Red River (1948)

Second viewing; my first one was on December 29, 1989.

A man decides to move his cattle from Texas to Missouri. Along the way, things get rough and his men get restless and he becomes more and more tyrannical. The man's adoptive son faces a dilemma.

I really like this film and its dramatic and epic vigor which is felt in most of its scenes. Upon this second viewing, a few weaknesses became apparent (e.g., the romantic scenes). The ending is also notoriously weak. But it is still a gripping western, highly enjoyable, and with Wayne giving a brilliant performance (but here I differ with some: I think he is alway good). Clift is fine too. The obvious inspiration is Mutiny on the Bounty; Christopher Mulrooney draws a parallel with the Saul and David biblical story.

Rating: 83 (down from 90)

The Neighbor (1993)

A couple moves to an old house, with a creepy neighbor. He seems to have evil designs on the pregnant woman's baby.


This is a predictable suspenser, not badly directed, and with a memorable performance by Steiger.

Seen dubbed in Portuguese.

 Rating: 50

Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013)

A dramatization of the legal proceedings surrounding an American prizefighter's refusal to fight in the Vietnam war on allegedly religious grounds.

Well-written drama involving some interesting issues which transcend the merely legal sphere into the historical and political ones. Do not expect anything earth-shattering, and do not watch it if you do not have a minimal amount of interest in its theme.

Rating: 55

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)

A man starts a relationship with a woman, not knowing her secret identity is G-Girl, a superhero. Whe he decides to break up with her, she doesn't take it lightly.

An intelligent premise, to a good extent well developed, but limited, especially toward the last section, by a TV-show style of humor characterized by excessive self-consciousness.

Rating: 60

Joyeux Noël (2005)

Title's English translation: Merry Christmas.

Highly fictionalized dramatization of the Christmas truce of 1914, when World War I soldiers of enemy armies agreed on a truce and during several days engaged in fraternization with one another.

Mediocre and dull, with some terrible performances on the German section, yet it has a high score on IMDB, go figure, guess this is what the "average taste" favors. For the historical facts about the truce, see here.

Saw it dubbed in Portuguese, a bizarre experience, the different nationalities are expressed by accents, I wonder if this was also how it was done in the original.

Rating: 35

Eames: The Architect and the Painter (2011)

Documentary about two industrial designers, and also architects, filmmakers, exposition planners, etc.

A conventional documentary, informative enough. The most interesting aspect of the Eames phenomenon is perhaps the conjunction of the artist's individualistic temperament with the necessities of collective creation; also, the contrast between the creative individuals and the mass-targeted products they made. I am not familiar with much of the Eameses' products, except of course the famous chairs, and a short film they made (it was mostly Charles' film, it seems) called Powers of Ten.