The Painted Veil

Release date: 20 December 2006 (New York City, USA)

Directed by John Curran and starring uber-actor Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil - based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham - tells the 'love' story of Walter Fane (Norton) and his cheating wife Kitty (Watts) as they battle cholera in China in the 1920s. When Fane discovers Kitty's infidelity, he accepts a position in a remote Chinese village and drags her along just to be spiteful. However, what ensues in the closeness of a cholera village and amid the dying bodies is a new understanding and love for each other. While the story seems a tad farfetched, the strong acting of Watts and Norton, and the breathtaking scenery (shot by cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh)) make this film worth a watch.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Zodiac

Release date: 2 March 2007 (Canada)

Directed by David Fincher and starring a post-Brokeback Mountain star, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downy Jr and Brian Cox, Zodiac is based on the true story of a serial killer who terrorised the San Francisco Bay area in the 1970s. Downy gives a great performance as an-over-the-top, drugged-out reporter. However, his performance is not enough to save this film from its ever so slow pacing and the fact it's too smart by half. A whack of editing may have helped certainly, as we didn't need to have every clue, every discovered rehashed in a movie that's trying to build some tension. I think ultimately where this film fails is not knowing its starting point: was Fincher trying to do a thriller? A bio-op alla In Cold Blood? Or something in between.

For failing to deliver on what could have been a very good film, my rating 5 out of 10.

There Will Be Blood

Release date: 10 December 2007 (New York City, USA)

Wow! Well, what can you say about this Oscar-nominated movie but, wow. The film is a 2:40 glimpse into the mind of a seemingly good guy oilman (played by Daniel Day Lewis), who, over the course of the film reveals his truly ugly, sickening colours and, in doing so, ends up a hollow, evil skeleton of a man. As you watch his descent over the movie into the pure evil creature he is, you're struck by the strangeness of it all, sure; but more by the knowledge - sadly - that people like Daniel Plainview exist even today. There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece for sure and kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson's directing and Lewis' bravado acting. The film's ending is appropriate for its sadness, sadism and leaving us all to wonder, why? With this and No Country for Old Men, I'm stumped on Best Picture this year.

My rating 10 out of 10.

Mongol

Release date: 10 August 2007 (Vyborg Russian Cinema Festival)

Sergei Bodrov directs this historical epic of Genghis Khan (the early years) starting way back in circa 1206 when the great khan was nothing more than a wee lad named Temudjin. Mongol is Russia's entry as Best Foreign Language Film in this year's Academy Awards, and, from the great, sweeping story (think Dr. Zhivago without the melodrama), simply gorgeous cinematography (with dibs to Rogier Stoffers and Sergei Trofimov) and perfect performances from Tadanobu Asano (as Temudjin, aka Genghis Kkan), Khulan Chuluun (as Borte, his wife), and especially Hong-lei Sun (as Temudjin's friend/nemesis, Jamukha), this film is definitely Oscar-worthy. And while a great, entertaining story, Genghis in this version is a little too zen, if you will, for my liking. In addition, the version I watched suffered from a Tower of Babel syndrome where I viewed english subtitles with mongolian and mandarin speaking-actors and a quieter Russian voice over that was thoroughly distracting.

All in all for showing us one man's glimpse at one of history's greatest conquerers, my rating of 8 out of 10.

Atonement

Release date: 29 August 2007 (Venice Film Festival)

As a story outlining the awful things that happen when we bear false witness, Atonement is brilliant. As a medium to giving Ian McEwan's masterful novel a visual context, Atonement is also brilliant. What I found most interesting about the film, however, is its 'craft'. Atonement is an over-directed film. Every scene is so competent and perfect; every 't' crossed, every 'i' dotted. And while that makes for a velvety, rich, beautiful movie, it also hinders its ability to come across as real. And that's where Atonement ultimately fails. Directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley as Celia and James McAvoy as her doomed lover, Robbie, Atonement plays like a good Masterpiece Theatre drama. Kudos to Christopher Hampton (Quiet American, Total Eclipse) for his excellent work taking a complex novel to a screenplay and to Dario Marionelli for his perfect original score.

For giving us an example of how to transition a novel from page to screen and for reinventing the Merchant-Ivory genre, my rating 7 out of 10.

