The Best Films of the Zeroes: 38

KEANE. (2006)
Directed by Lodge Kerrigan

Like BRODRE, KEANE is an acting masterclass with a brilliant performance by Abigail Breslin, and a staggering one from Damian Lewis. Lodge Kerrigan’s first film since 1998’s CLAIRE DOLAN is a claustrophobic and unsettling character study, of a man who is increasingly a danger to himself and others, so grief-stricken is he by the disappearance of his daughter years earlier.

His relationship with a single mother (Amy Ryan from GONE BABY GONE) is particularly uneasy territory as we begin to question his sanity, and the reasons for his relationship with the woman, and her young daughter (Breslin). Even as our doubts about Keane begin to become more significant, in Lewis’ hands he remains a believable and sympathetic character.

It’s, simply, a brilliant performance, one of the decade’s very best, from an actor whose career hasn’t quite taken off in the manner in which he deserves. It dominates the film, although not at the expense of his co-stars, and there’s a genuine sense of not knowing what is to come next. It’s a brilliant film, although not one that I can imagine wanting to watch more than once.

The Best Films of the Zeroes: 39

BRODRE. (2005)
Directed by Susanne Bier

One of Susanne Bier’s three great Danish films this decade (in addition to a terrific American debut in THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE), BRODRE is notable for the great performances, from Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kass as the titular brothers and Connie Nielsen as Thomsen’s wife.

Thomsen plays a soldier in the UN army, who is sent to Afghanistan, where his helicopter is shot down, and he is kidnapped. Back home, he’s presumed dead, and his feckless younger brother grows into the role of uncle to his kids, and friend and comforter of his wife.

As with her previous film, OPEN HEARTS, Bier creates a believable family situation, where the story can develop in believable ways, and allow the characters to grow and resemble real people. That these characters are all sympathetic, despite each displaying unlikable characteristics, they’re quintessentially human beings, is a credit to the director.

It’s an acting masterclass, though, and of the three excellent performances, it is Nielsen’s that resonates the strongest. She’s had a Hollywood career, but this is, by far, her strongest turn. In her hands, a potentially clichéd character is anything but, strong and vulnerable, relieved and scared almost in the same moments. She also has incredible chemistry with Nikolaj Lie Kass, and, of a different type, with Thomsen, which contributes greatly to the film’s power.

The recent remake is very faithful to Bier’s film, but as it’s a retread, contains little of the same spirit or invention. I would urge you to check this original instead.

The Best Films of the Zeroes: 40

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. (2008)
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is the best film of the decade by the most impressive filmmakers of our generation. It’s scary to think that they’ve been making films for nearly 25 years, in a career that now spans 12 features, two Oscar™ winning films, and several critical darlings.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN won the brothers their first Oscar™ for directing, and added Best Picture to the bounty too, and while it was the worthiest winner of either award this decade, it’s success still rankled, if only because it beat a nearly perfect picture in THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Despite the competition between the two, there’s no denying that this is a brilliant film in its own right.

Based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize™ winning author Cormac McCarthy (THE ROAD), NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is a brutal, western-thriller. It has standout performances from Tommy Lee Jones, who has never been better, Kelly MacDonald and Josh Brolin, while Javier Bardem gives a memorable performance as the sociopathic killer, Chigurh, whose relentless pursuit of drug money, and the man who stole it from the scene of a deadly gun fight, a local hunter (Brolin).

The game of cat and mouse is replicated by the efforts of the local Sheriff (Jones) to make sense of what’s going on, realising that his reaction to the trail of destruction wrought by Chigurh might mean that he’s not able to do his job anymore. His final scene, in which he recounts a dream is one of the most startlingly powerful scenes of the brothers’ career.

Of course, it looks fantastic, with regular cinematographer Roger Deakins responsible for some gorgeous and memorable images. People had issues with the ending, which is slightly oblique, but to me it’s a perfect way to end a film so concerned with the suddenness and randomness of violence. It’s also a film that arrested the perceived decline in the brothers’ career, topping out their decade with a minor masterpiece.

