Foursome: All-U-Can-Meat (2006) (TV)

This is an episode of a sex reality show. In this episode they have two guys and two ladies who had never seen one another previously go to a house and have heterosexual sex during a couple of days (there are lesbian innuendos but nothing happens, although my state of semi-alertedness while viewing it doesn't make me the most reliable witness). The people in this episode are named Oscar, Paul, Heather and Marie. Aside from the main quartet we see some extra ladies with very little clothes on who play waitress and oral sex tutor respectively. Even though all appearances indicate real sex, this is a softcore show, where penises are shown only in a non-erect condition -- otherwise they are digitally blurred or, when in contact with a woman, not shown at all. The only memorable event from the episode is that Paul suffers from impotence in the beginning of the episode and recovers later in it.

Saw it with the sound turned off, with subtitles.

Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har: See-Saw (1962) (TV)

Lippy the lion and Hardy the hyena are on a raft in the ocean and land on a desert island where a pirate is burying a treasure. The latter tries to kill Lippy and Hardy because he wants no one to steal his treasure. Lippy and Hardy escape to a ship which happens to belong to that very same pirate. The chase continues aboard the ship.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Stardust (2007)

A star falls to Earth and is transformed into a young woman. A boy promises to bring the star to the girl he loves; a witch wants the star-woman's heart so that she may attain immortality; the heir to the throne must recover a precious stone which by a coincidence hangs from the star-woman's neck.

Dreck with good production values.

Rating: 15

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby (1956) (TV)

An antique shop owner has a sickly attachment to his products and as a consequence runs into financial difficulties.

Good episode, with good atmosphere and an adequately creepy main character.

Direktøren for det hele (2006)

English title: The Boss of It All.

The owner and CEO of a software company works incognito at said company, and is much loved by his co-workers (actually his employees). He decides to sell the company to a foreign corporation, which will immediately fire all workers except him. Since he doesn't want his employees to know he was the one who did this to them, he hires an actor to pass off as the CEO.

The premise is not plausible in the exact terms stated in the film, but the device of "hiding" the people higher up in a company's hierarchy is common practice. Sergeants take the blame. Aside from that, the film is extremely poor of actual insight or even ordinary sitcom humor. Plus, it looks like it has been filmed by a drunken monkey (or several).

Rating: 11

*batteries not included (1987)

Minuscule spaceships with amazing powers of damage repairing come to the aid of the dwellers of a building which is being threatened with demolition.

This is insane, to such a degree that it actually becomes kind of interesting. The view of futuristic concepts like robots and spaceships as agents of an almost reactionary attachment to old things is conceptually bizarre and perhaps says something about the inner workings of a certain science-fiction psychology.

Rating: 32

Friends with Money (2006)

Several middle-aged couples are shown with their particular traits and the problems they face in their lives; the odd one out in this group is a single woman who has quit her teaching job to work as a maid.

An interesting updating of the tale of Cinderella, with focus being distributed among its various characters. It avoids dullness with intelligent set-pieces, within which we glimpse a morally decadent society where ordinary civilized acts such as demanding others to respect a store queue are frowned upon, and obsessing over other people's sexuality seems to be a national pastime.

Rating: 57

Scoop (2006)

A dead journalist contacts a living Journalism student and tells her what he heard about the identity of a serial killer.

Very lightweight yet not without interest or entertainment value.

Rating: 50

Aladdin (1992)

Based on a story in Antoine Galland's version of The One Thousand and One Nights (Galland reportedly heard this story from a Syrian man). The film reportedly also borrows from The Princess and the Cobbler (1993) (whose unfinished version was available since the 60's) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940).

A street boy falls in love with a princess. The evil visier uses the boy to get a hold of a magical lamp which contains a genie who has the power to grant three wishes to the lamp's owner.

Animation which succeeds at entertaining within a strictly conventional framework.

Rating: 50

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Portrait of Jocelyn (1956) (TV)

The portrait of a man's first wife shows up at a gallery. She was declared missing five years ago. The man's present wife gets jealous.

One of the weaker episodes. Slightly annoying, both in the development and in the conclusion.

Goya's Ghosts (2006)

(mild spoilers) In 18th Century Spain, an ambitious clergyman takes upon himself the duty of persecuting young women through the Inquisition. He falls out of favor after the father of one of his victims sets a trap for him. He flees to France where the Revolution soon takes place. He then returns to Spain as one of Napoleon's men.

It depicts how an oppressive regime may be overthrown and replaced by one just as oppressive or more so -- too bad it does it through low melodrama. A crude, often grotesque, film. With this and The Lives of Others a trend seems to be on, of demonizing organizations that, for just reasons, nobody likes (Stasi, the Inquisition). Their modus operandi is, in both films, severely fantasized; it's never too much to remind that not understanding history is the best way to repeat it.

Rating: 20

Let's Get Harry (1986)

Harry, an American engineer working in Colombia, is kidnapped along with the American ambassador by a drug dealer who demands the release of a partner of his who is a prisoner of the Americans. When the American government refuses to comply with the kidnapper's demand, Harry's brother assembles a team of friends and hires a mercenary to lead them and all fly to Colombia to rescue Harry.

Unremarkable and slightly comical adventure which reportedly underwent severe cuts made by the producer(s) and as a result lacks all the parts where the rescue team is trained and also where a bit of character development is done. I have a serious plot understanding problem: I could swear that, at one point, Harry and the ambassador were moved somewhere else (we see them leaving on a boat); nevertheless, when the rescuers get to the drug dealer's lair Harry and the ambassador are still there.

Rating: 30

Other People's Money (1991)

A Wall Street investing mogul has his eyes on a Rhode Island company run by an aging man who refuses to sell it. A battle between them will be fought with a knock-out blonde lawyer (whose mother is the company owner's wife) as the intermediary.

Incredibly smart from the strict Economics angle, perhaps not so much from the mere dramatical one (the seduction play between Lawrence and Kate is a contrived and not very believable narrative add-on). Still, an interesting film. Similarly themed ones: Wall Street (1987), Ruthless (1948), and, very marginally, In This Our Life (1942).

Rating: 55

Heights (2005)

Several characters whose paths cross: a lawyer who is about to be married to a struggling photographer; a writer/journalist who is writing an article about a famous photographer from the point of view of the latter's ex-lovers; a prestigious stage director and actress; a struggling actor; and a few minor ones.

The text doesn't receive a cinematic shape in accordance to its melodramatics; what we get instead is sleepy naturalism. I don't like the ending either, it's contrived to wrap up things in a happy fashion, thus pretty much nullifying the drama.

Rating: 30

The Big Bad Swim (2006)

Several characters learning to swim, plus their teacher, interact in various ways.

The characters are reasonably well defined, and the progress of their relationships is done with a degree of ability so as to keep the viewer interested. But nothing actually happens in the movie, anyway no major conflict; the pathos is kept at a diminutive level, and things just work out all right by themselves. Maybe they intended it to be a series pilot...

Rating: 49

Superbad (2007)

Two underage guys, with the help of a third one who got himself a false I.D., take on the important task of buying drinks for a party. They expect this will ensure them their first laid. Along the way they meet a deranged pair of cops and a few other bizarre characters.

Not too bad as an unpretentious pastime. Too bad it just drags on forever. Both character and film have a lot of fat to burn.

Rating: 45

Look Both Ways (2005)

Near the site of a train accident (or, it is speculated, suicide) a painter who has a vivid imagination for disasters meets a photographer who has recently found out he has cancer. A few other characters connected to said presumed accident are shown and their life problems.

Two many irrelevant subplots take much from the film, which hasn't a strong central situation to begin with. Add to that a tedious songtrack. And a hugely mistaken choice of an ending.

Rating: 21

Up in Smoke (1978)

Two nobodies roam L.A. in search of drugs. Then they are deported to Mexico; there they are hired to bring a weed-made van (that's right, but they don't know it) across the border.

This film was just entertaining enough to keep me from falling asleep, but I'm not really into drug-related humor.

Rating: 35

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

A man discovers that he is a character in a book and that his death is scheduled to happen soon.

The only strange thing about this vacuity is Thompson's performance, which kept me entranced whenever she was onscreen; she is very intense and looks nothing like any writer I have ever seen or imagined.

Rating: 14

No Such Thing (2001)

A journalist travels to Iceland in search of her boyfriend who went missing with his crew while doing a story on a mythic being.

I don't know what to think of this film. In fact, I don't know whether we are supposed to think about it at all. The style is dry and the mise-en-scène, very bare bones. The story is just a recycling of sci-fi/horror cinematic clichés, except the dialogue is a little more literate than usual. Depending on the viewer's mood, the effect may be either slightly comical or boring.

Rating: 37

Cinderfella (1960)

The story of Cinderella retold with a guy. He has a fairy godfather, two stepbrothers and a stepmother. He gets Princess Charming in the end.

However great the pleasure I get from watching Lewis, it is hard not to notice that there aren't many interesting things happening in this film. The dining table sequence is nice, but not much else is noteworthy.

Rating: 35

Chief Crazy Horse (1955)

About the great Native American warrior, leader of the Lakota Sioux, who led his nation in a series of victories but was eventually forced to surrender and then was finally killed by Little Big Man, who had switched to the side of the whites.

Western obeying the conventions of the time at which it was made, amongst which the pompous dialogue, a romanticized portrayal of Native Americans, and horribly made up whites playing them. It's watchable though.

Rating: 31

Keane (2004)

A wacko spends his days searching for his missing daughter who disappeared while under his care (or so he thinks -- remember he is a wacko). One day he meets a woman with a kid the same age of his own alleged daughter.

Very sentimental but doesn't offer the viewer much except the main actor's face (he is good though).

Rating: 35

In This Our Life (1942)

Two sisters, one very bad and the other very good. The former is engaged to a lawyer and the latter is married to a doctor. The sisters' father and his brother-in-law were once business partners. A young African-American servant wants to become a lawyer. The Internet Movie Database Plot Summary is considerably more detailed, but in my opinion it spoils the film, as it did for me to a certain extent.

Cathartic drama where people take to one side of the family or the other and women have men's names. Sexual highlights: when her husband disapproves of her best friend (a woman), the bad sister retorts that she might get new ones he would disapprove of even more; the good sister doesn't want to get married for a while, she just wants to "be happy"; the bad sister says she would do "anything" for her uncle if he would just help her with a certain trouble she got into.

