Reviews

I have decided to make a running tally of all the films I have reviewed.

127 Hours (4 stars)
2 Days in Paris (3 stars)
(500) Days of Summer (3.5 stars)
Adam's Rib (3.5 stars)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (4 stars)
The African Queen (2 stars)
Agora (2 stars)
Alice in Wonderland (2010) (2 stars)
All About Eve (4 stars)
Amelia (0.5 stars)
The American (3.5 stars)
Animal Kingdom (3.5 stars)
Another Year (4 stars)
Avatar (3 stars)
Bad Education (3.5 stars)
Beauty and the Beast (4 stars)
Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (3.5 stars)
Black Swan (4 stars)
The Blind Side (2.5 stars)
Blue Valentine (3.5 stars)
Body Heat (3.5 stars)
Broken Embraces (4 stars)
Brothers (2 stars)
Casino Jack (1.5 stars)
Chloe (3 stars)
Chocolat (3 stars)
City of God (3 stars)
The Class (4 stars)
Coco Avant Chanel (2 stars)
Conviction (2 stars)
Coraline (3 stars)
The Cove (4 stars)
Crazy Heart (3.5 stars)
Date Night (2.5 stars)
Death Becomes Her (My #7)
Departures (4 stars)
Dial M For Murder (2 stars)
Easy A (3 stars)
Easy Rider (3 stars)
An Education (3.5 stars)
Everyone Says I Love You (My #5)
Fair Game (3 stars)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (4 stars)
Fargo (My #8)
The Fighter (2 stars)
Fish Tank (3 stars)
Food, Inc. (3 stars)
Get Him to the Greek (2.5 stars)
Get Low (3 stars)
The Ghost Writer (3 stars)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2 stars)
The Girl Who Played with Fire (3 stars)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (4 stars)
Goodfellas (3.5 stars)
The Graduate (3.5 stars)
Green Zone (2 stars)
The Grifters (4 stars)
Hable con ella (4 stars)
Hannah and Her Sisters (My #1)
Happy Tears (3 stars)
Harry Brown (3 stars)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (3 stars)
Hereafter (2 stars)
How to Train Your Dragon (3 stars)
I Am Love (4 stars)
I Love You Phillip Morris (3 stars)
I've Loved You So Long (My #10)
Il Divo (2.5 stars)
In The Loop (4 stars)
Inception (4 stars)
The Informant! (2.5 stars)
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (2 stars)
Invictus (2.5 stars)
It's Complicated (2 stars)
Jackie Brown (My #3)
JFK (2 stars)
Julia (4 stars)
Kids (3.5 stars)
The Kids Are All Right (4 stars)
Kill Bill (My #4)
The King's Speech (3 stars)
The Last Station (3 stars)
Life During Wartime (3.5 stars)
The Lion King (2.5 stars)
Little Children (My #9)
The Little Mermaid (4 stars)
London to Brighton (2.5 stars)
Looking For Mr. Goodbar (3 stars)
Love and Other Drugs (1.5 stars)
Love Me If You Dare (3.5 stars)
The Lovely Bones (2 stars)
Made in Dagenham (3 stars)
The Maid (4 stars)
The Maltese Falcon (2.5 stars)
Man On Wire (3.5 stars)
Mary and Max (4 stars)
Maxed Out (3 stars)
The Men Who Stare at Goats (3 stars)
The Messenger (3 stars)
Morning Glory (3 stars)
Mother and Child (3 stars)
My Cousin Vinny (2.5 stars)
Never Let Me Go (2 stars)
Nine (1.5 stars)
Nowhere Boy (3 stars)
Precious (4 stars)
A Price Above Rubies (1 star)
The Princess and the Frog (1.5 stars)
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2 stars)
Un Prophète (3.5 stars)
Quiz Show (4 stars)
Rabbit Hole (3.5 stars)
The Road (3.5 stars)
Robin Hood (2010) (1.5 stars)
The Royal Tenenbaums (My #6)
Salt (2 stars)
Scott Pilgrim vs the World (3 stars)
Secrets & Lies (My #2)
The September Issue (3 stars)
A Serious Man (4 stars)
Shrek the Third (Zero stars)
Shutter Island (1.5 stars)
A Single Man (4 stars)
The Social Network (3.5 stars)
Solitary Man (3 stars)
Some Like It Hot (4 stars)
Somewhere (4 stars)
Step Up 3D (1 star)
Stone (1 star)
Strangers on a Train (4 stars)
Sunset Boulevard (4 stars)
Todo sobre mi madre (3.5 stars)
The Town (3 stars)
Toy Story 3 (4 stars)
True Grit (3.5 stars)
Two if by Sea (1.5 stars)
Up in the Air (4 stars)
Up the Yangtze (3 stars)
Valentino: The Last Emperor (2.5 stars)
Valley of the Dolls (1 star)
Vertigo (4 stars)
Wasted on the Young (3.5 stars)
When in Rome (1.5 stars)
Where The Wild Things Are (4 stars)
Whip It (3 stars)
The White Ribbon (3 stars)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (4 stars)
Winter's Bone (3 stars)
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2.5 stars)
The Young Victoria (3 stars)

