Amante "Muito Louca"! (1973)

Alternate title: Amante Muito Louca.

Synopsis: A bank manager has a lover who is a dancer in a cabaret. When he goes with his family to the beach, his lover feels neglected, so she shows up there unexpectedly.

Appraisal: This x-ray of the typical Brazilian middle-class family of the 70's is not devoid of intelligence, though it is rather unpolished, technically speaking and, to be frank, in the screenplay area as well. What I found most interesting was the ending, which torpedoes all the potential elements of tragedy which had been evoked. It's a quite different approach from the one taken in Fatal Attraction, whose basic idea this film anticipates. Teresa Rachel received many praises for her performance, and she is indeed fine. Stepan Nercessian is fine most of the time, as is Claudio Correa e Castro. This is the only film I have seen directed by Denoy de Oliveira, and I am certainly curious to see the remainder of his oeuvre.

Rating: 45

Hustle & Flow (2005)

Synopsis: D-Jay is a pimp and a drug dealer. A famous rapper's impending visit to the town where D-Jay lives motivates him to start composing, like he used to do when he was young. He works hard with a few friends to come up with a demo tape so he can give it to the famous rapper in the hope he will listen to it.

Appraisal: Arguably it conveys the energy and angst of these individuals in the brink of society; of course it bothers me that a pimp is depicted in a frankly unrealistic and mostly sympathetic way (see American Pimp for the real thing), but this is probably not the main problem with the film; I don't see a whole lot of relevance in what is ultimately no more than a cheering machine, carefully crafted to that purpose, yet not always effective in its manipulative devices.

Rating: 35

Tasogare Seibei (2002)

English title: The Twilight Samurai.

Synopsis (SPOILERS): Seibei is a low-rank samurai whose wife dies leaving him two daughters to raise, which he does at great sacrifice, working as some kind of bureaucrat and doing odd jobs of handcrafting. He refuses the marriage offer of Tomoe, a childhood friend, because he thinks she belongs to a higher rank in society. A civil war emerges, and Seibei is commanded by his clan leader to kill a rebellious samurai. Before he goes, he changes his mind about Tomoe and proposes to her, but she says she has already said yes to another man's proposal. It is based on three short stories by Shuuhei Fujisawa (1927-1997) (aka Shûhei Fujisawa aka Shuhei Fujisawa); I found it impossible to determine when those stories were first published. The action is set in the mid-19th century.

Appraisal: Period drama with modest ambitions; its characters are drawn in simple lines, without much complexity, even, in some cases (e.g. Seibei's rude father), verging on the caricatural. The style is almost TV-like, and yet, as the story advances, its grip on the viewer gets ever tighter, thanks to its solid text, faultless acting, and competent mise-en-scene. The basic theme of the film, which it explores in a quite satisfactory manner, is how individual characters behave in a society of rigid rules. It seems to imply (though this is not explicitly stated) that there is more flexibility and degrees of freedom than those rigid rules would grant by themselves; and that, for people like Seibei, the adherence to the rules is to some extent a matter of voluntary choice, and of preservation of one's identity.

Rating: 63

The Buccaneer (1958)

Synopsis: It's 1812, and the British are fighting the Americans for the control of the U.S.A. . New Orleans is to be attacked, and pirate and smuggler Jean Lafitte, who controls an island in a strategic position, offers his help to the Americans. Based on a novel by Lyle Saxon (1st ed. 1930).

Appraisal: Stiffly directed and ludicrously plotted, yet there are some elements to the story that lends it a residual interest.

Rating: 31

Diggstown (1992)

Alternate title: Midnight Sting.

Synopsis: A con man finishes his prison sentence and, with the help of a partner, sets up a con job at a small town. He makes a bet against the local town lord that a boxer he knows will defeat 10 boxers of the town lord's choosing. Based on a novel (1st ed. 1978) by Leonard Wise.

Appraisal: I am afraid I distrust my own synopsis above. That's because I am actually not sure that this may be called a "con job". In fact, the plot of the movie is so absurd that it only makes sense in the most superficial level. The whole film is just an excuse for boxing scenes and a duel of performances between Woods and Dern.

