gary oldman | the m0vie blog

My Best of 2011: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy & the Upstanding Britishness of it all…

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Darren

It’s that time of the year. To celebrate 2011, and the countdown to 2012, I’m going to count down my own twelve favourite films of the year, one a day until New Year’s Eve. I’m also going to talk a bit about how or why I chose them, and perhaps what makes this list “my” best of 2011, rather than any list claiming to be objective.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is number two. Check out my original review here.

I can understand why some people were a bit disappointed by Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. After all, the trailer did try to sell the film as a bit of a high-tension action movie with a deft touch of British class, sort of like Jason Bourne meets To The Manor Borne. It’s easy to see why some people might have got the wrong impression of a movie that sold itself as an “espionage thriller”, the type of film that typically features moments on incredible suspense, nice outfits, exotic locales and the fate of the entire world in the balance. Obviously, nobody was expecting anything quite as showy as James Bond, but perhaps they anticipated a more sophisticated version of that type of adventure – without the gadgets and the supervillains and outlandish stunts, of course. However, instead of the “sophisticated James Bond”, la Carré writes what might be best classified as the “anti-James Bond.”

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Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: Alec Guinness, best films of 2011, best of 20911, favourite films of 2011, gary oldman, George Smiley, james bond, jason bourne, my best of 2011, my favourite films of 2011, Smiley, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson | Leave a comment »

Does Anybody Actually Take the Oscars Seriously These Days?

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Darren

And people complain that Christmas starts too early! It’s still 2011 and we’re already in the heart of what might be termed “Oscar season”, the spiritual counterpart to the equally expansive “blockbuster season.” Both have very different measures of success. Success in blockbuster season is measured in the words “record-breaking” and “box office” along with various other aggressive adjectives like “smashing”, “breaking”, “crushing” or “dominating.” The winners get their choices of big budgets and high-profile roles and franchises, or the opportunity to risk it all and play again during Oscar season. The rewards at the end of Oscar season are a little gold statue and something like “artistic credibility”, along with the right to stick “Oscar-winner” in front of your name. I’d swear Meryl Streep’s mail is addressed to “Oscar-winner Meryl Streep.”

I might Doubt their credibility...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: academy, Academy Award, Christopher Nolan, eddie murphy, gary oldman, Hurt Locker, meryl streep, oscar, People's Choice Awards | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Speed

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Darren

Pop quiz, hotshot. There’s a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?

– Howard tells you everything you need to know

Speed is the quintessential nineties action movie. If you want to look at a movie that typifies what a nineties action film looked like, but does so with an incredible amount of skill (and a reasonable portion of wit), it’s hard to recommend a more obvious choice. It’s a movie that falls apart if you think about it too hard, but director Jan de Bont does an absolutely amazing job making sure that we’re never really looking beyond the next ridiculous plot twist or tension action set piece. More than earning its name, Speed is a movie that runs on enough raw adrenaline that it becomes as easy to overlook the movie’s flaws as it is to it seems to be ride a bus across a fifty-foot gap in a half-constructed bridge. And de Bont manages to make that look really easy.

Can I phone a friend on this "pop quiz"?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action films, dennis hopper, Filmmaking, gary oldman, Graham Yost, Howard Payne, jack, Keanu Reeves, metafiction, Movie, non-review review, review, sandra bullock, Speed, Speed (film), United States | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: A Christmas Carol (2009)

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Darren

I’m yet to be sold on the Robert Zemeckis school of “motion capture.” Don’t worry, I don’t hold a prejudice. I’m just waiting to be convinced, and I worry that Zemeckis – for all his championing of the technology – might not be the one to do it. For, as impressive as the technical merits of his technique might be, I think that Zemeckis has yet to find a story that truly needs to be told in that format, or at least a story that resonates in that format. Much as Pixar have somewhat validated computer-generated animation (a school of filmmaking that met with a ridiculous amount of cynicism in its early years), I think the key to proving the worth of this sort of approach lies in finding a story that connects with audiences, while demonstrating the strengths of the tool being used to tell it.

While it’s an enjoyable enough holiday film, A Christmas Carol simply is not that film.

