Sophie Scholl:The Final Days(2005)

This movie is a historical recreation of the last days of Sophie Scholl, a member of a non violent German resistance movement during the Second World War.
After the German army suffered heavy losses at the battle of Stalingrad, a small number of University students appalled with the stories of Nazi atrocities that were filtering through to them set up an anti war group called the White Rose.
In and around Munich University, a campaign is Spearheaded by the students as they organise leaflet handouts and daub graffiti over government buildings attacking Hitler and his policies.

After a leaflet drop in the main square of the University, Sophie and her brother Hans are spotted by the janitor and are subsequently arrested by the Gestapo.

After a period of interrogation and cross examining, Sophie, Hans and their friend Christoph Probst are charged with high treason, troop demoralization and aiding the enemy.

They are sentenced to death and are executed by guillotine only six days after their arrest.

German Cinema continues to reach deep into its soul in examining and questioning the actions of the Nazis during the second World War.

Following on from the utterly stunning "Downfall", Sophie Scholl offers a realistic and convincing backdrop of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances anchored by a truly unforgettable performance by Julia Jentish (bearing a remarkable resemblance to the American Actress Claire Danes) as Sophie.

As the opening scenes play out like a first rate espionage romp, the movie soon turns into a courtroom thriller and Jentish finds the perfect pitch along with the rest of the cast.

Alexander Held as Sophie's interrogating officer who is subtlety forced to re-examine his beliefs has the other standout performance.

The director Marc Rothemund meticulously recreates the era working from long buried historical records, many of the protagonists are depicted as flawed individuals and only the President of the peoples Court, Roland Freisler comes across as a stereotypical fanatical Nazi . This is a straightforward tale of heroism and bravery, there are no fancy camera angles or gimmicky editing and the audience are subjected to a matter of fact re-telling from one of the darkest periods of modern history.

Many stand out scenes include Sophie's last meeting with her parents before her execution and the actual executions which are carried out as the viewer sees a blank screen, but it is the courtroom scenes which have the most impact as we watch a powerful and evil regime ( represented by Freisler) challenged by 2 young students.

Sophie Scholl is not a familiar name in Britain but it is hard to over estimate the regard she has in Germany. A recent magazine in Germany with a readership of 4 million voted her "the most important women of the 2oth century and young viewers of a German TV channel voted her "the most important German of all time".

This is a film people need to see, it has a far greater impact due to the fact it is actually German rather than an American or British production.

As a movie, Sophie Scholl offers a lasting tribute and makes a statement relevant to today's society, as people all over the world have much greater freedom of speech, we must never forget the reasons we are in that position.

Good Night And Good Luck (2005)

Although covering a period of history that may be slightly unfamiliar to British audiences, "Good Night" concentrates on issues still relevant today in America.

It is the year 1954 and television journalist Edward R Murrow and his team of dedicated staff challenge the tactics used by "Commie bashing" senator Joe McCarthy. In an era of extreme anti-communist suspicions and fear brought on by the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, Murrow attempts to discredit McCarthy and his unsubstantiated claims.

McCarthy's Claims of Soviet spies and Communist party members in American government and the armed forces are challenged live on TV in the CBS show "See It Now" as Murrow defies Public and internal pressure.

Continuing a seemingly never ending character assassination of Joe McCarthy, Good Night is nevertheless a riveting good watch.
Shot in beautiful black and white Monochrome and flawlessly directed by George Clooney, this movie spotlessly resembles the very era it is trying to emulate.
A short running time hardly stretches the thespian skills of the majority of the talented actors on display. David Strathairn is the exception as the seemingly honest and credible Rob Murrow. His performance is nigh on perfect as his anguished face betrays his determined stance and makes you genuinely believe this is a man who is struggling with his inner demons.
The interspersion of the real Joe McCarthy ( and his hearings) into proceedings, although gimmicky, works well and provides a genuine fly on the wall feel. Clooney continues to move away from his pretty boy persona and is now becoming a filmmaker of some note, this is a movie obviously close to his heart ( he majored in Journalism at College and his father was a TV journalist for many years) and it shows on every level.
Sub plots in the movie involving a clandestine marriage and a suicide of an estranged journalist are slightly jarring within the context of the movie and fail to add anything to proceedings.

Good Night works well as an excellent dramatisation and portrays a turbulent and challenging period of American Modern History, this film recreates the golden age of television and delivers a morality play in which the main protagonists eventually get their comeuppance.

This Is England (2006)

Shane Meadows continues to justify his tag as the British Martin Scorsese with this riveting portrayal of life in Thatchers Britain circa 1983.

Thomas Turgoose plays Shaun, a 12 year old boy a troubled and alienated boy who is bullied at school. Shaun's father has recently been killed fighting in the Falklands War.

Finding friendship with a gang of jovial and older skinheads, Shaun gradually becomes accepted and discovers a world of Ben Sherman shirts, Doc Martins, Parties and girls.

The return of Combo (Stephen Graham), an older more extreme skinhead threatens to tear the group apart and Shaun believing he has found a suitable role model begins to drift into a more dangerous and radical lifestyle.

Dead Mans Shoes is one of my personal favourite movies of the 21st century, it is a raw and unflinching film depicting life at the bottom end of British society, This Is England carries on this theme but moves the action back 20 years.

An astonishingly understated performance by Turgoose matched by a fierce (and almost sympathetic) one by Graham is the anchor of this gripping movie. In fact all the performances are top drawer and at times you almost believe you are watching a documentary.

