Review: The Ides Of March

I have avoided writing reviews for some time. And, when I became of The Ides Of March last year, on its' release, I avoided it too.

There was something about the notion of Hollywood liberal and UN Ambassador George Clooney and his actor pals doing a self congratulating movie about the death of American liberalism that just turned me off. But I read it wrong. This movie is far more nuanced, a fascinating a character study, and an analysis of the corruption of the human being inside the Machiavellian US political machine.

At the heart of it is not Clooney (who directs, but doesn't even really appear until several minutes in, and then only sporadically), playing Governor Mike Morris, a Presidential Candidate going through the rigours of a Democratic Primary election in Ohio. It's his campaign staff, namely heart-throb of the moment, Canadian Ryan Gosling as Steven Myers, his second in command, who the action centres on, and his development from idealistic political ingénue to cynical insider.

While the movie begins with Myers helping his boss Paul Zara, played with effortlessly and gracefully by Philip Seymour Hoffman, when the campaign hits a snag, he embarks on an affair with beautiful young intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood), 10 years his senior, who precociously seduces him.

But it's when he gets an offer from the rival campaign manager Paul Giamatti, and discovers a secret about Morris's personal life, that things begin to unravel, and his deep emotional bond of loyalty to his boss is questioned.

I have to say, I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would, and it's partly because of the highly skilled, effortless performances, great direction, and a wonderful story. It changes direction unexpectedly, but it perfectly paced.

The sense of corrupt system in which only the manipulative can survive is perfectly communicated, and little touches like the supporting performance and sub plot with the Marissa Tomei's journalist character, underscore the sense of younger, innocent people being chewed up and spat out by older, more cynical souls. Or worse, becoming like them, and trading their innocence for advancement in the process.

Movie Hack Rating 4/5.

Buy Ides Of March on DVD USA

Buy Ides Of March on Blu Ray in USA

Buy Ides Of March on DVD in the UK

Buy Ides Of March on Blu Ray in UK

Oscar Nominations 2010

So, the nominations for this years' 82nd academy awards have been announced, and as usual, there are few surprises. Not much in the way of comedy, and there is a preference for worthy, preachy movies with lots of hammy acting (you know who you are The Blind Side and Precious). But the odd decent film, like Armando Iannucci's caustic political satire In The Loop has thankfully managed to sneak through. 

Reaffirming Hollywood's ability to win stuff on it's own turf after last years' big shock with Slumdog Millionaire, I predict a big sweep by James Cameron's Avatar. As previously predicted by myself, The Hurt Locker's gritty documentary style portrayal of life on the front line of bomb disposal in Iraq has won fans in the Academy, setting up a rather juicy confrontation for director Kathryn Bigelow with her former husband James Cameron. And of course, there's a big noise going for Sandra Bullocks' performance in The Blind Side. 


I'm glad to see Austrian Christoph Waltz in there for his show (and heart) stopping performance as Colonel Landa in  Inglourious Basterds, and District 9, with its' South Africa location taking it outside the usual Academy Award territory.
Here are the nominations in full, with a 'H' for my Hack bet for who will win:

Best Picture      

Avatar 'H'

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

A Serious Man

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Up

Up in the Air

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker 'H'

James Cameron – Avatar

Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Jason Reitman – Up in the Air

Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds 

Best Actor          

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart as Bad Blake

George Clooney – Up in the Air as Ryan Bingham

Colin Firth – A Single Man as George Falconer

Morgan Freeman – Invictus as Nelson Mandela

Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker as Sgt. William James 'H'

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side as Leigh Anne Tuohy 'H'

Helen Mirren – The Last Station as Sofya Tolstoy

Carey Mulligan – An Education as Jenny Miller

Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Clarieece "Precious" Jones

Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia as Julia Child

Best Supporting Actor  

Matt Damon – Invictus as François Pienaar

Woody Harrelson – The Messenger as Capt. Tony Stone

Christopher Plummer – The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy

Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones as George Harvey

Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds as Col. Hans Landa 'H' (pictured)

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz – Nine as Carla Albanese

Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air as Alex Goran 'H'

Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart as Jean Craddock

Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air as Natalie Keener

Mo'Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Mary Lee Johnston

Best Original Screenplay             

The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen 'H'

Up – Tom McCarthy, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

An Education – Nick Hornby

In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci and Tony Roche

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher

Up in the Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best Animated Feature

Coraline – Henry Selick

Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson

The Princess and the Frog – Ron Clements and John Musker

The Secret of Kells – Tomm Moore

Up – Pete Docter 'H' (pictured left)

Best Foreign Language Film

Ajami (Israel) in Arabic and Hebrew – Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani

El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina) in Spanish – Juan José Campanella

The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) in Spanish and Quechua – Claudia Llosa

A Prophet (France) in French, Corsican and Arabic – Jacques Audiard 'H'

The White Ribbon (Germany) in German – Michael Haneke

Best Movies of 2009

So, 2009 was a fascinating year in the movies. It ended spectacularly with Avatar, with some light relief from In the Loop there in the middle, and so much fun with Funny People. Notice I deliberated didn't mention summer turkey Transformer 2. Oh balls, I did. With my eye on the Oscars and the Golden Globes (to be presented by our very own Ricky Gervais, pictured), here's my top flicks for the last year of the noughties....

1. The Hangover: Not quite as good as it could have been but nevertheless one of the most fun movies of the year, a Vegas caper tale with lots of hi jinks thrown in.
2. In The Loop : Malcolm "shouty bloke" Tucker wonders round Whitehall tearing his hair out at Minsterial incompetence, with the bonus of a stateside cast including James Gandolfini in the run up to a fictional war somewhere in the Middle East. Lots and lots of joyous, emphatic and wonderful swearing.
3. Avatar: Special effects extravaganza from James Cameron turned out to not suck despite looking like a giant turkey in the trailer. He didn't scrimp on the script either, and the result is probably going to be the biggest grossing movie ever, beating the record he set with Titanic.
4. Funny People: Surprisingly insightful character drama described as a comedy, with a bit of satire on Hollywood thrown in, all about a hit Hollywood comedian-actor, who's life is turned upside down when he is diagnosed with cancer. No, it's not depressing, but Judd Apatow is going to have to stop going over familiar ground soon......
5. State Of Play: Classy US remake of the brilliant BBC drama minseries, turning into a movie on the grand tradition of Washington-based political conspiracy movies.
6. Taking Of Pelham 123: Somewhat underrated by reviews, this actually didn't suck, and John Travolta made a pretty good, scary baddie.
7. The Wrestler: a bravura acting performance from a broken down ol' piece of meat.
8. The Damned United: Sheen Does it again, this time with a quip-perfect Brian Clough, in movie of Dave Peaces' novel about Ol Big Ed's disasterous spell as manager of Leeds United.
9. Up In The Air: George Clooney satirises his off screen persona in this recession comedy about an executive who loves corporate loyalty cards, air miles and travellling first class more than he loves people. Quite likely to win something in this awards season....
10. Frost/Nixon: Michael Sheen plays slippery, lightweight David Frost in out of his depth, in this Ron Howard directed flick that was described as being "Rocky" for journalists, giving "Tricky Dicky" the trial he never had.
11. Moon: Brillant throwback sci-fi movie, harking back to the likes of 2001, Blade Runner, Alien, and Dark Star, directed by Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie), and with a truly incredibly performance from Sam Rockwell, who carries a whodunnit/ghost story/character drama. Totally different from anything else that came out this past year, and refreshing for it.

I also enjoyed Star Trek, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Gran Torino and District 9. My money's on Up In The Air, The Road, Up, and perhaps Inglourious Basterds. I'm also now realising that there's a distinct lack of foreign movies in my list, something I shall endevour to rectify this year! Anyway, best of luck, especially to Ricky Gervais with presenting the ceremony tomorrow, despite the fact that The Invention Of Lying sucked....

London Film Festival Roundup

As the 53rd London Film Festival winds up today, it announced the winner of it's inaugural Best Film award to be french prison flick Un Prophete (starring Tahar Rahim, pictured), which follows the story of a young Arab man who ends up spending six years behind bars. The forthcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post apocalypic novel The Road, which stars Viggo Mortsensen and Charlize Theron was also shown at the festival, was also singled out, recieving praise from a jury which included Angelica Huston and Jarvis Cocker.

Best British Newcomer went to Jack Thorne (formerly a writer on Channel 4 program Skins), the screenwriter responsible for coming of age story The Scouting Book For Boys.

Tonight, the closing night, includes a showing of Nowhere Boy, a biopic about John Lennon's childhood, and his difficult relationship with his aunt aunt and mother, as well as his friendship with a certain Paul McCartney. The movie stars David Morrisey and Kristin Scott-Thomas.



This year's Festival has been bigger than ever, screening over 200 films, with appearances by the likes of George Clooney, the Coen Brothers, John Hurt (who was awarded a BFI fellowship), and Bill Nighy, as well as a host of newcomers. On receipt of the award, Hurt told journalists, "For me, the BFI is the heart of British cinema," Hurt said. "I consider it the highest honour possible to be awarded a Fellowship."