Ex Machina (Director: Alex Garland)
Nominees: Inside Out, Sicario, Room, Mustang, Mr. Holmes, Faults, Steve Jobs, Spotlight, Listen to Me Marlon, 45 Years, Our Little Sister
Oscars Pick: Spotlight
Nominees: Bridge of Spies, Room, The Big Short, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, BrooklynEx Machina tells the story of a programmer who is invited by his employer to administer the Turing test to an android with artificial intelligence (wiki).
While it came out early in the film season (April) and had some stiff competition, Ex Machina held fast to the top spot to the very end. It works even though the subject (the question of whether singularity/sentience can be had in a machine) has been explored countless times in books, TV, and film (Heck, when I first saw the previews I thought it was riffing on the Outer Limits episode “Valerie 23”).
One word best describes the film for me, “seduction”. Just as the A.I. beguiles the protagonist, so to am I beguiled, seduced by the ideas -the science and philosophy and psychology- presented here. There are a lot of talking heads in the flick, but what they discuss is enthralling. And underneath it all is an ever-building tension... the promise of violence to come... with twists and turns to keep you off balance.
At the heart of the piece is a cast of fully committed (and convincing) actors: Oscar Isaac is intimidating as Nathan (our mad scientist.) Domhnall Gleeson (who was in just about everything in 2015) contrasts Nathan's severe and dominant personality nicely, as his Caleb is rather sensitive and awkward. And in between them is Alicia Vikander (who was in just about everything else in 2015). She has these graceful robotic movements, but also brings a human vulnerability to the role - you can't help but be drawn to and identify with, Caleb's need to protect her. And with a second viewing, it's clear she knows she can use this to her advantage. Next to Metropolis' Maria, Alicia's doe-eyed Ava might be science fictions greatest Femme Fatale.
In addition, the film features an intelligent script, thoughtful set design (I like the stark contrasts between the lush exteriors and cold, hard interiors), good looking SFX (done on a low budget), an eerie score and sharp cinematography and direction - its Alex Garland’s finest effort IMHO.
Very, VERY close to Machina was Pixar's amazing Inside Out (click title to see short review). Denis Villeneuve's intense and thought-provoking Sicario, with its ever-present sense of dread (which is accentuated by the score.) And Room a moving drama elevated by top-notch performances (and yes, I liked the 2nd half as much as the first, for what it said about the characters and how they dealt with the aftermath of their captivity.)
Fury Road? Eh, it was okay, but I wasn't as thrilled with it as others were. While it started off fine, after a while I became sick to death of explosions and car chases and weirdo mutants.
Other films I liked: Ixcanul, Dheepan, Brooklyn, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Cemetery of Splendour, Theeb, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, X+Y, Land of Mine, Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron, People, Places, Things, Son of Saul, Black Mass, The Big Short, Victoria, Anomalisa and Slow West
Honorable Mentions:
Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes * Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Dheepan * Vincent Lindon, The Measure of a Man * Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant * Oscar Isaacs, Ex Machina * Leland Orser, Faults * Jacob Tremblay, Room * Tom Courtenay, 45 Years * Tom Hardy, Legend * Rolf Lassgård, A Man Called Ove
Honorable Mentions:
Kirin Kiki, Sweat Bean * Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years * Emily Blunt, Sicario * Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road * Kate Winslet & Judy Davis, The Dressmaker * Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Faults * Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter * Güneş Nezihe Şensoy, Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu, Elit Işcan, Tuğba Sunguroğlu and Ilayda Akdoğan, Mustang * +
Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
+ I ran out of room for my actresses, but I also liked the leads in Our Little Sister (Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho & Suzu Hirose)
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