Michael Clayton

Release date: 31 August 2007 (Venice Film Festival)

The ever-pretentious George Clooney stars as Michael Clayton, a gambling addicted lawyer who stumbles into the truth behind a multimillion dollar settlement his firm is negotiating after the lead lawyer, a manic-depressive Arthur Edens (played with over-the-top gusto by Tom Wilkinson), suffers a nervous breakdown. Caught between his duty to the firm and the truth Edens has uncovered, Clayton is forced to chose which truth to follow; all the while being tapped and hunted (and eventually targeted for assassination) by the litigator (Tilda Swinton) of the very company, U/North, his firm is working for. Michael Clayton is a soft thriller built in the Silkwood/Pelican Brief vein. Tony Gilroy of the Bourne films directs with a steady hand bringing just enough life to Clooney to actually make you want to know how it all ends. Oscar-worthy yes; for bringing us a thriller that is both tight and intelligent.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Juno

Release date: 1 Sept 2007 (Telluride Film Festival)

This film was written by a lass named Diablo Cody, which is an odd name granted but a perfect name for the writer of this quirky film built on the Little Miss Sunshine model. Directed by Jason Reitman and starting Ellen Page, it follows the pregnancy of 16-year-old Juno from conception to birth. While its all very well done, it is not certainly not Oscar-worthy. Juno is chock-a-block full of odd characters, living odd lives but remains real at its core - in a Ferris Bueller's Day Off sort of fashion. Page is hands-down the best thing in this movie (as she was in her debut film, Hard Candy, which is worth a watch if only to see a completely different side of her). The transition to the animated credits is also worth a shout-out.

For taking the delicate subject of teen pregnancy and casting it in a refreshing, non-moralistic light, my rating of 7 out of 10.

Breach

Release date: 16 February 2007

While Chris Cooper gives a great performance in this movie based on the true story of the American FBI computer guru, Robert Hanssen, who sold secrets to the Russians for years, I found this movie (yawn) boring. It is capably directed by Billy Ray in a tight, mechanical sort of way and co-stars Ryan Phillippe who's basically there to look pretty and provide some reason for a story. It's proof spy thrillers do need a dead body or three to make things interesting. Hanssen, apparently, in real life was as flat and boring as you see him in the movie, and that, coupled with Ray's decision to film everything in varying shades of greys, doesn't make for much excitement. All that aside, Cooper does a fine job showing us the eccentricity of a supposedly 'good' guy gone bad, even though Ray never let's us understand why he did it.

My rating 5 out of 10.

The Fountain

Release date:4 September 2006 (Venice Film Festival)

Oh boy. Where to start with director Darren Aronofsky's latest work? The films stars Aronofsky's fiance, Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman and moves amid three stories. In the first we have a 16th century Spanish conquistador named Tomas (Jackman) searching for the Tree of Life (that famous tree that Eve plucked the apple from only to have us all fall from Grace). In the second, Thomas (Jackman) is a modern-day scientist trying to find a cure for his terminally-ill wife, Izzy (Weisz) and doing all sorts of odd experiments on a monkey. And a third where Jackman is now a Buddha-like character living in a bubble containing the tree of life. Did I just type that?... In short, while the visuals in the film are gorgeous, the convoluted, pretentious story, ponderous dialogue, and frankly, stupid (yes, stupid) Zen-bit at the end where Aronofsky is trying to achieve his own screen immortality alla Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey fails miserably. And that is probably the best buzzline for this plodding, sorry film: miserable.

My rating 2 out of 10.

No Country for Old Men

Release date: 19 May 2007 (Cannes Film Festival)

This is the Coen brothers latest opus based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. While many viewers will see the rather simple story (brilliantly told) of a rancher who stumbles across dead bodies, a stash of heroin and $2 million dollars in the vast spaces of Texas, the beneath-the-surface stories woven amid this main theme make No Country for Old Men one of the greatest American films in some time. Violent, vastly strange, funny and oh-so-subtle in its messaging about America in her current state, the film is as close to an American masterpiece as you can get. The film stars Javier Bardem (as Anton Chigurh, the creepiest serial killer you'll meet in sometime), Woody Harrelson, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones, all perfectly cast; especially Bardem who should get an Oscar for his role. The Coen's editing and framing of each scene is, in a word, magnificent. In particular I was mesmerized by the scene at the motel in El Paso where Brolin chats to the sunbathing girl at the pool, and the encounter our villain Chigurh has with the gas station attendant near the beginning of the film. While many folks will see these two scenes as simple, and perhaps boring, they are two of the most perfect examples of perfect film-making in some time.

My rating 10 out of 10.

