NERVE

US, 2016, 96 minutes, Colour.
Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Mead, Miles Heizer, Juliette Lewis.
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.

Sounds as if it is a horror thriller, geared for people leaping from their seats. Not at all. Not at all for the audience, even though some of the characters have to go through some nerve-racking experiences of the “we dare you” variety.

This is definitely a film for younger audiences, practically all of the characters 20 plus or minus and really only Juliette Lewis as Emma Roberts’ mother (reminding older audiences that that is life, actresses who used to be teenagers now portraying mothers) in an older age bracket. This is also a film for audiences who like computer games – except this is a game in real life, played on the streets of New York (or on cranes or scaffolding high above the city streets) watched by an extraordinarily big following on their phones, computers or large screens.

Audiences are meant to identify with Emma Roberts’ Vee (Venus), quite a controlled young woman who tags along with the much more extroverted Sydney (Emily Meade) an ambitious fan of the game Nerve where dares come from a central IT company and people can join up to be watchers or doers. Sydney is a doer – and when the d is successfully accomplished, substantial winnings are transferred to bank accounts. With an ever-growing audience of watchers, there is extraordinary peer pressure to undergo the dare, which Sydney discovers, trying to cross a data over the span between buildings many storeys high.

It is that peer pressure as well as her image of herself that propels Vee to commit herself – to kiss a stranger in a public place. She does and it wasn’t so bad and then she finds the stranger, Ian, Dave Franco, is also a participant in Nerve and off they go to be a team, starting with Vee going into a fashionable store to try on a dress which costs almost $4000.

And on it goes, with ever more difficult dares, including Ian having to ride his motorbike through the New York streets getting up to 60 miles an hour, blindfolded. Vee steers him through this ordeal and on they go, the bank transfers for the dares accomplished going higher and higher. This puzzles Vee’s mother, a hard-working nurse in hospital.

One of the images that might go through an audience’s mind in watching the ever-increasing danger of the dares as well , as the increasing number of watchers is that of Roman Empire times, gladiatorial combats, the same crowd-think, urging each other on as well as the combatants. And, in the social media age, cameras are continually on the dares, invalid without their being photographed, but also the most private of conversations between contestants being overheard by thousands, Vee unwittingly making judgement or comments about Sydney which she and all her friends listen into.

Not everyone is happy with Nerve and as the pressure increases, into a literal contemporary gladiatorial arena with guns drawn, the danger and illegality come to the fore, watchers being accused of participating and as accessories to murder.

So, by the end, this is a morality play, critical of young people and their succumbing to peer pressure, the low self-image and capacity for making decisions that means they go along with the dares despite the dangers and irresponsibility, and age of social media, it is very easy to be swept along with the excitement without giving much or any thought to personal or social consequences.

1. Title? Location? Computer game? Game performed in public? Watchers? Doers? The dares, the financial rewards?

2. New York City, homes, hospitals, the streets, cafes, buildings and interiors, crowds in public places, motorbike speeding along the road, ladders between buildings, the final gladiatorial scene? The musical score?

3. The reality about this kind of game? The phenomenon of Pokémon Go? Thousands of people involved? The repercussions for the doers, for the watchers?

4. A morality tale about peer pressure, self-image, being goaded to decisions, personal consequences, social consequences? The ultimate accusation that the watchers were accessories to murder?

5. Vee, her story, age, at home, relationship with her mother, her friendship with Sydney, the other friends, the peer group, being together, Sydney and her dominance? The education background?

6. Sydney, extroverted, performance, leadership, her friends? Thinking that Vee was repressed? The game, the possibility of watching or doing, Sydney and her dare? The effect on Vee, moving away?

7. Sydney daring Vee, her friend Tommy, his not approving of Nerve, supporting her, going to the cafe? The decision to dare? Her having to kiss the young man in public, wary, going up, the discussion about Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, her favourite novel, kissing him? The reaction? His coming to her? His death and playing the game?

8. The next dare, her acceptance, going to the shop, the image of the dress, the high cost, trying it on, Ian arriving, the clothes disappearing, his helping her, the dare to escape the shop in their underwear?

9. The dare about tattoos and Ian deciding on a lighthouse for Vee?

10. The decision to keep going? The different motivations? The crowd watching? The motorbike, 60 miles an hour, blindfold, the Steering? The exhilaration?

11. The various teams, the scores for the couples displayed on the grid? The gradual eliminations? The watchers, their affirmation of the dares?

12. Sydney, her friends, upset with Vee Her accepting the dare on the ladder, the danger, the collapse, failing?

13. Ian and Vee, with their friends, having to finish Sydney’s dare and crossing on the ladder?

14. Ian, his background, the previous competition in Seattle, his rival? The flashback to the boy on the scaffolding and his fall? The rival and his determination to win? Lying on the railway tracks and the train going over him?

15. The increasing amount of money being offered? The suspicions of Vee’s mother?

16. Ian’s explanations, the fact that they should be in the final, his going up the building, hanging by one hand?

17. Everybody gathering in the arena, the overtones of the Roman amphitheatre, gladiatorial combat?

18. The mother, the puzzle about the money, the hospital, a growing concern? The contact with Tommy? Going to the computer centre?

19. Sydney, Tommy, their friends, the computer experts, their infiltrating the Nerve centre, sending out the message to the watchers about being accomplices, their being able to close down the game? (And restore the bank account?)

20. The showdown, the guns drawn, the challenge to shoot Vee, her collapse, the issue of the blanks, the rival and his apology, hurrying away? Ian, his real name, the bond with Vee?

21. A morality tale for the younger audiences?

BLOOD FATHER

US, 2015, 88 minutes, Colour.
Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, William H. Macy, Miguel Sandoval, Michael Parks.
Directed by Jean- François Richet.

Mel Gibson has been through very hard times in the last decade, personal crises, anger outbursts and prejudice, alcoholism, damaged relationships. And, he has been off the screen for most of the decade and has not directed a film since Apocalypto (2007). So, the question has arisen, at age 60 is his career over? In 2016, not so. He is starring in the thriller, Blood Father, and he has directed her a high profile war film, Hacksaw Ridge.

