And The Nominees Are: Film of The Year

If 1964 heralded the beginning of the British Invasion in American music, then 2011 was the year that Blighty conquered Hollywood.

The big budget blockbuster nonsense of the final Transformers and another Pirates of The Caribbean may have kept studio execs in golf courses and gold bullion, but were less well received by those of us who had to suffer through them. Throw in a couple of ho-hum superhero flicks, another eye gougingly horrid Twilight picture and more 3D than you could shake a shitty stick at, and it’s easy to see why the US had to rely on us, it’s cooler cousins from across the pond, to provide the show this year.

The Academy Awards may as well have been hosted at the Albert Hall to save most of the winners the journey as the King’s Speech cleaned up and the Best Actor and Supporting Actor gongs both went British (Colin Firth and Christian Bale respectively). Add to that the only Blockbuster to truly swing and hit was the spellbinding finale of the Harry Potter franchise, which just so happened to be bursting at the seams with a Ploughman’s platter of British talent.

And just a reminder, the highest grossing film of next year will be a largely British affair too. Tip top.

Anyway, onto the nominees;

The Guard

When a McDonagh brother teams with Brendan Gleeson, you’re guaranteed to be onto a winner. Following on from the success of his Brother Martin’s riotous 2008 black comedy In Bruges, John Michael McDonagh entrusts the ever reliable Gleeson with the role of Irish Garda Sergeant Gerry Boyle. Teamed with FBI Agent Everett (Don Cheadle) the pair form a hilarious dynamic duo tasked with taking down an international drug smuggling ring. Cue murder, prostitutes, the IRA and casual racism (more harmless Granddad and less John Terry) and it’s easy to see why this became the most successful independent Irish film of all time.

The Fighter

It’s been 26 long years since Rocky Balboa braved the perilous Iron Curtain to trade hurting bombs with the Apollo Creed slaying cyborg Ivan Drago. That’s too long to go without a classic boxing flick, but fortunately along came Mark Walhberg this year to bring us the story of ‘Irish’ Micky Ward. All the classic rags to riches hallmarks may be clichéd, but are dealt with admirably by a phenomenal cast.

 First there’s Wahlberg himself, a Massachusetts native, like Ward, whose dedication to the role shines through from bell to bell. Wahlberg is merely the tip of the iceberg though, as Melissa Leo and Amy Adams play the roles of overbearing mother and local sweetheart to a tee. Oh, and let us not forget the show stealing, knockout performance of Christian Bale, who scooped Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his portrayal of local boxing hero turned crack addict Dicky Englund.



Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The adaptation of a classic novel to the silver screen is always a project met with caution and suspicion. So often fanatics and critics alike will sharpen their knives in the hope that their mumblings of derision will be proved correct when the picture ultimately fails to meet their unreasonably lofty expectations. With Tinker Tailor . . .  Swedish director Thomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In) tasked himself with the unenviable job of condensing John Le Carre’s 1974 classic, itself already serialised in a seven part series on the BBC in 1979, into an incredibly complex two hours and hope that by the end, everyone had some semblance of what had just happened.

 Luckily, Alfredson managed to assemble an outrageous cast, spearheaded by the sublimely cool Gary Oldman (whose performance as Smiley surely has him Oscar bound) and more than ably supported by Brit stalwarts John Hurt and Colin Firth, the increasingly impressive Benedict Cumberbatch and superstar in the making Tom Hardy. All of whom succeed in making this ‘Circus’ the greatest show on Earth.

Submarine

The Inbetweeners wasn’t the only ‘coming of age’ film this year, as IT Crowd nerd do well Richard Ayoade made his directorial debut with Submarine. It’s a film that could quite have easily been either a debauched teen sex comedy or a quirky twee indie flick in the nauseating vein of Juno. Fortunately, it’s neither and in fact serves as the most charming film of the year, highlighting an innocence of youth rarely so well portrayed nowadays. Rookie pair Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige handle their characters effortlessly well while Britain’s favourite cult hero Paddy Considine yet again proves why he’s the best actor outside of Hollywood. Oh, and Alex Turner provides the soundtrack.

George Harrison: Living In The Material World

Ok, so technically, Martin Scorsese’s sprawling biopic of the coolest Beatle received one night at cinemas, yet to not include this undeniable work of genius in our list would be tantamount to treason. Whether a Beatle fan or not, Living In The Material World’s meticulous attention to detail makes for essential viewing. Scorsese, as is his custom, leaves no stone unturned, wheeling out the big guns in McCartney, Ringo and Clapton etc and combining their contributions with reams of unseen footage and interviews to reveal sides to Harrison that even the most ardent Beatlemaniac would have no idea about. A true triumph in filmmaking.

Remember to swing by tomorrow when our nominees for Compilation of The Year are announced.

Until then,

Keep on Keepin’ on,

Baia

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