Synopsis: A rich man invites to a cerimony all the people he harmed or estranged during his rising.There he recollects his life, from his adoption by a generous man to his bold financial transactions in Wall Street.
Appraisal: Consistently watchable and occasionally interesting; some things are badly thought out (e.g. his mother's rather convenient detestability), others are downright awful (e.g. the ending). The film's dialogue goes deep into financial concepts, so it's expected that many viewers will have a rather superficial understanding of what goes on at certain spots; I'm afraid I'm one of them.
Rating: 39
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Saint Ralph (2004)
Synopsis: A young boy whose mother is in a coma pledges to run in a marathon in the hopes that it would supernaturally bring her back.
Appraisal: Weak stuff, very uninspired. What can you expect from a film whose very premise is based on a semantical misconstruction -- if "only a miracle could bring her back", then winning the marathon could do it (since it would be a miracle); when of course the sentence doesn't mean that at all, but rather that only a supernatural intervention could bring her back, which in itself would constitute a miracle.
Rating: 21
Appraisal: Weak stuff, very uninspired. What can you expect from a film whose very premise is based on a semantical misconstruction -- if "only a miracle could bring her back", then winning the marathon could do it (since it would be a miracle); when of course the sentence doesn't mean that at all, but rather that only a supernatural intervention could bring her back, which in itself would constitute a miracle.
Rating: 21
La promesse (1996)
English title: The Promise.
Synopsis: An adolescent boy helps his father in his business of exploiting illegal immigrants. When one of the workers die, the man's wife becomes a threat and a conflict arises between the boy and his father, with the boy taking the side of the woman.
Appraisal: The usual fare from these filmmakers; mildly interesting conflicts, competent direction of actors, slightly unrealistic behavior immersed in a socially realistic context.
Rating: 48
Synopsis: An adolescent boy helps his father in his business of exploiting illegal immigrants. When one of the workers die, the man's wife becomes a threat and a conflict arises between the boy and his father, with the boy taking the side of the woman.
Appraisal: The usual fare from these filmmakers; mildly interesting conflicts, competent direction of actors, slightly unrealistic behavior immersed in a socially realistic context.
Rating: 48
Never Talk to Strangers (1995)
Synopsis: A criminal psychiatrist starts a relationship with a handsome stranger, and from then on strange things start to happen to her, even putting her life in danger. Her suspicions start to turn to her new boyfriend.
Appraisal: This is a frivolous little thing, without aspirations to realism or depth of any kind, but with a certain wicked sense of humor to it; despite what you may hear to the contrary, its finale is the only one possible which makes the film a coherent whole.
Rating: 38
Appraisal: This is a frivolous little thing, without aspirations to realism or depth of any kind, but with a certain wicked sense of humor to it; despite what you may hear to the contrary, its finale is the only one possible which makes the film a coherent whole.
Rating: 38
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Heller in Pink Tights (1960)
Synopsis: A theatrical troupe traveling in the West in the 19th century gets into constant trouble because of their beautiful female star.
Appraisal: Funny and intelligent western, with splendid performances and high production values.
Rating: 65
Appraisal: Funny and intelligent western, with splendid performances and high production values.
Rating: 65
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Indecent Proposal (1993)
Synopsis: A billionaire offers one million dollars to a married couple for a night with the woman.
Appraisal: It's hard for me to judge this film because I am not sure whether I have the necessary empathy with the characters and their dilemma; the way I see it, the whole thing seems based on a nonissue. Of course, if one can ignore that fact, or believe otherwise, the film follows a predictable pattern, and is reasonably well made.
Rating: 36
Appraisal: It's hard for me to judge this film because I am not sure whether I have the necessary empathy with the characters and their dilemma; the way I see it, the whole thing seems based on a nonissue. Of course, if one can ignore that fact, or believe otherwise, the film follows a predictable pattern, and is reasonably well made.
Rating: 36
Monday, February 04, 2008
Massa'ot James Be'eretz Hakodesh (2003)
English title: James' Journey to Jerusalem.
Synopsis: An African young man comes to Israel to visit Jerusalem, but is recruited as an illegal worker.
Appraisal: The process of survival and learning is depicted here in a simplified but still honest way; also interesting is the depiction of class (and race) relations in Israel, made without any attempt at ideologic or moral preaching.
Rating: 59
Synopsis: An African young man comes to Israel to visit Jerusalem, but is recruited as an illegal worker.
Appraisal: The process of survival and learning is depicted here in a simplified but still honest way; also interesting is the depiction of class (and race) relations in Israel, made without any attempt at ideologic or moral preaching.
Rating: 59
Showgirls (1995)
Synopsis: A young woman arrives in Las Vegas to be a nightclub dancer.
Appraisal: Strictly cliché melodrama, that nevertheless is well directed and sexy.
Rating: 38
Appraisal: Strictly cliché melodrama, that nevertheless is well directed and sexy.
Rating: 38
Place Vendôme (1998)
Synopsis: A woman finds among her dead husband's stuff some stolen diamonds which she tries to sell.
Appraisal: Interesting film, whose symmetry-ridden plot moves along nicely and without any shadow of dullness.
Rating: 60
Appraisal: Interesting film, whose symmetry-ridden plot moves along nicely and without any shadow of dullness.
Rating: 60
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Alpha Dog (2006)
Synopsis: A middle-class drug dealer kidnaps the teenage brother of a debtor.
Appraisal (mild spoiler): This film is perfect in every aspect, and yet I can't say that I cared much for it. It's a terrible story, to be sure, but it's so predictable that one can't help feeling down in anticipation of its ending. Every actor is pitch perfect. The mother's final scene is going to break your heart, unless it's made of stone.
Rating: 59
Appraisal (mild spoiler): This film is perfect in every aspect, and yet I can't say that I cared much for it. It's a terrible story, to be sure, but it's so predictable that one can't help feeling down in anticipation of its ending. Every actor is pitch perfect. The mother's final scene is going to break your heart, unless it's made of stone.
Rating: 59
Steel City (2006)
Synopsis: A young man has to live with his uncle after his father gets arrested. Meanwhile, his brother is cheating on his wife.
Appraisal: Reasonably well directed but unmemorable and indistinct from other current independent U.S. productions. The plot has some obscure details, which apparently the filmmaker didn't think necessary to clarify. I won't go into that, though.
Rating: 41
Appraisal: Reasonably well directed but unmemorable and indistinct from other current independent U.S. productions. The plot has some obscure details, which apparently the filmmaker didn't think necessary to clarify. I won't go into that, though.
Rating: 41
Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Synopsis: A former deputy joins a former sheriff in a trip to another town where they expect to start a partnership with a woman in a stagecoach business. The town boss wants a share of the business, but the woman does not agree. The situation of injustice in the town becomes intolerable and some people decide to take action against the town boss and their men.
Appraisal: Interesting western, with an interesting and well developed theme.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: Interesting western, with an interesting and well developed theme.
Rating: 51
Que la fête commence... (1975)
English title: Let Joy Reign Supreme.
Synopsis: After the death of Louis XIV, his son being still an infant, Philippe d'Orléans rules France as regent. In Bretagne, an insurrection arises intending to proclaim it an independent republic. Meanwhile, abbey Dubois, the regent's former tutor and best friend, makes a deal with the English by which he will have an insurrection leader hanged in exchange of his being made archbishop.
Appraisal: Extremely eventful account of France's history in the XVIIIth century. It's well written and sufficiently directed, but the excess of points of view and subplots in such a short film length takes a little of the dramatic strength.
Rating: 62
Synopsis: After the death of Louis XIV, his son being still an infant, Philippe d'Orléans rules France as regent. In Bretagne, an insurrection arises intending to proclaim it an independent republic. Meanwhile, abbey Dubois, the regent's former tutor and best friend, makes a deal with the English by which he will have an insurrection leader hanged in exchange of his being made archbishop.
Appraisal: Extremely eventful account of France's history in the XVIIIth century. It's well written and sufficiently directed, but the excess of points of view and subplots in such a short film length takes a little of the dramatic strength.
Rating: 62
Fort Massacre (1958)
Synopsis: In 1879, an army outfit moving in the desert, and running out of water, is ordered by its leader, a ruthless sergeant, to strike against some Apache who are controlling a water pond. Later, they run into a house inhabited by an old Piute man and his granddaughter, and they decide to take refuge there.
Appraisal: Decent B western, well scripted and well directed, and with excellent cinematography.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: Decent B western, well scripted and well directed, and with excellent cinematography.
Rating: 51
Ren xiao yao (2002)
English title: Unknown Pleasures.
Synopsis: Two youngsters in China are unemployed and inseparable. The first one has a girlfriend who is going to the University; the other courts a singer/prostitute who has a very possessive and violent boyfriend (apparent he is her pimp too, but I couldn't care enough to figure that out).
Appraisal: Uninspired chronicle of small lives, for those enamoured with banality and immature quirkiness. Speaking strictly from the mise-en-scene angle, the filmmaker shows some skill.
Rating: 41
Synopsis: Two youngsters in China are unemployed and inseparable. The first one has a girlfriend who is going to the University; the other courts a singer/prostitute who has a very possessive and violent boyfriend (apparent he is her pimp too, but I couldn't care enough to figure that out).
Appraisal: Uninspired chronicle of small lives, for those enamoured with banality and immature quirkiness. Speaking strictly from the mise-en-scene angle, the filmmaker shows some skill.
Rating: 41
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Father Knows Best: Betty Goes Steady (1956) (TV) [season 3, episode 13]
Synopsis: Betty begins dating a classmate. Bud's advisor, a slightly older guy, questions her choice and her social behavior in general, which he finds to be conformist. There may be deeper motives for his opposition, as he too appears to be interested in Betty.
Appraisal: I have no memory of other episodes I may have seen in the past, but this one is priceless. Part of its interest is probably due simply because it is a window to another time, but anyhow it is smart enough for a delightful viewing. Too bad the version I watched was dubbed in Portuguese.
Appraisal: I have no memory of other episodes I may have seen in the past, but this one is priceless. Part of its interest is probably due simply because it is a window to another time, but anyhow it is smart enough for a delightful viewing. Too bad the version I watched was dubbed in Portuguese.
Steal This Film - Part 1 (2006) (V)
Description: Documentary about file sharing.
Appraisal: Interesting as information and debate.
Appraisal: Interesting as information and debate.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Waiting... (2005)
Synopsis: A bunch of guys and girls working at a restaurant as waiters and waitresses.
Appraisal: Quite entertaining, and, although formulaic, gives a convincing picture of life in a restaurant.
Rating: 55
Appraisal: Quite entertaining, and, although formulaic, gives a convincing picture of life in a restaurant.
Rating: 55
Copenhagen (2002) (TV)
Synopsis: Werner Heisenberg paid a visit to Niels Bohr in 1941. The motives of that trip from Germany to occupied Denmark are discussed in a dramatic form.
Appraisal: I found this kind of interesting. The obligatory poeticizing of science comes about in the last act, alas.
Rating: 40
Appraisal: I found this kind of interesting. The obligatory poeticizing of science comes about in the last act, alas.
Rating: 40
The Alternate (2000)
Also Known As: Agent of Death.
Synopsis: The staff of a President stages his kidnapping in the hope that it will boost his popularity. One of the team members reveals himself as a real kidnapper.
Appraisal: Some action scenes are badly staged and/or edited. The script is not so bad. On the whole, it's on the watchable side, but just barely.
Rating: 30
Synopsis: The staff of a President stages his kidnapping in the hope that it will boost his popularity. One of the team members reveals himself as a real kidnapper.
Appraisal: Some action scenes are badly staged and/or edited. The script is not so bad. On the whole, it's on the watchable side, but just barely.
Rating: 30
Monday, January 21, 2008
Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
Synopsis: A man cheats on his wife. She finds out about it.(The film is a musical.)
Appraisal: I didn't like it much, but it's hard to explain why. The format -- soundtrack music "commenting" the action -- is not exactly my cup of tea. But I think what rubbed me the wrong way was its sentimentality which sounded faux at certain moments. Anyway, I kept finding interesting things in the movie, although often they would be followed by other things I didn't like much.
Rating: 52
Appraisal: I didn't like it much, but it's hard to explain why. The format -- soundtrack music "commenting" the action -- is not exactly my cup of tea. But I think what rubbed me the wrong way was its sentimentality which sounded faux at certain moments. Anyway, I kept finding interesting things in the movie, although often they would be followed by other things I didn't like much.
Rating: 52
Bringing Down the House (2003)
Synopsis: A lawyer meets a woman on the Internet who says she is also a lawyer. They set up a date, and he finds out that she is no lawyer, and wants his help to clear her name from a crime of which she was convicted.
Appraisal: The first twenty minutes are fairly good; the rest of the movie is almost invariably unfunny and at times makes little sense.
Rating: 30
Appraisal: The first twenty minutes are fairly good; the rest of the movie is almost invariably unfunny and at times makes little sense.
Rating: 30
Tout feu, tout flamme (1982)
English title: All Fired Up.
