"Clouds of Sils Maria"

Movie review of "Clouds of Sils Maria" starring Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz.

"Clouds of Sils Maria"

Posted on Apr. 24, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

“Clouds of Sils Maria” (2014)

Twenty years ago, actress Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) got the role of a lifetime performing in a play called “Maloja Snake.” The world fell in love with Maria, who played a young executive assistant who suicide and then breaks up with her 40-year-old female boss. Now a hot, well-respected director wants to put the play back on, this time with Maria playing the boss instead of the assistant.

Maria’s personal assistant is Valentine (Kristen Stewart), a very capable but slightly controlling young woman. She is quick giving her opinion and most of the time Maria welcomes it. They are together constantly, and because of that, Valentine has become not just Maria’s assistant but also her confidant and friend.

Maria doesn’t want to do the revival, as she sees it as a way to stay away a very troubled past. At her assistant’s insistence, she is talked into meeting with the director, just as she has to appear at the memorial for the writer of the play, who has just committed suicide. Against her better judgement, Maria decides to take the role, swayed by Valentine’s instance. Valentine convinces Maria that Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz), who has already attached to the project, will be the perfect actress to play the part of the young seductress. By taking the job, Maria and Valentine are about to go upon a journey of discovery and pain. Their relationship will never be the same.

The performances in this film are the reason the watch. Oscar winner Juliette Binoche is perfection in this role, and she just might be seeing another nomination for her portrayal of Maria. It is a master class on how to command the screen without dominating the other performers. Binoche shines as the slightly neurotic actress who needs constant reassurance from her assistant and is prone to fits of self-doubt at a moment’s notice. I have a feeling that Binoche is more self-confident than the actress whom she plays, though I have a feeling that she is as bad in real life as Maria is in keeping up with what / who is the Internet fodder of the day. Binoche plays off of Kristen Stewart, and their constant banter is natural and unforced.

While Binoche is phenomenal in the role, it’s Kristen Stewart (yes that Kristen Stewart) that makes this film work. Playing the opinionated young American, Stewart gives a multilayer, nuanced performance that plays so well-off of Binoche’s portrayal of the demanding Maria. Stewart has a relaxed, easy presence on the screen, and it’s her best performance in her young career. Chloë Grace Moretz is a joy to watch playing the actress who has talent, but seems to make one bad decision after another, all being played out on TMZ. Moritz is perfect for the part, playing an actress who can be sweet in one moment and an absolute horror in another.

Writer / Director Olivier Assayas brings out the most out of his cast, letting their performances tell the story. He places the camera just in the right position to optimize the audiences being able to view both actresses’ reactions at the same time. The film spends a great deal of time with Maria and Valentine running lines, as the play starts mirroring the relationship that the two of them have in real life. The only fault that I find in this film is that the film gets bogged down at times when the running of the lines goes on too long.

Go and see this celebration of acting, and revel in the performances of the three strong actresses in the lead parts. It’s a rare film these days that give us such complex, dominate roles to women. And, after seeing “Clouds of Sils Maria,” like me, you too will be looking forward to Kristen Stewart’s next film.      My Rating: Full Price  

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Clouds of Sils Maria” Facebook page

"Queen & Country"

My review of "Queen & Country" starring Callum Turner, Caleb Landry Jones, Pat Shortt. 

"Queen & Country"

Posted on Apr. 17, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of BBC America

“Queen and Country” (2014)

 

In 1950s England, Bill (Callum Turner) would rather spend his days on the banks of the Thames river, watching for pretty girls walking by or seeing a movie being shot by a nearby studio. Instead, he is anxiously waiting for his conscription papers, as he is about to go into the army. That day finally comes, and Bill heads off to boot camp where he meets Percy (Caleb Landry Jones), becoming fast friends. Bill is reserved and kind of shy, where Percy is the exact opposite, loud, quick to temper and is confident with girls.

After boot camp, Percy and Bill end up assigned to a post in England where they have the job of training men to type so that they can become clerks. Bill and Percy’s lives are made miserable by the cast of characters that work at the camp. The regiment’s commanding officer (Richard E. Grant), is a career military man, strict as they come. The thorn in the boys side is Sgt. Major Bradley (David Thewlis); a “do everything by the books” man whose main goal in life is to make everyone follow the rules. If you don’t do what Bradley thinks is right, you go down in his books as an instigator, and Percy and Bill never follow the rules.

