Les revenants (2004)

English Title: They Came Back.

Synopsis: One fine day, the dead come back to life.

Appraisal: The tactic of this film is to take a fantastic premise and follow the consequences in a fashion as realistic as possible. It does that intelligently enough. The result is an engaging film, that may be watched with an eye for hidden meaning or metaphor, but may just as well (or better) be experienced like one does a dream.

Rating: 59

O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão (1968)

English Title: Strange World of Coffin Joe.

1st story: A gang breaks into a dollmaker's house intending to rob him.
Appraisal: The plot is standard "Tales of the Crypt" stuff; the execution is amateurish, with blatant exploitation characteristics, which mar the narrative a bit.

2nd story: An indigent balloon vendor is obsessed with a woman, following her around.
Appraisal: This segment is better than the first one. The story is more interesting and the execution a little better. It contains some gratuitous nude shots, but the woman is really beautiful, which kind of makes for an excuse.

3rd story: A scientist sustains that instinct prevails over reason. His adversary is invited to his house, where the scientist will attempt to prove his theories.

Appraisal: This is the "pièce de resistance", the best of the three segments. While the primitivism is still present, it is undeniable that its concept and imagery are quite strong. It is not recommended for the faint-hearted, since it gets really repulsive. Of course some will claim that the whole segment is exploitative, but that would be subject matter for a long philosophical discussion. It is interesting to compare this segment with the recent Saw (2004): both films have people that are held hostage and incited to do things they wouldn't do in normal circumstances.

Rating (average for the whole movie): 49

Dama s sobachkoy (1960)

English Title: The Lady with the Dog.

Synopsis: A man and a woman meet at a city by the sea; they fall in love; they are both married.

Appraisal: If there ever was a perfect movie, this is probably it. Melancholy and lyricism exude from its every beautifully composed frame. The musical score, too, is marvellous. The actors, ditto. The story is heart wrenching. Don't watch it if you are feeling down, because it is liable to sink you deeper into depression. It is also opportune to remark that this film has practically the same story of the widely celebrated "Brokeback Mountain", except of course for the gender of one of the protagonists (and if you believe the sincerity of the latter film's director, that should not matter). Both films were based on short fiction, but "Brokeback Mountain" is 51 minutes longer than "The Lady with the Dog". And yet, answer me honestly: which of the two films touches you deeper?
I am adding it to my favorites of 1960, in the 14th position.

Rating: 71

Love, Loot and Crash (1915)

Synopsis: A banker that lives with his daughter decides it's time they hired a cook. Two crooks plan to rob the banker by having one of them pose as an applicant for that job.
Appraisal: While strictly formulaic, one can't deny that this short film has a good pace and some entertainment value. The car and motorcycle chase is very well executed for the era's standards.

Voyages (1999)

Synopsis: Three stories about Holocaust survivors.
Appraisal: A quiet and deceptively simple film, "Voyages" has real emotion embedded in its three stories.
Rating: 53

Robots (2005)

Synopsis: In Robot City, the big robot factory plans to stop making spare parts.

Appraisal: Really great graphics here. The work behind this animation must have been huge and it shows. The script goes halfway. Meaning that the problem (capitalists wanting to make more money and not caring for people) is real and cleverly placed into an action-oriented screenplay, but the solution ("bad" capitalists being replaced by "good" capitalists) is risible. Perhaps the concept of Government was deemed too complex for a kids' movie. Or perhaps the idea that governments can actually regulate business sounds more dangerous than a mass riot.

Rating: 64

Blood and Wine (1996)

No synopsis this time, since all this film has is its plot. Yes, it is that poor. I will just say there is a necklace that is stolen, and a beautiful maid, and a stepson, and a wife. The film has a fast pace, I will grant it that much. Plotwise, there is nothing preposterous or absurd about it, even though I haven't exactly pondered for hours on that matter. But there is little or no attractiveness to the whole proceedings, it is all too mechanic and forgettable.

