English title (apparently): Cop au Vin.
Based on the novel "Une mort en trop" (tr. One Death Too Many) by Dominique Roulet (1st ed. 1982).
In a small town, the postman and his crippled mother are pressured to sell their house to some guys who want to build a project there. A series of deaths and disappearances occur and Inspector Lavardin is called in to solve them.
Weak policier. The crimes don't make much sense, the main character is slightly ridiculous (he tries to drown one of the suspects in a sink!), flaunting a constant and irritating smirk, the young postman's mother is a stereotypical shrew.
Rating: 16
Sunday, June 29, 2008
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Based on a novella by Philip K. Dick (completed in 1973, 1st ed. 1977).
In the near future, a powerful drug is frying people's brains. An undercover agent infiltrates a house of addicts.
The tone shifts between comedy, existential drama and conspiration/police story. All that in rotoscopy animation, and with fine performances. The result is thoroughly entertaining, although my impression was that the mental problems of the protagonist should be better characterized. There were some plot points that were difficult to understand, and explaining them simply as an effect of the character's perception disorder feels to me like bad writing.
Rating: 68
In the near future, a powerful drug is frying people's brains. An undercover agent infiltrates a house of addicts.
The tone shifts between comedy, existential drama and conspiration/police story. All that in rotoscopy animation, and with fine performances. The result is thoroughly entertaining, although my impression was that the mental problems of the protagonist should be better characterized. There were some plot points that were difficult to understand, and explaining them simply as an effect of the character's perception disorder feels to me like bad writing.
Rating: 68
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Based on the novel by C.S. Lewis (1st ed. 1950).
Spoilers ahead.
Some kids find a magic land inside a wardrobe. An evil witch is trying to overthrow the lion king.
This is possibly the kitschiest fantasy I have seen. Elements from totally different cultural sources are put together without much criterion. Basically we have a lion as Jesus. A boy is Judas Iscariotes, his betrayal is forgiven, his brother says he had been too harsh on him. The witch doesn't care for prisoners.
Rating: 36
Spoilers ahead.
Some kids find a magic land inside a wardrobe. An evil witch is trying to overthrow the lion king.
This is possibly the kitschiest fantasy I have seen. Elements from totally different cultural sources are put together without much criterion. Basically we have a lion as Jesus. A boy is Judas Iscariotes, his betrayal is forgiven, his brother says he had been too harsh on him. The witch doesn't care for prisoners.
Rating: 36
Quanto Vale ou É por Quilo? (2005)
English title: What Is It Worth?
Based on the chronicles of slavery collected from the National Archives by Nireu Cavalcanti; also loosely inspired by the short story "Pai Contra Mãe" (tr. Father Against Mother), by Machado de Assis (included in the collection "Relíquias de Casa Velha", 1st ed. 1906).
A few stories from the time of slavery in Brazil are intercut with a present-day story about corruption in charity organizations.
The stories set in colonial times are interesting. As expected, the analogies with modern days are contrived and artificial. The problem of corruption in NGOs is real in Brazil, but of course I wouldn't know if the particular situations depicted in the film are plausible. The film is very fragmentary and preachy, very much like a panel, but its exposé angle is weakened by the excessive fictional liberty with which it approaches its subject. It would be better to make a documentary, but of course in that case the filmmaker's responsibility would considerably increase.
Rating: 40
Based on the chronicles of slavery collected from the National Archives by Nireu Cavalcanti; also loosely inspired by the short story "Pai Contra Mãe" (tr. Father Against Mother), by Machado de Assis (included in the collection "Relíquias de Casa Velha", 1st ed. 1906).
A few stories from the time of slavery in Brazil are intercut with a present-day story about corruption in charity organizations.
The stories set in colonial times are interesting. As expected, the analogies with modern days are contrived and artificial. The problem of corruption in NGOs is real in Brazil, but of course I wouldn't know if the particular situations depicted in the film are plausible. The film is very fragmentary and preachy, very much like a panel, but its exposé angle is weakened by the excessive fictional liberty with which it approaches its subject. It would be better to make a documentary, but of course in that case the filmmaker's responsibility would considerably increase.
Rating: 40
Friday, June 27, 2008
O Segredo da Múmia (1982)
English title: The Secret of the Mummy.
A scientist invents the elixir of life; he then goes to Egypt where he finds the long lost mummy of a pharaoh who was a murderer of women. The scientist revives the pharaoh.
Its use of eroticism as a comic element in conjunction with old horror clichés gives it a sort of uniqueness. It's my second viewing (I missed the beginning 5 or 10 minutes this time.)
Rating: 31 (up from 25)
A scientist invents the elixir of life; he then goes to Egypt where he finds the long lost mummy of a pharaoh who was a murderer of women. The scientist revives the pharaoh.
Its use of eroticism as a comic element in conjunction with old horror clichés gives it a sort of uniqueness. It's my second viewing (I missed the beginning 5 or 10 minutes this time.)
Rating: 31 (up from 25)
Innocence (2004)
Based on the novella Mine-Haha: The Corporal Education of Young Girls (1st ed. 1888), by Frank Wedekind.
Life at a slightly surrealistic boarding school for little girls. Girls arrive inside a coffin, practice ballet, and when they get older (after the first mestruation) they are sent away.
This film is an attempt to poetically capture the childhood of girls. Although intellectually I acknowledge that it conveys something of the blend of insouciance and fear of the unknown that people children's minds, I was more than a little bored by its excessive repetitiveness.
Curiously, there is another film version of Wedekind's novella called The Fine Art of Love: Mine-Haha (2005).
Rating: 47
Life at a slightly surrealistic boarding school for little girls. Girls arrive inside a coffin, practice ballet, and when they get older (after the first mestruation) they are sent away.
