I Love That Film: lawless

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Friday, 28 December 2012

Top 20 of 2012 PART 1

It's that time when everyone has to write their best of the year lists. I'm no different. Though I waited a year to write my best of 2011 list, I've decided that I can confidently write my best of 2012 list today! That is in no small part due to all the films I've been reviewing for Filmoria and Static Mass Emporium. So a massive thanks to those sites because I'm actually ending the year having seen quite a lot of 2012 releases.

In fact by my count I've seen 68 films released in 2012 in the UK. That's out of a total of 193 films I watched for the first time this year. I'm sure with all the films I re-watched this year, that would comfortably take me over the 200 mark for films I have watched in 2012. Respectable but I hope to do better in 2013!

And now on to the list:

Films I didn’t get to see that may well have made an appearance: The Master, The Raid, Rust and Bone, Headhunters, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Hobbit

Honourable mentions (if only this were a top 25): Avengers Assemble, The Grey, The Descendants, Safety Not Guaranteed, Coriolanus

Looper

My own silly expectations are to blame for this being outside the top 10. I suspect if I watch Looper again, I'll enjoy it a lot more. Great, intelligent science fiction but not as good as the time travel films I grew up with despite a fantastic performance from JGL.

Prometheus

Another victim of my ludicrous expectations, though I think a lot of other people felt let down by this too. Still a great film though and one I'm looking forward to re-watching. It certainly had the most exciting marketing of the year.

The Hunger Games

I got the trilogy of books for Christmas last year and while the first film didn't live up to the promise of the first book, it was still a hell of good film for young adults (and the rest of us!) Infinitely better than Twilight, it's a shame that the second and third books didn't live up to the original either. I'm hoping the film sequels will improve on the books. This is why I loved the first book so much.

Chronicle

It’s a superhero spin on the tired ‘found footage’ formula. Climaxing with a creatively shot smack down that flies, explodes and rips through a city on a meager budget, Chronicle is a very impressive directorial debut.

Margin Call

I reviewed this for Filmoria when it was released on DVD and loved it. I also got to interview actress Susan Blackwell who appears at the start of the film. Compelling, sad and refreshingly free from boo-hiss villainy in favour of surprising humanity.

21 Jump Street

Laughed my ass off while watching this. Literally nearly fell of my chair clutching my stomach it was hurting so much during the drug taking scene. One of the best surprises of the year. Funny, silly, dumb AND occasionally smart!

Carnage

One of my favourite casts of the year all stuck in a room for the entire length of the film. It has middle class couples at war over brawling boys and despite being stagey is absolutely hilarious especially once the alcohol starts to flow.

My Brother the Devil

Another one I reviewed for Filmoria, It is filled with gripping performances and it has a script that raises a wealth of important and relevant issues that combine to make this a must-see British drama from an outstanding new voice.

Sightseers

This one I reviewed at Static Mass Emporium, Alice Lowe delivers a brilliant performance and her character Tina steals the film from all around her. Sightseers is an excellent serial killer comedy that has lots of laughs, vicious violence and heaps of heart, and all with a killer soundtrack. My review also won a competition and appeared here at the Picturehouse Cinema blog.

Lawless

I loved the period setting, all the performances from a fantastic cast and thoroughly enjoyed the prohibition and early gangster story. Guy Pearce makes a superb villain and Tom Hardy shined in his bad-ass in a cardigan role. Better than the Hillcoat/Cave collaboration The Proposition.

And here is the top 10 0f 2012! What do you think so far?

Friday, 11 May 2012

Fascinating Faces: Looper, Lawless and Gangster Squad

I've seen some fascinating faces in trailers over the last few weeks. Three stars many of us know and love, still recognizable but undeniably transformed. I am stunned by these faces and already itching to see more of the performances. But how much of my excitement is just down to the make up and how much is due to the men behind the masks?

I offer you exhibits A, B and C as evidence.

Exhibit A: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Looper

The Holly wood Reporter um... reported that 'Thanks to three hours in the makeup chair each morning, the actor transformed into a younger version of Bruce Willis for the role – in which the duo plays the same character at different ages.'

If you're not convinced about the transformation or just sad to see the handsome JGL mutilated, check out this little video I found on YouTube for a close comparison of the two actors.

Exhibit B: Guy Pearce in Lawless

Now I'm not sure what they've done to Pearce's face here but watching the trailer suggests this is going to be another fantastic performance to look out for. In fact I don't even think this is down to make up. Instead I think it's a combination of Pearce's slicked back hair, accent and tone of voice and most of all the faces he pulls in the trailer below. Some might say this is bordering on OTT but I can't wait to see this performance.

Exhibit C: Sean Penn in The Gangster Squad

MTV says: 'A centerpiece of the trailer, it's hard to miss Sean Penn even under all of that makeup... The trailer gives lots of screen time to Penn, and when you also consider the prosthetics on his face, it's not hard to imagine that Warner Bros. would make a Best Supporting Actor push for him come Oscar season'.

He looks almost like something grotesque out of Dick Tracy. But it's not just the make up and prosthetics, Penn seems totally transformed here. It's another performance that looks incredible and will no doubt be a lot of fun to watch.

So are we in for a treat with these three or what? And how much of these performances will come down to the physically transformed faces of the actors and how much is down to their acting skills. It's a question that has bugged me ever since seeing one of my favourite performances ever on screen. No doubt aided by magnificent make-up, but also a testament to the incredible talent of Charlize Theron, if you haven't seen Monster, I highly recommend it. Never has a star been so unrecognizable and so brilliantly lost within a real-life character.