Rating: 53

Das Leben der Anderen (2006)

English title: The Lives of Others.

In East Germany of the 80s, a playwright is investigated by the State Police.

Dreary melodrama wich tries to evoke the discomfort of living in a Police State. Some wild assumptions are made in regards to the operations of the East German Stasi, and a poorly motivated course of action is taken by the chief investigator.

Rating: 34

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Help Wanted (1956) (TV)

From the Internet Movie Database Plot Summary: "Mr. Crabtree is grateful to find a new job, until his new employer gives him a most unexpected assignment."

This is a variation on Strangers on a Train. Of course, it wouldn't take long for the police to crack this nowadays. I suppose even in the 50s it wouldn't be impossible. Anyway what attracts me in these stories is the psychological element, and the weirdness of the situations. Watching this show is one of the few fully satisfactory experiences of my life.

The Tracey Fragments (2007)

It tells the troubled life of a 15-year-old girl who loses sight of her younger brother whom she was supposed to be watching. The film makes use, from beginning to end, of the multiple-frame technique.

A technical curio which doesn't go much farther than just that. The central situation of the plot bears some relation to Rain (2001) (based on Kirsty Gunn's novel). While some of the events are kind of funny (though apparently it takes itself seriously), the film as a whole just dwells on victimization as usual.

Rating: 37

Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (2004)

English title: Turtles Can Fly.

Some Kurdish refugees in Iraq and their daily activities on the days which preceded Saddam's fall.

I don't really enjoy dramatizations of social problems. Nor am I fond of lame narrative devices such as kids which can see the future in visions. All that being said, I will give it some credit for the energy dispensed to the narrative and the good work of direction of the non-professional actors (and their own work too, of course).

Rating: 31

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Three brothers make a trip to India.

Photogenic crap.

Rating: 19

I'm Not There. (2007)

A series of characters who sing or act or write or defy the law. Each of the characters is said to stand for a persona of the same American singer/songwriter.

A lame soap-opera pretending to be a modern work of art, except for the black-and-white sections, which are watchable (but much of them are simply reenactments of what we already saw in the documentary No Direction Home). A very stinking film.

Rating: 8

Hard to Kill (1990)

A cop witnesses (and films) the ordering of an assassination and subsequently an attempt at his life is made which kills his wife and puts him in a coma for seven years.

This gets a zero in believability, but on the other hand one must remember that B actioners are the poor man's Surrealism.

Rating: 30

Secondhand Lions (2003)

A boy is left by his widowed mother in the care of his two anti-social uncles who live in a farm. She tells him they have a fortune stashed.

The plot has a few elements which could lead to an interesting investigation of matters such as the dichotomy between what people are and what they appear to be. The film cops out of that, settling instead for being just a tame, weakly entertaining drama/adventure with some lame "life lessons" which make no sense and an ultimately misogynistic worldview.

Rating: 30

Finding Forrester (2000)

A gifted but poor student with a passion for basketball meets a reclusive writer who starts helping him with his writing.

A series of unrealistic clichés in a film which is all the more ridiculous for its seriousness of tone.

Rating: 20

Finding Nemo (2003)

Animation. A little fish is captured by a man on a boat. The fish's father looks for his son and once he finds out his whereabouts he does all he can to rescue him. Meanwhile the little fish has been put in an aquarium.

Run-of-the-mill.

Rating: 47

Wu Qingyuan (2006)

English title: The Go Master.

The film tells the life of a Chinese man who specialized at a certain board game and moved to Japan a little before World War II. When the war broke he decided to stay in Japan where his career as a player would be secured. (Sorry for occasional imprecisions or inexactitudes.)

Very dull most of the time, and incomprehensible at times.

Rating: 23

Club Fed (1990)

Angelica, the wife of a white-collar criminal, gets framed for one of her husband's crimes and is sent to Club Fed, a minimum security prison which looks more like a resort for millionaires. The FBI chief has plans to shut down Club Fed and send all its inmates to a maximum security prison. He intends to frame Angelica on an embezzling scheme, having the prison warden as his accomplice. An undercover FBI agent is sent in there to investigate but he falls in love with Angelica.

Sleazily directed and frequently shamelessly plain, but also, on occasion, funny and verbally witty.

Rating: 30

Nadine (1987)

A woman and her husband, which incidentally are about to be divorced, accidentally get hold of the plan for a new state highway; they are chased by a crooked speculator who had stolen those papers in the first place.

This is my second viewing of this fine film; it's entertaining and smartly directed; furthermore it features a wonderful performance by the female lead. I'm embarrassed that my initial appraisal of it had been so negative.

Rating: 55 (up from 26)

The Aristocrats (2005)

An interview film, sort of, with several comics telling the same joke, about an agent trying to sell a very bad number about a family who does a series of nasty acts amongst themselves. The punchline consists in the name of the skit.

The joke in itself is fascinating for its self-referentiality (it's a joke about not being funny which isn't very funny itself). The film, while at one point correctly explaining the joke, dwells mostly in the "dare" aspect of it, in a sort of competition to see who comes up with the most horrendous set-up; there aren't many possible combinations, so dullness is inevitable.

Rating: 21

August Rush (2007)

A kid is separated from his mom and put in an orphanage. He escapes and ends up in a sort of slum of kids ruled by a Fagin-like character. The kid has an incredible musical talent. While running from the police he takes refuge at a religious man's house. The man notices the kid's musical abilities and puts him at Juilliard. Meanwhile, his mother is looking for him.

An Oliver Twist rip-off combined with elements from Conte d'hiver, The Notebook, etc. A film which works as its own parody.

Rating: 5

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

In World War II, during the battle for the island of Iwo Jima, a photo is taken of the Americans planting the flag on one hill; this photo and the participants in it are then used in a gigantic propaganda scheme to convince American citizens to buy war bonds and thus finance the war. The three soldiers who take part in it react differently to that process.

A completely honest film, it must be said. I am glad I have seen it, it's a film by which some things are learned, about the U.S., about Japan (the film is ever so subtle about what exactly happened to Iggy, you might wanna do some googling afterwards, or read the book), about how different people react to notoriety, etc. It even winces back at the silliness of "Saving Private Ryan" ("So much for leaving no one behind"). The narrative is not that compelling, at times it seems like one of those TV shows which show reenactments intercut with real testimonies, yet I don't mean to sound like this makes it a bad film. The battle sequences are good and the story, as I said, is interesting; in short, perhaps not a cinematic masterpiece, but still worth seeing for its absolute honesty.

Rating: 67

The Notebook (2004)

At a nursing home, a man reads a story to a woman who lost her memory. It is about the love story between a rich young woman and a working-class guy.

This is related, somewhat distantly, to the likes of Love Affair (1939 and 1957), Conte d'hiver (1992), and Before Sunset (2004), and more closely to Splendor in the Grass (1961), to which it could be said to be a rebuke. The change in worldview in regards to that last movie is commented upon in poetical terms with quotes from Whitman, the hero's favorite poet; a wink is made to the audience in reference to the 1961 film ("I am more of a Tennyson man myself", says the hero's father). Although this may seem like a worthy proposition at first sight, the shape it takes in the movie is flawed in some essential respects; the most serious one is perhaps the notion that giving love to someone who cannot perceive it is a meaningful thing; the sheer absurdity of the notion reveals itself particularly in the scene where the old woman relapses into amnesia; there is a faint glimpse of a better film which could have been in that scene, but then it slips back to the old "eternal love" discourse and then the film is over; in addition to this aspect, the actual construction of the story is pretty lame, falling through due to numerous details which range from psychological implausibilities to monetary inconsistencies.

Rating: 24

Waitress (2007)

She works as a waitress, is married to a prick, is pregnant, and begins to have an affair with her doctor. Meanwhile, one of her co-workers meets a guy whom she thinks is too ugly but he is so insistent that she finally gives in; and another of her co-workers is having an affair with their boss.

A cliché movie, exclusively. Griffith's performance as the elderly customer is very good.

Rating: 33

Auto Focus (2002)

Biopic on a TV actor highlighting his obsession with (self) voyeurism fueled by his friendship with a video expert.

A real downer, and none the less dull for it. Leibman's performance as the agent did impress me, though.

Rating: 44

Fido (2006)

Zombies can be controlled through a special collar which removes their desire for human flesh. They are used as servants. A family buys his first zombie and the son becomes attached to him.

Interesting comedic investigation of the social consequences of the zombie mythology as first laid out in Night of the Living Dead and subsequently explored in dozens of spin-offs.

Rating: 58

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Uneven, predominantly lame spoof.

Rating: 33

Get Smart: Supersonic Boom (1967) (TV)

KAOS can send "sonic booms" over a distance. They threaten to destroy New York City unless they are paid a huge amount of money. Their hideout is at a car wash. The funniest sequence is when they simulate a plane trip with blindfolded Max and 99 so that the two will think the evil machine is being moved to Argentina.

Visitors (2003)

A woman making a solo trip around the world on a sailboat starts having visions.

Not really good (the 90 minute version I saw anyway, IMDb says there is a longer one); it throws in too many disparate elements (pirates, sea spiders, her dead relatives) without much justification. There are interesting elements in it, which aren't duly explored.

Rating: 38

Blades of Glory (2007)

Two figure skaters, both male, are banned from competition for life. As the banishment is valid only within the singles category, they decide to team up as a pair.

The style of humor is blunt and unsophisticated, yet the general flow of the film is not unpleasant.

Rating: 41

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Spider-Man fights a villain who turns into sand and an evil rubber-like substance from space which gives power to those wearing it.

Entertaining at times, more so at its humorous moments.

Rating: 43

Ash Wednesday (2002)

A man saves his brother's life by killing his would-be assassins, and then is forced to skip town. Three years later he comes back, putting his own life and his brother's in jeopardy.

Weak in more than one respect.

Rating: 34

Planet Terror (2007)

A toxic gas leaks and turns people into flesh-eating zombies; their condition is highly contagious. A few uncontaminated people take refuge at a barbecue restaurant.

