Ex Machina

Ex Machina (or as we say in Italian Ex Machina) is a movie about AI, artificial intelligence. There have been numerous AI movie from I Robot to Terminator. This movie is not as action filled as its predecessors. Ex Machina, especially in the beginning, is more cerebral. These films always have a Dr. Frankenstein question, “What have I created? Is it good or bad?”  The good in this case is Ava. She has a pleasant face, nice hands and feet and body parts from Home Depot.

This is basically a three character movie:

• Domhnail Glesson plays Caleb the code writer and house guest
• Oscar Isaac plays Nathan the CEO of the tech company making robots with AI.
• Alicia Vikander plays Ava (or parts of her anyway) the robot with advanced AI.

Caleb won a contest to spend a week at Nathan’s fabulous minimalist home. Caleb is part of a Turing test team to determine a robot’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior. The tests are conducted by Caleb in sessions with Ava sitting on the other side of a glass patrician. At one point Ava asks questions befuddling Caleb. As the movie progresses these plot turns increase transforming the movie from the original premise.

For most of the movie all we see of Ava is her transparent plastic body. When she puts on a dress and wig she looks very human. Accessorized AI makes the woman.  Her intellectual and emotional advancements are the heart of the movie. She is inorganic but evolves.

Isaac is the driving force in the movie. He is an arrogant egotistical multi-millionaire totally focused on his project and indifferent to collateral damage. Isaac plays the role with great passion making his character odious and detestable (he cuts a mean rug).  He irritably says Dude so often he could be a James Franco double.

Caleb is the brainy innocent, a bit slow on the take up.  He has good intentions but they are not reciprocated.  Nathan underestimates Caleb’s hacking ability and tenacity, which is the short coming of arrogance.

The film is not breaking new ground when it comes to AI movies, but it has a distinctive style and mood.  Instead of the Terminator you have Ava beguiling her way into hearts and minds. Both are potent.

Furious 7

Furious 7

In the past I said unkind things about the Fast and Furious franchise, I take none of it back. The best thing to say about this film is it is honest. You get what you paid for. It is two hours and twenty minutes of non-stop action. The story line was just an excuse to blow something up. The dialogue was forgettable, with or without Alzheimer. Acting consisted of various head shots either with a scowl or raised eyebrow (the Rock). Regrettably, Vin Diesel did not bring the level of acting to this role which he did in the Riddick movies.

This film follows the FF formula:

• ·        Car racing, car crashes or flying cars (with or without parachutes)
• ·        Fighting, lots of it.
• ·        Girl fights, cool.
• ·        Explosions; anything and everything that can explode.
• ·        Babes in skimpy outfits banned in Indiana, Wisconsin and Arkansas (I expected more babes).
• ·        The Rock flexing.
• ·        Vin Diesel’s smug sneer.
• ·        Michelle Rodrigues looking scary sexy

Added to this merry band were two new actors: Jason Statham and Kurt Russell. Don’t read this but Statham is the bad guy. Statham is a one man wrecking crew seeking vengeance for something I forgot (it really does not matter, just let him blow it up). Kurt Russell is a ghost agent materializing like a spider from above.  Gone is his blond mane of hair supplanted by a slicked back grey mop. His role is not pivotal but campy.

This film is a memoriam of sorts to Paul Walker. Much has been said about using his brother as a spare for filming. I could not tell the difference, but all will be revealed in Furious 8-Furious to be dead. Guess who makes a cameo appearance?

It Follows

It Follows

The last time a movie scared me I was eleven and snuck into my sister’s bed to use her as a human shield in case the Wolf Man attacked. Luckily nothing happened. This movie is not full throttle scary like the Exorcist, Poltergeist or Alien. It is a low budget art house movie. But it is very effective and clever. Instead of using big FX and expensive special effects it relies on imagination and a good story. The movie is a mash up between Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King. It has the timing of Hitchcock and the creepiness of Stephen King. The actors are not well known (at least to me), but they do an effective job of scaring themselves and the audience.

