Shot of the week – The Adjustment Bureau

Having watched George Nolfi’s The Adjustment Bureau again I was struck by one shot in particular. In the first half of the film we often find Matt Damon’s New York politician by himself, contemplating his future and his past. Without a family to lean on for support, he finds himself relying on his political rallies for it.

I like this shot, it says a lot about Norris in a very simple tracking shot. In what is a most humbling moment for him (losing a race for U.S Senate when he was several points ahead), he’s alone with his thoughts, amplified by the hall he’s solemnly standing in. He’s looking for someone to connect with and he finds it in the form Emily Blunt’s Elise.

Trailer watch: Soderberg’s Contagion infects the world

Soderberg’s other film out this year is global disaster film Contagion. Erring on science-fact rather than science-fiction this has the potential to be really, really good. And look at that cast…

Catching Gwyneth on one of her better days.

Blimey, he’s looking a bit old isn’t he?

Batman connection – can you guess it?

I’VE BEEN DOWN THAT STREET. Wasn’t filled with rubbish though.

Oh…that doesn’t bode well.

Contagion is out in the UK on the 21st October.

Review: The Adjustment Bureau

“All I have are the choices I make, and I choose her, come what may”

Can you defy fate? If given the option of having a successful career or being with the person you love most, which would you choose? This quandary forms the centre of first time director George Nolfi’s adaptation of Philip K Dick’s short story The Adjustment Team, a romance by way of science fiction that explores just how important the choices we make can define us.

Review: True Grit

“You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.”

I feel as if I’ve been the victim of a bait and switch but in a good way.

You see as the trailers for the Coen Brother’s remake True Grit emerged they told a story of a serious looking Western filled with character and a sense of danger. Even the title True Grit echoed a sentiment that this was a violent, hard-bitten revenge film filled with craggy rocks and even craggier faces. What took me by surprise is that True Grit is often as funny as it is violent, making for a film that’s as straightforward and enjoyable as the Coen Brothers have made in quite a few years.

There’s always something of a kink, an eccentricity to Coen Brothers whether it’s the screwball nature of Intolerable Cruelty or the infuriating strangeness of a film like A Serious Man. I find them very unrevealing in their storytelling in that they never really explain the why, what or how. It just is. I like that aspect, it leaves their films open for a lot of debate. True Grit is closer to No Country for Old Men than Burn after Reading, at least aesthetically, but features a comedic sensibility that I found entertaining. It’s not, however, without a few of those kinks.