Spirited Away

Often regarded as one of the greatest animated films of all time and Japan’s highest grossing film in history at the time of its release, Spirited Away is an animated adventure, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Ten year old Chihiro is travelling with her parents to their new house when her father takes a wrong turn that leads to what looks like an abandoned Amusement Park. Though scared, Chihiro follows her parents who find the Park deserted but discover food has been left out. As the parents begin to tuck in Chihiro looks around and discovers a Bath House where she meets Haku, a boy who tells her to get back across the river before sunset. As she returns to her parents she discovers they have been turned into pigs and she is stuck in a strange world of spirits where her kind is not welcome.

Spirited Away reminded me of some of the great children’s adventures such as The Goonies or Labyrinth but also features the kind of animation that reminded me of my childhood. The hand drawn style is reminiscent of classic Disney but also of the cartoons that I was bought up on in the late 80s and early 90s. It doesn’t appear to be pushing any boundaries but is deceptively deep and beautiful.

The Iron Lady

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) now in her eighties is struggling with dementia and has difficulty distinguishing the past from the present. As she potters around her home she tries to place herself but continues to struggle with the reality that her husband Dennis (Jim Broadbent) has passed away. As Thatcher attempts to come to terms with her loss she slips back into the past, remembering her lower middle-class youth and subsequent rise to becoming the world’s most powerful woman. With Dennis by her side she finds it difficult to let go of the past and realise that she no longer has the power she once had. As an ageing woman she realises that she has virtually no power at all, not even over her own life.

I have really mixed feelings about The Iron Lady. On the one hand it features a career defining performance from someone who is already one of the most distinguished actresses in history but on the other hand it is a biopic about one of the most divisive people in recent history that somehow manages to treat a neutral line. There is surely no one in Britain who has neutral feelings towards the former Prime Minister. People either love her or loathe her yet the film appears to brush over both the best and worst of her character and time in office, leaving a fairly mundane story in its wake.

End of Watch

LAPD Officers Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) patrol one of the most crime ridden areas of Los Angeles; South Central. Their close relationship and dedication to their job runs in parallel with Taylor’s fondness for filming everything they do on the beat. Cameras are attached to the Officer’s uniforms, car and Taylor even uses a handheld camera when investigating a crime scene or just driving around. When a couple of busts seem to share a link with some highly decorated or ‘blinged out’ weapons, Taylor suggests the pair carry out some detective work which gets them embroiled in a war with a Mexican drug cartel.

Although full of many of the usual buddy cop clichés and with problems around the filming style detracting from the drama, End of Watch is an above average Action-Drama which combines a great central relationship, two good performances and a gritty realism. Its main selling point though is the found footage style which is where the film occasionally fails.

Your Sister's Sister

Filmed over just twelve days and largely improvised, Your Sister’s Sister stars Mark Duplass as Jack, a man struggling to function a year on from the untimely death of his much loved brother. Jack’s best friend and brother’s ex-girlfriend Iris (Emily Blunt) offers to let Jack stay at her father’s secluded cabin to help clear his head. When he arrives he finds that the cabin is already occupied by Iris’ sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), a lesbian who has just ended a seven year relationship. Mark and Hannah get to know each other and a bottle of tequila later end up in bed together. When Iris unexpectedly arrives early the next morning a barrage of secrets, lies and half truths comes her way as the other two try to hide what happened the night before.

For a film with a budget which wouldn’t cover Twilight's glitter funds, Your Sister’s Sister looks great. Occasionally you can tell that it was done on the cheap but it never matters. The improvised script and three superb performances help to give the film a realism which propels the drama and comedy forward towards a crescendo, a turning point from which there is no way back. The film’s great selling point though is its story.

Amour

Winner of the 2012 Palme d’Or at Cannes and with plenty more awards to come in the coming months, Austrian Director Michael Haneke’s film Amour is a story about enduring love. Georges (Jean-Loius Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) are retired music teachers, living alone in their eighties in their spacious Parisian apartment. Cultured and very much in love, their relationship comes under the ultimate test when Anne suffers a stroke. Georges does his best to care for Anne who begins spiralling further and further into ill health. Against the advice of nurses and the couple’s daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert), Georges refuses to hospitalise his ailing wife and chooses to carry the burden of her care on his aging hips.

Although Amour lacks the malevolence and hard edged cruelty of some of the Director’s best known work, it is still a film which has the ability to shock. Uncharacteristically for Haneke it is also an extremely beautiful tale but also happens to be the most depressing film I’ve ever seen. I have rarely left a cinema feeling so low or despondent and it wasn’t until I was on my way home that the film’s greatness managed to shine through the dismal but ultimately beautiful plot.       

Sons of the Desert

A colleague of mine, knowing about my love of Buster Keaton and especially Charlie Chaplin asked what I thought of Laurel and Hardy. I had to admit to him that I’d never actually seen one of their films and he helped to rectify that by lending my Sons of the Desert, a film which he told me was one of their most accessible. Laurel and Hardy make a pledge that they will go to the Sons of the Desert Convention in Chicago but have trouble convincing their wives to let them go. After sweet talking fails to work they resort to deception but trouble is waiting for them when they get back home.

