Cartel Land (2015)

Directed by: Matthew Heineman
Country: USA / Mexico

Movie Review: Matthew Heineman’s documentary, “Cartel Land”, clarifies what’s happening on the both sides of the US-Mexico border, depicting two different realities and leaving us speculating about the tenuous line between the right and wrong. The film opens with a scene set in Mexico, in which some men, cooking meth with the consent of the Mexican government, explain they’re aware of the harm they’re doing but have no choice since they’re living in poverty. The film then turns our attention to Tim 'Nailer' Foley, an American vigilante who operates by his own initiative on the American side of the border, trying to catch Mexican intruders and protect the nation. He says that his past was characterized by abuses and addiction, and 18 years ago, and for the sake of his daughters, he resolved to hunt fiercely any cartel’s men who attempt to invade his land. On the other side of the fence, in the problematic state of Michóacan, we can follow an indominable and fearless doctor, Jose Manuel Mireles, who leads the Autodefensas, a group of vigilantes that protect the people from drug lords and thugs who belong to the most dangerous Mexican cartels. Some witnesses describe the horrors lived by the people, and the common massacres to entire families as retaliation for problems related to narcotics. Slowly, the local citizens start to be encouraged by Mireles’ illegal militia, whose members refuse to succumb at the hands of the barbarians without a fight. Conquering more municipalities than it was initially thought, the Autodefensas face a new issue, which is not exactly new in their minds: the government corruption, outspokenly denounced here by tough words, disquieting images, and perceivable examples. Despite Mr. Heinman’s bravery, “Cartel Land” is unorthodox in the manner it addresses and toggles between the stories. The final part even has a hint of soap opera when we learn about Mirele’s domestic troubles, caused by his tendency to have affairs with much younger women. Even momentarily heedless, the film proves to be strong when exhibits in loco the brutality and constant insecurity of the operations whose intention is to stop the terrifying actions and shameful business carried out by the merciless organized crime. Even the ones who seemed to be fighting for the right cause, like Mirele’s right hand, Estanislao Bertran Torres, show their real face and irresolution by joining the vicious government. Isn’t easier this way?

Spotlight (2015)

Directed by: Tom McCarthy
Country: USA

Movie Review: Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight” is flagrant, perfect, and essential. Mr. McCarthy’s fluid script was co-written with Josh Singer and interpreted in the best way by the glorious cast, conveying the journalistic effort that was put into this true investigation of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Boston, carried out in 2002 by an investigative team of The Boston Globe known as Spotlight. The investigation unmasked several priests who sexually abused children during several years, and denounced the continuous cover-up of this sort of crimes perpetrated by the church, as an institution, in an almost unimaginable scale. All began with the arrival of a confident new editor to The Globe. Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber is outstanding), a Jew who had gained an excellent reputation in New York and Florida, knew exactly what he wanted when he politely urged the Spotlight team to consider picking this particular case. The tenacious reporters of Spotlight are chief Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (Michael Keaton) who has some amends to make with his own past, the super-responsive Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), the efficient and temperate Sasha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and the restrained Matt Carroll (d'Arcy James), who got unsettled when he found out that one of the houses used for molesting kids was located right next to his place. All these members respond before the supervisor, Ben Bradley Jr. (John Slattery), who is presented as a minor key in the achievement. Sometimes agreeing, some other times arguing with one another to reach the best way for putting the truth outside without the interference of concurrent newspapers, the team wouldn't be succeeded without the priceless help of the righteous attorney Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci at his best), who had already started defending some of the devastated victims. Of course, there’s also a bunch of attorneys so-called ‘friends of the church’ who do everything to maintain the crimes unrevealed or to sweep the dirt under the carpet. Never exploitative and highly assertive in its unobtrusive approach, Mr. McCarthy, who won me over in the past with “The Visit” and “Win Win” but last year had a thorn in his side with “The Cobbler”, turned “Spotlight” into a masterpiece whose theme, even if not fresh nowadays, still has to be shouted out loud in order to alert and avoid future abuses. And… justice for all!

Crimson Peak (2015)

Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
Country: USA / Canada

Movie Review: The specialty of the Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro (“Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth”) is to interweave fantasy and horror. His latest, “Crimson Peak”, proves his effortlessness in both genres and also adds a strong dramatic component to a plot that, despite some regular clichés, manages to solidly hold our attention. Actually, Peak is the most successful collaboration between Del Toro, who also co-writes and co-produces, and the screenwriter Matthew Robbins, after “Mimic” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”. Beginning in 1887, the tale focuses on Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), an unconventional independent American writer who is often visited by the ghost of her mother. So, ghosts are a reality and play an important part in her novels, even if metaphorically. When Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), an English aristocrat who comes to the US with the intuit of finding a wealthy investor to his unappealing invention, is declined by Edith’s father, Carter, he turns his eyes into the eager-for-love Edith, who falls for him in a blink of an eye, despite the warnings of her father and also of her childhood friend, Dr. Alan McMichael. Carter makes some arrangements to free his daughter and get rid of Thomas, who is constantly followed by his abhorrently jealous sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain), but ends up violently murdered by a sinister figure, leaving Edith even more vulnerable on the matters of the heart. She resolutely agrees to depart for London, to live with Thomas and his diabolically manipulative sister at Allerdale Hall, a once resplendent, isolated old mansion that hides evil secrets, dark energies, and gruesome occult presences. Del Toro works together with the Danish cinematographer, Dan Laustsen, to carefully compose the dense visuals, enhanced by the period costume design and embracing the dismal atmosphere extracted from the place. You can imagine how difficult is to create a horror film nowadays without falling in the same stratagems used over and over again. Thus, during these last two years, only a couple of them could impress me, cases of “Conjuring” and “It Follows”. “Crimson Peak” lacks truly creepy moments and is definitely not on the same level of the cited films, but what’s curious is that I was never bored and the film gallops in an ominous crescendo towards its agitating finale. Jessica Chastain, here in a delightfully evil form, shares a great responsibility in this achievement.

