Jamie passion and passionfruit!

A most enjoyable French Canadian film about five brothers growing up in the 60’s and 70’s.  The film is seen through the eyes of the 4^th son who is a non-conformist, a bit of a healer and is sexually ambivalent.  The scenes in which he imitates David Bowie are great.  All this, growing up in a conservative Catholic society with a macho father and a drug addict brother for starts means that there is plenty of drama to come.  But Jean-Marc Vallee handles everything with a lightness of touch and a sense of humour that is tremendous and keeps us engaged, laughing and delighted.  There are many small touches in this film, repeated mementoes, interesting camera work that make the film very personal and authentic.  Marc André Grondin does good work as the lead – Zach and Michel Cote as the father is also a delight.    This is not only a good film about families but about life, identity and expectations and there is plenty of wisdom in it.  A good soundtrack and my only criticism might be the somewhat cardboard portrayals of some of the brothers.  Otherwise, a most deserving Canadian film of the year that we have been lucky enough to see here.

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A pleasant romantic comedy with the odd cynical look at the music industry.  Very much a formula Hugh Grant movie as he plays an 80’s pop star washed up in New York and playing theme parks to make a living.  Still a hit with the 40-something ladies.  Grant does a good job with his character and there is quite a lot o say about pop success and how hard it is to get and sustain. And Hugh sings and dances for good measure!   Drew Barrymore who waters his plants ends up being his unlikely new lyricist and love interest.  In a somewhat unconvincing and underwritten part, she does her very best and is cute but most of all the romantic side doesn’t really come off.  Her comedy timing does.  The bit players led by Kristen Johnson as Rhonda, Drew’s sister and no 1 groupie of Hugh’s character is a riot and Haley Bennett as the Britney/Christina/Shakira clone does good work.  Great music, some nice comments on the business and an enjoyable if light 90 minutes at the cinema. Not to be taken too seriously. Enjoy, as the Americans say.

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A Danish film directed by Susanne Bier about a pair of brothers – one an efficient caring father and soldier whose helicopter is shot down in Afghanistan and who we beleive is dead but is in fact being subject to torture as a captive of the Afghans.  Michael is played convincingly by Ulrich Thomsen.  His brother Jannik is a layabout, in trouble with the law, a drunkard and a disappointment to his family.  His brother is always picking up the pieces.  When Michael is listed dead Jannik starts to change and gravitiates towards his sister-in-law, Connie Nielsen (solid performance), both to give and receive support.  He starts to believe in himself and a sort of romantic attraction begins.  And then Michael comes back – rather changed for his experience.  Good acting especially by the great Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Jannik who is always a joy to watch.  An intelligent script even if one or two of the events and characterisations leave a little to be desired in the line of credibility.  Nice photography and a sympathetic direction that gives us an interesting look at sibling rivalry and a reminder of the effects of war.  Overall, a well-made film with plenty to attract us.

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I was not very taken with this wooden vehicle for Gwyneth Paltrow based on a successful stage play about a mad mathematician and his talented daughter.  It may have been a gripping play but somehow the same magic doesn’t work here.  Paltrow is adequate enough in the lead role lurching from sanity to confusion to perhaps the onset of madness – all in a discreet manner but somehow there is not the range of light and shade the role requires.  Hope Davis is a good foil as the efficient sister Claire who wants to keep her sister safe and then we have glimpses of the power of Anthony Hopkins as the deceased genius and Jake Gyllenhaal never quite coming to grips with his role as the maths nerd who is not quite up to the action.  I found it all rather pedestrian without the drama that apparently the theatrical version had.  In the end John Madden´s film is rather tedious and not so very convincing.

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Ciudad en Celo (City in Heat or should it be “on heat?”)  is an Argentine film which takes the life of a bunch of people around 40 who are all looking for love and are habitues of a bar.  It paints a nice picture of BA warts and all, with a sort of street person character and bar brawls and then just plain romance.  The three leads do well enough, Daniel Kuzniecka, Dolores Solá (good singing) and Adrian Navarro, but... and it is a big but ... somewhere the film doesn’t quite ring true.  There are some very obvious plot devices, some scenes which seem to have little purpose and an uneven pace.  Hernan Gaffet produces a film that has something but maybe not quite real enough and maybe too sanitised to really grab us.

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Back to Medellín, war scene of the 1980’s with the sicarios and the narcos.  La virgen of the sicarios gave us a haunting and sick portrait of a society awash in violence and drugs and this is much the same.  This time, the heroine is Rosario who has been abused, raped and attacked and decides to get her revenge on whatever men dis her like a black widow spider, seducing and killing.  We get a slice of her life in this movie, and see her relationships with two boys from the right side of the tracks, Emilio (played by Colombian Manolo Cardona) and Antonio (Unax Ugalde, very good) who is her only real friend.  Flora Martinez takes on the role of Rosario and does it very well – she is an experienced young actress from Colombia whose career has taken her to the States and it muct be said that she captures the pain of her character very well.  Emilio Maillé’s direction is good without ever quite taking off  but he does get some great views of the brooding skies above Medellin and Pascal Marti does good work as the cinematographer.  It is a violent film but tells a sad story with love and care. 

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An American comedy with a difference!  A sharp satire on the process of spin and the way in which publicity and quick talk can justify anything in the eyes of the public.  Nick Naylor (effectively played by Aaron Eckhart) is a lobbyist for the tobacco industyr and it is his job to promote cigarettes in the best light and fend off the criticism.  He does a great job, principally focusing on how to use the mechanisms to be morally flexible.  What I liked most about this was Jason Reitman´s quick and yet well thought out script which both slightly exaggerates but basically presents us with a mechanics-eye view of how lobbying and hype work and how people live with it.  Apart from Eckhart, we have interesting turns from William H Macy, Maria Bello, Rob Lowe, Robert Duvall and Katie Holmes (the least successful of the big names here).  There is plenty to laugh about in this film and plenty to reflect on.  It may not be a classic but it is worth watching even if it could perhaps have gone even further than it did.

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What was the point of this film?  Make an anti-war statement, balance up Flags of our Fathers, ...?  Somehow I expected a lot more of this grainy almost black and white film looking at the battle for Iwo Jima from the side of the Japanese.  Although it contains a lot of the grim moments like mass suicides that the cornered troops engaged in and the unrelenting negative destiny that awaits them, I felt that the film really didn’t add up to so much despite a certain undoubted class in film making and script and some good scenes.  Ken Watanabe is excellent as the general and Kazunari Ninomiya as the baker Saigo does a good job but all in all I couldn’t see this as the masterpiece that some have claimed it is.  Too slow, too long winded – a good looking film but perhaps too frustrating for me to enjoy fully.  As a ‘diptych’ with ‘Flags’ it works as a fairly complete portrayal of an episode in World War 2.  As cinema it is perhaps less enticing!

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