Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent in “Away from Her.”

When a gem of a film like this one comes along, it is not easily forgotten. Julie Christie’s amazing performance as Alzheimer sufferer, Fiona is astonishing. Her performance overshadows that of Gordon Pinsent, and that’s the way it was supposed to be. The film itself is an intimate examination of a relationship that is coming to an end.

Fiona is placed in a home after living with her husband, Grant (Pinsent), for 44 years. This is a big step for them both, but an inevitable one. Once she is in the home, Fiona forms an unusual bond with a fellow patient, one where she only feels completely safe around him; she even feels the need to care for him, as if no one else could.

This is a sad reality for Grant, as Fiona slips out of reality into a world of an unknown future and no longer needs or remembers Grant. He is rejected by her for the majority of the film, only really realising that he is her loved one during brief moments of lucidity. He is the one whose life is torn apart by the Alzheimer’s, or at least, he is the one who realises it. The wife of Fiona’s male friend in the home, played by Olympia Dukakis and Grant also form a bond, where they are able to take comfort in shared pain, as hard as it is to let their loved ones go, they are able to put aside their happiness for the sake of their loved ones in the home.

It is a deeply emotional film that revolves around an everyday tragedy like we have never seen on screen before. Actress Sarah Polley does a magnificent job adapting Alice Munro’s book, and her subtle debut as screenwriter and director is amazing, albeit a little flawed, but that is expected from a debut.

The performances are key to the films pace and theme, and they are all understated, yet powerful. Julie Christie will get an Oscar nomination for this film, I can guarantee it, and Polley’s screenplay may just get her an Oscar nomination too. The supporting players are just as good. This film is one that is created by three extraordinary women in cinema, and the outcome is something fascinating and heartbreaking. A milestone for women in film.

Fatac Rating: ****

Away From Her. Directed by Sarah Polley, written by Sarah Polley based on the short story, “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” by Alice Munro, staring Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent and Olympia Dukakis. Running Time: 110 minutes. Rating out of five stars.

Released in South Africa on the 28th of December 2007.
Viewed in a theatre with ordinary moviegoers.

The Nominations and Winners for 2007
(Winners are underlined and in bold)

1. BEST FILM
· The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
· Into The Wild
· Juno
· No Country For Old Men
· There Will Be Blood

2. BEST DIRECTOR
· Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
· Tim Burton – Sweeney Todd
· Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country For Old Men
· Sean Penn – Into The Wild
· Jason Reitman – Juno
· Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

3. BEST ACTOR
· Mathieu Amalric– The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
· George Clooney– Michael Clayton
· Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
· Emile Hirsch – Into The Wild
· Tommy Lee Jones – No Country For Old Men

4. BEST ACTRESS
· Amy Adams – Enchanted
· Julie Christie – Away From Her
· Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose
· Laura Linney – The Savages
· Ellen Page – Juno

5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
· Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James
· Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
· Paul Dano – There Will Be Blood
· Hal Holbrook – Into The Wild
· Tom Wilkinson– Michael Clayton

6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
· Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
· Catherine Keener – Into The Wild
· Emily Mortimer – Lars & The Real Girl
· Amy Ryan – Gone, Baby, Gone
· Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

7. BEST ENSEMBLE
· Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
· Juno
· Lars & The Real Girl
· Waitress
· Zodiac

8. BEST NEWCOMER
· Nikki Blonsky – Actor, Hairspray
· Michael Cera – Actor, Juno & Superbad
· Diablo Cody – Screenwriter, Juno
· Sarah Polley- Director, Screenwriter, Away From Her
· Adrienne Shelley- Director, Writer, Actor, Waitress

*No Country, Juno and Michael Clayton continue their respective winning streaks. No Country is the front runner for Best Pic now, in my opinion. Juno may get a Best Picture nomination too, so might Michael Clayton. Juno is a force to be reckoned with, I think it is fast becoming a contender for the Best Picture Oscar, and if who I want to win mattered, Juno would win hands down. But alas, I am not a member of AMPAS, and No Country For Old Men is still the closet film to being a “lock” for the win come Oscar night.

Another year has come and gone, and it’s Christmas day tomorrow. Wow. That means family, gifts, champagne, friends and a damn good time.

I hope everyone else out there has a great festive season, what ever your religion or faith or beliefs you have, just enjoy the last few days of the year spending time with people you love, and have a good time, that’s all I ask of you. Have a blast.

Nick,

P.S .
For those of you not blessed with a great family and great friends, I’m thinking of you. Make the best of out whatever situation you have. Gosh, am I feeling all positive and festive today or what!

