The Giver (2014)

Director: Phillip Noyce. Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgård, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, Taylor Swift. 97 min. Rated PG-13. Sci-fi/Drama.

The whole Hunger Games/Divergent teenager-chosen-among-crowds-of-a-post-apocalyptic-dystopian-future is getting so out of control, even stories written 20 years ago are jumping on the bandwagon. Actually, this one has interesting concepts, about a society that maintains peace by injecting memory-erasing drugs to their subjects, but preserves history by one "Giver" transferring memories to a "Receiver" (but then again, why not also eliminate the Giver-Receiver system?). The fatal flaw, is that the movie spends an hour defining the territory, but then as soon as the narrative starts gaining momentum, the ending is so rushed, you suddenly go: "Whaaaaa? What happened?" Deadly sequel-hungry screenplay.

PS: If you don't already know before the movie, you deserve a prize if you can spot Taylor Swift.

Mo says:

Two Lives (Zwei Leben) (2012)

Director(s): Georg Maas, Judith Kaufmann. Cast: Juliane Köhler, Liv Ullmann, Sven Nordin, Rainer Bock. 97 min. Germany/Norway. Drama/Thriller.

If you've seen (and loved) The Lives of Others, this can act as a companion case. Without spoiling anything, it asks: Remember the GDR Stasi agents in that movie? What happened to them after the Berlin Wall fell? Do they feel guilty, and if they do, how do they cope with their past? That guilty feeling can be material for great cinematic drama - excavated for its potential in Two Lives. The protagonists here act as movie "heroes" do (and not necessarily as most criminals against humanity do in real life), but still, it's a story you can strongly root for.

PS: Thank you, Kaleem, for the fascinating recommendation.

PPS: This is streaming on Netflix.

Mo says:

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

Director: Lasse Hallström. Cast: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon. 122 min. Rated PG. India/UAE/USA. Drama.

There are food movies, and there are feel-good movies. But then there's a feel-good-food-movie from a seasoned director, which you haven't seen the like of in years, about a charming culture clash in a small French village, which literally "feasts" the eyes with breath-taking panoramas and numerous close-ups on its mesmerizing actors, and charms the ears with a mixed Eastern/Western soundtrack. Even if it didn't have a story (which it actually does), I don't remember the last time I felt so elated for a full two hours. There would've been more peace in the world with more movies like this.

"Maybe the brakes break for a reason."

PS: Thank you, Emmie! Your very first recommendation got the highest honor!

Mo says:

MoMagic!

To Be Takei (2014)

Director: Jennifer M. Kroot. 94 min. Documentary.

George Takei's life has three prominent aspects: his role as Sulu on Star Trek, his childhood internment in an Arkansas camp during WWII, and his gay activism. Mostly people know him for the first, and I was interested in the second; to understand how he overcame the bitterness for his own country, and become such a positive figure. Well, the film is almost entirely about his gay activism. Not only that, it appoints a significant portion to his partner, who doesn't seem like a very pleasant guy, or at least isn't too bankable for artistic purposes. Somewhat prejudiced and disappointing.

Mo says:

Frank (2014)

Director: Lenny Abrahamson. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal. 95 min. Rated R. UK/Ireland. Comedy/Drama.

Rocker wannabe joins an eccentric band (aren't they all?) lead by a musician with a big fake head. I know, it's so odd. But with some patience, you'll find this an extremely brave and poignant film. Some of the symbolism ("fake" head, shattered head) is obvious, but the film is mostly open to interpretation. My take: it's a more complicated rendering of one Woody Allen film, that some eccentricities are better left untouched. As with any Fassbender movie (even when he has a big fake head on), I found this recommendable. Guaranteed to hum the ending song when it's over.

Mo says:

Night Moves (2013)

Director: Kelly Reichardt. Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard. 112 min. Rated R. Drama/Thriller.

Based on bizarre theories ("... hundreds of salmons are killed to power up an iPad"), three nerdy environmentalists plan a terrorist attack to explode a dam, with consequences that apparently are only unknown to the protagonists, as the massive risks of blowing up dams are quite obvious. Well-directed drama with nicely-spaced moments of nail-biting suspense, starring Jesse Eisenberg (currently the "go-to guy" for nerdy characters) has an anti-climactic ending that leaves the viewer hanging - as expected from the artsy director of Wendy and Lucy.

Mo says:

The Last Picture Show (1971)

Director: Peter Bagdanovich. Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Randy Quaid. 118 min. Rated R. Drama.

A desolate Texan town in the 1950s is dying, and the sudden death of one of its locals exponentially accelerates the process. Some movies provide a very detailed snapshot of how it must have been to live in a certain time and place, and although I wasn't around at the time, this film with its bleak black-and-white cinematography (which oddly lost the Oscar to Fiddler on the Roof that year),  offers the atmosphere of such a life, and what people do when there's nothing to do in a very small town where every single move is known to everybody.