This film is an attempt to poetically capture the childhood of girls. Although intellectually I acknowledge that it conveys something of the blend of insouciance and fear of the unknown that people children's minds, I was more than a little bored by its excessive repetitiveness.
Curiously, there is another film version of Wedekind's novella called The Fine Art of Love: Mine-Haha (2005).
Rating: 47
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
28 Weeks Later (2007)
After the plague which took over England vanishes, they find one survivor who seems to be immune to the disease but still carries it and may infect others.
It borrows from classics such as The Omega Man (recently remade as I Am Legend) and Night of the Living Dead. I liked it better than 28 Days Later, of which it is a sequel. Although its premise is certainly limiting, I think it made good use of it and delivered thrills in generous doses.
Rating: 60
It borrows from classics such as The Omega Man (recently remade as I Am Legend) and Night of the Living Dead. I liked it better than 28 Days Later, of which it is a sequel. Although its premise is certainly limiting, I think it made good use of it and delivered thrills in generous doses.
Rating: 60
Notre musique (2004)
English title: Our Music.
Frankly there is no way to review this film. The initial montage is not bad for a student movie; for a veteran it is insufficient. The rest of the movie is inexistent. For me there are two Godards, one which made beautiful movies and argute observations about movies and lasted approximately until (and including) the film Sauve qui peut (la vie), and another which lived after that movie, and is a complete ass, both as a filmmaker and in his statements. I can't explain the reason for this division, maybe it was burn-out, and if this is the case I understand the reason behind the théorie des auteurs: it was their pension plan.
Rating: 11
Frankly there is no way to review this film. The initial montage is not bad for a student movie; for a veteran it is insufficient. The rest of the movie is inexistent. For me there are two Godards, one which made beautiful movies and argute observations about movies and lasted approximately until (and including) the film Sauve qui peut (la vie), and another which lived after that movie, and is a complete ass, both as a filmmaker and in his statements. I can't explain the reason for this division, maybe it was burn-out, and if this is the case I understand the reason behind the théorie des auteurs: it was their pension plan.
Rating: 11
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Crimen ferpecto (2004)
(Moronic) English title: El Crimen Perfecto (The Perfect Crime).
(Mild spoilers) In the women's section of a department store, the womanizing manager accidentally kills his boss; the only witness is the only woman he never payed attention at, and who has long been in love with him.
I have a certain resistance against the easy cinema of de la Iglesia; his straightforward style never shies away from vulgarity and that marks him as inferior to me. That being said, with films such as The Day of the Beast, Common Wealth, and now Ferpect Crime, which is perhaps the best of them, he shows that, though he lacks subtlety altogether, he (and his usual co-screenwriter) knows exactly what he is doing and within his capabilities rarely missteps. In these dire days that is already something amazing. Truth be told, it is almost impossible not to be amused with Ferpect Crime: it is funny and ingenious and fast-paced.
Rating: 63
(Mild spoilers) In the women's section of a department store, the womanizing manager accidentally kills his boss; the only witness is the only woman he never payed attention at, and who has long been in love with him.
I have a certain resistance against the easy cinema of de la Iglesia; his straightforward style never shies away from vulgarity and that marks him as inferior to me. That being said, with films such as The Day of the Beast, Common Wealth, and now Ferpect Crime, which is perhaps the best of them, he shows that, though he lacks subtlety altogether, he (and his usual co-screenwriter) knows exactly what he is doing and within his capabilities rarely missteps. In these dire days that is already something amazing. Truth be told, it is almost impossible not to be amused with Ferpect Crime: it is funny and ingenious and fast-paced.
Rating: 63
Monday, June 23, 2008
Hard Candy (2005)
A photographer takes a 14-year-old girl to his place for a photo session; she knows more about him than he suspects, and not good things either.
This film uses its running length for stating the obvious: crimes against children and adolescents are abominable. And it does that in the most harrowing manner possible.
Rating: 8
This film uses its running length for stating the obvious: crimes against children and adolescents are abominable. And it does that in the most harrowing manner possible.
Rating: 8
Miss Potter (2006)
The life of a famous writer and illustrator of children's books, her conflicts with her parents, her loves, friendships, career.
I was not that thrilled by the story in itself. The case is that it is so well-made that it becomes endearing.
Rating: 51
I was not that thrilled by the story in itself. The case is that it is so well-made that it becomes endearing.
Rating: 51
Dongchun de rizi (1993)
English title: The Days.
The life of a young couple, he a painter and she an Art School graduate. As their financial situation deteriorates, so does their marriage. As the husband becomes increasingly detached from immediate reality, the woman starts to make concrete plans.
Another despondent look at Asian life. The filmmaker has a poetic sensibility which I appreciate, but somehow he lacked the means (either financial or technical) to take into account all the details (direction of actors, a script which would show things happening instead of using voiceover, a bit of clarity regarding such events in the narrative as what happens to an upcoming child) which film as a final product usually requires. I saw the 75 minute version, which may account for some of the problems I pointed above; subtitling may have played a part too.
Rating: 50
The life of a young couple, he a painter and she an Art School graduate. As their financial situation deteriorates, so does their marriage. As the husband becomes increasingly detached from immediate reality, the woman starts to make concrete plans.
Another despondent look at Asian life. The filmmaker has a poetic sensibility which I appreciate, but somehow he lacked the means (either financial or technical) to take into account all the details (direction of actors, a script which would show things happening instead of using voiceover, a bit of clarity regarding such events in the narrative as what happens to an upcoming child) which film as a final product usually requires. I saw the 75 minute version, which may account for some of the problems I pointed above; subtitling may have played a part too.
Rating: 50
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Before Sunset (2004)
Ten years later, a couple who had spent one night together meet again.
