Synopsis: A man returns to his hometown after a long absence. He is fetching his long-time girlfriend whom he intends to marry against her uncle's will. He suddenly finds himself in a tight spot as he is framed for said uncle's murder.
Appraisal: Watchable thriller, which is mechanically structured around establishing sympathy early on (toward a random acquaintance the hero makes at a casino), then creating tension with the fact that the hero is already engaged, then restablishing the viewer's shattered hopes through the revelations of the plot. The ending is abrupt.
Rating: 35
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Dallas 362 (2003)
Synopsis: Young man with inseparable friend gets often into barfights. His mom's boyfriend is a psychotherapist and agrees to treat him.
Appraisal: Psychological drama with a heist subplot which is not really believable (but that's a minor issue). As has been pointed out elsewhere, it borrows several plot elements from Good Will Hunting. It has some interesting ideas, but not many surprises nor memorable scenes, nor sequences, nor performances, except the leading one, which is admittedly remarkable.
Rating: 43
Appraisal: Psychological drama with a heist subplot which is not really believable (but that's a minor issue). As has been pointed out elsewhere, it borrows several plot elements from Good Will Hunting. It has some interesting ideas, but not many surprises nor memorable scenes, nor sequences, nor performances, except the leading one, which is admittedly remarkable.
Rating: 43
Monday, November 26, 2007
Separate Lies (2005)
Synopsis: A man is fatally hit by a car while riding his bicycle. This accident stirs the lives of a couple, exposing some lies and forcing those people into reevaluating things. (Based on the novel "A Way Through the Wood" by Nigel Balchin, 1st ed. 1951.)
Appraisal: This is a typical novelistic film. I suppose the defining line is the one which character James says to his maid: "We are all wreckers. Our lives are made with choices, and those choices inevitably hurt someone" (or something close to that). The film takes this as a theme and develops it within each character's story. It's all done with intelligence, and good performances from everyone; however, it's not very exciting, to be honest, and the last act seemed particularly unnecessary.
Rating: 59
Appraisal: This is a typical novelistic film. I suppose the defining line is the one which character James says to his maid: "We are all wreckers. Our lives are made with choices, and those choices inevitably hurt someone" (or something close to that). The film takes this as a theme and develops it within each character's story. It's all done with intelligence, and good performances from everyone; however, it's not very exciting, to be honest, and the last act seemed particularly unnecessary.
Rating: 59
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Synopsis: A witness to a murder in Hawaii is convinced to testify in Los Angeles. The gangster who committed it fills the plane he is traveling in with snakes.
Appraisal: Crude entertainment.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: Crude entertainment.
Rating: 39
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Synopsis: In 1994, in civil-war-ravaged Rwanda, a man saves the lives of thousands by sheltering them at the hotel at which he works as the manager.
Appraisal: While it is clear that international politics is not a simple theme, its subtheme of military intervention is specially complicated. This film, however, puts it in a light that makes it clear as water: people are dying, so someone must do something. To a background of external turmoil and conflict, we see a personal trajectory which is virtually free from those: this man does what he has to, and that's that. The film's plot is eventful, and flows in a crescendo of tension and pace; it probably will put some political awareness into some minds, but people who have some insight into the philosophy of spectacle will always wonder how much of it is conscience appeasing as opposed to awakening.
Rating: 61
Appraisal: While it is clear that international politics is not a simple theme, its subtheme of military intervention is specially complicated. This film, however, puts it in a light that makes it clear as water: people are dying, so someone must do something. To a background of external turmoil and conflict, we see a personal trajectory which is virtually free from those: this man does what he has to, and that's that. The film's plot is eventful, and flows in a crescendo of tension and pace; it probably will put some political awareness into some minds, but people who have some insight into the philosophy of spectacle will always wonder how much of it is conscience appeasing as opposed to awakening.
Rating: 61
The Woods (2006)
Synopsis: A girl is sent to a boarding school near a forest, and witnesses strange occurrences there. It may have to do with witchcraft.
Appraisal: Wow, this is really silly. Three great young actresses, though: Agnes Bruckner, Rachel Nichols, and Lauren Birkell. And some interesting camera angles and other assorted directorial tricks. The chromatic manipulations are unpleasant and don't add to the movie in any way. Apparently, the film bears some similarities with Suspiria (1977); I haven't seen that film, so I can't vouch for that information. An earlier precedent is undoubtedly a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Rating: 21
Appraisal: Wow, this is really silly. Three great young actresses, though: Agnes Bruckner, Rachel Nichols, and Lauren Birkell. And some interesting camera angles and other assorted directorial tricks. The chromatic manipulations are unpleasant and don't add to the movie in any way. Apparently, the film bears some similarities with Suspiria (1977); I haven't seen that film, so I can't vouch for that information. An earlier precedent is undoubtedly a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Rating: 21
Friday, November 23, 2007
Quilombo (1984)
Synopsis (spoilers): In the 17th century, in Brazil, the black slaves who escaped from the farms established free communities in forest areas. The biggest of them was Palmares. Its first great leader was named Ganga Zumba. Later, another man, who had been kidnapped from the quilombo when he was a child and then raised by a priest, escapes again and returns to Palmares to be the successor of Ganga Zumba; he is given the name Zumbi. Ganga Zumba negotiates peace with the white men, and moves with those loyal to him to a new area established by the white men, where they would live in isolation; Zumbi and his followers remain at Palmares.
Appraisal: I disliked its stylistic approach, which mixed action and drama with lots of dancing and partying, apparently going for some exotic appeal; I particularly detested the insertion of songs, and very insipid ones at that. Other than that, the movie has a great story, which is told in a rather static way, yet is given some thrust by the vivaciousness of most of the acting.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: I disliked its stylistic approach, which mixed action and drama with lots of dancing and partying, apparently going for some exotic appeal; I particularly detested the insertion of songs, and very insipid ones at that. Other than that, the movie has a great story, which is told in a rather static way, yet is given some thrust by the vivaciousness of most of the acting.
