The Assassin - trailer

The Taiwanese director Hsiao-Hsien Hou won the award for Best Director at the Cannes film festival last spring for this visually stunning martial arts movie.

Genre: martial arts / historical drama / action

Son of Saul - trailer

Genre: historical drama / psychological thriller / horror

The Babadook - clip

My favourite scene from the interesting psychological horror thriller The Babadook (2014) by the Australian director Jennifer Kent.

Genre: psychological thriller / horror / family drama

The Witch - trailer

Genre: horror / historical drama

The Revenant - trailer

Genre: western / adventure / historical drama

Shocking beauty

Under the Skin  by Jonathan Glazer     ★★★★★

Mesmerized. That's how I felt, watching Under the Skin: a strange, highly original science fiction film from 2013 by the British director Jonathan Glazer (known for his crime thriller Sexy Beast and the family drama Birth). 

From the onset, starting with the galactic opening shots, which suggest that extraterrestrial forces arrive on Earth, I got the feeling that I was witnessing something special. Something of a dark, fragile depth, rarely seen in an industry that's preoccupied with box-office returns.

Mysterious and seductive

Scarlett Johansson.

Under the Skin follows a mysterious woman, played with glacial superiority by Scarlett Johansson, who drives in a van through Scotland and lures solitary men into a trap, while maintaining her cold, dispassionate composure. An equally mysterious motorcyclist helps her to conceal the evidence. What are they doing? What is that strange black goo in which their victims disappear? What is this methodical duo up to? Are they extracting an energy source or life force? And how does the strange seductress react when she notices essential things that make humans human, such as humor, self-sacrifice, compassion, musicality, hunger, fear, lust and love? Is she starting to feel something...?

Experimental

Glazer alternates bleak, quasi documentary shots on the streets of Glasgow with poetic and often hauntingly beautiful imagery. One of the most lyrical shots is a dissolve between a sleeping Johansson and a spruce forest that's swaying in the wind. The experimental imagery in Under the Skin comes very close to undiluted video art and reminded me of the visual magic in Stanley Kubrick's science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. The fascinating soundscapes in Under the Skin (by Mica Levi aka Micachu) are reminiscent of the eerie music of György Ligeti in Kubrick's horror thriller The Shining and enhance the ominous atmosphere in Under the Skin all the way to its tragic ending.

The scenes in the van were shot with a hidden camera. The men who get into the van with Johansson were unsuspecting passers-by. Only after the scenes were already shot, they got informed that they were taking part in a movie. This contributed to spontaneous, naturalistic interactions. And Johansson herself, with that 'alien', erotic look of hers, was perfectly cast as the mysterious woman. Through her eyes, we watch the touching stupidity, vulnerablity, ugliness and beauty of mankind with wonder and compassion.

What a relief that Glazer had the courage to explain nothing and leave it to the imagination of the viewer to explore the meaning of what's hidden under the skin of this equally sensitive and disturbing film. It's hard to find a more striking example of cinema as genuine art. Both cruel and sad, chilling and tender, Under the Skin is a masterpiece of rare, shocking beauty.

JN.

Under the Skin - UK/USA/Switzerland - 2013.

Cast: Scarlett Johansson.

Genre: science fiction / thriller / existential drama

A heartfelt road movie

Paper Moon  by Peter Bogdanovich     ★★★★★

Based on the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown, this 1973 masterpiece by Peter Bogdanovich follows the tragicomic adventures of a nine-year-old girl, named Addie (Tatum O'Neal in her screen debut), whose unmarried (liscencious?) mother has just died. At the funeral, a certain Moses Pray (Ryan O'Neal) shows up: a selfish con man who might be Addie's father.

Tatum and Ryan O'Neal
as Addie and Moses.

Reluctantly, Moses agrees to take Addie to her aunt in Missouri. On the road, Moses turns the girl into his partner in crime. Their lucrative scams include short changing cashiers and selling deluxe Bibles to mourning widows who's husbands just died. Initially, Moses and Addie seem to hate each other. But they might have more in common than they think. As it turns out, the stubborn and wisecracking Addie (watch how she owns Moses during their hilarious standoff in a diner) is at least as cunning as Moses when it comes to survival instinct...