This has obvious roots in Love Affair (1939) and its remake An Affair to Remember (1957) (I didn't see the third version which came out in 1994, the same year as Before Sunrise, of which this is the sequel), and of course Casablanca (1942); it is also quite similar to Conte d'hiver (1992) (tr. A Tale of Winter). While those were all good films, Before Sunset is just moronic, and I was going to say it's not even comic, but then there is that one bit about the New York cop who advises the young lady to buy a gun ("This is America, not France.") -- now this is comic -- or offensive, if you are a New York cop and get offended by moronic films. Anyway, after four years this film has already been torn to pieces by people smarter than me, so I won't bother.
Rating: 15
This has obvious roots in Love Affair (1939) and its remake An Affair to Remember (1957) (I didn't see the third version which came out in 1994, the same year as Before Sunrise, of which this is the sequel), and of course Casablanca (1942); it is also quite similar to Conte d'hiver (1992) (tr. A Tale of Winter). While those were all good films, Before Sunset is just moronic, and I was going to say it's not even comic, but then there is that one bit about the New York cop who advises the young lady to buy a gun ("This is America, not France.") -- now this is comic -- or offensive, if you are a New York cop and get offended by moronic films. Anyway, after four years this film has already been torn to pieces by people smarter than me, so I won't bother.
Rating: 15
The Interpreter (2005)
It's my second viewing. My former post went like that:
- begin quote -
Synopsis: A United Nations interpreter overhears a conversation that might signal that a certain African leader is in danger.
Appraisal: The one interesting thing about this film is the set-up of the premise of the film as a metaphor for a political dilemma. The metaphor concerns the question 'can you identify a whispering voice?' which comes about as the protagonist overhears a conversation and is requested to identify its authors. The clarification of the metaphor is done very near the ending, and is contained in the dedicatory of a book. This curious angle aside, this film is mostly an excruciating series of improbabilities, be they political, emotional, or of a simpler kind, such as leaving a threatened politician alone in a room or discussing sensitive political stuff inside a crowded bus.
Rating: 20
- end quote -
Athough I still don't exactly like it, this time I found it far from 'excruciating'. It's too conventional in structure yet sort of fun to watch. Just don't think of it as a realistic picture and it will go down easier, exception made to when it gets down to the characters' more personal bits, which are definitely corny ('list of favorite words'? give me a break...).
The new rating is 40.
- begin quote -
Synopsis: A United Nations interpreter overhears a conversation that might signal that a certain African leader is in danger.
Appraisal: The one interesting thing about this film is the set-up of the premise of the film as a metaphor for a political dilemma. The metaphor concerns the question 'can you identify a whispering voice?' which comes about as the protagonist overhears a conversation and is requested to identify its authors. The clarification of the metaphor is done very near the ending, and is contained in the dedicatory of a book. This curious angle aside, this film is mostly an excruciating series of improbabilities, be they political, emotional, or of a simpler kind, such as leaving a threatened politician alone in a room or discussing sensitive political stuff inside a crowded bus.
Rating: 20
- end quote -
Athough I still don't exactly like it, this time I found it far from 'excruciating'. It's too conventional in structure yet sort of fun to watch. Just don't think of it as a realistic picture and it will go down easier, exception made to when it gets down to the characters' more personal bits, which are definitely corny ('list of favorite words'? give me a break...).
The new rating is 40.
Shattered Image (1998)
A woman oscillates between two existences, without knowing which is real and which is dream: in one of them she is an assassin, in the other she is a wife on her honeymoon.
Spoilers ahead.
Another entry in the wife-in-distress genre, very popular since the forties I think (Suspicion; Sleep, My Love; the list is probably longer), the main point being: is he trying to kill her or not? Here we have the additional element of two realities, but the screenplay is problematic in this regard: the assassin existence hasn't much bearing on the the newlywed existence; things don't wrap up satisfactorily in the end. And the basic plot of evil husband taking advantage of unbalanced wife is worn-out.
Rating: 30
Spoilers ahead.
Another entry in the wife-in-distress genre, very popular since the forties I think (Suspicion; Sleep, My Love; the list is probably longer), the main point being: is he trying to kill her or not? Here we have the additional element of two realities, but the screenplay is problematic in this regard: the assassin existence hasn't much bearing on the the newlywed existence; things don't wrap up satisfactorily in the end. And the basic plot of evil husband taking advantage of unbalanced wife is worn-out.
Rating: 30
52 Pick-Up (1986)
A married man is blackmailed with a video of him and his lover. Since his wife is running for councilwoman, he doesn't want to contact the police.
The plot is full of implausibilities, but the film is not so bad; the villains are memorable, for one thing. It's my second viewing, and it gets upgraded a little.
Rating: 35 (up from 26)
The plot is full of implausibilities, but the film is not so bad; the villains are memorable, for one thing. It's my second viewing, and it gets upgraded a little.
Rating: 35 (up from 26)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Surviving Picasso (1996)
The film follows the relationship between Françoise, a struggling painter, and Pablo, a renowned one, beginning in 1943 in Paris and lasting 10 years.
The big problem with this film is excessive banality; films like The Ebony Tower (1984) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991) have intersecting points with it, but are much better because they either have better stories (the latter) or have philosophical insight (the former).
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 44
The big problem with this film is excessive banality; films like The Ebony Tower (1984) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991) have intersecting points with it, but are much better because they either have better stories (the latter) or have philosophical insight (the former).
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 44
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Devil's Angels (1967)
A gang of bikers gets into trouble in a small town.
Well made, and with a strong leading performance.
Rating: 52
Well made, and with a strong leading performance.
Rating: 52
Come Early Morning (2006)
"Lucy is a working woman who has a love life based solely on casual, superficial relationships. One day she meets Cal, who's new in town and will awaken in Lucy the wish for a more serious relationship." (translated from MONET, a Brazilian magazine)
Correct drama, well acted.
Rating: 57
Correct drama, well acted.