Rating: 39
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
Synopsis: A cop's mother comes to visit him and begins interfering with his personal life and with his work.
Appraisal: This is a brilliant joke, competently executed, but way too stretched to fit one and a half hour of film. The comicity gets diluted by its repetition; there is also too much time devoted to a romantic subplot.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: This is a brilliant joke, competently executed, but way too stretched to fit one and a half hour of film. The comicity gets diluted by its repetition; there is also too much time devoted to a romantic subplot.
Rating: 39
Thursday, November 22, 2007
The Squaw Man (1914)
Synopsis: A man takes the blame for an embezzlement committed by his gambling-addicted brother. He flees England to the U.S. where he decides to go West. There he meets a Native-American woman .
Appraisal: A competent film within the range of its primitive grammar, which excludes practically all camera movement and of course sound. The story is filmically rendered in an intelligent way, so as to make it quite absorbing and suspenseful.
Appraisal: A competent film within the range of its primitive grammar, which excludes practically all camera movement and of course sound. The story is filmically rendered in an intelligent way, so as to make it quite absorbing and suspenseful.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Dying Gaul (2005)
Synopsis: A screenwriter gets involved with a studio executive and his wife.
Appraisal: This film conceals behind all its implausibilities an obnoxiousness that would be harder to endure were it not graced by inspired -- and close to miraculous, given the ultimate absurdity of their parts -- performances by Scott and Sarsgaard; Clarkson is fine too.
Rating: 27
Appraisal: This film conceals behind all its implausibilities an obnoxiousness that would be harder to endure were it not graced by inspired -- and close to miraculous, given the ultimate absurdity of their parts -- performances by Scott and Sarsgaard; Clarkson is fine too.
Rating: 27
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Brothers of the Head (2005)
Synopsis: Two Siamese twins become rock stars. (Based on a novel by Brian Aldiss, 1st edition 1977.)
Appraisal: It's in the so-called faux-documentary style, ably done. There is a subplot about a third fetus which goes nowhere (is it more developed in the novel? it seems completely stupid...). The Ono-Lennon-McCartney affair is the basis for the Laura Ashworth subplot. Siamese twins have inspired a streak of recent films, this being the third one, as far as I know (Twin Falls Idaho and Stuck on You are the others). This theme adapts well to the rock-and-roll milieu, not just because the latter is a freak show, as the film's tagline implies, but primarily because the phenomenon of conjoined twins is fictionally construable as a metaphor for narcissism.
Rating: 54
Appraisal: It's in the so-called faux-documentary style, ably done. There is a subplot about a third fetus which goes nowhere (is it more developed in the novel? it seems completely stupid...). The Ono-Lennon-McCartney affair is the basis for the Laura Ashworth subplot. Siamese twins have inspired a streak of recent films, this being the third one, as far as I know (Twin Falls Idaho and Stuck on You are the others). This theme adapts well to the rock-and-roll milieu, not just because the latter is a freak show, as the film's tagline implies, but primarily because the phenomenon of conjoined twins is fictionally construable as a metaphor for narcissism.
Rating: 54
Gone Fishin' (1997)
Synopsis: Two childhood friends go out every year fishing together on their vacation. This year they are competing in a tournament. The problem is that they are chronically disaster-prone. They cross paths with a criminal who marries widows and robs them (and has committed one murder). He steals their car and from then on the vacationing duo and the criminal will alternately chase each other.
Appraisal: I have watched this without subtitles and thus missed a few lines of dialog. It is a comedy of modest ambitions which delivers a bland yet congenial humor and some good performances (especially the central pair and the boat salesman).
Rating: 39
Appraisal: I have watched this without subtitles and thus missed a few lines of dialog. It is a comedy of modest ambitions which delivers a bland yet congenial humor and some good performances (especially the central pair and the boat salesman).
Rating: 39
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Mary (2005/I)
Synopsis: Several characters' personal dramas are shown, their point of intersection being a film about Jesus where the role of Mary Magdalen in early christianity is given more weight than it traditionally had been up to then. Marie, the actress who plays Mary in that film, is affected by her work in it, and becomes a religious woman. Anthony, the director, is quite enthusiastic about his work, and has fits of egocentrism. Ted, a TV interviewer, is conducting a series of programs about Jesus, and becomes interested in what happened with Marie; his work conflicts with his married life; his wife is pregnant and about to give birth.
Appraisal: A cursory viewing might lead one to believe that it is a collection of stories about characters without much relation among them, and that the theme of the film, which according to its title was meant to be Mary Magdalen, is actually -- perhaps due to an unplanned change, one could surmise -- the more general theme of faith, but addressed in a more or less nonsystematic way. When the film was almost over, however, I was amazed to discover that there is a wealth of meaning and consistency in it that is not outspoken. The film is actually about Mary Magdalen as a symbol for women's role in spirituality, and how it has been systematically erased from the official religion, and, even more, about how precisely their suffering of that suppression relates to that role through the doctrine of forgiveness and self-effacement in christianity. How is that manifested in the movie? I can cite two important instances: first, notice how Ted's wife continually withstands his neglect of her, and continually forgives him ("not seven, but seventy times seven", the Gospel tells us); second, in an emblematic scene, where Marie is called by phone into an interview with Anthony the director, a fact which arouses his wrath -- this clearly parallels the male monopoly of the Church, and the exclusion of the feminine voice. So, this film offers an analysis of the complex role of the sexes in Christendom, which ultimately determined the role of Christendom in the relationship between the sexes. But this film is also, on a perhaps deeper level, about the contradictory character of religions (and ultimately of any ideology). They are born out of the need for new ideas, yet they can only thrive by stifling all competing ideas, both older and newer ones. This is shown in the analysis of the Mary Magdalen issue, how the history of Christendom was made up to conform to a male-dominant worldview; it is also present in a background manner by the display of religious conflicts in the Middle East and in the United States. Whether the filmmaker has achieved a translation of his ideas into a compelling succession of images is something else again; I think he hasn't done such a terrible job in that department, yet I admit that the film is not as strong as its implicit conceptual complexity might suggest.