Rating: 26

Night Train (1998/I)

Synopsis: A fresh-out-of-jail aging man is chased by some criminals with whom he had some business before he did time. He rents a room at a house, and starts a relationship with the landlady's middle-aged daughter.

Appraisal: A weak screenplay, quite pedestrianly directed, makes for an amorphous, barely watchable film.

Rating: 25

Kiss Me! (1904)

Synopsis: A man walks by an advertising poster containing an image of a woman. She moves like a real person and invites him to kiss her. His wife arrives before he may do it, though.

Appraisal: Moderately interesting. Anyway, it is less than 2 minutes long, so it's not going to bore you much.

Le fils du diable fait la noce à Paris (1906)

English title: Son of the Devil.

Synopsis (SPOILERS): The devil's son is feeling down and a doctor is summoned. The doctor says that only a wife will cure him, so they go to Paris to find a wife for him. He settles for a peasant girl, but during the wedding he gets scared at the sight of a cross and runs back to hell. The bride gets sad and commits suicide, ending... guess where?

Appraisal: Interesting short (16 minutes long) film, with good sets, costumes and weird masks.

The War Tapes (2006)

They handed cameras to 3 soldiers serving in the ongoing Iraq war, and they documented what they went through. We see here that authenticity is not necessarily a guarantee of good cinema. The action scenes are poorly filmed, due to shaky or toppling camera. It's good to witness the soldiers' experiences first-hand but, as the soldiers themselves (or one of them, anyway) have said, that was basically a job. Sure, a riskier one, and with much more physical and psychological damage involved than most others. But don't expect much insight or revelation here, even though I'll grant it that it is a valuable document.

Rating: 45

"Forensic Files" "X" Marks the Spot (2003)

A serial killer of prostitutes incriminates himself when he sends a letter to a reporter containing a map which he had downloaded from the Internet. Before he gets caught, the culprit was planning to have his basement dungeon expanded.

"Forensic Files" Fire Proof (2002)

A serial arsonist in Seattle is caught thanks to a sketch done by a witness while under forensic hypnosis. According to the show's narration, the culprit claimed he had been sexually molested by a voluntary fireman.

Dois Córregos (1999)

English title: Two Streams.

Synopsis: A woman visits a country house which belonged to her father, and is overcome by the memories of an earlier occasion when she was a teenager and was there with a friend and they met her uncle who was a political activist against the military dictatorship and was using the house as a hideaway.

Appraisal: It is sad that the film adopts a hagiographic approach towards the Hermes character; it is also sad that it seldom transcends the banality of its situations. The net result is a watchable yet severely flawed film.

Rating: 35

Undertow (2004)

Synopsis: Two brothers live with their father in a rural area. Their uncle who is just out of jail comes to visit and starts questioning them about some gold coins which belonged to his father. Note: this is a fictional story, which according to some people involved in the making of the film was loosely based on a hot line account which apparently hasn't been verified and therefore has no reliability.

Appraisal: It has an interesting first half, with some suspense. The second half is quite drawn out. Several scenes in the movie don't feel quite right, psychologically speaking. I won't be able to explain myself further on this aspect, but one scene that stood out as definitely unconvincing was when, after Chris finds out he has been robbed by his new girlfriend, not only he acts forgivingly (which is acceptable, I guess) but gives a corny speech and caresses her breast, which doesn't look like the usual thing to do under such circumstances. This film has similarities in plot to The Night of the Hunter.

Rating: 47

Inherit the Wind (1988) (TV)

Synopsis: In a small American town, a school teacher is arrested for teaching the Evolution theory. The trial is the object of great media attention; the prosecutor is a religious reactionary who is planning to use the trial for boosting his upcoming candidacy for the U.S. Presidency, and the defense lawyer is a smart man of liberal ideas. Based on a 1955 play which was inspired by events which took place in 1925.

Appraisal: This is the second film that I see based on this play. I can't remember much of the earlier one, except that I liked it. I liked this one too, it is entertaining and the two main actors are terrific.

Rating: 56

Exils (2004)

English title: Exiles.

Synopsis: A guy and a girl travel from their native France to Algeria in search of their roots.

Appraisal: Existential tourism at its dullest. Saved from total worthlessness by some bits of music and dance.

