American Hustle & Oblivion

So the other night, my wife and I went to check out the Academy Award nominated American Hustle.
It has a terrific premise....a look back at the Abscam scandal from the late 70's, an amazing cast and the promise of a really good soundtrack.  The first thing I thought it might compare to was Boogie Nights, which had a lot of the same qualities.  Couple of things right out of the box.  I'm not sure the Abscam scandal was so well known that it made an interesting subject for a film.  I thought the plot was a little convoluted.  It had an interesting finish.....one of those "aha" moments where everything comes together.....but it takes a long time to get there.  The cast is really impressive.  Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence & Jeremy Renner....among others.  Bale & Lawrence really stood out to me, although I can't say that anyone doesn't do a good job.  The soundtrack is good....but not Boogie Nights good. But the film does have a couple of terrific sequences where the songs seems to go perfectly with what is happening on the screen.  Look for Steely Dan's "Dirty Work" and the Bee Gees "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" for the sequences I'm talking about.  But ultimately, I came away feeling that the film does not equal the sum of all its parts.  IMDB gave it a 7.6.  I would've maybe gone just a little bit lower.  And finally, watch out for the opening scene of the film with Christian Bale prepping his hair for the day to come.  The movie might be worth watching just for the scene.  Its hilariously pathetic.

I also finally had a chance to see the recent Tom Cruise sci-fi movie "Oblivion" the other night.  Cruise has always struck me as an either or proposition.  You either like his movies....or you don't.  Some people can't separate Tom Cruise the slightly strange guy from his movies.  I'm not a big fan of the strange guy.....but damn if he doesn't make some good movies.  Let me get it out of the way.  I like Oblivion.  I had someone tell me "it was no big deal".  I disagree.  Some mind blowing special effects a really trippy mind screw plot.
Cruise is a drone repairman assigned to the now crippled planet Earth in the year 2070.  He lives with his crew member Andrea Riseborough and spends his days going out into what is now mostly barren wasteland to find crippled drones that have sent out distress signals.  A side trip to rescue a downed space craft sets into motion a series of events that will have him rethinking what he knows....or thinks he knows.
This is another movie where you have to follow the minute details of the plot....which will come into play at the end.  IMDB gives it a 7.0, and I might have gone a little higher.