Room by Lenny Abrahamson, 2015 (R)

with Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, Brie Larson, William H. Macy, Jacob Tremblay

Held captive for years in an enclosed space, a woman (Brie Larson) and her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

It had been a long time I didn't feel so terrible after a movie, so moved, so frustrated by the darkness of our specie. The movie explore the beautiful and unusual relationship between a mother and her child, through captivity and in the outside world, with such a realism and without the compensation of feeling good they are out, or that the bad guy is being caught and tried, nor the settling feeling that everything is going to be fine, that the media are going to be respectful... This is a cruel story of victims that try nevertheless to share a beautiful life despite the most horrible things they are victims of. Jacob Tremblay is giving an amazing performance, as well as the rest of the cast, and the director Abrahamson managed via impeccable direction to allow us to see through the naive eyes of the boy, at time to the point that we cannot stand because we are from the outside world, and we understand far more than this boy does. Definitely Oscar material.

Ex Machina by Alex Garland, 2015 (R)

with Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) a programmer at a huge Internet company, wins a contest that enables him to spend a week at the private estate of Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), his firm's brilliant CEO. When he arrives, Caleb learns that he has been chosen to be the human component in a Turing test to determine the capabilities and consciousness of Ava (Alicia Vikander), a beautiful robot. However, it soon becomes evident that Ava is far more self-aware and deceptive than either man imagined.

Ex Machina is a disturbing experiment that puts you in the most high tech setting, in the middle of the purest of nature, with a feeling of claustrophobia combined with a manipulating and brilliant script that bounce you from one vision to its opposite the moment you start believing in it, keeping you alert until the very end. It is disturbing as the robots are more humane than the humans, and the performance of Alicia Vikander is quite extraordinary in making us shift from our perception of her as a human to little by little seeing her as a humanoid. I do hope they get the Oscar for Best Script.

Captain Phillips by Paul Greengrass, 2013 (PG-13)

Nominated for the Oscars 2014 for the following categories: Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Writing Adapted Screenplay

with Tom Hanks (Cloud Atlas, Larry Crowne), Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M. Ali, Catherine Keener (Out of Sight, Please Give, Peace Love and Misunderstanding, Simone), John Magaro (Liberal Arts), Max Martini, Michael Chernus (Orange is the New Black, Jack & Diane), Christopher Stadulis, Chris Mulkey, David Warshofsky (Now You See Me), Omar Berdouni

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. Based on the book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Richard Phillips.

Perhaps the most interesting and unique thing about this movie, apart from the impeccable performance of Tom Hanks, is the balanced view point, achieving to make us like pretty much everyone in the movie. Everybody got their reasons, and everyone is heard. Also, the movie is not about fanciness, people are people, the boat is not personified, you feel that it is functional and modest, not trying to impress by any mean. The only perhaps fanciness you had to expect was from the SEALS, but aside from their skills and body, no one is trying to make them heroes, they are agents of change, precise, following orders. The commandant of the operation is a guy that eventually looks at himself in the mirror, human. The emotional tension throughout the movie is carried very well by the impeccable cast and editing, never forgetting how the human factor make the situations evolve, it is beautifully realistic, and the same way Phillips' emotions explode, in an irrational and universal way in the end, we get confused as well regarding how the outcome is somewhat positive. And that is the magic of this film.

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Side Effects by Steven Soderbergh, 2013 (R)

with Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network), Jude Law (Anna Karenina, Breaking And Entering, Hugo, Sleuth, Contagion Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Channing Tatum (The Vow, Haywire), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Traffic, Ocean's Twelve), Vinessa Shaw (Puncture), Andrea Bogart, David Costabile (Solitary Man), Polly Draper
from the director of Out of Sight, Traffic, Haywire, Contagion, The Informant!, Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve

Emily copes with her depression by taking antidepressant medication. But when her dire state apparently spirals out of control due to her husband's prison release, she turns to a new medication that alters her life forever.

