My Top 5 Films of 2013

This column was originally published in the Central Western Daily on Tuesday 24th December 2013.

As a certified cinefile and your favourite film critic, I’ve seen 190 films so far this year. Not bad, but down from last year’s haul of 230 movies. As the year winds down, it’s now time to look back and reflect on the year in film. Here are my top 5 films of 2013.

5. Searching for Sugar Man – Seventies folk singer Rodriguez had poor sales all over the world, except in South Africa, where his records resonated with the growing anti-apartheid movement. Long presumed dead, two fans set out to find the truth behind this enigmatic musician. Don’t read any more about this great documentary, or you’ll spoil the experience.

4. Silver Linings Playbook – Jennifer Lawrence certainly deserved the Best Actress Oscar for her depiction of the mentally unstable Tiffany in David O. Russell’s fine romantic dramedy. With a cast to die for, including the surprisingly good Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker and Australia’s Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook is a superb examination of how life doesn’t always go to plan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byE542mNjp8

3. The Rocket – This heart warming Australian drama, set in Laos, is adapted from director Kim Mordaunt’s own documentary, Bomb Harvest. The impending construction of a new dam sends a boy, his emotionally scarred father and bitter grandmother on a journey in search of their new home. Their only hope for a bright future is winning the prestigious but dangerous Rocket Festival. Completely spoken in Lao, The Rocket is an outstanding Australian film. A big shoutout goes to my friends at the Orange Film Society who brought this and many other fine arthouse films to local audiences this year. I look forward to an exciting 2014 program.

2. Zero Dark Thirty – Kathryn Bigelow’s nail biting thriller depicting the search for and capture of Osama bin Laden is finely crafted, with an all star cast including the brilliant Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong and Australia’s Jason Clarke. Originally written to conclude with bin Laden’s escape from the battle of Tora Bora, the screenplay was altered to include his capture and assassination in Pakistan. It’s in this final act that Bigelow deftly manages to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, even if the conclusion is common knowledge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZT2X3KpFOQ
1. The Way Way Back – I rarely rewatch any film, but I have already enjoyed this bittersweet coming of age comedy three times. Introverted 14 year old Duncan (Liam James) is forced to go on summer vacation with his mother (Toni Collette) and her overbearing new boyfriend (Steve Carell). Stumbling across the Water Wizz water park, Duncan finds a kindred spirit in Owen (Sam Rockwell). Written and directed by Oscar winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, the film is well paced and perfectly encapsulates the growing pains of adolescence. Rockwell is an absolute standout in a talented ensemble cast, as is Allison Janney as the acerbic alcoholic next door neighbour. I’ve never experienced an American seaside summer vacation, nor worked in a water slide park as a teen, but The Way Way Back resonated with me. Highly recommended, it will leave you wanting to spend more time with the characters, a feat any screenwriter should be trying to achieve. The soundtrack is a killer too.

Notable mentions – Django Unchained, Lincoln, Argo, The Imposter, Star Trek Into Darkness, World War Z, Evil Dead and The Lone Ranger

Published in: on January 7, 2014 at 16:51  Leave a Comment  
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FIlm Review: Zero Dark Thirty

This review was originally published on The Orange Post on Sunday 17th February 2013.

Kathryn Bigelow’s follow up to her Oscar winning The Hurt Locker begins with a black screen accompanied by recordings of real phone calls made by doomed workers trapped in the World Trade Centre in 2001. This disturbing moment sets the agenda for Zero Dark Thirty and for the next 150 minutes, the film, just like its protagonist, CIA analyst Maya, never loses sight of its target.

 Zero Dark Thirty is an almost perfect example of the procedural format of storytelling. Used widely in television in popular programs such as CSI, NCIS and Bones, as well as recent Oscar contender Lincoln, the procedural chronologically follows an event, usually a crime, through to its conclusion. In the case of Zero Dark Thirty, the original script was set to depict the unsuccessful decade-long efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden. His actual capture and death in 2011 prompted Bigelow to change her film, ultimately into a much satisfying experience as far as I am concerned. Despite knowing what happens at the end, I was on the edge of my seat during the final sequences of the film.

Jessica Chastain, Oscar nominated for her performance here, plays Maya, a green CIA agent, fresh out of high school, whose sole mission over her brief career is to find “UBL”. Despite changing US Presidents, Governments and CIA bosses, each with different priorities and approaches to world politics, Maya clings to her scraps of evidence and information. Chastain appears in almost every scene in the film and delivers a powerful, magnetic performance that will win her the Best Actress Oscar.

Supporting her onscreen is an impressive quartet of US based Aussie actors. Callan Mulvey and brothers Joel and Nash Edgerton play three of the efficient Seal Team Six, who carry out the final mission in Pakistan. Jason Clarke (Lawless) is impressive as Dan, a CIA agent who will do anything to extract information from his captives.

Between Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln, it seems that every respected US male actor had a gig last year. Mark Strong (Tinker Sailor Soldier Spy) and Kyle Chandler (Super 8) head up the mega male heavy cast. Only Torchwood’s John Barrowman puzzled in a cameo that probably would only be noticed by Doctor Who fans.

Much ado has been made in the media of the portrayal of torture in the film. I must profess to being slightly naive in regards to this prior to my Zero Dark Thirty experience, having no idea what waterboarding meant. All I can say that it’s uncomfortable to watch but depicted onscreen with no political agenda whatsoever.

Zero Dark Thirty is a tense, cold film that will grip you right to the very end. With many scenes taking place at night, it begs to be experienced at the cinema. See it now. It is the finest film of the year so far.

Published in: on February 18, 2013 at 10:51  Leave a Comment  
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