Rating: 39

His New Job (1915)

Synopsis: A man applies for a job in a movie and ends up as a stand-in for the star. Appraisal: This is my third fourth viewing of this film (I think see below). It's also the first time that I see it in its correct length. The previous copies were either missing pieces or with a faster frame rate. It is one of the good short films of the leading actor/writer/director. One of its characteristics is the intelligent use of several contiguous spaces to drive the plot and the slapstick.

Addendum on October 3, 2021 -- my previous viewings were on July 7, 2002; December 8, 2002; January 27, 2006.

Household Saints (1993)

Synopsis: Joseph is a butcher that falls in love with Katherine, a shy woman of Italian ascendence like him. They marry and have a daughter, who, as she grows older, develop religious inclinations.
Appraisal: This tale involving two generations of Italian Americans is humorous at first, then increasingly more dramatic. What struck me about this movie was the acute sense of composition of the filmmaker, making every frame a delight to watch, and at a couple of times excelling in the choice of wild angles for the frame. The acting was also first class, and I couldn't single out a particular performer here. The screenplay, while mostly intelligent, is also somewhat bland, and has one serious annoyance: the opera fan subplot.
Rating: 54

Modigliani (2004)

Synopsis: A painter has some financial and health problems.

Appraisal: An inept movie, full of vulgarity and triteness.

Rating: 21

Wong Fei-hung chi tit gai dau neung gung (1993)

Also Known As: Deadly China Hero; Claws of Steel; Last Hero in China; Wong Fei-hung's Iron Rooster vs. The Centipede.

Synopsis: The kung-fu instructor/medicine doctor Wong Fei-hung inadvertently installs his school/clinic next door to a brothel. A bigger problem he will have to deal with concerns the misdeeds of a gang of slave traders.

Appraisal: Although displaying some nice fight numbers, the screenplay of this film is a real salad. (Oops, this is not a current expression in English, I am afraid. I mean it mixes a lot of disconnected elements.) Also, the comedy bits are unfunny, more often than not.

Rating: 44

Le farceur (1960)

English Title: The Joker.
Synopsis: A guy that leaps from one woman to another falls in love. His wacky family gets very excited with the event.
Appraisal: Interesting comedy, with a very non-naturalistic style, a good soundtrack, and many funny set-pieces. It gets a little uneven around the middle, but the duller parts are outnumbered by the enjoyable ones.
Rating: 54

Nothing to Lose (1997)

Synopsis: Middle-class guy gets mixed up with a street mugger.

Appraisal: Nothing very attractive about this comedy. It's very much like dozens of others, and the humor is bland.

Rating: 44

Wit (2001)

Synopsis: A woman is diagnosed with cancer and undergoes treatment.
Appraisal: A finely written, finely acted piece of drama, that is ostensively about being terminally ill, but also raises some questions about modern values, especially the pursuit of knowledge, since the patient is a scholar, and is herself used for the 'advancement of knowledge'.
Rating: 60

Masked and Anonymous (2003)

Synopsis: A singer is invited for a scammish benefit concert.
Appraisal: This film is flawed in many ways, lacking the necessary unifying strength that would make it something more than a succession of offbeat characters and witty dialogue.
Rating: 39

O Signo do Caos (2005)

The film is divided into two acts: the first, in black-and-white, has a censor determined to ban and destroy the copies of "It's All True", the unfinished film Welles shot in Brazil. He goes on and on vituperating about that film, surrounded by a claque and by a young man that defends the film. It starts kind of funny, then it gets kind of boring, then it gets kind of crazy, with scenes being repeated in a cubistic fashion. Then comes the second act.
The second act is in color, and begins with a party apparently celebrating the destruction of the aforementioned film. Then it shifts to a pier, with the same characters. A conspiratorial theory about the accident with the raftsman is insinuated. And then it ends in a grandiose style.

