List: Top 30 Films of 2011 (#30-16)

17 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by Catherine in 2011, 2011 List, List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More than halfway through January, I give you my 30 favorite films of the year. The final 15 will be up on Thursday. These are my favorites; not a list of the ‘best’ of the year, although it goes without saying I believe these are all excellent films. The idea of a restricting Top 10 sort of irritates me; I’ve always been someone who likes to broaden the field and point out a variety of different films that stuck out to me. Margaret, Into the Abyss, Love Exposure and The Mysteries of Lisbon are examples of gaping holes in my film viewing for this year. But I did get to a total of 136 films seen from 2011 and I feel like I saw the vast majority of what I had meant to. I’m thrilled with the group of films that stuck out for me this year. The films that just missed out on a spot were Super 8, The Sleeping Beauty, Tabloid, Rango, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Descendants, Love Crime, Weekend, 50/50, 13 Assassins, Meek’s Cutoff and Crazy, Stupid, Love. I’d love to come up with an introduction to this list that covered the year in film but so much has already been written in ways that go far beyond what I would have been capable to coming up with. I took snippets from my reviews for the films I reviewed here at some point this year, with links provided for the full reviews if anyone is interested. Without further ado…30-16!


30. Bridesmaids (Feig)

It looks like Bridesmaids actually has a semblance of chance for a slot in the Best Picture race this year. Whether it happens or not is almost irrelevant; it is the mere chance that surprises. This notion brings with it much backlash. Between that and the constant references to the shitting in the sink scene (which at this point feels like it is the only scene in the film based on how often it gets brought up), it is easy to forget just how funny and surprisingly layered the film really is.

That the film is only ever put into the context of ‘see, women can be funny too’ proves just how sad the state of female-driven comedies is. Wiig and Annie Mumolo did not set out to prove anything here, but everyone acts as if they did. We should be past the point where an ensemble female comedy is a revelation, but based on the constant contextual discussions of Bridesmaids, it is clear we are not. It does not help that it was advertised using the idea of females doing comedy essentially as a gimmick.

After all is said and done though, it is about the flawed Annie (Kristen Wiig) who has reached a point in her life where nothing has worked out the way she planned. Her only stable focal point is her friendship with Lillian (Maya Rudolph). When Lillian’s wedding plans are taken over by Rose Byrne’s wealthy stylish woman who threatens to replace her as best friend (in Annie’s insecure eyes), she fights fire with fire by being petty and selfish, much to the amusement of the audience. But the film is about her realizing how she handles those situations, seeing her come to terms with that and being ready to rebuild her life. Annie’s character struck a chord with me;  this along with Wiig’s performance is why I was so impressed with Bridesmaids as a whole. Is it too long? Yes. Does every joke hit its mark? No. Yet this is one of my favorite comedies to come along in a good long while. Really truly good comedies are infrequent these days (case in point; only three comedies are on this list). This is one of the good ones.

29. Moneyball (Miller)

There are going to be several films on this list that really took me by surprise and the first is Moneyball. I had really no interest in seeing this; in fact it took about 3 months and a rerelease for me to drag myself to the theater to see it. Sports films are generally not a genre I gravitate towards. What is so striking about 2011 is that four sports films made my list of favorites this year; an unprecedented number. Moneyball is mostly a behind-the-scenes look at baseball and how one person tries to change the deeply embedded system using unheard of strategies. It is the classic underdog tale, told with soul, drive, and a spirit of infectious perseverance headlined by Brad Pitt’s performance, which highlights Beane’s hasty insistence and inner detachment when he seals himself off from others. We know how the story ends, but the film earns the audience’s reservations as to how triumph could possibly reign supreme. Moneyball lifted me up and left me feeling roused and inspired.

28. The Trip (Winterbottom)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/review-the-trip-winterbottom-2011-iffboston2011/

The Trip boasts an unusual combination of dialogue-heavy comedy, of scenic travelogue complete with a focus on high-end food and finally a somber self-reflexive experiment. While these are occasionally at odds with each other, The Trip is hilarious from start-to-finish and ultimately insightful because of the persistent and atypical way it goes about making its point.

Their conversations are thoroughly escapist, with a strong air of competition. They throw themselves into moments, songs, melodies and impressions. They are constantly trying to one-up each other, whether by seeing who does the better Michael Caine impression or by testing how many octaves each can sing in.  Steve may say to others on the phone that Rob is a ‘pain in the ass’, but he clearly gets something out of his hesitant friendship with Rob; the irreverence between the two and their conversations. Each knows what to expect from the other. Steve knows he can vent his frustrations by taking jabs at Rob’s career. He knows their friendship is based on nonsensical conversations. This allows a safety net of irreverence to form for Steve.

Underneath all of the improvised hilarity, The Trip is about understanding Steve and Rob’s friendship, where it comes from, how the film is using their repeatedly competitive conversations and what it all means. Some will see it as a film that goes nowhere. This is precisely the point; it is a story about fame and emptiness, which has been addressed in many recent films, but told in an uproarious, refreshing and unconventional way.

27. Win Win (McCarthy)

As I began watching Win Win on a plane destined for Korea (the TV’s reset themselves several times, forcing me to watch this over the course of four hours), at first I was not enjoying it. It felt like the kind of middle-of-the-road indie that tries really hard to garner some chuckles with some predictable music that evokes that delightfully amused small-town sound that so many films have. Once Alex Shaffer’s Kyle entered and got the story rolling, I found myself increasingly involved. By the last half hour I was glued to the screen, only several inches away from the small TV on the backseat. All of the characters feel dimensional by the end, and it sets up a complicated dilemma that has no easy answers. It is sweet and endearing without ever feeling slight. Tom McCarthy’s writing underlines the place that wrestling has in the characters’ lives, so that when it falls to the wayside for a domestically dramatic scenario to settle in, the sport always feels thematically front and center. Not to mention that Alex Shaffer’s real-life wrestling skills which make his sport-centered scenes a treat.

26. Warrior (O’Connor)
Short Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/short-review-warrior-2011-oconnor/

Sometimes it is the films that surprise us that become the most rewarding film experiences. They make us realize that so many films come with high expectations impossible to meet. What a breath of fresh air it is to go into a film with very low expectations, with no sign of the dreaded hype machine in tow, and to be completely won over to the point where my emotions were running as high as they could.

Steeped in the throes of Greek tragedy, Warrior takes chamber-piece family drama to the arena of MMA. Knowingly playing with clichés and being able to deliver on familiar grounds can be just as difficult to execute properly. It is no small task, but the film is able to deliver. The first hour is a lot of set-up. It is transparent where almost all of these scenes are going, but it conveys them with an unexpectedly quiet meditation. This gives the actors and the circumstances they have to play a refreshing amount of room to breathe. By the end, proportions of such raw physical intensity are reached that you can actually feel the decades of family dynamics being brought into the arena. The result is a well-earned cathartic finale as powerful as anything I have seen this year.

P.S – Make this a double bill with South Korea’s equally impressive 2005 boxing drama Crying Fist; you will not be sorry.

25. Jane Eyre (Fukunaga)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/review-jane-eyre-2011-fukunaga/

Jane Eyre succeeds because what it does take on is executed with memorable specificity as well as containing some of the best chemistry between two romantic leads in years. For those who are sick of the kinds of romance films that come put today, whether comedy, drama or fantasy, Jane Eyre provides an opportunity to revisit a classic.

Many period films, especially those depicting the Victorian era, unsurprisingly and understandably tend to have the same look and feel. Fukunaga and cinematographer Adriano Goldman create a very precise atmosphere, making full use of the many conventions of the Gothic romance. The film feels naturally lit throughout, creating an often dark and gloomy look with muted grey and brown tones. The barren landscapes, wind and rain and foreboding manors are just a few conventions employed here with stunning effect. Dario Marianelli’s score fills the soundtrack with emotive violins that express the suppressed passion that Jane and Rochester keep below the surface.

Mia Wasikowska, destined for an exciting lifetime of impressive performances, captures the essence of Jane Eyre. Her dignity, guardedness and centered unwavering morals are all perfectly portrayed. She is understated and powerful, conveying subtle transitions in her face at every turn. It might just be the perfect incarnation of the heroine.

It is a rare thing when the two romantic leads have the chemistry the story demands them to have; these two do. The film is most engaging when the two are onscreen together, not just from of the power their scenes have, but because of the way they portray the evolution of their relationship. Buffini makes sure that different circumstances surround each scene they have together, making every single interaction between the two unique.

The film may heavily dilute several themes from the book in a disappointing way, but Wasikowska infuses her performance with what is missing. Was yet another adaptation necessary? Probably not, but it is hard to imagine anyone complaining about it after seeing Fukunaga and Buffini’s splendid interpretation.

24. The Last Circus (Iglesia)

The most utterly berserk and unbridled film from this year, The Last Circus is a nutzoid accomplishment plagued with political undertones (and in-your-face purpose; hello opening credits) from the Franco regime of the 1970’s. A love triangle between two clowns and an acrobat (who is the definition of the self-destructive male fantasy woman), the film inhabits a heightened predicament where love, suffering, violence and insanity all inhabit the same space and become interchangeable. Most films have a set trajectory, where you have some sense of where it will go, even if you do not know how it will get there. The Last Circus reaches what I assumed would be its climactic scene before the halfway point and I realized I had absolutely no idea where it was headed next. It was an unfamiliar and exhilarating realization and I watched as the film darted off into entirely wacky and surreal territory. The last scene which gives off a feeling of finality, hopelessness and defeat is a singular moment in the film. The Last Circus is unforgettable.

23. Midnight in Paris (Allen)

Had it not been for Rachel McAdams’ increasingly shrill caricature, this would be even higher on my list. Considering how much love I have for this film, and seeing it in the 23 slot, it becomes clear just how necessary I feel it is to move beyond the idea of a Top 10. Indeed, this is one of my favorites from Allen, carrying that same magical air as The Purple Rose of Cairo (my absolute favorite from him). Leaving the theater with a giant gleaming smile on my face, Midnight in Paris wins people over for its literalized and fantastical look at the idea of nostalgia and yearning for a time past. And using 1920’s Paris for that is probably the most idealized time and place there is.  Owen Wilson proves to be the perfect Allen avatar, neurosis and rationalizing take precedence with him. To see him this enthralled with all the artistic figures of the past is contagious. The romantic and rational sides of Allen interact here and come to several different conclusions. It’s a vicarious dream come true.

22. Shame (McQueen)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/review-shame-2011-mcqueen/

McQueen has the confidence of a veteran; his vision is clear and he presents it with poise. Between this and Hunger, it is obvious that long takes are his strong suit. One more film from him and they will be a fully-fledged trademark. He risks distracting the audience but he does not; his lengthy observations make us more attentive, more aware of the physical space and of body language. They allow us to get a fuller sense of the performances and they enhance the notion of the audience observing Brandon through the glass-plate walls; he is a test subject. McQueen distances us with the sterile environment and cagey glass. He puts us up close when it counts, and when it becomes important to unsettle the audience. Fassbender and Mulligan are astounding.

McQueen uses Brandon as cornerstone representative for addiction with a sibling dynamic ripe for rich exploration. Brandon’s surprisingly conventional, but no less powerful, arc towards disintegration is tinted with more hope than one would expect. Shame is arresting cinema that loyally follows its self-loathing protagonist wherever he may go.

21. Senna (Kapadia)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/review-senna-2011-kapadia/

Senna plays more like a narrative feature than any documentary in recent memory. Gripping from the start and refusing to let go, this immersive story will enthrall the viewer regardless of their ignorance of Formula One racing and/or three time Grand Prix world champion, Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna. Entirely comprised of archival footage, Senna offers a rare privilege of access for a documentary, resulting in a wholly distinct experience. It does not feel like you are watching something that has already happened; instead it largely unfolds as if for the first time.

I was the only one in my theater when I saw Senna, and I was allowed to have an emotional reaction with a freedom rarely afforded within the theater-going experience. By the end, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss. Interestingly enough, the two documentaries on this list spurred a stronger emotive response than anything else I saw this year.


20. Poetry (Lee)

Lee Chang-dong has a knack for staying a couple of steps away from melodrama with his unadorned camera and plots that never feel like plots. In some ways, he is the opposite of melodrama, but he somehow always gives off a sense of it without it defining or even distracting from his pictures. On the one hand, the film is a gentle tale of an elderly woman creeping up on Alzheimer’s who strives to understand how poetry works, looking everywhere for inspiration in order to write a poem. If this sounds nauseating, do not make the mistake of judging Poetry; it has none of the sentiment or predictability the story suggests.On the other hand, there is the tale of a horrific family crime committed, how Mi-ja copes with it as she deals with the aftermath of forced interaction for all parties involved and their differing motivations.

Lee mixes plot elements in ways that are unfamiliar and new, without ever having it feel like something is conventionally unfolding. His two films made after his time as Korea’s Minister of Culture and Tourism heavily deal with coping, the unforeseen circumstances surrounding tragedy and the various ways people try to coexist with their personal tragedies. It is simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting.

19. Tyrannosaur (Considine)

Actor Paddy Considine’s directorial debut sticks us with some pretty miserable folk. That Peter Mullan’s train-wreck of a protagonist, unable to keep himself contained for a moment, is the one that comes to be Hannah’s (Olivia Colman) only support system says it all. Tyrannosaur works because of the central relationship where mutually affectionate moments are able to burst through the defense mechanisms, secrets and stubbornness of the characters and the relentlessly bleak and violent nature of the film.

This is one of those ‘what do I do with myself now’ films that send one off into the world with a fuzzy haze of hopelessness. Some may not think it is worth it or that it does not justify being this depressing. But I appreciate Considine’s insistence on showing us two complicated people with no easy explanations to their predicaments or personalities. It is the matter-of-factness of it that I admire. Mullan has more rage than all the ‘angry young men’ characters of British cinema combined. He’s like the middle-aged present day result of those guys. Colman is in the most horrifically abusive marriage imaginable and has reached the point where excuses and suffering have seemingly buried escape.

18. Martha Marcy May Marlene (Durkin)

That Martha Marcy May Marlene held my spot at number 1 for a time after I saw it indicates that we have approached an even more intense level of appreciation for the films left on this list. Martha Marcy May Marlene disturbingly displays the susceptible nature of the mind and what mankind is capable of subverting through mutual groupthink. It is a complicated character study about a young woman unable to assimilate herself in any environment, and is left with heaps of traumas, sadly stubborn lingering ideologies and zero sense of self. She is a nearly broken being. Sean Durkin wrote and executed this story with staggering maturity. Some broad supporting characterization and some overstated dialogue only mildly hinder the experience. The complex characterization headlined by Olsen and the tension that instills the audience makes for a fearless film from a debut filmmaker.

17. Incendies (Villeneuve)

It has been many many months since I watched Incendies; almost a year. If I saw it again, it may even garner a higher spot on this list.  After Biutiful and In a Better World left me underwhelmed (and with the former, downright annoyed), this is the other foreign language film nominee from last year’s Oscars that left an impact on me (the other is Dogtooth, which was my third favorite film of 2010, only to become my favorite after a rewatch taking over from Black Swan). It seems redundant to say that Incendies is involving, especially since I have been describing a number of films on this list as such. However, where some films involve me so much because I did not expect them to, for its thematic content or for filmmaking aspects more than anything else visceral or otherwise, Incendies involved me on a level of pure storytelling. There is no other film that involved me more this year (although several match it) on a storytelling level.

Remarkably devastating, the film balances political strife with the intensely personal and wraps it up in a disturbing familial central mystery. Several sequences are riveting, led by the wonderful Lubna Azabal. The film never feels small, with all of its war-torn setting, the unstoppable presence of politics and war and the linking of past and present using a flashback structure. Incendies leaves an indelible and powerful mark.


16. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Bird)

This is the most fun I had at the movies this year; by far the most satisfying action film I have seen since 2006’s Casino Royale. Brad Bird’s live-action debut proves that he has a knack for creating increasingly complicated set-pieces, never losing the high levels of energy, fun and genuine excitement he sets up for himself. There is literally no depth to this film at all and we are all the better for it.

This is what escapist cinema is all about. Seeing Tom Cruise reliably bringing his irreplaceable screen presence to the non-character that is Ethan Hunt is all we need. His penchant for doing as much of his own stunts as he can culminates in the stunning sequence atop the tallest skyscraper in the world; Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. There are no green-screen effects here; the cameras are filming onsite and Cruise really is leaping around and climbing on the outside. It is indescribably thrilling and revitalizing to see an action film pull out all the stops and give us onsite set-pieces that are a much-needed antidote to the typical green-screen action scene. Filmed in IMAX, it feels like we are up there with him; and this is only one scene. Each sequence would be a memorable standout of any other film; Ghost Protocol just gives us one after the other, constantly matching itself. The entire film keeps up this level of entertainment. To put it simply; I did not want this film to end.

Complete List of Films Seen in 2011: 13 Assassins, 50/50, A Better Life, A Dangerous Method, Albert Nobbs, American Grindhouse, Another Earth, Attack the Block, Beastly, Beginners, Being Elmo, Bellflower, Bill Cunningham, New York, Biutiful, Black Death, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Bridesmaids, Buck, Cameraman: the Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, Captain America: The First Avenger, Carnage, Cars 2, Caterpillar, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Cedar Rapids, Certified Copy, Cold Fish, Cold Weather, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Contagion,, Cracks, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Dream Home, Drive, Edge of Dreaming, Hanna, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hesher, Hobo with a Shotgun, Horrible Bosses, Hugo, I Saw the Devil, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, In a Better World, In Time, Incendies, Insidious, J. Edgar, Jane Eyre, Kung Fu Panda 2, Last Night, Le Quattro Volte, Love Crime, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meek’s Cutoff, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, Mildred Pierce, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, My Week with Marilyn, Of Gods and Men, Outrage, Page One: Inside the New York Times, Passion Play, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Poetry, Project Nim, Rampart, Rango, Red Riding Hood, Red State, Redline, Retreat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rubber, Scream 4, Senna, Shame, Sleeping Beauty, Source Code, Submarine, Sucker Punch, Super, Super 8, Tabloid, Take Shelter, Terri, The Adventures of Tintin, The Arbor, The Artist, The Debt,The Descendants, The Devil’s Double, The Double Hour, The Future, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Green Hornet, The Help, The Housemaid, The Ides of March, The Last Circus, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Mill and the Cross, The Muppets, The Rite, The Roommate, A Separation, The Skin I Live In, The Sleeping Beauty, The Thing, The Tree of Life, The Trip, The Ward, The Woman, Thor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, TrollHunter, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Tyrannosaur, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Unknown, War Horse, Warrior, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Weekend, Win Win, Winnie the Pooh, X-Men: First Class, Young Adult, Your Highness, Yves Saint-Laurent: L’Amour Fou

List: Top 25 Performances in 2011 Film

11 Jan 2012 3 Comments

by Catherine in 2011, 2011 List, List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ll list 10-25 alphabetically and then list the top 10 alphabetically. It seems odd to rank performances to such the extreme degree of “I liked this performance better than this and I liked this better than those two”. What do you think were the most memorable performances of the year?

10-25 (in alphabetical order)


Carla Besnainou – Anastasia – The Sleeping Beauty

Catherine Breillat knows how to get some of the most natural, seemingly effortless performances out of children. Here, Besnainou entirely holds this film with her unyielding curiosity and determination. She is quick on her feet, priding herself on her independence. The film dovetails once she leaves the screen and most of the reason I found myself glued during Breillat’s latest was because of this precocious child. Talented as the child is, the director should get most credit for this kind of performance for finding her (not an actress), capturing her on film and being able to assemble together her performance.


Demian Bichir – Carlos Galindo - A Better Life

An earnest and heartbreaking performance of the first degree, Bichir is emotional and gripping as a man who just wants to do well by his son. He lifts the on-the-nose material with his nuanced and extremely involving work.


Asa Butterfield – Hugo Cabret – Hugo

It was more than a little surprising to see several complaints about Butterfield’s work as the title character in Scorsese’s ode to cinema. Additionally, Butterfield is simply not getting the credit he deserves even from those who found him delightful. This did not feel like acting; it felt like I was watching a child who really had spent months living inside of a Parisian train station. I never felt he was playing a character; he was Hugo Cabret. Unlike Besnainou where you get the sense her charisma was caught by the camera, there are no accidents with Butterfield. This is a fully realized performance where the adolescent knows exactly what he is doing and is fully committed to his character and his motivations and emotions.


Dominic Cooper – Latif Yahia/Uday Hussein – The Devil’s Double

The Devil’s Double has only one ‘see it for this card’ and it is Dominic Cooper. Being called upon to play two roles entirely outside anything I have seen him in, he undergoes a complete transformation as both Latif and Uday (not to mention Latif’s impersonations of Uday). The film itself is too obsessed with its own sleaze to rise above it or be compelling, but Cooper is electric having to act out scenes with himself (with Uday being the most depraved son-of-a-bitch to grace the screen all year). Between the dual roles and the extremity of Uday, it could have gone wrong, but Cooper’s capability and commitment enable him to soar.


Kirsten Dunst – Justine – Melancholia

Dunst, having first-hand experience with depression, makes painstaking connections with Justine that culminate in an uncompromising understanding and loyalty to her. She is unwilling to cater to standard cause-and-effect rules of characterization or to apologize for the frustration and lack of sympathy she can elicit.  For those of us who know what bouts of depression are like, this reveals it in all of its extreme truths and ugliness.


Michael Fassbender – Brandon – Shame

Watching Brandon dissolve right in front of us is quite the spectacle. This has been the year of Fassbender and we are all the better for it. He is an explosive force to be reckoned with, completely giving himself over to the camera for observational purposes.


Tom Hardy – Tommy Conlon – Warrior

This is another performance that never felt like acting to me. I could not take my eyes off of Hardy in Warrior; this is entirely due to his ability to fully transcend the hardened character type he is asked to play. It helps that the screenwriters stay refreshingly true to him, and thankfully do not give him any sort of arc that allows his basic emotional trajectory to change. This is who he is, and his more revealing moments of character shading feels real and honest; in no way forced.  He achieves a kind of introspective intensity that is something to behold. Decades of estrangement and past dynamics have been so clearly defined in his head, that his dialogue evokes a perspective of factual simplicity reminiscent of a child.


Woody Harrelson – Dave ‘Date Rape’ Brown – Rampart

Dave Brown is a ticking time bomb in vastly changing times. Harrelson plays him as a brute past his prime in the shifting cityscape. An outcast on all counts, his cruelty covers all possible ground whether he means it or not. He’s like a wild animal trying to feign the practice of civilization.


Viggo Mortensen – Sigmund Freud – A Dangerous Method

Unrecognizable with the ever-present cigar and unwavering dignity, Mortensen gets my vote for best in show in Cronenberg’s latest. He is methodical and precise in his words, always needing to balance maintaining the intellectual upper-hand without losing the insight of discourse. He needs discussion more to keep his own ideas going and to reassert his theoretical leanings. But at the same time, Mortensen’s Freud genuinely connects with others through discussion; seeing how he wades through his thoughts towards Jung throughout is something else.


Carey Mulligan – Sissy – Shame

Here is an unhinged and unpredictable performance that ignites the screen. Mulligan elicits unbridled frenzy as Sissy who is much farther along the path to futility than Brandon is, or rather, is farther along the path precisely because she is aware of it. She deserves as much praise as her costar, hurtling off the screen with abandon.


Nick Nolte – Paddy Conlon -Warrior

He is devastating as the haggard father trying to shake his previous actions that all but define him far too late in life. His eyes desperately cling onto his sons for any semblance of forgiveness.


Gary Oldman – George Smiley – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Seeing Oldman in a role like this is a rarity. He is a stoic centerpiece to the crumbling status quo around him. The frequently loud and bombastic actor (not a knock) goes to the opposite extreme here, with a quiet and largely observational iconic character. He is unwavering in his procedures, requests and investigation, speaking only when he has to.


Kseniya Rappaport – Sonya - The Double Hour

The only truly palpable reason to see The Double Hour, despite it being engaging enough to merit a look, is for Kseniya Rappoport’s performance. She makes the film almost single-handedly gripping. She is morose, racked with guilt, has hidden agendas and is appropriately vague in her emotions.


Ludivine Sagnier – Isabelle Guerin – Love Crime

There is a lot more complexity to Sagnier’s performance and character than she has been given credit for in the underrated Love Crime. She is headstrong in her work, extremely intelligent but also inexperienced, insecure, desperate and a bit of a weakling. The harsh unpleasantness and humiliation she is put through by Kristen Scott Thomas becomes too much and she hatches a complex plan to get away with the perfect crime. Watching Sagnier play all the facets of her character (the willingly seduced, the tantrums that come with heartbreak, the stool pigeon, the mastermind and the nervous criminal) is a fabulous display of range all within a layered character study that she more than follows through on.


Kristen Wiig – Annie Walker - Bridesmaids  

A comedic feat in the extreme, Wiig had me howling with laughter with her perfect timing and teased out awkwardness. At the same time, she creates a layered character who has to overcome her own selfishness and failings, starting with salvaging her cherished friendship with Maya Rudolph’s Lillian. One of the best comedic performances in years; she will be on my Oscar dream ballot without a doubt.

10-1 (in alphabetical order)


Carlos Areces – Javier – The Last Circus

The most fearless, reckless, no-holds barred performance of the year, there is nothing else in 2011 film quite like seeing Areces go from the bespectacled sad sack man to the maniacal gun-wielding clown along with an unhealthy detour into primal beast mid-film. Javier allows himself to be carried away by the unlikely fulfillment of love and the result is an unhinged courageous performance that holds immense confidence and skill. You will not forget Javier the Clown.


Juliette Binoche – She – Certified Copy

Can anybody hold the screen like the great Binoche? She is asked to display a wild but subtle range, always just out of reach but never out of intrigue. She moodily shifts in and out of various emotions, never overplaying and often extremely pleasant. Like the film, rich treasures are likely to be discovered from her work each time it is watched.

Olivia Colman – Hannah – Tyrannosaur

In a word, Colman is devastating. She bears all as a woman who has turned to faith to cover up her miserable existence that hinges on a torturous marriage. Her fragile connection with Peter Mullan’s Joseph becomes a welcome escape. It is the only performance this year that was painful for me to watch. She is an incomprehensible victim and she will stick with you indefinitely.


Ryan Gosling – The Driver – Drive

As much as Refn creates something evocative from a directorial point of view, I would argue that Gosling’s anchoring of the material provides an almost equally satisfying and necessary contribution. The Driver may belong to an archetype, but like many of his previous incarnations, Gosling (with the help of Refn and screenwriter Hossein Amini) makes his version singular. His ability to emote layers through silence is not only impressive but transfixing. Gone is the hard masculinity one expects to find with this type of role. Even when taking into account the brutal acts of violence he commits, in large part he is seen as a child.


Rooney Mara – Lisbeth Salander – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I’ve thrown around the word transformative several time here so far and I’m going to use is again, because if ever there was one performance of that nature this year, it is this one. Mara is a revelation as the iconic Lisbeth Salander. She plays up the more sensitive aspects of the character, making her a fierce push and pull between hard and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it soft. It is impossible to take your eyes off her and it feels like Mara lived this part through and through while filming. She is incendiary and a force to be reckoned with.


Elisabeth Olsen – Martha – Martha Marcy May Marlene

Olsen carries this film into another realm. In her cult scenes she plays a woman eager to be a part of something, so much so that she discards common sense and allows herself to take part in some truly unsettling activities. Olsen shows layers of conviction, susceptibility and hesitancy through an additional heavy layer of necessary ambiguity. Post-cult Olsen displays societal disconnect beautifully with her bluntness, immaturity and more importantly her train wreck of a mental state. We are inside of her head and yet she remains distant from the audience. We feel her paranoia but cannot break through. It is a performance that has been rightly hailed across the board; simply put, she nails it.


Michael Shannon – Curtis LaForche – Take Shelter

Michael Shannon gets to be front and center in Take Shelter as a man who knows what is happening to him but cannot stop it. His paranoia initiates a series of poor decisions that damage everyone around him. Shannon makes us understand why he makes these decisions, and while we cannot stop him from doing so, we sure as hell wish we could.


Tilda Swinton – Eva – We Need to Talk About Kevin

The incomparable Tilda Swinton transfers the fear of apathetic motherhood to the screen through Lynne Ramsay’s abstract spell of a film. She has a difficult job. Her character is icy and disconnected from familial tendencies. She is a free-spirit, a travelogue writer who entertains the possibility of a happy family life even though in her gut she repels against it. Her fears materialize, projected onto the demonic Kevin. She tries so hard to care, to love, and to cherish but that forced effort just builds and builds onto Kevin until he is a monster. Swinton has to play indifference, forced enthusiasm, a woman barely holding herself together with rightfully increasing paranoia. She is so desperate to hold off the inevitable realization of her suspicions. Finally, our starting point sees her as a woman who has nothing left and is a zombie-like shell forced to go on. As you can imagine, Swinton kills it.


Charlize Theron – Mavis Gary – Young Adult

I’m not sure there is enough praise for me to heap onto Theron and her work in Young Adult. She plays a layered nasty piece of work, and it’s a role that is individualistic in film as Diablo Cody has given her unexplored character territory rich for innovation. As sterling as her line deliveries are, I am most enthralled with her as she listens to others and reacts to the situations around her. She is unhinged in her arrogance and delusions. Her best years are long past her and her clinging onto Buddy is a really wretched last-ditch effort to hold onto the popular glory of her teenage years. Her snarly stare when she turns against you would have any sane person running for the hills. It may just be the film performance of 2011 in my eyes.


Yun Jung-hee – Mi-ja – Poetry

Mi-ja is serenely open to life and what it has to offer in her golden years. She daintily goes about her business, wondering aloud why it is she cannot write poetry. She innocently asks others how they come up with the words to describe what they see. Her mind is slowly slipping away from her. She is becoming flighty and vague. Yun is restrained and full of complexity in Lee Chang-dong’s latest.

Complete List of Films Seen in 2011: 13 Assassins, 50/50, A Better Life, A Dangerous Method, Albert Nobbs, American Grindhouse, Another Earth, Attack the Block, Beastly, Beginners, Being Elmo, Bellflower, Bill Cunningham, New York, Biutiful, Black Death, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Bridesmaids, Buck, Cameraman: the Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, Captain America: The First Avenger, Carnage, Cars 2, Caterpillar, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Cedar Rapids, Certified Copy, Cold Fish, Cold Weather, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Contagion,, Cracks, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Dream Home, Drive, Edge of Dreaming, Hanna, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hesher, Hobo with a Shotgun, Horrible Bosses, Hugo, I Saw the Devil, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, In a Better World, In Time, Incendies, Insidious, J. Edgar, Jane Eyre, Kung Fu Panda 2, Last Night, Le Quattro Volte, Love Crime, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meek’s Cutoff, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, Mildred Pierce, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, My Week with Marilyn, Of Gods and Men, Outrage, Page One: Inside the New York Times, Passion Play, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Poetry, Project Nim, Rampart, Rango, Red Riding Hood, Red State, Redline, Retreat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rubber, Scream 4, Senna, Shame, Sleeping Beauty, Source Code, Submarine, Sucker Punch, Super, Super 8, Tabloid, Take Shelter, Terri, The Adventures of Tintin, The Arbor, The Artist, The Debt,The Descendants, The Devil’s Double, The Double Hour, The Future, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Green Hornet, The Help, The Housemaid, The Ides of March, The Last Circus, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Mill and the Cross, The Muppets, The Rite, The Roommate, The Skin I Live In, The Sleeping Beauty, The Thing, The Tree of Life, The Trip, The Ward, The Woman, Thor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, TrollHunter, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Tyrannosaur, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Unknown, War Horse, Warrior, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Weekend, Win Win, Winnie the Pooh, X-Men: First Class, Young Adult, Your Highness, Yves Saint-Laurent: L’Amour Fou

List: Top 50 Favorite Modern Actors

04 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment

by Catherine in List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The explanation for this list is significantly more complicated than the ‘classic’ list. Why? Well, first it is meant to represent the actors I am the most excited about at the moment. On the other hand, it has to balance those actors I love whose careers may not be in the most exciting spots today, but were at one point (usually in the 70′s) making iconic after iconic film. And then there are the old standards; actors who are not recent additions and don’t necessarily represent ‘in the moment’, but are people I always save spots for. The ‘modern’ lists are significantly hard to cut down; I had almost twice this number when I brainstormed and a great many actors who deserve a spot just as much as many of those who made it on. And really, in the end, it is completely arbitrary both who made it and where they are placed. I think of myself as a legitimate fan of Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey, two actors I could not get on here and yet when they get a role that showcases their talents appropriately (i.e I Love You Philip Morris or MI4), there are few things I enjoy more than watching them. Yet I wanted to get actors on here that are new to me. For example, my number 50, Nicolas Duvauchelle. I first saw him in White Material where he owned his role and legitimately had me frightened of what his character may be capable of. Next, I saw him in The Girl on the Train, a severely underrated film and I was aware of just how happy I was to see him. And again, several months ago when I saw Inside for the first time. I was giddy when he popped up, which broke through the unrelentingly dark and disturbing journey of that film. Other actors, like Sam Rockwell and Christian Bale, who normally break into my Top 10 don’t appear. Why? I just felt like favoring other actors this time around. Ryan Gosling, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Martin Freeman,  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gael Garcia Barnal, Paul Giamatti, Robert De Niro Viggo Mortenson, Jeff Daniels, Ray Winstone, Nathan Fillion, Simon Pegg, Michael Douglas and so many more…all of these people are not on the list yet I count them among my favorites. Actors like Tom Hiddleston, Matt Smith, Edgar Ramirez and Jeffrey Combs I’d gladly rank along with the 50, but I do not see them often enough or their careers are just getting started. Lastly, the numbers are not meant with any finality; it’s just a frivolous fun list I’ve been making for a long time. I really just keep it as a record for myself and decided to share on this blog.


50. Nicolas Duvauchelle
Seen in 3 films: White Material, The Girl on the Train, Inside


49. Koji Yakusho
Seen in 5 films: Cure, The Eel, Kairo, Babel, 13 Assassins


48. Peter Dinklage
Seen in 4 films, 1 TV show: Living in Oblivion, Elf, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Penelope, “Game of Thrones”, 1 season


47. Jack Davenport
Seen in 7 films, 2 TV shows: The Moth, The Bunker, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Shoes, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Libertine, “Coupling”, 4 seasons, “FlashForward”, 1 season


46. Takeshi Kitano
Seen in 6 films: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Violent Cop, Sonatine, Hana-bi, Battle Royale, Outrage


45. Guy Pearce
Seen in 8 films: L.A Confidential, Memento, The Proposition, Factory Girl, The Hurt Locker, Animal Kingdom, The King’s Speech, Mildred Pierce


44. Kiefer Sutherland
Seen in 14 films, 1 TV show: “24″, 8 seasons, Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, 1969, Flatliners, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, A Few Good Men, The Vanishing, The Three Musketeers, Dark City, Phone Booth, The Sentinel, Mirrors, Melancholia


43. Donald Sutherland
Seen in 13 films: M*A*S*H, Don’t Look Now, Kentucky Fried Movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, National Lampoon’s Animal House, Ordinary People, JFK, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Cold Mountain, Pride and Prejudice, Horrible Bosses, The Hunger Games


42. Geoffrey Rush
Seen in 13 films: Elizabeth, Shakespeare in Love, Mystery Men, House on Haunted Hill, Quills, The Banger Sisters, Finding Nemo (voice), Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Harvie Krumpet (voice), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Cameo), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The King’s Speech, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides


41. Eddie Marsan
Seen in 14 films: The Bunker, Gangs of New York, 21 Grams, Vera Drake, The New World, Mission Impossible III, The Illusionist, V for Vendetta, Happy-Go-Lucky, Me and Orson Welles, Red Riding, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Tyrannosaur, War Horse


40. Peter Mullan
Seen in 14 films: Shallow Grave, Braveheart, Trainspotting, Fairy Tale: A True Story, Session 9, The Magdalene Sisters, Children of Men, Boy A, Red Riding: 1974, Red Riding: 1980, Red Riding: 1983, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Tyrannosaur, War Horse


39. Chris Eigeman
Seen in 6 films: Metropolitan, Barcelona, Kicking and Screaming, Highball, Mr. Jealousy, The Last Days of Disco


38. Benedict Cumberbatch
Seen in 5 films, 1 TV show: “Sherlock”, 2 seasons, Atonement, The Other Boleyn Girl, Four Lions, War Horse, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy


37. John Malkovich
Seen in 18 films: The Glass Menagerie, Empire of the Sun, Dangerous Liaisons, Of Mice and Men, In the Line of Fire, Con Air, The Man in the Iron Mask, Rounders, The Messenger: Story of Joan of Arc, Being John Malkovich, Shadow of the Vampire, The Libertine, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Beowulf, Burn After Reading, The Great Buck Howard, Jonah Hex, Red


36. Jeremy Irons
Seen in 7 films: Dead Ringers, Damage, The Lion King (voice), The Man in the Iron Mask, Being Julia, Appaloosa, Margin Call


35. Alexander Skarsgård
Seen in: “True Blood”, 4 seasons, Melancholia


34. Leonardo DiCaprio
Seen in 14 films, 1 TV show: “Growing Pains”, 1 season, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, The Basketball Diaries, Romeo + Juliet, Titanic, The Man in the Iron Mask, Catch Me if You Can, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Blood Diamond, Revolutionary Road, Shutter Island, Inception, J. Edgar


33. Steve Carell
Seen in: “The Office”, 6 seasons, Bruce Almighty, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Sleepover, Melinda and Melinda, Bewitched, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine, Evan Almighty, Horton Hears a Who! (voice), Crazy, Stupid, Love


32. Bill Murray
Seen in 25 films: Caddyshack, Stripes, Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, What About Bob?, Groundhog Day, Ed Wood, Larger than Life, Space Jam, Wild Things, Rushmore, Charlie’s Angels, Hamlet, The Royal Tenanbaums, Lost in Translation, Coffee and Cigarettes, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, City of Ember, Fantastic Mr. Fox (voice), Zombieland, Get Low, Passion Play


31. Al Pacino
Seen in 16 films: The Godfather, Scarecrow, Serpico, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, Scarface, Dick Tracy, The Godfather Part III, Glengarry Glen Ross, Carlito’s Way, Heat, Donnie Brasco, The Devil’s Advocate, The Insider, Insomnia, Angels in America


30. Kevin Spacey
Seen in 17 films: Rocket Gibraltar, Dad, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Ref, Iron Will, Seven, The Usual Suspects, L.A Confidential, The Negotiator, A Bug’s Life, American Beauty, Pay It Forward, Austin Powers in Goldmember (cameo), Moon (voice), Margin Call, Horrible Bosses


29. Michael Stuhlbarg
Seen in: “Boardwalk Empire”, 2 seasons, Afterschool, A Serious Man, Hugo

28. Bill Nighy
Seen in 14 films: Fairy Tale: A True Story, Blow Dry, Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead, Enduring Love, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Constant Gardener, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Notes on a Scandal, Hot Fuzz, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Valkyrie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Rango (voice)

27. Paddy Considine
Seen in 8 films: 24 Hour Party People, In America, Dead Man’s Shoes, My Summer of Love, Hot Fuzz, The Bourne Ultimatum, Red Riding: 1980, Submarine


26. Colin Firth
Seen in 13 films: Another Country, Pride and Prejudice, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Love Actually, What a Girl Wants, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Where the Truth Lies, A Single Man, The King’s Speech, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy


25. Alan Rickman
Seen in 18 films: Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Sense and Sensibility, Dogma, Blow Dry, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Love Actually, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sweeney Todd, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2


24. Tom Hollander
Seen in 10 films: Bedrooms and Hallways, Gosford Park, Paparazzi, The Libertine, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Valkyrie, In the Loop, Hanna


23. Brad Pitt
Seen in 20 films: Thelma and Louise, A River Runs Through It, True Romance, Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Seven, 12 Monkeys, Sleepers, Meet Joe Black, Fight Club, Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Babel, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Burn After Reading, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Inglourious Basterds, The Tree of Life, Moneyball, “Growing Pains”, 2 episodes


22. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
Seen in 5 films: Chungking Express, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, Hero, 2046


21. John C. Reilly
Seen in 24 films: Days of Thunder, State of Grace, Out on a Limb, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, The River Wild, Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, The Thin Red Line, Never Been Kissed, Magnolia, The Perfect Storm, The Anniversary Party, Gangs of New York, The Hours, Chicago, The Aviator, A Prairie Home Companion, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Zombieland, Cyrus, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Cedar Rapids, Terri, Carnage


20. Michael Caine
Seen in 21 films: Alfie, The Italian Job, Get Carter, Dressed to Kill, Hannah and Her Sisters, Mona Lisa, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Noises Off!, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Little Voice, Quills, Miss Congeniality, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Batman Begins, Bewitched, Children of Men, The Prestige, Sleuth (2007), The Dark Knight, Inception, Cars 2 (voice)


19. Choi Min-sik
Seen in 5 films: The Quiet Family, Oldboy, Crying Fist, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, I Saw the Devil


18. Dustin Hoffman
Seen in 23 films, 1 TV show: The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Little Big Man, Straw Dogs, All the President’s Men, Marathon Man, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, Ishtar, Dick Tracy, Hook, Sleepers, Wag the Dog, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Moonlight Mile, I Heart Huckabees, Finding Neverland, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (uncredited), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Stranger than Fiction, Kung Fu Panda (voice), Horton Hears a Who! (voice), Kung Fu Panda 2 (voice), “Luck”


17. John Hawkes
Seen in 10 films, 4 TV shows: From Dusk til Dawn, Rush Hour, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, The Perfect Storm, Identity, Me and You and Everyone We Know, American Gangster, Winter’s Bone, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Contagion, “Eastbound and Down”, 1 season, “Lost”, 3 episodes, “24″, 2 episodes, “Deadwood”, 3 seasons


16. Lee Byung-hun
Seen in 6 films: Joint Security Area, Three Extremes, A Bittersweet Life, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra, I Saw the Devil, “Iris”, 1 episode


15. Gary Oldman
Seen in 24 films: Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, State of Grace, JFK, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, True Romance, Leon, Murder in the First, The Fifth Element, Air Force One, Lost in Space, The Contender, Hannibal, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Batman Begins, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, The Dark Knight, A Christmas Carol (voice), Red Riding Hood, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Kung Fu Panda 2 (voice), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy


14. Jack Nicholson
Seen in 12 films: Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining, Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, Batman, A Few Good Men, Mars Attacks!, As Good as it Gets, The Departed


13. Peter Sarsgaard
Seen in 11 films: Dead Man Walking, The Man in the Iron Mask, Boys Don’t Cry, Shattered Glass, Garden State, Kinsey, The Dying Gaul, The Skeleton Key, Flightplan, An Education, Orphan


12. Steve Buscemi
Seen in 27 films: Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, Reservoir Dogs, “The Adventures of Pete and Pete“, Airheads, Pulp Fiction, Billy Madison, Living in Oblivion, Fargo, Con Air, The Big Lebowski, The Wedding Singer, Armageddon, Big Daddy, 28 Days, Ghost World, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (voice), Domestic Disturbance, Monsters Inc. (voice), Mr. Deeds, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Coffee and Cigarettes, Big Fish, Paris je t’aime, Interview, The Messenger, Rampart, “Boardwalk Empire”, 2 seasons


11. Jon Hamm
Seen in 5 films, 1 TV show: “Mad Men”, 5 seasons, The Ten, Shrek Forever After (voice), The Town, Howl, Sucker Punch, Bridesmaids


10. Willem Dafoe
Seen in 19 films: Platoon, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The English Patient, eXistenZ, The Boondock Saints, American Psycho, Shadow of the Vampire, Spider Man, The Clearing, Spider Man 2, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Aviator, Auto Focus, Finding Nemo (voice), Inside Man, Paris je t’aime, Antichrist, Fantastic Mr. Fox (voice)


9. Aaron Paul
Seen in 1 TV show, 1 film: “Breaking Bad”, 4 seasons, Mission Impossible III


8. Vincent Cassel
Seen in: La Haine, Elizabeth, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Shrek (voice), Read My Lips, Irreversible, Ocean’s Twelve, Eastern Promises, Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Mesrine: Public Enemy Number 1, Black Swan, A Dangerous Method


7. Michael Fassbender
Seen in 11 films: 300, Hunger, Centurion, Fish Tank, Inglourious Basterds, Jonah Hex, Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class, Shame, A Dangerous Method, Haywire


6. Cillian Murphy
Seen in 15 films: On the Edge, 28 Days Later, Intermission, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Cold Mountain, Batman Begins, Red Eye, Breakfast on Pluto, Sunshine, The Dark Knight, The Edge of Love, Peacock, Inception, Retreat, In Time


5. Daniel Day-Lewis
Seen in 10 films: My Beautiful Launderette, Room with a View, The Last of the Mohicans, The Age of Innocence, In the Name of the Father, The Crucible, The Boxer, Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood, Nine


4. Mathieu Amalric
Seen in 8 films: Late August, Early September, Munich, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, A Secret, A Christmas Tale, Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Mesrine: Public Enemy Number 1, Quantum of Solace


3. Michael Shannon
Seen in 12 films, 1 TV show: “Boardwalk Empire”, 2 seasons, Groundhog Day, Pearl Harbor, Vanilla Sky, Kangaroo Jack, Bug, Shotgun Stories, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Revolutionary Road, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The Runaways, Jonah Hex, Take Shelter


2. Song Kang-ho
Seen in 9 films: The Quiet Family, Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Memories of Murder, Lady Vengeance, The Host, Secret Sunshine, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, Thirst


1. Philip Seymour Hoffman
Seen in 28 films: When a Man Loves a Woman, Hard Eight, Twister, Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski, Happiness, Flawless, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley, State and Main, Almost Famous, Punch-Drunk Love, Red Dragon, The 25th Hour, Owning Mahowney, Cold Mountain, Empire Falls, Capote, Mission Impossible III, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, The Savages, Charlie Wilson’s War, Synecdoche, New York, Doubt, Mary and Max (voice), The Invention of Lying, Moneyball, The Ides of March

Review: Shame (2011, McQueen)

11 Dec 2011 2 Comments

by Catherine in 2011, Film Review Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

This review contains an open discussion of the film; spoilers follow.