In many ways this is a routine action show, high octane, as they say – and it does involve cars and motorbikes.

The villains in the film are bikies and the tough enforcers of the Mexican drug cartels. covered in tattoos – handy for Link, Gibson, who has spent years with the bikes, nine years in jail, has learned and practices the tattooist trade and is able to recognise the meanings in tattoo designs and so assess the muscle that is pursuing.

His teenage daughter, who has not lived with him but with her wealthy mother, has disappeared for four years. She is seen teamed up with one of the cartel bosses, in love with him, pressurised to take part in violent raids with him, literally coked up. When he wants her to shoot someone and she finds she can’t, despite the drugs, her gun goes off with her boyfriend becoming the target.She decides to go on the run but also to phone her father who lives in a caravan out in the desert, going to AA programs, tattooing with a good supportive friend, William H. Macy, as his sponsor.

The film runs for under an hour and a half so the action tends to move, the daughter coming home, thugs tracking her down, gunshots, the overturning of the caravan, father and daughter hot footing it from the trailer camp, finding out what is happening – and Link still has some contacts in prison who enable him to get the background of his daughter’s boyfriend, and the increasing dangers they are in.

Link decides to call on an old friend about whom he was silent in his years in prison and believes he can ask favours. He is an old bar bikie, with Vietnam memories, played intensely and strangely by Michael Parks.

While the setting is California, the film was made in New Mexico with good desert and mountain location photography, just the place for a showdown, the cartel thugs presuming they are supreme and certainly underestimating Link and his shrewdness and ingenuity.

So, daughter in peril, contact with father, father helping daughter, both on the run, problem solved, but not without a great deal of pathos.

The film was directed by Jean- François Richet, best known for his double French film series, Mesrine, the story of a celebrated French criminal played by Vincent Casell and the remake of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13.

1. A basic action story? Father saving daughter? Daughter in peril, the father in peril, criminal pursuit? Fights?

2. The title, the relationship between father and daughter, blood relationship but alienation, the daughter living with her mother, running away, turning to her father after many years? The father communicating again with his daughter, their sharing the experiences, the final reconciliation?

3. The New Mexico landscapes, the California setting, the caravan park, the towns, the desert, the hideaways?

4. The musical score?

5. Lydia, her age, with Jonah, the relationship, his power over her, the raid on the house, the violence with the guns, Jonah giving her the drugs, wanting her to shoot the woman, her fears, the gun going off, Jonah being wounded, her thinking he was dead? Escaping from his associates? Her telephoning her father, the years of no contact with him, asking for his help, to escape?

6. Link, Mel Gibson character, age, result, the beard, the facial lines? Seeing him first at the AA meeting, his talking about himself and his failures in life, character, drinking, prison? Receiving the phone call, promising the money, driving to meet his daughter, picking her up, taking her to the caravan? His reliance on Kirby, Kirby as his sponsor, in the adjacent trailer, their banter together, good friendship?

7. Lydia, exhausted, not telling her father all the truth? The attack by the thugs, the shooting, the crash into the caravan, Kirby and his friends warning them off?

8. Link, the decision to leave, the broken down car, starting at the last minute, evading the police? The two going on the run, driving through the desert, the phone calls to Kirby, the motel, the young man being helpful, the television news, the posters, the car and his helping them to escape? The arrival of the cartel hitman and his shooting the police, shooting at the car?

9. Link and his decision to contact his prisoner friend, asking for the information? Later shaving off his beard, the visit to the prison in his suit, getting the information, knowing all about Jonah, the cartel, relationships, his skimming the money, using Lydia?

10. Travelling to see Preacher, memories of the past, Parks as a father-figure, Link going to jail and not revealing the truth about him? The woman, tough, the gun? Preacher and his dealing with souvenirs, especially neo-Nazi memorabilia? As a cover? His talking with Link, his antagonism towards Lydia, knowing her from the past, knowing about her being with her rich mother, his criticisms of her as being spoilt? The gun, Link getting the gun, their escape, on Link’s old motorbike, the pursuit of the bikers, the shootings and crash? Link later returning,
confronted by Preacher, Link shooting him, taking the grenades?

11. The thugs and Jonah capturing Kirby, interrogating him, the car, shooting him? Taking Lydia? The phone calls, the rendezvous, Link and his riding through the desert, leaving the bike, Lydia and Jonah and the group in the car, the men going down to the bike, its exploding? The shooting of the sniper and his death? The fighting the car, Jonah shooting, Link killing the man, Lydia and Link escaping?

12. The pathos of Link being wounded, his final words, the reconciliation with his daughter?

13. A year later, Lydia at the AA meeting, turning her life around? The prison sequence, Jonah in jail, Link’s contact and their converging on Jonah?

14. A regular kind of peril, danger, inventions, violence drama?

THE MIGHTY MACS

The Mighty Macs, made in 2009, is an entertaining throwback sports film, women’s basketball at a small Catholic college run by nuns. Based on a true story, it is designed as an inspirational film, especially for women and women in sport. Because we have a Catholic college having financial and survival problems in 1971, there is a priest character. He is in the old vein and is credited as ‘Monsignor’. We see him at Mass but his main appearances are at the Board meetings where decisions are being made about the sale of the college. He has an Irish accent (and is played by actor-author, Malachy McCourt), a touch of the bumptious, presuming on his priestly authority. He does make remarks about sport as important and other school activities but then emphasises that this is part of church business. Barry Fitzgerald would be proud of him.

The action takes place in 1971, almost forty years earlier, but only thirty years on from such inspirational sports films like Knute Rockne and Pat O’Brien’s? exhorting his players, ‘Do it for the Gipper’.


The Mighty Macs are the women’s basketball team at Immaculata College. At the beginning of the film they are far from mighty. The College is nearing bankruptcy and could be sold. In comes Cathy Rush, played sympathetically and vigorously by Carla Gugino. She shows how a female coach can be attentive to her players’ needs as well as have exhortations and strategies. And, she coaches them to victory in the national competition in 1971, 1972, 1973. Many of her team were consequently very successful coaches.