There were genuine moments of fear. At one point the hair on the back of my neck went up and I am ashamed to admit I covered my eyes while peeking through my fingers (I think twice).  The “It” of It Follows is a specter that only can only be seen by the person possessed. The victim then tries to pass on the curse to some else to free themselves of the damnation. The tension comes when the victim sees a specter but no one else does. The movie creates an atmosphere of dread. The location is some depressed suburbia past its prime where lawns are tattered and rusty chain link fences need to be replaced. There is nothing evil about the neighborhood, but its banality intensifies the sense foreboding. Like the victim you do not know if the person approaching is real or not, making you a participant of the movie. The killings are not terribly gruesome but are inventive and wicked.

I realize this an art house movie and may not be available near you (especially in New Jersey). But when it comes up in Netflix it is worth viewing. A human shield is not required, popcorn is optional. 

50 Shades of Grey

50 Shades of Grey

OMG, this movie was so boring it could be used as a general anesthetic. Everyone went to this movie for the sex, but the lead up story was grueling tedious. There was no sex for the first 43.5 minutes (typical). The dialogue was inane. The actors were uninspired. Instead of camp the acting it was damp. Dakota Johnson was submissive with sparks of defiance. Jamie Dornan plays Grey with dull seriousness. As a twenty eight year old CEO of a major corporation he cares more about his ties than business. He sports a look of consternation which is either from conflicting emotions or constipation.

The books were written by E.L. James, some bored middle aged English housewife, and sold over 100m copies; quantity does not imply quality. I am certain everyone skipped the prologue and went directly to page 189. There is a back story about Grey’s origin and savory hints are dropped in the movie. If the sex is unsatisfying, hopefully Grey’s dark origin will bring you back to the theatre (God help us, there is a sequel (s)). It is difficult to comment on the acting. I am sure Johnson and Dornan are capable actors but they are victimized by boring dialogue, indifferent directing and a meaningless plot. When I looked up the plot summary in Wikipedia it said forgetaboutit.  

So why did the audience put up with this nonsense? For the sex of course. Although this was hyped as an S&M primer, there was nothing new here. The Marguis de Sade, who is the godfather of S&M, piled his trade in the 1700’s; regrettably before VHS. A quote from the Marquis, “It is always by way of pain one arrives at pleasure”. The sex scenes were stern and lacked passion. The rope was red but too thin. The pain room was a very neat and well organized with wipes neatly hung in a row. There was a discernible lack of titillation.

For all this badgering, the movie cleared to date $500m (production cost $40m). Sex does sell. Before seeing the movie I thought this was smut. It is too listless to be smut. Remember to renew your Playboy subscription. 

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service

This is a very entertaining movie. I had reservations about Colin Firth playing an action figure.  The Brigitte Jones’ Diary and The King’s Speech are not boot camps for action roles. However, he does an excellent job while impeccably dressed (for a Brit that is) wielding an umbrella as a weapon.  The movie is a mélange of genres. There is homage to the 1960’s TV show The Avengers where John Steed the upper class agent battled villains with his bowler hat and cane. Kingsman uses elements of cartoon to render some horrific scenes more palatable. Some fight scenes could have come off the drawing table of cartoonist Tex Avery. The gadgetry is swiped directly from James Bond sans Q. All the parts work. This makes the movie interesting; you do not think it will work, but they do.

Before going on too far this is definitely a guy movie, but no one should be put off. It is not just a movie about body count (although there is a lot), the plot is interesting. There is no gratuities sex in the move except for one in the end. A key sub plot is the recruitment of Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) into the Kingsman. Unwin is East End rather than Eaton and needs more than a new suit to cover his rough hide. The recruitment tests are clever and raise the movie a notch above the usual fair. Egerton plays the role with the naiveté which you expect from a recruit but his confidence and skills grow with experience. Firth and Egerton play the roles of mentor and mentee and a strong bond grows.

The villain is Samuel L. Jackson with an insufferable lisp. He is a billionaire industrialist who has a deadly plan to solve global warning. He wears a hip-hop designer baseball cap with a bespoke tailor made suit. He is wacky and mad. His tools of destruction are a sublime appeal to the consumer culture. Again this is an interesting combination of Dr. Evil and Blofeld (Bond bad guy) but it works.

The most intriguing character is Sophie Boutella who plays Gazelle. She has prostatic legs with deadly sharp blades for feet accented with killer spiked steel high heels (I Googled her and mercifully she has legs, nice ones too). She used her blades to slice and dice the Brits. It is very interesting seeing her bouncing like a sexy pogo stick. This is definably a movie for Oscar Pistorious to watch.

