Movie: Ex Machina

Ex Machina: an expertly done artificial intelligence themed film.  The movie opens with a software company employee winning an employer sponsored contest.  The employer is a Google-like search engine company owned by an individual named Nathan, played by Oscar Isaac.  As the prize for winning the contest, employee Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) gets to spend a week with Nathan.  The next sequence shows Caleb flying via helicopter to Nathan’s estate.  Caleb asks the pilot how much longer until they arrive.  The response is that they have been flying over the estate for the past hour.  We learn that Nathan’s home is also his laboratory and research facility.  We also learn that Nathan has created Ava, a strikingly beautiful female A.I. being.  Nathan wants Caleb to assist him in testing Ava to find out whether she really can think for herself.  The central concept of this film is the Turing test:  If you don’t know you are talking to a computer, would you think the computer is an intelligent being?  A series of conversations occur Ava and Caleb and a separate set of conversations between Nathan and Caleb.  The fact that Nathan’s home is designed as a  “man cave” helps retain your interest pending the start of the action segment.  For most of the movie there are only four characters, with the 4^th character being Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno), who is the cook and Nathan’s sleep mate.  By stepping beyond just a voice, as in Her, writer and director Alex Garland establishes a more intricate A.I. character and a more complex film.  During the film’s 110 minutes, a fascinating set of relationships develop.  Part of the reason the film works so well rests with the character of Ava.  Alicia Vikander is superb.  There is a violent scene towards the end of the movie and, after seeing the movie, you may question whether the development artificial intelligence is a good idea.  This is Garland’s first film as a director.  I think we will see more.  I found the film to be fascinating and enjoyable.

 

Movie: Wild Tales

Wild Tales: a film from Argentina that received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign film.  It is the most-viewed locally produced film in Argentina.  The praise Wild Tales has received is well deserved and the film is a delight despite some violent scenes.  The movie consists of six short stories, each dealing with vengeance.  While most of the stories have a tragic ending, they are each told with humor.  The closing story, “Til Death Do Us Part”, is hilarious and like no wedding dinner you have ever seen.  The interaction that occurs when the bride discovers her husband had an affair with a female co-worker whose been invited to the wedding dinner – this alone makes the film worth seeing.  Unfortunately, the opening story, “Pasternak”, is a variation on the recent Germanwings tragedy.  There is, however, an important distinction between “Pasternak” and the real event which you will recognize as the story unfolds.  After “Pasternak” is an episode in a diner.  You will immediately like the waitress and despise the customer whose retort to the waitress’ inquiry about whether he is dining alone is to compliment her mathematical skills.  The diner scene is followed by “Road to Hell” which elevates road rage to an entirely new level.  Episode four is “Bombita” which opens with a car being towed.  “The Deal” involves lawyers and is the only story lacking a wicked comic kick.  The six stories comprising this 114 minute film vary in length, each with a different cast.  I am not familiar with any of the actors.  This masterpiece is written and directed by Damien Szifron.  It is in Spanish with very readable subtitles; the comedic scenes often do not need subtitles.  I highly recommend this movie.

Movie: Timbuktu

Timbuktu: a French-Mauritanian drama.  The year is 2012.  Islamist extremists have taken over the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu.  The director and co-writer Abderrahmane Sissako does an excellent job of showing the day to day life of people trying to survive when Shariah law is imposed on them by outsiders.  Sissako tells his story primarily through a married herdsman, Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed), who has a young daughter (11) and a wife whose opinion he seeks even though he doesn’t always follow it.   Ahmed’s blissful, simple life goes very bad.   Ahmed’s performance is remarkable.  During the opening sequence, there are scenes of jihadists who cannot successfully shoot an animal running for its life.  There are also men entering a mosque toting guns and, when asked what they are doing, state that they are carrying out jihad.  The resident Imam has to tell them the obvious - that is not what one does in a mosque.  There are a series of scenes showing the town crier announcing various prohibitions: music is not allowed; adultery is particularly bad during Ramadan.  There are brief scenes of a woman receiving 40 lashes for singing and a couple, accused of adultery, buried to their necks in sand then stoned to death.   Even the leaders of the extremist group are unable to live up to the absurd standards dictated by Shariah law.  The movie shows that faith is not the problem but rather people who believe they are God’s messenger acting in the name of God.  The city’s traditional Imam tries to explain the local customs and common courtesies to the jihadists.  The jihadists’ response is that everything is done in the name of Allah.  The reality is that the jihadists have the gun and the gun controls all.  Although Timbuktu was under the jihadists’ control for a relatively short time, much damage occurred.  The film is subtitled as the characters speak in their native tongues.  I think 6 different languages are spoken including a few words in English, however, there is not a lot of dialogue.  The city and its surrounding geography are part of the story.  This is a remarkable film.   