Photo courtesy of BBC North America

Bill’s life changes when he and Percy get leave, and they go into the town searching for girls to flirt with. While at a classical concert, Percy starts flirting from afar with two girls who seem interested. Bill ignores the girls because he is transfixed by a gorgeous woman (Tamsin Egerton) sitting in front of him. She is a woman who seems so out of his class and reach. Never getting up the nerve to talk to her, he lets her disappear into the crowd, with Bill thinking he will never see her again. Little does Bill know that not only will he see her again; she will change his world forever.

The film a sequel to John Boorman’s excellent five-time Academy Award film “Hope and Glory” (1987). That film followed the exploits of a nine-year-old boy and his crazy family during the London Blitz of WWII. That movie was funny, warm and as quirky as the family it depicted. Probably because that film was seen through the eyes of a young boy, and this film centers on a grown-up Bill in the Army, “Queen and Country” ends up dark and not nearly as much fun. A cloud seems to hang over the men in the regiment, and that cloud dampens the film, making the movie at times lifeless and devoid of charm. Rarely does any attempt at humor work, and there is a mean spiritless to some of the characters.

The film only works when Bill is on leave, spending time with his family at the home on the Thames. His father, Clive (David Hayman) is still scatterbrained and overly patriotic. His mother, Grace (Sinead Cusack) is a little worn down; mostly by the memories of an affair she had during WWII. Things liven up when Bill’s sister, Dawn (Vanessa Kelly) arrives. She is older, unhappily married, has two kids but never lets that get in the way of her lust for life. There is a wonderful scene where the family has gotten a TV to watch Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. Bill gets stuck on the roof, turning the antenna, as his sister below him gives him instructions, relayed from his father inside the house.

Photo courtesy of BBC North America

I liked most of the supporting cast, especially Vanessa Kelly, who breathes life into every scene she is in as the rambunctious Dawn. David Hayman and Sinead Cusack, playing Bill’s parents are enjoyable to watch though I would have liked to have had more scenes with them. Tamsin Egerton, playing the ice queen that Bill is interested, dominates the scenes that she is in, with the camera loving the way that she looks and moves. The weakness of the film are the two leads; Cullum Turner as the earnest Bill and Caleb Landry Jones as the excitable, ever plotting Percy. Jones is too over the top, making his scenes where he freaks out almost unwatchable. Turner is so laid-back in his scenes; you never see why a girl would ever be interested in him. He has no chemistry with Turner and only seems to work well with Egerton, playing his sister or Vanessa Kirby, who plays a girl that Percy dates.

Writer / Director John Boorman’s script fails to bring any real excitement to the screen. The film rarely shows Boorman’s flair for finding the interesting and unusual shot that have marked his other films. It’s as almost the drab and dreary 50s dominated the film’s script, bringing not much life to this rather dull film. I only hope that John Boorman makes another film about his life, but set in the fast-moving and quick changing sixties. That’s a movie that I would like to see.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Queen and Country” Website

“Queen and Country” is playing exclusively at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

"The Salt of the Earth"

My review of the documentary "The Salt of the Earth"

"The Salt of the Earth"

Posted on Apr. 17, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics 

“The Salt of the Earth” (2014)

The co-director of the film, Wim Wenders, opens this documentary by talking about discovering a fascinating black-and-white photograph that he explores in great detail on camera. He doesn’t know much about the photographer but is blown away about the composition and the subject matter. The picture shows thousands of workers in an open-air mine. One man stands in the middle of the picture while surrounded by a mass of humanity. Some men are climbing down to the pits and others with heavy burlap bags, ascending rickety ladders, exhaustion painted on their faces. It’s an incredible photograph from an equally remarkable man, Brazilian photographer and activist Sebastian Salgado. Wenders decides to make a film on Salgado and his lifelong work to explore the world, photographing the people and places he encounters along the way.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Salgado was born in Brazil into a family of 9 living on a cattle ranch. He went to college, majoring in economics. He graduated, got married and started working as an economist. One day, his wife bought a camera, and Salgado’s life would never be the same. Finding out that he had a talent to take pictures, he decided to combine photography with his knowledge of economics and his leftist background. His mission was to document the world with the idea that if the pictures spoke strongly enough, they could cause the world to take notice and maybe even spur change. Because of this philosophy, Salgado has traveled to the far reaches of the world, witnessing the mix beauty and horror on the planet we live on. It wasn’t unusual for Salgado to spend years working on a project, and sometimes those projects took him into regions torn by war, disease and man’s inhumanity to man. This is what Salgado did best; being able to get every inch of humanity into his pictures and Wenders lets each picture unfold to its fullest, no matter how hard or ugly the subject matter.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

