The Film Fanatic Review of 2010
Part 1- January-March

Time to round off another year by looking at the stats and totalling up the films that have made a splash in the UK box office between January and December 2010. We've seen wizards, wolves, vampires, dragons and mind bending mysteries as well as some dodgy CGI of Johnny Depp's legs! Let's look back at the last year in film:

JANUARY

Did You Hear About The Morgans? (Dir: Marc Lawrence) (IMDB rating 4.4/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,155,060) - another predicatable Hugh Grant rom-com affair that fizzled away just as soon as it arrived.

Daybreakers (Dirs: Michael and Peter Spierig) (IMDB rating 6.5/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,344,588) - violent, futurisitic vampire tale starring Sam Neill and Ethan Hawke.

It's Complicated (Dir: Nancy Meyers) (IMDB rating 6.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,098,659) - Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin proving that divorce is ok.

The Road (Dir: John Hillcoat) (IMDB rating 7.4/10; opening weekend gross UK: £627,147) - Viggo Mortensen stars in emotional adaptation of Cormac McCarthy novel.

Sex and Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll (Dir: Mat Whitecross) (IMDB rating 6.5/10; opening weekend gross UK: £173,831) - Andy Serkis plays the legendary Blockheads front man Ian Dury in a breezy biopic.

Up In The Air (Dir: Jason Reitman) (IMDB rating 7.8/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,298,023) - The first pleasant surprise of the film year. George Clooney is the set in his ways protagonist who needs to change his life around before he winds up alone. Sharp dialogue and a great supporting cast make this is an understated winner.

The Book of Eli (Dirs: Albert and Allen Hughes) IMDB rating 6.9/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,232,001) - Denzel Washington in biblical actioner.

Toy Story 2 (3D re-release) (Dir: John Lasseter) IMDB rating 8.0/10; opening weekend gross UK: £909,093 - note: this gross only takes into account the amount taken on re-release) - With Toy Story getting the 3D re-release treatment in the fall of 2009, Toy Story 2 made it back into UK cinemas in January 2010 7 months ahead of this year's new Toy Story 3. In the second outing for the toys there is more peril and more excitement than the first. An animated wonder.

Brothers (Dir: Jim Sheridan) IMDB rating 7.3/10; opening weekend gross UK: £366,290) - Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire are war torn brothers in taut drama.

Un Prophete (A Prophet) (Dir: Jacques Audiard) IMDB rating 8.0/10; opening weekend gross: £312,237 - a young Arab man is sent to a French prison where he becomes a mafia kingpin.

Edge of Darkness (Dir: Martin Campbell) IMDB rating 6.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,172,927) - Mel Gibson is Thomas Craven, a homicide detective investigating the death of his daughter in Martin Campbell's directorial follow up to Casino Royale.

Precious (Dir: Lee Daniels) IMDB rating 7.5/10; opening weekend gross UK: £260,921) - double Oscar winning Harlem based drama.


FEBRUARY

The Princess and the Frog (Dirs: Ron Clements and John Musker) IMDB rating 7.3/10; opening weekend gross UK: £2,239,759)

Astro Boy (Dir: David Bowers) IMDB rating 6.4/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,091,872)

Invictus (Dir: Clint Eastwood) IMDB rating 7.4/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,068,388)

Youth in Revolt (Dir: Miguel Arteta) IMDB rating 6.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £743,932) - more of the same fare with Michael Cera - but often very funny.


Valentine's Day (Dir: Garry Marshall) IMDB rating 5.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £3,732,393)

The Wolfman (Dir: Joe Johnston) IMDB rating 6.0/10; opening weekend gross UK: £2,367,849)

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (Dir: Chris Columbus) IMDB rating 5.8/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,502,633)- a solid adaptation of the first of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson stories.


My Name is Khan (Dir: Karan Johar) IMDB rating 7.2/10; opening weekend gross UK: £936,454)

A Single Man (Dir: Tom Ford) IMDB rating 7.6/10; opening weekend gross UK: £502,009)


The Lovely Bones (Dir: Peter Jackson) IMDB rating 6.6/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,637,579) - Peter Jackson's misguided adaptation of a stirring, provocative novel.


Solomon Kane (Michael J. Bassett) IMDB rating 6.2/10; opening weekend gross UK: £611,886)

The Crazies (Dir: Breck Eisner) IMDB rating 6.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,194,207)

Leap Year (Dir: Anand Tucker) IMDB rating 6.1/10; opening weekend gross UK: £728,251)

From Paris With Love (Dir: Pierre Morel) IMDB rating 6.4/10; opening weekend gross UK: £678,950)

MARCH

Alice in Wonderland (Dir: Tim Burton) IMDB rating 6.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £10,555,220) - Lewis Carroll's kaleidoscopic world in the hands of Tim Burton should have been genius - unfortunately it was all a bit timid with some shoddy CGI and 3D for the sake of it. That said, it's one of the biggest box office hits of the year. Whether that's down to Burton's pedigree as a filmmaker or to the longevity of Carroll's children's story is up to you to decide.


