Cold in July - Film Review

Cold in July is a visceral crime thriller with a plot that twists and turns enough to leave your stomach in knots.

When shy and conscientious picture framer Richard Dane (Michael C Hall) kills an unarmed home intruder, the police inform him that the intruder's father, Ben Russell (Sam Shepherd), has recently been released from jail. Hunting for some patriarchal vengeance Ben starts to stalk Richard and his family, however when Richard begins to suspect the police aren't telling him the whole story he discovers he's caught up in a much more complex web of witness protection, deep south Mafia and brutal snuff-porn.

The dank, sweaty, shape-shifting plot from a novel by bombastic crime writer Joe R Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep) continually evolves, so what starts out as a Cape Fear-style stalker tale, becomes a story of police corruption and organised crime, and then changes again to become about fatherhood and parental responsibility. But rather than jar, the ambitious tonal shifts keep the audience on their toes, surprising either with a plot revelation, a new character or a wry flash of humour. At the mid-point, when Don Johnson's swaggering, self-parodying private detective Jim Bob Luke arrives in his candy apple-red Cadillac, it injects the picture with some dark comedy relief.

This is the fourth collaboration between director Jim Mickle and co-writer Frank Damici, and it's a confident, genre bending effort. The over-the-top third act full of cartoonish blood and gore is grounded by the character study premise of a mild-mannered man trying to clear his conscious. Richard, whose immediately out of his depth in the murky quagmire of Southern neo-noir, simply wants to find out who he murdered in the opening scene. But you quickly get the feeling the character was always out of his depth, long before the film's timeline, surrounded by the macho men of Texas.

"I didn't think you had it in you." Older, local guys keep telling our have-a-go hero while slapping him on the back. By the end, after some fierce tension and gruesome ultra-violence, his mullet and moustache remain the same, but Richard has definitely grown a pair.

Stark lighting and a synth-laden John Carpenter-esque soundtrack evokes the '80s setting and B-movie overtones, and has blood-soaked shades of Red Rock West and Blood Simple. But narratively it isn't as tight and plot threads introduced in the taut first half are left dangling loose in favour of the story switching focus. A twitchy Michael C Hall, and the character development of Richard Dane, holds it all together, and although this may not be the role to launch Dexter into the Hollywood A-list, it sure shows the man's got some respectable acting chops.

Cold in July's a gripping crime drama full of good old-fashioned thrills that are artistically crafted by a cinematic self-assurance that will leave you in chills.

Chef - Film Review

Street food's all the rage right now, making this family-friendly comedy timely and fashionable, if a little over done.

Jon Favreau writes, directs and stars in Chef, where the titular character is creatively frustrated but finds himself through his son, Twitter and a food truck. And although the recipe's a familiar one, Favreau's passion, pithy script and down-home performance instils the picture with a flavour that leaves a deliciously sweet taste in your mouth for hours after viewing.

Carl Caspar is the talented head chef of a trendy Los Angeles restaurant, whose creative drought is called out by a ruthless food critic (Oliver Platt). Some serious Twitter beef ensues after his tech-savvy son (Emjay Anthony) introduces Carl to the social network, culminating in Carl publicly berating the critic in the restaurant and consequently losing his job. Like my broken oven the sweary dialogue is hot and loud, and coupled with the bromantic comedy between Carl and his buds, keeps things snap, crackling along. But the story really comes alive when Carl gets his beaten up food truck and starts to ignite his culinary fires with foot-long Cubanos.

On the surface Chef is about a protagonist trying to reconnect with himself and revitalise his creative flair, but really it's the story of a father trying to reconnect with his son. In the first act their relationship is tense and clipped, but after some second act bonding over the cleaning and refurbishment of the food truck, Carl's defences dissolve and the two grow close, with his son acting as a line-chef and learning the ways of the kitchen.

As they travel across America, with Carl's cooking and his son publishing their progress on social media, the food truck becomes a roaring success. Carl's happy, cooking an authentic Cuban menu he developed, and more importantly doing so with his son. This emotional backbone props up the rest of the story, and although sometimes saccharine, it always resonates with heart-warming clarity. Similar to Swingers, this feels like a deeply personal project for Favreau, and the autobiographical element makes it all the more charming.

Despite Chef being as predictable as Heinz tomato soup, it's also as warm and comforting. The pithy script has a kick of spice that makes the story fizz, as does the energetic soundtrack, and there's a fantastic natural chemistry between the cast of characters, like sweet and sour, they complement each other perfectly. Although it might not leave you wanting more, Chef certainly leaves you feeling replete.

Anchorman - Plot Point Breakdown

Anchorman's (2004) one of the most quotable comedies ever, ridiculous and silly but so fun with a cast that crackle and fizz off one another effortlessly. Anchorman 2 (2013) tried to recreate the magic, and for the first 10 minutes it did, but the remaining 130 minutes failed hard. The structure aped the original to the beat and they tried to hit the same comedy high-notes but it felt flat and contrived. However, the original is something special and despite the actors riffing off-script to their heart's content, it still adheres to a pretty traditional story structure.

Inciting Incident - Ron Burgundy is San Diego's number one anchorman but when Veronica Corningstone joins the Channel 4 news team Ron's title is under threat, his position in the top perch is rocked and he's forced to reassess the misogynistic culture he's become so comfortable with. (14 minutes)

Lock In - After taking Veronica out for a night on the town, during which both share their ambition to be a network news anchor, the two hop on the good foot, do the bad thing, falling madly in love with each other. (33 minutes)

Midpoint - When Ron misses his slot reporting the news because he's stuck in a glass cage of emotion after the man punted Baxter, Veronica fills in as head anchor and reports Ron's news. This leads to her getting a promotion as co-anchor, but Ron feels betrayed and their romantic relationship falls apart. (49 minutes)

Climax - Veronica sabotages the teleprompter, from which Ron will read anything, making Ron sign off with, "Go fuck yourself, San Diego." This results in Ron being fired from the Channel 4 news team and becoming a dishevelled, wallowing milk-drunk. (64 minutes)

Resolution - When Veronica disappears in the midst of the biggest story of the year, Ron gets his chance at redemption - to report the news again. But on arriving at the zoo he sees Veronica trapped in the bear pit and chooses to save the life of the woman he loves, over reporting the news. (78 minutes)