Ex Machina Film Review and Wine Pairing

The future is here and it does not look pretty.  Apocalyptic and eerily familiar to, both, the film classic, Blade Runner and The Island of Dr. Moreau, Ex Machina, is set in a remote area in a secret valley in the loneliness of Antarctica where nobody can help you.  Starring Alicia Vikander and Domnhall Gleason, Ex Machina is the greatest science fiction film nightmare for this millennium.

Written and directed by Alex Garland(28 Days Later and Sunshine), Ex Machina is a mind-blowing reality check on mankind's intentions and progress in science that delves into robotics, ego, love, technology and human selfishness that lays out a horrifying vision for the future of humanity.

In this sci-fi thriller, a young coder(Domnhall Gleason) is brought into the world of an AI genius and his corrupting power. The young hero is selected as the winner of a corporation-wide contest based on his coding skills to take part in a secret program with the top of the company's ranks.  What he encounters is amazing but the plot soon thickens like a deep, red and mysterious cabernet into a futuristic shocker that is both captivating and disturbing.  Here, one must wonder, "how much science is too much science?"  ....and how close are we?

Disregarding any concerns for ethics, we dive, headlong, into reality and what AI means, today.  We get that it can be very bad for humanity but does Garland have to rub it in the way he does?  Every prototype that our mad scientist created is hot....and alluring.....and seductive....it gets very troublesome.  These women are beautiful....but, wait.....they are robots.  Check yourself.

At this juncture I'm not going to go too much more into the plot of this film.  I don't want to give any more away. If you are a sci-fi buff then put down your pop tarts and lock your dog in the car - this is very good science fiction.

As creeped-out as this wonderful film - Ex Machina left me, I can only point to a very special wine from a remote, secret valley much like that in the setting of the film.  Far down below the equator is the Valle Secreto and their 2011 Vintage Cabernet is one of the very good Cabs of the world that hovers around $20.  Deep with hints of mocha and blueberry on the front with a luxurious journey into concentrated blackberry and dark cherry fruit, a glass of this wine will help calm your nerves when you return home from this fantastic horror flick.

NIGHTCRAWLER Film Review and Wine Pairing

What is super creepy and flies around Los Angeles at night?  Lou Bloom, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, as a crazed wannabe who inspires to become the paparazzi of death in Dan Gilroy's, Nightcrawler.  Quickly learning the nuances of high-speed news reporting, Lou Bloom takes us on a hellish journey of contemporary America and the dreary realism of the media and our failing culture.

Just in time for Halloween, this fright-fest of human behavior at its' worst was released last evening. Gyllenhaal delivers in what just might be his best acting performance, yet.  Lou Bloom is a lonely character - unable to procure a position of employment not matter how hard he tries.  He is gaunt, ugly, introverted, and very jealous of what those in the world around him have that he does not.  This serves as a both a recipe and lesson for what we can produce, here in America.  Sure, it happens everywhere.  It just happens a lot more, here.  Happy Halloween.

Finding quick success in capturing burning fires, dying people, blood and gore, Lou Bloom quickly catches the attention of an aging newscaster of a local, LA station.  Played by the gorgeous at 60, Rene Russo, they form a very interesting relationship.  Lou Bloom quickly learns how to succeed in the game.  Soon enough, it is not only his purple flowers in his window that represent the only beautiful thing in his life.  This is where this film gets very eerie.

Nightcrawler took a while to get a hold of me but, 3/4 of the way through, it finally, did.  My thoughts are that I am just too exposed to violence and realism in our country -  stuff that we hear about and see, everyday - no big deal, right? As the film presented itself,  I was only carried along in a mind of melancholy until the plot, really, kicked into gear.  Gyllenhaal's acting is what, truly, propels this story and leaves the viewer no choice but to be absorbed into his big, brown, bulging eyes erected over the top of his unhealthy and, almost, sickly frame(I'm talking Mathew in Dallas Buyer's, skinny).  At best, he has abandonment issues exude and he represents those who have been lost in the American dream and the American economy.  At worst, he is one very chilling human being to watch act on the screen.  I'm calling it now....he would be a great villain in the next, Batman.