Rating: 54
Appraisal: A cursory viewing might lead one to believe that it is a collection of stories about characters without much relation among them, and that the theme of the film, which according to its title was meant to be Mary Magdalen, is actually -- perhaps due to an unplanned change, one could surmise -- the more general theme of faith, but addressed in a more or less nonsystematic way. When the film was almost over, however, I was amazed to discover that there is a wealth of meaning and consistency in it that is not outspoken. The film is actually about Mary Magdalen as a symbol for women's role in spirituality, and how it has been systematically erased from the official religion, and, even more, about how precisely their suffering of that suppression relates to that role through the doctrine of forgiveness and self-effacement in christianity. How is that manifested in the movie? I can cite two important instances: first, notice how Ted's wife continually withstands his neglect of her, and continually forgives him ("not seven, but seventy times seven", the Gospel tells us); second, in an emblematic scene, where Marie is called by phone into an interview with Anthony the director, a fact which arouses his wrath -- this clearly parallels the male monopoly of the Church, and the exclusion of the feminine voice. So, this film offers an analysis of the complex role of the sexes in Christendom, which ultimately determined the role of Christendom in the relationship between the sexes. But this film is also, on a perhaps deeper level, about the contradictory character of religions (and ultimately of any ideology). They are born out of the need for new ideas, yet they can only thrive by stifling all competing ideas, both older and newer ones. This is shown in the analysis of the Mary Magdalen issue, how the history of Christendom was made up to conform to a male-dominant worldview; it is also present in a background manner by the display of religious conflicts in the Middle East and in the United States. Whether the filmmaker has achieved a translation of his ideas into a compelling succession of images is something else again; I think he hasn't done such a terrible job in that department, yet I admit that the film is not as strong as its implicit conceptual complexity might suggest.
Rating: 54
My Summer of Love (2004)
Synopsis: An adolescent girl lives with her brother -- who is a religious fanatic -- in the English countryside. An upper-class girl spending her holidays in the vicinity befriends her.
Appraisal: The situations depicted here have a flavor of deja vu; it also has many dead, dull moments, even clocking in at less than one hour and a half. The drama being lived by the main character is not uninteresting in itself, of course, and the film manages to establish a certain amount of empathy for her. The sad thing is that the camerawork is shoddy, ridded in particular with an effect of changing the proximity of objects instantly, an annoying feature which was also present in El abrazo partido (2004).
Rating: 40
Appraisal: The situations depicted here have a flavor of deja vu; it also has many dead, dull moments, even clocking in at less than one hour and a half. The drama being lived by the main character is not uninteresting in itself, of course, and the film manages to establish a certain amount of empathy for her. The sad thing is that the camerawork is shoddy, ridded in particular with an effect of changing the proximity of objects instantly, an annoying feature which was also present in El abrazo partido (2004).
Rating: 40
Miami Vice (2006)
Synopsis: Two Miami police agents go undercover as drug transporters for a big drug dealer. One of them falls in love with the dealer's girlfriend. One of the dealer's underlings suspects of him.
Appraisal: Run-of-the-mill thriller which emulates the aesthetics of commercials for menwear, cars, and perfume for men.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: Run-of-the-mill thriller which emulates the aesthetics of commercials for menwear, cars, and perfume for men.
Rating: 39
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965)
Alternate title spelling: Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster.
Synopsis: A robot astronaut is sent out on a space mission, yet is forced to abandon his ship when it is attacked by aliens who are visiting Earth in search of young women to repopulate their nuclear-war-devastated planet.
Appraisal: No-budget science-fiction, a good portion of which consists of stock footage. The whole thing is quite laughable, due in equal parts to a conscious tongue-in-cheek approach and to the complete inability in giving the least semblance of realism to any of it. Particularly puzzling is the insertion, at a few sequences, of lyrical pop tunes bearing no relation with the predominant mood of the movie.
Rating: 21
Synopsis: A robot astronaut is sent out on a space mission, yet is forced to abandon his ship when it is attacked by aliens who are visiting Earth in search of young women to repopulate their nuclear-war-devastated planet.
Appraisal: No-budget science-fiction, a good portion of which consists of stock footage. The whole thing is quite laughable, due in equal parts to a conscious tongue-in-cheek approach and to the complete inability in giving the least semblance of realism to any of it. Particularly puzzling is the insertion, at a few sequences, of lyrical pop tunes bearing no relation with the predominant mood of the movie.
Rating: 21
Os Paqueras (1969)
English title: The Girl Watchers.
Synopsis: The film narrates the adventures of two womanizer friends, a young one and a middle-aged one. Their friendship is jeopardized when the younger one meets a certain young woman and falls in love with her.
Appraisal (mild spoiler): In spite of the parading of gorgeous women and the chance of seeing glimpses of Rio de Janeiro in the late 60's, this film is mostly dull; some rare distinctive moments can be seen amid the predominantly unimaginative set-pieces, for instance at an interesting scene where a woman and her lover are taken under arrest for adultery (I wonder if this kind of arrest has ever occurred in real life in Brazil) and a crowd outside her building cheers them enthusiastically and boos the betrayed husband with equal enthusiasm; the scene is a faithful depiction of the peculiar kind of values held by a significative portion of the Brazilian population. The finale sequence at the beach when the older man meets the young couple is surprisingly well done, especially so when one considers how easy it would have been to spoil it.
