Review of '127 Hours': The most fun you can have with your clothes on

127 Hours (2010)

Directed by Danny Boyle

Starring James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara

Intense, gripping and just downright exciting - 127 Hours is the latest big screen venture by Danny Boyle, our much-loved, award-winning and cherished British director. Based on Between a Rock and a Hard Place, the biographical writings of American, Aron Ralston, this movie attempts to capture the horror of Ralston's famous accident. A keen mountaineer and general adrenaline junkie, Aron (James Franco) heads off to the Bluejohn Canyon on a typical adventure weekend. After a sudden fall, his arm becomes lodged beneath a boulder and Ralston has to fight for escape. Over 5 days Aron has to resist 'losing it' - rapidly running out of food, water and motivation this man has to rely on his lust for life to survive the terrifying ordeal. Oh, and he cuts off his own arm.

The opening of this film is brilliant. A Free Blood track explodes onto the screen with the vivacity and energy of Ralston's own character. The screen buzzes with modern city scenes, inescapable busyness - all the better for highlighting Aron's solitude, my dear, and the vast, awesome expanse of uninhabited canyon land that our man will eventually find himself trapped in. Lovely set up. We're kept on edge waiting for the crucial boulder moment - he trips, he slips but it's a little while before the fatal moment comes.

Franco's performance is incredible. It's one thing to have to hold a film almost entirely on your own, it's another to do that whilst you're stuck in a canyon with only one arm free. Aron's video camera allows him to revisit the regrets of his past, leaving tributes to the friends and family that he becomes prepared to leave behind. Franco beautifully delivers the frustration and desperation of Ralston's character - even though he is trapped, he is electrifying to watch. Ralston himself said in an interview, 'we have these very fundamental desires for freedom, for love and for connection. And that's what got me out.' And it's those fundamental desires that are impeccably communicated by James Franco.

Of course, we have to mention the fantastic show that is Ralston amputating his own arm. The pain and the determination are accompanied by an incredible score by A. R. Rahman that make it unsettling but not gruesome to watch. While you might find the uncontrollable urge to look away, you probably won't. We're with Ralston to the end, that means seeing the whole thing through - even if it makes you feel a little queasy.

I love this movie and it's a shame that Franco and Boyle have to live in the spectacular shadow of The King's Speech. Don't get me wrong, I loved Tom Hooper's movie as much as the next man, and I certainly harbor a more than unhealthy love for Colin Firth. However, I find myself sitting in Camp Franco for the Lead Actor Oscar and hope the film scoops some recognition at the awards. If you haven't seen this film already and you're looking for a thrill (well, the closest you can come without endangering your own right arm) then make a date with 127 Hours.

Please comment if you have anything to add to this review of '127 Hours'.

As it's February...

... why not come up with a new idea? Yeah, I know that's not really a popular saying or even anything that might have been said before but as it's the beginning of the month(ish), I thought I'd start something afresh.

So, whilst having a leisurely chat with my friends the other day, I realised there are some fundamental movie-geek films that seem to have unwittingly passed me by. Don't panic - I've seen Star Wars. Things like The Godfather and The Italian Job - those movies that everyone quotes incessantly and that have become ingrained into our consciousness so deeply that they might as well be a part of us. I almost feel like I have seen them. But I haven't. And this must be fixed.

Here I vow each week henceforth to pick up and watch an iconic movie that I should have already seen. I'm not just gonna stick to the old codgers of the past, in fact I'm going to start with something from last year: A Single Man.

Directed by Tom Ford, A Single Man stars man-of-the-moment Colin Firth as British college professor, George Falconer. Yes, he's called George in this one too! A dark tale of a man haunted by the death of his soulmate, this film was tipped for all sorts of awards with Firth putting in an Oscar-worthy performance. Unfortunately, he was beaten - but he did win the BAFTA for Best Actor for this role so it can't be all bad. Described by Empire as 'a potent cocktail of style and substance' this was clearly a foolish film to have missed.

Excuse me while I add this notch to my cinematic bedpost.