Shutter Island (Dir: Martin Scorsese) IMDB rating 8.0/10; opening weekend gross UK: £2,250,178) - One of the year's best, Scorsese delivers a faithful adaptation of Dennis Lehane's underrated thriller novel. The first of two great performances this year from DiCaprio.


Green Zone (Dir: Paul Greengrass) IMDB rating 7.1/10; opening weekend gross UK: £2,087, 368) Zeitgeist action film as Matt Damon goes rogue looking for WMDs. The Iraq Ultimatum perhaps.

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (Dir: Lasse Hallstrom) IMDB rating 8.1/10; opening weekend gross UK: £442,753)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Dir: Niels Arden Oplev) IMDB rating 7.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £378,434) - Not the American version which will hit UK cinemas this time in 2011, this is the original Danish version starring Noomi Rapace.


The Bounty Hunter (Dir: Andy Tennant) IMDB rating 5.2/10; opening weekend gross UK: £2,055,021) - Can someone tell Jen Aniston that she can make other types of films from time to time.

I Love You Phillip Morris (Dirs: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa) IMDB rating 6.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,066,092)

The Spy Next Door (Dir: Brian Levant) IMDB rating 5.2/10; opening weekend gross UK: £698,155)

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (Dir: Susanna White) IMDB rating 6.1/10; opening weekend gross UK: £2,586,760) - A charming little companion to the hit 2005 family film.

The Blind Side (Dir: John Lee Hancock) IMDB rating 7.7/10; opening weekend gross UK: £1,313,317


Part 2 will look at 2010s films between April and June.

James Bond in review - The Living Daylights (John Glen, 1987)

"I take it this is not a social call 007?"
"Correct, you should have brought lillies"

Perhaps there is no better quotation to describe Dalton's no-nonsense approach to Fleming's world famous secret agent. Moving sharply away from the humour that became almost a character itself in the later Moore Bond era, it is clear to see that Dalton's careful research of Fleming's Bond of the early novels was time well spent. From the moment you see Dalton on screen in an upper body shot inquisitively and solemnly watching the body of 004 plummet to ground from the rock of Gibraltar, we are instantly aware that this is a very different Bond - a 007 not to be messed with.

Dalton's Bond waiting for Koskov's sniper

The Living Daylights provides Dalton the chance to take Bond in a realistic, thriller-like direction. The dialogue is some of the sharpest in the series, the supporting cast are, on the whole, great, and Dalton's Bond if only for a brief tenure, becomes a one woman man. The film doesn't take itself too seriously. Jeroen Krabbe hams up his role as Georgi Koskov, becoming a theatrical villain who gets his comeuppance in a genuinely amusing scene at the end of the film. Dalton is also on hand to provide some carefully timed one liners that are more zone out and you'll miss them than Moore's unavoidable, extroverted clangers.

Maryam D'Abo in a publicity shot for The Living Daylights as Kara

Bond is characteristically a private man who keeps his emotions to himself and gets the job done efficiently and successfully. Dalton further develops Fleming's Bond by making him fallible. As Dalton himself expressed in a press interview whilst filming The Living Daylights, Bond is "not a super hero", he is a tainted man with a harsh outlook on life. He is relatable in that sense and easy to root for. As characters in the film go, Caroline Bliss' Miss Moneypenny probably provides the biggest disappointment. The younger secretary to flirt with Dalton's younger Bond was a sensible idea but Bliss seems so inappropriate on screen in the short scenes she is in that Bond afficionados can't help wishing Lois Maxwell was still in the role. Maryam D'Abo's portrayal of the cellist Kara Milovy is a better female character in the film, obviously, but still hit and miss. At moments she provides some good comedy, remarking to Bond that they are free for Bond to retort that they are still stranded in a Russian airbase in Afghanistan, and she is the only Bond girl to be able to call Bond a 'horse's arse!' Other times she looks a little uncomfortable and very timid opposite Dalton's hard edged protagonist. She becomes a worthy leading lady when she leads the pursuit after 007 with Kamran's men in the desert, informing them bluntly and powerfully "You owe him your life!" Kara obviously respects Bond and is therefore respected by the audience as a credible love interest for Dalton's 007.

