The Overnighters

Director: Jesse Moss

Sometimes documentary subject matter can neatly assume a narrative structure, which is made possible by editing wizardry. And sometimes the subject's lives in documentaries can resemble the dramatis personae in Greek tragedy. In director Jesse Moss' The Overnighters, it seems almost inconceivable (and improbable) that a man's love and compassion could condemn him to a fate so tragically ironic.

Moss' film is powerful and sobering and it does an expert job of disabusing us of the cherished myths Americans hold sacrosanct; our beliefs about tolerance, kindness to strangers and hospitality.

In the last decade, the oil industry emerged and bloomed in North Dakota. During that time, people from all over the country--mostly men--flocked to the state in hope of securing a job that were reputed to be plentiful. In the North Dakotan town of Williston, the Haliburton Corporation (yeah, those guys) employed many but also turned many more away, particularly anyone middle-age and older, regardless of their work ethic or experience. The desperate men who counted on a job often found themselves without lodging, without much money and without much in the way of viable options. If their situation wasn't adverse enough, they also found themselves cast as pariahs by an unwelcoming and often hostile community.

In this simmering cauldron of strife, a local pastor, Jay Reinke, was eager to extend a Christian hand to those who had nowhere to live or nowhere to park their campers or cars. We see the pastor lovingly greeting those who have come to Williston to find work; offering them meals and guidance; both spiritual and practical. Nicknamed Overnighters, the lot are often ragged, hungry, and clinging to the promise of work like a drowning man groping for flotsam.

Some of the men have left behind wives and children to improve their finances, only to find their economic conditions worsened and their relationships strained. Many arrive by bus; lacking a vehicle in which to sleep or to get around.

It is astonishing to see the Pastor tirelessly working to help everyone who comes to the parish. He even opens his own door to some of the men, who he and his family welcome unconditionally. When he isn't processing visitors and leading Sunday services, he is seen battling the town council, who are loathe to deal with the problems the newcomers present.

In trying to establish a neighborly relationship, Reinke goes door to door in the Parish neighborhood to discuss the issue with residents. The response from the community is often one of suspicion and hostility.

As Pastor Reinke helps those who seek the parish's charity, we meet several of the recipients and former recipients who were lucky to find gainful employ with Halliburton. Some of who have managed to find work aren't necessarily free from struggle. One young individual sends for his family from Minnesota, only to find his wife is unhappy with Williston's meager distractions, which prompts her to leave town with their infant in tow and her husband behind.

We also meet a former convict Reinke "saved"; an assistant of 13 years who once struggled with drugs and alcohol.

As the film proceeds, we see things go very wrong for the Pastor. It comes to light that a few men living in his parish are registered sex offenders, which naturally becomes a town controversy. We learn the history behind one sex offender's arrest; a relationship with an underage girlfriend; she 16, he 18; an extenuating circumstance the law doesn't recognize or excuse. Complicating this revelation is the man's recent success finding a truck-driving job, which he then loses because of his sex-offender status. Director Moss captures the meeting between the Pastor and the man, which becomes heated when Reinke scolds the truck-driver for withholding crucial information about his arrest when he applied for the job. If the Pastor often finds himself in the exhausting role of social worker, life is often tougher for those who show up at his door. Some with past criminal convictions are stigmatized almost irrevocably.

In another scene we see Reinke evading a reporter from a local paper as he dodges questions about hosting sex offenders.

Through it all, Reinke maintains a superhuman compassion for everyone who seeks his help; even going so far as to expressing his love for some. For an atheist like myself, whose attitudes about religion are cynical at best, it is particularly powerful to see a Pastor in this age apply Jesus' teachings faithfully, compassionately and unconditionally.

If facing the town council isn't trying enough, Reinke must also endure church elders, who prove to be as intolerant as the civic government. This is acutely felt after a personal issue comes to light. The disclosure has such a devastating impact on his family and his vocation that it leaves him in a position that is both cruel and brutal in its irony.

Director Jesse Moss faces a tragedy of his own: very few people will see his amazing documentary, which I feel is among the year's best. Someone might say Moss' film lacks opposing viewpoints, which might make for a reasonable critique if we didn't hear and see the opposition ourselves. In spite of the Pastor's compassion, it isn't unreasonable for residents to be wary of some of the outsiders but their unwillingness to engage those they distrust is unreasonable.

Moss' film left me feeling pessimistic about our country's inability to fully embrace and maybe grasp Christ's message of charity. It seems that Americans froth at the mouth when their commitment to their Christian faith is questioned yet many of the same people have little patience for the needy or wayward: two marginalized peoples Christ would have most surely welcomed. And for Pastor Reinke, the man who does understand what Jesus preached, he faces the fallout from his disclosure alone; without the succor of familial support or a more progressive response from his denomination's leaders.

