Everyone Has AIDS

This awards season has brought a lot of intimate, personal stories, and many of them from history. Today we dive back only a few decades to a story that speaks of something extremely important. But how well does it do it? This is Dallas Buyers Club.

Ron (Matthew McConaughey) is just your average rodeo bull riding electrician. The kind of guy that hires hookers to bang him behind the gates of the bull ring after he has done his dealings as a bookie, but before he goes to drink and snort cocaine with his friends. The normal. One day, however, that all changes when he is diagnosed as HIV positive - the disease of 'faggots' - saying he only has thirty days to live, and so naturally his homophobic friends abandon him. The doctors cannot give him AZT, the medicine he really wants as it is only in the trial stages, so he finds a way around the system after meeting a Mexican doctor, Dr. Vass (Griffin Dunne). Teaming up with transsexual Rayon (Jared Leto), Ron begins to smuggle in drugs to help himself, but eventually realises he is not the only one who needs help. He sets up a system for other AIDS suffers, despite arguments from Dr. Sevard (David O'Hare) and Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), and calls it the Dallas Buyers Club.

The title 'Hugs and Drugs' did not test well with audiences.

McConaughey, an actor whose name, when attached to a movie, meant you should probably avoid whatever the project was. Here he is now with an Academy Award nomination. (He's also in the nominated The Wolf of Wall Street.) Why? Because he is fantastic. As Ron, McConaughey shows that there is a lot of power in his performance. Unlike some recent performances that leave subtlety in the past and prefer the explicit, McConaughey understands Ron and all he is feeling, from the desperation for suitable medicine, to the need to help others, to the fear of death, McConaughey gets it right. But the real stand out is Leto. As transsexual Rayon, Leto is completely unrecognisable. He is completely absorbed in his role and sucks the audience in too. A loving, and loveable character, with the social skills that Ron fails to possess in the gay community, Leto's Reyon is easily one of the finest performances of the year. He is very similar to the famous Angel, from the musical Rent. The two leads hold the film, their supporting cast to little to add much. Fortunately, the pair at the front need little help.

That security man is missing the point.

A cleverly constructed tale of the good and bad sides of humanity. The darkness that is how much can be achieved when desperation is the driving force, but also the hope that comes with that. One man finds a solution for his problem and unlike the money-centric companies that control the medicine, he tries to make a difference. With some of the best editing of the year, the film never feels like the two hour runtime that it is and along with such an engaging script and fantastic direction from Jean-Marc Vallée, Dallas Buyers Club is an important story of struggling with the American healthcare system. It is, as some other critics have stated, possibly being told too late to pack the punch it could have 20 years ago, but it is still an inspirational tale. 

A story that has a lot of everything. Some happy bits, some sad bits, some bits that will make you angry. It is a tale that shows the dangers of greed and hate and the benefits of caring for others. 

Best Bit? Ron dons a priest outfit as he smuggles drugs across the border from Mexico to the USA. He's stopped. Perhaps it is our sympathetic relationship with Ron, but c'mon. Who stops a priest?

(Note: I've seen claims that the only reason McConaughey is getting attention is because he lost a lot of weight. I've not spoken about his weight loss because, whilst it advances his character, he is truly talented too.)

Siri

Sci-fi. Aliens, robots, space. All that cool stuff, right? Well what about love in a not too distance future? Companies that write love letters? Cyber sex? This is Her.

In the not-too-distant future, there is Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) , a lonely love letter writer, avoiding signing his divorce papers. He goes home at night, plays video games, and has, very strange, phone sex. His friend Amy (Amy Adams) tries to get him out, to set him up with her friends, and force him out of his slump. But nothing works until Theodore installs a new operating system on his computer, an artificial intelligence that adapts and evolves as it learns. The OS calls herself Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and she form a bond with Theodore. Together they organise his life, write his letters, and begin to date. Weird right? Can it work out or will it crash and burn?

'I love Lamp'

Much in the same way Moon was a one man show, Her is held entirely by Phoenix.While Johansson's voice work is delightful, with her soft and subtle tones, picking up on every minor nuance of emotion, it is Phoenix who makes the film special. There is a real loneliness in his performance, the sense of true sadness until Samantha comes into his life. But the change from sadness to happiness is not a quick one. Covering a whole spectrum from cynicism to joy to carelessness, Theodore is undoubtedly a fully developed character from start to finish. Adams' Amy is her best role of the past year (yes, better than American Hustle) as she accompanies Theodore on his journey into love and develops something similar with her own Operating System. She plays an important role in the development of Samantha and Theodore's relationship, be it encouraging it, or being questioned by Samantha.