This is a kind of parody of exploitation films, yet not a standard parody because instead of looking down on the genres it mimics it enthusiastically embraces them and exacerbates its characteristics. It also metacinematically reproduces the personal viewing experience of those bygone days with all the imperfections of projection and celluloid (even a missing reel is simulated). Despite the jovial spirit and some interesting ideas, however, the film is just not that good, feeding as it does on hyper-overused situations, in a frequently tiresome and repetitive way.

Rating: 42

Death of a President (2006)

Account of the fictional assassination of the current U.S. president.

Apparently storytellers from all media are backing off from the novellistic paradigm for the narrative of fiction and, as of In Cold Blood, even non-fiction as well. Now even fiction must be told in a documentary form. I don't like this trend at all. As for this film's story, it doesn't hold its own; some wild assumptions are made which don't stick (military men from a long lineage of soldiers do not face death (and war) the way this film depicts; a president's schedule sheet doesn't simply leak to protesters like that) and are obviously contrivances to give the liberal-minded plot its thrust.

Rating: 39

Hollywoodland (2006)

Based on a real event, the death of a minor actor in 1959 by gunshot, the film shows an investigation and some hypotheses.

Entertaining and informative about the film and TV world of the 50's, but way too long and unfocused -- why all the subplots about the fictional detective if he should be just a plot device to allow the film to show all the possibilities without committing to just one? Note: there is no evidence (and all the people involved denied the event) that any of Reeves' footage in From Here to Eternity was cut, as is depicted here.

Rating: 57

Requiem (2006)

About the ordeal which befell a real German girl named Anneliese Michel who reportedly had a gamut of neurological/psychiatric disorders which she eventually came to believe were due to supernatural influences.

A correct film. The crux of the drama lies at the mother, a character so heinous that the suggestion of her being the cause of her daughter's psychological imbalance seems immediately reasonable. She is probably a speculative character (I haven't been able to find any account confirming that the real-life mother was in fact like this), but I think this is a better theory for what happened than anything that involves demons. There was another film based on the same incident, The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), which tried to be "fair" to both sides, but you can't be fair to murderers and charlatans unless you call them exactly that.

Rating: 67

Footsteps (2003) (TV)

A woman novelist arrives home and finds someone broke in. A young man is inside who claims he is just a fan and the door was already open when he arrived. Subsequently another man appears claiming to be a cop.

It plays with the viewer's expectations in a mildly interesting way.

Rating: 36

The Goldbergs: Member of the Jury (1955) (TV)

Alternate episode title: The Jury.

Molly is summoned for jury duty.

Excellent episode. Having seen only two episodes of this show, I am already in love with it. Notice that this episode precedes 12 Angry Men by two years, and makes for an interesting comparison with that movie. A final note: there is one little detail about this show, however, which doesn't sit well with me: the children are so physically dissimilar from their parents that they seem to belong to a whole different family.

Don't Come Knocking (2005)

A middle-aged movie star looks for his son, about whose existence he has just heard.

Characters don't seem to act in a realistic manner, perhaps because if they did there wouldn't be much conflict and that would deflate the movie.

Rating: 35

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV)

The owner of the theater where the Muppets are about to perform their Christmas show threatens them with eviction.

Mostly consisting of spoofs of hyped film or TV productions. One or two funny bits, and that's all.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Rating: 32

Zodiac (2007/I)

A serial killer terrorizes the San Francisco area in the late 60's and early 70's.

Well made and engaging. The film bears a strong thematic resemblance to Salinui chueok (2003), aka Memories of Murder, but I for some reason found Zodiac more appealing.

Rating: 69

Cord (2000)

Alternate title: Hide and Seek.

A sterile couple kidnaps a pregnant woman and fakes her death.

Basically one satirical character (done in a very over-the-top manner) surrounded by straightforward ones. Faintly interesting.

Rating: 31

Lady in the Water (2006)

A creature comes out of a swimming pool.

The worst film ever. It bears some plot affinities with E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

Rating: 0

Saw III (2006)

A dying man kidnaps a doctor and forces her to look after him while he submits a man whom he also kidnapped to a series of psychological tests.

Very bad.

Rating: 6

Ratatouille (2007)

A rat wants to be a chef.

Beneath analysis. The graphical aspect is laudable.

Rating: 21

The Sopranos: The First Season (1999) (TV)

It is about a family of New Jersey mafiosi.

Watchable show.

Mrs Henderson Presents (2005)

A widow produces a nude show in London in the 30's and 40's.

Very professionally done at all departments and has its amusing bits.

Rating: 53

Ripley Under Ground (2005)

Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (1st ed. 1970).

When a promising young painter dies in an accident, its only witnesses hide that fact and by using the painting skills of one member of the group continue to produce paintings as if they were made by the deceased.

Entertaining in a superficial manner. Implausible at times.

Rating: 42

Bobby (2006)

Several characters living or working at a hotel at which a politician is about to be assassinated.

I suppose this is in the same line of Vicki Baum or Arthur Hailey, although I have not read their respective hotel novels. Parts of this are mildly interesting, and here I am thinking especially at all the bits involving the hotel kitchen employees; I haven't the slightest clue as to why on Earth we should be interested, e.g. in the adultery subplot, or in the lonely old chess player. They have nothing to do with politics or the 60's, and they're too unspecific to fit in with the rest of the film.

Rating: 42

The Goldbergs: Social Butterfly (1955) (TV)

First aired on September 29, 1955.

Synopsis from Classic TV Archive: "Molly finds the going rough when she attempts to make friends with her new neighbors in Haversville. [JB]"

Lovable sitcom episode, the only one I have seen of this show (I have listened to one radio episode (review on 2008-04), but my understanding of it was imperfect).

This episode can be watched on the archive.org website (or downloaded from it).

Rent (2005)

Based on the musical play by Jonathan Larson which opened in its final version in 1996; the play is based on the 1896 opera La Bohème, composed by Giacomo Puccini (music) and Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa (libretto), which in turn was based on the novel Scènes de la vie de bohème, by Henri Murger (1st ed. 1849).

A musical about a group of young artists living in the East Village, most of whom are HIV positive.

I can't complain too much about this film; I found it well staged (most of the cast is from the original stage production's), very well sung, and has some interesting songs. The script is not anything to write home about though.

Rating: 47

Robocop 3 (1993)

A big American corporation is sold to a Japanese one who intends to build a gigantic project in Detroit and in order to achieve that goal has to evict people from their houses. The government has entirely sold out to corporate interests but a small underground resistance group fights back. Robocop ends up joining the latter.

Although the subject is a little worn out after two films with the same character, this is a watchable, and even mildly entertaining film.

Rating: 43

Night and the City (1992)

A third-rate lawyer tries to make it as a boxing promoter.

The central performance is great and justifies the film, even though in terms of screenplay alone it is just the occasionally dull spectacle of a person's life going wrong in every possible way, not because reality is necessarily like that, or because this guy's personality attracts evil in some way (although this is somehow implied by the film, an unwarranted and overly pessimistical stance), but simply because the filmmakers chose to show a guy whose hopes are shattered. Knowing that this is based on a 1950 film, and even without having seen that film, I get the impression that that time frame is a much more believable one for this story and my comments might even not apply to it then.

Rating: 53

La tourneuse de pages (2006)

English title: The Page Turner.

A young woman employs herself as a governess for the woman whom she deems responsible for thwarting her career as a pianist.

Mean-spirited revenge yarn which oscillates between implausibility and predictability. It borrows some plot ideas from The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992).

Rating: 23

Deathwatch (2002)

In 1917, a group of British soldiers takes a German trench and one by one they fall victim to an evil force which haunts the place.

Just awful.
SPOILER BELOW




This film is a variation of Una pura formalità (1994).

Rating: 6

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Whodunit (1956) (TV)

A mystery novelist dies and goes to heaven. The angel tells him he was murdered.

Another delightful story. At this point of my viewing it is safe to state that this is one of the greatest TV shows ever.

Joshua (2007)

An evil boy plots against his father and mother.

The person nicknamed "robsfilms", writing on the Internet Movie Database Message Board, summed it up magnificently: "terrible,horrible, stupid, and RIDICULOUS". I am not sure whether this film deserves further comments, but in any case, just for the record, some of its ideas have previously appeared in the South Park episode called The Wacky Molestation Adventure (2000) and in the movie Freddy Got Fingered (2001).

Rating: 6

Ripley's Game (2002)

Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (1st ed. 1974).

After having been insulted at a party by his terminally ill host, Ripley decides to play a game with him by suggesting his name to a friend who is in need of an assassin.

The snubbery which Americans notoriously get from Brits provides the point of departure for an interesting development; Ripley, an American living in Italy, intends to teach his offender a lesson through a "game". In what regards the more down-to-earth aspect of the plausibility of specific murder sequences the film falls a little short. Its main focus, however, is the psychological transformations which operate in the two main characters, which is a fascinating process but probably needs a literary medium to be properly fleshed out (I haven't read the novel in question, therefore cannot say whether it accomplishes this task satisfactorily).

Rating: 56

300 (2006)

The famous story of the 300 Spartans is freely fictionalized in this.

It makes points of style out of poor writing and cinematic lack of imagination .

Rating: 32

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

The owner of the casino they robbed locate them and demands that his money is returned to him, or else he will kill them. They have to do more robbings in order to raise the owed money. A French thief gets in their way and wants a duel of skills.

Negligible.

Rating: 23

Sixty Six (2006)

A boy's bar mitzvah's date coincides with the soccer World Cup finals.

You can laugh a bit, I guess.

Rating: 46

Rescue Dawn (2006)

A U.S. Navy pilot is shot down during a bombing mission in Laos in 1965. He is captured and made prisoner. Based on a real story.

This film derives most of its strength from verisimilitude. It is sacrificed only in the admitted downtoning of torture; the acting, on the other hand, is a strong asset.

Rating: 69

Saving Face (2004)

A young lesbian must confront her mother who won't accept the former's sexual orientation; also, the latter is pregnant but won't reveal who the father is.

Slightly interesting.

Rating: 44

Backtrack (1990)

Alternate name: Catchfire.

A hit man falls in love with his target, a woman who witnessed a mob execution.

Well acted and moderately entertaining, but didn't really impress me, maybe - but not likely - because I saw the cut version.

Rating: 44

The Producers (2005)

Musical remake of a 1968 film.

