The September Issue

Release Date (UK) - 11 September 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12

Country - USA

Director - R J Cutler

Runtime - 90 mins

This documentary follows Anna Wintour, American Vogue Editor (and ice queen of the fashion world) and her staff as they put together the September 2007 issue of the magazine. Covering the photography and fashion content of this issue we see how fiercely Anna controls and vetoes what gets into the final magazine and the relationship she has with Creative Director Grace Coddington. We follow them to fashion shows, photo shoots, and also get glimpses into Annas own life with scenes with her daughter, who interestingly doesn't want a career in fashion or publishing, Anna herself having been born to be an editor being the daughter of big time newspaper editor Charles Wintour.

Instantly labelled the real life Devil wears Prada this film outshines it on so many levels. Its hilarious and also incredibly fascinating and gripping. Even if your not a fashionata this film is well worth a watch - for anyone interested in photography its a glimpse into the inspiration and process of idea to what actually gets into the magazine and the often ridiculous fashion items can get anyone laughing almost echoing the hilarity of Ben Stiller in Zoolander. This film is having a limited cinema release and then being released on DVD 10 days later, a tactic usually reserved for films nowhere near as great as this documentary and I'm really not sure why this is so. If its on at a cinema near you then go see it but I think a DVD purchase is only really necessary for fashion obsessives.

Funny People

Release Date (UK) - 28 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Judd Apatow

Runtime - 146 mins

Starring - Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen

Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a famous film comedian who discovers he is dying from a rare blood disease. Meanwhile Seth Rogen is Ira - a struggling, and failing, stand up comedian. As George struggles to cope with his diagnosis and returns to doing stand up gigs he meets Ira at an improv night and recruits him as his personal joke writer slash assistant. This slightly improbable relationship is the focus of a film that doesn't really go anywhere in terms of plot development but then what do you expect from the director of films such as Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin

As George reflects back on his life there is early footage of young Sandler himself and with Georges career in some slightly ridiculous movies you can't help feeling the irony here as we wonder whether Sandler himself echoes feeling about cliches of celebrity stardom voiced by George. One cameo laden scene highlights the negativity here towards fame as Georges' celebrity friends gather round after learning of his illness (playing themselves rather than fake celebrities) with a funny interchange between Eminem and George as Eminem says how depressed he's become with how restricting his fame is. Perhaps Sandler himself is tired of Hollywood and waishes he too could return to his days of stand up and Saturday Night Live.

Personally I've never found Seth Rogen funny and have been surprised how many people do, but in this film he's not character acting and just playing the comedian and I found myself laughing at this jokes throughout whereas I nearly walked out of Observe and Report. At 90 minutes this could have been an excellent comedy and one of the funniest so far this year, with high quality stand up and regular plot jokes much funnier than the very basic crude jokes in The Hangover but not quite as clever as the hilarious satire of In the Loop. However at this point the story moves to what basically is a Judd Apatow family showcase, with a boring and uninteresting side plot that goes nowhere but shows off Apatow's wife and two daughters. Georges illness has made him realise he was stupid to cheat on old girlfriend Laura (Leslie Mann, aka Mrs Apatow) and he goes to visit her with Ira to try and rekindle their relationship, even though she is now married with kids. There is even one awful cringe worthy scene where they watch a home video of the oldest girl, Mable (Maude Apatow) preforming in Cats, as Apatow basically gives his daughter screen time for her own personal showreel. How this got past studios execs still amazes me and this subplot ruins an otherwise funny film.

Inglourious Basterds

Release Date (UK) - 19 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 18

Country - USA / Germany

Director - Quentin Tarantino

Runtime - 153 mins

Starring - Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz, Diane Kruger

Set in the second world Christopher Waltz is Col. Lans Handa, German detective turned 'Jew hunter' who ruthlessly hunts down Jews but for some unnknown reason in the opening French scene lets the Jewish Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) escape. Meanwhile the 'Inglourious Basterds' are a group of American soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Reine (Brad Pitt) who are dropped into France and their sole mission is to kill as many Nazi's as possible. The reality of history is quickly abandoned as Tarantino tells a story of bloodshed and revenge as both Shosanna and The Basterds plan to bring down the Nazis.

