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This weekend there are four new films out for you to choose from: sci-fi drama in Ex Machina, comedy in Mortdecai, period drama in A Most Violent Year, documentary entertainment in Beyond Clueless, and high-stakes drama in The Gambler.
Ex Machina stars Domhnall Gleeson (Frank) as Caleb, a 24-year-old coder at the world’s largest internet company, who wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company.
But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl (Alicia Vikander).
Ex Machina also stars Chelsea Li and Evie Wray, and I love this kind of stuff. Click on the poster for the fill-size image.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Mortdecai looks like the best thing Johnny Depp has done in a long time as he plays Charles Mortdecai, an art dealer who searches for a stolen painting that’s reportedly linked to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold.
The film also stars Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Olivia Munn, Paul Bettany, Jeff Goldblum and Oliver Platt, and is directed by David Koepp, whose last film was 2012’s reasonable movie Premium Rush, staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and also is the screenwriter for loads of films such as Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, 2002’s Spider-Man and the Indiana Jones and the Kingdowm of the Crystal Skull in 2008.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
A Most Violent Year is a thriller set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city’s history, and centered on a the lives of an immigrant and his family trying to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.
The film stars Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davies), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), David Oyelowo, Albert Brooks and written and directed by J.C. Chandor (All Is Lost), so it looks like it’s worth a watch.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Beyond Clueless is a dizzying journey into the mind, body and soul of the teen movie, as seen through the eyes of over 200 modern coming-of-age classics.
Narrated by Fairuza Balk, the trailer… erm… well, tells you practically NOTHING about the film. It’s simply 90 seconds of quotes about how it’s a great film. I always go one way or the other for hit or miss, so, given the luscious tones of Ms Balk, I’ll go for…
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
The Gambler stars Mark Wahlberg as Jim Bennett, a man who’s a risk taker. Both an English professor and a high-stakes gambler, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother in his wake.
He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world while garnering the attention of Frank, a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett’s future. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance…
Also starring Jessica Lange, Brie Larson and John Goodman, this looks very good indeed, and it’s been brought forward from its original release date of May 1st.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.