My favorite selection of wine to pair with Nightcrawler?  I must go with something, American - dark and from California - heavy and deep and full enough to warm the soul on this creepy Hallow's Eve.  My choice is the full-bodied, deep and lush, red with hints of fall spice - the 2012 Pedroncelli Cabernet Sauvignon Block 007 from the Dry Creek Valley.  This wine is perfect for the dark....take a sip, alone on your front porch while you hand-out candy..... a small candle in the corner that lights the way just enough for kids to approach....scare the shit out of them....then, have another sip.....Outstanding film....Press Democrat's wine of the week with, perhaps, this year's film of the year?

Gone Girl Film Review and Wine Pairing

Amazing Amy....where do I begin with Amazing Amy?  She is a very complex, determined, and intelligent character.  She is the highlight of the star's (Rosamund Pike) successful children's novel in the story of the film, Gone Girl.  America loves Amazing Amy, Amazing Amy is, well, amazing, and America, quickly, boils into panic when something happens to her creators's life as a hope-filled icon for housewives and children, alike, across our great land, this America.
Gone Girl tears at the audience through the horrific sequences of a husband (Ben Affleck), losing his wife in what looks to play out as a horrible family tragedy.  Both, screenplay and novel - written by Jillian Flynn, are excellent works, to say the least - horrifying and wonderful.  However, I was genuinely hesitant in taking myself to see the film after reading the book.  For as it is, the film never captures the substance of the literature.  But, this film wraps this novel in a nice, tight net and it is well-worth feeling the squeeze at the theater.
It is fair to mention that Gone Girl ranks in the upper eschelons of psychological thrillers.  I have no problem filing it into the genre of Hitchcock, feeling it leaning towards Silence of the Lambs, creepy , and finding myself horrified in some similar way as I was as a child when i snuck into the Stepford Wives at far too young of an age.
What brings great dimension and a whirlwind of enthusiasm to this sordid tale is the hype and drama that come once the media and local townspeople - especially the neighbors get wind of what has transpired in their tiny, little world.  The drama that can exude from person to person, in word of mouth and speculation, provides us with a diagnosis of some of the very sickness that plagues our society.
Gone Girl is a complexity of thoughts and exchanges based within the framework of intriguing lies and deception.  Gone Girl makes you happy and hopeful, it makes you sick to your stomach, Gone Girl makes you frightened and sad.  Jillian Flynn makes a strong case for one of the darkest and most thoughtful writers of our day and, to her, a toast-
My choice of wine to pair with such a profound psychological "who done it" thriller is the Fleurie Beaujolais Moilliard Grivet 2013.  This is a dimensional wine made from a very old estate that dates back to 1850.  Complex, with rich, berry fruit, this wines' intricacies mirror the depth that Jillian Flynn procures in this zesty, horrifying, brainy thriller.  Earthy but juicy, dark but light enough to pair lighter meats and an array of dishes from pasta to Moroccan chicken, this wine, like the mind of the creator of Amazing Amy, knows how to handle any situation that she finds herself in......even one where her husband is trying to kill her (and, no, that is not a spoiler).....hint hint......this film goes deep......bring a warm sweater....

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Film Review and Wine Pairing

By far, the most intelligent and well-produced Planet of the Apes - Matt Reeves', Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - was just released on Thursday night and what a well-thought piece of science fiction it was.  Fired-up from all the action and warring that coursed through the film, it was the film's message and implications that led me dreaming of theory and sitting in introspection by its' end.

They try - lord knows, they try to get along, those humans and apes.  But, no matter what their insights and efforts amount to, there is always one bad seed among us that can send a perfectly good-natured peace process spiraling down the sheer walls of a skyscraper.

I am compelled to mention, this newest version of the Apes is a much cleaner, more realistic one than the last.  I was bugged in the previews because there they are, again, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge but it, actually, transitioned quite well from the last segment.

