The Selfish Giant (2013)
When Arbor and Swifty are suspended from school, they begin collecting scrap metal and selling it to Kitten, a local dealer. When he notices Swifty’s affinity for horses, Kitten allows him to work with several of his. A jealous Arbor steals some scrap from Kitten to sell elsewhere. When Kitten finds out, he forces Arbor to steal a dangerous high voltage wire as punishment and Swifty is electrocuted after Arbor cuts the wire.
This is a melancholy film about the effects of poverty and the prison it creates. The premise is simple: children trapped in poverty are more likely to turn to a life of crime. This is true for poor black children in Baltimore, Maryland and poor white children in northern England. These kids need more than the educational opportunities offered at typical schools.
Is it humane to teach math and grammar at school while ignoring the reality of a home life where children are struggling to find enough food and pressured to provide income for their families? Wouldn’t it be better to teach them how to function in a civil society, how to make money, or how to handle electrical wires?
Diana (2013)
This film focuses on the romantic relationship between Princess Diana (Naomi Watts) and Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews).
Andrews is best knows as Sayid Jarrah, while Watts is an accomplished actress in such diverse films as The Ring (2002), 21 Grams (2003), King Kong (2005), Eastern Promises (2007), and The Impossible (2012).
Savaged by the British press and never given a US theatrical release, this movie was a better than I expected. It’s a decent exploration of the tribulations of being famous, but over simplifies the story into a soap opera and reminds me of a Lifetime movie: Diana loved Dr. Khan so she used Dodi Fayed to make him jealous.
The rushed ending has a different tone from the rest of the film. It’s like with ten minutes to go, the producers knew they needed to get to Diana’s death and sped things along. You can tell the filmmakers wanted Diana and Khan to be together and feels like they forgot the movie was based on a real person and had to shoehorn in the facts to make it work. Shockingly, director Oliver Hirschbiegel was able to bring more pathos and sympathy to a film about the last days of Adolf Hitler than one about the People’s Princess.
Her (2013)
After his divorce from childhood sweetheart Catherine (Rooney Mara), Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) buys an operating system with advanced artificial intelligence he names Samantha (Scarlett Johansson) and begins a relationship with her.
For once, Joaquin Phoenix comes across as a normal guy, which after the disaster of I’m Still Here (2010) is quite an accomplishment.
Scarlett Johansson debuted in the infamous Rob Reiner bomb North (1994), which earned a zero star review from Roger Ebert . Her career choices since in Lost in Translation (2003), Match Point (2005), The Prestige (2006), and as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have redeemed the early misfire.
Amy Adams is great as Amy, Theodore’s human friend and possible future lover. She’s come a long way from “The Hot Girl” in The Office to one of the most respected and dependable actresses in Hollywood.
Rooney Mara doesn’t do much as Twombly’s soon to be ex-wife. After a small, but memorable role in The Social Network (2010) and a leading role in the American version of The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo (2011) everyone thought she was destined for stardom, but it hasn’t materialized yet.
Olivia Wilde doesn’t do anything for me, but she’s fine as a blind date for Theodore.
As Theodore’s coworker Paul, Chris Pratt demonstrates the charisma which led to his meteoric rise from waiter at a Bubba Gump Shrimp in Hawaii to Star-Lord.
Despite only directing four feature films, Spike Jonze’s style, a sort of postmodern magical realism, has become synonymous with a quirky, bemused worldview.
I love the subtlety of this version of the not so distant future: the reversion to 1940s fashion, a company which produces personalized handwritten letters for people too lazy or not creative enough to write their own. In world of Siri and Cortana, the evolution of operating systems to individual people feels like a natural progression.
Theodore Twombly’s love affair with his operating system suggests we don’t fall in love with people, but with our own ideas of who a person is.