"Tuner" - Big Fish in a Small Pond

Nik White (Leo Woodall) is a piano tuner, tutored by Hary Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman) in a simple enough life, accomodating his hyperacusis with this job he is good at. When Harry falls ill, however, Nik takes up the offer of a shady security expert Uri (Lior Raz) to take up a new job he is equally talented at: cracking safes.

(Credit: Mama Scrapelle)
By the time the credits rolled on "Tuner", I was basking in the warm afterglow of a satisfyingly well-made pocket watch, piano or concerto (hah), and "Project Hail Mary" was just beginning its plot and giving a woman their first line of dialogue.
Absolutely my shit: an immaculately edited, crafted timepiece of a film where I'm so gripped by just the day-to-day life of this piano tuner (a rather good Leo Woodall, whom I used to get confused with that blob of actors popping up at the same time: Jack O'Connell and Jack Reynor, namely, that "type") and his budding romance with Havana Rose Liu's Ruthie (as it is with "Booksmart": casting anybody from "Bottoms" improves a movie immensely) that it's almost a shame when the safe-cracking and life of crime kick in. But subsequent aforementioned crime shenanigans are more on par with "Emily the Criminal" than "Rififi" (please watch both), and it keeps its momentum going through the edits, jazzy soundtrack (fantastic use of Dave Brubeck and a Herbie Hancock gag which pays off) and great central performances from its lead duo, all the way through to a welcome Jean Reno appearance (for all of 6 minutes, but it's still "Leon" so...) and a full-circle coda to its finale. It really rather enjoyed this.

"California Schemin'" - Title Contender of the Year

The year is 2003 and Dundee natives Gavin (Seamus McLean Ross) and Billy (Samuel Bottomley) work at a call centre alongisde the latter's girlfriend Mary (Lucy Halliday) but aspire to become the next big thing in hip hop. After an audition gets them mocked for their Scots accents, an insecure Gavin and more outgoing Billy get the idea to act American on their demos, send them in, get signed and expose the whole charade live on air at first opportunity to humiliate and expose the labels. But when their demos start taking off as "Silibil and Brains", they take to the life of fame and success...

(Photo credit: Rolling Stone)
A sweet little working class ode to Scotland and hip-hop (I like the frequent shots of the estates and skylines, and the graffiti) which uses the heist (I like the introduction of Jimmy pulling up in a car to rescue his friend: a true heist movie staple in addition to introducing this guy as a loyal free-wheeling friend) and backdrop to weave an interesting spin on the politics of identity and stage personas in hip-hop; and has an affection for its two characters. They're lovable scamps, and carry the film well. Seamus McLean Ross is the child of Ricky Ross and Elaine McIntosh, making him maybe the most Scottish man - though he does look like Sam Lake. It's a pleasant enough film, and the period piece setting is a sucker punch to me. It loses steam in the 3rd act almost entirely due to the nature of the story being told (which has been done a lot) but it's well acted - in particular the film really suffers when Lucy Halliday is not in it. She is one hell of a fucking find and absolutely steals the show. The true flex, however, is that James Corden shows up for some fucking reason, but James McAvoy manages to wrangle an acceptable performance from him. Kudos Jim.

"Crime 101" - Review

A jewel thief is committing robberies along the 101 Highway in Los Angeles. Mike (Chris Hemsworth) doesn't use violence, is meticulous, and always hits high value targets. His story collides with the burnt out aging Lou (Mark Ruffalo), a detective unravelling and becoming obsessed with the robberies as his own life falls apart; and that of Sharon (Halle Berry): an insurance broker hitting a brick wall in her life. With another job on the horizon, and a new thief (Barry Keoghan) also on the loose, Mike's perfectly planned little world begins to come apart...

(Credit: Showcase Cinemas)
It's nothing you've not seen before, but the execution is astounding. Director Bart Layton (weirdly NOT adapting Don Westlake, as I thought from the trailer, as it feels very much like an adaptation of "Parker") throws "Thief" (a LOT of that movie), "The Driver", "Drive", "Heat" and any other number of cops and robbers movies into a blender and hits puree. The ingredients are familiar (Ruffalo's detective is a pile of cliches heaped into a suit, Nick Nolte unfortunately shows up to grumble-mumble his way through a scene, Barry Keoghan plays the psychotic young upstart who changes the game), with a brilliantly composed thief unable to make human connections and a cop on the edge whilst "one last job" brews and our thief meets a girl and yadda-yadda... But the result is actually fantastically well shot and put together: lots of parallel edits, Mike shot in boxes and lines to match his possible future in prison and his orderly life, little details to flesh out the characters and their worlds, touches and flourishes, great lighting and use of mood and atmosphere. Despite mentally ticking off a list of things I'd logged and registered, I felt my butthole puckered tight during the finale as it genuinely gripped me and threw a few curveballs in the last act. Keoghan steals the show with a fantastic brazen daylight robbery, a pink motorcycle jacket and a great chase; but Ruffalo and Berry really worked in the leads and elevated their characters, whilst Hemsworth suits this nicely. Jennifer Jason Leigh is utterly wasted in a thankless 2 scene role.
I enjoyed this more than I thought.