Nightcrawler

NIGHTCRAWLER
2014 | Dir. Dan Gilroy | 117 Minutes

"If you want to win the lottery, you have to make the money to buy a ticket."

Conman and all-around sociopath Lou Bloom happens upon the scene of a traffic accident on the highway one night. Inspired by a seasoned cameraman recording footage of the crash, Lou acquires a camcorder and a police scanner, and becomes a freelance cameraman for the local news station. Using his morally bankrupt methods to record candid footage at crime scenes, Lou works to further his career by any and all means.

Writer/director Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler pulls no punches in its biting commentary of TV journalism. Implying that the business is run by heartless con artists, valuing sensationalism over moral integrity for the sake of ratings, the picture shows that Lou not only obstructs justice but actively creates situations with deadly results in order to have something profitable to shoot. By the time the credits role, Lou has successfully started his own business, without ever having to answer for any of his actions.

Articulate and deceptively soft spoken, Jake Gyllenhaal brings a frightening intensity to the role of Lou. Spouting thinly veiled threats with a smile, quick with demands, and haggling with relentless efficiency, Gyllenhaal's performance is both repulsive and captivating. Riz Ahmed plays Rick's inexperienced assistant, giving a convincing performance as a naive and wide-eyed young man, not realizing Bloom has served him a raw deal until far too late. As television news producer Nina Romina, Rene Russo does a fine job exuding chilly pragmatism, a woman who cares only about what the station can legally air for higher ratings with no moral reservations, truly as much of a monster as Lou. In a bit role as Joe Loder, a cameraman running a rival freelance operation, character actor Bill Paxton is at his smarmiest, doing what he does best.

Nightcrawler is a slick film, smartly written, featuring an amazing performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. Although it takes its message to the extreme, it encourages its audience examine and question the way news is covered on television.


FRAGMENTS
- Jake Gyllenhaal has come a long way since Donnie Darko

- I'd pair this with Michael Mann's Collateral for a nocturnal double bill featuring the streets of Los Angeles


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Rene Russo (Frigga in Thor, Thor: The Dark World, and Avengers: Endgame)

- Jake Gyllenhaal (Quentin Beck in Spider-Man: Far From Home)

Inherent Vice

INHERENT VICE
2014 | Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson | 149 Minutes

"Eggs break, chocolate melts, glass shatters."

A lover from the past walks into the office of a private investigator, pleading with him to investigate a plot hatched by the wife of her current millionaire boyfriend to put him away for good. As the mystery unravels, two other apparently disparate cases are thrown into the mix but naturally, everything is connected in what ultimately amounts to an epic hairy dog story.

Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice is a familiar detective yarn with a Viet Nam War Era psychedelic twist. With each twist and turn, director Paul Thomas Anderson's take on the story becomes more and more difficult to follow but remains consistently humorous from start to finish with snappy dialogue and numerous outrageous sight gags.

Joaquin Phoenix is paranoid stoner Doc Sportello, brilliant as the befuddled P.I. quickly discovering that he is in over his head, never sure if he is hallucinating, remarkably laidback until danger rears its head. Josh Brolin steals the picture as crooked L.A. cop Bigfoot Bjornsen. The interactions between Phoenix and Brolin are priceless, as the conflicting philosophies and investigative methods of their characters clash.

The film is narrated by Joanna Newsom as friend of Doc and ethereal hippy Sortilège, delivering vital exposition with an amusing side of new age philosophy. Though featured only briefly, Katherine Waterston is magnetic as this film's femme fatale Shasta Fay Hepworth. Rounding out the stellar cast are Hong Chau, Maya Rudolph, Benicio del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Owen Wilson, Martin Short, and Eric Roberts.

Inherent Vice is classic film noir wrapped in a stoner comedy. Though the plot of the film is at times impenetrable, the picture is exciting and reliably clever with each revelation.


FRAGMENTS
- Unless I really missed something, I can't help but wonder if Sortilège is real or if she just exists in Doc's head

- "Beware the Golden Fang" is pure undiluted pulp

- The scene in the Japanese restaurant ending with Josh Brolin and Joaquin Phoenix arguing about testing bite marks on a murder victim's neck for gold is truly sublime - "Motto panukeiku!"


007 CONNECTIONS
- Benicio del Toro (Dario in Licence to Kill)


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Benicio del Toro (Taneleer Tivan in Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers: Infinity War)

- Josh Brolin (Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame)

Wild

WILD
2014 | Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée | 120 Minutes

"God is a ruthless bitch."

