Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt

Directed by Doug Liman

"Edge of Tomorrow" is a perfect example of film-makers taking a host of familiar ingredients, throwing them into a blender, mixing them up, and coming out with something perfectly legitimate and entertaining in its own right.  Glibly described by some as "Groundhog Day" meets "Starship Troopers" the film tells the story of Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), a P.R. Officer in the the U.S. Army, who, courtesy of scheming General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) finds himself somehow press-ganged into fighting on the front line against an invasion of seemingly invincible aliens, as they wage war on planet earth, about which we learn through a newsreel intro as they fight their way across continental Europe (echoes of 1939?); they are called Mimics, and arrived on earth on earth on a crashed asteroid.  Cage is a smarmy coward, happy to hide behind his desk, and is horrified to be thrown into battle.  Understandably, he stands no chance, despite the hi-tech "jacket" combat suits with which the troops are equipped, and in the first "Saving Private Ryan"-esque assault on the European coast, he takes in a certain string of events and manages to kill an alien before meeting a grizzly death, with spilled alien blood melting his face.  The twist is that when he is killed on the battlefield, he wakes up to find that the day has started again, so he must live through the same events again and again.  And every day he dies, but working his way slightly farther up the beach as he seems to know what's coming - up to a point.  Along the way he encounters Sgt. Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), aka "The Angel of Verdun" (evoking the First World War), a war hero responsible for a famous victory over the invaders, and now a poster-woman for the defence forces.  She gives him an odd look, as if she knows something he doesn't.

On one such incarnation, meeting Vrataski on the field of fire, she tells him to "find me when you wake up".  He does so, and she takes him to meet Noah Taylor's Dr. Carter, a disgraced Whitehall scientist, who has theorised that all Mimics are part of a greater consciousness, a brain which he calls an Omega.  His supposition is that each time an Alpha Mimic is killed, the aliens are able to reset time in order to anticipate better the humans resistance, and thus win the war.  Cage, having killed an Alpha on his first mission, has inherited that ability, hence his ability to relive each day.  Vrataski explains that she previously had this ability, but was wounded and given a blood transfusion of regular human blood, so lost the power.  So from here on in, it's either death or nothing.  Cage embarks on a rigourous training routine to help his chances of meeting combat's demands, and working out how to defeat the Mimics once and for all.  Much humour is to be had (this is the "Groundhog Day" part) about him reliving the day again and again, confounding other characters (who are living the day for what they think is the first time) by his knowledge of exactly what's to come, in any given moment.  And there's even humour in his repeated deaths, for example when mis-judging a roll under a track as he tries to escape from his ball-busting Master Sergeant Farrell (a joyful performance by the legendary Bill Paxton).

The mechanics of the story determine the structure, but it feels good because I don't think it's really been seen in cinema before - Bill Murray aside.  Where it has been seen, perennially, is in video games.  Now a massive industry, with the "First Person Shooter" a particular favourite genre, featuring titles such as early favourite "Doom", X-Box benchpost "Halo" and "Gears of War" .  This film draws on the "lives" feature of such games, that is, ones character in the game can be killed by a foe, only to start the "level" again, only this time knowing what's coming - an inch at a time.  In many ways this is what makes the movie so enjoyable.  The audience experiences each day with Cage, but each time he knows what's coming but we generally don't.  Much fun is had with that in several sequences, such as one in which the pair try to infiltrate Brigham's offices which sees Cage telling Rita exactly when to move to avoid security guards, and then telling the General exactly what his secretary is going to say.



Cruise continues his positive streak - I even thought "Oblivion" was way more thoughtful and compassionate than most people found it on its release.  He perfectly portrays Cage's journey from smarmy PR guy to seasoned fighter.  Blunt, likewise, is impressive in an unfamiliar action role.  Paxton, Gleeson, and Taylor are solid in support, as is the ensemble group of Cage's squad, including "Robin Hood" himself, Jonas Armstrong.  Again, much of the comedy comes from Cage's interactions with his "comrades" in J-Squad, as they taunt him abouint his green-ness but he comes gradually to be in a position to save their lives one by one.  Director Doug Liman continues to add to his eclectic CV.  Ranging from the hysterical Jon Favreau / Vince Vaughan (and it's not often you hear that these days) starrer "Swingers" ("You're monay, baby, and you don't even know it!") by way of rave comedy "Go" (great soundtrack), the original trilogy-spawning "The Bourne Identity" and the movie that put Brangelina together, "Mr & Mrs Smith".  He brings a firm hand to the tiller here, cleverly balancing the action, comedy, and time-bending premise.

Overall, this is / was a refreshingly original and fun big action sci-fi blockbuster which didn't obviously have an eye on a franchise - a nice rarity these days.  It's not entirely original, but that doesn't seem to matter because it's so well put together, and a great deal of fun.  It's been somewhat viewed as having under-performed in last summer's busy season.  Arguments for this include the vague title (originally it was named for it's Japanese graphic novel source material, "All You Need is Kill" by Hiroshi Sarakuza) but execs bottled it during production.  "Edge of Tomorrow" does actually make sense, because each time Cage dies he's on the verge of making it to the next day, but still has pieces of the problem to solve.  But on its own terms it almost completely succeeds creatively, if you will.  The action is solidly staged and exciting.  The thrill ride is thorough, and I think the film will stand up well over time.

I really enjoyed it.  Definitely worth a rental / download / watch / whatever your thing is.

SB



Inglorious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds (2009)

Starring Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

After the giant "Meh" of "Kill Bill" Volumes 1 and 2, and the almighty strike-out of the utterly execrable  "Grindhouse" segment "Death Proof", writer / director Quentin Tarantino, cinema's apparent 'enfant terrible' was in danger of becoming permanently known as 'réalisateur terrible'.  He needed something special to recapture the glory days of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction".  And whilst "Inglorious Basterds" is not quite that picture, it took huge strides towards fixing the damage.  It's a remake in almost-name only of the 1978 Italian film, bearing scant resemblance, and is a skewed fantasy set during the Second World War, yet one betraying no regard for historical accuracy.  One might argue that few and far between is the Hollywood war film which pays credence to historical accuracy, most just pretend to.  In the case of "Basterds" Tarantino doesn't even waste our time pretending.  This is invention pure and simple.  Sometimes it doesn't work, but mostly it does.  It's a revenge picture - obviously - as that's Tarantino's staple.

