Films Of The Year (2010)

Now I did promise I would pick a top ten of films from this year in the end that became too hard to really do, there was too much "hmmming" and "ahhing" about. So in the end I've picked a top five (in no particular order) and a group of films all bubbling under but which I couldn't cut down enough to end with a top ten.

So first we're looking at those films that just missed out on the top spots. First up is Micheal Winterbottom's "The Killer Inside Me", by no means an easy watch but this tale of a psychotic town Sheriff is expertly put together with strong performances for it's three leads.

Next is Ben Affleck's second directorial outing "The Town" whilst it's not as strong as "Gone, Baby, Gone" it' still a tightly put together crime thriller which retains a very real sense of time and place in it's Boston location. It's starting to look like Affleck has found where he really belongs on the film set, behind the camera.

A pair of British comedies next with "Four Lions", which was Chris Morris' film debut and Banky's "Exit Through The Giftshop". Both are very entertaining and show promise for future efforts but both also had a feeling of being a bit too self aware of their satirical nature to really shine.

Christopher Nolan's "Inception" showed you can marry smarts to massive budgets and come up with something worth watching. It does have a couple of very impressive set pieces and imagination to spare but it just misses out on the top spots because the emotionality of the story wasn't quite there for me.

I also enjoyed Scorsese's "Shutter Island" with another fine performance from DiCaprio and the kind of ending that I perversely really like but it did suffer from a rather intrusive score in a few places.

"Iron Man 2" weighs in as the best of the typical summer blockbusters. Yes, it is essentially more of the same as before but Robert Downey Jr still has charisma to burn and is only a truly interesting villain away from scoring a superhero film that is a stone cold classic as opposed to just very entertaining.

And before we get to the final five as it were I'll reveal that "The A-Team" has been the guilty pleasure of the year. Yes it's silly but it knows it is. They managed to get the banter between the titular team right, some of the action is outstanding and what's not to like about a film with tank flying and Jessica Biel in uniform?

So here we go, it's my top five films of the year, but remember they're not in any particular order here.

The Disappearance Of Alice Creed
Released in April this year, Alice Creed a twisty turney three role thriller. Writer/director J Blakeson keeps thing taught and unpredictable crafting something that keeps you engrossed despite being largely set in one flat. Gemma Arterton proves she is more than a pretty face given the chance and Eddie Marson & Martin Compston excel as men quickly finding themselves out of their depth and struggling to get a foothold on events.

Up In The Air
A slight cheat this one but Jason Reitman's comedy drama hit these shores in January of this year. The tale of George Clooney's corporate downsizer is insightful, funny and heartfelt. It's also seemingly more relevant than ever in these economic times.

Winter's Bone
Debra Granik's rural thriller is outstanding and the surprise of the year to emerge from the festival circuit. Packed full of menace, mystery and a sense of place so strong you'll think you can see breath as you watch it. Jennifer Lawrence's central performance as the determined girl willing to do anything to keep her family together marks her out as a talent to watch out for in the future.

The Social Network
David Fincher strikes again with this tale of the rise of Facebook and the college guys behind it all. Technically masterful in every aspect(the real film nerd in me could pull this film apart endlessly in the skill of it's assembly) The Social Network makes combing divergent timelines and events seem easy and with the aid of Aaron Sorkin's script pulls together a witty and compelling story out of the real life events (albeit the truth is slightly bent to serve the film). Computing is the rock 'n' roll of the generation.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World
This hyperkinetic film assaults the senses and comes away a winner. Breezy, full of invention, charm and wit with that added glow of nostalgia for those of us that remember the days of 8-bit adventuring. Director Edgar Wright further hones his frenetic style but also keeps his hand sure during the (few) slower moments. Sadly Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Ramona never really seems to be really all that great but Kieran Culkin's scene stealing turn as the flat mate makes up for the one disappointing performance. Rarely will you see anything else with such a sense of fun, vibrancy and sense of life.

So there you go, I'm sure people have vastly different opinions on their own choices for the year but that was mine. Just before we go I'll end by saying that at the other end "Predators" whilst perhaps not the worst film I've seen this year was certainly the most disappointing since I actually hoped it might turn out well but in the end it was the most criminal of things for a film. It was just plain boring.

The Power of '3'

3 is the magic number next year in the world of gaming with three of the biggest franchises rolling out their third installments, each one looking to be truely epic saga endings.