Delightfuly authentic

Paper Moon is probably the best road movie ever. The film is set in the American Midwest during the harsh years of the Great Depression. Filmed in Kansas and Missouri, in quiet little towns and in the countryside, the scenic locations, puffing old cars, vintage clothing and old-time tunes on the soundtrack contribute to a feeling of authenticity. The film's title refers to the delightful song It's Only a Paper Moon from 1933 in the version of Paul Whiteman, sung by Peggy Healy. The entire soundtrack is a charming, melancholic trip through memory lane. (click here to listen to it) Thus, the viewer is immersed in the era of the Great Depression, all the more because the film was shot in black and white. A choice that payed off, considering the  beautifil cinematography by the Hungarian director of photography László Kovács. On the advice of Orson Welles (who was Bogdanovich's mentor), Kovács used a deep-focus lens.

Between laughter and tears

Madeline Kahn as Miss Trixie Delight.

The Oscar-nominated screenplay by Alvin Sargent focuses primarily on the relationship between Addie and Moses. But, along the way, we also meet some other colorful characters, such as the 'exotic dancer' Miss Trixie Delight (Madeline Kahn) and her 15-year-old black maid Imogene (P.J. Johnson). Together, this band of misfits is involved in funny situations and witty dialogues that constantly switch between comedy and drama. Director Peter Bogdanovich found a perfect balance between lighthearted humor and sharp social criticism of the tragedy that was the Great Depression. Through the eyes of Addie, we experience how it must have been during these tough times. Not in the least thanks to the brilliant performances of the cast.

Tatum O'Neal an P.J. Johnson.

Spontaneous

Ryan O'Neal plays his heart out as the cynical con artist Moses, whose tacky opportunism conceales more empathy than his callous attitude suggests. Madeline Kahn is perfectly cast as the cheerful, but essentially lonely Miss Trixie. And thanks to the bone-dry humor of P.J. Johnson, the unfortunate Imogene, who is wise beyond her years, is also an unforgettable character. But it is Tatum O'Neal who steals the show as the cute, boyish and cigarette smoking (!) Addie. Although this was her screen debut, O'Neal's naturalistic rendition of Addie finds its way straight to the heart of the viewer, allowing us from the outset to sympathize with the little girl and hope that all ends well with her. 

Tatum is the daughter of Ryan O'Neal. Undoubtedly, this contributed to their spontaneous on screen interaction. It earned the fledgling actress a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, beating Kahn, who was also nominated for her supporting role in Paper Moon. Why Tatum didn't win an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role, is a mystery to us. But she still is the youngest Oscar winner ever.

Love / hate

Despite the fact that Tatum O'Neil was a very gifted actress, she has never been able to fully capitalize on her talent after the release of Paper Moon. By then, her parents were already divorced. Her father remarried twice (with the actresses Joanna Moore and Leigh Taylor-Young) and went on to have a long-term relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett. Not unlike Addie, Tatum felt neglected. In her teens she got addicted to drugs, and the relationship with her fater went downhill. In 1986 she married tennis icon John McEnroe, but six years later they broke up and she lost custody of their three children. Ryan O'Neal is 74 by now and can look back on a successful movie career. Tatum is 51 and still looks quite young for her age. But because of her drug-fueled past, she has never been able to fully realize her potential as an actress. Although the O'Neals never stopped loving each other, at least according to their own statements in the media, they still quarrel a lot. Their love-hate relationship seems to be a fateful reflection of the volatile relationship between Addie and Moses...

Happy ending?

Paper Moon ends with a beautiful wide shot of two tiny figures on a deserted country road. It's one of the finest closing shots in movie history. In the same way as Charlie Chaplin's famous tramp walks off towards the horizon after one of his adventures, Paper Moon also ends with the bittersweet promise that the adventures of Addie and Moses have only just begun. I miss them. And often I wonder what happened to them. Let's hope they wound up in a better place than the O'Neals. They deserve a happy ending...

