The Damned (1963)

Synopsis: A government project involving children is taking place on an English coastal town. A middle-aged American in the company of a young woman stray themselves into the project site while on the run from the gang led by the young woman's brother.

Appraisal: The sci-fi aspect of it is silly and dated, and a historical reminder of how scared the world was at that time (the film was completed in 1961 and shelved for two years); it is nevertheless a quite enjoyable spectacle for its use of landscape, adequate script and professional acting. It famously anticipates A Clockwork Orange (1971) in some early scenes and, perhaps not as famously, borrows a plot element from Scarface (1932).

Rating: 58

I Capture the Castle (2003)

Based on a novel by Dodie Smith (1st ed, 1948).

Synopsis: Two sisters live in a castle with their father, who is a writer with a block, and their stepmother. They make the acquaintance of two American brothers who, it turns out, are the owners of the castle they live in. The older sister is desperate to get a rich husband.

Appraisal: While the text is somewhat banal, it has sufficiently well-defined characters to draw one's attention, and is well directed; also, the two leading ladies are quite lovely and play their parts well.

Rating: 48

Domino (2005)

Synopsis: A young woman with an upper middle class standing decides to be a bounty hunter. She and her team get involved in a scam involving the robbery of an armored car containing some Mafia money.

Appraisal: Adolescent trifle which abuses of camera gimmicks and image filters.

Rating: 39

American Dreamz (2006)

Synopsis: An Iraqi music-loving terrorist goes to America to live with his relatives; he ends up participating in a TV talent contest show; his main rival is a greedy unprincipled singer whose ex-boyfriend enlisted in the Army after she broke up with him. The U.S. president himself is one of the show's jurors.

Appraisal: Nice to watch due to the eventful and ingenious plot, and also due to the competent staging and acting. However, it's less funny and smart than it was supposed to be.

Rating: 52

Cautiva (2003)

English title: Captive.

Synopsis: In Argentina, an adolescent girl is told by a judge that blood tests indicate that she is really the daughter of a couple who was imprisoned during the dictatorship and then went missing. She was unrightfully given as a baby to the couple who raised her as a daughter. Now her biological grandmother requests her custody.

Appraisal: Exemplarily correct, extremely well directed, with a uniformly perfect cast, but, on the other hand, very predictable, and posing no challenge whatsoever for the viewer.

Rating: 52

The Break-Up (2006)

Synopsis: A couple separates but must go on sharing the same apartment for a period.

Appraisal: It has more elaboration than usual, with quirky secondary characters for example, but is ultimately contrived and predictable, with little to maintain the interest in the second half.

Rating: 41

Dirty Work (1998)

Synopsis (spoilers): Two friends start a company which provides revenge for a fee. They expect to make $50,000 which they intend to use for bribing a surgeon into moving a person to the top of the organ receiving queue. They get involved with a fraudulent real estate mogul who doesn't pay them for a job they did. It consisted of tearing down an apartment building. They team up with the former tenants in a plan to ruin said mogul. They finally receive the expected amount through blackmailing.

Appraisal: Apparently this film was met with some rejection which I suppose had to do with its somewhat immature sense of humor. Anyway, its script displays some amount of cleverness, and I actually found some of the stuff funny to some extent.

Note: The film's basic idea is obviously based on the lyrics to the song by Young/Young/Scott which is played in it and which was first released in 1976.

Rating: 44

Je vous aime (1980)

English title: I Love You All.

Synopsis: A woman invites her past lovers to a country house, and remembers each relationship.

Appraisal: This film is like a long joke without a punchline. For those who relish watching famous French stars go through different emotional states this may be attractive.

Rating: 15

The Terminal (2004)

Synopsis: A man visiting the U.S. is confined to an airport because his country suffers a military coup and its new government is not recognized by the U.S. 

Appraisal: This is my second viewing, but only partial this time; it was enough to ascertain that I had given it an excessively low grade. I still don't like it much but it has its moments. 

Rating: 38 (up from 25)

Sphere (1998)

Synopsis: A group of scientists is summoned to investigate a strange ship found in the bottom of the ocean.

Appraisal (spoilers): The theme of wishes coming true in a secluded place has been tackled with in Lem's Solaris (and in two films from that novel). The approach here is different, this film is a thriller. But the result is very lame throughout, really painful to watch, totally unsatisfying from the science-fiction angle, and ridiculous from the dramatic one.

