September (more): Collateral | Exorcist: The Beginning | Ae Fond Kiss

Directed by Michael Mann
Written by Stuart Beattie
Photography by Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Bert, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall

In "Collateral," Michael Mann's beguiling night-time cruise through Los Angeles, Max is a cabbie decidedly not in the driver's seat. Vincent, a hit man with five contracts to execute before a 6am flight, is a passenger in the city where no one walks. On the surface, what these two men have in common might be summed up in their personal fastidiousness. Tom Cruise's dapper killer wears a sleek grey suit to match his silvery hair. Jamie Foxx's Max is a tidy soul with plans to launch his own car service, Island Limos. His pitch for this venture: "The ride's so nice, you won't want it to end". When Max and Vincent meet, the cabbie has just dropped off U.S. Attorney Annie Farrell (Jada Pinkett Smith). Annie and Max's easy banter is an early hint of screenwriter Stuart Beattie's well-honed dialogue.

Things get edgy fairly quickly however, once Vincent - hired by a drugs cartel to remove some business obstacles - is in the cab and Max is forced to become an accomplice. In one bizarre detour, Vincent makes Max take him to a jazz club nightspot which is reminiscent of the clubs that made Los Angeles' Central Avenue famous. Cruise's coiffed killer riffs on the power of jazz, the beauty of improvisation.

When club owner, Daniel (Barry Shabaka Henley) joins Vincent and Max for a drink, he reminisces about sitting in on a set with Miles Davis. How did he do, they want to know. At the end of the evening, recalls Daniel, Miles said one word: "Cool" - which could easily have been the alternative title to this, arguably the best mainstream thriller so far this year.

The taut ride into the Los Angeles night is stylish in a bold yet understated way. Scenes jangle and pop, but the movie never loses its dark and brilliant groove. Of course, "Cool" wouldn't be nearly as evocative a title as "Collateral," which implies money and damage in a single stroke. But it would offer a nice echo to Mann's 1995 "Heat." A number of similar ambitions run through this and Mann's earlier film, which pitted and paralleled Al Pacino's cop against Robert De Niro's robber. "Collateral," too, meditates on styles of masculinity. Only instead of the insistent continuity of the good and bad guys, there's a more nuanced dance of identity transpiring between Max and Vincent.

Even when Max is forced to impersonate Vincent, he is never in danger of having us confuse him with the sociopath. And when a detective (Mark Ruffalo) investigating a drug dealer unwittingly passes Vincent and Max it signals that "Collateral" is in hot pursuit of a different relationship story. As much as it is a crime yarn, "Collateral" is also a study in how people connect - with tight shots of Max and Vincent accentuating that unexpected intimacy. Intimacy's evil twin is what makes sociopaths like Vincent such intriguing movie characters. And Mann understands and employs the chill that can blow through Tom Cruise.

Cruise's performance (aided and abetted by Foxx's fine work) reminds us why sociopaths are more interesting fodder for film than psychopaths or that other movie staple, the serial killer. They seduce, they charm, then they turn on you. It's a tension that makes Vincent appealing and appalling. Amidst its gunplay, "Collateral" has moments of playfulness. Vincent and Max's visit to the cabbie's mother in the hospital is priceless in its mix of the mundane and the menacing. Mann even throws some Hitchcock into the mix as Vincent nears his final target.

For all Vincent's pontificating about improvisation, there is nothing ad hoc about "Collateral." In its pacing and loving gaze, Foxx and Cruise's kicking duet gives us the sort of ride we don't want to end.