So watch below and wait with baited breath for the return of Nathan Drake, Commander Shephard and Marcus Fenix.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Video Games | Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | VGA 10: Exclusive Debut Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Mass Effect 3

Video Games | Mass Effect 3 | VGA 10: Exclusive Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Gears of War 3

Video Games | Gears of War 3 | Ashes to Ashes Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Trailer of the day: Somewhere

It's another mood piece from Sofia Coppola and by the sounds of it another little charmer;

The A-Team

It's another return to the 80's after Predators resurrection of the archetypal big concept movie we have a retooling of one of the classic TV series of the decade hair styling forgot.

Yes, it's the new A-Team film. Released in the cinema earlier this year it didn't really set the world alight but catching up with it on Blu-ray I can honestly say the film was a lot of fun. A lot of big 'ol dumb fun, just like the television show.

We open on with a prologue that sees the gang meeting up with each other for the first time and we're introduced to each one in turn with character names stamped onto the screen as iconic lines are delivered, gone is the fear the film might take itself too seriously.

It's a sequence that also nicely sets up B.A.'s fear of flying throughout the rest of proceedings during a frantic helicopter chase featuring a stunt so cool even the bad guys applauds the antics of his would be quarry.

Leaping forward a few years we see our heroes get framed (after another frantic action sequence), then break out of various jails (there's a nice nod to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Phil Silver's Sgt.Bilko plus time for a couple of cameos)before setting out to clear their names and recover some stolen franking plates.

Whilst not being over taxing the plot does use a couple of neat turns as the gang avoid capture by Jessica Biel's dogged pursuit to recapture them, deal with a shady CIA agent (Patrick Wilson going for ever so slightly panto) and try to work just exactly who it was that set them up to start with. Along the way things exploded and people wise-crack.

But that's exactly what this film should be, one imaginative sequence sees the team plummeting in earthward in a tank. Yes, it strains the laws of science but, heck, go with it and it's all done with a sense of fun. Mercifully director Joe Carnahan lets you see what is going on for most of it too; nailing the action with aplomb and showing a comfortable hand with the comedy, it's only the more traditionally dramatic sections where he's a little unsure what tone to strike.

Liam Neeson is dependable as ever as Hannibal the wily old operator, Bradley Cooper turns on the charm as 'Face' and sparks well with Biel and Quinton Jackson acquits himself well enough as BA. But it's Sharlto Copley who gets the best moments and makes the most of them as Mad Murdock, overall the guys do function well as a group bouncing off each (lines come in and over each other, helping give the sense these guys have worked together for years.

So turn off your brain and enjoy a daft adventure (with the occasional streak of wicked black humour) with plenty of bangs and a couple of laughs. It may take a while to settle down (the opening ten minutes or so is a little choppy) but it left me with a silly grin on my face.

And of course it ends with that monologue...

Trailer of the Day : Die Hard

A classic Christmas movie....

Avatar reassesed

Unleashed upon the world in December of last year Avatar was hailed as a bold new step forward in cinema, as the greatest thing you will ever see. It was James Cameron's new monster following Titanic and almost one year later it has indeed gone on to be one of the biggest ever box office hits, taking over $760m in the USA alone.

People like it, people liked it a lot. People went to see it in 3D at the Cinema multiple times, some even complained that they felt depressed that they didn't live on the fictional world of Pandora. At the time I thought, well, I thought it was alright. A little overlong with a simplistic set of characters and story with a 3D element I found technically impressive but I felt didn't really add that much to proceedings.

I recently picked up the Blu-ray however (it was a quiet week and disc appeared good value with three cuts of the film and two discs worth of extras) and have rewatched the film in a longer cut plus a good deal of the supporting production material and I feel it's time to look at the film again.

First of all I'll start by saying I enjoyed the film much more the second time round probably due to a different level of expectation of what I was going to get from it and it is still worth talking about what works and doesn't work.

The version I put on was the latest cut released which clocks in at about two hours fifty minutes or so and one of the key differences is right at the start. Here we open up the film on Earth and witness the dead end existence Jake (Sam Worthington) is in until executives approach him with an offer and the news of his brother's demise.



This helps gives a little more colour to where Jake is coming from and is interesting in it's depiction of what has become of Earth, but is far from essential and as Cameron himself observes it does slow down the start of the film delaying the arrival to Pandora. The other major piece of material re included brings more depth to Sigourney Weaver's Grave as she recalls past days in the school and gives you more of sense of the friendship she shared with Neytiri's sister.

Elsewhere it's mainly extension of already existing scenes with a few seconds added here and few more over there and whilst the extra material gives a bit more breathing space to a couple of characters the truth is the cast of players is still very much a set by the numbers.

Jake is fairly strong as a lead character and whilst is never quite comes across that he has truly taken to the heart the ways of the Nav'i he does convince as someone who could a leader of people with Worthington giving a strong authoritative air when required.