And does Halliburton care about the situation it helped create? Shots of upscale homes where executives and upper-management most likely reside may as well be fortresses against the poor and struggling. The media is also culpable; stories I read myself in major news periodicals cast North Dakotan towns like Williston as promised lands where one need only show up to find fortune. Moss' film is an inoculation against illusion while being a good barometric reading of our moral climate. It is unstintingly real; offering no manufactured redemption or life-affirming phoniness.

Whiplash

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Damien Chazelle/Starring: J.K. Simmons, Miles Teller, Paul Reiser and Melissa Benoist

The drive to be great; to overcome discouragement and self-criticism, as well as the criticism of others, might also be a lonely, solitary pursuit. But in director Damien Chazelle's Whiplash, the call to greatness might also mean having to overcome a mentor's furious, almost unscalable standards.

The story seems simple: a young student named Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), studying jazz drumming at a prestigious music school in New York City, encounters a teacher named Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), whose tough reputation is enough to make any prospective musician quake with fear and anxiety. But as the story unfolds, we see that the psychological pugilism between student and instructor is anything but simple.

Andrew is determined to be one of the greats; his bedroom wall photograph of jazz great Buddy Rich reflects his lofty ambitions. His love for jazz and his knowledge of the genre is extensive. On a first date with a young woman named Nicole (Melissa Benoist), he is able to identify the obscure jazz music playing in the background in his favorite pizza place.

Andrew makes it clear to Nicole and to everyone else his intentions to be one of the greats; even if it means being in exile from meaningful relationships.

When Andrew first encounters Fletcher, the young student is playing a drum-kit inside an empty room at the school. Fletcher hears him, then watches for a few seconds before Andrew notices the teacher and stops. Fletcher encourages him to play and when Andrew stops again, he notices the teacher is gone. The exchange, though seemingly innocuous, carries a whiff of foreboding.

After Fletcher steps into class to relieve a fellow instructor, he notices Andrew. Fletcher offers him fulsome praise by announcing to the gathering, "we have another Buddy Rich here," then invites him to join his advanced class the next day. Andrew is further encouraged by an exchange he has with Fletcher outside class when the instructor tells him in an amicable, benign way to have fun and relax. Feeling the flush of Fletcher's avuncular urgings, he joins the class in playing a jazz piece called Whiplash. But after a few stops, where Fletcher warmly chides Andrew for "rushing" his part, he stops, lifts a drum cymbal and hurls it at the young man's head, the young drummer manages to dodge it just in time. The stunned Andrew gapes at Fletcher as the enraged instructor shouts "Were you rushing or were you dragging?" Which is followed by a verbally abusive stream of threats and insults Andrew is ill-prepared to hear. The attack elicits a tear, which Fletcher seizes upon to offer more humiliating words. The abuse extends to the rest of the class in the form of homophobic slurs and homoerotic comments. Fletcher's vocal assault immediately called to mind R. Lee Ermey's rants in Full Metal Jacket for obscene intensity and psychological brutality.

As Fletcher's class prepares for a competition, his abuse withers the class into silence and anxiety and though Andrew receives his lion's share of the physical and mental venom, his tenacity to be great remains. His vigorous practice sessions leave his fingers, hands and drum snare bloody and puddled with sweat.

Andrew's drive to be exceptional takes its toll on his relationships. He tells Nicole his time with her is interfering with his musical pursuit while he vexes his cousins with his dismissive, pointed comments about what he feels are their mediocre, academic accomplishments.

When the jazz class is set to perform at another competition, Andrew is left to his own devices to secure transportation to the gig, which he resolves by renting a car. While recklessly speeding to the performance, his car is violently blindsided by a truck and rather than await medical care, he races to the hall, bloodied and ragged. He manages to arrive on time, but barely, much to Fletcher's exasperation and to the shock and dismay of his fellow musicians. The scene effectively conveys his manic drive and stoic intensity.

Fletcher's abuse continues, which leads to Andrew's self-dismissal from school and abandonment of his dream. Fletcher's classroom methods come to the attention of investigators, who prod a reluctant Andrew into making a damning statement against his former instructor. The investigation comes on the heels of the suicide of one of Fletcher's former students, who was apparently victimized and driven to the act while under his tutelage.

The final encounter between Fletcher and Andrew comes after a chance meeting on the street, where the resentful teacher and his former student share a drink. Fletcher invites Andrew to join his jazz band for a performance at a jazz festival; an event that brings their relationship to a head and tests the young musician's creative resolve.