The plus points are many.  Primarily it's in the acting performances, and as one would expect, in the dialogue.  Storywise, the film opens with a 20 minute scene consisting primarily of two men sitting at a table talking to one another.  But it's gripping.  The speeches are fantastically written and brilliantly played, and it's one of the rare occasions on which one doesn't feel Tarantino has gone on too long - more of that later - even though the scene is long.  The scene in question concerns the visit in 1941 by SS Colonel Hans Landa, self-styled "Jew Hunter", to the dairy farm of M. LaPaditte, who is suspected of sheltering Jews.  Having manipulated the farmer into giving up his secret, Landa charmingly departs.  It's a fine example of Christoph Waltz's epic, Oscar and Golden Globe winning performance, that he can be so likable whilst being so chillingly evil.  Fast forward three years, and we find moustachioed US Army Lieutenant Aldo Raine, of Appalacian country (and accent), played by Brad Pitt, putting together a squad of Jewish GIs to drop behind German lines ahead of D-Day and wage a campaign of terror. In essence The Dirty Dirty Dozen. Raine also is charming and funny, but vicious - he insists his men scalp their Nazi victims, and happily has one of his squad beat captives to death with a baseball bat.  He's the flip side of Landa.  Pitt, too, although somewhat over the top, is excellent.

Two further storylines are thrown into the mix.  In Paris, Shosana, an escapee from the farmhouse in the opening scene, has changed her identity and is now the proprietress of a cinema.  She meets Frederick Zoller, a German war hero, about whose GI-killing exploits a propaganda film is being made.  He attempts to chat her up but she rebuffs him, until finding out who he is.  Together they hit upon a plan to convince Joseph Goebbles to hold the premiere of his propaganda film at Shosana / aka Emmanuelle's cinema.  The allies, on learning of the switch, hatch a plan (Operation Kino) to destroy the cinema thus taking out the entire German High Command and dispatch Lt. Archie Hicox to co-ordinate with undercover spy and glamourous actress Bridget Hammersmark to make the necessary arrangements.  Emmanuelle is thinking along the same lines, even if it means destroying her own movie palace.  Meanwhile the Basterds' killing spree continues, and everything builds towards a history re-writing climax.

What's good about all this is the sheer velocity, and the nerve of concocting such a story.  Aside from the two leads, the cast is superb; Melanie Laurent (Shosana), Diane Kruger (Bridget) Michael Fassbender (Archie), are all great, and even Eli Roth (Donny) is ok. There are neat cameos from Rod Taylor and a virtually unrecognisable Mike Myers.  Raine's "marking" of the hapless Nazis he comes across is genius.  The script crackles with wonderful scenes and some killer lines.  And the conclusion is quite simply delicious., something close to perfectly orchestrated farce. There are some killer speeches, and, impressively, much of the dialogue is spoken in French or German and in subtitles.  This in itself is really impressive, not something one often sees in "big" films. the downside, as with most Tarantino offerings since "Reservoir Dogs", it's way too long.  QT really needs to make friends with an editor - or rather, annoy his editor to make him or her more brutal.  The entire "Operation Kino" subplot is, frankly, superfluous and its excision would have brought the running time right down.  Having said that the "bar basement scene" is superb, although the "three fingers" thing is so annoying as it could easily be explained away.  Small point though.  The film is divided into "chapters" which is a bit annoying, and it's very much Tarantio's thing.  The biggest problem for me was the music.  The use of a David Bowie track in one scene is completely misjudged and jarring.  And the over-reliance on Ennio Morricone is just boring and possibly just lazy.

Overall, "Inglorious Basterds" is very entertaining, despite its flaws.  It's distinctively contemporary despite its period setting, and unmistakably the work of its director; the camera work, particularly in the first scene featuring the squad, is fantastic.  It is a bit flabby but doesn't significantly lose the viewer's attention at any point.  Its warped take on history is original and strangely fitting.  It boasts some mesmerising performances (excited to see Waltz on board for "Spectre").  Frustratingly, not all of the right characters are killed off - although maybe that's the point.  It's much better than "Django Unchained", which likewise ended up with an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.  Come to think of it, I'd say it's Tarantino's third best film after "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction".  There are a few gruesome moments but if you can stomach them these "Basterds" can be recommended.

The Third Man

The Third Man (1949)

Starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles

Directed by Carol Reed

Set in Vienna, a city carved into pieces in the aftermath of the Second World War, director Carol Reed (who had previously made one of the definitive Second World war films, "The Way Ahead") adapts the novella by Graham Greene, who received screen credit for adapting his own piece, into one of the true classics of cinema.  It's a film (A London Film) to which I keep returning time and time again; it's just a nose behind "Lawrence of Arabia" as the best film ever made, in my opinion.  There's a lot in it; mystery, friendship, betrayal, morality and ethics, the threat of authority, resurrection, romance.  And zither music.  Lots of zither music.  Anton Karas' theme is one of the most recognizable film themes ever.  The opening credits even play over a close up of the strings of a zither being plucked.  Having set up the politics of the situation in Vienna with one of those quotey old-school chattily voiced-over montages one doesn't see in films these days ("Oh, I was going to tell you, wait, I was going to tell you about Holly Martins"), the film proper opens with an American, the aforesaid Martins (Cotten), writer of pulp Western novels, arriving by train in the Austrian capital to visit his old friend Harry Lime (Welles); Martins has hit upon hard times and Lime has offered him gainful employment.  But he soon finds out that Lime has been killed - hit by a truck outside his flat - but that he, Martins, is just in time to attend the funeral.  At the funeral Martins meets a British Army officer, Major Calloway (upon being mistakenly named Callaghan by Martins he snaps "Calloway.  I'm English, not Irish!").  Calloway reveals that Lime was a racketeer and murderer, suggesting Martins return home forthwith.  But Martins is faithful to his friend and insists the Major must be mistaken.  After one drink too many he attempts to punch him, and is restrained by Sergeant Paine - the great Bernard Lee (real first name John, for any trivia fans out there!)  It's amusing when Paine, escorting Martins to his hotel, admits to being a big fan of his Westerns.  The following day, Holly finds himself becoming embroiled in the mystery, regardless of his own intentions, as he meets Harry's brooding, dark-haired actress girlfriend Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), and those who were present at the scene of Lime's death.  Coincidentally, it seems they all knew him or were somehow connected to him.  Something is not quite right.