The plot is segmented into chapters and feature Tarantino's signature drawn out dialogue pieces which often can get boring but in this film there is plenty else to look at whilst this is going on as his attention to detail in the mise en scene is almost perfect. The dialogue full scenes mean that there is less action than you'd expect and there's not really much of the Basterds, but at a two and a half hour run time I'm guessing he must have filmed more and it has been cut out. The only major flaw is there is one point when theres a scene missing near the end of the film when Pfc. Smithson Utivich (B. J. Novak) is captured we didn't even know he was around to be captured as his involvement in this scene was not mentioned at all until this point so a bit of a bad cut here. There are almost too many stories and characters that Tarantino is trying to cram into this film - the two plots are really unneeded and the flicking between characters becomes disjointed because not enough time is spent with either side. Theres also a rather odd Samuel L. Jackson voice over which is so infrequent most people wont even pick up that its Jackson and although its used for comic affect, its totally unneeded, perhaps QT promised him a part for some reason and then didn't want to cast him so stuffed this in?

Chirstopher Waltz steals the show by a mile, and in my mind is even Oscar worthy in his frightening and convincing portrayal of a Nazi. Brad Pitt however does nothing special apart from a few comedy lines and Diane Kruger, as movie star Bridget von Hammersmark helping the basterds get to the Nazis, is not the most convincing of spies. This 'Project Kino' plot involves the Basterds accompanying her to the premier of a Nazi propaganda film and blowong up the cinema (run by Dreyfuss). This is a film of intertextuality - with constant references to german cinema, and by putting the cinem itself at the centre of the plot Tarantino's trying to be too clever here and it will go over the heads of most viewers. These cinematic references become quite annoying for anyone whose cineliterate but a bit forgetful.. my mind kept wondering as i recognised music and lines and it just distracted me for the rest of the film. The soundtrack, with mashing up of other film soundtrack is not put together as well as it was in Kill Bill and just echoes the disjointed narrative.

Altogether yes its totally worth a watch as Tarantino is a cinematic hero and the cinematic style is incredible, but the lack of action promised by the title and trailer let it down and the intertextualuity will just end up giving you a headache.

Moon

Release Date (UK) - 17 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - UK

Director - Duncan Jones

Runtime - 97 mins

Starring - Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

Set not too soon in the future, a new fuel has been found which is mined from the Moon. Sam (Rockwell) is stationed on a station doing so on a three year contract which is about to end, with only a robot Gerty (Spacey) for company. However odd things begin to happen and after an accident caused by one of his hallucinations things get even odder as Sam is confronted with what appears to be a clone of himself. With a rescue team on the way after the accident together the two of them try to discover what is going on.

The Sci-fi genre seems to have died off in the current economic climate apart from the guaranteed blockbuster sequels like Star Trek, but this British film seems to have done quite well without massive budgets and effects and deservedly so, although much have the publicity about it seems to have been due to the fact that is the first film from Duncan Campbell, the son of David Bowie. The release was also very well timed to coincide with the anniversary of the moon landing and the publicity around that.

Although the story unfolds very slowly it is beautifully shot and you immediately grasp Sam's isolation and loneliness as he talks to his plants - he is just waiting for his three year daily routine to be over so he can finally see his family. When the clone arrives he is caught between confusion and relief as he finally has some company. The mystery of the plot aren't too complex as in some sci-fi, this film is much more a look at relationships than an analysis of technology and the possibilities it holds in cloning. There are also a few moments of quaint comedy from the relationship between Gerty and Sam, but oddly his position in whether he can help Sam uncover the truth seems to change from scene to scene. Apart from this confusion the plot unfolds nicely in this gentle observation tale which is a pleasant but not astounding watch.

The Yes Men Fix the World

Release Date (UK) - 7 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - France / USA

Director - Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonanno

Runtime - 87 mins

Starring - Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonanno

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are the Yes Men, two political pranksters who target corporate companies trying to 'fix the world', mainly by making fake announcements as representatives from these companies that are more ethical or highlight how inhumane these corporations can be. This film follows several of their pranks such as Andy impersonating a Dow representative on the BBC World news channel apologising for the Bhopal disaster that killed thousands of Indians and promising to compensate those affected.