Rating: 22

Return to Oz (1985)

Synopsis: Dorothy has had trouble sleeping due to recurrent memories of Oz. Her parents think her mind is ill and take her to see a doctor. He keeps her in his clinic where he intends to subject her to his newly developed shock threrapy. Dorothy escapes with the help of another girl and is taken back to Oz, where she finds out that the Nome King has turned her old friends into stone, and keeps Ozma, the rightful heir to the throne of Oz, imprisoned. Based on the 2nd and 3rd books in the Oz series (1st ed. 1904 and 1907) by L. Frank Baum.

Appraisal: Fantasy for kids which has many characteristics which make it enjoyable by adults as well. I especially liked the early section in the clinic and the middle section with princess Mombi (the hall full of heads is amazing), both of which have an eerie atmosphere. Later on, there are several highlights, including the stop-motion animation with rocks. I have some reservations about the plot (and that probably goes for The Wizard of Oz too) which is often nondescript kidstuff, but overall this is a film worth seeing.

Rating: 59

Four Brothers (2005)

Synopsis: An old lady is killed during what appears to be an armed robbery at a liquor store. Her four adoptive sons reunite for the funeral and then try to find out who killed her. It turns out it wasn't a simple random killing.

Appraisal: Easy to watch (most of it anyway), and with good action sequences. It mimics the style of some early 70's films which were generally referred to as blaxpoitation (here it is a mixed-race story though). On the downside, it is too long and the plot is not something to think too hard about.

Rating: 44

Die xue jie tou (1990)

English title: Bullet in the Head.

Synopsis: Three friends living in Hong Kong go to Vietnam with contraband, which gets blown up by bombs - the place is in a civil war (it's the early 60's I think). They decide to rob a local mobster of his gold, and also rescue a beautiful lady singer who is being kept as a slave by said mobster. Later they are chased by the vietcongs.

Appraisal: Both action and melodrama are hilariously over the top, and the plot is in the usual dumbed down manner of HK movies. On the other hand, the director knows how to compose vigorous dramatic images and also how to direct action.

Rating: 40

Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel (2003)

English title: The Story of the Weeping Camel.

Synopsis: The film shows, in documentary fashion, the everyday life of a family of nomadic sheep herders in Mongolia. One important "subplot" is that of a newborn camel who is rejected by his mother, and the efforts done by the people in order to make her accept her son.

Appraisal: I wasn't in the right frame of mind to watch this film today, my mind being a little taken by other thoughts. I watched it anyway - not with 100% of my attention, though. I am afraid I must confess that I was a little bored at some instances where the film seemed a bit rarefied and trivial. Nevertheless, the instances where it gains some density [e.g. the rejected camel subplot; the melancholic surrender to television] are well worth watching. At any rate, the sheer authenticity of it is already something to be valued.

Rating: 51

Après la vie (2002)

English titles: After the Life; Trilogy: Three.

Synopsis: A cop has a drug addict wife; he supplies her with drug. An escaped terrorist is seeking out the drug lord to kill him; the drug lord tells the cop to kill said terrorist or else he will not continue to supply him with the drug. Concurrently to that, he agrees to spy on a man at the request of the latter's wife, with whom he falls in love.

Appraisal: Mediocre drama. It is the last installment in the trilogy of intersecting films which also comprises Cavale (2002) and Un couple épatant (2002).

Rating: 35

Les dévaliseurs nocturnes (1904)

Synopsis: This short film is about 3 minutes long, and shows what happens when two thieves break into a house to rob it. The owner, which is inside at the time, goes out to warn the police. During his absence they rob his valuables and, when he returns with the cop, they flee through the window and steal his bicycle to escape.

Appraisal: Interesting early film, which features some nice trickery (at least I think it is trickery) of two men riding the same bike.

Un couple épatant (2002)

English titles: An Amazing Couple; Trilogy: Two.

Synopsis (mild SPOILERS): Alain finds that he has a heart problem and schedules a surgery. Although his doctor assures him it is not something serious, his hypochondria makes his fear of dying escalate. He hides his condition from his wife and thus is obliged to tell a lie to her in order to justify his coming home late on the day of his medical appointment. She easily discovers he is lying and suspects he has a secret; she asks a policeman acquaintance to spy on him. When Alain finds that he is being spied on, he in turn begins to suspect foul play from his wife and begins to concoct the wildest theories to explain her behavior.

