Film Review: The Big Short (2015)

In 2010, Adam McKay ended the supremely silly buddy cop comedy The Other Guys with an apoplectic slideshow detailing the financial crimes committed by the banks and billionaires represented by Steve Coogan's character. It was jarring, to say the least, to go from jokes about Will Ferrell being an accidental pimp to a stark explanation of how the global economy collapsed, but The Other Guys' dysfunction now seems like a stepping stone to, and a mirror version of, McKay's latest, The Big Short. Whereas the earlier film told an undeniably absurd story laced with righteous anger, The Big Short is an undeniably angry film laced with absurdist humour, which McKay employs in the hope of making the 2007-08 financial crisis remotely understandable.

Film Review: American Hustle (2013)

There's a scene in David O. Russell's previous film, Silver Linings Playbook, in which all the major figures in Pat Solitano's (Bradley Cooper) life finally collide in one room. His feisty dance partner/love interest, his parents and one of his best friends are all thrown together so that they can hash out their differences, and gradually reach a point from which they can progress to the finale. It's a crucial scene, one that shuffles all the different relationships and fundamentally changes the stakes of the story, but it's also the worst scene in the entire movie; it lacks any particular focus, and feels like the early stages of an improv session in which the actors are trying to find their way to a conclusion. It has plenty of energy, but it's energy that is being fired off in every direction at once.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 10 - The Dark Knight Rises

Following on nicely from our Blockbusters episode, this special Bat-episode of Shot/Reverse Shot finds me and Joe discussing The Dark Knight Rises, the final instalment in Christopher Nolan's Batman series. Along the way we discuss how the film works as a conclusion to a trilogy (pretty well), as a film in its own right (perhaps not as well) and we offer our thoughts on Nolan's work in general. However, since this wouldn't be an episode of Shot/Reverse Shot without a little bit of off-topic waffle, we also talk about The Big Sleep, point out in what way Batman Returns is better than The Bible, and fail to get Joseph Gordon-Levitt's name right.

We go into a fair deal of detail about the plot, so you positively should not listen to this podcast until after watching the film itself.

You can stream the episode below or subscribe to the podcast using iTunes. If you choose the latter, please listen, rate and review.

Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Ever since he revitalised the franchise with Batman Begins in 2005, Christopher Nolan has used the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne and the setting of Gotham City as a prism through which to view the fears and tensions of contemporary America. This was especially explicit in the second film, The Dark Knight, which posited Heath Ledger's Joker as a chaotic, unstoppable force of destruction with nothing to lose. In short, he was a nervous and unhinged personification of the spectre of terrorism, complete with recorded messages of violence, political assassinations, and destruction on a massive scale.

Oscar Predictions: The Major Awards

Welcome back to our annual Oscar Predictions special, a yearly exercise in beautiful futility. Having dealt with the Technical awards we will now talk about the ones that actually matter. (I'd just like to point out that, whilst I have been a bit disparaging towards the other awards, I do think that they are very important, but also realise that the Oscars that get peoples attention on posters and DVD covers are the ones I am about to discuss.)

Let's get to it.

Film Review: The Fighter (2010)

Shit, I think that Mark did something that Christian found fucking distracting.

The Fighter stars Mark Wahlberg as a man who is a supporting character in his own life story. As a welterweight boxer, "Irish" Micky Ward's modest achievements have always been overshadowed by those of his older half-brother, Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale) and his claim to fame of having once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard. Even though Dickie's glory days are behind him and he has descended into crack addiction, he is still the biggest thing that the town of Lowell, Massachusetts has ever seen, and as he trains Micky in the hopes that he will one day become something more than a stepping stone for other fighters, Dickie believes that his own comeback is just around the corner.