Spotlight.

One of my favourite films and one I've seen many times is Station Agent (2003). It involves a quiet withdrawn unmarried man with dwarfism who has a deep love of anything connected to railways he even works in a model train hobby shop. When his boss passes he discovers that he has been bequeathed an abandoned railway station along with some stock. This wonderfully evocative movie was Tom McCarthy’s debut film and one that won him a number of awards. Four years after this initial film McCarthy won more plaudits for his second feature The Visitor (2007) which starred the great Richard Jenkins, who plays a lonely middle aged man who finds himself having to face up to life's problems when he meets a Syrian refugee he finds living in his New York flat. After making two such wonderful films McCarthy next two feature films Win Win (2011) and The Cobbler (2014) did not quite get the same acclaim. But all has changed with Spotlight (2015).

 

The Spotlight Team. 

This biographical drama deservedly won McCarthy an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and another for Best Picture. Similar to Truth (2015) it deals with investigative journalism but this time it's the Roman Catholic Church and its involvement in the covering up of widespread and systemic child sex abuse that comes under the microscope. Based on a series of stories by the actual Spotlight Team that earned The Boston Globe a Pulitzer Prize for ‘courageous, comprehensive coverage in its disclosures of sexual abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Church’ in 2003.

An engrossing fact based story that keeps you on the edge of your seat for its full 128 minute running time and again like All the President’s Men (1976) and Truth it highlights the power of journalism where in its true form investigates facts, verifies its sources normally to stop unlawful practices and all for the benefit of the wider community.  I cannot recommend this film highly enough and its another of these splendid movies where the action is in the dialogue all acted out by a stellar cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdam, Leiv Schreiber and Stanley Tucci each of whom give a career best performance.

Foxcatcher.

Saying too much about Bennett Millers latest movie would, I'm sure, spoil it for many of you, as the movies climax was quite a shock for someone like me who knew nothing about the story before seeing the film! Based on a true story Foxcatcher (2013) was written for the screen by E Max Frye and Dan Futterman who also wrote the screenplay for Capote (2014), which Miller directed. The movie involves two different subcultures, wealth, money and self conceived power and the sport of wrestling, a rather under appreciated sport in modern day America.

 

Mark Ruffalo plays Dave Schultz.

When Bennett was originally approached with the story he knew immediately that this was a movie he had to make but it took some time to come to fruition. No one from the wrestling community wanted anything to do with the movie until John Giura joined the team as a trainer/technical adviser, which brought many other members of the wrestling community into the production. Giura was eventually given a producing credit.  Set on Du Pont's 880-acre estate in New Town Pennsylvania, and with the original mansion Liseter Hall having been demolished, the filmmakers used Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia for the exterior filming and Wilpen Hall an 1899 mansion in the suburb of Sewickley Heights Pennsylvania for the interior filming.

 

Channing Tatum as Mark Schultz.

The story concerns the relationship between two gold winning Olympic wrestling brothers Mark and Dave Schultz, played by Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, and the American munitions multi millionaire, philanthropist and wrestling enthusiast John Eleuthere du Pont, a very different role for comedian Steve Carell who is almost unrecognisable with his ‘Roman’ nose. Du Pont sets himself up as the main benefactor of the US Wrestling team to take part in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games taking on Mark and then Dave to train Team Foxcatcher. It's a self indulgent project for one of the riches men in America at that time and demonstrates what he imagines his vast wealth can allow him to get away with.

 

Steve Carell as the multi millionaire du Pont. 

Offering a great story, although slow paced and intense, it allows the three main leads to demonstrate career best performances with both Ruffalo and the unnerving Carell both receiving acting nominations at the 87th Academy Awards while Bennett was nominated for Best Director, an award he won at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Also in the movie are Vanessa Redgrave as du Pont's domineering horse loving mother and Sienna Miller as Dave Schultz wife Nancy.  Don’t worry if you’re not a fan of wrestling, as I’m not, it will not spoil your enjoyment of this finely made, if somewhat gloomy, movie. Just treat at it as a metaphor for life - how the rich exploit people who are not fortunate enough have the same privileges they have. 

Now You See Me.

Thanks to an unknown benefactor, four down on their luck street magicians form a collective called ‘The Four Horseman’, although incidentally one’s a woman, with the sole aim of pulling off robbery’s during their high concept magic show performances and with an added touch of Robin Hood they give the money away to their audiences. In the first show in Las Vegas they pull off an ingenious bank robbery in a different country. In the second show in New Orleans, they manage to steal $140 million dollars from a wealthy insurance broker. By this time FBI agent Dylan Rhodes and his French Interpol assistant Alma Day realise that they should track down and make an attempt to arrest the these ‘magical’ criminals.

The synopsis for this ‘big’ movie is actually far better than the finished article, “The more you think you see, the easier it will be to fool you” a statement made by one of the illusionists aptly describes French director Louis Leterrier’s latest outing. Like his previous films, including 2008 The Incredible Hulk, there are some great set pieces in a heist movie that involves deception and illusion to steal rather than the normal gunplay. It does its best to make the narrative interesting by constantly jumping from one plot twist to another without a lot of success. A slight of hand movie where you’re never sure who are supposed to be the bad guys and who are the good guys?  It does have a grand ensemble cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine, Isla fisher, Woody Harrelson and French actress Melanie Laurent. But even the high profile of these involved can’t seem to lift this movie beyond its rather dull predictability.

