Morning Glory (2010)

As a lighthearted and entertaining throwback to the witty work-based comedies of Hollywood past Morning Glory gets a lot right. Though coming from the director of Notting Hill and writer of The Devil Wears Prada, two of the better films of a similar ilk from recent years, it should at least to a certain degree be expected. It also heralds the return of that rarest of beasts, an enjoyable and committed performance from Harrison Ford who seems re-energised here in a way so unlike his recent output.
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Undoubtedly though the star of the piece is Rachel McAdams, she has impressed in other films up until this point, but front and centre here she puts in a truly notable performance, her mix of peppy eagerness and vulnerability neatly mixed with a real knack for physical comedy. She plays Becky Fuller, an aspiring news producer who dreams of one day working for the top rated network morning show. Upon finding her dreams falling apart she is accepted at a struggling TV station to try and boost their flagging program. It is in this effort that she strikes the idea of luring venerable, but ousted and embittered newsreader Mike Pomoroy (Harrison Ford) out of retirement and back into work, much to his reluctance. The rest of the film largely plays out to form with Mike and Becky learning from each other and plucky spirit overcoming obstacles, but nevertheless the somewhat grounded nature of the story and characters help keep the film engaging and the audience invested throughout.
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Giving great support are Jeff Goldblum as Becky's cynical boss and Diane Keaton as the long-suffering co-host of the program, her chemistry with Ford is hugely entertaining and the film's obvious but endearing view of the world of news and especially breakfast TV feels fairly astute. Patrick Wilson has a relatively small role as a potential love interest for Becky, but I was actually glad that film kept this sub-plot largely on the sidelines. So the film works as something of an expose on the behind-the-scenes workings of a TV program, but also largely deals with the mixture everyone must battle with of career vs. family. Becky's ambition and commitment to her job have real consequences and it was nice to see this being addressed rather than the typical 'you can have it all' message permeating, and it keeps Becky likeable and sympathetic when she could so easily come across as annoying or overbearing. Again a lot of this is down to McAdams who's inherent charms have never been so well harnessed.
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Ultimately Morning Glory isn't the deepest film, but it doesn't have to be. I found it a genuine surprise, thoroughly entertaining and upbeat with a very neatly worked and moving ending that manages to be as pleasantly low-key as the rest of the film. As I alluded to early on the film in many ways feels like something of a throwback with a fast paced script and entertaining characters,it's the sort of feel-good fare Hollywood should be turning out more often, so it's nice to recognise a job well done on those occasions that it all comes together this well.

Don't Look Now (1973)

Nicolas Roeg's revered, but little known psychological horror is an effective and disturbing example of 70s cinema at it's finest. The story, as it is, concerns a happily married couple Laura and John Baxter (Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, both excellent throughout) who suffer a terrible tragedy. In order to recover they take a trip to Venice, but the impact of their loss follows them, as they are warned of further tragedy up ahead by a slightly creepy psychic who takes a shine to them.
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Don't Look Now is all about atmosphere, right from the films unsettling opening it has a very distinctive feel and edge that never quite feel right. The film is never safe and predictable, which lend it a tremendous air of tension and uncertainty throughout. Roeg uses a variety of techniques to accomplish this, from dream sequences and great use of symbolism and imagery he quickly paints a picture of grief and psychological worry. It is even more remarkable to reflect upon the way characterises and uses the location of Venice, so often leaned on as a romantic paradise, here it's eerie canal-lined streets and crumbling façade's all threaten the unexpected, the couple's sense of isolation, from the world and each other, never more clearly depicted as in the sequence when they spend a night apart, Laura visiting the psychic woman for some sort of closure whilst John drowns his sorrows. 
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Playing a large part in the building of tension and atmosphere is the wonderful sound work and score by Pino Donaggio, never overbearing but unnerving throughout. The lack of release or closure is one of the film's greatest strengths, all the peripheral characters that we need also seem slightly off, you start to not trust anyone, the carefully worded script leaves many things ambiguous (including the nature of the psychic lady who seems to offer assistance) until suddenly it is too late, and events of the films shocking conclusion are in motion. The conclusion is possibly the one aspect of the film that shows its age a little bit, it remains effective nonetheless, and the film on the whole holds up incredibly well.
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The performances throughout are excellent and bold, Christie and Sutherland make a convincing couple, familiar but distant. Their infamous moment of connection in the middle of the film is as affecting and emotionally honest scenes of its ilk that I can ever remember watching. While the film can be unflinching, honest and tough to watch at times it also has a great air of mystery that keeps the story moving, even though even as you watch you feel no good can come of things.
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Overall I found Don't Look Now a real surprise, it's oppressing atmosphere retains its power and the great performances and direction lift the film to the very highest tier. File this alongside Rosemary's Baby as a prime example of the power of cinema to evoke fear from mood and atmosphere, a feeling of dread almost unparalleled and a film well worth making time for.