Secretly, who hasn't wanted to tuck their partner in their pocket?

There is something wonderfully unique and - possibly brutally - truthful about Her. In the world we live in today, technology is being programmed to be almost human. Of course, it is not the first time that artificial intelligence, and relationships with technology, have been the focus of the big screen, but it is the first time it has seemed so believable. Spike Jonze has created something that, with the invention of things like Siri, has a high possibility of happening. However, whilst the first two thirds of Her are something highly unique, the final chapter seems a bit too familiar. The focus in the final third, it has been speculated, should be heavily on Theodore's ending in the tale, which it looks like Jonze intended, but something is missing; something new to finish off the well known story that Her becomes towards the end.

All in all, a romantic sci-fi with hints of drama and comedy, on paper, sounds like the strangest thing to happen to cinema in a long while. And it is, in some respects, but it says something powerful about mankind's dependency on technology, and that message should be listened to.

Best Bit? As we see the bond between Samantha and Theodore develop they play a game where he closes his eyes and she gives him instructions. His childlike happiness is so contagious that you will not be able to stop yourself smiling along.

Django In Chains

History is a wonderful beginning step for film making. There is undoubtedly something truly exciting about experiencing the past in a visual medium, happy or sad. The latter emotion is definitely more prominent in many historical films, like today's film. This is 12 Years a Slave.

Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free black man, a talented violin player, and a loving father and husband. He lives a simple life until, one day, he is kidnapped after two men offer him a job playing violin. From his kidnapping, he is sold into slavery (by a horrible Paul Giamatti) to the gentle and respectable Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). But things go from bad to worse when sadistic rancher Tibeats (Paul Dano) starts to have it out for Northup, now called Platt, leaving Ford no choice but to sell him on again, despite the bond they have formed. This time Solomon ends up with brutal Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) and befriends Patsy (Lupita Nyong'o), a young slave girl hated by Epps' wife (Sarah Paulson) and sexually abused by Epps. Based on Northup's own memoirs, 12 Years a Slave is an unrelenting and horribly realistic portrayal of slavery.

Swag: noun - The above photo.

Ejiofor, who reportedly originally turned the role down, is on top form in 12 Years a Slave. His portrayal of a man who has his life destroyed so completely and so quickly is devastating and yet always hopeful. From his first signs of resistance - I don't want to survive. I want to live - all the way through his torturous ordeal in slavery, the viewer is forced to remain as strong as Solomon. Northup only breaks occasionally, normally trying to make the best of his surroundings, but when the emotions rise, Ejiofor's ability truly shines through. A master of both subtlety and the explicit. Matching him is the glorious Nyong'o. As Patsy, she shows she capable of an incredible range of performance, especially for her feature film debut. Unlike the bigger, more explicit characters like Fassbender's Epps, Dano's Tibeats, or even Ejiofor's Northup, Patsy is introduced as a quiet reserved girl around the greatest horrors in the world - rape, violence, even being disallowed to clean. Nyong's subtle pain, inner sorrow, and plain emptiness is heart wrenching, to say the least. Also of note is Fassbender's Epps. A truly horrific man that forces his slaves to dance for him and he takes what he wants, primarily Patsy. He holds nothing back, giving a true punch with his performance, sometimes literally.

Epps just loved to show off his guns...

Steve McQueen, of Shame and Hunger fame, is not known for his easy viewing. His films say something, and it is not nice. Sexual addiction, starvation, and now, slavery. Teaming up with John Ridley, McQueen brings something painfully real to the big screen. Northup's ordeal was a historical event and, even if details have been changed, that realism is constantly reminded you that this actually happened. McQueen brings it to life brutally, emphasising moments that are designed to make us, the viewer, uncomfortable. A horribly extended hanging scene whilst the normal ranch life continues in the background, a whipping scene where the camera does not cut for around four minutes, a stunned silence after a vase is thrown directly into a slave's face. These moments are engineered by McQueen and his team to highlight the horrible nature of human kind. It is not trying to guilt trip white Americans, it is not placing blame, it is simply demonstrating monsters as they are. It is story telling in its purest form: powerful and completely unforgiving.

A moving piece of cinema that tells the tale of hope and humanity. The way Steve McQueen shows the true horror of the slave trade is forceful but unbiased. It is simply truthful story telling. One of 2013's finest achievements in film.

Best Bit? Certainly the most memorable moments are those that force discomfort in the viewer. The whipping, the hanging. Such power and next to no dialogue needed.