Rating: 31
Synopsis: The film narrates the adventures of two womanizer friends, a young one and a middle-aged one. Their friendship is jeopardized when the younger one meets a certain young woman and falls in love with her.
Appraisal (mild spoiler): In spite of the parading of gorgeous women and the chance of seeing glimpses of Rio de Janeiro in the late 60's, this film is mostly dull; some rare distinctive moments can be seen amid the predominantly unimaginative set-pieces, for instance at an interesting scene where a woman and her lover are taken under arrest for adultery (I wonder if this kind of arrest has ever occurred in real life in Brazil) and a crowd outside her building cheers them enthusiastically and boos the betrayed husband with equal enthusiasm; the scene is a faithful depiction of the peculiar kind of values held by a significative portion of the Brazilian population. The finale sequence at the beach when the older man meets the young couple is surprisingly well done, especially so when one considers how easy it would have been to spoil it.
Rating: 31
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Proposition (2005)
Synopsis: In nineteenth-century Australia, a sheriff captures two outlaw brothers suspected of being involved in a recent crime of rape and murder. They used to be part of a gang with another brother and some other men, but of late they had been living apart from the gang. The sheriff makes a proposition to the eldest of the captured brothers: he will set him and his younger brother free if he brings him his other brother, who lives in a hideout in the mountains; in the meantime, he will keep the youngest one in jail.
Appraisal: Long, static scenes with characters contemplating the unfathomable, alternated with sudden bursts of violence, and all that woven together by a flimsy plot, which echoes some elements from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, or, if one prefers, its more popular cinematic version Apocalypse Now (1979); in all these works, there is a savage country and a white man obsessed with "civilizing" it; there is also a man in search of another who has reputedly become a little unhinged (in this one, he "howls at the moon"). Here, however, the characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting, and the plot follows a linear and quite predictable path; the point of it all seems to be a comic-book aestheticism, as sterile as it is wearisome on the eye.
Rating: 41
Appraisal: Long, static scenes with characters contemplating the unfathomable, alternated with sudden bursts of violence, and all that woven together by a flimsy plot, which echoes some elements from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, or, if one prefers, its more popular cinematic version Apocalypse Now (1979); in all these works, there is a savage country and a white man obsessed with "civilizing" it; there is also a man in search of another who has reputedly become a little unhinged (in this one, he "howls at the moon"). Here, however, the characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting, and the plot follows a linear and quite predictable path; the point of it all seems to be a comic-book aestheticism, as sterile as it is wearisome on the eye.
Rating: 41
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Tattered Dress (1957)
Synopsis: A famous lawyer is hired to defend a rich guy who shot a bartender for having allegedly assaulted his wife. The town's sheriff was a close friend of the deceased's.
Appraisal: It begins well and is well directed throughout, but as the plot unfolds several flaws become apparent, such as the sheriff's unconvincing motivation for his acts. It worsens even more in the last act, where we see a second trial which is totally ridiculous and absurd both in the lawyer's utterances and in the inexplicable verdict.
Rating: 34
Appraisal: It begins well and is well directed throughout, but as the plot unfolds several flaws become apparent, such as the sheriff's unconvincing motivation for his acts. It worsens even more in the last act, where we see a second trial which is totally ridiculous and absurd both in the lawyer's utterances and in the inexplicable verdict.
Rating: 34
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Chik yeung tin si (2002)
English title: So Close.
Synopsis (spoilers): A female assassin, assisted by a sophisticated video surveillance scheme operated by her sister at their home, invades a huge company building and kills the company's president. The job was ordered by one of the company's top executives, who subsequently hires them to kill another top man in that company. An investigation is started after the first killing, led by a female cop. The assassin falls in love with a guy and decides to quit the profession; the other refuses to follow her sister's decision and decides to go solo, doing the killings herself.
Appraisal: The action is what sustains the interest here, and also the good looks of the two protagonists. Mildly creative choreographies and a fast pace disguise the abysmal inanity of the plot and dialogue (that is, its Portuguese-dubbed version, but I suppose not much was lost).
Rating: 35
Synopsis (spoilers): A female assassin, assisted by a sophisticated video surveillance scheme operated by her sister at their home, invades a huge company building and kills the company's president. The job was ordered by one of the company's top executives, who subsequently hires them to kill another top man in that company. An investigation is started after the first killing, led by a female cop. The assassin falls in love with a guy and decides to quit the profession; the other refuses to follow her sister's decision and decides to go solo, doing the killings herself.
Appraisal: The action is what sustains the interest here, and also the good looks of the two protagonists. Mildly creative choreographies and a fast pace disguise the abysmal inanity of the plot and dialogue (that is, its Portuguese-dubbed version, but I suppose not much was lost).
Rating: 35
Va, vis et deviens (2005)
English titles: Live and Become; Go, See, and Become.
Synopsis: In the mid-eighties, Israel recognized the Falashas in Ethiopia as legitimate Jews (the legend says that they descend from Solomon and Sheba), and set up a covert operation to transport them from Ethiopia to Israel, via Sudan. The film tells the story of a non-Falasha boy in a Sudanese refugee camp who joins the emigrants by passing as a Falasha and arrives in Israel where he is adopted by an Israeli family.
Appraisal: Horribly directed and totally inept in the enactment of plausible human behavior. Nevertheless, the story has an inherent appeal which is to a certain extent immune to its director.
