Cake (2015)

"Tell me a story where everything works out in the end for the evil witch."

Over ten years since ‘Friends’ finished and Jennifer Aniston finally plays a character that’s not Rachel Green...

Claire becomes obsessed with the recent suicide of a woman from her chronic pain support group while dealing with her own personal tragedy.

The main thing to say straight from the start is that ‘Cake’ is an extremely slow film.

It deals with a lot of heavy themes such as suicide, drug misuse, depression and grief. If you’re expecting a typical “rom-com” featuring a ditzy Jennifer Aniston then you’ve come to the wrong place. 

‘Cake’ is no doubt a slow burner but it is still interesting nonetheless. Despite a brief 102 minute running time, it feels more like a 3 hour slog so buckle up. Every move that Jennifer Aniston makes is so pained and slow that each scene becomes pained and slow. This sounds like a huge criticism but I actually thought that it worked well for this film. It had to have the slow pace otherwise it wouldn’t have been as effective when you get to the conclusion and resolution. You go through the film trying to piece together Claire’s story with the little hints and clues you are fed but you aren’t really given much until the end of the film. 

Jennifer Aniston finally shows some acting chops and plays a character that doesn’t belong in "Central Perk". What really surprised me about this revelation is the fact that she actually does a really good job as Claire. 

She delivers a very mature performance as a woman who is struggling to deal with her personal traumas while searching for answers. 

It was interesting to watch her cope with both the emotional pain and the physical pain that she is constantly in as a result of an unexplained tragedy. This physical manifestation of her guilt was both compelling and uncomfortable. Claire is in constant agony throughout the entire film and you actually begin to feel all of her aches and pains as the film slowly drags on. You can see glimmers of the woman she used to be with her wit and passion but she is no doubt a broken woman.

The relationships between all of the characters are believable and really suck you into Claire's shattered world. The way the different characters act and react to Claire give you an indication of her personality and her situation which was refreshing to watch in what could have potentially been an extremely stale film. She is a compelling, conflicted, interesting and well grounded female character which is all too rare these days. 

Another example of a compelling female actress in 'Cake' is Adrianna Barraza who plays Silvana, Claire's housekeeper/carer, who is left to pick up the pieces of Claire's life. She becomes more than just her paid help as we learn that she just can't bring herself to leave Claire's side. She is well developed and we come to love her as she is like a mother to her. A strong supporting actress that helps boost Jennifer Aniston's performance and raises the bar.

After seeing ‘Cake’, I’m surprised that Jennifer Aniston didn’t at least get a nod from the Oscars with a nomination but she was completely snubbed which is a shame. I don’t think she would have won but a nomination at least would have been justified. 

The supporting cast were solid and likeable, especially Sam Worthington as Roy Collins. The relationship that develops between Claire and Roy is heartbreaking and understandable. Both characters are dealing with a massive trauma and are looking for a sense of normality and closeness. It’s interesting to watch the two try and cope together and navigate through the minefield that is grief.

‘Cake’ softly takes us by the hand and presents us with one woman’s journey as she deals with grief and guilt. They say that everyone grieves differently and that is so true in ‘Cake’. Grief is something that we all have to deal with at one point in our lives and I think that this film gently and carefully deals with it and does it justice in the end. It is touching and heartbreaking but you feel a sense of relief leaving the cinema. Whether that relief is the end of Claire’s journey or the fact that the film is over is yet to be determined but it is a nice feeling nonetheless. 

Overall, I don’t think I would rush back to see ‘Cake’ any time soon but I think it is worth a watch. It’s a heavy film that is grounded in some hard hitting realism so don’t see it expecting a few giggles from Jennifer Aniston, I’d recommend a few tissues and a bottle of wine if you’re wanting to abide by the cliché... 

'Ex Machina' (2015)

“I am God.”

If watching movies has taught me anything in life, it is not to build an intelligent robot that looks like a human. 

It never works. 

If you’ve ever seen ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’, 'I-Robot' or '2001: A Space Odyssey' then you’ll know what I mean... Trust me... Just don’t do it.

Young programmer - Caleb, wins a mysterious competition to meet his genius, reclusive company CEO - Nathan and take part in a breakthrough experiment in Artificial Intelligence with a beautiful robot named Ava.

I actually enjoyed ‘Ex Machina’ a hell of a lot. It dives into some immensely philosophical ideas and poses some refreshing questions that you can’t help but run through your mind long after the credits have rolled.

When a film forces you to ponder the meaning of life, you've hit the jackpot.

The film explores the relationship between the three main characters - Caleb (the young programmer) and Nathan (alcoholic/genius/inventor) who has created Ava, the first A.I. ever built.

The experiment is to basically see, after Caleb has been shown that Ava is an A.I., whether or not he believes that she has consciousness, despite knowing she is a robot. 

An interesting concept in itself. 

How can you prove that she does? Does a robot know it’s a robot? How can you test such a theory when you already know that she is a robot?

All of these questions and more are explored in the film and it makes for a really compelling watch. 

Oscar Isaac plays reclusive millionaire genius, Nathan, and he is outstanding. I have only seen him in three films so far but he’s rapidly becoming one of my favourite actor working in film at the moment. He balances the right amount of genius and personality to make him likeable but somewhat untrustworthy and even intimidating. This is an actor who either has a fantastic agent who is getting him some seriously great jobs or he has a keen eye for scripts. 
He is physically large and intimidating to young Caleb who is taking part in the ground breaking experiment and you can feel the tension when they are examining and blurring the line between man and machine. He captures the more primal physical nature of human beings, even with his gorilla like movements and physique, and challenges the more intellectually minded Caleb to dive into a more emotional analysis of Ava than a rational one.

I love the fact that 'Ex Machina' poses the inherent question about building artificial intelligence, it's not how to create an A.I. but should we create one? It doesn’t look at the technical probability but more at the consequences of creating an A.I. and how it could affect the world and future as we know it. 

Doctor Frankenstein and his monster with a modern twist.

It throws out so many ideas and challenges the audience to make up their own minds.

The special effects in the film were outstanding and some of the best robot effects I’ve seen in a film. Swedish actress Alicia Vikander does an excellent job as Ava, you totally forget that she is a real person and gradually accept that she is a robot which is a huge undertaking for any actress. I think the fact that she was a relatively unknown actress helped her in this role as the audience doesn’t have any expectations of the type of role she is going to play or her traits as an actor. She has enough personality that you feel something for this machine, along with Caleb, and begin to question the ethics of it all. Is it right to “unplug" a self aware robot? After all it (or she) is only a machine, right?

With some touching scenes, it’s beautiful to watch her performance evolve as you try and work out if she does in fact have consciousness. The audience are invited to take part in the experiment with Caleb, which is truly absorbing.

I feel like this is the film Stanley Kubrick would have made if he had lived to make 'A.I.' which Spielberg made in 2001 in tribute to him.

There was a surprising amount of tension in the film that I was not expecting. There are layers upon layers of deceptions and emotional conflicts that the audience along with young Caleb have to try and manoeuvre through to get to the truth. Each character in the film has their own agenda and they develop as the plot does.
Combining some clever twists and turns with intelligent ideas and an intriguing plot makes ‘Ex Machina’ an extremely enjoyable watch that will, ultimately, leave you with a lot to think about. 

‘Ex Machina’ is an intelligent, entertaining and thought-provoking journey that allows the audience to see things from a different perspective. It poses some profound questions and ideas such as the meaning and creation of life, the line between man and machine and where our species as a whole is headed. 

I can safely say that I am glad I went to see ‘Ex Machina’ instead of '50 shades of Grey' this weekend.

"There you go again. Mr Quoteable"

'The Interview' (2015)

"Kim must die, it's the American way."

James Franco & Seth Rogen have to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and save the world from nuclear destruction… 

Don’t worry, you read that right.

Talk show host Dave Skylark and his producer Aaron Rapoport are recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un after they manage to land an interview with him for worldwide broadcast.

Let’s just say, I was not expecting much from this movie.

However, in a very strange turn of events, I actually quite enjoyed ‘The Interview’.

It is so hard to tear this film apart because it does it to itself. It doesn’t take itself seriously in the slightest and has so much fun it’s hard not to enjoy it. 

James Franco and Seth Rogen are a pair that always make me laugh, despite how hard I try not to. They are always criticised for only playing slightly different versions of themselves in their films but I wouldn’t want it any other way. 
They are the comedy duo that are crude, funny and often outrageous.

They know exactly what they are and they deliver exactly what is expected of them.

James Franco steals the show for me as tabloid show presenter - Dave Skylark. He’s idiotic and charming and that is what we love about James Franco. It’s interesting to watch the contrast between Dave Skylark and Seth Rogen’s character Aaron Rapoport. Aaron wants to dive into some more serious news rather than the celebrity junk that they’ve been covering for the last ten years. They always play those contrasting characters but I felt that it worked a lot better in ‘The Interview’ than it has in the past. They tend to blur the line in their other films but they stuck to it pretty well in this one.

The way Kim Jong-un is portrayed in ‘The Interview’ is just fantastic. The fact that he’s secretly a huge fan of Skylark’s talk show is perfect. The idea that a ruthless dictator actually enjoys watching Dave Skylark’s talk show talk about Eminem being gay or Kim Kardashian's ass just makes me laugh. 

Kim Jong-un is played by Randall Park and he does a solid job. He’s funny while being intimidating and really looks the part. Respect for this guy as he must have received a ridiculous amount of heat from Korea for playing the dictator in the way he does... 

The film was just under two hours long but it didn’t feel like it at all. The film ended exactly when it needed to and most of the jokes didn’t drag. They hit their punchlines and got out of there when it was right, which is refreshing for comedies of late as they tend to drag on and lose their comedy value. It was borderline repetitive with a few recurring jokes but nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of things.

For all of it’s ridiculousness and melodrama, ‘The Interview’ actually comes home with a logical and relevant ending that is both political and interesting which surprised me. It explores the ideology of the Korean dictatorship and maturely deals with it… all the while being totally immature and tasteless. The thought was there though!

I can’t talk about ‘The Interview’ and not talk about the controversy surrounding the release.

There was obviously a lot in the news about the Sony hacks and threats that were happening around the release, which did raise a lot of questions. There was fear of cinemas being bombed and even world war 3 at one point but, with the release being on time in the end and the hush hush of the controversy since then, I suspect the world may have been duped by a clever marketing ploy. 

Don’t get me wrong, it worked extremely well but it was risky nonetheless.

The controversy helped the movie in a big way. When the jokes are being thrown around about North Korea you can’t help but cringe in horror and laugh at the same time. There were some serious groans and sharp inhales in the cinema as we all wondered how they got away with such blatant satire and ridicule. 

At the end of the day, it is satire. If you treat it seriously it just makes you look silly. Everything about ‘The Interview’ is ridiculous.  

‘The Interview’ is tasteless, outrageous and, admittedly, very funny. 

It dips into classic Seth Rogen and James Franco style in the middle of the movie (which wasn’t as funny) but it’s first and last act were ludicrous and hilarious which made up for the slightly indulgent middle section of the film.

The racism in the film is bad but it takes no prisoners. For every joke about North Korea there is a dig at America too. The plot is a huge comment on American culture and attitude which helps restore the balance. The entire film is ironic.

You know exactly what you’re going to get with a James Franco/Seth Rogen film so if you’re expecting something different then you’re going to be disappointed. 

Did this film need to be made?

Absolutely not.

Am I glad that it was made?

Absolutely.

Don’t take it seriously, just take it for what it is and you’ll have fun.

"You're going to have to put it in your ass."

American Sniper (2015)

"I'm willing to meet my creator and answer for every shot that I took…”

Seeing the trailer for 'American Sniper' in the cinema was a breath of fresh air amongst the stale and generic trailers that were circulating before the Oscar buzz picked up.

It was an intense and well crafted trailer that doesn’t give anything away but whets your palette and gives you a taste of what the film is going to be about. Despite hearing that the recently unpredictable Clint Eastwood was directing, I was excited to see what this movie could deliver, especially with Bradley Cooper at the helm. 

Chris Kyle, a U.S. Navy SEAL sniper, becomes a legend on the battlefield as the deadliest sniper in U.S. history but struggles to cope with the psychological consequences of his tours in Iraq.

I went into 'American sniper' with relatively high expectations and I think they were met overall.

