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Reviews
Ex Machina (2014)
A Better Ending Please
This movie had me enthralled up until the final act. This is probably one of the movies strengths, but also a huge weakness since it raises expectations for a unique ending. I'm not saying the ending was bad, it just didn't meet expectations. I pretty much assumed the housekeeper/maid was an android, so no surprise there. I had some suspicion that Nathan was an android and might actually be the one being manipulated by Ava. A better ending might have been that Ava, a true AI was manipulating Nathan, hence the hard drinking, into bringing Caleb to her for some perceived purpose or that there was some prior connection between the two. This is the dilemma with a suspenseful movie; how does one make the ending a surprise.
Inherent Vice (2014)
Clutter
Aside from the lack of any tangible plot, I found that the talent here just tended to get in the way of each other while the characters just blended together into a miasma of bad movie-making.
I really just have myself to blame for investing any time in a project headlined by Phoenix. His career choices tend to be odd, peripheral vehicles that meander rather than entertain. I found myself feeling the same way I did when watching The Counselor, another tragic attempt at screen writing that seemed determined to disrespect the talent hired to act their way through a maze of unrelated scenes. Haven't these guys ever seen really great film noir? It really doesn't take much to put together a cogent story line supported by strong characters with veteran actors.
Another Earth (2011)
Smart Premise, Very Good Acting
The two main characters made this movie much more than an Indie back story. They really do convey the emotional pain that they share and strong craving to go back in time and sabotage the future.
There are some weak spots in the script. The elderly janitor character adds little to the story. That character could have been developed into something more, perhaps a celestial guide for the female protagonist. Also the gaming sequence between the two leads was just odd and unnecessary. The writing is good, but not great. The dialog is strong enough, but could have been better and the idea that one can travel to another world to revisit the past is interesting, but not totally original. If you want to see this story done to perfection watch either version of Solaris. I think you will see the difference between a good indie script and a great Hollywood one with A list talent behind it.
Everly (2014)
Gotta Pay The Rent
That's the only reason I can think of that a good actress like Salma Hayek would do a movie like this. Don't get me wrong, she really did a great job of portraying a one dimensional cliché of a character. That woman can really act, which is why her appearance in a movie like this is such a disappointment. Hayek has always owned the screen. Think of that scene with George Clooney in Dusk Till Dawn. Too bad her talent was wasted on a blood and gore type movie that has been made and remade a hundred times. I was really tempted to listen to the director's commentary, but figured I had already given 90 minutes of my life to that guy which I'll never get back.
The Drop (2014)
Intentional Ambiguity
This movie reminded me very much of the Clint Eastwood movie, Unforgiven. In both films the concept of the true nature of individuals and their attempts to live contrary to their true nature are masterfully laid out for the viewer. In The Drop, Marv fancies himself as a tough guy, yet he is unable to compete with the real gangsters who are true sociopaths. Deeds is really a coward who attempts to portray himself as a ruthless killer to be feared, yet in the end he reveals himself to be scared and weak. The real character study is Bob. We are given a hint early on when he rescues a puppy that one day will grow into a natural predator. This is no pet, this is young Bob being adopted and nurtured by the mature creature. Throughout the movie we are given Bob as a witless tool who relies upon Marv and stumbles with personal interaction. Bob is content living alone; living a quiet comfortable life, or so it seems. Then, in one of the most intriguing scenes, Bob shows his true nature as a pathological killer who callously puts two bullets into Deeds. When we see the gangster at the end of the movie come into the bar we know that only the physical structure of the bar separates the two. Bob is every bit the natural equivalent of the sadistic Chechen and makes him uneasy knowing that he isn't dealing with Marv any longer, but an equally dangerous adversary.
This was an very well-cast movie. The acting is superb and the story is uncluttered. Noomi Rapace is great, no matter what she is in. Some may find certain ambiguities, but my sense is that the writer intended for the viewers to participate in the script writing and draw their own conclusions.
The Zero Theorem (2013)
Could've Been Better
If not for Waltz, this movie would have bored me to tears five minutes in. All the special effects just made me wonder what Walt Disney's vomit looked like and didn't really add anything to the overall feel of the movie. The story here is not original, but it could have been told in a more original manner by opening up the Waltz character and maybe by giving the female lead more depth. It wouldn't have hurt to cast Tilda Swinton in something meatier than an on-line shrink. I would have liked to have seen her as management instead of the horribly miscast Matt Damon. Is it me or Damon starting to phone in these performances in lieu of actually having to act?
Lucy (2014)
Another Video Game Movie
Really...it took the director ten years to make this? But for ScarJo, I would have passed on this movie. She's on a career arc toward Streep territory in my world. But, I digress. The premise for the story is not new and the director hasn't really made any effort to put any imagination into it. He doesn't do much with the characters, instead pretty much leaving them to their own devices. Ordinarily not a bad idea when you are directing two major talents, but all he had to do was watch ScarJo in Under The Skin to see what could have worked better here. What we as viewers are left with is a vapid story which seemingly exists as a platform for car chases and gun fights with stereotypical cops and gangsters. While watching I imagined the director sitting on his couch at home playing violent video games and using those as his inspiration. Poor Morgan Freeman meanwhile plays pawn to special effects that add nothing, but clutter to the screen.
Turist (2014)
Methaphor Alley
All you need to know about this movie, you can glean from the extras where the director indicates that he got the idea for this film from a You Tube video. You Tube indeed. This movie is a great example of the lack of creative genius in film making from a couple of generations of folks who didn't read much, but instead educated themselves from TV and the Internet blogs. The premise of this movie is not original; a couple is forced (hence the title, I gander) to confront their true feelings, fears and regrets, when a near death experience befalls them. Fair enough, but once the avalanche falls short, so does the writing and directing. We are left with caricatures not real characters and symbolism that is way too obvious. Okay, I get it the omnipresent janitor is supposed to be God watching over the inhabitants of the ski-lodge world. The explosions and creaking machinery is life moving forward, etc., etc. The peripheral skiers are no less predictable. There are the May-December couple/friends who are made to feel uneasy at the trauma between the couple before them, but then buy in to it and start to traumatize each other. Hey, jump into the hot tub, the water's great! There is the cocktail lady friend who revels in her open relationship, seemingly shocking the female protagonist. You can do that? Please. By the last frames I was rooting for the bus to drive off the side of the road and into a deep ravine, killing this cast and giving us some hope for the future of movie making.
Kink (2013)
Not Kinky
This is just another in a line of documentaries that try to explore the world of BDSM and end up showing us a bunch of people who come off as inarticulate and surprisingly unaware of the origins of their non-mainstream proclivities, but fails to render any real insight. What we are left with are interviews with a bunch of folks who seem to be ambling through life trying to convince themselves that this lifestyle has validity, but not really buying it. There is the Gay director who fantasized about the high school football players and the Dominatrix who worries about verbalizing her lifestyle to her children and others who indulge, but come off as disingenuous to a fault and unable to articulate the true nature of this lifestyle. One would think that any director/producer worth their salt wouldn't settle for superficiality, but instead would want to dig deeper. But, then again, this is James Franco we are talking about. A walking, breathing avatar of why some actors should stay in front of the camera.