The Best Films of the Zeroes: 50-41

50. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. (2006)
Directed by George Clooney

Clooney’s second directorial effort (of three) this decade is his best film to date. A film about the McCarthy witchhunt, and the newsman, Edward R Murrow, who challenged him, at great personal risk, is a crisply shot, in black-and-white, drama with a sensational performance from David Strathairn as Murrow. The film’s real power comes from the similarities between the politics of fear espoused by McCarthy in his battle against communism and at the film’s release by the neocons to push their agenda in the aftermath of 9/11. The point is never hammered home, but the film never leaves you in any doubt as to Clooney’s belief that the press’s responsibility is to directly challenge authority.

49. ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM. (2005)
Directed by Alex Gibney

One of a handful of truly great documentaries this decade, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM is a remarkable story, told with immense skill. The story of Enron is scarcely believable, but Alex Gibney (who made two other tremendous films in GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON and TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE) does a brilliant job of deciphering the fraud and lies that the company was built on, eviscerating the two top executives: Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling in the process. The links to George W. Bush are telling, and the condemnation of his neo-conservative ideals that helped to build Enron’s house of cards complete. It’s a piece of work that further proves that Michael Moore is a hack masquerading as a filmmaker.

48. THE NEW WORLD. (2006)
Directed by Terrence Malick

Two Terrence Malick films within 8 years?! Wow, we really are lucky. THE NEW WORLD is a retelling of the story of Pocahontas (played here by Q’Orianka Kilcher), way before James Cameron did the same thing with giant blue goat-aliens. Malick’s film is vastly different from Cameron’s, of course. This is a meditative film, as focused with the pastoral as any other Malick film. The sense of wonder that Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) gleans from his new surroundings is palpable. Both Farrell and Kilcher are terrific, as is Christian Bale in an extended cameo. The film is romantic, gorgeous to look at, and, traditionally, sounds fantastic. Malick’s next film, TREE OF LIFE is being shot in 3D. I can’t wait for that.

47. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. (2006)
Directed by Davis Guggenheim

I think I said, years, and many personas ago, that AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH may be the most important film of our age. Since then, the environmental documentary has become big business, but none has managed the eloquence or dynamism of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. It’s a film that relies on the charisma and intellect of Al Gore, a man who if he had shown this level of connective empathy with the US electorate in 2000, he might have beaten George W. Bush (by enough of a margin that he couldn’t have the election stolen from him). While it’s a depressing thought that the world would look so different in that situation, maybe it was destined, Gore can arguably save the world by continuing to present, with such clarity, the effects of climate change on our planet. This is the highest placed documentary in this list.

46. LONDON TO BRIGHTON. (2006)
Directed by Paul Andrew Williams

Williams seemed like another bright new British filmmaking talent in the aftermath of LONDON TO BRIGHTON (along with Pawel Pawlikowsky, Andrea Arnold and Shane Meadows). His reputation was somewhat tarnished by his follow up: THE COTTAGE, but this remains a magnificent thriller, shot on a very low-budget, set amongst the criminal underclass. It’s tightly paced and very well acted, throughout, horrifying and exciting by turn, and never less than compelling.

45. MUNICH. (2006)
Directed by Steven Spielberg

Spielberg’s best film (b y far), this decade, MUNICH is a masterpiece, the sort of film that he’d never really made before. A much better film than SCHINDLER’S LIST, this is a thriller about the Israeli hit squad sent around the world to find and kill those responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Eric Bana gives a career-best performance as the leader of the squad, a man encouraged by his family to do what his country needs, but becomes haunted by the endless cycle of violence. This is the message Spielberg is espousing – violence begets violence. Of course, this being Spielberg, the usual motifs apply – there’s a missing father and the film’s too long, but this is still his best film in nearly twenty years. If he’d left out the sex scene, this might have been top 20.

44. MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD. (2003)
Directed by Peter Weir

Peter Weir doesn’t make enough movies. This was his only film of the decade, and it’s an absolute cracker. In fact, you could argue that this was the best film of its type in the zeroes. It’s a terrifically composed action adventure movie, in which an era and tone are effortlessly created. Crucially, the action sequences, nautical battles, no less, are thrilling and immaculately rendered, in such a way that it’s impossible to see the seams between CGI and model work. There are also assured performances from Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, who have great chemistry together. MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD is the sort of film that annoying people tell you that they don’t make any more. Show them this, and prove them wrong.

43. THE CLASS. (2009)
Directed by Laurent Cantet

Laurent Cantet’s best film; THE CLASS came out on top of my 2009’s Best Films List, although I can now reveal that it is not the highest 2009 film in this poll. It’s a brilliantly insightful and perceptive film about one teacher’s year with a solitary class in an inner-city Paris school. Francois Begaudeau stars in an adaptation of his own ‘memoir-novel’, and gives a performance that reeks of emotional authenticity. Equally impressive are the students, and the film is funny and moving, as well as insightful into the process of teaching and being a teenager. Hugely impressive.

42. JUNEBUG. (2006)
Directed by Phil Morrison

And, so, a star was born. Amy Adams gives one of the best performances of the decade here. The film follows Embeth Davidtz and Alessandro Nivola, a newly married couple from Chicago who travel to meet her new in-laws, while she attempts to woo a local, rural artist (played by Will Oldham).The storyline is hardly inspiring, it’s the basis of about a thousand sub-par romantic comedies – the big city cynic won over by countryside naifs. But, if the path is well-trodden, the characters here are not. We could make the same mistake as Davidtz, and judge the characters she meets, or share Nivola’s shame at his family. We don’t though, we see, straight away that behind Adams’ demeanour is a real person, with fears and dreams and real heart. It’s an incredible, dominating performance, from a woman who has become one of America’s greatest working actresses.

41. L’ENFER. (2006)
Directed by Danis Tanovic

Tanovic’s follow-up to NO MAN’S LAND is an even better film than his auspicious debut. A family drama written (and originally intended to be directed by) Krzystof Kieslowski, L’ENFER is a Bergman-esque film, filled with emotional repression, familial resentment and some glorious performances, from a terrific female cast, including Karin Viard, Emmanuelle Beart and Marie Gillain, who play three sisters living with a shared guilty family secret. Tanovic does a terrific job of handling the cast, tone and mood, and creates a film that is the equal of Kieslowski’s best work. The second part in a planned trilogy by Kieslowski, L’ENFER is a better film than Tom Twyker’s HEAVEN.

The Best Films of the Zeroes: 51-100

2046 – (2005) – DIRECTED BY WONG-KAR WAI
Not as good as his best films, this is still a sensuous, quietly gorgeous film, with terrific performances from Ziyi Zhang (who’s never been better) and the peerless Tony Leung.

ALL THE REAL GIRLS – (2003) – DIRECTED BY DAVID GORDON GREEN
David Gordon Green has one of the best CVs of any American directors in the decade. This is his best film, with terrific performances from Paul Schneider and Zooey Deschanel. There’s superb cinematography from Tim Orr.

ALMOST FAMOUS – (2001) – DIRECTED BY CAMERON CROWE
Crowe’s best film features career-best performances from Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson and Zooey Deschanel, with terrific support from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Frances McDormand.

AMELIE – (2001) – DIRECTED BY JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET
Audrey Tautou gave the decade’s most luminous, star-making performance as the eponymous heroine in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s modern day fairy-tale. It has faded in the memory somewhat, but remains a charming piece of work.

AMORES PERROS – (2001) – DIRECTED BY ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU
One of the earliest films in the new wave of Central and South American cinema that became prevalent in the first half of the decade, and one of the very best. Sent Gael Garcia Bernal on his way to stardom.

ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY – (2004) – DIRECTED BY ADAM MCKAY
One of the decade’s most quotable films (really only ZOOLANDER comes close), and one of its funniest. Made stars out of Will Ferrell and Steve Carell.

ATONEMENT – (2007) – DIRECTED BY JOE WRIGHT
Probably the second best film of its type in the zeroes, this is a superior adaptation of a terrific book. This made Joe Wright into a star, while confirming Keira Knightley as a superb actress. Great performances from the rest of the cast, too.

AUDITION – (2001) – DIRECTED BY TAKASHI MIIKE
Miike is one of the world’s most prolific directors, and this is his unmistakeable masterpiece; a deliciously twisted love story that turns into one of the most terrifying final acts in film history.

BRICK – (2006) – DIRECTED BY RIAN JOHNSON
One of the decade’s best gimmick movies, and one of a pair of great gumshoe films, this was a stellar debut from Rian Johnson. Great performance from Joseph Gordon Levitt in the lead, an actor who has gone from strength to strength.

BRIGHT STAR – (2009) – DIRECTED BY JANE CAMPION
This is a glorious film, one that has improved almost daily in my memory. Had it been released even a year earlier, it could, perhaps have sneaked into my top 50. For those keeping count, it would now be in my top 3 of last year.

CHE – (2009) – DIRECTED BY STEVEN SODERBERGH
Soderbergh’s greatest achievement, this two-part biopic stripped the legend of his iconic status, before growing it right back. Benicio Del Toro’s performance is monumental, and the change in tone between the two films is masterful.

CHILDREN OF MEN – (2006) – DIRECTED BY ALFONSO CUARON
Cuaron made three great films in the decade, and this was his best, an adaptation of a humdrum novel by PD James, with a career-best turn from Clive Owen. The action sequences are thrilling.

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON – (2001) – DIRECTED BY ANG LEE
The first Wu shu movie remains a masterpiece from the great Ang Lee, a man who, still, has never made a bad film. Brought Ziyi Zhang to the attention of a western audience for the first time.

DEAN SPANLEY – (2008) – DIRECTED BY TOA FRASER
A wonderful, charming and extremely old-fashioned film with a cast to die for. Sam Neill and Jeremy Northam are superb, but thoroughly overshadowed by one (more) last, great performance by the venerable Peter O’Toole.

DONNIE DARKO – (2002) – DIRECTED BY RICHARD KELLY
One of the decade’s signature movies, this was a masterpiece for the emo age. Jake Gyllenhaal began his ascent to stardom here, shame that it looks like Richard Kelly’s promise here was a mirage.

GONE BABY GONE – (2008) – DIRECTED BY BEN AFFLECK
One of the decade’s best thrillers, and a stunning directorial debut from Ben Affleck. There’s a great performance in the lead from his younger brother, Casey, and this is the best Dennis Lehane adaptation to date.

GRIZZLY MAN – (2006) – DIRECTED BY WERNER HERZOG
The zeroes could be known as the decade that Herzog (kind of) conquered America. This is his best film in years, a devastatingly powerful and captivating documentary about what happens when man tries too hard to be a part of nature.

HERO + HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS – (BOTH 2004) – DIRECTED BY ZHENG YIMOU.
A slight cheat here, but there’s a reason for joining these two wushu epics together, they’re like flipsides of the same coin. Each is beautiful, epic and gloriously choreographed, but while HERO deals with political machinations and acts as an allegory, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is nothing more than a perfect love story. Both are terrific.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS (1+2) – (BOTH 2004) – DIRECTED BY ANDY LAU
Two terrific films that led to an Oscar winner in THE DEPARTED. These films are far superior, with terrific locations, incredibly well-staged action scenes and a pair of perfect performances from Tony Leung and Andy Lau.