Based on her memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, the film chronicles Cheryl Strayed's solitary hike through the Mojave Desert in 1995. As her journey continues on the PCT, facing danger is various forms, Strayed recalls various formative events of her life. With brief visions of the past and extended flashbacks running through the entire narrative, the film jumps from Stayed's time on the trail to her divorce, her debauched youth, and to her mother's slow death from cancer.

Reese Witherspoon brings amazing emotional range to her portrayal of Strayed. She spends a significant amount of screen time alone with a gigantic backpack in the outdoors, weathered in the present narrative by nature, and weathered in the flashback narrative by life itself. Witherspoon's performance is brutal and, above all, honest.

Laura Dern is a ray of light as Strayed's mother, believable in her portrayal of a remarkably selfless woman who remained positive, leaving an abusive husband and doing her best raise her children with unconditional love. Appearing in memories and as a hallucination on Strayed's hike, Dern's presence permeates through the entire picture, running in stark contrast to Strayed's negative outlook on life.

Director Jean-Marc Vallée achieves an admirable feat, intercutting the harsh realities of life with scenes of profound natural beauty. The film itself is quite beautiful, shot and edited in a dreamlike fashion, featuring Witherspoon's voiceover offering a glimpse into Strayed's thought process with quotes from literature and song lyrics left by Strayed in trail logs appearing onscreen. A film like this often runs the risk of coming off disingenuous and schmaltzy but Vallée's direction and Witherspoon's performance transcend these common flaws. Wild is a film about survival on the trail, survival in life, and, ultimately, about moving on.


FRAGMENTS
- The real life Cheryl Strayed makes a cameo appearance as the woman who drops Witherspoon off at the start of the film (Vanity Fair)

- Pleasanly surprised to hear hints of DJ Shadow's "You Can't Go Home Again" come up at various key points in the film though the full song never really plays

- Do people still casually ask for Snapple or has that come and gone with the '90s?

Gone Girl

GONE GIRL
2014 | Dir. David Fincher | 149 Minutes 

"I'm the cunt you married. The only time you liked yourself was when you were trying to be someone this cunt might like. I'm not a quitter, I'm that cunt."

Writer (and Harvard graduate, if that helps you suspend your disbelief) Amy Elliott-Dunne goes missing, and her disaffected husband Nick quickly becomes the primary suspect in her disappearance. As the mystery unravels, it becomes clear that Amy and Nick's marriage of five years had been eroding at an alarming pace, with Nick relying heavily on Amy financially and growing increasingly resentful of his wife. Halfway through the film, as the case against Nick reaches its breaking point, it is revealed that Amy, secretly a manipulative mastermind, had elaborately staged her disappearance and apparent murder to frame Nick for being a lazy, adulterous husband.

Ben Affleck is appropriately difficult to empathize with as Nick, excellent as the smug guilty-looking uncharismatic cad. Despite efforts from his celebrity attorney, played by Tyler Perry with gusto, to improve Nick's public image, his interactions with investigators played by Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit are awkward and curt, and his exchanges with Carrie Coon playing Nick's twin sister (and often, voice of reason) aren't much more empathetic.

Rosamund Pike delivers the performance to watch in this film, masterful and amazingly versatile as Amy, playing every single facet of the duplicitous sociopath to perfection. Flashbacks interspersed throughout the first half of the film feature stilted voiceover delivery from Pike, passages from Amy's phony diary planted as evidence in the case against Nick, running in stark contrast to the monologue she delivers at the twist in which she relishes in explaining her plan step by meticulous step. She gives a different nuanced performance to each character that comes across her path, from Casey Wilson in a great small part as Amy's naive pregnant neighbor, to a pair of white trash thieves that rob her, to Neil Patrick Harris in slightly distracting turn as her obsessed former boyfriend.

Adapted by Gillian Flynn from her best-selling novel, with stunning cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth and the signature ambient tones of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on scoring duties, director David Fincher assembles his regular team to take the undeniably trashy source material and craft another visually sharp, visceral, and gripping work to add to his pitch black filmography.  Though aided by a phenomenal performance from Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl is still nothing more than a large helping of artisanal dark chocolate cinema- lush and well-crafted but ultimately bitter and unfulfilling, not offering much in the way of intellectual sustenance.


FRAGMENTS
- Amusing quip about "fetish manga" nestled in Amy's mid-film monologue

- Tyler Perry would not have agreed to be in this film had he been familiar with David Fincher's work before his agent convinced him to take the role (Vulture)


007 CONNECTIONS
- Rosamund Pike (Miranda Frost in Die Another Day)


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Carrie Coon (Proxima Midnight in Avengers: Infinity War)

Still Alice

STILL ALICE
2014 | Dir. Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland | 109 Minutes

"The Art of Losing isn't hard to master: so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster."