Chaos describes it well. What is the young woman's photo session doing in this film? And the little girl in the garden? Actually, nothing at all, except the girls are kin to the filmmaker. If you want self-indulgence you can't do better than that.
Technically the film suffers from asynchronous dubbing, which is particularly annoying in the color section.
I didn't get much out of this film, and I don't recommend it to anyone. I particularly disrecommend it to anyone that has a life and things to do in it.

Rating: 31

Mùi du du xanh - L'odeur de la papaye verte (1993)

English Title: The Scent of Green Papaya
Synopsis: A little girl is employed as a maid at a house.
Appraisal: Not much happens in this film, but we get to look at the beauty of one life, through the eyes of this girl, first as a child, then as a youngster. The fluid camerawork is like a pen would be for a writer, making every detail alive and full of meaning. It is a beautiful, lyrical film, slow paced but not boring. That is how I perceive it now, on my second viewing. That was not how I perceived it when I watched it for the first time, a decade ago, approximately. I was a nervous person then, and didn't have the necessary peace of mind to enjoy a film like this.
Rating: 64

"24" (2001-2002) [TV-series] [Season 1]

Synopsis: An agent tries to stop an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate.
Appraisal: This TV series may consider itself a success, since it came up with an original idea (the real time narration of a day in the life of a counter-terrorist agent), and implemented it competently. Although it is good entertainment, there is little depth in it; if you compare it to food, it wouldn't make for a solid meal; it's more like chewing gum.

Equilibrium (2002)

Synopsis: In a post-WW3 future, emotions are suppressed.
Appraisal: Derivative futuristic drama, that has some hilarious concepts, but is otherwise reasonably well written and directed.
Rating: 35

Blow (2001)

Synopsis: The life of a real drug dealer.
Appraisal: This film doesn't have an extraordinarily interesting story; it doesn't stand out for being audacious in form either. It is a straightforward account of the life (or part of it, since the guy was still alive when the film was made) of one person; it is competently scripted, directed and acted. It is worth watching, in my opinion, because there are some ironies in the story that will make you think. For example, isn't it curious that both his dad and he ended up marrying women that were not exactly nice persons? And that the only nice female character gets sick early in the film and dies? I also liked the fact that the main character is a nice guy. Yes, he broke the law, but he never hurt or cheated anyone. And who is worse, he or the governments that think they can dictate what adult citizens can and cannot ingest, inhale or inject?
Rating: 54

Carmen (1915/I)

Synopsis: A soldier is seduced by a woman who induces him to let her friends smuggle some goods into the country.
Appraisal: This is an excellent film, full of vigor in the mise-en-scene and in the leading performance. The story is a classic, and there is no need to stress its appeal.

Rating: 64

Molokh (1999)

International Title: Moloch.
Synopsis: Hitler and entourage go to a house at the Alps for a weekend.
Appraisal: A slow film, that never really got to me. Like the only other film by this director that I saw ("Mother and Son"), there are glimpses of beauty here and there, but the whole is too flimsy and unconvincing. In 'Molokh' the theme, as I perceived it, is the contrast between the male and female views of the world. The male (impersonated by Hitler) tries to deny the 'female', material reality, and the inexorability of Death. These female aspects are impersonated by Eva Braun, that at one point exclaims "How can you defeat Death? You are mad.", or something vaguely similar. But it all comes out too pretentious and boring for my perhaps too mundane tastes.
Rating: 40

L'affaire d'une nuit (1960)

U.S. Title: It Happened All Night.
Synopsis: A man meets a long lost acquaintance and his beautiful wife.
Appraisal: Good film, unjustly unknown. Among its main qualities are: the well written screenplay and dialogue, adapted by a duo of veterans from a novel, and the excellent musical score. The direction is competent and doesn't make itself noticed; the actors are perhaps not outstanding, but do their job satisfactorily. The only thing that may seem dated by today's standards is the absence of more explicit eroticism, given that several sexual acts apparently take place during the film. In my opinion, that doesn't detract from the film's appeal.
Rating: 55

"The Office": Christmas Special (2003) (TV)

These two episodes close this series that was in my opinion a landmark in the history of TV. And what a high level closing this is. It manages to shift from the acid tone of the former episodes to a more heartwarming, Christmaslike one without looking forced or artificial. Bravo!