Rating: 57
C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)
The film is centered on a family and in particular on one of the five sons, who early on shows some gender-role-defying peculiarities which are frowned upon by his father and by the bigotted society he lives in (Quebec in the 70s); he forgoes his homosexual propensities until he can no longer.
The conflicts and characters are schematic, and the building of a suffocating environment around the main character is done at the cost of verisimilitude; the weird superstitions indulged at by the hero's mother, for instance, don't seem compatible with believable adult behavior.
Rating: 43
The conflicts and characters are schematic, and the building of a suffocating environment around the main character is done at the cost of verisimilitude; the weird superstitions indulged at by the hero's mother, for instance, don't seem compatible with believable adult behavior.
Rating: 43
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Cum mi-am petrecut sfarsitul lumii (2006)
English titles: How I Celebrated the End of the World; The Way I Spent the End of the World.
Chronicle of a family in Rumania during the last months of the Ceausescu dictatorship. The main character is an adolescent girl who is expelled from school due to her behavior after an incident in school involving her and her boyfriend. She is sent to another school where she befriends another boy; he wants to flee Rumania.
Fairly sincere depiction. The final result is perhaps a little unpolished and the story seems a little truncated at times.
Rating: 55
Chronicle of a family in Rumania during the last months of the Ceausescu dictatorship. The main character is an adolescent girl who is expelled from school due to her behavior after an incident in school involving her and her boyfriend. She is sent to another school where she befriends another boy; he wants to flee Rumania.
Fairly sincere depiction. The final result is perhaps a little unpolished and the story seems a little truncated at times.
Rating: 55
Closer (2004/I)
Spoilers ahead.
Guy 1 meets Girl 1 - relationship ensues. Guy 1 meets Girl 2. Girl 2 meets Guy 2 - relationship ensues. Guy 1 has an affair with Girl 2; both leave their partners to be together. Girl 2 leaves Guy 1 and comes back with Guy 2; Guy 1 tries to come back with Girl 1; she is willing at first but then changes her mind.
Worthless in a pretentious way. It seems from what I heard that the play makes a little more sense than the film, mainly due to a more candid characterization of the Jane character. I probably wouldn't like it either way.
Rating: 26
Guy 1 meets Girl 1 - relationship ensues. Guy 1 meets Girl 2. Girl 2 meets Guy 2 - relationship ensues. Guy 1 has an affair with Girl 2; both leave their partners to be together. Girl 2 leaves Guy 1 and comes back with Guy 2; Guy 1 tries to come back with Girl 1; she is willing at first but then changes her mind.
Worthless in a pretentious way. It seems from what I heard that the play makes a little more sense than the film, mainly due to a more candid characterization of the Jane character. I probably wouldn't like it either way.
Rating: 26
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Based on the "Basil of Baker Street" book series by Eve Titus (text) and Paul Galdone (illustrations) (1st ed. 1958).
A toy maker is kidnapped by a criminal who forces him to build a mechanical replica of Queen Victoria. He intends to eliminate the real queen and replace her by the robot, which in practice would give him royal powers. The toy maker's daughter meets a retired military who leads her to Basil, a famous detective. All these characters except for the Queen are mice.
Well made animation, with nice characters and visually elaborated sequences.
Rating: 53
A toy maker is kidnapped by a criminal who forces him to build a mechanical replica of Queen Victoria. He intends to eliminate the real queen and replace her by the robot, which in practice would give him royal powers. The toy maker's daughter meets a retired military who leads her to Basil, a famous detective. All these characters except for the Queen are mice.
Well made animation, with nice characters and visually elaborated sequences.
Rating: 53
Friday, June 13, 2008
Henry Fool (1997)
Synopsis: A garbage man with poor social skills is encouraged by his basement tenant -- a struggling writer himself -- to write poetry.
Appraisal: Although it doesn't sustain the brilliance of the first 20 minutes or so through the rest of the film (a characteristic which was present also in Simple Men), it is still pretty interesting.
Rating: 66
Appraisal: Although it doesn't sustain the brilliance of the first 20 minutes or so through the rest of the film (a characteristic which was present also in Simple Men), it is still pretty interesting.
Rating: 66
La Crise (1992)
English title: The Crisis.
Synopsis: A man is abandoned by his wife in the same day that he loses his job. He meets a stranger in a bar who starts following him everywhere.
Appraisal: This is my second viewing. It starts as a comedy with a theatrical penchant; the comicity just sets the ground for the simplistic moralism of the second act. I'm a little perplexed at my former positive evaluation.
Rating: 44 (down from 55)
Synopsis: A man is abandoned by his wife in the same day that he loses his job. He meets a stranger in a bar who starts following him everywhere.
Appraisal: This is my second viewing. It starts as a comedy with a theatrical penchant; the comicity just sets the ground for the simplistic moralism of the second act. I'm a little perplexed at my former positive evaluation.
Rating: 44 (down from 55)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Soy Cuba, o Mamute Siberiano (2005)
English title: I Am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth.
Documentary about the making of a Soviet propaganda film about the Cuban revolution which had a weak reception at its release, was shelved for three decades and then was rediscovered and hailed as a masterpiece.
Appraisal: Too dull and poor in information for its length.
Rating: 20
Documentary about the making of a Soviet propaganda film about the Cuban revolution which had a weak reception at its release, was shelved for three decades and then was rediscovered and hailed as a masterpiece.
Appraisal: Too dull and poor in information for its length.
Rating: 20
Um Céu de Estrelas (1996)
English title: A Starry Sky.
Synopsis: A guy visits his ex-fiancée allegedly in order to return some of her things; she broke up with him and is about to go on a trip. The tension between the two of them mounts into violence, triggered by the hostile attitude of the woman's mother.
Appraisal: I suppose this is intended as a slice of proletarian life, yet instead of that we see behavioral absurdities displayed in a quick succession, and poorly staged too. For fairness' sake, I must say that there is a well enacted sex scene in it.