2010 in Review!

A few weeks into 2011, I finally feel prepared to offer my top ten films of 2010. I am not sure 2010 was a great year for cinema, as it seems the year will be remembered more for the disappointments than for the highlights. I am also disappointed that so few foreign films were released into theatres in Toronto. I wish there was a greater audience and demand for international films. That being said, I think the individual performances from 2010 are stronger than 2009. I enjoyed a great number of films this year, and I present my top ten:

10. True Grit
The Coen brothers won three Academy Awards in 2007 for No Country For Old Men, an urban western adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novel. True Grit, the second cinematic adaptation of Charles Portis' novel, is a more traditional western and the least quirky film they have made. It is beautifully photographed and terrifically acted, led by the precocious Hailee Steinfeld.






9. 127 Hours
James Franco finally delivers a performance worthy of his talent. I was blown away by 127 Hours, a mesmerizing film that combines incredible acting, directing, writing and editing. A huge part of the intensity of the film is the build up to the amputation, but Danny Boyle's direction shows great restraint and vision. In another year, James Franco would be a sure frontrunner for the Academy Award.





8. Toy Story 3
I was twelve when Toy Story was released and into adulthood I have retained my admiration for the franchise while my appreciation for animation has waned. The third installment is the most mature and it is the most heartbreaking. Up forced the sentimentality, but Toy Story 3 hit all the right notes. It was an emotionally satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy.



7. The Social Network
I have come to appreciate The Social Network more now than I did after seeing it for the first time. I had a much stronger reaction to the film after seeing it a second time. It is a socially relevant film with a great central performance from Jesse Eisenberg, though he is overshadowed by the great talent of Andrew Garfield. David Fincher is a great director and somehow he made a film about something as dull as Facebook feel fresh and exciting.




6. Blue Valentine
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams own the screen in Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. It is a heart-wrenching look at a crumbling marriage and yet it gives the audience reason to want the couple to try to stay together. Using flashbacks, the film has a great number of emotional layers and I felt just as emotionally raw as the characters on screen by the time the lights came on.





5. Somewhere
Sofia Coppola's Somewhere is beautifully melodic and poetic. The film has a very art house feel and it is a shame that Stephen Dorff has not received more attention for his starring role. It is a great character for him and a performance that I hope will encourage him to seek better roles that reflect his talent. Somewhere is so hauntingly beautiful that I still find myself replaying scenes from the film in my head more than a month later.






4. I Am Love
Tilda Swinton may be one of the oddest actresses currently working in Hollywood, but she is a ferocious talent. She not only learned to speak Italian for this role, but she learned to speak it with a Russian accent. I Am Love may frustrate viewers, but I was captivated by the beauty of its cinematography and the intensity of Tilda Swinton's performance. I am appalled by the lack of attention she has received for I Am Love, a film which she co-produced.