Directed by Renny Harlin
Written by Alexi Hawley
Produced by James G. Robinson
Cast: Stellan Skarsgard, James D'Arcy and Izabella Scorupco

Any sequel or prequel to William Friedkin's seminal 1973 horror classic, "The Exorcist", is facing an uphill battle. While every film deserves to be viewed as its own entity, a follow-up to such an influential motion picture unavoidably warrants comparison, particularly when the subject matter involved is congruent in nature. As such, 1977's John Boorman-directed "Exorcist II: The Heretic" was a gorgeous-looking disaster, a bottom-of-the-barrel excuse to scrape a few extra quid out of the public. Based on his own novel, "Legion," William Peter Blatty's 1990 thriller, "The Exorcist III" , was a more affectionate cinematic continuation, confident enough to tell a fresh story while staying true to its source material. Best of all, it was disturbing in an indelibly creepy kind of way, featuring one of the all-time great jump-out-of-your-seat moments in memory (set in a hospital corridor).

"Exorcist: The Beginning", which may be the only studio picture in history to have been re-shot in its near-entirety (90% of it, at least) after the original cut was already put together, has had a sordid, troubled history. The vision of the original director, Paul Schrader, was allegedly one of a more psychological, dramatic nature, and has been rumoured to be getting a future DVD release. Schrader's version, however, was not what studio Warner Brothers had in mind, therefore filmmaker Renny Harlin and first-time screenwriter Alexi Hawley were hired to give the prequel another go. The script was overhauled, new characters were supposedly added, casting changes abound, all in the hope of creating the more violent, visceral experience that audiences would be expecting. Schrader's version has yet to be seen by the public, but it will be interesting to contrast the two different film's pros and cons when it does come to DVD.

For now, the official theatrical edition of "Exorcist: The Beginning" is a polished horror-drama thick in shivery atmosphere but low on plausibility, its involving, unhurried storytelling a refreshing reproach to today's usually fast, edit-hungry MTV style. Director Renny Harlin draws viewers in with precision as he gradually sets up his premise and the major characters, all the while stacking up a subtle level of imminent dread over the proceedings. The first hour of "Exorcist: The Beginning" surprises in how well it actually works, both as a character study of Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) and as a psychological suspenser, particularly considering the problems it faced during the production and editing phases. Then, almost with the flicker of a frame, the movie begins to implode as its concentration switches from an original, religious-based, thinking-man's horror pic to a gory pale imitation of the original.

Plagued by memories of the atrocities he witnessed in his native Holland during World War II, Father Merrin has lost much of his faith and, subsequently, given up his priesthood. Passing through Cairo, Egypt, circa 1949, Merrin is approached by an antiquities collector to join the British excavation of a Christian Byzantine church in the deserts of Kenya and bring back an ancient relic believed to be buried inside. Merrin joins wet-behind-the-ears Father Francis (James D'Arcy) on the mission, but entering into the church, believed to have been mysteriously buried immediately after it was built, unleashes a satanic evil that threatens to destroy the lives of everyone it comes in contact with. As 8-year-old Kenyan boy Joseph (Remy Sweeney) grows progressively ill and caring nurse Sarah (Izabella Scorupco) feels powerless in the wake of these dark forces, Merrin must face the church's power and the history of the malevolent land it was built on if he is to stop the evil before it is too late.

The silly, over-the-top plot developments mount the further "Exorcist: The Beginning" journeys toward its messy climax. The third-act, coincidentally, which sinks the relatively classy opening half, is also the most glaring addition of reshoots. At this point, all logic is thrown out the church windows in favour of a revelation that was clearly never thought out on the script page and is only there to rehash the stirring, unforgettable exorcism finale of the 1973 predecessor. Mimicking the look, sound, and dialogue of Linda Blair's possessed Regan, the treatment of the overtaken party this time and Merrin's predictable exorcism theatrics strip away the tension and become a broad embarrassment bordering on spoof. For a motion picture to set itself up as an intelligent study in faith and redemption only to dissolve into a blood-strewn slasher flick by the final thirty minutes feels like a betrayal, the result of a big studio preferring mindless violence as entertainment rather than something deeper and more thought-provoking to chew on.