Immaculata College is run by Sisters (and the credits thank the Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary). By 2010 nuns had been disappearing from the screens (or being part of crowd scenes at, for instance, airports). There is an enthusiasm in the writing and direction of Tim Chambers. But, we are back in The Bells of St Mary’s territory and tone. Ellen Burstyn is the superior, very anxious about the financial situation, who hires Cathy Rush but cannot support her financially.

But, there are lots of nuns in the community, bright and breezy types who twenty years later would be right at home in Sister Act. They turn up at matches and make great supporters (some of them being listed in the credits as cheerleader nuns!).

While Mother Superior is something of what the stereotypical movie nun used to be, the nun in main focus is Sister Sunday, played by Marley Shelton. She is not unlike Amy Adams’ Sister in Doubt. She does have doubts about her own vocation, feeling frustrated in doing filing work in the college. Should she have time off? She doesn’t get much guidance or personal feeling from the Superior. As she prays in the chapel for a sign, she hears the coach’s whistle and finds a place with the team, coaching, managing, relating well to the girls and finding her place in life.

One of the most interesting sequences is her discussion with Cathy about her life (and learning that Cathy is not Catholic but Baptist). She explains her work, her boyfriend, but also her sense of emptiness, giving up her job and following her call. It is the support and understanding of Cathy that has enabled her to reassurance in her way of life. But, in the spirit of questioning of the 21st century (and, of course, of the 20th century), there is a sequence where Cathy and Sister go for a drink in a bar where she has removed her veil. She shows a strong-minded sense of fun as she wards off a would-be admirer who pays for drinks and would like to dance. In a complementary scene, Cathy dresses in a nun’s habit because the airways company was offering free travel for nuns.

This is a genial film which reminds us of the stern past in convents, the rigorous routines, the business concerns but also the sense of joy which nuns could radiate.

SMART MONEY

US, 1931 85 minutes, Black-and-white.
Edward G Robinson, James Cagney, Ralf Harolde, Evalyn Knapp, Boris Karloff.
Directed by Alfred E. Green.

Smart Money is a brief Warner Brothers thriller of the early 1930s and the only time that Edward G Robinson and James Cagney appeared together – at the time that Robinson was to hit the headlines with Little Caesar and Cagney with Public Enemy.

This is a film about gamblers rather than violent gangsters.

Robinson portrays a barber with Greek background who has a happy knack of betting and winning. Cagney is his associate in the barbershop. Robinson is encouraged to go to the big city to try his luck with the big gambling syndicates, is tricked but then decides that he will win, overcoming the syndicate, setting up his own casino.The District Attorney is out to get him.

There are some complications, especially blonde complications for Robinson and this contributes to his downfall as well as his clash with Cagney.

The film has an upbeat ending as Robinson goes off to jail for 10 years, challenging those standing by to take a bet that he will be out in five!

1. A film of the 1930s, Greek migrants, small-time and big-time gambling, gamblers in the big American cities, crime, law, setups, double crosses? The musical score?

2. Warner Brothers, tough, black-and-white action? Edward G Robinson and James Cagney together for the only time?

3. Iron town, The City, Another City? The atmosphere of the small town, the barbershops, train rides, hotels, gambling rooms, casinos, the district attorney?

4. Introduction to Eddie, his Greek migrant background, his barbershop, Jack as his assistant, the clients, betting, Double or Nothing, the appeal from the girl in trouble for a hundred dollars, playing the tables, the man who demanded the hundred dollars coming into play, the black man and his place with the group, gambling, jokes?

5. The men urging Eddie to go to the city, raising the $10,000, the contributions? His going to the city, buying the clothes, at the cigar counter, Marie and her beguiling behaviour, selling the cigars, giving him the information for the room number? His going up, assuming it was the famous gambler, his playing, self-confidence, losing? His giving Marie hundred dollars? Her disappearance? His going to the room and accosting her?

6. Jack coming to the city? Eddie and his work in the barbershop, the Greeks and their capitalising him? Knowing the truth about the scheme, playing, using the shaved cards, Jack and his associate with the guns?

7. Eddie, his skill at gambling, his own casino, the customers? His living with Jack? (The commentators talking about the homoerotic aspects of their relationship?)

8. Attitudes towards African- Americans at the time? Sympathetic, playing with the whites, referring to Eddie as a lucky white man? Eddie touching their heads? The porter on the train and his being given half a note and told that “you’ll get the rest of the end of the line, boy”?

9. Irene, from the river, Eddie and his kindness, letting her live in his house, Jack’s resentment?

10. The district attorney, wanting to get Eddie, using Irene, resisting, the racing form in Eddie’s pocket, the set up?

11. The irony of Jack’s death?

12. His being captured, Irene and her reaction?

13. His going to jail, the dandy, self-confidence, betting that he would be out on jail in five years rather than ten?

HIGH-RISE

UK, 2015, 119 minutes, Colour.
Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elizabeth Moss, James Purefoy, Keeley Hawes.
Directed by Ben Wheatley

High-rise can be used as a symbolic word in class conflict situations, the lower class wanting to rise higher – and that can all take place in a symbolic multi-story building, high-rise. That is the premise of a 1980s novel by J. C. Ballard, who has two film versions of his novels, quite diverse, the autobiographical Empire of the Sun, and the controversial exploration of humanity and technology in Crash.

The director of this film, Ben Wheatley, has developed a reputation for hard-hitting crime dramas with a sense of surprise, especially violence from central characters, Kill List and the sinister Sightseers.

Whether Ballard has a strong sense of narrative in his novels, it does not matter for the film version because Wheatley is much more interested in images, montages, a succession of episodes which might fit as successive panels in an installation rather than in exploring causality in the succession of narrative events. While this has quite an impact visually, and many critics have acclaimed the film for it, it is much less satisfying for audiences who really want character development rather than character presentation and plot development rather than a succession of episodes.

