The Master (2012)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer:    Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast:       Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern

A naval veteran Freddie (Phoenix) arrives home from the second world war unsettled and uncertain of his future-until he is tantalized by The Cause and its charismatic leader, Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman). Dodd is attracted to Freddie initially by the drink that he gives him which is made out of several industrial/household chemicals like Paint thinner. For Freddie it is a case of someone who is actively being interested in him and also it might be a case of him liking an authoritative figure around him. 

I had seen it when it got released and found it to be good but requiring multiple viewing to appreciate it more. It took me three viewings to fully appreciate P T Anderson's previous one, 'There Will Be Blood'. I finally got round to watching The Master again after listening to Anderson's interview with Marc Maron in the WTF podcast. When the film got released, most of the publicity it got was because of Lancaster Dodd's character being based on the Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. I am not that interested in that particular comparison mainly because we in India are so familiar with all these God Men/Women like figures and 'Art of Living' fraudsters. So it was better for me to view Dodd as such a generic sort of character and the conflicts that he goes through keeping with his lies is an interesting angle. I do think most of these people are just living their lies rather than actually believing in the kind of shit that they come out with.

Both Dodd and Freddie need each other. Dodd is surrounded by his family members and the cult. Some of the family members like his much younger wife, daughter and son-in-law are very much into the cult either being fully bought into it or as a matter of convenience. His son is of the view that Dodd is just making up shit as he go along and Freddie is also under that impression even though he want it to be the other way. When Dodd's wife warns him of Freddie being a negative influence and not really into the cult, he makes him go through the ridiculous programming process and we see how conflicted Freddie is when doing it. There could also be a homo-erotic angle to their relationship but sometimes they come across as a father-son combo or just friends. Freddie needs him but can't put up with all the other bullshit that comes with Dodd. Dodd needs Freddie to escape from the cult he is surrounded with, at least fleetingly.

Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead continues his collaborative partnership with P T Anderson which started with 'There Will Be Blood'. It is a 'tour de force' acting performance with all three of them earning academy award nominations. Film was shot in 70 mm which has become a sort of fad with Tarantino and Christopher Nolan also joining the bandwagon. They have at least saved Kodak with some of the studios guaranteeing a quota of films to be filmed in the traditional way. To sum up, I still find the film to be something that I admire rather than really love. That was the case with 'There Will Be Blood' also before the third viewing changed it to something that I love. To end it on a tragic note, Philip Seymour Hoffman had his first drink in 23 years at the wrap party of the film, leading to a relapse of his alcoholism.

Rating: 4.5/5 

                                                                      

Kill the Messenger (2014)

Director: Michael Cuesta
Writers:  Peter Landesman, Gary Webb, Nick Schou
Cast:       Jeremy Renner, Robert Patrick, Jena Sims, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta

A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing Cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.

The backdoor channel of arming Contra rebels started after the Congress denied the government permission to formally wage a war in Nicaragua during the cold war times. I was aware about this story and Gary Webb after listening to one of Dan Carlin's Common Sense podcast episodes. So I practically knew the entire story upfront. I really don't like Jeremy Renner and think he has such a punchable smug face. So there wasn't much incentive to watch it also because it didn't get an overwhelmingly positive critical reviews. Despite all that I finally took the plunge since it is a genre that I enjoy very much with Michael Mann's 'The Insider' and Pakula's 'All the President's Men' being the high watermark points. It is not a great film by any means but is nevertheless a very good watch with good performance from Renner. The complicity of the mainstream papers like NYT & WP was new information for me and in that regard they very much worked like establishment's mouthpiece like they did when they manufactured the consent for Iraq War through their reportage on imaginary WMDs. The media coverage CIA's shenanigans in Latin America and Central America is used extensively by Noam Chomsky in his book 'Manufacturing Consent'. The difference in this case was that they directly caused enormous harm to American people and as the film points out rather than American soldiers it was the black Americans who were addicted to crack-cocaine who were the victims. The irony of waging a War on Drugs and at the same time encouraging drug trafficking to pursue their interests elsewhere.

The CIA kind of admitted to its doing by releasing a 400 page report in a very cunning fashion during the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal so that it would not get any media attention. Poor Gary Webb, he was found dead in 2004 with two gunshot wounds to his head which was deemed to be a suicide. We are prepared to believe the worst about CIA and US intelligence community after the Snowden affairs. The merit of the film lies more with its documentary value rather than pure cinematic excellence. 

Rating: 3.5/5

                                                                     

το χαμένο σήμα της δημοκρατίας (The Lost Signal of Democracy) (2014)

It is a documentary about the un-constitutional shutdown of the Greek Public Broadcaster ERT by the conservative government under the pretext of Troika imposed austerity measures. ERT was funded by the Greek people with payment collected as part of their electricity bills and the broadcaster contributed to the government coffers to the tune of 110 million euros from a revenue of 300 million euros. It made no sense whatsoever when the government took the decision other than it being a fascist act eating away at the core of Democracy in the place where it was invented.

