This Movies to Watch Out For (MTWOF) series in my blog which I am commencing this year and which I hope to continue in the years to come will be a weekly thing (if possible). I will be featuring movies which piqued my interest and found worth sharing. This means that I will not only be writing about movies which are Oscar-friendly; I will also be discussing about local and world cinema films. I'll start with just five movies and maybe expand to ten if I'll be having trouble keeping my list updated.
STEVE JOBS (2015)
Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Trainspotting)
Screenwriter: Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The Social Network, Moneyball)
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels
US Release: 9 October 2015
Philippine Release: 13 January 2016
IMDb Synopsis: The true story of the life of visionary Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs (2015) is an upgrade from the Ashton Kutcher film Jobs (2013) which was panned by critics. This movie boasts topnotch filmmaking due to the collaborators involved: Danny Boyle, Aaron Sorkin, Michael Fassbender, and Kate Winslet. Danny Boyle is no mediocre director as evidenced by the films I listed above after his name and so is Aaron Sorkin whose verbal diarrhea for scripts lends modern day literary feel without contrivance to his films. Imagine The Social Network (2010) or Moneyball (2011) without its sharp, witty, and modern dialogues. Michael Fassbender is both a technical and naturalistic performer: while looking nothing like the late Apple visionary, the gravitas he gives to his every role, including Shame (2011) and 12 Years a Slave (2013), is quite astonishing. Lastly, it's nice that Kate Winslet is back in Oscar conversation again since her Best Actress win for The Reader (2008) in 2009. Winslet is such a charismatic performer and she is one of the most gifted actresses of our time.
P.S. This movie was embroiled in scandal after the Sony leaks. Leonardo DiCaprio was initially in talks to play Jobs with David Fincher at the helm. Fincher exited the project in April 2014 over compensation and control issues and DiCaprio followed suit in October 2014. Christian Bale then stepped in but the negotiations fell through as he, "after much deliberation and conflicting feelings, came to the conclusion he was not right for the part and decided to withdraw"in November 2014. Well, it turns out these two actors exiting the project was for the best as the initial reviews of the movie have been nothing but raves.
First reviews after the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival:
The Hollywood Reporter
Verdict: The Jobs legend keeps on growing.
Rave for Fassbender:
"But hardly any of this would matter without a dynamic actor at the center of things nailing the part of Jobs, and while Fassbender doesn’t closely physically resemble the man, he fully delivers the essentials of how we have come to perceive the man: Along with intellectual brilliance and force of personality, the actor also taps into the man’s frequently unreachability, power to inspire, unswerving faith in his own instincts, attention to the smallest detail, utter lack of sentimentality and the certitude that can come from occupying a different, loftier realm. Most of all, you get the strong sense from Fassbender of a mind that is always several steps beyond everyone else’s, one that allows him to shift gears without taking a breath."
Variety
Verdict: An enthralling performance by Michael Fassbender fuels this brilliant, infuriating and richly unconventional take on the life of an American visionary.
Rave for the cast:
"In this unabashedly fictionalized context, Fassbender overcomes the obvious casting hurdle (he looks nothing like Jobs, whose Arab-American lineage is briefly referenced) and delivers a performance as enthralling and fully sustained as any on his estimable resume. That the actor is onscreen at every minute makes it all the better that it’s impossible to take your eyes off him, or your ears: This is an actor who knows exactly how to toss off Sorkin’s dialogue, emphasizing rhythm and inflection over volume, while embodying confidence and authority in his every atom. It’s a performance that sets the tone for equally fine work all around: Rogen delivers a lovable, downright huggable spin on Wozniak; Stuhlbarg mines layers of wry wisdom from Hertzfeld; and as Jobs’ right-hand woman, Winslet overcomes a wobbly Polish accent to provide the audience with an essential lifeline to reason and sanity."
The Guardian
Verdict: 3/5
Fassbender excels but iWorship required if you're to care. Danny Boyle’s talky look at the Apple icon boasts an assured leading turn but the dominance of Aaron Sorkin’s script and focus on business wrangles mean this will mostly appeal to the Apple geek.