Man From Reno (2014)

Directed by: Dave Boyle
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Man From Reno”, a bewitching independent neo-noir film, may trap you in its mysteries and moods while transmits all the anxiety and uncertainty that its characters are subjected to. This is the second time (the first was “Daylight Savings” in 2012) that the screenwriters Joel Clark and Michael Lerman join efforts with the co-writer and director Dave Boyle. They were able to fabricate a wonderful story, set in San Francisco, and involving a popular Japanese writer from Tokyo, Aki (Ayako Fujitani), who in the face of a creative/identity crisis, decides to stop writing and vanish during her press tours in the city. After an unenthusiastic meeting with some old friends from college, she stealthily checks into a hotel, where she meets an astute, seductive, and handsome man called Akira Suzuki (Kazuki Kitamura). Aki feels so lonely and depressed that she ponders for several times about using the razor she carries in her purse to kill herself. It’s Akira who cheers her up and gives her the confidence she needs to overcome the present situation – a sort of a new breath that soon collapses since he’s not the man she thinks he is. After sleeping with her, Akira disappears without a word from the hotel, leaving a suitcase and a trail of mysteries behind. From this moment on, Aki starts being followed by enigmatic individuals who scarcely are whom we think they are. In parallel, San Marco County’s sheriff, Paul Del Moral (Pepe Serna), runs over a nameless Asian man, after spotting an abandoned car, and starts to investigate his disappearance from the hospital where he was taken. Later on, he’s informed about a dead body found in the river shore. The man, in spite of identified as Akira Suzuki, is not the same as the one who met Aki in the hotel. The determined sheriff and Aki, who is guided by an acute intuition gained in her books, will try to search for something palpable in order to solve the puzzle. Sometimes vague and disorienting, sometimes precise and self-assured, “Man From Reno” plays with your curiosity in a complex, thrilling exercise, which not being totally satisfactory, presents strong elements to compose a solid detective story. This includes inexplicable clues, secret words, dangerous chases, mistaken identities, undercover paparazzis, an eerie soundtrack, and a constant, if subtle, tension associated to its Hal Hartley-esque conspiracy.

Nasty Baby (2015)

Directed by: Sebastian Silva
Country: USA / Chile

Movie Review: Chilean actor-director Sebastian Silva, who charmed the indie fans with a couple movies to be treasured such like “The Maid” and “Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus”, returns with a let-down right after the disappointing “Magic Magic” dated from two years ago. In his latest Chilean-American production, “Nasty Baby”, he plays Freddy, a homosexual artist, residing in New York, who wants to have a baby with his partner, Mo (Tunde Adebimpe). The vehicle for their intentions is Freddy’s best friend, Polly (Kristen Wiig), a nurse who agrees to function as a surrogate womb and shows to be as much excited as the couple. Despite the efforts, which lasted for six months with multiple artificial inseminations, Polly can’t get pregnant due to Freddy’s low sperm count. The solution for this problem is obviously Mo who would become the sperm donor, a serious call that he responds affirmatively with the advice of his beloved mother. This first part of the film is inconsistent and often drags with boredom. Despite the naturalistic performances, in which the sensational Wiig stands out, the drama’s expressiveness feels somehow parched both in depth and enthusiasm. Nevertheless, Mr. Silva’s screenplay manages to raise the levels of excitement when, in its second act, depicts the couple’s disputes with a crazy neighbor known as The Bishop (Reg E. Cathey), a situation that aggravates more and more, ending up in a sad tragedy and subsequent questionable behaviors. Throughout the film, we’re given the opportunity to observe Freddy’s witless artistic performance entitled ‘nasty baby’, which he’s trying to take into the gallery of a weird friend, Marcus (Neal Huff), who uses an oracle in his office to help him decide about the art. Visually unimpressive, “Nasty Baby” becomes a much stronger film when turns into a crime thriller, but even though, and despite how much genuine the scenes might look, its conclusion is not so complete or stirring as its creator definitely intended it to be. To put it clearer: the two distinct story fragments in the basis of this disjointed tale have trouble to stand by their own, making “Nasty Baby” nastier than it was supposed to, and consequently, materializing in a combination that collapses into forgettable.

