The Great Pulp Review of the Year!
Becca Hodgson
Film of the Year: I’m Not There
It has been quite a good year for films, in my humble opinion. I found No Country For Old Men beautifully gritty and Sweeney Todd involved a very well measured Depp: blood ratio. But for me the standout film this year would have to be I’m Not There, despite me not being a massive Bob Dylan fanatic. I loved how each subplot explored elements of Dylan’s life and work, the music was great and the cinematography glorious. Todd Haynes brought together a fine ensemble cast, with Cate Blanchett providing a revelatory and convincing performance as a male rock star. I came away from the cinema feeling I had seen something completely different to anything I had ever seen!
Flop of the Year: I Am Legend
Sadly, one film really was not as superb as I wished. I found I am Legend incredibly disappointing. The poster campaign featuring Will Smith roaming the streets of deserted New York really wetted my appetite for some good post apocalyptic action. I Am Legend is not without merit; the tension of the first act is great and Will Smith puts in another solid performance. But what starts out so promisingly gives way to the worst special effects I’ve seen for a while and a ridiculously sentimental ending. Shame.
Watch Out For: Blindness
The upcoming film that I am most looking forward to is psychological thriller Blindness, due for release at the beginning of 2009. Based on Portuguese novelist Jose Saramengo’s outstanding novel the plot follows the outbreak and repercussions of an epidemic of blindness in an unnamed city. The film is helmed by the talented Fernando Meirelles, director of City of God and The Constant Gardener, and the cast includes Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Gael Garcia Bernal. The trailer previews a tense and thought- provoking film and with such excellent talent attached I can’t wait!
Matt Cooper
Film of the Year: The Darjeeling Limited
Dysfunctional family: check. 60s soundtrack: check. Owen Wilson et al: check.
Wes Anderson returned to our screens in November with another whimsy of self-discovery, this time following three brothers on a trip across India. Wilson plays Francis who, after a near-fatal motorcycle crash, decides to embrace life and invite his estranged siblings on a spiritual journey that he hopes will help them to bond again.
If you enjoyed The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, and the rest, then this is a must-see. If not, then just remember that how funny you find it is proportionate to how clever you are. Just try and laugh when everyone else does.
Flop of the Year: Fool’s Gold
If there are any Matthew McConaughey fans out there, please feel free to stop me. These days they say it’s important to keep your mind active, so here are some things to think about, should you find your brain dissolving as a result of watching Fool’s Gold: shouldn’t you be doing that essay you’ve been putting off for weeks? Did you leave the stove on again? Do you believe in life after love? How were both Ray Winstone and Donald Sutherland tricked into doing in this film?
Tight torsos and stunning landscapes simply cannot distract from the tawdry acting and limp, yet somehow difficult to follow, plot. If you’re after swashbuckling adventure, wait for Mr. Jones next month.
Watch Out For: I Want To Be Believe
My flatmates hate most things I like, so it was a surprise when they agreed to watch, and later even admitted to enjoying, the first X-Files movie. Suffice to say, I found it difficult to express my joy when I read that another would be released August 2008. Not strictly a sequel, I Want To Believe catches up with Mulder and Scully six years after the series finale and will apparently be comparable to the ‘stand-alone’ episodes fans will be familiar with. I dare you to believe.
Becci Sharpe
Film of the Year: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has most certainly had the biggest impact on me. It’s a remarkable story about a man who suffers a stroke paralysing his body but keeping his mind and witty sense of humour in tact. Based on the real autobiography he wrote in this condition, and with impressive film making style from director Julian Schnabel, this really stood out to me as a fantastic achievement. I’ve also loved bizarre and charming British film Hallam Foe starring Jamie Bell. The imagery of Edinburgh and the impressive acting performances firmly planted this in my favourite films of all time! I was pleased with the well deserved attention Juno achieved as a bit more out there and away from conventional Hollywood product, but the best thing to come out of America in my opinion was The Darjeeling Limited. A very cute and quirky film, this did what a good film should and took me elsewhere to a completely unfamiliar world. It’s brimming with a sense of humour I found bang on.
Flop of the Year: Balls of Fury
My biggest disappointment of the year was ridiculous comedy Balls of Fury. I think it’s because I love stupid comedies and this one had so much potential, but it turned out to be just another film that condensed all funny bits into the advert thus making the hour and half film version is somewhat of a waste. My biggest question is what on earth was Christopher Walken doing in it?? Get back to fat boy slim videos… much funnier.