Hair And Hustling.

Everyone loves a story that keeps you on your toes. Everyone loves a loveable anti-hero. Everyone loves a tale FBI agents and conmen. So will a film that has all of these aspects deliver? This is American Hustle.

Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a hustler, a conman. He makes people pay him $5000 in investments which they will never see again. When he meets Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), they start a booming partnership with her alter ego, Lady Edith, drawing in the marks. That is, until FBI agent Richard DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) gets in the way of the operation and, rather than simply bust the hustlers, he offers them a deal. Help him drag down the big dogs and the corrupt political parties particularly Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Irving is left with the choice between jail or balancing Sydney, DiMaso, and his wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) as he attempts to bring down those after his own heart.

Irving has a strong sense of smell.
It is pretty handy.

It is amazing that the man behind Irving's hair, glasses, and belly is the same man that was Dicky in The Fighter, Trevor in The Machinist, and Batman. Bale has been known to starve himself for the above roles, but here we see a whole new side to him. Fat, furious, and forced into a job he does not want to do, Bale's Irving is somehow made vulnerable and accessible to the viewer, unlike the egotistical DiMaso, the lying Prosser, or the corrupt politicians. Really, despite being a crook that scams innocent people, Irving is a likeable guy but mostly through the lack of likeability for the rest of the ensemble - except Louis C.K.'s brilliantly funny Stoddard Thorsen. Adams forces you to constantly question Prosser and her motives, Cooper is enough of a jerk to Thorsen that you cannot help but be annoyed by his arrogance, Lawrence's Rosalyn is so irresponsible that sympathy for her becomes nigh impossible. Sure, Irving is a lying bastard, but he is smart, responsible, and level-headed. The other redeemable character is in terms of likeability is Renner's Polito, but he is a corrupt politician and we all want to see them crash and burn to some extent.

That's it. That's the film.

Everything about the the film screams big and glamorous. From the loud, jazzy soundtrack, to Irving's hair-do. The latter, too, leads into an example of the brilliant writing and directing team that is Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell. The opening of the film is Irving setting up his elaborate hair with heaps of care and attention, only for DiMaso to come in and ruin it. Within minutes, Russell and Singer have shown us a strong dynamic between the leading characters, an extremely difficult achievement. However, there is a lack of weight to the story. Viewers familiar with the British show 'Hustle' will understand how important it is to balance the set up and release to create a decent pay off around the actual hustle. American Hustle feels a bit more like someone accidentally revealed the punchline to their joke but thought no one noticed so carried on telling it. The simple fact of the matter is there is no surprise to these tricksters. It leaves the audience going '...and? There has to be more to it, surely?' But alas, there is not.

A terrific piece of ensemble work. All the performers are at their best, particularly Bale. A barrel of fun, occasionally hilarious, and a decent ride, it just lacks the pay off that one would expect through out the film. But this only dampens it; it fails to destroy it.

Best Bit? There is a wonderful scene with a cameo from Robert De Niro that is tense throughout. THAT scene gets the pay off it needs.

Pirates of Somalia

True stories are always a draw for movie makers and lovers alike, especially when they involve exciting things like the military, heroism, or pirates. Today’s film involves all of the previously stated. This is Captain Phillips.

Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) is simply a man doing his job. Sailing his cargo ship round one of the most dangerous points of Africa, an area ripe with pirates. Unfortunately a group of these pirates decide to make Phillip’ ship their target, but the captain will not go down without a fight. Using everything he knows about boats and pirates, he resists their boarding as hard as he can. However, pirate leader (Barkhad Abdi) will not be put off so easily. With only three men, he storms Phillip's giant metal ship and what follows is a tense true story of one man’s bravery, or arguably, stupidity.

The irony of being led into a lifeboat at gun point...

There are few actors out there with the talent and experience of Hanks. From romantic comedies, to animation, to Oscars, he has done it all. And here he shines again. Phillips is a not extraordinary in any way. He is just a family man that just sticks to his training but Hanks brings him to life when disaster strikes. He creates an air of authority with his voice alone while his face shows the fear that he is experience. The pinnacle of his performance comes towards the end of the film in a truly intimate and devastating sequence of events that turns Phillips on his head. Captain Phillips shows all of Hanks' incredibly impressive range without a hitch. Abdi, in his debut in the acting world, is astonishing - and completely horrifying. Horrifying in two senses. Firstly, Abdi creates an entirely despicable man. Determined to do, what we would consider, evil and completely unrelenting. Secondly, he is terrifyingly human. Piracy and kidnapping are his only options, and in his time with Phillips in the hotbox of a lifeboat, there is a devastating sympathy developed for him. Together, Hanks and Abdi's chemistry forces the viewer to question the terrible cultural differences in our world.