Meadowland (2015)

Directed by: Reed Morano
Country: USA

Movie Review: Directed by the cinematographer Reed Morano from a screenplay by Chris Rossi, “Meadowland” is a poignant drama that demonstrates how people can descend into very dark places after going through a deeply grievous situation. The unimaginable happened to a happy couple of New Yorkers, Sarah (Olivia Wilde) and Phil (Luke Wilson), whose life will never be the same after their son’s disappearance. Everything happened when Phil decided to stop the car at a service station to buy some drinks, taking the opportunity to send the little Jessie to the restroom. Phil becomes restless when Jessie, who had locked the door, doesn’t answer to his calls. When finally inside, they face an excruciating reality: Jessie has vanished through a backdoor that connects with a garage where nobody was working at the moment. One year after, we find the devastated Sarah at home, still under the effect of lithium, getting drunk in front of Phil, who misleads us to believe he’s coping a bit better with the situation, taking into account his genuine concern with her and observant remarks. With them, is Phil’s brother, Tim (Giovanni Ribisi), a melancholic character, with a guessable troublesome past, who asked to stay at their place for an undetermined period of time. He clearly functions as a sort of an extra burden to the pair of sufferers whose emotional distance increases every day, making them suitable to fall into questionable behaviors both at work and outside work. Sarah is a school teacher, and after the initial attention with a problematic girl whom she followed the steps of listening to heavy metal and cut herself on the arms, she develops a fixation into another student, Adam, who has Asperger’s syndrome and is rejected by both his mother and schoolmates. She urgently tries to fill her emptiness by acting like his mother. In turn, Phil is more and more unmotivated in his duties as a police officer and even the therapy sessions he continues attending don’t seem sufficiently rewarding to make him recover the lost balance. He shows a pitiful moral degradation and a hopeless lack of confidence that made me uncomfortable. The experienced casting director, Phil Hicks, did a great job since these actors, with no exception, made the difference in turning a pretty conventional theme into a compelling dramatic creation. Only the surprising final scene sneakily attempted to be something more transcendent than it was really felt. Mr. Morano revealed sensibility in terms of camera work and a complete control of light in order to extract warm, opaque gleams from the visuals.

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Directed by: S. Craig Zahler
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Bone Tomahawk” is an atypical western. To be more precise, it’s a nutty blend of western in its ancient tradition of ebullient battles between cowboys and Indians, dry comedy, and a gory horror thriller. The screenwriter and debutant director, S. Craig Zahler (also a musician, novelist, and former cinematographer), showed sufficient arguments to let us expectant for his future cinematic creations. The fantastic cast manifests a salutary diversity: from valued veterans, cases of Kurt Russell and Richard Jenkins, to solidly established actors such as Patrick Wilson, to auspicious young talents like Matthew Fox and Lili Simmons. The film opens with a man cutting a human throat and explaining to his accomplice that there are 16 major veins in the neck and that he needs to cut them all. Minutes later, he’s killed by an arrow shot that flew mysteriously from nowhere. It’s a sufficiently interpretive premise for the grueling scenes that will come later on, especially in the last 30 minutes, when the brutality assumes total control of the story. Set in a tiny town, the story focuses on the earnest sheriff Franklin Hunt (Russell) who seemed more than happy to embark on a perilous mission across the old Wild West in order to solve the mystery related to the disappearance of the town’s doctor, Samantha O’Dwyer (Simmons). Assisted by his two quirky deputies - the irreverent and boastful gunman, John Brooder (Wilson), and the decrepit and jocular, Chicory (Jenkins) - who are so contrasting in nature that end up complementing each other, the brave sheriff sadly concludes that the woman was abducted by savage Indians who, in addition of having no name nor language, also have the particularity of being cannibals. Even seriously wounded in a leg, Samantha’s husband, Arthur O’Dwyer (Fox), decides to join the mission, regardless if his dragging pace lets him momentarily behind. “Bone Tomahawk” can be described as a super-violent, unsparkling western adventure whose excessively sanguinary atrocities will be the first thing to become retained in the mind of the majority of its viewers. In my personal case, the often-unreasonable wry humor and the well-chosen settings were the aspects I most cherished.