 

Movie: Leviathan

Leviathan: a Russian movie with subtitles.  The film is 141 minutes long and feels even longer.  It is not a good sign when you are displeased with certain scenes because you know they will only prolong the film.  Liviathan was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign film and received the 2014 Cannes Best Screenplay award.  Clearly, some people have a different view of this movie.  Perhaps something was lost in the translation.  The film is set in the present and takes place in the Northern Russian coastal town of Pribrezhny.  It focuses on an individual who is losing his home in an eminent domain battle.  In addition to the injustice of losing his property by force, life with his family, which consists of a second wife and a teenage son from a prior marriage, is not good.  The mayor of Pribrezhny, the main character and virtually everyone else in the film spends an inordinate amount of time drinking vodka.  The film’s title is interesting; during the middle ages, leviathan was a Christian symbol for Satan and in the Satanic Bible, it represents water.  The film opens and closes with water.  Near the end, there is a long scene in a Russian Orthodox church and there are two major scenes with the mayor, who is clearly evil, and a priest.  There  are also references to Job.  Considering that Liviathan portrays a corrupt political society, I found it interesting that it received the financial sponsorship of the Russian government.   The bleakness of the society is portrayed along with the corruption.  But it is a long film.

 

Movie; McFarland, USA

McFarland, USA: a Kevin Costner film.  This feel good story is based on real events that occurred in McFarland, California, a town in the Central Valley, which is a farming community with a predominantly Mexican-American population.  The events take place in 1987.   Kevin Costner plays Jim White, a high school football coach who has had issues with his temper.  He is hired as a physical education teacher and an assistant football coach.  In the opening scenes, White, his wife and two daughters, are moving to McFarland.  After he starts teaching, White notices he has the talent pool for a cross-country team. White had never taught cross-country.   As the team develops, White and his family become involved with the community.  The seven runners who comprise the team are presented as individuals and certain of their family members are integral to the story.  This movie works because it goes beyond stereotypes.  The screenwriters, Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson, are to be praised as the story could have become quite condescending but never does.  The director is Niki Caro, a New Zealander, who brings a fresh approach to what could have been just another Hoosiers tale.  This is more than just a sports story and Adam Arkapaw’s cinematography during the cross country races are excellent.  After watching this 128 minute movie, I left the theater feeling real good.  Part of the reason was Costner’s excellent performance.  Also, the writers allow you to see a community working well together in spite the poverty and difficult environment.  I could see this film a second time.

Oscar Commentary

With one exception, there were no real surprises at the Oscars this past Sunday evening.  The exception was awarding the Oscar for editing to Whiplash.  Personally, I wouldn’t have given Whiplash even third place for editing.  J. K. Simmons deserved his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Whiplash as the music teacher, a truly dislikeable human being.  Moore, as noted above, was deservedly an overwhelming favorite to win the Best Actress award.  For Best Actor, I was fine with any of the nominated actors winning.  If you have been reading these reviews, you know I was also fine with the awards given to Birdman as well as the four Oscars to The Grand Budapest Hotel.  As for Best Foreign Film, I only note that the winner, Ida, was shown briefly in Hawaii at the Kahala Theatres, which is also showing a preview for one of the other nominated foreign films.  I enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris.  I truly enjoyed the presentation of the song Glory.  But what’s up with John Travolta?   Lady Gaga singing the Julie Andrews songs worked for me.  I even enjoyed the Cadillac commercials.  The ceremony could have been shorter, for example, the opening Harris number could have been omitted.  But, overall, I enjoyed my Sunday night. 

Movie: Still Alice

Still Alice:  based upon the Lisa Genova novel, this drama tells the story of a highly intelligent, very competent and popular Columbia University linguistics professor who, at age 50, realizes her ability to remember is slipping away due to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.  Julianne Moore deserves the Oscar she received for her role as Alice Howland.   Alice is married (Alex Baldwin as the husband) with three grown children.  The movie provides a realistic portrayal of how a family, and particularly the two daughters (Kate Bosworth and Kristen Stewart), react.  While the film’s focus is on Moore, Stewart gives an excellent performance as the younger daughter who is trying to fashion a career as an actress without losing track of her obligations as a daughter.  Baldwin is presented as a career driven research physician who is also trying to be a good husband.  His performance can only be described as adequate.  The son and older daughter are not fully presented as individuals.  The 99 minute film is written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.  Glatzer has ALS, which I reference only because it may explain the sensitivity to illness shown throughout the film.  The disease overcomes Alice in a relatively short time which is, apparently, the reality of early-onset Alzheimer’s.  As the disease progresses, Moore’s appearance changes, her eyes become duller and her jaw slackens.  The reason to see this film is Moore’s performance.