Its sometimes unwatchable as you cant believe they have the dare to come out with the things they do at such big conferences but the reactions of the people they announce their fake ideas too is the most interesting part of the film, from those who believe there absurd announcements are true to the reactions of the press when they discovered to be pranksters. This examination of reactions is similar to Sacha Baren Cohens' films but here the satire is questioned by the media backlash after their stunts. The Yes Men are highlighting some key issues, and the media have often criticised them for giving false hope to victims but Andy and Mike challenge this by going to visit the people they had supposedly hurt and their reactions are usually the opposite - they end up thanking Andy and Mike for highlighting their plight.

Though their actions are really interesting and this film is worth a watch as a documentary it doesn't really come together. There motivations are not explained (I got the feeling they may have worked for a corporate company in the past but this is a real stab on the dark) and between pranks there are bizarre constructed scenes of them discussing their plans which just feel odd and lack comic timing. This aside the film is an eye opener on certain corporations and is getting issues like the Bhopal tragedy the publicity it deserves.

Sin Nombre

Release Date (UK) - 14 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - Mexico / USA

Director - Cary Fukunaga

Runtime - 96 mins

Starring - Kristian Ferrer, Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan

Sin Nombre is another immigration film, a topic which seems to be increasingly popular at the moment. It pieces together the threads of Willy (Edgar Flores) and Smiley (Kristian Ferrer), members of the notorious Mara gang and Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a teenager trying to emigrate to America with her estranged family. They come together travelling through Mexico on the roof of a train as first time director Fukunaga illustrates how many desperate people try (and often die trying) to get in to the USA.

The gang scenes feature some very brutal violence, and although this film has been compared to City of God Its a very different style, it is very beautifully shot and the story is a lot slower. This film had the potential to be a great watch but there's just something missing here - you just don't feel very attached to the characters emotionally and up not really caring what the outcome is, even though the tension is built up to a grand finale. Having seen Trade recently where Paulina Gaitan plays basically the same character this film just feels like a much better shot version of the same film. Whilst watching plights of people in this countries can be eye opening this film seems to be more about teenage angst than what could have been an emotional story of immigration and its dangers.

Rumba

Release Date (UK) - 31 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - PG

Country - France/Belgium

Director - Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon & Bruno Romy

Runtime - 77 mins

Starring - Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon

This delightful film tells the story of Fiona and Dominique, two teachers who enter dance competitions but after a car accident Fiona loses a leg and Dominique his memory. There is very little dialogue in this theatrical and mimical comedy piece, and is very reminiscent of the films of Jacques Tati in its clownish scenes.

The bold bright colours set the tone for the jolly mood of the film from the start, although there are slight dark undertones (their accident occurs after swerving to avoid the suicidal Gerard (Philippe Martz) ). The film follows a hilarious string of comic scenarios that they get into, from getting changed for a dance recital in their car whilst driving (reminiscent of a Mr Bean sketch) to Dominique's lack of memory leading him astray and taking his pupils into a bar. This is a wonderful, if short film and I would recommend everyone to go if you get a chance. Tip - stay till the end of the credits as there's a brief scene at the end.

The Ugly Truth

Release Date - 7 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Robert Luketic

Runtime - 96 mins

Starring - Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler

Katherine Heigl plays Abby, a successful female producer of a morning daytime TV show. When her boss recruits Mike (Gerard Butler) for the show for a segment called 'The Ugly Truth' where he offers up his misogynist views on sex and relationships Abby cant stand him and wants rid of him. But his advice instead ends up helping her start a romance with her new neighbour Colin (Eric Winter) but its not too hard to guess what the end result is in this predictable hate-turning-to-love-relationship rom-com.

Unfortunately the com element of this film is slightly flawed. Most of the jokes stem from Mike's crass misogynistic humour, which will appeal much more to men but the average romantic comedy audience is usually more female than male. None of the jokes are particularly clever and Heigl has no real comic timing. The obvious vibrating knicker gag (I'll leave that to your imagination) and frequent swearing have earned it a 15 rating as well which isn't going to help improve audience numbers. Boring, predictable and not especially funny its one for girls to drag the boyfriend to definitely - he'll think hes gonna hate it but will probably end up loving it more than you. It follows the same formula as the Proposal, which is funnier, so if you have the choice I'd suggest the Proposal is the better of the two.