The Boatstreet Boys are back and grittier than ever.

This, of course, is helped hugely by Billy Ray's screenplay and Paul Greengrass' direction. A brilliant adaptation of Phillips' book by Ray which is then paced perfectly by Greengrass to keep you on the edge of your seat for most of the two hour runtime. Greengrass roots the story where it is; it does not cut away to side plots or stories, just what we need to see. The pirates preparing, the ship sailing, the attack, the navy's response. Even these scenes are only kept to the essentials, the moments that matter. There is never a wasted second of film. An impressively claustrophobic atmosphere is created as well, despite being out in the open sea. The camera is rarely on the exterior of the ship, and inside we see the cramped rooms, full of seamen tucked into corners. Even on the bridge, the place with the most room, still seems to have no space with close ups of Phillips, and any shots of the outside of the bridge filmed through the windows or binoculars. The message is clear: there is no escape - no where to go. 

A thrilling adventure of courage, fear, bravery, heroism, stupidity, honour, humanity, and culture. Captain Phillips does more than tell a true story of a pirate attack, it looks at the people involved. It develops all the characters and blurs the lines of evil acts.

Best Bit? In terms of Hank's performance, the very end of the film. But the true desperation we see in Phillips when he makes a bid for freedom is hauntingly powerful. 

I'll Huff And Puff And Sell You Stocks

Despicably wild sex, Drugs and Money. Is your eye caught yet? Well this true story about stock brokers has all of the above. Really? Stock brokers? Yes. This is The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young confident stock broker. Fresh to the floors of Wall Street, he is ready to make money. Briefly mentored by (Matthew McConaughey) before the company they work for goes under, leaving Belfort out of a job. However, the discovery of how much money can be made through penny stocks inspires him. Within no time, himself and his partner, Donnie (Jonah Hill), have more money than they know what to do with. Was it all legal? Well, as the trailer tells us, absolutely not. But with a several serious drug addictions, especially Quaaludes, an obsession with sex, a model wife, Naomi (Margot Robbie), and an FBI agent, Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) surrounding his daily life, who can help but caught up in a roller coaster of a rock and roll life style? It is time to beat your chest, hum, and make some money.

Belfort discusses phoney accounts with his partner. 

DiCaprio at his finest is a difficult expression to use, especially here, for two reasons. Firstly, when is DiCaprio not at his finest? He is one of the modern greats and has been since he first appeared on the silver screen, so it really goes without saying that he is 'at his finest'. Secondly, Belfort is such a disgusting person that 'fine' is never really a term that can be used to describe him, especially when he is drooling and slobbering from his drugs. However, it is DiCaprio's fantastic performance that perfectly balances Belfort's horrid nature with enough charm and charisma to make us sympathise with him. In someone else's hands, Belfort could easily have become a monster, which would have cleared a lot up for those who thought that the film glorifies Belfort's actions, but who wants to watch that film? The ensemble around DiCaprio, too, are excellently cast. Hill, as Donnie, uses the acting skills he showed in Moneyball and his famous drug-loving comedy persona in one character to hilarious effect, creating a truly loveable character, despite the law-breaking and things. Robbie, as Naomi, connects brilliantly with DiCaprio's Belfort but at no point does she become like the other women in the film - dependant on men and money. She is a loving mother as well as a (mostly) strong woman, fully in charge of her sexuality. (Helen O'Hara writes excellently about the women in the film for Empire Online.)

When you are rich, you can eat, literally, anything you want.

Scorsese has changed a lot over the years, but perhaps the last two years show the biggest jump. Hugo, the film for the children, to The Wolf Of Wall Street, the sex, drugs, and greed based adaptation of the memoirs of a multi-million dollar criminal. But what a jump it was. Scorsese's clever condemnation of all thing Belfort, and on grander scale, the whole of Wall Street, is a packed three hours that draws to light the problems of living life to the full and the corruption that greed can cause. Combined with Terence Winter's screenplay, we are let into a world that most of us will never experience. The world with too much money. But we are shown how it can destroy a soul as it did Belfort. This is never glorification of Belfort's lifestyle, but rather an experience of it. We simply tag along for the ride whilst Scorsese takes us on a trip, excuse the pun. With an incredible use of the soundtrack, which jumps between emphasising a scene and completely juxtaposing it, The Wolf of Wall Street oozes its gritty yet charming atmosphere out into the world and you cannot help but get sucked in with it.

