Nightcrawler

"You filmed him die."
"It's my job. I like to say that if you see me you're having the worse day of your life."

Jake Gyllenhaal is gaunt, verging on skeletal, wide-eyed, spewing entrepreneurial rhetoric, and is yet wholly terrifying as Louis Bloom, a man desperate enough to do anything to be successful in the orange and yellow-hued streets of night-time Los Angeles. Nightcrawler is the directorial debut of screen-writer Dan Gilroy (The Fall, Real Steel and Two For the Money) that also stars Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton and Gilroy's real-life wife, Rene Russo who all become a part of Lou's small corner of the underworld of night-time news journalism.

The film opens on a series of establishing shots of Los Angeles at night, awash with colour, where life and noise is ever-present off-screen, and the thrumming score is barely audible. The film then settles on Bloom, a man desperate enough to steal and sell almost anything he can, yet has such a vocal and principled perspective of hard-work that is strangely hypnotic. A perpetually rejected and alone Bloom happens upon a car accident and is swept up with the audacity and energy of Bill Paxton's Joe Loder. Loder is a nightcrawler, a freelance videographer who exuberantly films the crash, intending to sell it to the highest-bidding news outlet and affirms Blooms curiousity with the simple motto "If it bleeds, it leads." Spurred by the potential of this business, Blooms purchases a camera, hires the desperate and homeless Rick (Riz Ahmed of Four Lions) and endeavours to capture the most graphic footage first, and sell it to news director Nina (Russo), with whom he soon finds a kindred spirit.

Louis Bloom neatly joins the ever-growing ranks of cinemas great, nightmarish protagonists such as Travis Bickle and Patrick Bateman with his disassociation from other people and apparent lack of scruples, morals and humanity. Gyllenhaal apparently shed 20 pounds to sell Bloom as a "hungry coyote", and perfectly melts into the wide-eyed unblinking stare of the character. His performance is absolute, the hand movements and gestures, the walk, even the tone that he delivers his rhetoric, Gyllenhaal delivers it all perfectly, and the darker moments of Bloom, when his rage, his hatred and even his manipulative spirit come to the surface, Gyllenhaal never shies away or takes a bite out of the scenery. Riz Ahmed as Rick is the conscience of Bloom, downtrodden, quiet, unsure and desperate, and played tragically well. And Russo as Nina, who maintains this fast-talking facade of authority, when she's often in over her head, is also great. There are several scenes where each of these supports are alone with Bloom, where the scope and reality of his manipulation, his determined rhetoric, and even the threat of what he is capable of, can create awkward comedy and spine-chilling horror. These scenes become long and uncomfortable, but in the best possible way, as the audience is trapped in a car or a booth with this dangerous nightcrawler, as he advances or threatens, unblinking, unflinching, uncompromising, undeterred.

Nightcrawler is filmed with the intent to sell the character of LA. The broad wash of colours, the grainy tone of the film, the neighbourhoods both rich and poor, and especially the encounters in emergency situations, where police, firemen, ambulance crews, onlookers and the news media all collide in moments of high tension and emotion. The use of close-ups and lighting is brilliant, changing perceptions and capturing minute details.. The score meanders from dark drones and percussion, to almost Disney levels of light, inquisitive orchestration, even in moments of heightened violence or danger, perhaps to reflect the mindset of Bloom in these moments, but nonetheless being distracting. But as fascinating as these methods of film-making are, they are dominated by the performances.

Overall, Nightcrawler is a dark, character-driven commentary on the mindset of news media and the entrepreneurial spirit. It is a film laden with rich, detailed and measured performances within a plot that does not twist and turn, but slowly drags the audience into places they'll wish they'd never ventured. The score at times disassociates and detracts from the content on-screen, but is otherwise brooding and dangerous. A brilliant film that lives up to the hype surrounding it and is worthy of the praise, and a watch.

John Hughes Movie: Weird Science (1985)

Weird Science is definitely one of the weirder (pardon the direct reference to the title) creations of John Hughes. It is packed full of ridiculous scenarios that make you wonder just how he came up with them, whilst at the same time you're laughing your head-off at the often corny jokes that bring out your inner teenager, whether you want to or not!

After failing consistently to get the attention of the ladies and being bullied, two high-school nerds, Gary Wallace (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt Donnelly (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), decide to make a virtual woman on Wyatt's computer, which they can ask questions, use to test pick-up lines etc. But things get out of hand when their virtual woman (Kelly LeBrock) comes to life. Lisa, as they call her, is not just a beautiful bomb-shell that is available to fulfil their sexual desires, but is highly intelligent and has superhuman abilities, both of which she uses to attempt to improve both Gary and Wyatt's lives.

This is, like most of John Hughes's movies, clearly aimed at teenagers but that makes it all the more hilarious and enjoyable. This scene of Lisa's creation, for instance is beautifully outrageous. It'll remind you of all the crazy fantasies that you believed were possible as a kid, bringing things to life with the touch of a button.  

The two bullies, Max (Robert Rusler) and Ian (A young Robert Downey Jr.) make great caricatures, and Bill Paxton plays Wyatt's idiotic, aggressive older brother Chet, who gets what's coming to him in the end, I promise. This is also a great performance from Hall, who portrays the ambitious yet awkward Gary perfectly.

It may not be as character driven as some of Hughes's other films but the events that these guys have to deal with prove very entertaining and there's plenty of fun, outdated special effects and awesome 80s music to keep you totally fixated.

If you saw this when you were growing up, you'll undoubtedly have fond memories of it, and if you're just getting around to watching it now then you'll get plenty of laughs out of it.

Edge of Tomorrow

It seems to me that this is a pretty equal opportunity Tom Cruise movie. By that I mean that rather than having an overabundance of DON'T YOU FORGET THIS IS A TOM CRUISE MOVIE, we get a movie where we get to see some actual acting from good actors and a hint of what Tom Cruise can be capable of when he wants to try.

The sci-fi concepts in the movie aren't shoved down your throat from the get go either. Instead the concepts are introduced gradually. First the alien invasion is presented to us in the form of news reports, which at the same time introduces the main character William Cage (Tom Cruise). He is a PR officer for the United Defence Force and gets conned by General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) to be a frontline troop in an invasion that directly mirrors the D-Day landings that happened 70 years ago.

The origin of the aliens, or mimics, is never revealed. Nor is the type of being which they are. This is a detail that is irrelevant, however. All we need to know is what they look like and that they are bad news. They tear through soldiers like tissue paper, but they can be killed, as Cage finds out soon enough. Only the one he kills, ends up killing him too.

It's at this point that Cage wakes up the day before the invasion. In killing a particular type of mimic, he now has the ability to reset the day after dying. He does this time after time until meeting Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), a war hero who once killed a thousand mimics. It soon turns out that she too once had the ability to reset the day. Once Cage awakes another time, he sets out to find Rita, who can help him find a way to stop the mimics.

In recent years there seems to be a push to turn Emily Blunt into some kind of sci-fi star. She played a telekinetic in Looper and had a part in the trippy sci-fi The Adjustment Bureau. However, Blunt has some real acting talent and is much better suited for drama films. I would really recommend everyone checks out The Five Year Engagement. Whilst it's a long film, she really showcases how good she can be in a film.

There are two fantastic cameos from Bill Paxton (Aliens), as a drill sergeant, and Noah Taylor (The Life Aquatic) as the seemingly crackpot scientist.

Verdict: A decent sci-fi flick that melds Groundhog Day, Starship Troopers and the D-Day landings.