My Year in Film

Avatar. James Cameron’s 3rd extravaganza. I felt like I was there! On Pandora in the Alpha Centauri star system! Looking for unobtanium! Avatar is even better than Titanic. And who would have thought that was possible? *[please see end of this post for acknowledgements]

The Men Who Stare at Goats. I went to see this because I wanted to see the latest Coen Brothers film. But, as Coen Brothers films go, I thought this one was disappointing and not up to their usual standards at all. And that’s because “The Men Who Stare At Goats” is not a Coen Brothers film. It’s by someone else. But I thought it was the Coen Brother’s latest film. I call that false advertising on the part of the people who were promoting this film. Except nobody advertised it as a Coen Brothers film. Anyway, it wasn’t until the film was over that I learned that this film has no connection whatsoever with the Coen Brothers. What else can I say about it? George Clooney is in it. It’s the worst film of the year. It’s about how crazy American right-wingers are – about how nuts they are. Well, we all know that already. We don’t need a film to tell us that American right-wingers are deluded and detached from reality.

Inglourious Basterds . The first scene is Tarantino at his best. Brilliant tension as the Gestapo dude interrogates the French guy. The rest of it is puerile, standard Tarantino fare.

Gran Torino – At this stage, Clint Eastwood is proving himself to be one of the great directors. This is the latest in a string of wonderful films from the world’s favourite tough guy.

Precious – I found this film deeply moving. And I haven’t even seen it. That’s how deeply, nay profoundly, moving this film is – you don’t even have to have seen it in order to be deeply moved by it. Incredible.

Film of the Year: It’s Complicated. In a mediocre year for films, “It’s Complicated” stood out as an instant classic. Three legendary actors at the top of the their game. And as for Meryl Streep. What can we say? Is there any role this woman cannot play? Such versatility! The film is laugh out loud funny. You could tell the audience was really enjoying it. I don’t understand why the reviews were so lacklustre.

Other Film of the Year. Looking for Eric. Britain’s greatest film director, Ken Loach, hits another bull's eye with this stunning portrayal of a troubled postman with an obsession with Eric Cantona. Really quite marvellous.

[* Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Michael Treacy for drawing my attention to the "unobtanium" cinematic trope and for trying to explain to me what a "cinematic trope" is, while drunk]