TOKEN!

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.  ~Oprah Winfrey

As verbose as she is disgustingly rich, big mama O states the glaringly obvious and so must I. 
So as another year draws to its close it's time for the age old tradition of recapping the best and worst of the films to hit our cinema screens in 2011 through my favourite medium: a ham-fisted, thrown-together,rapid review.


And a sure as I am that Santa has type 2 diabetes, i realise my loyal readership MUST be desperately awaiting my rankings for 2011. Alas, wait ye no more more loyal readership (Dad) for below I bestoweth my views-eth...

1. Drive

Literally what it says on the tin. Just like a sexy Ronseal.

Drive follows the stoic stunt driver, played by Ryan Gosling, as he finds himself drawn into a role of murder, corruption and deception. A minimalist role in some respects (he says approx. 30 lines the entire film) Gosling still pulls off a stellar performance as the silent hero of the film. On-screen chemistry with co-star Carey Mulligan is palpable, particularly in the elevator scene - well until things get, somewhat gruesome. But HEY in the words of Dean Martin - that's amore.
 
Soundtrack is also beastly - and I do NOT use that term loosely.

 2. Midnight in Paris

Nothing says Paris like Marion Cotillard and a chap with a prominent shnozz

"I wish we hadn't seen it already so we could watch it again," was the response of my mother dearest this festive season (apparently unfamiliar with the widely-known theory that DVDs are in fact re-watchable). 

Alas, Renee makes a good point. This latest offering from Woody Allen is a right cockle-warmer; charming as it is absurd. The plot of Midnight in Paris follows the token pathetic Allen protagonist, Gil (Owen Wilson), as he struggles with notions of self-doubt and the unbearable malaise of a family vacation in one of the most artistic cities in the world. That is until a midnight stroll leads him into the company of his literary and artistic heroes, from Hemingway to Dali. 
Warm, funny and wickedly lavish this is not to be missed.

NB: Not one for those with a heightened desire for realism. SILLY ALERT!

3. We Need to Talk About Kevin

Spot the odd one out.....PSYCHE!!! there isn't one.

And on the polar opposite end of the "silly spectrum" is Lynne Ramsay's film adaptation of Lionel Shriver's hit novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. 

This harrowing tale of a mother struggling with day-to-day survival in the aftermath of her son's murderous rampage through his high school is as unsettling as it is enthralling. Superb performances from Tilda Swinton as the mother, and newcomer, Ezra Miller as teenage Kevin, make bring to life a story that has gripped the attention of readers worldwide. 

Ramsay's stark use of white and the colour red, combined with just the right degree of hinting at the grotesque to set your mind racing, resulting in a film that could be as easily categorized in the horror genre as thriller. 

Unsettling is an understatement.

 4. The Guard

The staring competition between Cheadle and Gleeson brought in audiences in their tens.

2011 wasn't all doom and bloody-murderous-gloom, as discovered upon watching comedy detective romp, The Guard. Anyone who's seen In Bruges will be well aware of Brendan Gleeson's comedic ability, and Don Cheadle...well he's OK too. The story is as ridiculous as an international drug-smuggling ring based in a sleepy Irish town sounds. However, Gleeson alone provides genuine LOLs as the unorhtodox detective with a wickedly sarcastic sense of humour and a penchant for prostitutes.
Nuff said.

5. Submarine

AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS

I could ramble on about my love of quick-witted, Welsh-set comedy, Submarine, but guess what - I'VE ALREADY BLOGGED ABOUT THIS! 

Check it out here: SUBMARINE BLOG!

As for the flops of 2011, quite frankly I dare not dignify them with more than a one-line put down, so my bottom few of 2011 are:

1. One Day

Nice specs Hathaway. No really.

I'd like one day to go by where I don't boke at the thought of this rancid flick.

2. Breaking Dawn

Smuggery at its finest.

Boring audiences at break-neck speeds.

3. The Rum Diary

No, Depp. Just no.