'The King's Speech' Review: Oscar-tipped, hugely anticipated, a big deal

The King's Speech (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper

Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

Haven't heard about The King's Speech? Well, unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last few weeks, of course you have. From the Oscar-worthy performance of Colin Firth to the touching delicacy of Tom Hooper's direction, The King's Speech is just about the most talked-about film of the moment. The story of King George VI as he tries desperately to overcome a crippling speech impediment, it might not seem like the most likely tale for a blockbuster movie. But this is one film certainly worthy of its regal hype.

The scene is the late 1920s and King George V is on the throne. However, second son Bertie (Colin Firth) and his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), Duke and Duchess of York, are fully in the public eye doing all things Royal. However, thanks to Bertie's painfully bad stammer, public speaking is a nightmare for both him and his audience. Determined to cure him, Elizabeth approaches Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a less than orthodox speech therapist and from the moment he meets the Prince, so begins an odd, often turbulent, relationship. Soon to be a loving friendship.

Hooper kick-starts the film with a disastrously embarrassing speech from Prince Albert - struggling to get through the first sentence, it's like watching a child at their first nativity forget the one line they spent weeks learning ('No room at the inn' - obviously). It's heartbreaking and you're instantly on the side of team supreme, willing Bertie to get out his words. Nevertheless, the humour card is also played pretty swiftly in a scene involving Colin Firth with balls in his mouth - priceless. The film continues along these same lines, mixing emotional frustration with some good old fashioned one-liners - no mean feat when you consider our hero takes that bit longer to get to the punchline.

Firth, as predicted, gives us the performance of his career. Maintaining a regal strength and willingness to overcome the obstacle, there's also the ordinary human frustration, the lack of self-esteem, the loving family man and the prince fearful of looming responsibility. Bertie's brother, David (Guy Pearce) is a sort of mini-villain (ish) in that he seems determined to shunt Kingship onto his younger brother just so he can marry twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson (Eve Best). But Bonham Carter's Elizabeth is the perfect proverbial rock to the stumbling Bertie.

Bonham Carter and Rush carry much of the film's humour. Bonham Carter's timing is impeccable and that well-to-do accent has never suited a character so well. Rush's Lionel Logue is warm and loveable and anyone who can make a royal swear so elegantly has a glorious thumbs up from me. Of course with the abdication of Edward VIII, comes the realisation of Bertie's horrors and some of the more moving scenes of the film follow as we get ever closer to Bertie's coronation as King George VI.

Since seeing the love for this film at the BFI London Film Festival in October, this has been on everyone's cinema wish list. Beautiful, sensitive and heart-warming, rooting for a royal has never been more fun in a story so wonderfully depicted. For Firth's performance, for Hooper's elegance and for all round great British drama, this is an easy 5 stars. Lovely.

Please comment if you have anything to add to this review of 'The King's Speech'.

I think I died a bit...

So, on Thursday (yes, it's taken me this long to get over it) I saw actual Colin Firth in the flesh. Ok, so I was forced to remain behind a steel barrier for the duration of our meeting, but I still like to think we had a connection.

To put this meeting into context, I was in London for the 54th BFI London Film Festival to see Mike Leigh's new film, Another Year. There was a bit of Q&A with said director, enlightening, and then (like all good film/Firth lovers) I hung around Leicester Square to await the arrival of the stars.

It was the première of Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, a movie telling the touching tale of how King George VI overcame a crippling speech impediment. With the likes of Helena Bonham-Carter and Geoffrey Rush sharing the screen with Mr Firth, it was fair to say there was a decent crowd lining the edges of the red carpet. It was an awesome and an odd experience. It just feels a bit peculiar to find out those of the big screen are actually normal-sized humans and that they do in fact mingle with normal folk from time to time.

Naturally, I will be reviewing Another Year in the coming week, but unfortunately, The King's Speech isn't out til January. My good friend Colin looks set to be nominated for an Oscar for it, though, so it's well worth scheduling into your cinematic diary.

Just a little note to self: must remember not to be so star-struck when am hot-headed journalist allowed to mingle with popular people. Something I still maintain will happen in the future.