Locked up at home? Bored out of your skull? Anxious at how long the current world health crisis is going to last? Don't worry, we're all in the same boat right now. But needless to say, until our governments can agree which direction we should be rowing in it looks like we're going to be at sea for quite some time. Still, there's plenty we can do to get through this. WordJam will continue to deliver its patented blend of satire, commentary and reviews in a Herculean and no doubt Nobel Prize-winning effort to keep people's spirits up. In the meantime, allow me to join the chorus of media outlets sharing their advice on the films and TV shows you can gorge yourselves on while waiting for events to move forwards. To this end, I've selected ten films from the last decade which, while not all perhaps the most outstanding works in their particular fields, deserve wider critical or popular attention. Most of these should be available via on-demand or streaming services, but if not... Well, you know what to do.
Anyway, let's get going:
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
(France: d. Luc Besson, 2010)
Luc Besson's loose adaptation of Jacques Tardi's comic book series is a gloriously irreverent and unapologetically loopy romp that makes Raiders of the Lost Ark look like a wilfully pretentious student film. Louise Bourgoin lights up the screen as the titular adventuress battling pterodactyls, Egyptian mummies and the occult in Paris at the turn of the last century. After this, you'll never look at a hairpin the same way again.
* * *
Dredd
(UK/South Africa: d. Pete Travis, 2012)
Practically obliterating all memory of the disastrous 1995 Stallone movie, Dredd is the sort of comic book adaptation you can really sink your teeth into. Deliciously satirical, bottom-clenchingly tense, unrelentingly violent and shot through with charcoal-black humour, Dredd toys with the audience at every turn, subverting our expectations but never shortchanging our intelligence. It's just a shame the box office didn't match the artistic investment.
* * *
The Wall
(Austria/Germany: d. Julian Pölsler, 2012)
The ever wonderful Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others, The Baader Meinhof Complex) delivers a career-defining performance as a woman on a retreat in the Austrian Alps who inexplicably finds herself separated from the outside world by an invisible barrier. Haunting, lyrical and astonishingly beautiful, The Wall is a visual hymn to the fortitude of the human spirit and a truly mesmerising experience. And Lynx the dog is just adorable.
* * *
White Tiger
(Russia: d. Karen Shakhnazarov, 2012)
Based on a novel by Ilya Boyashov, White Tiger follows a tank commander on the Eastern Front in World War II as he pursues a ghostly, seemingly indestructible German tank. Soundtracked by the music of Richard Wagner and containing a number of allusions to Arthurian mythology and Moby Dick, White Tiger is a complex, beguiling masterpiece of magical realism that harmonises form, theme and content to such a degree repeat viewings are essential.
* * *
Bone Tomahawk
(US: d. S. Craig Zahler, 2015)
Writer-director S. Craig Zahler proves that all you need to make a great Western is a fistful of dollars in this low-budget but fiercely original and utterly compelling tale of cowboys and cannibals. I first saw this on a double-bill with The Witch, assuming the latter would be a masterpiece and Tomahawk would be harmless schlock. Five years later I'm still singing its praises while Robert Eggers' film seems to have faded from my memory.
* * *
The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead
(UK/US: d. Wes Orshoski, 2015)
Alongside the Sex Pistols and The Clash, The Damned were at the forefront of the UK punk scene in the late 1970s. But when their peers went on to sign lucrative record contracts and enjoy major chart success, the proto-goth legends ended up as a cult concern, quietly blazing their own path. Don't You Wish That We Were Dead is the story of punk's last true survivors and a testament to how a little self-belief goes a long way.
* * *
I Am Not Your Negro
(US: d. Raoul Peck, 2016)
Inspired by James Baldwin's unfinished memoir Remember This House, I Am Not Your Negro is a moving, often uncompromising personal reflection on race relations in the United States. If you asked me to nominate my choice for the best documentary film of the last decade it would be this one. There's no cynicism here, not so much as a whiff of identarian politicking - just raw honesty, passion and dignity. This is the true essence of cinema.
* * *
The Love Witch
(US: d. Anna Biller, 2016)
Post-feminist genre deconstruction and 1960s kitsch collide head-on in this eerie, inventive and utterly unique horror pastiche. The preturnaturally beautiful Samantha Robinson charms and chills as the eponymous love-hungry witch, but the real star is director Anna Biller, whose witty screenplay, original score, canny editing and visual style elevates the production from B-movie curiosity to a genuine work of cinematic art.
* * *
Midnight Special
(US: d. Jeff Nichols, 2016)
The story of a young boy with limitless telekinetic powers may seem old hat in an era of cod '80s nostalgia and endless Stephen King adaptations, but instead of rehashing genre tropes that were at their best over 30 years ago, writer-director Jeff Nichols repurposes them by shifting the narrative focus onto the adult characters. As a result, we end up with a film of real poignancy and emotional intelligence. A misunderstood gem.
* * *
The Age of Pioneers
(Russia: d. Dmitriy Kiselev, 2017)
Yevgeny Mironov and Konstantin Khabensky head the cast in this flawed but nonetheless inspiring account of Alexei Leonov's historic spacewalk. While the interplay between the two leads is a pleasure to watch and the attention to period detail is sublime, I'm not sure taking a hagiographic approach was the way to go. Having said that, when you see Mironov floating around in space I guarantee you'll still have a lump in your throat.
* * * * *
And that's your lot for today: stay tuned for the next installment. Until then, Happy viewing folks. Just stay strong, okay?