Appraisal: Mediocre comedy. This film and Cavale (2002) have intersecting plots.

Rating: 35

Nanny McPhee (2005)

Synopsis: A father has successively employed all the nannies in the agency, yet not one of them has been able to control his undisciplined children. When things look hopeless, a supernatural nanny presents herself at his doorstep who promises to be the solution to his problem. Based on the Nurse Matilda series of novels (1st ed. 1964, 1967 and 1974) by Christianna Brand.

Appraisal: Not too bad as light entertainment, and boasting excellent production design and cinematography.

Rating: 45

Cavale (2002)

English names: On the Run; Trilogy: One.

Synopsis: A terrorist escapes from prison and, while trying to avoid being caught by the police, seeks revenge against the ones who betrayed him.

Appraisal: Mediocre thriller.

Rating: 35

Muriel ou Le temps d'un retour (1963)

English title: Muriel, or the Time of Return.

Synopsis: Hélène lives in Boulogne-sur-mer, a coastal town in Northern France, with her stepson Bernard, who has just returned from the Algerian war. She invites Alphonse, with whom she had an affair in the past, and who claims to be a military who served in Algeria, to visit her. He brings Françoise, whom he introduces as his niece. Bernard has a fiancée in town, whom he has never introduced to Hélène and whose name he claims to be Muriel.

Appraisal: Complex in plot and in form, and possibly with deeper layers not completely well absorbed by me on this first viewing. My superficial understanding allows me to acknowledge its formal merits, as well as its rigor in character delineation; more than that will have to wait until further viewings.

Rating: 65

5 Branded Women (1960)

Synopsis: 1943. In German-occupied Yugoslavia 5 women who were accused of having sexual relations with a German officer are banned from their city and later join the very same resistance group which condemned them. Based on a novel by Ugo Pirro (1st ed. 1959).

Appraisal: Somewhat implausible story which furthermore provides little excitement during its development.

Rating: 37

Man from Del Rio (1956)

Synopsis: A man arrives in a small town with the purpose of killing a gunfighter who had killed his friends. He does that and is subsequently hired as a sheriff in the hope he will rid the town of the troublemaking saloon owner.

Appraisal: Surprisingly effective little western, well acted and with an absolutely stunning performance by Quinn. The ending is unacceptable though.

Rating: 55

World Trade Center (2006)

Synopsis: After the attack to the World Trade Center in 2001, two rescuing cops get trapped under one of the collapsed buildings' debris.

Appraisal: The first half hour is pretty good. The rest of it is boring and therefore unaffecting. The cinematography is excellent though.

Rating: 33

Prime (2005)

Synopsis: A 37 year old divorcée begins dating a 23 year old guy without knowing that he is her therapist's son.

Appraisal: Consistently boring comedy.

Rating: 24

Hooligans (2005)

Alternate title: Green Street Hooligans.

Synopsis: A guy is unfairly expelled from Harvard and goes to England where his sister lives. Over there he gets to know some hooligans and joins their "firm".

Appraisal: This film is quite absurd; on the same subject, watch The Firm (1988) (TV) instead.

Rating: 29

Machuca (2004)

Synopsis: It tells about the friendship of two boys from different social classes in a school in Chile in the year of the military coup.

Appraisal: Not especially remarkable for originality or excellence in acting or mise-en-scene, yet mostly honest and effective in a simple way. Notice the reference to The Lone Ranger and his friend Tonto as a metaphor for the film's main characters' friendship. Notice also the similarity (and also the differences) with Au revoir, les enfants (1987).

Rating: 54

Factotum (2005)

Synopsis: Hank is a struggling writer who lives off odd jobs which he can't keep due mostly to his drinking addiction; he hooks up with a promiscuous nymphomaniac. Based on a novel by Charles Bukowski (1st ed. 1975).

Appraisal: What does he write about all the time, this guy? His life, evidently, since he is Bukowski's alter ego and this is the third film I see which is either written by him or based on his (semi?)-autobiographical writings. A guy who writes about a guy who writes about...(continue ad infinitum). The first third of this movie is fairly entertaining. The rest of it is not. Taylor has a lot of make-up on. Dillon tries to look like a tough loser. His character punches a guy in the face at the race tracks, ostensibly because his girlfriend incited him to; or just as likely because he thought it would give him a good thing to write about.