In the Cut.

Lower East Side Manhattan, New York City. High School teacher and writer Frannie Avery (a liberated Meg Ryan) goes to the Red Turtle Bar to meet one of her students Cornelius Webb (a debut role for Sharrieff Pugh). When she excuses herself to go down to the basement for a visit to the ladies she witnesses a man standing in the shadows receiving a blow job from a young blond women with blue diamond encrusted fingernails, the one thing she does notice about the man is a distinctive tattoo on his wrist. Not sure if she has been seen she makes a quick exit and leaves the bar. The next day she gets a visit from Detective James Malloy (Mark Ruffalo in a part that fits him like a glove) who asks if she saw anything that may help the police in a gruesome murder of the girl with blue diamond encrusted finger nails last seen alive in the Red Turtle. She is immediately drawn to the Detective and encouraged by her half sister Pauline (a very sexy Jennifer Jason Leigh) she accepts his invitation to go for a drink. It’s on this date that she notices that Malloy has the same tattoo as the man who received sexual gratification from the murder victim! As the death toll increases, each one of the victims gets closer to Frannie. 

 

Frannie and Pauline.

As well as the actors mentioned above we have Kevin Bacon who plays a very spooky character John Graham the ex-boyfriend of Frannie who stalk’s her every move even turning up in her flat. Frannie’s rejection appears to have affected his metal state. Nick Damici plays Malloy’s partner Detective Richard Rodrigues who has been assigned to desk duties because of his violent nature towards his wife.

 

Frannie's lonely life is not very satisfying....

Based on a novel by Susanna Moore In the Cut (2003) has been adapted by the author and the films award winning director Jane Campion, whose list of credits include The Piano (1993), Portrait of a Lady (1996) which starred one of the two producers of this erotic thriller: Nicole Kidman, Holy Smoke (1999), Bright Star (2009) and the TV mini series Top of the Lake (2013).  

 

....that is until she meets Malloy!

 ‘A sensuous study of desire and masochism wrapped around a straight up thriller’[1] Basically the study of female sexual psychology and the attraction of fear which leaves women intimidated and excited at the same time. We have two female singletons whose sex life is not straight forward, one of which is having a restraining order taken out on her to stop her sexually harassing a married doctor while the other, Frannie, has obvious pent up sexual desires. The reason that this film has been labelled provocative is because the more Frannie believes that Malloy is the killer of the three brutally murdered women the more she is drawn to him ‘turned on not just by his cunnilingus technique but also by his potentially lethal power’[2] This dark noir type drama extends Meg Ryan’s acting capabilities and allows her complicity with the exploration of sex for pleasure and not necessarily for love!  This well researched cinema verite is well acted and New York is particularly well photographed but it is quite explicate and I would suggest one for the more open minded cineaste. 

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[1] Sight and Sound December 2003.

[2] Ditto

Avengers Assemble.

All credit to Joss Whedon’s writing and direction on what amounts to his first Hollywood blockbuster, a sequel to the proceeding five Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Iron Man (2008),  The Incredible Hulk (2008)  Iron Man 2 (2010) Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Avengers Assemble (2012) is an absolute dynamite adaptation of a comic book action adventure and one certainly worthy of the description of ‘action movie’ with CGI that is more than impressive with its post 9/11 imagery and references. It also includes, in abundance, one of the most important ingredients of any comic book movie: humour.

Natasha Romanoff AKA The Black Widow.

Hawkeye.

The plot involves our collective superheroes, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and the lesser known Hawkeye and the ultra sexy Black Widow, battling a supervillain, well actually a Norse God, who has stolen an energy source resembling a blue translucent cube called a Tesseract, which is powerful enough to destroy earth.

The Norse God Loki.

One of the great strengths of this movie is its villain Loki, played brilliantly by Tom Hiddleston, who you will remember from Thor as the crown prince of Asgard’s adopted renegade brother. The cast’s commitment to their particular character’s help to conjure up a totally realistic Marvel world, Robert Downey Jr as the heir to the Stark dynasty giving the role the eccentricity it deserves, all American hero Captain America is again portrayed by Chris Evans, with Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as Thor and Mark Ruffalo finally giving the kudos that the role of Bruce Banner deserves. Jeremy Renner plays Hawkeye a S.H.l.E.L.D agent whose skill with a bow and arrow gives him the title of the world’s greatest marksman. Scarlett Johansson brings superspy Natasha Romanoff, better known by her code name Black Widow, to life. Also involved is Samuel L. Jackson who plays the director of S.H.l.E.L.D Nick Fury responsible for bringing the superheroes together to help fight world domination by the evil fascistic Loki. To all Marvel Cinematic Universe virgins I challenge you to watch this film and not fall in love with the whole comic book concept.

Commander Nick Fury.

Will the Hulk save the day?