Meadows seems to have been meticulous with the wardrobe and the sets and one of my impressions was of actually watching a film made in 1983 (although with very high production standards).

Grahams racist, almost psychotic character is not a stereotype, hes real in a brutal and raw way and he reflects a violent and selfish British society that existed in the early eighties.

The racist overtones are handled well and we are subject to a look at what life was really like for Black and Asian people in Britain at this time.

I have seen this film likened to American History X on some Websites which I think is nonsense, the racism card is only a small part of This is England whereas in x its the whole story.

This Is England is essentially a coming of age movie, a dark, grim, relentless and at times very funny film that also offers a little bit of hope, Woody's skinhead gang look like serious troublemakers but in actual fact are genuinely nice people. They just happen to be young social outcasts looking to survive with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future.

Combo although morally repugnant almost finds redemption at the end and he is haunted by the life he has not had and the life he never will( his scene with Lol in the car borders on the heartbreaking).

Meadows has delivered the goods again, his direction is faultless and the soundtrack is brilliant. (although one of my only quibbles concerns a few to many Reservoir Dogs type procession shots).

This is England is without a doubt one of the best movies of the year and its nice to see a British director sticking to his guns and proving that this country can provide more than Period and costume dramas and East end gangster flicks (Guy Ritchie, take note).

The Top 20 Films Of The 21st Century (so far)

I first set out to compile a top ten list of MY favourite movies of the noughties and realised 10 couldn't’ really cover it, so here it is, the top 20, even now I regret the omission of any Far East Horror Movies, Oldboy, Amelie, You, Me and Everyone we know, A Very Long Engagement, The Beach, Spiderman 2, Catch Me If You can, Monsters Ball, Narc, Final Destination (the first and sequel), Jeepers Creepers (but not the terrible sequel) and more surprisingly, House Of 1000 Corpses which had some terrible reviews but had a director who experimented with nearly every scene he shot and totally refused to follow the teen friendly horror route. I make no excuses for featuring 4 End of the world movies, 3 of which are zombie movies as these are my two favourite Genres (I couldn't really justify including Resident Evil Apocalypse, which was much better than the reviews but hardly a great film).

In order of favourites,

(1) The Aviator (2004) A masterpiece, a top director who’s been making quality films for over 30 years uses new tricks, a fantastic (true) story and an amazing performance from almost certainly the best and most charismatic actor in the world at the moment.

(2) City Of God (2002) Very very powerful movie works simply because it looks so real. The IMDB “(the bible”) lists this film as the 15th best ever of all time and they are rarely wrong. Makes Goodfellas look like an episode of the good life.

(3) Kill Bill Vol 1/Kill Bill Vol 2 (2003/2004) Tarentino is a genius, love him or loathe him, no one can touch him for sheer brilliant storytelling, Vol 1 is an adrenaline rush, Vol 2 is classy melodrama.

(4) Dead Mans Shoes (2004) Raw, brutal and uncompromising revenge movie with some of the best acting you will ever see. Paddy Considine is unbelievable. When on form the British make the best films in the world.

(5) Shaun Of The Dead (2004) A homage (not a spoof), which is very funny, very tense and at times extremely heartbreaking, made by people who genuinely love their source material.

(6) Birth (2004) None of the Oscar winners for best picture in the last five years have had a spark of originality about them. This has it in spades, very controversial, very brave and always beautiful to watch.

(7) The Descent (2005) One of the most possible pants wetting movies you will ever see, definitely the most squirming in your seat film of the 21st Century.

(8) Battle Royale (2000) A movie Hollywood would never touch, an all action thought provoking classic only the Japanese could make.

(9) Secretary (2002) A genuinely original love story between two very strange but extremely likable people.

(10) Switchblade Romance (2003) The French tackle splatter movies and do it with style and panache. The most ludicrously over the top twist in movie history too. What is there not to like?

(11) 28 Days Later (2002) A raw British horror movie that pulls no punches. A very good director uses every trick in the book to make a relatively low budget flick look better than a thousand Matrix wannabees put together.

(12)Donnie Darko (2001) Weird and wonderful. A cult movie if ever I’ve seen one. Great ensemble cast too with a star making performance from Jake Gyllenhall.

(13)My Summer Of Love (2004) Very classy drama that the BBC and Channel 4 used to do in their sleep before their obsession with reality TV. Paddy Considine, the new De Niro? No, he’s better.

(14)Dog Soldiers (2002) All out horror action movie from the director of the Descent. Again this is a perfect example of how to make a movie on a tight budget.

(15)Chopper (2000) The Australians used to make a lot of good movies, not so much these days. This is an excellent Prison movie that becomes a searing crime drama. Eric Bana is awesome in this.

(16)Dawn Of The Dead (2004) The original is possibly the best Horror movie of all time. The best compliment I can pay this re-make is that’s its on a par with the 1978 movie.

(17)Sideways (2004) I shouldn't like this movie about two 40 something wasters who like wine but I do. It’s a great slice of Americana.

(18)The Day after Tomorrow (2004) Cracking adventure yarn with some of the finest special effects ever put on film. How true to life could this movie actually be?

(19)8 Mile (2002) Eminem is fantastic in an extremely well written gritty drama that explores the bottom end of American society.

(20) Children Of Men (2006) Welcome to a real and raw action thriller with proper actors and Micheal Caine as an ex hippy, it doesn't get any better than that.

http://www.imdb.com/