So anyway,

Yeah. Been slack. Too busy watching The Wire (it IS the greatest TV show of all time. If you disagree you're just plain wrong.) I think I'll just look at three films, even though I've seen more. Can't be stuffed with the other ones 'eh.

A Separation

As I already said in my last post on my top 10 from 2011, this film is amazing. Beginning with an Iranian couple (cause, you know, this is an Iranian film) explaining their reasons for separating to a judge (which immediately draws the viewer in as they speak directly to the camera) the focus soon shifts as the male in the relationship is involved in an incident with his new housekeeper which has far reaching consequences for his family and his housekeepers family as the matter goes through court. From here the journey is best experienced spoiler free, so I wont mention any other plot elements.

What I will mention however is the incredible depth in which A Separation explores the nature of truth as viewed by the different characters, how their circumstances mould their perspective of it and how far they are willing to bend the truth, especially given their religious and family values. The film offers a study of your average family and how they are affected by illness, separation and tragedy, and does so with both subtlety and poignancy.

A Separation is a film so thematically rich yet at the same time instantly accessible that it would undoubtedly be studied in English classes for years to come, if only it were in English. I'm not sure that this is still actually showing at the cinema but be sure to pick it up the first week it come out as a new release. Or illegally download it if you have no conscience. Just make sure you see it.

***** out of *****

The Raid

Unlike the above movie, The Raid has no philosophical musings on the nature of truth and will never be studied in any depth whatsoever, but it completely kicks arse. This Indonesian action film is about a group of cops trying to take down a major crime boss who's created a fortress for himself in a high rise building, so full of henchman that no one has had the balls to try and topple his empire. Until now.

As far as story goes, that's all you really need to know. Then settle yourself in for some of the most over the top, beautifully choreographed action set pieces you're likely to see. The real beauty of the whole thing though is that even though the action is relentless and non-stop it never feels chaotic, there is an order to it and you can always tell what's going on. There's also an incredible amount of thought put into actually making the action scenes mean something. For example, toward the end of the movie the big baddie's number one henchman has a lengthy fight scene with one of the top cops. Due to the length of the fight you may think it's a climatic battle, however, nope, it instead demonstrated how much of a complete bad arse this guy is and made the final fight mean all that much more.

Despite the majority of the focus being on the action, there was also enough effort put in to make you actually care about what is going on. The opening scene shows our protagonist training hard, leaving his pregnant wife reluctantly to go to the job, establishing him as a hard working, caring man wanting to provide for his family. We want him to succeed. A subsequent shot shows the main antagonist brutally slaughtering three men he has tied up for no apparent reason. We hate him. These two simple scenes achieve more in the way of actually getting us to give a damn in five minutes than most action movies do in the entire film ***cough*** Expendables ***cough*** Actually, no need for the coughing, The Expendables was terrible.

The storyline was basic, but surprisingly not terrible, and there are actually a couple of nice twists thrown in for good measure. If you haven't  already got the picture, this is a completely bad arse action movie (no I can't think of a better expression), again proving that for some reason Asia just completely blows Hollywood out of the water when it comes to the genre.

**** out of *****

21 Jump Street

Based on  an old American cop drama that I've never seen, so no nostalgia for me. The TV show was apparently quite serious. The film is co-written by Jonah Hill (who also stars), so you know it's not. Hill and Channing Tatum (in the first role he's played where he's not completely wooden) play a pair of idiotic beat cops who get re-assigned to a project requiring them to go undercover at a high school to expose a drug dealing operation. While Hill was the nerdy outcast and Tatum was the jock when they were at school together, things have changed since their days as students, and the cool kids are now the environmentally minded hippie types who Hill finds it easier to bond with.

While 21 Jump Street probably doesn't break any new ground when it comes to the buddy cop/comedy genre, it does provide plenty of laughs including some clever self referential humour, and actually delivers some decent action toward the end. The characters a likable and make you care, the relationship between the two leads is developed adequately. Pretty good.

***1/2 out of *****

And that'll do for now. Other new movies I've seen lately but can't be bothered writing about are th US remake of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (four stars), Another Earth (three and a half), and John Carter (lets call it three). Wont be so slack with future new film.... for real.