After failing dismally in the early parts of last year, I’m going to be giving twittering Film Fight another chance (on my twitter feed). For anyone who didn’t see it last year, I’ll be writing film reviews before the later (and often delayed) monthly Film Fights with little snippets on twitter. Often this gives a slightly different perspective of the film, with less time for memory and external bias to change what I thought of the film.

I’m tempted to update twitter and not refer back to it for the film fight, so I can do a comparision of what I thought immediately and what I’m thinking now. We’ll see if that ever actually happens.

If you want to read the 2009 reviews but not the rest of my Twitter (which is occassionally more personal than Solitude), then use the Film Fight ’09 Twitter Search page.

Let’s hope I get a little further into this year than last.

As has become tradition (see last year), it’s time for the best of 2008 awards here at sunny Solitude:

• Best album of 2008 – I was struggling to come up with anything for this, mostly because I can’t really remember what I’ve gotten this year. Thankfully, my last.fm profile is handy for these things, once you mine past all the great older stuff I’ve been listening to. I think the best new album I got from this year is “West Texas” by Sleepercar. Formed as a side-project to Sparta, Jim Ward makes Alt. Rock and Country sit tidily, side by side. A pleasant listen.
• Saddest band break-up of 2008 – It’s been a bad year for fans of modern rock, having lost the joint winners of this award. Reuben and Hell is for Heroes have both called it a day. Both bands were known for excellent live performances, solid albums and a great ethic. They’ll be sadly missed.
• Most disappointing no-show album of 2008 – Overdue by quite some time, “Pandemonium Duke”, is the second album by Marmaduke Duke (made up of Biffy Clyro and Sucioperro members). We heard the first sampler well over 18 months ago and this record has been sitting on the shelves for quite some time. The plus side is that it now looks to be moving (first single is due out in February) and on a major label. Good times ahead for the Duke.
• Best use of William Fichtner 2008 – While it would be easy to pick his ongoing role as Alex Mahone in Prison Break as his best use, I think we can do better. In the opening sequence for The Dark Knight, the joker and his goons rob a bank that is run by gangsters. The branch manager comes out wielding a shotgun and generally kicking ass. Who was it? Yeah, William Fichtner. Take that, Prison Break.
• Best novel I read this year – I’m going to stretch this category a little (but only as far as others have before) and say the best novel I read this year was Watchmen. A densely plotted, well-imagined, gripping story covering so many themes and narratives that weave around each other so tightly that there’s no way to just mention a part. An incredible read.

And that’s it for 2008. Hope we have as much fun making up the 2009 awards, and you all have a good year. Keep your eyes peeled for Fichtner though, he’s hard to spot.

As always my caveat from previous years still apply: Film Fight is a knock-out tournament and, as such, will only select my favourite film. It makes no guarantees about any other place.

First up, notable non-finalists of the year:

• Dan in Real Life
• Sweeney Todd
• Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
• Cloverfield
• Juno
• Persepolis
• The Mist
• Wall-E
• Pineapple Express
• The Wave
• Burn After Reading

This year the twelve finalists are:

• January: No Country for Old Men
• February: There Will be Blood
• March: Semi-pro
• April: Funny Games
• May: Cashback
• June: The Escapist
• July: The Dark Knight
• August: Step Brothers
• September: Taken
• October: Redbelt
• November: The Changeling
• December: umm, nothing.

Last year it was difficult to pick the absolute winner, but all in all it’s been a pretty weak year for cinema. 3 of the finalists got in because it was simply a quiet month, though several others had some pretty decent competition. I liked No Country for Old Men; it deserves a special nod and certainly walks away with the silver medal. Javier Bourdem and Josh Brolin were both fantastic to watch.

However, the winner of Film Fight 2008 is… There Will Be Blood. It’s an incredible story, well told, and perfectly acted. Daniel Day Lewis deserved his Oscar win for the oil man who by sheer force of will makes his way to the top, and by his crippling insecurity makes it back to the bottom. A classic.

I’m a little sad to say this but for the first time since I started doing Film Fight, and indeed for the first time since I started reviewing films on here, I haven’t actually been to the cinema this month. There’s been a dearth of quality looking films and I simply haven’t made it along to even the few “maybe ok” stragglers.

So this month the winner is…. nothing at all.

The second last film fight of the year brings us another four slices of cinema.

Quantum of Solace fails to win over the audience in all the ways that Casino Royale, it’s immediate predecessor, managed to win so easily two years ago. The gritty realism is shattered by being dressed up in Jason Bourne clothes (no bad thing) and being made to dance for Hollywood physics (the fall from the plane, for example). More importantly it lacks a real plot, with action sequences falling one after the other in lieu of a real narrative. There are too many ideas here that are simply incongrouent to the world that we’re supposed to believe in. The work done so hard not so long ago has been undone. It’s not at Die Another Die levels of awful, but it’s getting perilously close. Avoid.

Kevin Smith has always walked the fine line between gross-out comedy, heartfelt characterisation and intelligent geek banter. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is, in a lot of ways,  perfectly in the middle of those concerns, and now that he’s found this balance we realise it’s not exactly what we want. It’s not that Zack and Miri is a bad film; it’s sweet in places, very funny in others, and painfully bad in the remainder. The problem is that it’s not consistently funny throughout, and there are not enough laughs to hold interest. I like Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as the leads, but the chemistry between the two is a little forced. Of note, though, is Justin Long in an early film-stealing cameo. Like some of Smith’s earlier works, this is worth seeing but if you just want the gut laughs, I’d go look at Rogen’s back catalogue first.

Chuck Palahniuk’s excellent Choke has finally been adapted for the big screen (role on Survivor), but manages to disappoint in several ways. The director, rather than cut down the number of plot strands or increase the run time, has taken the bizarre decision to shove everything into the film and hope that it works. It doesn’t. Nothing really seems fully developed: not the relationship with the lead’s mother, not even the reason he chokes every night in the arms of a stranger. Everything  is wasted. Stylistically, it’s beautiful. Artistically, Sam Rockwell puts in a very good version of Victor Mancini. Story-wise, it’s all technically there but, as a whole, it’s less than the sum of its parts. A shame.

Finally, The Changeling is the latest from Cliff Eastwood and the first time we’ve seen Angelina Jolie actually act since Girl Interrupted. It’s about a woman who has to fight against authority when they return the wrong boy when her son goes missing. As with all of Eastwood’s films, the cinematography is exceptionally well-done; big, bold, crisp art direction, beautiful lighting, and perfect costume and make-up. Where he falls down is trying to extend the material for a running time longer than it can take. There’s plenty of slack towards the end of the movie that can easily go. Although Jolie is fantastic here, a lot of the supporting cast are given less to work with. The third-tier characters are actually pretty one-dimensional, with tired stereotypes being trotted out a little too often (the hooker with a heart of gold, for example). Small niggles aside, the confident performances and top notch direction make this an excellent movie. Well worth seeing.

The winner is… The Changeling.