With this in mind, there is a great deal of interesting material in High- Rise.

Class conflict has been mentioned and that becomes more and more evident as the film proceeds – but it is a quotation, voiced by Margaret Thatcher at the end of the film, about class and government intervention and private enterprise (the latter of which, she asserted, provides true freedom for individuals), that makes more sense of what has gone on.

The central character is Laing (Tom Hiddleston), a doctor who is seen with his assistants examining the human skull, but whose main activity for the film takes place in the new high-rise building where he has bought an apartment. He is a successful doctor, a man with qualities and flaws, with aspirations to higher status, easily entangled in sexual relationships, an observer as well as a mingler.

The film opens with some bizarre sequences, a bearded Laing, roasting a dog on a spit on his balcony, some dead bodies – and then the narrative goes back three months for the audience to find out and puzzle over how this could have happened.

There is an amount of socialising in the high-rise, one party on an upper-class floor where everybody is dressed as if they were in the cast of Barry Lyndon. Later, there is to be a more modern party with a touch of the orgiastic.

Laing meets the architect of the building and its owner, Royal, played by Jeremy Irons, an ambiguous character with ambitions, with a dissatisfied wife even though he has built a roof garden of luxury, a horse for riding included.There are other encounters with a rough documentary maker, Wilder, Luke Evans, and his pregnant wife, Elizabeth Moss. Upstairs, there is Charlotte (Sienna Miller) who has a precocious young son. In the meantime there is a fuss pot who doesn’t want the garbage chutes to be clogged and discovers his wife in a relationship with a television announcer.

Included in the high-rise is a gym, squash court where Laing plays with Royal, and a supermarket where the customers parade as well is purchase – and an indifferent checkout girl who is given the French grammar by Laing during French Week which she uses to learn the language.

There is also a very aristocratic and snobbish group led by Pangbourne (James Purefoy) who have no scruples about using violence, even a lobotomy to tame a rebel-Rouser.

The class struggle does break out, the power goes off on various floors of the high-rise, violence ensues

Which brings us back to the starting point – and Wheatley’s style of filmmaking which emphasises the class conflict and that it happens rather than how it happens.

1. The impact of the film? Drama? Allegory?

2. The novelist, his career, his social issues, observations of society, human drives, clashes?

3. The visuals realtors the city, the high-rise buildings, exteriors, the interiors, the floors, the apartments, corridors, the roof and the luxury garden, the gym, the squash court, the supermarket? The musical score?

4. The nature of the narrative, impressionistic, the focus on the art, montage of images and sequences, like an installation? The effect? The emphasis on succession of images and events rather than developing the causality?

5. The quotation from Margaret Thatcher at the end, its meaning, Capitalism, the role of government, the role of private enterprise allegedly leading to greater freedoms?

6. The bizarre story, characters, the opening, Laing and his beard, the dog, the dog on the spit, writing and eating, the dead bodies? Going back three months?

7. Laing, and Everyman, his qualities, his flaws, arriving at the building, his apartment, the corridors, his particular floor, settling in, the great number of boxes? Sunbaking naked, Charlotte seeing him, accosting him? Seeing him at work, the doctor, the skull, his assistants, peeling back the skin, the saw, the persistent fainting – and his later being diagnosed with the growth? Denial, reaction? The secretary, her attention, ordering the sandwiches? His professional life?

8. The encounters with different people in the building, the concerned man and his not wanting the Jews were to be clogged, later concerned about his wife and her affair? Wilder and his reactions? With Charlotte? Charlotte, attraction, Toby as a precocious boy, his telescope seeing the future? The sexual relationship? Charlotte’s character, in relationship to Laing, to her son, the father of her son?

9. Wilder and Helen, her pregnancy, the other children, picture of the family, in the lower apartment, Wilder and his documentary work on television, wanting a lift from Laing, their not being able to find their cars in the huge car park? Wanting to make the documentary, leaving Helen, taking the money, part in the revolution, the attacks on him, his being beaten, thrown out with the garbage? His camera and film?

10. Helen, domestic, pregnant, at the pool with the children, going up to Laing, provocative, the sexual encounter, the delivery of her child?

11. Simmons, working for the building, snobbery? Pangbourne and the wealthy, living on the upper floors? The parties, in 18th century style, costumes, wigs and make up? Their behaviour? The later party and its sex, nudity, overtones of theology? Stirring up the revolution in the supermarket, power going out, mayhem? Laing in the supermarket, watching people shopping, the checkout clerk, the French book, learning French and using it? The discussions with Mercer, his plan about the lobotomy for Wilder? The film’s comment on these upper-class characters and their behaviour, morality?

12. Jeremy Irons as Royal, the architect of the building, ownership, his sense of responsibility, seeing him at work, the discussions with Laing, playing squash with him, the tense relationship with his wife, having the horse on the roof garden and riding? His agreement with the revolution, letting his wife go, her return after the rescue, the sexual encounter? With the snobs? The confrontation, the gun, his death? Buried in the pool?

13. The actress, the television announcer, relationships, the vain actress and her autograph, the sexuality? The television announcer and his behaviour?

14. People, class, high and low, life and interactions, class struggles?

15. An image of the past, an image of the future? In the final comments from Margaret Thatcher?

WAR DOGS

US, 2016, 114 minutes, Colour.
Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Kevin Pollock, Ana De Armes, Bradley Cooper.
Directed by Todd Phillips.

The Dogs of War is a phrase used to describe combat hardship, difficulties, heroism. War Dogs is not the same thing and, in this case, definitely not the same thing.

The story is told from the point of view of David, Miles Teller doing a variation on his raunchy comedy routines but, basically, a more seriously decent type. At this stage, 2005, he is something of a pothead, trying to sell quality sheets to homes for the elderly (where the managers think that quality is useless for their clientele), then doing male massages in hotel, and in a relationship with an attractive partner, iz, who is pregnant.

At a funeral, he meets an old school friend, Efraim, Jonah Hill doing a bossy and scheming variation on his raunchy comedy routines. He has been getting arms from the police in California and selling them on eBay. Now, in Florida, he intends to expand and invites David along to be an associate, 70-30.

