film reviews with Jonah Mayfield

Top five films of 2013*

*so far

S t a r T r e k : I n t o t h e D a r k n e s s

You’ve got to hand it to JJ Abrams, he sure

knows how to craft polished and impressive

Sci-Fi. His follow-up to 2009’s reboot doesn’t

exactly go where no film has boldly gone

before, but it’s a sturdy and well-oiled machine

that’s powered by the electricity of Benedict

Cumberbatch’s performance as the mysterious

villain. It seems that Star Wars might be in safe

hands after all.

Director: J.J Abrams

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto,

Benedict Cumberbatch

Release Date: 16 May 2013

C o m p li a n c e

Set almost entirely within a greasy fast-food

outlet, Craig Zobel’s controversial thriller is

quite the opposite of comfortable viewing. It

puts the audience through the meat grinder

as its skin-crawling true events unfold and

with perfectly judged performances from

its ensemble the sense of authenticity is

maintained throughout. It asks interesting

moral questions about authority and morality

and as a result it’s one of the most challenging

films of the year.

Director: Craig Zobel

Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker,

Pat Healy

Release Date: 22 March 2013

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D j a n g o U n c h a i n e d

Tarantino’s Spaghetti Western (or ‘Southern’)

is hardly a step forward, but it’s certainly a

ballsy and blood-spattered return to form. It’s

a straightforward and old-fashioned revenge

flick that’s more concerned with being fun

than thoughtful but with explosive set-pieces

and hilariously over-the-top performances it

delivers by the barrel load.

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz,

Leonardo DiCaprio

Release Date: 18 January 2013

Z e r o D a r k T h i r t y

Here’s a film that’s divided audiences and

understandably so. Kathryn Bigelow’s fierce

retelling of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden

could quite easily be labelled as patriotic with

its heavy focus on the American perspective

on events, but it hardly glorifies the actions

of its characters. On the contrary, it’s an

ugly, visceral and pulse-racingly intense

spectacle but, more importantly, it’s a vital and

memorable cinematic experience.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong,

Joel Edgerton

Release Date: 11 January 2013

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A P l a c e B e y o n d t h e P i n e s

Director: Derek Cianfrance Starring: Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper

Release Date: 12 April 2013

Derek Cianfrance has come leaps and bounds since his domestic drama Blue Valentine and

the sprawling epic The Place Beyond the Pines is proof of that. The film ambitiously stretches

over a timeframe of fifteen years making it feel like a compressed mini-series, but despite its

intimidating length it’s a rich and absorbing piece of work. The performances are pitch perfect

and racked with emotion, the cinematography is stunning and the score is achingly beautiful.

Suffice to say it’s the finest piece of filmmaking 2013 has seen thus far, but who knows what

could top it.

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