Maite Garcia: Dallas Buyers' Club - a chance to live

A homophobic, drug addicted womanizer, this is the way Matthew McConaughey's character is introduced, a Texan rodeo cowboy called Ron Woodroof, whose life has been a path full of big excesses. Based on a real story, Woodroof's adventure works as a pretext to present the terrible HIV virus and its consequences during the eighties.

The behaviour of this selfish guy is cut short when he is diagnosed AIDS and given only a few weeks to live. After some intense moments of doubts and a gloomy relapse, Ron Woodroof doesn't give up; instead of passively accepting his fate, he decides to look for an alternative treatment to delay the effects of his awful disease, since up to that moment the only commercialized drug is AZT, but with little success. Therefore, he acts decisively and faces up to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) after travelling to México in order to buy non-approved medication. 

Rapidly, he becomes a genuine smuggler of antivirals, vitamins and peptides. Woodroof changes many people's lives as well as his own, as this cause connects him to some unknown figures; one of them played by Jared Leto, a transvestite homosexual infected with the HIV virus. Together, they will start a large distribution center called "Dallas Buyers Club", which will be constantly fighting against the United States' legal system. 

The two Oscar-winning actors in action

As all critics have agreed, the film’s plot is punctuated by extraordinary, emotive performances. Most remarkable has been Mathew McConaughey's. Until today he was known to the Academy as a leading man from the genre of romantic comedies, but thanks to his fantastic role in Dallas he has achieved the highest recognition from the American industry, an Oscar for best actor in a leading role. Not only have we been impressed by his extreme physical transformation but also by the roller-coaster of emotions he manages to transmit. The other Oscar-winning actor, Jared Leto, fills his acting with several tinges, so that the audience connects immediately with his feelings since he oozes sensibility and charm. I guess the director Jean-Marc Vallée has contributed to the success of their performances, as even Jennifer Garner, in a modest secondary role, has improved her acting skills significantly compared to previous films. 

I love this movie, especially because of the way all these characters, each one of them coming from different origins and having such distant ideologies or lifestyles, intertwine their lives. However, their differences are not a handicap to fight for life.  Dallas Buyers Club is a marvelous, thought-provoking film in which the director deals with issues which unfortunately are so contemporary. If I had to underline a particular scene, I would recall one when Ron is portrayed surrounded by butterflies; it seems to me a gorgeous metaphor of our existence. Simply fantastic! 

Thanks Maite for another great post! You hadn't written any stuff since that early review of Nosferatu, so welcome back.

As you know, I saw "Dallas ..." too and I really loved it, even if it's rather tough to watch at times. Films dealing with the plague caused by HIV since the mid-1980s in America are always extremely gruesome (Philadelphia and The Hours, to name a few, are two titles you may remember). 

Honestly, I'd never thought much of Matthew McCounaghey as an actor before his awesome role in this film. To me, maybe wrongly, he was just the classic "rom com" ladies' man. But all of a sudden he puts so much of himself into this character, both physically (seemingly he lost some 50 pounds) and emotionally. Also worth mentioning is Jared Leto's heart-rending performance - no wonder they both scooped well-deserved statuettes at this year's Oscars.

So let me just embed the film's trailer for those of you who may have not seen Dallas Buyers Club yet, arguably one of the best, most successful independent films of 2013. 

Maite Jiménez - "HER": SPIKE JONZE’S VERY UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE STORY

Set in Los Angeles, in an elegant, sophisticated version of the forthcoming technological future, where things have been nicely simplified, “Her”, Spike Jonze’s latest film, revolves around the unexpected, even unnatural relationship between a melancholic and soulful complex man named Theodore Twombly (masterfully played by Joaquin Phoenix), who is in the middle of a traumatic separation from childhood sweetheart Catherine (Rooney Mara) and his new, and seemingly autonomous, intelligent operating system (wonderfully voiced by Scarlett Johansson). 