KNOCKED UP – (2007) – DIRECTED BY JUDD APATOW
One of the UK’s film magazines named Apatow the man of the decade, which might be a stretch, but he’s an incredibly welcome presence in Hollywood. His films are smart, sweet and funny, and this is his best so far.

LADY VENGEANCE – (2006) – DIRECTED BY PARK CHAN-WOOK
Park’s vengeance trilogy was a major part of the growth of Korean cinema in the Western eye. If OLDBOY, which preceded this won most of the plaudits, this was still an incredibly stylish and twisted thriller with a sensational performance from the peerless Bae Do Na.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN – (2009) – DIRECTED BY TOMAS ALREDSSON
A film that gets better the more that you think about it, this is another film that could, and maybe should, have finished in higher in 2009’s list. A quietly brilliant and incredibly affecting film.

LILYA-4-EVER– (2006) – DIRECTED BY LUKAS MOODYSSON
Moodysson’s career path has been one of the strangest of recent times. LILYA-4-EVER was his third successive masterpiece, but showed, for the first time, the darker heart that has overwhelmed his talent in recent years. Here, he manages it, perfectly.

LONESOME JIM – (2008) – DIRECTED BY STEVE BUSCEMI
A real gem, Steve Buscemi’s third film as director almost feels like a fully fledged ‘mumblecore’ movie, even with a near A list cast. Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler give terrific performances, and the film is raw and authentically bleak.

MAGNOLIA – (2000) – DIRECTED BY PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
Kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson, who is one of only two film makers to have three different, unaffiliated, films on this list. This was thought to be his masterpiece on release, but he’s bettered it twice since.

MICHAEL CLAYTON – (2007) – DIRECTED BY TONY GILROY
A great genre film, written and directed by one of the Bourne screenwriters, and benefitting from a superb performance by George Clooney.

NO MAN’S LAND – (2002) – DIRECTED BY DANIS TANOVIC
This is the best film about the war that tore apart the former Yugoslavia. A thriller with a blackly comic streak, it was a worthy Oscar™ winner.

OLD JOY – (2007) – DIRECTED BY KELLY REICHARDT
Reichardt’s debut feature is an incredibly accomplished film. Two old friends reunite for a camping trip, and the melancholy of their friendship having drifted apart is palpable throughout. There’s a great soundtrack by Yo La Tengo.

ONCE – (2007) – DIRECTED BY JOHN CARNEY
This is a gorgeous, romantic and tender film. That it was overhyped (Spielberg called it one of the greatest films he’d ever seen) doesn’t detract from the film’s effectiveness.

PRIMER – (2005) – DIRECTED BY SHANE CARRUTH
I’ve only seen PRIMER once, and to be honest, trying to understand it, even now, makes my head hurt. It’s a brilliantly inventive and ingenious sci-fi drama shot on an incredibly low budget.

RED ROAD – (2006) – DIRECTED BY ANDREA ARNOLD
Andrea Arnold, who was an Oscar™ winner with her short film WASP, made an auspicious feature debut with this thriller set on a housing estate in Glasgow. Kate Hardie gives a great performance in the lead. Arnold’s follow-up FISH TANK was pretty great too.

RIDING GIANTS + DOGTOWN AND Z BOYS – (2004 + 2002) DIRECTED BY STACY PERALTA
Yes, I’m cheating here, but it’s my list and I can do what I want. These were the best two sports documentaries of the decade, and both tapped into the same bit of counter culture. RIDING GIANTS has some incredible footage, while the story of DOGTOWN AND Z BOYS is compelling.

SOLARIS – (2003) – DIRECTED BY STEVEN SODERBERGH
Soderbergh had a great decade – several of his films that didn’t make the list came fairly close, but this is his best of the decade, a remake of Andrei Tarkovsky’s introspective sci-fi classic. George Clooney is great, while Jeremy Davies and Natascha McElhone are extremely well cast.

