Her

I was a bit disappointed when the movie started and there were only about a dozen people in the theater, but it was a balmy 30+ degrees in Green Bay today, so people may have wanted to enjoy the warm weather outside of the movie theater, this was really my only complaint about the whole experience, well that and the lackluster trailers beforehand, I guess with a movie that doesn't automatically fall into a specific archetype they don't know which trailers to play before it.

I don't believe that I am spoiling anything with this, but Her takes place in a near futuristic version of Los Angeles, and writer/director Spike Jonze does a great job of both imagining and creating this world, the colors, the visuals, as well as the technology and analysis of how people would interact with such things. I need to start off saying that this movie is not a movie I would want to see with my parents, there are a few different scenes in it that I would find too awkward.

Not very often does a movie really connect with me on an emotional level, especially as much as this movie does. I was defintitely on the same wavelength as this movie the entire time, there were times where I was choked up, if I wasn't such a robot I probably would have cried a few different times, but that doesn't mean this a sad movie by any means.

The thought that was put into this movie is just so evident, and there are many different ways. The main character's job is to write personal messages for other people who are too busy to do it themself, and he actually develops a relationship with his repeat customers adding his own touch to the relationships he really isn't even involved in. In this future it really seems like trains have replaced a lot of the transportation to and from LA which is notorious for its horrible car traffic. The details of the style in this movie is also a nice touch, no explanation of why, but the characters all wear extremely high-waisted pants. There are other elements of it that I can mention, but I don't want to ruin some of the smaller things that people do in the movie, that is quite possible in the world created in this film.

I really enjoyed the adventure that the movie takes the viewer on, its funny, its sad, its happy, its hopeful, and a wide variety of other emotions. There is a great deal of whimsy and fun with the ideas in this movie as well, not only is it a look at a possible future, but it also is quite the reflection on our society as it is today, the disconnection that people feel from one another because they are stuck with their faces in their devices as they go about their day. I really wish I could get some wireless ear buds that are used in this movie, then again I would be afraid of losing them in my ears or when the aren't in my ears. There is also a look at what video games will be like in the future, by adapting some of the current technology into what could be done in the future, with a little bit of a joke about their content and vulgarity.

The performances in the movie are really great, there are really 2 main characters with a few others thrown in some. Joaquin Phoenix was amazing in this movie, he did a great job of showing the wide range of emotions in this movie. I can't say I have been his biggest fan, there have certainly been roles of his I have liked, such as his portrayal of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, but this has to be one of best performances if not the very best performance. I don't think that there are that many actors who could have done such a great and nuanced job in this movie. Scarlett Johansson plays the female lead in this movie so to speak, although its only through voice acting. I think she did a great job with the role, and a great job a showing emotion, which is a weird thing to say about a computer operating system. I must have missed it in the trailers or maybe it just wasn't in there at all, but Amy Adams is in this movie, and her appearance is really toned down in this, after everyone was talking about her appearance in American Hustle.

I really was just blown away by this movie, it reminded me a lot of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which is one of my favorite movies in its pacing and tone. Like Eternal Sunshine it really was the type of antiromantic comedy that I really enjoy, its not a stereotypical love story, obviously, but there are many elements of a love story. I am one who appreciates originality in movies, I don't like seeing the same story over and over and will support things that i see as interesting and original. This movie might not be seen as conventional independent film, but it had a fairly low budget, and it is able to create a brilliant world without having the cost of the effects be too high.

I would highly recommend people go see this movie and support it, its funny, emotional, creative, and all around entertaining.

I won't be attaching my movie rankings in here, but I will be going a little write up about the movies of 2013 later this week.