The porter in Harry's apartment building tells Holly and Anna that three men carried Lime's body, contrary to the official line heard at the inquest, that there were only two.  But he is reticent to become involved or say more.  Similar enquiries prove frustrating. So who was the Third Man?  Given that the film poster (the biggest spoiler since the Statue of Liberty showed up on the "Planet of the Apes" dvd cover - oops!) shows Welles, I think it's fairly safe now 65 years on to say that Lime isn't actually a corpse, but faked his death, for reasons which become apparent, and that the body was that of another person.  The very much alive Lime reveals himself to Martins in one of the most memorable and iconic scenes in  the whole history of cinema.  Welles' face, as he stands in the shadows of a recessed doorway, is suddenly illuminated by a light turning on across the street.  Lime grins at Holly before slipping away.  It's a first appearance over an hour into the film, but Lime's presence utterly dominates proceedings. 

As does Welles'.  He doesn't direct here, and indeed proceedings are a lot tighter and more disciplined than might have been the case had he done so, but his sensibility is all pervasive.  In fact, after that wordless doorway shot, he only really has two scenes - one in which he meets Martins to have a little chat on the Weiner Weisenrad, the big Ferris Wheel which dominates the Prater Park, and one at the film's climax in which he arrives for a pre-arranged rendezvous with Martins only to discover he has been betrayed; this leads to a memorably atmospheric chase through the stark shadows of the streets and eventually sewers.  It's wryly appropriate that the "rat" ends up {Spoiler alert, but we are talking 66 years ago) meeting his end in the sewers.  Welles perfectly embodies the "banality of evil" - the ability to be utterly charming but thoroughly rotten to the core.  Robert Krasker's visuals are striking, Martins' growing confusion reflected by an increasing number of "dutch angles", and menacing shots from below looking upwards.  The idealized good v bad ethic is sharply brought out in the light / shadow motif, but ultimately everything is grey, visually as well as morally.

This film is packed full of epic and memorable lines of dialogue.  Perhaps most famous is Lime's line on the Borgias versus the Swiss: "..in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance.  In Switzerland they had brotherly love, they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."  Apparently improvised by Welles (depending on which apocryphal stories you read) the words speak to the heart of Harry's character.  In other words, to borrow from the Joker, you can't make an omelette if you don't break some eggs.  Lime's means are to the ends. In the same scene, looking down on the people below, Lime defends his dubious actions comparing the little dots, ants, and asking Holly if he would really care if one of those dots was squashed.  Welles and Cotten play off each other brilliantly, not surprising given their extended association together in the Mercury Theater.  And I love Calloway's line "Death's at the bottom of everything Martins.  Leave death to the professionals."

Essentially, this is film noir, although it doesn't wear the traditionally perceived badges of that genre (Private Investigator, murder of individual, convoluted plot, the femme as fatale rather than victim), it is black film in its truest sense.  It reeks of the same bitterness found in much "traditional" film noir; bad things happen to good people.  The war is won but the aftermath makes Lime's crimes possible.  The film has lodged itself in the general popular consciousness by virtue of these iconic moments and endearing emotions and themes, it's psychological horror, almost.  It's as close as we have or probably will come in recent years to Shakespearean tragedy (of course Welles himself produced visionary adaptations of Shakespeare on screen - "Macbeth" in 1948, "Othello" in 1952 and "Chimes at Midnight" in 1965).  

The Third Man is utter brilliance.

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta (2005)

Starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving

Directed by James McTeigue

Despite being disowned by author of the original (graphic) novel, the perennially grumpy Alan Moore ("Watchmen"), weirdly bearded and shaggy-haired inhabitant of the metropolis of Northampton, it has to be said that this film is really rather good.  It tells the story of Evey (ee-vee) a young woman living in an oppressive dystopian future Britain (like Orwell on steroids), whom one night whilst breaking the government-imposed curfew meets the combat-skilled vigilante known only as "V", a masked avenger seemingly keen on destruction of the status quo, who rescues her from a pair of assailants. Having saved her from grievous assault, and gradually befriends her, eventually taking her into his home, protecting her when anarchic terrorist attacks hit the capital.  Masked and gloved, which he claims essential due to prior injury, we never see his face or eyes or hands.  His smiling "Guido Fawlkes" mask has since become the icon of rebellious hacker group "Anonymous", and indeed more broadly the generally disgruntled, as witnessed at the recent protests in Central London).  Life imitating art?  Nevertheless.  The Government here is terrifying, oppressive, intrusive and violent.  Their control of the media is total, There's a High Chancellor, in place of a Prime Minister, who seems to rule all without censor, and who proves to be viciously vindictive. The connection between Evey and V is cemented, and not just through their names.

"V for Vendetta"'s depiction of the way in which society is gradually inching is terrifying.   It's slowly recognisable, but tweaked to 11 on the nastiness scale so that it's impossible to switch ones brain off whilst watching this film and just settle down for a dumb action-movie. This is a wake-up call for the brain-dead: Look Around You.  The 13 year old, fruitless "war on terror" impinges on our freedoms at every turn, takes the lives of our young men and women, and seems to have done little to reduce Jihadist plots here in the UK, recently - tragically - France, and elsewhere in "the West". The affordability to think for ones-self seems to diminish daily, whilst the chance to voice trivial bullsh!t on Facebook seems to increase, and increase in priority, by the moment.  Where is it going?  The rage expressed by this film, already provocative,  ratchets up.  The plot takes a gigantic turn when Evey is arrested by the state, and forced to undergo months of torture.  Will her spirit survive?  Is the price of dignity death?  It plays out fascinatingly, and the twist at the end (I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that there's a twist - I just won't tell you what it is) is fantastic.  There's also a genuinely shocking scene in which a character is dragged from bed by armed state-run goons in the middle of the night, which only becomes tragic when the shock has died down.  The crime that sees them sentenced to death?  Owning an antique Koran.

