The Professor and the Madman (2019)

"The Professor and the Madman" probably deserves more than what I'm considering writing, but as for the last holidays, I'm unfortunately pressed with work deadlines these days... Ergo, no time. Long story short: the first volumes of The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), were put together with a consistent help from a retired US Army surgeon, William Chester Minor, institutionalized in a hospice in England after murdering somebody during a crisis of schizophrenic paranoia. The movie basically describes the collaboration between this man and James Murray, the lead editor of the first edition of OED, with all the context of the time, which indeed it's... let's say exotic enough, if not even unbelievable, to deserve a movie.

The story behind the movie, as some review was saying, keeping the proportions, apparently rivals a bit the story of the movie. Again, long story short: Mel Gibson + Farhad Safinia who worked together before in "Apocalypto" and are the authors of this project apparently got into a pretty serious conflict with the production studios, not being very happy with the final result, and seeming avoiding its promotion. Indeed the movie looks a bit unpolished, and probably a director's cut would make it better. It's not really comparable with what else we can find in Gibson's directorial CV + has a bit too much cliche in it, but I definitely wouldn't say it's a bad one.

As I said, it would probably deserve more discussion, but I would stick to just a couple ideas coming out from what's here. Quoting a dialogue between the shrink and the patient: "You think I'm insane?" "Are we not all, to some extent?". Mental sanity is unfortunately something that's probably relative in some proportion, and depending a lot of self management. Despite the horrible association given by placing it above the entry to Auschwitz, "arbeit macht frei" (actually stolen from French from a Swiss entomologist + psychiatrist), escape in work may be a solution for a longer term, when you really enjoy what you're doing and you see a result, but as it comes out from the movie you don't know for how long this will hold. Something certain, is that for short term, some escape from reality is recommended to keep you sane, and around 1900 one of the few variants were the books :) Fortunately now we have more options. ;)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Company You Keep (2012)

Still no "Shazam!". Recycling old stuff... "The Company You Keep" is a thriller with some real basis. During Vietnam War, US seen some radical anti-war movement, ironically pretty violent, named "The Weathermen", which disintegrated at the end of the '70s. Not without follow-up, a part of its members running from the FBI and remaining hidden. The movie is set sometime around 30 years after, when an ex-activist who was involved in an armed robbery decides to surrender herself. A good opportunity for a local journalist to unveil the past of another former member. The guy is not that happy with the perspective of being charged, especially being a single father, and starts a run having a path that nobody understands. That's pretty much the point of the movie - we're slowly getting to unravel an old story with a scent of soap opera, where the next surprise is sort of predictable at least 5-10 minutes ahead. The movie, or better said "the run", has a charm of its own, a la "The Fugitive". That + the well known cast make the movie watchable. Still, there's something missing... Don't know what exactly, and I don't have time for a more thorough analysis :)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Werk ohne Autor (Never Look Away) (2018)

I wanted to go and see "Shazam!" this week, but I kept postponing from one day to the other until I failed reaching the cinema. Maybe it was a good thing. Because I got to see "Werk ohne Autor" aka "Never Look Away" instead.

The movie lasts 3 hours. I watched it in two sessions, because I didn't know what to expect. I would recommend though to try this in one piece. It doesn't make you check your watch, but the second half is much more... let's say calm, compared to the first part. And it's probably meant to be that way. The story starts sometime around 1937, in Eastern Germany, close to Dresden, and follows up the life of a young painter since he's 5 years old up to around the time he gets to 30. The first part that gets through the Nazi period and the war is pretty hard to watch. Not in the sense of bullets and blood, but for the drama and despair (no irony there). I don't want to reveal much more besides the trailer, because it will reduce the effect the movie will have on you. All I can say is that we see the young Kurt Barnert surviving the war, starting an artistic career under the communist regime in DDR, marrying the daughter of his arch-enemy (who he doesn't know he's his arch-enemy), illegally escaping to the West and resuming his studies there, and finally apparently finding success as a painter. Trust me, I didn't tell you anything. Watch the movie.

