Limitless review

 Number 926 on the top 1000 films of all time is the science-fiction thriller 'Limitless.'

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a writer who is struggling to make ends meet. Out of desperation, he begins taking an experimental new drug called NZT which will enable him to access 100% of his brain instead of only 10%. While things start to improve, he quickly finds his life spiralling out of control.

Firstly, I need to say that the premise of this film is fundamentally flawed. We use far more than 10 or 20% of our brains. Certainly not 100%, but far more than the mythical 10% that Limitless propagates. Bearing that in mind, this film is definitely more science-fiction than science fact.

Nonetheless, it is still an entertaining if rather uneven watch. As a writer myself, the protagonist is scarily relatable to me. And Bradley Cooper is charismatic enough to pull off the transformation from shabby artist to suave, financial investor. I also enjoyed his narration. It helped to move the film along at a steady pace.

Unfortunately, he also makes a number of silly decisions for no other reason than to affect the plot. He borrows money from a dangerous Russian loan shark who was one of the more over-the-top, two dimensional villains I've seen in a while. Secondly, Eddie Morra is due to give advice to tycoon Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro.) Van Loon wants to merge his company with another and seeks Eddie's help. He sends him a bunch of files to review. But he has allowed himself to run out of NZT and goes ahead and reviews the files anyway. This would make sense if he was an average person like you and I. But this wonder drug is supposed to make him hyper-intelligent. Surely, he would be smart enough to know he can't trust shady loan-sharks or allow his supply to run low.

Robert De Niro was good as Van Loon who was a far more effective villain than the Russian loan shark. It's never explicitly clear why Eddie is borrowing money from him, but he is little more than a thug in a suit.

This film isn't necessarily bad. It gives a chance for Bradley Cooper to show off his many talents such as languages. I can only assume he learned Mandarin for the role, but I know he learned French after studying in the south of France for six months during college, and he also learned Italian form his mother. The script had plenty of humour and the soundtrack was good too. I also enjoyed the editing and camerawork. When Eddie is off the drug, the picture is greyscale, but when he's on it, it's oversaturated.

Although Limitless is built on a false premise, it is still an entertaining ride.

Layer cake review

 Number 919 on the top 1000 films of all time is Matthew Vaughn's directorial debut - crime-drama Layer cake.

Daniel Craig plays the unnamed protagonist who is only known as XXXX. Thanks to his enforcer Morty (George Harris) and his liaison to the criminal underworld Gene (Colm Meaney,) he is a very successful drug dealer. Professional, sophisticated, with a strong moral code, and a healthy amount of money, he decides it's time to retire. However, his supplier - crime lord Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) throws a spanner in the works by engaging him in one last job. Things only become more complicated when Jimmy's partner, Eddie Temple  (Michael Gambon) becomes involved.

This was a slick, funny and entertaining crime caper. Daniel Craig plays XXXX - the suave yet hypocritical dug-dealer who quickly becomes out of his depth - to a tee. This was a few years before he achieved international recognition as James Bond. And it was this performance that convinced producers, he would be a good successor for Pierce Brosnan. And I can understand why, he had all the style and charm that you would expect from the international man of mystery.

Layercake really seemed like it should have been directed by Guy Ritchie. It reminded me of his great British crime capers like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels but without Jason Statham. It had the same dark humour, the same cartoonish violence, as well as a huge cast including some acting giants like Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney. I've seen him in a few different roles and he's always good. It also included a lot of up-and-coming actors who have gone on to big Hollywood careers like Burn Gorman, Ben Wishaw and Sienna Miller. Ben Wishaw was particularly good as the frenetic and hyper-active Sydney - nephew of Duke (Jamie Foreman) leader of a low-level gang.

Granted, the ending all became rather deep, profound and borderline pretentious which could have killed the whimsical tone of the film, but the final twist, which I won't spoil here, saved things. I did not see that coming.

Layercake was a very enjoyable crime caper. If you want to see Daniel Craig, before he became an international superstar, this is the film to watch.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) review

Number 897 on the top 1000 films of all time is Zack Snyder's 2004 remake of George A. Romero's zombie-horror classic 'Dawn of the Dead.'

Nurse Anna (Sarah Polley) wakes up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The dead are rising up and feasting on the living. She meets up with police officer Kenneth (Ving Rhames) and three other survivors: former salesman and family man Michael (Jake Weber) petty criminal Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his pregnant Russian girlfriend Luda (Inna Korobkina.) Together they take shelter in an abandoned shopping mall where they realise the dead are the least of their worries.

