American Hustle (2013 David O Russell)

As previously noted, Amy Adams is absolutely terrific (though she reports not to have had the best treatment from Russell) and almost steals the film, but Jennifer Lawrence catches up and pretty much lifts it from under her nose, leaving Christian Bale somewhat stranded.

Russell had linked Bradley Cooper and Lawrence the year before in Silver Linings Playbook.

Couldn't help but think Amy's boobs must have kept revealing themselves:

"The '70s were such a liberating time for women," says Hustle costume designer Michael Wilkinson (Man of Steel, Babel), "we wanted to project her confidence but also [her character] Sydney's naked vulnerability." Adams' opening-scene apricot deep V-blouse was an actual Halston that Wilkinson excavated from the Halston building's basement archives. "The staying-on is partly due to a generous and carefully placed sprinkle of double-stick tape." So how did she avoid nip slips? Says Wilkinson: "She carried herself in a very specific way to keep us within an R rating. Amy has amazing poise. Let's just say she studied how to move and never forgot about it."

I love the old-fashioned way it's shot with the camera constantly tracking in and out of scenes shot by Swede Linus Sandgren.

Fantastic opening track Duke Ellington 'Jeep's Blues' (from what looks like the Ellington at Newport album, 1956).