We've cleared off some space on That Shelf for our 100 of our favourite movies of the decade. We continue with a look back at 2011 on film!
On the eve of a TIFF Bell Lightbox retrospective looking at the works of still up and coming Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, our film writers look at their favourite films from the uncompromising filmmaker behind Drive, The Pusher trilogy, and Only God Forgives
As one might expect, the flashy UK remake of Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher ends up being a mostly pointless exercise, adding a tonne of shallow style but very little substance to the proceedings. Director Luis Prieto pushes the source material through that Guy Ritchie gangster movie filter, and in the process robs his remake of the gritty naturalism that made the rough around the edges original work.
This week's DVD column looks at Ryan Gosling's much talked about Drive, Richard Gere and Topher Grace squaring off in The Double, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz buying a Dream House, and the re-releases of Lawrence Kasdan's 1991 Grand Canyon and 2001's seminal Monkeybone. Yes, Monkeybone.
Director Nicolas Winding Refn has proven that he knows the dark world of crime dramas well. His new film Drive manages to be both an immaculate homage to the seminal crime films of Melville and Mann, and a worthy addition to a genre already full of classics.