Rating: 10
Synopsis: A guy visits his ex-fiancée allegedly in order to return some of her things; she broke up with him and is about to go on a trip. The tension between the two of them mounts into violence, triggered by the hostile attitude of the woman's mother.
Appraisal: I suppose this is intended as a slice of proletarian life, yet instead of that we see behavioral absurdities displayed in a quick succession, and poorly staged too. For fairness' sake, I must say that there is a well enacted sex scene in it.
Rating: 10
4:30 (2005)
Synopsis [spoilers]: A boy of 11 lives with a foreign 30-something man in an apartment. The man is a tenant of his mother's and practically a stranger to the boy; she is away on business in another country and the boy clings to the man as a sort of father figure, spying on him constantly, prying into his belongings and occasionally stealing. The man is a living wreck and seems to have his mind set on suicide. The boy isn't very healthy himself, having developed the dangerous habit of cough syrup, which causes him to pass out; aside from that, he seems especially fond of disrupting a tai chi chuan class in the park by turning off the music and then darting away. One day the tenant vanishes and the boy finds himself alone. He starts painting the window panes black.
Appraisal: Extremely slow-paced character study, bleak as hell and not really all that interesting.
Rating: 33
Appraisal: Extremely slow-paced character study, bleak as hell and not really all that interesting.
Rating: 33
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
Synopsis: The Tucks, a family who discovered a fountain which gives eternal life (and no aging) to those who drink from it, is in danger of having their secret disclosed. A rich girl who is wandering in her house's neighboring woods meets the Tucks and falls in love with their youngest son; concurrently with that, a new man in town is asking around about them. Based on a novel by Natalie Babbitt (1st ed. 1975).
Appraisal: A shallow thing indeed, devoid of ideas. Some nice landscapes and nice interior design, that's all.
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 14
Appraisal: A shallow thing indeed, devoid of ideas. Some nice landscapes and nice interior design, that's all.
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 14
I Dream of Jeannie: I'll Never Forget What's Her Name (1966) (TV)
Synopsis: Tony is hit in the head by a vase and forgets all about Jeannie. He thinks she is his aunt Pauline's friend Miss Gordon, who is visiting Cocoa Beach. He falls in love with her and asks her to marry him.
The Pilgrim (1923)
This is a longer version (47 min) than the one I saw last (which had 39 min). I didn't notice any major difference between the two, so I guess who watches the smaller one won't be missing much. The differences I noticed are:
1) In the longer version the real parson is seen as he is sending the telegram warning the people in Dallas that he will not be coming on the previously scheduled day.
2) The scene at the station is edited differently; the train appears first than the people in one of the versions, and after them in the other.
3) The sequence where Charlie waves away his former cellmate is longer in the 47-minute-long version.
4) The sequence in the kitchen involving a paste roller is longer in the 47-minute-long version.
The Internet Movie Database says there is a 59-minute-long version; I don't know whether that would be a more complete version or this difference in length is due to different frame rates.
1) In the longer version the real parson is seen as he is sending the telegram warning the people in Dallas that he will not be coming on the previously scheduled day.
2) The scene at the station is edited differently; the train appears first than the people in one of the versions, and after them in the other.
3) The sequence where Charlie waves away his former cellmate is longer in the 47-minute-long version.
4) The sequence in the kitchen involving a paste roller is longer in the 47-minute-long version.
The Internet Movie Database says there is a 59-minute-long version; I don't know whether that would be a more complete version or this difference in length is due to different frame rates.
The Spikes Gang (1974)
Synopsis: Three youngsters hide a bank robber. Some days after he is gone, they decide to leave their houses and try their luck in the world. Chance will reunite them with the bandit they had saved.
Appraisal: Decent western. It's somewhat predictable, but is so well acted that it is hard not to enjoy it.
Rating: 52
Appraisal: Decent western. It's somewhat predictable, but is so well acted that it is hard not to enjoy it.
Rating: 52
Sunday, June 08, 2008
The Big Brawl (1980)
Alternate title: Battle Creek Brawl.
Synopsis: The son of a small store owner is forced to enter a wrestling duel when his brother's fiancée is kidnapped by an unscrupulous wrestling manager.
Appraisal: Pretty routine stuff here, although the fights are fairly well done. I can't give a very precise assessment of it because I saw it in a Chinese-dubbed version, with very poor subtitles. Also, I watched it on a full-screen video version where (if I understand the mechanism correctly) the pan-and-scan was absent; I say this based on the fact that there were many scenes where characters were out of the frame.
Rating: 30
Synopsis: The son of a small store owner is forced to enter a wrestling duel when his brother's fiancée is kidnapped by an unscrupulous wrestling manager.
Appraisal: Pretty routine stuff here, although the fights are fairly well done. I can't give a very precise assessment of it because I saw it in a Chinese-dubbed version, with very poor subtitles. Also, I watched it on a full-screen video version where (if I understand the mechanism correctly) the pan-and-scan was absent; I say this based on the fact that there were many scenes where characters were out of the frame.
Rating: 30
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
Synopsis: Bean wins a trip to the South of France, along with a video camera. He asks a man in the station to film him and this causes that man to miss the train, which his kid has already boarded. Bean accompanies the kid down to Cannes, where the latter's father will be a Festival juror.
Appraisal: A little disappointing. It's a nice film, but not very funny or brilliant.
Rating: 48
Appraisal: A little disappointing. It's a nice film, but not very funny or brilliant.
Rating: 48
Je pense à vous (2006)
English title: Made in Paris.
English translation of the French title: I'm thinking of you.