Bradley Cooper is a revelation as Chris Kyle. Not only is he built like a brick wall for the role but the way he presents himself as the sniper and war veteran is unlike anything we’ve seen him do before.

What impressed me most was his technical knowledge and his mannerisms with the rifle. There was not one moment in the film that I didn’t believe that he had been holding a weapon all of his life. I just accepted the fact that he was a soldier and moved past it, which is testament to his ability and his commitment to the combat realism that Eastwood desired. The way he held the sniper and how he interacted with it while delivering a credible performance was staggering. It became part of him, like an extension of his own arm, and you got the sense that he had rebuilt Chris Kyle from the ground up and got deep inside him as a character.

The physical transformation that Cooper went through also surprised me. We're used to the heartthrob actor from ‘The Hangover’ and ‘Limitless’ but instead, we get an intimidating and powerful warrior who you would not want to be facing down in a war situation. He gained around 40 pounds of muscle for the role which is nearly 3 stones in UK terms. Any actor who gains 3 stones, not in fat but in muscle, is a force to be reckoned with. After seeing the real Chris Kyle and his mannerisms, I began to realise just how well Bradley Cooper had captured him. This is an impressive performance from an actor who I’m beginning to respect more and more with each performance. I definitely agree with the Oscar nomination for Best Actor and I think he should be a contender.

Sienna Miller was unfortunately relatively forgettable in her supporting role as Chris Kyle's wife - Taya. I'm not entirely sure if it was down to the writing of her character, her acting ability or a mixture of both but I felt that she was an interchangeable character. She was functional in the role but I felt like you could have plucked Sienna Miller out of the role and dropped another actress in and it wouldn't have changed my opinion of the film. It's so frustrating dealing with weak female characters in a film that features so many complex male characters.

There are some heart-stopping scenes in the film that will leave you breathless and questioning the moral judgement of Chris Kyle. He has to make some extremely tough calls, including whether or not to execute a child who he believes is going to bomb his comrades. There are several more but the one featured in the trailer is pivotal to the plot and his character development. The heart-stopping scenes don’t only come on the battlefield but in the human relationships that we see on screen. It could have gotten quite boring quite quickly if it was purely an action flick about a sniper but we get so many layers and emotions wrapped up in the action and the drama.

It’s interesting to watch Chris Kyle dealing with the trauma of war. He has a confirmed 160 kills and it’s impossible not to be damaged by the experiences that he had in Iraq. It’s only when he comes home that you realise just how far he’s gone. He volunteers to go back for 4 tours and it takes its toll, not only on him, but on his family too. This psychological struggle running parallel with the physical combat of war is what really highlights the emotional conflicts of ‘American Sniper’ and helps us understand him on a human level. Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper do a fantastic job of bringing the legend down and showing him as the man.

After doing a little research into the real Chris Kyle I did learn some interesting facts that do somewhat contradict the film but I was determined not to get hung up on them as it is only based on a true story. I don’t believe Chris Kyle is exactly how he is represented in the film and I believe ‘American Sniper’ to be a great work of fiction. It is known that Chris Kyle believed the Iraq soldiers to be “savages" and was a notoriously violent man who was proud of his actions rather than modest and damaged like in the film.

This does taint my post-viewing experience as the more I read, the more I question about the film.

What really let me down in ‘American Sniper’ was the two dimensional representation of Iraq. The soldiers were all faceless and blandly evil, some to the point of being almost pantomime. This is a gross misinterpretation of Iraq and is insulting to the audience. You could argue that it is Chris Kyle’s point of view of Iraq (which would have worked if it was more accurate to the real story) but that’s not how it’s presented in the film. These were men and women just like us and just like Chris Kyle but they’re so demonised that it becomes almost laughable… Not to say that these atrocities weren’t caused by some “evil" people but it isn’t always as black and white as ‘American Sniper’ portrays it.

Overall, I think that ‘American Sniper’ was a fantastically made film by Clint Eastwood with a powerful performance from Bradley Cooper. It makes you think while entertaining you, which is always an enjoyable experience. It deals in a grey area of the human experience with Chris Kyle but is slightly two dimensional in representing his enemies. It is very misleading if you believe it all to be fact and has a slight whiff of propaganda floating around it but, despite this, it is an enjoyable work of fiction that should be treated as such...