Sociable Movie Guy
REVIEWS
A Stylishly-Made Biopic of An Uncelebrated HeroWe’ve known so many heroes in our life, whether we know it from history books, films, or any other mediums. We also have our own definition of heroes, ranging from the ones who inspire us to be better to the people who really save a nation. In ‘The Imitation Game’, Norwegian director Morten Tyldum brings us a story of the unsung hero Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a British mathematician who helps crack the Enigma code in World War II. What he does eventually wins The Allies the war against Nazi Germany. As the director, Morten Tyldum successfully crafts a feature that makes the viewers know who Alan Turing is and make them care about him. This in part thanks to Graham Moore who adapts the screenplay from its original source Andrew Hodges’ ‘Alan Turing: The Enigma’. They let us see Alan Turing's life in three different phases. The first one highlights him as a teenager and his relationship with his best friend Christopher, the second one focuses on the time when he tries to build and crack the code with the machine, and the last one tells what happens after he successfully ends the war with his machine. That, in fact, is a good thing because the viewers are given the chance to become invested in him. But here’s the catch, those three phases are not told in chronological order. The film is switching back and forth between those three phases very smoothly thanks to William Goldenberg who skillfully edits the film. The film is also very beautiful to look at, particularly because its production and custom design. The ‘Turing Machine’ looks so elegant as well as sophisticated. The clothes all the characters wear look classy and suit the era in which the events in the film happen. But I have to say that the highlight of this film is the very man who portrays Alan Turing, the one and only, Benedict Cumberbatch. As a man, Alan Turing has complex characteristics, he is genius, narcissistic, rigid, and fragile. And Cumberbatch delivers each characteristic on-spot! The way he stutters his words is perfection (and I bet it’s not the easiest thing to do!). Frankly speaking, his performance is quite similar with the one he does in television series ‘Sherlock’ (especially the genius and narcissistic part), but he infuses his character with more vulnerability here. Acting credit goes to Keira Knightley too. As the genius and warm-hearted Joan Clarke, Knightley shines so adorably. Here, she’s not only pretty, but also very charming. She gets her dramatic moment too in the film, but I find it to be the weakest part of her performance (far from bad, but still she’s at her best when she’s being adorable and charming, which I believe is also hard to play). We can see why (SPOILER ALERT!) Alan Turing eventually becomes so attached to her. For their excellent performances, it is very likely that they will be nominated in next year’s Oscar alongside the director, the editor, the scriptwriter, and the film itself. The production designer, the custom designer, and the art direction team have some chances in snagging nominations too.
This film is not without flaws. One of them is the score by Alexandre Desplat. As a well-known composer, I expected something more from him. His score is just okay, but not awesome. Another thing that pretty bothers me is at some parts of the film, it feels like I’m watching something that is being fast-forwarded. My guess is it is because the limited duration. I personally think that it would be better if the film was 30 minutes longer, since there are scenes that (to me) need clearer explanation. Luckily, those scenes are not the vital ones so they don’t affect the film that much. Last but not least, I'd like to say big, big thanks to Jiffest 2014 (Jakarta International Film Festival) for bringing this film to town. Keep up the good work!! Score: 4.5/5 Note: trough this review, I’d also like to show my gratitude to Mr. Alan Turing, The Father of Computer Science, whose ‘Turing Machine’ is actually a model of a general purpose computer. Without him, I’d not even be able to have this blog. Thank you, Mr. Turing.