Summary taken from IMDB: In New York City, Brandon’s carefully cultivated private life — which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction — is disrupted when his sister Cissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.

There is a shot in director Steve McQueen’s second feature film that rivals any other from this year. A long montage depicting a ménage à trois weaves through many a suffocating flesh-filled close-up, eventually landing on our protagonist’s face. Michael Fassbender looks transformed here; his face is hauntingly gaunt and primal. There is no pleasure to be found in his expression; all we see is someone making a desperate life-or-death climb to the finish line. The shot took me to another place entirely; it showed me who this man is and the result gutted me.

There are undeniably only so many layers to Shame, which depicts the life of an affluent sex addict living in New York City. But with a subject matter that has rarely been explored with any degree of seriousness, not much in this case is more than enough. Those basic points are made with the degree of lucidity that McQueen provides. Along with the two performances by Fassbender and Mulligan, it is hard to argue against its somewhat rudimentary vision.

Brandon’s fixes and the likely meaningless chunks of time in-between are experienced with an equal perfunctory indifference. His sexual encounters feel more like a rush to get his satisfaction as opposed to something he entirely revels in. Brandon’s sexual exploits come at him in a multitude of ways, and he has established a routine methodical means that include but are not limited to hookers, web cam models, print and online pornography, a “filthy hard drive” at work and casual hookups. The Internet age allows him a bevy of backup options.

There are a lot of scenes that establish expected territory. Brandon does not comprehend the idea of marriage. Climaxing with the one woman he may have feelings for becomes impossible once intimacy rears its ugly head. His boss, whom Brandon tolerates, spends all night trying to hook up with a woman, only for Brandon to be the one that scores. He does not have one sustainable human connection, and that seems to suit him as long as he has the temporary and empty connections that provide his fix.

Shame really starts to resonate when Brandon’s life begins to unravel due to the presence of his clinging dependent waif of a little sister. Sissy (Carey Mulligan in an unhinged and unpredictable performance that ignites the screen) is an unwelcome presence in his life, but after ignoring her calls only to find her showering in his apartment one night, it is clear she plans on staying a while.

A lot can be said about Brandon and Sissy based on the way they share physical space and interact with one another. Brandon’s desired dismissal of her goes beyond the energy it takes to care for her; the past, whatever that may be, looms over the two in every scene. Sissy wants to make due on the connection they have as siblings who have weathered through a lot together, but Brandon wants none of it. The two are damaged and evidently defined by their likely tumultuous past. Sissy seeks consolation, but Brandon seeks the opposite from her. Having Sissy in his life is unquestionably too hard for him.

Some are taking issue with the film’s lack of backstory, but the film supplies so much rich substance in the scenes between the two, that it never becomes a question to feel cheated by its lack of explanation. In fact, the pivotal line as said by Sissy, “We’re not bad people; we just come from a bad place” provides all the confirmation and backstory people are finding absent. It is an explicit statement of past trauma that discards any purported hesitation we have towards throwing the word abuse around when discussing the source of their behavior. Whatever else that piece of dialogue is, it is far from ambiguous. It provides an orthodox cause-and-effect answer, and I am still trying to decide if I feel the line should have been in the film. Because it is not just the line; its placement and Sissy’s emotional state in that moment of audio provide the climax (no pun intended) of the film. It says a lot that the line is heard on top of Brandon’s unsettling self-destructive excursion; perhaps too much.

Sissy’s arrival does two things; first, it takes Brandon’s mind back to a place in time he does not want to be. Secondly, it takes away his privacy and thus, his ability to get off in the comfort of his own home. The combination of the two is the catalyst for Brandon coming apart at the seams in the film’s latter half. Shame’s purpose as a character study lies in Brandon’s eventual realization of how badly he needs sex once it is gradually deprived of him.

Brandon’s journey is bookended by two segments that set his exploits to moody tormented cello complete with the tick-tock passage of time. The first sequence opens the film and introduces Brandon as a walking calamity. His routine of traveling from high to high has been long established by the time we meet him. All that self-loathing is there but its familiarity allows it to barely register as the score hovers around unbeknownst to him.

By the time the second sequence of orchestral gloom comes along, Brandon has a heightened awareness of how desperate he has become. He cannot masturbate or interact with his laptop at home because of Sissy’s presence. Her being in his apartment is problematic for any number of reasons. He is indirectly called out on his hard drive stash by his boss. He is impotent with Marianne (Nicole Beharie), a woman he is legitimately drawn towards, throwing his sense of self into disarray. The routine that masked his crippling addiction has fallen out from under him; those strings are ringing louder and louder in his ear. Thus begins his bender where the hunt for release becomes fraught with increasingly disconcerting encounters. The notes follow him as he almost gleefully walks into a confrontation with the boyfriend of a woman he tries to pick up using graphically descriptive means, not to mention his hands. His lack of options leads him into an underground gay nightclub; his search for an outlet wrenchingly complete.

Watching Michael Fassbender dissolve right in front of us is quite the spectacle. This has been the year of Fassbender and we are all the better for it. He and Steve McQueen have established a working collaborative relationship, producing results that heighten the material through their partnership. Brandon is gritting through life, only out for his own base needs. The people he interacts with are meaningless, especially including the ones he sleeps with. Fassbender is an explosive force to be reckoned with as he completely gives himself over to the camera for observational purposes.

Mulligan is no less impressive introducing unbridled frenzy as Sissy who is much farther along the path to futility than Brandon is, or rather, is farther along the path precisely because she is aware of it. She deserves as much praise as her costar, hurtling off the screen with abandon. She takes a character that is mainly a plot device (the only similarity to her turn in Drive), but makes so much more of this role than the former because her character in Shame moves beyond her functional purpose. Props must go to Nicole Beharie as well for her lovely supporting turn; I cared about her immediately and was frustrated by my inability to tell her to abandon ship.

Steve McQueen has the confidence of a veteran; his vision is clear and he presents it with poise. Between this and Hunger, it is obvious that long takes are his strong suit. One more film from him and they will be a fully-fledged trademark. He risks distracting the audience but he does not; his lengthy observations make us more attentive, more aware of the physical space and of body language. They allow us to get a fuller sense of the performances and they enhance the notion of the audience observing Brandon through the glass-plate walls; he is a test subject. McQueen distances us with the sterile environment and cagey glass. He puts us up close when it counts, and when it becomes important to unsettle the audience. His methods set the methodical pace of a representative case study.

McQueen and cowriter Abi Morgan use Brandon as a representative for sex addiction, which may be disappointing to some and it is understandable. The decision forces Brandon into a broadly stroked corner. But McQueen knows what he wants to do and he does it with aplomb using Fassbender as his riveting translator. The director balances Brandon as cornerstone example with a sibling dynamic ripe for rich exploration. Brandon’s surprisingly conventional, but no less powerful, arc towards disintegration is tinted with more hope than one would expect. Shame is arresting cinema that loyally follows its self-loathing protagonist wherever he may go.

List: 10 Cinematic Heterosexual Chemistries that Scorched the Screen

08 Jul 2011 1 Comment

by Catherine in List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Like last week’s LGBT list, this installment will look at the chemistry between couples in film; this time heterosexual. Criteria demands that definitive romantic interest be found by at least one character. Like all of my lists, this is personal preference. Two actors may have fabulous chemistry together, like say, John C. Reilly and Melora Walters in Magnolia, but they were never considered for this list, despite being one of my favorite cinematic couples. Why? Great chemistry is not enough. Palpable is again the word of choice, (also scorching, as is used in the list title) but beyond that, a certain secret ingredient must be present. What that is I could not say; I will attempt to reason through it via my explanations. We all have our own reasons for being particularly drawn towards certain romantic interactions between two characters.

There will undoubtedly be a couple of choices on here that will elicit a “Hmm…I would not think of these two for a list like this”. But that is precisely what makes a list like this so great; everyone’s would likely be drastically different. Sexual interaction between couples on this list has an extremely wide range from wildly intense relationships to a chaste boy-meets-girl romp. There is a nice mix of films here, recent and old, a few from other countries. There are many different kinds of love stories, allowing a wide range of circumstance to be present. Also interesting is that none of the actors on this list appears more than once.

A lot of this is treading the same introductory ground as the LGBT chemistry list, I realize. But I hate posting lists without intros or reasons. As frustrating as it can be, as I always confront my limitations as a film blogger head-on, it is important for me to work through it and never simply plop down a list and click on ‘publish’.

I sincerely invite you to list some of your own choices for this list in the comments section. I would love to read them.

