The move to London precipitated an increase in my cinema-going during 2012. Being a local of the charming Brixton Ritzy Picturehouse, I feel compelled to try and experience even more of the filmic output in 2013. Omitted from this round-up are the re-releases I was fortunate enough to see over the year which included classics such as 'Eraserhead', 'Jaws', '2001', and 'The Shining'.
5. 'Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day' (Dir. Dick Carruthers)
Shouldn't really qualify, falling as it does in the ambiguous sub-genre of musical concert film, but regardless of this, it was one of the most enjoyable cinema experiences of the year. Disorienting as it was watching such an exhilarating concert in a darkened cinema screening, the production and direction perfectly captured both the bombastic spectacle and the intricate nuances of the individual performances that are inevitably lost in so vast an arena as the O2.
4. 'Argo' (Dir. Ben Affleck)
With little-to-no pre-existing knowledge of the true life events regarding the mission to smuggle embassy hostages out of 1970's Iran, I found 'Argo' both a gripping and entertaining thriller. Affleck has certainly demonstrated his worth as a director and his admirable fondness for 70s-era movies (think 'All the President's Men', 'Marathon Man', etc), mimicked here with the gritty tone and texture of the film stock, even going so far in its homaging intentions as adopting the out-dated Warner Brothers logo. Whilst the film understandably spirals into a more generic Hollywood climax, it didn't devalue it's potential for suspense with a very well-handled final set piece.
3. 'Skyfall'. (Dir. Sam Mendes)
After the utterly forgettable 'Quantum of Solace', Daniel Craig's third outing as James Bond deserves all the hyperbole and accolades that have been accorded it. Despite the hype, in my view it is far from perfect - the idea of it being qualitatively comparable to the 2 best Bond films 'Goldfinger' and
'You Only Live Twice' is disingenuous. This modern humanistic Bond (in this ultra-personalised society we even require our superspy's to be lumbered withs emotional foibles) is such a different
animal from that of Connery or Moore that it is surely useless to try and compare them. Reassuring
though it is to see Bond achieve a Lazurus-style comeback in the era of Bourne and Batman, the
producers face an undesirable task of maintaining the high before surely the inevitable plummet into
the mire of 'Die Another Day' territory.
2. 'Take This Waltz' (Dir. Sarah Polley)
The purest cinema experiences are the ones you embark on with minimal expectations or awareness
of the presentation. So it was with this charming and engrossing portrait of dramatic realism from
Sarah Polley, about a young married couple veering into the barriers upon the arrival to their
neighbourhood of an attractive and mysterious stranger. On paper, the familiarity of the storyline is
undeniable, yet the intricacies of the script and a stunning performance from Michelle Williams, push this film onto a higher plateau with some genuinely affecting set pieces and a number of jolting plot
developments that brilliantly dislodge the film from any potential predictability.
1. 'Shame' (Dir. Steve McQueen)
Steve McQueen's second film from January was easily the most powerful new film I saw in 2012. A harsh, uncompromising representation of sex addiction, it tackled the subject matter in a head-on and frank manner free from distraction or unnecessary stylisation. Michael Fassbender gives an incredible performance - surely he must be close to being his generation's De Niro? - as the man teetering on the brink of self-control and collapse into despair, a situation mirrored by his emotionally fragile sister, played by the only slightly impressive Carey Mulligan.
'Shame' is the kind of film that makes me proud to be a cineaste; a reassurance as to the capacity of film - often existing in the overlooked slipstream of franchises and remakes - to possess the hard-edged grip and composure to succeed in challenging an audience.
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