Synopsis (mild spoilers): After a long absence, a man returns to France where he has three daughters and his mother. The eldest daughter works for the U.N. and is very suspicious of her father. When she hears that he has conned his own mother into selling her possessions so that he can open a casino, she is very enraged and tries to stop him from going ahead with the deal.
Appraisal: Dramatic comedy without much interest which nonetheless lets itself be seen without great effort, thanks to the agility of both script and mise-en-scene.
Rating: 34
Synopsis (mild spoilers): After a long absence, a man returns to France where he has three daughters and his mother. The eldest daughter works for the U.N. and is very suspicious of her father. When she hears that he has conned his own mother into selling her possessions so that he can open a casino, she is very enraged and tries to stop him from going ahead with the deal.
Appraisal: Dramatic comedy without much interest which nonetheless lets itself be seen without great effort, thanks to the agility of both script and mise-en-scene.
Rating: 34
Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) (TV)
Synopsis: His life from childhood until he becomes the dictator of Germany.
Appraisal: Vibrant telefilm, impeccable in all departments with the possible exception of less-than-ideal casting (which was to be expected given that it is an American production, and a TV one at that) and a somewhat vague depiction of his childhood and adolescence years (which was also to be expected due to length constraints and perhaps lack of reliable historic information). There is an interesting parallel with our times too, in which fighting terrorism is an excuse for the suppression of civil liberties.
Rating: 68
Appraisal: Vibrant telefilm, impeccable in all departments with the possible exception of less-than-ideal casting (which was to be expected given that it is an American production, and a TV one at that) and a somewhat vague depiction of his childhood and adolescence years (which was also to be expected due to length constraints and perhaps lack of reliable historic information). There is an interesting parallel with our times too, in which fighting terrorism is an excuse for the suppression of civil liberties.
Rating: 68
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Saddle Tramp (1950)
Synopsis (spoilers): Chuck, a cowboy and a drifter, is riding to California and decides to drop by on his friend along the way. He finds that his friend's wife has died leaving him four boys to look after. Chuck is staying overnight and while he is drowsing his friend goes out to check on a noise. He takes Chuck's horse to go after a coyote but the horse bucks after a shot and Chuck's friend falls and dies. Chuck reluctantly decides to take the children with him and look after them. He employs himself as a cowboy at a ranch but has to hide the children because the owner is not fond of children. A series of cattle thefts are occurring there and the rancher suspects of the neighboring rancher. Meanwhile a teenage girl who is running away from her sexually abusive uncle takes refuge in the children's camp. Chuck finds out that the thefts are being committed by both ranchers' foremen in alliance. After all is cleared up and the bad guys are dealt with, Chuck marries the girl (she's actually 19) and all of them live happily everafter.
Appraisal: Interesting little western, very humorous and light.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: Interesting little western, very humorous and light.
Rating: 51
Zui hao de shi guang (2005)
English title: Three Times.
Synopsis (spoilers): First story, 1966 -- A young man meets a woman in a snooker hall, then goes to military service on another town. He writes her letters. When he finishes his service period, he goes after her. Second story, 1911 -- Mr. Chang, a young man who works for the liberation of Taiwan from Japan, has a lover who works as a prostitute in a brothel. One of her friends gets pregnant and is considered for concubine of a man, but they couldn't reach a financial agreement. Mr. Chang helps her financially so that the deal can be made. Meanwhile, his own lover wants to free herself from the work in the brothel. Third story, 2005 -- A young woman cheats on her female lover with a young man. Her female lover gets more and more unhappy with the situation.
Appraisal: There are interesting elements in this film, both in individual scenes and in the general concept behind it. It seems to be trying to make some philosophical point about how the different times shape the individuals. The director doesn't seem to be especially competent, a suspicion which had already been aroused in the only other film I have seen directed by him (A City of Sadness). Notwithstanding that fact, he seems to be serious about the projects he chooses, based on these two films alone, and both films are interesting and watchable. Specifically in the case of "Three Times", he makes several serious mistakes which considerably compromise the quality of the film. In the first episode, there is a lot of wasted time in nonevents, and the use of pop music is atrocious. In the second episode, the choice of the use of intertitles is absurd and ridiculous. These are, despite these flaws, the two best episodes of the film. The third one is even more seriously flawed in its essence, and it's hard to know the whole point of the story, which goes nowhere and draws a rather stereotypical portrait of contemporary youth. It is also inexplicably shy in the depiction of physical contact.
Rating: 45
Synopsis (spoilers): First story, 1966 -- A young man meets a woman in a snooker hall, then goes to military service on another town. He writes her letters. When he finishes his service period, he goes after her. Second story, 1911 -- Mr. Chang, a young man who works for the liberation of Taiwan from Japan, has a lover who works as a prostitute in a brothel. One of her friends gets pregnant and is considered for concubine of a man, but they couldn't reach a financial agreement. Mr. Chang helps her financially so that the deal can be made. Meanwhile, his own lover wants to free herself from the work in the brothel. Third story, 2005 -- A young woman cheats on her female lover with a young man. Her female lover gets more and more unhappy with the situation.
Appraisal: There are interesting elements in this film, both in individual scenes and in the general concept behind it. It seems to be trying to make some philosophical point about how the different times shape the individuals. The director doesn't seem to be especially competent, a suspicion which had already been aroused in the only other film I have seen directed by him (A City of Sadness). Notwithstanding that fact, he seems to be serious about the projects he chooses, based on these two films alone, and both films are interesting and watchable. Specifically in the case of "Three Times", he makes several serious mistakes which considerably compromise the quality of the film. In the first episode, there is a lot of wasted time in nonevents, and the use of pop music is atrocious. In the second episode, the choice of the use of intertitles is absurd and ridiculous. These are, despite these flaws, the two best episodes of the film. The third one is even more seriously flawed in its essence, and it's hard to know the whole point of the story, which goes nowhere and draws a rather stereotypical portrait of contemporary youth. It is also inexplicably shy in the depiction of physical contact.
Rating: 45
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Panic (2000)
Synopsis: A middle-aged man works as a hitman for his father. He begins to see a shrink and falls in love with a young woman, even though he is married with one son.
Appraisal: This is a fine example of a perfectly executed piece of perfectly predictable yet perfectly enjoyable black comedy. The cast is superb, with no exceptions.
Rating: 64
Appraisal: This is a fine example of a perfectly executed piece of perfectly predictable yet perfectly enjoyable black comedy. The cast is superb, with no exceptions.
Rating: 64
Maboroshi no hikari (1995)
English title: Maborosi.
Synopsis (spoilers): A woman is happily married and one fine day her husband commits suicide for no apparent reason. She remarries in a different town but is still disturbed by her previous husband's final act.
Appraisal: The material here is obviously of superior quality, full of psychological nuances and insights. The direction is able at staging scenes as naturalistically as possible, although the after-sex scene is marred by their wearing underwear. What really mars the film is the excessive distance of the shots, and the unnecessary slowness at some points. All these remarks have already been made in the review (at this page) by IMDb user CountZero313, which is right on the money.
Rating: 59
Synopsis (spoilers): A woman is happily married and one fine day her husband commits suicide for no apparent reason. She remarries in a different town but is still disturbed by her previous husband's final act.
Appraisal: The material here is obviously of superior quality, full of psychological nuances and insights. The direction is able at staging scenes as naturalistically as possible, although the after-sex scene is marred by their wearing underwear. What really mars the film is the excessive distance of the shots, and the unnecessary slowness at some points. All these remarks have already been made in the review (at this page) by IMDb user CountZero313, which is right on the money.
Rating: 59
Dear Brigitte (1965)
Synopsis: A Poetry professor has a low esteem of Science; he suffers a severe blow when his son reveals himself as a genius of Mathematics.
Appraisal: It's hard to know whether this film is simply dated or whether it was antiquated even for the day when it was released. The subplot about the young boy's infatuation with the French starlet is particularly annoying. Anyway, aside from that and other unsuccessful attempts at being funny, the plot has some points to make about the interrelationship (and interdependence) of the artistically inclined and the more down-to-Earth people who value knowledge and the quantification of the Universe.
Rating: 33
Appraisal: It's hard to know whether this film is simply dated or whether it was antiquated even for the day when it was released. The subplot about the young boy's infatuation with the French starlet is particularly annoying. Anyway, aside from that and other unsuccessful attempts at being funny, the plot has some points to make about the interrelationship (and interdependence) of the artistically inclined and the more down-to-Earth people who value knowledge and the quantification of the Universe.
Rating: 33
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Gunsmoke: Matt Gets It (1955) [Season 1, Episode 1]
Synopsis (spoilers): A gunfighter from Amarillo comes to Dodge after having killed an unarmed man (he didn't know it, he claims). The sheriff of Amarillo comes to arrest him (he would rather kill him) but is killed by him. Matt Dillon, the sheriff of Dodge, tries to arrest him and is seriously wounded. He recovers and tries again to arrest him, only this time he has learned that the outlaw is not so good at a distance (he doesn't take his time to aim), and shoots him before he comes too close.
Appraisal: It's a fair entertainment; as far as I can remember, it's the only episode I have seen, although who can really tell what he has seen in his faraway days of childhood?
Appraisal: It's a fair entertainment; as far as I can remember, it's the only episode I have seen, although who can really tell what he has seen in his faraway days of childhood?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Os Reis do Riso, Volume I [compilation VHS]
This Brazilian issue contains 5 butchered short silent films which were aired in the 60's on the TV show Comedy Capers. All of them had their names changed. The films are:
Smith's Vacation (1926) [retitled as "The Cruise"]
A Prodigal Bridegroom (1926) [retitled as "The Butter and Egg Man"]
At the Ringside (1921) [retitled as "You're Under Arrest!"]
Boobs in the Wood (1925) [retitled as "Tall Timber"]
Whispering Whiskers (1926) [retitled as "The Crystal Ball"]
No real assessment is possible since, as I have already mentioned, the films are heavily cut, but it is possible to appreciate the gags.
Smith's Vacation (1926) [retitled as "The Cruise"]
A Prodigal Bridegroom (1926) [retitled as "The Butter and Egg Man"]
At the Ringside (1921) [retitled as "You're Under Arrest!"]
Boobs in the Wood (1925) [retitled as "Tall Timber"]
Whispering Whiskers (1926) [retitled as "The Crystal Ball"]
No real assessment is possible since, as I have already mentioned, the films are heavily cut, but it is possible to appreciate the gags.
Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)
Description: Documentary about a ballroom dance competition among elementary school children.
Appraisal: It's very well made, and both serious and fun to watch; the only problem, if I may call that a problem, is that it's all a bit too trivial.
Rating: 54
Appraisal: It's very well made, and both serious and fun to watch; the only problem, if I may call that a problem, is that it's all a bit too trivial.
Rating: 54
Monday, January 07, 2008
Crank (2006)
Synopsis: A man is injected with a chemical which inhibits the flow of adrenalin to his heart. He has to keep himself in constant activity and excitement to compensate for the drug's effects.
Appraisal (mild spoiler): This is a variation on Speed (1994/I) (the bus is replaced by a person) and also of D.O.A. (1950 or 1988). The camerawork is frantic, the pace too. Halfway into the movie, it realizes its extreme amorality and shifts into extreme hypocrisy: the protagonist is revealed to be quitting his job. The woman, as usual in recent films, is innocent (and, I deduce, a little retarded). The action sequences are delirious -- well, almost.
Rating: 45
Appraisal (mild spoiler): This is a variation on Speed (1994/I) (the bus is replaced by a person) and also of D.O.A. (1950 or 1988). The camerawork is frantic, the pace too. Halfway into the movie, it realizes its extreme amorality and shifts into extreme hypocrisy: the protagonist is revealed to be quitting his job. The woman, as usual in recent films, is innocent (and, I deduce, a little retarded). The action sequences are delirious -- well, almost.
Rating: 45
Schultze Gets the Blues (2003)
Synopsis: A German man in his retirement goes to the U.S. for a music festival.
Appraisal: Really, this movie leaves something to be desired in the way of character definition and detailing of the events which unfold in the story. This is not to say it doesn't achieve a certain mood, or doesn't have intelligent ideas.
Rating: 45
Appraisal: Really, this movie leaves something to be desired in the way of character definition and detailing of the events which unfold in the story. This is not to say it doesn't achieve a certain mood, or doesn't have intelligent ideas.
Rating: 45
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Seabiscuit (2003)
Synopsis: In the 1930s, a horse begins racing and surprisingly becomes a champion.
Appraisal: Ideologically reactionary, it dismisses the importance of the government actions for reverting the big Depression, claiming that the spirit of competition and individualism were more crucial to that effect. Nevertheless, a film that has to be respected for the level of professionalism in all technical departments, and is moderately enjoyable as an extremely conventional narrative.
Rating: 49
Appraisal: Ideologically reactionary, it dismisses the importance of the government actions for reverting the big Depression, claiming that the spirit of competition and individualism were more crucial to that effect. Nevertheless, a film that has to be respected for the level of professionalism in all technical departments, and is moderately enjoyable as an extremely conventional narrative.
