Trumbo (2015)

Bryan Cranston proves that he is a master of acting in all mediums. After his unforgettable turn as Walter White in Breaking Bad and a run on Broadway in 2014, he takes on a leading role in a film. I love the scenes when Cranston is in full screenwriting mode at his typewriter, or in the tub literally cutting and taping together lines. In a way, Trumbo is similar to Walter White. Like Walter, Trumbo has to innovate, adapt to survive in a world that is working against him.  Helen Mirren is also fabulous as Hedda Hopper, who is intimidating to even the most powerful men in Hollywood. Louis CK was pleasantly surprising in a role that I wouldn't have pegged him for.

The story is well done, if a bit cliched at times. Sometimes the speeches are a bit too soapbox-y about American ideals and what not. But I do like movies about movies, especially in the classic Hollywood era. And it is a smart movie. The Hollywood Ten were undoubtedly smart, trying to pull one over the House Un-American Activities Committee and subsequently defeating the blacklist. 

Room (2015)

I came into this film with a bit of a misconception. I heard a lot about Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay giving tremendous performances (and they do), but I thought those performances were restricted to the confines of the titular room. I thought it was going to be two hours of Larson musing to her son about the outside world and keeping him entertained in the face of misery. But I was so wrong. Sure, there is some of that and it is really good, but the movie is really about adjusting to the outside world after having lived in Room for so long. And it's not like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt happy-go-lucky optimistic kind of adjusting; this is raw and powerful. This is not too much of a spoiler, but they escape from Room well before the end of the movie, to allow ample time for thoughtful introspection.

The two main characters have vastly different experiences despite living together in Room. Larson plays Joy, who was kidnapped at the age of 17. So she knows what is beyond Room and years to be free. But her son Jack complicates things. Her motives change when she has to think about her child. And the viewer soon realizes that her own agony is bottled up inside her because she is so worried about Jack that she can't worry about herself. Larson plays Joy beautifully. On the flip-side, you have Jack who was born and raised in captivity and knows nothing else. I think that the decision to give Jack narrative monologues to get inside his unimaginable child mindset was brilliant. Tremblay is a phenomenal 9-year old actor who just gives it his all. The escape scene is so powerful because of him. You feel the shock and awe and that raw emotion lingers with you for a solid 15 minutes. Full-grown actors can't even do that.