Review: ANOMALISA

Charlie Kaufman -- the man who has nailed the art of taking really simple sci fi premises, and drawing human nature and relationships from their cores. His films are always bizarre, yet so human; and ANOMALISA, his latest endeavour through 3D-printed stop-motion animation, is no different.

Co-directed by Kaufman and Duke Johnson, ANOMALISA thrusts you into the world of Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a self-help author on a speaking tour across the country, which separates him from his wife and son. You know someone like Michael: the quiet loner-type, the romanticist who longs for something more, and can't be bothered with anything less -- the kind of guy searching for something or someone more engaging, but nothing, and no one, stands out.

But for Michael, this sentiment is a little bit more literal. No one stands out in the crowd because everyone has the same face, and everyone has the same voice (Tom Noonan's, regardless of the character's gender); it is as if Michael has a bad case of prosopagnosia, but the face blindness trickles into his ability to recognize people's voices, as well. To Michael, the people who swarm around him on a daily basis are indistinguishable.

Except for Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Lisa, the insecure woman he meets at a hotel in Cincinnati, is different. She is an anomaly, and Michael must pursue her.

This is a fascinating film engendering romanticism at its worst. As usual, the characters that Kaufman puts on screen are almost a little too relatable; and the mind-bogglingly realistic animation adds to that feeling of discomfort when these characters do hit so close to home.

Thewlis makes it difficult not to like our protagonist, and Leigh brightens the screen with the charming intimacy she brings to Lisa. It is fair to say that this movie will not be what some people expected; but it leaves an imprint, long after you leave the movie theater. ANOMALISA is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: Carol

Hollywood has tackled same-sex relationships in a present-day sense, but finally we see a story hidden amongst our history. Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel, "The Price of Salt", director Todd Haynes brings us CAROL, the 1950s love story of two women hailing from completely different worlds.

Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) is a 20-something aspiring photographer, stuck working at a department store with a boyfriend, Richard (Jake Lacy), who is much more interested in her than she is in him. Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) is a well-off, older woman with a daughter and an ex-husband, Harge (Kyle Chandler), who wants her back. The two meet while Carol buys a train for her daughter, and leaves her gloves behind. Therese returns the gloves, and a relationship blossoms.

Therese, in her shy yet amiable way, finds that she has a crush on Carol right from the start. And as she gets to know her more and more, and sees Carol's struggles underneath the peeled back layers of glamour, it becomes harder and harder to tolerate Richard. When Carol approaches her with the idea of a road trip, she pounces on the opportunity, breaking free of Richard's ties and embracing her feelings for Carol. But Carol has her own ties from which to break free, and the story that follows shows the dangers of their relationship within the world that they are ensnared. It is a close look at love and jealousy and the desire for one's feelings to be accepted.

Mara and Blanchett blend together perfectly, and Chandler plays a fantastic villain to their kindling romance. Shot on 16mm to encapsulate the feel of the 1950s, CAROL will certainly transport you -- but it still maintains a connection to today's world: every character and emotion could be directly extracted from present day situations.

It is a refreshing film in the midst of the upcoming Oscar season. CAROL is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: The Revenant

After BIRDMAN won last year's Oscar for Best Picture, one would assume the heavy burden that director Alejandro González Iñárritu would feel for his next project, THE REVENANT. But it seems that while it doesn't quite reach the magnitude of BIRDMAN, it does come awfully close, in its bloody, breathtaking portrayal of the human spirit and drive for survival.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, the real-life survivalist legend for whom the story is inspired. A fur trapper in the 1820s American West, Glass finds a job with the military, hunting for pelts in the uncharted wilderness. This ragtag team of trappers, led by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), is decimated by an attack from a local Arikara tribe, leaving only 20 left in the hunting party. To make matters worse, Glass has an unfortunate, near-fatal run in with a bear, slowing the hunting party in their attempt to return to civilization.

Henry finally makes the decision to leave Glass behind -- a decision that Glass's son, Hawk (a half-Pawnee boy, played by Forrest Goodluck) does not appreciate. Hawk and two other men, Bridger (Will Poulter), and John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), stay behind with Glass -- though Fitzgerald agrees to it only after Hawk and Bridger offer up their share of the reward for staying. With his greed and consistent concern for only himself, it is no surprise when Fitzgerald causes trouble, disrupting the little party that stays behind and abandoning Glass to survive on his own.

I'll let the rest of the story tell itself on screen, but suffice it to say that one of the things that keeps Glass alive is a thirst for vengeance. The concept of survival through vengeance may have been done before, but the story is still powerfully executed, and the characters are vibrant within the plot. Hardy's cruel, curmudgeonly greed creates the perfect antagonist, and DiCaprio owns the screen with his mostly non-verbal role. While it may not be an Oscar-winning performance for DiCaprio (it may be his strongest role yet, but for whatever reason the dialogue in the film is this man's downfall) there is no doubt of the captivating quality that he brings throughout the 2 hours and 40 minutes of the plot.

As usual, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's work demands applause: we are gifted with the trademark long, rambling shots which capture the natural beauty of Glass's surroundings, all within natural lighting -- the crew apparently forewent electric lighting to enhance the atmosphere of the story.

Another hard-earned feat for Iñárritu, and a sure Oscar nomination, to say the very least. THE REVENANT is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!