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LeandraZZZ
Reviews
The International (2009)
Nice architecture shame about the storyline
Great architecture, but not much else. Too much exposition where you did not need, and no sensible links ("Fiction has to make sense") between one scene and the next. Tries to be a poor imitation of the geographical scope and topographical bird's eye view of major city centres as in, e.g. Bourne Ultimatum, BUT lacks the depth of writing, character development, and pace. Too many topical references rammed in - there could have been about six movies made from this material. A bit "film-school-y" - ? Also somewhat out of touch: in the real world the banks have already brought themselves down - didn't need Clive Owen to do it for them! Nice try - but needed a whole lot more work.
Casino Royale (2006)
The Perfect Bond for today's world
I saw the movie last night (17 Nov 06) in the UK -- totally brilliant! What a marvellous evening of pure - and purely professional - entertainment! I enjoyed every action-packed, self-controlled, tender and vulnerable moment. Daniel Craig is terrific - as well as terrifically gorgeous ! Without derogating one bit from his own original approach to the character (and what a refreshing update!), Daniel Craig is So-o-o-o Dry and Cool (neither shaken nor stirred) and is surely, without doubt, the new Steve McQueen - the Steve McQueen of The-Thomas-Crown-Affair-meets-Bullitt - and he's British !!! Congratulations to ALL involved in making this movie - from the script to the music to the (relevant) special effects to the stunts to the locations to the pure True Grit involved in it all ! MORE PLEASE !!!
The Departed (2006)
Too long, too noisy, too boring - a pastiche
What IS it with Scorsese and endless VIOLENCE ? actual violence, communication violence, interpersonal violence, and on and on. Another East coast violent gang movie ? in 2006?! I don't think so, thank you very much. If it had been made in 1990, then maybe .... But today we have enough real violence on the TV news each night about a real increasingly violent world. Nothing fictional can compare any more, and it is pointless to try. Where was all the subtle character analysis? and growth? and inner dilemmas ? and on and on. And Jack Nicholson hammed it up good and proper - what else could he do? - at various points the audience in my theatre (in the UK) were LAUGHING !!! And the movie was too, too, too L-O-N-G ! And as for the number of tedious F-words ! seemed like the scriptwriter was trying to vie with J D Salinger in -The Catcher in the Rye- for the number of G--D-----s. In today's world? Pathetic ! Come on, Marty baby, you CAN do better than this - before you get too old to try !
El ángel exterminador (1962)
The Human Condition
I just saw this for the first time yesterday. Although the movie was made in 1962, it was a very grainy print, and I am assuming that this was deliberate - it looked as though we were looking at something from the 1920s. I liked this; it was all part of it. This was an amazing movie - and amazingly prescient - a metaphor for the human condition (not just the upper classes), our life on this planet, and how fragile it all is (the slightest pressure on resources, the slightest dislocation, and the whole edifice crumbles). The room they did not want to leave is this planet earth and our life on it. The guests are a metaphor for all of us, and we are very, very attached to life. When we are having a wonderful time, for sure we don't want to leave life and the planet - and even when we have made the most terrible mess of it (because we don't want to leave) and the whole thing has degenerated into fighting, bickering,destruction, hunger, thirst - we STILL don't want to leave. In the movie, as in the cycle of life, it is not until there is a reprieve when everything suddenly clicks back into how it was (reincarnation?)that they are able to leave. They go back to the Church - but that is no answer either, because the whole same thing happens over again. At the end, the sheep all go to the church - "lambs to the slaughter" (and English phrase - I am English).
It is an interesting parable for today's world: the rich (First World countries?) take for granted food and water -- until they experience the loss of it firsthand themselves (the Third World?), and then all the social castes and 'mores' which they (we) have built up, crumble - they fight each other, they hallucinate, they hunger, they thirst. Later, even once they are free of the room, we see fighting in the streets of the city, with troops firing on the civilian population. The movie was made in 1962: does any of this sound familiar in today's world of 2006 ?
Y tu mamá también (2001)
If we all knew sooner rather than later what she knew, how would we live each present moment ?
I just saw this as part of a Gael Garcia Bernal season in my home town in the Uk. Beautiful movie, in every sense. Like life itself, full of clues early on. Essentially the movie reminds us that it is only when we know there is an end to life that we can (must) throw ourselves fully into it. The boys were beginners, and thought they would live for ever. This is the trick that life plays on us. Luisa, on the other hand, knew sooner than most that there is an endpoint - and therefore lived fully and totally in the present moment, finding her true self as a woman. The movie told us very poignantly that the living of life itself is about reconciling these seemingly irreconcilable truths. If we all knew sooner rather than later what she knew, how would we live each present moment ? 'La vida es como la espuma, por eso hay que darse como el mar."
