044. Gravity (United States - 2013)

What the human mind did here was thinking of a sadistic, breathtaking narrative and filling it with so many minor problems that it became a huge, problematic work of art. Gravity deals with themes such as suffocation, solitude and despair, cosmic fear (something by which I'm fascinated), extreme survival, desperate love, etc. The concept had everything to turn into a perfect film. But it didn't. The film is full of problems, beginning with the little annoying details of acting: the repetitiveness of Bullock's reactions to her predicaments, something which is almost always followed by gasps and sobs but without any facial reconcilement. She's just too expressionless to delve into the character's drama, the unspeakable horror of being left alone in the space, stranded in the endlessness and blackness of the universe outside our tiny planet. What a superb idea, I think to myself every time I remember it. The film feels like it's supposed to be watched on a 3D version, and I've heard many people claiming that; but then, the film is not really reliable in quality if it depends on such a specific mode of reproduction to be considered actually immersive as it was supposed to be naturally. The negative Deus Ex Machinae of the film were always facepalm generators in my mind, as I saw flying debris from the Russian accident passing through at a convenient time of the story. Anyway, the film's plotline is very annoying and artificial, the acting is mediocre at best, horribly simplistic script, and the sound effects are completely predictable in their attempt to raise suspense. One of the best ideas for a story ever made in cinema, nice POV shots, and great photography, but poor overall construction. An overrated film that is full of little problems. A shame, really, considering that it could've well being one of the best films of all time.

Director: Alfonso Cuarón.

Score
Cinematography: 8.5

Acting: 6.0

Editing: 7.5
Sound: 8.0
Text: 6.0
Concept: 10.0
Premise Execution: 7.5

Average Score: 7.6

043. Dallas Buyers Club (United States - 2013)

Struggle and indignation are the two words that prevail in this film. The struggle of a man who finds out about a gruesome fact of having contracted AIDS. Ron Woodroof is portrayed as being extremely homophobic and having to cope with the disease that was then viewed as a homosexual issue. Woodroof starts to search for a better way to live with the virus without having to use the highly toxic AZT, a primary drug tested back then to fight the disease. He finds alternative, more useful drugs in his search, but all of them are prohibited for selling by the American Food and Drugs Administration. It exposes the bigotry of the pharmaceutical in its essence. Ron finds his way round it though. He founds the Dallas Buyers Club to enrol members that wish to get these new drugs to help them fight their sad condition. A touching film, that while staying away from the conventional mode of execution tied to needless melodramatic sequences, typical of films about terminal diseases, keeps the despair of the characters well visible, especially through the amazing performances of both Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey, which earned them Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor, respectively. A no-nonsense drama of an abyssal reality for many people.

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée.

Score
Cinematography: 8.0

Acting: 9.5
Editing: 8.5
Sound: 8.0
Text: 9.0
Concept: 8.0
Premise Execution: 9.5

Average Score: 8.6

042. Philomena (United Kingdom - 2013)

Simple film. A bit too simple. A biographical piece about a mother who's in a search for her son, taken from her 50 years before, when she was in a convent. She now asks a man (Martin Sixsmith, played by Steve Coogan, the beloved Alan Partridge) to write a book on her life, and what was just sessions of storytelling becomes a hunt for a long-lost son. Full of emotional clichés, the film didn't quite convince me, although it's well polished and with good enough performances from the actors. Very average film, about a theme that could also be considered average. Another one nominated for Best Film last Sunday, which I don't quite know why was there, if I'm being honest.

Director: Stephen Frears.

Score
Cinematography: 8.0
Acting: 8.5
Editing: 8.0
Sound: 7.5
Text: 7.5
Concept: 7.0
Premise Execution: 7.5


Average Score: 7.7

041. 12 Years a Slave (United Kingdom - 2013)

I was sobbing, I was speechless after we were done. This must be the most moving and socially relevant film made in the mainstream scene in the last five years or so. The conscience of human suffering that it awakens is remarkable. A truly moving experience, and a fine piece of art.

The beginning is just textbook editing all the way. We're showed the former situation of Solomon Northup's life before the film moves on to how he was kidnapped and sold to slavers. A black free man returned to his wretched past. The carnage of slavery in the mid-nineteenth century was still strong, unabating, and going southward. Lupita Nyong'o does an amazing job as Patsy (which earned her an Academy Award for Supporting Actress), and both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender do a superb job in the protagonist-antagonist layer of the film. The storytelling is pristine, and no plot holes at all are left behind. The calm, thought provoking cinematography is also perfect.

12 Years a Slave is a film that doesn't come about too often. It's a story not only to be moved by, but also to reflect upon. The historical suffering of people can always be revisited by art; in fact, it must. Cinema serves well as a reminder of how society can be misled by dangerous conveniences and wrong perspectives. This film is an aesthetic portrait of that. 

Director: Steve McQueen

Score 
Cinematography: 9.5
Acting: 9.5
Editing: 9.0
Sound: 8.5
Text: 8.5
Concept: 8.5
Premise Execution: 9.5

Average Score: 9.0

040. Her (United States - 2013)

Okay, with the commotion of the 86th Academy Awards gone, we can look at some of the films that were part of the celebration. Just moments before the event, me and Jéssica could watch two fine motion pictures: Her and 12 Years a Slave. Let's look at them, one at a time.

Her is a truly innovative concept for a film. A very nice experience, all in all. It received an Oscar for Best Writing - Original Screenplay. No wonder. A unique story with little touches of other romantic concepts, but proposing something post-modern and akin to our reality. Spike Jonze proposes a future world in which the protagonist Theodore (played by the talented Joaquin Phoenix), a letter composer - job unique to the film -, finds himself trapped in the mourning of a previous relationship that didn't quite work out. After buying his copy of a brand new OS that has its own Artificial Intelligence like none before seen, he starts interacting with it; well, with her. The OS's name is Samantha, and after some icebreaker conversations, both of them get more and more connected, until Theodore finds himself in love with the AI of his system. The intricacies of love, possession, companionship, issues of body, identity and representations of human personalities are excellent and like no other that I've seen. The character construction in the film is very realistic, each one with highly believable love dilemmas and conflicts. The ending is not so impressive, but it's always goo to acknowledge a well-written piece of screenplay. Well done.

Director: Spike Jonze.

Score
Cinematography: 8.5

Acting: 8.5
Editing: 9.0
Sound: 8.0
Text: 9.0
Concept: 9.5
Premise Execution: 8.5

Average Score: 8.7