Mo says:

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

Director: Woody Allen. Cast: Woody Allen, Mira Sorvino, Helena Bonham Carter, F. Murray Abraham, Olympia Dukakis, Paul Giamatti, Peter Weller, Jack Warden. 95 min. Rated R. Comedy.

The good thing about Woody Allen is that he's directed up to 50 films, so you can always go back and watch the ones you've missed. Among them, this was a pure delight. In addition to Allen's usual neurotic characters, memorable dialogue, and twisted couple relationships, this also adds the spices of a very unpredictable ending (exactly how fate works), Mira Sorvino's dominance as the "hooker with a heart of gold" (actually the leading actress, but shoved in as a supporting to get her an Oscar), and an immensely creative Greek chorus line that acts as Woody's usual reproaching conscience.

- "Achilles only had an Achilles heel, I have an entire Achilles body."

- "Who is the boss between you and mommy?"
- "Who is the boss? You have to ask that? I'm the boss, okay? Mommy is only the decision maker. You know, there's a difference between ... Mommy says what we do, ... and I have control of the channel changer."

- "I'm not a violence person! I write about boxing and hockey and football!"

- "My father's brother was supposed to be a genius. I never met him, but everybody said he was brilliant."
- "Really? What did he do?"
- "He was a serial rapist. He spent his whole life in jail, but if he had gone straight, he might have been very good in math."


PS: So I still need to see Crimes and Misdemeanors, Alice, September, Broadway Danny Rose, Interiors, ...

Mo says:

The Trip (2010)

Director: Michael Winterbottom. Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon. 107 min. Not Rated. UK. Drama/Comedy.

Here's my roller-coaster ride with Steve Coogan: I found his 90% rated Tristram Shandy (also directed by Winterbottom and co-starring Brydon) obnoxious and boring to death, but then his role in Philomena a lovingly obnoxious performance. So when this year The Trip to Italy, the Winterbottom/Coogan/Brydon sequel to The Trip opened, I gave Coogan another chance. Again, I was bored to death. I don't see the point of making a movie about two people eating in fancy restaurants and (artfully) impersonating famous actors. If I ever do watch the sequel, it will be just to watch more impersonations.

PS: Let me save you some time. Watch some of the incredible impersonations here.

Mo says:

The Two Faces of January (2014)

Director: Hossein Amini. Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac. 96 min. Rated PG-13. UK/France/USA. Thriller.

Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith ("The Talented Mr. Ripley"), the directorial debut of Oscar-nominated screenwriter Hossein Amini (Wings of the Dove, Drive, Snow White and the Huntsman), is a well-directed, well-acted, and well-written love triangle thriller in a far away land, with the intricate mysteries of not knowing the good guy from the bad, till the very last scene. This makes the structure full of surprises, and the story completely unpredictable. Mortensen and Dunst are as fascinating as always, but newcomer Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) is strangely reminiscent of a young Al Pacino. He's got star power.

Trivia: The month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of transitions, beginnings, gates, doors, doorways, passages and endings, and as such is usually portrayed with two faces, one looking to the future and the other to the past.

Mo says:

Akira (1988)

Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo. 124 min. Rated R. 124 min. Japan. Animation.

Apparently, the landmark of Japanese anime. Being unfamiliar to the territory, the whole feature was strangely both original and post-modern to me. There's a theory (probably my own) that when grown-ups are unable to implement their ideas into an adult/live-action movie, they resort to children's medium/animation - and this two-hour-plus film, which contains extreme violence, nudity, and extravagant sci-fi concepts that would make James Cameron shiver from thoughts of the live-action budget, is a testimony to that effect. With stunning visuals throughout, the story was so wild with imagination, even a sci-fi-lover like me needed some urgent Wikipedia research.

Mo says:

Bus 174 (2002)

Director(s): José Padilha, Felipe Lacerda. 122 min. Rated R. Brazil. Documentary.

Another example of movies showing glimpses into lives in other countries, that would be impossible to see in a lifetime. In the wake of all the Brazilian World Cup glamour, here's the story of a man whose mother was slashed to death before his eyes as a kid, grew up in the streets, was incarcerated several times in Rio's hellholes, and ended up taking hostages on a bus in an infamous 2002 event that was televised live. The documentary analyzes how the system breeds these criminals, and how the public supports the eradication of these "invisibles" ... by merely killing them.

Unforgettable quote:

"A nation's true identity is revealed in a hostage situation."

PS: 99% on the Tomatometer. Your call.

Mo says: