Her
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Stars: 4
Her tells the story of a future society where simple operating systems (OS’s) are a part of everyday life. Although this may sound like the everyday smartphone, these OS’s can think and reason, with the only thing not making them human is the fact that they don’t have a body.
Theodore – played by Joaquin Phoenix – buys his OS named Samantha – voiced by Scarlett Johansson – and slowly the two start to fall in love with each other. The weird part is nobody in the society finds it odd that a person and an OS are in a relationship. In fact, there are quite a few who not only accept it but are in a similar relationship.
I did not think I would like this movie as much as I did. As weird of a concept as it is, honestly, it’s not far off from where we are today. I think Phoenix’s performance will get overlooked because people won’t realize how hard it is to interact with something that’s not interacting back with you. Without actually ever being with each other, Phoenix and Johansson are able to convey a very believable relationship.
I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone; it’s an original idea, it’s thought provoking, and it’s well-acted. Do I think it will win best picture? No. But it’s worth of a nomination and definitely worth the watch.
Captain Phillips
Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Stars: 4
Captain Phillips tells the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama. According to IMDB, this ship was the first American ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
The fact that Tom Hanks stars in this movie should tell you everything you need to know. He is amazing. This movie was amazing. I was so drawn in by this film that I felt like I was feeling all the emotions the crew was feeling. I was as nervous and scared as they were when the pirates came aboard.
When I saw this movie I did not think it would be nominated for Best Film, however, it is definitely deserving of it. More deserving is Barkhad Abdi, who plays the main Somali pirate. His – and the rest of the pirates – acting was so good, I didn’t know if I was watching actors portraying pirates or pirates themselves.
My only negative thing to say about this movie is that it was a little too long. The ending seemed to drag on and it easily could’ve been 10 or 15 minutes shorter. Other than that, this movie is a must see.
Gravity
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón
Stars: 3
I only saw this movie because my mom recommended it and she was willing to see it twice so I figured it had to be good. To me, this movie looked interesting, but not amazing. And that’s pretty much what it was.
It’s definitely worth the recognition because of the way it was directed and because it’s pretty much Sandra Bullock the whole time (George Clooney is in it for like a second, so it doesn’t count much). The technical aspects of this movie and the special effects were out of this world (get it? Like space), and Sandra Bullock was good but it definitely wasn’t the best I’ve seen her in.
Since Alfonso Cuarón won the Golden Globe for best director for this movie, I wouldn’t be surprised if he won the Oscar as well. And I’d like to point out that before seeing this movie I wanted to go to the moon at some point in my life, however, now I’m terrified. Thanks Alfonso.
Overall, it’s worth seeing, however it’s getting more acclaim than I expected.