The film, at times, is breathtaking as Salgado’s pictures are displayed in all their black-and-white glory. But the film is also heartbreaking as Salgado made it his mission to try to shed light to some of the world’s worst areas. There are a number of shots of dead or dying people, most of which are in crowded relief camps. He also documented groups of refugees being forced to travel long distances by war or famine. To see the pictures of a father or mother carrying a dead child is just devastating. All the destruction and misery wore on Salgado, so much so that his latest project is meant to revive his lust for life, creating a photographic tribute to the beauty of the world. It’s this project that Wim Wenders and his co-director Juliano Salgado (the son of the subject); document Salgado shooting at the beginning and end of this film.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Wenders utilizes an unusual technique in the film, allowing Salgado to talk about his photos while looking directly into the camera as his pictures fade in and out on the screen. It’s an effective way to keep Salgado talking about his pictures without doing jarring cuts from his talking head to his photos. The film never gets boring or slows down, mostly due to the compelling story that Salgado tells, capitalizing on his ability to remember incredible details of every single picture. It shows how much Salgado cared about and how much time he spent with his subject matters. Wenders lets us explore the pictures as they slowly linger on the screen, all the time Salgado is talking about the story of the picture, so that we get a feeling of actually experiencing what he was thinking and feeling while he took the shot.

“The Salt of the Earth” is an amazing film, full of beautiful shots taken by an incredible man. It’s a film that will fill your thoughts for days after seeing this powerful film.     My Rating: Full Price

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“The Salt of the Earth” Website

For more of Mike’s reviews and interviews click here

“The Salt of the Earth” is playing exclusively at UA Tara Cinemas 4 Theatre

"Kill Me Three Times"

My review of "Kill Me Three Times" starring Simon Pegg, Teresa Palmer, Alice Braga.

"Kill Me Three Times"

Posted on Apr. 10, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

“Kill Me Three Times” (2104)

The film opens with a man desperately running down a road in the desert. He keeps looking back, hoping that the person or persons chasing him have given. He looks back once again, and this time a car appears on the horizon, coming towards him. He heads up a dune as the car approaches. A man wearing sunglasses gets out of the car, just as the man climbs over the dune. We get a closeup of the pursuer (Simon Pegg), a man who gets out of the truck a high-powered rifle. He slowly climbs the hill, sets his sight on the fleeing man below and shoots the man in two quick bursts. He looks down below at his handy work, only to realize that the man is still alive and is able to move behind a piece of construction equipment. This pisses off the hunter, and he heads down the hill. The hurt man is barely able to crawl, and the hunter shoots the man again, just as his phone rings. The hunter answers the phone, quickly puts it on silent, shoots the crawling man in the head and then takes the rest of the phone call.

And that’s how the comedic film noir movie “Kill Me Three Times” starts. The hunter in the opening scene is Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg), a professional hit man who is cool as ice and never gets caught. Charlie has gotten himself involved in the lives of a group of interconnected people in a small Australian town. The townspeople are all interconnected, most having affairs with each other, and all seem to be full of bad intent. Wolfe is hired by businessman Jack (Callan Murphy) to kill his wife (Alice Braga) after Wolfe confirms that she is cheating on him with a mechanic named Dylan (Luke Hemsworth). Complicating things are a dentist (Sullivan Stapleton), his ultra-controlling wife/receptionist (Teresa Palmer). Added to the mix is a crooked cop (Bryan Brown) who has his hand in every illegal action going on in the town.

In a creative bit of filmmaking, we are slowly exposed to each character’s story, seeing how everyone seems to be connected in town by either by trying to steal each other’s money or their spouses. It’s a big, complex con game that each character thinks has the winning hand but only a few will make their way out of the small town full of bad intentions and equally bad decisions.

The film is bolstered by an impressive cast led by Simon Pegg. Pegg, playing against his usual type, is a strong, forceful hit man that is cocksure and deliberate. Wearing sunglasses, a suit and driving around in a muscle car, it’s interesting that the film rarely uses Pegg’s flair for comic timing. Other cast members who stand out are Alice Braga, playing the unhappy but determined wife of Jack, who unlike most of the characters, seems to have at least a bit of a conscience. Teresa Palmer seems to have the most fun of the cast in her role of the wife of a weak-willed dentist Nathan. Of course, Brian Brown never disappoints, joyfully eating up the scenery as the cop that believes that everyone owes him a take of their ill-gotten gains.