Rating: 36

Dare mo shiranai (2004)

English title: Nobody Knows.

Synopsis: A single mother lives with her four children in a small apartment. She works during the day and won't let them go to school; she tells them not to leave the apartment, except for the eldest one, who is encharged of doing the shopping; he is often left in charge of the smaller ones during her frequent (and increasingly longer) absences.

Appraisal: This is a correct piece of filmmaking; the acting is uniformly good, which, considering that most of them are children, points to a superb job of directing them. The only problem - or rather limitation, since 'problem' is perhaps too strong a word - is that the whole development and outcome is quite devoid of surprises, except for one or two main plot turns which you probably saw coming if you read about the movie in advance. Also, the stylistic 'coating' can get a little overdone at times, with a slight excess of contemplative scenes duly scored with a melancholy piano tune.

Note on 2010, October 02. While reading about Our Mother's House, I realized the plot similarity between the two films; a web search on both titles yields another similar film: The Cement Garden.

Rating: 64

Waiting (2004)

Short film about a high school student and his history project. Within its framework of realism, it is remarkable. It may be viewed online here.

The Case of the Stuttering Pig (1937)

Short animation. Ugly and uninspired except for the final metajoke; in fact, everything preceding it seems to exist merely for laying the path for said ending.

Fong Sai Yuk (1993)

English titles: The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk; The Legend.

Synopsis: In a Chinese village, a land owner tries to buy every property, thus garnering the dislike of the population. Fong Sai Yuk, a young villager, meets a beautiful young woman and falls in love with her without knowing that she is that land owner's daughter. A tournament is being held by the land owner the winner of which will win his daughter's hand in marriage. Every contestant must fight against the land owner's wife, who is an eximious kung fu fighter. Sai Yuk signs up but lets her win because he doesn't know the real identity of the promised bride. Sai Yuk's mother decides to sign up too, so that she can restore the family's honor; she fights in male disguise, and wins, but the land owner's wife falls in love with her. Sai Yuk's father is a member of the resistance against the Manchu emperor, and soon they will all be chased by the emperor's allied governor.

Appraisal: This is not the lavish epic I was expecting, but a comedy in the same primitive, puerile mold which became a trademark of Hong Kong cinema. One aspect of it that drew my attention is the active role which women play in fights.

Rating: 36

Not Without My Daughter (1991)

Synopsis: Shortly after the Iranian revolution, an American woman goes with her husband to Iran on a visit to his relatives. Upon arrival she realizes that his family is comprised of religious fanatics; as time passes, his behavior changes and soon he tells her that he plans to stay in Iran for good. She wants to go back to America, but he won't let her take their daughter with her.

Appraisal: This has no higher artistic ambitions than telling, as straightforwardly as possible, a story that is not devoid of suspense and information; at that, it succeeds.

Rating: 51

A Perfect Couple (1979)

Synopsis (very complete with juicy SPOILERS): Alex is a widower living with his father and siblings in a big house. Sheila is a singer in a band. The two meet through a dating agency. Their first date is a disaster - it rains and his car's sun roof won't shut - but in the end Alex impresses her with a big kiss in the mouth. They set up a second date, but she gets held up in a rehearsal and tells the parking lot guy to warn the "guy in a gray cadillac" that she will be late; since he is driving an orange car that night, he is never notified and waits outside her apartment building. When she arrives with her friends, he is fast asleep behind the wheel and doesn't see her. They later accuse each other of standing the other up; they have a big fight and split. Nevertheless Alex is still adamant in seeing her, though she has already set up a date with someone else. Alex shows up and has a fight with her new date. Sheila hits him in the head with a fire poker, rendering him unconscious. She takes him to the hospital where he gets stitches. She is sorry and they go back in good terms. One night, however, the two of them are in bed in her house when her roommates - who are the other members in her band - unexpectedly return. She explains to him that the two female singers in the band are a homosexual couple, and that one of them is pregnant of the male singer, a homosexual himself ("they were drunk"). He suggests they should leave and calls her friends "freaks". They go to his house and there they are caught in bed by his whole family, who starts an outcry of indignation. She gets very upset and says that they are the freaks, not her friends. She leaves in a state of rage, shouting "weirdos" to all the people in the house. He then decides to see other people and sets up a dinner date with a girl; afterwards she invites him to her house, and once there she leaves him alone in the living room for some instants; he starts noticing several kinky sex objects and literature, gets scared and leaves before she returns. One day at the decoration shop at which he works - which belongs to his father - a strange couple - who keeps showing up throughout the movie and whose function is to bring Alex and Sheila together, though they do not seem to be conscious of it - leaves a magazine with a story about Sheila's band's tour. He takes that as a sign of fate and decides to go after her. He arrives just after their bus has left and chases it, making it stop. He then talks to her and they make up, but the bus leaves with him still on it and thus he is forced to accompany them on the tour. After a few days on the road, he gets fed up with the lifestyle of the people around him and decides to go back to his family. Arriving there, he has a shock: his sister - who had a heart condition - has died and the funeral wake is taking place at that precise instant. He tries to talk to his relatives but is told that his father has disowned him and won't speak to him again. Next we see him packing his things, and then it cuts to a concert; we see Sheila walking towards where he is sitting; she sits beside him and they kiss.

