Gone Girl (2014)

Director: David Fincher
Writer:    Gillian Flynn
Cast:       Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Kim Dickens

With his wife's (Rosamund Pike) disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man (Ben Affleck) sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent. It doesn't help him the fact that their marriage was in doldrums and he is kind of not unhappy with his wife gone.

Film is an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name and she herself wrote the screenplay for the film. Ben Affleck seems to be a hate target these days with him being cast as Batman (I couldn't care less about that) and that would have helped this film since his smugness causes hatred towards him from the media circus who judge him based on his appearance. I had an inkling about the twist which comes half way through the film based on things people posted on FB and all that. So I am not sure whether we were supposed to suspect Ben Affleck's character during the first half but I didn't anyway. It is a very entertaining watch with several twists and turns thrown in with plenty of black humor but I don't think it will be one for repeat viewing. The whole thing about anniversary present with clues and an associated treasure hunt might have been alright in the novel but in the film it looks very silly. The husband and wife are supposed to be some sort of intellectuals with a background in writing and that part is also not very convincing in the film. Still it is a very entertaining watch with a very perverse ending where both of them kind of agree to profit from all the shenanigans. 

It is what you expect from David Fincher these days- a slick one where he adapts things that should be very challenging to edit together with coherence (Zodiac, Social Network). Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) was involved with the soundtrack. Rosamund Pike is getting some high profile roles these days (Jack Reacher) and she was also involved in Edgar Wright's 'World's End'.

Rating: 3.5/5

Tusk (2014)

Director: Kevin Smith
Writer:   Kevin Smith
Cast:      Michael Parks, Justin Long, Haley Joel Osmont

When a podcaster Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) goes missing in the backwoods of Manitoba while interviewing a mysterious seafarer named Howard Howe (Michael Parks), his best friend and fellow podcaster Teddy (Haely Joel Osmont) and girlfriend Allison (Genesis Rodriguez) team with an ex-cop (Johnny Depp) to look for him.

I saw the film carrying an annoying bout of cold and am not sue whether it was because of that, I thought John Hurt was playing Howard Hoe, instead of Michael Parks, and Steve Coogan was playing the Quebec cop Guy Lapointe, instead of Johnny Depp. The film didn't help much in that regard by having Guy Lapointe playing Guy Lapointe in the closing credits and I assumed it was some famous French actor. The film began as an adaptation of a story said on Kevin Smith's podcast-'Smodcast'. It was based on an ad by a guy on Gumtree (British Craiglist-lite) who offered living conditions free of charge on the condition that the lodger will dress as a 'Walrus'. Smith then tweeted people to tweet #WalrusYes if they want the film to be made or else #WalrusNo. That is the background story to it. It is the first in Kevin Smith's planned trilogy of horror films set in Canada. Tusk is Smith channeling his inner Cronenberg and Coen Brothers and the result is a very enjoyable comedy-horror film. There was one point when I was thinking that the dialog have a very Coen feel to it, there was this Big Lebowski reference thrown in. The role played by Johnny Depp was initially offered to Tarantino, who turned it down citing that he has not interest in acting anymore, and am glad he did that because this is the best we have seen Depp in a long time, even though I didn't realize it was him until afterwards. It is also interesting to read the history of The Beatles' song 'I am the Walrus.

This was Smith's first feature film since 'Red State' and unlike that one, which he chose to do independent distribution with Q&A, Tusk got a limited release. It is much better than Red State and is Kevin Smith's best effort since 'Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back'. There are plenty of references to stories discussed in Smodcast for regular listeners, which I am not. It was good to see Haley Joel Osmont (Sixth Sense, A.I) back and the film is a great watch but as always, not recommended for everyone. 

Rating: 4/5 

Obvious Child (2014)

Director: Gillian Robespierre
Writer:    Gillian Robespierre
Cast:       Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann

A twenty something comedienne's unplanned pregnancy forces her to confront the realities of independent womanhood for the first time. Film can be best described as an 'Abortion Rom-Com' and I don't think I have seen any other films belonging to this genre yet. In films like 'Knocked Up' and 'Juno', the unplanned pregnancy never leads to abortion, and in US the A-Word is a huge debate point even during Presidential elections. So it is good on Gillian Robespierre to tackle the subject in a matter of fact way with the decision itself being not even debated. 