JN.

It's Only a Paper Moon

Say, it's only a paper moon

Sailing over a cardboard sea

But it wouldn't be make-believe

If you believed in me

Yes, it's only a canvas sky

Hanging over a cotton tree

But it wouldn't be make-believe

If you believed in me

Without your love

It's a honky tonk parade

Without your love

It's a melody played

In a penny arcade

It's a Barnum and Bailey world

Just as hollow as it can be

But it wouldn't be make-believe

If you believed in me

Paper Moon - USA - 1973. 

Cast: Tatum O'Neal, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn and P.J. Johnson.

Genre: road movie / comedy / crime / drama

Dressed to Kill - full movie

Click in the video screen below on the link "Watch on Odnoklassniki".

Genre: erotic crime thriller

Spectre - trailer

Genre: action / adventure / thriller / crime

Human-all-too-human?

Ex Machina  by Alex Garland     ★★★★

Caleb (played by Domhnall Gleeson) is an intelligent guy. He works as a software programmer for Blue Book, the world's most popular Internet search engine. One day, Caleb wins a staff lottery. His prize: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet with Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the brilliant and wealthy CEO of the Google-like company, who designed the aforementioned search engine when he was only thirteen. Arriving on Nathan's secluded and vast estate, Caleb is invited inside Nathan's villa to see his hidden high-security laboratory, where the brainiac has completed a new, top secret invention. That invention is called Ava (Alicia Vikander): a humanoid robot with an advanced form of artificial intelligence. The 'brain' of Ava is designed on the basis of the essential cognitive, emotional and psychological workings of the human mind, which Nathan figured out by analyzing the archived search queries of the billions of users of his own worldwide search engine. According to Nathan, the database of the search engine isn't only a directory of what people think and feel, but also and above all a blue print (or Blue Book) of how we think and feel. Therefore, Ava is not only able to 'think' and talk like a human, but also to smile, make jokes and flirt.

Caleb arrives in Nathan's abode.

At the request of Nathan, Caleb is willing to submit Ava for a week to the so-called Turing Test: an experiment named after the British computer pioneer Alan Turing, which is designed to determine whether a computing automaton, like Ava, is really (self-)conscious and can actually think and feel as a human being, or whether she's only simulating these human qualities. Soon, however, Caleb begins to suspect that Nathan is hiding something. There's something more to this. But what...?

A Frankenstein's monster?

Ex Machina is an excellent sciencefiction thriller, that makes us think twice about the (im)moral implications of artificial intelligence. First time director Alex Garland, who's bestselling novel The Beach was brought to the screen in 2000 (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) and who went on to write the screenplays of the sci-fi movies 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007) and Never Let Me Go (2010), wrote Ex Machina with a topical subject in mind. Earlier this year, scientist Stephen Hawking and engineer Elon Musk warned the public that the development of artificial intelligence does not only entail promising advantages, but also potential dangers. Intelligent robots would increase unemployment and could, in time, like a Frankenstein's monster, even escape man's control completely. In Ex Machina, Nathan acknowledges to Caleb that, some day, artificial intelligence will be far superior to human intelligence: "One day the AI's are gonna look back at us the same way we look at fossil skeletons on the plains of Africa."

Oscar Isaac as Nathan (left) and Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb.

The risks of artificial intelligence have already been highlighted in brilliant sci-fi classics, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Stanley Kubrick, which features the legendary rogue computer HAL 9000; Blade Runner (1982) by Ridley Scott, in which Harrison Ford hunts down rebel android replicants; and The Terminator (1984) by James Cameron, in which man and machine fight each other to the death. A.I. (2001) by Steven Spielberg and Her (2013) by Spike Jonze feel less fatalistic, and appeal to our sympathy, or at least empathy, with the human-all-too-human ways in which intelligent machines could possibly experience themselves and their interaction with humans.

Labyrinth

Unlike The Terminator, Ex Machina is not an action movie. Nor is it an epic space trip like 2001: A Space Odyssea or a dystopian neo-noir detective story like Blade Runner. Neither an adventureous fairy tale like A.I. or a poetic rom-com drama like Her. Still, as a thrilling cerebral drama, Garland's remarkable directorial debut recalls certain notable narrative and visual aspects of the aforementioned films. The often soft lighting in Ex Machina reminded me of the dreamy pastel colors in Her. And during strange power cuts in Nathan's villa, the red emergency light in Ava's room recalls the red lighting of the legendary scene where the HAL-computer is disabled in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the same way HAL and also the replicants in Blade Runner have a will of their own, Ava seems to resist the authoritarian way in which she's treated by Nathan. It's as if she's saying: I'm not an object. And although in a strict material sense, Ava, evidently, is an object, and a man-made one for that, designed to serve humans, Garland leaves it up to the viewer to decide what, or who, Ava ultimately is. In doing so, Garland asks the viewer the most pertinent question in Ex Machina: how would you deal with Ava? Would you treat her as a woman or as a mere machine? Would you care for 'her' feelings or treat 'it' like nothing more than you would a toaster...? The sometimes seemingly existential questions and 'emotions' of Ava are reminiscent of the ones the machines ponder in A.I., Blade Runner and Her. And in the same way the male protagonist in Her (played by Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with a female computer program, Caleb seems to succumb to Ava's charms... 

In short: following in the footsteps of some of the most influential, genre-defining sci-fi movies, Garland manages to translate his own vision of the complex dimensions of intelligent robotics to the big screen in a way that is often as entertaining, compelling and profound as the sci-fi trailblazers of Kubrick, Scott, Cameron, Spielberg and Jonze.

Garland does so by luring the viewer into a labyrinth of doubt and deception. Is Nathan playing God? Is Ava nothing more than a 'parrot' desguised as a woman, simply reproducing what her software can manage and allows? Or is she really capable of creative thoughts and heartfelt emotions? How will Caleb react to the unexpected course of the experiment? And who is actually manipulating whom...?

Alicia Vikander as Ava.

Spectacular

Ex Machina looks great, by virtue of the clean cinematography, the atmospheric lighting and the clever set design. The story is almost exclusively set in Nathan's villa and lab. His modernist living quarters perfectly fit Nathan's hipster image of a trendy, innovative IT billionaire à la Steve Jobs. But the claustrophobic lab, where Ava 'lives', feels appropriately sinister.

Ava herself -the shining star of Ex Machina- looks nothing less than spectacular, thanks to great special effects that give her both a human and mechanical appearance, illustrating her ambiguous nature. She reminded us somewhat of the mysterious, ambivalent 'women' Scarlett Johansson 'inhabits' in Her and in the brilliant sci-fi thriller Under the Skin (2013) by Jonathan Glazer; also nonhuman creatures who, like Ava, are curious to find out what makes humans human.

Besides the three main characters of Ex Machina, there's also the smaller part of Kyoko: an enigmatic Asian housemaid (played by the Japanese actress Sonoya Mizuno), who works in Nathan's villa as his personal assistant (in all ways imaginable...). And that's it: apart from some extra's at the beginning and end of the film, the cast of Ex Machina essentialy consists of only four actors. Yet, this turns out to be enough and never boring.

Oscar Isaac was the right choice for the secretive and slippery genius Nathan. Domhnall Gleeson looks and acts appropriately nerdy for a predictable and thus manipulable programmer, but he excudes also a degree of inner strenght, which makes the Irish actor appropriate for the role of Caleb, who is a nerd, but not a pushover. Sonoya Mizuno plays her part of the tacit maid Kyoko with bone-dry perfection. And Alicia Vikander is brilliant as the fascinating robot Ava, who sometimes looks more sensual than a real woman. You believe that it's a machine, but you also feel for her as if she's a flesh and blood woman.

Intelligent

Garland's screenplay builds its suspense slowly. But meanwhile, there's room for some subtle comedy, e.g. in the hilarious little scene where Nathan and Kyoko engage in a funny synchronized disco dance to the funky R&B song Get Down Saturday Night by Oliver Cheatham from 1983. The rest of the soundtrack consists largely of simple, organic synthesizer music that feels threatening in the right places, without distracting from what's happening on screen.