Rating: 49
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Ju-on: The Grudge (2003)
Synopsis: A house where a murder has occurred is haunted by apparitions and strange supernatural materializations which are fatal for those that encounter them.
Appraisal: This is supposed to be a horror movie, yet I was more bored than scared. It is built as a collection of set-pieces from which formal elaboration is not absent, but the general effect is of a cold and unaffecting aestheticism.
Rating: 40
Appraisal: This is supposed to be a horror movie, yet I was more bored than scared. It is built as a collection of set-pieces from which formal elaboration is not absent, but the general effect is of a cold and unaffecting aestheticism.
Rating: 40
The Happy Thieves (1962)
Synopsis: A trio of thieves of classic paintings is blackmailed into stealing a painting from a museum.
Appraisal: All efforts are made at lending this film an aura of lightness and sophistication --prominent among them the ad nauseam playing of a whistling tune. The plot is not completely uninteresting and the dialogue is occasionally philosophical, but it is not especially thrilling or humorous or ingenious; I guess it will do as a time killer.
Rating: 36
Appraisal: All efforts are made at lending this film an aura of lightness and sophistication --prominent among them the ad nauseam playing of a whistling tune. The plot is not completely uninteresting and the dialogue is occasionally philosophical, but it is not especially thrilling or humorous or ingenious; I guess it will do as a time killer.
Rating: 36
Sleep, My Love (1948)
Synopsis: A woman keeps finding herself in strange situations, appearing in unexpected places without recollection of how she got there, and seeing people nobody else saw. Her husband's strangely cold behavior and association with some shady characters place him as a suspect of staging a conspiracy of some kind. Fortunately, she meets a young man who will try to solve this mystery.
Appraisal: The plot follows strictly routine patterns, and is absurd at its core -- unless you believe that hypnosis can make people who are asleep -- and under the effect of heavy drugs -- rise and do all sorts of things as commanded. The direction -- as related to acting and the general technical factors that give a movie its superficial polishing -- is of a superior kind, but there is only so much one can do with such a material.
Rating: 31
Appraisal: The plot follows strictly routine patterns, and is absurd at its core -- unless you believe that hypnosis can make people who are asleep -- and under the effect of heavy drugs -- rise and do all sorts of things as commanded. The direction -- as related to acting and the general technical factors that give a movie its superficial polishing -- is of a superior kind, but there is only so much one can do with such a material.
Rating: 31
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Buzz (2005)
Description: Documentary about the life and career of screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides. For anyone who is interested in how pictures are made.
Supernova (2000/I)
Synopsis: A spaceship answers a distress call from a distant planet, and upon getting there they encounter a man who has found a strange object which has rejuvenating powers.
Appraisal: Science-fiction with some thematic resemblance with the film which I saw just prior to it. This one is watchable but no big deal, being preceded by many films with similar ideas.
Rating: 36
Appraisal: Science-fiction with some thematic resemblance with the film which I saw just prior to it. This one is watchable but no big deal, being preceded by many films with similar ideas.
Rating: 36
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Fountain (2006)
Synopsis: A medical researcher investigates cancer in the hope of finding a cure for his wife. Meanwhile, the latter writes a novel about the search for the mythical tree of life in pre-colombian Central America.
Appraisal: Worthless "epic" drama which is highly recommended for masochists. Along with this one, there has been a flurry of films about personal power released in 2006 (The Illusionist, Perfume), all of them very unhealthy. I wonder if I should worry.
Rating: 15
Appraisal: Worthless "epic" drama which is highly recommended for masochists. Along with this one, there has been a flurry of films about personal power released in 2006 (The Illusionist, Perfume), all of them very unhealthy. I wonder if I should worry.
Rating: 15
Ging chaat goo si 4: Ji gaan daan yam mo (1996)
Englisht title: Police Story 4: First Strike.
Synopsis: A Hong Kong cop gets involved in an international affair of illegal trading of nuclear weapons, in Ukraine and Australia.
Appraisal: Fairly entertaining spy comedy, with several top-notch action sequences and some well choreographed fights.
I watched a dubbed in Portuguese version.
Rating: 55
Synopsis: A Hong Kong cop gets involved in an international affair of illegal trading of nuclear weapons, in Ukraine and Australia.
Appraisal: Fairly entertaining spy comedy, with several top-notch action sequences and some well choreographed fights.
I watched a dubbed in Portuguese version.
Rating: 55
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Nick of Time (1995)
Synopsis: A man is blackmailed into killing a politician, or else his daughter will be killed.
Appraisal: Very well filmed suspense story. It's really worthwhile to watch a movie in which every filmic resource is used to greatest effect, even though it is obvious that the plot per se, although not unmeritorious, has modest ambitions. 24 (the TV series) has the same central situation, in its first season (2001). Red Eye (2005) is a variation.
Rating: 56
Appraisal: Very well filmed suspense story. It's really worthwhile to watch a movie in which every filmic resource is used to greatest effect, even though it is obvious that the plot per se, although not unmeritorious, has modest ambitions. 24 (the TV series) has the same central situation, in its first season (2001). Red Eye (2005) is a variation.
Rating: 56
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The Killer Elite (1975)
Synopsis (mild spoilers): Two guys work for a private agency who protects important people and kills undesirable ones. One of their operatives receives a higher bid and switches sides; in the process, he shoots his best pal, wounding him seriously. The latter recovers from his injuries and is offered a job to protect a foreign politician; the job entails him the opportunity to get revenge on his ex-partner.
Appraisal: It is blatantly unrealistic in its layout (e.g. the hero and his sidekicks are totally unconvincing as an invincible team) and in the devices employed to drive the action (e.g. the politician's daughter who takes a stroll when there are killers on the prowl outside). There is a certain degree of enjoyability to it, though; the performances are good, the action sequences are well directed, etc. It is my second viewing, with the rating slightly raised.
Rating: 38 (up from 25)
Appraisal: It is blatantly unrealistic in its layout (e.g. the hero and his sidekicks are totally unconvincing as an invincible team) and in the devices employed to drive the action (e.g. the politician's daughter who takes a stroll when there are killers on the prowl outside). There is a certain degree of enjoyability to it, though; the performances are good, the action sequences are well directed, etc. It is my second viewing, with the rating slightly raised.
Rating: 38 (up from 25)
Monday, December 24, 2007
The Golden Child (1986)
Synopsis: A superpowerful kid is kidnapped by an evil entity, who wants to destroy it. A guy in Los Angeles whose occupation is locating missing children is summoned by a woman linked to the magic kid to find him and rescue him.
Appraisal: The judeo-christian concept of a messiah is superimposed on the Tibetan buddhist culture to produce this comic adventure; it is well filmed and kind of entertaining, particularly so an interesting dream sequence; the humor is uneven, ranging from moderately funny to embarrassingly unfunny (the low point being perhaps the 'viva Nepal' scene at the airport).
Rating: 30
Appraisal: The judeo-christian concept of a messiah is superimposed on the Tibetan buddhist culture to produce this comic adventure; it is well filmed and kind of entertaining, particularly so an interesting dream sequence; the humor is uneven, ranging from moderately funny to embarrassingly unfunny (the low point being perhaps the 'viva Nepal' scene at the airport).
Rating: 30
Hombre mirando al sudeste (1986)
English title: Man Facing Southeast.
Synopsis: A man appears in a psychiatric institution claiming to be from another planet.
Appraisal: The film sheds some light on the legend of Jesus, viewed in connection with the concept of mental sanity, both in its individual and collective forms. The analysis is correct but incomplete; it would take a brutally honest filmmaker to investigate this kind of phenomenon (I mean Messianism, not extraterrestrials) in a really powerful way. The premise was reused in K-PAX (2001), to even dismaler results.
Rating: 40
Synopsis: A man appears in a psychiatric institution claiming to be from another planet.
Appraisal: The film sheds some light on the legend of Jesus, viewed in connection with the concept of mental sanity, both in its individual and collective forms. The analysis is correct but incomplete; it would take a brutally honest filmmaker to investigate this kind of phenomenon (I mean Messianism, not extraterrestrials) in a really powerful way. The premise was reused in K-PAX (2001), to even dismaler results.
Rating: 40
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Nacho Libre (2006)
Synopsis: A Mexican friar dreams about becoming a professional wrestler.
Appraisal: The primitive humor is possibly suitable for children between 4 and 6. The cinematography and some of the production design are interesting.
Rating: 11
Appraisal: The primitive humor is possibly suitable for children between 4 and 6. The cinematography and some of the production design are interesting.
Rating: 11
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sin City (2005)
Synopsis: Several stories involving crime and violence. A cop stops a maniac from raping an 11-year-old girl. An ugly man sleeps with a beautiful woman and she is killed while he is asleep. He goes after the killer, who is an extremely nimble fighter. A fugitive from the law chases a woman beater and his goons down to a part of town ruled by prostitutes.
Appraisal: This is a humoristic work in its textual aspect, of a shallow kind that does not preclude enjoyment. The grotesque situations and dialog are subordinated to arresting, rigorously stylized images, resulting in a film that precisely attains its tone and sticks to it. It is comic-book fun, cinematically translated, for the eternal adolescent male.
Rating: 67
Appraisal: This is a humoristic work in its textual aspect, of a shallow kind that does not preclude enjoyment. The grotesque situations and dialog are subordinated to arresting, rigorously stylized images, resulting in a film that precisely attains its tone and sticks to it. It is comic-book fun, cinematically translated, for the eternal adolescent male.
Rating: 67
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Author! Author! (1982)
Synopsis: A playwright is left by his wife; she leaves her many children with him. He has also one of his own. He is beginning the production of his play.
Appraisal: The text, although a bit uneven, has some enjoyable moments and succeeds at showing some aspects of modern life like parenting and divorce, and the particulars of the profession of playwright. The direction is really perfect, ensuring that every actor, including the little ones, is very much at ease in every scene.
Rating: 50
Appraisal: The text, although a bit uneven, has some enjoyable moments and succeeds at showing some aspects of modern life like parenting and divorce, and the particulars of the profession of playwright. The direction is really perfect, ensuring that every actor, including the little ones, is very much at ease in every scene.
Rating: 50
Inland Empire (2006)
Appraisal (spoilers): After two viewings, I still haven't got the story right, that is if there really is one to start with. I have read dozens of theories, but I found none of them half satisfying. Therefore, I must judge this movie as a collage around some central ideas, in which strict logical and causal sense is not alway obeyed. The central themes, on a superficial analysis, seem to be Prostitution, Hollywood, Adultery, and Murder. The film's layout and structure seem to mimic the human mind, a notion previously used in The Shining (1980) (a scene of which is quoted in it) and As Deusas (1972). Several clues point to a two-way interaction, or even an exchange of roles, between real characters and imaginary ones, or maybe between dream and reality, as in Lewis Carroll's famous quandary in "Through the Looking Glass" in which he proposes that we might be somebody's dream, and wonders "what if he left off dreaming?".
Here are the clues:
--the announcer at the end of Marilyn Levens's show says: "where stars make dreams and dreams make stars"; notice how this apparently innocent sentence could be understood in a way that fits the strange theory of mutual interaction between Reality and Fiction.
-- when 'Kingsley' is explaining what happened in the Polish film he says "after the characters had been filming for some time". See? He doesn't say "after the actors had been filming", which would be the reasonable thing, but "after the characters had been filming", which is really odd. He goes on to say, in the same sentence, "they discovered something... inside the story. (...) The two leads were murdered!". Why "inside the story"? How can something "inside the story" affect the real world in any way? Now look at the whole sentence, all in one piece, and reordered: "the characters discovered that the leads were murdered, inside the story". Now, I am not sure what all this means, if anything; it could be that the characters are conscious entities, and suddenly the people who give them life (the leads) disappear; then what? ("what if he left off dreaming?"). And all this comes from the mouth of a character in IE, which is weird too.
-- The 'Phantom' character is looking for an "opening" and is seen both inside the OHIBT movie and outside of it. He is said to be able to disappear.
Well, these are consistent clues, but I'm still a long way from deciphering the dozens of riddles in this film. Anyway, the film succeeds partially at best, in my opinion; it is funny at times, and it establishes a mood that occasionally gets absorbing; it does, however, veer into self-indulgence and self-parody at quite a few occasions. It is unlikely that my opinion would be radically different had I deciphered all this apparent mess into a coherent plot or meaning of some sort; there is a level of obscurity beyond which Narrative Art ceases to be aesthetically efficient as such, and I suspect Inland Empire has crossed that line.
Rating: 47
Here are the clues:
--the announcer at the end of Marilyn Levens's show says: "where stars make dreams and dreams make stars"; notice how this apparently innocent sentence could be understood in a way that fits the strange theory of mutual interaction between Reality and Fiction.