Rating: 30
Synopsis: In the mid-eighties, Israel recognized the Falashas in Ethiopia as legitimate Jews (the legend says that they descend from Solomon and Sheba), and set up a covert operation to transport them from Ethiopia to Israel, via Sudan. The film tells the story of a non-Falasha boy in a Sudanese refugee camp who joins the emigrants by passing as a Falasha and arrives in Israel where he is adopted by an Israeli family.
Appraisal: Horribly directed and totally inept in the enactment of plausible human behavior. Nevertheless, the story has an inherent appeal which is to a certain extent immune to its director.
Rating: 30
Monday, November 12, 2007
Frankie and Johnny (1966)
Synopsis: A riverboat singer has the gambling addiction, which considerably upsets his blonde sweetheart. He goes to a fortune teller and she tells him that only a red-headed woman will bring him luck. By a coincidence, the boat owner's red-head sweetheart of old times returns to the boat after a failed attempt at making it big on Broadway.
Appraisal: Quite agreeable and colorful, with nice musical numbers and a certain refinement into its screenplay. An acceptable pastime.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: Quite agreeable and colorful, with nice musical numbers and a certain refinement into its screenplay. An acceptable pastime.
Rating: 51
Silvia Prieto (1999)
Synopsis (spoilers): Silvia works at a restaurant. She quits her job and gets another one of handing over soap samples to street passers-by. She befriends Brite, who is in this job too. Brite starts dating Marcelo, Silvia's ex-husband. Brite sets Silvia up with Gabriel, Brite's ex-husband. Silvia buys a canary. She asked for a silent one but gets a singing one instead. One day it stops singing and Silvia is upset about it. Garbuglia, another friend of Gabriel's, is dating Marta through a TV show. Gabriel gets arrested for smoking hemp. Brite gets pregnant. Gabriel is upset about his old nickname "lamp shade". Silvia is obsessed about the existence of namesakes of herself. She finds one out on the phonebook and calls her. They meet. She is displeased with sharing her name with others. One day she loses her purse containing all her documents. At the police station, when asked about her name she answers "Luisa Ciccone". This is the name she will use from then on.
Appraisal: It's similar in style to the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" except without interesting characters or anything funny, which is to say it's rather pointless.
Rating: 26
Appraisal: It's similar in style to the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" except without interesting characters or anything funny, which is to say it's rather pointless.
Rating: 26
The Fan (1996)
Synopsis: A salesman is fired from his job. He is an ardent fan of baseball, and in particular of one specific player.
Appraisal: The first half succeeded at least in keeping me interested, but from then on it was all downhill. It seems to me that the main problem was that it didn't fulfill my expectations in terms of thrills and suspense, and its conclusion felt like an anticlimax; the fan's behavior gets more and more incoherent as the film advances and the film gets more and more boring.
Rating: 35
Appraisal: The first half succeeded at least in keeping me interested, but from then on it was all downhill. It seems to me that the main problem was that it didn't fulfill my expectations in terms of thrills and suspense, and its conclusion felt like an anticlimax; the fan's behavior gets more and more incoherent as the film advances and the film gets more and more boring.
Rating: 35
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Minnâ-yatteruka! (1995)
English title: Getting Any?
Synopsis (mild spoiler): A man devises a thousand schemes for having sex but fails in all of them. He goes through many weird situations, culminating with his transformation into a Fly-man in a machine created by a scientist.
Appraisal: Humor made of gags whose style is reminiscent of Chuck Jones's cartoons, but more coarse and primitive. It brought me alternately to laughter and boredom; the rate at which either will happen to others depends on their level of expectation, personal preferences and familiarity with Japanese pop culture.
Rating: 33
Synopsis (mild spoiler): A man devises a thousand schemes for having sex but fails in all of them. He goes through many weird situations, culminating with his transformation into a Fly-man in a machine created by a scientist.
Appraisal: Humor made of gags whose style is reminiscent of Chuck Jones's cartoons, but more coarse and primitive. It brought me alternately to laughter and boredom; the rate at which either will happen to others depends on their level of expectation, personal preferences and familiarity with Japanese pop culture.
Rating: 33
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Brasília 18% (2006)
Synopsis: A coroner is called from abroad to establish whether a dead woman's body is that of a missing Senate aide whose boyfriend is being accused of her murder. Other evidence points to a ring of corrupt politicians whose misdeeds said aide had witnessed.
Appraisal: This is an awful film from all angles it is analyzed. The plot hardly makes any sense(e.g. why is it that associating the dead body to the missing woman would be of so much value to the corrupt ones?), several characters' behaviors are completely absurd (e.g. one shady Senate employee tries to corrupt the coroner while inside a crowded airplane of all places; a prostitute witnesses a man pull a gun to the coroner and still cannot wipe a blissful expression from her face; this list could go on forever), the technological references are at least ten years outdated (e.g. the coroner asks for the "negatives"), sex is as gratuitous as in a pornographic movie -- no, I lie: it's more gratuitous -- but incomparably less explicit and exciting; etc. If this film's writer/director was trying to make one of the worst films of all times out of one of the most candent subjects in Brazil in all times, he has largely succeeded. This is so bad even "Mystery Science Theater 3000" would reject it.
Rating: 3
Appraisal: This is an awful film from all angles it is analyzed. The plot hardly makes any sense(e.g. why is it that associating the dead body to the missing woman would be of so much value to the corrupt ones?), several characters' behaviors are completely absurd (e.g. one shady Senate employee tries to corrupt the coroner while inside a crowded airplane of all places; a prostitute witnesses a man pull a gun to the coroner and still cannot wipe a blissful expression from her face; this list could go on forever), the technological references are at least ten years outdated (e.g. the coroner asks for the "negatives"), sex is as gratuitous as in a pornographic movie -- no, I lie: it's more gratuitous -- but incomparably less explicit and exciting; etc. If this film's writer/director was trying to make one of the worst films of all times out of one of the most candent subjects in Brazil in all times, he has largely succeeded. This is so bad even "Mystery Science Theater 3000" would reject it.
