A Single Man

Image courtesy of starworksny.com

What: Film.

Director: Tom Ford.
Actors: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode.
Where: Curzon Mayfair Cinema, London.

It's hard to look past the immaculately dressed cast, the beautiful Mercedes Coupe, the delicately coloured cigarettes and the perfectly prepared Tanqueray Gin and Tonics to give an objective opinion on this film. However, once you can find a way round the effortless chic, the latest output of the Tom Ford product range has got a lot of soul.

Colin Firth deservedly picked up the best actor award at the BAFTA's on Sunday night for this performance as the gay college lecturer tormented by the death of his lover. And although Jeff Bridges' lifetime contribution to film will probably mean that Hollywood give him the nod at the Oscars this Sunday, Firth is funny, passionate and beautifully depressing in this career-defining role.

Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode and Julianne Moore provide an excellent supporting cast. Although Moore doesn't quite hit the heights she did in Boogie Nights she is still irresistible as a middle-aged ex-lover and friend to Firth's character. Hoult exhibits the perfect mix of behaviour you'd expect of his college student character. His youthful personality frustrates against Firth's maturity which reminds the viewer of his performance in About a Boy but later the bravado he demonstrated in Skins becomes evident. This won't go un-noticed in the Hollywood studios.

There's no doubt that Tom Ford has a future in the film industry. Let's face it, he has film starstatus himself and if Firth's BAFTA acceptance speech was as genuine as it sounded, he's the kind of guy that everyone wants to be around.

This is a season of Mad Men squeezed beautifully into 2 hours. And like Mad Men it's not just people who love TV and cinema that are going to take to this. The fashionista crowd are going to be all over it. I can see them now heading for the beach at Cannes come festival time, Tom Ford shades glinting in the sun and a not-so-well thumbed copy of Isherwood's A Single Man tucked under the arm.

Rating: 8/10

Comments: A beautiful story, beautifully acted and it all looks so Tom Ford-beautiful.

The Hurt Locker

Image coutesy of impawards.com

What: Film.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow .
Actors: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce.
Where: At home on DVD.

With the BAFTA ceremony this Sunday and the Oscars following quickly behind everyone is talking about the Avatar v The Hurt Locker and more interestingly, the Cameron v Bigelow dual that pits the former husband and wife head to head. Which of the two will Hollywood, well accustomed to a high profile divorce, side with?

Despite losing momentum towards the middle of the 131 minutes, The Hurt Locker, blasts back with one of the most interesting accounts of war in recent years. What really sets this film apart through is Renner's interpretation and Bigelow's direction of the main character, Sergeant William James and, more importantly, the regular appearances of his alter ego.

Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes make high profile cameo appearances which work well and add weight to this feature without overpowering it. We only see Pearce's character for the first scene in the film but he seems to perfectly handover to Renner's character as the later plays the formers replacement. Perhaps it's Pearce's familiarity that works so well to position his character as a straight, good guy against what comes after him.

Not taking too much away from the majority of the film it's the first and last 15 minutes that really define the film. The start sets the scene and the ending not only caps this film off but leads the viewer to think more generally about war and everyday lifel. It will leave you still mulling things over weeks down the line.

Making a decision on this film after and hour would be taking everything away from this work which could be arguably be described as both an anti and pro war film. Bigelow leaves it late and forces the viewer into an opinion on the central character just before the credits roll. The music score (Ministry's 'Khyber Pass") of the final scene only helps to blow you away.

Rating: 8/10

Comments: The finale pushes this from a decent war thriller past Avatar into 'classic' territory.

Avatar 3D

Image courtesy of collider.com

What: Film.
Director: James Cameron .
Actors: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver.
Where: Holloway Road Odeon, London.

It’s epic, it really is. It’s two and a half hours of distraction from everyday life by means of travelling to another world (literally). It’s got morals and it’s got a clear message directed at the human race. The fact that nearly the whole of the human race has seen it reaffirms the old saying ’you get what you pay for‘. It’s also a clear step forward for Hollywood blockbuster films and CGI film-making. People will always remember the whole Avatar package. The hype, the product and the legacy.

But how many directors could do as well as Cameron with the same budget? How many could produce something as entertaining for 2.5 hours of viewing? About 25 - 50 I reckon. That’s taking nothing away from him. He’s done his job, in fact he probably even did a bit of overtime.

When someone’s spent this much money on the film you can’t help but consider was it good value for money. It’s not as good a value as Cameron’s dark thrillers The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day but probably better value than Titanic. This is the thing, because it’s broken all the records, you can’t help but compare Avatar to everything that’s ever gone before.

So it’s epic and decent value for money. Definitely those two. What else is it? I think that’s it. I couldn’t see a stand out performance in the film but this was always going to be more a Director’s film than an actors stage to shine. No-one’s watching the acting when strange plants and animals surround you and your 3D glasses.

Maybe a top performance would have pushed it closer to the real benchmark: Star Wars: A New Hope. I’m sure that cost a lot of money too but it was also clever. It was the Eric Cantona to Avatar’s Andy Cole. More iconic, more classy and a wider appreciation but don’t get me wrong, Avatar still knows how to put the ball in the onion net. It’s just that there’s an edge that’s missing. It’s an edge he had with the Terminator films and Aliens.

You won’t think too much about this story for a while after you’ve seen it. It won’t blow you away like the ending of, for example, the beautiful 2007 Oscar winner The Lives of Others (which I only managed to see late last year). It won’t make you want to go out and buy an Otis Redding album like watching Tony and Carmela Soprano make love to My Lover’s Prayer does. There’s no performance anywhere near what Carey Mulligan gives in An Education.

Image courtesy of slashfilm.com

This isn’t as much of a life changer as the money might suggest. But it wouldn't be undeserving of best film at this years Oscars after all it’s better than Chicago or Slumdog Millionaire. Maybe it’s the fact that I thought I’d seen snippets of this film before. In fact, I’m sure I’ve spent night’s out and mornings hungover with some of the cast. No hold-on, that was Aquaman and the (virtual) success of everything that surrounded that was down to the fact that no-one took themselves too seriously. Maybe a cameo from Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase was the finishing touch that Avatar needed.

Rating: 8/10
Comments: An epic blockbuster and a step forward for Hollywood film-making.