Reel Reviews

Ex Machina -- This is a good movie...just not as good a movie as the breathless hype that surrounded it made it out to be. It does make you think, mostly about how you would react--and interact--in just such a situation. The film also makes a point of keeping things ambivalent enough that you don't really know if Oscar Isaac's inventor is a villain, or not...or, for that matter, if the AI is a villain or not, a murkiness about the subject that mirrors the real life debate on the seemingly inevitable rise of the robot world. I guess we'll find out that answer eventually, but you're not going to get it here. Still, I'd say this one's worth a look, as a change of pace if nothing else.

Reel Reviews

Whiplash -- Again with the jazz. If jazz is as wonderful as everyone who likes it says it is, why does it only feature in films like this? Seriously, try to find a real jazz station on the radio these days. But I digress; the more pertinent question raised by this movie may be, what’s up with these people? The film actually undercuts its own argument; since precious few viewers will be able to tell the good playing from the bad while watching this one, one wonders if the obsessive attention to perfection is in any way valid. Whom are you trying to impress? Five other people in the room?...or in the city? If that’s all there is, just your own little knowing circle, and you act like this...aren’t you just being a dick? Do movie viewers care about dicks? Perhaps I’m just being contrarian, because this film is in fact entertaining, interesting, and worth watching. Just don’t expect to find any new heroes here.

Reel Reviews

Wild -- Talk about a tough row to hoe. Or is it a tough road to ho? You can go either way with this flick. That’s not the only question raised by this film. For instance: why exactly does hiking the PCT redeem you when you’ve sunk so low? Maybe, if the whole thing really was life-changing and all that...but there’s enough evidence in this story to make the case that Cheryl Strayed--at least as portrayed in the movie--didn’t exactly go through a St. Augustine-style conversion after all was said and done. At least the visuals are appealing. Ultimate judgement: not a bad movie, but maybe not as impressive as the filmmakers (and critics) thought it was.