Synopsis [spoilers]: Hermann is a publisher; he is married to Diane, who was earlier in a relationship with Worms, a writer published by Hermann. While leaving a funeral of another writer, Hermann meets Anne, with whom he had a relationship; she still has feelings for him. Worms is nearby and sees them; he photographs them with his cellphone-camera while Hermann is writing his phone number on Anne's arm; he sends the picture to Diane's cellphone. Diane is unsettled by the photo; it happens that Diane is suing Worms over some passages of his new book which reveal details of their married life. Later, in a meeting between them which will try to settle the matter, Worms proposes a bet: if Hermann tells Diane about his encounter with Anne, he will eliminate all the passages she requires. Herman doesn't say a word, and Diane withdraws the lawsuit. She is very upset and says she will spend the night with a friend. She sends the photo to Antoine, the psychiatrist who treated Anne; she comes to his clinic to see him, and he tells her he is married to Anne now. He feels attracted to Diane, and kisses her. Meanwhile, Anne goes to Hermann's apartment and he offers her a drink; she feels ill and throws up. Diane returns and finds her sleeping naked in her bed. Anne wakes up and, after some explanations, leaves; she takes Diane's overcoat (and cellphone) by mistake. Hermann goes after her. He calls Anne on Diane's phone and, when Anne picks it up she notices a message from Antoine to Diane asking to see her. After a few other incidents which ensue from the previous set-up, Anne enters Hermann's apartment while Diane is alone in it taking a bath, and attempts to drown her in the tub. Hermann arrives and stops her. Diane and Anne stand a moment by themselves in the bathroom and end up kissing each other; Hermann enters and joins them; the three go to bed together. The next morning Diane is still asleep and Hermann tells Anne that she should leave. Anne heads straight to the subway and throws herself on the tracks, being killed by a train (her act is not shown in the film, it is only implied).
Appraisal: It is a little hard to accept it as a comedy of errors with a suicidal character in it; also, the tone shifts in the second half. Maybe I am wrong about these things, I don't know.
Rating: 52
English translation of the French title: I'm thinking of you.
Synopsis [spoilers]: Hermann is a publisher; he is married to Diane, who was earlier in a relationship with Worms, a writer published by Hermann. While leaving a funeral of another writer, Hermann meets Anne, with whom he had a relationship; she still has feelings for him. Worms is nearby and sees them; he photographs them with his cellphone-camera while Hermann is writing his phone number on Anne's arm; he sends the picture to Diane's cellphone. Diane is unsettled by the photo; it happens that Diane is suing Worms over some passages of his new book which reveal details of their married life. Later, in a meeting between them which will try to settle the matter, Worms proposes a bet: if Hermann tells Diane about his encounter with Anne, he will eliminate all the passages she requires. Herman doesn't say a word, and Diane withdraws the lawsuit. She is very upset and says she will spend the night with a friend. She sends the photo to Antoine, the psychiatrist who treated Anne; she comes to his clinic to see him, and he tells her he is married to Anne now. He feels attracted to Diane, and kisses her. Meanwhile, Anne goes to Hermann's apartment and he offers her a drink; she feels ill and throws up. Diane returns and finds her sleeping naked in her bed. Anne wakes up and, after some explanations, leaves; she takes Diane's overcoat (and cellphone) by mistake. Hermann goes after her. He calls Anne on Diane's phone and, when Anne picks it up she notices a message from Antoine to Diane asking to see her. After a few other incidents which ensue from the previous set-up, Anne enters Hermann's apartment while Diane is alone in it taking a bath, and attempts to drown her in the tub. Hermann arrives and stops her. Diane and Anne stand a moment by themselves in the bathroom and end up kissing each other; Hermann enters and joins them; the three go to bed together. The next morning Diane is still asleep and Hermann tells Anne that she should leave. Anne heads straight to the subway and throws herself on the tracks, being killed by a train (her act is not shown in the film, it is only implied).
Appraisal: It is a little hard to accept it as a comedy of errors with a suicidal character in it; also, the tone shifts in the second half. Maybe I am wrong about these things, I don't know.
Rating: 52
Mannequin (1987)
Synopsis: A guy who builds mannequins for a living witnesses one of his creations come to life; they fall in love and at the same time save the store from bankruptcy with their dazzling window designs.
Appraisal: If all movies, even the sillier ones, are a reflex of their times, one could deduce from Mannequin that by the late eighties women became so cold and unloving that even mannequins had more warmth and appeal than them. At any rate, this is a light, upbeat movie that doesn't have much in the way of elaboration. It's a poor entertainment, actually.
Rating: 33
Appraisal: If all movies, even the sillier ones, are a reflex of their times, one could deduce from Mannequin that by the late eighties women became so cold and unloving that even mannequins had more warmth and appeal than them. At any rate, this is a light, upbeat movie that doesn't have much in the way of elaboration. It's a poor entertainment, actually.
Rating: 33
Friday, June 06, 2008
The Holcroft Covenant (1985)
Synopsis: A fortune is left in a Swiss bank by three Nazi officers who diverted money which was supposed to go to the State; they committed suicide at the end of the war. Their alleged purpose was to constitute a fund which would make up for all the evil which the Nazi regime caused. Four decades after the end of the war, an American architect named Holcroft, the son of one of the suicidal officers, is approached by the banker entrusted with the money. Holcroft must now find the heirs to the remaining officers and start the Foundation.
Appraisal: Second viewing. It's a weak premise and plot, in my view, but it is stylishly done, and the result is not without entertaining value. My appreciation of this film is considerably greater now than it was upon my first viewing.
Rating: 40 (up from 19)
Appraisal: Second viewing. It's a weak premise and plot, in my view, but it is stylishly done, and the result is not without entertaining value. My appreciation of this film is considerably greater now than it was upon my first viewing.
Rating: 40 (up from 19)
Weekend Warriors (1986)
Alternate title: Hollywood Air Force.
