The Lego Movie (7th February)
Breakneck fast and razor sharp witted, The Lego Movie is among the least patronizing children’s films you will ever see. Writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller share the attention deficit particular to the under 10s which keeps the film zipping from one exciting scene to the next before boredom ever becomes an issue. Not that this makes for a confusing mess, rather it seems as if the film’s narrative actually moves with the speed of juvenile thought, obeying the push of imagination. It isn’t hard to envision the creative team dancing around the ideas table, gleefully yelling “And then THIS should happen. Yeah, and then THIS.” With dystopian sprinklings like $37 coffee and a pumping pop song that seems to keep the whole city running, the film’s satirical edge is as sharp as any. It’s the kind of anarchic fare that keeps new generations asking questions while growing up, imagination intact.
Her (14th February)
The relationship formed between humans and artificially intelligent computer programmes is in no way a new idea but the best thing about Spike Jonze’s Her is that it makes it feel like the freshest notion around. This is in no small part due to Joaquin Phoenix who continues his study in angst with a performance to match that he gave in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master (2012). The operating system with whom he falls in love is voiced meticulously by Scarlett Johansson whose recent roles (in Lucy and Under the Skin) have carved her somewhat of a niche in the sci-fi genre as the go-to girl for portraying troubled androids. The vibrant colours of the film and its measured writing help imbue this most unusual of relationships with a tangible warmth which succeeds in drawing the audience into the romance as much as it confuses their sense of what constitutes a relationship.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (7th March)
The Grand Budapest Hotel is immaculate in its design and direction. It is utterly insubstantial and won’t stay with you a moment outside of the cinema but that is part of its tidy charm. A disciplined farce, a visual feast, this film exists in its own rich world, remains in it, tells a story, and balances your enjoyment in the palm of its hand. Ralph Fiennes delivers a studied deadpan turn as the lead character – a hotel concierge framed for murder. He escapes from The Grand Budapest Hotel and, with lobby boy Zero (Tony Revolori) in tow, embarks on the adventure he hopes will prove his innocence. Absurd and highly stylized, once the film is finished with you, it leaves you the exact same person you were when you walked into the cinema. The craft required to pull off such a clean schism is more impressive than it sounds.
The Double (4th April)
Richard Ayoade’s debut Submarine (2010), a modern coming-of-age comedy/drama, is one of my favourite films. Adapted from the Dostoyevsky novella of the same name, Ayoade’s follow-up The Double draws from much older source material but continues to demonstrate the writer/director’s knack for adaptations. Jesse Eisenberg stars as Simon James, a cog in the wheel of a futuristic bureaucracy who turns up for work one day to find a man who looks exactly like him generally outperforming him in every aspect of his life. This includes seducing the girl of his dreams, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska).
Ayoade is very good at neurotic dialogue – my favourite kind – and this absurdist situation perfectly justifies his central character’s awkwardness. Normally, we route for shy introverts as they attempt to overcome imagined obstacles and vanquish their own ineptitude but here his worst enemy is actually himself, not as a metaphor, as a solid being. The opportunity for black comedy is taken with gusto. Cameos from the architects of British comedy abound with the likes of Tim Key, Chris O’Dowd and even the legendary Chris Morris getting involved.
Jon Bates Writes 