The Road to Guantanamo (2006)

Synopsis: True account of the experience of some English men who were imprisoned in the Bay of Guantanamo American prisons, but were innocent. 

Appraisal: An explosive subject makes this film an important piece of journalism. Also, it is very useful: it teaches one how to behave in situations of physical and mental torture and mental manipulation in prison. Since the film shows that anyone could be in those situations, I think everyone should watch it. 

Rating: 67

The Big White (2005)

Synopsis: In Alaska, a man devises a scam to collect the insurance on his brother's life. 

Appraisal: Comedy that is high on contrivance and low on fun. 

Rating: 40

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Synopsis: Two contract killers marry each other inadvertently. 

Appraisal: Action comedy that is high on gadgets and low on entertainment value. 

Rating: 44

The Music Man (1962)

Synopsis: A crooked traveling salesman provokes some big changes in a town. 

Appraisal: Good musical, very fun to watch. The music is good, the dance numbers also, and it has enough humor to ellicit some laughs. The main actor (and, to a lesser degree, the whole cast) is very good, and his performance actually reminded me of a leprechaun; perhaps that accounts for the ending. 

Rating: 64

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Synopsis: A mysterious killing involves the church. 

Appraisal: The worst film ever made. If a grade should be assigned to this film, it should be a negative number. 

PS: before anyone suspects that I was offended by the theories presented by the film, let me clarify: I think they are all true.

January 1, 2023 PPS: it turns out I have since watched films which were worse than it, so I have

decided to give it a fairer rating.

Rating: 17

Anger Management (2003)

Synopsis: Peaceful and unassertive man has to go through an anger management therapy with a loony therapist. 

Appraisal: Comedy that has more laughs in the film than in the audience. 

Rating: 37

Resurrezione (2001) (TV)

English Title: Resurrection.
Synopsis: A maid falls in love with her boss in the late 19th century.
Appraisal: Competently made TV movie, with an engaging story.
Rating: 53

Der Stolz der Firma (1914)

Synopsis: A young employee at a clothes shop is fired and goes to Berlin where he is employed at another shop.
Appraisal: This film tells the story of a man of humble origins that ascends in the social scale. Its beginning suggests that it will be a comedy, but as the film progresses it becomes clear that comicity is not its main goal; rather, it tries to tell a story that has comic elements. It is not devoid of interest, as the text reflects some social mechanisms of the time at which the film was made. The mise-en-scene is capable of translating the story in images, without great sophistication.

Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (Volume 2)

I had already watched the Pathé films and the American films in this compilation. The ones that I watched now were the following:
How It Feels to Be Run Over (1900); Explosion of a Motor Car (1900); Rescued by Rover (1905); The Other Side of the Hedge (1905); That Fatal Sneeze (1907); A Visit to Peek Frean and Co.’s Biscuit Works (1906); A Day in the Life of a Coal Miner (1910).
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All of them are pretty interesting, but I like old stuff, therefore I am biased.

Hud (1963)

Synopsis: In a cattle ranch live Hud, his father, Hud's nephew Lon and a maid. Lon looks up to Hud, but Hud's father doesn't aprove of Hud's ways. A suspected illness of the cows may shake things up. 

Appraisal: Excellent drama about conflict of personalities and clash of values. Every frame of this film has "classic" written upon it. I can't find much else to say, except that the film looked flawless to me, under every aspect. If I had a bigger TV set I would have had a nicer viewing experience, since it was shown in its original aspect ratio. It's interesting to notice the similarities between this film and "Vengeance Is Mine", that I saw a few days ago. Both have a father and a son with opposite personalities. I rank "Hud" among my favorites of 1963, occupying the 4th position. 