Beware: There are some spoilers in the mix.

10. Humphrey Bogart as Phillip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge in The Big Sleep (1946)

Choosing between To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep was difficult, but I went with the latter, mainly because I happen to love the film a lot more. Bogart and Bacall as an onscreen pair muster up intimidating hype, seemingly impossible to live up to. That it does is a feat. That it goes further and surpasses the hype is difficult to fathom. Bogart and Bacall transfer their lifelong romance to the screen which continues to incite wonder today. They are backed by a screenplay co-written by Faulkner (yes, that Faulkner) that memorably sacrifices coherence for an addictively broad tone of consistent intrigue. Furthermore, the exchanges (chockfull of risqué innuendo and wordplay) between Marlowe and Vivian reveal a playfulness; a constant testing of the minds. Yes, Bogart fares equally well with Martha Vickers and Dorothy Malone (it is understandable that the producers were worried about just how good Vickers is, resulting in her performance being chopped up). That does not dim our appreciation of the famous couple’s work here.

9. Tippi Hedren as Marnie Edgar and Sean Connery as Mark Rutland in Marnie (1964)

There is nothing really romantic about this pairing and it may seem like an odd choice to some. Hitchcockian perversity hits an all-time high here in a forced relationship rife with trauma and sometimes laughably dated ‘Intro to Psych’ character work. Mark sees Marnie through his own arrogance; as an impenetrable pet project. Marnie allows Hitchcock to visually display the inner psyche in an even more outwardly purposeful way than ever before. The director is just as fascinated by Marnie (and Hedren for that matter) as Mark is. The film is short on plot (rare for the director) and is instead entirely about Marnie’s inner demons. As Mark tries to figure her out, so do the filmmaker and the audience. Countless time could be spent looking at this film with a feminist perspective, likely finding the film more problematic and reductive than anything else.  As for the chemistry, many think the opposite and feel something is lacking between the two. I give them, and the film, more credit; the two have a ton to work with and their oddly successful coupling owes more to the material than anything else. These two are on the list primarily because of their unique circumstances, and that each scene carries with it an obsessive desire to penetrate one woman’s mind, creating uncommon tension.


8. Ralph Fiennes as Count László Ede Almásy and Kristin Scott Thomas as Katherine Clifton in The English Patient

Components of The Big Sleep and Marnie include crackling dialogue and situational captivation, but The English Patient’s inclusion on this list is entirely based on the pure unadulterated passion between Fiennes and Thomas. Their scenes are all-consuming; the definition of romance. It does not even feel like acting. The lacing of love affair and tragedy makes for all-the-more heavy impact.

7. Monica Vitti as Vittoria and Alain Delon as Piero in L’Eclisse (1962)

Antonioni’s third in a trilogy on alienation amongst the young and beautiful further proves why Vitti was the perfect cipher for the director’s examination of ennui and lack of communication. But for this list, we can forget about all of that. With Alain Delon thrown into the mix, we have arguably the two most beautiful people of their time period in a film together; Alain Delon and Monica Vitti. The mere prospect of the pairing turns my brain to rot. In practice it is a dream come true. While the characters are a means to justify the end for Antonioni’s grander vision, it does not lessen the impression these two leave with the viewer. He is an enthusiastic stockbroker and she is an unsure young woman who doesn’t know what she wants. Moving beyond physical attraction becomes a problem between the two. The struggle between wanting something more, and being unable to coalesce into anything substantial, leaves them at a standstill. Still, their physical attraction is something to behold. The scene featuring the two kissing between glass is a lengthy poetic dance, and it might be the sexiest scene from any of the couples featured here.


6. Maggie Cheung as Su Li-zhen and Tony Leung as Chow Mo-wan in In the Mood for Love (2000)

Who says a couple needs to get physical in order to have smoldering chemistry? Nary can a kiss be found in Wong Kar-wai’s seminal and sumptuous period film. It is because the two never consummate their feelings for one another that make the interactions between Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung so special. While countless other hackneyed films about affairs exist (and many good ones), In the Mood for Love is all about not acting on ones feelings for another. How often do you see a story like this? Leung and Cheung are magical together. Cheung is decked out in some of the most beautiful period costumes known to film. Wong regular Christopher Doyle unforgettably captures the actors and creates atmosphere with his camera. And Shigeru Umebayashi’s famous score captures the yearning between Mo-wan and Li-zhen. This may sound like a beautiful film with nothing much going on underneath, but the opposite is true. Every scene between Leung and Cheung is riddled with layers and the film is beautifully acted with innumerable subtlety. They have motives for acting on their feelings because they believe their spouses are cheating; and yet they do not. You will not find unconsummated passion that matches this film.


5. Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender as Rochester in Jane Eyre (2011)

From my initial review of this year’s adaptation of Jane Eyre; “It is when the two actors are brought together that the magic happens. It is a rare thing when the romantic leads have the chemistry the story demands them to have; these two do. The film is most engaging when the two are onscreen together, not just from of the power their scenes have, but because of the way they portray the evolution of their relationship. Buffini makes sure that different circumstances surround each scene they have together, making every single interaction between the two unique.”


4. Cary Elwes as Wesley and Robin Wright as Buttercup in The Princess Bride (1987)

The reason The Princess Bride has remained ever so strongly within our hearts is because it is pitch-perfect on all counts. This also goes Robin Wright and Cary Elwes as Buttercup and Wesley. They have chemistry to spare but it is because there are several kinds of tension apparent. In the beginning, they display the sweet and pure simplicity of love. When she is unknowingly kidnapped by him, a hateful banter forms that presents an oppositional romance. There are times when intensity takes hold not present in those first few scenes. By the end, we are back where we started with the innocence of the beginning, as they share the only kiss the two shares in the film.

3. Jimmy Stewart as Alfred Kralik and Margaret Sullavan as Clara Novak in The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

If I can get The Shop Around the Corner on any list of mine, you better be damn sure I’ll try. Don’t get me wrong; this absolutely deserves to be here without a doubt; there was no sacrificial lamb to get this cherished treasure on the list. Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan were one of the first couples that came to mind when brainstorming for this. First, they don’t really care for each other. Then, he discovers that she is the pen pal he has fallen in love with. He has an advantage, and their interactions change. Indeed, she disdains him all the more, never withholding harsh criticism when possible, while he sees her in a new light entirely. While the film classifies as romantic comedy, their conversations go far past the depended-upon witty banter. There is something truly special, and indeed indescribable, at least to me that these two bring on the screen together. There are times where they speak and it is as if there is nobody else in the world. I also recommend seeing their other onscreen pairing in The Mortal Storm, a much more serious film that does not get the recognition it deserves.


2. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway and James Spader as E. Edward Grey in Secretary (2002)

Sadomasochistic relationships are so very rarely, if ever and certainly not in the US, portrayed with any kind of seriousness, matter-of-fact storytelling or examination. I consider Secretary to be an important film. Yes, this topic had been broached before, but the kind of exposure this film received, makes this a remarkable feat. The characters Gyllenhaal and Spader play are developed; the film rightly never looks down on them, displaying a kind of exhilarated acceptance that truly is ‘scorching’. Spader and Gyllenhaal are outstanding together. They give the film the mandatory feeling of desperate and uncontrollable need. They also give their characters the proper dimensions required of them and are able to throw themselves into every scene and moment. I also love that Gyllenhaal is our protagonist and that the audience enters his world via her character as opposed to the opposite. And to top it off, the film has a happy ending. Spader and Gyllenhaal have never been better.


1. Emmanuelle Devos as Carla and Vincent Cassel as Paul in Read My Lips (2001)

The moment I started brainstorming this list, I knew my number one, even though it was a film I had only seen several months ago for the first time. Describing it is a daunting task, but here it goes. Cassel and Devos share something together here that I have never seen before and their dynamic is mesmerizing. It manages to balance a passionate undertone, but at the same time, contain a quietness and subtlety that is stunning to witness. Also, the film is told from the female perspective; she is the voyeur here, the one captivated by Cassel. She hires him as an assistant, knowing he is an ex-con, but he is attractive and her work environment is such a miserable place for her; why not? In the workplace, she is in control of him. He works for her. He is not very interested in her, but once he learns she can read lips due to significant deafness, he becomes interested in what she can do for him. For every element of control she has, he exploits her for his own criminal purposes. Yet, she willingly jumps into this scenario, knowingly allowing herself to be used. And he does care for her; kind of. It’s a very quiet streak of kindness, not threatening his motives, but still ever-so-present. She is dowdy, mocked by co-workers, feeling ugly and useless. The attention Cassel give her may have ulterior motives, but it is attention nonetheless. She is needed by someone, and she is willing to subject herself to this for that need from him and from those all-too quick moments of appreciation before he goes back to taking her for granted again. As you can see, there is so much going on here between these two, and it is incredible to see Cassel and Devos play this so sexily and subtly together.

Review: X-Men: First Class (2011, Vaughn)

09 Jun 2011 1 Comment

by Catherine in 2011, Film Review Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

When it was announced that X-Men: First Class was being made, many including me, groaned. After X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the prospect of being put through a likely awful prequel was disconcerting. Luckily, the result is surprisingly good; director Matthew Vaughn puts forth an uneven but fresh and pulpy experience that delivers on multiple levels. My experience with X-Men is limited to a few volumes of Ultimate and Astonishing X-Men, the previous films, growing up with the animated show and their general pop-culture presence. So this review will not be looking at the film from a comic-driven perspective. That can be left to those much more knowledgeable and experienced with the comics.