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

Directed by: Cary Fukunaga
Country: USA

Movie Review: American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and cinematographer, Cary Fukunaga, shoots beautifully and proves not only to have an eye for detail but also that he’s a director with no defined bounds or roots. He quickly got recognition with his first feature-length film, “Sin Nombre”, which addressed a particular universe pelted with ruthless gangs, set near the Mexican-US border. His sophomore feature, “Jane Eyre”, was a well-succeeded adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel of the same name. This year, he brings us the wilder “Beasts of No Nation”, a movie centered in an untold African country where a young boy, Agu (Abraham Attah), who lost his family when his village was taken by the army, falls in the hands of the rebels, becoming a brainwashed, highly-trained fighter alienated by war, misery, and his own thirst for revenge. This tale, an adaptation of Nigerian Uzodinma Iweala’s debut novel entirely shot in Ghana, starts perspicaciously funny with the kids trying to sell an ‘imagination TV’ to the soldiers or to obtain some money from the passing drivers, simulating the cutting of trees that they lay down in the middle of the streets. Shortly, there's a constant exhibition of violence (in its physical and psychological forms), and the characters exult in occasional dances that end up in harrowing killings. It also shows a significant insight when revealing in what conditions the rebel squad was operating, as well as when focuses on the leadership confrontation between soldiers and politicians. Obedience and sham rules are highlighted factors presented throughout the story. Agu looks at his prepotent Commandant (Idris Elba) as a sort of a father. On the one hand, he really wants to follow him, but on the other, he feels something’s wrong since a father shouldn’t act like a mad man, initiating him into drugs, sex, and often ordering him to kill innocent people. Despite the astonishing cinematography, Mr. Fukunaga, whose camera moves adroitly in accordance to the more or less boisterous situations, should have let the images talk more by themselves. Too many explanations are given - in the form of Agu’s thoughts - and that frequency interrupts a handful of interesting visual sequences. In truth, there’s nothing really new in this tale that we haven’t seen before - for instance, in the more absorbing “War Witch” or the chaotic “Johnny Mad Dog”. Struggling to put every little piece together in a calibrated way, “Beasts of No Nation” is a so-so war drama that happens to be fascinating for its imagery rather than for the additional ways found to express its brutal story.

The Walk (2015)

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Walk” wasn’t so vertiginous as I wanted it to be. Director Robert Zemeckis whose name is immediately associated with other successful blockbusters such as “Back to the Future”, “Forrest Gump”, “Cast Away”, and “Flight”, didn’t impress me much with this real story focused on the remarkable achievement by the obsessive, temperamental, and courageous Philippe Petit, here played earnestly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Petit got famous for walking over the Manhattan’s skies when he crossed the 42 meters that separated the extinct World Trade center towers on a wire. The French artist narrates his own story from the top of the Statute of Liberty, taking us to 1973, the very beginning of his Parisian career as a small crowd entertainer – juggling while high-wire walking. There, he meets a sweet street musician, Annie (Charlotte Le Bon), who at first felt annoyed with his presence since he was stealing all the audience. After conquering Annie’s heart, he fails his first public presentation, but redeems himself accomplishing the following mission of walking on the Notre Dame cathedral and consequently gaining a few devoted accomplices who offer themselves to help him fulfilling his big dream. His riskiest task ever is going to take place in New York and requires a careful and meticulous preparation that is given by Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), a circus owner and old expert in the high-wire art, who teaches him a few precious secrets. Sometimes accused of being selfish and arrogant, Petit was able to join an efficient, friendly team that includes the ‘anarchist’ photographer Jean-Louis (Clément Sibomy) who will cover the grandiose expedition. Perhaps because I still have so clearly in my head the magnificent documentary “Man on Wire”, superbly directed by James Marsh in 2008, which addresses Petit and his deed with precision and vitality, “The Walk” feels a bit too much pretentious in its somewhat irritating approach. The dazzling visuals aren’t devoid of disquietude, but the film only provides regular entertainment without agitating us in any occasion with surprises or giving another concept to a form that was nothing more than banally standardized. Mr. Zemeckis, whose filmography comprehends fantasy, animation, and real drama, never made me feel the creeps or soar over the slightly misty blue skies of Manhattan.

Experimenter (2015)

Directed by: Michael Almereyda
Country: USA

Movie Review: Brought by the innovative - yet not always succeeded - American director Michael Almereyda, “Experimenter” tells us about the work of social psychologist, Stanley Milgram (an unsmiling Peter Sarsgaard), based on his overwhelming studies on the human obedience to authority. In this biographical drama, whose theme is sufficiently enticing to keep us watching with a responsive curiosity, Almereyda uses his creative freedom to edify a somewhat loose narrative that drinks from the thoughts and explanations given by the observant experimenter who carried out multiple experiments on obedience. The first one started in 1961 at the Yale University, where he was teaching social relations. The fundaments of the experiment were very simple, but never easy to the participants, who had to administer possibly damaging electric shocks to a human being placed on the other side of the wall whenever he chooses a wrong answer to the pre-prepared questions. Milgram proved that more than 80% of the participants, despite extremely uncomfortable with the situation, continued giving electric shocks when they were politely and yet firmly told to proceed with the experiment. Many questions arise: didn't they stop because they were being paid and consequently a sense of duty was calling them? Or because they possessed some kind of meanness or aggressiveness? Or is it because they just embraced the task with such devotion that they simply neglected that there was a man suffering and asking for the experience to come to an end? Professor Milgram, with the eyes fixed on the camera, explains that this is due to the so-called ‘agentic state’, which occurs when a person is in his obedient mode in the face of a command. Once in this state, it’s impossible to go back - he explains. Among curious conclusions, unanswered questions, and philosophical postures, “Experimenter” also addresses the complicity that existed between Milgram and his devoted and condescending wife, Sasha (a solid comeback by Winona Ryder). The film’s structure was a bit fluctuating, occasionally alienated, which is not totally surprising if we remember the previous spasmodic narrative adventures of Mr. Almereyda – “Nadja”, “Hamlet”, “Cymbeline”. Despite the quibbles, he was able to picture both the experiments and the struggles of the man behind them with a voice of his own. Even far from enchanting, “Experimenter” is Almereyda’s most accomplished film.