Andy Serk stars as the brilliant, Caesar - the anti-hero who genuinely presents to the audience the most mindful and compassionate character in the film.  Not only do humans surviving an apocalypse find they aren't the only animals in power on the earth, they are also not the only ones who are intelligent and speak.

What follows are trials and tribulations - angry battlefront war speeches and threats with promises to exterminate each others' existence and, then, war.  Battling through the depths of Muir Woods, bullets are flying and necks are being snapped, the dark, oceanic, misty dew falling from the giant, ancient redwoods.

What does this say about human beings - hominids, if you will?  What message can we extract from nature and, more importantly, what does it say about our future as lawmakers on capitol hill are now suing each other like berserk children instead of taking care of our elderly and sick?  Are we no more than wild barbarians that have evolved from swinging in the trees to, only, erecting bigger high rises that we now climb? Fundamentally, do we really amount to so much more than the rest of the animal kingdom and nature(represented by the apes in this film)? No, we do not.  We kill.

My wine pairing for this film is a blend - a meritage - of mostly Cabernet with four other Bordeaux varietals mixed into its' creation.  I thought of The 2011 Mariner from the Dry Creek Vineyards as the entire setting for the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place in around one of the most famous seafaring ports in the world - the San Francisco Bay.  Further, a perfect blend of five varietals and deep, luscious fruits backed with cocoa notes makes for a lovely menagerie - much like that which the humans and apes were trying to create, together, living side by side in peace.  Unfortunately, this synthesis never found its' apex.  However, the wine, definitely does.  Enjoy a bottle out to dinner after you see the film - they are, both, outstanding!

GODZILLA FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING

Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards, was a film I was very tentative in going to see.  Nothing I hate more than giving a theater $10 plus the cost of my popcorn to sit for two unpleasant hours of sucky film.  The previews for Godzilla, however, showed an evil Godzilla - and won me over.   They unveiled a massive, hulking, slant-eyed beast that glared down with doom in his eyes from above.  There looked to be destruction on a grand-scale and, as a lifelong Godzilla fan, I took a chance and I could not be more happy with my decision.

Godzilla was exactly what it should be - silly, Japanese, science fiction just as it was when i, first, started watching it in the early 1970's.  It was part ridiculous, partly scary, but super fun.  Godzilla took me straight back to my childhood when i was, first, shaken by thundering footsteps of a giant monster that shook the buildings, both,  to my left and to my right.

What really moved me were the monsters, themselves.  Godzilla, himself, was the most brutal brute of a monster that I have ever seen created for this role, Godzilla.  He is a cross between a T-rex and a very angry polar bear with hard, dark scales and a little vicious pit bull mixed in.  He roars with volume and wind that makes you shake in your chair, crushing everything below him when he steps.  His opponents - no spoiler,here - kick some serious tail, as well.  This film is so Transformer/earth-shattering/destructive fun!

All the beasts in this film come from an long-standing Godzilla movie theme - the original story - that they were released from the ground by nukes and feed off of nuclear radiation.  This, a good message for all the world to listen to and adhere, is lined with many scenes reminiscent of the just recent Fukushima disaster the world just faced.  The timing could not be more perfect.  The film hits hard at the nuclear industry and its' potential for destruction on a scale that is out of human control.

I pair Godzilla with a big beast of a wine - Pietra Santa, Sassolino red blend from the Cienega Valley, California.  East of the Monterey Bay, this wine gets plenty of warm sunshine and is a blend made with ripe sangiovese and merlot fruits.  It runs at 14.5% alcohol which brings a white pepper note in the mouth feel but has great balance, just as did Godzilla in his knock-down fights with his foes as San Francisco and Las Vegas are crushed down below.  Best Godzilla I've ever seen......a toast to this film with a wonderful wine!

Gravity Movie Review And Wine Pairing

Gravity, starring Sandra bullock and George Clooney, is a space-age thriller set in the realms of science labs and space stations orbiting the earth.  Gravity is an incredible introduction into the workings of humans reaching out beyond our own planet, stretching ourselves in expansion into outer space, and the perils that can come with our dreams of worlds beyond our own.