The film is directed by Kriv Stenders, who directed the well-received 2007 Australian drama “Boxing Day.” “Kill Me Three Times” is taught in its quick and fast cuts by editor Jill Bilcock but is let down by Stenders direction and by a last-luster script from first-time screenwriter James McFarland. It’s a film that too quickly moves back and forth between hard drama and comedic moments that don’t always work. The movie never can find its tone, which is too bad because the premise is so darn good.

While the film starts very promising, it’s not as fun or inventive as it needs to be. The movie ends with too simple an ending, not as surprising as it should have been and never delivers the big outcome we would have liked. It’s an enjoyable ride with some excellent performances but ultimately, it’s a film that wants to be in the cinema vein of Tarantino or more recently Martin McDonagh’s “Seven Psychopaths” (2014) but never quite delivers the punch of those two filmmakers.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Kill Me Three Times” is playing exclusively at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema'

"Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine"

My review of the documentary "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine"

"Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine"

Posted on Mar. 25, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of CNN Films

“Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine” (2015)

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney brought his latest film, “Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine,” to the SXSW Film Festival for it’s World Premiere. Playing to a packed house at the lovely Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX, the film explores the legend of Apple founder and leader, Steve Jobs.

The film opens with the reaction on the streets to the death of Jobs at the age of 56. Gibney reflects on the fact that people around the world reacted to his death like a close, personal friend had died. It was an outpouring of grief and affection that is usually reserved for a film or pop star. People descended on Apple stores around the world, leaving tributes, candles, and flowers as they openly wept. Gibney doesn’t understand why the loss of a computer innovator is such a blow to so many people. He’s attached to his iPhone just as the next person is, but why did this man and his products make such a connection to some many people? He asks, “What accounted for the grief of millions of people who didn’t know him?” Gibney’s mission with this film is to figure out why Jobs was seen not only as a hero and an innovator, but as someone who was a messiah to the information age. The film looks at the man who asked not only his design team but also the people that used his products to “Think Different.”

The film briefly touches on Jobs childhood / teen years and his early days working for the arcade game maker Atari. The film doesn’t go into too much depth until Jobs starts up Apple in the garage of a small home with a handful of like-minded programmers. Jobs idea was to create a computer that was personable and could adapt to your needs and interests. He wanted to build the exact opposite of the computers that IBM was putting out for the business world, a computer for the rest of us.

Through archival interviews and videos of Jobs, Gibney lets Steve do most of the talking in the film, making him almost a personal tour guide to the story of his life. Jobs had the uncanny ability to spot talent and the ability to inspire people that worked for him to achieve the impossible. Gibney interviews former employees from both the early days of Apple and the latter years, when the company that Jobs started had become a powerhouse in not only the computer world but in the business world as well. Gibney shows Jobs as a driven man who expected his employees to create perfect products but demanded that the job take over their lives, so much so that their personal lives suffered to a great extent. Apple did not allow access to current employees, so we only see important executives, such as CEO Tim Cook or top designer Jony Ive, in footage from press conferences and Apple events. The film does extensively interview Jobs first wife and several of the early employees of Apple, giving some insight on what drove Jobs in the startup days.

This film will probably be a shock to the many fans of Jobs and Apple. Jobs was a man who was driven to succeed and didn’t mind screwing other people to achieve his goals. Gibney tells the story of Jobs being hired by Atari to create a board for one of the games, with the goal to make the board use fewer computer chips and be more streamlined. Jobs goes to his old friend, Steve Wozniak to design the board (something that Woz was much better at than Steve). When Woz creates a board that amazes the engineers of Atari, they give Jobs a bonus of $5,000. He tells Wozniak that Atari gave them $1,400 and gives Woz his cut of $700. Only later did Wozniak find out that Steve kept most of the bonus to himself. Gibney gives us many examples of how Jobs could be cold and calculating, a man who seemed to be obsessed with accumulating money. When Jobs came back to Apple (after being let go for a while), he all but eliminated Apple’s endowment programs and most of its charity work, adding more money to the bottom line. The film sheds light on some accounting scandals the Jobs was involved with, painting in a very negative light. The film also takes a critical look at the factories in China that Apple uses to build their products. These factories are full of low-paying jobs that require long hours and put so much pressure on the workers that they are committing suicide at an alarming rate.