First, if you ever wonder if the actress who plays Emily is the actress that played in House of Cards, if it obsesses you all throughout the time you seated in the movie theater, it is entirely normal, and then normal as well that from time to time, you think then no, she is different. That's because it's her sister, Kate Mara. But the roles are so similar, their skin, eyes, and even facial expressions disturbingly alike, that I think what a director has to do now is to put them together in their next movie. These girls are really amazing, fragile and manipulative, you never know where to stand with them.
Ok, so that was one of the good part of the film. Now Catherine Zeta Jones is absolutely thick and unsubtle, which is a deception, because from the beginning, she gives all the clues you need to know there is something shady happening. Anyway, besides her, I really enjoyed the ideas developed, with a medical system that is literally purchased by pharmaceutical companies (not a new topic), but how you also can manipulate to all extend the side effect part of the system. Intelligent, interesting, and unfortunately ruined by the lack of chemistry between the actors. It reminds me of the coldness of Contagion, with a brilliant script, amazing cast, but scattered performances.

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We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lynne Ramsay, 2011 (R)

with Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, I am Love, Constantine), John C. Reilly (Chicago, The Hours), Ezra Miller (Californication), Jasper Newell, Rocky Duer, Ashley Gerasimovich, Siobhan Fallon, Alex Manette, Joseph Melendez

Eva's relationship with her son, Kevin, has been difficult from the beginning. When the 15-year-old boy's cruel streak erupts into violence, Eva wonders how much blame she deserves for his actions.

This movie is very original, probably one of the darkest I've seen since actually "Julia" again with Tilda Swinton. I watched it thinking I would see an alternate version of the same story of "Beautiful Boy", but not at all. The tone is radically different, the perception of the family, the behavior of the kid, the focus of the story and finally the story itself are radically opposite. We have here a mother who felt estranged by her pregnancy, and then manipulated by her son to the point where her husband in oblivion doesn't even believe her. It is build in a back and forth with the present and the time of the tragedy, from the birth on to the moment of the murders. The story is misleading in many way, so you never know really what is to expect of the characters, of the next possible event, which in a way doesn't really explain why she fell so low. The interactions of the kid (played by 4 formidable actors) with the mum is oppressing, to the limit of the horror gender, definitely suspense. The beautiful moments always have something disturbing to them, and the esthetic of the movie is truly fascinating. Red is definitely built of so many symbols, from the alarm clock to the Tomatina of Spain, to the paint on the walls, to the soup cans, to the red lights of the firemen trucks.
Now, there are common points, the guilt of the parent, the relationship of the parent with the outside world, the open rejection, the incomprehension of the act... But in a way, it would have much more to compare to with "Rosemary's Baby". I recommend strongly, but not to a mother who just gave birth!

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Oslo, 31. August by Joachim Trier, 2011 (NR)

with Anders Danielsen Lie, Hans Olav Brenner, Ingrid Olava

This psychological drama follows a day in the life of Anders, a recovering drug addict who travels to his old stomping grounds of Oslo for a job interview. While there, he must confront his past as well as his plans for a new life.

First and foremost, I do not speak Norwegian. It has never been a problem until now. Usually, when I watch a movie with subtitles, I can follow the dialogues and still watch what is happening in the rest of the screen. Here, the dialogues required some brain presence so if you started focusing on the subtitles, you missed the action. I was experiencing moments where the visuals were so powerful that I forgot to read the subtitles, so I have no idea what I missed. It is a very beautiful movie, with the same esthetic as "Reprise", the previous film of Joachim Trier, which I found brilliant and powerful. But in this one, the dialogues were so dense that it didn't allow to be transported fully, too intellectual and therefor too much based on what you understood instead of what you felt. It is good, the main actor is excellent, supported by amazing actors. The landscapes of the city, the outskirt, the light, everything is perfect. There are a few moment which didn't have dialogue that were probably to most achieved ones, with a long bike ride at night leading to a night club, the piano scene where he expresses all that is left of himself in two minutes of playing. Another scene that was very powerful is when he becomes the experience of others, in a cafe, with a change of perspective, listening passively, still, very much the center of the attention, with the very presence of his perspective on the story of others. Perhaps to watch again, but I definitely recommend everyone to watch "Reprise" in the meantime.
Ah, funnily, I would never think of associating "The Grey" with "Oslo, 31. August" but it definitely has an identical view on life and death, which is interesting to see in two very different movies, with two very different contexts.

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Official Website: http://www.facebook.com/Oslo31august