This film, although lacking the stylistic flair of the "Matrix" films, has the Wachowski's fingerprints all over it.  Director James McTeigue has been an assistant on several of their films, as well as "Star Wars: Episode 2" and Alex Proyas' rather magical "Dark City" from back in the 90s.  It barrels along rather nicely, and future-London looks just enough like a matte painting to be ethereal and beautiful, but not too computer-generated.  The Cinematography by veteran Adrian Biddle ("Aliens", "The Princess Bride", "Thelma & Louise") is flawless; it perfectly evokes the slightly artificial feel of a graphic novel (ie a grown-up comic book) with a realistic street-level view of future London.

Portman is simply fantastic as Evey.  Easily rivaling her performance in the role of the emotional wreck she played in "Black Swan", here she plays a different kind of victim... or should that be survivor, or champion?  The imprisonment and torture she undergoes are horrific, and I have nothing but respect for her for the physical lengths to which she went to play this role, including shaving her hair off.  There's a hugely affecting subplot in which she communicates with a fellow prisoner via scratched-out notes pushed through tiny holes in the walls between their cells.  This fellow inmates sole "crime" is to be a lesbian.  It's sickening, but only because it's not implausible.  The whole cast are wonderful too.  Hugo gives what I can only think of as the best performance ever of an actor not showing his face (although the jury is out on exactly where Andy Serkis fits in here, exacted).  John Hurt is fantastic as Chancellor Sutler, and one can't help but think of the irony of him having played Winston Smith in the film of "1984".  Steven Rea is good too, as the cop on V's trail, as is Rupert Graves as his subordinate.

The film climaxes with something I found to be truly unexpected.  It was an act of iconoclasm so extreme I never thought I'd see it in play.   Yet, for this movie, it works perfectly.  It's the only logical conclusion to the story.  There's no way the main character could have gone through what she goes through without this type of emotional payoff.  It feels hideous, and wrong to see onscreen, but also deeply satisfying, in a guilty pleasure type way.  This is a film packed with impacting, iconic and memorable images.

Most importantly, this is a film which asks the viewer to think whilst, or just after, being entertained.  There are action sequences, sure; V proves quite handy in that department in some nifty fights.  But it's the fight within the mind which drives the movie.  Not only in Evey's fight against her mental and physical torture and perpetual fear, but also in the depicted society's intolerant totalitarian conservatism, ultra Christian religious stance, the implicit bias of that, a hideous but credible scenario.  On initial viewing I thought the film was good, entertaining, and intelligent.  But on repeated visits (it's one of those where if I turn the tv on but it's half way through, I'll still watch to the end!) my estimate has ramped up. Love this.  See it, and think.

Remember remember... The fifth of November.

SB

Once

Once (2006)

Starring Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

Written and directed by John Carney

Every so often, a little film comes out of left field, and blows this viewer to pieces.  "Once" was one of those such films 8 years ago.  It's a modest, tiny story, about a guitar-playing Dublin busker in his early thirties (listed only in the credits as "Guy", played by Glen Hansard, of rock & roll band The Frames, and not an actor, although he had appeared in Alan Parker's 1991 soul music comedy "The Commitments") striking up a friendship with an immigrant Czech flower-seller (credits: "Girl"  played by first-timer Markéta Irglová) who admires his songs and harbours her own modest ambitions in that area - she's a piano player, but can't afford to buy an upright over in Ireland.  He plays popular songs by day, and his own compositions by night.  No one seems to listen to him much, except the passing heroin addict (in a hysterical early scene) and "Girl", who is seemingly transfixed.  The songs are raw and emotional, several delivered in crescendos to shoutiness which really shouldn't work, but which somehow do.  One lunchtime the pair visit a musical instrument store of which "Guy" is friendly with the proprietor.  They seemingly improvise a version of one of his songs which he teaches her, the insanely beautiful and gentle "Falling Slowly" - track which incidentally would go on to win numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008.

The plot, what there is of it, could be written on the back of a postage stamp (that is, if postage stamps these days weren't all self-adhesive, and probably can't be written on, but I digress).  "Guy" and "Girl" meet in the street around Dublin a few times.  His day job is working in a vacuum cleaner repair shop with his elderly Father, to which she promptly brings her busted Hoover.  We find out that he is coming off the back of a long-term relationship, and that his ex has left him and moved to London.  He toys with the idea of making the move himself.  His clearly deep affection for "Girl" is borne as much from rebound as it is from respect for her talent; he makes an inappropriate and badly-timed advance, which offends her.  They patch things up soon enough, but he is shocked to discover that she is married, and has a child living with her in Dublin, although her estranged husband is still living back in the Czech Republic; apparently things weren't easy, but she is still committed to the marriage.  She's also alarmingly blunt with him, possibly not quite aware of the social niceties as a result of the linguistic difference.  Although she says to "Guy" at one point, in Czech, "Miluju tebe", which I understand means "I love you" or something along those lines.  But it seems it's not to be between them.  There's much to be said for simply being friends..  They embark on a partnership of musical collaboration, platonic friendship, and unrequited love but produce musical nectar along the way.  Enlisting the help of three other local musicians - Gerard Hendrick, Alastair Foley and Hugh Walsh (as Timmy the drummer - the cast letting their love of "South Park" be known there, through one of the only characters actually to be given a name) - they miraculously secure a bank loan, and hire a recording studio in beautiful surroundings South of Dublin on the East Coast, where they lay down enough tracks to create a demo CD.  Enough for "Guy" to take to London with him to try to make it big.

 

The film drips with naturalism, and is so much stronger for it.  The camerawork, much of it hand-held, is realistic - call it "documentary style" or what you will, it adds to the feeling that we're genuinely peeking in on the lives of these people.  There's a fantastic moment during the first recording session, when the studio engineer cues the band up, starts recording and leans back in his chair, bored, reading a magazine.  As the song progresses and builds, we see him gradually start to perk up, and actually listen to the song.  He's clearly impressed, and in the space of three and a half minutes he has gone from treating this group of musicians with disdain, a bunch of talentless dreamers wasting their time and money, to musicians he regards with respect, capable of creating great tunes.  As the song concludes, he simply remarks "That was nice", but with visible appreciation, it's a lovely moment.  "Guy" and band react with touching humility, as if surprised that anyone outside their ranks could appreciate their music.  There are some wonderful, tender moments as "Guy" coaxes "Girl" into playing some of her own songs; she breaks down one night in a darkened side-studio, and opens up to him.

