Movies.ie reviews the latest flicks to hit cinemas
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (USA/15A/112mins)
Directed by Edward Zwick. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Josh Gad, Gabriel Macht, Judy Greer, George Segal.
PLOT: Gyllenhaal plays a not-all-that-successful lothario, Jamie, his latest ruse being to train as a pharmaceutical salesman – so he can gain access to doctor’s practices, and meet some vulnerable patients. One such patient is Hathaway’s wisecracking Parkinson’s sufferer Maggie. What starts out as some good old-fashioned casual sex gets a little more complicated though when Jamie realizes he’s falling in love. Just around the time everyone is advising him – including Maggie – that he would probably be better off moving on to his next conquest.
VERDICT: Two attractive people getting naked and down is a formula that has long worked extremely well for certain sections of the entertainment industry. You just don’t expect it to happen so much with a mainstream Hollywood movie. Not exactly 9 Songs, but you do have to adjust your set somewhat here, as Jake and Anne bonk it like it really is. One of those movies that straddles quite a few genres and ends up somewhat in limbo, top marks though for going out on a limb. Or two. RATING: ***
GREENE MACHINE
From January 2nd to the 23rd, the IFI will be playing host to Greene On The Screen Part 1 – a season of the film work of the great, late English novelist Graham Greene. A man dedicated to film as much as books, Greene penned the likes of The Third Man and Brighton Rock.
February will feature Rowan Joffe’s new take on the classic Brighton Rock, the third Greene remake in a decade.
Full details are available on ifi.ie.
THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS
For those of you fine people interested in such things, here’s my poll for 2010. Always a bunch of films that didn’t quite cut it, and an even larger number that can go fuck themselves. Once someone catches it on camera, of course. Otherwise, in many ways, it really doesn’t exist.
Best Film
A PROPHET
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TOY STORY 3
WINTER’S BONE
KICK-ASS
BAD LIEUTENANT PORT OF CALL: NEW ORLEANS
THE ARBOR
PONYO
DOGTOOTH
Best Irish Film
ZONAD
HIS & HERS
SAVAGE
THE FADING LIGHT
COLONY
Best Documentary
HIS & HERS
CATFISH
COLONY
AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY
PYJAMA GIRLS
THE PIPE
Best Actor
TAHIR RAHIM (A Prophet)
JESSE EISENBERG (The Social Network)
ARMIE HAMMER (The Social Network)
COLIN FIRTH (A Single Man)
CASEY AFFLECK (The Killer Inside Me)
Best Actress
CHLOE MORETZ (Kick-Ass/Let Me In)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE (Winter’s Bone)
TILDA SWINTON (I Am Love)
ROONEY MARA (The Social Network)
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS (Leaving)
Best Director
JACQUES AUDIARD (A Prophet)
WERNER HERZOG (Lieutenant/My Son)
DAVID FINCHER (The Social Network)
CLIO BARNARD (The Arbor)
GIORGOS LANTHIMOS (Dogtooth)
Best Breakthrough
CHLOE MORETZ (Kick-Ass/Let Me In)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE (Winter’s Bone)
CLIO BARNARD (The Arbor)
KEN WARDROP (His & Hers)
KODI SMIT-MCPHEE (The Road/Let Me In)