Theodore makes his living working for a company called BeautifulHandwrittenletters.com, penning heartfelt and touching letters for other people. Discouraged after the unavoidable end of a long relationship, and incapable of moving on, he unconsciously looks for shelter and company, which he finds out, quite by chance, in a talking operating system with advanced brightness, not only thoroughly designed to adjust and evolve in its own way, but also personalized, to make matters worse, for each user. After initiating it, Theodore is pleased to meet “Samantha”, a captivating female voice who immediately cares for him, and is a good listener, as well as sensitive and surprisingly funny. Theodore is soon amazed not only by her ability to turn out the most varied issues, but also her intellectual capacity and keen sense of humor, all perfectly mingled with her enormous ignorance of the simplest human experiences. They bond over their discussions about inward feelings, their needs and desires, even sentimental experiences and jokes, developing an odd friendship into the eventual “love” for each other.

This is, broadly, an initial approach to the story. The rest of the flick I am not going to gut in attention for those who have not seen it yet, but these brushstrokes about the plot are enough to give my impression on the movie and to reflect upon some ideas.

I feel “Her” challenges our preconceptions about the so-called “real love”. I mean, it seems, on a superficial reading, another love story in a technological context, an imaginative attempt to go a little further about the difficulty of personal relationships in a high-tech world. It may be a weird, pretty absurd account, more implausible and unbelievable than others, but to my mind, it is, in fact, no more than a fantasy exercise that allows Spike Jonze to go deeper into thorny matters that invariably lead to weighty moral problems: to cite a few, the rational use of technology, the arrival of post-humanism, the phenomenon of machinism - or the control by gadgets of our lives - as well as the increasing isolation of the human being and their inability to communicate, to click with their peers on a deeper level.

Alongside them, other more “forgettable” subjects are brilliantly outlined by Spike Jonze: Are you a slave to technology? Do you need to tweet everything you do? Do you look at the world through a camera? Do you check your mobile phone before and after sleep? Would you fall in love with a thing? Do you have real friends? Are you afraid to be alone? Are you obsessed with the past? What do you need to be happy? 

Apart from these technological quizzicalities, there are three ideas, among the many that the film suggests, that I find interesting:

Firstly, the power of words. The job Theodore does is no coincidence. Let me remind you he is a lonely, introverted young man, very attractive by the way, who works for a company that employs professional writers who compose intimate letters for people who are unwilling or unable to pen letters of a personal nature themselves. Although Theodore is unable to help himself, he has, nevertheless, an uncanny ability to choose the appropriate words, those which will have a positive effect on the addressee. This is one of the many contradictions that accurately reflect Theodore’s personality, and by extension, of the entire human nature.

Words heal - or just the opposite - I guess Theodore must think, not forgetting words are also a source of misunderstanding. I have always liked a Spanish saying that summarizes this philosophy in a few words: “Tal palabra me dices, tal corazón me pones”. And which, on the other hand, doesn’t make you a corny fool or too pliable or fragile a person at all, as Theodore is very smart, but also too emotional.

Secondly, the consequences of trivializing romantic relationships. This notion probably sounds out of fashion. Yet the lack of responsibility in love has left many victims on the road. Notable French writer A. De Saint-Exupérie was able to express this question, better than anybody, through a beautiful fable in the mouth of The Little Prince: “I wished you no harm but you wanted me to tame you”, said the Little Prince to the fox”. “Men have forgotten this basic truth”, replied the fox. “But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed”. 

In “Her”, Theodore was tamed as well, like the fox, and later on he is forced, by a particular set of circumstances, to cease to be the person he was, to reinvent both himself and his life, leaving aside the past. I like the way Spike Jonze tackles how hard it is sometimes to overcome a sentimental relationship ever so much, and not, as usually expected, from a female perspective but rather from a masculine one. 

Last but not least, there is the eternal conflict between reason and heart. In this feature it is embodied by an artificial super-intelligence (so efficient and fast) and a dim, vulnerable man. Computer “Samantha” would ironically like to be more human, to experiment what human beings feel, precisely just the opposite of that Theodore wishes, who would not want to sense so much so as to suffer less.