The note attached to 009's body - Smiert Spionam (Russian for 'death to spies')

Essentially this is back to basics Bond. It takes a lot for a director to come into a leviathan of a series like Bond and some gumption to introduce a new actor playing 007 and John Glen succeeds well, giving audiences perhaps the most intriguing Bond film of the five that he helmed as director. There are no hollowed out volcanoes or super tankers, just believable characterisation and an intelligent screenplay. A promising debut for Dalton... Timothy Dalton.

James Bond in review - A View To A Kill (John Glen, 1985)

"Would you be interested primarily in stamina...or speed?"
"Well a little of both would be ideal."

June 27th 1984 – the once proudly erected 007 stage at Pinewood Studios, built to house the massive super tanker interiors for The Spy Who Loved Me is on fire. The Bond crew are preparing pre-production on Bond’s 14th adventure and Roger Moore’s last, A View To A Kill. Couple the devastation and personal loss of the stage with the fact that Moore, coming into his 7th Bond film, looks old enough to play James Bond’s dad, and there is justifiable reason to think that Bond 14 is doomed before the cameras have even begun to roll.

Christopher Walken and Grace Jones as Zorin and May Day

With the building of the new stage and the reliability of a series stalwart like Moore leading the film, the crew optimistically begin working on A View To A Kill and like a number of Moore’s Bonds it has its moments. There are some thrilling sequences like the burning of City Hall and some great characters, particularly Christopher Walken giving one of the most sadistic and wholly memorable villainous performances of Moore’s Bond tenure. For the good points there are the obligatory duff ones: Willoughby Gray as the bumbling Herr Dr Mortner/Hans Glaub; a character whose identity and methods are discovered by Bond but a character that is so underdeveloped and shoddily played it’s almost pantomimic. Then there’s the two main female characters of the piece. Tanya Roberts is whiny and frustrating as Stacey – she is given a theme of her own by John Barry which is far more than the character deserves: it’s no wonder Moore explains in the DVD commentary that there was no chemistry between Roberts and himself. Then there is Grace Jones as May Day who, despite giving a better performance than Roberts comes off as too over the top even for a Moore Bond film. Placing her and Moore in each others arms in bed together is one of the most alarming scenes in Bond history!

Moore joked that bedding Grace Jones was one of the hardest things for him to do

Kudos to Moore for deciding with A View To A Kill that it was finally time to hang his hat on Moneypenny’s stand for good. At nearly 60 he still remarkably brings good humour and an enthusiastic air to proceedings. As Moore expresses to Zorin himself in the film, “I’m almost speechless with admiration”. The one thing you can say for A View To A Kill as with each of the remaining 6 Moore Bonds is that it is entertaining to watch. The plot may be recycled, the one liners may be ludicrously corny but this is the 14th Bond and Moore’s 7th – give the writers a break. It is also still an entertaining film, more so than Octopussy. It is still uncomfortable however having Moore unzip the young Mary Stavin's top before the film’s opening credits in that predatory fashion – he looks old enough to be her grandfather!

A toast - to Roger Moore as James Bond 1973-1985

Ultimately, despite the misfires – Nick Nack, Miss Goodnight, Bond in space, Moore’s contribution to the series cannot be overstated. His films were also responsible for bringing us some series highs – the parachute jump in the pre-credits of The Spy Who Loved Me and kicking Locque’s car off the edge of the cliff in For Your Eyes Only to name two of the best. He is the actor to have played the part the most times of all to date and as former United Artists publicist Jerry Juroe has recognised he has done more publicity for the Bond series than anyone else. While A View To A Kill is most certainly not the best film for Moore to make his final bow it still remains a testament to all that he brought to the world of James Bond on the big screen. As Moneypenny states “Your dedication [...]is most commendable..." James Bond will return, in the guise of Timothy Dalton.

James Bond in review - Octopussy (John Glen, 1983)

"You have a nasty habit of surviving."
"Well you know what they say about the fittest!"

The biggest threat facing the Bond team in 1982 when they began work on Octopussy, apart from the fact that this was to be the 13th official film in the series – unlucky for some – was the fact that Kevin McClory was teaming with Sean Connery for a rival Bond film based on Fleming’s Thunderball to be ironically titled Never Say Never Again. Having secured Moore for his 6th outing as the British secret agent, production began on the film on August 10th 1982 in East Berlin.

Kabir Bedi as Kamal's villainous right hand man Gobinda

Octopussy brings together a fascinating cast of characters for a Bond film. Louis Jourdan is superb as the head villain Kamal Khan and Kabir Bedi is also excellent as Gobinda, the more physical heavy in the same tradition as Jaws or Oddjob. The film also saw the return of Maud Adams as the title character Octopussy. Though not revealed facially in the film until nearly half the way through, Adams makes her presence known and is still one of the best leading ladies to act opposite Moore in any of his films. There is a certain grace to her performance despite the fact that she is involved with jewel smuggling. Having said this, her role as the ill fated Andrea Anders in The Man With The Golden Gun, her first foray into the Bond series, is ultimately more successful.