A dishonest Broadway producer puts into practice a scam concocted by his accountant-turned-associate: to produce a bad play which would flop and then to pocket the excess money they had raised. Only the play turns out to be a hit.

This musical version didn't do it for me, although the lyrics are quite good and the cast is competent.

Rating: 48

Diggers (2006)

The lives of clam diggers in Long Island in 1975 when a big corporation threatens their way of life.

I guess this is not too bad, but I wouldn't call it exciting or original.

Rating: 43

Murderball (2005)

Documentary mostly about wheelchair rugby.

Watchable.

Rating: 45

Seinfeld: The Slicer (1997) (TV)

Probably a second viewing. This episode is one of the most intricately concocted pieces of writing I have seen in a TV show.

Constantine (2005)

Based on a comics series whose main character was created by Alan Moore in 1985.

Satan's son plans to rule the Earth; an exorcist tries to stop him.

Very poor in every sense. Consciously or not, it is a metaphor for the immigration policy of First World countries.

Rating: 18

No Country for Old Men (2007)

A man finds a suitcase full of money in the site of a drug deal gone bad. He is chased by several parties involved with it.

Melancholically devoid of coherence, it nevertheless bears locally enjoyable set-pieces and often marvelously written dialogue.

Rating: 50

Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)

English title: A Very Long Engagement.

Based on the novel by Sébastien Japrisot (1st ed. 1991).

In 1920, a young woman whose fiancé doesn't return from war begins searching for him.

Dull and without any psychological truth; stylistically, it is an artificial, sterilized candy sculpture of a movie.

Rating: 25

Fear No Evil (1969) (TV)

A man buys an antique mirror and begins acting weird, much to his fiancée's dismay.

This belongs to the "mumbo-jumbo" genre (my denomination). Anyway, it gave me the desire to read "Moses and Monotheism".

Rating: 37

Seinfeld: The Junk Mail (1997) (TV)

Probably not the first time I see this. I like this show a lot.

Hostel (2005)

Some American tourists in Slovakia fall victim to a ring of sadists.

Not bad.

Rating: 53

End of Days (1999)

On the eve of the year 2000, the Devil would impregnate a certain woman. A certain religious organization plans to kill her, and thus prevent that event to happen. A private security guard gets mixed up in this affair and tries to save the girl from being killed and also from what he thinks is a bad sexual encounter.

A totally silly premise made into a hopelessly vacuous yet not badly directed film. It may be thought of as a demonstration piece for the case that the horror and action genres don't mix well, the latter being heavily reliant on rules (physical ones, mostly) and the former being based on situations where one or more rules cease to prevail.

Rating: 22

'R Xmas (2001)

isSome days in the life of a drug dealer and his family, near Christmas. He is kidnapped and his wife has to come up with the ransom money.

Bad stuff, and shot in cheap video to boot. Believe me, there is too little going on here, and some of it doesn't even make sense.

Rating: 19

Black Irish (2007)

A family of Irish ascent living in South Boston faces some problems. The film is told from the point of view of the youngest son.

It couldn't get more cliché than this, even though these are fairly realistic clichés, and the film can be said to stick to plausible situations throughout.

Rating: 37

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

This is my second viewing. Here you have the original review and a Post Scriptum where I reconsider some of my initial remarks.

Rating: 35 (up from 10)

Touch (1997)

Based on the novel by Elmore Leonard (1st ed. 1987).

A young man has the power to heal through his touch. He becomes the target of public attention and is coveted on the one side by some money-hungry people and on the other by a religious fanatic.

It has some marginal entertaining qualities and top-notch cinematography and camerawork, but it is not particularly funny; its points of satire are either painly obvious (people are greedy) or find no resonance in my personal concerns (there is no room for the sacred in contemporary society). What ruins the movie, though, is the bland, indecisive tone, an intermediary between caricature and earnest drama. Arnold's performance is pretty marvelous, in any case.

Rating: 35

Les égarés (2003)

English title: Strayed.

A widow and her two children flee Paris when the Germans invade it. On the road they meet a young man and decide to follow him into the woods. They find an abandoned house and begin living there.

Interesting drama which is nevertheless marred by some artificial character behavior and dialogue. The bombing scenes at the beginning are impressive.

Rating: 53

Spun (2002)

Some days in the life of some drug addicts.

The fast-cutting gets wearisome eventually; the film is funny, although the druggie genre was a bit saturated by then.

Rating: 50

La fe del volcán (2001)

English title: The Faith of the Volcano.

The film narrates, sort of, the friendship between an adolescent girl and a middle-aged man, both struggling for their lives in crisis-stricken Argentina.

This is a zero-budget film, shot in poor-quality video, without much emphasis on narrative focus -- it starts as a documentary about the filmmaker, then changes to the main storyline, described above.

Rating: 23

Mortel transfert (2001)

English title: Mortal Transfer.

A shrink falls asleep during a session and when he wakes up he finds that his patient, a woman with masochistic tendencies, is dead by strangling.

Uninspired.

Rating: 30

P.S.: Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

P.S. (2004)

She lost her high school sweetheart to her best friend. Then he died tragically. Many years later she is head of admissions for the local University's Art Department, he reappears as one the applicants.

Silly premise, feeble dramaturgy.

Rating: 20

Thumbsucker (2005)

(Spoilers) Even as a teenager, he still sucks his thumb. His parents are concerned. They are the type who has their sons call them by name instead of "mom" and "dad" -- don't want to feel old. His dentist tries hypnosis on him, he won't be able to suck his thumb anymore, it works, he feels awful, he plots revenge on the dentist. The school diagnoses him with Attention Deficit Syndrome; he goes on Ritalin, he is transformed, now he is the leader of the debate team. His teacher thinks he has turned into a monster, his girlfriend distances herself from him. He is not happy, quits the medication, looks his ex up, they do drugs and sexual games. He falls in love, she was just experimenting. He thinks his mom is having an affair with a patient, it was paranoia. He gets accepted by New York University, his grades were below their average, he told them his parents were mentally ill. His dentist has reconsidered his life and his values, there is nothing wrong with thumbsucking.

The text has some satirical potential regarding the "modern" family and the American values, yet it seems that the option here was for a straightforward coming-of-age tale. I think the result was excessively bland.

Rating: 44

Ha- Buah (2006)

English title: The Bubble.

A sexual relationship between an Israeli man and a Palestinian man in Tel Aviv faces several obstacles.

This film is a proof that it is hard to find a completely stupid movie, even if the filmmaker is not very smart, as seems to be the case here. The reason for this is that by telling a story he inevitably shows the reality of things, even if it is partially buried under a pile of bullshit. The deepest political thought which The Bubble seems to imply is "make love, not war"; this may sound offensive to anyone above 10 years of age, but despite this simplistic notion, which culminates in an ending worthy of 19th-century Romanticism at its maddest, certains facts about the Israeli and Arab cultures emerge which speak for themselves. Anyone with a perceptive eye will notice those facts.

Rating: 43

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005)

Documentary about the popular music made in Istanbul.

Of very little interest.

Rating: 14

Rambo III (1988)

John, a Vietnam veteran who is living in Thailand, receives a visit from an old colonel who asks him to join him in a mission in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. John initially refuses but when said colonel is captured by the Soviets he goes to the rescue.

Routine actioner with a penchant for close-ups.

Rating: 32

Stay (2006)

Alternate title: Sleeping Dogs Lie.

A woman performs oral sex on a dog once. Years later she is in a relationship (with a human, haha) and he proposes they share their secrets.

It's basically a thesis film about a truism, but it's not pointless -- often I see people telling other people information that other people don't need to know and could be used against the person who told it; in the specific case of a relationship, the temptation is stronger and, as the film demonstrates with an amount of success which I can't really assess precisely, the harm can be bigger too. The film could do without the main character telling us that "lies make us live up to them and be better persons". She, in the film -- as, in real life, most people -- lies just to avoid a disadvantageous situation, and not to be a better person. Being a better person in this particular instance -- and it doesn't really matter how reasonable this is for anyone else but her -- would be to stop doing what she did only once and long ago. Therefore, this specific sentence (which is said in voice-over) doesn't make any sense at all.

Rating: 50

Michael Clayton (2007)

A big law firm has among its clients a huge chemical industry which is producing a carcinogenic defoliant. One of the lawyers assigned to defend said industry finds out about it; add to it that he has fallen in love with one of the plaintiffs' daughter, and his own mood disorders, and you have a recipe for disaster. He goes rogue, and the law firm sends one of their trouble-fixing lawyers over in order to bring him back to his senses.

Lately every time a screenwriter makes his directing debut it is safe to expect an overwritten film, one that some critics deprecatingly call a "writer's movie". Michael Clayton is exactly that, but this wouldn't be such a big problem were it not just a pile of unhealthy clichés. A corporate lawyer which all of a sudden changes sides and becomes a public-health militant is not a plausible character, not even if said lawyer is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, because nervous breakdowns generally render individuals a little more dysfunctional than that; assassins who take orders from middle-rank executives in a sidewalk rendezvous -- when will people wake up to the fact that this is ridiculous? The film doesn't come up with anything politically relevant; its plot is founded on a fictitious company and a fictitious chemical, so I guess as an exposé its scope is confined to the obvious: big corporations are only concerned about their profits (duh); law firms are not concerned about ethics (double duh); and on and on. Bottom line: what is the film's point? I don't know, honestly. Taking a wild guess, I would say it's implying that sometimes a stop to gaze at the horses can save your life... Anyway, I will grant it some points for occasionally interesting dialogue and acting profficiency.

Rating: 38

SherryBaby (2006)

A woman on parole tries to win back the affection of her small daughter.

Pretty convincing; plus, all the performances are excellent. Its plot is similar to Clean (2004/I) but I liked SherryBaby better. The only thing that might be considered a flaw is that perhaps they could go deeper into the character's past, through flashbacks or even dialogue. Maybe I am wrong here.

Rating: 63

La fille coupée en deux (2007)

English titles: The Girl Cut in Two; A Girl Cut in Two.

A young woman who works in TV starts a relationship with a married man who is much older than her. Concurrently, a young millionaire starts courting her.