The intelligent screenplay is anything but artificial (pun intended), which contributes to the credibility of the story. Except in a crucial scene during the surprising finale, where Nathan behaves less cautious than one would expect from a visionary genius. Ex Machina could also have benefited from some more suspense. 

Overall, this is one of the best directorial debuts in the history of cinema.

JN.

Ex Machina - UK - 2015.

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac and Sonoya Mizuno.

Genre: science fiction / thriller / psychological drama

Hide-and-seek

Goodnight Mommy  by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala    ★★★

It's summer in Austria. The nine-year-old twin brothers Elias and Luke (played by the twins Elijah and Luke Schwarz) play tag in a cornfield. Both boys are wearing a similar homemade, primitive-looking mask: an ominous sign that this film deals with masked identity. The original German film title Ich Seh, Ich Seh refers to the guessing game I spy with my little eye, where things initially remain hidden.

When Elias and Lukas return to the secluded villa where they are spending their summer holidays, their mother (played by the Austrian actress Susanne Wuest) arrives. She has just been released from the hospital, where she underwent plastic surgery after a serious car crash. Her face is wrapped in medical gauze, making mommy look like a mummy. She also behaves much stricter and more detached than usual. Elias and Luke begin to doubt whether she's in fact their real mother...

Terror

Goodnight Mommy is the feature film directorial debut of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. They also wrote the screenplay of this compelling psychological horror thriller, in which nothing is what it seems. The film was produced by the renowned Austrian director Ulrich Seidl, who is married to Franz.

Franz and Fiala increase the suspense gradually, while the distrust of Elias and Lukas grows. The tense relationship between the stubborn boys and the woman who maintains that she is indeed their mother derails into a brutal confrontation, reminiscent of the chilling home invasion terror in Funny Games and the mysterious behavior of the children and adults in The White Ribbon, both movies by the controversial German director Michael Haneke.

Handsomely shot in a photogenic villa, Goodnight Mommy held my interest on a visual level. The denouement in the second part of the film, however, felt, although suprising and very sadistic, less suspenseful than the frightening, promising trailer suggests. This production had a lot of potential and should have delivered something even more gripping than the noteworthy, yet not entirely satisfying film I just saw. 

JN.

Goodnight Mommy - Austria - 2014.

Cast: Elias Shwarz, Luke Schwartz and Susanne Wuest.

Genre: psychological thriller / horror / family drama

The price of perfection

Whiplash  by Damien Chazelle     ★★★

Andrew (Miles Teller) is a young, ambitious drummer who aspires to become as good as the legendary jazz icon Buddy Rich. A freshman at a prestigious conservatory in New York, Andrew gets the opportunity to improve his musical skills under the guidance of the renowned, flamboyant conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). Fletcher, however, takes no prisoners. Demanding to an almost sadistic extent, Fletcher makes his young pupils practice until their fingers bleed, while criticizing and insulting them in a way that would make even the hard-boiled British top chef Gordon Ramsay blush. Fletcher's relentless, often humiliating approach, whereby he also plays his students off against each other, pushes Andrew to the limit...

Miles Teller as Andrew.

Pygmalion

Based on his own eponymous short film, the American director and screenwriter Damien Chazelle made Whiplash into a fascinating psychological drama about ambition, the love of music, perseverance and the toll of perfection. What is the price of perfection? How much sweat, blood and tears is a man willing to pay to achieve his ambitions? To impress his family? To be remembered by later generations and to become, if it were, immortal? To mean something to others? And to himself? For Andrew, no price seems too high. Even if this means rubbing his classmates and his new girlfriend the wrong way. Even if his life is reduced to endless, almost unbearable rehearsals to avoid the wrath of the cruel and virtually impossible to please Fletcher. In that regard, Andrew reminded me of the devoted dancers Victoria and Nina in the ballet films The Red Shoes and Black Swan; also tragic characters who suffer under the pressure from a merciless Pygmalion and make great sacrifices for their artistic passion.

