The Imitation Game – Morten Tyldum, 2014

Great Britain during WWII: The Germans are advancing and they use their infamous Enigma-machine to encrypt all military communications. Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) – a mathematician – joins a team of scientists, who are desperately trying to crack the code. Despite their combined expertise, all of their efforts don’t produce any results, but Turing has an unconventional idea: Enigma can only be beaten with the help of another machine.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing

The Imitation Game is a very good film and absolutely deserves its Oscar-nominations. The actors are great, the story is interesting and well told and the music is very good. What I like most about it is – as in most biopics – that it makes Alan Turing’s story much more accessible than it was before. This is one of my favorite things about movies: When you read the name Turing in a book (probably about computer science), you just assume he sat in his lab all day, sponsored by the government, working on his highly anticipated Turing-machine. The film, however puts you in his shoes and lets the audience experience what he went through to achieve this. It made me realize once again, that every human has his/her own compelling story.

TL;DR: Benedict Cumberbatch gives a great performance as Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician.

Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)

After the 9/11 terror attacks, the CIA starts the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, which eventually lasts for 10 years. The young officer Maya (Jessica Chastain), who has just finished high school joins the task force in Pakistan. This is her first case at the agency and she approaches the assignment with almost inhuman dedication, sacrificing all of her time and power. The search proceeds unbearably slow and seems hopeless, but then Maya picks up an old trail, which may finally lead to Bin Laden.

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty

To make one thing clear: Zero Dark Thirty is not an action-packed anthem to the awesomeness of the American military. On the contrary it is very slow-paced and doesn’t show the American forces in the best light. I immediately fell for the very interesting and complex story, which was cleverly told and kept me on the edge of my seat. Jessica Chastain gives an incredible performance and deserves her Oscar-nomination as well as the film itself.

TL;DR: Slow-paced, but fascinating movie about the 10-year hunt for Osama Bin Laden.