"Harvey", directed by Henry Koster

Movie. 1950

An extraordinary film by contemporary standards, happily charting the story of a happy drunk by showing his endless charm and immunity to any of the downsides of alcoholism. Such is the disconnect, it's hard to offer a proper critique of what happens on the screen - the imaginary rabbit is quite possibly dispensible, the drunk's family are desperate human beings and the role of the sanitarium flips between being sinister oppression to a force for societal good. Too distracting to watch on a modern critical level.


Image source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26353576

"Looper", directed by Rian Johnson

Movie, 2012

Time travel science-fiction thriller in which execution squads take care of people flipped back to them from the future. Within this framework, a thriller with a few fairly standard goings on (chases, a nemesis and a few characters unwittingly drawn but relevant to the plot) and a few more mythical, magical elements, though possibly entirely seamlessly accommodating Bruce Willis' action hero and the more interesting family drama. A bit juddery as a result, but well worth a watch.

Poster by Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37152070

"The Man Who Came to Dinner", directed by William Keighley

Movie, 1942

Cracking, irreverant farce with a glorious procession of hard dyed stereotypes, gags, plot twists and situations which are as cruel as they are ridiculous. Presiding within and directing this cacophony, or so he'd like to think is main character, the wonderfully over the top, snarling Sheridan Whiteside. A grotesque beaut. A film like this, where every character except the slightly annoying male love interest, could easily have had a nervous breakdown, is pretty much beyond criticism. One to let wash over you and enjoy. It's also a rare example of an enclosed 'filmed play' which doesn't suffer from being set bound.

"Journey into Fear", directed Norman Foster

Movie, 1943

Atmospheric, gloomy film which creaks in places with its lack of subtlety and 'few too many characters', but delivers a huge chunk of entertainment nonetheless. Some of the action scenes are a real treat, not least the nightclub scene towards the beginning and the excellent finale, although the tension is occasionally undercut with some over-simplified caricatures. A feeling of anarchy, claustrophobia and underhandedness is, however, gloriously put across - if the film had a little more depth, it could have been a monster.

"The Tiger's Wife" by Téa Obreht

Novel, 2010

Sprawling story mixing a savage mythical series of characters and events in telling the story of a doctor's grandfather, a bombed out zoo and the tiger and wife of the book's title. This is a book of appetites, people who can't die and flashbacks, all of which give the narrative and the reader some hard work to do. Threads can unravel quite easily, in a book which can be powerful and poignant, but at times, a little frustrating too. All in all, a satisfying read and a fresh, brave debut novel.

"Lucy," directed by Luc Besson

Movie, 2014

Science fiction superhero gangster film with too many ideas to sustain and a generally cold outlook and a few less than savoury undertones. The basic idea of a innocent superhero inflicted with powers through to the footage of wild game being hunted by big cats are as tried and tired as they come. While the action scences and the pacing are fine, the disparate parts and their clunky coming together are distracting.  Entertaining, for sure, though this feels like a weird cross between a nerdy school project and a star vehicle for Scarlett Johansson.

"Nightcrawler", directed Dan Gilroy

Movie, 2014

Effective, powerful film charting the rise of a disreputable news collector in LA, superbly played by a suitably other worldly looking Jake Gyllenhaal. While this could have been preachy and one-dimensional, the film pulls you on board with some good characterisations and a compelling narrative, which builds and keeps the interest throughout. Not always easy to watch and possibly stretching credibility at times, but an excellent moral examination and satire of the news and fame business.