What is so interesting to me is the, very, first three people that came into my wine bar and spoke with me about this film told me, essentially, that it was boring.  They presented the film to me as an outer space love story that was slow and not very good, in general.  So much for listening to the public.  For the past few weeks I have heard from so many other folks how good it was that i just had to give it a try.

Gravity is far from boring.  In fact, it kicks-ass and as much as i am not overwhelmed by anything Sandra Bullock has done, she plays her part just fine in this high speed disaster alongside George Clooney.  Disaster is a word that, only, describes what transpires in this film, in the most mild of terms.  There is prelude and hint of things to go wrong, right from the beginning - perhaps, even, some foreshadowing......and when the bells and whistles blow....the dramatic does stop coming rendering this film nothing short of a nail-biter.

Yet, as we are glued to edge of our seat, there is an ominous beauty in the cinematography....the shots from above looking down on the planet are, simply, dreamy.  It gives the audience some perspective on just how small we are.....an angle from God's perspective, perhaps.   However, with the deep hues and wide angle there is something horrible lurking in the background when you hear George Clooney exalt, "the Ganges looks so beautiful in the sunrise," as they spin round and round the planet at high speeds.

How is it they we learned to float this these craft....these ships....so high above the earth?  Was it not just 50 something years ago and many people were, essentially, laughing at the guy who said we could land on the moon?  Just 50 something years ago?  Amazing.  Amazing, yes, but with peril.  As we are so new to this age of space, Gravity, presents us with a, both, a world and the outer space around it, fraught with danger.....and I will let you discover why and how and enjoy the ride from here.

For my wine pairing, I was, at first, thinking explosive, powerful....perhaps, a big zinfandel.  But, after the first explosion, there came so much more that made me love this film.   It is intense and nothing short.  Did i say that, already?  Good.  My wine of choice for pairing is the Manzanita Creek 2007 Petite Sirah, Handal Vineyard, Alexander Valley, California.  This wine has incredible structure with delicious, dark berry fruit and is inky, inky, inky......and intense....just like Gravity.  Enjoy!

The Conjuring Movie Review and Wine Pairing

The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, has hit the big screens and if you haven't had the opportunity to get out and see it, I highly suggest you do.  This, of course, if you like the crap scared out of you.  It has been some time since I have spent $9 on something that really pleased me in this horrific fashion.  A lot of jumping, gasping, and fidgeting around in the audience between moments of silence and suspense.  If you are a horror buff - I.E....The Shining, Silence of the Lambs, The Exorcist, John Carpenter's, The Thing (My four favorites).....you will be moved to have both hands locked on to each arm of your theater chair.

As there is a great history that lays a foundation for this demonic tale, the time of the movie is set in the late 60's, early 70's.  It is, really, cool to watch an entire production not try and capture a time or age but, actually, present it in a way that is so well-done and convincing that you are there, caught in the period.  The characters and the choice of actors who play them is committed in splendid fashion and accuracy.  Some of them silly, some of them serious.  All of them about to face unimaginable horror.

Two of these characters, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.  In tandem, they work with the Catholic church performing exorcisms and eradicating lost spirits from possessed people or homes.  Most of their investigations lead to the discovery of old pipes in the attic that, when pressurized, bump against wood and make a haunting noise.  That is not the case in this farmhouse.

On the grounds of this farm, unspeakable tragedy has dug itself in, deeply, from a time long ago.  Through what looks to be a very sweet deal with the bank, this young, hard-working couple has found what they see as their paradise of the future, a beautiful, old farmhouse on a pond in the secluded countryside.  Here, they can raise their five girls and their sweet collie and live out the their dreams.  When the audience hears the first clap of two hands....you will know that what is coming is far from good.

If I have a criticism, I will say that some of this has been done before - gimmicks and scenarios used in other horror films of past.  However, James Wan ties these tricks of the trade in to his plot so very fluidly that there is no time to sit and make criticism because something else is just about to scare the crap out the audience, again, at every turn.  With this, I say, "ok, James - go ahead and use them again because you have allowed me to find joy, once more, in horror film."