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Country: USA

Movie Review: Passionately directed by Steven Spielberg, “Bridge of Spies” doesn’t belong to those conventional espionage thrillers we normally come across with. The film, which recreates a laudable true story, counts with brilliant performances by Tom Hanks, Spielberg’s habitual first choice, and the highly praised English stage actor Mark Rylance whose brief appearances and words are simply unforgettable. The script by the Coen brothers and Matt Charman, despite lacking vigorous action scenes, reveals a humane side that is much welcome and unfolds with a gracious coherence and an inherent subtle tension. The year is 1957, in plain Cold War. Rudolf Abel (Rylance), a long-time soviet spy operating in the US, is caught by the FBI and arrested. The one designated to defend him is the Brooklyn attorney, James B. Donovan (Hanks), who truly believes Abel has the right to a fair trial as everybody else, regardless the opinion shared by the majority of the population that he should immediately be convicted and sent to the electric chair. During the preparation for the defense, Donovan and Abel develop a sincere admiration for each other based on the respect and loyalty they’ve always dedicated to their duties. As expected, the impassive Abel is convicted, but Donovan was capable of persuading the biased judge not to give him the death sentence, suggesting instead that they keep him alive for a possible future exchange of prisoners, in the case of an American spy falls in the hands of the Russians. Believe it or not, that was exactly what happened when the American pilot Francis Gary Powers was captured during a spy mission in Soviet territory. The CIA’s only concern is to retrieve Powers, but the straightforward Donovan decides to negotiate beyond that. He’ll attempt to exchange Abel, not only for Powers but also for Frederic Pryor, an American student who couldn’t avoid an inopportune detention occurred in East Berlin. “Bridge of Spies”, flowing with seriousness, wittiness, and elegance, uses mainstream strokes to paint the portrait of a real hero and his magnificent deeds for his country. It’s an immaculate film in terms of period recreation, visual consistency, and narrative fluency. Here, the stimulating chases and wild shootings are discarded; instead, you have the chance to appreciate the finesse of a true classic. A feel-good touch comes in the last scene, when the exhausted Donovan, lying in bed, is regarded by his wife with a mix of incredulity for what he just did and a profound veneration for who he is.

Steve Jobs (2015)

Directed by: Danny Boyle
Country: USA

Movie Review: In the last three years, three films were made about Steve Jobs, the genius behind the Apple technology, and each one of them deserves a very distinct verdict. In 2013, two years after Jobs’ death, director Joshua Michael Stern relies on Ashton Kutcher to play the character in “Jobs”, a feeble biopic that left the moviegoers unsatisfied with its contrived approach and lack of vision. This year, the acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney (“Mea Maxima Culpa”, “We Steal Secrets”) has built a fair account of Jobs’ private and professional life using the typical journalistic approach in which well-edited interviews and archive footage are properly articulated. Now, it’s the turn of the respected director Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, “127 Hours”) who formulates the most fascinating if incomplete portrait of the man in question. The inevitably awesome, Michael Fassbender, even drawing some initial doubts on Boyle’s first set, was the perfect vehicle to give body and soul to Jobs, here aided by Kate Winslet, who gives a magnificent performance – her best since “Revolutionary Road” - playing Joanna Hoffman, Job’s trustful ally and confidant since the times of the original Mac team. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who based himself in the book by Walter Isaacson, leaves some important details out of the script such as Job’s wife and the illness that consumed him for quite some time. However, with the help of Mr. Boyle’s expressive close-ups and thorough guidance, “Steve Jobs” turns out to be an extremely entertaining fragment with emotional efficaciousness in regard to how the tech maestro brusquely handled family and work matters. The Apple’s catching slogan ‘think different’ was not always transposed to his private life, especially in those difficult times when he stubbornly refused to recognize his 5-year-old daughter, Lisa. The man who feared rejection due to a convoluted childhood was able to slowly change in several aspects of his life, but will always be regarded as a selfish bastard by some of the tech creators who also put a lot of effort in the variety of tasks without receiving the recognition they deserved. Among the extensive list, we have John Sculley, Steve Wozniak, and Andy Hertzfeld, terrifically played by Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogen, and Michael Stuhlbarg, respectively.