J.K. Simmons, who is widely known as a character actor, is given his first chance to co-shoulder a film and he doesn't fritter the opportunity. Fletcher is a volatile nightmare, with his furious temper and unconscionable aggression. Simmons doesn't depict him as something otherworldly and malign, but someone human. His motivations seem very reasonable and sensible when he isn't hissing and baring fangs inside the classroom. Simmons always had range and depth, which he is finally able to demonstrate here.

Simmons's performance would be a soliloquy in an echo chamber if he didn't have Miles Teller to play off. Andrew could have been a self-pitying, doughy victim but Teller finds the fascinating nuance in the character; his prickly regard for his peers, his monomaniacal pursuit of his goal and his abrupt dismissal of everything that isn't drumming, evinced in his callous break-up with Nicole; a mistake he is later unable to correct.

Simmons' muscly biceps, bald head and intense brow make him an interesting physical adversary to Miles Teller; whose baby fat face and innocent, school boy eyes make for a visually arresting contrast.

But though Simmons and Teller mesmerize, the film has its glaring flaws. That Chazelle expects us to believe a professor's abusive classroom behavior would go unreported and unnoticed for so long is a bit much to ignore. But even if we overlook such literalism, that which is the film's strength is also the source of its greatest handicap. Though Simmons and Teller perform the hell out of Chazelle's script, so much of the drama is over-the-top and overly stylized. The R. Lee Ermey evocation bothered me too. What makes sense on Marine base seems comically hyperbolic in a classroom. I guess Chazelle wants Fletcher's story about a cymbal thrown at Charley Parker to make his behavior seem plausible and justified. Maybe it does but the film lacks subtlety. The violent, in-your-face-screaming robs the film of its psychological tension. In The Paper Chase, John Houseman's Charles W. Kingsfield manages to frighten and intimidate a classroom (and the audience) with his unnerving wit and intellect and his ability to wreck his Harvard student's self-esteem with the merest barb or insult. Fletcher's verbal bludgeoning is hard to take seriously after awhile and even in its most frightening moments, it's distractingly absurd.

I also found the blood and sweat more stylistic excess. I realize Chazelle wants to convey the violence and passion of creative expression, but the sight of so much blood and the deluge of sweat overstates and overpowers his message.

I think Whiplash is a terrific performance film, but as a whole, it doesn't work for me. It trips over its own ferocity. Even so, I would still encourage others to see it. It has some fascinating attributes. Teller's technical mastery of the drums is one such strength. Chazelle's film is hardly dull or silly; it has an energy surplus.

The cure for what ails Whiplash can be expressed concisely: more psychology, less psycho.

Interstellar

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Christopher Nolan/Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Mackenzie Foy, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, Wes Bentley, Michael Caine, Matt Damon, Topher Grace, David Gyasi and William Devane

I've wondered for some time if Christopher Nolan might someday join the ranks of cinema's directorial best. I've always thought he was ferociously talented and his style distinctive and singular. After seeing his new film Interstellar, which he penned with his brother Jonathan, I can finally say, with forceful emphasis--yes; he is on his way to entering the Pantheon. I found his new film to be monumental, highly intelligent, moving, visionary and riveting.

When one considers the film in retrospect, it seems incredible that a movie that begins on a country farm surrounded by cornfields could carry us to another galaxy, through a black hole and conclude in a space station in orbit around Saturn. But as the staggering stretches of time and space leave us breathless and our minds expanded, it's the mysteries of humanity that ultimately make Nolan's film an emotionally-rich experience.

The film's pervasive, melancholy tone begins in the opening scenes, where we see a less-habitable Earth of the near future. Though what specifically ails the planet is never overtly stated, we can see from the dust storms that smother and lash a small farming community that things aren't good. We learn that most crops have suffered some sort of mysterious blight, while only corn withstands the blankets of dust that besiege the small town residents.

In this community lives Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), his daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy), his son Tom (Timothee Chalamet) and his father-in-law Donald (John Lithgow). Cooper, a former pilot and engineer who now farms to survive, never had the opportunity to parlay his piloting skills into a space mission.

As he and his family endure the ominous environmental plagues, Cooper must also contend with his kid's school teachers, who believe Tom will never be qualified to be anything but a farmer, and look askance at Murph's fascination with NASA's Apollo programs. Her teacher bears a bewildering skepticism and contempt for space travel; going so far as to call the moon landing a fraud perpetrated by the U.S. government.

Strange, ghost-like occurrences begin to take place in Murph's bedroom; phenomena she attributes to the supernatural, which Cooper's rational mind interprets scientifically. Because Murph shares her father's analytical prowess, she believes the manifestation is a coded message in Morse, which offer longitude and latitudinal coordinates to a place not far from their home. When Cooper and his daughter investigate the location, they find a secret government NORAD site and when shown inside, they discover the place is actually a NASA base where a secret project involving space travel is being undertaken.

