3. Shame

As soon as I saw this trailer on the big screen, I was counting down the days until Steve McQueen’s follow up to Hunger was released.

The plot centres around the life of Brandon (Fassbender), a thirty something executive living in New York City who has been steadily creating a life which allows him to indulge in his sex addiction successfully, that is until his sister Sissy (Mulligan) arrives to stay with him for a few weeks. 

As we drop into Brandon’s slick apartment while he walks around completely naked, you cannot help but feel like a voyeur sneaking looks for our own guilty pleasure, which is just how McQueen wants us to feel.  McQueen really pushes the boundaries when it comes to what we think can be shown on screen, especially sexually and to his eternal credit he doesn’t pull any punches.  In fact he hits us repeatedly with knock out punch after knock out punch of savage and graphic film making. 

We are shown another human being at his most open and at his most vulnerable.  McQueen, almost forces us to watch this person struggle with something that he cannot control, reminiscent of Trainspotting or Requiem for a dream, it’s is harrowing and simply put, really tough to watch. 

Our perspective as voyeur increases throughout the film, we see him at work, conversing and brokering deals for his firm, appearing normal and trying to keep his addiction manageable and secret, even though he is having to masturbate in the company toilets and watch copious amounts of porn on his company computer mere feet from his co-workers.  We watch Brandon interact with people and we see him work hard to show no signs of his addiction.  McQueen uses a lot of unbroken shots to illustrate this cancer in Brandon’s life, including multiple long shots which serve to separate us from Brandon just enough so we don’t start to feel the shame as well. 

The score expertly uses strings to really add poignancy and weight to the soundtrack and the use of music overlapping the sounds of what we see forces us to focus harder on Brandon’s face as we see him ache for intimacy, it’s an awkward process but one which engages you throughout.

With the arrival of Sissy, Brandon’s sister, we see how strained the dynamic and relationship between the two are.  The story doesn’t probe into this, leaving a mystery as to why Brandon doesn’t want her around or can cut her out of his life for long periods at a time, which is probably the only downside to the film.  Carey Mulligan delivers and connects with Fassbender, their relationship is believable and gripping, when the two of them are on screen together it is almost difficult to discern which one should receive more of your attention.

As the film progresses we see Brandon’s life unravelling with his inability to suppress his growing addiction.  We watch from just out of arms reach as Brandon takes a co-worker to a hotel and is unable to perform with her sexually as she tries to be intimate with him.  She leaves and then we are taken back to the hotel to see Brandon performing with a hooker.  We watch as Brandon goes out and tries to seduce a girl with a boyfriend, leading him to being assaulted by her lover.  We follow him on his search for his fix into a gay club where we realise that his addiction is to the act of sex and ones sexuality doesn’t dictate where his fix comes from, he kisses a man and forces his head down to receive head from this stranger, the camera never leaves Brandon’s face as we truly see the shame he feels.  He leaves the club and arranges a meeting with two prostitutes, the film, like his addiction is unrelenting.  We watch on as he fucks one of the hookers and once again we are focused by McQueen on nothing but the face of Brandon as he breaks down during an intimate act which he spends all of his time thinking about and pursuing, yet he cannot feel anything other than a quick hedonistic high. 

Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of Brandon is simply put, captivating.  His sheer embodiment of the character slowly and somewhat ironically pulls us closer to him than he could ever feel to us. His raw emotion and power whenever he is on screen deserves any accolades that are bestowed on him.

Baron Jamie gives this: 5/5 Mesmerising, powerful and harrowing, a daring film from McQueen and a stunning performance from Michael Fassbender.

2. The Iron Lady

I will state first and foremost that politically, I am no fan of Margaret Thatcher or of her tenure as Prime Minister of Great Britain.  Coincidently and unfortunately for director Phyllida Lloyd and screenwriter Abi Morgan, I’m no fan of her big screen biopic either. 

The only reason I was able to sit through this clunky and disjointed piece of cinema was Meryl Streep.  Make up aside, her portrayal of Lady Thatcher is phenomenal.  Every nuance, movement and emotion is so carefully crafted and researched that it seems so natural and real.  She is simply fantastic and the Oscar is very much hers come Febraury.

My main gripe with this film is the mode used to bring the story to life, the brief flashbacks of her rise to power, the challenges she undertook while in office and the Conservative party turning against her are fantastic plot points and interesting stories in their own right, but are to fleeting and we have to spend our time instead watching Lady Thatcher rattle around her home, fretting over her late husbands effects. 

If it wasn’t for Meryl’s superb performance, this film would be in a Blockbuster bargain bin by early march.

Baron Jamie gives this: 2/5 - An underwhelming film, worth seeing just for Meryl Streep’s scintillating performance.

1. Goon

So first film of the year this year was the fun and easy going Goon. Goon is based around the story of an average bar bouncer Doug (Seann William Scott) growing frustrated at his lack skills or talent outside of his ability to deliver knock out punches. This is compounded by being born into a highly intellectual family of doctors who keep pushing him to try and learn a better trade.

Now Doug is not smart, on the contarary he is quite dumb but his heart is in the right place which wins him lots of fans. Seann William Scott plays this character to perfection and it’s actually refreshing to see him in a role where he isn’t playing a 35 year old “Stifler”.

The film isn’t going to win any points or indeed awards for originality but it is rather entertaining and the violent punch-ups are well shot and some will make the squeamish turn away in disgust. The love story between Doug and Eva works and the chemistry isn’t forced between the two, Alison Pill she is very well cast as the mousey, pixie like love interest.

It’s a classic story in the same vein as The Waterboy, Happy Gilmore and Dodgeball so don’t expect anything more (or less).

Baron Jamie gives this: 3/5 - Go with your friends for some light hearted violent fun.