Director John Carney gave us the Keira Knightley / James Corden / Mark Ruffalo musical flick  "Begin Again" earlier this year, which I have not yet seen but by all accounts is slightly cuter and less effective than "Once".  Still, it's nice to see his obvious talent being recognised.  What's heartening about this film is that the mood is so realistic and the characters are so credible.  From "Guy's" pain at his breakup and furtive longing to "Girl's" ambition and thwarted affection, these are real people it seems, on a genuine emotional arc.  The ending is bittersweet.  One wants the couple to get together, but we're also reminded that real-life isn't always that simple.  Some have asked why it is so titled.  But "Once" is beautifully ambiguous.  It could refer to the one time you meet a person who's perfect for you, the one time things click into place with your ambitions and your achievements.   I was never really a great fan of Musicals.  Save for "Singin' in the Rain" and the "Blues Brothers", and unless "Amadeus" counts, I don't really have much time for a film's characters randomly breaking into song and dance; they just don't work for me, although I accept they have their place.  "Once" isn't a Musical in the traditional sense of the word, rather, it's a film about people who play and sing songs.  So many of the songs here are truly fantastic; from the Oscar-winning "Falling Slowly" to the amazing "When Your Mind's Made Up" by way of the beautiful "If You Want Me", sung by "Girl" on a walk back to her flat from the convenience store where she has had to buy batteries for her Discman, so she could listen to "Guy's" music and lay her words down on top (it's a brilliant handheld shot-in-motion).  This isn't even my kind of music - there's no four-to-the-floor beat, or synths!  But the songs are utterly wonderful, and many of them are performed in full by the artists concerned.  One honestly feels like you're watching real musicians - and you are.

The movie has recently been turned into a West End / Broadway stage production, which I haven't seen and can't yet quite figure out how would work.  But the film, to say this upfront, is so sweet and touching, it really hits me in the heart; dare I say it, it's a masterpiece.  I've read that it spent longer in the US box office top 30 than "Spiderman 3" and "Shrek the Third" (and it certainly cost a hell of a lot less then those to produce).  No less than Steven Spielberg allegedly said of it "a little movie called "Once" gave me enough strength to last the rest of the year".  High praise indeed.  Hansard and Irglová dated for a few years, and performed on stage after the film, opened for Bob Dylan on a tour, and the chemistry together is certainly palpable.  They're incredibly watchable.  Apparently shot in just 17 days, it's affectingly ultra-realistic.  And it's packed with human charm.  For sure, it's bittersweet at the end.  We want these two to get together, but we understand why they can't.  Life's not always like that.  "Once" is a wonderful, low-key, charmer of a film, and whether you like the songs or not, it's got so much humanity, humour and heart that it's well worth the 100 minutes of your time it would take to check it out.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl (2014)

Starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike

Directed by David Fincher

WARNING!  Here there be spoilers.  Please only read on if you've seen the film, read the book, or want to know what happens.  More time is spent describing the plot than usual - for a reason.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you will have heard of Gillian Flynn's novel "Gone Girl".  The film adaptation, directed by David Fincher, has recently been released, and has garnered a huge amount of coverage in the mainstream media, in which its addressing of issues of gender, marriage, and the media itself have been thoroughly dissected and discussed. It's the story of a seemingly happily married couple, Nick and Amy Dunne who have recently moved from New York City to Nick's home town of North Carthage, Missouri to care for Nick's Mother, who had cancer; she has since passed away, but Nick and Amy have remained in the town.  Nick co-owns a bar with his sister Margo, bought for them by Amy, daughter of wealthy parents, one of whom a successful author of a raft of cutely-illustrated children's books in a series called "Amazing Amy".  On that score, at one point Amy comments that her Mother didn't really write them about her, because the fictional Amy always does better than the real-life version.  "I love having strangers pick at my scabs" she acerbically remarks.  These are the first hints of real people being misrepresented in public, a recurring theme.

The story opens on the morning of the couple's fifth wedding anniversary.  Nick leaves the house to visit his sister at their bar (imaginatively called The Bar), but when he returns home, his wife is missing, and there are signs of a violent struggle in the living room.  He calls the police, and whilst being very concerned, appears open and honest with Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens - Joanie from "Deadwood") and Officer Jim Gilpin.  A search of the house reveals a small splatter of blood in the kitchen.  Boney, scarcely seen without a coffee in her hand, is still friendly and professional; Gilpin, however, immediately becomes suspicious and takes a dislike to Nick.  Events in the present timeline are interspersed with flashbacks - enacted in the form of a voiceover by Amy reading from the pages of her diary - to the couple's meeting, blossoming relationship, and early marital period.  This cross-cutting structure is extremely well handled, as it invites the viewer to bring their feelings about the events of one narrative strand and transpose them onto the other.  We see Nick, the frantic husband desperate to find his wife, just as we see Nick the charmer and seducer, half of a dream couple.  Simultaneously we see Amy seeking comfort in marriage as an escape, just as we don't see Amy at all any more, because she has gone; escaped?  Through these flashbacks we learn that on each of their wedding anniversaries previously, Amy had staged a "treasure hunt", leaving a series of clues for Nick to lead them to his anniversary present.  Initially assuming her absence to be part of this game, Nick's concern begins to mount, along with the public's.  The "Find Amy" website and hotline spring up overnight, and "Missing" flyers plaster every wall and lamp post in town.  Then the detectives find an envelope marked "Clue One" and the treasure hunt is on...