The great thing about the film is that it doesn't act like an 'Issue' based one. The characters look like just ordinary people which is very good for the story and Abortion is dealt as if it is just something that is part of life for many of the independent women in developed world. I don't know whether the A-list stars in Hollywood would sign up for a story like this anyway, which is really sad when you think of all the liberal issues that they are ready to tackle. But not having any very well known stars works very well for this film. Couple in question seems like not made for each other but the film ends with a question of whether they will carry on regardless. The question for her was not whether to have abortion or not but whether to inform the other guy, who was a stranger to her, about it or not.

Overall it is a very good one time watch. Gillian Robespierre had earlier made a short film with the same name and this one marked her directorial debut for a feature length film. It was send to Sundance film festival through Kickstarter which paved the way for its theatrical release.

Rating: 3.5/5

Palo Alto (2013)

Director: Gia Coppola
Writers:  James Franco, Gia Coppola
Cast:       Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer, James Franco

Palo Alto is famous as the happening place in Silicon Valley but this film has got nothing to do with Tech start-ups. It is about four teenagers whom you may stereotype as class virgin-April (Emma Roberts), class slut-Emily (Zoe Levin), dreamy artist-Teddy (Jack Kilmer) and an impulsive live-wire-Fred (Nat Wolff). April and Teddy have crush on each other which they haven't got a chance to communicate yet and the film doesn't have much of a plot and is a mood-piece, like Sofia Coppola's 'Lost In Translation'. If you liked that film like I did, you might enjoy Palo Alto.

So it is another one from the Coppola clan getting into film business. Gia Coppola is Francis Ford Coppola's grand daughter and the film is adapted from James Franco's collection of short stories called 'Palo Alto'. Emma Roberts is niece of Julia Roberts and Jack Kilmer is son  of Val Kilmer. You may very well prejudge that the film is an exercise in nepotism, but it is a very good watch if you are into films that is more about mood than plot. I will always take this over shit like 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' which got near universal acclaim. There is a coming of age element to all the four characters and it is quite subtle. James Franco plays the sympathetic football coach who has a thing for the girls whom he coaches. I don't know whether his real life Instagram related shenanigans had anything to do with promotion of this film but I suspect not. You cannot say for sure after Joaquin Phoenix's year long weird behavior for making 'that' documentary.

Gia Coppola's aunt, Sofia Coppola, also made her directorial debut with another teenage characters driven film called 'Virgin Suicide' but I found Palo Alto to be much better than that. Sofia had made another such film in 'Bling Ring' last year which I tried to watch but lasted only ten minutes or so. I guess it is similar to Spring Breakers, which also I didn't like because of the cringe inducing characters, but the entire point of those films would be the horribleness of its characters. Some people might say the same about the characters in Palo Alto but I found it to be very good but it might not be up everyone's alley.

Rating: 3.5/5  

Starred Up (2013)

Director: David Mackenzie
Writer:    Jonathan Asser
Cast:       Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend

A troubled and explosively violent teenager (Jack O'Connell) is transferred to an adult prison which also happens to occupy his father (Ben Mendelsohn). They didn't have much of a relationship before their meeting in prison and the father is trying to look out for him, even though he is a stranger to him by most measures. The son can take care of himself and the interference from father doesn't do either of them any good.

The title term 'Starred Up'  is used to describe the early transfer of a criminal from a Young Offender Institution to an adult prison. The protagonist is what he is partly because of the shitty parenting that he had. When he ends up in prison he gets more of the same although by the end of the film he develops a sort of relation with his father. That can be seen as a positive but it is at a cost. It can also be seen as a teenage drama where the parent doesn't know what his child wants. Great thing about the kid character is that it doesn't go into extremes like most films do when it comes to a violent character like this. He is behaving like a very angry teenager. But it is not without reason since he is trying to cope in a new environment where his anger issues is not doing him any favors. He ends up in a group of inmates who are handled by a social worker/researcher. There he finds people who are more extreme than him which basically puts him in his place. The whole 'Nurture' aspect of it displayed by the researcher is contrasted with the 'Nature' way of dealing things by the administration. This is a very cliched aspect in almost all the prison dramas but you cannot fault that because prison is somewhere you cannot ignore 'Nature Vs Nurture' debate.