Dare, I say I actually preferred this to the 1977 original. Unlike its predecessor, the tension and suspense always ran high. The action was immediate, as the characters were always in some type of danger. In the original, after our heroes enter the shopping mall, the narrative and as such the tension, completely dries up. This doesn't happen here.

I think it helped immensely that there were more than three characters. This meant there were more people to care about, more potential for conflict and better opportunity for interesting character dynamics. When our original group of survivors enter the mall, they are confronted by a trio of security guards led by the tyrannical CJ  (Michael Kelley.)

Later on another group of survivors crash their bus into the mall bringing with them a whole new host of problems. Meanwhile, Andre is hiding a dark secret from the rest of the group. There is a narrative tension galore. Mainly because all the threats and conflicts always felt imminent rather than vague and faceless.

True a lot of the conflict is fuelled by characters making stupid, unrealistic decisions while a lot of the characterisations never went past the superficial, but the actors did a good job with what they had. Sarah Polley was good as Anna. She took the role as the character wasn't your typical Scream Queen. I would agree with this. But Kenneth and Andre were less drawn. They were little more than a cop and a criminal. I also feel I need to mention Michael Kelley as CJ. He goes through a redemption arc, going from a tyrannical jerk to an unlikely hero. And Kelley was good in the role.

I also enjoyed how restrained Zack Snyder was in his direction. Unlike in 300, where he over-indulges in visual effects, he is less excitable here. there is far less crappy CGI and gratuitous slow motion.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this remake. It was one of these rare occasions where the remake was better than the original. 

We Need to Talk about Kevin review

 Number 809 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2011 psychological thriller 'We Need to talk about Kevin.'

Franklin (John C Reilly) and Eva (Tilda Swinton) are parents to the deeply troubled Kevin (Ezra Miller.) However, Kevin only shows his dark side around his mother. As he grows older and his acts become more disturbing, his mother wanders how much she is to blame for the sins of her son.

In this film, director Lynne Ramsay tries to tackle the age-old question of nature vs nurture. Is evil innate within us all? Or is it the product of our environments? There is a case to be made for both, picking from a wide range of examples across history. In the case of Kevin, I think he was born evil. Yes, we see that he was an accident and his mother didn't really want him, but he also wasn't abused or neglected as a child. His father dotes on him and his mother tries her best to form a relationship with him, only to be constantly rebuffed.

This makes Eva all the more of a tragic character. And Tilda Swinton plays her very sympathetically. It's all too easy for parents to blame themselves for the failings of their children. Are there obvious signs you're too blind to see? John C. Reilly was also good as Franklin. He might primarily be known as a comedy actor, but he can also do the drama well.

As for Ezra Miller, Kevin is as dodgy here as Ezra Miller is in real life. Sure they were good as the sarcastic, laconic, psychopathic son, but I don't think they were anything special. They didn't bring anything new to the role.

Nonetheless, this was still a stylish thriller with a distinctive look that leaves you with plenty to think about. Nature or nurture? Let me know your answer in the comments below.

Felon review

 Number 780 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2008 prison drama 'Felon.'

Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) is a family man who accidentally kills a burglar fleeing from his house. He is sent to prison for involuntary manslaughter. Once there, he befriends fellow inmate, enigmatic loner, John Smith (Val Kilmer,) and he is subjected to the brutal regime of corrupt head prison guard Lieutenant Jackson (Harold Perrineau.)

Coming out in 2008, Felon is relatively late to the prison drama scene. In 1994, we had the magnificent Shawshank Redemption. A few years later, HBO released the TV series 'Oz,' which also starred Harold Perrineau, but as a prisoner. You could argue that Felon added nothing new to the genre. We've seen these characters and tropes before, but it was still a damn entertaining film.

Wade is an instantly likeable protagonist. He did what any man would have done in his situation - protect his family. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't in self-defence, hence why he had to be imprisoned. We empathise with his struggles to survive. For Jackson's own twisted enjoyment, he makes the inmates fight during their yard time. It is a stark depiction of prison life and that's without all the rape you see on Oz.

As can often be the case with male-led narratives, there is the tendency to only focus on the male story - if he does have a wife or a girlfriend, her only role is to support his story. However, what director Ric Roman Waugh did so well was focus on the struggles of Wade's wife Laura. With him in jail, she is fighting to pay the bills as well as take care of their young son. All credit to actress Marisol Nichols for bringing Laura to life. We really felt her anguish.

Although he was cartoonish at times, Harold Perrineau was very good as well. Lieutenant Jackson has been a prison guard for fifteen years. Five years ago, a prisoner threw cocktail of human bodily fluids into his face. He subsequently caught Hep A, which he passed onto his wife and child. He is only too representative of the thousands of prison guards whose initial optimism has been replaced by a world-worn cynicism. One such officer is raw recruit James Collins (Nate Parker) who is initially eager to serve, but is quickly ground down by Jackson's authoritarian regime. Collins provided a great antithesis to his superior officer.