Leading this project is a brilliant scientist named Professor Brand (Michael Caine), who learns Cooper's piloting skills would be ideal for the mission he is overseeing. The professor explains to Cooper that the Earth's atmosphere is changing molecularly; becoming more nitrogen rich, which will soon make it difficult for humans to breathe and survive. The professor's project, already in advanced stages, involves finding planets suitable for human colonization. When Cooper mentions, quite reasonably, that the planets in our solar system can't support life, the doctor tells him of a worm-hole discovered near Saturn; one most likely placed by an alien race that anticipated mankind's need to abandon the Earth. The worm-hole allows travelers passage between our galaxy and another and on the other side are several planets which are candidates for colonization. These planets happen to be circling a massive black hole--at a safe distance--called Gargantua. It is also explained that several scientists have already traveled to said planets and are exploring them, though their fates remain unknown. Professor Brand offers Cooper the opportunity to travel to the planets, via the worm hole, to follow-up on the erstwhile expedition's progress.

Though eager to pilot a spaceship and satisfy his hunger to travel in space, the trip leaves Murph afraid and angry; knowing she may never see her father again. And when Cooper comes to say goodbye to his daughter, she refuses to see him. While she bars the door, books fall from her bookshelf, further confirming the existence of some sort of poltergeist, though what it actually is becomes clear later in the film.

As the mission to Saturn begins, Cooper is joined by Professor Brand's daughter Brand (Anne Hathaway), Doyle (Wes Bentley), and Romilly (David Gyasi). After their ship breaks Earth's gravitational pull, the crew enters cryogenic freeze for the long voyage. On awakening near Saturn, the crew prepares to enter the worm-hole and when they successfully navigate their way through, they find the black hole and the planets the professor described.

The shot of the Earth from space and the rings of Saturn are lovely and breathtaking. It is particularly humbling to see a massive spaceship reduced to the size of a penny next to Saturn's massive majesty. It is also fascinating that the worm-hole is presented more as a sphere rather than the traditional hole-like, sci-fi conceptions we're accustomed to seeing. Hovering like a ticking clock over these wondrous visuals is the mission's pressing objectives and the imperiled human race back on Earth. Nolan keeps the scientific intricacies of space travel and Einsteinian time-dilation reasonably accessible without drowning the audience in technical jargon.

As Cooper, Brand and the crew visit the prospective planets, they encounter some surprises, some life-threatening setbacks and one of time-dilation's mind-boggling peculiarities (time-dilation dictates that time will slow significantly for those who travel at or near the speed of light while it proceeds normally for observers. If one were to visit a distant star at light speed and return to Earth, the traveler will have hardly aged at all while hundreds or thousands of years may have passed for those on Earth). Because the planets circle a black hole, the more bizarre effects of time-dilation wreak havoc with the crew.

And because of time-dilation, Murph has aged into normally into adulthood (now represented by Jessica Chastain) while her father has more or less remained the age he was when he left Earth. Her transmissions to the Cooper's ship leave him floored when he sees the sobering sight of his aged daughter; who, in relativistic terms, is hardly younger than he.

Back on Earth, Murph has matured into an accomplished scientist who has joined Professor Brand's project and in doing so, she learns (as Cooper and crew discover separately) the mission through the wormhole was a one-way trip, which dashes her hope of ever seeing her father again. The realization has a devastating impact on her and on Cooper alike.

A tragic turn of events on one of the planets threatens the mission, which leads to some life-altering decisions for Cooper and Brand, one of which forces him into the black hole; a phenomenal sequence where travel inside a black hole is beautifully imagined; a trip that ends where one might least expect.

A film like Nolan's only works if the sterile, coldness of space can be countered by a powerful human drama, and it is. The relationship between Cooper and Murph is the dynamic that really drives the film. The desire to see Cooper keep his promise to return to his daughter is powerful, though the unimaginable distance and time between them makes that prospect seem unlikely.

Matthew McConaughey may have given the performance of his career in Interstellar. It's hard to imagine how improbable this role seems when just a decade ago his career was mired in witless, romantic comedies with Kate Hudson. That phase in his career seems as far removed from the present as the black hole is from Earth.

Hoyte Van Hoytema, the cinematographer behind Her and Let the Right One In, has a rich palette from which to work as he captures the dusty brown of a farming town, the cold grays of a icy planet and the lovely, ringed face of Saturn; real and imagined environments he records with an artist's eye.

If the film has a flaw, it might be the later scenes on Earth, which seem to pull us reluctantly away from the unbelievable drama taking place a galaxy away. The scenes of an adult Murph combating her brother to make contact with her father is necessary to the story but it can't match the scenes in space for power or wonder. And of course one could be nit-picky about the science in the film. I doubt anyone in a spacesuit would survive entry into a black hole but why should we be forced to think literally to appreciate the Nolan's imaginative story?