The performances are excellent and it is good to see Ben Mendelsohn again (Animal Kingdom, Killing Them Softly). It has to be said that there is not much variety in the roles that he is getting but he has been excellent in playing these foul mouthed nearly deranged individuals. The film is based on the screenwriter Jonathan Asser's experience as a therapist in a prison. I haven't seen any other British prison dramas except for Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Bronson' which I didn't like. 

Rating: 4/5   

Peaky Blinders (TV Series) (Series- 1&2 )

Creator: Steven Knight
Cast:      Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Sam Neill, Tom Hardy, Annabelle Wallis

A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), who means to move up the world. At the face of it, it is an age old story that has been done to death in numerous mob films but I guess the setting of post World War One England and the stylized way it is shot (brutal with some great soundtrack) makes it quite unique. I haven't seen Boardwalk Empire, save for the first episode, and that would be the one with which it is going to get compared. For me, am quite sick of American mob stories and this British one makes for a very welcome change.

The Peaky Blinders are a bunch of Brummie brothers who are all suffering from PTSD after WW1. We are reminded so many times in the series that they were in fucking France in case you forgot. The times are interesting in Britain with the kingdom declaring war on  many enemies within itself-the communists, the Irish who are looking for independence and normal garden variety gangster kind. The gangster activity they are mainly running is illegal gambling activities along with their protection business. The series one involves them getting foothold in Birmingham and the second one have them entering London. First series was built up with bit more subtlety compared to second. But it was a lot more sure about its identity in the second series as I sat there smiling enjoying the sometimes cartoonish but always stylistic portrayal. The use of contemporary soundtrack like the ones from Arctic Monkeys can be quite risky in a period drama like this, but I enjoyed it. We have seen that recently in 'Django Unchained' and 'The Great Gatsby' and I don't mind the anachronism. If you are indeed going for stylishness, then why not? 

They managed to get Tom Hardy play a Jewish mobster/baker in the second series and he is great. He had starred recently in Steven Knight's feature film 'Locke' which was also excellent. The scene in last episode of  the series where Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy are doing an unconventional negotiation was particularly great. Another highlight of the season was:'Read Daily Mail, it will broaden your mind'. Even I got that joke, probably because of me being obsessed with LFC. Peaky Blinders was produced by BBC and in US it was distributed through Netflix. Series 3 has been commissioned and I think the British TV practice of having just 6 episodes every year is just about right since it is better to be left wanting more. The name Peaky Blinders is derived from a historic subculture that was there during those times and not necessarily from a single gangster group. The opening credits song Nick Cave's 'Red Right Hand' is also excellent giving a True Detective vibe to it.

Rating: 4/5

Tim's Vermeer (2013)

Director: Teller
Writers:   Penn Jillette, Teller
Features: Tim Jenison, Philip Steadman, David Hockney

Inventor Tim Jenison is seeking to understand the painting techniques used by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer, in order to test the theory that he painted with the help of optical devices.

Details about Vermeer's life are little known and there is no evidence of him getting any formal training in painting. Apart from the works that he produced, there are no remains of any trial works and his paintings don't have sketch marks or lines that are common in most of the paintings since the painters try to get the geometry right first. These points along with Vermeer's photo-realistic paintings have led to some contending that he used optics to get the paintings done though none have reproduced such a device till Tim Jenison looked into it. He finds out that he could involve a concave mirror and a comparator mirror allowing easy matching of color values. He proceeds to replicate the room that Vermeer painted for his 'The Music Lesson' and paint the same thing again using his technique. The result is what you have in the film's title-'Tim' Vermeer'. It took him almost a year to replicate the room and over four months to do the painting. The documentary is filmed over five years from 2008 to 2013.

Many of the art critics are repulsed by the idea that Vermeer could have been using mechanical aid to do his painting which according to them would have made him more of an inventor than an artist. The documentary makers contend that it is their problem to do the segregation as artist and technologist when one can be both at the same time. As for me, I am not really into paintings but I can understand why people appreciate it. Before the invention of photography it was indeed a remarkable skill to reproduce imagery on a canvas. The importance of Modern Art, which is supposed to evoke something in the viewer-whose interpretation can be very subjective, is more apparent now since replications can be easily done by machines. 

As for the documentary film, it was a great watch. I am really very poor when it comes to painting and don't have the patience to even trace stuff. I appreciate art (films can be works of art) but am not into paintings as of now, maybe I will have a rethink when I visit Kochi Biennale which starts on December 12th and will run for three and half months. Lets see.

Rating: 3.5/5