Down in the Valley (2005)
What myths are shaping OUR fantasy lives today?
This movie is a wake up call. Harlan resorts automatically to his programmed fantasy life when under pressure (rejection) - and his fantasy life itself is a result of his rejection, as a child and as a member of today's society. In his particular fantasy-life this involves a knee-jerk reaction of reaching for a gun. He has no real life, so he has had to create a fantasy life of his own - and it is one which is informed by the TV and movies he watched as a (rejected) child, in this case "Western Heros". How many of us actually live our fantasies, rather than the real world around us? Is there a real world around us? Tobe and her father and brother say, Yes, emphatically there is - less than perfect, but it's what we've got. But Harlan's story must leave us asking: What myths and fantasies are shaping our fantasy lives today? Is this also a metaphor for the current state of American politics, and its foreign policy? This is a deeply layered movie, with stunning cinematography - and which tells us very clearly that beautiful surface appearances can hide a much darker and, because so unhappy and meaningless, dangerous side - especially when a person resorts to fantasy as a solution to real problems. Highly recommended movie - I do so hope it does not sink without trace.
Walk the Line (2005)
Living From The Heart
I just came from seeing (in the UK) 'Walk The Line' - I have come back from the movie theatre in a total trance. What a wonderful movie !!! It IS the story of Americana, not just Johnny Cash - or you could say JC IS the story of Americana -- rural poverty, hard work on the land, family tragedy, talent, more hard work risking everything, the fall from grace and descent into Hell, the resurrection with the help of friends, and ultimately redemption -- and all through Love, and above all Passion. It's like Hollywood is AT LAST standing up and saying, "Hey,World! THIS is what "America" and being "American" is REALLY all about !!!" This has GOT to be HOTTEST for the Ocars. In case anyone ever doubted which side of the line they stand, this is Highly highly highly recommended !!!
The Constant Gardener (2005)
the Big Corporations won the battle but lost the war
Beautiful cinematography - and an interesting anthropological piece (technically a tour de force) about the West versus the Rest, in this case Africa. The last time I saw a railway line running through the middle of a crowded village was in a documentary (BBC-tv, I think) about Manila and the effects of Catholic doctrine on local population growth. It is a very powerful symbol of the juxtaposition of humanity and technology. I have to say I think LeCarre's story is a bit clunky -- anybody who remembers Harrison Ford on the same drugs-corporation-busting trail in "The Fugitive" will understand what I mean. Or perhaps I am not understanding that this was merely the spine on which the story of true love was hung. But in fact the story is entirely about death - of different kinds - "The one thing we can still do well is get you out of here", the British diplomat says. In the same evening I also saw 'Bombon Le Chien (el Perro)' (Carlos Sorin). the contrast was marked. In "Gardener" we have the story of innocent third world peoples being exploited by wicked Western corporations, ending in death for all concerned. In "Perro" we have people in a third world country dealing philosophically with the corporations, and getting on with their lives, and finding joy and happiness, and Life. I prefer the "Perro" approach !
El perro (2004)
totally charming, simple, and full of love and hope
We are so used to seeing the world besmirched and we are so used to hearing about the big bad corporations exploiting the innocents in third world countries, and now at last here is a movie which tells us about simple people, simply living in the context of the corporations and being philosophical about their power, and in the meantime getting on with their own lives and making them happy and fulfilled. This delightful movie shows us that where natural processes are exploited without love and for no other purpose than to build egos and to make money, it does not work - everything becomes dysfunctional. But when things are left to unfold naturally in their own time, everything works beautifully, and there is much joy and laughter - and hope for the now and for the future. Against the backdrop of windswept empty plains, Villegas passes through it all with kind eyes and a beatific smile - and El Perro is a total joy, the key to opening up the magic. Should be required viewing as a sane antidote to all the madness today.
The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
A parable for our times - please go and see it!
This is the most intelligent and sensitive movie I have seen for the longest time - if ever. Sean Penn's work is totally outstanding, a tour de force. In fact, this is true of all those involved in telling this oh too true story of our times. Does one need to reiterate the parallels with 9/11 and the way the world is today ? I am English and live in the UK but have also lived and worked in LA. It is truly heartening to see film-makers in the US with the courage, and the empathy, to tell this story - this parable - in story terms with which Americans and Brits (and others, one hopes) can relate. The juxtaposition of the private torment of Sam with the classical music, and in the context of people struggling to live their ordinary lives, knowing all the shortcomings of the system, is totally brilliant. The writers and directors and all involved deserve hearty congratulations for their courage and sensitivity. Sean Penn as Sam is peerless.