-- when 'Kingsley' is explaining what happened in the Polish film he says "after the characters had been filming for some time". See? He doesn't say "after the actors had been filming", which would be the reasonable thing, but "after the characters had been filming", which is really odd. He goes on to say, in the same sentence, "they discovered something... inside the story. (...) The two leads were murdered!". Why "inside the story"? How can something "inside the story" affect the real world in any way? Now look at the whole sentence, all in one piece, and reordered: "the characters discovered that the leads were murdered, inside the story". Now, I am not sure what all this means, if anything; it could be that the characters are conscious entities, and suddenly the people who give them life (the leads) disappear; then what? ("what if he left off dreaming?"). And all this comes from the mouth of a character in IE, which is weird too.
-- The 'Phantom' character is looking for an "opening" and is seen both inside the OHIBT movie and outside of it. He is said to be able to disappear.
Well, these are consistent clues, but I'm still a long way from deciphering the dozens of riddles in this film. Anyway, the film succeeds partially at best, in my opinion; it is funny at times, and it establishes a mood that occasionally gets absorbing; it does, however, veer into self-indulgence and self-parody at quite a few occasions. It is unlikely that my opinion would be radically different had I deciphered all this apparent mess into a coherent plot or meaning of some sort; there is a level of obscurity beyond which Narrative Art ceases to be aesthetically efficient as such, and I suspect Inland Empire has crossed that line.
Rating: 47
Monday, December 17, 2007
Kippur (2000)
Synopsis: Israel, 1973, during the Yom Kippur war. Two guys go out seeking their outfit, riding in their old car. They are strayed from their purpose by an encounter with a medic, and eventually join a rescue team. They roam the battlefield in a helicopter, looking for wounded soldiers, whom they carry back to be treated.
Appraisal: The emphasis here is on realism, not shying away from repetitiveness and occasional static, uneventful shots. The dreariness of the events and landscape is accentuated. Dullness inevitably sets in, and the most intimate moments are perhaps the hardest to bear. Most critics appear to have seen a masterpiece; deserts are known to cause mirages.
(The copy I watched was dubbed in French.)
Rating: 38
Appraisal: The emphasis here is on realism, not shying away from repetitiveness and occasional static, uneventful shots. The dreariness of the events and landscape is accentuated. Dullness inevitably sets in, and the most intimate moments are perhaps the hardest to bear. Most critics appear to have seen a masterpiece; deserts are known to cause mirages.
(The copy I watched was dubbed in French.)
Rating: 38
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Diner (1982)
Synopsis (spoilers): Several young guys and girls in Baltimore, 1959, and their little stories or simply their character traits, are depicted. Eddie is about to get married but he says he will only do it if his fiancée passes a test about football trivia. Boogie is a compulsive gambler who makes a bet he can't cover for; he also bets on his sex achievements towards his dates. Fenwick is immature and impredictable: he breaks window panes with his bare hand, plays pranks on his friends, lies down on Christ's manger in a stable, etc. Plus other minor characters and incidents.
Appraisal (spoilers): Most characters seem obsessed with popular culture -- one is a football fanatic; the other is a popular music collector and connoisseur who scolds his wife for disarraying his records; a very minor one has memorized all lines in a movie; and so on. It's probably good that the movie shows this phenomenon -- which today is possibly even more prevalent -- in what appears to be its beginnings; this, coupled with male bonding, forms a type of urban culture which the film evokes with affection not devoid of sharper comments about the low status imposed on women. Conflicts get resolved quite easily, but otherwise this film is competently crafted; to be sure, these are not characters I am crazy about, but it wasn't so bad spending some time with them.
Rating: 54
Appraisal (spoilers): Most characters seem obsessed with popular culture -- one is a football fanatic; the other is a popular music collector and connoisseur who scolds his wife for disarraying his records; a very minor one has memorized all lines in a movie; and so on. It's probably good that the movie shows this phenomenon -- which today is possibly even more prevalent -- in what appears to be its beginnings; this, coupled with male bonding, forms a type of urban culture which the film evokes with affection not devoid of sharper comments about the low status imposed on women. Conflicts get resolved quite easily, but otherwise this film is competently crafted; to be sure, these are not characters I am crazy about, but it wasn't so bad spending some time with them.
Rating: 54
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Synopsis: In the 18th century, a man develops an obsession about smells, becoming a perfumer and also a murderer. (Based on the novel by Patrick Süskind, 1st edition 1985.)
Appraisal: Basically this film makes no sense, for obvious reasons, unless watched with Odorama. To make matters worse, the plot is ridiculous. That leaves us with only the most superficial aspects of a film, such as cinematography -- astounding, acting -- competent, production design, etc.
Rating: 22
Appraisal: Basically this film makes no sense, for obvious reasons, unless watched with Odorama. To make matters worse, the plot is ridiculous. That leaves us with only the most superficial aspects of a film, such as cinematography -- astounding, acting -- competent, production design, etc.
Rating: 22
Monday, December 10, 2007
Grbavica (2006)
Synopsis: In Bosnia after the war, a woman lives with her daughter. Trying to make ends meet by working as a waitress, she also has to face up to her daughter's rebeliousness and growing inquisitiveness about her father.
Appraisal: I didn't find the drama in itself especially compelling, although it is sufficiently absorbing; also, it resolves itself in a simple, perhaps even simplistic, way, resorting to an exterior element (a gun) as a means of producing some climactic tension. I liked the individual sequences, as they show a sufficient mastery of space and of the actors. Despite its up-to-date narrative style and social context, this is basically a melodrama in the old tradition of Stella Dallas or Imitation of Life.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: I didn't find the drama in itself especially compelling, although it is sufficiently absorbing; also, it resolves itself in a simple, perhaps even simplistic, way, resorting to an exterior element (a gun) as a means of producing some climactic tension. I liked the individual sequences, as they show a sufficient mastery of space and of the actors. Despite its up-to-date narrative style and social context, this is basically a melodrama in the old tradition of Stella Dallas or Imitation of Life.
Rating: 51
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Honogurai mizu no soko kara (2002)
English titles: Dark Water; From the Depths of Dark Water.
Synopsis: A recently divorced mother moves with her 6 year-old daughter into an apartment. Strange things start to happen to them that seem to be connected with a girl that once lived in that building and went missing.
Appraisal: Interesting little horror movie, very atmospheric and well acted.
Rating: 63
Synopsis: A recently divorced mother moves with her 6 year-old daughter into an apartment. Strange things start to happen to them that seem to be connected with a girl that once lived in that building and went missing.
Appraisal: Interesting little horror movie, very atmospheric and well acted.
Rating: 63
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Silent Hill (2006)
Synopsis: A mother looks for her daughter in a supernatural town. (Based on a Japanese video game series.)
Appraisal: The film is well acted; it is also technically irreprehensible. One problem with it is the plot, which is hugely uninteresting and ridiculous; also, the set-pieces simply aren't thrilling.
Rating: 27
Appraisal: The film is well acted; it is also technically irreprehensible. One problem with it is the plot, which is hugely uninteresting and ridiculous; also, the set-pieces simply aren't thrilling.
Rating: 27
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Spies Like Us (1985)
Synopsis: Two spies are sent on a mission in Afghanistan, unaware that they are being used as decoys. The mission has to do with a Soviet intercontinental missile.
Appraisal: This film has some of the most awful comedy moments in movie history (the doctor impersonation, the doctors' endless introduction, the exam cheating, etc.); they are mostly concentrated in the first half of the movie. There is a slight improvement in the second half, where the film becomes watchable, but not much more than this. Chase's performance is very funny, even when he is doing unfunny stuff; Aykroyd's is equally good, although his character is not meant to be as funny.
Rating: 30
Appraisal: This film has some of the most awful comedy moments in movie history (the doctor impersonation, the doctors' endless introduction, the exam cheating, etc.); they are mostly concentrated in the first half of the movie. There is a slight improvement in the second half, where the film becomes watchable, but not much more than this. Chase's performance is very funny, even when he is doing unfunny stuff; Aykroyd's is equally good, although his character is not meant to be as funny.
Rating: 30
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
Description: A live performance by a pop singer and his band.
Appraisal: The first part of the movie consists of songs from his new album, mostly wimpy, infinitely repetitive melodies with lyrics I could not follow, and who cares. In the second part he turns to old hits, raising the musical level a bit, even though his performances are still poor. Watching this guy strain his vocal chords in tortured close-ups makes me think about the economic perversions that shaped the stardom system from the 60's onward. There used to be songwriters and there used to be singers; they were two separate entities that only very rarely combined into one person. It has always been clear, though, that being a singer is a much more rewarding job than being a songwriter, and at one moment all songwriters decided they would no longer hand their songs over to singers who would become famous at the former's expense (their thought, not mine). The fact that none of them writers could sing was not important, it soon became clear. And after they got famous, they needn't write good material either, they would continue to be loved and to sell, that's what fans are for. The star of this film gives himself away as to what this whole game is about, when he mentions a question made to him by his ranch's caretaker: "How could someone so young afford to buy such an expensive property?" So there you have it.
Rating: 13
Appraisal: The first part of the movie consists of songs from his new album, mostly wimpy, infinitely repetitive melodies with lyrics I could not follow, and who cares. In the second part he turns to old hits, raising the musical level a bit, even though his performances are still poor. Watching this guy strain his vocal chords in tortured close-ups makes me think about the economic perversions that shaped the stardom system from the 60's onward. There used to be songwriters and there used to be singers; they were two separate entities that only very rarely combined into one person. It has always been clear, though, that being a singer is a much more rewarding job than being a songwriter, and at one moment all songwriters decided they would no longer hand their songs over to singers who would become famous at the former's expense (their thought, not mine). The fact that none of them writers could sing was not important, it soon became clear. And after they got famous, they needn't write good material either, they would continue to be loved and to sell, that's what fans are for. The star of this film gives himself away as to what this whole game is about, when he mentions a question made to him by his ranch's caretaker: "How could someone so young afford to buy such an expensive property?" So there you have it.
Rating: 13
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Brás Cubas (1985)
Synopsis: The film tells, in the form of an autobiography written after the author is dead, the life of Brás Cubas, an ordinary upper-class guy living in Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century. His first love, a prostitute; his college education in Portugal; his engagement to a politician's daughter, who eventually favored a more determined rival; his frustrated political ambitions; his love affair with his married ex-fiancée; his reencounter with his childhood friend Quincas Borba, the creator of the "humanitist" philosophical system.
Appraisal: Scarse on intelligent filmic ideas and probably insignificant to those who haven't read Machado de Assis's stupendous novel ("Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas", 1st ed. 1881). And it is Cotrim, not Brás, who says "I don't want charity" during the inheritance division.
Rating: 25
Appraisal: Scarse on intelligent filmic ideas and probably insignificant to those who haven't read Machado de Assis's stupendous novel ("Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas", 1st ed. 1881). And it is Cotrim, not Brás, who says "I don't want charity" during the inheritance division.
Rating: 25
Monday, December 03, 2007
Syriana (2005)
Synopsis: Several stories relate to a shady merger deal between two American oil companies. An Arabian emir's son favors a Chinese company over an American one for the drilling operations in his country. A professional killer is hired to kill him. Etc.
Appraisal: This film should be categorized as science-fiction given the fantastic turns taken by its plot. I guess it is nice that someone is approaching this kind of subject, even in such a simplistic manner. And it has some entertainment value.
Rating: 47
Appraisal: This film should be categorized as science-fiction given the fantastic turns taken by its plot. I guess it is nice that someone is approaching this kind of subject, even in such a simplistic manner. And it has some entertainment value.
Rating: 47
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Slither (2006)
Synopsis: An alien organism falls into Earth and installs itself inside a man. From there he begins infecting other humans. He also has an enormous appetite for meat. That initial host's wife, plus some policemen and the town's mayor start investigating the problem and then set off to exterminate those malignant creatures.
Appraisal: There isn't a single molecule of invention in this film, all of it being recycled from earlier horror movies. The more explicit sources are Night of the Living Dead (entire sequences) and Shivers (one scene, as I remember). It is well acted, though.
Rating: 22
Appraisal: There isn't a single molecule of invention in this film, all of it being recycled from earlier horror movies. The more explicit sources are Night of the Living Dead (entire sequences) and Shivers (one scene, as I remember). It is well acted, though.
Rating: 22
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Corazón iluminado (1996)
English title: Foolish Heart.
