Clint Eastwood’s take on Navy Seal Chris Kyle’s (Bradley Cooper) autobiography certainly sets a scene of dread and foreboding as we follow Kyle and his descent into the war in Iraq.

Kyle is a good old boy from Texas, a former competitive cowboy and a very proficient marksman. His entry into the service is spurred on by the events of 9/11 and his upbringing with a very strong and opinionated father. This background is revealed is very broad strokes and lacks the nuance to really allow the viewer to relate to his on-screen character.

Once in the war zone, Kyle’s alpha male persona, the bleached out backdrop of the desert and the relentless graphic slaughter present such a one-dimensional portrait, it becomes difficult to connect with the film. His distance from his wife (played by Sienna Miller) and the obvious love she has for him also forms a very one-dimensional view. It’s not really until after his active service years that we see Kyle as anything other than a killing machine.

Being completely unaware of Chris Kyle’s real life story made the sting in the tail at the end of the film just that much more of a downer. Eastwood’s directorial style has always been to step out of the way of cinematic flourishes and let the main proponent’s actions define the story. Unfortunately, this time out that leaves the viewer with too much carnage and not enough characterisation.
Rob Hudson
www.americansnipermovie.com

It had a high profile cast (for its time) in Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows, Jeremy Northam and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who would, later on become much more famous as a pivotal character in an obscenely popular medieval TV show. There’s a problem with Enigma, however and it’s the fact the filmmakers substituted the real-life homosexual mathematician, Alan Turing, for a fictional heterosexual mathematician named Thomas Jericho and indeed the story centres around his very heterosexual love affair. This incredible sleight against a significant historical figure is, in retrospect, offensive to say the least let alone the disappointment in reducing a highly intriguing historical event to a spy-chasing romance.

The Imitation Game seeks to correct this ‘reimagining’ and essentially succeeds in this goal. Sure, there is much licence taking for the purposes of spicing up the script (which is a little frustrating given the intrigue of the truth) but it hits the important notes and we emerge at the other end with the commensurate admiration and sympathy that Turing deserves.

Turing’s homosexuality is dealt with deftly. Critically, Turing kept his illicit sexuality secret and so does the film for a good deal of the proceedings, appropriately revealing it as it becomes critical to the story. It is never permitted to overshadow the significance of Turing’s mathematical genius yet it doesn’t resile from the personal cost of the injustice that his sexuality invites even if this chapter of the story is a little prone to melodrama.

The film remains compelling throughout, touching upon the important issues such as the official withholding of intelligence at the expense of innocent lives. Though these events are at times presented non-factually, the gravity of the issues are rightly felt nonetheless.

Ever since his turn in the Sherlock television programme, Benedict Cumberbatch has become a viewers’ darling and his excellent performance here will not endanger that status. Likewise, Keira Knightley is excellent as is Charles Dance and Mark Strong. Matthew Goode does what he can in a rather thankless role as fellow mathematician, Hugh Alexander.

The Imitation Game is not entirely authentic but it hits the right tone and canvases the appropriate issues and historical landmarks admirably in a compelling presentation.
Stuart Jamieson
www.theimitationgamemovie.com

Mexican writer and director Alejandro González Iñárritu has delivered a story inside a story about a past his use by date movie star, Keaton, who previously reaped the riches and empty adulation that went with his role of playing the big screen superhero Birdman.  He is seeking redemption (artistically and humanly) by writing, directing and starring in his own Broadway play.

Alejandro uses music masterfully as the first three quarters of the film is set to a drum solo and not the usual film score music. This drum solo, with its odd punctuations and time signatures has the effect of putting you on edge and never letting you get comfortable. This also applies to the great work of the actors. Keaton is brilliant with all of his ticks and nervous affectations (including the voice in his head that comes from his alter ego Birdman). Emma Stone is also great as the hot mess bottle blonde daughter and Edward Norton sizzles as well as a Broadway actor that take method acting to new heights.

The line between reality and fantasy has never been more lusciously disregarded as Birdman takes on a staggering number of acting clichés as it tells its story. The acting and directing is consistently superb and surprises wait at almost every turn. This is the kind of film that gets the year off to a great start.
Rob Hudson
www.birdmanthemovie.com

25 years ago the Hoodoo Gurus released , a song about the ever increasing prevalence of violence in the mass media. Of course, even then it was by no means a new concept. Indeed the song references the ancient Romans as ‘taking out all the guesswork’ in the formula.

With the advent of motion pictures it was inevitable that violence would become a fundamental element of the medium; unsurprising, of course, given violence is a primal staple of human drama. Fewer, though, are the films about media violence; consider Cronenberg’s seminal Videodrome and Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days and now Nightcrawler from first time director (and writer of Freejack, Real Steel and The Bourne Legacy), Tony Gilroy. Gilroy also wrote Nightcrawler and it would be reasonable to suggest this is the best film he’s written thus far.

The film follows Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a sociopathic ambulance chaser determined to make his mark on the world. He doesn’t seem to care how he makes this mark but when he stumbles upon his talent for capturing the aftermath of violent events on his video camera, his path is set. Teaming up with the serpentine TV Director, Nina Romina (Rene Russo), the limits of TV decency are stretched towards breaking point as Bloom satiates his boundless ambition to the personal expense of those around him.

Gyllenhaal brilliantly imbues his creepy psychopath with an insectoid energy. Like a train wreck, his performance is painful to watch but you can’t take your eyes off it. Other supposed authoritative characters in the film attempt to manipulate him prior to realising that it is they who are being manipulated, eventually falling foul to his stratagems.

Russo is also in fine form as the hard line TV director who thinks she’s harder than Bloom. Bill Paxton also features in a placeholder role.

The film admirably pulls no punches in its delivery of its thesis. Sidestepping the normal Hollywood tropes along the way, it maintains its nihilistic tone through to its uncompromising yet satisfying final moments.

Sure it’s a freakshow but, honey, ain’t that showbiz?

Stuart Jamieson
www.nightcrawlermovie.com.au

The film tells the tale of King George the VI (Colin Firth), the British royal who took over the crown under the most amazing of circumstances. It followed his brother David (Guy Pierce) and his abdication of the throne so he could marry the divorced woman Wallis Simpson and is set amidst the beginnings of World War Two. Poor George has a very bad stammer and must overcome this if he is to properly lead his people during these tumultuous times. He soon comes under the tutorship of speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) whose unconventional teaching techniques initially rub the royal the wrong way.

Watching two of the finest actors currently working in film riffing off each other is fascinating and the script by David Seidler gives them both the ammunition to really ignite the story line. There are so many moments of real humour and real pathos and none of them feel like cheap manipulations. The film drew in all members of the audience.

If the trend towards mainstream films being aimed at progressively younger audience members leaves most adult viewers out in the cold, the powers to be should drop into a local Cineplex and see the full seats of an all ages audience enjoying this jem. Might make them re-evaluate that unfortunate trend.

Rob Hudson
www.kingsspeech.com