Stoker

When I first heard that one of my favourite directors was leaving his native Korea to make an English language film I was excited but also as worried as when I heard Spike Lee was remaking Oldboy. My worry grew when earlier this year Kim Ji-woon’s US debut The Last Stand failed to live up to his back catalogue. In Stoker though, director Park Chan-wook has created a film which I believe can sit happily alongside his previous films. Stoker is unmistakably a Park Chan-wook film and he has lost nothing in translation. It is as dark and stylish as you’d expect from the director of Thirst and I’m a Cyborg and features a typically bold and beautiful colour palate.

Following the death of Richard Stoker, his enigmatic younger brother Charlie (Matthew Goode) comes to stay with his wife Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) and teenage daughter India (Mia Wasikowska). Uncle Charlie was previously unknown to India as he was never mentioned by her father. India is slow to accept Charlie into the family but a tender bond slowly forms between the two cold and indecipherable people. India remains apprehensive though and Charlie’s motives for the sudden visit remain unclear.

Silver Linings Playbook

Patrick (Bradley Cooper), recently diagnosed with bi-polar is released from a psychiatric hospital eight months after nearly beating a man to death for sleeping with his wife. He arrives home to find that his superstitious father (Robert De Niro) has lost his job and is making money as a bookmaker on American Football games. Patrick is desperate to reconnect with his wife despite their problems and a restraining order and soon falls in with a friend of a friend called Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who promises to get a letter to Patrick’s wife in exchange for help in a dance competition.

I had no interest in seeing Silver Linings Playbook, especially after my girlfriend saw it and gave a one word review of “meh-umm-yeah”. A friend of mine though said it was excellent and it’s popping up in awards nominations and best of lists so I thought I should check it out. If the film gets anywhere near any major awards for anything other than acting, I will be shocked. The film is average at best but flourishes due to some great acting performances which start at the leads and extend right down to the secondary and tertiary characters.