Synopsis (spoilers from beginning to end): Juan is a young man living in Buenos Aires in the early Sixties. His father is a door-to-door salesman with a gambling addiction; he is training Juan to become a salesman as well. Juan's friends are involved with esoteric practices; one of them is an old photographer who invented a device that purportedly photographs the soul of a person. One day Juan meets Ana in his circle of friends and a mutual attraction arises between them, even though Ana is engaged to an older man. Ana and Juan start seeing each other and Juan learns that Ana suffers from severe psychiatric disorders, having previously been committed to an institution, and being now under constant medication. Juan's friends take a picture of themselves with the "soul catcher" and the place where Ana was supposed to appear in the photo has only a smear of intense brightness. Juan's father frowns upon Juan's relationship with Ana, and also upon Juan's aspirations to become a filmmaker. Ana and Juan have a fight and during their subsequent separation Ana gets involved with a pimp who enslaves her into prostitution. Juan rescues her and shelters her, but one day she vanishes; later he learns that she has been institutionalized again. Juan visits her and helps her escape. Together they elope from their families. On the run from the police, they check into a hotel, where they engage in the serial ingestion of Ana's sleeping pills. They are rescued and taken to a hospital; Ana is unconscious by then. After that, they don't meet again and Juan assumes (or is told, it is not clear) that Ana is dead. Many years later, Juan is a successful filmmaker living in California, and returns to Argentina because his father is ill. He seeks his old friends out and learns that Ana is alive. He meets a seductive woman in a church and follows her to a building where they have sex. In the following day he goes to the place where Ana lives and speaks with her through the intercom, but she refuses to see him and sends him away. He meets the seductive woman again on the beach, and a stranger takes a photo of them. He runs into that woman again at the hospital where his father was, and urges her to reveal who she really is but she runs away. When he sees her the next day in a pier, he stabs her to death. His father's condition worsens and he dies. Juan returns to Los Angeles, and, while on the plane, someone hands him an envelope with a photo inside. It's the picture that was taken on the beach with him and the seductive woman; instead of her face, all we see is a bright smear.
Appraisal: This is an emotionally gripping film. Babenco has an eye for composition and handles the individual scenes very well. Mendonça and Lopes steal the respective portions of film they are in and are responsible for much of the film's strength. The film explores the interesting concept of the mixed-up feelings that disturbed women arouse on some men; they are viewed in dual terms, both as suffering, fragile creatures and as mysterious seductresses. This is possibly akin to Cet obscur objet du désir, slightly. Otherwise, the film brings to mind certain aspects of Tender Is the Night. Mad Love (1995) is a closer relative, I think. The film is largely successful and is a rewarding experience for those who take it on its own lyrical, confessional terms.
Rating: 65
Synopsis (spoilers from beginning to end): Juan is a young man living in Buenos Aires in the early Sixties. His father is a door-to-door salesman with a gambling addiction; he is training Juan to become a salesman as well. Juan's friends are involved with esoteric practices; one of them is an old photographer who invented a device that purportedly photographs the soul of a person. One day Juan meets Ana in his circle of friends and a mutual attraction arises between them, even though Ana is engaged to an older man. Ana and Juan start seeing each other and Juan learns that Ana suffers from severe psychiatric disorders, having previously been committed to an institution, and being now under constant medication. Juan's friends take a picture of themselves with the "soul catcher" and the place where Ana was supposed to appear in the photo has only a smear of intense brightness. Juan's father frowns upon Juan's relationship with Ana, and also upon Juan's aspirations to become a filmmaker. Ana and Juan have a fight and during their subsequent separation Ana gets involved with a pimp who enslaves her into prostitution. Juan rescues her and shelters her, but one day she vanishes; later he learns that she has been institutionalized again. Juan visits her and helps her escape. Together they elope from their families. On the run from the police, they check into a hotel, where they engage in the serial ingestion of Ana's sleeping pills. They are rescued and taken to a hospital; Ana is unconscious by then. After that, they don't meet again and Juan assumes (or is told, it is not clear) that Ana is dead. Many years later, Juan is a successful filmmaker living in California, and returns to Argentina because his father is ill. He seeks his old friends out and learns that Ana is alive. He meets a seductive woman in a church and follows her to a building where they have sex. In the following day he goes to the place where Ana lives and speaks with her through the intercom, but she refuses to see him and sends him away. He meets the seductive woman again on the beach, and a stranger takes a photo of them. He runs into that woman again at the hospital where his father was, and urges her to reveal who she really is but she runs away. When he sees her the next day in a pier, he stabs her to death. His father's condition worsens and he dies. Juan returns to Los Angeles, and, while on the plane, someone hands him an envelope with a photo inside. It's the picture that was taken on the beach with him and the seductive woman; instead of her face, all we see is a bright smear.
Appraisal: This is an emotionally gripping film. Babenco has an eye for composition and handles the individual scenes very well. Mendonça and Lopes steal the respective portions of film they are in and are responsible for much of the film's strength. The film explores the interesting concept of the mixed-up feelings that disturbed women arouse on some men; they are viewed in dual terms, both as suffering, fragile creatures and as mysterious seductresses. This is possibly akin to Cet obscur objet du désir, slightly. Otherwise, the film brings to mind certain aspects of Tender Is the Night. Mad Love (1995) is a closer relative, I think. The film is largely successful and is a rewarding experience for those who take it on its own lyrical, confessional terms.
Rating: 65
Idiocracy (2006)
Synopsis: A man and a woman are cryogenically frozen as part of an army experiment; they are due to be unfrozen in a year, but the project is cancelled and they are forgotten. They finally get unfrozen after 500 years. The world has become populated exclusively by idiots, due to the reproduction rate being negatively correlated to intelligence.
Appraisal: A vast array of excellent comic actors and actresses is this film's forte. The screenplay packs some interesting observations about the current state of affairs in some countries of the world, the U.S. obviously included. After some 30 or 40 minutes of film, maybe less, it has said everything it had to say, the remainder of it being just padding and repetition. The notion that the whole world has devolved in this manner is not really tenable; I think the problems depicted here are mostly U.S.-specific; after the Roman fall, a period of barbarism ensued, but the U.S. is not an empire of such widespread hegemony. Anyway, the film has more serious problems, one of them being lack of reference: since it doesn't have a single intelligent character, any stupidity that is said may be credited to that fact, rather than to its screenwriters' own shortcomings. Just to give an example, when the main character advises people to "read books" and other preventive actions, he is contradicting the film's basic premise that states that the problem is genetic, not educational; as I said, one can easily claim that this is due to that character's lack of intelligence, instead of the film's.
Rating: 47
Appraisal: A vast array of excellent comic actors and actresses is this film's forte. The screenplay packs some interesting observations about the current state of affairs in some countries of the world, the U.S. obviously included. After some 30 or 40 minutes of film, maybe less, it has said everything it had to say, the remainder of it being just padding and repetition. The notion that the whole world has devolved in this manner is not really tenable; I think the problems depicted here are mostly U.S.-specific; after the Roman fall, a period of barbarism ensued, but the U.S. is not an empire of such widespread hegemony. Anyway, the film has more serious problems, one of them being lack of reference: since it doesn't have a single intelligent character, any stupidity that is said may be credited to that fact, rather than to its screenwriters' own shortcomings. Just to give an example, when the main character advises people to "read books" and other preventive actions, he is contradicting the film's basic premise that states that the problem is genetic, not educational; as I said, one can easily claim that this is due to that character's lack of intelligence, instead of the film's.
Rating: 47
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Undertow (1949)
Synopsis: A man returns to his hometown after a long absence. He is fetching his long-time girlfriend whom he intends to marry against her uncle's will. He suddenly finds himself in a tight spot as he is framed for said uncle's murder.
Appraisal: Watchable thriller, which is mechanically structured around establishing sympathy early on (toward a random acquaintance the hero makes at a casino), then creating tension with the fact that the hero is already engaged, then restablishing the viewer's shattered hopes through the revelations of the plot. The ending is abrupt.
Rating: 35
Appraisal: Watchable thriller, which is mechanically structured around establishing sympathy early on (toward a random acquaintance the hero makes at a casino), then creating tension with the fact that the hero is already engaged, then restablishing the viewer's shattered hopes through the revelations of the plot. The ending is abrupt.
Rating: 35
Dallas 362 (2003)
Synopsis: Young man with inseparable friend gets often into barfights. His mom's boyfriend is a psychotherapist and agrees to treat him.
Appraisal: Psychological drama with a heist subplot which is not really believable (but that's a minor issue). As has been pointed out elsewhere, it borrows several plot elements from Good Will Hunting. It has some interesting ideas, but not many surprises nor memorable scenes, nor sequences, nor performances, except the leading one, which is admittedly remarkable.
Rating: 43
Appraisal: Psychological drama with a heist subplot which is not really believable (but that's a minor issue). As has been pointed out elsewhere, it borrows several plot elements from Good Will Hunting. It has some interesting ideas, but not many surprises nor memorable scenes, nor sequences, nor performances, except the leading one, which is admittedly remarkable.
Rating: 43
Monday, November 26, 2007
Separate Lies (2005)
Synopsis: A man is fatally hit by a car while riding his bicycle. This accident stirs the lives of a couple, exposing some lies and forcing those people into reevaluating things. (Based on the novel "A Way Through the Wood" by Nigel Balchin, 1st ed. 1951.)
Appraisal: This is a typical novelistic film. I suppose the defining line is the one which character James says to his maid: "We are all wreckers. Our lives are made with choices, and those choices inevitably hurt someone" (or something close to that). The film takes this as a theme and develops it within each character's story. It's all done with intelligence, and good performances from everyone; however, it's not very exciting, to be honest, and the last act seemed particularly unnecessary.
Rating: 59
Appraisal: This is a typical novelistic film. I suppose the defining line is the one which character James says to his maid: "We are all wreckers. Our lives are made with choices, and those choices inevitably hurt someone" (or something close to that). The film takes this as a theme and develops it within each character's story. It's all done with intelligence, and good performances from everyone; however, it's not very exciting, to be honest, and the last act seemed particularly unnecessary.
Rating: 59
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Synopsis: A witness to a murder in Hawaii is convinced to testify in Los Angeles. The gangster who committed it fills the plane he is traveling in with snakes.
Appraisal: Crude entertainment.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: Crude entertainment.
Rating: 39
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Synopsis: In 1994, in civil-war-ravaged Rwanda, a man saves the lives of thousands by sheltering them at the hotel at which he works as the manager.
Appraisal: While it is clear that international politics is not a simple theme, its subtheme of military intervention is specially complicated. This film, however, puts it in a light that makes it clear as water: people are dying, so someone must do something. To a background of external turmoil and conflict, we see a personal trajectory which is virtually free from those: this man does what he has to, and that's that. The film's plot is eventful, and flows in a crescendo of tension and pace; it probably will put some political awareness into some minds, but people who have some insight into the philosophy of spectacle will always wonder how much of it is conscience appeasing as opposed to awakening.
Rating: 61
Appraisal: While it is clear that international politics is not a simple theme, its subtheme of military intervention is specially complicated. This film, however, puts it in a light that makes it clear as water: people are dying, so someone must do something. To a background of external turmoil and conflict, we see a personal trajectory which is virtually free from those: this man does what he has to, and that's that. The film's plot is eventful, and flows in a crescendo of tension and pace; it probably will put some political awareness into some minds, but people who have some insight into the philosophy of spectacle will always wonder how much of it is conscience appeasing as opposed to awakening.
Rating: 61
The Woods (2006)
Synopsis: A girl is sent to a boarding school near a forest, and witnesses strange occurrences there. It may have to do with witchcraft.
Appraisal: Wow, this is really silly. Three great young actresses, though: Agnes Bruckner, Rachel Nichols, and Lauren Birkell. And some interesting camera angles and other assorted directorial tricks. The chromatic manipulations are unpleasant and don't add to the movie in any way. Apparently, the film bears some similarities with Suspiria (1977); I haven't seen that film, so I can't vouch for that information. An earlier precedent is undoubtedly a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Rating: 21
Appraisal: Wow, this is really silly. Three great young actresses, though: Agnes Bruckner, Rachel Nichols, and Lauren Birkell. And some interesting camera angles and other assorted directorial tricks. The chromatic manipulations are unpleasant and don't add to the movie in any way. Apparently, the film bears some similarities with Suspiria (1977); I haven't seen that film, so I can't vouch for that information. An earlier precedent is undoubtedly a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Rating: 21
Friday, November 23, 2007
Quilombo (1984)
Synopsis (spoilers): In the 17th century, in Brazil, the black slaves who escaped from the farms established free communities in forest areas. The biggest of them was Palmares. Its first great leader was named Ganga Zumba. Later, another man, who had been kidnapped from the quilombo when he was a child and then raised by a priest, escapes again and returns to Palmares to be the successor of Ganga Zumba; he is given the name Zumbi. Ganga Zumba negotiates peace with the white men, and moves with those loyal to him to a new area established by the white men, where they would live in isolation; Zumbi and his followers remain at Palmares.
Appraisal: I disliked its stylistic approach, which mixed action and drama with lots of dancing and partying, apparently going for some exotic appeal; I particularly detested the insertion of songs, and very insipid ones at that. Other than that, the movie has a great story, which is told in a rather static way, yet is given some thrust by the vivaciousness of most of the acting.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: I disliked its stylistic approach, which mixed action and drama with lots of dancing and partying, apparently going for some exotic appeal; I particularly detested the insertion of songs, and very insipid ones at that. Other than that, the movie has a great story, which is told in a rather static way, yet is given some thrust by the vivaciousness of most of the acting.
Rating: 39
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
Synopsis: A cop's mother comes to visit him and begins interfering with his personal life and with his work.
