The Sky Crawlers

Release date: 3 September 2008 (Venice Film Festival)

Hiroshi Mori wrote the original story and book back in 2001, which Kenji Tsuruta then animated. The story is set in an alternative historical time – vaguely reminiscent of Europe in World War II – and concerns Kildren, genetically engineered teenagers who never die until shot down in an air battle. At its core this film examines an essential truth about life and whether knowing you will live forever, makes living worth it or not. This theme is explored in simply gorgeous detail through 122 minutes of magnificent anime. Directed by the genius of Mamoru Oshii, The Sky Crawlers is one of the most subtlety perfect movies – in any genre – in a long, long time. It is, in a word, a masterpiece.

My rating, a rare, 10 out of 10.

El Greco

Release date: 11 October 2007 (Crete, Greece)

Sadly when you take a great story, the life of the Greek painter, Doménicos Theotokópoulos, made famous during his time in Spain as “El Greco”, and place this story in the hands of an over-wrought director, Yannis Smaragdis, with a panache for melodrama and ensuring his actors over-act each and every scene, the result is never good. Such is the fate of El Greco. This film should be used by film school instructors to demonstrate the worse in archaic film style, including the creation of one dimensional characters. Most irritating is the mix of languages the film uses, it seems everyone in the 16 century could easily speak Greek, Italian, Spanish, English … and subtitles to boot. It is all too bad as the story of El Greco’s lifelong relationship and battle with Cardinal Niño de Guevara, Toledo’s Grand Inquisitor, does make for a good story. To sum-up, this dreadful film is an embarrassment to have shown at TIFF and worse, an embarrassment to El Greco’s art.

My rating, mainly for the fact Vangelis did the music, 2 out of 10.

Elephant

Release date: 3 October 2003 (Italy)

Elephant is Gus Van Sant’s take on and testament to the Columbine shootings in 1999. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2003, Van Sant shows us a gaggle of teenagers going about their day, an utterly ordinary day, except for the machinations of two disturbed boys at the Portland high school portrayed in the film. The plain ordinariness of it all and Van Sant’s quiet direction, following the school’s photographer, the prom couple, the library nerd, makes the horror that follows at the end of the film even more impactful. Elephant is a bold, disturbing film. A film that does not moralize what happens but simply shows us an event stripped of biases. The title could not be more apt, there is an elephant in every high school in the nation, and in most cases we don’t even know it’s there.

My rating 8 out 10.

Awake

Release date: 30 Novemeber 2007 (US)

Joby Harold wrote and directed this intriguing little movie that uses a a rarely known medical condition as the starting point for neat thriller. The condition is anesthetic awareness whereby a patient though anaesthetised remains 'awake' and paralysed during an operation. A great starting point I thought but poorly executed thanks to the machinations of two B-rate actors, the vapid Hayden Christensen and poor little Jessica Alba. The story concerns uber rich kid with a wonky heart, Clay Beresford (Christensen), his wife Sam (Alba) and a nasty plot to make some money. The creaky acting and ridiculously contrived plot twists make the film fun to watch and it's worth a rental if you're keen for a laugh one night.

My rating for the brilliant starting point of it all 5 out of 10.

Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles

Release date: 17 September 1998 (Toronto International Film Festival)

Long before director Jennifer Baichwal made herself famous filming Manufactured Landscapes, she visited the mysterious expat American musician and author, Paul Bowles, as he lay dying on his bed in Morocco, his home of more than 50 years and a central aspect of many of his great works, including Let it Come Down and The Sheltering Sky. Both great reads, I may add. We see a man who talks but truly says nothing about his life, his marriage to the playwright Jane Bowles, his association with the 'beat' generation writers or his homosexual life. We see an enigmatic man as unfathomable and as intriguing as the sands of the Sahara itself.

For the tiny glimpse Baichwal gives us of this pillar of American literature my rating 7 out of 10.

Gone Baby Gone

Release date: 5 September 2007 (Deauville Film Festival, France)

Based on the Dennis Lehane novel, this Ben Affleck directed film was a challenge to watch. I actually started it four times before being able to get through it, which is usually not a very good sign. Casey Affleck stars, and talks funny with a Bostonian accent, as private eye Patrick Kenzie hired to assist the Boston Police search for the missing girl of a drug addicted single mother. When the little girl shows up (apparently) dead, Kenize and his wife Angie (Michelle Monaghan) wander about all sad and miserable wishing they could have done more. Despite being told by Boston Police captain Doyle (Morgan Freeman) and his number one detective Remy (Ed Harris) not to worry, the pair continue to dig for 'the truth'. And is often the case, searching for the 'truth' can lead to things you'd rather not learn. The premise is good and the story great, and, in the hands of a more skilled director, may have even been a real winner. Sadly, even two of Hollywood's best actors can't pull the mess together and so you're left struggling to finish a film that is flat from the outset.

My rating 5 out of 10.

The Brave One

Release date: 6 September 2007 (Toronto International Film Festival)

The usually ever-wonderful Jodie Foster has had a couple duds of late and no one larger than this dreadful pro-vigilante movie, The Brave One. Directed by Neil Jordan it has poor Erica Bain (Foster) struggling to get over the brutal attack in Central Park that took the life of her fiance. The radio host soon finds herself purchasing an illegal gun and - predictably - becomes a new form of justice on the New York streets as she stumbles into various criminal situations. Toss in a wonky link whereby Bain starts to get close to the detective assigned to track down the vigilante and it all becomes just too much. In true Hollywood style, Bain manages to hunt down and murder the folks who killed her fiance and the dear old police detective Mercer hushes it all up. Awful stuff.

I'm loath to give films that support Americans taking justice into their own hands any rating but since Mary Steenburgen had a small role in the film as Foster's radio show boss, and was fabulous as ever, I give this miserable film 2 out of 10.

Ryan

Release date: 2004 (Canada)

Canadian Chris Landreth created this great Academy Award for Best Animated Short (2005) film that reflects on the life of filmmaker Ryan Larkin who produced some of the most influential animations of his generation. Sadly, years later, a victim of drug abuse and alcoholism Larkin was destitute and living on the streets of Toronto. Landreth's film is strangely animated and combines interview of Larkin with macabre computer generated characters. It is a sight to behold and you can understand why this won the Oscar.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Last Time in Clerkenwell

Release date: 2008 (UK)

Alex Budovskiy directed this delightful short animation of a bird's conquest of a dream world inspired by London. The stark black and white animation is just gorgeous and the music by Real Tuesday Weld is as catchy a tune as I've heard in a long, long time. It is a perfect match to the on-screen visuals.

My rating a wonderful 10 out of 10 for the sheer its inventiveness and wonderful music.