Brilliant Columbia University linguistics professor and mother of three, at age 50 Alice Howland begins to lose her intellect to a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. As Alice's memory and other cognitive functions begin to rapidly erode, she and her family struggle to come to terms with their new reality.

Based on the novel by Lisa Genova, Still Alice is carried by a tour-de-force performance from Julianne Moore playing the title character. Moore is heartbreaking as Alice, convincingly articulate communicating complex academic concepts and jargon in a lecture scene at the start of the film, and just as convincing playing a barely functioning Alice before the credits roll. The most moving sequence comes towards the end of the picture, with Moore doing an amazing job playing against a recording of herself, wherein Alice attempts to carry out a secret contingency plan to end her own life established earlier in the film.

The supporting cast prominently features Alec Baldwin as Alice's husband John, and Kristen Stewart as her younger daughter Lydia. Baldwin turns in a serviceable, though somewhat run-of-the-mill performance. Stewart's role is a bit more challenging, at odds with her mother's wishes from the start but willing to accept and become her caretaker in the end, she manages to handle the role well but doesn't offer much in terms of emotional versatility.

The film offers a blow-by-blow depiction of the devastating effects of Alzheimer's Disease, represented in several sequences with by creative cinematography. As Alice's perception becomes hazier, the camera shots become blurred and her surroundings are obscured. The film presents the disease as a sort of soft death sentence, without becoming too heavy-handed in its message about how we treat those suffering from it. It is at times difficult to watch but Still Alice features one of the finest performances from Moore to date.


FRAGMENTS
- The film pairs Julianne Moore with Alec Baldwin - the two had hilarious chemistry when Moore was a guest star playing one of Jack Donaghy's old flames on 30 Rock

- I can't help but wonder if the film would have been slightly better if a more capable actress had played Alice's daughter Lydia - To date it seems Kristen Stewart's face can show one expression and one expression only

Deux Jours, Une Nuit (Two Days, One Night)

DEUX JOURS, UNE NUIT (TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT)
2014 | Dir. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne | 95 Minutes

"Every time I feel like a beggar, a thief coming to take their money."

After spending a period of time away from work, clinically depressed Sandra has one weekend to convince each of her co-workers to vote on Monday morning for the business to keep her employed as opposed to making her redundant and accepting a substantial bonus. As Sandra meets colleague after colleague face-to-face, her depression worsens as nearly every casual acquaintance and close workmate needs the bonus, each one like her and her family struggling to make ends meet, whether or not they ultimately vote to assist her.

With the other actors in the film portraying simple characters that exist only to interact with the lead, the entire film hinges on Marion Cotillard's performance as Sandra, and she truly delivers. Cotillard is appropriately hard-edged as a woman of the shrinking economic middle-class, staving off despair while also fighting to maintain her pride. From the outset, Cotillard's turn as Sandra is unglamorous but strong and captivating, ingesting anti-depressants like candy, expecting the worst of her co-workers even if the outcome of the vote turns out to be in her favor.

Running just over an hour and a half, Two Days, One Night is a short film that asks simple but difficult questions. Is it right to help yourself if in doing so you forsake others? Is it right to ask for help from others if in doing so they forsake themselves?


FRAGMENTS
- I'm embarrassed to admit that I've only ever seen Marion Cotillard in Christopher Nolan films in which she plays underwritten characters that never really have much to do

- Cotillard won an Oscar in 2007 playing singer Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, and her performance in this film earned her another nomination

- The classic French pop tune that plays on the radio halfway through the film: Petula Clark's "La Nuit N'en Finit Plus"

Foxcatcher

FOXCATCHER
2014 | Dir. Bennett Miller | 134 Minutes

"Coach is a father. Coach is a mentor. Coach has great power, great import on an athlete's life."

Based on the events that transpired around eccentric American multimillionaire and Olympic wrestling coach John du Pont's assembly of a wrestling team to compete in 1988 Summer Olympics, Foxcatcher is primarily centered on du Pont's relationship with 1984 Olympic champion Mark Schultz. The film explores du Pont's manipulation of Schultz to win his friendship, admiration, and to ultimately take control of the young wrestler's career. In direct opposition to du Pont, is Mark Schultz's brother and fellow 1984 Olympic champion Dave.

Named for the du Pont training camp at Foxcatcher Farm, the film depicts the estate as a decadent but dreary place. Director Bennett Miller layers this darkness over the entire film, imbuing the picture with a deeply foreboding atmosphere.

