I'm a hard marker. I don't believe in perfect scores - unlike some Olympic judges - and often find myself out of step with society when it comes to what's good and what's not. Popularity is not always a good measure of quality, besides, beauty as such is in the eye of the beholder.
That might sound a little grim, but I love books and movies and much of popular art as a whole, and am an avid consumer of it. I find something to enjoy in most of it, it's just that with my critical eye very little measures up to the very highest standards we aspire to.
With that qualification I've reviewed my favourite movies of the year. I've seen a few in the cinema, but much more on DVD. I've seen all manner of movies, from rom-coms to sci-fi, from action adventure to modest dramas. Out of all that there are only really three movies that stand out.
The first of these is Up In The Air. I love George; George loves me. We have a companionable relationship based in part on his movies and much more on his persona. Sure, he's a cool dude that everyone loves, but he's also an intelligent and discerning man who makes, by and large, interesting role choices.
Up In The Air is one of his best. He was born for the role seemingly, the genial but detached executive touring the country laying off people while polishing his motivational program and embarking on a disconnected and ill-fated romance. Ultimately it's his own demons he has to deal with, his own deeply buried issues that surface as times change abnd events overtake him.
It's the 'voice' in this which is so good, and so George. The rootless and wry observer of life and human nature while squirelling away the handy tips for the inveterate traveller. It is a warm hearted movie that engages the viewer on different levels - as compadre to Ryan Bingham (George) in his journeys, as witnesses to the grief of those laid off and the bitter world they inhabit, and as fellow travellers in the artificial environment up in the air.
It is a beautifully made, beautifully acted movie that takes you on a journey through the air and onto to the ground as Ryan negotiates through his own changing world and wrestles with his own unfamiliar hopes. It certainly worked for me.
Very different is Inception. A lot of people loved this, and a lot didn't get it at all. Some, literally, didn't get it, couldn't follow the intricately plotted winding story, and so lost it. Me, I'm always going to love a movie like this if it's done well. I love stories that make me think, love particularly these enigmatic and otherwordly tales of things that aren't, but might be. I love Borges, and Escher fascinates me, and there are elements of both in this story.
Watching it I felt caught up in the tale and racing along with it as it twisted this way and went back that. It was hugely creative and imaginative, with special effects and visuals to do it justice. It was that rare experience for me in that for a little over 2 hours I was taken out of myself and transported somewhere entirely different, a world of wondrous possibilities and fantastic mystery. What is true, and what isn't? It's a question that infuriates many; for me it is an enduring and fascinating conjecture.
The third movie is different again. A Single Man is the most gorgeous of these films, and the movie that affected me most deeply. It is Tom Ford's first crack as a director and he shows talent and flair. Based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood this is a fantastically poignant and sensitive story of a man dealing with the enduring grief over the death of his lover. That they are gay is almost irrelevant.
It's set in the course of a single day in the life of the grieving protagonist. At the beginning of the day he has resolved to do himself in. He has tried and failed to overcome the emptiness in his life after the death of his lover, and suicide seems the only reasonable solution. He prepares in his meticulous way and then through the day has a variety of encounters that illuminate different aspects of himself and his life. All this is beautifully presented, the lighting distinct, the scenes like artworks brought to life. At the centre of them is George, so beautifully played by Colin Firth (who has become one of my favourite actors).
The movie flashes backwards and forwards as he ties up the loose ends of his life, the idyllic past, the pragmatic present. It is the delicate study of grief and enduring love. I know it's not a movie for everyone, yet I defy anyone to be unmoved by it. This is the real deal. This is just about the closest approximation of love in it's infinite detail I've yet seen on screen, the longing, the tenderness, the gentle and easy affection. In a way it's refreshing: this is what we aspire to after all, that depth of feeling that becomes new day after day. It exists after all, it can be.
The movie ends on an ironically sad note, though there is also hope: love can come again. The journey through the last day of his life has taken him from grim acceptance to modest anticipation. It is about re-birth in a way, and infused me with a mix of emotions for hours later. I felt enriched by the viewing experience. In a way it validated my own reason for being: the object of life is to live deeply and true.
They're the stand-outs. I saw other reasonable movies too, though none as good as these. The Hurt Locker, which won all the awards, I found to be good, but unremarkable. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right place for it.