Totally Scrooged...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: a christmas carol, Bob Hoskins, Charles Dickens, christmas, Christmas Carol, colin firth, films, gary oldman, jim carrey, Movies, Muppet Christmas Carol, non-review review, pixar, review, robert zemeckis | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Darren

Spying is a damn dirty business. Don’t let James Bond and his fancy Union Jack parachutes or underwater cars fool you. According to The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, it’s an empty and depressing little existence where the players are all confined to the role of pawns on a chessboard. I can’t help but feel that there’s something symbolic about the scene where Alec Leamas, played by Richard Burton, assaults an elderly shopkeeper, played by Bernard Lee – the actor who was playing Bond’s paymaster, M. Given the character’s growing sense of disillusionment, it can’t help but feel strangely potent to see him lash out a symbol of the other – far more romanticised – series of adventures built around British Intelligence.

"I, I can remember... standing by the wall... and the guns, the guns shot above our heads..."

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Berlin Wall, Bernard Lee, Cold War, gary oldman, George Smiley, ian fleming, james bond, John le Carré, non-review review, review, Richard Burton, Spy Who Came In From The Cold | Leave a comment »

Tinkers, Tailors: The Phantom of the Prestigious Sequel…

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Darren

If rumours are to be believed, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is such a dramatic success that discussions have begun about a possible sequel, with Gary Oldman even chiming in that a follow-up might do well to adapt both The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People into a single film – reducing leCarré’s trilogy to a duology. Still, even if there’s only one more film produced, the news can’t help but seem a little strange: after all, it’s very intellectual material for a Hollywood franchise, isn’t it?

Every right to be Smiley...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: blockbusters, box office, Christopher Nolan, franchises, gary oldman, George Smiley, hollywood, Honourable Schoolboy, sequels, Smiley's People, The Honourable Schoolboy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson | 4 Comments »

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (BBC) (Review)

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Darren

Let’s not be melodramatic. Control would disapprove.

– Smiley sums it up

It’s odd coming to the BBC’s 1979 adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the opposite direction of most fans. I’ve never read la Carre’s original novel, and I saw Tomas Alfredson’s movie before watching the miniseries. So my perspective is slightly askew, as if I’m moving in the wrong direction. My viewing of the miniseries is informed more by the 2011 movie than by the book that inspired it. Still, it’s very hard not to be impressed by the television adaptation, which really seems like it pulled out all the stops in translating the story from page to screen, featuring an all-star cast, of which Sir Alec Guinness is only the front man.

Smiley fellow, eh?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alec Guinness, bbc, gary oldman, George Smiley, John le Carré, Joss Ackland, Peter Guillam, review, Smiley, Television, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson | 1 Comment »

Spoilers… And Movies Beyond Spoiling…

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Darren

Last week, Total Film included a selection of heavily stylised posters for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. They do look quite fabulous and are well worth a look, but it has been pointed out that one of them does spoil the film by identifying the mole. This got me thinking – the information is already out there, both in le Carré’s original Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the BBC’s adaptation, so at what point does the identity of the “mole right at the top of the Circus”cease to be a spoiler and become fair game? More than that, with the identity having been in the public sphere for decades, is it possible that the revelation could ruin the movie for anyone?

Everything's under Control...

Note: I do not actually reveal the identity of the mole here, so feel free to read ahead without impeding your viewing experience.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Alec Guinness, film, gary oldman, George Smiley, John le Carré, Mole (espionage), Sixth Sense, the usual suspects, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Total Film | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Darren

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a movie that can be measured against the very best of John la Carré adaptations, and among the very best that the espionage subgenre has to offer. I make that assertion based upon a single viewing, convinced that revisiting the movie will be something of a wonderful experience, an attempt to decode and sift through the film seeking what Control cynically describes as “treasure.” Tomas Alfredson, who established himself with Let the Right One In makes one hell of an English-language debut, providing a film that embodies the culture as much as the language, an elegant and stately affair, never feeling forced or rushed or dumbed down. I think that, with its intriguing structure and manner of suggesting ideas (rather than stating plot points), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy might represent that mythical ideal: the perfect film for grown-ups.

Never gets Oldman...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Benedict Cumberbatch, ciaran hinds, colin firth, films, gary oldman, George Smiley, john la carré, mark strong, Movies, non-review review, review, spies, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, tom hardy, Tomas Alfredson | 16 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Darren

Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban represents probably the best transition from printed page to big screen in the franchise, boasting the most confident and comfortable direction of the big screen series. Director Alfonso Coarón, perhaps best known for his work on Children of Men crafts perhaps the most magical of the Harry Potter adventures, effortlessly crafting a world that seems strangely familiar and yet curiously foreign, simultaneously bright and coloured, but populated with dark brooding shadows. Even after the series has ended, the third instalment remains perhaps the most stylish.