The film starts by giving us insight into Erik’s (Bill Milner) childhood. In 1944, Erik and his mother are separated in a concentration camp. When Nazi doctor Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) sees Erik’s power he calls him into his office, asking him to repeat his abilities. When he cannot, Erik’s mother is shot. From then on, vengeance and anger drive him into adulthood. In the meantime, young Charles Xavier (Lawrence Belcher) meets a blue and scaly young girl named Raven (Morgan Lilly) with nowhere to go, and the two form an instant bond.

As an adult, brilliant and somewhat arrogant Xavier (James McAvoy) is on his way to becoming a professor with best friend Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) at his side. Erik (Michael Fassbender) travels the world looking for clues to Shaw’s whereabouts, set on revenge. Shaw and his Hellfire Club have a nefarious plan to trigger war between the US and Russia. Then we have CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), who learns there are mutant powers and asks Xavier for help. Once Erik finds his way to Xavier, the film tracks their initial friendship, the gathering of other mutants via Cerebro, and their efforts to stop Shaw and his potentially catastrophic plan.

Clearly, the most successful aspect of X-Men: First Class is the friendship between Xavier and Magneto. Both actors, particularly Fassbender, are outstanding and lend considerable gravitas to a popcorn summer flick. Their friendship is doomed from the start but their conversations are really what these films are about. Questioning the capacity of humanity to accept differences as well as the inherent isolation that comes with feeling disconnected from society, no matter what the cause. Are humans worth the trouble it will take to work together with them? Every X-Men film has these conversations and they always hit the same beats. The film conquers the repetition with the great acting at its center and by keeping future events looming over the conversations.

The two seemingly simple tasks that First Class succeeds in are that it is both consistently entertaining and emotionally satisfying. The breakdown of Xavier and Erik’s friendship actually has impact. The understanding that Erik’s rage will always define him has impact. I felt involved, and that level of investment in this genre is an almost entirely new feeling to me. Xavier’s first encounter with Cerebro left me with an almost giddy aftertaste. The scene when Xavier allows one of Erik’s memories to resurface is genuinely affecting. The same can be said for the way McAvoy plays the realization of his paralysis. Finally,watching just how desperate Xavier is to delay the inevitability of Erik’s desertion, is not just something the audience sees but feels. Yes, all of these examples involve Xavier and Erik, but their dynamic is at the center of this film, and it is enough to anchor any mediocrity or even flaws it is surrounded by.

As for consistently entertaining, many other films in this genre fall apart in the third act. This one does not. The uses of the mutants’ powers are imaginative. The set-pieces worked and the film is well-performed outside of January Jones who, between this and Unknown, is continuing to leave me flabbergasted by how Matthew Weiner is able to brilliantly uses her on “Mad Men”. The establishment of character relationships and seeing how everything starts is a treat as well. In short, it is entertaining.

Striving to give Raven an arc is inspired, but her final decision is lacking in believability. How does a girl with a strong and lifelong sisterly bond with Xavier end up becoming Mystique? X-Men First Class attempts to answer that question, and does so rather well, or so it seems. Every scene with Raven is meant to make us understand why she chooses to go with Erik by the end. She sees her mutation as a physical deformity. As Raven matures into an insecure woman, Xavier is unable to give her the kind of assurance she needs. Her interactions with Hank (Nicholas Hoult) confirm her need to be told she should not have to hide. Xavier misreading what Raven wants to hear, in addition to Erik telling her what she does want to hear, affect the way she views mutants place in the world. I wish Raven’s arc functioned more as the groundwork for her switch to Magneto’s side as opposed to fitting everything into one film. As groundwork, it would have been successful; as it is, something felt lacking by the end. The “mutant and proud” line did not exactly help matters.

As for some of the flaws, the film is somewhat tonally inconsistent. There are camp elements seeping in from the edges during certain scenes, and there are other times where that sense is nowhere to be found. The film could have also used violence more intelligently. The film plays as the tamest PG-13 action film imaginable. Violent things happen, but we never see them. This would be fine, but  Vaughn is incapable of making those moments have any punch without showing violence. Thus, those moments promote an indifferent and passive audience reaction. Despite my somewhat negative opinion of Kick-Ass, the action scenes were executed wonderfully there. None of that punch can be found here.

X-Men: First Class is the kind of rare superhero film that mostly works. It is a joy to watch, and it manages to ‘preboot’ a franchise whose last two films were laughable. It fuses story with character, making sure each is of equal importance, and that prioritizing is part of what makes X-Men: First Class a rewarding time at the movies.

Review: Jane Eyre (2011, Fukunaga)

24 Mar 2011 5 Comments

by Catherine in 2011, Film Review Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The story of Jane Eyre shares several similarities with the phenomenon known as the teen romance, which has taken over young adult literature and film in recent years. A young inexperienced girl, a potentially dangerous and fiercely attractive male and a series of hurdles the two have to overcome before being together. Charlotte Brontë’s gothic novel was not written for teenagers, but many elements have been reconfigured in young adult stories. Cary Fukunaga’s new adaptation of an already much interpreted classic takes us back to basics, showing us how to really tell a romance with his compelling version of Jane Eyre.

Most people know Jane Eyre and her “tale of woe”, but here is a brief summary for those who are unfamiliar. Jane (Mia Wasikowska), an orphan whose childhood consisted of a cold aunt, an abusive nephew and an even more abusive education, is employed as a governess at Thornfield Hall by Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender) for his ward Adele (Romy Settbon Moore). As her relations with Rochester progress, it becomes increasingly clear that there is a dark secret he desperately wants to keep hidden.

Those who know the story will be interested to know that the film takes Jane’s encounters with Rivers (Jamie Bell) and his sisters and shuffles events. The film begins with her arrival at Rivers and then flashes back and progressing through her story from there. This was a very smart move from screenwriter Moira Buffini. In addition to writing an outstanding adaptation, all potential pacing issues are solved by spreading out the important but uncharged interactions with Rivers as opposed to tackling it in an entirely separate segment, which might have brought the film to a definite halt.

Many period films, especially those depicting the Victorian era, unsurprisingly and understandably tend to have the same look and feel. Fukunaga and cinematographer Adriano Goldman create a very precise atmosphere, making full use of the many conventions of the Gothic romance. The film feels naturally lit throughout, creating an often dark and gloomy look with muted grey and brown tones. The barren landscapes, wind and rain and foreboding manors are just a few conventions employed here with stunning effect. Dario Marianelli’s score fills the soundtrack with emotive violins that express the suppressed passion that Jane and Rochester keep below the surface. Fukunaga has a clear vision which he executes with conviction, making it stand out from many adaptations of classic Victorian era literature.

Mia Wasikowska, destined for an exciting lifetime of impressive performances, captures the essence of Jane Eyre. Her dignity, guardedness and centered unwavering morals are all perfectly portrayed. She is understated and powerful, conveying subtle transitions in her face at every turn. It might just be the perfect incarnation of the heroine. Another newly risen star, Michael Fassbender, gives Rochester the appropriate coldness and inner torment, proving with his presence exactly why he is getting the attention he fully deserves. It is when the two actors are brought together that magic happens. It is a rare thing when the two romantic leads have the chemistry the story demands them to have; these two do. The film is most engaging when the two are onscreen together, not just from of the power their scenes have, but because of the way they portray the evolution of their relationship. Buffini makes sure that different circumstances surround each scene they have together, making every single interaction between the two unique.

An aspect of Jane Eyre that disappoints is the dilution of several key themes of the novel, making this adaptation a bit more simplistic than it ultimately should be. In regards of Jane’s character, the novel makes it explicitly clear throughout that she has a fear of losing her freedom. Being locked in the Red Room is a literal example. Her romance with Rochester is a continual inner struggle because she fears losing her identity through marriage. She needs to be in control of her own freedom and identity and this aspect of her character is not explored enough. This specific gender issue would have been refreshing to examine, considering so few romance stories bother to do so. Thankfully, Wasikowska captures the rest of her character so perfectly, that one can only complain about this up to a point.

Similarly, Bertha Mason ceases to be relevant in any way whereas she is probably the most analyzed aspect of Brontë’s novel. Granted, she is in such a small portion of the book, it is hard to expect much. Here though, she is never given the chance to have a purpose, much less a symbol. Lastly, Jane and Rochester’s romance is more conventionally structured here. Their mutual affection for each other makes itself known sooner and in a more straightforward and obvious manner than the novel does. Whether this is a flaw is unclear. On the one hand, I admired the complexities of the novel more but on the other hand, I was more taken in by their romance in this film.

In the end though, the film should be taken as its own work. A film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is impossible to discuss without addressing the source material, particularly when taking into account how many times this story has been adapted to the screen. Jane Eyre succeeds because what it does take on is executed with memorable specificity as well as containing some of the best chemistry between two romantic leads in years. For those who are sick of the kinds of romance films that come put today, whether comedy, drama or fantasy, Jane Eyre provides an opportunity to revisit a classic. Was yet another adaptation necessary? Probably not, but it is hard to imagine anyone complaining about it after seeing Fukunaga and Buffini’s splendid interpretation.

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