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A Well-Made Follow-Up that Leaves You Wanting For MoreFilms based on Young-Adult (YA) novels are so hot right now. From Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ and ‘The Host’ to James Dashner’s ‘Maze Runner’ all have appeared in the silver screen. In 2012, we were given one YA novel-based film about a dystopian world called Panem whose elite create an annual deadly game to show how powerful they are. You guessed it right! I’m talking about ‘The Hunger Games’ that is adapted from Suzanne Collins’ novel of the same name. The sequel came last year in which the previous winners from the previous Hunger Games entered the battle field once again in the so-called ‘Quarter Quell’. Now the main characters in this adventure saga are no longer worrying about the vicious game. In ‘Mockingjay: Part 1’, Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) status as the symbol of rebellion has just gotten stronger due to her brave act in the Quarter Quell. It is used by the everybody-thought-it-has-gone District 13’s President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) to lit the rebellion against The Capitol. But there’s a catch, her best friend Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is captured by The Capitol. Together with her allies, she must encourage people in all districts to rebel and save Peeta from The Capitol’s hands. Frances Lawrence helms this second sequel and he did a pretty good job here. He successfully sustains the gloomy tone from the two previous films and realistically shows the violence of The Capitol. The performances here are also worth to watch. Jennifer Lawrence brings her A-game to the surface while the rest of the supporting characters give nice performances. I personally really like Elizabeth Banks’ portrayal of the vibrant Effie Trinket. Her performance is so engaging despite only given a little amount of screen time. My other favorite is Natalie Dormer’s performance as Cressida. Her American accent (she’s a British) and gesture are so magnetic you’ll find it hard to get your eyes off of her every time she’s in the frame. The sound department did a fantastic job too in amplifying the horror of The Capitol and the spirit of the rising rebellion. Without the heart-trembling sound, most of the scenes in ‘Mockingjay: Part 1’ will definitely feel bland. And it would be a shame if I didn’t mention Lorde’s song as one of the elements which sew the film into one good element. Her ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ perfectly captures the events in the film. And it is an unbelievably catchy song too. The disappointment is sadly on Moore’s table, I honestly expected a lot more than what she has given for her role. Make no mistake here, her performance is far from bad. But the fact that she’s a four-time Oscar nominee (and a potential winner for her role in this year’s ‘Still Alice’) makes it hard for me not to expect more from her. But hey, life’s a cycle ain’t it, you can’t always be on the top of your world. Yes, I forgive you Ms. Moore. Lastly, I can’t seem to review this one without thinking about why they decided to split the film into two, despite the original source is only a one-part novel. (SPOILER ALERT!) Besides the marketing strategy to gain more fortune, to me this film works as the appetizer as well as a teaser for next film’s big fight against The Capitol. I must admit that I haven’t read the novel, but there must be a final climax battle between The Rebel and The Capitol right? (well at least that’s my expectation for ‘Mockingjay: Part 2’). That resulted in the film’s lack of intensity and excitement which might strike some viewers as a bit boring. But then again, I think this is a smart strategy to take where expectation comes to play. If ‘Mockingjay: Part 1’ already filled with intensity and excitement, viewers would expect more for the next film. Then, in the end it would be incredibly hard to make a more intense and exciting final film to surpass viewers’ expectation.
Here’s hoping that ‘Mockingjay: Part 2’ will be more intense and better too! Score: 4/5 A Subtle Look at Deteriorating RelationshipPeople say that love conquers all. When you love someone and he/she loves you back, all of your problems can seem to go away. Apparently, that’s not what happens to Connor Ludlow (James McAvoy) and Eleanor Rigby (Jessica Chastain), the two main characters in ‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby : Them’. As a married couple, they have this flaming desire towards each other. But then a tragedy strikes their marriage and their once-intimate relationship is challenged. That leads to each of them struggling to cope with the situation in their own way. The film is a debut feature from Ned Benson. He did double duty for the film, directing and writing the script. It was originally released in two formats, ‘Him’ and ‘Her’, with each focuses on the events surrounding the couple through one’s perspective (the ‘Him’ version uses Connor’s perspective while the ‘Her’ version uses Eleanor’s perspective). Both version were intended to be screened back-to-back, so that the viewers could experience the couple’s whole perspective in mending their relationship. They actually did screen both versions back-to-back, but only in last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and selected art house cinemas. The version I saw was the ‘Them’ version a.k.a the combined version of ‘Him’ and ‘Her’, which was initiated by the film’s producer, Harvey Weinstein. For a first time feature-length film director and writer, Ned Benson undoubtedly did a good job. It mustn’t have been easy to direct big names for the film. I’m not only talking about Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy here, but also Viola Davis as Eleanor’s tutor-yet-friend Professor Friedman, Isabelle Hupert and William Hurt as Eleanor’s parents, and Ciaran Hinds as Connor’s father. Not to mention the way he unified two different feature into a pretty-balanced film, which must have been hard to do too. He also succeeded in penning the potentially-sappy story into a mature one.