Appraisal: This is a brilliant joke, competently executed, but way too stretched to fit one and a half hour of film. The comicity gets diluted by its repetition; there is also too much time devoted to a romantic subplot.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: This is a brilliant joke, competently executed, but way too stretched to fit one and a half hour of film. The comicity gets diluted by its repetition; there is also too much time devoted to a romantic subplot.
Rating: 39
Thursday, November 22, 2007
The Squaw Man (1914)
Synopsis: A man takes the blame for an embezzlement committed by his gambling-addicted brother. He flees England to the U.S. where he decides to go West. There he meets a Native-American woman .
Appraisal: A competent film within the range of its primitive grammar, which excludes practically all camera movement and of course sound. The story is filmically rendered in an intelligent way, so as to make it quite absorbing and suspenseful.
Appraisal: A competent film within the range of its primitive grammar, which excludes practically all camera movement and of course sound. The story is filmically rendered in an intelligent way, so as to make it quite absorbing and suspenseful.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Dying Gaul (2005)
Synopsis: A screenwriter gets involved with a studio executive and his wife.
Appraisal: This film conceals behind all its implausibilities an obnoxiousness that would be harder to endure were it not graced by inspired -- and close to miraculous, given the ultimate absurdity of their parts -- performances by Scott and Sarsgaard; Clarkson is fine too.
Rating: 27
Appraisal: This film conceals behind all its implausibilities an obnoxiousness that would be harder to endure were it not graced by inspired -- and close to miraculous, given the ultimate absurdity of their parts -- performances by Scott and Sarsgaard; Clarkson is fine too.
Rating: 27
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Brothers of the Head (2005)
Synopsis: Two Siamese twins become rock stars. (Based on a novel by Brian Aldiss, 1st edition 1977.)
Appraisal: It's in the so-called faux-documentary style, ably done. There is a subplot about a third fetus which goes nowhere (is it more developed in the novel? it seems completely stupid...). The Ono-Lennon-McCartney affair is the basis for the Laura Ashworth subplot. Siamese twins have inspired a streak of recent films, this being the third one, as far as I know (Twin Falls Idaho and Stuck on You are the others). This theme adapts well to the rock-and-roll milieu, not just because the latter is a freak show, as the film's tagline implies, but primarily because the phenomenon of conjoined twins is fictionally construable as a metaphor for narcissism.
Rating: 54
Appraisal: It's in the so-called faux-documentary style, ably done. There is a subplot about a third fetus which goes nowhere (is it more developed in the novel? it seems completely stupid...). The Ono-Lennon-McCartney affair is the basis for the Laura Ashworth subplot. Siamese twins have inspired a streak of recent films, this being the third one, as far as I know (Twin Falls Idaho and Stuck on You are the others). This theme adapts well to the rock-and-roll milieu, not just because the latter is a freak show, as the film's tagline implies, but primarily because the phenomenon of conjoined twins is fictionally construable as a metaphor for narcissism.
Rating: 54
Gone Fishin' (1997)
Synopsis: Two childhood friends go out every year fishing together on their vacation. This year they are competing in a tournament. The problem is that they are chronically disaster-prone. They cross paths with a criminal who marries widows and robs them (and has committed one murder). He steals their car and from then on the vacationing duo and the criminal will alternately chase each other.
Appraisal: I have watched this without subtitles and thus missed a few lines of dialog. It is a comedy of modest ambitions which delivers a bland yet congenial humor and some good performances (especially the central pair and the boat salesman).
Rating: 39
Appraisal: I have watched this without subtitles and thus missed a few lines of dialog. It is a comedy of modest ambitions which delivers a bland yet congenial humor and some good performances (especially the central pair and the boat salesman).
Rating: 39
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Mary (2005/I)
Synopsis: Several characters' personal dramas are shown, their point of intersection being a film about Jesus where the role of Mary Magdalen in early christianity is given more weight than it traditionally had been up to then. Marie, the actress who plays Mary in that film, is affected by her work in it, and becomes a religious woman. Anthony, the director, is quite enthusiastic about his work, and has fits of egocentrism. Ted, a TV interviewer, is conducting a series of programs about Jesus, and becomes interested in what happened with Marie; his work conflicts with his married life; his wife is pregnant and about to give birth.
Appraisal: A cursory viewing might lead one to believe that it is a collection of stories about characters without much relation among them, and that the theme of the film, which according to its title was meant to be Mary Magdalen, is actually -- perhaps due to an unplanned change, one could surmise -- the more general theme of faith, but addressed in a more or less nonsystematic way. When the film was almost over, however, I was amazed to discover that there is a wealth of meaning and consistency in it that is not outspoken. The film is actually about Mary Magdalen as a symbol for women's role in spirituality, and how it has been systematically erased from the official religion, and, even more, about how precisely their suffering of that suppression relates to that role through the doctrine of forgiveness and self-effacement in christianity. How is that manifested in the movie? I can cite two important instances: first, notice how Ted's wife continually withstands his neglect of her, and continually forgives him ("not seven, but seventy times seven", the Gospel tells us); second, in an emblematic scene, where Marie is called by phone into an interview with Anthony the director, a fact which arouses his wrath -- this clearly parallels the male monopoly of the Church, and the exclusion of the feminine voice. So, this film offers an analysis of the complex role of the sexes in Christendom, which ultimately determined the role of Christendom in the relationship between the sexes. But this film is also, on a perhaps deeper level, about the contradictory character of religions (and ultimately of any ideology). They are born out of the need for new ideas, yet they can only thrive by stifling all competing ideas, both older and newer ones. This is shown in the analysis of the Mary Magdalen issue, how the history of Christendom was made up to conform to a male-dominant worldview; it is also present in a background manner by the display of religious conflicts in the Middle East and in the United States. Whether the filmmaker has achieved a translation of his ideas into a compelling succession of images is something else again; I think he hasn't done such a terrible job in that department, yet I admit that the film is not as strong as its implicit conceptual complexity might suggest.
Rating: 54
Appraisal: A cursory viewing might lead one to believe that it is a collection of stories about characters without much relation among them, and that the theme of the film, which according to its title was meant to be Mary Magdalen, is actually -- perhaps due to an unplanned change, one could surmise -- the more general theme of faith, but addressed in a more or less nonsystematic way. When the film was almost over, however, I was amazed to discover that there is a wealth of meaning and consistency in it that is not outspoken. The film is actually about Mary Magdalen as a symbol for women's role in spirituality, and how it has been systematically erased from the official religion, and, even more, about how precisely their suffering of that suppression relates to that role through the doctrine of forgiveness and self-effacement in christianity. How is that manifested in the movie? I can cite two important instances: first, notice how Ted's wife continually withstands his neglect of her, and continually forgives him ("not seven, but seventy times seven", the Gospel tells us); second, in an emblematic scene, where Marie is called by phone into an interview with Anthony the director, a fact which arouses his wrath -- this clearly parallels the male monopoly of the Church, and the exclusion of the feminine voice. So, this film offers an analysis of the complex role of the sexes in Christendom, which ultimately determined the role of Christendom in the relationship between the sexes. But this film is also, on a perhaps deeper level, about the contradictory character of religions (and ultimately of any ideology). They are born out of the need for new ideas, yet they can only thrive by stifling all competing ideas, both older and newer ones. This is shown in the analysis of the Mary Magdalen issue, how the history of Christendom was made up to conform to a male-dominant worldview; it is also present in a background manner by the display of religious conflicts in the Middle East and in the United States. Whether the filmmaker has achieved a translation of his ideas into a compelling succession of images is something else again; I think he hasn't done such a terrible job in that department, yet I admit that the film is not as strong as its implicit conceptual complexity might suggest.
Rating: 54
My Summer of Love (2004)
Synopsis: An adolescent girl lives with her brother -- who is a religious fanatic -- in the English countryside. An upper-class girl spending her holidays in the vicinity befriends her.
Appraisal: The situations depicted here have a flavor of deja vu; it also has many dead, dull moments, even clocking in at less than one hour and a half. The drama being lived by the main character is not uninteresting in itself, of course, and the film manages to establish a certain amount of empathy for her. The sad thing is that the camerawork is shoddy, ridded in particular with an effect of changing the proximity of objects instantly, an annoying feature which was also present in El abrazo partido (2004).
Rating: 40
Appraisal: The situations depicted here have a flavor of deja vu; it also has many dead, dull moments, even clocking in at less than one hour and a half. The drama being lived by the main character is not uninteresting in itself, of course, and the film manages to establish a certain amount of empathy for her. The sad thing is that the camerawork is shoddy, ridded in particular with an effect of changing the proximity of objects instantly, an annoying feature which was also present in El abrazo partido (2004).
Rating: 40
Miami Vice (2006)
Synopsis: Two Miami police agents go undercover as drug transporters for a big drug dealer. One of them falls in love with the dealer's girlfriend. One of the dealer's underlings suspects of him.
Appraisal: Run-of-the-mill thriller which emulates the aesthetics of commercials for menwear, cars, and perfume for men.
Rating: 39
Appraisal: Run-of-the-mill thriller which emulates the aesthetics of commercials for menwear, cars, and perfume for men.
Rating: 39
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965)
Alternate title spelling: Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster.
Synopsis: A robot astronaut is sent out on a space mission, yet is forced to abandon his ship when it is attacked by aliens who are visiting Earth in search of young women to repopulate their nuclear-war-devastated planet.
Appraisal: No-budget science-fiction, a good portion of which consists of stock footage. The whole thing is quite laughable, due in equal parts to a conscious tongue-in-cheek approach and to the complete inability in giving the least semblance of realism to any of it. Particularly puzzling is the insertion, at a few sequences, of lyrical pop tunes bearing no relation with the predominant mood of the movie.
Rating: 21
Synopsis: A robot astronaut is sent out on a space mission, yet is forced to abandon his ship when it is attacked by aliens who are visiting Earth in search of young women to repopulate their nuclear-war-devastated planet.
Appraisal: No-budget science-fiction, a good portion of which consists of stock footage. The whole thing is quite laughable, due in equal parts to a conscious tongue-in-cheek approach and to the complete inability in giving the least semblance of realism to any of it. Particularly puzzling is the insertion, at a few sequences, of lyrical pop tunes bearing no relation with the predominant mood of the movie.
Rating: 21
Os paqueras (1969)
English title: The Girl Watchers.
Synopsis: The film narrates the adventures of two womanizer friends, a young one and a middle-aged one. Their friendship is jeopardized when the younger one meets a certain young woman and falls in love with her.
Appraisal (mild spoiler): In spite of the parading of gorgeous women and the chance of seeing glimpses of Rio de Janeiro in the late 60's, this film is mostly dull; some rare distinctive moments can be seen amid the predominantly unimaginative set-pieces, for instance at an interesting scene where a woman and her lover are taken under arrest for adultery (I wonder if this kind of arrest has ever occurred in real life in Brazil) and a crowd outside her building cheers them enthusiastically and boos the betrayed husband with equal enthusiasm; the scene is a faithful depiction of the peculiar kind of values held by a significative portion of the Brazilian population. The finale sequence at the beach when the older man meets the young couple is surprisingly well done, especially so when one considers how easy it would have been to spoil it.
Rating: 31
Synopsis: The film narrates the adventures of two womanizer friends, a young one and a middle-aged one. Their friendship is jeopardized when the younger one meets a certain young woman and falls in love with her.
Appraisal (mild spoiler): In spite of the parading of gorgeous women and the chance of seeing glimpses of Rio de Janeiro in the late 60's, this film is mostly dull; some rare distinctive moments can be seen amid the predominantly unimaginative set-pieces, for instance at an interesting scene where a woman and her lover are taken under arrest for adultery (I wonder if this kind of arrest has ever occurred in real life in Brazil) and a crowd outside her building cheers them enthusiastically and boos the betrayed husband with equal enthusiasm; the scene is a faithful depiction of the peculiar kind of values held by a significative portion of the Brazilian population. The finale sequence at the beach when the older man meets the young couple is surprisingly well done, especially so when one considers how easy it would have been to spoil it.
Rating: 31
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Proposition (2005)
Synopsis: In nineteenth-century Australia, a sheriff captures two outlaw brothers suspected of being involved in a recent crime of rape and murder. They used to be part of a gang with another brother and some other men, but of late they had been living apart from the gang. The sheriff makes a proposition to the eldest of the captured brothers: he will set him and his younger brother free if he brings him his other brother, who lives in a hideout in the mountains; in the meantime, he will keep the youngest one in jail.
Appraisal: Long, static scenes with characters contemplating the unfathomable, alternated with sudden bursts of violence, and all that woven together by a flimsy plot, which echoes some elements from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, or, if one prefers, its more popular cinematic version Apocalypse Now (1979); in all these works, there is a savage country and a white man obsessed with "civilizing" it; there is also a man in search of another who has reputedly become a little unhinged (in this one, he "howls at the moon"). Here, however, the characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting, and the plot follows a linear and quite predictable path; the point of it all seems to be a comic-book aestheticism, as sterile as it is wearisome on the eye.
