“Ex Machina” Movie Review

Year: 2015

Director: Alex Garland

Writer: Alex Garland

Stars: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a young programmer working at a search giant (an obvious jab at Google), who is selected to spend a week at the private estate of the company’s CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). When Caleb arrives, he finds out that Nathan has chosen him to participate in a special Turing Test to assess the human capabilities and level of self-awareness possessed by Nathan’s latest A.I. creation. The A.I. that Nathan created has the body of a beautiful female, called Ava (Alicia Vikander), who quickly еlicits Caleb’s sympathies. Not a completely originaly concept, but the plot isn’t the most important element of the film. It’s the ideas. “Ex Machina” is not an action-based, or filled with flashy effects, story. It’s a quieter, smarter science fiction, that’s best when the characters just talk to each other, discussing what is intelligence and humanity.

A first-time director, Alex Garland, has previously written the scripts for Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine” and “28 Days Later.” Besides a solid script, he gets really good performances out of his actors and manages to add tension and fluidity to the dialogue. After hearing a lot of praises on the look of the movie, I wasn’t particularly amazed. Actually, besides a few cooler shots in the beginning, it soon becomes pretty boring cinematically. The soundtrack isn’t particularly impressive either, but it’s sufficient.

“Ex Machina” isn’t something really new to the genre, but it’s fresh and thoughtful film among all the summer blockbusters. A big plus is that most of its science is based fundamentally on technologies that already exist. Thus, it’s warning us that huge corporations with great amounts of private information, acquired via social media and internet searches, are probably just as scary as having to deal with an android having a convincing human conversation. After all, the robot in “Ex Machina” can freely draw all the information for people from the web, especially having access to all of the search engine’s data.

In fact, the conversations in the first part of the movie, is what intrigues the most: how can the Turing test be optimized to truly prove an A.I., or even the “feelings” of a machine? And on the other side of that coin lies the question – what is it to be human, how intelligent is humanity itself, if it’s so dependent on its own weaknesses? Maybe we can’t even truly test A.I. if our senses and emotions are so easy to manipulate. Furthermore, we can see how flawed are actually the humans in the movie. Caleb is way too easily influenced by his emotions and from the very beginning, we can tell that Nathan is slightly off the rails. He’s actually the drunk creator, who had to, at least partially, sacrifice his own humanity to create a self-aware  intelligent being. There’s an interesting discussion between the characters about A.I. having sexuality, since it defines the evolution of all living things. It also justifies some of Nathan’s weirder traits, and some fan service in the film, characteristic of the B-movie sci-fi.

“Ex Machina“’s plot offers some delightful twists and turns. However, towards the end things become rather predictable and really not as exciting as they are in the first part, when the audience is still trying to figure out what’s going on. A rather enjoyable and intriguing watch, “Ex Machina” is not a waste of time, but it’s been really over-hyped, it’s nowhere close to a new classic, let alone the “Blade Runner” or “2001” of our time.

The movie has 8,1 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_2

7,9 from users and 78 from critics on MetaCritic -  http://www.metacritic.com/movie/ex-machina

91% on RottenTomatoes -  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ex_machina/?search=ex%20m

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“Wild Tales” ("Relatos Salvajes") Movie Review

Year: 2014

Director: Damián Szifrón

Writer: Damián Szifrón

Stars: Ricardo Darín, Erica Rivas, Darío Grandinetti, María Marull, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg, Oscar Martínez, Diego Gentile

“Wild Tales” is nothing short of amazing, simultaneously hilarious and dark thrill ride. Actually, the less you know about the film, the better it is. When I saw it with a friend, we knew absolutely nothing about it, besides the fact that it’s Oscar-nominated and “fun.” So, when we sat down in the cinema, we were absolutely surprised, electrified and by the end of the movie – thoroughly entertained. I didn’t even know that it consists of six different stories.

“Wild Tales” is a black comedy, filled with violence and action that will keep you at the edge of your seat. It effortlessly combines action and tension with the comedy; it does the same with with drama, romance and thriller. The introductory story even takes the type of situation that we would usually see in cartoons and excitingly ushers us headfirst into the crazy world of the movie.

Damián Szifrón, who has been directing and writing primarily for TV up to this point, takes full advantage of his experience with the short form. In fact, the film originally included a seventh tale called “Bonus Track” and the order of the stories was different. Remarkably, every unique story is enough fascinating and exciting by itself, but there are still common themes and style between all “tales.” With hot-headed characters that are driven in one way or another to their breaking point and often to a quite animalistic state, “Wild Tales” makes you question the inherent humanity of our species. In relation to that the movie has great opening credits, in which each actor is represented by the image of a wild animal. The director himself chose a fox, because he has red hair and his father had a fondness of the animal.

“Wild Tales” is considered an Argentine-Spanish production with the notable involvement of Pedro Almodovar as one of the producers. The movie looks great cinematically and also sounds great. Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla, a two-time Oscar winner composed the soundtrack.

“Wild Tales” was among the Oscar nominated foreign-language films for 2014 and probably the most unexpected one, since it’s very fast-paced, filled with action and violence. It is also the seventh film from Argentina nominated for the award. The movie quickly became the most seen film in Argentina for 2014 and was shown in 275 cinemas throughout the country. Consequently, by the end of the it became the most seen film from Argentine of all-time. “Wild Tales” was also celebrated at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it reportedly received a standing ovation for about 10 minutes. The film was also in the competition for the Palme d'Or at the Festival.

