Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

I am not a huge fan of a capella in the first place, but I was at least able to enjoy the first one.  On the other hand, the sequel just was not that funny.  Rebel Wilson is more naturally funny in a self deprecating way, and she gets most of the comedic lines.  Perhaps some of the magic has worn off this time around. At least the last one painted a plausibly honest picture of college life.  This one was just ridiculous and unrealistic.

As for the music, Anna Kendrick has a bizarre, interesting, genuinely enjoyable duet with Snoop Dogg singing Christmas carols.  The original movie had a huge hit in the song "Cups" which is reprised in this film with less fanfare and notably without the eponymous cup.  In the sequel, I think the audience was supposed to latch onto the song "Flashlight" by Jessie J, which is posed as an original written by Haley Steinfeld's character.  However, the song just isn't as catchy as cups and lacks the novelty of the percussion.  Haley Steinfeld proved that she could sing in last year's Begin Again, but she really did not stand out singing in an a capella group.

The Tempest (The Public Theater) (2015)

Shakespeare in the Park is one of New York's most treasured traditions.  Every summer, The Public Theater stages two free star-studded productions at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, a peaceful amphitheater amidst the hustle and bustle of the city.  The Belvedere Castle provides a majestic backdrop to the stage.  I won the virtual lottery this year, so I didn't have to wait in line early in the morning like last year when I saw Much Ado About Nothing, which in itself is a whole experience. Shakespeare is difficult; there is no doubt about that.  To a speaker of modern English, it is sometimes difficult to follow all of the dialogue in the play, especially in the scenes involving the shipwrecked crew.  But that is not to detract from the excellent acting and staging, which gives the audience plenty to go on. 

The first thing I noticed when I took my seat was the set.  It was quite minimal, with an ocean backdrop and a black spiral staircase to a second level.  It was nowhere near as impressive as the Italian estate created for last year's production.  The Tempest, taking place on a magical island, lends itself to an imaginative set, and so the audience is made to use its imagination.  What it lacks in scenery it makes up for with atmosphere.  A percussionist in the corner of the stage played a variety of instruments throughout the play creating an air of mysticism, a storm of sound, and a rhythm to which the actors recited their lines.  For me, the percussionist really brought the whole production together.  And of course, in an open-air theater, we are exposed to the elements.  As forecasted, and in accordance with my bad luck, it rained lightly for about ten minutes.  But the show went on.  I got a little wet, but it was nothing to complain about.  In fact, it enhanced the atmosphere of the play, for I genuinely felt like I was in the tempest.

Finally, I have to address the actors.  Sam Waterston is a Shakespeare in the Park veteran, returning to the role of Prospero after 41 years.  He has a commanding authority over Shakespeare's prose and it is a joy to watch him perform.  Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays the jester Trinculo.  Just as he has proven in Modern Family, he has great comedic timing.  Caliban and Ariel are two counterweights in the play, one a barbarous creature, the other a graceful spirit.  Both actors are superb in these roles (also helped along by the percussionist).

Rosewater (2014)

In Jon Stewart's debut film, he does a respectable job honoring journalist Maziar Bahari, who was detained in Iran for 118 days at Evin Prison following an appearance on the satirical "The Daily Show" hosted by Stewart.  The satire was lost on the Iranian regime, who accused Bahari of espionage amid the 2009 presidential elections.  The movie draws attention to the plight of journalists, who risk their lives to expose the truth in dangerous situations.  Stewart uses actual news footage to bring the audience back to 2009. Gael Garcia Bernal plays Bahari, a man subjected to psychological torture, but whose hope is not crushed.  He is very good, bringing a range of emotions, keeping all 118 days engaging. Perhaps this is a glimpse into Stewart's post-"The Daily Show" life--will he become a filmmaker?  If so, I think we have a lot of good things to look forward to.