Buried (2010)

Taking the idea of minimalism in film about as far as it can go, Buried is a taut thriller based solely on the premise of a single actor in a single location for its entire running time. It is an ambitious undertaking, and if anything is surprising it is that the film actually, for the most part, makes this work. What it does mean though is that the film never really justifies its limitations, so whilst I appreciated the craft it qualifies more as an notable experiment than a real success.
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Ryan Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a contractor stationed in Iraq who wakes up to find himself buried alive in a coffin. He quickly finds a mobile phone and a couple of lights, but no obvious way of escape. Soon he is contacted by his kidnappers, and the US team of investigators working to locate him, and so begins a race against time for him to be located before he runs out of air, or the coffin itself collapses in on itself. In between screenwriter Chris Sparling manages to find many ways to spread out the tension from this bare setup, be it demands from the kidnappers, the intrusion from an unfriendly snake or just Reynolds' character coming to terms with his life and situation. Here director Rodrigo Cortés must be given credit and he keeps the film visually interesting at least for its running time. From claustrophobic close ups to some cleverly positioned perspective shots and a nice use of colour (dependent on the light source and used inventively to reflect mood) he doesn't make the film feel as restrictive as it really should.
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There have, of course, been similar single location films made before, recently Joel Schumacher's Phonebooth which used the concept well, and Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. Where Buried falls down in relation to these films is creating a memorable enough setup and purpose. Because we never leave the coffin we have no experience of Paul outside of this setting, and so the stakes are always hard to convey. It's a bold choice to start right from the moment Paul wakes up, but one I'm not convinced pays off as intended. Not that this is the fault of Ryan Reynolds who impresses, he is given a lot to do with a very restrictive situation, and with only voices to play off against, he is one of the reasons the film works as well as it does and whilst his character by design is not particularly notable he makes the emotional moments hit and few actors would be able to carry an entire film like this.
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The decision also to keep the film grounded and quite harsh makes it on the one hand uncomfortable, I myself am no fan of tight enclosed spaces and it definitely affected me, but it also makes the film quite a tough watch. There isn't much in the way of release, again by limiting the films view, and not indulging in any flashback / fantasy sequences it leaves it all a bit one-note.
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Ultimately Buried is a film that impresses in a way by simply existing. It is bold and different, but ultimately I feel the self-imposed restrictions of the premise hold it back. The basic idea and way that things plan out aren't really strong enough to be supported by the limited aesthetic choices and as such it is a film that feels like it is being held back. It has a great central performance, and some effectively tense and nerve-wracking moments, but overall it still feels like an interesting oddity, rather than a genuinely good film.

Jackie Brown (1997)

Until recently this was the only Quentin Tarantino film that I hadn't seen, for whatever reason it had always eluded me, at the time though it was under close scrutiny, coming off the back of Reservoir Dogs ad Pulp Fiction, and whilst it is perhaps less immediately impressive as those efforts there is an added layer of maturity here that I was surprised and impressed with. Many will forever labour Tarantino as a stylist first and formost, someone who crams in his love of film history and quirky fetishes into every film, and whilst those traits are visible here what Jackie Brown ultimately boils down to is a tremendously entertaining character piece choc-full of brilliant performances.
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Based on the Elmore Leonard novel Rum Punch (he was also responsible for Get Shorty and Out of Sight) Jackie Brown focuses on the titular character, a superb Pam Grier, a low-rent flight attendant who finds herself supplementing her income by smuggling money across the border to Cuba for small time arms dealer Ordell (Samual L. Jackson, never better than he is here). When the police catch on to this Jackie is given a choice, jail or help them take down Ordell. However her loyalty is tested, especially when she befriends her worn down bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster). Add into the mix Robert DeNiro as one of Ordell's prison buddies who has just been released and you have an all-star cast of acting talent brought to a head in a clever and twisting tail of betrayal, murder and, naturally, amazingly sharp dialogue. The film takes its time setting up characters and the story, focusing on Grier's somewhat embittered but fierce Jackie Brown. She is wonderful in the film, strong but proud and it is clear from the way Tarantino shoots her that the film was largely built as a vehicle to re-launch her as a star. The symmetrical opening and closing sequences, set to Bobby Womack's 110th St. are perfect, as usual Tarantino's soundtrack is as integral part of the film as anything else.
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As well as a twisting and involving narrative, the film is also very funny in places, Jackson and De-Niro (better here than he has been arguably since) make a great double act, neither one all that smart but both dangerous and equally tormented by Jackson's live in stoner girlfriend played with wonderful detachment by Bridget Fonda. Equally Forster plays the sad-sack well meaning bondsman with a tremendous amount of heart and feeling, the way his relationship builds with Jackie Brown is sweet and understated, it becomes clear how she re-ignites something inside of him that his job, seeing constant parades of criminals come and go, had all but taken away. These are simultaneously larger than life, stylised characters, spouting razor sharp dialogue but also very human recognisable souls, something that isn't always the case with Tarantino. It is ultimately this humanity that makes the film resonate, it's clever three-way final sequence is a great example of a directorial trick that feels appropriate for the film and the story, not a gimmick. The film's languid pace is often a blessing in that it gives the characters and actors a chance to breathe, and when even incidental scenes are acted, shot and edited so well it never becomes a chore.
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Whatever it was that was holding me back from watching Jackie Brown, I'm glad that I got past it. Whilst it may not have the immediate impact of much of Tarantino's other work it ultimately feels like one of his most accessible and meaningful films. Full of great performances and dialogue this comes highly recommended as the kind of the film that, simply put, no-one else could make.