The performances are also not to be missed. Jessica Chastain gives a nicely restrained performance while James McAvoy gives a more straightforward portrayal. Their chemistry together is nothing less than electrifying. There’s one scene in a car that serves as a prove to their chemistry which will make you want to hold your lover’s hand even more tighter. But my favorite here is Viola Davis, she plays an intellectual woman who has cynical view in life so effortlessly good! A Dark Story of One’s (Dark) ObsessionNowadays, finding a job is never an easy task. We’re faced with thousands of applicants as our competitors who fight for the limited (and often the same) job vacancies. More or less that’s what the main character in Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut ‘Nightcrawler’ feels. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the aforementioned character, Lou Bloom, who is searching for a job despite claiming to not have any formal education under his belt. He eventually delves into the world of L.A crime journalism. But the more he swims deep into his job, the more he gets darker pursuing what is considered good in his profession, for the sake of his personal gain. As the director and writer, Dan Gilroy executed the film well. He successfully makes the film works at two different level. Not only the film blatantly shows the ugly truth of what would (some) of the media do to reach higher rating, it is also a showcase for Jake Gyllenhaal’s acting chops. Lou Bloom is a hard role to play due to his layered characteristic. He is charming, smart, talkative, cold, lonesome, and creepy (not a good combination I can tell!). But Gyllenhaal skillfully portrays those layered characteristics, switching back and forth from the smooth-talker Lou Bloom to an ice-cold sociopath. There’s one particular scene involving Gyllenhaal’s Lou Bloom and Rene Russo’s Nina that shows how creepy and weird he is in building social relationship. Speaking of Rene Russo, her performance here has been hailed by many critics as the performance of her career. Some even linked her performance to the possibility of being an award contender. That may or may not be true, since I myself have only seen one Russo’s other film so far and it was really a long time ago (the remake of ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’, in which I always get distracted by her steamy scene with Pierce Brosnan). She is good in ‘Nightcrawler’, but not great. The cinematography by Robert Elswit is also worth the attention. It suits the tone of the film really well. The constant shadowy lightning really adds up to the grim mood of the film. Despite of that, I still feel that the film is lacking of thrilling aspects. Being marketed as a thriller, I expected the film would be more, well, thrilling. Frankly speaking, I thought in my mind while I was watching the film that this would be a 3/5. But then the scene near the end of the film popped up which made me raised the score to 3.5. The reason is simple, that scene powerfully glues Lou Bloom’s status as the real jerk.