The Woman in Gold (2015)

This movie is dramatization of a true story of Nazi art theft and the legal nightmare that Maria Altmann went through to recover the paintings that were stolen from her family.  These five Klimts include the iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which exemplifies Klimt's golden phase.  This movie combines two things that I like: legal drama and fine art, all set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.  Not only is the story fascinating, it is devastating. The movie is driven by themes of legal right versus cultural right. Klimt has come to be representative of Austrian culture, and his artworks are national treasures. Altmann hires a family friend to be her lawyer, an inexperienced Randol Schoenberg, the grandson of the famous Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. Altmann came from a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna that hosted the Austrian intellectuals of the day in a renowned salon.  Both characters are steeped in twentieth century Austrian culture, but their families were lain victim to the atrocities committed by Austrians complicit with the Nazis, yet the Austrian government has the audacity to suggest a cultural right to the paintings.

Helen Mirren is excellent as always as a woman torn between the rush of terrible memories Austria reminds her of and the pursuit of what is legally hers.  Tatiana Maslany convincingly plays a young Altmann, whose story is told in stylish black-and-white.  Ryan Reynolds plays the inexperienced lawyer and he comes across as kind of awkward, which is not necessarily a bad thing.      

Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes) (2014)

This Argentine comedy is an anthology, composed of six short unrelated films of increasing length.  We don't see too many anthologies, a novel idea, but this works extraordinarily well. These stories go together because they all share a theme of vengeance. Each story is brilliant and entertaining in its own right.  Each one cynical, slightly deranged, but so funny, even in a foreign language. Because there are six short stories, the movie holds your attention constantly with something new. My favorite short is the first one entitled "Pasternak" in which the people on board a flight discover that they all share something in common. Each short benefits from good camerawork, solid acting, and unpredictable writing.  This movie rightfully earned a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at last year's Oscar ceremony, and to be quite honest I thought it was better than Ida, the eventual winner from Poland.  Admittedly, they are two entirely different films, but Wild Tales (an accurate title) achieves a refreshing level of creative comic storytelling.

Knock Knock, It's Tig Notaro (2015)

Tig Notaro is brilliant, probably one of the best stand-up comics today.  She rose to fame in 2012 after Louis CK released a recording of her now-legendary set performed at Largo in Los Angeles in which she joked about the cancer diagnosis she had received the week before.  She took a very dark experience in her life and shared it with her audience through comedy.  Her style of comedy is deadpan, personal storytelling, and is refreshingly unexpected.  She makes comedy out of the slightest things--the best scene in this stand-up special is one in which Tig imitates the sound of a clown horn repeatedly much to the delight of one particular audience member.  The premise of this stand-up special is that Tig and fellow comedian John Dore tour the country playing in the homes and backyards of regular people.  They perform at arms length from the audience , forcing a level of intimacy that feeds their comic genius.  This is simultaneously a comedy special and a road trip documentary.  I understand that Tig needed a partner to tour with, but I honestly think she could have carried the show all by herself, after all her sets were funnier than Dore's.

Ex Machina (2015)

This is a thriller that achieves its thrilling aspect without action sequences.  This is a more psychological thriller.  It does not slack on an intellectual level at all, embracing the "science" in science fiction--explaining the computer science behind Ava and the complexities of a Turing test.  The movie is one long thought experiment that waxes philosophical provokes the audience into contemplating artificial intelligence.  How can it be achieved? What will it look like? What will it be capable of? How will we know when it becomes self aware? Can we distinguish between artificial intelligence and natural intelligence? Where is technology going?

The story takes place in a secluded estate in the middle of the woods in an environment that resembles Fallingwater.  This is a state-of-the-art facility with security cameras everywhere, ominous lighting and an ultra-modern stylish design to match a stylish movie. The twist at the end is somewhat expected, but extremely well executed and highly satisfying.

The acting is all superb.  Oscar Isaac plays the rich and eccentric Nathan, the CEO of a large search engine, who lives far away from civilization alone with his maid.  Isaac leaves the audience questioning his motives throughout the movie.  Domhnall Gleeson, too, is excellent as an inquisitive, curious Turing test administrator.  But Alicia Vikander steals the show as Ava, Nathan's AI creation. She is simultaneously robotic and human, blurring the already thin line between technology and humanity.