Showing posts with label the imitation game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the imitation game. Show all posts

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

The Imitation Game Review



Benedict Cumberbatch is Alan Turing, a man intent on deciphering the enigma code used by the Germans in WW2. In playing Turing, Cumberbatch is the actor who has cracked the code for guaranteeing an Oscar nomination. Turing here is portrayed as being on the Autistic spectrum, finding it difficult to make friends, understand jokes or even be able to work as part of a team. He is a genius who seemed to only have one friend in his school days and then went on to work at Bletchley Park in order to figure out how the German’s were encoding all their radio communications during World War 2. The Imitation Game deals with his time at Bletchley most notably, but also flashes back to Turing’s days being bullied at school and forward to after the war where he was eventually arrested for being a homosexual.


The Imitation Game is a fascinating study of a man, who is leagues ahead of most he encounters in terms of intelligence, but struggles with personal relationships. More than that though, it is a gripping thriller that looks behind the bombings and battles of WW2 and instead investigates the men (and at least one woman) behind the curtain at Bletchley Park. These codebreakers were ultimately responsible for significantly impacting the length of the war, and also saving millions of lives. Despite not having a clue how their machines work, or what incredible calculations they are making, The Imitation Game remains riveting throughout. By mixing up the chronology, director Morten Tyldum makes what could have been another boring biopic into something more engaging and inevitably tragic.

This is definitely Cumberbatch’s show, but more than just one noteworthy performance, The Imitation Game dabbles briefly but memorably into the moral quandaries of war time decision making and the abhorrent treatment of homosexuals in post-war Britain. It is a testament to  the genius of Turing, but also a tragic reminder that the country he worked for turned its back on him.

Watch the trailer:



More recent reviews:
 
Whiplash
Testament of Youth
The Theory of Everything
Into the Woods
American Sniper
Unbroken

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Oscar Nominees (Almost) Full List


The Oscar nominees for 2015 are in and here is almost the complete list. I'm sorry I missed some as Chris Pine particularly speaks far too quickly for me to make a note of all of these. I'll also have to update with some names at a later date. For now, please feel free to click any of the titles for my reviews (except those I have either not seen or reviewed yet).


BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Birdman Alejandro Inarritu
Boyhood Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher Bennett Miller
The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game Morten Tyldum

BEST ACTOR
Steve Carrell Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton  Birdman
Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore Still Alice
Rosamund Pike Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon Wild

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

BEST SCORE
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Theory of Everything

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall The Judge
Ethan Hawke Boyhood
Edward Norton Birdman
Mark Ruffalo Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette Boyhood
Laura Dern Wild
Keira Knightley The Imitation Game
Emma Stone Birdman
Meryl Streep Into the Woods 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida

BEST EDITING
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash

BEST SOUND EDITING
American Sniper

BEST SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Whiplash

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ANIMATION
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the  Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kayuga

Thursday, 11 December 2014

Golden Globe Nominations 2015 for Films

It's time for the golden balls to come out shining again. The Golden Globe nominations were announced today with Birdman soaring above the rest with 7 nominations spanning a range of categories. Selma, The Imitation Game and Boyhood are close behind, each with 5 nominations and just behind them are The Theory of Everything and The Grand Budapest Hotel and Gone Girl, each with 4. Others worth a mention are Foxcatcher, Into the Woods and Big Eyes which all managed to land 3 nominations each, while St Vincent and Annie scraped 2 each.

Critics favourites Whiplash, Interstellar and Nightcrawler each have a single nomination to their name with the exclusion of Whiplash from the Best Picture category most likely to cause a stir. I'm also pissed to see that White God isn't up for best foreign language film but hopefully this is just due to its release date in North America. I guess Angelina Jolie will be heartbroken over the complete snub of her second effort as director, Unbroken, which looked like a proper piece of awards bait.

Of course UK audiences will just have to sit here fuming as we have to wait until 2015 for the likes of Birdman, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Into the Woods and Whiplash to be released. At least some of these will have been released by the time Amy Poehler and Tina Fey host the show on Sunday January 11th.

As usual, awards season is the only time of year that I decide to find out what it is like to have a gambling problem. I usually place some bets on the Globes and the Oscars and last year I lost some money on the Globes but won it back (with a little profit) on the Oscars. Hopefully I can continue my tiny little winning streak this year!

At least I've seen a fair few of these this year including Boyhood, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Pride, St Vincent, Gone Girl, Interstellar etc etc. As long as I get into early screenings of some of the others, I'll be very happy!

Here are the nominees in full:



Best film
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything


Best director
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava Duvernay - Selma
David Fincher - Gone Girl
Alejandro González Iñárritu - Birdman
Richard Linklater - Boyhood

Best screenplay
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo - Birdman
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Graham Moore - The Imitation Game

Best actor, drama
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
David Oyelowo - Selma
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything

Best actress, drama
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild


Best comedy or musical
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Into the Woods
Pride

Best actress, comedy or musical
Amy Adams - Big Eyes
Emily Blunt - Into the Woods
Helen Mirren - The Hundred-Foot Journey
Julianne Moore - Maps to the Stars
Quvenzhané Wallis - Annie


Best actor, comedy or musical
Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton - Birdman
Bill Murray - St. Vincent
Joaquin Pheonix - Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz - Big Eyes


Best supporting actor
Robert Duvall - The Judge
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
Edward Norton - Birdman
JK Simmons - Whiplash


Best supporting actress
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Jessica Chastain - A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game
Emma Stone - Birdman
Meryl Streep - Into the Woods


Best score
Alexandre Desplat - The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor – Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez - Birdman

Best song
Big Eyes – Big Eyes (Lana Del Ray)
Glory – Selma (John Legend, Common)
Mercy Is – Noah (Patty Smith, Lenny Kaye)
Opportunity – Annie
Yellow Flicker Beat (Lorde) Hunger Games, Mockingjay Pt 1 (click for review)

Best animation
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The LEGO Movie

Best foreign language film
Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Ida
Leviathan
Tangerine Manderin

What do you think? Got any tips for my gambling addiction? Where's the easy money at and who are the outsiders that are worth a punt?