For aggregated reviews, see:
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer
Metacritic Metascore
***
THE DANISH GIRL (2015)
Director: Tom Hooper (Elizabeth I, The King's Speech, Les Miserables)
Screenwriter: Lucinda Coxon (unknown)
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts
US Release: 27 November 2015
Philippine Release: 10 February 2016
IMDb Synopsis: The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Fresh from his Best Actor Oscar win, Eddie Redmayne is back with another baity performance as the first openly transsexual woman. Swede it girl Alicia Vikander, who has been in almost every film released this year a la Jessica Chastain in 2011, co-stars as the wife. Vikander's ubiquity in films such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Ex Machina (2015), and Burnt (2015) did not diminish the critical acclaim she's been getting for her consistency and strong turns. Tom Hooper of The King's Speech (2010) and Les Misérables (2012) fame directs. Okay, no one is saying Hooper is only attracted to Oscar pedigree materials but it seems to me that he likes doing prestige period films regardless of the outcome. However, I feel that bringing the story of Lili Elbe to the big screen is such a timely thing to do. The plight of trans people all around the world has never been more urgent. It also helps that Caitlyn Jenner has been actively promoting this cause for the better understanding of the world entire.
P.S. Nicole Kidman was initially in talks to play Lili Elbe as the transsexual woman with the likes of Oscar winners Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, and Rachel Weisz in talks or rumored to be courted to play Gerda Wegener. Hot item, indeed!
First reviews after the movie's screening at the 72nd Venice Film Festival:
The Hollywood Reporter
Verdict: A respectable if somewhat emotionally muted retelling of a remarkable life.
Rave for Eddie Redmayne:
"Redmayne is at his finest in the midsection, as Einar's attempts to honor Gerda's wishes and remove the escalating confusion from their marriage prove futile. Some of the loveliest moments of his performance are when the actor quietly disappears into Lili, with a coy smile, a delicate hand gesture, a studied rearrangement of the drape of her arm or the positioning of her feet on the floor. Later in the film, too, when the couple returns to Copenhagen after a spell in Paris, there's an understated emotional surge in seeing Lili go to work behind a chic department store perfume counter, radiating happiness at being a woman among other women. And watching Einar, still alternating in outer presentation as Lili, timidly studying sensual female body language in a Paris peepshow is one of the film's most exquisite and indelible scenes."
Variety
Verdict: Eddie Redmayne makes the ultimate transition, reteaming with 'Les Miserables' director Tom Hooper in this sensitive, high-profile portrait of transgender pioneer Lili Erbe.
Rave for Redmayne:
"For an actor, there can be few more enticing — or challenging — roles than this, in which the nature of identity, performance and transformation are all wrapped up in the very fabric of the character itself, and Redmayne gives the greatest performance of his career so far, infinitely more intimate — and far less technical — than the already stunning turn as Stephen Hawking that so recently won him the Oscar. Reuniting with “Les Miserables” director Tom Hooper in a return to the handsome, mostly interior style of the helmer’s Oscar-winning “The King’s Speech,” Redmayne finds himself at the heart — one shared by Alicia Vikander, as Einar’s wife, Gerda — of what’s destined to be the year’s most talked-about arthouse phenomenon."
The Guardian
Verdict: 2/5
The story of Danish gender reassignment pioneer Einar Wegener and her transformation into Lili Elbe becomes a handsome but over-tasteful film in director Tom Hooper’s hands
Mixed reaction to the actors:
"While you know you’re watching blue-chip actors at work, the leads’ performances don’t carry much dramatic subtlety. Vikander sports the same archly knowing English accent as in Testament of Youth, and she’s over-emphatic and mannered throughout. Offering more light and shade, Redmayne is undeniably affecting – and sports an exquisite swan’s neck in those 1920s/30s frocks. But his coy grins, so effective in The Theory of Everything, are worked relentlessly here. However he does play intriguingly on the sense that, in both genders, his character is always performing, creating a persona – indeed, using gestures to be a figure in a painting."
For aggregrated reviews, see:
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer
Metacritic Metascore
***
SUFFRAGETTE (2015)
Director: Sarah Gavron (first Hollywood project)
Screenwriter: Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady)
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham-Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, and Meryl Streep (cameo)
US Release: 23 October
IMDb Synopsis: The foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Director: Sarah Gavron (first Hollywood project)
Screenwriter: Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady)
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham-Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, and Meryl Streep (cameo)
US Release: 23 October
IMDb Synopsis: The foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Suffragette (2015) is another film which tackles a very timely issue: equality for women. Co-star Meryl Streep wrote every single member of the US Congress to "stand up for equality—for your mother, your daughter, your sister, your wife or yourself—by actively supporting the Equal Rights Amendment" but only five responded. Early this year, Streep was seen cheering Patricia Arquette in her Oscar speech when she mentioned "all women deserve equal pay." 2015 is also shaping to be Carey Mulligan's best year: she received a Tony Award Best Actress in a Play nomination for her acclaimed work in Skylight, her movie Far From the Madding Crowd (2015) was critically praised and earned modestly at the box office, and she is due to give birth to her first child with husband Marcus Mumford any time soon. Mulligan has established for herself a very interesting filmography since her debut in Pride and Prejudice (2005) as one of the Bennet sisters, to her Oscar-nominated breakout performance in An Education (2009), and to working in varied films such as Never Let Me Go (2010), Drive (2011), Shame (2011), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and in blockbusters such as Public Enemies (2009), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), and The Great Gatsby (2013).