So much for entrepreneurial twentysomethings. But, this is a true story which takes us more than a bit beyond belief.

Efraim is rather shrewd in the sense that he doesn’t go for huge contracts but rather deals with “crumbs” and amasses quite an income. But, he becomes ambitious, entering into a contract with an officer in Iraq to supply him with Italian Beretta weaponry – but, in serious comic style, Efraim has to use his wits and David his diplomacy with the officer because Italy has introduced legislation against this kind of sale of arms, Efraim thinks they should be delivered to Jordan, the two men go over to Jordan, deal with local smugglers, drive into Iraq, are pursued by bandits but finally deliver their goods – and get a reputation with American military procurement officials.

Emboldened, they go off to a weapons exhibition in Las Vegas, encounter a famous arms dealer (played by Bradley Cooper who produced the film) and decide to go for broke with his encouragement, an enormous contract for the military.

They are able to fake their papers and accounts, and are surprised to get the contract – which seems to go off well, with visits to Albania and more dodgy deals, then dodgy deals, which brings the situation to a climax and a crisis.

The plot is interesting as one looks at American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time, the huge contracts and movement of arms, remembering the exploitation by various American companies in Iraq, but this picture of two young men becoming involved in arms sales while having no moral stance about rights or wrongs of the war, has reminded audiences of the comic expose of the entrepreneurs, young, prior to the global financial crisis, The Big Short.

Efraim becomes more and more a dislikeable character, foul-mouthed and unprincipled, while David is the one who has his conscience challenged.

In Snowden, Oliver Stone’s film about the man who leaked information, the background of his work for the CIA takes place at the same time as the action in War Dogs, even with some comment about the profligacy of military procurement. Into that setting of American management and mismanagement, War Dogs finds its place.

1. Based on a true story? The Bush era, arms and procurement, the military, fraud?

2. Miami, the sets, offices, massage work in hotels, selling sheets in homes for the elderly, high-rise accommodation, affluence?

3. The contrast with Albania (filmed in Romania), Jordan, Iraq, filming in Morocco? Las Vegas? The musical score, the songs and the mood?

4. The title, dogs of war, pro-war, anti-war, being neutral, involvement in arms deals, for the money, the consequences?

5. The captions throughout the film and their being used in the dialogue?

6. David’s story, his point of view, his perspective on himself, on the work, the ultimate judgement, his arrest, the interview and the offer of money at the end? Ambiguous?

7. David, his age, his self-image, young, pot smoking, selling the sheets, buying them in bulk, the failure of the enterprise? His relationship with Iz? Her pregnancy? The massages, the clients and their behaviour? The funeral, seeing Efraim?

8. His memories of Efraim, at high school, friends? The story about stealing $70,000 from the dinner visitor?

9. Efraim, age, character, his deals, buying arms and selling them on eBay, transition to Miami, his philosophy of life, money and greed, employing David, employing the staff and the pep talk – and ousting the man who contradicted him? Crumbs and small deals? David, agreeing, lying to Iz, the pregnancy test, the work at home?

10. The Bereta deal, from Italy, the US official in Iraq, the plans, the Italian legislation and the change of plan, David on the phone, Efraim on the phone and his smart moves, transferring the guns to Jordan, their visiting Jordan, the young interpreter and the smugglers, the journey, David and his fear, their being pursued by armed men, the American helicopter trucks, the smuggler pouring petrol into the truck, arrival in Baghdad, successful in producing the guns, getting an escort back to the plane, their success?

11. Growing reputation, the deals, going to the exhibition in Las Vegas? David meeting Henry Girard, the former phone calls?

12. The new deal, the offer, thinking it over, the huge order, from the American government? The submission, manufacturing figures, forging accounts? Waiting five months? Getting the okay?

13. The deal, the Russian bullets in Albania, David going, the driver, only checking one box? The plan? The news that the bullets were Chinese? The return? Henry and his anger, abducting David and pointing the gun? Repacking all the bullets, lighter, removing the crates, the iron boxes, plastic and cardboard boxes? The fee, 100,000 dollars? Success?

14. David making a contract with Efraim for 30%? Efraim destroying it, his motives, out to get Henry Girard? His lies? And forgetting to pay the Albanians?

15. Iz, the improvement in their status, the big apartment, the birth of the child, David and his love for the baby, the decision to go to her mother’s? Finding the hidden money?

16. David coming home, confronting Efraim, the loss of the contract, throwing the gold grenade? The confrontation, David and his anger, returning to massages, Iz accepting this?

17. The character of Ralph, friend, Jewish, the deals, making the money? His offer to mediate between David and Efraim? Efraim’s offer, David refusing, the irony that Ralph was wired and the playback to the FBI?

18. The phone call from the journalists, David confronting Efraim in the lift, the punch, the FBI waiting?

19. The explanations, Efraim and his four-year sentence, David pleading guilty, home arrest? With his family?

20. The epilogue, Henry Girard, offering the case of money, David wondering about the fate of the driver and his disappearance? The ambiguity of whether he took the money or not?

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU

US, 1994, 101 minutes, Colour.
Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda, Rosie Pérez, Wendell Pierce, Isaac Hayes, Seymour Cassel, Stanley Tucci, Red Buttons, Richard Jenkins.
Directed by Andrew Bergman.

Well, it could happen but it is most likely not going to happen: winning the top money in the lottery.

This is a fairly nice story – although there are some barbs at avaricious and unscrupulous people.

Nicolas Cage, before winning his Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas, and his devoting self almost entirely to action shows, has a nice touch for the pathos of a decent man, a cop on the beat with his partner, Wendell Pierce, but married to a school days sweetheart, Muriel, played with incessant nagging and claws out by Rosie Pérez. On the beat, the police encounter a young waitress, Yvonne, Bridget Fonda, who cannot afford a divorce from her no-good actor husband, Stanley Tucci, and has been declared bankrupt because of his payments on her credit card. Muriel has asked her husband to buy a lottery ticket but he has unwittingly changed one of the numbers from her plan – but it wins. Because he has not had money for a tip for the waitress, he has promised her half his winnings in the lottery. He is a decent man and intends to fulfil his promise.