The main foundation is Homer's Odyssey, seen here from the vantage point of Penelope; an auxiliary point of support is Louÿs' The Woman and the Puppet (which was made into the films The Devil Is a Woman and That Obscure Object of Desire). Those literary works are cited during the film as clues for its comprehension, the former in the title of one character's novel (Penelope's Absence) and the latter at an auction attended by said character and his young lover. Gabrielle is torn between her Ulysses -- an older novelist who treats her like shit -- and an unstable and rich suitor whom she treats just as badly in her own way. Despite all the cultural references, this is a carelessly written and even at times confusing film, directed with a flat style which on occasion borders on soap-like. As a final note, it is loosely based on a real episode which occurred in 1906 and inspired the film The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955); it was also featured in Ragtime (1981).

Rating: 45

Seven (1995)

Two policemen investigate a series of crimes apparently committed by the same person, each related to one deadly sin.

It is just a joke, pretty dull until it reaches its punchline, and then not really that funny. As a matter of fact, the funniest thing in the movie is the fact that the killer looks, moves and talks like one of the muppets.

This is my second viewing.

Rating: 39 (unchanged)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: There Was an Old Woman (1956) (TV)

A couple of crooks in transit through a small town overhear a conversation about an old woman who has a large sum of money stashed at home. They decide to rob her; what they don't know but are soon to find out is that she is completely crazy.

Nice little episode.

Black Sunday (1977)

A psychotic American pilot helps Palestinian terrorists in a major mass murder attempt at the Superbowl.

I watched this for the second time in order to correct a possible former misjudgment but it is really a problematic film -- unnecessarily long and featuring one of those de rigueur agent-with-a-conscience-crisis interludes. Of course there are a few plot implausibilities too, beginning with the premise itself; also, it has one of the most excruciatingly annoying sequences ever: the Israeli guy repeatedly trying to attach a hook on the top of a balloon. On the positive side, it has several other well-filmed action sequences, making good use of the wide screen; on the acting department you can't go wrong with Dern, and Keller's performance is fantastic; Shaw defends himself from the absurdity of his character by not conveying any emotion.

Rating: 48 (unchanged)

Batismo de Sangue (2006)

At the height of the Brazilian dictatorship in the late 60's, a group of Dominican friars join an underground leftist organization which aims at overthrowing the government.

Interesting chronicle of a certain aspect of Brazilian history. It is based on a written account published in 1983 (and on some oral testimonies), and while it could be a little longer and flesh some situations and characters out a little better, the layout of events is rationally done and precisely staged. Unfortunately there are exceptions to that rule, for instance the scene where the journalist friar rebukes a sexual proposal by a woman -- it has no further development and, except for his laconic response, we are left in the dark about his feelings in this area, and what bearing this has -- if any -- on the main events depicted in the movie anyway.

Rating: 51

Meet Wally Sparks (1997)

A TV show host hostilizes -- and is hostilized by -- a politician; by way of a prank made by the politician's son, the TV show host is invited to a party being thrown by the politician.

A film which may be enjoyed at the most superficial level only; crammed with witty one-liners but with nothing really substantial to show, it imperturbably follows its rote path of vulgar comicity and plot clichés.

Rating: 33

Dante's Peak (1997)

A peaceful little town lies next to a dormant volcano. Some altered instrument readings prompt the government to send one of their experts over there to inspect the place.

Mediocre. I guess it is intended as a metaphor for repressed ("dormant") sexuality, since both protagonists "haven't been with someone in a long time".

Rating: 35

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

A repentant agent, recovering from amnesia, is hunted by his former employers.

Anything in this movie that is plot-related is completely and irremediably stupid and seems to be there with the sole purpose of giving the viewer some rest between action sequences. The latter are hysteric and competently made but not particularly memorable or original.

Rating: 43

Cette nuit-là (1935)

A commercial for a furniture manufacturer.

La sortie des usines Lumière (1896)

A lesser known version.

L'arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat (1897)

Another version, taken from another side.

Wild Wild West (1999)

Based on the homonymous TV show (1965-1969).

In the aftermath of the American Civil War, two government agents, one a captain and the other a gizmo and disguise expert, investigate the kidnapping of several scientists. They find out that a mad Southern inventor who lost his legs during the war is behind the kidnappings and has an evil plan.

The idea of associating a legless inventor with spiders is interesting; also, the film is not devoid of visual flair, and some of the one-liners are funny.

Rating: 38

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

It's about a car racer, his absent father, his best friend, his bimbo wife, his smitten assistant, his French rival, his mother, his two incredibly undisciplined sons.

Rather elementary humor.

Rating: 35

For Your Consideration (2006)

In a movie set rumors are spread that its stars will be nominated for an important award.

It's funny but the humor is kind of obvious.

Rating: 51

Delirious (2006)

A homeless young man starts living with a paparazzo -- herein called a paparazzi, as is perhaps common usage -- and working as his assistant. Their friendship suffers a blow when the former meets a beautiful starlet.

It has funny bits, and is mostly easy to watch; the first half is better than the second.

Rating: 51

Black Snake Moan (2006)

A man who has been dumped by his wife rescues a hurt unconscious nymphomaniac from the highway; he then tries to cure her from her evil ways.

It's mostly a compilation of clichés which don't resolve into anything particularly interesting, yet is somehow watchable.

Rating: 37

Happy Feet (2006)

These penguins can sing. One that can't but tap-dances instead is looked down upon. The shortage of fish is a big problem; our hero investigates it.

Awful, despite the pretty visuals.

Rating: 20

Police (1985)

A cop investigating Tunisian drug dealers in Paris falls in love with a suspect's girlfriend.

This is possibly the most bizarre police drama I have seen, and yet I kind of liked it. The free interaction between characters on both sides of the law is somewhat implausible, lending the film a melodramatic flavor, which operates simultaneously with the more realistic aspects of it. In a scene near the ending a character invites the same cop that beat him earlier for a drink, telling him that he held no grudge; I was intrigued by this scene, wondering whether this is in tune with the melodramatic side or was it intended to be realistic in regards to France's social reality. It was all the more puzzling to me since here in Brazil I think no scene of this kind would ever be possible. At any rate it's an interesting, intense film.

Rating: 61

Infamous (2006)

The story behind the writing of the book "In Cold Blood".

This story begged to be told correctly, and there you have it. It also proves once and for all that a Brit can play an American faultlessly, even better that an American would (or, in this case, has).

Rating: 69

Flightplan (2005)

A woman loses her daughter inside an airplane; it's all part of an evil scheme.

One of the most absurd criminal plots ever. The Internet Movie Database Message Board for this film is especially funny.

Rating: 11

The Parallax View (1974)

A journalist investigates the murder of a politician and finds out it was the result of a conspiracy engineered by a secret organization; he infiltrates that organization.

Second viewing. Solidly directed and tense; also, very bleak.

Rating: 56 (up from 46)

Breakheart Pass (1975)

Aboard a train which is bound to a fort are a governor and his mistress, a sheriff and his prisoner, a major and his soldiers. Several strange incidents occur and nobody is what he seems.

Second viewing. An entertaining -- albeit a little far-fetched and not without some poorly explained details -- mystery story in a Western setting; the filmmaking is perfect. I don't recall why I didn't like it as much the first time I saw it.

Rating:56 (up from 47)

Chicken Little (2005)

Inspired by the fable "The Sky Is Falling" which originates from the Daddabha Jataka, one of the Jataka Tales of Buddhist Indian folklore dating from the period ranging from the 6th century Before the Common Era to the 3rd century of the Common Era.

A young chicken causes havoc in his small town when he reports that the sky is falling; they later conclude it was only an acorn which struck him and from then on he becomes the laughing stock of the community.

Weird musical references and an uninspired script are major liabilities here; the animation is good as usual in big studio movies. A possibly alarming twist in regard to the original fable is that they reversed the moral of the story: here the chicken is right all along and everybody else is wrong for not taking him seriously; sign of the panicked, paranoid times we live, no doubt.

Rating: 40

Deja Vu (2006)

A terrorist blows up a ferry full of military personnel; a woman is found dead near the explosion site; the crime investigation makes use of a powerful device that can visualize the past and maybe even send a person to that past.

One of those complicated films which demand an external explanation (4 timelines are involved -- see Wikipedia, for example) for its understanding; after that explanation, they tell you the plot holes which invalidate it. The main flaw is not mentioned there though, namely, what is the motivation for creating a better timeline if ours will either remain shitty or vanish? Anyway, the film has a taut narrative and good direction and I was not excessively bored (even though I would only really understand the intricacies of its plot afterwards).

Rating: 40

Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Loosely adapted from the picture book "A Day with Wilbur Robinson" by William Joyce (1st ed. 1990).

Lewis is an orphan boy with inventing skills who is transported to the future by another boy; they are chased by a villain who wants to steal one of Lewis's inventions; in the future Lewis meets a bizarre but warm-hearted family.

Sufficiently entertaining; on the other hand, the problem with this (and with most present-day animations) is that there is a surface of movement and prettiness and even occasional inventivity all of which revolve around a somewhat trite core.

Rating: 55

Monster House (2006)

A house "eats" those that go near it.

The technique is very good; the characters are very well written and just as well animated. The plot is not exactly brilliant though.

Rating: 67

Wide Awake (2006)

Documentary about insomnia, sort of.

Neither really densely informative nor entertaining.

Rating: 31

Rocket Science (2007)

A high school kid suffering from stuttering is invited by a female colleague to be her partner at a debating tournament (or whatever they call it).

Full of affected quirkiness.

Rating: 23

D.E.B.S. (2004)

A group of female spies faces a crisis when one of them falls in love with a female top criminal.

Its maker strives for the 16-year-old mental age (or maybe has it). Within that scope, it is acceptable as an inconsequential pastime.

Rating: 39

Hostel: Part II (2007)

Some female students doing an art course in Rome are convinced to go to Slovakia by a model. Over there they fall victim to a ring of sadists.

Incompetent on every possible aspect. It is fit to induce vomit or laughter, depending on your temperament.

Rating: 15

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Perfect Murder (1956) (TV)

Two men plot the murder of their aunt in order to collect her inheritance.

One of the more predictable episodes so far -- in fact, I predicted exactly what was going to happen in the end; it was nevertheless well written, well acted and well directed.

Boksuneun naui geot (2002)

English title: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

A man kidnaps his former employer's little daughter, expecting to use the ransom money to buy a kidney transplant for his sister.

Weak.