Steve Carell, famous for his comedic roles, shows off his dramatic skills as du Pont. Playing the deeply troubled man, Carrell is controlled, incredibly unsettling but undeniable captivating. The prosthetics, odd speech patterns and inflections are distracting for about a minute before Carell takes complete ownership over the complex role, making a full transformation into the mentally unstable man. Carell is at his most effective when delivering empty glances and brief verbal responses whenever du Pont is met with any situation he finds disagreeable.

Adding another notable performance to his versatile body of work, Channing Tatum is solid as the frustrated and naive Mark Schultz. Beginning the film as a prideful young man of limited means, living in the shadow of his older brother's success, and gradually succumbing to the daunting influence and manipulation of du Pont, Tatum successfully brings both incredible strength and incredible vulnerability to the role.

Playing the other guiding force in Mark Schulz's life, his older brother Dave, Mark Ruffalo is at his best when the film calls for Dave to support his brother and openly defy du Pont. In one notable scene showcasing Ruffalo's performance, Dave is asked by a documentary filmmaker to speak highly of du Pont's influence on his own wrestling career and Dave could not bring himself to say the words with any measure of sincerity.

A taught drama driven by amazing performances, most notably from Carrell, Foxcatcher is a sharp counterpoint to the myriad inspirational Hollywood sports films.


FRAGMENTS
- John du Pont was buried in his Foxcatcher wrestling singlet in accordance with his will (CNN)

- Here's hoping Steve Carell gets more quality dramatic work like this

- Curious to me that Mark Ruffalo was nominated for an Oscar for his work in this film (though he was good) but not Channing Tatum (who nailed a much more challenging role)


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner in The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)

- Channing Tatum (Remy LeBeau in Deadpool & Wolverine)

Whiplash

WHIPLASH
2014 | Dir. Damien Chazelle | 107 Minutes

"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job.'"

With dreams of becoming an accomplished musician, jazz band drummer Andrew Neiman is a young student at the Shaffer Conservatory in New York City vying for a spot in conductor Terrance Fletcher's studio band. When he catches his break, Neiman quickly finds Fletcher to be extraordinarily abusive. Undeterred and pushed to the limits of his abilities, Neiman struggles to win the approval of Fletcher, sacrificing his spare time and any chance at maintaining meaningful relationships.

Though Miles Teller plays the lead- who does a fine job bringing a naive vulnerability and a gritty edge to the role of Neiman, selling both doe-eyed innocence and burning defiance throughout the film- unequivocally, the film is dominated by the presence of J.K. Simmons as Fletcher. Simmons' Fletcher demolishes nearly everyone in his path, expertly delivering litany after litany of volatile vitriol to his students demanding nothing less than perfection, zeroing in on any deeply personal insecurity he may detect, occasionally hurling furniture or equipment when he doesn't get his way. Balancing out this performance, Simmons also excels in quiet moments that explain but in no way completely justify Fletcher's motivation: his belief that positive reinforcement sabotages the cultivation of true talent.

The cast also features Paul Reiser in a small role as Neiman's supportive father and Melissa Benoist in a rather thankless part as Neiman's jilted girlfriend Nicole, a character that solely exists to show a facet of what the young man is sacrificing in order to achieve his dream.

Featured in the 2012 Black List*, despite a few minor flaws (particularly the paper-thin character of Nicole), writer/director Damien Chazelle's screenplay based on his short film of the same name is virtually airtight with its very best moments focused on the character of Fletcher and his questionable treatment of his charges. Whiplash is a briskly paced, and wonderfully acted, small masterpiece of a film.

*The Black List is an annual survey of the most-liked Hollywood movie scripts not yet produced.


FRAGMENTS
- J.K. Simmons plays soft-spoken and and supportive Airbending Master Tenzin on The Legend of Korra, pretty much the polar opposite of Fletcher

- Miles Teller, showing incredible talent in this film, starred in Josh Trank's disastrous 2015 Fantastic Four reboot

- Melissa Benoist plays television's Supergirl


MCU CONNECTIONS
- J.K. Simmons (J. Johan Jameson in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home)

The Theory of Everything

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
2014 | Dir. James Marsh | 123 Minutes

"However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope."

Chronicling the relationship between world-renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking and his first wife Jane Wilde Hawking, The Theory of Everything is more about the challenge of keeping a marriage together than it is about astrophysics or Hawking's struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease. Based on Jane's memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, while the film spends an appropriate (or more accurately, obligatory) amount of time focused on Stephen's scientific breakthroughs and accomplishments, it's heart lies in scenes depicting the difficulties faced by the couple with Stephen's rise in fame and his deteriorating physical condition.