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK – (2009) – DIRECTED BY CHARLIE KAUFMAN
It would have been hard to imagine with Charlie Kaufman’s first film (as writer) BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, that I’d be suggesting that he’s gone from strength to strength. This is incredible filmmaking, inventive, insightful and quietly, compellingly, devastating.

TALK TO HER – (2002) – DIRECTED BY PEDRO ALMODOVAR
Almodovar’s best film this decade is a perverse, twisted love story that is as devastating as it is romantic.

THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN – (2005) – DIRECTED BY JUDD APATOW
This is the film that started the second half of the decade’s love affair with Apatow. A surprisingly sweet and incredibly funny comedy with great performances from Steve Carell, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE – (2005) – DIRECTED BY PAOLO SORRENTINO
Sorrentino has set himself up as one of Europe’s great new filmmakers, but this is his best film, a dark and sleek thriller about a man with mob connections. The great Toni Servillo gives one of the decade’s best performances in the lead role.

THE DESCENT – (2005) – DIRECTED BY NEIL MARSHALL
One of two great horror films this decade, THE DESCENT is a masterpiece of the genre, as effective in the first hour, when it seems like one kind of terror as it is in the second when the monsters are introduced. It’s sad that Marshall’s come nowhere near to this since.

THE HURT LOCKER – (2009) – DIRECTED BY KATHRYN BIGELOW
The best film about Iraq to date (although GREEN ZONE is as good), Bigelow’s film has no agenda to push, no arguments to win, it’s just a thriller that exerts an incredible grip on your senses from start to finish. Jeremy Renner is brilliant in the lead role.

THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU – (2005) – Directed by WES ANDERSON
Anderson’s last great film, this is riotously funny and contains moments of huge emotional impact. It follows a similar path to THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, but doesn’t quite match it. Great performances from Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe and Owen Wilson, and, of course, a superb soundtrack.

TOGETHER – (2001) – DIRECTED BY LUKAS MOODYSSON
Moodysson’s second film was further evidence of his immense talent and enormous potential. A comedy drama about life in a commune, it was tender and genuinely very funny.

TOUCHING THE VOID – (2003) – DIRECTED BY KEVIN MACDONALD
One of the decade’s best documentaries; Macdonald has since made the move into feature films, but this remains his best movie to date.

TOY STORY 2 – (2000) – DIRECTED BY JOHN LASSETER
One of Pixar’s most inventive films, this raised the standard of the company’s work yet higher to mark the start of the new decade. It hurt to leave out both MONSTERS INC. and FINDING NEMO from this list, which would have given them five films.

TWELVE AND HOLDING – (2006) – DIRECTED BY MICHAEL CUESTA
One of the best films about childhood this decade, TWELVE AND HOLDING is moving and fascinating stuff. There’s a terrific performance from Jeremy Renner.

UP – (2009) – DIRECTED BY PETE DOCTER
Another masterpiece of the very highest calibre, this is an emotionally raw and consistently thrilling adventure film about an old man and a young boy, and the cast of characters they meet along the way. It’s also the only 3D film on this list.

WENDY AND LUCY – (2009) – DIRECTED BY KELLY REICHARDT
Reichardt has really carved out a niche for herself as someone making films about subjects and characters that no-one else really is at the moment, at least since David Gordon Green has moved on from his early films about poverty-stricken rural areas. This is a bona fide masterpiece, and has a knockout performance from Michelle Williams.

WONDER BOYS – (2000) – DIRECTED BY CURTIS HANSON
Hanson went on an extraordinary run of great mainstream cinema (from THE RIVER WILD through to IN HER SHOES), but WONDER BOYS is his best film of the decade, an engaging comedy drama, with terrific performances from a great ensemble cast.

YOU CAN COUNT ON ME – (2000) – DIRECTED BY KENNETH LONERGAN
It’s scarcely credible that Kenneth Lonergan, who wrote and directed this lean and assured family drama then wrote the bloated GANGS OF NEW YORK, or that his next film, MARGARET, still hasn’t been released, because this is a brilliant, brilliant film (it was the last film to be edged out of the top 50) with stunning performances from Laura Linney and, particularly, Mark Ruffalo.