Blades of Glory

Release date: 30 March 2007 (Canada)

Will Ferrell and Jon Heder star in this irreverent tale of two single men's figure skating champions who team up as a couple in a pairs competition. Will Speck and Josh Gordon direct this madcap caper that has plenty of laugh-out-loud scenes. As a satire of the figure skating world in America is doesn't quite hit the mark, partly because the figure skating world in America is so befuddled and amusing in itself. That aside, the sheer silliness and zaniness of the film and Ferrell's subtle knack of knowing just how far to go with his usual shtick make this film an amusing ride for a Saturday night after one too many glasses of chardonnay.

My rating 7 out of 10.

3:10 To Yuma

Release date: 6 September 2007 (Russia)

Ah, westerns, gotta love them. Despite our perception this is a dying genre, it has been a big year for them with: 3:10 To Yuma, No Country for Old Men, Sukiyaki Western Django and The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford. Initially, you would think casting an Englishman and a Kiwi in an American Western would be a recipe for disaster but with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the saddles, damn, it works well. The film is based on the short story by Elmore Leonard, and is a remounting of the 1957 film. The 2007 version has James Mangold directing and it's a romp-roaring ride. Poor Dan Evans (Bale) sees himself caught up in escorting the mean and murderous outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) with a ragtag group of marshals and deputies (and eventually his son) to the railway town of Contention so Wade can be put on the 3:10 train to Yuma for his hanging. That is essentially the plot but, of course, there's a whole lot more going on here ... all of it brilliantly done. This is Crowe's movie for sure and his self-deprecating approach to playing Ben Wade is a joy to watch. Long live the westerns!

My rating 9 out of 10.

Happy Together (aka Chun gwong cha sit)

Release date: 17 May 1997 (Cannes Film Festival)

While I do adore director Wong Kar-wai's work immensely, his 1997 'classic' Happy Together is more a miss than a hit for me. Gay lovers Lai Yiu-Fai (Tony Leung) and Ho Po-Wing (the late Leslie Cheng) head to Argentina from pre-reunion Hong Kong to try and rekindle their failing relationship by visiting the beautiful Iguaza Falls. On the ride there, however, the two argue and break-up setting the stage for the 2 hours that follow as the couple alternate between violent abuse of each other to reuniting to breaking apart again. On the surface, how two men who fight continually can possibly be 'happy together' remains a mystery. The deeper plotline though deals with the ties we create through intimacy with another human, and how those ties are challenged by the baggage, history and natural inclinations we bring as we enter and move through a relationship. Ho is destructive by his nature and adverse to commitment; Lai, nurturing, kind and forgiving. The themes are universal. Where Happy Together fails for me is not so much in the actors, but with the direction. Wong Kar-wai films the story as though it's a music video and while I get what he's trying to do contrasting the men and their histories with the heat and passion of Latin America, I found the juxtaposition too forced.

That said, for its visual feast and assault on the senses and the brilliant acting of two of China's greatest modern day actors, my rating of 7 out of 10.

Away From Her

Release date: 27 April 2007 (UK)

Based on Alice Munroe's short story, "The Bear Came Over The Mountain", this Sarah Polley directed film deals with the story of Fiona (played by the immortally beautiful Julie Christie) and her husband of 44 years, Grant (played oh-so-well by Canadian Gordon Pinsent) as they struggle with Fiona's slide into Alzheimers disease. Within 2 hours Polley reflects on two of life's greatest themes woven beautifully together on several levels. There is a story of loss: the loss of memory, of connections; of partners; and of love. And the greater story of the endurance of love in our golden years and what it means in letting go, in moving on, and in looking back. Olympia Dukakis (as Marian) and Michael Murphy (as Aubrey) give great supporting acting roles as well, and I suspect this film will see Oscar nominations in a month's time.

For perfect performances and showing us retirees as real people, my rating of 8 out of 10.

300

Release date: 9 March 2007 (Canada)

Bloody, sweeping, fascinating (from the motion picture making point of view), and, while historically inaccurate on several levels, 300 is one bold, beautiful movie. I loved it. Directed by Zack Synder and starring a beefed-up and digitally morphed cast of Gerard Butler (as King Leonidas), Domenic West (as Theron) and Lena Headey (as the movie's token female, Queen Gorgo), 300 is graphic novelist's Frank Miller's version of the Spartan's stand against the Persian King, Xerxes, at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE (as done by Hollywood). Shot entirely in bluescreen then digitally enhanced, the film is easily the most original thing - visually - seen this last year. And while it is an archetypal example of style over substance ... my-gawd, such style.