Unfolding like many biographical pictures, the film's narrative spans from Stephen and Jane falling in love at Cambridge University to their separation shortly before the release of A Brief History of Time. As interesting as the subject is, the pacing of this film can feel slightly plodding at times, as if checking off each major event in the lives of the Hawkings. What truly carries the film is the strength of its two lead actors.

Eddie Redmayne is phenomenal as Stephen Hawking, delivering a breakout performance that is truly worthy of praise, physically transforming himself with nuance and never parody. Felicity Jones shines as Jane, bringing incredible range to the role, as captivating playing Jane in her youth, bright and playful, as she is by the final reel, weary and emotionally defeated. Rounding out the cast is David Thewlis as Stephen's instructor at Cambridge, Charlie Cox as Stephen's one-time caretaker and eventually Jane's second husband, and Emily Watson in a small part as Jane's mother.

Suffering from narrative drawbacks typical of most life story films, the most captivating aspect of this picture is the fascinating lives of its subjects and the talent on display from the actors portraying them. More effective as a love story than as a straightforward biopic, The Theory of Everything is a worthwhile experience for the performances alone.


FRAGMENTS
- Shortly after viewing this film, I watched the Wachowski's Jupiter Ascending featuring Eddie Redmayne as an over-the-top intergalactic aristocrat, not so much chewing the CGI-scenary but devouring it whole

- Watching David Thewlis play another brilliant and supportive academic instructor, I can't help but be reminded of Professor Remus Lupin, one of my very favorite Harry Potter characters

- Good to see Harry Lloyd in a small part in this one - perhaps best known to American audiences as Viserys Targaryen, Daenerys' hateful brother on Game of Thrones

MCU CONENCTIONS

- Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Selma

SELMA
2014 | Dir. Ava DuVernay | 127 Minutes 

"What we do is negotiate, demonstrate, resist."

Director Ava DuVernay's Selma recounts the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, offering a candid harrowing glimpse into the challenges and violence faced by the protestors participating in African-American Civil Rights Movement. Centered on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC's involvement in the marches, the film depicts a wide range of obstacles encountered by the activists, not least of which constant distressing surveillance from J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, represented onscreen throughout the entire film by the bureau's ominous memos.

Selma covers an incredible amount of ground, balancing Dr. King's personal struggles, the infighting among civil rights groups of the time, President Lyndon B. Johnson's reluctance to fully back the Selma marches, and not least of which the brutality surrounding the protests. The film's most striking element are the scenes of racially charged hate crimes experienced by African-Americans and their supporters. Shortly into the film's running time, a haunting scene plays out in slow motion depicting the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that claimed the lives of four innocent girls, only the first of in a series of chilling scenes of horror that include the shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson - pursued by Selma police from a peaceful protest on the street and into a restaurant and killed for trying to protect his family, and the murder of James Reeb, a white minister from Boston who heeded Dr. King's call to clergy of all faiths for support.

David Oyelowo is tasked with the incredibly difficult job of bringing Dr. King to life on screen but he does so admirably, delivering Dr. King's historical speeches with proper authority while also showing a vulnerably in the man that is seldom portrayed. Though the film's portrayal of LBJ is controversial, Tom Wilkinson does a fine job as the conflicted president. Carmen Ejogo delivers a strong performance as Coretta Scott King, weary of the sacrifices made in the name of the movement, and fearful for her husband's safety.

Other notable supporting actors include Giovanni Ribisi as presidential adviser Lee C. White, Common as civil rights leader James Bevel, and Tim Roth as racist Governor George Wallace with Stephen Root as his cohort Alabama Public Safety Director Al Lingo (distracting in that both are just short of mustache-twirlingly evil). Late in the film Martin Sheen briefly appears as federal judge Frank Minis Johnson with Cuba Gooding, Jr. as civil rights attorney Fred Gray. Oprah Winfrey, one of the producers of this film, is featured in a small role as Annie Lee Cooper, famous for punching Selma Sheriff Jim Clark- an incident depicted in the film.

Setting itself apart from most historical dramas by featuring stark depictions of the high and often bloody cost of progress in the struggle for civil rights, Selma is a powerful and truly inspirational film.


FRAGMENTS
- Disappointed that Ava DuVernay was not nominated for an Oscar

- Also, disappointed that neither David Oyelowo nor Carmen Ejogo were not nominated for Oscars


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Tim Roth (Emil Blonsky in The Incredible Hulk)

- Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, and The Marvels)

The Imitation Game

THE IMITATION GAME
2014 | Dir. Morten Tyldum | 114 Minutes

"Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

The Imitation Game tells the true story of Alan Turing, the brilliant English mathematician who was instrumental in British efforts to decipher Nazi military intelligence encoded by the German Enigma machines throughout World War II. Turing eventually created the Turing Machine, the world's first computer. The film is juxtaposes three distinct time periods of Turing's life: His unhappy childhood spent in a boarding school in 1927, his time as a code breaker in Bletchley Park from 1939 to VE Day, and the last years of his life persecuted by Britain for being homosexual.

Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Turing as a social pariah imbued with extraordinary intellect isn't a far cry from his turn as Sherlock Holmes on the BBC's Sherlock, but he plays the role with delicate nuance and grace, and brings a striking vulnerability to the at-times larger than life character. Late in the film, after Turing began a government-mandated regimen of medication to chemically castrate him, Cumberbatch is simply heartbreaking as he demonstrates the deterioration of Turing's once-formidable mental faculties, unable to even begin to solve a crossword puzzle, intellectual diversions he once relished.

The film boasts a robust supporting cast featuring Charles Dance, Mark Strong, Matthew Goode, and Keira Knightley. Knightley in particular is most impressive as Joan Clarke, Turing's longtime friend, colleague, and trusted confidant, brilliant in her own right and personally recruited by Turing to be a codebreaker during a time when women were relegated to secretarial duties. Perhaps best known for playing plucky female heroes, Knightley delivers a strong performance, appropriately portraying Clarke as a fully-realized woman, more than just a one-dimensional supporting figure. Alex Lawther's excellent performance as Turing at age 12 is also worth mentioning, effectively carrying his third of the narrative, culminating in a powerful scene in which young Turing learns of the untimely passing of his closest friend.

Written by Graham Moore, based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges, the screenplay topped the 2011 Black List* and it shows. Exchanges between Turing his colleagues, particularly with Clarke, are brisk and full of wit and tact. Competently directed by Morten Tyldum, it's a tight and appropriately thrilling historical drama, with hefty dose of espionage intrigue slightly marred by just a few instances of distracting World War II stock footage and brief CGI sequences used to bridge certain sequences. The film is an effective statement on how society is often guilty of mistreating its heroes simply for straying from the norm, for being different.

*The Black List is an annual survey of the most-liked Hollywood movie scripts not yet produced.


FRAGMENTS
- Yet another good film to add to the collective of essential World War II films

- Always a pleasure to see Charles Dance and Mark Strong do their respective things. although I imagine it must be at least mildly frustrating to be the go-to "British Bad Guy" character actors


007 CONNECTIONS
- Rory Kinnear (Bill Tanner in Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time To Die)


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Benedict Cumberbatch (Stephen Strange in Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness)

The Grand Budapest Hotel

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
2014 | Dir. Wes Anderson | 100 Minutes

"You see, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity."

Set in the years leading up to World War II, The Grand Budapest Hotel is the story of a highly dedicated but just as eccentric hotel concierge, framed for the murder of one of his elderly lovers, and the efforts of his faithful lobby boy to rescue him from the machinations of the true perpetrators. The central narrative, told in five parts that take us from art heist to prison break to mountaintop sled chase to epic shootout, is nestled within a framing mechanism that shifts through three different eras (complete with shifting aspect ratios), effectively establishing a dreamlike nostalgic quality for the film.

Ralph Fiennes is a marvel as concierge M. Gustave H., direct, charming, switching between slightly effeminate intonations and frustrated anger at the drop of a hat. However, it can be said that Tony Revolori is the true star of the picture as the young lobby boy Zero, the nuanced straight man playing against Fiennes' bombastic Gustave. Though appearing only briefly in scenes that take place in the 1960s, F. Murray Abraham brings gravitas to the framing story as the older Zero, playing against the ever reliable Jude Law as a young author.

Filling out the rest of the cast is a parade of incredible character actors, including many familiar faces to fans of director Wes Anderson's work: Tilda Swinton nearly unrecognizable as the elderly Madame Céline Villeneuve Desgoffe und Taxis, Adrien Brody as her villainous son Dimitri, Willem Dafoe as Dimitri's ruthless henchman, Mathieu Amalric as skittish manservant Serge X., Jeff Goldblum as an unassuming lawyer, Edward Norton as a weary military officer, and Saoirse Ronan as Zero's girlfriend Agatha. The film also features brief cameos from Tom Wilkinson, Jason Schwartzman, Léa Seydoux, Harvey Keitel, Wallace Wolodarksy, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson.

With snappy dialogue, colorful production design and art direction, and numerous performances to savor, Anderson delivers another signature meticulously crafted ride.


FRAGMENTS
- Seriously, at this point, what can't Tilda Swinton play?