Things take a turn, though, when the flashback timeline shows cracks beginning to appear in the marriage.  Both lose their jobs during the financial downturn, and they start to encounter monetary difficulties;  Nick plays videogames when he should be concerned about Amy's problems, arguments become more frequent.  In the present day timeline, some fumbles on Nick's part lead gradually to suspicion and whispers.  The whispers grow louder.  Could Nick really have murdered Amy?  He's still a sympathetic character at this point, worried but trying to stay composed, to please the people who are helping in the search for Amy, and ultimately just in the worst possible conflicted state.  The storm really breaks when  it emerges that Nick had been having an affair.  The townsfolk, media, and public across the country turn fully against him and make up their minds that his displays of grief are not quite genuine enough.  One talk show host in particular seems to take up a crusade against him, picking on tiny moments and placing them out of context to falsify perceptions.  People don't seem to understand that marriage is a two-way street, and that the affair could have been born of a reason other than simply him being a bastard.  It's a biting comment on the cynical nature of opinion in the age of 24 hour news channels and social media.  Nick enlists the services of celebrity lawyer Tanner Bolt, the excellent Tyler Perry, to mount his defence; that defence is as much about fighting the PR war as it would be about fighting a court case.  As facts come to light, Bolt says "You two are most of the fucked up people I've ever met, and I deal with fucked up people for a living!"   Amy's body hasn't been found, so it's unlikely that Nick would be convicted, though if he were he could face the death penalty.  As they begin to investigate Amy's past - and past relationships - they begin to understand what has happened.  We then start to see Amy's side of the story, and an explanation of why events have played out as they have.

Details of her scheme are intricately mapped out, and depicted in riveting fashion.  At this point the story certainly loses its ambiguity, as the viewer now knows for sure that Amy isn't dead, and that Nick is guilty of not much more than adultery.  But despite the sharp left turn it remains totally gripping, because things are unfolding in such a bizarre way that it's virtually impossible to predict how it all will end.  The introduction of a character from Amy's past complicates things further and the shocking implications of her actions, both back home and further afield, come into focus.  Neil Patrick Harris, as her High School flame Desi Collings, is billed third, so his (late) appearance is anticipated, but his behaviour is odd and unexpected.  Amy's eventual inevitable return home gives rise to a moment which perfectly embodies the film's sardonic take on marriage; as the couple pose and beam for cameras, seemingly euphorically relieved to be reunited, Nick, having twigged to the ramifications of Amy's nefarious plan, leans in close and whispers in her ear "You fucking bitch".    Till death do us part, indeed.

Many have commented that Affleck is a fitting choice to portray Nick, as he knows only too well what it's like to come under the judgmental spotlight of an indifferently subjective media.  He performs superbly here, skillfully walking the fine line between likable, average Joe and  sly guy with a secret.  Rosamund Pike has a similarly tricky dual part to play but does so convincingly, so much so that the sociopathic schemer of the latter stages is so jarring, because the sexy, intelligent and loving Amy of the former stages is so attractive (in many senses of the word).  Films like this probably won't fall into the Oscar basket, but I would have them both up for acting gongs. The supporting cast are all good too.  The screenplay, adapted by Gillian Flynn from her own novel, is tight, smart, and bitterly funny.  It's not too often that authors adapt their own novels for the screen; maybe it's too hard to step away from the original creation.  But from what others have said, it's been ideal in this instance, as the diary structure had to be remixed, and certain elements had to be left out  to work for cinema.  Jeff (son of Jordan) Cronenweth's cinematography is nigh-on perfect.  It contrasts the heat of the beautiful wide open Missouri landscapes, with Nick's loneliness in the increasingly oppressive empty house as the case goes on, opening out and brightening when Amy "frees" herself and goes on the road.  The brooding electronic score, by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor, in their third collaborative work on Fincher movies, is minimal, menacing, and subliminally effective.  There's a free stream of it here which is well worth checking out, if you're interested.

Given the close attention to detail invested in Amy's plot, it's surprising then, that there are a couple of plot holes big enough to drive a truck through.  She uses her credit card to buy a stream of products to back up her story about Nick's spending addiction, but how are they delivered without need for a signature?  And how does she get them into Margo's shed without anyone noticing?  And how come Margo never looks in there?  When she gets "abducted" by Desi Collings, she's shocked to realise that he has security cameras covering every corner of the house, to which she plays up when she feigns abuse.  They would be digitally stored, so not erased every few days as in the good old days of videotape surveillance.  She admits this fact to the cops and FBI when interviewed, so surely they would eventually get access to the footage to find out when she first arrived, and they'd see that she walked in calmly, unlike someone who'd been kidnapped and tied up, and not at any time soon after her disappearance?  And they'd see the wine bottle incident.  I know these are minor points and they only sink in after the fact, but still, it slightly lets the film down.  In many ways, this is reminiscent of Fincher's earlier "The Game".  That film was utterly engrossing up until the final twist, which totally let down what had gone before.

That being said, this is still a really good movie.  David Fincher's direction is beyond question; he's one of the most consistently solid directors working today ("Alien 3" wasn't his fault).  It's a genuine mystery, unpredictable, interesting, it throws up a range of thought-provoking questions, it's challenging, surprisingly funny in points, the dialogue is razor sharp ("We caused each other pain" says Nick at one point, "That's marriage" replies Amy) and is worth seeing much more than most other films out there at the moment.  And it has the best-behaved cat in the history of cinema.

Just don't see it with your spouse.

SB

Transcendence

Transcendence (2014) 

Starring Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall
Directed by Wally Pfister

Seldom does a film arrive with so much baggage.  The directorial debut of Wally Pfister, maestro cinematographer of titles such as "The Italian Job" remake, "Moneyball", and the Christopher Nolan directed "The Prestige", "Inception", and the "Dark Knight" trilogy, brings with it a significant deal of expectation.  It seems like everyone expected this to be Nolan-calibre; expectations, it's fair to say, were high.  I hate mentioning it, but it's impossible to avoid.  As if to add fuel to the fire, calling a movie "Transcendence" practically screams out "I am deep, I am important".  So here we have a big, *serious* science fiction film, tackling mind-bending concepts, and looking scintillating.   How does it play?