Final score: 3.5/5 A Cognitively fascinating space journey‘Interstellar’ is Christopher Nolan’s 9th feature film as a director and inspired by American physicist Kip Thorne’s work, who is also a scientific consultant and executive producer for the movie. Christopher works with his brother Jonathan helming the script for the movie. The film tells a story of a group of space travelers who make use a newly-found wormhole to find the solution for earth’s raging problem. Matthew McConaughey plays Cooper, one of the people assigned with the noble task. Cooper’s team includes Brand (Anne Hathaway), Doyle (Wes Bentley), Romilly (David Gyasi), and an uber-smart robot TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin). Meanwhile, Cooper has to deal with his family, especially his daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy plays the juvenile version while Jessica Chastain plays the adult version) regarding his departure. This is by far the most ambitious film from Christopher Nolan. The scope of the film is epic, ranging from the end of the earth to the powerful unseen entity beyond human knowledge. The cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema is sharp and beautiful. I have this one favorite scene in the beginning of the movie where Cooper and his kids driving across the corn fields that is just simply breathtaking. Let’s not forget about the score by Hans Zimmer, bewitching and heart-wrenching at the same time. The film also doesn't shy showing Nolan’s most obvious footprint, a sophisticated story conveyed by sophisticated script. This one unfortunately has its own advantage and disadvantage. The plus point is the script successfully shows the masterful skill of the Nolan bros in transforming such a complicated, science-packed material into a worth-watching film. BUT Sadly, it appears to me that the biggest problem in the movie is also somehow laid in the script. It’s kind of hard for me to relate to what the characters feel. This is (probably) because the science aspect itself, which (to me) is more dominant than the emotional aspect of the film. Make no mistake here, there are tons of scenes which are intended to drain the viewers emotionally. It’s not that I’m blaming the film for rely heavily on science. It’s actually a good thing and the science depicted in the film is not nonsense. I only think that the film demands us to invest most of our energy to try to understand what happens in it, so that we only have a little energy left to try to care with what happens to the characters and how they respond to it. Lastly, I can’t seem to talk about Interstellar without comparing it with last year’s ‘Gravity’. Well, I’m not talking about the story here. I’m talking about the experience watching both films in IMAX, which I personally think ‘Gravity’ did it better. But hey, some people say that the definition of a great film is the one which can catapult a global discussion. In that sense, I believe ‘Interstellar’ is 100% succeed.
Final score : 3.5/5 NERDS NEVER LOOKED THIS COOL!‘Big Hero 6’ is the first Disney’s Marvel-based film since the Mouse House acquisition of Marvel Entertainment back in 2009. Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams, the story focuses on a super bright teenager Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) who befriends an inflatable robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit). One day, Hiro finds his town San Fransokyo (yes, it’s a hybrid of San Fransisco and Tokyo) is threatened by an evil figure. Together with his friends, Hiro and Baymax form a team to fight the evil figure.
I must admit that I once thought the movie would be a bit ‘shallow’ due to its teaser which was funny but relatively ordinary. But I am so glad the film turns out to be one of the best animated films that I’ve seen this year. I’ve only watched three other animated films this year (‘The Lego Movie’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, and ‘The Book of Life’) and they’re all good! Okay, back to ‘Big Hero 6’. Despite its quite familiar plot, the film still benefits from its vivid animation, heartfelt story, and very likeable characters which are combined into an endless excitement. The depiction of San Fransokyo is beautifully detailed and some moments in the film will make you weep. Speaking of likeable characters, Baymax is surely the winner! Who can resist a huggable robot with marshmallow-like texture? The other notable characters including Hiro’s teammates Wasabi (hilariously voiced by Damon Wayans Jr.) who is clearly has an OCD issue, Go-Go (Jamie Chung), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), and Fred (T.J. Miller). Oh let’s not forget about Hiro’s brother, Tadashi (Daniel Henney) who has a significant impact to the film’s story and whose charm will melt the ladies’ heart away. The action sequences here are nicely executed and will appeal to both kids and adults. The depiction of science in the movie is also noteworthy. The writers successfully infused science aspects into the film which not only make it more realistic but also somehow more exciting. Stated in another way, this movie will make you want to be a nerd or proud to be a nerd because you already are. A nomination for Best Animated Feature in next year’s Oscar? Yes please! In fact, I won’t mind if this one eventually wins over How to Train Your Dragon 2 because both of them are great in their own way. But I’m still putting my bet for the latter one though. Make sure you don’t enter the theater late to see ‘Feast’, the short movie preceding ‘Big Hero 6’. It is really up to its name, definitely a feast for the eyes! And since this is more or less a Marvel film (the story is adapted from Marvel comics), DO NOT rush leaving the theater to see an interesting post-credit scene. Final score: 4/5 |
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AuthorA self-acclaimed movie guy who likes to socialize |