American Hustle review

 Number 614 on the top 1000 films of all time is David O'Russell's black comedy crime film 'American Hustle.'

Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) are two con-artists who are enlisted by FBI agent Richie Dimaso (Bradley Cooper) to entrap corrupt politicians like Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner.) Jennifer Lawrence also stars as Irving's emotionally unstable wife Rosalyn.

While this film has some great acting talent, especially from a cast involving Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner, I think that the female co-stars majorly outshone their male counterparts. Amy Adams was very good as the con-woman Sydney Prosser. She effortlessly switches from her British persona, complete with accent, of Lady Edith Greensly, to her native American accent. But the love triangle between her, Irving and Rosalyn eventually comes to a head, leading to a very effective and powerful confrontation.

Jennifer Lawrence was also very good as Rosalyn. I think she brought a quiet power to a vulnerable role. She really helped to bring her character to life. All four principle actors received Oscar nods, but Lawrence and Adams also received Golden Globe and Bafta nods with Adams getting the Golden Globe and Lawrence the Golden Glove AND the Bafta. And Robert De Niro was very effective in his uncredited cameo role as a Florida mob boss. It was a small but sweet part.

Unlike some other directors, David O'Russell actively encouraged improvisation on set with much of the dialogue being ad-libbed. At times, this led to some strangely, long pauses as the actors weren't sure what they were going to say next, but at others it led to an authentic and realistic portrayal. After all, American Hustle is partially based on the true story of the FBI's abscam investigation.

This was definitely a good film. Although Bale, Cooper and Renner might be arguably bigger names, I think Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence were the true stars.

The Hurt Locker review

 Number 667 on the top 1000 films of all time is Kathryn Bigelow's war drama 'the Hurt Locker.'

Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner) is the new team leader of a U.S Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit during the Iraq War. However, he is also a maverick and renegade, often playing by his own rules. This soon puts him into conflict with the rest of his team, most notably, his second-in-command Sgt. J.T Sanborn (Anthony Mackie.) Chris Carmago, Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce all co-star.

When Kathryn Bigelow won the 2008 Best Director Oscar, she made history by becoming the first woman to have done so. I would argue it was a worthy win. Within 'the Hurt Locker,' she portrayed a harrowing, nuanced and gritty portrayal of war. This wasn't an overly-simplistic "Americans are good and rest of the world is bad," it was far more complicated and realistic than that. Part of that realism comes from how 'the Hurt Locker' was shot in Jordan - close to the Iraqi border. Reportedly, she had wanted to film in Iraq, but it would have been too dangerous. Although, the cast and crew were shot at on multiple occasions, so ... but by filming on location, Bigelow brought a brilliant authenticity to the film. This wasn't just some Hollywood sound stage, but a reality for the many poor people who live and suffer here. 

As is inevitably the case in war films where all the characters are dressed alike and there are lots of explosions and gunfire, things do become chaotic and confusing. But, as such, is the nature of war. It's a frenetic and hectic environment where danger lies around every corner. This type of high-octane risk was enough to keep me glued to the screen.

Although, I would question the nature of James' character. Renegade, mavericks who don't play by the rules maybe great characters with lots of agency who push stories along, but I wonder how realistic they are in real life. Surely, in high-discipline environments like the military where obedience is key, a character who constantly breaks the rule would never be allowed to thrive like James does. Every decision you make not only impacts whether not only you, but also your teammate, come home alive or in a body bag. Okay, so James is good at his job and always gets results, but he is repeatedly putting his comrades in danger. James repeatedly clashes with Sanborn. And later, James' reckless actions lead to one of his men becoming badly hurt and having to be airlifted home. These rogueish actions might make great watching and great conflict, but I don't think it's realistic at all.

The film ends with the conclusion of James' rotation where he returns to the US and struggles to adapt to civillian life. There is a gulf between his wife and daughter, and he quickly decides to return to Iraq. This was such an important theme to explore, but I feel it was a little short-changed. So many veterans struggle to reassimilate to everyday life as they don't receive the support they need. It's horrible to see. However, I don't think this was explored in enough depth. We didn't see enough of James' family to feel any type of emotional connection. I cared about him as a soldier, but not as a family man. Bigelow didn't give me enough to care about. Perhaps if the film was book-ended with scenes of his wife and daughter, things might have been better.

Nevertheless, this was a taut and gripping war drama that earned Kathryn Bigelow a well-deserving Best Director Oscar. And congratulations for being the first woman to receive that illustrious prize.

The Town review

 Number 729 on the top 1000 films of all time is Ben Affleck's crime-drama 'The Town.'

As well as directing, Ben Affleck stars as Douglas "Doug" Macray, a bank-robber who is looking to go straight. After his latest heist goes wrong, where his crew Jeremy "Jem" Coughlin (Jeremy Renner,) Albert "Gloansy" Macgloan (Slaine) and Desmond "Dez" Elden (Owen Burke) take bank manager Clare Keesey (Rebecca Hall) hostage before releasing her later, Doug begins keeping track of her. The two eventually fall in love. But for Doug to escape the life completely, he has to do one last job as ordered by local crime boss Fergus "Fergie" Colm (Pete Poselthwaite.)

What followed was a largely generic and banal action-thriller spearheaded by a largely wooden performance by Ben Affleck. Since starting this list, I've seen him in a few films, like Argo, which he also directed. And I would argue he is better as a director than an actor. It doesn't matter whether the role is a rough-round-the-edges hero or a bad boy turning good, he isn't very expressive. He just always seems to have a permanent scowl on his face. And there isn't a whole lot of emotion there. There are plenty of emotional scenes, or scenes that should be emotional, but Affleck couldn't really carry them off.  And since I wasn't invested in him as a character, I wasn't really invested in the storyline. Although he was nominated for Best Actor Bafta for his role in Argo, so what do I know? 

Affleck's lack of chemistry with Rebecca Hall didn't do much to help things either. Also a brief note on Rebecca Hall's accent. What was up with that? She's English, but at times it sounded like she was switching back and forth between English and Bostonian.

Much more convincing was Jeremy Renner. He plays Doug's childhood best friend and fellow bank-robber Jem Coughlin. Unlike his friend, he has no desires of leaving the life behind which sets up some nice conflict between the two. Renner was far more charismatic to watch and his storyline was more compelling. And it's a shame Poselthwaite was so under-used. He's a great actor so he should have had a far greater screen-presence. 

This wasn't a film I enjoyed very much if you didn't already guess. Sure it was watchable enough, but Affleck's wooden performance stopped it from achieving any true greatness in my eyes.