Tense as a drum skin

J.K. Simmons (left) and Miles Teller.

Whiplash (the film is named after a complex composition by the American jazz composer Hank Levy) focusus mainly on the tense, dynamic relationship between Andrew and Fletcher. Director Chazelle made good use of the first-rate performances by Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. Teller is an excellent drummer, which contributes to the credibility of the film. But it is Simmons who impresses the most as the unpredictable and manipulative Fletcher. It earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

Editor Tom Cross also deserves a thumbs-up. His clever montage of the musical scenes is suspenseful enough to almost taste Andrew's determination and fear of failure, making Whiplash a gripping movie that often feels as tense as a drum skin and comes very close to a thriller.

JN.

Whiplash - USA - 2014.

Cast: Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons.

Genre: psychological drama / music

The Big Short - trailer

Genre: drama / comedy

In the mind of a war vetaran

Disorder  by Alice Winocour     ★★

After returning from the war front in Afghanistan, the French Special Forces soldier Vincent (Matthias Schoenaerts) is discharged from the army because of his post-traumatic stress disorder. He takes a job as a security guard at the French villa of the wealthy Lebanese businessman Whalid (Percy Kemp). While Whalid seems embroiled in murky affairs and goes on a business trip, Vincent is tasked with the security of Whalids wife Jessie (Diane Kruger) and their young son. Soon, Vincent begins to suspect that they are in danger. But is the danger real or just a figment of his imagination...?

Damaged soul

Disorder (original title: Maryland) is an interesting French-Belgian psychological drama about the confused state of mind of a lonely, traumatised war veteran, who reminded me to a certain extent of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Jacob in Jacob's Ladder and Chris Kyle in American Sniper. Vincent suffers from insomnia, hearing loss and hallucinations. Like Chris Kyle, Vincent struggles to come to terms with his war experiences. Like Travis, Vincent sees himself as the guardian angel of a damsel in distress. And like Jacob, Vincent is drawn into the psychological vortex of his own mind, blurring the line between illusion and reality.

Female Fantasy?

Matthias Schoenaerts as Vincent.

This is the second feature film of French director Alice Winocour (after Augustine in 2012). She wrapped her own screenplay of Disorder in a psychological thriller that focuses mainly on the perception and emotions of Vincent. Sometimes the electronic soundtrack of Mike Lévy, aka Gesaffelstein, is muffled, to illustrate Vincent's hearing loss and introverted, brooding nature. The camera stays close on lead actor Matthias Schoenaerts, contributing to a claustrophobic atmosphere. The sense of dread, however, remains subdued, which is one of the reasons why Disorder lacks real suspense.

Winocour's minimalist screenplay is based on an interesting premise and a revealing end, but offers little more in between than promises. After a slow build up, the viewer expects a climax, but is left with a rather poorly framed home invasion. Meanwhile, we had to make do with the mere possibility of romance between Vincent and Jessie. In that respect, the role of Vincent, which was written with Schoenaerts on Winocour's mind, feels a lot like a female fantasy: an evocative, upgraded art house version of Kevin Costner as the knight in shining armor who rushed to the aid of Whitney Houston in the clumsy but lucrative 1992 blockbuster The Bodyguard.

Diane Kruger as Jessie.

Silent strenght

Schoenaerts shouldn't blame himself for my lack of interest in Vincent. In Disorder he acts with the same silent strenght which has made this fine, good looking Belgian actor already a much sought-after European film star since his breakthrough performance in the succesful 2011 Flemisch crime thriller Bullhead (original title: Rundskop). His co-star Diane Kruger also delivers in Disorder. Neither of them, however, is able to fill in the gaps in the screenplay. In short: although literally and figuratively speaking a promising film, that places Winocour on the map as an interesting filmmaker with potential, Disorder isn't really what I hoped for and, all in all, somewhat disappointing.

JN.

Disorder - France/Belgium - 2015.

Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts and Diane Kruger.

Genre: psychological drama / thriller

Sicario - trailer

Genre: crime / thriller / drama / action