The one moment when the film really puts across a strong sense of what Jake is feeling is during his first session in his avatar body, in particular the joy as he breaks out into a run for the first time since being crippled.

Zoe Saldana's Neytiri is probably the strongest character in the film, whilst she does start of as something of a cliche woman of the wild as the film runs we get a better sense of the pride in and duty to her people she feels. And it is interesting to obverse the differing take of Yunjin Kim in some test footage seen in the behind the scenes material when test sequences were put together.

In fact having seen the making of material a word of praise must go to all the Nav'i performers who went through a lot of work from classes in Archery to movement workshops to develop an 'alien' way of moving and it is true that if watch all the Nav'i move and walk in a way that is both different to the human cast and consistent as a group.

Character wise everyone else is there to move the story along pretty much. Grace is on hand to provide exposition when required, Michelle Rodriguez's Turdy flies people about, Stephen Lang's Colonel is evil (upto the point of almost having a black moustache to twirl) and Laz Alonso's Tsu'tey there to provide the required initial distrust and acceptance of Jake.

But most wasted I feel is Giovanni Ribisi's company man who seems to have had a character arc sent to the cutting room floor at some stage entirely. We're given just enough to think he isn't a bad guy and that he might feel what he is doing wrong at some level but by the end his only contribution seems to be to cheer on the Colonel. I not sure if this is what was intended but it does seems strange to make such little use of the character.

Whilst the characters are a little shallow the cast all put in decent to strong performances with Stephen Lang probably taking the right route of being ever so lightly pantomime in his role. But it is Zoe Salanda who stands out, which is a remarkable achievement given her performance is completely behind the technological CGI wizardry.

Now, there is where I shall divert onto the production side of things for awhile. Back when it was released I wasn't convince why Avatar was a "game changer" but now I start to see.

All the performances beneath the CGI are genuine performances you see, just ones that happen to look like blue cat people. The system used basically allows the actors to perform as they would normally but wearing special suits that are tracked by a number of cameras, footage for which is then captured and used to render the final images.

The facial performances are captured by cameras rigged to helmets fitted to the actors which gives close up footage of the all important element, the face. Which is then used to ensure the captured performance is translated as well as possible when it comes to be turned into the CGI image. Some minimal animation is applied by essentially what you see on screen is what the actor did.

Taking things to really the next level is the fact that Cameron can watch all of this virtually, instantly. That is to say that looking at a monitor connected to a collection of sensors and a no doubt very expensive computer rig he can view the actors and action in front of him pretty much as it will finally appear, from any angle.

That is to say the system is applying the CGI and animation on the fly, instantly and it is very impressive indeed. It is this and the effectiveness of translating the actors performance that is potentially a changer of the game. As Weaver observes now she can play anything; a blue cat-person, a small girl, a younger version of herself, a blading middle age midget and it will still be her performance we see rather than a cruder mash of her and a bunch of animators.

And it is this technological leap that helps the film in it's most successful aspect, it's overall production design. Whatever you may say about everything else the world of Pandora is glorious to look at (botanists and biologists were consulted alongside a team of some of the best fantasy/science fiction artists out there) from the bio-luminance of the foliage to the impressive array of creatures that populate the forest.



If I was ten the visuals and imagination would blow my mind completely, as it is I am quite impressed. The sight of Pandoran horses running through a burning forest is as striking an image as you'll find anywhere. Though I admit I still have some doubts on the design of the human technology, as much as I like the Shuttlecraft I don't like the cumbersome looking giant helicopter thingy.

James Horner's score is perhaps not that distinctive but is effective in doing it's job, contrasting the tribal rhythms and sounds of the Nav'i's world with more traditional orchestral bombastic scoring when called for, i.e when things are fighting.

Yes it's simple, it's a little over earnest and it's all about the spectacle but then so was Star Wars. So whilst I wouldn't say I think the film is a great one, I will happily sit and watch again when in the mood for something that looks glorious but isn't too taxing on the brain it will fit the bill perfectly.

On a small note I will say that for all the hoopla the 3D version I saw at the cinema was spoilt slightly by the 3D as it seems rather than proving more immersive it had the opposite effects and pulled me out of the film a little. Thus I was prevented from allowing myself to be swept along by it and left to admire it on a technical basis.

The Academy still called it right though, Hurt Locker gave me heart attacks.

The best scene of television I've seen in a long, long time...

Sadly no link to embed, but follow the link and witness three and half smart, heartfelt, fantastic moments of drama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus&feature=fvw

Brilliant even if you've not been watching the series and just breathtaking if you have (the end of this episode is a gut punch as well)