Rating: 41
Appraisal: Long, static scenes with characters contemplating the unfathomable, alternated with sudden bursts of violence, and all that woven together by a flimsy plot, which echoes some elements from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, or, if one prefers, its more popular cinematic version Apocalypse Now (1979); in all these works, there is a savage country and a white man obsessed with "civilizing" it; there is also a man in search of another who has reputedly become a little unhinged (in this one, he "howls at the moon"). Here, however, the characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting, and the plot follows a linear and quite predictable path; the point of it all seems to be a comic-book aestheticism, as sterile as it is wearisome on the eye.
Rating: 41
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Tattered Dress (1957)
Synopsis: A famous lawyer is hired to defend a rich guy who shot a bartender for having allegedly assaulted his wife. The town's sheriff was a close friend of the deceased's.
Appraisal: It begins well and is well directed throughout, but as the plot unfolds several flaws become apparent, such as the sheriff's unconvincing motivation for his acts. It worsens even more in the last act, where we see a second trial which is totally ridiculous and absurd both in the lawyer's utterances and in the inexplicable verdict.
Rating: 34
Appraisal: It begins well and is well directed throughout, but as the plot unfolds several flaws become apparent, such as the sheriff's unconvincing motivation for his acts. It worsens even more in the last act, where we see a second trial which is totally ridiculous and absurd both in the lawyer's utterances and in the inexplicable verdict.
Rating: 34
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Chik yeung tin si (2002)
English title: So Close.
Synopsis (spoilers): A female assassin, assisted by a sophisticated video surveillance scheme operated by her sister at their home, invades a huge company building and kills the company's president. The job was ordered by one of the company's top executives, who subsequently hires them to kill another top man in that company. An investigation is started after the first killing, led by a female cop. The assassin falls in love with a guy and decides to quit the profession; the other refuses to follow her sister's decision and decides to go solo, doing the killings herself.
Appraisal: The action is what sustains the interest here, and also the good looks of the two protagonists. Mildly creative choreographies and a fast pace disguise the abysmal inanity of the plot and dialogue (that is, its Portuguese-dubbed version, but I suppose not much was lost).
Rating: 35
Synopsis (spoilers): A female assassin, assisted by a sophisticated video surveillance scheme operated by her sister at their home, invades a huge company building and kills the company's president. The job was ordered by one of the company's top executives, who subsequently hires them to kill another top man in that company. An investigation is started after the first killing, led by a female cop. The assassin falls in love with a guy and decides to quit the profession; the other refuses to follow her sister's decision and decides to go solo, doing the killings herself.
Appraisal: The action is what sustains the interest here, and also the good looks of the two protagonists. Mildly creative choreographies and a fast pace disguise the abysmal inanity of the plot and dialogue (that is, its Portuguese-dubbed version, but I suppose not much was lost).
Rating: 35
Va, vis et deviens (2005)
English titles: Live and Become; Go, See, and Become.
Synopsis: In the mid-eighties, Israel recognized the Falashas in Ethiopia as legitimate Jews (the legend says that they descend from Solomon and Sheba), and set up a covert operation to transport them from Ethiopia to Israel, via Sudan. The film tells the story of a non-Falasha boy in a Sudanese refugee camp who joins the emigrants by passing as a Falasha and arrives in Israel where he is adopted by an Israeli family.
Appraisal: Horribly directed and totally inept in the enactment of plausible human behavior. Nevertheless, the story has an inherent appeal which is to a certain extent immune to its director.
Rating: 30
Synopsis: In the mid-eighties, Israel recognized the Falashas in Ethiopia as legitimate Jews (the legend says that they descend from Solomon and Sheba), and set up a covert operation to transport them from Ethiopia to Israel, via Sudan. The film tells the story of a non-Falasha boy in a Sudanese refugee camp who joins the emigrants by passing as a Falasha and arrives in Israel where he is adopted by an Israeli family.
Appraisal: Horribly directed and totally inept in the enactment of plausible human behavior. Nevertheless, the story has an inherent appeal which is to a certain extent immune to its director.
Rating: 30
Monday, November 12, 2007
Frankie and Johnny (1966)
Synopsis: A riverboat singer has the gambling addiction, which considerably upsets his blonde sweetheart. He goes to a fortune teller and she tells him that only a red-headed woman will bring him luck. By a coincidence, the boat owner's red-head sweetheart of old times returns to the boat after a failed attempt at making it big on Broadway.
Appraisal: Quite agreeable and colorful, with nice musical numbers and a certain refinement into its screenplay. An acceptable pastime.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: Quite agreeable and colorful, with nice musical numbers and a certain refinement into its screenplay. An acceptable pastime.
Rating: 51
Silvia Prieto (1999)
Synopsis (spoilers): Silvia works at a restaurant. She quits her job and gets another one of handing over soap samples to street passers-by. She befriends Brite, who is in this job too. Brite starts dating Marcelo, Silvia's ex-husband. Brite sets Silvia up with Gabriel, Brite's ex-husband. Silvia buys a canary. She asked for a silent one but gets a singing one instead. One day it stops singing and Silvia is upset about it. Garbuglia, another friend of Gabriel's, is dating Marta through a TV show. Gabriel gets arrested for smoking hemp. Brite gets pregnant. Gabriel is upset about his old nickname "lamp shade". Silvia is obsessed about the existence of namesakes of herself. She finds one out on the phonebook and calls her. They meet. She is displeased with sharing her name with others. One day she loses her purse containing all her documents. At the police station, when asked about her name she answers "Luisa Ciccone". This is the name she will use from then on.
Appraisal: It's similar in style to the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" except without interesting characters or anything funny, which is to say it's rather pointless.
Rating: 26
Appraisal: It's similar in style to the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" except without interesting characters or anything funny, which is to say it's rather pointless.
Rating: 26
The Fan (1996)
Synopsis: A salesman is fired from his job. He is an ardent fan of baseball, and in particular of one specific player.
Appraisal: The first half succeeded at least in keeping me interested, but from then on it was all downhill. It seems to me that the main problem was that it didn't fulfill my expectations in terms of thrills and suspense, and its conclusion felt like an anticlimax; the fan's behavior gets more and more incoherent as the film advances and the film gets more and more boring.
Rating: 35
Appraisal: The first half succeeded at least in keeping me interested, but from then on it was all downhill. It seems to me that the main problem was that it didn't fulfill my expectations in terms of thrills and suspense, and its conclusion felt like an anticlimax; the fan's behavior gets more and more incoherent as the film advances and the film gets more and more boring.
Rating: 35
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Minnâ-yatteruka! (1995)
English title: Getting Any?
Synopsis (mild spoiler): A man devises a thousand schemes for having sex but fails in all of them. He goes through many weird situations, culminating with his transformation into a Fly-man in a machine created by a scientist.
Appraisal: Humor made of gags whose style is reminiscent of Chuck Jones's cartoons, but more coarse and primitive. It brought me alternately to laughter and boredom; the rate at which either will happen to others depends on their level of expectation, personal preferences and familiarity with Japanese pop culture.
Rating: 33
Synopsis (mild spoiler): A man devises a thousand schemes for having sex but fails in all of them. He goes through many weird situations, culminating with his transformation into a Fly-man in a machine created by a scientist.
Appraisal: Humor made of gags whose style is reminiscent of Chuck Jones's cartoons, but more coarse and primitive. It brought me alternately to laughter and boredom; the rate at which either will happen to others depends on their level of expectation, personal preferences and familiarity with Japanese pop culture.
Rating: 33
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Brasília 18% (2006)
Synopsis: A coroner is called from abroad to establish whether a dead woman's body is that of a missing Senate aide whose boyfriend is being accused of her murder. Other evidence points to a ring of corrupt politicians whose misdeeds said aide had witnessed.
Appraisal: This is an awful film from all angles it is analyzed. The plot hardly makes any sense(e.g. why is it that associating the dead body to the missing woman would be of so much value to the corrupt ones?), several characters' behaviors are completely absurd (e.g. one shady Senate employee tries to corrupt the coroner while inside a crowded airplane of all places; a prostitute witnesses a man pull a gun to the coroner and still cannot wipe a blissful expression from her face; this list could go on forever), the technological references are at least ten years outdated (e.g. the coroner asks for the "negatives"), sex is as gratuitous as in a pornographic movie -- no, I lie: it's more gratuitous -- but incomparably less explicit and exciting; etc. If this film's writer/director was trying to make one of the worst films of all times out of one of the most candent subjects in Brazil in all times, he has largely succeeded. This is so bad even "Mystery Science Theater 3000" would reject it.
Rating: 3
Appraisal: This is an awful film from all angles it is analyzed. The plot hardly makes any sense(e.g. why is it that associating the dead body to the missing woman would be of so much value to the corrupt ones?), several characters' behaviors are completely absurd (e.g. one shady Senate employee tries to corrupt the coroner while inside a crowded airplane of all places; a prostitute witnesses a man pull a gun to the coroner and still cannot wipe a blissful expression from her face; this list could go on forever), the technological references are at least ten years outdated (e.g. the coroner asks for the "negatives"), sex is as gratuitous as in a pornographic movie -- no, I lie: it's more gratuitous -- but incomparably less explicit and exciting; etc. If this film's writer/director was trying to make one of the worst films of all times out of one of the most candent subjects in Brazil in all times, he has largely succeeded. This is so bad even "Mystery Science Theater 3000" would reject it.
Rating: 3
Tropa de elite (2007)
English title: Elite Squad.
Synopsis: In Rio de Janeiro, the Military Police Special Operations Unit (BOPE) specializes in storming the hillside slums to fight drug trafficking; their priority is to capture the sophisticated guns used by the criminals. Captain Nascimento is a member of that unit and is looking to get out of field work, but to do that he must first find someone to replace him. Two Military Police cadets, the first one reckless and trigger-happy and the other one more intellectual and with aspirations to becoming a lawyer, are the main candidates for the position.
Appraisal: The screenplay of this film is well structured and well paced; roughly speaking, the first half is more about small incidents and the second half is more about big ones. The technique is unpolished, forgoing editing in favor of rapid panning among the characters -- it's slightly annoying. The acting is serviceable. The film has been called biased, which I'm not qualified to judge, and one-sided, which it necessarily is, and it's no worse for that. This film has convinced me that drugs will never be legalized, and that it is possible to keep the war against them going indefinitely; it is just a matter of raising the firepower to match that of the criminals --indefinitely.
Rating: 60
Synopsis: In Rio de Janeiro, the Military Police Special Operations Unit (BOPE) specializes in storming the hillside slums to fight drug trafficking; their priority is to capture the sophisticated guns used by the criminals. Captain Nascimento is a member of that unit and is looking to get out of field work, but to do that he must first find someone to replace him. Two Military Police cadets, the first one reckless and trigger-happy and the other one more intellectual and with aspirations to becoming a lawyer, are the main candidates for the position.
Appraisal: The screenplay of this film is well structured and well paced; roughly speaking, the first half is more about small incidents and the second half is more about big ones. The technique is unpolished, forgoing editing in favor of rapid panning among the characters -- it's slightly annoying. The acting is serviceable. The film has been called biased, which I'm not qualified to judge, and one-sided, which it necessarily is, and it's no worse for that. This film has convinced me that drugs will never be legalized, and that it is possible to keep the war against them going indefinitely; it is just a matter of raising the firepower to match that of the criminals --indefinitely.
Rating: 60
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin (2002)
English name: Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary.
Description: Documentary. Hitler's secretary tells everything.
Appraisal: It's just a woman talking to a camera, with occasional shots of her watching herself speak on a TV. It's quite watchable due to the natural interest that this testimony presents and also to the interviewee's great memory and clarity of expression. Many of the events narrated by her would be dramatized with great fidelity in Der Untergang (2004).
Rating: 56
Description: Documentary. Hitler's secretary tells everything.
Appraisal: It's just a woman talking to a camera, with occasional shots of her watching herself speak on a TV. It's quite watchable due to the natural interest that this testimony presents and also to the interviewee's great memory and clarity of expression. Many of the events narrated by her would be dramatized with great fidelity in Der Untergang (2004).