Rating: 79

Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)

English Title: For a Few Dollars More 

Synopsis: Two bounty hunters get involved with a bank robber and his gang. 

Appraisal: It is my second viewing. The first time I saw it I must have been in a state of semi-conscience, because I gave it a very low rating. In fact, it is a good movie, and the first half hour is truly anthological. After that amazing half hour, the film shifts into a more conventional gear, but never becomes less than interesting. 

Rating: 60

Jing wu ying xiong (1994)

English Title: Fist of Legend. 

Synopsis: In 1937, a Chinese man studying in Japan returns to his occupied country after his Kung Fu master dies. 

Appraisal: Good martial arts film, with fights that are less spectacular than I am used to see, but that are in a way more thrilling, because they feel more real. The script is not exactly brilliant, but it serves its purpose of driving the action from one fight to the next. 

Rating: 51

Les créatures (1966)

Synopsis: After an accident, writer moves to an island. 

Appraisal: Helped by an ominous soundtrack, the beginning of "Les Créatures" is full of mystery and atmosphere. As the plot takes shape, and the viewer begins to realize what is going on, that sense of mystery is replaced by amusement and the curiosity to see the developments of the strange game. There are things that seem gratuitous, like the conversations with animals. On the whole, however, the film is fun to watch, and intelligently constructed. 

Rating: 65

Les demoiselles de Rochefort (1967)

English Title: The Young Girls of Rochefort
Synopsis: The lives of the people at Rochefort are shaken by the arrival of several people from out of town. Loves are born, or reborn.
Appraisal: This film has undeniable qualities that easily overcome its main defect, the mediocre choreography. Basically about finding one's "other half", and how chance is always interfering with people's lives, it may work best for people who place great importance on those subjects. But this is not a prerequisite for enjoying the film. Its artfulness in the blending of story, scenery, beautiful music and not so beautiful dance makes it quite enjoyable by anyone.
Rating: 58

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Synopsis: On her 16th birthday, girl seems to be experiencing a living hell. 

Appraisal: This film is an account of adolescence's troubles centering on the feminine perspective. The film adopts a light, comic approach, and has generally intelligent dialogue and many interesting characters and situations. Adolescence is one of the most fertile subjects for films, and this is probably one of the better films about that interesting period in human existence. The performances by the leading actress and the boy who plays her rejected suitor are very convincing; also, an excellent actress in the beginning of her career makes a funny small part as a girl using a neck orthopedic device. 

Rating: 63

Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Synopsis: Pee-wee's bicycle is stolen and he will do anything to find it. 

Appraisal: Generally labeled as a kid's movie, it is actually enjoyable by people of any age, provided of course one gets in tune with its quirky style of humor. The main character is unlike anyone else on film or TV (where it originated), an adult with a child's mind, or something like that. The action is punctuated by gags, and evoke the spirit of old cartoons. The film is almost always funny and original, and is worth watching. There was a second Pee-wee film called "Big Top Pee-wee" that I enjoyed also. 

Rating: 60

Fukushû suruwa wareniari (1979)

English Title: Vengeance Is Mine. 

Synopsis: It tells the exploits of a serial killer who is being hunted by the police. The film starts with his prison and then switches to flashbacks. 