First reviews after the 42nd Telluride Film Festival Screening:
The Hollywood Reporter
Verdict: A rousing, relevant slice of feminist history.
Rave for the actors, especially Carey Mulligan:
Verdict: A rousing, relevant slice of feminist history.
Rave for the actors, especially Carey Mulligan:
"Mulligan’s remarkably expressive face conveys the character’s profound but always credible journey from battered victim to articulate crusader. But the actress also captures the terrible human costs of any unyielding political battle. Several of the other performers also deserve high marks. Helena Bonham Carter gives her most restrained and affecting performance in years as a pharmacist who is also on the front lines. And there is a heartbreaking turn by Anne-Marie Duff as the fellow factory worker who first incites Maud to activism but then finds the battles too dangerous to continue.
The male characters are not all so sharply drawn. Ben Whishaw is a fine actor, but he’s saddled with a rather one-dimensional role as Maud’s uncomprehending husband. Brendan Gleeson brings more dimension to his role as a police inspector who is not entirely unsympathetic to the women’s crusade."
Variety
Verdict: Carey Mulligan's flinty and moving lead performance is the standout element of Sarah Gavron's flatly conventional snapshot of the British women's suffrage movement.
Rave for Mulligan:
"As a lowly wife and mother slowly grabbing hold of her difficult destiny, Carey Mulligan gives an affecting, skillfully modulated performance that lends a certain coherence to this assemblage of real-life incidents, composite characters, noble sentiments, stirring speeches and impeccable production values — all marshaled in service of a picture whose politics prove rather more commendable than its artistry."
The Guardian
Verdict: 3/5
Carey Mulligan turns in an electric performance as the heart of Sarah Gavron’s activist drama – but the film around her fails to catch fire
Rave for Mulligan, HBC, and AMD:
Rave for Mulligan, HBC, and AMD:
"Mulligan’s face is alive with all the subtlety the film around her sometimes lacks. At the start, her star wattage is muted; her eyes catch fire as she finds purpose in her work, even as her family life falls apart. That she wrings tears from you in one - albeit slightly shameless - scene feels quite an achievement. Helena Bonham Carter (as an educated chemist) and Anne-Marie Duff (chirpy cockney) acquit themselves fine but their characters are much less developed than Mulligan’s."
For aggregrated reviews, see:
***
ROOM (2015)
Director: Lenny Abrahamson (first Hollywood film)
Screenwriter: Emma Donoghue (debut)
Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, William H. Macy
US Release: 16 October
IMDb Synopsis: A modern-day story about the boundless love between mother and child; young Jack knows nothing of the world except for the single room in which he was born and raised.
This movie is interesting because it is based on a 2010 New York Times bestseller which was shortlisted in some of the most prestigious book awards (it actually won a lot). More than that, it actually found its rightful actors in the hands of Larson, Tremblay, Allen, and Macy. Brie Larson was a revelation in the indie drama Short Term 12 (2013) where she showed her exceptional acting chops: she was considered by pundits to be nominated for an Oscar but we all know that didn't happen. I myself have seen the movie and it's one of the most heartwarming films I've seen in quite a while with outstanding performances all around anchored by Larson's ferociousness and vulnerability. On the other hand, it seems that Joan Allen (the mother in The Notebook [2004]) is back in top form (herself a three-time Oscar nominee).
First reactions after the screening at 42nd Telluride Film Festival and 40th Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Choice Awards:
The Hollywood Reporter
Verdict: Strong emotions in cramped quarters.
Rave for the Larson and Allen:
Verdict: Strong emotions in cramped quarters.
Rave for the Larson and Allen:
"Overall, it’s a decent shot at a tall target, but real credit is due the lead actors, with Larson expanding beyond the already considerable range she’s previously shown with an exceedingly dimensional performance in a role that calls for running the gamut, and Tremblay always convincing without ever becoming cloying."
"Some tender and insightful moments eventually ensue, particularly from some nice work by Allen (sorely missed in good roles on the big screen of late)..."
Variety
Verdict: Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay give this truncated but still-powerful adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel its beating heart.