Rating: 56
From Noon Till Three (1976)
Synopsis (spoilers): An outfit of bank robbers stops at an isolated mansion to request a horse, since one of theirs got wounded. The mansion's owner, a widow, says she hasn't got any, and when they hear noise coming from the stable, it's up to one of the guys to go there and check. He goes and finds out that the lady lied, but he gives her cover. Thus, being one horse short, one of the guys must stay behind while the others go and rob the bank. The same guy - Graham Dorsey - who went to check for the horse is the one who stays. The explanation for his lie is that he had a nightmare about the upcoming heist wherein they all ended up dead, so he figures he'd rather not go. While in the house with the widow, he seduces her by telling that he has been impotent since his wife died, and is thinking of killing himself. After an afternoon of lovemaking, they receive news from the town saying his partners have been captured and will be executed that afternoon. The widow urges him to go and rescue his friends, which he is not willing to do, so he pretends to accept the suggestion and just leaves. He runs into his persecutors but manages to shun them. He meets a traveling dentist and forces him to trade clothes with him and to give him his carriage. He stops to ask for information to an old woman, who goes inside and returns with a shotgun pointed at Dorsey. The police is called and he is arrested. The dentist happened to be a crook who took people's gold teeth and replaced them with inferior ones. Dorsey is sentenced to one year in prison. Meanwhile, back in town, the real dentist was shot by the sheriff's posse and, as he was wearing the widow's late husband's clothes, he is brought to her, who faints at the sight of him (she never sees his face so she thinks it is Dorsey). The town people surmise that she had an affair with the bandit, and she receives everybody's reprobation. She decides to make a public speech in front of everyone saying she loved Dorsey and is not ashamed of that. People are touched by her attitude and flock to her house to apologize for their behavior. A writer is brought along who offers to write her love story, to which she agrees. The book is a huge success, and she becomes famous, her mansion even becoming a tourist attraction. Meanwhile, Dorsey is released from prison and decides to go back to see his one-day lover. She did not recognize him at first, saying Dorsey was much taller and handsomer than the man standing in front of her. He only convinces her when he shows her his penis. She refuses to resume their relationship, saying that she now has an image to preserve, and even offers him money to keep the pretense that Dorsey is dead. Dorsey refuses and she kills herself. Dorsey flees the house and everywhere he goes he suffers people's mockery and disbelief regarding his identity. He engages in a fight with an ardent admirer of the literary Dorsey, whom he contradicts by stating that the real Dorsey (i.e. himself) was a coward and a liar. He is arrested and taken to a madhouse where he is welcomed by one of the inmates and finally accepted as Graham Dorsey.
Appraisal: A fable about how legends tend to overshadow reality. It is interesting, albeit more in a literary sense (it's based on a novel) than in a cinematic one; it is not particularly well directed, and in fact I did not see any sign of a director's hand in it. The film's biggest shortcoming is probably that the fame acquired by the characters doesn't seem very likely -- their story is not that appealing; another implausibility is the widow not recognizing Dorsey upon his return -- in one year, neither he nor her memory of him may have changed that much. But, given that it's intended as a sort of philosophical reflection about fame and the fabrication of heroes and other myths, these details are just means to an end and thus perhaps not of crucial importance.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: A fable about how legends tend to overshadow reality. It is interesting, albeit more in a literary sense (it's based on a novel) than in a cinematic one; it is not particularly well directed, and in fact I did not see any sign of a director's hand in it. The film's biggest shortcoming is probably that the fame acquired by the characters doesn't seem very likely -- their story is not that appealing; another implausibility is the widow not recognizing Dorsey upon his return -- in one year, neither he nor her memory of him may have changed that much. But, given that it's intended as a sort of philosophical reflection about fame and the fabrication of heroes and other myths, these details are just means to an end and thus perhaps not of crucial importance.
Rating: 51
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The Forgotten (2004)
Synopsis: A woman grieves over the loss of her son, but suddenly no one seems to acknowledge his previous existence.
Appraisal: Antiquated sci-fi drama, with the usual amount of loose ends. This poor film bears some thematic resemblance with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Total Recall (1990), and L'année dernière à Marienbad (1961); also Mirage (1965), tangentially. P.S.: Theo Panayides's review points out another -- and closer -- thematic precursor of this film: The Lady Vanishes (1938).
Rating: 11
Appraisal: Antiquated sci-fi drama, with the usual amount of loose ends. This poor film bears some thematic resemblance with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Total Recall (1990), and L'année dernière à Marienbad (1961); also Mirage (1965), tangentially. P.S.: Theo Panayides's review points out another -- and closer -- thematic precursor of this film: The Lady Vanishes (1938).
Rating: 11
Bonga, o vagabundo (1971)
Synopsis: A bum befriends a rich guy. Then a beautiful girl. The rich guy is being pressured by his father to work and get a fiancée. There is also a gang of evil bikers.
Appraisal: The plot is quite banal, but the film is well directed and quite visually oriented at times. Its target audience are kids; the main character, in addition to being good-hearted, doesn't drink alcohol; on the other hand, he smokes a lot, and in one of the scenes we even see a small homeless kid smoking like there's nothing wrong with it. Different times, different values... The main influence is Chaplin's tramp of course, but a sober version of him -- as I was saying, different times... There may also be echoes of a film which I haven't seen, Hallelujah I'm a Bum; and certainly The Wild One, which I have.
Rating: 31
Appraisal: The plot is quite banal, but the film is well directed and quite visually oriented at times. Its target audience are kids; the main character, in addition to being good-hearted, doesn't drink alcohol; on the other hand, he smokes a lot, and in one of the scenes we even see a small homeless kid smoking like there's nothing wrong with it. Different times, different values... The main influence is Chaplin's tramp of course, but a sober version of him -- as I was saying, different times... There may also be echoes of a film which I haven't seen, Hallelujah I'm a Bum; and certainly The Wild One, which I have.
Rating: 31
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Trois places pour le 26 (1988)
English title: Three Places for the 26th.
Synopsis: A singer and actor returns to the city of his childhood and adolescence after 20 years of absence. He intends to produce an autobiographical musical play which will premier in that city. He meets his former lover and also a young aspiring actress/singer/dancer who asks him if she can watch the play's rehearsals.
Appraisal (spoilers): It's an agreeable film. It's hard for me to find something really bad about it; on the other hand, it is a little too slight for my taste; some of the choreographies are unremarkable while others are filmed too unimaginatively. What I found curious is the recurrence of the father/daughter incest theme in Demy, which appeared earlier in Peau d'âne (1970). Here, we see a totally different variety of it: no violence is present, only ignorance, exactly like in the ancient tale of Oedipus; unlike in that tale, however, here no tragedy ensues, only a small discomfort after the discovery.
Rating: 50
Synopsis: A singer and actor returns to the city of his childhood and adolescence after 20 years of absence. He intends to produce an autobiographical musical play which will premier in that city. He meets his former lover and also a young aspiring actress/singer/dancer who asks him if she can watch the play's rehearsals.
Appraisal (spoilers): It's an agreeable film. It's hard for me to find something really bad about it; on the other hand, it is a little too slight for my taste; some of the choreographies are unremarkable while others are filmed too unimaginatively. What I found curious is the recurrence of the father/daughter incest theme in Demy, which appeared earlier in Peau d'âne (1970). Here, we see a totally different variety of it: no violence is present, only ignorance, exactly like in the ancient tale of Oedipus; unlike in that tale, however, here no tragedy ensues, only a small discomfort after the discovery.
Rating: 50
Monday, November 05, 2007
Driven (2001)
Synopsis: A young up-and-coming formula one pilot. His agent, who happens to be his brother, pushes him hard into giving his best. A veteran pilot is called in to be his team-mate and help him win. The competition is a cold-hearted man, many times world champion. Both competitors will fight for the love of a beautiful woman.
Appraisal: This obviously shows little regard for what goes on in real-life races; it's a fantasy made of archetypes and spectacular crashes. As such, it oscillates between the slightly exciting and the slightly boring.
Rating: 36
Appraisal: This obviously shows little regard for what goes on in real-life races; it's a fantasy made of archetypes and spectacular crashes. As such, it oscillates between the slightly exciting and the slightly boring.
Rating: 36
Saturday, November 03, 2007
River Queen (2005)
Synopsis: In 1854, in New Zealand, an Irish woman has a son with a Maori man. Her lover dies shortly after that, and his father kidnaps her child. She is then offered a deal by which she will have her son back if she agrees to go to a distant village to heal its Maori chief. While she is there, a war breaks out between the English and the Maori.
Appraisal: This film is characterized by some crudeness in technique (brisk camera movements, for example) and in writing (an enormous amount of voice-over); it also has a penchant for kitschy accessories such as the new-age score, and the overuse of slow-motion. All these flaws permeate the film more or less uniformly from beginning to end. The characters are not endowed with much depth, which in this case is partially overcome by an emphasis on action. The film does improve in the second half, with quite complex battle sequences; the general course of the story acquires some complexity as well, and in general lines does not stray too much from the path of logic and coherence.
Rating: 45
Appraisal: This film is characterized by some crudeness in technique (brisk camera movements, for example) and in writing (an enormous amount of voice-over); it also has a penchant for kitschy accessories such as the new-age score, and the overuse of slow-motion. All these flaws permeate the film more or less uniformly from beginning to end. The characters are not endowed with much depth, which in this case is partially overcome by an emphasis on action. The film does improve in the second half, with quite complex battle sequences; the general course of the story acquires some complexity as well, and in general lines does not stray too much from the path of logic and coherence.
Rating: 45
Friday, November 02, 2007
The Dead Don't Die (1975) (TV)
Synopsis: Man tries to prove his brother was unjustly executed, and gets involved with zombies.
Appraisal: This film has plot problems, about which, if you don't mind spoilers, you can find more here. Aside from that, it's a mediocre mix of horror and detective story.
Rating: 31
Appraisal: This film has plot problems, about which, if you don't mind spoilers, you can find more here. Aside from that, it's a mediocre mix of horror and detective story.
Rating: 31
50 First Dates (2004)
Synopsis: Henry doesn't like long-term relationships. He meets Lucy and falls for her. She has no short-term memory due to a brain lesion.
Appraisal: An interesting premise put to waste. The ending only makes sense if one has forgotten all that has happened previously, which ironically would require the condition of one of the main characters in the movie, only in a severer form. Some of the jokes are funny but most aren't, which isn't even the biggest problem with the film; that would be poor writing and the strategy of aiming low in order to gross high. My idea would be to have Henry at first take advantage of Lucy's condition and date her repeatedly until he was irreversibly in love; this would be a cul-de-sac for him given her condition; he would be forever miserable, which would be a form of poetic justice given his previous behavior. Then again, this approach would be at odds with the aforementioned strategy. After all, it is a date movie: gross jokes for him and sugar-coated romance for her.
Rating: 30
Appraisal: An interesting premise put to waste. The ending only makes sense if one has forgotten all that has happened previously, which ironically would require the condition of one of the main characters in the movie, only in a severer form. Some of the jokes are funny but most aren't, which isn't even the biggest problem with the film; that would be poor writing and the strategy of aiming low in order to gross high. My idea would be to have Henry at first take advantage of Lucy's condition and date her repeatedly until he was irreversibly in love; this would be a cul-de-sac for him given her condition; he would be forever miserable, which would be a form of poetic justice given his previous behavior. Then again, this approach would be at odds with the aforementioned strategy. After all, it is a date movie: gross jokes for him and sugar-coated romance for her.
Rating: 30
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Left Behind (2000)
Synopsis (spoilers): The world faces a food shortage problem. A scientist named Rosenzweig has come up with a new agricultural technology which offers a solution. Concurrently, the world is taken aback by the sudden vanishing of millions of people for no apparent physical reason. In order to stop the chaos that threatens to take over the world, the United Nations appoint a new secretary-general, named Carpathia, who establishes an emergency government of UN delegates. He has power plans of his own which involve using Rosenzweig's technology to control the world's food supply. Carpathia is backed by two bankers which are planning to lead the UN to bankruptcy by executing its huge debt. Carpathia shoots the bankers point blank in the presence of all the UN delegates. A TV journalist investigates these events. Another character is a plane pilot whose wife and youngest son have vanished, leaving him only his daughter. He visits the church his wife used to attend, and over there he is shown a videotape wherein a preacher, now vanished, explains the vanishings in terms of supernatural eschatology. The pilot is convinced by it and starts taking religion seriously. A little later, the journalist becomes a convert too.
Appraisal: It is an interpretation and fictionalization of some biblical passages in Matthew 24 (or Luke 17), several epistles, and Revelation. The film's premise is insane enough, but it is also tremendously ill-conceived in its narrative proceedings. There is some basic dishonesty at the core of all films which propose a demented concept and have their own characters echo our very thoughts by remarking that it's all very insane. Secondly, there is a total absence of rules, which is a narrative no-no in my opinion since it makes anything possible; thus, an entire air fleet is wiped out and the only explanation is that something supernatural was at play; at another instance, a man commits a double murder and hypnotizes an entire audience into thinking he didn't actually do it. But worst of all is the ultimate rationale behind this kind of fiction, which is an unhealthy, obscurantist worldview.
Rating: 0
Appraisal: It is an interpretation and fictionalization of some biblical passages in Matthew 24 (or Luke 17), several epistles, and Revelation. The film's premise is insane enough, but it is also tremendously ill-conceived in its narrative proceedings. There is some basic dishonesty at the core of all films which propose a demented concept and have their own characters echo our very thoughts by remarking that it's all very insane. Secondly, there is a total absence of rules, which is a narrative no-no in my opinion since it makes anything possible; thus, an entire air fleet is wiped out and the only explanation is that something supernatural was at play; at another instance, a man commits a double murder and hypnotizes an entire audience into thinking he didn't actually do it. But worst of all is the ultimate rationale behind this kind of fiction, which is an unhealthy, obscurantist worldview.
Rating: 0
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