The narrative of German savers being screwed up by countries like Spain and Greece is something that has been going on since the advent of the Euro-crisis. This is wrong on several counts as explained by economist Michael Pettis in his blog: Syriza and the French indemnity of 1871-73 . It was not a case of one country borrowing from the other since the savings from individuals were collectively channeled to other individuals in the periphery through the banks. Both the lender and borrower are responsible for it and sacrifices have to be made by both sides when things go tits up. What has happened so far by means of austerity is that only one of them is being held responsible. Even more ludicrous thing is that it is doing no good but harm for both sides. Suppose a country's GDP is 100 and its sovereign debt is also 100% of its GDP. If the GDP growth is less than the rate at which the debt is growing then it is inevitably gonna spiral out of control. The austerity measures are only gonna put brakes on its GDP growth which is not gonna help anyone.

What is good about the documentary is that it is not painting a picture where ERT is held up as some sort of BBC like broadcaster with minimal problems. They concede that like any government organizations it is also under the grip of clientelism and what not. The situation they compare with is someone taking a boy with a broken arm to hospital where the doctor says that he is gonna kill him to relieve him from his pain. The un-democratic action by the government made the people to rally around the issue to vent their frustrations against austerity. Greece is not a place which is unfamiliar with fascism as it was under a military junta from the 1930s to around the 60s. People there seems very aware about the threat and the parliament shown passing ordinances with only three members present was indeed surreal. It is very good but a disturbing watch.

Rating: 4.5/5

                                                                     

Kraftidioten (In Order of Disappearance) (2014)

Director: Hans Peter Moland
Writer:    Kim Fupz Aakeson
Cast:       Stellan Skarsgard, Pal Sverre Hagen, Bruno Ganz
Languages: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, English

The honorable citizen Nils (Skarsgard) has the job of ploughing snow in the wild winter mountains of Norway. When his son is mistakenly murdered, Nils takes action, which ignites a war between the vegan gangster "the count" (Hagen) and the Serbian mafia boss Papa (Ganz).

It has got a Scandinavian ensemble not just in terms of the nationality of actors but also the characters. Nils is Swedish, Count is Norwegian, his wife is Danish, Papa is Serbian and 'The Chinese' is actually Japanese. Many of the humor in it relies on the characters confusing the nationalities involved and it helps if you as a viewer correctly identifies it correctly. I could spot some of them based on what other Scandinavian films I have watched and the lady in it was in Borgen which is Danish. Each of the deaths are marked by a title card with their name and religion. Religions are denoted by the type of Cross and the sole Jewish guy is given that Jewish Star. I was disappointed that none of them were atheists but I guess the Vegan do count. The title of the film comes from the title cards and is also marked during the closing credits where all the actors' names are shown together and each of them disappearing from the screen in order of disappearance. 

It is very funny and exquisite to watch. The snow clad mountain and the confusion that ensues would remind one of Fargo but got to say this one is much funnier and less darker. The whole thing is an in-joke about setting a gangster picture in a civilized place like Norway. Some of the immigrant gangsters are bemused by the way things are in Norway and is evident in the way they talk about the lack of violence and rapes in Norwegian prisons. They also reckon welfare is the only thing that keep people in such a cold and shitty place. The funniest of all is the kidnapped school kid talking about Stockholm Syndrome. 

Overall it is just about perfect and a very enjoyable watch which continues to surprise as it progresses. The body disposal technique of Nils is just breathtaking. I haven't seen any other films from the director who seem to favor crime comedies.

Rating: 4.5/5 

                                                                  

Best of 2014

Here it goes...

1. Birdman (Alejandro Gonazalez Inarritu)
2. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyaginstev)
3. Boyhood (Richard Linklater)
4. Force Majeure (Ruben Östlund)
5. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch)
6. Enemy (Denis Villeneuve)
7. Calvary (John Michael McDonagh)
8. Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
9. Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy)
10. Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)
11. Wild Tales (Damian Szifron)
12. New World (Hoon-jung Park)
13. Predestination (The Spierig Bros)
14. Black Coal, Thin Ice (Yi'nan Diao)
15. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
16. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson)
17. A Most Violent Year (J.C. Chandor)
18. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (Ana Lily Amirpour)
19. Kraftidioten (Hans Peter Moland)
20. Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)
21. Citizenfour (Laura Poitras)
22. The Babadook (Jennifer Kent)
23. Two Days, One Night (Dardennes)
24. Mommy (Xavier Dolan)
25. Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman)
26. Housebound (Gerard Johnstone)
27. Wild (Jean-Marc Vallee)
28. Listen Up Philip (Alex Ross Perry)
29. The Drop (Michael R. Roskam)
30. Locke (Steven Knight)
31. Munnariyippu (Venu)
32. Love Is Strange (Ira Sachs)
33. What We Do In The Shadows (Clement & Waititi)
34. The Rover (David Michod)
35. Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Zellner Bros)
36. Snowpiercer (Joon-ho Bong)
37. Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg)
38. John Wick (Chad Stahelski)
39. Respire (Melanie Laurent)
40. '71 (Yann Demange)
41. Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller)
42. Starry Eyes (Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer)
43. Timbuktu (Adberrahmane Sissako)
44. Starred Up (David MacKenzie)
45. Le Week-End (Roger Michell)
46. Tusk (Kevin Smith)
47. A Most Wanted Man (Anton Corbijn)
48. Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski)
49. Why Don't You Play In Hell? (Shion Sono)
50. Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler)
51. Frank (Lenny Abrahamson)
52. Jodorowsky's Dune (Frank Pavich)
53. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reeves)
54. The Guest (Adam Wingard)
55. Godzilla (Gareth Edwards)
56. Obvious Child (Gillian Robespierre)
57. Coherence (James Ward Byrkit)
58. X-Men: Days of Future Past (Bryan Singer)