The Visit (2015)

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Country: USA

Movie Review: M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Visit” can be defined as a kids’ parody that eventually turns into a hysterical domestic horror adventure, never sufficiently scary to be recommended. If you want an idea of its tone and mood, think of the farcical ambiance of “Home Alone” added up to those pseudo-documentaries known as found footage films (“Rec”, “Paranormal Activity”) in which the characters narrate and record the events with a hand-held camera that is usually more agile than the developments of the plot itself. The film starts with a mother (Kathryn Hahn), explaining to the camera how she fell in love with an older man (who left her afterwards for another woman) with whom she had two children and escaped home against the will of her parents. The same parents, 15 years after she has left, discovered her through the Internet and arranged everything to host the two grandchildren they’ve never met in their isolated Pennsylvania farm. The teenagers Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) become enthusiastic about the visit and depart equipped with a camera in order to continue the documentary about the family, already started with an interview with their mom who, meanwhile, takes the opportunity to have some fun with her new boyfriend. However, what they find there, including the wintry landscapes that limit their hide-and-seek games, is not so cheerful. The scenario is intentionally clumsy since the beginning when they realize there’s something wrong with the grandmother (Deanna Dunagan) besides cooking and cleaning compulsively. Moreover, the granddad (Peter McRobbie) has inexplicable, abrupt changes in behavior, and together with his wife, is the center of the odd occurrences that lead to the flimsy final conclusions. The best in “The Visit” are its visuals, brilliantly adorned through an effective use of light and nicely mounted sets. Apart from this, most of the situations that come out of the lame script are pretty stupid, and the film never manages to succeed, whether in comedy or horror. Clearly, Mr. Shyamalan embraces a worthless phase as a filmmaker and screenwriter. For a few years now, I can’t find anything solid in his filmography to recommend, considering that “The Happening”, “The Last Airbender”, and “After Earth” are cinematic aberrations. Long are the glorious days of “The Sixth Sense”, “Unbreakable”, and “Signs”.

The Martian (2015)

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Country: USA

Movie Review: Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” is a good, often funny, sci-fi flick, but not a spectacular one. Visually and technically striking, the film left me a bit wobbly due to a strained plot, which contains a rescue beyond the bounds of imagination, an unlikely collaboration between the NASA and the China National Space Agency, and a farfetched new way of growing potatoes on Mars (imagine!). However, if we close our eyes to its, perhaps too speculative, plot’s stratagems and schemes, it's still possible to find a handful of breathtaking moments to enjoy. The screenwriter, Drew Goddard, who had already disclosed his proneness to unlimited fantasy in past movies such as “World War Z” and “Cloverfield”, based himself on the Andy Weir’s 2011 novel of the same name. The American astronaut, Mark Watney (Matt Damon), gets accidentally stranded on Mars, after an operation that ended up aborted under a severe dust storm. On Martian soil, Mark is gravely wounded, loses his senses, and gets lost from the rest of the crew. The brave commander, Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), informed by her fellow astronauts that Mark is dead, gives the order to return immediately to the spaceship and abandon the planet, not taking the risk of losing another crew-mate. When the world thought Mark was dead, he surprises everybody, not only giving signs of life (confirmed by satellite images), but also proving he’s healthy and making use of his botanical skills to prepare an artificial piece of land where he’ll try to grow potatoes. This way, he could last three more years until the next scheduled mission to the planet. The general problems in these cases start to appear, but the extremely versatile Mark never loses his good disposition and faith. On the Earth, the NASA is ruminating on the best way to bring Mark back home. Heading the operations are the optimistic director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and his expeditious right-arm and mission director, Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Ridley Scott feels comfortable within a genre that he knows extremely well. The Polish cinematographer, Dariusz Wolski, who had worked with Mr. Scott in “Prometheus”, does much better than Harry Gregson-Williams in the music department. Slightly overlong and just pinching in terms of excitement, “The Martial”, though watchable, fails to be the masterpiece that Mr. Scott has envisioned.

99 Homes (2014)

Directed by: Ramin Bahrani
Country: USA

Movie Review: American-Iranian filmmaker, Ramin Bahrami, returns in big with “99 Homes”, a thoroughly observed analysis of the financial/real estate crisis that ravaged the US around 2010. Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon star, respectively as the man to evict from the house his family was living forever, and the greedy real estate broker with an insatiable ambition to own more and more properties in the state of Florida. Dennis Nash (Garfield), an honest construction worker who lives with his mother (Laura Dern) and little son (Noah Lomax), gets desperate after going into court and be told by the judge that he has to vacate his house. Dennis gets panicky with the situation, but relies on more 30 days given by the judge, in the case he wants to appeal. Next morning, for his surprise, two inflexible cops and the impeccably dressed real estate broker, Richard Carver (Shannon), who works with a gun strapped to his ankle, appear at his door, informing that the house is now owned by the bank and that they have two minutes to pack what they want and leave. It’s an embarrassing moment for Dennis and his family, who are placed in a motel that hosts a bunch of people in the same situation. In extreme need of money and with the unique thought of retrieving his family house, Dennis accepts a dirty offer made by Carver and goes to work for him. He’s hired to fix houses that need urgent repair, but soon starts doing to other people exactly the same as Carver did to him. ‘Don’t get emotional over real estate’ – says the glacial Carver. Bluntly and heartlessly, Dennis shamefully evicts people under pressure from their houses. He isn’t an insatiable vulture as Carver, though. His conscience bites at every dispossession, becoming unbearable when his mother leaves with his son, abandoning him in a huge new property with a spectacular pool. I was happy to find that Mr. Bahrani, who co-wrote with Amir Naderi, is back to his best, recovering his resonant voice when it comes to denouncing the world’s social problems. His previous, “At Any Price”, wasn’t so consistent, but his past work includes the brilliant “Man Push Cart”, “Chop Chop”, and “Goodbye Solo”. “99 Homes” confirms his superior narrative skills, while showcases two smashingly compelling performances by the protagonists.