For much of its running-time, though, "Exorcist: The Beginning" is a favourable throwback to the Oscar-winning original, truthful to Friedkin's inclination toward realistic characters and dilemmas over exploitation. In telling of Father Merrin's very first encounter with possession, Stellan Skarsgård masterfully fills the shoes of Max Von Sydow's portrayal thirty-one years ago. Skarsgård is sympathetic without pushing it, flawed without being unlikeable, and emotionally riveting as the conflicted Father Merrin. The tragic flashbacks to Holland during WWII are naturally integrated into the main story and quite effective, helping to externalise an internal battle. As Sarah, Izabella Scorupco fulfills her limited role with self-confidence and shares some nice moments of low-key chemistry with Skarsgård. The rest of the performances, including James D'Arcy, as Father Francis, and newcomer Remy Sweeney, as young Joseph, are forgettable.

"Exorcist: The Beginning" lacks the warmth of emotions and characters that danced around the edges of the otherwise pitch-dark "The Exorcist" and ultimately mis-steps by trying to impersonate superior scenes from that film. Meanwhile, in its views of the tribal Africans and buzzing insects, the picture comes alarmingly close to recalling the notoriously bad elements found in "Exorcist II: The Heretic" , a comparison no filmmaker would ever want to achieve. "Exorcist: The Beginning" is a step above that first sequel, indeed, and director Renny Harlin keeps things afloat for as long as he can with a handful of competent thrills and chills. At its core, however, is a sincere and sincerely problematic film that may have been shot twice, but deserved a third try to get things right. When "Exorcist: The Beginning" finally derails into ludicrousness, it never manages to reclaim the promisingly-honed track it initially rode in on.

Directed by Ken Loach
Written by Paul Laverty
Cast:
Shamshad Akhtar
Ghizala Avan
Shabana Bakhsh
Eva Birthistle
Pasha Bocarie
Emma Friel
Gerard Kelly
Gary Lewis
David McKay
Raymond Mearns
Sunna Mirza
Shy Ramsan
Ahmad Riaz
Atta Yaqub

Casim is a second generation Pakistani from Glasgow who spends his evenings working as a DJ in Glasgow's coolest venues as a result of which he dreams of buying his own club. His parents Tariq and Sadia are devout Muslims and plan for him to marry his beautiful cousin Jasmine - who is soon to arrive in the UK. His proud father spends all his spare time supervising the building of an extension to the family home where, after the arranged marriage, the couple are due to live. Casim's parents then set things up for his older sister Rukhsana to marry Amar, a promising young scientist from a good family. Life for Casim and his family is ticking along nicely. That is until he meets Roisin - a music teacher at his sister Tahara's school. Roisin Hanlon is sparky and intelligent and soon she and Casim fall deeply in love - but Casim knows all too well that, even if he wasn't due to marry, his parents would never accept a 'goree' - a white girl. Additionally, as a Catholic, Roisin finds that her own community aren't very supportive either. Then Casim and Roisin are discovered, and the repercussions of the scandal reach far and wide. When Casim's family find that their peaceful and ordered life is threatened, they decide to take action - bringing matters to a dramatic conclusion .

That's the premise for the third film in Ken Loach's "Glasgow Trilogy" following on from 'My Name Is Joe' and 'Sweet Sixteen'. This is such a delight - an accomplished ensemble piece which gladdens the heart through some wonderful dialogue and sublime performances - especially in the two leading roles - with a special mention for Ahmad Riaz as Casim's dad, who sprinkles delicious Glaswegianisms with his native accent - an outstanding turn.

"You can be any colour you want, but if you want a rainbow, you need them all". This is a masterclass in realism filmmaking from one of the defining and original talents in contemporary cinema.... Ken Loach - I salute you sir. Do not miss this under any circumstances.

Susan: Blanchard Ryan
Daniel: Daniel Travis
Seth: Saul Stein
Estelle: Estelle Lau
Davis: Michael E. Williamson
Junior: John Charles
Linda: Christina Zenaro

Written, Directed and Edited by Chris Kentis
Running time: 79 minutes.