Its been a rather good year. 

Birdman (2014)

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Writers:  Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Armando Bo
Cast:       Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watss, Zach Galifianakis

A washed up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to opening of a Broadway play which he wrote and directed. 

It is Inarritu's way of saying 'Fuck You' to the system that churns out sequels, prequels and reboots of superhero shitfests making billions along the way. But mockery is not just aimed at the studios but also at the vanity and pretentiousness of those who also operate away from that system. Edward Norton fits perfectly in that regard. I was fearful that Birdman would turn out very much like American Hustle from last year, which was adored by the critics and I couldn't just see what the fuss was about. It was not the case for Birdman and the humor in it is very layered and intelligent. Criticism is not limited to the performance arts business but also at the vapid 'Selfie' phase of culture that we are going through right now. Michael Keaton's role in it is not very different from how his career turned out as it stands and everyone hopes he gets the kick-start he deserves at this point of time. He was in the first two batman films with the second one coming in 1992, a year which is also referenced in this film as the year in which the last Birdman film released. Same can be said about the other actors in it with Edward Norton having a reputation of being very hard top word with.

It is not a film that you would expect from Inarritu and everyone would have raised their eye-brows when they heard he is making a comedy film titled 'Birdman'. There were several writing partners involved and the film is shot as if the entirety of it is a single tracking shot. It is not a distraction since we know it is not a single take anyway because of the amount of time lapsing. It was filmed in sequence and that maybe how they managed to include that reference to Meg Ryan's plastic surgery, which happened quite recently. The performances are delightfully screen chewy, especially from Edward Norton. The soundtrack which involved a lot of drumming reminded me of the Oceans series and the vibe that this one generates is also strangely similar. I sat through the entire film with a big smile and there are plenty of lines that makes you laugh out loud with some examples being:

Lesley: I wish I had more self-respect.

Laura: You're an actress.

"Sixty is the new thirty, mother fucker."

"Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige."

A put down of that critic is also perfect. I kind of thought it was gonna go the cliched path with the actor committing suicide during the performance but it surprised me again with how it went on from there. Overall it is just great and is certainly among the best from last year. 2014 has been really a great year.

Rating: 5/5

                                                                   

The Unknown Known (2013)

Director: Errol Morris
Writer:    Errol Morris
Features: Donald Rumsfeld, Errol Morris (Voice)

Former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in the early 1960s to planning the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The title of the documentary comes from the quote that Donald Rumsfeld gave in 2002 about lack of evidence linking Saddam's regime with the supply of WMDs to terrorist groups. The full quote is as below:

"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones. "

When the documentary starts he says that is the lack of imagination from Intelligence agencies that led to failures like Pearl Harbour and 9/11. It is this that he means with the unknown unknown category. But later in the documentary he says that the unknown knowns, things that we think we know but turned out to be different, to be the most dangerous. When Morris points out that he used unknown unknown in the quote, Rumsfeld says that he meant unknown known and that can sum up his pedantry in torturing the language to suit his needs. Unknown unknown was used by him to convey the presence of imaginary WMDs and now we can use Unknown Known to describe what happened in Iraq after the invasion. 

The neo-cons, who also tend to be Jesus-Freaks, have a habit of making massive generalizations that are logically suspect. Another memo that he wrote regarding WMDs contained the argument that: 'Absence of Evidence is not evidence of absence'. This is something that religious people come out with when you question the absence of God. Well, you can also claim the existence of flying teapots orbiting Mars using that logic. 

Some have criticized the documentary for raising more questions than answers. That would be missing the point since it is aiming to depict how illogical and muddled Rumsfeld is in his rationalization. All of us know about what happened in Iraq and documentaries like 'No End in Sight' dealt with it already. What Morris is doing is to use Rumsfeld himself to reveal whatever he wants to say. The last question by a bewildered Morris: 'Why the hell have you agreed to do this?' is exactly what we feel. Maybe it is a case of someone who had Presidential ambitions in his 30s wanting a little more of the limelight. It was interesting that he took special care to describe Dick Cheney as his deputy when he was talking about the 70s. 

Rating: 4/5