Rave for Larson and Allen:
"Larson drew well-deserved praise for her breakout performance as a counselor for troubled teens in “Short Term 12,” and the demands of that role, with its balance of tenderness and tough love, were in some ways an ideal warm-up for the startling display of mama-lion intensity she unleashes here. Her inner radiance undimmed by seven years’ worth of accumulated grime, exhaustion and defeat, Larson sometimes beams at her child with incongruous delight, and at other times gives full voice to the anger and impatience that a mother can feel toward her offspring even when they haven’t been forced to breathe the same foul air for five years. Even at its most forceful and despairing, her rage never feels like an expression of anything less than a mother’s love."
"Joan Allen is unsurprisingly excellent in the role of Jack’s deeply relieved yet emotionally shattered grandmother..."
The Guardian
Verdict: 3/5
Director Lenny Abrahamson seems uncertain of how to translate Emma Donoghue’s novel to the big screen – but his cast appear more confident
Rave for the actors:
Rave for the actors:
"...Tremblay’s remarkably credible performance, and Larson’s palpable pain. Joan Allen and William H Macy lend stellar support as Larson’s bereaved parents."
***
THE LADY IN THE VAN (2015)
Direction: Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George, The Crucible, The History Boys)
Screenplay: Alan Bennett (Prick Up Your Ears, The Madness of King George, The History Boys)
Cast: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent
US Release: 13 November
IMDb Synopsis: A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her car that's parked in his driveway.
Dame Maggie Smith is that rare elderly female actor who has achieved unexplainable late-career resurgence (along with her bestfriend Dame Judi Dench, Meryl Streep, and Dame Helen Mirren) after more than half a century of acclaimed career on the silver screen, the small screen, and stage. We have the Harry Potter series and Downton Abbey (2011) to thank for that. She plays sharp-tongued spinsters like no other. At 80, anything she does interests me. It would be quite a treat to see her nominated again at the Oscars (her seventh if ever and 50 years since her first Oscar nomination for Othello [1965]) since her last nom in 2002 for Gosford Park (2001). In her long and illustrious career, she has won 2 Oscars, 3 Golden Globes, 3 Emmys, lots of BAFTA Awards, a SAG Award, and a Tony Award (yes, she's a Triple Crown of Acting winner!). We don't want her ever retiring, do we?
First reactions after the screening at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival:
Verdict: Dame Maggie delivers an award-worthy turn in this witty dark comedy.
Rave for Dame Maggie Smith:
"But it's Smith's eccentric oldster who is the film's driving force, and the 80-year-old actress doesn't disappoint. Not surprisingly, she fully exploits the humor in her character's bizarreness, reaping much comic mileage from her proclamation that she receives guidance from the Virgin Mary; her utter obliviousness to her lack of personal hygiene; her hatred of music that sends her fleeing whenever she hears a note, and her ragtag wardrobe that's been assembled from various dumpsters.
Besides mining the humor, Smith also subtly conveys the emotional pain and desperation of the addled old woman, especially in the scenes in which she's taken away by social services and gently treated to a thorough washing, feeding and medical examination. The character's backstory is ultimately revealed in an encounter between Bennett and her older brother that movingly illustrates how anyone's life can turn on a dime if afflicted with mental illness."
Verdict: Low on narrative drive, and marred by a misjudged final-act swerve into extravagant whimsy, Nicholas Hytner’s amiable luvvie-fest is enlivened by Smith’s signature irascibility; silver-dollar auds should turn up, if not in droves, at least in healthy vanloads.
Rave for Mags:
"Few actors could grant quite such imperiousness to a character otherwise so disenfranchised, but in doing so, Smith makes an odd sense both of her situation and the inability of others to intervene: Neither lovable nor wholly intolerable, Shepherd colonizes her immediate square footage in the very manner of a performing grande dame. In Bennett, whose working-class roots and guarded homosexuality already make him a neighborhood misfit, she senses a kindred spirit — though his own gestures of kindness to her are reluctant, coerced by social guilt and a dislocated sense of duty to his own mother (Gwen Taylor). When he offers her the opportunity to park in his driveway, initiating what what turns out to be an informal, 15-year traveler tenancy, at least one of his split selves rolls his eyes."
Verdict: 3/5
Maggie Smith makes pitstop at Oscars drive-thru. The actor looks set to coast her way to another Academy nomination with this reprise of her role in Alan Bennett’s comedy of liberal compassion.
Rave again for Mags:
"And Smith is superb: such a well-oiled pro, so completely reliable in her ability to wring whatever emotion she wants from you. Her face, like a nice, bright tortoise, is gummier than usual, and from its mouth comes such bile and self-possession you gasp. The only issue is her age: that Miss Shepherd looks so elderly from the outset means her situation can just seem cruel, rather than quirky."
For aggregated reviews, see:
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