heavy Rain
This interactive melodrama/film noir really shouldn't have worked, but it proved pretty groundbreaking.

4 Battlefield: Bad Company II
In a year filled with first-person shooters, this had both the best gameplay and the most personality. Think Kelly's Heroes crossed with Call of Duty.

5 Modnation Racers
Colourful, innovative kart-racer.


6 God of War III
Grandiose! If only the film of Clash of the Titans was half as opulent as this.

7 Plants vs Zombies
Plant plants to block, attack and hinder a zombie army onslaught. Much cuter than it sounds.

8 Dance Central
The perfect use of the new Xbox Kinect control system.


9 Split/Second Velocity
Stylish, shimmering fast-paced racer with some nasty tricks up its sleeve. Like a Michael Bay film, except, you know...good.

10 Angry Birds
But of course- catapulting birds has never been so addictive.

The new Thor trailer looks...okay!

I was very sceptical about the new Thor movie mainly because director Kenneth Branagh is a fine actor, but he's not so consistent behind the camera. His Shakespeare adaptations are often great, but his versions of Frankenstein and Sleuth were awful. Also, the concept (viking demigogue is exiled to earth and eventually becomes savour of mankind) could be campy in the wrong hands. But I must say - the sets and costumes look suitably opulent, Anthony Hopkins is generally great at the shouting patriarch roles and it seems to be made with conviction. Maybe Brannagh's background in classical drama makes him the ideal candidate for adapting a modern take on Norse mythology? I'm cautiously optimistic. Here's the link for you...

Lights, Camera, but no Box Office Action

Here's my interview with the mighty Nathan Rabin (author of My Year of Flops, above) for the Irish Times...

Nathan Rabin’s ‘ My Year of Flops’ columns for ‘The Onion’ have been compiled into a book. JOE GRIFFIN talks to him about three years of fiasco-spotting

Joe Griffin : What’s the one thing you’ve learned from spending so long watching commercial failures?

Nathan Rabin : More than anything, I’ve come to realise that historic failure and epic success come from the same place. They’re the product of filmmakers giddy with ambition, audacity and conviction, the creative progeny of bold souls willing to dream big and fail big. The same impulse that led Roberto Benigni to triumph with Life Is Beautiful led him to imagine the world needed a balding, 50-year-old puppet-boy in Pinocchio. Similarly, the same crazed genius that inspired Michael Cimino to shock the world with The Deer Hunter inspired the overreaching mess that is Heaven’s Gate .

JG : Your essays include a lot of expensive comedies: Ishtar, Land of the Lost, Pluto Nash and more. Why do you think filmmakers throw so much money at the most cost-effective genre?

NR : For my generation, few comedies are as iconic or as influential as Ghostbusters and The Blues Brothers . It would be hard to think of two more expensive comedies. Ghostbusters’ massive, almost unprecedented success infected studios and filmmakers with the delusional notion that comedies benefit from expensive special effects and big budgets when comedies – more than any other genre – live and die on the strength of their scripts and performances.


JG: What’s the most commercial or surprising flop you discussed and why do imagine it failed commercially?

NR : The Rocketeer and Last Action Hero are probably the most commercial flops in the book and they were both the victims of bad timing. The Rocketeer , which I love, had the misfortune to go up against T2: Judgment Day while Last Action Hero went toe-to-toe with Jurassic Park . They’re both shameless blasts of popcorn escapism but The Rocketeer benefits from filmmakers with a clear, beautifully realised vision: to do for superhero movies what Indiana Jones did for adventure serials; while Last Action Hero is what some call “a feathered fish”, an unfeasible hybrid that’s not quite action, not quite comedy but something confused and unsatisfying in between.

JG: Do you think knowing too much about a film’s finances works against it?

NR : Definitely. With films like The Cable Guy, Ishtar and Waterworld , the films’ budget overruns became the story instead of the films themselves. They become ripe targets for schadenfreude among people horrified by the waste and creative bankruptcy behind so much of what Hollywood unleashes on an unsuspecting public.


JG: Do you think films are sometimes punished for being ahead of their time?

NR : I do . Scott Pilgrim Versus the World is an excellent example. It’s groundbreaking in its use of CGI to erase the lines between video games, comics, cartoons and live action, but it appealed to a cult, niche audience despite boasting a blockbuster budget. Another good example would be Mickey One , an Arthur Penn-directed Warren Beatty vehicle that tried to import the French New Wave to American shores two years before Bonnie & Clyde .

JG : Some movie stars have a nose for a hit (like Cruise and Hanks) while some gravitate towards flops (like Stallone and Travolta). What’s Cruise doing that Stallone isn’t?

MR : Couch-jumping and Scientology-espousing aside, I think Cruise is incredibly smart in the way he’s managed his career. He works with the best filmmakers in the world and regularly challenges himself with roles like Collateral or Magnolia , whereas Stallone has allowed his ego to destroy his career (pre-comeback of course). Stallone is notorious for script-doctoring every film he appears in, and the sad reality of Hollywood is there aren’t too many great roles for marble-mouthed senior citizens with creepily unlined faces.


