Very quick 2008 reviews

Married Life

Well cast, well acted drama about (un)happily married life in 40s suburbia. The Ira Sachs penned adaptation of the John Bingham novel is a nicely paced, convincingly plotted yarn that allows the cast (Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan in particular) to shine. Lacking that special something to elevate it to greatness, this is nevertheless worth your time.

B

Journey to the Centre of the Earth (3D)

Whilst Beowulf gave us an exciting glimpse of a 3D future, 'Journey' simply shows us how irritating it can be when a director tries to hard to make the audience go "wow - it's 3D". Fraser, who's great in the right role, looks too much like a second string all-American quarterback who's been hitting the cheeseburgers, yet is still the least annoying screen presence in a bumbling triumverate who go looking for the mythical Jules Verne location. The whole thing is tedious and I bailed as soon as they hit the centre of the earth and I realised things were not going to be any more exciting there than they were on the particularly unexciting surface.

F

Death Race

Absurd, ludicrous - at times completely non-sensical - yet somehow a bit of a guilty pleasure, although not really since it is never quite good enough for that. I did like the cinematography and set design however, and Ian McShane is always good value these days. God only knows what Joan Allen saw in the script though - maybe her copy was written on 100 dollar bills? Statham is what he is and the plot has more holes in it that a hula hoop factory, but it actually speeds by at a fairly decent pace and is always reasonably watchable. It is directed by Paul Anderson - no not the good one - the other one. The good one is Paul Thomas Anderson. This one is Paul WS Anderson. The helpful middle name/initials is how you tell which one directed which film. That and the fact that one directs stuff like Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, and the other does stuff like Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil. Would be a bit surprising if WS's resume read Mortal Kombat 2, Soldier, Alien vs Predator, Punch Drunk Love. Maybe the WS stands for What a load of Shit? Bit unfair really though cause I *almost* enjoyed this.

D+

Matewan (1987)

Have seen quite a few films recently, but it seems only appropriate to start with the best of them. Based on real life events, Matewan focuses on Chris Cooper's union man, Joe Kenehan, who visits the town of Matewan to support a group of coal miners in their dispute with the mining company that has long exploited them and their families. Naturally, Kenehan stirs up trouble, whilst managing to unite the various factions of minors (including the 'scabs' who initially take the place of the indigenous striking minors), and all hell breaks loose.

As readers of MyFilmVault will know, this is my kind of stuff. It's tough, taught and hard-edged, with a powerful social conscience in tow. Yet, as I always say, it's the characters, and the actors who portray them, which make this such compelling, impossible-to-look-away, fare.

Perhaps MyFilmVault needs to have another section in movie-years for other notable bits of excellence. For the first time I would genuinely like to nominate the ensemble cast of Matewan for a stunning all-round performance which gives the film all its compelling drama. They surpass all other casts in terms of what they provide as an ensemble. In short, there are no weak links. Cooper is excellent as the film's focal point, James Earl Jones is superb (though sadly underused) as the earthy, best-name-ever-list-topper, 'Few Clothes' Johnson, Mary McDonell is good as the (nicely) understated love interest, Will Oldham is good as the young, idealistic, preacher Danny, and Gordon Clapp and (Lost's) Kevin Tighe are suitably despicable as the bad guys and David Strathairn...well, you get the idea. A stunning cast and huge kudos to John Sayles for directing them so well. This is one of those films where you can just tell the chemistry is right and each scene flows delicately and subtly into the next like the river that meanders softly and naturally through the titular town.

Haskell Wexler was deservedly nominated for the cinematography and the pastel, light, shades hide a darker underbelly and a cutting social commentary on the nature of exploitation and poverty and yet, with that, some of the more positive things that can come out of them, togetherness, struggle and unity. A true testament to an excellent director, a truly stunning ensemble performance, and ideals we, at the beginning of this new millennium, might do well to revisit.

Highly recommended to all!

A

Movie Years Meltdown

Huge problem with the actors this year. I still reckon there's at least 10 awards worthy films to be seen: including, and not restricted to, American Gangster, Sweeny Todd, Into the Wild, No Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James.., There Will Be Blood and Charlie Wilson's War.

Trouble is I'm struggling badly to find any room on my top 5 actors. It's currently a resolute 8 and I really don't like the idea of bumping any of them. 3, and maybe even more, of these would have walked into my top 5 in many other years.

George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Chris Cooper - Breach
James McAvoy - Atonement
Russell Crowe - 3:10 to Yuma
Gordon Pinsent - Away from Her
Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Superbad
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - The Lookout

Breach

Ryan Phillippe and Chris Cooper in Breach

You wait ages for an intelligent, slow-burning thriller and then three come a long at once. Well if not at once at least fairly close together. First Robert De Niro gave us his take on the early history of the CIA in The Good Shepherd and then David Fincher turned his hand at a film adaptation on Robert Graysmith's books on a real life serial killer in Zodiac. Now comes the turn of Billy Ray, in his second film as director, with Breach, a film also based on true events - this time the greatest security breach in US history.

Breach is comparable to those films in a number of ways: it unravels slowly, is impeccably directed and most of all superbly acted. Chris Cooper, gets a rare but thoroughly deserved starring role as Robert Hanssen, the agen tresponsible for the security breach. Cooper won a supporting Oscar for Adaptation., and in any other year probably would have won another for American Beauty, although 1999 was such an amazing year for films that he couldn't even filnd his way onto the shortlist. In Breach Cooper pulls of a tricky role with aplomb. Hanssen, is a conflict of personalities: menacing, aloof and unsettling but also sympathetic and thoughtful. That is surely not an easy feat to pull off. It's probably a little early to be talking of Oscar nominations but it would certainly make the ballot if it took place today.

Cooper is joined by Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney. Phillippe is not someone I've cared for in theb past, being responsble for such crimes as Cruel Intentions (which my friend Dave bizarrly likes and wants me to review, but I refuse to watch it again and I'm fairly sure he only liked it for Sarah Michelle Gellar), and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Despite a shakey start in the film industry Phillippe has grown in stature and is actually someone I enjoy on sreen. His performance in the Oscar winning Crash was impressive and he gives his best effort yet in Breach, as the computer specialist entrusted with the task of bringing Hanssen down.

Like Zodiac, I left the theatre wanting to know more about the case and that's credit to the writers Adam Mazer, William Rotko and Billy Ray, who have fashioned a taut and absorbing thriller. Linney is as good as ever in an undemanding role, although she's the sort of actress who lends a gravitas to even the simplest of parts, and Dennis Haysbert and Gary Cole pop up in smaller roles. However this film belongs to Cooper, who utterly convinces as the disgraced agent, and who may well be in demand during the awards season.

B+