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN – (2002) – DIRECTED BY ALFONSO CUARON
A road movie and a coming of age film, not to mention a love story, Cuaron’s film is the second best Latin American movie of the decade. It made a star out of Gael Garcia Bernal, and helped the director to win the job of directing HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, which he knocked out of the park, by the way.

ZOOLANDER – (2002) – DIRECTED BY BEN STILLER
One of the best mainstream comedies of the decade, ZOOLANDER is gloriously silly fun. It further grew the productive partnership between Stiller and Owen Wilson.

Review: PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

Lee Daniels' PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE (henceforth known, simply, as PRECIOUS is a remarkable film, set in the 1980s, and anchored by a pair of extraordinary performances.

Gabourey Sidibe plays Clareece 'Precious' Jones, a sixteen year old, morbidly obese black girl from Harlem, who is pregnant with her second child, both fathered by her own dad. She lives with her mother (Mo'nique), who is abusive, mentally and physically. Her daily life is one of despair, only levied by moments of fantasy, shot inventively by Daniels.

Her life begins to change when she joins a new school, for pupils with similarly severe educational needs, but this meets resistance from her mother. The film is absolutely powered through by the performances, and while Sidibe is brilliant, and a certainty to be nominated for Best Actress come Oscar time, it is Mo'nique who dominates the film. Her performance is one of animalistic fury, huge bluster, and occasionally real, raw emotion. It's one of the bravest and most committed performances in memory, and when she wins her Oscar, it will be richly deserved.

The story isn't anything particularly new, although the depth of the horror of Precious' early life is bracing, regardless, but it is told with such skill that you can't help but be transfixed by the bravado of the storytelling. There are some superb supporting performances too, Mariah Carey's is the most noteworthy, but Paula Patton's is the best.

If PRECIOUS sounds like hard work, it is. But as the film progresses, and she grows into a fully functioning human being, one with happiness within her grasp, it also becomes incredibly enriching. Not to be missed.

Review: A PROPHET

Jacques Audiard has built a career of some repute over the past ten years or so. Both READ MY LIPS and THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED were critically acclaimed and small commercial successes. A PROPHET is, without doubt, the crowning achievement of his career.

A crime epic, A PROPHET is scintillating cinema. The story of a young Muslim’s transition from nervous new inmate, to mafia boss in a French prison, this is thrilling, thoughtful and powerful stuff from the first frame to the last.
It’s an inventively directed film, to boot. Audiard plays with the conventions of the prison movie, in the process making A PROPHET the best prison movie in living memory, and possibly, of all. It also isn’t dwarfed by comparisons to some of the great crime movies.

As Malik, Tahar Rahim gives an astounding performance. It’s full of menace and poise. He plays Malik as a man constantly learning from and adapting to his surroundings. This is most commonly essayed by the scenes in which Malik is visited by his first murder victim’s ghost. He’s unable to let it go, and in accepting the guilt and pain he becomes stronger and more prepared to do what it takes to escape from his current situation (if not his prison).

2009 wasn’t a great year for film, but 2010 is shaping up to be much better, with this and STILL WALKING released in the last two weeks, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE out next week and THE CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (maybe the best film I’ve seen in three years) released in April. Great cinema is happening now, and I heartily recommend that you use A PROPHET as the starting point.

Review: UP IN THE AIR

UP IN THE AIR is the latest evidence of George Clooney’s claim to be thought of as the pre-eminent male movie star of his generation. He may not be big box-office in the same way as Will Smith, or an out and out awards magnet, he’s won one Academy Award, for his supporting performance in SYRIANA. He may well win a second for his performance as Ryan Bingham in Jason Reitman’s third film as director – a dramedy about a redundancy consultant living life on the road, or more accurately, up in the air.