With regard to other aspects of the movie, the film’s soundtrack accompanies the story truly well (there are songs composed by Canadian band Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett, with additional music by Karen O of “Yeah Yeah Yeahs”). Jonze’s refined sense of taste (the use of beautiful bright colours contrasts the perfect world outside with the sadness of the main character), not to mention the teasing, jolly side of the film, already present from the very handling of the subject: the funny computer game “Perfect Mum”, designed by Amy, Theodore’s best friend - fantastically performed by Amy Adams - and the amazing game of the foul-mouthed yet adorable alien child that Theodore usually plays with, provide the icing on the cake.

Ultimately, “Her” is a fresh love story that explores the evolving nature - and the risks - of intimacy in the modern world. Not only is it a stirring and entertaining film, but also a small work of art, without appearing a bit over the top. Needless to say, you should watch it in original version. 

Maite, this is indeed a fantastic review of a film that, like you it seems, I really enjoyed - congrats on a job well done!

Jonze's "sci-fi love story" gave me so much food for thought as I was watching it. Honestly. I didn't know if I felt mesmerized by the storyline or simply terrified of the world it depicted, one which our society might inevitably be heading for. I mean, will we one day end up actually having a relationship with a machine, whether a computer or our ubiquitous mobile phone? Who knows!

As usual, Phoenix and Adams deliver extraordinary performances - and so does, to my mind, an "invisible" Scarlett Johansson just by her (terribly seductive) voice, doesn't she?

Anyway, for those of you who didn't have the chance to relish "Her", this is the film's official trailer ...

... plus a short yet interesting interview on the BBC's "Newsnight" with its director:

Luis - Film review: 25th Hour

Last Christmas I had the chance to watch a movie that a friend had recommended to me for a long time, when we became fans of Mafia movies, specially Scorsese’s. But this time it’s my pleasure to introduce you to a movie by a very different director, starring a great cast.

“25th Hour” is one of the greatest films by independent movie-maker Spike Lee. It’s an entertaining movie, set in present-day New York which tells the story of a friendly businessman (Edward Norton) who actually is a drug dealer, specifically his whole last day of freedom before starting a prison sentence. 

He is a nice guy, as it can be seen from the very first scenes, where he appears happily with his dog, and from the way he talks with people and treats his girlfriend. However, he has friends who are bad guys, as they belong to the Russian Mafia. He should have left the business earlier, but he wished to save money and because of that he was unable to.

Someone has ratted on him and here starts the intriguing part of the movie with the other important characters: his two best friends, a broker (Barry Pepper) and a teacher (Philip Seymour Hoffman), as well as his exotic, beautiful girlfriend (Rosario Dawson). During his last day and night with them he will face the decision about his next step: whether to kill himself, become a fugitive or ‘do time’. 

Anyway, his life will never be the same and one of his friends concludes: “It’s over”. The role of his father, a retired fireman (Brian Cox), is determining; furthermore, he has a slight connection with Ground Zero (9/11) in the movie.

Equally impressive is the final sequence, when the father is supposedly driving him to prison, then talking about his son’s imaginary future life: how he runs away, meets his girlfriend and starts a family. Then the father utters the famous last words that his son will repeat to his own children: “It all came so close to never happening”.

The great strength of this movie is the impressive character of Edward Norton: his brilliant “f* word” monologue in front of the mirror gives us food for thought about both the rules in our society and corruption; the way he ends each sentence - “Fuck everyone!” - is really thought-provoking, as is usually the case in Spike Lee’s directing.

At the end of the day, we’ll believe Edward Norton’s character is more honest than these high-ups who control our lives. Not only is 25th Hour a complex, unusual film - it has no plot, it just tells a 24-hour-long story - but it also tackles real problems in society, such as which drugs should be legal or illegal or who are the greatest criminals, as well as corruption and family. A gripping must-see movie, which I hope you really enjoy!

A good post, Luis, thanks a lot! I've seen bits and pieces of the film myself but I intend to watch it in its entirety over the weekend. I deem Norton and Seymour Hoffman two of the finest American actors of their generation and I cannot emphasize how much I admire the also great Scottish actor Brian Cox, whose work, I believe, has often been underrated. 

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