THE SCENE – FILM SUMMARY 2009
Fifty Films of 2009 (well, 47 really) by Our Man in the Queue.
In approximate order of release.
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
Remake of Robert Wise’s 1951 film. Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. Noisy, special effect laden, but still Klaatu is there. I still like Michael Rennie, though
AUSTRALIA
Baz Luhrmann’s epic story of Nicole Kidman losing a husband and finding Hugh Jackman and an English accent. Overlong and over patriotic.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Danny Boyle’s film in which Dev Patel plays Jamal Malik, a former Mumbai street-kid and char-wallah at a call centre who wins Who Wants to be a Millionaire in India. In turns brutal, touching and comic, this film actually lives up to the hype.
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
A young couple in the 1950s struggle with their personal problems while trying to raise two children. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet; Sam Mendes directs. Great acting and a moving story – Di Caprio generously lets Winslet take centre stage.
BOLT
A german shepherd who stars as a superdog on a hit TV series is accidentally shipped to New York and has to find his way back to Hollywood. Nice story and a winsome doggy. Pity about the annoying hamster…
DOUBT
Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman. A nun at a Catholic school in 1964 grows suspicious when a priest paystoo much attention to a young black student. Big actors, big acting, but a wee bit camp.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Brad Pitt stars in a film based on a 1922 short story by F Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his 80s and ages backwards. Immensely long and seems to be promising something it doesn’t ever deliver.
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Two vacationing American friends get tangled up with a passionate Spanish artist and his equally passionate ex-wife played by Cameron Diaz. Woody Allen writes and directs – slight perhaps, but Spain looks lovely and the acting’s good.
GRAN TORINO
A Korean war veteran sets out to reform the young Hmong neighbour who tried to steal his prized car. Written, produced and starring a 78-year old Clint Eastwood who has a screen presence younger actors would kill for.
THE INTERNATIONAL
An Interpol agent (Clive Owen) attempts to expose a financial institution's role in an arms dealing ring. Shoot-out in Guggenheim Museum. The film’s a bit like a screen test for a possible Bond.
DUPLICITY
Two spies involved in a clandestine love affair join forces to con on their superiors. Julia Roberts, Clive Owen – a bit hollow but looks good.
KNOWING
A teacher opens a time capsule dug up at his son's school - in it are some chilling predictions, some of which have already occurred ...Nicholas Cage is as glum as you can get. Enjoyable, but the ending’s a bit too much to take.
THE BOAT THAT ROCKED
Richard Curtis writes and directs the life and times of a pirate radio ship in ther sixties. The first disappointment of 2009 – slackly scripted with one dimensional characters. Too superficial and inaccurate to please the anoraks and too dull to please anyone else.
FROST/NIXON
A powerhouse drama of the Frost interviews and surprisingly enjoyable as a film. Michel Sheen plays the apparently lightweight Frost and Frank Langella commands the screen as Nixon.
THE DAMMED UNITED
A chronicle of football manager Brian Clough's ill-fated 44-day reign at Leeds United in 1974. Michael Sheen gives an impression of the man rather than an impersonation.
STATE OF PLAY
A reporter investigates the murder of a congressman's mistress and uncovers a web of corruption. Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren in a remake of Paul Abbott’s TV film series.
STAR TREK
JJ Abrams' retelling of the origins of the USS Enterprise. Unexpectedly an excellent film even for non-Trekkers with believable characters.
ANGELS AND DEMONS
The murder of a physicist draws worried-looking symbologist Tom Hanks in to investigate a secret brotherhood in the Catholic Church. Dan Brown redeems himself slightly here. Great sets as, oddly, the Vatican weren’t keen on letting film crews in…
TERMINATOR:SALVATION
The man fated to lead the human resistance against the machines goes into the heart of the robot army's operations. One for the hardcore fans with strong bladders.
LAST CHANCE HARVEY
While attending his daughter's wedding, a man finds a love interest of his own. Emma Thomson, Dustin Hoffman and Aileen Atkins in a charming bittersweet romance
PUBLIC ENEMIES
Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Billy Crudup; Michel Mann directs. Bio-pic of depression-era bank robber John Dillinger. Long, well-researched and extremely well photographed.
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
Usual suspects plus Jim Broadbent. Some prior knowledge essential. And my, havent our heroes grown!
BRUNO
Sasha Baron Cohen again as a Austrian gay man let loose in America. No taste left unbattered here, and one hopes that the missing few minutes will return!
THE PROPOSAL
Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds. An ambitious boss forces her assistant to marry her so that she can stay in the US. Slight romcom but nowhere nbear as bad as the critics would have you believe.
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123
Remake of the 1974 film without Walter Matthau, this time with John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Tony Scott directs. Washington’s too smooth and what on earth is Travolta doing with that moustache? Better see the more believable original.
FUNNY PEOPLE
Judd Apatow’s comedy with Adam Sandler as a comic who discovers he only has a year to live. Another disappointment as what passes for comedy here is the sort of thing that would make Jim Davidson or Roy Chubby Brown reach for the bin.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
A group of Jewish-American soldiers in France join forces with an undercover agent on a mission to kill the leaders of the Third Reich. In parts brilliant and ridiculous as we’ve come to expect from Tarantino.
THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE
Based on the bestseller about a Chicago librarian who time travels and the complications this creates when he falls in love with an artist. Nicely made and doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not.
ADVENTURELAND
A college graduate is reduced to taking a summer job at a local amusement park. Good fun for an undemanding audience.
DISTRICT 9
When a man contracts a virus that begins changing his DNA, he hides out among extraterrestrials in a refugee camp. Excellent film from South Africa with (to us) unknown actors. Leaves irony behind for big effects half way through, but can hold itself up with the big boys.
DORIAN GRAY
A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness. A bit too over-the-top, but still watchable.
JULIE AND JULIA
Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci. Based on the memoir of a woman in a dead-end job who decides to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's classic book, Great performances, especially from the husbands who wisely let the leads carry on at what they’re good at. Don’t see it on a empty stomach!
CREATION
Naturalist Charles Darwin struggles to reconcile his theories on evolution and his relationship with his devout wife. Well acted and certainly not dull.
SURROGATES
In a world where humans interact only with robots, a police officer (Bruce Willis) investigates the murder of a fellow surrogate. What could have been a thoughtful film is crammed into less than 90 minutes and leaves you exhausted and confused.
THE INVENTION OF LYING
In a world where no one lies, a writer seizes the opportunity for personal gain. Ricky Gervais’s brave debut tackles the subject of religious belief head-on and makes an unusual and thought-provoking film, which improves as it goes on.
THE SOLOIST
A journalist stumbles on a former cello prodigy on the streets of LA and tries to help him find his way back. Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx both leave you breathless with their acting.
FANTASTIC MR FOX
George Clooney and Meryl Streep do the voices in Rald Dahl’s tale about a fox who tries to outwit three mean farmers. Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic) directs with the help of Aardman Animation’s stop-frame expertise.
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS
Something from the mind of Terry Gilliam with the late Heath Leger, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp all playing the same role. As ramshackle as the theatre itself, but the fantasy sequences more than compensate.
UP
A 78-year-old man achieves lift-off for his journey to South America by tying thousands of balloons to his home. Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer in this Pixar animation with the statutory annoying kid.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Robert Zemekis directs a semi-animated version of Dickens’ classic. Jim Carrey, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright Penn stick surprisingly close to the novel.
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS
A reporter meets an agent who reveals a psychic military unit. George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey star. Based on Jon Ronson’s book it’s entertaining enough but could have been so much better, File under ‘Missed Opportunities’.
THE BOX
A couple struggling to make ends meet receive a box and an unprecedented offer. Frank Langella, Cameron Diaz star and Richard Kelly directs. If you liked Donnie Darko you’ll like this, but it does tend to lose its grip half way. Great fun, though.
HARRY BROWN
An ageing widower takes revenge on the young men who live on his council estate who were behind the murder of his best friend. Michael Caine is excellent in a sort of OAP Get Carter. Brutal but not gratuitous, and very much for our times.
AVATAR
James Cameron’s epic 3-D blockbuster. In the distant future, an ex-marine is thrust into the battle to exploit a planet, and finds himself helping the alien race instead. Cost more than you can imagine and all the money’s up there on the screen.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
A couple become disturbed by a nightly visitation so they record the happenings. Big mistake. Oren Peli made it for $15k. Not the most scary thing you’ll ever see, but does make an impact.
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Spike Jonze’s clever adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story about a boy who creates his own world where wild beasts crown him king.
SHERLOCK HOLMES
Not Conan Doyle, sadly, but Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law crash and bang their way through Victorian London in a tale of derring-do. Guy Richie’s trademark speed changes are well to the fore, but it does represent a return to form, whatever that was.
Well, that’s it for 2009, in which two films that star actors of pensionable age (Gran Torino and Harry Brown) show the others how it should be done. Also the animation comes of age with several excellent (and some awful – are you listening Alvin?) offerings.Not a bad year and plenty of reasons to get down to your DVD rental shop.
Glyn
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