Appraisal: In "Vengeance Is Mine" we are led in a tour of sex and violence with an amoral character who shows no sympathy for other people, and, in fact, doesn't care much for himself either. It is not true that he has no feelings; it is just that he has defined himself in such a way that these feelings cannot be a part of his personality. The story has, as a counterpoint, the character of his Catholic father, who is his perfect opposite. Both characters are ultimately repugnant and could be thought of as exemplifying imbalances of human behavior. I am forbidden to delve into the details of both characters, for it is part of the movie fruition. The film is structured basically into four time frames: (1) the present time, when he is in the custody of the police; (2) before he committed the first two crimes that led the police to look for him; (3) on the day of these crimes; and (4) (the longer section) after those two crimes, when he embarks on a killing spree, knowing that the police is after him. As is usual in the films of this director, he takes a dark, grim look at men and women, who are basically puppets of their animal urges, and/or the dire social constrictions they live under. This pitiless stance on humanity is translated masterfully into his terse, energetic mise-en-scene. The leading performance is no less than shattering; the whole cast is admirable. This film ranks as the 12th position in my 1979 list. 

Rating: 73

Pier Paolo Pasolini e la ragione di un sogno (2001)

Good documentary about the life and ideas of the late writer and filmmaker. It contains statements by his friends, and lots of footage of Pasolini himself. Of course it is not suited to those who don't appreciate intellectual, ideological stuff, even though Pasolini was not really a hard core theoretician -- he was an artist with political ideas. Some say he had a simplistic view of capitalism (and Marxism), but, anyway, for those who have an interest, this may be a rather satisfactory introduction to his ideas.

Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (Volume 1)

This compilation contains the following films:
LUMIÈRE: Sortie d'usine (1895), Repas de Bébé (1895), Démolition d'un Mur (1896), Le Jardinier et le petit espiègle (1895), Arrivée des Congressistes a Neuville-sur-Saône (1895), Arrivée d'un train en gare à La Ciotat (1895), Partie d'écarté (1895), Barque sortant du port (1895), Leaving Jerusalem by railway (1896), Bataille de Boules de Neige (1896), Pompiers à Lyon (c. 1896), Niagara (1897), Spanish Bullfight (1900); MÉLIÈS: Voyage à travers l'impossible (1904). ACRES: Rough Sea at Dover (1895); R.W.PAUL: Come along, Do! (1898), The Derby (1896), The Countryman and the Cinematograph (1901), A Chess Dispute (1903), Extraordinary Cab Accident (1903), Buy your Own Cherries (1904), The (?) Motorist (1906); GEORGE ALBERT SMITH: The Miller and the Sweep (1898), The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899), Let me Dream Again (1900), Grandma's Reading Glass (1900), As Seen through a Telescope (1900), Sick Kitten (1903), Mary Jane's Mishap (1903); SHEFFIELD PHOTO COMPANY: Daring Daylight Burglary (1903), Desperate Poaching Affray (1903); BAMFORTH AND CO LTD: The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899), Ladies' Skirts Nailed to a Fence (c. 1900), The Biter Bit (1900), Rough Sea (c. 1900); WILLIAMSON'S KINEMATOGRAPH: Attack on a China Mission (1900), The Big Swallow (1901?), Stop Thief! (1901), Fire! (1900), An Interesting Story (1905).
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They are all of historical interest, of course, but I was particularly impressed by "A Chess Dispute", for its inventiveness.

The Unbelievable Truth (1989)

Synopsis: Man returns to his home town after doing time. 

Appraisal: Structured like a melodrama, but with an emotional distancing characteristic of a comedy, this film has a very original feel to it, which would become a trademark of its writer/director. Also, the film has a unifying theme, which is the contractual aspects of human relations. The screenplay smartly inserts the theme into the story, through a father that wants his daughter to go to college, and needs to negotiate it with her. The other subplots relate to this main theme in subtler ways: the ex-convict can be thought of as someone who has broken the "social contract" and wants to be reinserted in it; the fear of nuclear holocaust may be viewed as a limit situation where the very foundations of civilization, and thus the "global contract", are under threat. Even though it deals with complex notions, they are always subordinated to the flow of the story, and never disrupt it. 

Rating: 61

2 Days in the Valley (1996)

Synopsis: Several characters cross path: a cold-blooded killer, his older assistant, an Olympic skater, the killer's girlfriend, an unemployed film director, a TV producer, his secretary, two vice cops. 

