Monkey's Blog - with a little help from Alice

Fabulous Films Galore
[UPDATED 24 FEBRUARY & 10 MARCH 2013]

My goodness me, these last few months have been an absolutely wonderful period for great films, especially those winning at the BAFTAs (already announced) and the upcoming Oscar contenders. Some of them we've already mentioned here, like Argo, which won the British Academy Best Film [see this post for our comments] and Beasts of the Southermn Wild, for which Quvenzhané Wallis is the youngest ever nominee for Best Actress in the Oscars - which she explained she had to figure out. Her name is Swahili for "fairy", which I think is very charming. [See here for our first reactions to the film and Alice's cogitations on Magical Realism.] And let us not forget the adventure which was Skyfall, already BAFTA crowned as best Outstanding British Film. Hurrah! That got our vote in the same 4 November 2012 post.

So, what have we seen so far in 2013? Which did we like best?

Django Unchained is definitely our favourite to date. It has been variously described as intriguing, provoking, dazzling, daring, articulate, brutal, appalling, exhilarating, scathing, hilarious, and astonishingly funny. Yes, it's all of those. Plus the acting was superb: Christoph Waltz got the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. The relationship between his and Jamie Foxx's lead character is excellently portrayed, well developed, and often very amusing. Leonardo DiCaprio makes a brilliant and unexpectedly chilling villain. And the cinematography is stunningly beautiful.

Some people have complained the ending was too contrived and conventional. But it's a movie! Moreover, it's an homage to the Cowboy genre, complete with splashy titles and credits at the start, like the 1966 Django. Of couse the "n word" is used a lot - because it was, at that time in history.

Quentin Tarantino was awarded a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay, yet has been as much criticised as lauded for his graphic portrayals of violence.

He's exasperated by being asked about it over and over, when he's made himself quite clear many times already. We totally appreciate his take on it. It's realistic! When someone is shot, they don't fall over quietly with a small red stain over their heart. They scream, they writhe, and blood flies out all over the place. Yes, it's downright gory. Thank goodness some-one is honestly showing violence in all its horror, rather than romanticising it.

Alice calls it cathartic, or the "purging of our excessive passions" as Aristotle said of drama thousands of years ago. One reviewer even called the film Catharsis of the Year. A fascinating review, but don't check it out if you want to avoid spoilers. It's here. Me? I positively hated the cruel slave owners and loved it when they met their just comeuppance. Good word, that.

Zero Dark Thirty starts with a black screen and those now well-known sound recordings of the atrocity that was 9/11. That's quite enough to make us imagine the horribly familiar images of the falling towers and bodies. Despite knowing how it was going to end, we still found ZDT extremely exciting and our attention was held throughout. The sound and cinematography were excellent, as well as the calibre of the cast. 

Kathryn Bigelow has already proved herself an intelligent and fearless film director with the brilliant Hurt Locker. We were dismayed some people thought she was now condoning the use of torture. [Oops, I mean "enhanced interrogation techniques"!]  Just because it's shown, doesn't mean she approves. In fact it's made clear that the crucial information which finally led to Bin Laden's capture had already been obtained by other means.

She's also been criticised because some find her central character cold and emotionless. They must have missed Jessica Chastain's supremely subtle acting of a woman forced to keep her emotions in check - but nevertheless still feeling them.

A controversy  over "historical accuracy" has hit this film (and other Oscar contenders as well): see The Independent. It's a shame this might have hurt its chances of an Oscar. [It did get one for sound editing.]

By the way, Channel 4's 2011 documentary Bin Laden: Shoot to Kill, including an interview with Barack Obama, makes for an interesting comparison. You can still see it on 4OD [You need to register on the site to watch.]

Another film we'd have to give five stars was the talented Ang Lee's wonderful Life of Pi, for which he was named BAFTA's Best Director. It was not only an amazing visual experience (and we didn't need see it in 3D to appreciate that) but a super story as well. The young Suraj Sharma did a great job of the virtually solo part. I was really sad when the magnificent Richard Parker (that's the tiger, in case you don't know) walked off into the jungle without so much as a look over his shoulder.

Alice says I'm being stupidly sentimental. A wild tiger wouldn't do that, he'd be off to hunt down a decent meal. In any case, he was just a digital construction, admittedly most convincing. She sure knows how to spoil one's illusions... And I thought we were supposed to "suspend our disbelief" .

Tommy Lee Jones

Quentin Tarantino graphically portrayed the American slavery situation: in Lincoln, Spielberg shows us the political side of the question. It gave you a really good idea of how the process worked, with bargaining for votes for the13th Amendment, and arguments about how and when to try and end the civil war. Apparently Mississippi has only just fully ratified it! Really.

There's no denying that Daniel Day-Lewis gave a marvellously convincing performance, to become BAFTAs Best Actor - but I thought Tommy Lee Jones as the outrageous Thaddeus Stevens was just as good, and much more entertaining!

Alice hates to admit it, as she "doesn't like musicals" apart from the great exception of  West Side Story, but she actually quite enjoyed Les Misérables. She's rather keen on Russell Crowe (and Ridley Scott too) so she recently bought the BD (we've just upgraded to Blu-ray) of the 2010 Robin Hood, and is quick to defend the criticisms of his singing in "Les Mis".

Although it's remarkably silly really, to have people singing mundane dialogue as well as songs, the cast all acted their socks off while singing live for each take with no pre-recording (see this official video) which made the conventions of the genre more acceptable. And Russell undoubtedly knows how to act!

We've also enjoyed Midnight's Children, plus Hitchcock,  Hyde Park on Hudson and Flight: all, if not altogether great films, were still well made and eminently watchable.