3. The Kids Are All Right
If The Kids Are All Right had been released in the fall instead of the summer, would Annette Bening be the frontrunner for the Best Actress prize instead of Natalie Portman? She is a tremendous force in this turbulent comedy about love and family. It also features Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson, and the film offers one of the best acting ensembles of 2010.






1. Black Swan
I did struggle with my top choice of 2010. Black Swan, with a brilliant and intense performance from Natalie Portman, is one of the two absolute best films I saw in 2010. Darren Aronofsky's film about the dark side of perfection is over the top and uncomfortable to watch at times, but it is beautiful to watch Natalie Portman's downward spiral. I still get chills remembering some of Black Swan's more jaw-dropping scenes. Not only does Natalie Portman give the best performance of her career to date, but Mila Kunis and Barbara Hershey are equally superb in supporting roles.


1. Another Year
Mike Leigh is one of the most talented directors working today and his films depict such an intimate and honest view of humanity. Another Year is easily one of his best films, though it would take quite the effort to eclipse Secrets & Lies from its perch (as it is my second favourite film ever). Like Natalie Portman in Black Swan, Lesley Manville is an electric force in Another Year whose performance depends so much on her talented costars, a wonderful screenplay and a great director. There is too much for me to say about Another Year. I loved every second of it. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen undeservedly take the back seat to Lesley Manville even though their performances are equally brilliant.

Other films I enjoyed this year:
Animal Kingdom - Jacki Weaver is terrifyingly brilliant as the matriarch of a Melbourne crime family.
Easy A - Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci steal a few scenes, but Emma Stone is the real treasure of this enjoyable teen comedy.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Noomi Rapace owns the screen and her performance will still overshadow David Fincher's American remake.
The King's Speech - Colin Firth gives a great performance, though not as good as last year's A Single Man, and although the film is a bit too formulaic, it is worth seeing.
Made in Dagenham - Sally Hawkins is always great, and although this film does not fully utilize her potential, she does make it worth seeing.
Mother and Child - Annette Bening and Naomi Watts are great in this film about the effects of adoption.
Rabbit Hole - Nicole Kidman gives one of her best performances in recent years and a great supporting performance from the always brilliant Dianne Wiest.

Biggest disappointments of the year:
Alice in Wonderland - Tim Burton's film might be the worst film I saw in 2010.
The Fighter - for a film Mark Wahlberg spent years trying to make, both he and the film failed to hit the mark for me (though his costars were outstanding).
Shutter Island - There is little to enjoy about Martin Scorsese's overwrought film.

Review: "Another Year"

Mike Leigh has been one of my favourite directors since I first saw Secrets & Lies (1996) when I was just thirteen. I have the same heartbreaking emotional reaction each time I see the film. I remember my experiences watching Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake (2004) and falling in love with Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008). Mike Leigh, who spends months working with his cast to build the screenplay, has a great talent for understanding human emotion. I wish I had seen his new film, Another Year, at the Toronto International Film Festival when I discovered it was not to be released until the middle of January. The film reminds me of Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), as both films centre around a group of characters over an extended period of time. Another Year focuses on Tom and Gerri, played by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen, over a period of one year. There is a strong focus on the change of seasons, made richer by the garden allotment tended to by Tom and Gerri. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen are both exceptional as an aging couple whose love brightens the screen, but it is Lesley Manville, as Gerri's depressed and delusional coworker, who controls the film. There is so much to say and to love about Another Year, but for me, it is the humanity of the characters that makes the film more emotionally profound. Every scene is natural and unforced with rich dialogue, the product of improvised rehearsals. Another Year is an intimate portrait of a couple and their acquaintances over the course of a calendar year. The beauty of the film is in the actors and their characters, who are so well-rounded that it is impossible not to want to knock on their front door and enter their lives.