Appraisal: This film appears at first to be trying to pack too much material into the same film, but as the film goes along the parts start to fit together (well, most of them anyway) and the result gets very entertaining, with some laughs and thrills along the way. On a deeper level, the film is basically about how people are driven by desire and ambition, and how some persevere and others get too tired to do it, but perhaps shouldn't. Its underlying framework is a society that judges people by what they have achieved, and not by their intrinsic human value. "Losers have more honor than winners", one character says at one point. It is a sentence that makes one think. Well, it should, anyway. 

Rating: 63

Black Robe (1991)

Synopsis: In the 17th century, a priest rounds up a party of Natives and a white man to accompany him on a catechitical expedition in the Canadian wilderness. 

Review: Father Laforgue is, in the language of past eras, a man of faith. In modern day terminology, he would most probably be called a fanatic. Glimpses of his possible motivations are shown to the viewer in a series of flashbacks. By the end of "Black Robe", one's opinion regarding his success or failure will depend strongly on one's personal convictions. What is undeniable is that his journey makes here for a dazzling spectacle of horror and beauty. The beginning of the film is restrained, even austere, and one can sense Laforgue's isolation grow to an unbearable level. From there on, the landscape becomes more and more haunting and sepulchral, reflecting the priest's inner isolation. The screenwriter is well aware that for a true Christian adversities like rejection, persecution and incomprehension work as a fuel for faith, as symbolized in the gospels by Jesus being tempted in the desert. This is how Christianism was used to expand the dominance of European values, of course, but this film shuns such political preoccupations. Its only concern is the struggle of these tiny human beings, their illusions, and how enormously real they were. A great film. I rank it as number 9 for 1991. 

Rating: 79

Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

Synopsis: After the death of his father, a boy and his mother and sister seek the care of an evil uncle, who sends him to work at a boarding school. 

Appraisal: Lacklustre adaptation of the Dickens novel, that would benefit from a better script (particularly in the beginning of the film), a more imaginative mise-en-scene, and a less wooden lead. 

Rating: 39

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Synopsis: Real Estate Agents are given an ultimatum by their boss. 

Appraisal: This is the best film I have seen in a very long time. It is without a doubt one of the strongest texts of the late 20th century, and even though a play in its original form, it adapted well to film format. All the desperation imposed upon these characters by an inhumane system is laid before our eyes in a neat, relentless way. A magnificent cast ensures that not a milliwatt of dialogue power is wasted. This is a formally simple film, so no great sophistication in terms of camerawork is required, and all the technical details were competently done. In short, a perfect film. I am adding it to my favorites, in the 10th position of 1992. As a final note, it appears that this film had some influence on Boiler Room (2000), which I liked too. 

Rating: 79

Buffalo '66 (1998)

Synopsis: Fresh out of jail, Billy kidnaps a girl and makes her pose as his wife in front of his parents. He also plans revenge on a certain person. 

Appraisal: The world depicted in "Buffalo '66" is an oniric landscape full of strange characters and situations. There is a magnetic quality to the film, it feels so fresh and original, so straight from the heart. At the same time, the details like camerawork, music, acting, cinematography are all impeccable. This film is also unique in that it defies the conventions and boundaries of genre. You will find in it many comedic elements, particularly when Billy's parents are shown, but there's a poignancy to the film that is not relieved by that comicity; on the contrary, it is enhanced. I placed it as number 18 among my favorites of 1998. 

Rating: 68

Columbo: Ransom for a Dead Man (1971) (TV)

Synopsis: A lawyer kills her husband and fakes his kidnapping in order to get her hands on her stepdaughter's allowance fund. 

Appraisal: This was the second pilot for the TV series "Columbo", that started regularly later that year. It is well written and very entertaining. Maybe the ending is less than fully convincing, but this is up for discussion and, anyway, the most important thing is that the story's development is interesting and holds the viewer's attention throughout.