I think Interstellar is a masterpiece; a term I very rarely apply to any film, even great ones. It challenges our intellect and our conceptions of reality while showing us how precious a sight a human face might be when it lies beyond interstellar and intergalactic reaches, and what happens when time dilation allows a young father to visit his elderly daughter on her deathbed. And it asks us to consider the notion that our species may not me meant to occupy this celestial ball forever. Nolan asks us to consider a lot, which is what makes his film a stunning achievement.

The Imitation Game

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Morten Tyldum/Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, Matthew Goode, and Charles Dance

The Enigma Machine has been the subject of various films; either as an object to be stolen or as a peripheral item in World War II dramas. Now, the machine and its creator; Alan Turing, are the focus of an engaging new film by the Norwegian director Morten Tyldum.

Turing is one of the more controversial historical figures of the 20th century. A brilliant mathematician and logician, his fascinating life was cut short by what was reported as a suicide though the circumstances surrounding his death remain inconclusive. In Tyldum's film he emerges as a messy mosaic of genius, psychological quirks and off-putting foibles.

The Imitation Game isn't a hagiographic bio-pic or a garden variety thriller one might find on cable T.V.; it is an exciting dramatization of events leading up to the decryption of German military codes in WWII that were thought to be unbreakable. Secrets are a theme in the film; those unveiled on the personal and governmental levels almost always have a devastating impact.

The story begins years after the war, in early 1950s' England when a burglary at Alan Turing's home led to an investigation which uncovered some damning information that would lead to his arrest. What he was guilty for becomes clearer as the drama unfolds.

The story continues with British intelligence officer Commander Denniston conducting interviews for a team assigned to crack the German code machine Enigma. One candidate, Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), is confident to the point of arrogance but manages to be assigned to the team. Turing defends his suitability for the position by mentioning his passion for puzzles and games involving secret codes. The interview is an entertaining exchange of sparkling wit between Denniston and Turing.

After Turing joins the team, he proves to be a tireless and determined worker; so much so that he demands to be assigned the role of group leader. Of course he is rebuffed by the chief of MI6; Stewart Menzies (Mark Strong), but the officer half-jokingly suggests Turing contact his boss Winston Churchill when the mathematician boldly threatens to go over his head. The team and Menzies himself are shocked when Turing does just that and are miffed when he succeeds in securing the lead.

Turing; awkward, strange and hardly a people person, wastes little time in firing two team members then sets about building an elaborate machine he claims will break Enigma. The rest of the team is naturally resentful, which casts Turing in an adversarial role the project can ill-afford.

To replace the personnel he fired, Turing organizes a test whereby the applicants must complete a crossword of his own devising under 6 minutes. Into the male-dominant test room comes a young woman named Joan Clarke (Keira Knightely), who is regarded mostly as a curiosity by Turing and participants alike. Clarke completes the test in less than 6 minutes, earning her a place on the team; much to the annoyance of her parents, who can't countenance their daughter working and living among men.

As work begins, Menzies is keen to explain the dire need to decipher the Enigma codes by mentioning how many soldiers have died while the group chats. Scenes of British ships burning and half-sunk are intercut with the dialogue, giving the audience a clear and frightening picture of the Enigma machine's devastating impact on the war.

The process of breaking the code is maddening and frustrating. One of Enigma's diabolical features is its ability to be reset everyday, which renders the code-breaking team's work utterly useless if the daily codes remain unbroken. The sound of an alarm signalling the end of the code-breaking day arouses anger and near-violent agitation. The sound also reminds the audience of the plot's ticking clock. As the days wear on, the team endures many failures and setbacks. Meanwhile, Turing's ingenious, anti-Enigma machine, though brilliant, lacks the elusive information that will unlock the German machine's secrets.

In the midst of the team's efforts are the unfolding dramas that transpire outside work. Because Joan's parents refuse to allow their daughter to be part of the team, Turing solves the problem by proposing to her, which she accepts.

The film also frequently breaks from the present to examine Turing's past. We see Turing's school days, where he was often the target of pranks, ridicule and sometimes scorn. In a cafeteria scene, the young Turing obsessively prevents the different foods on his plate from touching one another, which reveals what is now called Asperger's Syndrome. His schoolmates choose to mock his obsessive/compulsive disorder by dumping a huge bowl of vegetables over his head and food.

In the hostile atmosphere of the school, Turing forms a special friendship with a classmate, one that often involves passing notes with encrypted messages only the two boys can decipher. We see Turing's fascination with secret codes was established early on.