Rating: 3
Tropa de Elite (2007)
English title: Elite Squad.
Synopsis: In Rio de Janeiro, the Military Police Special Operations Unit (BOPE) specializes in storming the hillside slums to fight drug trafficking; their priority is to capture the sophisticated guns used by the criminals. Captain Nascimento is a member of that unit and is looking to get out of field work, but to do that he must first find someone to replace him. Two Military Police cadets, the first one reckless and trigger-happy and the other one more intellectual and with aspirations to becoming a lawyer, are the main candidates for the position.
Appraisal: The screenplay of this film is well structured and well paced; roughly speaking, the first half is more about small incidents and the second half is more about big ones. The technique is unpolished, forgoing editing in favor of rapid panning among the characters -- it's slightly annoying. The acting is serviceable. The film has been called biased, which I'm not qualified to judge, and one-sided, which it necessarily is, and it's no worse for that. This film has convinced me that drugs will never be legalized, and that it is possible to keep the war against them going indefinitely; it is just a matter of raising the firepower to match that of the criminals --indefinitely.
Rating: 60
Synopsis: In Rio de Janeiro, the Military Police Special Operations Unit (BOPE) specializes in storming the hillside slums to fight drug trafficking; their priority is to capture the sophisticated guns used by the criminals. Captain Nascimento is a member of that unit and is looking to get out of field work, but to do that he must first find someone to replace him. Two Military Police cadets, the first one reckless and trigger-happy and the other one more intellectual and with aspirations to becoming a lawyer, are the main candidates for the position.
Appraisal: The screenplay of this film is well structured and well paced; roughly speaking, the first half is more about small incidents and the second half is more about big ones. The technique is unpolished, forgoing editing in favor of rapid panning among the characters -- it's slightly annoying. The acting is serviceable. The film has been called biased, which I'm not qualified to judge, and one-sided, which it necessarily is, and it's no worse for that. This film has convinced me that drugs will never be legalized, and that it is possible to keep the war against them going indefinitely; it is just a matter of raising the firepower to match that of the criminals --indefinitely.
Rating: 60
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin (2002)
English name: Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary.
Description: Documentary. Hitler's secretary tells everything.
Appraisal: It's just a woman talking to a camera, with occasional shots of her watching herself speak on a TV. It's quite watchable due to the natural interest that this testimony presents and also to the interviewee's great memory and clarity of expression. Many of the events narrated by her would be dramatized with great fidelity in Der Untergang (2004).
Rating: 56
Description: Documentary. Hitler's secretary tells everything.
Appraisal: It's just a woman talking to a camera, with occasional shots of her watching herself speak on a TV. It's quite watchable due to the natural interest that this testimony presents and also to the interviewee's great memory and clarity of expression. Many of the events narrated by her would be dramatized with great fidelity in Der Untergang (2004).
Rating: 56
From Noon Till Three (1976)
Synopsis (spoilers): An outfit of bank robbers stops at an isolated mansion to request a horse, since one of theirs got wounded. The mansion's owner, a widow, says she hasn't got any, and when they hear noise coming from the stable, it's up to one of the guys to go there and check. He goes and finds out that the lady lied, but he gives her cover. Thus, being one horse short, one of the guys must stay behind while the others go and rob the bank. The same guy - Graham Dorsey - who went to check for the horse is the one who stays. The explanation for his lie is that he had a nightmare about the upcoming heist wherein they all ended up dead, so he figures he'd rather not go. While in the house with the widow, he seduces her by telling that he has been impotent since his wife died, and is thinking of killing himself. After an afternoon of lovemaking, they receive news from the town saying his partners have been captured and will be executed that afternoon. The widow urges him to go and rescue his friends, which he is not willing to do, so he pretends to accept the suggestion and just leaves. He runs into his persecutors but manages to shun them. He meets a traveling dentist and forces him to trade clothes with him and to give him his carriage. He stops to ask for information to an old woman, who goes inside and returns with a shotgun pointed at Dorsey. The police is called and he is arrested. The dentist happened to be a crook who took people's gold teeth and replaced them with inferior ones. Dorsey is sentenced to one year in prison. Meanwhile, back in town, the real dentist was shot by the sheriff's posse and, as he was wearing the widow's late husband's clothes, he is brought to her, who faints at the sight of him (she never sees his face so she thinks it is Dorsey). The town people surmise that she had an affair with the bandit, and she receives everybody's reprobation. She decides to make a public speech in front of everyone saying she loved Dorsey and is not ashamed of that. People are touched by her attitude and flock to her house to apologize for their behavior. A writer is brought along who offers to write her love story, to which she agrees. The book is a huge success, and she becomes famous, her mansion even becoming a tourist attraction. Meanwhile, Dorsey is released from prison and decides to go back to see his one-day lover. She did not recognize him at first, saying Dorsey was much taller and handsomer than the man standing in front of her. He only convinces her when he shows her his penis. She refuses to resume their relationship, saying that she now has an image to preserve, and even offers him money to keep the pretense that Dorsey is dead. Dorsey refuses and she kills herself. Dorsey flees the house and everywhere he goes he suffers people's mockery and disbelief regarding his identity. He engages in a fight with an ardent admirer of the literary Dorsey, whom he contradicts by stating that the real Dorsey (i.e. himself) was a coward and a liar. He is arrested and taken to a madhouse where he is welcomed by one of the inmates and finally accepted as Graham Dorsey.