Rating: 35

Happy Campers (2001)

Several characters at a summer camp.

I can't find much to say about this; it goes along very obvious lines, the monitors being the center of the attention. Despite a few attempts at psychological characterization, the film doesn't really take off either as a comedy or as a drama. Anyway, for better things dealing with somewhat similar environments, go for Meatballs or even Les Bronzés.

Rating: 31

Hot Cross Bunny (1948)

A scientist is conducting an experiment in psychic transference; he intends to exchange the psyches between a chicken and a rabbit, and uses Bugs as one of his test subjects.

Great cartoon. Christopher Mulrooney (see link at the right of this page) identified this as a source for the 'Doctor' character in Les yeux sans visage (1960). The similarity of both characters is indeed too striking to ignore.

Le sang des bêtes (1949)

English title: Blood of the Beasts.

Documentary which intercuts the bucolic outskirts of Paris with the depiction of the work in several slaughterhouses situated nearby.

The thematical essence of Eyes Without a Face (means/end dichotomy) was present already in this earlier short: the end is feeding humans, the means is killing animals; the landscape in the vicinity of a slaughterhouse does not betray the brutality going on inside it; moreover, said brutality does not in turn belie the rectitude of character of the men and women who work there. The plain assertion that Blood of the Beasts makes is: most people eat meat (or would if they could), and don't see anything horrible or reproachable in that act; and if most of them would probably be incapable of watching Blood of the Beasts in its entirety, it's OK, that is how society functions, namely by keeping its members in the ignorance of the subjacent violence which is necessary for such trivial acts as feeding oneself. Seen from another angle, this is a film about the human allegiance to humans, which excludes non-humans such as cows, horses and sheep.

Les yeux sans visage (1960)

English titles: Eyes Without a Face; The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus.

Based on the novel by Jean Redon (1st edition 1959, apparently)

Second viewing; the previous one was on December 11, 2005.

Spoilers below.

A surgeon whose daughter was horribly burned in an accident kidnaps (with the assistance of a former patient) young women in order to use their skins to rebuild his daughter's face.

Eyes Without a Face is about a man's allegiance to his daughter whom he has accidentally harmed, and a woman's allegiance to the doctor who restored her face; from another angle, this is a film about the dichotomy means/end, and I may be stating the obvious here, but it's important to stress that only superficially it's about a mad doctor and his creepy assistant and a horribly deformed woman. This is actually about how we humans through our actions -- and mostly through our omissions -- cause pain and death to other living beings with the excuse of bringing well-being to those to whom we are bound (by force or by choice) in allegiance. It's fascinating to see how most people need to remain unconscious of this reality in order to stay sane. The formal perfection of Eyes Without a Face has only a tiny stain which may very well be a product of my misplaced expectations (but there was another viewer with a similar opinion; see the IMDB's message board): when Edna rushes upstairs I could swear that she was going to find Christiane and see her (Edna's) own face on Christiane; when she screams, I thought that's what happened but then we find out that she has jumped out the window and no evidence is given that she found Christiane, and furthermore the timing of the sequence just does not seem to allow that to have happened. See also my upcoming review for Le sang des bêtes (1949).

Rating: 76 (unchanged) (13th position in 1960's best)

The Brotherhood (1968)

Two brothers end up on opposite sides inside the American Mafia.

It is about several conflicts of allegiances, and the eventual predominance of one allegiance which is hierarchically dominant over all the others; e.g., one character must choose between honoring the memory of his father on one side and safeguarding his own position in a criminal organization on the other; another character must choose between his brother on one side or his wife and kids on the other. It's tautly narrated and has splendid cinematography.

Rating: 57

The 300 Spartans (1962)

In 480 B.C. the Persians under Xerxes decide to conquer Greece, but Leonidas of Sparta vows to stop him by placing his men in the strait of Thermopylae. He can't get full support from Sparta due to the opposition of the second Spartan king, so all he can count on are the 300 members of his personal guard.

It features the faint notion of a nation in a context where cities were more or less independent (ancient Greece), thus establishing a conflict of allegiances. It's passable but lacks vigor in the battle scenes and inspiration in the dialogue which invokes "freedom" as a general motivation for the Spartans and their allies.

Rating: 35

Saskatchewan (1954)

In 19th century Canada, conflicts arise between the hitherto peaceful Cree natives and the Mounted Police when the latter confiscate the natives' weapons. The situation becomes explosive when the bellicose Sioux cross the border into Canada offering their allegiance to the Crees. The film follows a caravan transporting ammunition across wild territory; they also escort a woman who is facing a murder charge.

It is about the shifting allegiances of a tribe of peaceful natives in Canada. While the natural Canadian landscape has been gorgeously filmed, the plot presents situations which have been explored dozens of times in the Western genre; it does so without much in the way of excitement or surprise.

Rating: 33

Karov La Bayit (2005)

English title: Close to Home.

The friendship and maturing of two young female Israeli soldiers.

It deals with an environment where young Israeli people learn to cope with the notion of the oppression of Arabs as a condition for urban safety. Put in more general terms, it is about the arduous establishment of an allegiance of young citizens to their country. It's quite affecting.

Rating: 67

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Two guys meet on the road; they become friends and do a robbery with some others.

Second viewing. Decent film, although I didn't understand some minor aspects of the plot, most of them related to the job's set-up.

Rating: 55 (unchanged)

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

A guy keeps changing his past and making his life worse.

A trite proposition founded on a truism (actions have consequences which are sometimes impredictable). The individual pieces of the puzzle have some amount of dramatic appeal, but its utter humorlessness makes it wearisome.

Rating: 35

Vendredi soir (2002)

English title: Friday Night.

Man and woman meet during a traffic jam. They spend a glorious night together.

An exercise in dullness. The main characters seem to go through the movie without changing their facial expressions; their sex-making doesn't really look like sex; also, they seem to have lost the ability to talk.

Rating: 14

Omaret yakobean (2006)

English title: The Yacoubian Building.

Several characters living in an apartment building in Cairo: a womanizing old pacha, his imbalanced sister, a homosexual newspaper editor, his young proletarian lover, a pretty young woman who is constantly harassed by her employers, her fiancé who falls under the spell of a fundamentalist preacher.

This ridiculous film is what is usually called a soap, and here goes the definition: the kind of melodrama characterized by stereotypes and a plot which takes realistic elements and distorts them in such a way as to make it completely implausible yet fit to stimulate the emotional identification expectations of its target audience.

Rating: 25

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)

Based on the novel The Off-Islanders by Nathaniel Benchley, first published in 1961.

A Russian submarine gets stuck near the coast of an American island. Its crew goes ashore, causing panic among the local population.

Uneven, predominantly unfunny, yet occasionally intelligent, comedy. This being my second viewing, I must confess it improved a little upon it.

Rating: 42 (up from 30)

Sicario (1994)

A boy growing up in Medellín, Colombia, in 1990, becomes an assassin for the drug cartel.

Unbelievably absurd -- the mob has its operatives kill each other for no reason, among countless other reason-defying events, worthy of the imagination of a 12-year-old; at any rate, the film is professional enough in the technical and acting departments, which makes it kind of endurable.

Rating: 25

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Back for Christmas (1956) (TV)

Based on a short story by John Collier, first published in 1939.

A man kills his wife and buries her in the basement, on the same day when they were leaving for the U.S..

Nice episode, and, among its niceties, an interesting idea (women seem to value tidiness regardless of its function, as opposed to men), a variation of which is present in Crumb (1994).

Gun Belt (1953)

An ex-outlaw turned rancher is requested by his brother to take part in a robbery. He refuses but certain complications follow which will demand action from him.

B-Westerns like this one are not really memorable, yet fulfill their role of entertaining, no questions asked.

Rating: 34

The Simpsons Movie (2007)

When the pollution in the Springfield lake reaches catastrophic levels, the government decides to put a dome over the city, thus isolating it from the rest of the country.

I guess I would have to see it again in order to make some sense of the above-described plot. In any case, the film is bland, a far cry from the sharp humor displayed in the earlier seasons of the TV show. As a mild form of entertainment, it's OK, although some of the jokes are somewhat irritating.

Rating: 42

The Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958)

An undercover agent investigates the link between the activities of a cattle rustling gang and the commerce of silver. All this occurs in 19th century Arizona just before it gains the status of State of the Union.

Routine B-Western, with some degree of watchability.

Rating: 31

Mickey One (1965)

A Detroit stand-up comedian owes money to the local Mob and runs to Chicago where he hides under a new identity.

On first viewing it seemed a little uneven, but it can be said without fear of error that it is very well filmed (and equally well scored). Possible imperfections aside, this is a successful study of the psychology of the pursued man, with some hinted allusions to deeper metaphysical themes that I don't fully understand. There seems to be a reference to the Catholic doctrine of the original sin when the girl asks Mickey what he is guilty of, and he answers "of not being innocent". At this article, there are some literary references, but since I haven't read the cited sources, I am still somewhat in the dark. For those who don't care much for these extra dimensions, the film is enjoyable for its set-pieces (the car-wrecking site, the gizmo show, and others) and its general atmosphere and dark humor.

Rating: 65

Sky High (2005)

The children of superheroes attend a special school; those students whose superpowers are considered important are placed as the elite of the school while the others are trained to be their assistants.

While some of it is derivative and cliché, some intelligence can be found in the script. And it is well made.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Rating: 50

The Dizzy Acrobat (1943)

Woody wants to watch a circus show and is barred by an usher.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

The Reckless Driver (1946)

Woody is reminded by an outdoor sign that his driver's license must be renewed. Wally is in charge of the tests and a conflict establishes between him and Woody.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Solid Ivory (1947)

Woody is playing pool and one of the balls falls out of the table into a chicken's nest. The latter thinks it's one of her eggs.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005)

English title: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

A woman serves time in prison for the kidnapping and murder of a boy. She is innocent and after she is released she will seek vengeance against the men who put her in that situation.

Even for those who have sympathy for Mr. Park's bizarre mannerisms, this may come off as pretty uninspired and even haphazard at times.

Rating: 20

Only You (1994)

As a girl, Faith asked a Ouija Board for the name of her soulmate and it somehow produced one. Now an adult, and about to get married, she hears that name again and chases its owner all the way to Italy.