Synopsis: In 1961, military service was obligatory in the U.S.A.; in Hollywood, several men linked to the movie business serve in the Air Force during weekends. A congressman is determined to send them into active duty; he is scheduling an inspection which will determine their future. They decide to bring in some film actors to help them put on a show which will deceive the congressman. Things get even more delicate when the Rumanian ambassador decides to pay them a visit.
Appraisal: Weak comedy, poor on original ideas; the overall level of execution is competent and therefore the whole thing is watchable, barely.
Rating: 31
Synopsis: In 1961, military service was obligatory in the U.S.A.; in Hollywood, several men linked to the movie business serve in the Air Force during weekends. A congressman is determined to send them into active duty; he is scheduling an inspection which will determine their future. They decide to bring in some film actors to help them put on a show which will deceive the congressman. Things get even more delicate when the Rumanian ambassador decides to pay them a visit.
Appraisal: Weak comedy, poor on original ideas; the overall level of execution is competent and therefore the whole thing is watchable, barely.
Rating: 31
I Dream of Jeannie: My Master the Magician (1966) (TV)
Comments: The Internet Movie Database synopsis goes like this: "When Doctor Bellows finds Tony floating in midair, he insists that he perform that same trick at the NASA talent show." This episode makes absolutely no sense; of course this whole show doesn't make much sense, but this episode is specially nonsensical. As a side note, it is curious that the episodes written by the series creator are the worst ones.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
The Funeral (1996)
Synopsis [spoilers]: Young Johnny has been murdered. He was a communist and opposed to the deals his brothers Ray and Chez, who controlled the union, made with Caspare in favor of a factory owner. His brother Ray orders his goons to bring him Caspare, whose wife had an affair with the deceased. After an interrogation, Ray concludes Caspare didn't do it; he orders his assassination anyway. The real culprit is brought to Ray, and claims Johnny raped his girlfriend; Ray takes him to a deserted place, where the young man confesses the rape was a lie, and he really killed Johnny because the latter beat him up in front of his friends. Ray executes him. Later at home, Ray's brother Chez, who suffers from "insanity", shoots Ray and another guy dead, then shoots Johnny's corpse, then shoots himself.
Appraisal: Second viewing, didn't remember a thing. I remember having liked it the first time I saw it in the same measure I liked it now. The ending is probably not defensible.
Rating: 65
Appraisal: Second viewing, didn't remember a thing. I remember having liked it the first time I saw it in the same measure I liked it now. The ending is probably not defensible.
Rating: 65
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The Shooter (1995)
Synopsis: An American marshal flows to Prague in order to arrest a woman who is suspected of having killed a Cuban ambassador in New York, in connection with the negotiations for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S.A. He doesn't think the woman did it.
Appraisal: Very implausible action thriller, which relies on old clichés for most of its duration. There is only one sequence which rises above the general poorness: the car chase, and in particular the scene where the hero rides between two trams, then makes an about-turn and loses his persecutor.
Rating: 24
Appraisal: Very implausible action thriller, which relies on old clichés for most of its duration. There is only one sequence which rises above the general poorness: the car chase, and in particular the scene where the hero rides between two trams, then makes an about-turn and loses his persecutor.
Rating: 24
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Crossing the Line (1989)
Synopsis: Ricky and his friend Josh are riding their motorcycles one afternoon and the latter suffers an accident; Ricky does not witness it and after he loses sight of Josh he doesn't come back to look for him. Later he gets word that his buddy is in a coma in the hospital. Josh's brother Zack wants to get back at Ricky for having left Josh on the road. Ricky enters a motocross race where he will compete with Zack for the title.
Appraisal: Lame drama, pretty tedious and badly written.
Rating: 13
Appraisal: Lame drama, pretty tedious and badly written.
Rating: 13
La collana della suocera (?)
It is comprised of four different parts taken from unidentified Larry Semon (1889-1928?) films, spliced together. The first segment takes place in a cabaret named The Blue Squirrel Cafe; Larry's girl is a dancer apparently held there against her will, and so Larry invades the place and rescues her. In the second segment Larry and his girlfriend (which looks very different from the girl in the first segment) arrive at a farm and Larry is expelled by the girl's father who starts shooting at him and hits his car's gasoline tank; the third segment features Larry against some jewel thieves; Larry is on the rooftop of a house shooting at the bad guys; the cops then arrive and start chasing both Larry and the thieves, apparently; in the fourth and last segment Larry is a prison inmate in his cell; there is a girl with a chimpanzee and some puppies; Larry kisses her and then, inadvertently, the chimp.
I Dream of Jeannie: Never Try to Outsmart a Jeannie (1966) (TV)
Synopsis [spoilers]: Tony is being sent on a trip to the International Air Show in Rome. Jeannie wants to go but he won't take her with him. She insists and he finally agrees but she doesn't want to go inside the bottle, so he says she must get a passport; for that she must present a witness who knows her for more than two years, but she doesn't know anyone in the U.S.A. for more than six months. She overhears an elderly lady describe how her life was saved in 1931 in Chicago by a woman who made her duck before she was hit by some gangsters' bullets. Jeannie travels back in time and takes the place of the elderly lady's savior -- or induces a false memory in her, perhaps. It doesn't stick, though -- according to Jeannie's application she wasn't even born in 1931. So she decides to travel in the bottle.
Monday, June 02, 2008
The Wild Life (1984)
Synopsis: Several characters in adolescence or leaving it are shown: a guy who broke up with his girlfriend and is leaving his parents' home to live on his own; his girlfriend, who is now fucking a cop; her friend who works at a clothes' shop; the latter's ex-boyfriend who is trying to get her to go back with him; a younger fellow who is obsessed with guns and befriended a Vietnam veteran.
Appraisal: Run-of-the-mill dramatic comedy which shows a little of the youth's lifestyle in the eighties.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: Run-of-the-mill dramatic comedy which shows a little of the youth's lifestyle in the eighties.