Appraisal: A fable about how legends tend to overshadow reality. It is interesting, albeit more in a literary sense (it's based on a novel) than in a cinematic one; it is not particularly well directed, and in fact I did not see any sign of a director's hand in it. The film's biggest shortcoming is probably that the fame acquired by the characters doesn't seem very likely -- their story is not that appealing; another implausibility is the widow not recognizing Dorsey upon his return -- in one year, neither he nor her memory of him may have changed that much. But, given that it's intended as a sort of philosophical reflection about fame and the fabrication of heroes and other myths, these details are just means to an end and thus perhaps not of crucial importance.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: A fable about how legends tend to overshadow reality. It is interesting, albeit more in a literary sense (it's based on a novel) than in a cinematic one; it is not particularly well directed, and in fact I did not see any sign of a director's hand in it. The film's biggest shortcoming is probably that the fame acquired by the characters doesn't seem very likely -- their story is not that appealing; another implausibility is the widow not recognizing Dorsey upon his return -- in one year, neither he nor her memory of him may have changed that much. But, given that it's intended as a sort of philosophical reflection about fame and the fabrication of heroes and other myths, these details are just means to an end and thus perhaps not of crucial importance.
Rating: 51
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The Forgotten (2004)
Synopsis: A woman grieves over the loss of her son, but suddenly no one seems to acknowledge his previous existence.
Appraisal: Antiquated sci-fi drama, with the usual amount of loose ends. This poor film bears some thematic resemblance with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Total Recall (1990), and L'année dernière à Marienbad (1961); also Mirage (1965), tangentially. P.S.: Theo Panayides's review points out another -- and closer -- thematic precursor of this film: The Lady Vanishes (1938).
Rating: 11
Appraisal: Antiquated sci-fi drama, with the usual amount of loose ends. This poor film bears some thematic resemblance with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Total Recall (1990), and L'année dernière à Marienbad (1961); also Mirage (1965), tangentially. P.S.: Theo Panayides's review points out another -- and closer -- thematic precursor of this film: The Lady Vanishes (1938).
Rating: 11
Bonga, o Vagabundo (1971)
Synopsis: A bum befriends a rich guy. Then a beautiful girl. The rich guy is being pressured by his father to work and get a fiancée. There is also a gang of evil bikers.
Appraisal: The plot is quite banal, but the film is well directed and quite visually oriented at times. Its target audience are kids; the main character, in addition to being good-hearted, doesn't drink alcohol; on the other hand, he smokes a lot, and in one of the scenes we even see a small homeless kid smoking like there's nothing wrong with it. Different times, different values... The main influence is Chaplin's tramp of course, but a sober version of him -- as I was saying, different times... There may also be echoes of a film which I haven't seen, Hallelujah I'm a Bum; and certainly The Wild One, which I have.
Rating: 31
Appraisal: The plot is quite banal, but the film is well directed and quite visually oriented at times. Its target audience are kids; the main character, in addition to being good-hearted, doesn't drink alcohol; on the other hand, he smokes a lot, and in one of the scenes we even see a small homeless kid smoking like there's nothing wrong with it. Different times, different values... The main influence is Chaplin's tramp of course, but a sober version of him -- as I was saying, different times... There may also be echoes of a film which I haven't seen, Hallelujah I'm a Bum; and certainly The Wild One, which I have.
Rating: 31
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Trois places pour le 26 (1988)
English title: Three Places for the 26th.
Synopsis: A singer and actor returns to the city of his childhood and adolescence after 20 years of absence. He intends to produce an autobiographical musical play which will premier in that city. He meets his former lover and also a young aspiring actress/singer/dancer who asks him if she can watch the play's rehearsals.
Appraisal (spoilers): It's an agreeable film. It's hard for me to find something really bad about it; on the other hand, it is a little too slight for my taste; some of the choreographies are unremarkable while others are filmed too unimaginatively. What I found curious is the recurrence of the father/daughter incest theme in Demy, which appeared earlier in Peau d'âne (1970). Here, we see a totally different variety of it: no violence is present, only ignorance, exactly like in the ancient tale of Oedipus; unlike in that tale, however, here no tragedy ensues, only a small discomfort after the discovery.
Rating: 50
Synopsis: A singer and actor returns to the city of his childhood and adolescence after 20 years of absence. He intends to produce an autobiographical musical play which will premier in that city. He meets his former lover and also a young aspiring actress/singer/dancer who asks him if she can watch the play's rehearsals.
Appraisal (spoilers): It's an agreeable film. It's hard for me to find something really bad about it; on the other hand, it is a little too slight for my taste; some of the choreographies are unremarkable while others are filmed too unimaginatively. What I found curious is the recurrence of the father/daughter incest theme in Demy, which appeared earlier in Peau d'âne (1970). Here, we see a totally different variety of it: no violence is present, only ignorance, exactly like in the ancient tale of Oedipus; unlike in that tale, however, here no tragedy ensues, only a small discomfort after the discovery.
Rating: 50
Monday, November 05, 2007
Driven (2001)
Synopsis: A young up-and-coming formula one pilot. His agent, who happens to be his brother, pushes him hard into giving his best. A veteran pilot is called in to be his team-mate and help him win. The competition is a cold-hearted man, many times world champion. Both competitors will fight for the love of a beautiful woman.
Appraisal: This obviously shows little regard for what goes on in real-life races; it's a fantasy made of archetypes and spectacular crashes. As such, it oscillates between the slightly exciting and the slightly boring.
Rating: 36
Appraisal: This obviously shows little regard for what goes on in real-life races; it's a fantasy made of archetypes and spectacular crashes. As such, it oscillates between the slightly exciting and the slightly boring.