Wildlike (2014)

Directed by: Frank Hall Green
Country: USA

Movie Review: Writer, director and co-producer, Frank Hall Green, presents his sophomore fictional feature, which arrives with plausibility and dramatic strength, and leaves not only with uncertainty, but also with a steady light of hope at the end of a dark tunnel. “Wildlike” is an independent drama that tells the distressing story of McKenzie (Ella Purnell), an unfortunate fatherless 14-year-old who ends up living with an estranged uncle (Brian Geraghty) in Juneau, Alaska, when his mother is hospitalized. At first, the uncle seems to be simultaneously attentive and caring but soon reveals an immoral dark side, abusing sexually of the quiet girl who runs away on the first opportunity she gets. Lost and desperate, she walks many miles through the amazing Alaskan landscapes, sleeping in an unlocked car and ultimately finding a motel where she sneaks into the room of the backpacker Rene Bartlett (Bruce Greenwood). When he finds her underneath his bed, he gets startled, but despite his efforts to reach her, she manages to escape without an explanation. Before bumping into Rene again (like a karma), McKenzie approaches a much younger backpacker by knocking at his door and asking if she can take a shower. The young man, seeing her wrapped in a towel on his bed, advances for a kiss, bringing all the recent ignominious memories. The brusque, yet good-hearted middle-aged Rene is marked as the man to follow while she tries to figure out the best way to return to Seattle and contact her mother. The new friends open up, telling more about their lives, a fact that leads the highly confused McKenzie to an embarrassing misstep. The tensest moments in the film are narrow and all together just last a few minutes. They include a fortuitous encounter with a menacing black bear and a couple situations when the fugitive tries to hide from the police officers and the insulting uncle. Evenly plotted, “Wildlike”, which oscillates between the tactful and the warmish, leaves us with the sensation that its developments could be even stronger in order to be treasured. It stands firm mostly because of Ella Purnell’s extremely sensitive performance and the unflinching surprises that the pragmatic Mr. Green takes out of his sleeve.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Country: USA

Movie Review: When taking into account the themes of “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”, a glorious coming-of-age comedy-drama written by Jesse Andrews (based in his own novel) and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (his sophomore feature film), we must conclude that its crew and cast were capable of pulling the film out of standardized comfort zones. The young actor, Thomas Mann, is delightfully awkward when playing Greg, a senior at Pittsburgh's Schenley High School, who likes to cultivate his invisibility by remaining in good terms with everybody but never in a way that’s not casual or mellow. He’s best friends with the lazy Earl (RJ Cyler), a long-time partner in the making of a few secret short movies that aim to ridicule the classics. Greg is compelled by his intrusive mother to call Rachel (Olivia Cooke), his fellow student and former childhood friend who was diagnosed with leukemia. Regardless the extreme reluctance of both, Greg and Rachel start seeing each other at her place, and their encounters can be described as weirdly enjoyable. Greg’s presence is always fully embraced by Rachel’s single mother, Denise (Molly Shannon), who finds him modest and handsome. After some time, a strong bond consolidates, triggering some spiteful commentaries by some mean colleagues who affirm that Greg just speaks to Rachel because she has cancer. However, Greg’s hot crush, Madison, suggests he could make a film for Rachel. Amidst some quarrels with the presuming Earl, Greg seeks inspiration for the film in order to please his dying friend, the one he always manages to cheer up, receiving in turn, some rebukes about his lack of initiative and some orientation regarding important fast-approaching choices. In addition to its congenial offbeat tones, this giving/receiving exchange is the key to the beauty of the film. Other few stupendous occurrences deserve to be mentioned – the one when Greg and Earl got accidentally on drugs is hilarious. Gomez-Rejon’s camera moves confidently and dares to some inventive angles, intelligently mounting frames that are as much idiosyncratic as its characters. Packed with refreshing good ideas, this is a rich, rewarding story whose finale is beautiful, sore, and touching.

Mississippi Grind (2015)