For a wine pairing I will present something powerful and deep - a wine that means business and is built to make an impression on the memory.  My suggestion is the 2007 Two Hands Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, down under.  This wine is deep and dark with serious expression of black and ripe fruit.  Two hands to help you grip your chair in the theater....one glass of Two Hands Shiraz when you return home to calm your nerves.  Flat-out, a really well-done ghost story of high-horror caliber. 

The East Movie Review

The East, (Sundance Film selection) directed by Zal Batmanglij, is a provocative thriller focused on an anarchist collective/commune that points its' efforts at major corporations that lay waste and ruin to, both, the environment and people's lives.  This movie takes a hard swing at major oil companies that spill and kill, pharmaceuticals that profit on drugs that kill or mame humans, and dumpers who ruin rivers and land as they sit, fat, in their gated communities while people develop cancer downstream. 

I love this film.  Watching it, I was comforted with a sense of hope that there is, still in this corrupt world in which we live, a fighter, some resolve, an underdog that stands up to all that is the antithesis of life and living - corrupt corporations.  It drives hard, is scary, and is very, very intense.  It reminded of a day in 1991 when i lay in bed, shocked, reading an article in the San Francisco Chronicle revealing that a geologic survey team inspecting the ocean floor just outside the Farallon Islands(our fishery) had discovered two fields(40,000 barrels, each) of the highest radioactive waste ever made.  They had found the waste product of the bombs that we made in WW2 and dropped on Japan.  The oil drums they used were rusted and rotting and there was mass leakage and no way to clean it up.  It made me very upset.  I had dreamed of joining some group like Greenpeace that, actually, gave a shit about the world.  Unfortunately, I never became that success.  So very refreshing to see that spirit I once had in this film - even if they do kill people. Those barrels, still, lay leaking in the heart of our fishing industry.....bet you didn't know that..... 

The East takes us, deep, undercover with an ex-FBI agent turned into corporate spy who spies with the purpose, solely, to infiltrate underground groups seeking to expose and punish those very corporations who ruin our world.  As the layers peel away, the plot thickens into blood-deep turmoil.  There is betrayal, some Big Brother, raw sex and all the drama to draw you in to what equates to an "anarchists' breakfast club around a campfire.  Think "V" for Vendetta crossed with a band of Anonymous/GreenPeace, underground rebels.

If I have to have a criticism(s) of this film, I will say, some acting parts were a little drab and the plot could have played out a bit more fluidly.  Regardless, it succeeds in gripping and pulling you in.  In its' layers,  is a story within a story as the main character, played by Brit Marling, finds herself listening, learning, evolving as a human.  Set in the season of fall on the East Coast of the United States, our ex-FBI agent finds herself in a metamorphosis - a butterfly amongst vigilant, intellectual, hippies that have welcomed her right into their home where the browning leaves, outside, fall from the safety of their home in the trees.

After the first "jam" they pull off - their first act of revenge - one where people die.....I found myself asking the age-old question, "do two wrongs make a right?"  At first, I was looking for the right thing in my mind, the Ghandi, the pacifist, the moral.  But, then, I caught on and was absorbed into the horror that this group and its' ideals rain-down upon their targets.  If they kill the CEO of a company that is giving children brain tumors down river, then, it is a RIGHT to kill one bad guy to save multitudes of innocents....especially if this CEO knew....as so many of them do....that they were reaping earnings based on the sickness and demise of others that they were causing.  If the law is not doing its' job, then, somebody else should.  Hard swings should be taken when babies are forming brain tumors.  Examples should be made and, then, what is being poured into the river will stop.

Pairing this movie with a fine wine is a no-brainer.  Deep and intense, I would grab a bottle of the 2011 Rock Wall Petite Sirah from Jack's Dry Creek Vineyard.  100% estate fruit, this wine is dark and inky with layers upon layers of blackberry and dark raspberry with violet notes and a silky finish  that makes it, all, balance so well.  Mostly, it is the intensity and dense, dark fruit of this wine that render it a perfect pairing for such a disturbing and moving film as The East.