Enemy review

A man lives a repetitious, dull life. By day he teaches history. By night he grades papers and has loveless sex with his girlfriend. His apartment is gray and cramped. One night he rents a movie, via a recommendation from a colleague. He notices something odd about the film. One of the actors in it looks exactly like him. Thus starts the eerie turn of events that comprise Enemy, the newest movie by Canadian director Denis Villeneuve. I can already tell Villeneuve is a great director, having seen his very excellent Prisoners (also starring Jake Gyllenhaal) last year. Prisoners was a very straightforward movie. Enemy is not. Enemy is what you would get if David Fincher and David Lynch had a movie love child. It's dark, gritty, and brooding. It's also really, really strange. There's one scene where a naked woman with the head of a spider walks down a hallway. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a dream sequence either. One of the many interesting things about Enemy is that Jake Gyllenhaal plays the two main roles, Adam and Anthony. I consider Gyllenhaal one of the most talented actors working in cinema today. He's been really great in some really great stuff like Donnie Darko, End of Watch, and Brokeback Mountain. He's just as good, if not better here. Gyllenhaal shows us he can play sad schmuck or sneering villain. Melanie Laurent plays his blonde foreign girlfriend. She proved herself to be a wonderfully capable actress in Inglorious Basterds. Unfortunately, she's not given much to do here. It's not a huge problem, considering the movie's not about her, but I do feel her potential is being wasted a little. What I really liked here is how the two guys are shown. At first the two identical men seem quite similar in personality. As the film progresses it becomes quite clear that one has much more malicious intentions. Like an evil twin, if you will. The two become like split personalities of the same person. Although the film hints at prospects like the men being brothers or just simply insane, it never lets the answer be that easy. Why exactly do these two men look exactly alike is never directly addressed. Immediately after viewing I went online to try and find a reputable analysis of the film. I found one that was quite good and believable. While this was fun, I don't recommend doing it. Let the film soak in your mind for a while and create your own theories before looking one up. It's more fun that way. I haven't seen any of Villeneuve's other films besides this and Prisoners, but I can already see a style forming. His films seem to often poke at moral questions without being too outright about them. The story and atmosphere is often filled with noir elements. If he plays his card right he could very well be the next David Fincher. His direction here is really great. Villeneuve keeps the air of tension so tight throughout the film. I often had to remind myself to breathe. The cinematography certainly helped this. The feel of this film is something like A Serious Man meets Zodiac. That combination works extremely well for the film. Giving it a very claustrophobic vibe often characterized by horror films. I don't think I noticed too many of the clues about the true nature of the film on my first viewing because I was too drawn into the plot tension. I definitely think a second viewing would benefit me greatly. A bit of the tension would be stripped away and I could really delve into the film fully. I do think that's the sign of a great movie, when one wants to watch it again soon after the first viewing. A24 films, which released this, also released the very awesome Under the Skin earlier this year. Those are two of what have the potential to be some of the best films this year. Releasing this great experimental semi-small budget sort of indie flicks is obviously really working for them and I hope they keep it going. The film world could use a few more movies like Enemy and Under the Skin and a few less like The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Enemy isn't for everyone. It's weird and alienating, but it's also awesomely cerebral and well done. I do recommend it, but be wary going in. You're in for quite the experience. Happy Viewing everyone. You can follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies.            

My Favorite Films of 2013

As you all probably know, 2013 was an awesome year for movies. I had to expand my list from 10 to 15 films. I almost pushed it to 20! While I tried to see all of the best stuff this year, I did not see everything. While I would've liked to see Dallas Buyers Club, The Wind Rises, and Saving Mr. Banks, I couldn't see them soon enough. But I did see enough to make this list. As I said, 2013 was a fantastic year for film. So good, that not every movie made it on to my list. So I'll start off with some honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions: Side Effects, Stoker, Pacific Rim, This Is the End, The Way Way Back, Much Ado About Nothing, Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Counselor. (I almost didn't put The Counselor on here, but I did enjoy it and I felt it was really over hated and under seen. Plus the performances were good and the dialog was awesome) All of those films are worth seeing. They just aren't as good as the ones on my Top 15 list. So without much ado, My Top 15 Movies of 2013!

15. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. People love to hate on Peter Jackson's Hobbit films. Sure, the first one was overlong and nothing compared to the LOTR movies, but the second installment was a huge improvement in many ways. The CGI and pacing was a hell of a lot better than the first one. It was also vastly entertaining and a really fun viewing experience, especially in 3D (which I don't usually say). It's not award worthy, but I really enjoyed this Hobbit film.

14. Behind the Candelabra. While Side Effects was quite good, Steven Soderbergh's other film he released this year was a little better.  It chronicled the relationship between Liberace and his much younger lover, Scott Thorson, and did it in a emotionally heavy and tasteful way that I really liked. Soderbergh's direction has never been smoother or more assured. Not to mention the movie boasted two great performances from Matt Damon and Micheal Douglas.