How the group eventually breaks the code comes by way of something seemingly mundane a woman mentions casually in a bar. But the triumph of deciphering the code is short lived, for Turing realizes that the information stolen from the Enigma must be used sparingly, lest the Germans discover their transmissions have been compromised, which might prompt them to change the codes. What this amounts to is the tragic understanding that they must decide when and where and for whom the information must be deployed, which means many will die though many will also be saved. It leaves them with a god-like responsibility none in the group relish.

During the code-breaking effort, it comes to MI6's attention that someone on the team is feeding information to the Russians. Turing is suspected at first but later the culprit becomes known to the mathematician. Little can be done, for the culprit threatens to divulge Turing's secret if the person is exposed.

The secret Turing guards is his homosexuality, which blossomed during his school days when he fell in love with the boy who befriended him. Secrets, as mentioned earlier, play a significant role in the film. The exposure of some major secrets lead a nation to victory, while other secrets condemn (in Turing's case) or conceal illicit behavior (the group member passing secrets to the Russians).

But it is Turing who proves to be the most fascinating character. It is astonishing to consider that a brilliant, gay mathematician with Asperger's Syndrome was mostly responsible for securing the allied victory. His efforts have been given short shrift in WWII annals.

I'm beginning to think Benedict Cumberbatch could play an ice cube and give it depth and dimension. His performance alone is worth the price of admission. And though Keira Knightley is an actress who usually annoys me to the quick, she is quite terrific in Tyldum's film, as is the strong supporting cast, led by Mark Strong and Matthew Goode.

What befell Turing later was tragic, as British authorities punished him for his orientation, which was considered a criminal offense in Great Britain at the time. Part of his probation involved receiving hormone treatments to suppress his libido (!) The end titles inform us that Turing received a pardon by the British government and the Crown in 2013.

One of The Imitation Game's great qualities is its refusal to sentimentalize Turing or his life. His story echoes that of T.E. Lawrence; another brilliant hero who happened to be a homosexual and an eccentric. Turing's accomplishments beggar belief yet his own government found it fit to criminalize him. Sometimes the world exacts a heavy price from geniuses for being complicated.

Citizenfour

Director: Laura Poitras/With Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald

Citizenfour may be one of the most important documentaries to be released in recent years and definitely one of the most fascinating.
Director Laura Poitras was granted access to former National Security Agency-contracted employee Edward Snowden in the days leading up to his release of secret NSA files to the press and public. His actions were a provocative, dangerous and calculated attempt to bring the agency's flagrant and immoral practice of gathering information on governments, world leaders and more shockingly--American citizens--to light. Of course the NSA defends their actions as being for the good of national security--a highly preposterous claim at best. Poitras, along with Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, met with Snowden in a Hong Kong hotel to interview him and receive sensitive data files, which were to be revealed by the Guardian journalist and to the press and the public days after the initial meeting.

It is astonishing to consider the singular privilege granted both Poitras and Greenwald in breaking a story that made a tremendous worldwide impact.

As Poitras captures the very intelligent and highly articulate Snowden on camera, he relates his story to Greenwald. The situation seems almost unreal and surreal. How often can one watch a historical event unfold before one's eyes; something the participants and the audience know will create a political shock wave and bring the wrath of the U.S. government down upon Snowden.

In spite of being a little nervous (naturally), Snowden divulges information in a composed, rational manner. What he made known is now public record (thanks to his efforts).

Though the word heroic has been mostly bled of its power, it is a term that applies to Poitras and Greenwald though mostly to Snowden, who essentially ruined his life to bring to light what he believes is a crime. As one would expect, Snowden is immediately vilified by the U.S. government and in the aftermath of the disclosure, Poitras and Greenwald endure harassment and government surveillance.

We can feel Snowden's acute anxiety as he watches the initial impact of Greenwald's story on T.V. in his Hong Kong hotel room.

Though what we learn has already been covered extensively by every major news outlet in the world, its power remains undiminished. I couldn't help but feel a very visceral fear, knowing government agencies, more specifically the NSA, have flouted the American public's disdain for having phone conversations recorded and internet activity monitored.

How would Orwell have reacted to the NSA's operations? I think we know the answer to that rhetorical question.

It is infuriating to listen to top National Security personnel lie before congressional committees about eavesdropping on the American public. It is equally infuriating to learn corporate telecommunication giants like Verizon colluded with the NSA to facilitate their agenda. Poitras' film leaves us feeling two very strong emotions: anger and fear. That a country so proud of its alleged liberties and democratic ideals would sanction KGB-like tactics to collect data on citizens and foreign countries alike betrays a hypocrisy that is both revolting and immoral.

It is stated in the film that comparatively speaking, U.S. citizens enjoy more freedom from NSA spying than that of the rest of the world. Why our allies aren't more outraged by this fact leaves me baffled.

I try to resist hyperbolic praise when writing about film but it seems to me Poitras' documentary could and should earn some sort of Nobel Prize for capturing footage of one of the most important stories of the 21st century.

Poitras' medium shot of Snowden and his girlfriend through their kitchen window in Moscow as they prepare dinner makes a powerful statement about how easy it is for someone to be watched and how vulnerable we really are to governmental powers and forces we can scarcely defy. In one scene in the film, Greenwald and his partner endure security entanglements at airports, which is one of many ways the U.S. government intimidates citizens they believe to be seditious.

We know from the film-and the news media, that Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia. He will most likely join Julian Assange in becoming an embassy refugee unless he risks returning to the U.S. to face severe federal prosecution.

Poitras' film is a phenomenal document; one that leaves one feeling cynical and afraid of the NSA's reach. When the cinematic dust of 2014 clears in January, Poitras' film will stand tall among the year's best. Citizenfour is history.

The Babadook

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Jennifer Kent/Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney and Daniel Henshall

Australian Director Jennifer Kent makes her feature-film debut with The Babadook; a frightening and often disturbing story of a mother and son who are menaced by an evil, supernatural entity clad in a black top-hat and suit. It isn't often we find horror from down under arrive on our shores but it is fortunate we have Kent's film to give the genre a jolt with a dark, offbeat story that dispenses scares liberally.

The odd title refers to a character in a children's book, which Amelia (Essie Davis) reads to her young son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) as a bedtime story.

Years earlier, Amelia lost her husband in a car accident on the way to hospital to give birth to her son. In the present, the tragedy continues to haunt Amelia and Samuel.

Amelia has difficulties rearing her son, whose elementary school life is troubled by strange and sometimes violent behavior, which taxes the patience of the school administration. Unable to cope with her son's erratic behavior, which includes making weapons to fight the Babadook, Amelia removes him from school.

Samuel's behavior also troubles Amelia's sister Claire (Hayley McElhinney), whose own young daughter refuses to play with him. Despite repeated scoldings, Samuel persists in his belief about the Babadook, which exasperates his mother.

As her life continues to spiral out of control, Amelia begins to realize Samuel's warnings about the entity may be real. She begins to hear loud, strange sounds in her home while their dog Bugsy barks at something unseen. Not long after, she begins to see the black-clad apparition from Samuel's book.

After ripping up the book, she finds it; days later, on her doorstep with the pages reattached. In re-reading the book, she finds that what were seemingly harmless passages are now ominous warnings about the entity's intentions, including possessing her body and visiting violence on Samuel, the dog and herself.

Amelia also sees her husband's apparition intermingle with the Babadook, which brings her psychological state to bear. After the entity possesses Amelia, Samuel and the family dog become her target, which leads to some disturbing developments.

The dread factor is maintained with an edgy score by Jed Kurzel and a terrific set design; interiors are solid grays and steel blue, which darken rooms and make for a somber mood.
Essie Davis gives a sound performance as a mother who pines for her husband and for someone to assuage her loneliness. Child actor Noah Wiseman's quirky appearance and dark eyes make his lonely, social awkwardness all the more poignant.

As Amelia and Samuel's confrontation with the Babadook comes to a decisive conclusion, we see the family become less victimized in their battle with the malign spirit.

It is easy to see The Babadook as an allegory about overcoming grief and loss and the evil tormenting the family a projection of their own anxieties. Kent doesn't give our own fears and anxieties rest, as every moment Amelia and Samuel are in the house makes one squirm and wish for an escape. Her first film shows directorial promise.

If most American horror films had the ambition of Jennifer Kent's film, we'd see fewer messes like Ouija. The Babadook doesn't just scare, it denies one refuge from something determined and implacable. A terrific film; a terrible evil.

Nightcrawler

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Dan Gilroy/Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed

We've grown accustomed to seeing Jake Gyllenhaal in films where he is confronted by creepy characters or situations. Donnie Darko, Zodiac and this year's Enemy are but a few that come to mind. In Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal has the rare opportunity to actually play a creep. And as he takes on this new career challenge, he proves he is quite adept at playing a character who gets under one's skin.

His character, Louis Bloom, reminds me somewhat of Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver; he is humorless and earnest and when he tries to sustain an ordinary conversation, he is awkward and more than just a little unnerving. And like Travis Bickle, you know something dark, angry and maybe violent is seething beneath a deceptively self-possessed demeanor.

When we first see Louis, he is using a bolt cutter to remove a chain link fence near some train tracks. When he is confronted by a security guard, Louis offers a feeble excuse about being lost. His gaze rests on a watch the security guard wears, which he covets. After the guard scoffs at Louis' reason for being on the premises, he is attacked brutally. We see the outcome of the melee in the next scene, as Louis sports the security guard's watch.

After selling his scrap metal to an unscrupulous buyer, Louis comes upon a crash scene on an L.A. freeway. He stops to find two police officers trying to extricate an injured driver from a car. He also sees a cameraman, Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) filming the scene. Louis learns Joe is capturing footage of the crash to sell to local T.V. news stations. While Joe is in his van gathering his camera equipment for his next opportunity, Louis approaches him and asks if he might need help. Joe gives him the brush-off but it is obvious from Louis' eyes as he watches the van pull away that the incident has made an impact on him.

After seeing Joe's footage on the local news, he sets out to buy his own camera and to fund his new found enterprise, he steals a bicycle to sell to a pawn broker. Unable to get his preferred price for the bike, he instead trades for a home video camera and a police scanner.

Louis then tries his hand at capturing his own footage when his police scanner leads him to a crime scene involving domestic violence. He boldly approaches the epicenter of the scene as police officers tend to a bleeding victim. Louis aggressively thrusts his camera over the victim to capture grisly footage. After the police force him back, Louis returns to his car but not before a rival cameraman vents his frustration at him for thwarting his own attempts to film.

Later that evening, Louis visits a local T.V. station, intending to sell his modest footage. He meets a producer named Nina Romina (an excellent Rene Russo) who buys his footage for a modest fee. Though Nina's colleague has reservations about the footage being appropriate for television, she is hardly troubled or disturbed by the video. Her focus on ratings leaves her blind to ethical considerations.

Nina encourages Louis to find more footage and to consider her first when marketing it, to which he agrees. An unholy partnership forms; both parties hungry for success and willfully oblivious to scruples.

At this point in the film, we've grown accustomed to Louis' bizarre chatter about success, which he drones about in a robotic fashion. He is happy to offer his views to anyone who will listen, including Nina.

As Louis submits more footage, he hires a young apprentice named Rick (Riz Ahmed); a down and out homeless person with a shaky work history. Excited by Louis' offer of employment, he too listens to his employer's clinically expressed ideas about business.

As the footage sales climb, Louis upgrades his vehicle to a brand new muscle car and acquires new camera equipment and a computer to edit his videos. And as the two men become experienced in the ways of filming, Louis becomes more ambitious and even less concerned about how he gathers his footage.

Flush with success, he invites Nina out to dinner one night. While she considers the dinner something strictly professional, Louis interprets it as something romantic. When Nina rebuffs his amorous intentions, Louis reminds her how his footage has been instrumental in reviving her career while also making subtle, unkind comments about her age and the fact that her professional life has been sporadic. He also makes demands for higher footage fees and more brazenly, insists she introduce him to the news production staff. Nina is repelled by his aggressive, roughshod tactics but is subtly taken by his initiative. Louis is the reflection she sees looking back at her in the mirror.

Louis' ambition and his shockingly unethical approach to his work lead him to an incident he cunningly manipulates for his own gain, which involves filming a murder in progress. Rather than turn over evidence which might incriminate the assailants, he withholds it to prolong potential money-making opportunities. In a unconscionable attempt to collect the reward on the suspects and film the footage of their arrest, he follows them after learning their whereabouts from the license plate number in his footage. His plan leads to a deadly shoot-out and a car-chase that ends fatally for several parties. But it is what he films that heralds his descent into total ethical and moral bankruptcy.

The film ends cynically; not only will Louis will remain impervious to arrest and prosecution, he will also prosper.

Gilroy's story is taut and bleak and wonderfully plotted. It is easy to see how a sociopathic opportunist like Louis might easily find success via the news media, with its declining standards of taste and integrity.

Gyllenhaal keeps the audience on edge with his portrayal of Louis' unpredictable, menacing personality. Gyllenhaal's wide, alert eyes are a perfect vehicle for conveying an eagerness to learn (which he accomplishes with disturbing ease and speed) and a dangerous volatility. Rene Russo is the biggest surprise in the film. Her world-weariness and insecurities are worn on her face like lacerations. She is smart but we see that years of working in the news media has left her with a mercenary attitude toward her job, which is finely attuned to ratings imperatives. She and Louis are simpatico in their approach to their work. I don't think I've seen a better performance from Russo. Her career has mostly been relegated to Hollywood-movie-babe roles where all that was asked of her was to smirk and look sexy. Here she shows a range and a darkness I didn't think she had.
Riz Ahmed was also quite good as the conscience Louis so sorely needs but appallingly lacks.

The film makes a powerful and pessimistic point about American opportunism; its intolerance for competition and its debilitating effect on character. It also says something about how the capitalist system abets the unethical agendas of those who see illicit conquest as a means to success.

Nightcrawler might leave you feeling like you need a good scrubbing with hot water and soap. But it is also an intriguing film; one that left me hoping life doesn't always resemble the grim make believe on movie screens.