Needless to say, Muriel goes berserk, goes on a spending spree – but protesters throw red paint over her newly bought fur. Yvonne is surprised, to say the least, and buys the cafe where she works from a supercilious and demanding boss.

Muriel decides to go to court, with Richard Jenkins as her lawyer, while the cop, with Red Buttons as his lawyer, does not contest her decision but wants Yvonne to have the money.

We know that somehow or other the cop and the waitress will get some money but in a surprise plot-twist, Isaac Hayes who has been commenting on the action becomes the instrument of some good fortune. And in the meantime, Muriel has flirted with a financier whom she marries – and who then cleans out her bank account and she has to go to live with her mother!

1. A nice story with some barbs? A variation on romantic comedy?
2. New York City, Queens, the police on the street, helping people, the kids playing on the streets? Apartments, cafes? Wealthy yachts, Plaza Hotel? The courts? The musical score?

3. Angel Dupree and his symbolic name? His appearances, commentary, disguise, journalist, helping Charlie and Yvonne out in their difficulty?

4. The title, winning the lottery? The odds of anybody winning the lottery? Buying the ticket, the wrong numbers? The group of winners – the sports team?

5. Nicholas Cage as Charlie, a nice and decent man, married to Muriel, her continued nagging, expectations? Knowing each other from school? Sweethearts? No children, on the beat, partnership with Bo, the bond between them, helping each other? Going to eat, Yvonne and her bad day, not having enough money for the tip, being called to duty, the promise to share the lottery winnings? A point of honour for Charlie?

6. The argument with Muriel about the numbers, winning, telling her the truth, the bad reaction? Going to see evil, Bo and his advice, the chain for her glasses, giving her the option of choice, her reaction, Muriel’s reaction?

7. Going to the function for the winners, persuading Muriel to say she had a heart of gold? Charlie pleasant, shy, with the others? The photo of all the winners? Muriel repeating her slogan, Yvonne present, the newspapers and the headlines?

8. Muriel going on a spree, the expensive shops, the paint thrown on her for? The contrast with Yvonne, her work at the Cafe, the boss and his demands, coffee? Her roommate and their friendship? Buying the cafe?

9. Yvonne, her character, friends with her flatmate, meagre living? Eddie, the marriage, smug? Yvonne in court, pleadings and judge, bankrupt? No divorce? Eddie turning up, eating the macadamia nuts, asking for the money for his acting group?

10. Going on the yacht, Muriel and her meeting Jack, currying his favour, his flirting with her, his holding court about financial plans, her listening, her plans and notes? Yvonne late, Charlie of the yacht, the two talking, the meal, sharing, the bond, rollerblading and his going into the lake, sharing activities? Happy?

11. Yvonne leaving Eddie and going to the Plaza? Charlie being ousted by Muriel, to the Plaza? The rooms? Overawed? The photos, the papers?

12. The financial discussions, the two lawyers, Muriel and her breast enhancement? Charlie, no contest? The reaction of his lawyer, the touch of despair? Muriel’s lawyer and his smugness?

13. In court, the lawyers, cross questioning, Yvonne humiliated, the role of the judge, the jury? Charlie losing? Yvonne running away, Charlie chasing her?

14. Dupree, his disguise, a bigger, wanting food, his comment about the basil in the soup, Charlie and Yvonne giving him something to eat – and his praising article, everybody reading in the streets of the subway?

15. The two seen as Good Samaritans, the donations coming in?

16. The irony of Muriel marrying Jack and his cleaning out her account and having to live with her mother?

17. The moral of the story – better to be nice and kind?

SUNSET SONG

UK, 2016, 134 minutes, Colour.
Agyness Dean, Kevin Guthrie, Peter Mullan.
Directed by Terence Davies.

British director, Terence Davies, has had a long career, acquired a very strong reputation, but has not been able to make as many films as he would like, at one stage almost 10 year absence from the screen owing to lack of financing. He has made some classics, especially Distant Voices, Still Lives, one of the most compelling and sadly harsh portraits of an English family, The Long Day Closes, a version of Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth, a powerful version of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea and a forthcoming biography of American poet, Emily Dickinson.

For this film he has gone to a novel by Lewis Grassic Gribbon, a Scottish setting, the years before World War I and into the war itself. Location filming was done in Scotland as well is in New Zealand.

One of the things to consider with Davies film is that it is more than likely to be slowly-paced, meditative with a touch of the contemplative. There is more than ample time to immerse oneself in the lives of the characters, in the atmosphere of their surroundings, to listen to what they have to say as well is to what they don’t say.

The central character of this story is Christine, Chris, a young woman, with a voice-over narrating and commenting on her story. She is played somewhat passively by Agyness Dean. She is one of five children, her farmer-brother the object of the fierce and bullying attention of her stern father (Peter Mullan doing yet another more than harsh father), two younger brothers with the birth of another baby, her mother enduring the difficult life and circumstances of her marriage and the family, it all becoming too much for her.

Chris is a reader and writer, intent on becoming a teacher but circumstances alter everything and she inherits the farm and some money from her parents. While an uncle and aunt take the young children for care, Chris remains on the farm, working very hard. There is a certain grimness about many of Davies films and this one has its moments of gloom for Chris as well.

One of the young men around the town, Ewan (Kevin Guthrie), seems a bit insignificant when we first see him but he is attracted to Chris and, eventually, she to him, a romantic union which seems to be heading for happiness.

The film gives a great deal of attention to life in Scotland, the times, customs, work, the countryside – although it is interesting that a number of Scottish bloggers question the feel and the authenticity of some of the characters and the situations. For those of us who are not in the know, we accept the presentation of this Scottish life.