Val Kilmer was also very good even if his character was over-the-top. I understand you do get these philosopher-cum-psychopaths who justify everything they do with a profound thought, because they think they're such independent free-thinkers. But after a while, his constant philosophising became a little tiresome.

I did enjoy Felon though. It didn't add anything to the prison-drama genre, but it was a damn good prison-drama film.

Hugo review

 Number 698 on the top 1000 films of all time is Martin Scorsesee's 2011 historical drama 'Hugo.'

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an orphan who lives in the clocktower of the Parisian Gare Montparnasse railway station. Before his father (Jude Law) died in a fire, the two of them were restoring an automaton that they found in the back of a museum. In honour of his dad, Hugo resolves to finish fixing the robot by stealing parts notably from cantankerous toyshop owner Georges (Ben Kingsley,) while being aided by Georges' goddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) and librarian Monsieur Labisse (Christopher Lee.) Meanwhile, Hugo has to avoid being caught by station inspector Gustave Daste (Sacha Baron Cohen) who will send him to the orphanage.

If you had told me this was a Martin Scorsesee film, I would never have believed you. There's no mafia, no profuse use of the F word, no Leonardo Dicaprio and no Robert De Niro. Yet Scorsesee has still lovingly crafted a creative, engrossing story with lovely visuals and a great cinematography. At the end of the day, he is a film director and lover of film, so it's no surprise that he took to this film with such ardent fervour. And film is at the heart of Hugo. Upon fixing the automaton, Hugo stumbles upon a mystery that goes all the way back to the birth of cinema, tying together elements like the Lumiere Brothers, Georges Meliet and the famous film 'A Trip to the Moon.'

The ensemble cast were all very good together. Asa Butterfield has grown up a little from his leading role in the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Ben Kingsley is always great regardless of whatever he is in and Sacha Baron Cohen brought a frenetic energy and mischief to his role. The only one I was less sure about was Chloe Grace Moretz. As an American, she obviously had to put on a British accent, but it sounded very put on. Maybe because it was the stereotypical posh accent that Americans do whenever they're playing British characters.

Nevertheless, this was a very entertaining film. It was creative with a great cast and it serves as proof that Scorsesee can do a lot more than just mob films.

Before Sunrise review

 Number 239 on the top 1000 films of all time is the romantic drama 'Before Sunrise.'

Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is a young, American man backpacking through Europe. On a train from Vienna, he meets the French lady Celine (Julie Delphy) and the two instantly hit it off. They spontaneously decide to spend the night together in Vienna, knowing that at sunrise, they will go their separate ways, unlikely to ever see each other again.

Generally, I'm not a fan of romance films. They can be either overly-sentimental or overly depressing. But Before Sunrise pleasantly surprised me. It was funny, uplifting and wonderfully understated. As can be expected with romances, a lot of the film hinges on the leading couple. If the actors don't have chemistry together, this will visibly translate to the screen. But I thought that Hawke and Delphy were great together. I've seen Hawke in Training Day and Lord of War, so I know he is a credible action star. But he was also likable and charismatic as Jesse. Julie Delphy was also charming as Celine. She brought a hopeful optimism to Jesse's cold cynicism.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Richard Lintlaker's subtle direction. It is left up to the audience to decide whether Jesse and Celine sleep together or not. This is never depicted on-screen. But in so many other films, it seems like a pre-requisite to have a gratuitous graphic sex scene that does nothing for the plot. You might expect this in romances, but not in dramas. Yet it happens almost all the time. Lintlaker's decision to let the audience make up their own minds was a refreshing take and added well to the fairytale aspect of the film.

And, in many ways, this is a fairytale. It is embedded in a the fantasy of a holiday, whirlwind romance. this can be reality for some people, but, at times, it leant into incredulity. I haven't been to Vienna, so I don't know whether this is the case, but are there really beatniks smoking by the river in the dead of night ready to write poetry for whoever is ready to pay them?

*Spoiler alert* And the film ends on a lovely, uplifting note. When it comes time for Jesse and Celine to say goodbye in the train station where Celine is going home to Paris, they vow not to write or call each other, but to meet at the station in six months time. As it is a romance, you would expect a happily ever after, but it was difficult to see how this could transpire. I was expecting a final twist in the tail that would spoil things.

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Before Sunrise. It lacked the sentimentality you would expect from many romances. And Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy were great together.