Ex Machina (2015)

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Ex Machina (2015)

(spoilers)

Ex Machina fulfills the expectations I had after reading and hearing so much about it in the last couple of months. It continues Alex Garland’s streak of writing thought-provoking stories that challenge common perceptions we have about ourselves and our society. The movie uses amazing performances (Isaac, Vikander and Gleeson are all excellent), impressive visual effects and its gorgeous locations to generate a very effective movie that is intriguing from beginning to end. Just when you think it becomes too conventional it takes an extra turn at the end to become even more than we thought. It might not be an absolutely amazing movie (it’s not Looper), but it nevertheless is very good.

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Behind These Castle Walls, Part III: Fantasia (1940)

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Behind These Castle Walls, Part III: Fantasia (1940)

It’s been clearly too long since the last installment and I blame today’s movie for it. Fantasia is a difficult movie to approach because it has no larger story and is also not as well known today as all the other movies. Yet again, it is clearly a technological achievement with astonishing visuals and an unusual concept for its time, mixing animation, classical music and live action footage for what must have been really confusing to audiences in 1940. I had never seen it before but only the Fantasia 2000 sequel. I thought about talking about the original version that includes the racist scenes that have been removed since 1960 and while this is interesting, I decided not to because a) this problem is obvious and has been dealt with by Disney (with only a 20 year-delay) and b) I’m doing this to discuss the effects these movies still have today, so I might as well go with the current version. There are still enough issues to look at in this one and I can’t wait to move on to get to the next ones (of which there are still officially 53 left).

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A Series of Series: Jessica Jones, Episode 7-9

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A Series of Series: Jessica Jones, Episode 7-9

Maybe these three episodes are among the best in the whole series. Especially 8 and 9 are so intense and isolated, but also really different from each other. So, there is no doubt that the series is not getting any weaker, just the opposite. Let’s get into the specific episodes.

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A Series of Series: Jessica Jones, Episode 4-6

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A Series of Series: Jessica Jones, Episode 4-6

Episodes 4 to 6 of Jessica Jones don’t disappoint and continue what the first three episodes started so excellently already. The themes are followed through but by showing more of Kilgrave, the show attempts a little of what Daredevil did with Wilson Fisk, although up to now, he has not really been humanized much more. But he’s not that mystery figure anymore. I also like how all the other characters, especially Malcolm and Will, become more layered and really develop, which is something, just like in Daredevil, these shows seem to do extremely well. I don’t know if Marvel gets enough credit for both shows, not just as good entertainment, like their movies, but really deep, well-made, thought-provoking shows that rarely fall into clichés or stereotypes. This is not just another comic book TV show (but then again, this is not based on just another comic). I’m going to focus on some highlights from the next three episodes (again, spoilers, obviously).

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A Series of Series: Jessica Jones, Episode 1-3

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A Series of Series: Jessica Jones, Episode 1-3

Exploring new grounds. I have wondered many times why I don’t write about TV shows since I watch quite a lot of them and some people actually asked me about it. Today, this will change because a) I really want to write about this show and b) there is no movie right now I want to write about. So, Jessica Jones it is. I’ve watched the first three episodes and thought I write about each 3-4 episodes as I continue. Needless to say, up to now I think it’s a very good show and I recommend everyone to watch it too. Besides, this review/analysis will obviously include spoilers, so unless you don’t plan on ever watching it, stop reading.

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Nightcrawler (2014)

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Nightcrawler (2014)

(spoilers ahead)

Nightcrawler is a brilliantly intelligent movie, centered around an amazing performance by Jake Gyllenhaal following a very focused and clever screenplay and direction by Dan Gilroy. The movie knows exactly what it wants to do and what it wants to talk about. Every aspect of the movie caters to that goal, the captivating nighttime images by Robert Elswit, the beautiful score by James Newton Howard and John Gilroy’s editing. It’s an exceptional movie in the way it presents its story, its tone and in its protagonist. It warrants a deep analysis and while this will be long, it doesn't even come close to everything the movie offers.

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Poster of a Girl - Posters Can Be Champions Too

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Poster of a Girl - Posters Can Be Champions Too

Time for posters again! I have an overload of movies to write about right now and an empty head when it comes to non-movie topics, so I’ll take the easy road again. I’m still always thankful for suggestions for topics, be it here in the comments or on Twitter or even Facebook. Anyway, let’s take a look at a selection of current posters taken from the IMP homepage.

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Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (2011)

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Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (2011)

Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (I’ll never fully get used to those semi-part names) is, well, an entry in the Twilight series and I’m not surprising anyone by saying it’s not great. It’s silly and boring and too long and weird. I haven’t seen the last part of the series but it didn’t really matter, I had no problem getting into the story, which mostly comes from the fact that there is a minimum of story. Enough people wrote about this movie, too, so I don’t need to get into the whole abortion/pro-life debate, also because I find it somewhat boring. I feel the movie is more ambiguous about it than most angry people say and it fits that it raises question it doesn’t want to answer. Just like its incredibly passive main character Bella, the movie is very good at whatever.

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Comics Are for Everyone: 2012 Edition - Occupying Jokers, Transgender Aliens and the Web of Life [2012 Week]

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Comics Are for Everyone: 2012 Edition - Occupying Jokers, Transgender Aliens and the Web of Life [2012 Week]

As I mentioned before, 2012 had a lot of comics in it and I read many of those. So I thought today I spent some time flipping through more than 1,000 issues to see what is noticeable in those comic books. What, you say that’s crazy? Too much? You’re right, actually. I’ll try to focus on which current events were portrayed in some of those comics and also look at some interesting messages regarding humanity. So, the usual.

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The Three Flawed Pillars

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The Three Flawed Pillars

After over 5 years of teaching critical thinking, some ideas seem to repeat themselves, so last year I turned it around for my English course and first introduced what I think are the cornerstones for most problems in our society, before moving on specific topics where you can find those ideas. It worked insofar as that everyone is more aware of these things, but it also makes a good running joke whenever I mention them again. And the students now try to use them for an answer when I ask something. They learned fast that in most cases, they’ll be right with one of the three words I introduced. And I use those words often enough in my posts to warrant some explanation. Which words am I talking about and why are they so important? Good thing you ask, that’s what we’re here for today, kids!

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Win Win (2011)

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Win Win (2011)

Win Win is a traditional indie comedy. It follows rather typical indie movie characters through a standard indie movie plot. It’s good, but not because of the story or some of the underdeveloped characters, but mainly because of the incredible acting. Paul Giamatti is amazing and, well, everyone else is too. But the story moves along such conventional paths and especially the ending is resolved much too easy. Also, the character of Jeffrey Tambor, as funny as he is, has no back story at all and only shows up to be funny. On the other hand, Kyle (Alex Shaffer) is a very well-written and acted character that keeps most of the movie going. Thomas McCarthy is both a great writer and director and you see that in most of the scenes, even if others don’t work or feel hokey. Anyway, I really liked the movie despite its flaws and I want to take a look at how it depicts the average life of common people.

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