Johnny Depp stars as Will Caster, a scientist, Artificial Intelligence developer, and a man seeking to create the ultimate sentient machine, combining logical intelligence with human thoughts, feelings, and emotions (an electronic Mr Spock?).  He becomes the target of a group of activists fighting against such "un-natural" progression, and falls victim to a radioactive-laced assassination attempt.  When it becomes apparent that he will soon die from radiation poisoning, his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and friend and colleague Max (Paul Bettany) embark on the completion of an experiment on which Will had been working - the uploading of thought patterns and electrical brain-waves into a physical mainframe.  Can a human "exist" in such a set-up?  Would the artificial Will really be him, or would it be a pale reflection, driven by the computer? So far, so tantalising, so mind-stretching.  The experiment works, and Will exists no longer in a physical body, but in computerized, virtual form.  Theoretical physicist and general all-round thinker Michio Kaku (please look him up and read his books) is one of many who have questioned what it is to be conscious, and human, and then to ask if consciousness could be transferred to an alternate host.  And the popular consensus is that it could be possible. Could.  So the science here in this science fiction is not quite so outlandish as it sounds.  “Transcendence” embraces this concept with earnestness and aspiration.

There are many positives outside of the intriguing concept.  As one would expect, the film looks fantastic.  It's great to see Cinematographer Jess Hall graduating from the likes of the great "Hot Fuzz" to a big Hollywood production like this.  The score by Mychael Damma ("Life of Pi") is fittingly pounding and Zimmer-esque.  And of course there's the cast.  Johnny Depp might be a little subdued in the main role, mumbling his way through a keynote speech at the start of the film, and hamming it up no-end when he becomes an omnipotent AI construct later in the movie.  Rebecca Hall and Paul Bettany are their usual dependable superb selves, and ever so watchable.  Morgan Freeman does the "Basil Exposition" role as only he can, no surprises there.  Cillian Murphy is fine as the FBI cyber-cop, but his role is cut down to its bare bones, and feels shoved to one side.  Overall things look and play very well, making this a very easy watch.

Narratively, however, there are significant problems.  In the second half of the film, events move with frightening pace.  The whole thing feels un-necessarily rushed.  One minute Max is plugging Will into the machine and happy with the idea, barely two minutes later he's thrown his hand in with R.I.F.T, the quasi-terrorist group opposed to the whole human-technology movement.  Another minute Evelyn is overjoyed to have her husband "back", the next, she's terrified when Will goes all "Lawnmower Man" on her.  Things go from good to bad to worse in the blink of an eye.  Rather than an exploration of the initial ideas, we move to a secondary plot about nano-technology and manipulation of the environment, a plot thread which seems to come out of left field.  I haven't read much about the production, but the fact that there are listed 14 producers, co-producers, or exec producers might have something to do with it.

First timer Jack Paglen's script is smart, and brimming with ideas and questions, and although the movie is rabidly uneven, I would love to see the full original screenplay.  I would also love to see a three-hour cut of this film, as I feel that in its current format it misses out huge chunks of what would have been vital to the unfolding story.  "Transcendence" is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not great, and what is most frustrating is that it seems like it should have been.  I'm confident that Pfister will go on to make many fine films better than this.  Ultimately, if you offered me "Transcendence" or "Transformers", I'd take the former over Michael Bay's brain-vacuum crash-bang  nonsense any day.  Give me a film with ideas.  This movie isn't perfect, but it does at least have some of those, and is worth a watch for that reason alone.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

Starring Chris Pine and Kenneth Branagh; co-starring Keira Knightley and Kevin Costner
Directed by Kenneth Branagh

A particular favourite read of my teenage years was the Jack Ryan series of novels by the late, great Tom Clancy.  Beginning with the supremely taut "The Hunt for Red October" and making their way through the preposterous-but-page-turner of a prequel "Patriot Games" and continuing with the excellent "Cardinal of the Kremlin" and "Clear and Present Danger", by way of another prequel "Red Rabbit", and a fleeting cameo in "Without Remorse" (itself about covert operative John Clark),  the books eventually saw the History Doctor turned CIA Analyst turned Politician become - somewhat fancifully, but by that stage who was arguing? - President of the USA.  The series was a mainstay of airport bookshops and propped-open doors for over 20 years, entering the popular language and earning a name-check from the Fun Lovin' Criminals en route.  Key to their success was the aura of credibility - particularly in the military / technical sphere - with which Clancy imbued his increasingly fantastic plots (Clancy also penned several factual books on various aspects of the military world).  Their length, around a good 700 pages each allowed for dense plots and intricate characterization (because we had to know exactly which High School that US Army General had attended), and lent them a certain gravitas.  They could not be dismissed as mere "airport fiction"; a Reaganite wet-dream, perhaps, but not that.

Clearly here was a goldmine to be exploited on the big screen.  Adaptations of such lengthy tomes might have been better suited to a television mini-series perhaps - or even an ongoing series - but the grand scope of the novels demanded a Hollywood-sized budget.  The cinematic life of Ryan got off to an impressive start in 1990 with "The Hunt for Red October".  Directed by John McTiernan (of "Die Hard" and "Predator" fame), the film saw Alec Baldwin take on the role of the young Dr Ryan, drawn into the CIA due to his theories on whether a Soviet submarine captain (Sean Connery - in full "all nations' accents are Scottish accents" mode) plans to defect to the US in his shiny new state of the art boat or not.  The movie did an admirable job of boiling down Clancy's novel to a manageable couple of hours, with only a few significant deviations from the book's plot; the climax, I believe, was actually better handled on-screen.

The story goes that the role of Ryan was originally offered to the era's golden boy, Kevin Costner, sizzlingly  hot off the back of "No Way Out", "Bull Durham", and "Field of Dreams".  Apparently he turned it down in order to make "Dances With Wolves", one of the dwindling number of genuine modern epics, for which Costner netted a Best Director and Best Film Academy Award in 1991; so he can't have been too upset.  But more of him later.  The role of Ryan passed to the significantly older Harrison Ford for the sequel (which really should have been a prequel) "Patriot Games", which sucked the out most exciting parts of the ridiculous novel and left us with a fairly routine revenge story, shackled with a hopelessly muddled take on The Troubles in Northern Ireland (there are "good" IRA guys, and "bad" IRA guys, don't you know?).  Ford was frankly wrong for the role, and although inverting the chronology of the novels disappointed this fan in particular, I still felt the film, on other counts, was pretty lacklustre in its own right.  Much more impressive was the post-Escobar war-on-drugs follow up, "Clear and Present Danger", a few years later.  Although I still had problems with Ford as Ryan, it was much more engaging and complex than its immediate predecessor, and still holds up pretty well these days, despite those archaic mid 1990s VDUs on show.  There's a certain synergy to the whole Jack Ryan becomes POTUS arc of the novels in light of Ford's appearance in the brainless actioner "Air Force One", as the President, no less, kicking terrorist Gary Oldman off his personal aircraft.  