I can now be fucked to review this.

As a film fan, buff, addict and geek I hate remakes; The Wicker Man, Let Me In, Psycho, Get Carter, Planet of the Apes are enough evidence to support violence towards anyone involved with the making of that film.  “I don’t care if you were only the second grip, stay still while I swing this axe at your face”.  BUT there are a few examples that stick two fingers up to my prejudice and prove me wrong; Ocean’s 11, The Departed, The Thing, The Magnificent Seven and True Grit.

You get the picture.

As far as the ingredients for a good remake this film has it all; a well thought of cast, a fantastic and gripping plot, a director at the top of game and a soundtrack by Trent Reznor.

But as the lights dimmed inside the Odeon cinema on Leicester Square, a feeling of nervousness washed over me as I suddenly realise that maybe my child at Christmas levels of anticipation for TGWTDT was perhaps getting the better of me.

SPOILER ALERT: It didn’t.

It is sometimes hard to watch a film when you know the story inside out from the original, but TGWTDT didn’t have this problem.  The film starts slowly with a phone conversation between two old men, it is understated and quiet enough to make me lean forward slightly in my seat.  When the opening titles explode onto the screen you are pushed back into your seat with sheer visceral noise from the Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross/Karen O cover of The Immigrant Song.  The imagery is stunning but are completely different I thought they would be but it works very well even though it looks like a dark and disturbed James Bond style opening sequence.

After the impressive title sequence we are slowly and subtly introduced to the story and our characters.  David Fincher is an artist of the highest calibre and his works behind the lens are a joy, he brings the restrained style of a voyeur to the screen.  We are effortlessly kept at arms length, like a prisoner with Stockholm Syndrome, we gladly take what little information he gives to us and we never complain.  Pace is key with this film and DF is never one to rush the story along towards the aspects of the film which would may described as the most gripping.  In doing so he builds effortless tension and no scene is compromised leaving you with a complete feeling after every scene passes.  The story

Some of the shot selection is tremendous and expansive; following a blizzard battered train through a snow covered rural Sweden was excellent without showboating or the steady cam shot carrying us with Rooney Mara as she glides effortlessly through traffic made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

The score couples with the shot making perfectly, the ability of Trent Reznor is without question here.  You can always tell if it is a good score if can you actually notice it during, loud, action scenes.  I noticed the score in both the loud and the quiet scenes.  It never overstepped the mark and it made an impact when needed.

People question Daniel Craig’s acting, unfairly I think as I personally rate him as a fine actor.  In this film he embodies Mikael Blomkvist and does Michael Nyqvist from the original justice, with in a layered and composed performance which fits the film incredibly well.

Then there is Rooney Mara.

She has the incredibly hard task of following the tour de force performance of Noomi Rapace in the original version and in making the role her own.  It would have been very easy for her to overact or underact in this film but in my personal opinion that she is this films equivalent of a “punctum” in photography; it’s that thing that grabs a hold of you, the detail that makes it happen.  It’s an incredible performance from Rooney as she wears the role of Lisbeth Salander like she actually removed her skin and let her out from the inside, it’s a genuine performance full of outward rage, animal instict and understated aggression.  The character naturally is incredibly introverted so this can be a challenge to paint this on the screen and keep your audience captivated even without the pithy and snappy delivery of dialogue.  In this case you can draw comparables to Ryan Gosling’s fantastic performance in Drive, the way that she speaks is short, basic and almost monotone, she relies purely on her intense screen presence guided by DF excellent direction.  The rest of the cast perform admirably with what screen time they have but the main focus is on the relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth, with such downbeat chemistry and a somewhat awkward interaction it just serves to make their interactions even more realistic.

The original was incredibly dark and some of the scenes were actually hard to sit through without wincing and grinding your teeth.  I was concerned that the remake would shy away and dilute some one the disturbing scenes but to the contrary; certain standout scenes of sexual violence were even harder to stomach.

This is a bleak portrait of human nature, smudging the lines between sex and violence.

I loved this film and would highly suggest keeping the 26th of December free so you can ditch the family and watch a modern classic.

Just make sure you ask for the original for Christmas first.

Saw this last night.

Amazing.

I can’t be fucked to review it.

After much anticipation, continual browsing of IMDB and repeated viewing of the wonderfully contrusted trailer, I saw Drive last night.

I’ll keep it brief and go into a more in-depth review at a later date but suffice to say this film was incredible.  Fantastic and mature direction, great cinemaphotography, beautifully shot, a measured script coupled with intense performances from the cast really help create a wonderfully visceral, composed and understated film. 

Oh and it has a killer soundtrack.

Easily into my top five films of this year.

Wonderfully unconventional, this beautifully shot film set in Toledo, Spain takes you on a wonderfully twisted and uncompromising journey into the deepest and darkest points of human nature, stolen sexuality and how the base human moral compass can be corrupted through mere your own perceptions. 

The film encourages you the audience, through the creative and guided narrative, to make an initial judgement of each character presented before you, using your own perceptions.  As the story progresses you realise that the unconventional scenario we find the characters in isn’t normal and you are more curious as to how and why than fraught with alarm and shock.  Slowly you’re dragged deeper into a world in which morals seem almost absolute in their nature and the fine lines between right and wrong are smudged across the screen like wet ink.  Your initial prognosis starts to dismantled infront of you through a series of  six year flashbacks. 

These flashbacks move us in lockstep along the same path with the characters and as we watch and see the same events unfold from different vantage points, we move further and further away in our ability to relate to them.  We continually moved forcefully between the past and the present, unearthing and discovering more and more until the disturbing truth of the present is unveiled before you.

Go and see Pedro Almodóvar’s La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In). 

Charming, funny and warm.

Beautiful Lies.