I Saw the Devil (2010)

As I have no doubt previously expunged upon in great detail I am a big fan of the current crop of films coming from South Korea, which is fast establishing itself as the most exciting and interesting source of cinema of any kind at the moment. Director Jee-woon Kim is at the forefront of this movement coming off the back of the hugely entertaining The Good, The Bad, The Weird and A Bittersweet Life. His latest film, I Saw the Devil is arguably his best film yet, a black hearted thriller that proudly subverts convention to provide a memorably and twisted experience that is hard to shake.

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When Kim Soo-hyeon’s (the excellent Byung-hun Lee) pregnant fiancée is abducted and killed by a serial killer roaming the streets of Seoul, he sets himself the task of hunting the man down and getting justice. Being a highly trained secret agent makes this task well suited to his skills, interestingly the film is not so interested in the chase, indeed Kim locates the killer (Oldboy’s Min-sik Choi in another stunning performance) within the first hour of the film, the point at which most conventional narratives would end. Instead Kim plants a tracker on the killer, breaks his hand and lets him go, starting a dangerous game of cat and mouse where he seeks to torment, and slowly bring down the killer in his own time. It’s a wonderful conceit and one chillingly realised, Min-ski Choi’s killer is a brilliantly hateful character, a truly depraved and unsettling individual who fills every second of his screen time with menace. It is a wonderful performance and goes a long way to encouraging the viewer to cheer on Kim’s quest for vengeance, as he repeatedly pulls the leash and disrupts his plans, never dealing the final blow.

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But the film doesn’t shy away from the dangers of Kim’s revenge trip either, the people he places in danger by letting the man go, or the damage to his own soul he risks by sinking to Choi’s level. The murky moral waters are largely left below the surface but their subtext underpins the rest of the film, elevating it beyond a standard revenge thriller. However the film also delivers on this regard, it is full of memorable set pieces and tense exchanges, and not afraid to face up to the darkness it depicts. This is a rough film at times, those with experience of Korean cinema would expect no less, but it never feels overly gratuitous.

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If you can get past the dark subject matter, there is a fascinating and engaging thriller here, with a shocking and blackly comic finale. It is not subtle, and maybe not ultimately all that deep, but while it lasts it is a riveting and exhilarating experience that I would highly recommend. This is another brilliant South Korean revenge film, and proof that there is plenty of mileage in that particular tank left.

Blow Out (1981)

The latest in the recent batch of Brian De Palma movies that I have been catching up on, Blow Out is also my favourite of the directors work so far. It keenly marries his directorial flourishes to a compelling story, proving a good old fashioned thriller along the way, with a few twists.
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The film starts wonderfully, in a voyeuristic POV shot we witness a serial killer stalk a college dormitory. Told with a real sense of menace but also a sly wink and a nod, it is soon revealed that this whole sequence is merely a film within a film, a movie that John Travolta's Jack Terry is working on as the sound engineer. When the killers spree ends with a somewhat pathetic scream, he is charged with recording a better one. Quite why a skilled sound man is working on low budget horror films is something revealed in the film, but it also allows the film to provide a sort of meta commentary on itself from within. Whilst recording the new sounds for the film, Travolta accidentally overhears a car accident, which claims the life of a senior politician. He rescues a woman (Nancy Allen) from the river where the car ends up, and soon discovers that there was more to the incident than a simple accident and soon he becomes embroiled in a conspiracy, and his sound recording could be the only clue to solving it.
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It is a neat premise and the film knowingly skirts the conventions of these types of thrillers. On top of an intriguing plot the characters fascinate too, Jack soon takes a liking to Sally and the two of them tentatively build up a relationship. Both leads impress, Travolta in one of his most understated but effective roles, and Allen playing sweet and naive in a way that still remains believable. On the other end of the spectrum John Lithgow has a memorable role as a hitman and he brings his usual menace to the role. To give much more away about the twists in the tale would spoil a tale best left untold, but this is a rare case of a thriller holding my attention throughout and providing a clever and exciting conclusion. The Hitchcock parallels are always evident with De Palma, but he does a lot here to distinguish his own voice. It is also a nice ode to analogue technology, made as it was before the rise of digital equipment, and there is a fascinating sequence where Travolta's character has synch up separate audio and video recordings, it's painstaking but the sort of nitty gritty detective work that I appreciate in these types of films.
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The story is nicely grounded as well, focused as it is on a relatively small number of characters and never unravels to become overblown or too fantastical. Combine this with a snappy pace and several memorable sequences and you have a smart, effective thriller that I found a joy to watch.