With seven or so years passing before the production of the next in the series, terrorist nuclear attack thriller "The Sum of All Fears", starring Ben Affleck as Ryan, Ford rightly chose to step aside.  The film's release was understandably delayed due to the 9/11 atrocities, featuring as it does, a major terrorist attack on US soil.  Whereas the Ford films had retained some of the same actors in the roles of supporting characters, such as James Earl Jones as Ryan's mentor Admiral James Greer, this time round it was a whole new ballgame.  At the time it was a little edgy, and obviously during those years perceptions and opinions significantly changed.  I don't believe it was that well received, hence the lack of an immediate follow-up.  But it's actually not that bad a film.  There's a certain clunkiness creeping into the series perhaps, with the nuclear show down with Russia forming the climax; in the words of John Conner in "Terminator 2", "Aren't they our friends now?".  But it was well enough done, and I'd love to have seen what Liev Schrieber could have made of the role of Clark if they'd chosen to adapt one of those novels too.  I also liked Affleck as young Ryan, and never really felt the opprobrium afforded him during the wilderness years prior to the "Argo" triumph was valid.  Nevertheless, it seemed Ryan was done.  On the page he was the man in charge of the land of the Free.  On screen, well, he'd gone up in smoke with that nuke in Baltimore.

So we come to 2014, and a second attempted re-boot with "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit".  Clearly the character still has legs and cultural currency, so is worth resurrecting once more.  This time round we have Kenneth Branagh in the director's chair, as well as taking on acting duties as principal antagonist Victor Cherevin.  Chris Pine plays Ryan, young once more, and being recruited into the CIA again, with Kevin Costner becoming Ryan's mentor Commander Thomas Harper, replacing James Earl-Jones' unforgettable Admiral James Greer.  Keira Knightley does a surprisingly great job, and American accent, as Ryan's fiancée Cathy.  Plot-wise, we're in unfamiliar territory, as the script isn't based directly on a Clancy novel (although contrarians might argue it's not the first time).  But we are in a pseudo-familiar and deeply unsettling no-man's-land of one foot in the past cold war Clancyism, combined with new Hollywood war on terror age must make this work.  The Russians, still, are the Baddies - at time of watching, it seemed archaic and irrelevant, but in light of recent events, maybe not so much.  Frighteningly so, maybe. 

In this instance, Ryan is cherry-picked to join the CIA as a Finance Anaylst, because in the post-Lehman Brothers and (what do they call it?) "GFC" world, the biggest threat in the world is economic collapse.  "The second Great Depression", as Ryan refers to it.  His military record is preserved from the books, but his near-debilitating injury in a helicopter crash is transposed to the war in Afghanistan (Jeffrey Deaver similarly re-imagined James Bond's military career in that conflict in his novel "Carte Blanche").  Before you know it, Wall Street hotshot Ryan uncovers a plot by sneaky Russians to prop up T-Bonds but then stage an attack in America and dump them all just before the inevitable crash occurs, thus reaping a huge profit whilst crippling the US market.  So far so old-school, but yet so very new.  A trip to Moscow (which we all know and love now due to "Mission Impossible 4" and "A (not so) Good Day to Die Hard") unfolds with a combination of spy-movie staples (sneaking into the villain's office) with modern day action scenes of the highest calibre - a  brutal fight in Ryan's hotel room and a thrilling car chase being the highlights.  The inevitable race to stop the bomb back in New York feels a little familiar, but is injected with enough vigour by director Branagh that it's still pretty nerve-jangling.  At the heart of the story are two big issues.  One is Ryan being forced to do something which he never anticipated, that is going out into the field and being more than an analyst, and actually having to kill people.  The second is the necessity for secrecy which keeps him from being totally honest with the woman he wants to marry.  Both are played out convincingly.

Pine is a capable, indeed credible action hero.  Any worries about doubling up in the iconic role arena are quickly dispelled; if Henry Cavill can do Kal-El and Napoleon Solo, Ben Affleck can be Daredevil (hmm) and Batman, and indeed Harrison Ford can do Han Solo, Indiana Jones and Jack Ryan, why shouldn't Chris Pine play Captain Kirk and Jack Ryan too?  This feels like more of an ensemble cast than at most times before in this series, which serves to underline Ryan's greenness.   It is a fine cast - "fine" as in great, in some cases, "fine" as in "perfectly fine" in others. It's a nice touch that the Russian characters, when conversing with each other, do so in Russian.  Although having said that, Branagh's Russian-accented dialogue in English does seem a little pantomimey from time to time.  But the "beautiful beautiful "(*tm Dr. Gareth Higgins) Elena Velinkanova makes up for that in her brief role!

On the one hand this is a deeply old-fashioned film.  At one point Ryan meets a fellow covert operative in a cinema screening of an old film to exchange vital documents, a moment dripping with Cold War Cloak and Dagger trappings.   Yet on the other it feels almost desperately trying  to proclaim its relevance to the present day environment, with all its talk of crashing financial markets, tracking down the villains using Twitter and Facebook and every other social media outlet one would care to name, and a 9/11-evoking "catch the bomber in New York" climax.  Maybe when it was written it might have seen odd to cast the Russians as villains, but in the wake of the sickening events in the Ukraine and the shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines plane, it seems chillingly appropriate.  I really wanted to like it but have to admit to being a tiny bit underwhelmed.  That's not to say it a bad film by any means, it was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.  If they made a sequel I'd definitely go to see it, but I'm not convinced the box office numbers have been quite good enough to greenlight any such script.  It sounds mean-spirited to say that it feels like the sort of thing one would happily watch on a plane and be entertained, but not necessarily one you'd go out of your way to see.  A solid 7, I feel.  Better luck next time Jack, if it comes.