Weak story and weak screenplay.

Rating: 20

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Place of Shadows (1956) (TV)

Man travels to a monastery seeking revenge against another man who took refuge there after having stolen his money.

A weaker episode; still, it's easy to watch, like the rest of the series.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Safe Conduct (1956) (TV)

A journalist on a train leaving East Germany gets involved with a soccer player's weird machinations.

Good episode, ingenious and engaging.

Ladybugs (1992)

A man accepts from his boss the task of coaching a girls' soccer team; he puts his stepson -- in drag -- in the team to give it a boost.

Weak comedy which nevertheless has some good one-liners and one or two interesting sequences.

Rating: 35

Efter brylluppet (2006)

English title: After the Wedding.

A charity worker in India has to travel to his native Denmark for an important meeting with a prospective donor. He is then invited to a wedding. During the ceremony some facts are disclosed which lead him to think he is there by design.

Superior melodrama, which benefits from a superb ensemble of actors, doubtlessly very well directed.

Rating: 69

Un mauvais fils (1980)

English title: A Bad Son.

After serving a drug-related prison sentence in the U.S., young man returns to France and reestablishes a link with his father. During his absence, his mother died after a long period of depression.

This is a film without concessions to melodrama, and with no comic relief; it's basically life as a prison cell. The father-son relationship is the stronger side of the film, with very interesting nuances and a marvelous performance by Yves Robert. On the other hand, I found the protagonist's love relationship to be unconvincing and badly done in some aspects. To begin with, it's hardly credible that a government program of rehabilitation and reinsertion would place two former drug addicts close to each other; also, I don't see how he would fall instantly in love with a woman who treats him coldly and has no exceptionally attractive physical traits.

Rating: 58

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Freddy Kruger (from "A Nightmare on Elm Street") uses Jason Voorhees (from "Friday the 13th") to become stronger (watch it to know how).

Rather silly as a concept, yet the result is watchable, sort of.

Rating: 30

Das Sandbad (1907)

English title: The Sand Bath.

Early nudie.

Saw it at the Europa Film Treasures portal.

Out for Justice (1991)

A cop goes after the man who killed his friend -- also a cop -- and who is now killing people for no reason under the effect of drugs.

Violent thriller, brutal and not very interesting.

Rating: 30

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Tchao pantin (1983)

A middle-aged gas station attendant befriends a young drug dealer. When the latter is killed by another dealer, the former sets out to avenge him.

A poor screenplay.

Rating: 31

Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

Back in the 80s, a U.S. congressman engages himself in the plight for funding the Afghan resistance against the Soviet invaders.

This story is not as interesting as it purports to be; also, it has few intrinsically cinematic virtues. From the political angle, it has a basic ideological slant which is perfectly expressed in the title itself. Were it named "Joanne Herring's War" it would be truer to fact. For those with a capacity to see beneath the surface, the film hints at how money dictates U.S. politics.

Rating: 61

2046 (2004)

A man gets involved with several women but has a secret inner pain which prevents him from committing to any one of them.

This film has a tendency towards hollow aestheticism; the "science-fiction" angle doesn't work at all.

Rating: 35

El orfanato (2007)

English title: The Orphanage.

A kid wich had several imaginary friends goes missing. Some clues point to the orphanage where he lived before being adopted.

This supernatural tale fails to excite or thrill.

Rating: 27

Les barbouzes (1964)

English title: The Great Spy Chase.

Following an arms dealer's death, government agents from several countries gather at the widow's castle in an attempt to seize some secret documents concerning nuclear weapons.

Unfunny comedy.

Rating: 31

Urban Cowboy (1980)

Bud moves from a small town to a big one. His uncle gets him a job in the same company he works at. They go out at night and Bud meets a girl. When a mechanical bull is installed at the bar, it's a big hit, but also a factor of conflict.

This film has good moments and is mostly easy to watch. The plot is somewhat silly at times.

Rating: 50

Messenger of Death (1988)

The murder of the wives and children of a traditionalist Mormon man puts an investigative journalist on the trail of a Mormon family feud and also of some economic interests over a piece of land belonging to one of them.

Basically routine policier, which is watchable and quite probably won't last in my memory for long.

Rating: 36

Ice Princess (2005)

A teenage girl is advised by her teacher to pursue a Physics career; her mother is very pleased with that idea, but what the girl really likes to do is ice skating. She tries to bring the two activities together in her essay for the scholarship, a study of the biomechanics of figure skating.

For a teenage movie this is very reasonable.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Rating: 51

Fort Yuma (1955)

An army outfit is transporting some ammunition to a Fort, unaware that the Apache got word of it and is planning to attack them and steal the ammunition. There are further complications as the leader of the outfit is having an affair with the scoutsman's Native-American sister. A missionary woman who comes along with them takes an interest in the scoutsman.

Below average western, which means barely watchable stuff.

Rating: 32

Le septième juré (1962)

English title: The Seventh Juror.

Based on the novel by Francis Didelot (1st ed. 1958).

From Wikipédia (translated from the French): "On a hot Sunday in September, Duval, an honest historiless pharmacist of Pontarlier, yielding to a sudden urge, throws himself at a young woman who is sunbathing at a lakeshore. She screams and he strangles her. The woman's lover, Sylvain Sautral, is accused of the murder. But then Duval is appointed juror at the young man's trial."

Compelling drama about small towns and their morality, and also about how the choices we make in youth may lead us to personal dead-ends. The film makes masterful use of voice-over, and has a memorable performance by Bernard Blier, amid a fine cast.

Rating: 66

Le chemin des écoliers (1959)

English title: Way of Youth.

Based on the novel by Marcel Aymé (1st ed. 1946).

A young man makes a lot of money in the black market in Paris in 1943. His parents know nothing about his illegal activities.

Bittersweet look at the Occupation. The story is full of unexpected (and entertaining) turns, and of funny situations. In the fine cast, the highlights are provided by Bourvil and, in a smalller role, Lino Ventura, two actors I am very fond of.

The version I saw was 78 minutes long; according to the Internet Movie Database there is a 90 minutes version.

Rating: 64

The Order (2003)

Alternate title: The Sin Eater.

A young priest goes to Rome to investigate the death of his mentor, and finds out about a strange "sin eating" ritual.

Not worth any comments, really.

Rating: 5

Perdoa-me por Me Traíres (1983)

Based on the play by Nelson Rodrigues (1st performance 1957).

Two stories with interconnected characters: (1) an adolescent girl is taken to a brothel by her best friend who is a prostitute at that place; (2) a man has an obsessive jealousy of his wife and asks to be committed in an institution.

An interesting text in an adequate adaptation, well directed and well acted. Some nudity and sex scenes are out of place and are obviously a concession to audience's tastes, but that doesn't seriously compromise the film.

I saw a 87-minute-long version, which seemed to be missing important scenes, although I can't be sure about it. The length of the film is generally given as 101 minutes, which further indicates the presence of cuts in the version I saw.

Rating: 58

Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)

A man arrives at a town while running from a woman; he is mistaken for a gunfighter. There is a war in town between two rival mining companies.

Funny western, with relentlessly witty dialog and excellent performances all around.

Rating: 60

Wah-Wah (2005)

The film follows the childhood and adolescence of a boy living in Swaziland in the late 60's and early 70's, and his family problems: his mother leaves, etc.

Very good film, a sharp and honest depiction of a boy's life against a troubled family and a retrograde society going through changes. One of the main virtues of the film is that it keeps a perfect balance between comedy and drama.

Rating: 71 (4th position among my favorite movies of 2005)

Firewalker (1986)

Two adventurers are hired by a young woman to seek a treasure.

Mediocre adventure which aimed to cash in on the popularity of Romancing the Stone and its sequel Jewel of the Nile.

Rating: 30

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

A detective who works at locating missing animals is hired to find the mascot of the famous Dolphins football club.

Occasionally intelligent but the protagonist's grimaceous characterization is not really my idea of funny.

Rating: 45

Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

A gang of hackers takes over all the computer systems that control the essential services of the country.

The action sequences of this film are breathtaking.

Rating: 67

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

A lunatic takes three consuls on a remote planet as hostages; he demands a starship so that he and his followers may go on a trip to a planet on the center of the galaxy where he believes he will find God. The Enterprise comes to the rescue but the lunatic manages to take control of it.

Another entertaining Star Trek film, correctly directed and competently written. The finale is weak in terms of 'scientific' justification, even more so than the average of the series, but it is perhaps the adequate culmination of a fantasy plot which brings about several interesting situations and a strong character, Sybok.

Rating: 52

The Secret Life of Words (2005)

A nurse takes care of a burn victim at an oil rig.

It doesn't ring true for one moment. It also has a penchant for the music video.

Similar movies: The English Patient and Breaking the Waves.

Rating: 15

The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002)

A satellite is self-destroyed and its data storage device is ejected, reaching the Earth's surface in Australia where it is eaten by a crocodile. An American team is sent to take the object back to the U.S., but at the same time an environmentalist is called in order to relocate the animal in question who has been giving trouble to a particular rancher.

Unpretentious yet entertaining adventure which benefits from the remarkable performance/stuntwork/informative lessons by Steve Irwin, who improvised all his lines.

Rating: 50

Several early movies

Enfants pêchant des crevettes (1896) [eng. tit. Children Fishing for Clams]

Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890)

Baignade dans un torrent (1897)

Le pêcheur dans le torrent (1897)

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)

English title: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Woman tries to reach her ex-boyfriend in order to tell him she is pregnant of him.

Second viewing. Not so good as I thought; there is a moderate amount of invention in the screenplay, but the dialogue is excessive and uninspired.

Rating: 51 (down from 68)

¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! (1984)

English title: What Have I Done to Deserve This?

Life in a lower middle class family.

Not of much interest, except for the good direction of actors and the excellent performances; the screenplay is not totally devoid of interest, but the narrowness of the worldview it embodies is slightly offputting. The murder is from "Lamb to the Slaughter", by Roald Dahl, first published in 1953 and adapted for television in 1958 ("Alfred Hitchcock Presents") and subsequently for Dahl's English show.

Rating: 40

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Based on the novel by Katherine Paterson (1st ed. 1977).

A boy and a girl escape to a world of fantasy after school.