Turning Thompson into Carry On and Depp into a caricature in one foul swoop - and BOY to I mean foul.

Finally, so as not to leave a bitter taste in your 2011 mouth, here are my suggested top swatches for 2012!


1. Dark Knight Rises:




2. The Artist:




3. The Woman in Black:


4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:

2011: A Promising Film Odyssey

Specsavers 2011 Spring/Summer Collection

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked..." They just don't write 'em like that anymore, but apparently they can adapt 'em into partially animated feature length films.

Rob Epstein and Jeffry Friedman's potrayal of the 1957 obscenity trial held over Allen Ginsberg's celebrated poem, "Howl", presents the audience with a combination of archive footage, animated illustrations of the poem and some reportedly sterling acting from James Franco.

Not released in the UK until February 2011 this is just one of many literary masterpieces that I am simultaneously anxious and terrified of seeing translated to film.



Ok, maybe "terrified" is a tad strong, but if you haven't already gathered from my slaughtering of Scorsese's "Shutter Island" I really HATE it when an adaptation goes wrong. You know that feeling of intense disappointment like when you realise a celebrity is actually a total prat in real life and it totally taints everything else they ever do (yeah Christian Bale I'm talkin to you): you just want to ask why, jump through a portal in time back to a better, simpler place where ignorance reigned and everything was rosy. This is how I feel when I see an excellent book poorly adapted to film, so needless to say my anxiety levels are gradually rising with the impending release of various literary classics on the silver screen.

Next case in point, arguably the best novel of American 20th Century literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Ahh, the X Factor has just started.

Now, when you entitle something as "arguably the best of a century" the bar has already been set inconceivably high, so it's little wonder that many (4 in total) have attempted to bring this lavish and tragic tale of wealth and desire to the silver screen in the past. Most notably, Jack Clayton's 1974 offering wound up being somewhat of a flop, atmospheric as it is. Even the radioactive Robert Redford and Mia Farrow couldn't bring this back from the brink of mundane.

Seems bizarre that a text so rich in imagery, full of characters absolutely dripping in pathos, in an era of extreme decadence could be anything other than a visual feast.

I refuse to be disheartened though, and I'll stand resilient in the hope that the upcoming film adaptation of the novel will do it some justice. With Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, SURELY I won't be let down - famous last words...

"Dear diary, today I met a boy..."

Hunter S. Thompson's novel The Rum Diary follows the soul-searching adventure of journalist Paul Kemp, writing, drinking and fighting his way around the Carribean. Brilliant. So when I heard this was being made into a film starring Johnny Depp (of course) I was delighted. That was about 3 years ago, so the fact they're finally in the post-production stages feels like like a long overdue treat. My only concern is that the hype has been building (in my head anyway) for so long now that it won't live up to expectations, but with Depp's dedication to Thompson's work and if "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is anything to go by, I shouldn't be let down. Roll on 2011...

My face is the same when I forget my travel scrabble

I must admit I don't have my hopes set high for this one, as I simply don't know how the spontaneous narrative structure of the novel will translate to film. I don't know if I want it to in fact. I am referring to the screen version of Jack Kerouac's defining novel On The Road. The largely biographical journey of Sal Paradise is now considered a crucial text of the Beat Generation, influencing generations of road-trippers on spiritual booze-fuelled journeys for years to come.

With Walter Salles (of "The Motorcycle Diaries" fame) at the directorial helm, Francis Ford Coppolla controlling production and a young and promising cast including Brit talent Sam Riley as Sal Paradise: in theory it should work.

I remain unconvinced.

Bob Dylan once said of the novel: "It changed my life like it changed everyone else's." Wonder what he'll make of the film...

(On The Road is due for release in 2011)



Novels that translated well to film:

• LA Confidential by James Ellroy
• American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
• The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Lost in Translation:

• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (awright Peter you like CGI, we get it! not always appropriate though eh?)
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (time and time again they've been more horrific than any monster)
• The Human Stain by Philip Roth (Anthony Hopkins as a black American...nuff said)