- Always a pleasure to watch Adrien Brody completely flip out as a villain

- He's aged quite a bit over the past few years but I honestly believe Harvey Keitel can still kick your ass


007 CONNECTIONS
- Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene in Quantum of Solace)

- Ralph Fiennes (M in Skyall, Spectre, and No Time To Die)

- Léa Seydoux (Madeleine Swann in Spectre and No Time To Die)


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Edward Norton (Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk)

- Tilda Swinton (The Ancient One in Doctor Strange and Avengers: Endgame)

- Jeff Goldblum (Grandmaster in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok)

- Tony Revolori (Flash Thompson in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home)

- Jude Law (Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel)

- Willem Dafoe (Norman Osborn in Spider-Man: No Way Home)

- Bill Murray (Krylar in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)

- Owen Wilson (Mobius M. Mobius in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)

Boyhood

BOYHOOD
2014 | Dir. Richard Linklater | 166 Minutes

"We're all just winging it, you know? The good news is you're feeling stuff. And you've got to hold on to that."

From age six to eighteen, Mason Evans, Jr. is shaped by various influences while trying to discover an identity of his own and establish some semblance of direction in his ever-changing life. With Boyhood director Richard Linklater accomplished a monumental technical feat, filming this picture over the course of twelve years with the same central cast members aging for real as the film rolls along.

The success of the film rests on the shoulders of young Ellar Coltrane as Mason, who not only visibly ages but also develops as an actor from scene to scene. Watching Coltrane grow and mature alongside his character Mason, joined by Linklater's daughter Lorelei as Mason's sister, is a captivating experience. Patricia Arquette is the unsung hero of the picture playing Mason's mother who begins as a lost young woman, moving from one abusive alcoholic husband to another, and ends the film as a slightly world-weary college professor who hasn't lost any love for her children. Ethan Hawke plays Mason's estranged father who fights to stay close to his children, an immature aspiring musician who eventually becomes a grounded responsible man. Amusingly enough, from start to finish, both Arquette and Hawke visibly improve as actors as well.

The passage of time is mostly transparent, sometimes marked by various cultural and historically significant events (from violence erupting in Iraq to mark the start of George W. Bush's "war in terrorism" to the midnight release of the sixth Harry Potter novel to the 2012 presidential election), sometimes a period-appropriate soundtrack cue and sometimes just by the length of Mason's hair. Questions that Mason would ask his father, seeking guidance in life, grow in complexity as he ages, moving from questions about the existence of elves to whether or not there'd be a new Star Wars film after the prequels to the big question about the purpose of life after his first major breakup.

Boyhood is an incredible cinematic accomplishment, developed naturally and edited flawlessly to build a narrative that is remarkably lucid and at times profound, a very personal story told on a time scale that feels truly epic.


FRAGMENTS
- Young Mason was apparently a big fan of Dragon Ball Z, with a bedset featuring the Z Warriors, posters, even watching an episode is an early scene

- I'm reminded of Michael Adpted's Up docmentary in which the filmmaker revisits fourteen British men and women from different walks of life every seven years to see where life has taken them - and of course, we also have the Harry Potter films

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)
2014 | Dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu | 119 Minutes

"Shave off that pathetic goatee. Get some surgery. Sixty's the new thirty, motherfucker."

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) stars Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson, an aging washed-up Hollywood actor, best known for portraying the titular comic book hero "Birdman." Riggan struggles to make a comeback as a "serious" actor on Broadway but as his stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" buckles under the strain of his troubled personal life, difficult co-stars, and critical scrutiny with opening night fast approaching, Riggan’s Birdman alter-ego, an ever-present embodiment of his mid-life crisis, strengthens its grip on his already-fragile psyche.

Possibly Keaton's best performance to date, he's brilliant as Riggan, a man who represents a heightened approximation of Keaton's career, both an egotistical cad and a sympathetic (mostly pathetic) loser at the end of his wits. All this can be said before applying the other half of the equation: Keaton completely letting loose as the volatile, foul-mouthed, psychotic Birdman, who begins the film as a raspy voice imbuing Thomson with (hallucinations of?) telekinesis and eventually evolves into a full lycra-superhero-suit-wearing manifestation complete with CGI-infused superpowers. Keaton is an absolute pleasure to watch in this film.

Edward Norton nearly steals the show as Mike Shiner, a talented stage actor who is notorious for being a nightmare for directors. Shiner is to Norton as Thomson is to Keaton, an entertaining exaggeration of Norton's reputation as a difficult actor, quick to serve up awful behavior to everyone in his wake. Shiner’s emotionally fragile girlfriend Lesley is played by Naomi Watts, delivering a performance to relish - an actress who is manic, unstable, and on the cusp of madness herself. Another stand-out performance in Birdman belongs to Zach Galifianakis, playing against as Thomson's level-headed yet relentlessly opportunistic lawyer. Rounding out the impressive supporting cast are Emma Stone, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, and Lindsay Duncan.