Maud Adams and Roger Moore on set

Moore seems confident with the material he is given and delivers some excellent dialogue in a straight faced approach, in particular when he is conversing with the maniacal General Orlov aboard the carriage housing the bomb. Moore always manages to inject some great humour and overall fun in his Bond films and Octopussy is no exception. Whilst the costume is a little dubious, it seems perfectly acceptable that Bond would adopt a clown disguise to stop a bomb from exploding in a circus and killing thousands of innocent people. The scene in which he tests Khan’s desperation for the egg at the auction with Fanning is also another example of Moore delivering the comedic goods.

The villain of the film Kamal Khan as portrayed by Cubby Broccoli's friend Louis Jourdan

It is the climax of the film that seems a little lacklustre and over before it has even begun. The fight between Gobinda and Bond atop the plane feels like a recycled version of a Bond scene that has been orchestrated many times beforehand but then this is Bond 13 and there is a lot to live up to. The title song is also a little under par compared to some of the other classics preceding it – gone is the joy of Live and Let Die or the classics like Nobody does it better in favour of a drab ballad. The one good thing is that John Barry rightly tried not to introduce the film’s title into the song. What rhymes with Octopussy? Barry’s score is however another great effort and lends some great tension to some sequences – in particular the 009 assassination sequence after the titles which is one of the best moments in the film.

Ultimately, whilst not Moore’s All Time High, as professed by Pfeiffer and Worrall in their compendium The Essential James Bond, it is a fine entry in the Bond series with exotic locations, beautiful women, a circus, a bomb and so much more. Octopussy out grossed its competitor on release in 1983 and became a top grossing Moore Bond film. No chance of Bond becoming extinct any time soon – even if Moore is starting to look as though he may need a lie down.

James Bond in review - Thunderball (Terence Young, 1965)

"You seem to be unbeatable Mr Bond!"

Over the ensuing years following its 1965 release, Thunderball has been divided amongst Bond fans. Some see it as laboured with underwater sequences and lacking the style and sophistication of the previous three films, others see it the way many saw it on its release – as the biggest Bond of all. The thing that surprised me the most, upon rewatching the film, is that despite a sometimes overly complex plot and some labouring moments, Thunderball is one of the more entertaining of the Bond films, perhaps the most entertaining of the Connery films.

Paula, Domino and Fiona chill out on the Thunderball Bahamas coastline

The elements all gel – the villains are excellent, we get to see one of the only group meetings of SPECTRE agents plotting their schemes in the series, the Bond girls are some of the best in the series – and most beautiful – and Sean Connery actually feels at ease in the role, relishing the humour and the sun of the Bahamas. Add to this mix the return of Terence Young as director and another terrific score from Bond veteran John Barry and Thunderball looks and sounds brilliant. The cynics of Thunderball all latch onto the length of the underwater scenes in the film. It’s surprising therefore to discover that these scenes make up less than 25 minutes of the two hour screen time. The scenes themselves, in particular the climactic underwater battle – Bond versus Largo – is brilliantly filmed and draws the film to a fine conclusion. Domino ultimately defeating her tormenter is a nice touch and the frenetic editing on the Disco Volante adds to the excitement.

Largo, SPECTRE agent number 2

The real treat of the film is undoubtedly Luciana Paluzzi’s Fiona Volpe. She is one of the best villainesses in the series and clearly relishes the role. It seems ridiculous to even try to picture her as Domino, the heroine of the film, the role that she originally auditioned for. She is so perfectly sadistic in the role of Largo’s right hand woman and gets all the best dialogue – “do you like wild things Mr Bond James Bond?” is perhaps one of the most rhetorical questions in the series and one of the best humorous moments.

Bond and Domino

Connery’ s 4th Bond is an entertaining romp. Some great characterisations, one of the most sadistic villains brought to life in a brilliantly sly manner by Adolfo Celi and a narrative that flows well, keeping the audience excited. With Goldfinger and Thunderball, the mid-60s saw the launch of Bond mania. A coffin with the initials JB teasingly opens the film playing on the notion of Bond’s death and two hours later he once again saves the day and gets the girl. It is easy, on reflection, to see how Thunderball is one of the biggest Bond box office successes. His name’s James Bond and for nearly 50 years we’ve been “admiring [his] form.”

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Merry Christmas from Film Fanatic

George Bailey and family and Film Fanatic
wish all followers of this blog
a warm and Merry Christmas 2010 and a prosperous 2011!