Watch Out For: The Time Traveller’s Wife.
A fascinating story that’s been crying out to be adapted, filming has just finished and it stars Eric Bana and Rachel Mc Adams. Due out as we return next term, it’s set to be a big film with a lot of expectations from the many readers of the best selling novel.
Alison Humphries
Film of the Year: Atonement
For me, the best film of the past year has got to be Atonement.
As a huge fan of the original novel I approached the film with caution, well aware that with source material so complex it could have easily been a disaster.
Luckily Joe Wright gave us a gem of a film where the acting is superb (James McAvoy is brilliant and I wasn’t even annoyed by Keira Knightley once!), the visuals are breath-taking and the heart-wrenching conclusion is enough to send the biggest of sceptics sobbing into their hankies.
Watch it simply for the amazing 5 minute tracking shot of Dunkirk and you’ll see why this is my favourite film of 2007/8.
Flop of the Year: American Gangster
I really don’t think that I’ve watched a truly horrendous film this year, although I’ve been warned off many by friends (Evan Almighty is officially hated by everyone). However, I have been disappointed by a few films, American Gangster being one of them. Although Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe were undeniably brilliant, the story really dragged making a film that should have been so tense you couldn’t have left for a loo break just in case you missed something, into one that left you looking at your watch every five minutes. The last 20 minutes saved it, yet I couldn’t help but feel a tad disappointed that the rest of the film hadn’t been as entertaining.
Watch Out For: The Incredible Hulk
Everyone is excited about the return of Carrie Bradshaw, Indiana Jones and Bruce Wayne to cinema screens but I’m setting my sights on everyone’s favourite angry green bloke The Incredible Hulk as a safe bet this summer. Ang Lee’s 2003 version proved a bit of a snooze-fest so surely this time round we’ll have a good old- fashioned, action packed summer blockbuster on our hands. Plus the fact that the always brilliant (and easy on the eye) Edward Norton is on board to play Hulk is something of a bonus too!
Daniel Watkins
The past year’s been pretty good for film, with laughs, action, love, drama, spectacle and realism in equal measure. Join me, will you not, in a brief history of the cinema we’ve experienced in Pulp Film in the past year for this, our final issue.
Autumn kicked off with a selection of comedies from around the world – from Britain came the Simon Pegg rom-com Run Fat Boy Run and the less widely seen but just as funny Death at a Funeral (both of which, interestingly, were directed by Americans), while America presented a new geek icon with Superbad’s McLovin and a new culinary one thanks to Pixar’s Ratatouille and Remy the rat. Even New Zealand got in on the act with the Peter Jackson-evoking horror comedy Black Sheep. Atonement’s love story, Johnny Depp’s singing in Sweeney Todd and the fairy tale of Stardust offered plenty for the girls, and the men were satisfied by Ridley Scott’s American Gangster and the return of Rambo after a nineteen year absence.
As always, special effects and adaptations were a vital part of the year’s biggest movies. Robert Zemeckis had another go at the ‘future’ of film with the entirely computer-generated retelling of Beowulf, whereas the only redeemable feature of the disappointing Philip Pullman adap The Golden Compass was its epic visual effects, with its digitally-created battle between two polar bears playing a big part in its Oscar win. Horror fans got another couple of vampire tales to add to that genre – 30 Days Of Night and I Am Legend both had great concepts, and while the former had the scares, the latter had a standout performance from Will Smith – even if it was nothing like its source novel. However, lower-budget character-based affairs also had a good year – Wes Anderson brought out The Darjeeling Limited, and Jason Reitman’s Juno was the indie hit of the year, connecting with a large audience, winning a screenwriting Oscar and even making an impact on the music industry thanks to its soundtrack.
Heading into 2008, awards season got into full swing with the return of the Coen brothers. No Country For Old Men was a beautifully-made, violent return to form for the pair that also made a star out of Javier Bardem. PT Anderson, meanwhile, created a masterpiece in There Will Be Blood. Stunning to watch, with a slow-building plot and unsettling mood-heightening soundtrack, a shocking conclusion and outstanding performances from Daniel Day Lewis and Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood is a film that sticks in the mind long after it’s finished.
My Film of the Year, however, has to go to Cloverfield. It was a love-it or hate-it movie, and I personally am an avowed member of the former. A brilliant reinvention of the monster movie, the style and direction of Cloverfield allows you to get totally caught up in the action. It was a cinematic experience like none other I’ve had, and I hope it will be remembered as such.