Directed by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Country: USA

Movie Review: If you’re in the mood for those pungent dramas about losers, gamblers, wanderers, solitaries, and despairing human creatures that inhabit the face of the Earth struggling with financial problems and family disillusions, “Mississippi Grind”, may be a splendid pick. The meritorious performances of Ben Mendelsohn, playing a vicious poker player who ultimately is going through a phase of bad luck, and Ryan Reynolds (replacing Jake Gyllenhaal), as a sympathetic younger gambler who loves to talk to people and charming them with amazing stories about other gamblers, are sufficient motives to follow the film. The disheartened Gerry (Mendelsohn), an absent father and divorced real estate agent whose life is in a complete mess, slowly approaches the Iowan casino where he daily tries his luck. He wants to win so badly, so he can pay his giant debts and regain the confidence he has lost in order to reconnect with his little daughter. While at the poker table, he gets fascinated with Curtis (Reynolds), who immediately draws his attention. Gerry truly starts to believe that Curtis can be the one who can change his luck. Both become friends, setting off on a road trip in which a few interesting encounters and episodes inject some more substance than just the gambling itself. The destiny is New Orleans, but underway, they make a couple of stops. The first is in St. Louis, where Curtis visits his girlfriend, Simone (Sienna Miller), at the house where men can find companionship. Once there, Gerry nurtures a special fondness for Vanessa (Analeigh Tipton), a sweet girl who wants to change her life and enthusiastically shows him some magic tricks. Then, a big bet is waiting for the avid Gerry in Memphis, but once again, he leaves empty-handed. Before reaching the destiny, they make a little detour to Little Rock, where Gerry meets with his ex-wife. Shamefully, he falls into the temptation of trying to steal cash from her. Failure after failure, the two friends are daring enough to sometimes play with their lives. Are they condemned to fail forever? The mood adopted by the American writers/directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck ("Half Nelson"), is reminiscent of Robert Altman’s films from the 70’s, whereas the musical score – a blend of old blues and other westerner tunes – supplies the appropriate flavor to consolidate its dynamics.

Black Mass (2015)

Directed by: Scott Cooper
Country: USA

Movie Review: After an extraordinary start, marked by unforgettable presences in “Dead Man”, “Ed Wood”, “Gilbert Grape” and “Donnie Brasco”, the actor Johnny Depp has fed his curriculum, not only with dignified choices based on fantasy - most of them conceived by Tim Burton - but also with a few repulsive flicks like “The Lone Ranger”, “The Tourist”, and “Transcendence”. In the fact-based “Black Mass”, a fairly watchable gangster thriller, directed by Scott Cooper in a similar line of Scorsese, he returns to a strong role, playing the violent Irish-American gangster, Jimmy ‘Whitey’ Bulger, who was a terror to his enemies, but a sweet, nice guy for his family and friends. The film starts with Johnny Martorano (W. Earl Brown), Jimmy’s trustful hitman, being questioned about the gang’s operation and the cold ways of dealing with snitches. Also, Jimmy’s right-hand, Steve Flemmi (Rory Cochrane) agrees to narrate a few past episodes involving the business. We learn that Jimmy did what he did because he had his back covered by his influential brother, senator Billy Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch), and a dishonest special agent, John Connolly, earnestly played by Noel Edgerton, who had grown up with them and recently has returned to the city. The latter undermines the police and the FBI and persuades his boss to accept an illicit alliance admitting the ruthless Jimmy as a consultant in the battle against the Mafiosi Angiulo brothers. Step by step, Jimmy, unable to hide his involvement in drugs, extortion, and murder, becomes bigger and more ambitious, imposing total respect to Connolly who becomes shaky when his wife, Marianne, confronts his morality. Unexpectedly, the most significant scenes are non-violent: one in the beginning, when he explains to his little son why he shouldn’t be in trouble for punching another kid at school; and another tense one, when a ‘family recipe’ is easily given away. On the contrary, the violent scenes are scarcely exciting and sum up into a few artful, cold-blooded gunshots. Notwithstanding, and despite the many side characters and situations, the story is no muddled. Depp isn't Brando or Pesci, yet he’s a justifiable fit for the unsentimental role.

Everest (2015)

Directed by: Baltasar Kormakur
Country: USA / UK / Iceland

Movie Review: Efficient Icelandic director, Baltasar Kormakur, returns to the cinematic recreations of dramatic real-life events after the accomplished “The Deep”, dated from two years ago. Right after the latter, he made an incursion into the fictional action-crime genre with the uninvolving “Two Guns”, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. “Everest”, an account of the tragedy occurred in the Earth's highest mountain in the spring of 1996, also presents a strong cast, including Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, and Emily Watson. Screenwriters William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy try to assemble the different pieces in a mix of family drama, human competition, and survival epic, but in my eyes, and despite watchable, the film falls short of something big. A group of audacious climbers of several nationalities aims to reach the top of the Everest. The New Zealander Rob Hall (Clarke) and the American Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal) are two experienced guides who, competing each other to get the attention of the media, will drive a group that features Beck Weathers (Brolin), who doesn’t seem so confident as the others and expose himself to some calamitous situations, Doug Hansen (Hawkes), who had failed the task before but wants to prove he can do it, and Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), who already had climbed six of the seven highest peaks. Halfway, all of them talk about their motivations to embark on the expedition, which is constantly monitored by Helen (Watson), the base camp manager, who keeps them informed about the weather conditions, via radio. With more or less difficulty, the glory is attained by most of the climbers, who had no idea of what would come next. A huge storm, bringing devastating chilly winds and blinding heavy snows, sweeps the mountain when all of them, except two, had initiated the descent. To pump up the anxiety, oxygen bottles are not available anymore and high-altitude pulmonary edema attacks mercilessly, leaving the most fragile freezingly motionless. The drama of the mountaineers’ wives is also a crucial point of Kormakur’s camera, which seeks the best vertiginous angles to provoke us a few shivers.  All the same, “Everest” is more breathtaking than emotionally responsive, failing to mightily step onto the peak of the subgenre where it belongs.