My rating 9 out of 10.

Vacancy

Release date: 20 April 2007 (USA)

This film was good. I say that to start as I wasn't expecting it to be good. I was expecting a horrid little horror full of torture and blood. What I got, instead, was a tongue-in-cheek thriller that was variously funny, suspenseful, engaging and - well - good. Whether or not Director Nimrod Antal planned that or not is another matter. Vacancy stars Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as David and Amy Fox, a bickering couple who find themselves overnighting at a strange motel in the middle of nowhere when their car breaks down. When David turns on the TV in their motel room to watch a video, he realizes to his horror that the snuff/slasher video he is watching was filmed in the very room he's in. What ensures is a game of cat and mouse as David and Amy try to escape the motel with creepy frontdesk man, Mason (played brilliantly by Frank Whaley) in pursuit. Vacancy never takes itself too seriously, and is more fright and jump then slash and gore, and that's what makes it work.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Turistas

Release date: 1 December 2006 (USA)

An absolute wreck of a movie. Horrible in every sense: the "acting"; the horrific story (involving a sick Brazilian doctor who entraps western tourists in his remote jungle home only to harvest their organs for in-need Brazilians); the formalistic directing; and worse, the fact the film seems to take itself so seriously. I'm actually loathe to bother writing a review except to say avoid! This obscene film should be censored and every copy ever made burned.

My rating 0 out of 10.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Release date: 25 May 2007 (USA)

Well, here we have part three of this adventure. How writers Elliot and Rossio are able to squeeze yet one more story out of a storyline that was essentially done after movie one is beyond me. In this latest (and please Lord, final) installment of the Jack Sparrow adventure directed by Gore Verbinski, the usual crew of pirates and such (Depp, Bloom, Rush and Knightley) must face the combined forces of Davey Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett in a battle to end all battles (yeah, right). After releasing Sparrow from Davey Jone's Locker, the nine Pirate Lords meet to decide whether or not to release Calypso (who has been played ever-so-well by Naomie Harris) who may then aid their cause. All manner of this and that occurs as the Pirates gather and then all's well that ends well ... or gawd, I hope so. The first movie of this installment is still the best but bully on Disney for continuing to draw dollars out of our pockets .... that studio is the ultimate pirate ... and there's the rub on this franchise.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Fahrenheit 9/11

Release date: 17 May 2004 (Cannes Film Festival)

It's interesting to watch Michael Moore doing his usual shtick - this time with Geroge W Bush, September 11 and the invasion of Iraq on his mind - six years after the events and 3 years after its premiere at Cannes. He meticulously lays out Bush's illegal seizure of the Presidency thanks to corruption in Florida, his panache for holidaying, his connections to the Saudis and Bin Laden, and his inept ploys (which Americans for the most part swallowed) that led the US off the hunt for Bin Laden and on to a crusade against Iraq to keep his oil friends on side. Moore's obviously dislike of Bush aside, the film makes for compelling viewing, though feels dated now since much of what he alleged in 2004 is known to be fact today. The best part of Moore's film, simultaneously brilliant and disturbing, are the slow motion clips of Bush being told (in Sarasota) that America was under attack on the morning of September 11th. Never has a president looked more ridiculous then in those few minutes of film. Never has a president looked more dumb and useless.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Disturba

Release date: 4 April 2007 (USA)

D.J. Caruso directs this very good, very fun and occasionally very creepy homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window, updated to the suburbs and the world of 2007. Disturbia stars Shia LeBeouf as Kale, a messed up teenager confined to home via electronic monitoring after assaulting his Spanish teacher. When his mom (Carrie-Ann Moss) disconnects his Xbox, email and TV, Kale takes to watching his neighbours to pass his 3-month sentence. In the process of spying, he comes across new girl on the block, Ashley (Sarah Roemer) and a creepy neighbour Robert (played by David Morse), whom he starts to suspect is a serial killer. What makes this film interesting is despite the fact you know what's going to happen, you continue to watch, and more, feel a connection to the characters (Carrie-Anne Moss aside). Kudos to Caruso's direction and the acting for this. And while there's plenty of holes and leaps-of-faith in the storyline, the ride makes it all worth it. Caruso does a great job giving us a tongue-in-cheek updating of Hitchcock's classic and will make you take a look at the teenagers and neighbours in your own quiet suburbia in a different light.

My rating 8 out of 10.