Review: Crazy Stupid Love

After the likes of Drive, Blue Valentine, Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson - you could be forgiven for forgetting that Ryan Gosling first big breakthrough was in the classic noughties sob-fest The Notebook.

Crazy Stupid Love is the closest he's got to returning to that territory in that its your by the numbers rom-com with few surprises to be had, but it always remains a step above the rest thanks to a classy ensemble cast and steady flow of funny jokes.

Steve Carell has the lead role as a father going through a mid-lfe crisis of sorts following the break up of his marriage and being taken under the wing of Womanizer Jacob (Gosling). The film gives him ample chance to show how Carell has moved on from the frat-pack comedy like Anchorman that first brought him to fame and he's now settled into the type gentle comedy roles like Bill Murray used to do in the nineties.

Comparisons have been made to Carell's best work, Little Miss Sunshine, but that's probably more due to the fact both films feature precocious kids - Crazy Stupid Love falls short of that standard by being a little too long (the whole babysitter lusting after Cal stuff could've been dropped) and the ending is a bit too cheesy and ties everything up too neatly it threatens to spoil the film a little. Emma Stone also disappears for too long for my liking as well

The likes of Kevin Bacon and Marissa Tomei turn up for cameos, but its good to know somebody's watched Josh Groban appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks as he's perfectly as Emma Stone's douchey boyfriend Richard.

Review: Bobby Fischer Against the World

Bobby Fischer Against the World is gripping tale of the American chess master's battle with Russian rival Boris Spassky in the Seventies - but while he was able to triumph over the Russian, the documentary questions whether his mind may have ended up defeating himself as well.

The highlight is the face-off with Spassky where Fischer's fame was at its height. The clash in Reykjavik is full of enough pantomime to put Vince McMahon and the WWE to shame. The tales of bugging, bluffs and walk outs with the Cold War paranoia turned up to 11 make the story universally accessible and not just for those who know their Kings for their Queens.

Unlike many a sports documentary, the film does give plenty of time its subject's darker side, showing Fischer's descent into an increasing state of paranoia that was littered with anti-Semitic outbursts (despite his heritage) and gloating rants on radio about 9/11. But the rather half-hearted attempt to link chess genius with madness is the film's weak point, the lack of any real evidence shown to back up the claims just makes the section feel a little bolted on and would've been better served left on the cutting room floor.

Spot The Difference #6

Jessie J

Katinka Ingabogovinanana

Do it like a Zoolander character

TV Club #6 Threads

Contagion hits cinema screens this week (you can check out my review here), heralded as the 'feel-bad movie of the year' with its grim portrayal of global pandemic caused by Gwyneth Paltrow (I may have over-simplified that slightly).

For this week's TV Club, we head back to 1984 for another film that will have you hitting the supermarket to stock up on tinned goods and batteries as we take a look at the apocalyptic tale of Threads which a gives a worryingly convincing depiction of nuclear war and its effects on the city of Sheffield.

Like Contagion, Threads tells stories of personal tragedy alongside the unfolding global devastation, but unlike Soderbergh's effort the misery never gives up and there really is no light at the end of the harrowing 2 hours.

Review: Contagion

Steven Soderbergh harks back to Traffic with another multi-narrative take on an epidemic blighting the world, but this time swapping drugs for germs and with mixed results.

For the first half Contagion is tense, gripping stuff and not afraid to bump off several of its all-star cast to hammer home how serious things get - but the documentary-esque take on the story means in the end it just peters out instead of building to the big climax you want from a blockbuster disaster film.

Jude Law is the stand out of the cast, straddling the line between bad and awesome with an accent that takes you about half an hour to work out he's actually trying to be Australian - but he brings just the right amount of OTT to the performance that makes his portrayal of paranoid blogger Alan Krumwiede the highlight of the film. Its a shame Eliott Gould and Marion Cotillard don't get half his chance to shine, there characters seemingly forgotten after being introduced - a fact made even worse with what happens Cotillard's character when we leave her.

In the end, the unsatisfying finish does stop Contagion from being a classic, but the film still comes recommended for its thrilling first half and you'll find yourself looking funny at anyone sniffling for a good while after the film finishes.

TV Club #5 Micro Men

The death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs this week led to scenes like this across the globe - and led to Sony reportedly snapping up the film rights to his biography.

This week's TV Club features Britain's very own computing genius, Sir Clive Sinclair and the fictionalised account of the boom and bust of the British computing market in the 70s and 80s.

Sadly, thanks to the slightly melodramatic reactions to Jobs' death, I don't think we'll be getting Alexander Armstrong donning a bald skull cap for this portrayal of a computing pioneer.

Review: Drive

Ryan Gosling, a scorpion jacket, toothpicks and a pulsating electro soundtrack. This film is cool. Thankfully it avoids falling into any hipster style traps that the likes of Spun fell into by avoiding being all style and no substance.

Drive tells the story of a Hollywood stunt performer (Gosling) moonlighting as a getaway driver, who becomes involved with his neighbour, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and ends up getting tied in with the mob. The tension is high from the opening getaway and rarely lets up throughout thanks to the omnipresent threat of the ultra violent kill scenes that frequently appear out of nowhere. Even the tender scenes between Gosling and Mulligan are loaded with a sexual tension thanks to the lack of dialogue between the two, instead relying on stolen looks and glances to tell the story of the attraction between them.

Gosling is great, and is on a hell of a roll with this, Blue Valentine, Crazy Stupid Love and The Ides of March all out this year. Here he channels his inner James Dean and Steve McQueen and does the strong but silent thing with ease, but it almost a shame to waste someone as good as Gosling with so little lines.

The real star however is the soundtrack, a perfect fit for the sleazy, neon noir world in which the characters inhabit, wisely taking the good bits from the Collateral soundtrack and going easy on the Audioslave (Michael Mann take note next time).

Review: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Tomas Alfredson came to our attention with Let the Right One In, a vampire film that wasn't really about vampires. Here at the helm of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - the latest adaptation of the John le Carre novel, he does something similar, making a spy thriller that isn't actually that thrilling.

That's not to say the film isn't good, just that its the polar opposite to Bond and Bourne's kinetic energy we've become used to - the film progresses at an funeralistic pace throughout giving the excellent ensemble cast plenty of time to show the internal torture a life of subterfuge can bring as opposed to Daniel Craig getting his nuts cracked in Casino Royale.

In amongst several great performances, the highlight is arguably Tom Hardy following on from his turn in Inception as the best Bond there never was (yet) as the slightly rogueish Rikki Tarr, looking resplendent with some of the best/worst wig work of recent times.