Note: I watched most of it with Portuguese dubbing.

Rating: 10

Note: I watched it again on September 14, 2018. Read the new review here.

Chasers (1994)

Synopsis: A naval cadet is assigned to escort, with a grumpy officer, an attractive female prisoner to jail. She repeatedly tries to escape.

Appraisal: Strictly formulaic comedy which is not very sophisticated, yet provides some amount of entertainment.

Rating: 38

Free Zone (2005)

Synopsis: An American woman breaks up with her fiancé while in Israel, and, not having anybody to be with her at that moment, asks her cab driver to allow her to accompany her on a trip to Jordan where she (the driver) intends to collect a debt.

Appraisal: Half-assed concoction about three characters who are circumstantially brought together, and each of whom is in some sort of personal crisis; the metaphorical aspect is undeniable, each character standing for their respective country, but not especially enlightening regarding the Palestinian conflict. One excellent performance (the actress who plays 'Hana') does not save a film which suffers from poor concept and poor execution.

Rating: 21

Salinui chueok (2003)

English title: Memories of Murder.

Synopsis: In a small town, a serial killer and rapist is killing several women. A local detective tries to pin the murders on the village idiot, to no avail. A detective from the capital has come to help find the killer.

Appraisal: Derivative police drama, that is conducted with a certain amount of competence, but has not nearly enough qualities that would justify the buzz surrounding it.

Rating: 49

Primo Basílio (2007)

Synopsis: A married woman has an affair with her cousin and is then blackmailed by her maid. Based on a novel by Eça de Queirós (1st ed. 1878).

Appraisal: Stiffly and tritely staged and frequently ridiculous. It distinctly goes for the softcore porn aesthetics, which is quite at odds with the subjacent drama but will undoubtedly garner a few - correction: a lot! - more bucks at the box office. The plot, which was originally set in the 19th century in the source novel, doesn't adapt entirely well to the early 1960's.

Rating: 15

La raison du plus faible (2006)

Synopsis: Some long-time friends meet an ex-convict and one of them proposes him to help them rob the money from a steel factory.

Appraisal: Mediocre heist movie which is predominantly dull.

Rating: 32

3 Strikes (2000)

Synopsis: A second-time felon is about to be released on parole. A third conviction would mean a minimum of 25 years in prison. He asks a friend to pick him up on his release day but said friend cannot make it so he sends a third person, who is driving a stolen car. The police orders them to pull over, but the driver shoots at the cops instead. The protagonist escapes the crime scene but is videotaped. The police looks for him all over.

Appraisal: The plot doesn't make much sense (1. the police has no grounds to incriminate him; 2. he has no reason not to turn himself in; and a not worth mentioning etc.). The development is unimaginative and so is the sense of humor; the result is just barely watchable. Note: I have seen a mutilated version; apparently some nudity and sex scenes have been cut off, and all the curses and fuck-related words have been silenced.

Rating: 31

El bonaerense (2002)

Synopsis: A young locksmith is arrested for a robbery to which he unwittingly assisted. He is subsequently released under the condition that he moves to Buenos Aires and joins the police force.

Appraisal (spoilers): A lot of things doesn't make any sense to me in this film. The point of departure already raises serious doubts: a gang that calls a locksmith to open a safe for them? Never heard of this, aren't they afraid that the guy will tell on them? And then, the local police sends the guy to join the police in another town, but, again, what's the explanation for this? Later, when the guy complains that he isn't receiving any salary, his boss demands that he be patient; the boss subsequently talks to another employee and magically all is solved. What is going on? They didn't want to pay him or just forgot? And what about the scene where 'Polaco' is shot by 'Gallo' and 'Zapa' is wounded so that he will look like a hero? Is there a possible way of explaining it? Wouldn't you think that 'Gallo' would want the money for himself, being corrupt and all? He certainly wouldn't get the chance to do that after that whole set-up, as everyone would want to know where the money in the safe was. Anyway, am I the only one asking these questions? Apparently the kind of audience for this film is not the inquisitive one. On the plus side, the film has some competence in the merely directorial sense, with actors quite at ease in their roles and an atmosphere of corruption and doom being established with some success.

Rating: 35

License to Wed (2007)

Synopsis: A man and a woman decide to get married but their minister demands that they go through a course to see if they are fit to wed.

Appraisal: Uninspired and more than occasionally annoying. Good acting.

Rating: 11