For my first Laurel and Hardy film I was mildly impressed but not left with an urge to see more of their work straight away. I enjoyed the story and the characters are great but I didn’t laugh that much. Rather, I had a satisfied smile on my face which only broke into laughter on a couple of occasions. The naughty little boy act was quite fun and Oliver Hardy’s looks to camera were something that seemed familiar to me despite never seeing one of his films before.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -Part 1

The penultimate film in the inexplicably popular Twilight series is probably the worst to date. Having avoided the hordes of mindless team whatever fans on its initial release I finally persuaded myself to sit down and watch the DVD twelve months on. I was unable to get through it in one sitting. The plot is one of the least tortuous and most dull affairs I’ve ever seen. Bella (Kristen Stewart) is marrying Edward (R-Patzzz), much to the distain of Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who shows his anger by ripping off his shirt less than five seconds into the film. Following their seemingly real time marriage which feels longer than most actual weddings I’ve been to, the happy couple go on their honeymoon, first passing through Rio, full of stereotypical dancing Brazilians before ending up on a secluded island. Edward is worrying about hurting Bella during consummation and through a vomit inducing sex montage; they finally consummate their love after all these years. But uhoh!! They must have skipped sex education class as Bella ends up with a baby up all inside her belly. How this happens is beyond me as the father is dead. I was under the impression that dead people had no living cells but somehow Edward’s sperm are alive. Anyway, the baby starts trying to kill Bella and lots of people attempt to save her, despite the fact that she’s one of the least likeable characters in cinema history.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

My second Bollywood film and first at the cinema, Jab Tak Hai Jaan holds special significance for the Indian film industry as its famed Director Yash Chopra who won four Filmfare Best Director awards during his career, died just a couple of weeks before the film’s premier on 21^st October 2012.  There are dedications to him both before and after the film which show a vibrant and seemingly healthy 80 year old Director behind the scenes, crafting both a film and friendships. His final film is a romantic drama about a poor Indian living in London called Samar (Shahrukh Kahn) who falls in love with a rich girl called Meera (Katrina Kaif). The story is told over ten years and at times feels as though it is in real time but is told through a young wannabe Journalist called Akira (Anushka Sharma) who comes across a journal detailing a fascinating story of love and heartbreak. The journal belongs to Samar, now ten years older and a commander in the Indian Army Bomb Disposal unit. Akira takes an interest Samar’s story as well as the man himself.

Sunnyside

When a workshy farmhand (Charlie Chaplin) misplaces a herd of cows the local town of Sunnyside suffers the consequences. The young farmhand has even more trouble on his hands when a well to do city boy (Tom Terriss) arrives in town and has his eyes firmly set on the hand’s girl (Edna Purviance). Chaplin’s forth film for First National was preceded by the hugely successful Shoulder Arms and proved to be one of his least successful of the period. Despite this the film holds up fairly well today and has a first act which is of some note. Unfortunately though the film misses a step with the introduction of the romantic plot from which it never truly recovers.

The first thing I noticed about the film is that unlike almost every Chaplin film to come before, there was an actor on second billing. Most of Chaplin’s early title cards read something along the line of “Charles Chaplin in…” or “….. with Charlie Chaplin” but Sunnyside reads “Charlie Chaplin in Sunnyside with Edna Purviance”. I don’t recall seeing another actor’s name so prominently placed on a title card before this film and it perhaps shows Chaplin’s ever increasing belief in his leading lady as an actress. As it turns out, Purviance’s role isn’t really much larger than in the likes of Burlesque on Carmen, The Vagabond or A Dog's Life but it feels like she is the focus of attention for a larger part of the film.

Groundhog Day

When arrogant TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bin Murray) travels to the small town of Punxsutawney for the yearly Groundhog Day celebrations he wants the day to go as quickly as possible. Feeling the job is beneath him he is looking forward to a quick piece to camera before heading back to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Phil his miserable day in the small town lasts a lot longer than expected as when he wakes up the following morning he discovers that it is Groundhog Day all over again. Phil keeps experiencing the same day over and over desperate for a way to see a tomorrow which seems as though it will never come.

I first saw Groundhog Day about fifteen years ago and have watched it everyday since. In 2006 it was added to the US Nation Film Registry and I’m not surprised. As well as being a family favourite it can also be watched on a different level and raises questions about ones purpose or meaning in life as well as exploring the mental issues around repetition and the feeling of being trapped or held by something beyond your control. Although Connors is trapped by some sort of paranormal force the film could be seen as an analogy for the trappings of poverty and even touches on that aspect in a literal way with a brief inclusion of a couple of drunk characters. Even if you don’t want to read into the film in any great detail, it is still enormously entertaining and ironically the sort of film that you can watch again and again.