the pianist (2003)

roman polanski's oscar winning film boasts perhaps my favourite oscar winning performance of modern times, in the shape of adrian brody. having not seen the film for quite some time, it was with the recent oscars in mind that i looked to ''the pianist'' again. as iv grown older the attrocities on display have grown to shock me even moreso than they did when i was younger, and some scenes in "the pianist" feel genuinely hard to stomach. and while brody's performance is a tour-de-force, some of the supporting performances fall fairly flat (the early scenes within the family home feel like something out of an enid blyton tale). all in all though, it is a great film, with adrian brody genuinely affecting in his role and a deserved winner of the best actor oscar.

firefox (1982)

a surprisingly successful attempt at post-star wars casual science fiction for clint eastwood, with the film boasting a much more experimental element than one would have expected. eastwood fuses casual sci-fi with the espionage thrillers he was familiar with at the time of the films production to combine a winning formula. the advertised notion of a plot revolving around a super-fi jetplane takes a back seat for the first hour, as we see eastwood's vietnam vet attempt to infiltrate the russian military. the latter half of the film takes place on and around the plight aboard the plane, in a vein that is perhaps the direct opposite of similiar fare like "top gun". "firefox" is to be commended as a very different piece of work to the usual clint eastwood film, and it succeeds much better than expected.

frost/nixon (2009)

as someone who is a bit of an obsessive with this political era in general i entered 'frost/nixon' with may doubts. ron howard is perhaps the epitome of ''safe'' filmmaking, hes hardly known for his visual flare or even his political gravitas (although the recent 'happy days'-themed obama campaign video he did with henry winkler suggests there is a heavy political awareness in the man if not his work) so with this in mind i was of the staunch opinion that he was the wrong man for this film, and that someone more obvious should have been in his position, say george clooney, aparently attached to the project post-''good night, and good luck''. alas i was wrong. howard pulled off the film with an unfamiliar strong kick. his work in the past has shown a tendency to lean towards the over-emotional, yet the extent to which it was used in "frost/nixon'' actually worked.

much has been made of the projects theatrical origins. many have said (presumably those who havent actually had the pleasure of seeing it) that the film didnt need to be a film, and that at best it would lend itself to a tv movie of sorts. i couldnt disagree more, ''frost/nixon'' is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. the whole 'theme', for want of a better word throughout of ''the power of the close-up'' is a unique and hugely strong point that exhibits itself throughout the film, and is one of the best uses of the technique that this viewer has ever seen. the cut of the film is very cinematic too, and while the scenes of the now-older participants commenting on the importance of what was happening jars and distracts a little, ultimately its a much more cinematic and powerful experience than maybe one would have anticipated.

while the fancy shooting and cutting may impress, ultimately it comes down to the performances in such an intimate project. having never been terribly impressed with michael sheen's turns as tony blair (iv often considered him to be a poor mans david tennant) i have to admit that i was sold on his david frost. frank langella as richard nixon is a powerhouse of a performance. he owns the screen, and while compared to the actual frost interviews his performance may be slightly bombast, its still a great perfomance that lends an emotional side to nixon that i had never considered prior to this. the best actor contest at this years oscars truly is a thing of great deliberation, what with langella being nominated alongside sean penn in milk and mickey rourke in the wrestler, both of which i have enjoyed hugely. as of the moment my money is going on langella, maybe not for the right reasons (i see it as a career oscar) but still justly deserved.