The 'realistic' part is mildly interesting and is actually at odds with the fantasy part, which is unengaging and perfunctory. It's also interesting to note that the film comes off as liberal-oriented (here I use the word 'liberal' in the meaning the U.S. people give it); the character 'Leslie''s loose approach to religion seems to embody the film's own stance on these matters; her words go more or less like this: " You have to believe it, and you hate it; I don't have to believe it, and I find it beautiful"; these words obviously reflect the filmmakers' minds, but hardly real-life children's -- anyway only an arrogant prick would tell her friend what he is supposed to hate. The film is clearly prejudiced towards rural people; Jess's parents are rude and cold, and his classmates are a bunch of retards and bullies. Oddly enough, no teacher or school staff seem to do anything about the scandalous student behavior.

Rating: 40

Entre tinieblas (1983)

English titles: Dark Habits; Dark Hideout.

A woman hiding from the police seeks refuge in a convent.

Although some situations manage to cause a sense of weirdness, the actual events which link them are poorly developed and trite. The version I saw was only 95 minutes long approximately. This film has similarities in plot with Sister Act (1992), but I can't elaborate on that because I haven't seen the latter.

Rating: 31

The Rundown (2003)

A debt collector is assigned the mission of bringing a young man from the Amazon jungle to his brother in the U.S.A.; once over there he joins that young man in a quest for a precious relic.

Mediocre adventure, except for some above average stuntwork.

Rating: 34

Cellular (2004)

A woman is kidnapped and while in captivity manages to make a phone call with a semi-destroyed phone; the randomly dialed number belongs to a young man who will do everything he can to help her.

A one-hour-and-a-half commercial for cellphones. Moderately entertaining.

Rating: 44

Barquero (1970)

An outfit steals a payload of rifles and sends three of their men to secure the barge which will take them across the river to Mexico. These men are overpowered by the bargeman's friend and the whole town crosses the river before the bandits arrive in town. A long wait ensues on both sides of the river.

Well directed Western with several interesting situations and action sequences.Van Cleef and Tucker give memorable performances, and Oates is a genius.

Rating: 58

Patty Hearst (1988)

An account of the kidnapping of a wealthy young woman by a minuscule terrorist group and her subsequent joining in that group's activities.

This seems irreproachable at first analysis in strict storytelling terms, and yet there is something frustrating about the film which I can only express as being related to the non-cinematic quality of what is shown. This film draws a strong XXth century parallel to the XIXth century social behavior analysis in Duel at Diablo (1966).

Rating: 51

The Fly (1986)

Based on a short story by George Langelaan (1st publication 1957).

A scientist researching teleportation tries to teleport himself but a fly enters the teleportation chamber and as a result his genetic material fuses with the fly's.

It's my second viewing of this film. I hated it when I first saw it. After this second viewing, I still don't like many things about it, but I acknowledge some basic virtues in it, mostly at the dramatic level, which is furthermore sustained by fine performances. Possibly its most obvious flaws are the scientific misconceptions it employs as a plot driver, such as a computer that performs actions without having been programmed to do them, and the whole baloney about teaching the computer about the "secrets of the flesh". But the film is flawed in a most essential level, in that it articulates some interesting concepts (for example, the comparison between disease and evolution) but never really explores them, degenerating instead into simple melodrama/thriller/ special effects show, and finishing so abruptly that the idea of a sequel becomes almost a necessity.

Rating: 41 (up from 17)

Duel at Diablo (1966)

Based on the novel "Apache Rising" by Marvin H. Albert (1st ed. 1957).

A white woman had been kidnapped by the Apaches and was rescued after having lived for some time among them; now she can't fit in with the white community, which treats her with contempt. She tries to get back to the Apaches but is taken back to her husband by a scout.

The psychology is that of dime novels -- it's based on one, after all. I found the native Americans' hostility towards the woman hard to believe, and even harder that they would want to bury her alive; but then again some white characters are portrayed in a simplistic manner too. It's nevertheless an entertaining film at the melodramatic level; the action scenes were directed with a remarkable acuity.

Rating: 58

Shi gan (2006)

English title: Time.

A woman thinks her boyfriend is getting tired of her and changes her face through plastic surgery; she then changes her identity as well and tries to start a relationship with him.

Silly and dull.

Rating: 24

Spanglish (2004)

A Mexican woman emigrates to the U.S. with her small daughter; she finds work as a maid for a rich family and gets personally involved in their matters.

Apparently all familiar dramedies nowadays must feature a 'castrated' male, so this is no exception. It would be a waste of time to list all the atrocious moments in the movie -- it is bad from frame one and does not improve as it goes along. Of course, it must culminate in an ending which tops everything that precedes it in terms of abomination. One particular aspect of the movie, though, had me specially puzzled, namely, that it has a WHITE Spanish actress playing a Mexican woman whose daughter considers her mother's employer as "the coolest WHITE woman she has ever met".

Rating: 15

Demonlover (2002)

Diane is an executive at a French company who is trying to buy a Japanese porn animation company; she happens to be a spy at the service of that Japanese company's main rival.

It's marred by a poorly thought out script, crammed with unexplained or implausible events. Piecewise, it is rather atmospheric, yet not exactly thrilling. The predictable ending gives the film a moralistic slant.

Rating: 47

Tôkyô orimpikku (1965)

English title: Tokyo Olympiad.

The Brazilian TV showed only 125 minutes out of 170.

This film tries to highlight the human side of the Olympics, favoring close-ups -- and closer shots in general -- whenever possible. An interesting approach, but it seems to me -- based on the cut version I saw -- that it sacrifices the documenting of the actual games and competitions; an extreme example -- and, again, I can't be sure if this is due to some cut footage -- is the fencing competition, where we see the faces of the contestants but have no idea of what they are doing.

La bride sur le cou (1961)

English titles: Please, Not Now!; Only for Love.

Sophie lost her boyfriend to an American woman; then Sophie meets Alain, who falls in love with her; he suggests she use him to make her ex-boyfriend jealous.

Silly comedy which is slightly entertaining.

Rating: 35

La grande olimpiade (1961)

English titles: The Grand Olympics; Olympic Games 1960.

Documentary covering the 1960 Olympics held in Rome. This film is significantly better than the London and the Melbourne records.

Norbit (2007)

Norbit, an orphan, marries a bossy, overweight woman whose brothers run a series of illegitimate businesses. Norbit's childhood sweetheart returns with intentions of buying the orphanage they were raised in. Her fiancé is secretly associated with Norbit's brothers-in-laws in a plan to turn the orphanage's building into a strip club.

Entertainingly crude (or rather, crudely entertaining).

Rating: 54

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

A man who had been exiled in a deserted planet seeks revenge upon the man who put him there.

Entertaining space adventure, with two astounding performances, Nimoy's and Montalbán's. It's my second viewing.

Rating: 56 (up from 47)

The Glimmer Man (1996)

A New York cop moves to Los Angeles where he partners with another cop in the investigation of some ritualistic murders. They begin to suspect that another criminal has been disguising his crimes as those of the serial killer in order to conceal his own activities involving the sale of chemical weapons to foreign terrorists via the Russian Mafia.

Routine policier with very cliché plot/characters which nevertheless handles its action well.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.

Rating: 30

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

A guy accepts a job of transporting beer from one State to another (which in the U.S.A. is illegal). He calls a friend to drive the truck while he'll drive a car which will work as a diversion. He picks up a runaway bride on the way back and is chased by the sheriff of the town in which the wedding was supposed to happen.

Second viewing. Great performances, classic songs, sharp dialogue, fine direction, all come together just fine.

Rating: 61 (up from 57)

Olympic Games 1956 (1956)

Documentary showing the XVIth Olympiad, which took place in Melbourne, Australia. I am guessing that the 50 minutes or so that I saw (on Brazilian TV) were a heavily cut version of the entire movie. Its integral duration is a little hard to ascertain, since the Internet Movie Database registers two versions, one shown in 1956 and another which was edited from the first one and came out in 2000. The latter's duration -- the only one reported -- is 104 minutes.

The film is a straightforward record without much sophistication of any sort.

XIVth Olympiad: The Glory of Sport (1948)

Documentary showing the London Olympics in 1948. The Brazilian TV showed a cut version (101 minutes out of 136), thus the narration gets incomprehensible when it mentions Switzerland, all the footage of which was cut. The film is not distinctive in any formal aspect, but otherwise it's fascinating to see women athletes who look like... uh, women. As for the rest of it, the user review (there is only one as of this moment) on the Internet Movie Database is pretty accurate.

Zivot je cudo (2004)

English title: Life Is a Miracle.

[Complete plot, with serious spoilers]

Prior to the Bosnian war, in a small town, a man works as an engineer for the local railway and has a dissatisfied wife who used to sing opera and is emotionally unstable. They have a son who plays football (that's soccer for you Yanks) and aspires to become a professional player. He is drafted for Army service and then the war begins. His mother runs away with a Hungarian musician. A local soldier kidnaps a Serbian woman who worked at the local hospital expecting to trade her for the engineer's son who has been taken prisoner. She is placed in the engineer's house as a hostage but she had long had a crush on him so she willingly obliges. A romance blossoms between the two until one day his wife returns. Also, the war has ended and the Serbian woman is in the U.N.'s prisoners list and must be returned to her country. They try to escape from Bosnia but she is shot in the leg. She goes to a hospital and from there they take her to Serbia; the engineer runs after her but on the bridge he finds his son returning to Bosnia, which causes him to lose her. He loses track of her and returns to his old life; he gets so despondent that he tries to kill himself by placing his head on the train rail. A donkey, who was -- as he had been time and again throughout the film -- stopped on the track in an attempt, according to his owner (who is himself a ghost according to another character), to kill himself over a love pain, prevented him from getting killed. He is taken with exhilaration and, in a "dream" or premonitory sequence, is seen riding the donkey with his beloved. Minor supblots: a mayor who will not comply with a corruption scheme is assassinated at his lawyer's orders; this lawyer subsequently takes his place and is referred to in one mysterious subtitle as "bisexual".

Very noisy and festively vulgar. Every character seems to have one screw loose. Not particularly remarkable but done with feeling, it seems. The problem with this kind of feeling, as expressed in the title, is that it doesn't have the universal appeal to which it aspires. It ultimately proves only that "life in this particular movie is a miracle".

Rating: 53