500 Days of Summer

Release Date (UK) - 4 September 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - USA

Director - Mark Webb

Runtime - 95 mins

Starring - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel

Tom (Gordon-Levitt) works writing greeting card slogans and this is where he meets Summer (Deschanel) and promptly falls in love with her after dating for a while, but she isn't ready for that sort of commitment and soon dumps him. The film flicks frequently between the '500 days' from when he first meets her and his struggle to get over her. The fact that the story is told strictly from Tom's point of view and his interactions rather than just Summer's or a two sided affair is just the first of many un-cliched elements of this 'boy meets girl' story from first time director Webb.

The film is wonderfully fresh in its uniqueness and unpredictability, and as the narrator sets out from the start 'this is not a love story'. This infrequent narration which at first I felt was a little jilting ends up working quite well - its not the voice of any of the characters so the film doesn't over align us with Tom and its not too frequent to interfere with the plot. The almost random order of the days does become a little confusing but as long as you pay attention its quite easy to follow. More screen time is dedicated to Tom actually trying to get over Summer than the days of their dating relationship as the film takes an unusual look at relationships and the label of 'love'.

Both the stars are convincing and Gordon Levitt (who most people will recognise from his childhood days in 3rd Rock from the Sun) does so well I expect to see him many more films in the future. Unfortunately Deschanel seems to have been typecast as the quirky love interest so theres nothing I haven't seen her do before - Gigantic and Yes Man for example. However this quirkiness that is becoming popular lately in American Independent film is not all on her part as a scene where Tom and Summer play pretend house in Ikea is a lovely cutesy moment that will make you want to be in a relationship that's that much fun yourself.

There are some hilarious gags - the last line being the best but I wont spoil it and there is even a fantasy scrubs-style sequence when Tom bursts into a musical song and dance number after he spends his first night with Summer. The indie soundtrack is full of timeless classics (The Smiths, Doves, Simon & Garfunkel) that are well incorporated into the films themes as Tom and Summer argue over musical tastes, and I suspect the soundtrack may even do better than the film itself. Altogether this film is almost a new, and funnier Garden State. I hope it does as well.. go see it!

Antichrist

Release Date (UK) - 24 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 18

Country - Denmark

Director - Lars von Trier

Runtime - 108 mins

Starring - Willem Defoe, Charlotte Gainsborough

Antichrist is by far the most controversial film of the year. The critics at Cannes booed and walked out, and opinion is totally divided on whether Lars von Trier's film is a masterpiece or a gore fest in which he has gone too far. For me its a masterpiece, but a very flawed one. Its well known that von Trier had depression when he made the film and the dark story reflects this depression. However the film contains the most beautiful imagery I've seen in a long while and if it wasn't for the dark and slightly boring plot this would have been unrecognisably the most amazing film in years.

Defoe and Gainsborough, playing unnamed characters are a couple who are stricken by tragedy in the opening prologue when there young son accidentally dies falling out of a window. In the following chapters Defoe, a therapist, tries to counsel Gainsborough out of her grief and they go to 'Eden' their retreat cabin in the woods to try and overcome her grief and fears. There's not that much dialogue and the plot gets odder and odder when they arrive at Eden but the imagery outways the odd story and gore scenes. I wouldn't even term it gore, I don't know whether von Trier was trying to take the film to a new level of shocking cinema or whether his depression was so far deep that this was all he could conceive. There are graphic scenes of sex, violence and even genital mutilation that will disturb many people. I was perhaps the only person that didn't have to look away in the cinema, but after watching Salo at a young age no film has ever caused me to do so yet.

The film is dedicated to Andrei Tarkovski and its not hard to see why with the beautiful imagery and cinematography. The focus on nature is a key motif in Tarkovski's work and the beautifully held wide shots of the forest vividly evoke Tarkovski films particularly Ivan's Childhood. For any fans of Tarkovski this is a must but its to be avoided by even the slightly faint hearted.