It's the third movie directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, after "Das Leben der Anderen" and (the less fortunate) "The Tourist". For who has seen the first, probably it doesn't need other recommendation than saying that we have a comeback after the second. You can feel the same vibe here. There are though some differences. I'll start with what's less important, although it is... the camera work (Caleb Deschanel) is excellent, same for the score, and for the casting (where we have common names with "Das Leben der Anderen", but still I think this one's a bit better). More significant it's the message sent. As far as I remember "Das Leben der Anderen" didn't end that well, but it had a sort of a... closure, wrap up, whatever. Here the ending is more open (and again I didn't say anything). For this, subjectively, I'd vote for "Das Leben der Anderen". On the other hand, there are some things in the movie we have here, you don't get until the end credits start rolling. Like the fact that it's actually much more deep (or your mind is gone... either might work). For instance, until the last 3 minutes I thought that the marketing title in English fits better for what happened there than the German original one. It's actually more catchy "never look away" than "work without author" :) Until the last 3 minutes, when you can give an interpretation for all you've watched - life in general - as a "work" which in the ending stage... it doesn't really have an author :) Maybe a bit of karma. But that you don't see. It's just there for some paybacks you might not even know about. I still didn't say anything ;) Watch the movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 ( I'm subjective - multiple reasons - probably deserves much more :) )

The Escapist (2008)

It's late, so this will be a quick one... "The Escapist" is probably the best "prison escape" movie I've watched since "Shawshank Redemption", keeping the proportions. Only the cast is directly comparable. The story is, however, far from the complex construction in "Shawshank", but including enough drama to get some distance also from the light area of "Escape Plan", "Escape from Alcatraz", "The Great Escape" or other "escapes" (despite the title).

Frank Perry is an old convict who one day gets a new cell mate, much younger, and with him also a letter announcing that his daughter is not in the best condition. So, he decides he should pay her a visit. Only that he needs to recruit a team for this endeavor + not letting it being found out by who makes the law around the prison. Stuff that becomes more and more difficult as the group that wants outside grows...

We have a very tiny production budget, but a big time casting, a very appropriate score and an ending twist that's not totally credible, but it makes the escape more credible. I could start a long talk about the illusory light at the end of the tunnel, but as I said, it's late and already this entry risks not to be a quick one anymore ;)...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

I don't know if in more than 10 years I ever had a documentary on my blog. Maybe I can't remember it, but it would break my principle of going for "escape from reality", which I try to keep, and which is already messed up a lot by the rain of biopics that pour especially in the pre-Oscar season. It's enough real life in the real life - that's why we need movies. That's a reason why I didn't want to write this entry. But the alternative would have been another "sleeping pill" made in Hong Kong, and one much worse than the one of last time. So, here we are...

This documentary is one produced by HBO, out of the many media released in the last months over the Theranos case, or more precisely Elizabeth Holmes. She had an "attempt" to change the blood tests industry, which started around 2003. In brief, no needles, 200 tests only with a drop of blood from your finger. Cool, nu? Only that it didn't work. Maybe it wouldn't have been a problem if everything would have stopped in time, but the details are scary... From the amplitude of the fake image built on nothing, the invested money, the lies in the end, the pressure over the employees and the consequences (probably it would seem ironic to kill yourself with paracetamol when you're a lead chemist researcher... unless it's something real), the impact (fortunately sort of limited at time) that a "fake" test could have on sick people, and even the behavior of the CEO during the last days of the company, which if was as reported by the media seems like a page from a psychiatric clinic's file... Just Google search Elisabeth Holmes + husky + wolf.

I won't give a rating, because I don't want to do that for a documentary. But the one here is a weak one. There's way, way too gentle and "misses" lots of details in all what happened (including some of the above). Again... it's somehow ironical... considering how gritty the HBO series usually are. There's enough additional material however, including on YouTube, if you really want to know more. I got to this one after watching a while ago something that lasted around 30 minutes and a couple of other short clips, much more "on the facts". Honestly, that was "horror" enough and I don't think I would've needed any extra info. Somehow I can say that it's comforting that the HBO stuff didn't bring more to the story.

That gets me to the other reason why I didn't want to write this entry. Something like this is very disturbing for somebody who works in research. It makes you wonder where are the limits you could go for when trying something new, and where should you stop. There's another side of it also. I'd be very tempted now to write a long digression of what means "real research" and "fake research". The problem with Theranos is that everything was closed, there was no scientific analysis from outside, and there's still a mystery up to what point the lady in the poster trusted the nothing she marketed, and from what point she was aware it was nothing (if she became aware...). Unfortunately, and that's scary, Theranos is just one case. I think what's going on in the blockchain/distributed ledgers/ICOs area at this moment, although the boom took some rest, is another good example (I cannot explain how some names are still in top 20 on CoinMarketCap, but I prefer not telling which...). Fortunately in academics the "fake research" is not as damaging as in the industry - you won't test your stuff directly in production. Unfortunately there still are many dumb situations that lead you too often involuntarily towards "fake research". Still, at least in academics you have third-party reviews in conferences and journals on what you do to keep you where you should be (well, as long as these are not "fake" too...). Essentially remains for you to be able to self-assess your level and discern between "fake" and "real", and more important, the implications. As long as you can do it, you won't hurt anybody, and that's what matters first...