The community seems remote, outside Aberdeen, but there are rumblings of war, and eventually the war breaks out, young men volunteer, others like Ewan are committed to their farm – but the pressure of the patriotism of the time, the sending of white feathers to those who do not join up and are considered cowards, become too much for Ewan and the story assumes an extremely downbeat tone, Ewan going to war, the loneliness of Chris and her son, the effect of the close trench warfare taking some toll on Ewan. And audiences, now aware of the traumatic stress of war experience are reminded of how drastic was the action by military authorities on those who did not measure up to expectations.

The title suggests that this may not be an entirely happy film, nor is it. It is one where the filmmaker wants to re-create a world and immerse his audience in it, for both better and for worse.

1. An early 20th-century story? Pre-World? War I? The experience of World War I, in Britain, Scotland?

2. The title, wistful, sad? Sunset at the end of the day? The adaptation of a classic novel?

3. The director, his work, romantic perspectives, creation of atmosphere, meditative style?

4. The Scottish settings: the countryside, the landscapes, the flocks, the animals? Farming? The homes and interiors? School? Workplaces? Men and women in this society? Marriage? The musical score?

5. The background of the war: patriotism, hearing about the war, people appearing in uniforms, volunteering, public opinion, cowardice the sending of feathers? Ewan and his experience of war, his return, the tragic ending?

6. Christine’s story: her voice-over, her age, at home, her older brother, the other children, her mother, pregnancy, her father and his severity, yet his supporting her? Her good friend, sharing, school? Play? A more serious young woman, study, planning to be a teacher? The period and her status as a young woman?

7. The portrait of the Father, his severity, farming, hard work, beating his son and ridiculing him, whipping him and the wounds on his back? His relationship with his wife, sexual domination, the pregnancies? The Scottish patriarch, his expectations of people, of his wife? His wife, giving birth, her despair, poisoning herself and the child? The effect on her husband?

8. The consequences of her death, the aunt and uncle taking the younger children? The brother leaving and going to Canada? Chris inheriting the farm, the house, the money? The decision to stay, her farming, the detail of her life on the farm, the other workers?

9. The men of the town, workers, Ewan and the attraction? Their being together, falling in love, the wedding ceremony? Married life, love, romantic, the child?

10. The war, the friend appearing in uniform, issues of patriotism, Ewan not going, doing the farm work? The friend objecting to going to war? Receiving the feathers? Accusations of cowardice, the pressure on Ewan?

11. Ewan going to war, his returning, his becoming a harsh character, the effect of war on him, becoming a patriarchal Scottish mail? His brutal treatment of Chris, the sexual encounter
and its harshness? The effect on her?

12. His going back to the war, the news of his death, the flashback, the story of his desertion, in prison, the firing squad and the executions? His going more calmly to execution, sitting, being shot – but saying it was all for Christine? The war, his desertion, his death?

13. The end of an era? These experiences as the basis for transition to the postwar era?

TICKLED

New Zealand, 2015, 90 minutes, Colour.
Directed by David Farrier, Dylan Reeve.

Tickled! Tickled pink! Ticklish! They sound rather funny if you repeat them often enough. And this film begins with scenes which are rather funny, a blend of ha-ha and peculiar.

If you would judge this film just by the trailer, you might imagine that it was just about a sport you had never heard of, Endurance Tickling. Well, it is, but more, much more.

David Farrier is a New Zealand documentary filmmaker, eagerly on the lookout for the odd tidbit that might prove an interesting and entertaining story. When he came across some video material about Endurance Tickling as a sport, naturally enough he followed it up – and bit off far more than he would have to chew.

The videos, mainly with young men, being tickled by other young men, seemed more than a touch bizarre, the tickled men giggling and laughing – as one would. So, he and a friend, Dylan Reeve, not only decided to follow through but check out a name and address, Jane O’ Brien Media, that was credited on these videos. All well and good, except that as they pursued their inquiries, a representative of Jane O’ Brien started to email, warning them off, even threatening legal action.

One of the first responses was for three Americans to go to Auckland to meet with – confront – the would-be film-makers. What else does a New Zealand journalist do but decide not just to follow it up but for he and his partner to travel to the US.

If this sounds intriguing, and it is, then it is well worthwhile sharing this investigative journalist journey and explore the world of the sport as well as some of the personalities behind it. David Farrier does quite a good job of following up leads, finding people willing to talk on camera, running the risk of legal action and threats, filming all the way, to end up with a documentary that was not what he thought it would be, but much better.

Yes, there is a sport, and there are many videos available, especially on social media. In talking with some young men who became involved, they discovered a mysterious story, auditions, tickling sessions, and the three people who visited New Zealand involved in the filming. Once they had discovered someone who was professionally interested in this kind of tickling and who would help them with their investigation, the film becomes something of a detective story. They were trying to unravel a mystery, starting with a rather glamorous photo of a woman who sponsored the videos in the 1990s but then had disappeared, then a personality who had been involved in promotion and PR, which led them to an American teacher who seemed to have been involved but who had disappeared from the scene.

By this time, some audiences might have guessed what happened, but mainly we are carried along with the momentum, a visit to a group in Michigan and the interview with a practitioner and his family, to New York City and interview with a lawyer who was sending David Farrier a letter of please explain.

By the end of the film, the mystery is solved, but not necessarily the mysteriousness of the sport, questions about those who are addicted, and why, to the spectacle of young men enduring such tickling.

David Farrier himself does the commentary and Dylan Reeve appears, especially when they have to decide whether they will continue with the project or not. Just as well they did.

1. An interesting documentary? The title, expectations? Tickled in humour, producing laughs? The audience tickled by the documentary and the investigation?

2. A New Zealand documentary, the director and his work as a journalist, his partner? Interesting stories, the pursuit of this story?

3. David finding the item about the sports, the videos of tickling, an endurance sport, the men, close, tickling, physical, the laughter, homoerotic overtones, an endurance sport? Audience reaction to the videos? To the sport? To watching the tickling and its effect?

4. The pursuit of the story, Jane O’ Brien Media, contacting her, the letters from Debbie, threats, calling on the law, the three visitors coming from America to Auckland, the scene at the airport, the meeting, filming them, the discussions? The reaction and the decision to pursue the story?