Tom (Broadbent) and Gerri (Sheen) have been married for more than three decades. He works as a geological engineer and she is a medical counselor. They are still very much in love and spend much of their free time taking care of their garden allotment. Mary (Manville), a doctor's assistant, has worked with Gerri for twenty years. She is lonely and emotionally fragile. Mary depends on the kindness of Gerri and Tom and is a frequent visitor to their home. On many of those occasions she drinks too much and required an overnight stay. The emotionally insecure Mary clings to the belief that Tom and Gerri's thirty year old son Joe (Oliver Maltman) will one day respond to her flirtation. In the spring, Joe is unattached, but by autumn he has started a relationship with Katie (Karina Fernandez) and Mary handles the news quite poorly, going as far as to affect her friendship with Gerri. In the summer, Tom and Gerri are also visited by Ken (Peter Wight), a widowed friend whose drinking and smoking have affected his health. By the winter, Joe and Katie have become much closer, but Tom and Gerri are affected by the death of his brother Ronnie's (David Bradley) wife. Through all the ups and downs experienced by family and friends, Tom and Gerri remain unwaveringly in love.

Another Year never sacrifices the story for the sake of the beautiful contrasts within the film. Each scene is a beautiful and honest moment in the lives of these characters. Mike Leigh does an expert job contrasting Mary's loneliness with Joe's new relationship with Kathy, the newborn son of Gerri's colleague with the death of Ronnie's wife, but through it all Tom and Gerri steady the film. Some of the most powerful moments of the film are the knowing glances between the pair, such as the nod or disapproving glance they share when Mary has had too much to drink or made a fool of herself once again in front of Joe. The film is separated into four segments represented by the seasons. The film has a natural progression and we, as the audience, are aware that there will be no major major revelations. These characters, whether we approve of their actions are not, are multidimensional and honest representations. The film may centre around Tom and Gerri, but the emotional current of Another Year is controlled by Mary. She has a lot of problems and makes a lot of poor choices, but Lesley Manville's performance is flawless. She allows Mary to be empathetic while still being pathetic. The final shot of the film, focused entirely on Mary, is both beautiful and unnerving. Another Year was well worth the wait and I only wish I could spend a second year with these characters and witness how their lives progress into the future.

My rating: 4 stars out of 4.

Review: "Blue Valentine"

Blue Valentine bills itself as a love story, but I was unprepared for the profound emotional intensity of the film. The film was embroiled in controversy after being rated NC-17 in the United States, due to an emotionally intense sex scene, but the film hardly merits that rating. The sex scene between Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello in A History of Violence (2005) was more graphic, in my opinion. Dean and Cindy, portrayed by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, have been together for six years and have a young daughter. We witness their tumultuous relationship through flashbacks, highlighting that the young couple was once very much in love. Gosling and Williams have never been better than in Blue Valentine. The brilliance in their individual performances is the contrast between the innocence and optimism of their younger selves with the anger and fragility of the present. The film amounts to little more than vignettes of their courtship set against the turbulent disillusionment of their marriage, but the charm and beauty of the budding relationship makes it all the more heartbreaking. It is the second feature film by Derek Cianfrance, who has worked predominantly in television documentaries. The screenplay, co-written by Cianfrance, took twelve years to complete and went through many drafts. The final product is a film as rich in humanity as it is in humility and these two qualities are beautifully exemplified by Gosling and Williams. While Blue Valentine is an emotionally unsettling portrait of the end of a marriage, it is Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams who deliver hauntingly beautiful performances that make it one of the year's best films.

Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams) live in rural Pennsylvania. The film juxtaposes the present state of their marriage with various scenes of their courtship. Cindy, the obvious breadwinner of the family, works as a nurse, while Dean paints houses for a living. She thinks he has squandered his potential and hates that he drinks all day. It is hard to believe that Cindy and Dean were once in love. Their daughter Frankie (Faith Wladyka) is caught in the middle of the rift in her parents' marriage and spends much of her time with Cindy's father (John Doman), who disapproves of Dean. Through a series of flashbacks we witness how powerful their love once was. Dean went to great lengths to see Cindy after first meeting her by chance at her grandmother's nursing home. He had been living in New York City, working for a moving company, and she lived in Pennsylvania. Cindy even ended a relationship with Bobby (Mike Vogel) to be with Dean. Watching the powerful love blossom between Cindy and Dean makes the film even more heartbreaking.