The film is like the cocaine that Belfort snorts. It hypes you up and when the high it causes is over, you will be begging for more. One of the few films that runs around three hours that you would want to watch again straight after. The ensemble are magnificent and Scorsese is back on his best form. Not for those who dislike foul language. There are 506 uses of the varieties of 'fuck', as well as every other curse word under the sun

Best Bit? There are plenty of moments, but DiCaprio and Hill are revolutionary in a sequence that involves driving high and wrestling over the phone. It is one part hilarious, one part horrifying, but most of all, DiCaprio provides some of the finest physical acting in recent years. 

Big Screen Secret Life

Comic actors have been known to switch their style over their careers and sometimes that can be a big change - whether it is taking on more serious roles like Jonah Hill in Moneyball or directorial positions like Zach Braff with Garden State (and the upcoming Wish I Was Here). Today’s film is directed by and stars a big comic actor playing a serious role. This is The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a normal man. A normal man with a normal job working with the negative rolls of photos for Life Magazine. He spends his time zoning out and day dreaming about being someone interesting or admitting his feelings for Cheryl (Kristen Wiig). But when Life Magazine starts going through a transitional period to become an online publication, the company and Walter's job becomes threatened. Head of the transition period, Ted Hendricks (Adam Scott), pesters Walter for famous photographer Sean O'Connell's (Sean Penn) new photo for the final cover of Life but it is missing. Suddenly, Walter jumps (sometimes literally) into an adventure to find the negative and his simple business man life will never be the same. 

The negative part of the film... Literally. 

Ben Stiller has never hid his acting talents, but he has veiled them behind his comedy. Not here. Stiller is in top form as Mitty, capitalising on all aspects of the character from boring workman to adventurer, the change between the two never feeling forced. His heartfelt adventure is fuelled by dedication and loyalty as well as an overwhelming dedication to Wiig's Cheryl, all of which Stiller portrays without a hitch. Wiig, too, is endlessly likeable, the polar opposite of Scott's Hendricks, who is perfectly horrid. He is rude, arrogant, and ignorant, whilst Wiig's Cheryl is supportive, friendly, and kind when no one else is. It is the balance of these two that spur Mitty's adventure and fortunately the balance is just right. The audience can identify with Mitty, they feel the same anger towards Hendricks that Walter does, as well as the same level of loyalty to Cheryl.

Stiller's hottest role to date.

But what Walter's adventure excels in is its minor characters. An extremely drunk pilot, a seaman, an E-Harmony employee, a simple hotel worker. Steve Conrad's screenplay make these characters completely irreplaceable. It is not just that Walter needs them and their to get through his adventure, Stiller's direction and Conrad's writing give them such heart you cannot help but fall in love with all of them. Whether it is Todd constantly calling from the E-Harmony call centre trying to update Walter's profile because it is so dull or the helicopter pilot singing loudly into a karaoke machine, drinking a boot of beer, they are fully realised characters, despite the tiny screen time.

'And what?'

The film is also visually stunning. It is always helpful to be set in the volcanic regions of Iceland at points in the film, but the camera work is so gracefully presented, and combined with such a brilliant soundtrack of soft indie music, the film overwhelms the audio-visual senses with perfect technicality. The story telling is only one aspect of film-making; how it is made is equally important and Stiller has completely understood this. However, the romance between Mitty and Cheryl often feels forced, especially nearer the end of the film. It is an unneeded aspect of an otherwise lovely film. Remove the romantic development and the film loses nothing of worth. Is friendship between a man and a woman such a scary thought for Hollywood? Either way, the films artistic merits outweigh the flaws. The first act of the film, Walter's daydreams mash through all genres of film proving that Stiller, as a director can do, pretty much, anything. Intimate fight scenes, superhero fight scenes, Benjamin Button, and so on.

A truly delightful film. There is soul in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty that has led it to be described as a new Forrest Gump. Of course, it is not quite the classic standard that Gump is, but there is no way one could leave the cinema without a smile on their face. Mitty takes us on a journey and it is completely captivated.

Best Bit? There's several moments, but his time spent in Iceland easily comes out top. There's karaoke, a performance of Major Tom's (David Bowie) Space Oddity, a drunk pilot, and a hilarious sequence that involves jumping onto a boat and sharks. Either that or the superhero fight sequence.