Rating: 36
Saturday, November 03, 2007
River Queen (2005)
Synopsis: In 1854, in New Zealand, an Irish woman has a son with a Maori man. Her lover dies shortly after that, and his father kidnaps her child. She is then offered a deal by which she will have her son back if she agrees to go to a distant village to heal its Maori chief. While she is there, a war breaks out between the English and the Maori.
Appraisal: This film is characterized by some crudeness in technique (brisk camera movements, for example) and in writing (an enormous amount of voice-over); it also has a penchant for kitschy accessories such as the new-age score, and the overuse of slow-motion. All these flaws permeate the film more or less uniformly from beginning to end. The characters are not endowed with much depth, which in this case is partially overcome by an emphasis on action. The film does improve in the second half, with quite complex battle sequences; the general course of the story acquires some complexity as well, and in general lines does not stray too much from the path of logic and coherence.
Rating: 45
Appraisal: This film is characterized by some crudeness in technique (brisk camera movements, for example) and in writing (an enormous amount of voice-over); it also has a penchant for kitschy accessories such as the new-age score, and the overuse of slow-motion. All these flaws permeate the film more or less uniformly from beginning to end. The characters are not endowed with much depth, which in this case is partially overcome by an emphasis on action. The film does improve in the second half, with quite complex battle sequences; the general course of the story acquires some complexity as well, and in general lines does not stray too much from the path of logic and coherence.
Rating: 45
Friday, November 02, 2007
The Dead Don't Die (1975) (TV)
Synopsis: Man tries to prove his brother was unjustly executed, and gets involved with zombies.
Appraisal: This film has plot problems, about which, if you don't mind spoilers, you can find more here. Aside from that, it's a mediocre mix of horror and detective story.
Rating: 31
Appraisal: This film has plot problems, about which, if you don't mind spoilers, you can find more here. Aside from that, it's a mediocre mix of horror and detective story.
Rating: 31
50 First Dates (2004)
Synopsis: Henry doesn't like long-term relationships. He meets Lucy and falls for her. She has no short-term memory due to a brain lesion.
Appraisal: An interesting premise put to waste. The ending only makes sense if one has forgotten all that has happened previously, which ironically would require the condition of one of the main characters in the movie, only in a severer form. Some of the jokes are funny but most aren't, which isn't even the biggest problem with the film; that would be poor writing and the strategy of aiming low in order to gross high. My idea would be to have Henry at first take advantage of Lucy's condition and date her repeatedly until he was irreversibly in love; this would be a cul-de-sac for him given her condition; he would be forever miserable, which would be a form of poetic justice given his previous behavior. Then again, this approach would be at odds with the aforementioned strategy. After all, it is a date movie: gross jokes for him and sugar-coated romance for her.
Rating: 30
Appraisal: An interesting premise put to waste. The ending only makes sense if one has forgotten all that has happened previously, which ironically would require the condition of one of the main characters in the movie, only in a severer form. Some of the jokes are funny but most aren't, which isn't even the biggest problem with the film; that would be poor writing and the strategy of aiming low in order to gross high. My idea would be to have Henry at first take advantage of Lucy's condition and date her repeatedly until he was irreversibly in love; this would be a cul-de-sac for him given her condition; he would be forever miserable, which would be a form of poetic justice given his previous behavior. Then again, this approach would be at odds with the aforementioned strategy. After all, it is a date movie: gross jokes for him and sugar-coated romance for her.
Rating: 30
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Left Behind (2000)
Synopsis (spoilers): The world faces a food shortage problem. A scientist named Rosenzweig has come up with a new agricultural technology which offers a solution. Concurrently, the world is taken aback by the sudden vanishing of millions of people for no apparent physical reason. In order to stop the chaos that threatens to take over the world, the United Nations appoint a new secretary-general, named Carpathia, who establishes an emergency government of UN delegates. He has power plans of his own which involve using Rosenzweig's technology to control the world's food supply. Carpathia is backed by two bankers which are planning to lead the UN to bankruptcy by executing its huge debt. Carpathia shoots the bankers point blank in the presence of all the UN delegates. A TV journalist investigates these events. Another character is a plane pilot whose wife and youngest son have vanished, leaving him only his daughter. He visits the church his wife used to attend, and over there he is shown a videotape wherein a preacher, now vanished, explains the vanishings in terms of supernatural eschatology. The pilot is convinced by it and starts taking religion seriously. A little later, the journalist becomes a convert too.
Appraisal: It is an interpretation and fictionalization of some biblical passages in Matthew 24 (or Luke 17), several epistles, and Revelation. The film's premise is insane enough, but it is also tremendously ill-conceived in its narrative proceedings. There is some basic dishonesty at the core of all films which propose a demented concept and have their own characters echo our very thoughts by remarking that it's all very insane. Secondly, there is a total absence of rules, which is a narrative no-no in my opinion since it makes anything possible; thus, an entire air fleet is wiped out and the only explanation is that something supernatural was at play; at another instance, a man commits a double murder and hypnotizes an entire audience into thinking he didn't actually do it. But worst of all is the ultimate rationale behind this kind of fiction, which is an unhealthy, obscurantist worldview.
Rating: 0
Appraisal: It is an interpretation and fictionalization of some biblical passages in Matthew 24 (or Luke 17), several epistles, and Revelation. The film's premise is insane enough, but it is also tremendously ill-conceived in its narrative proceedings. There is some basic dishonesty at the core of all films which propose a demented concept and have their own characters echo our very thoughts by remarking that it's all very insane. Secondly, there is a total absence of rules, which is a narrative no-no in my opinion since it makes anything possible; thus, an entire air fleet is wiped out and the only explanation is that something supernatural was at play; at another instance, a man commits a double murder and hypnotizes an entire audience into thinking he didn't actually do it. But worst of all is the ultimate rationale behind this kind of fiction, which is an unhealthy, obscurantist worldview.
Rating: 0
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