Rating: 39
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Apocalypto (2006)
Synopsis: In pre-columbian America, a small tribe is attacked by a bigger one which is looking for sacrificial victims.
Appraisal: As long as it is not taken as a serious historical reenactment, this is a fun ride; the imagery impressed me tremendously, and the flow of the narrative is exciting. The opening epigraph is meant to give the film an air of importance which it simply doesn't have; this is not cinema of ideas, but of action.
Rating: 66
Appraisal: As long as it is not taken as a serious historical reenactment, this is a fun ride; the imagery impressed me tremendously, and the flow of the narrative is exciting. The opening epigraph is meant to give the film an air of importance which it simply doesn't have; this is not cinema of ideas, but of action.
Rating: 66
Dead Again (1991)
Synopsis: An amnesic woman is looked after by a missing persons investigator. As no one appears to claim her, he decides to resort to hypnosis as a means to recovering her memory. During her sessions she recalls incidents related to a notorious murder which occurred before both were born.
Appraisal: It's my second viewing, and again on my initial appraisal I was too harsh on it. I still think it is a lackluster film, but not as bad as I had perceived it.
Rating: 30 (up from 8)
Appraisal: It's my second viewing, and again on my initial appraisal I was too harsh on it. I still think it is a lackluster film, but not as bad as I had perceived it.
Rating: 30 (up from 8)
Being Julia (2004)
Synopsis: A middle-aged actress falls in love with a younger man. Based on the novella "Theatre" by W. Somerset Maugham (1st ed. 1947).
Appraisal: This is another of my embarrassing past mistakes, now hopefully corrected. At the time of my first viewing I panned it so completely as to state that it was one of the worst films I had seen in a good while. Well, aside from my stupidity, I owe that misjudgement probably to the constant giggling of the main character (what's with all that, I still ask), and to what I found then to be a silly ending (but in fact isn't all that silly, just a little implausible); add to that the fact that there isn't a single lovable major character in the entire movie and my confusion is partially explained. It's a perfectly enjoyable film actually, and the key to appreciating it is perhaps in the title itself, as the film is centered on the psychology of the central character; a secondary key to it is of course the opening lesson from her late teacher, which is rebuked at the film's closing -- actors don't dissociate themselves from the surrounding world, but rather incorporate it in various ways.
Rating: 57 (up from 18)
Appraisal: This is another of my embarrassing past mistakes, now hopefully corrected. At the time of my first viewing I panned it so completely as to state that it was one of the worst films I had seen in a good while. Well, aside from my stupidity, I owe that misjudgement probably to the constant giggling of the main character (what's with all that, I still ask), and to what I found then to be a silly ending (but in fact isn't all that silly, just a little implausible); add to that the fact that there isn't a single lovable major character in the entire movie and my confusion is partially explained. It's a perfectly enjoyable film actually, and the key to appreciating it is perhaps in the title itself, as the film is centered on the psychology of the central character; a secondary key to it is of course the opening lesson from her late teacher, which is rebuked at the film's closing -- actors don't dissociate themselves from the surrounding world, but rather incorporate it in various ways.
Rating: 57 (up from 18)
Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (2004)
English title: Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War.
Synopsis: In 1950 Korea, two brothers, one a bit rude and the other more sensitive, are recruited as soldiers against the communist North Korean invasion.
Appraisal: Exasperatingly melodramatic, yet competent at the basic task of telling a little bit of History and depicting battle scenes.
Rating: 39
Synopsis: In 1950 Korea, two brothers, one a bit rude and the other more sensitive, are recruited as soldiers against the communist North Korean invasion.
Appraisal: Exasperatingly melodramatic, yet competent at the basic task of telling a little bit of History and depicting battle scenes.
Rating: 39
The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
Synopsis: An American agent is assigned a case of counterfeit; the gang responsible for it killed his girlfriend. He goes to London where he and a Scotland Yard agent infiltrate the gang.
Appraisal: Remake of T-Men (1947). I never saw that film, but this one is a naive, antiquated and conventional policier, verging on the self-parody.
Rating: 31
Appraisal: Remake of T-Men (1947). I never saw that film, but this one is a naive, antiquated and conventional policier, verging on the self-parody.
Rating: 31
The Munsters: Prehistoric Munster (1966) (TV)
Synopsis [spoilers]: Eddie wants Herman's photo so that he can put him in the Father of the Year contest; Marilyn does a sculpture of Herman's face for a class in school. When Marilyn's teacher sees the sculpture he thinks Herman is some kind of prehistoric missing link. He and the Anthropology teacher think they can get rich with the discovery and summon Herman at school. Herman thinks it's about the contest.
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
The Girl from Monday (2005)
Synopsis: In the future, sex will be monitored and encouraged through a system of points assigned to persons who practice it. A resistance movement appears. In a parallel subplot, an entity from a distant planet comes to Earth and takes the form of a woman; she is looking for another person from the same planet who came to Earth long before.
Appraisal: It's kind of watchable, but I honestly do not see the point of it. The plot has a lot of elements which were only barely sketched, and do not relate well to the rest of the film. It looks like it was conceived and executed in a hurry. Either that, or this is a new kind of spoof where you have the clichés of sci-fi dried out and mechanically concatenated in such a way that you wonder whether what you are seeing is the work of a professional or rather that of a 14-year-old with a video equipment and some actors at his disposal.
Rating: 30
Appraisal: It's kind of watchable, but I honestly do not see the point of it. The plot has a lot of elements which were only barely sketched, and do not relate well to the rest of the film. It looks like it was conceived and executed in a hurry. Either that, or this is a new kind of spoof where you have the clichés of sci-fi dried out and mechanically concatenated in such a way that you wonder whether what you are seeing is the work of a professional or rather that of a 14-year-old with a video equipment and some actors at his disposal.
Rating: 30
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