The Good, the Bad and the plain Ugly

Fortunately in 2009, there was such a feast of great cinema, that side-stepping any real cinematic crime was relatively easy. So, when reflecting on the hot and the not, choosing just six favourites was not easy. Sure to ignite considerable debate, especially the omission of District 9 (still haven't seen it); here are the best reasons to get to the DVD shop over the holiday period (in no particular order):

The Good:

In the Loop

Having now seen In the Thick of It, which set the template for In the Loop, I have to applaud Armando Iannucci for his skill in maintaining the same manic humour on the cinematic stage. Iannucci has done for political spin doctors and newspaper hounds what Ricky Gervais did for Slough paper merchants. With a cast of neurotic careerist politicians skulking beneath the cloud of Alistair Campbell parody Malcolm Tucker, In the Loop keeps two cameras moving in clever docu-drama fashion. Using the not-so fictional war (Iraq) as the context that pits a British backbencher amidst the might of Washington's war committee, In the Loop takes out the award in 2009 for the most cutting dialogue and clever use of profanity.

The Wrestler

The thing with The Wrestler is, you know how things are going to end after the first 5 minutes, but that doesn't make it any less compelling. Mickey Rourke is amazing for sure, but director Darren Aronofsky has yet to put in bad day at the office. The Wrestler proves what a great eye Aronofsky has for nuance, taking the camera into the dark recesses of professional wrestling to emerge with a portrait that seems so damn genuine it could be lifted from a Maysles Brothers' film. Composed of superbly layered moments of raw sentiment, The Wrestler's context might not be everyone's cup of tea, but that aside, as a parable about screwing-up, redemption and screwing-up again...its flawless.

The Unknown Woman

I'm willing to wager that this wee Italian flick passed through town without raising an eyebrow...what a shame. Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, more widely known for the twee Cinema Paradiso; The Unknown Woman is a top shelf thriller, with a distinctly noir aesthetic. Delving into the seedy underbelly of human slavery, The Unknown Woman cops more than a few tricks from the likes of Hitchcock and Cronenburg without feeling in any way derivative. All is never what it seems, and as the visceral flashbacks start to tally up, you'll be kicking yourself for not seeing the sadistic twists earlier. Unforgettable and criminally underrated.

In Search of the Midnight Kiss

Seldom do films come along that are as unpretentious and charming as In the Search of a Midnight Kiss. Shot entirely in colour and then de-saturated, the premise is relatively simple. A single bloke with more than a few hang-ups and some pestering housemates reluctantly agrees to meet an Internet date on New Year's Eve. What happens next is a roller-coaster ride of romance and musings on the state of metropolitan singles. The two phenomenally well-crafted characters take you on a tour of Los Angeles seldom profiled in tourist brochures. Director Alex Holdridge walks the tricky line between keeping solid story beats ticking along, and pausing to allow the film space to breathe. It's funny, bittersweet and unforgettable. Badger your local DVD store to get a copy of this, hard to find but well worth the effort.

Gran Torino

It's still a tad mystifying how Gran Torino didn't get nominated for an academy award? It's probably got everything to do with the raw racial caricatures, blunt but effective. Though, Gran Torino succeeds where any numbers of issues based films get lost in their own self-righteousness. Clint Eastwood doesn't spend a lot of time in front of the lens these days, so when he does expose his grizzled mug, it's for a good reason. On paper, Gran Torino doesn't sound any more appealing than watching a try-less rugby game. In reality, it's anything but. Part John Wayne, Charlton Heston and Dirty Harry, Eastwood's 'Walt Kowalski' is the perfect amalgam of the totally repulsive and incredibly amusing.

Gomorra

Overlooked for best foreign film in favour of the also brilliant 'Departures', Gomorra gets my vote purely for the fact that it takes a well-worn subject, and puts the boot in. Gomorra hits hard from the get go, and never lets up. Vignettes of Italian gang-fuelled terror and corruption are left as stand-alone pieces of a puzzle; slabs of seedy criminality cloaked in creeping dread. Dropping the audience deep behind the walls of Napoli's seedy tenements, every skulking gangster move is chronicled via some of most creative use of handheld camera outside the documentary genre. With so much information packed into each frame, repeated viewings are almost mandatory

The Bad:

When it comes to cinematic crime these days, the absence of original screenplays is particularly noticeable. The following three films all take a lot of artistic licence with historical episodes, and will be quickly forgotten because of it.

Valkyrie

Singling out a German tale told by Brits is no coincidence. Live of Others for instance, proves how good German stories can be when tackled by their own industry. Valkyrie's problems cannot be isolated to Tom Cruise's plank-like persona or Bill Nighy's mincing either. The tepid dissection of an assignation plot to kill Hitler has docu-drama potential, but apart from a hectic opening five minutes when the special effects budget takes a hiding, Valkyrie adds nothing to the brief synopsis on the publicity flyer.

Bride Flight

The Dutch aren't recognised for their films, and if Bride Flight is anything to go by, it's for good reason, Filmed almost entirely on location in New Zealand, Bride Flight plays fast and loose with local geography and historical accuracy. Supposedly based on an actual 1953 air race from London in Christchurch, and the divergent New Zealand lives lead by three young Dutch immigrants, Bride Flight amounts to not much more than a hot potch of half-baked story threads and costume changes.

Bottle Shock

The biggest crime of all though, is Bottle Shock. With possibly the best historical template to work from, writer-director Randall Miller has made an absolute pigs ear of it. Getting Sideways confused with The Dukes of Hazard, it hardly comes as a surprise to discover that Steven Spurrier, whom the film was based on, wanted nothing to do with it. Apart from Alan Rickman's consistent class, Bottle Shock packages a fine Californian Chardonnay, in a garish cardboard cast.

The Ugly:

Antichrist

104 minutes inside Lars Von Trier's subconscious is about 100 minutes too many. On pure aesthetic value, Antichrist looks amazing. But, it's so painfully self-indulgent, I doubt even the most hardened Von Trier fans could stick with it. Misogyny aside, which is the source of most of the vitriol directed at Antichrist, the film simply elevates shock over story…much to its detriment. Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg tackle the directionless script with admirable gusto, but even they must have been wondering what the hell was going on.