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LOOPER
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Bruce Willis
Who’s not a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt these days? The sitcom brat-turned-rising A-lister peps up every film he’s in (he even made GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra tolerable), so his appearance in projects worthy of his prodigious talents is always a cause for rejoicing. Such is the case with Looper, which reunites him with Brick director Rian Johnson for a dizzying, sizzling sci-fi thriller about Mob assassins – the ‘loopers’ of the title – who kill targets zapped back from the future, including themselves once they’re deemed expendable. It’s a compulsive premise, especially when JGL’s future self (Willis) turns up and goes on the run, setting the cat among the pigeons. Big caveat: Johnson has caked JGL’s fine features in prosthetics so that he more resembles a young Willis, which is a dumb move, since it only serves to make the actor resemble someone wearing bad prosthetics. But Looper is such a gritty, trippy, mindbending thrill-ride, it shouldn’t completely spoil your pleasure. DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL
Diana Vreeland, Anjelica Huston, Calvin Klein
Fashion’s former high priestess is the subject of this family-sanctioned documentary, which paints the former editor of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar as the fearsome fashionista of legend. Vreeland’s bluntness is on riotous display but the film struggles to dig deep into its elusive subject. It’s clear Vreeland was a tough nut to crack. HOLY MOTORS
Denis Lavant, Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue
We’re not claiming that Kylie’s belated return to the big screen offers any evidence that she should give up the day job. But her appearance, in a black bob and mac no less, is one of many eccentric elements that make director Leos Carax’s fevered vision such a mesmerising (if nonsensical) viewing experience. Talking limos, motion-capture sex and a satyr dragging Mendes to its lair? It’s all so exhilaratingly bonkers. KILLING THEM SOFTLY
Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy
Following The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Brad Pitt and director Andrew Dominik lighten up for this comic crime-thriller, which takes a swipe at America’s cut-throat capitalism. Pitt’s in charisma overdrive as hitman Jackie Cogan. The dialogue is whip-smart, the violence nasty, the atmosphere menacing. |