The movie has 8,2 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3011894/

8,9 from users and 77 from critics on MetaCritic -  http://www.metacritic.com/movie/wild-tales

95% on RottenTomatoes -  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wild_tales

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“Gone Girl” Move Review

Year: 2014

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Gillian Flynn (screenplay/novel)

Stars: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens

“Gone Girl” is a movie that reminds us that David Fincher is one of the very best directors working today. He is back on form with a haunting, visceral and stylized retelling of the Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name. Writers often fail to adapt their own books for the screen, but Flynn did a fantastic job unifying all threads of the intricate story into a coherent script. 

The movie tells the story (or rather “stories”) of Nick Dunne (portrayed by Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike). The mystery starts on the day of the couple’s fifth anniversary when Nick finds out that his wife is gone. As the plot unfolds he becomes the center of media speculations and his life turns upside down when he becomes the main suspect. But while we see his version of the story, we also get the chance to peek into Amy’s thoughts almost entirely via her diary entries.

What Fincher and Flynn did so well is presenting us with two points of view, both not entirely truthful, both keeping parts of the story in mystery. And that’s truly revealing, especially after we find out who’s the “worse half”. The relativity of the truth is highlighted in a scene where Nick Dunne insist on telling the “true” story and quickly gets corrected – it’s “your” story. “Gone Girl” works perfectly as a thriller – it is atmospheric, suspenseful and brutal when it needs to be. But the best thing is that it’s so much more. A social commentary, a character study, an exercise in style, a treatise on marriage…

In many ways “Gone Girl” is a film about image – the image we create for ourselves, the way our loved ones see us, the labels society gives us, the distorted personality that media can create and destroy within a few hours for us. All the roles we assume in order to function in society could easily distort our perception of reality and ourselves. In “Gone Girl” Rosamund Pike struggles to achieve the perfect image of “The Amazing Amy” – a fictional character her mother wrote a series of popular books about. And as she says in the movie, “Amazing Amy” had always been one step ahead of her, always perfect, always better. How do you keep up with that? Amy sometimes even speaks as if she’s a fictional character and she might as well do what any true dramatic hero might do in a classic play. Amy is beautiful, rich, extremely intelligent and still her life is not always perfect. Surely, in “Gone Girl” this problem is explored in its extremities, but in modern society the image, the idea of the perfect job, the perfect family, the requisite success can often become the basis for extreme egoism, apathy, depression and all kinds of psychosis. Just like in “Nightcrawler” – the hero is the product of the society he/she lives in.

SLIGHTLY SPOILERY PARAGRAPH:

What are the social expectations for the perfect woman, for the perfect wife? One thing is for sure - these are some of the factors that create the Amy we see by the end of the movie. That’s why I don’t think that “Gone Girl” is in any way misogynistic, because how could Amy exist the way she is and get away with the things she does, if she didn’t live in a society with established stereotypes for women that she clearly takes advantage of: the stupid, but beautiful girlfriend, the accommodating wife, the helpless mother, the victim? Besides, it’s absolutely entertaining to see all these concepts turn around by the end.

On the other hand, Ben Affleck’s character is also exposed to social preconceptions – he is supposed to be “the provider” in the marriage, he is more likely to be aggressive and should feel oppressed because he doesn’t have the outstanding education his wife has. Thus, “Gone Girl” explores both sides of what marriage “should” be and the image it has to adhere to. Further on, the film shows how easily media (particularly TV news) can manipulate any story and any “image”, completely turning around the opinion we have for someone and even profoundly affecting their life.

“Gone Girl” has one of the most magnetic, complex and unique characters we’ve seen this year and one of the very few strong female characters in cinema. Gillian Flynn gave life to a hero that’s anything, but the typical female from either criminal or love stories. And Rosamund Pike made this extraordinary, bigger-than-life character appear absolutely authentic and captivating. She can simultaneously make us hate her and be sympathetic with her, while preserving the mystery and the wonder of the character. It is definitely a stunning Oscar-worthy performance. Everybody else in the movie also does a good job, but it’s her movie from beginning to end. Only Neil Patrick Harris, who plays Desi, doesn’t seem entirely in place. His acting is fine, but he is in the role of a rich stylish man, that inevitably reminds you of Barney (I guess it’s ok if you haven’t seen “How I met your mother”, but it got me out of the movie at times).

The entire film, not surprisingly, looks great. The attention to detail, characteristic for any film by Fincher, and Jeff Cronenweth’s work on the cinematography create a stunning atmosphere. Cronenweth had two Oscar nominations for David Fincher’s films (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “The Social Network”) and he’s certainly keeping up. For the last a couple of films Fincher has also developed a symbiotic relationship with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Reznor’s music seems to be the perfect addition to Fincher’s images. The minimalistic soundtrack for “Gone Girl” is just as mysterious, elegant and atmospheric as the movie itself and it perfectly complements the mood without being obtrusive. It gently seeps into the subconsciousness like a perfume and blood scented mist. It does its magic in the background and you don’t even realize when it’s present.

The movie has 8,5 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/?ref_=nv_sr_1

8,2 from users and 79 from critics on MetaCritic - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/gone-girl

88% on RottenTomatoes -  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gone_girl/

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