Bingham’s job security is threatened (ironically, given the job he does), when a young Harvard graduate (played by THE TWILIGHT SAGA’S Anna Kendrick) comes up with a way of doing his job from a single location, robbing him of the thing he enjoys most about his life, the constant travel replacing any semblance of a home life – exactly the way he wants it.

There are obvious problems with the set-up. We’re supposed to empathise with the glamorous movie star playing a man who travels a lot firing people, rather than the people getting the elbow? Well, I doubt that the film will be able to survive that for much of the audience, but even those who take against it for that reason, would have to admit that it is very slick work, as were JUNO and THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, Reitman’s previous films.

Stylishly shot, and making everything of Clooney’s performance, it’s an impressive, if superficial film. Clooney has amassed a fine body of work over the past thirteen years or so, and his performance here is terrific. He’s very well supported; both by Kendrick and Vera Farmiga, who plays the female counterpoint to his jetsetting lifestyle, but it’s his film. In fact, it’s impossible to imagine anyone else being able to play the part.

Review: The Road

THE ROAD is one of my favourite books. Written by Cormac McCarthy, whose similarly brilliant novel, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was turned into an exceptional, Oscar™ winning film by the Coen brothers, and directed by John Hillcoat, whose last film was an austere, impressive Aussie western, THE PROPOSITION, the stars were aligned for a film that should have dominated what has turned out to be a relatively weak awards season.

Unfortunately, domination is off the cards. It’s not that THE ROAD is anything other than a very good film, just that it doesn’t do enough to become a proposition (sorry) in its own right. So weighed down is it by the impact of the book, and so reluctant to do anything more than be a completely faithful adaptation, that it never actually gets completely off the ground.

Despite the reservations, objectively, THE ROAD has very little wrong with it. Viggo Mortensen is exceptional as ‘The Man’, who has decided in a post-apocalyptic America, that he must take his son to the coast, where the sea can protect them from one side, against the ravaging hordes of cannibals and killers patrolling the countryside. Hillcoat’s photography is starkly stylish, and the script is largely faithful to the source material.

It’s entirely possible that my own lack of distance from the source material is responsible for my (relative) lack of engagement with Hillcoat’s film. I doubt, however, that it’s a reaction that will be limited to me. If you’ve never read the book, I would recommend the film without hesitation. If you have, I would expect that you love it, and would advise lowering expectations before going in.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 1

THE CLASS
Directed by Laurent Cantet

I’ve said before that 2009 wasn’t a brilliant year for cinema. There’s a fantastic top 5, and then the films from 14-6 are very close to each other. The standout number 1, though, was THE CLASS, Laurent Cantet’s film adaptation of Francois Begaudeau’s novel. Begaudeau plays the character based on himself, Francois Marin, a teacher in an inner-city Paris school.

Cantet’s film throws Begaudeau into a classroom with a group of non-professional actors, and films the results. The film is scripted, but feels alive due to the authentic dynamic between teacher and students. The plot focuses on Marin’s struggles with a number of students, including Souleymane, a teenager of Malian descent, who has been threatened (by his father) with his return to Africa if he is excluded from his school.

Certainly Begaudeau and Cantet are interested in the multi-cultured nature of inner-city French schools. The racial tensions are always present in the film, but never allowed to unbalance it. Rather what the film seems to be about is the nature of what it takes to be a teacher. As human beings we are encouraged to admit our fallibility, and the importance of questioning a system. A good teacher gets this across to their students – it’s one of the most important lessons in life. How then, should such a teacher balance that with the pedagogical nature of the education system?

This is the question at the heart of the film, and it’s one that Cantet and Begaudeau never presume to be able to know how to answer. It presents far from a rosy picture of what a teacher’s life is, yet still gives an insight into the moments of joy that reaching previously ‘difficult’ students can bring. It’s an affirming and powerful film, a testament to honesty and faith in people over systems. It’s also the best film of the year.