Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal is the greatest actor of his generation.

Agreed? Good.

What a despicable weirdo he plays in Nightcrawler. The film makes you question how much of what you are presented on the news is actually real and what has been manipulated for the sake of ratings.

This is not the first film about the exploitation of tragedy by the media. Billy Wilder already tried his hand at this in the brilliant but underrated Ace in the Hole (watch it!). Back then it was a newspaper reporter that milked his story for all that it's worth, Nowadays, as an extra, there is also speed to consider. Everyone has a camera phone and being faster than the rest is pivotal.

But of course, once you have mastered the speed part, your new problem is how to make what you deliver more appealing to the people you are trying to sell your footage to?

Louis "Lou" Bloom, who has an eye for a good scene, stops being content with however a, say, car accident, looks as is. To put the victim(s) in the best light possible (very literally), he simply pulls a bleeding body closer to where it should be for maximum impact. Also, to make bullet holes in a fridge more shocking, he adds the all-important human element, by placing the family photos on the fridge just so before filming the holes.

And it gets only more ethically questionable from there. He starts to not only manipulate the scene of the crime, but orchestrates one himself, waiting with camera out for tragedy to unfold. In the aftermath, when questioned by police about his involvement and his footage, he tells them, us and himself that he only did his job. And he gets away with it.

What an asshole.

8/10

Thor: The Dark World

A long, long time ago, the Dark Elfs (the evil to Asgard's good) lead by Malekith were defeated by Bor's (yep, Odin's father) army. Malekith was about to release the deadliest of weapons, known as Aether, which is only possible when all nine worlds align. After their victory, Bor has the Aether hidden...hopefully never to be found again. A handful of the bad guys escape and sleep in space until the weapon can be located again - this will only be possible the next time the worlds align.

Fast forward to today. Loki is thrown into prison by Odin, where he is to spend the rest of his existence. Meanwhile, Thor is cleaning up his brother's messes in all the worlds. His beloved Jane and her team are in London. Erik, however, is missing but quickly relocated as he made the news because he ran around naked in Stonehenge. While following weird info from their various instruments, Jane and her posse locate some sort of portal between different worlds. Jane is sucked into the one where the Aether is hidden and is taken over by the substance.

This awakes the resting Dark Elfs that attack Asgard, where Jane has been brought to by Thor. The battle is fierce and not only leaves considerable destruction in its wake but also costs Odin's wife's life. Thor's idea on how to solve the crisis differs wildly from Odin's. The son wants to take Jane back to earth to get the Dark Elfs out of hiding and defeat them right after the Aether has left Jane but before Malekith can use it. Odin wants to keep Jane locked to lure the Dark Elfs back to Asgard and defeat them there.

Thor, with a little help of his usual posse, springs his own plan into action. However, he needs the help of his brother Loki, who knows a secret passageway out of Asgard. When Thor, Loki and Jane meet with the Dark Elfs they stage a fight between the brothers to cause confusion as to where their loyalties lie. During the fight, the Aether cannot be destroyed how Thor had hoped and even though the bad guys suffer some losses, Loki dies in the fight (but fear not, Loki fans, he is not really dead - I repeat: Loki is not really dead!).

For the ultimate showdown, Thor, Jane and her group of scientist have to grow to Greenwich, the epicenter of the aligning worlds. Then, epic battle and - finally - victory for the good guys.

In the end, Thor asks Odin to not make him king so that he can return to Jane. He leaves with Odin's blessing but as soon as he is gone, Odin shapeshifts to become Loki (oh, witchery!).

6/10