Two other characters of note are Michael Cain and Mark Strong. Cain plays the head of Kingsman and is an old upper crust wretch. Mark Strong plays the task master who monitors the recruitment tests and is the side kick. Strong usually plays the heavy so it was refreshing to see him play the good guy.

Stay to watch the credits!

2015 Oscar Nominations

Oscars 2015: Nominations list

A full list of nominations for the 87th Academy Awards, to be held in Los Angeles on 22 February.

Best picture

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Best director

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Alejandro G Inarritu, Birdman

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best actor

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton, Birdman

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best actress

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best supporting actor

Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

Edward Norton, Birdman

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

JK Simmons, Whiplash

Best supporting actress

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Laura Dern, Wild

Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game

Emma Stone, Birdman

Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best adapted screenplay

American Sniper

The Imitation Game

Inherent Vice

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Best original screenplay

Birdman

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Nightcrawler

Best animated feature

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Song of the Sea

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best animated short-Did not pick

The Bigger Picture

The Dam Keeper

Feast

Me and My Moulton

A Single Life

Best cinematography

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Ida

Mr Turner

Unbroken

Best costume design

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Inherent Vice

Into the Woods

Maleficent

Mr Turner

Best documentary feature

CitizenFour

Finding Vivian Maier

Last Days in Vietnam

The Salt of the Earth

Virunga

Best documentary short-Did not pick

Joanna

Our Curse

The Reaper

White Earth

Best film editing

American Sniper

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

Best foreign language film

Ida (Poland)

Leviathan (Russia)

Tangerines (Estonia)

Timbuktu (Mauritania)

Wild Tales (Argentina)

Best live action short-Did not pick

Aya

Boogaloo and Graham

Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)

Parvaneh

The Phone Call

Best makeup

& hairstyling

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Guardians of the Galaxy

Best music

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Interstellar

Mr Turner

The Theory of Everything

Best production design

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Interstellar

Into the Woods

Mr Turner

Best song

'Everything is Awesome', The Lego Movie

'Glory', Selma

'Grateful', Beyond the Lights

'I'm Not Gonna Miss You', Glen Campbell… I'll Be Me

'Lost Stars', Begin Again

Best sound editing

American Sniper

Birdman

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Interstellar

Unbroken

Best sound mixing

American Sniper

Birdman

Interstellar

Unbroken

Whiplash

Best visual effects

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Guardians of the Galaxy

Interstellar

Whiplash

*Whiplash

J.K. Simmons has received accolades and an Oscar nomination for his performance in Whiplash, all well deserved. He is better known for supporting roles as the father in Juno and the mercurial news editor J. Johan Jameson from the Spiderman movies. Currently he is the pitch man for the humorous State Farm Insurance ads. His role in Whiplash, as the brutish music conductor Terence Fletcher, is a powerful transformative performance.

The movie takes place in a prestigious music conservatory called Schaffer (aka Julliard). A music student named Andrew Niemen, played by Miles Teller, aspires to be the legendary drummer Buddy Rich. Fletcher sees potential in Niemen and allows him into the band. The atmosphere in the band in nothing short of a state of nature. Every spot is precious and the guy behind you is waiting for you to drop dead to hop into your chair. Fletcher stokes this environment through intimidation, humiliation and physical abuse. Simmons’ bald meaty face is the perfect drill sergeant mask. To halt a performance he raises his left arm in a right angle and fiercely clenches his fist as if squeezing a testicle.  He is a perfectionist and a sadist. Simmons’ performance is so strong it is almost uncomfortable to watch.  Neiman and the other musicians take this abuse to stay in the band and curry Fletcher’s approval.

The battle between Fletcher and Neiman escalates into a one man battle of the band. This is as much a psychological clash between these two antagonists as physical one. With his position as conductor Fletcher gets into Neiman’s head and pushes him to the brink. Rather than motivational, Fletcher’s method is tyrannical.  To get the best from a student he uses the worst of himself; without regrets.  Ironically Neiman transforms this pressure to his advantage.

The ending is no surprise, but it is great fun to watch. This is a boutique movie, not for everyone. But if you get out of your comfort zone you will not be disappointed. Plus the jazz is great.

*Hank Levy jazz piece "Whiplash