I’ve decided that separating my film opinions etc from my personal opinions etc is necessary, so I created a new personal blog for myself, here. So from now on, this blog will be completely film orientated, and everything else, including stuff about music will be on Sugar Honey Iced Tea, that’s the temporary title for my new blog by the way. So feel free to check it out, I would really love it if you would stop by. Seeing as though it is Christmas time, posting will be harder, what with family commitments and such, but I guess that’s everyone else’s top priority too. Have a good one people.

1.) Juno
2.) There Will Be Blood
3.) 3:10 To Yuma
4.) Ratatouille
5.) Gone Baby Gone
6.) No Country For Old Men
7.) Bourne Ultimatum
8.) Stardust
9.) Eastern Promises
10.) Atonement

*In all honesty I only posted this top ten list because of Juno being at number one. Everyone these days is unbiased, but when it comes to Juno, I am bias through and through. Its the one film this year I am truly passionate about, so sue me.

*Continue Reading The 2007 Movie Blog Awards here.

Sidney Lumet (director of Network, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, amongst others), who we all know is a legend, has created a genuine character-driven crime masterpiece that is “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead”. The plot follows Andy and Hank Hanson, brothers who are coming on hard times financially but create a “full-proof” plan to get rich quick. Their plan is to rob their parents’ jewellery store. Well everything goes horribly wrong and sets off a sequence of events and sub plots so gripping they will leave you breathless and out of your comfort zone. At least, that’s how the film made me feel.

Kelly Masterson created a gem of a screenplay, and deserves an Oscar nomination, no doubt. The script is seemingly simple but it translates onscreen in the most intriguing way. This is of course aided by a few career best performances, an outstanding ensemble, and great vision. Philip Seymour Hoffman gives an electric performance as the abominable Andy Hanson, who has not even one redeeming quality, that is one of the year’s finest written and portrayed character studies and easily matches his Academy Award-winning portrayal in Capote, the downside is you have to see his bare white ass in the first few minutes of the film, but he is making love to his wife, Gina (the gorgeous Marisa Tomei, who gives a subtle turn that is memorable), so just focus on her for the first couple of minutes, unless you are in to Hoffman’s assets.

Andy needs the money to fund his drug addiction. Andy convinces his brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke) to get in on the deal. Hank is apprehensive or at the very least nervous, but he agrees, what else is the man to do? He is low on cash and is constantly given a hard time by his ex-wife (Amy Ryan) to pay child support, the man has bills. He is also sleeping with Gina. Hank recruits his friend Bobby to help him with the heist and things get turned upside down, and a series of both expected and unexpected events unfold. Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris who play the roles of the Hanson parents are outstanding, particularly Finney, but perhaps this is because he is onscreen for longer. I felt a great level of discomfort while viewing the film and the feeling lingered long after the credits rolled. The characters are grating and desperate, and their actions are enough to give shivers of the spinal variety. I feel this is classic Lumet, one of his best to tell the truth, and he directs an ensemble so sharp and electric, it’s shockingly brilliant cinema, pun intended.

Fatac Rating: ****

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead. Directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Kelly Masterson, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris and Amy Ryan, edited by Tom Swartwout, Running Time: 117 minutes. Rating out of five stars.

The provocative title comes from the Irish saying:

“May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead”.

Lars and The Real Girl is a story about a man with a delusion. This man, Lars aka Mr Sunshine, is a sweet and shy soul living in a small town. He has difficulty being sociable and is not good with people. If they even so much as touch him, it is physically painful for him. A colleague at work introduces him to the idea of purchasing a sex-doll over the Internet. He does so, after not being really taken with the idea at first. A few days later, a huge box arrives. This is the arrival of Bianca, the love doll that causes all the trouble but fixes everything, without so much as saying a word. When Lars tells his brother, Gus, and sister-in-law, Karin, played by Paul Schneider (Assassination of Jesse James) and Emily Mortimer (Match Point, 30 Rock), that he has a visitor, they are extremely glad that he is being sociable. To their shock and horror, Bianca is cold, shiny plastic.

The only thing they can come up with is to take Lars to a shrink and disguise his mental help by taking Bianca along so she can receive a check up. The general practitioner/psychologist tells Gus and Karin that Lars has a delusion and needs this doll to work up the courage and strength to make it in a real relationship. By real I mean, a traditional man-women twosome. The shrink, Dagmar, played by Patricia Clarkson, tells them he will get over his delusion when he needs to, and that Bianca is in town for a reason. Gus and his wife pass on this news to the rest of community asking them to take part in making Bianca feel at home and act like it is actually a she.