5. Going to the United States, the mystery about Jane O’ Brien and the writers? The discovery of the websites, the German connection? Not meeting any persons? Tracking the interests, the men going in for auditions, seeing the men who had come from Australia, knocking on the door, the men’s refusal to communicate? The continued letters?

6. Finding the young man willing to talk, his approach, his life, going to the auditions, the bouts, the filming? His explanations?

7. Effect of the videos, on social media, going viral? The issues of harassment of the young men, abuse?

8. Meeting Richard Ivey, his career, his addiction, involvement in the endurance sport, the leads, the 1990s and the photo of the woman on the website, her name, calling for auditions,
the men, the videos, the disappearance – the emails about her being ill in hospital?

9. Meeting the promoter, his work, his contacts, giving information?

10. The leads to David D’ Amato, his identity, his wealthy background, the family, the Wall Street father, the divorce, has being close to his mother, sport? Becoming a teacher, the reports from the schools, his moving from school to school? His interest in tickling, setting up the websites, his identity as the women, Jane O’Brien? Media, his family wealth to set up the sites, the auditions, the videos?

11. The visit to Michigan, the young man and his explanations, about the sport, his experience, in the town, the other men? The interviews with his family?

12. The stalking of D’ Amato, finding an address, ringing his stepmother and her giving the information? Confrontation, his refusing to cooperate, the legal threats?

13. Visiting the lawyer, his discovery that his was the address on the website?

14. The final information about David D’ Amato?

15. Audience reaction to the sport, the visuals, the young men in their exploitation?

GRANDMA

US, 2015, 79 minutes, Colour.
Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Sam Elliott, Judy Greer, John Cho, Nat Wolff, Laverne Cox, Elizabeth Peña, Colleen Camp, Sarah Burns, Judy Geeson..
Directed by Paul Weitz.

Grandma is an opportunity for Lily Tomlin to make a striking screen presence, building on a long career with such films as Nashville and Nine to Five, and a continuous satiric presence on television. Here she plays a 70 something-year-old academic, poet, breaking up with a younger girlfriend, Judy Greer, and morning her partner, Violet, of 38 years. She is trying to make a clean break.

Buckley, her granddaughter, Sage, Julia Garner, turns up wanting to borrow $600 for an abortion. grandma does not have the money and so they go on a quest. for pro-choice audiences, this is a straightforward drama with comic overtones. For those who do not approve of abortion, either they will be completely against the film or they will acknowledge the reality of the situation in the world today and try to understand and appreciate what is happening with the characters.

Grandma and Sage visit the very offhand father of the child, Nat Wolff, and he did gets a well-deserved hockey stick beating in a tender part of his anatomy. there is a visit to a transgender tattooists, Laverne Cox, a friendly visit but no money. grandma also attempts to sell some first and signed additions of feminist literature to a cafe owner, Elizabeth Peña, but no deal. grandma also visits her husband of almost 50 years earlier – she had had an abortion, con to live with her lover and conceived by artificial means – a very good performance from Sam Elliott.

Eventually they go to meet Sage’s mother, Marcio Gay Harden, Patel businesswoman who does give the money. There is a bit visit to the clinic, the young daughter of a protester against abortion punching grandma in the eye, Sage going to a counsellor to discuss her free choice about the abortion. On the way home, grandma calls into see Olivia, the rejected young lover (and a cameo by Judy G’s and as Olivia’s mother).

The film was directed and written by Paul Weitz, who has had a very career from American High to About a Boy, In Good Company.

1. The title, the focus on Elle? Sage’s perspective on her grandmother? The picture of the generations, similarities and differences?

2. An LA story, the apartments, streets, cafe, tattoo parlour, offices, the abortion clinic? The musical score?

3. The structure of the film: the different chapters, the headings and their indications of meaning?

4. The abortion issue, the fact of abortion, pro and con, taken for granted by the characters? The protester outside the clinic and the little girl punching Elle? Abortion as a decision, to
be thought about, the effect for the rest of one’s life?

5. The film and relationships, the lesbian focus, the lesbian story, Elle, a relationship with Olivia, the memories of Violet, the transgender tattooists?

6. Elle, age, tough, the opening and her treatment of Olivia, harshness, ousting her? A cranky woman? Tidying up? Cutting up her credit card for a mobile? Her plans, cutting her losses? Her poetry, the past, her academic life, her being a visiting writer and the repercussions?

7. Sage, young, her age, the situation, the pregnancy and Cam, his callous behaviour and attitudes? Her needing the money? Fearing her mother? Going to grandmother, presuming on her? Her immaturity, slow on the uptake, her hopes, coping with the pregnancy, thinking about its effect and her future life?

8. Going to Cam, his obnoxious personality, abusive language, grandma hitting him with a hockey stick?

9. Going to the tattooists, friends, the transgender woman, a genial visit, but no money?

10. The decision to sell her first editions, going to the cafe, Olivia working there, no sale – and the customer wanting her sauce?

11. Going to visit her former husband? His promise that he would do anything for her? The revelation about the past, the marriage, abandoning him, pregnancy and abortion, in vitro
fertilisation? Life with violet for 38 years? Not aborting the second child? His wanting a kiss, his wanting an apology – but his firm stance against an abortion?

12. Sage and her mother, her mother as a dominant character, brought up by the two grandmothers, Violet and her kindness to her? The treadmill desk, her abrupt manner, assistants, business meetings, giving the money? Trying to bond with her daughter? Going to the clinic, support, driving her home?

13. Grandma’s car, the breakdown, service? Going to the clinic, speeding and impatience, the car giving out? Hitchhiking, the couple, the very rude boy to his father?

14. The clinic, the protester, the little girl, Elle’s kindness, being punched in the eye? The nurse, the procedures, Elle being tough, the nurse being well-mannered?

15. Sage emerging, the preparation for the abortion, coming back later?

16. Elle going to Olivia’s house, giving her the books, meeting her parents, the mother quoting the poem?

17. No taxi, Elle walking home, tough – and into what future?