After seeing Blue Valentine I was left pondering the performances of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, and how they compared to the handful of great performances offered in 2010. While I believe Natalie Portman offers the best performance of the year in Black Swan, the magic of Blue Valentine, as I have mentioned, is the extreme contrast between the young Cindy and the disillusioned Cindy. Having said that, Blue Valentine needs this juxtaposition to function emotionally. The film would not have been as emotionally intense had we witnessed the rise and fall of their relationship in chronological order. I must praise Derek Cianfrance for his ability to present a couple, who are obviously at a crossroads when the film begins, and establish such a rich emotional tone. It is such a beautiful film and, more than a day later, I am still reeling. I am aware that Blue Valentine will not touch all viewers as it has touched me. As the lights in the theatre came on, the man sitting behind me caught my eye and said: "What a complete waste of time!" Blue Valentine, with its succinct pacing and careful editing, is an incredibly moving film anchored by brilliant performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4.

Review: "Never Let Me Go"

Never Let Me Go stars two great English actresses who have risen to great heights in my eyes and in the North American consciousness: Carey Mulligan and Sally Hawkins. I would watch Sally Hawkins in anything, so I was hooked even though the trailer looked like the film looked beautiful but seemed too reserved emotionally. We must also remember that Keira Knightley always stars in an Oscar-baiting film every fall (see The Duchess in 2008 or Atonement in 2007). I also made the mistake of reading about Kazuo Ishiguro's novel and mistakenly learning the secret of the story. I was unsure of how this would affect me and my emotional response to the story. Never Let Me Go is rooted in the science fiction genre, but the film chooses to stay entirely within the limitations of drama. For most of the film this works quite well but Never Let Me Go is never quite able to find an emotional balance. Keira Knightley is a good actress who often misuses her talent by choosing showy roles instead of relying on her raw talent. I was unimpressed by her chemistry with both Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield, whereas I found Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield had the film's most emotionally intense scenes together. I have not read Ishiguro's novel, but I found Alex Garland's screenplay and Mark Romanek's direction too emotionally restrained. Never Let Me Go, a story about love and humanity, is beautifully photographed but the film is so emotionally limited that I felt little connection to the characters.

The film, like the novel, is separated into three stages. The story begins when Kathy (Isobel Meikle-Small), Ruth (Ella Purnell) and Tommy (Charlie Rowe) are students at Hailsham, an English boarding school. They are only required to produce various forms of art and are not taught any life skills. The children at Hailsham are very cliquish but Kathy, Ruth and Tommy develop a close bond. Kathy has feelings for Tommy but is unable to act on it and soon Ruth and Tommy become a couple. During this time Miss Lucy (Hawkins) arrives at Hailsham and reveals to the students their role in life and is gone as quick as she appeared. As adults Kathy (Mulligan), Ruth (Knightley) and Tommy (Garfield) move to the Cottages together where they begin to connect with the outside world. Ruth and Tommy's relationship deepens as they await the time for them to become donors. They also learn that Hailsham students may be allowed to defer their donations if they can prove they are in love. Tensions arise within the group and Kathy leaves to become a carer. The three are reunited later when Kathy meets Ruth, whose health has vastly deteriorated. Ruth has made two donations and believes that her third will be her last. Ruth, knowing Kathy's feelings for Tommy, apologizes and urges Kathy and Tommy to pursue a relationship. Ruth provides them with the address for Madame, the mysterious woman believed to have the power to grant them a deferral.