Appraisal: Amiable romantic comedy which apparently is trying to prove that love can happen between two people with absolutely nothing in common; it is quite diluted dramatically and not really striving for strong comicity, and resents being repeatedly disrupted by mediocre songs.

Rating: 37

Incident at Loch Ness (2004)

Synopsis: A documentary crew makes a film about the Loch Ness monster, but the director has one film in mind and the producer has another, entirely different, one.

Appraisal: Mockumentary that has some really funny moments and is quite watchable in general.

Rating: 58

Le petit Prince a dit (1992)

English title: And the Little Prince Said.

Synopsis (SPOILERS): A separated couple has a 10 year old daughter. An exam reveals that she has brain cancer. The father immediately decides to take her on a trip with just the two of them. After some days they come back to stay with the child's mother. His new girlfriend is staying with them also. Unlike him, she thinks the child should be submitted to treatment right away; her dissention soon leads to animosity and she leaves.

Appraisal: This is a film that deals in extreme sorrow; it's not for everyone, I guess. I watched it out of my methodical filmviewing compulsion, which by definition precludes any discrimination of subject (until further notice). Objectively speaking (if that is remotely feasible) it is not particularly remarkable, although it visibly strives for honesty. One problem perhaps is that, while trying to convey the father's feeling of desperation through his actions, it exaggerates things a little; thus, we witness him frantically take the girl out of the clinic into the rain, and then, in an unbelievable scene, overwork her insanely in a swimming pool, etc etc. I think many people will like this film better than I have; they will probably say that I am unfamiliar with human behavior in such extreme situations. Anyway, by the film's end I was somewhat moved, not knowing if by the story or by the beautiful music. PS: I missed around 30% of the dialogue due to having watched it without subtitles.

Rating: 44

Hitch (2005/I)

Synopsis: Hitch is a "date doctor": he is hired by guys to set up encounters in such a way that they appear to be fortuitous to the respective girls. He also investigates the habits of the "target" and advises the guy as to how to behave in a date. He is himself unengaged, that is, until he finds a beautiful gossip columnist who is wary of romantic relationships. He uses his expertise to win her, but a misunderstanding arises giving her the false idea that he assisted a don-juan in a date with her best friend thus tricking the latter into a one night stand.

Appraisal: Lame romantic comedy which is too long to boot.

Rating: 18

Ça brûle (2006)

English title: On Fire.

Synopsis: An adolescent girl in a small French town develops a crush for a married fireman who helped her after she fell from her horse.

Appraisal: Several signs of talent are shown, particularly in the authenticity with which adolescent behavior is depicted; also, the fire scenes are impressively convincing. It is ultimately marred by its excessive length and defficient camerawork, particularly in the first half, where everything is shot at close range and the camera meanders through the details of things in a pointless and distracting manner.

Rating: 43

Maranhão 66 (1966)

Short (10 minutes) documentary which alternates scenes of a State governor's speech at his entrance into office with scenes of that State's misery. Brilliant, and an important document about Brazil's chronic social injustice and how nothing ever really changes in this "entranced land", to use the words which name the film ensuing this one in this filmmaker's career .