13. Nebraska. Alexander Payne's newest film is one of his best. His story about a sad old man chasing a fantasy with the help of his reluctant son was hilarious and really damn touching. Bruce Dern has never been better and June Squibb gave one of the funniest and best performances of the year. Really a good movie.

12. Mud. Matthew McConaughey has went from mediocre rom-com star to fantastic actor and Oscar contender. Mud is another great example of that. Jeff Nichols crafts a wonderful coming of age story that I haven't seen since Stand By Me. After some promising stuff like Shotgun Stories, Nichols shows he can make really good and meaningful cinema with Mud. The kids acting here are pretty good too, which is definitely rarer then it should be. Mud would be much higher on this list if so much good stuff didn't come out this year.

11. Captain Phillips. Movies don't often have the level of sheer intensity that Captain Phillips has. Paul Greengrass' action movie style direction certainly helped. Tom Hanks already showed he can carry a movie on his back in Cast Away. He just reinforces that here, especially in a powerful last ten minutes. Newcomer Barkhad Abdirahman was fantastic too as a Somali pirate.

10. Frances Ha. Yeah, Frances Ha doesn't tackle big subjects like racism or disease. But it doesn't have to. Noah Baumbach did a great job of showing us a touching snapshot of the life of a struggling artist in New York. Frances Ha has a great performance by Greta Gerwig, a fantastic screenplay, and some very good direction. I highly recommend this film, and it's a shame it's getting snubbed for so many awards.

9. The Place Beyond the Pines. When I saw this in theaters back in April, I was completely blown away. Derek Cianfrance last did the very good Blue Valentine. The Place Beyond the Pines is more ambitious, better acted, and just an extraordinary film in all. Eva Mendes gives a surprisingly great performance along with Bradley Cooper, Ben Mendelsohn, and Ryan Gosling. It weaves together three stories over about a fifteen year period and is exciting, sad, and just very, very good.

8. The World's End. I really love this film. I've seen it twice now and own it on DVD. I'm actually tempted to put it higher on the list. Director Edgar Wright does an amazing job with mixing wild comedy, great filmmaking, surprisingly heartfelt statements about coming home and addiction, and really good performances (specifically Simon Pegg) to make an almost perfect movie. Definitely a satisfying end to The Cornetto Trilogy. I can't recommend this enough.

7. Gravity. Alfonso Cuaron's sci-fi thriller is nothing short of mind blowing. People complain that it's short on plot and character, but they're kind of wrong. The simplicity of it is what makes it work so well. While I feel Gravity was quite over hyped, it was still amazing. Especially in 3D, which as I said before, I don't usually say.

6. Prisoners. I walked away from Prisoners with my jaw to the floor and my head filled with thoughts about the film. Not only did it turn the whole mystery genre on it's head, but it was original and intense as hell. Denis Villeneuve nailed it with this. The performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, and Melissa Leo were terrific. This was actually at my number one spot for a while, you really should see it.

5. Inside Llewyn Davis. The Coen Brothers have quite obviously mastered the craft of filmmaking. Their newest film, Inside Llewyn Davis is a funny, emotional, and interesting look at one struggling musician's life in the 60's New York folk scene. It was hilarious at times and sad at others, and very well done. The cinematography was beautiful. Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan both are great here, along with a nice appearance by John Goodman. Not to mention, it had a killer soundtrack.

4. American Hustle. Christian Bale's performance is one of the best things in a movie filled with great things. American Hustle was one of the more entertaining films of the year and was chock full of great performances. It's 70's setting was spot on and the script was very funny. David O. Russell is definitely doing something right.

3. 12 Years a Slave. Never has a film showed suffering as 12 Years a Slave has. Steve McQueen shows slavery as it was, nothing more and nothing less. And boy is it horrifying. Yet, it is so well made and well acted that you must see it. Chiwetel Ejiofor gives one of the best performances of the year as the tortured Solomon Northup. 12 Years a Slave is a film I won't forget for as long as I am alive.

2. The Wolf of Wall Street. Martin Scorsese is my favorite director, and the case could be made that he is America's greatest director. The Wolf of Wall Street is Scorsese's best film since The Departed, and possibly GoodFellas. It's entertaining as hell, while still showing us the excess and greed personified in 90's Wall Street. Some have criticized the movie for 'condoning' the actions of the people it portrays. This isn't true, and we shouldn't have to be told that these guys are bad. It's the audience's fault if we can't understand that what Jordan Belfort did was bad. The film also houses Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance ever. Give that man an Oscar! I loved The Wolf of Wall Street.

1. Her. I haven't seen a film as astounding as Her probably in a really long time. It makes a relationship between a man and an operating system seem normal, even understandable. Writer/director Spike Jonze also asks and answers so many questions about artificial intelligence and consciousness. Her is beautiful in so many ways. The performances are great. Namely Joaquin Phoenix, but also Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson (even though you never see her). Spike Jonze's screenplay is terrific and his direction is the best it's been since Being John Malkovich, if not better. I can barely express my feelings and love for Her, it's just such a masterpiece. Her is without a doubt, the best movie of the year.
 
 Well thanks for reading! As Always, Happy Viewing! You can follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies.