Spike Jonze's Untitled Film

[Kane52630]

http://www.shortlist.com/cool-stuff/design/alternative-her-posters

 

[Hyde]

Was misspelling Spike's last name purposeful?

 

[Octoberist]

Oh no…it's supposed to be 'Jonze'. The artist screwed up.

 

[StarLord]

I'm really hoping that ScarJo does an audio book one day.

Dat voice.

 

[Hyde]

Oh no…it's supposed to be 'Jonze'. The artist screwed up.

 

[Asr]

Saw this the other day, thought it was pretty good though it did feel a bit long and like at least 10 minutes could've been cut out. Really liked the way it pontificated on the future in general (technology, where we're headed culturally, etc) as well as relationships. The set design & clothing was really cool too - not so immediately obvious that it was "futuristic" per se but it did feel post-modern in a sense.

JP was indeed fantastic in the role too, it was sort of a trip watching him get as invested into it as he did.

Probably my favorite part of the movie though was that 3D game AI character, that was just totally hilarious the second it started cursing since nobody was expecting that.

And I have to admit that this movie made me wonder about the future of computer OSes - the first time we saw JP interacting with the OS, where it was scanning his files and doing operations on them by voice command, just made me think "how awesome would that be if we could really do that now?!" It would be epic if we could start talking to an AI on our computers that could do all of the menial tasks that we have to do all the time!

I'm really hoping that ScarJo does an audio book one day.

Dat voice.

The part where the screen blacked out for the [blackout]phone sex[/blackout] was particularly epic.

Btw the thread title really needs to be changed, I wasn't sure at first if this was the thread for Her or not and only opened it because it said "Spike Jonze".

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Keyser Soze]

I don't know how a film I've been looking forward to for months could have taken me by surprise, but that's what happened with HER. I mean, the concept intrigued me based on the first trailer I saw, and I've been following the growing tidal wave of great reviews and positive buzz, so I was expecting to like it going in. But I wasn't expecting to love it quite so much as I did. This is a film with relevance beyond being a standout in what has proven to be an incredibly strong Best Picture category for this year's Oscars. Along with fellow nominee THE WOLF OF WALL STREET - albeit for starkly different reasons - HER feels like something that's going to enter the canon and stand as an era-defining film that says something about now, and who we are at this point in history.

This is set in the future, and features currently non-existent technology, but it doesn't feel like sci-fi: it's a world that's recognisably like our own. Based on the "man falls in love with an operating system" premise I was expecting some social satire - "Isn't it strange how attached we're all becoming to our technology?" - but Spike Jonze's narrative is surprisingly non-judgmental in his analysis of this state of affairs, instead painting a compassionate picture of the loneliness of the modern world, and the struggles to feel something real and enduring. Though it uses an operating system to to it, HER is a film that speaks to the human experience, and presents in microcosm the lifespan of a relationship. We see the early connection, the growing intimacy, the giddy passion, the doubt and fear, the settled period of happiness and contentment, and what follows... Jonze's screenplay has captured the essence of what it means to give your heart to someone else, and in a medium so filled with cynical, empty, unconvincing love stories, has created a movie that makes your heart swell, makes you feel pain and sadness, makes you want to go out and fall in love. As well as the generalities, it spoke to me personally. As someone who's recently ended a lengthy relationship, there were lines and moments that hit me like daggers, giving me flashes of recognition and putting onto the screen thoughts and feelings I almost thought only I had ever felt. Maybe it was just a case of the right film at the right time?

A big part of the film's success in generating such empathy is the pitch-perfect casting of one Joaquin Phoenix. There is a bit of a public impression of Phoenix as this sullen, eccentric, anti-social weirdo, which is informed by his publicity-shy demeanor, not to mention his crazy antics during the making of I'M STILL HERE. But I think it's also fed by how he tends to play these edgy, intense characters. So even though I was well aware of what a great actor Phoenix is going in, I was a bit wrong-footed by the warmth of his portrayal of Theodore Twombley. Again, based on the premise, I'd have expected him to play Theo in a mannered fashion as a pathetic sad-sack who's distant and/or emotionally stunted, unable to connect with people. But instead Phoenix makes Theo into someone you'd want to be friends with, someone who is nursing this constant, aching loneliness, sure, but someone who strives to see the good in people, and goes out of his way to be kind to others. Phoenix was frozen out of the Best Actor nominations at the Oscars this year - perhaps understandable, as amidst the showier roles a performance of a nice, well-adjusted man might be overlooked, no matter how poignant it is - but it's a fantastic performance, perhaps Joaquin's best. There are large chunks of the movie that are just close-ups of his face, as we watch enraptured the nuances of his changing facial expressions as he interacts with a disembodied voice in his ear. And if that's not excellent acting, I don't know what is. Not to say that he doesn't also do well interacting with others: the one-scene vignettes he shares with Olivia Wilde and Rooney Mara are each beautifully crafted, with so much about the participants beyond what is scripted said in the interactions of the actors. And in particular, Theo's scenes with friend Amy strike a chord, thanks largely to another quietly-engrossing performance from Amy Adams.

Spike Jonze is a director who I've long admired, but not fully loved. I feel like his movies have great concepts, and can start out really strong, but tend to fizzle out and run out of steam a bit towards the end. And so it seems like all his previous efforts have had great moments, but fallen just shy of greatness. Not so with HER, which manages to follow through on its promise, and held me enthralled from beginning to end. It's Spike Jonze's masterpiece, definitely his finest film to date, his undeniable craft and imagination maturing into something resonant and enduring. I can't wait to see what comes next from him.

I was hesitant to give this 5 stars, as I feel like I've been throwing out the rating too loosely lately. I'm not always this easy! But man, 2014 has been kicking my ass so far with all its amazing movies. And it would be dishonest of me to call HER anything less than a 5-star classic at this point. Unconventional it might be, but it might be one of the finest love stories ever told on film.

 

[gwynplaine]

http://youtu.be/v_h_xHZylB8