They all do so, and this is where the story becomes remarkable. Margo, a new girl at Lars’ workplace, fancies him, but she has competition with Bianca. He continues to form a meaningful relationship with the doll for most of the film, but his delusion wears off when he realizes Margo has found another man. Needless to say, Bianca, who at this point almost feels like a character with blood running though her veins and a larger than life persona due to all the fuss she creates, is no longer needed, and Lars can finally pursue a relationship with Margo when she breaks it off with her boyfriend/colleague.

The direction and writing of the film is remarkable. The audience is drawn into this simple story with big heart, especially through the intense and honest performance by Ryan Gosling. I think the film had less to do with a man with a mental illness overcoming his imagined fears and more with a lonely man who is able to learn to accept others through human kindness and sensitivity. The film never felt overly calculated to me, and never seemed to be begging for sentimental laughs and tears; it had all the right ingredients to make it a memorable sensitive comedy-drama. I loved it so much that I saw it twice in two days.

Fatac Rating: ****

Lars and The Real Girl. Directed by: Craig Gillespie, written by Nancy Oliver, starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Patricia Clarkson and Kelli Garner. Running Time: 106 minutes. Age Restriction: PG13 . Rating out of five stars.

Tagline: “The search for love begins outside the box”.

Or so we are made to believe as youngsters growing up, watching countless numbers of Disney films, countless number of times.

The film begins as an animation, with Giselle (the ever delightful, Amy Adams), a typical, perky Disney princess living in a cottage amongst hundreds of her closet friends (read woodland creatures), singing about her one and only true love (True Love’s Kiss). And just like that Prince Edward (James Marsden) hears her song, and vows to find and marry her. He succeeds in finding her, but their marriage is put on hold when Giselle is pushed into a cursed wishing well that sends her out of a manhole and straight into the heart of all that is unfriendly, Times Square, New York City. All this is a part of a plot by Prince Edward’s wicked stepmother/queen (Susan Sarandon).

It is here, in the heart of the Big Apple where Giselle suddenly finds herself not an animated princess but a real-life out-of-towner. She stumbles through town asking anyone who will notice, which is everyone, where the castle is. She is unsuccessful but eventually finds herself sheltered by Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his fairytale loving daughter, Morgan (Rachel Covey). Robert is, at first, apprehensive. But as Giselle begins spreading her charm during the remainder of the film, he finds her hard to resist, as do we.

This is problematic as Robert may be a single father, but he has a girlfriend or soon-to-be-fiancé, Nancy (Idina Menzel). Giselle is, however, adamant that the Prince is on his way to fetch her and take her home. She is right, he is on a mission to find her, along with Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) and Pip, the chipmunk that steals almost every scene. His mission is met with great difficulty and bumps along the way including a run in with a bus and a group of cyclists, and the fact that Nathaniel is infatuated with the queen, and vows to stop the Prince in his tracks, adhering the Queen’s orders.

One thing that makes this film truly remarkable are the magnificently choreographed musical numbers, one in Central Park that never seems to end, but we don’t really want it to anyway (the song being, That’s How You Know) and one in Roberts apartment when Giselle decides to call upon a few city creatures to tidy the place up (Happy Working Song).

Another thing is the fact the film is a send up of Disney’s traditions, where every cliché is not completely redone, but tweaked in a way that makes it’s few connections to reality ever more apparent. The climax of the film takes place at a fantasy ball, where the Queen shows up and takes matters into her own hands, and would have succeeded if it were not for true love’s kiss. And, just as indicated in the beginning of this review and the ending of every other Disney film, everyone gets their happy ending, except for the evil stepmother, once again making the statement that good always prevails. That in my books, makes for fun, light entertainment, and with a Disney film, what else could you ask for?

Fatac Rating: ***

Directed by Kevin Lima, written by Bill Kelly, staring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon and Timothy Spall, Running Time: 107 minutes. Age Restriction: All Ages. Rating out of five stars.

1. Juno
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
4. Atonement
5. The Kite Runner
6. Away From Her
7. Across the Universe
8. La Vie En Rose
9. The Great Debaters
10. Into the Wild

Juno is my number one film as well, without a doubt, that is number one on my list I haven’t even put together yet.

Roger Ebert said that he had to go with his heart, and Juno made the biggest impact on him this year, and I agree, it’s the same with me. He went on to say that this year was full of unbelievably good films, one after the other, and that this year had one of the best fall lineups in recent years. Again I agree.

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