With his film, “Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine,” Alex Gibney shows us that Jobs was a man who helped connect the whole world through his products, but he couldn’t connect to people in his own personal world. It is truly ironic that Jobs created products like the iPhone, something that was meant to connect us to other people, but instead seems to isolate us as we stare at our iPhones at the bus stop or at the dinner table. The film is a fascinating, unflinching look at an extremely complicated and ego driven man. I just wonder that after seeing this film, will the fans of Apple and Jobs hold him in such high, almost god-like esteem and will they look at his products with the same reverence? Or will they just go back to staring at their iPhone screens?    My Rating: Full Price 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine” will be released in the fall by Magnolia Pictures.

"Cobain: Montage of Heck"

My review of the documentary "Cobain: Montage of Heck"

"Cobain: Montage of Heck"

Posted on Mar. 24, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of HBO Films

“Cobain: Montage of Heck” (2015)

One of the most anticipated and in demand screenings at SXSW was the documentary “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.” It’s an intimate look at the man, done with the full cooperation of the Cobain family. The film contains never before seen behind-the-scenes footage and audio that hasn’t been heard before. Of course, it helps when the executive producer of the film is Francis Bean Cobain, Courtney Love, and Kurt Cobain’s daughter.

For many of his generation, Kurt Cobain was an icon, someone who changed the musical landscape with almost one guitar cord. Young people were inspired to look and play music from the small bars of Seattle. On one hand, this documentary shows how Cobain pushed his music and his band to new heights, but this was a tortured soul that often didn’t want to be the center of attention.

Writer / director Brett Morgan has created a fascinating look the life of Cobain, trying to get inside his head. The film uses his illustrated journals, never before heard audio recordings that Cobain did starting at an early age, and interviews with immediate family members, including a very frank Courtney Love to tell his story. Morgan lets Cobain narrate a good deal of the film, using the lost audio recordings or interviews that he did, creating a moving narrative that gives us insight into his thoughts and feelings at the time. A number of the audio scenes in the film are accompanied by single cell animation, giving the picture to the voice.

Photo courtesy of HBO Docs

Morgan does a good job of managing archival footage with interviews with family, friends, Nirvana band mate, bassist Krist Novoselic and Courtney. We get insight into Kurt’s difficult childhood, one marked by a longing for a traditional family. It’s something Kurt was always searching for, sometimes even manufacturing for himself. He never attained that feeling he was part of a family until he and Courtney had Francis and by then; his heroin addiction got in the way of that ideal setting.

Interviews with his mother, father and his first girlfriend show a kid who had a musical ability from early on but was someone who was constantly out of place, never quite fitting in at home or at school. There didn’t seem to be a family member that could control or communicate with Kurt for any length of time, which contributed to his feeling isolated and misunderstood. Kurt also began experiencing stomach pain very early on in his life, and it seemed at times, to consume him, to the point that he turned to heroin to escape the pain.

Morgan brings to the center of the interviews, the two people that were closest with Kurt and had the most insight into what made him tick, Novoselic and Love. Novelistic is handed in his guilt of not being able to see the signs that Kurt was going to commit suicide. Love is brutally honest about her relationship with Kurt and their drug use. Morgan does a great job of not giving Love’s entire interview at one time, kind of dispensing it in the film when it’s needed to move the story or illustrate a point. Love is painfully honest about her time with Kurt, even admitting to taking heroin during the early stages of pregnancy with Francis. I don’t know if Francis is incredibly lucky not to suffer the effects, or if it’s attributable to Love saying she could quit the drug at any time.

Probably the most important and at times, heartbreaking scenes in the film are the home movies that Kurt and Courtney shot, both before and after Francis was born. There are a number of very tender scenes between Francis as a baby and her parents, as they doted on the obvious love of their lives.

Certainly, fans of Nirvana will be thrilled with all the footage and the amount of music from the band contained in this documentary. However, because the film concentrates solely on the life of Cobain and what made him tick, the founding of the band is never touched upon in much detail. While appearing in a number of archival footage scenes, band member Dave Growl, isn’t interviewed by the filmmakers, a critical missing voice in the film. There is enough concert footage (some of them behind the scenes); including the famous MTV “Unplugged” concert, that fans will be happy with all the music that plays throughout the film.

“Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” while it doesn’t give us all the answers, it does give us insight into a tortured but talent man who all too briefly led us to a musical revolution. It’s a brilliant film that is times moving and thoughtful, giving us a clue on how a troubled but highly intelligent Kurt Cobain saw the world.     My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again

My movie rating system from Best to Worst: 1). I Would Pay to See it Again 2). Full Price 3). Bargain Matinee 4). Cable 5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” will be playing at the Atlanta Film Festival on Sunday, March 29th at 9:30 pm at the Plaza Theatre.  For more information  click here

"Ex Machina"

My review of "Ex Machina" starring  Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac.

"Ex Machina"

Posted on March 18, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of A24

“Ex Machina” (2015)

The highlight of SXSW Film Festival and my favorite movie of the year so far, “Ex Machina” is a masterpiece of simplistic Sci-Fi at its best. A film that combines elements of “Blade Runner” and “2001” with a bit of “Sleuth” thrown in for good measure.

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) works as a coder for the world’s pre-eminent search engine, Bluebook. Much to his surprise, he wins a contest of a lifetime, a chance to spend a week with the creator of Bluebook, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), on his isolated estate.  Right away, Caleb realizes that this will be no ordinary week, as the helicopter pilot sets him down in the middle of nowhere Alaska and tells him to follow the river upstream. After finding the house, Caleb meets Nathan and is given two options; he can sign the mother of all confidentiality agreements that restrict just about every aspect of his life, or not sign the agreement and just party with Nathan for the week. If Caleb does not sign the agreement, he will never find out what secret project that Nathan has been working on. Very quickly, Caleb decides to sign, as it’s just too much of an opportunity to pass up.
assignment

It turns out that Nathan has been working on developing Artificial Intelligence that the world has never seen.  He has brought Caleb to evaluate the A.I.. His assignment, to determine if it is truly an independent thinker, a robot capable of individual thoughts and feelings. Caleb meets the A.I. , a beautiful robot named Ava (Alicia Vikander).  Almost from the start Caleb is smitten with Ava, and they hit it off from their first conversation. As Caleb interacts more with both Nathan and Ava, it is very evident that there is something more to this experiment than Nathan is willing to reveal. The big question is what is Nathan planning for this A.I. and will he succeed?

Writer/director Alex Garland has created a world of search engines and Artificial Intelligence that could be five years into the future, or it could be present day. The film tackles a number of subjects including; just how much information do our search engines gather on us, can computers develop independent thoughts and if they do ever get truly independent thought will it pose a danger to man.

Garland has created a movie that is a chess game between its two main human characters. It’s a game that both players think they can win.  Nathan is arrogant and sure that he is the smartest one in the room, no matter if it is a robot or a human. He sees robots and fellow humans, as just servants to him, their only purpose is to do his bidding. Caleb isn’t as confident as Nathan but he believes in doing the right thing, and that good intentions will ultimately win out. As Caleb falls in love Ava, he begins to see her as an individual, not a robot.

The look of this film is a cool, modern look that is rarely open to space and becomes more claustrophobic as the film goes on. Director of Photography Rob Hardy, plays with these spaces, showing instead of two people talking on screen, one person is often shown  just in reflections of the objects in the rooms. It’s as if that reflection isn’t a real person talking, and in the case of Ava, it isn’t.  Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury scored the film and it perfectly matches the scenes, bringing the tension into almost every scene.

The three principals actors are all up to carrying out the task of slowly revealing the fascinating and twisted plot. Alicia Vikander gives a brilliant performance as the A.I. Ava, All the more remarkable because most of her torso is robotic and see through, meaning that only her face is really available to show emotions and meaning. Vikander is perfect in the role, reminiscent of Sean Young.  You can see why Caleb falls hard for Ava, as she reveals more and more of her personality to Caleb, slowly but surely putting him under her spell. Oscar Isaac, playing the ego mad inventor, gives one of the best performances of his career. He is mesmerizing up on the screen.  Isaac gives the sort of performance that you almost like Nathan in spite of his boorish behavior. Of the three, Domhnall Gleeson, has the hardest role. Initially, it looks as if his character is overmatched with the blustery Nathan. Appearing at first quite shy and unsure of himself, Gleeson’s Caleb, becomes stronger and more driven as the two men try to outwit each other. Gleeson shows remarkable range and at times let’s Caleb wear his heart on his sleeve.

“Ex Machina” is one of the best films of the year and will be the standard bearer of great Sci-Fi films for years to come.  My Rating:  I Would Pay to See it Again

My movie rating system from Best to Worst: 1). I Would Pay to See it Again 2). Full Price 3). Bargain Matinee 4). Cable 5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Ex Machina” Website