Review: American Hustle

American Hustle
Dir. David O. Russell
Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C.K.
138 minutes

American Hustle is almost as unbelievable as the Abscam story it’s about.

Here’s David O. Russell, a director on a hot streak, assembling a cast made up of not only some of the greatest working actors, but actors he has directed to Oscar nominations (and two wins!) in his last two features. American Hustle reunites Russell with The Fighter stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams and Silver Lining Playbook‘s Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and, in an uncredited but pivotal surprise role, Robert De Niro. Add to this: Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., a score by Danny Elfman, and hair, costumes and a soundtrack that are so 70s they’ll make you think a perm is a good idea, and you’ve just scratched the surface of American Hustle.

There’s also the slick editing, tight script and sharp dialogue. But all that would be for naught if there wasn’t a great story to tell, and American Hustle doesn’t disappoint in that – or any – department.

Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams in David O. Russell’s American Hustle.

Amy Adams in David O. Russell’s American Hustle.

Amy Adams and Christian Bale in David O. Russell’s American Hustle.

Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle.

Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Rohm, Christian Bale and Jeremy Renner in David O. Russell’s American Hustle.

Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale in David O. Russell’s American Hustle.

Bradley Cooper in David O. Russell’s American Hustle.

Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle.

11/11 Remembrance Day: War movies on Netflix Canada

You’re on an impossible mission if you’re looking to learn about the history of wars in the world using only your Netflix Canada account. You may need to dig up old-world relics that are your video-store and library cards. Netflix Canada’s selection of war films is sadly incomplete.

The ratio of all First World War to Second World War movies is about 1:100 (unscientific figure, but the Second World War was longer, its effects longer lasting and its narratives more easily dramatizable, which may explain the difference); on Netflix Canada, I’ve been unable to find more than one movie or documentary on the First World War worth sharing (Flyboys, the unrecommendable 138-minute mess starring James Franco, is available if you are so brave. One of the more positive reviews called it “a lot less obnoxious than Pearl Harbor.”)

Where is the Paul Gross-directed-written-starring Passchendaele, a great – and one of the only – Canadian war film? Classics like All Quiet on the Western Front and Paths of Glory? More recent films like A Very Long Engagement and War Horse? And I’m still only on the First World War – the streaming service’s repertoire of Cold, Vietnam and Korea War movies is missing some cinema classics. I can’t fault Netflix for its shortcomings, but if it is going to be the future of media streaming, it has a long way to go.

Here are some of the war movies Netflix Canada has to offer.

Avengers assemble (smash, destroy, kick ass)

This review was originally published on The Cafe Phenomenon. 

How many superheroes does it take to save the world from extraterrestrial forces?

In any other superhero movie, it would take just one. In The Avengers, it takes six. Is the threat that much greater? Perhaps. But the spectacle (and it is a gigantic one) is entertaining all the same.

Loki wants to rule the world and with the help of an alien army, he just might be able to. The movie opens to an explosive and action-packed sequence in which Loki (brother of Thor, the God of lightning and of our heroes) steals the Tesseract, a self-sustaining energy source that doubles as a portal to other galaxies, from S.H.I.E.L.D., a military organization that protects the Earth from parahuman security threats. The chase out of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters is non-stop destruction, the first of many scenes where stuff (actually, make that EVERYTHING) blows up.

S.H.I.E.L.D. needs the Tesseract back, so Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) enlists the help of the people he has been recruiting after the credits of almost every Marvel movie released in the last five years. Enter (take a deep breath) Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye (Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner, respectively).