{"id":986,"date":"2011-01-21T12:29:57","date_gmt":"2011-01-21T12:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/?p=986"},"modified":"2022-08-26T08:29:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T08:29:24","slug":"the-bens-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/2011\/01\/the-bens-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bens 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-body-3060440259718605570\">\n<p>Your admirable patience since this time last year is rewarded. The Bens are in for the best movies watched by me in 2010. That is the sole criterion for consideration, so even quite old movies can be up for awards. Remember, it&#8217;s now what it&#8217;s about, it&#8217;s how it&#8217;s about it.<\/p>\n<p>So &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best movie shortlist<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1132620\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1289406\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harry Brown<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0887912\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hurt Locker<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1182345\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Moon<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0435761\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toy Story 3<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winner:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0435761\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toy Story 3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Judge&#8217;s Comments:\u00a0a very strong choice of movies that were well made, well produced, well acted and (crucially) in which I had no idea where they might be going. For instance: movies where it is not a given that the hero(es) will survive. But in the end it had to be\u00a0Toy Story 3. How many of these would I get on DVD and re-watch? Exactly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best actor shortlist:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tom Cruise (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0369339\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Collateral<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Chiwetel Ejiofor (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0434124\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kinky Boots<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Lotso Hugs (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0435761\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toy Story 3<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Noomi Rapace (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1132620\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Orson Welles (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0033467\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Citizen Kane<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0041959\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Third Man<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winner:\u00a0Lotso Hugs<\/p>\n<p>Judge&#8217;s comments:\u00a0Lotso wins because, despite the handicap of being a CGI animation with no actual physical form, from the moment he appears he manages to come across as genial and friendly and slightly creepy and threatening, all of which he in fact is. Chiwetel Ejiofor gets an honorable mention for so spectacularly\u00a0notbeing the Operative from\u00a0Serenity\u00a0in his portrayal of a transvestite club singer. And his songs are pretty darn toe-tapping.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best SF short list<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1054606\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1375666\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inception<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1182345\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Moon<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winner:\u00a0Moon<\/p>\n<p>Judge&#8217;s Comments:\u00a0Not such a strong list of contenders, frankly.\u00a0Moon\u00a0would have stood out in any year but neither of the other two really deserve an urgent repeat viewing. Very cleverly done, yes, but &#8230; but.\u00a0Moon\u00a0however has a standout performance by one actor playing two men, and an old-school approach to practical, model-based special effects that is a huge relief after endless vistas of CGI.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best thriller shortlist<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0387131\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Constant Gardener<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0369339\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Collateral<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0408790\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Flightplan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1139328\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Ghost<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1132620\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winner:\u00a0The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/p>\n<p>Judge&#8217;s Comments:\u00a0Another clutch of well-made movies where you really didn&#8217;t know what was going to happen or who would live and die.\u00a0The Girl\u00a0has to waltz off with the prize, however. What else could you do with a movie where the lead character has her probation officer tied up naked, is forcing objects inside him via the bodily orifice that isn&#8217;t the mouth, forcing him to watch a video of him raping her so she can blackmail him into releasing her from probation &#8230; and that&#8217;s just character background?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best paranoid conspiracy theory<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0387131\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Constant Gardener<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0089009\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Defence of the Realm<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1139328\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Ghost<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winner:\u00a0Defence of the Realm<\/p>\n<p>Judge&#8217;s Comments:\u00a0The judges surprise themselves on this one, expecting\u00a0The Ghost\u00a0to be the shoe-in due to its topicality and dislike of Tony Blair.\u00a0Defence of the Realm\u00a0came up from behind. It was made in the eighties, which only occasionally shows, but is still just as taut and unexpected as, say,\u00a0State of Play. In fact, withoutDefence of the Realm\u00a0there might have\u00a0been\u00a0no\u00a0State of Play. Or indeed\u00a0The Ghost.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Swedish Film<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0837106\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arn: The Knight Templar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1132620\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winner:\u00a0The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/p>\n<p>Judge&#8217;s Comments:\u00a0Okay, so the field was limited to two choices anyway &#8211; but even so. See comments above about the winner.\u00a0Arn\u00a0suffered a little from trying to compress a quite long trilogy into one 2 hour movie and from a certain Swedishness along the lines of: &#8220;oh look, something exciting is happening over there \/ has just happened here.&#8221; Mind you, I was at school with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0099610\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one of the villains<\/a>\u00a0which gives it a notch up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best comedy<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0118715\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Big Lebowski<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0434124\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kinky Boots<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0063374\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Odd Couple<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1486190\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tamara Drewe<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0435761\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toy Story 3<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winner:\u00a0The Big Lebowski<\/p>\n<p>Judge&#8217;s Comments:\u00a0Ooh, this was a hard one.\u00a0The Big Lebowski\u00a0scrapes it, just, but a very honorable mention to\u00a0Tamara Drewe, not least for all the writer jokes.<\/p>\n<p>And finally, some one-offs &#8211; categories of one which still deserve a mention because that single category was\u00a0so\u00a0noticeable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best facial hair<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0107007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gettysburg<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This movies features players like\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Longstreet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Longstreet<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_E_Lee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Chamberlain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chamberlain<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lewis_Addison_Armistead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Armistead<\/a>\u00a0and<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Pickett\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pickett<\/a>, so the facial hair was always going to be key. As it turns out, their beards and whiskers were present at one of the most important battles of modern history and prove well up to the challenge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Worst waste of Bill Nighy<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1235189\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wild Target<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bill Nighy as a hitman. So much promise &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best use of a screen legend<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1289406\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harry Brown<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Michael Caine continues to prove that his one-style-fits-all acting method really does fit all. The man is a marvel.<\/p>\n<p>Until next year, then!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your admirable patience since this time last year is rewarded. The Bens are in for the best movies watched by me in 2010. That is the sole criterion for consideration, so even quite old movies can be up for awards. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/2011\/01\/the-bens-2011\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[89,15],"class_list":["post-986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bens-life","tag-bens","tag-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3886,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions\/3886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}