Maps to the Stars (2014)

Directed by David Cronenberg
Written by Bruce Wagner
Starring Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson and John Cusack

A tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.

A dark, unapologetic satire on societies obsession with celebrity and the fight for fame, Cronenberg puts his personal twist on the world of Hollywood. Although I'm sure it's exaggerated (at least I hope it is), this film showcases all of the degenerate, self obsessed people that create the movies we love. And it will disgust you.

In true Cronenberg form, he adds an element of psychological thrills to this story. Throughout half of the film, you still find yourself trying to fit the pieces together to figure out exactly what the hell is going on. But unlike his other films, when everything comes together, it's a little underwhelming.

Throughout his career, Cronenberg has given us some of the best psychological thrillers ever made. And this movie wasn't bad, it was just not to par with the rest of his work. It's also just hard for me to enjoy a movie in which I want to get as far from it's characters as humanly possibly. Or give them a swift kick to the throat. But it's a DVD… It doesn't have a throat. Oh, well. It could have been worse.

My Rating: 6/10

The Double (2013)

Directed by Richard Ayoade
Written by Avi Korine and Richard Ayoade, based on the novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn and Paddy Considine

A clerk in a government agency finds his unenviable life takes a turn for the horrific with the arrival of a new co-worker who is both his exact physical double and his emotional opposite - confident, charismatic and seductive with women.

From the opening scene, this film shows it's unique voice that seems to be inspired in equal parts by Terry Gilliam, The Coen Brothers and Martin Scorsese. With the futuristic, yet technologically stagnate setting that Gilliam has been known for, the dark and often depressing humor of The Coen Brothers, and the psychologically draining conflict that made Scorsese a household name is all apparent within this film.

Within the first five minutes, it drives home a point that they could have easily spent the entire first act covering. This character has literally nothing going for him. Jesse Eisenberg is phenomenal as both the protagonist and antagonist, differentiating the two using only the subtlety of body language. While this does  create some confusion as to which character a particular scene is focusing on, it remains only momentarily before it is clarified.

With inspiring direction from the incredibly talented Richard Ayoade, this is certainly a film that has a voice like very few others. Every aspect of this movie is on point, from the writing and directing to the acting and cinematography. It's a shame that smaller, more creative films like this get pushed aside from the overrated and over publicized blockbusters that plague thousands of screens all of the world. It is the smaller, higher quality films like this that make movies worth while.

8/10