Bad Santa (2003)

Synopsis: A Santa impersonator named Willie and his dwarf assistant rob every store at which they work. Willie is an alcoholic who doesn't care a bit about kids; a lonely boy who is constantly bullied by other kids and lives alone with his grandmother starts following him around.

Appraisal: Comedy that starts funny and ends up congenially schmaltzy.

Rating: 62

Year of the Comet (1992)

Synopsis: A wine buyer's young daughter goes to Scotland to assess the contents of a deceased man's cellar; the mansion in which it sits is currently occupied by thugs who are after a formula for rejuvenation. There, she finds a very rare bottle. A young man who represents her father's client soon joins her and a conflictuous relationship develops between the two, leading to a romantic tryst among the dangers of perilous chases.

Appraisal: Inanely plotted romantic adventure which is nevertheless somehow watchable due to a fair degree of self-mocking, and authentic location shooting.

Rating: 31

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)

Synopsis: A golf player who has been a recluse ever since he returned from the war is summoned to participate in a tournament aimed at promoting an ailing golf club which belongs to said player's ex-wife. His mysterious caddy's philosophical remarks will set him in the right track for becoming once again a winner.

Appraisal: Obviously silly and suffering from the inherent dullness of golf spectacles, I guess it will be more palatable to golf practitioners or connoisseurs. At any rate, it has a residual value for being an antiquated oddity of sorts.

Rating: 31

Serenity (2005)

Synopsis (SPOILERS): In the future, humans have travelled out of the Earth and populated other planets. A central government imposes its rules upon all of them, but some are not inclined to obey. A young girl who does not accept the current form of government and has psychic powers is kept in a laboratory and subjected to experiments. She is rescued by her brother, and then both join a group of rebels in a spaceship. They are chased by a ruthless government agent, who wants the girl back; apparently she is extremely dangerous. She somehow remembers the name Miranda which seems to be very important; it turns out to be the name of a planet. The rebels decide to go over there to see what is wrong, but in order to reach the planet they have to cross a region which is controlled by a race of cannibals. They successfully perform the crossing and arrive at the planet, only to discover that everyone there has died due to having inhaled a substance which was meant to calm people down.

Appraisal: Nondescript sci-fi adventure, with a weak plot and a TV-like style.

Rating: 19

Six Days Seven Nights (1998)

Synopsis: A guy and his girlfriend go on a vacation in the South Seas and there she receives a call from her boss who urges her to fly to Tahiti to do some photos; on the way over, her plane is caught by a storm and it has to make an emergency landing on an uninhabited island. She and the pilot must try to survive there while they await to be rescued. Meanwhile, back in the hotel, her boyfriend is getting really close to the pilot's girlfriend.

Appraisal: Harmless romantic comedy, which doesn't take too many risks, yet doesn't fail to entertain.

Rating: 50

Ask the Dust (2006)

Synopsis: A struggling writer in Los Angeles in the 30's gets involved with two women, of Mexican and Jewish origins respectively.

Appraisal: Its egocentric narrative, heavily theatrical at times, couldn't find a way into me.

Rating: 21

Whisky (2004)

Synopsis: A small industrialist asks an employee of his to pose as his wife during his estranged brother's visit for a ceremony in the honor of their late mother.

Appraisal: Very grim, very understated - I had to watch it twice to notice some important details - and doubtlessly accomplished. It is good to see that the Argentinian cinematical boom has spread to neighboring Uruguay.

Rating: 63

Glauber o Filme, Labirinto do Brasil (2003)

I could not have passed on this documentary about one of the better known Brazilian filmmakers; unfortunately it is not very good, as I somehow had predicted, including much pointless footage of his funeral and even of a concert in tribute to him. Also unfortunately, some of the people who knew Rocha are dead, a fact which reduced the number of potential interviewees. Anyway, and this may sound heretical, I think Rocha is generally overrated, though I haven't seen all of his films yet (the yet-to-see ones are Câncer, Der Leone Have Sept Cabeças, and every short except Pátio). Here, the documentary maker adopts a worshipping attitude which is mainly visible in the captions, but it is not hard to learn about Rocha's true personal and professional characteristics through the statements of his friends and colleagues.

Rating: 46