Though Birdman is set mostly in the theater and on the city blocks within its vicinity, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu brings a kinetic energy to the narrative by presenting the film as if it were shot in one take. Save for a recurring scene that bookends the film, through clever editing and special effects the picture seamlessly transitions from one scene to the next.

Birdman is an incredibly well-crafted, hilarious dark comedy sporting an amazing cast and more than a few twisty metatextual turns. Iñárritu guides Keaton and the audience through a bumpy ride from frustration to despair to psychosis and, ultimately, to triumph.


FRAGMENTS
- Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, and Emma Stone all have superhero movie cred

- Up until this film, I'd only ever seen Lindsay Duncan in minor parts on Doctor Who and Sherlock but she plays a great antagonist in this film, a merciless theatre critic who is all too ready to write-off Riggan sight unseen


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Edward Norton (Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk)

- Michael Keaton (Adrian Toomes in Spider-Man: Homecoming)

American Sniper

AMERICAN SNIPER
2014 | Dir. Clint Eastwood | 134 Minutes

"The thing that haunts me are all the guys that I couldn't save."

Director Clint Eastwood's latest film is an adaptation of Navy sniper Chris Kyle’s memoir. Kyle is portrayed in the film as a modern day cowboy who happens to carry the reputation for being "the most lethal sniper in U.S. history". With considerably more action than the standard Iraq War film, half of American Sniper plays out too much like an old school western, the story of a gunman doling out his personal brand of justice in unfamiliar territory. The other, more effective half is spent on the home front, exploring the irreparable psychological damage suffered by veterans, even in (or perhaps, especially in) those with an unwavering sense of duty.

The action depicted in the picture is incredibly visceral although many of the sequences feel staged, unnatural, manufactured. From Kyle's first mission, in which he has to make the call to take out an Iraqi child carrying an explosive, to his final showdown with rival legendary sniper "Mustafa", the intensity of each action scene is palpable but too obviously embellished for dramatic effect. More realistic is how the film handles the tension at home between Kyle and his wife, quiet moments in which the soldier can never truly put into words his justification to continually return to the battlefield and aid his comrades.

Though not nearly as flashy as most of the roles in his body of work, Bradley Cooper delivers a cool and controlled performance as Kyle. Cooper carries charisma and pathos through the entire character arc, beginning as a relatively straightforward and strong-willed man, eventually becoming more vulnerable as each tour of duty weathers away Kyle’s psychological fortitude. Sienna Miller plays Taya Kyle, a difficult but crucial role although the film doesn't offer her much more to do than to present a strong argument against her husband’s devotion to the military.

Not quite an accurate representation of the war in Iraq, American Sniper is perhaps best viewed as an action film with just a bit more dramatic heft than the standard popcorn movie. Despite the action reaching jarring levels of incredulousness for a picture that is based on true events, it's still a captivating experience and Kyle's real life heroism is never in question. If there's one aspect of the film that succeeds, it's the air of authenticity surrounding its portrayal of the fragile reality of veterans at home.


FRAGMENTS
- Kyle spots his friend reading an issue of Marvel's Punisher upon returning to camp after his first mission - later, the unit wears the Punisher's skull logo on their body armor and it is spray painted on their vehicles

- While portrayed in the film as Kyle's equal and opposite number, Mustafa is only mentioned briefly and in passing in Kyle's memoir (The Washington Post)


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Bradley Cooper (Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

The 87th Academy Awards

My rankings of the major Oscar contenders of 2015:

BEST PICTURE
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Whiplash
3. Birdman *
4. Selma
5. The Imitation Game
6. Boyhood
7. The Theory of Everything
8. American Sniper

DIRECTING
1. Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
2. Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman) *
3. Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
4. Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)
5. Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)

ACTOR - IN A LEADING ROLE
1. Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) *
2. Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
3. Michael Keaton (Birdman)
4. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
5. Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)

ACTRESS - IN A LEADING ROLE
1. Julianne Moore (Still Alice) *
2. Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
3. Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
4. Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
5. Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)

WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1. Paul Thomas Anderson (Inherent Vice)
2. Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
3. Graham Moore (The Imitation Game) *
4. Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything)
5. Jason Hall (American Sniper)

WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1. Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
2. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo (Birdman) *
3. Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)
4. Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
5. E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman (Foxcatcher)

*Actual Winners