Her (2013)

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson and Amy Adams
Director: Spike Jonze

Her is a story of a lonely man, Theodore Twombly (played by Phoenix), who comes to fall in love with his Operating System (OS) Samantha, voice given by Johansson. Theodore works for a letter writing company where (no prizes for guessing) he writes letters for people who have difficulty expressing feelings. He has increasingly become lonely and fears his impending divorce. One fine day on his way back from work he comes across this newly launched artificially intelligent Operating System that evolves as per the human it is assigned to. The OS who gives herself the name Samantha slowly becomes a confidant to Theodore, giving him company through the days and the OS itself evolving through its human interactions. What strikes you are the conversations that Samantha has about her feelings, her confusions about them as to whether they are unique to her or is it something that she was programmed to feel. As they start to fall in love with each other, Theo feels that he is now prepared to sign his divorce papers and decides to meet his wife for the same. What ensues at the end of the meeting predictably is a fight when he confesses that he is having a relationship with his OS. He starts doubting the realness of his feelings and as a result of which he finds himself distancing from Samantha, who also with the course of time is changing sooner by the day with her interactions with other Operating Systems. Now you may ask where does Amy Adams come in all of this? She plays the role of Theodore's neighbour who has recently separated from her husband and has become friends with an OS that was left behind by him (her husband). Theo finds in her somebody with whom he is able to discuss his relationship with Samantha without the fear of being judged.

Her' is avery unlikely romantic story. Scarlett Johansson is great as Samantha and her voice just seems apt for an OS a man could fall in love with. I loved the movie and the acting, the whole sepia toned screenplay, Joaquin's role as a man bearing his soul out to an OS as he would to a real life girl friend. His doubts, his loneliness, his despair at Samantha's parting. The idea of a human falling in love with an OS somehow becomes less incredulous and more believable after watching this movie.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner

Direction : Jean-Marc Vallee

To tell you the truth I am a bit of an ignorant when it comes to Hollywood. I most often can't tell the different actors apart let alone know their names, but I am slowly working on improving it. So why this disclaimer before I start on this review is because I have know Matthew McConaughey only from the movie 'The Wedding Planner' and have taken him to be this chocolate boy character and therefore was first surprised when I saw him in True Detective (the first episode) and as luck would have it I was recommended the movie and the series. So while the series was getting dowloaded I caught up on the movie. And to tell you the truth both McConaughey's and Jared Leto's acting blew me away.

McConaughey essays the role of this cowboy Ronald Woodrof who is diagnosed with AIDS when he is admitted in to the hospital because of some freak accident. The doctor's treating AIDS patients at the hospital which includes Garner give him a deadline of 30 days to live. At first his reaction as any normal persons would be of denial, then of enjoyment of ones last few days and then the realisation to somehow make himself live longer then what the doctors foretell. He starts his research on AIDS, what drugs are being used to treat patients across the world, state of research etc. which brings him across to a drug called AZT which the American FDA has under trial and whose efficacy is doubted. He somehow lays his hands on AZT from the very hospital but ends up getting sicker because of the dosages being incorrect and then through his connections ends up going to Mexico where he comes across drugs like Peptide T which are not toxic and actually show positive effects on his health. At near about the same time he comes across this guy called Rayon who is a transgender (played by Jared Leto) and asks him to join his business of sourcing drugs from all over the world which have yielded positive results in combating the symptoms of AIDS. He turns his life around through this venture making an endeavour to stay clear of cocaine or any kind of addictions. The story then wades through him getting at loggerheads with the FDA and narrating the entire story would kill the purpose of wikipedia.

What impressed me was the acting. Matthew as this gaunt, sick AIDS patient, with a drip running through him while running a business and Leto as this transgender who slowly starts getting more and more clients for their business because of Ron's initial homophobia and who is not able to get himself clear of cocaine no matter how much Ron tries to get him off it. It is a story of their friendship their partnership in times when most of the people they call friends ditch them and start staying a step away from them and their struggle to increase the longevity of their fast vanishing life. It is a beautiful movie and I really think both of them deserve this years Oscars in their respective categories. I think someday in life, I will be watching this movie again.