JG : Why did big studios throw so much money at such strange (but sometimes admirable) projects as Pennies from Heaven, Freddie got Fingered and Battlefield Earth ?

NR : Sometimes an executive takes a risk because he believes in a project whether it makes sense commercially or not. Pennies from Heaven is such a film but there was a certain method to the studio’s madness. After all, the film was based on source material that had already proven extremely successful, albeit in a much different medium [TV]. Battlefield Earth was at once a passion project for John Travolta and an attempt to create a Star Wars -like franchise ostensibly based on a bestselling sci-fi classic, and Freddy Got Fingered was actually a fairly smart gamble for the studio. It was a modestly budgeted vehicle for a ubiquitous cult TV personality [Tom Green] with a built-in following. It’s utterly surreal but on paper at least it doesn’t look like that crazy a move even if it led to that crazy a film.

JG : How many flops do you think a movie star is allowed to make before they’re finished? Am I right in thinking that different rules of failure apply to different actors?

NR : Some actors have such a ferocious, strong bond with the movie-going public that they can appear in bomb after bomb and still headline one big-budget studio picture after another. Bruce Willis and John Travolta are two such souls. They’ve earned so much goodwill through their iconic performances in movies like Pulp Fiction, Die Hard, The Sixth Sense, Saturday Night Fever and Grease that we’ll always love them. So it’s hard to pin down exactly how many strikes you’re afforded. There’s a very tricky cultural arithmetic when it comes to flops I’m still trying to figure out myself. Give me another four years of flopspotting and I will get back to you on that one.

My Year of Flops is published by Simon Schuster

Popcorn!

Here's my film news column from Friday's Irish Independent (hey - there might be stuff you missed!)

Down with Oscar's kids


This year's broadcast of the Oscars saw a dip in ratings, so it's not surprising that next year's show will be hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway (above).

This attempt to be down with the kids should work out: both Franco and Hathaway can do comedy, have presented the live sketch show Saturday Night Live, and Hathaway had a memorable song and dance number with Hugh Jackman at the Oscars this year (performing a musical summary of Frost/Nixon). Incidentally, Franco may well be Oscar-nominated for his role in 127 Hours.


Stars align for Cloud Atlas
The Wachowskis (The Matrix and -- ahem -- Speed Racer) are still making big plans for Cloud Atlas. The adaptation of the epic book will span 1850s Pacific seafaring, post-apocalyptic Hawaii, 1930s Belgium and 21st-century England. The siblings had intended to produce with Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) behind the camera, but now it looks like they might all be sharing directing duties. They'd want to get their act together if they're planning to shoot next summer.

At any rate, at least they have a stellar cast: Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, Natalie Portman (below) and James McAvoy have joined the project.


Stephen Dorff's comeback continues
Yep, Stephen Dorff, the squinting too-cool-for-school B-lister, is on the cusp of a comeback, thanks to his star turn in Sofia Coppola's acclaimed -- but quite boring -- Somewhere. Capitalising on this exposure, Dorff is writing and possibly directing a vehicle for himself and Jack Nicholson to star in. (He co-starred with Nicholson effectively some years ago in the heist movie Blood and Wine.) All we know for now is that Dorff is developing a comedy produced by Adam Sandler, set in the south of France, and possibly starring Nicholson. The comeback kid will also be seen in the fantasy epic Immortals, out next year.

Winter's Bone wins big at the Gotham Awards
I may not report every award that gets handed out between now and the Oscars, but it's nice to see Winter's Bone getting some more kudos. At the Gotham Awards -- celebrating indie cinema -- the excellent Southern drama nabbed Best Film, Best Director and Best Ensemble Cast. This likely won't be the last awards the film earns, and its star, Jennifer Lawrence, should probably get a nice frock ready for Oscar and Golden Globe nights.

Mark Wahlberg enters Broken City
Have you heard of the Black List? You probably have. It's a list of the hottest unproduced scripts in Hollywood as chosen by its biggest producers. Previous Black List scripts have included Brick, The Wrestler and Zombieland. One of the latest Black List screenplays to move into development is Broken City by Brian Tucker and it's just got a high-profile star and director: Mark Wahlberg will take the lead and Alan Hughes (Menace II Society) will direct. Wahlberg told mtv.com that the film noir about a disgraced detective is "in the vein of those old classics -- Chinatown, even LA Confidential". Can't wait!


Irvin Kershner 1923-2010
Though it's undeniably sad that Leslie Nielsen passed away this week, his death has overshadowed the news that Irvin Kershner also died on Monday.

Kershner was a musician before he made films, though he did make the Sean Connery Bond film Never Say Never Again, the underrated Robocop 2 and, most notably, The Empire Strikes Back. This second Star Wars film remains the only unequivocally great one in the saga and a genuine sci-fi classic.

Eat my Shoe! (a tribute to improvised weapons)

Hi there - sorry it's been a while. Very busy!

Anyway, here's a link to a story I wrote for The Guardian last week about improvised weapons...