Sweeney Todd

Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter & Alan Rickman

A glorious, and gory, treat from the always excellent team of Burton and Depp. Only Tim Burton could mix a musical with gore and succeed. This was a real pleasure to watch.

The songs are great and delivered with skill and passion by Johnny Dep...(read more)p and Helena Bonham Carter while the plot, and certainly the gore, are like something out of an old Hammer Horror film (not surprising considering Burton is a Hammer fan and already made a film in tribute with Sleepy Hollow)!

Depp delivers another strong performance (especially vocally) though it feels a tad less developed than some of his earlier personas under Burton (Ed Wood being a personal fave). Still, he delivers the sad menace and hate at the heart of a man who believes he's lost everything and succumbs to revenge. Helena Bonham Carter also performs well and adds much sympathy to her role as the lovelorn Mrs Lovett who idolises Sweeney Todd despite her affections going unnoticed.

A few, purist, fans of the original musical might complain at the cutting of a few songs (the original musical being a 3+ hour affair), in addition to the, graphic, gore while horror fans might be shocked to see songs at all! But for everyone else who knows what to expect from the Burton/Depp team and for Burton fans in particular this is a joy.

Rating: 4/5

No Country For Old Men

Director: The Coen Brothers

Starring: Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem & Tommy Lee Jones

Had this come out in the UK just a few weeks earlier it would have been a serious contender for my favourite film of 2007. As it stands now, in 2008, it will set a standard by which other films will be measured against this year. The Coen Bros are back on form and seemingly more mature than before and finding new depths to themes they've explored in earlier films like Fargo and Blood Simple.

Josh Brolin is impressive as the average joe who comes across a group of dead drug dealers in the desert and a satchel of money who then finds himself out of his depth when a brutal killer comes after him. Brolin is on a career comeback (big in 80s, disappearing in the 90s) after appearing in Planet Terror and American Gangster and looks to be an actor to keep an eye on in the future. Tommy Lee Jones is good as usual as the Sheriff (and narrator) who is always too far behind Brolin, the killer and the body count left after them.

It is, however, Javier Bardem that will be who most people remember the film for. His killer, Chigurh, is a cold, remorseless, methodical and unrelenting psychopath. He kills strangers just for saying a wrong word to him and is therefore even less forgiving to those that cause him greater inconvenience. It is a truly chilling performance.

The dialogue is fantastic and very faithful to the novel, as is the bleak ending which is quieter and more downbeat than the build up would suggest yet it feels more natural and poetic than some major shootout. This may upset viewers more used to conventional thrillers but Coen fans should be pleased.

For me this is a damn near perfect thriller. Moody, tense, with great dialogue to chew on and an ending that gives you much to think about.

Rating: 5/5

Charlie Wilson's War

Director: Mike Nichols

Starring: Tom Hanks, Phillip Seymour Hoffman & Julia Roberts

Witty and still thought provoking, Charlie Wilson's War'comes to cinemas after a string of films looking at Iraq and Terrorism. Where this film manages to succeed and seperate itself from the rest is that it deals with events from the 80s where a US Congressmen helped Afghans fight of the invading Russians ending up with a free Afghanistan, one armed and trained by the US. Oh... its also very funny!

Tom Hanks puts on the charm playing the womanising, alcoholic Congressman who was also very committed to fighting Communism and in helping the Afghans fight of a superior invading force while the rest of the US sat back and did nothing.

However, while Tom Hanks is good he is outdone by Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Gus, the gruff CIA man who can predict everything that's going to happen. Hoffman is great to watch as a man frustrated by limitations imposed on him by others in the CIA, often exploding into fits of rage or otherwise dispensing witty and sarcastic insults to those he hates (namely everyone). And the scenes with both Hoffman and Hanks are an even greater joy to watch. In between the witty repartee (the script is by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame) though is a film that doesn't sacrifice too much detail. Yes, the last few years of the campaign are squeezed into the last half hour but the build up is well covered without the viewer feeling lost or bored by all the meetings and negotiations.

Overall this is a very enjoyable movie and makes many observations on its events without being preachy and they are observations worth making still today. Hanks and Hoffman are great, and while it would have been nice to see a bit more of Wilson's inner demons under all the charm, you will still be amazed by what he accomplished even if he wasn't able to finish it the way he intended.

Rating: 4/5

I'm Not There

Director: Todd Haynes

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger & Richard Gere

An impressive attempt to change the, stale, formula of the biopic which is well suited this time around due to the enigma that is Bob Dylan.

Dylan is different things to different people. To some he's the folk music genius that wrote protest songs, to others he was the star of the 70s verging on rock music whilst donning black sunglasses, to some he was a poet, to others even a sell out. Because it is hard to pin down 'who' Dylan 'is' and the 'why' of it all, it is fitting that the director chose to represent differents periods of Dylan's life so far with different actors and environments.

The casting here is great. To represent Dylan's changing attitudes, while demonstrating his music's relatability to people from all walks of life, he is represented by four white men, a black boy and a white woman showing his appeal across different races and gender and ages. With the exception of Gere, in the twilight years segments, all the scenes and casting are top notch. Most attention will go to Cate Blanchett for capturing Dylan's superstar years where his music and attitudes changed most dramatically, and this attention is deserved. However, I was more impressed by the segments with Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. Ledger gives a strong performance of Dylan the failed father, the failed lover, his little seen family life while Bale plays Dylan in his years where his music began to get noticed, when it was most pure and also later when he tries to make up for his failures after being blinded by fame. Bale plays the innocence very well with Dylan as a quiet man expressing his feelings through his folk songs.

Not every scene works, the Gere segments portray Dylan as a rambling man in an old prospecting town which feels out of place and it's meaning is unclear ad the film sometimes stretches itself a bit thin here and there, but mostly it holds together well and the crisscrossing between eras and actors is well handled.

Overall, this is worth a watch if you've followed Dylan's career and even if you're a casual listener like myself. There is insight in the film for all fans and can show you sides you never knew. If you're not a fan though then you might not enjoy but it is still a great twist on the biopic picture.

Rating: 3/5