It is unfortunate that Never Let Me Go, which has such a beautifully tragic and romantic story, is unable to provoke an emotional response. I feel that the film is far too reserved and focuses too much on Kathy's yearning than on the real relationships within the story. She pines for Tommy for the majority of the film and when given the opportunity to be with him, it feels anticlimactic and the chemistry between the two actors feels forced. Although the is shot with dark and beautiful tones, it echoes the emotional distance of the film. Never Let Me Go is beautiful and reserved but the story deserves more depth. Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield are exceptionally talented young actors who would have made the film more heartbreaking had they been given the opportunity to truly create these tragic characters. There is just something missing in this adaptation. I have not read Kazuo Ishiguro's novel but I find it hard to believe that "the best novel of the decade" could be so emotionally handicapped. There was a considerable amount of buzz prior to the film's premiere at Telluride in September, but there is a reason that the film lost an awful lot of traction. Never Let Me Go would have been emotionally dissatisfying had I had any empathy for the characters, but the film feels as if it has been filtered to remove any humanity.

My rating: 2 stars out of 4.

Review: "Nowhere Boy"

I grew up in a house where The Beatles are revered with religious devotion. Paul McCartney is my family's supreme Beatle, but Nowhere Boy is the story of John Lennon's teenage years leading up to The Beatles performances in Hamburg. Nowhere Boy is not a film about The Beatles, it is a story about John Lennon and his relationship with his estranged mother and the aunt that raised him. This is the feature film debut of director Sam Taylor-Wood, who has worked as a photographer and artist. The film was mired in some controversy prior to its release because Taylor-Wood, aged forty-three, began a relationship with the film's star, Aaron Johnson, who is now only twenty. The film is based on the memoir Imagine This: Growing Up with My Brother John Lennon by Julia Baird, John's half-sister. A lot of the film focuses on John's relationship with the two women in his life: his mother Julia, who was unable to cope with the responsibility of a son, and his aunt Mimi, who took John away from her sister in order to give him a proper upbringing. These two women, played by Anne-Marie Duff and Kristin Scott Thomas, are the emotional core of the film. Aaron Johnson does a good job playing the musical icon, but the film owes its success to Duff and Scott Thomas. While the story of John Lennon's childhood is not nearly as interesting as the story of The Beatles, Nowhere Boy is still an insightful look at the pre-Beatles legend with a pair of fantastic performances from its supporting actresses.

Nowhere Boy looks at John Lennon's adolescent years growing up in Liverpool. In the late 1950s he is living with his aunt Mimi (Scott Thomas) and his uncle George (David Threlfall). Mimi is very stern and forces classical music on John whereas George is more fit to fool around with his nephew. Following the death of his uncle, John's cousin encourages him to look for Julia (Duff), his mother. John discovers that his mother lives within walking distance of Mimi. Unbeknownst to Mimi, John and Julia reunite and she begins introducing her son to rock and roll music. John even lies to Mimi about a school suspension and spends everyday with his mother, who teaches him how to play banjo and guitar. Julia's husband Bobby (David Morrissey) does not support Julia's relationship with John, even though she is fit to raise her two daughters Julia and Jacqui. Soon John realizes that he is better off living with Mimi and she buys him a guitar. He soon starts his own band and is eventually introduced to Paul McCartney (Thomas Brodie Sangster). Without focusing too much on the budding talents of John and Paul, the film looks at the relationship between John and these two women and the secrets that have been kept from him.

Nowhere Boy is obviously a play on The Beatles song Nowhere Man. The song, released in 1966 from the album Rubber Soul, is credited to Lennon/McCartney but was written by John Lennon. John admitted that the song is autobiographical. The lyrics, "He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans, for nobody," make a fitting title for a film about an adolescent John torn between two homes. The film is still surprisingly able to sustain its emotional through the duration of the film without having to turn the focus to The Beatles. John had an interesting childhood, but not unlike others in the world, but the success of the film rests in the performances. Aaron Johnson creates an empathetic but troubled John Lennon and it is easy to envision this incarnation of John becoming the John Lennon we know further along in time. The real treasure of Nowhere Boy is Kristin Scott Thomas who is so adept at creating multidimensional characters. Whether in French or English she is the consummate actress and I will never tire of watching her reinvent herself on screen.

My rating: 3 stars out of 4.