Dubliners by James Joyce

Dubliners is a classic and it's often considered ground breaking work. It brings Dublin to the world, by showing the lives of several dubliners realisticaly ceating a touching portrait of life, not just in Dublin but in al the world. As there are characters of all ages, it shows the experience of growing up by the eyes of different characters. So, alone each story has its value and interest, but together they are masterful and meaningful. Some of the stories are much more interesting than others, even if all have good characters and something to say. My favorites were Eveline with its amazing leading character developed in 6 pages, Counterparts with another powerful lead and a horrifying ending, A Little Cloud, with another great point of view and heartbreakingly funny and The Dead, a subtle character study with a haunting twist and every emotion beautifully described. The writing is beautiful, with every feeling and emotion subtly captured and a realistic, even if poetic feeling about it. This is a deep, quite intense book with beautiful stories and writing.

The Straight Story

So, uh, what's the worst part about being old, Alvin?
Well, the worst part of being old is rememberin' when you was young.

The Straight Story is a beautiful, simple movie, a reflection about life and growing old. The story is simple: 73-year-old Alvin Straight makes a 500 km journey in a lawn mower to mend his relationship with his ill brother. During the way, he reflects about growing old, his life and his mistakes. The subtle way this is done is effective and gives the movie beauty, but the story is sometimes too slow, with nothing happening. The dialogs are good, sometimes quotable, even if once or twice I spotted obvious stories that could have been avoided. The characters are all very natural, and you believe them from the first minute you see them on the screen. They are all likeable because they are normal people, but always hopeful and with a certain innocence and able to accept life. The ending is, too, very simple but it works extremly well leaving you touched and moved.

The acting is very good. Richard Farnsworth gives a wonderful perfomrance. His character, on paper, isn't very interesting, but he's able to give Alvin dramatic nuances. He creates a man that slowly accepts growing old, ignores his pride and goes in a journey to meet his brother. He is stubborn, with a simple but pure morality. He has an amzing delivery of his lines, slowly, realistically, showing his character's controled emotions in a touching way. Sissy Spacek gives Rosie vulnerability and barely visible pain, never overacting. All the other cast members that make brief appearences do a good, even if not remarkable job, with good delivery of their lines.

The direction is brilliant. Lynch fills the movie with gorgeous shots and camera angles, that allow you not only to see the meaning of the screenplay and the great work by the actors', but you can see the beautiful roads and vegetation all around. His shots are steady and reflective just the right style for this movie.

The cinematography is very good, capturing the beauty of Lynch's wide shots and the faces in a clear way. The music is beautiful, giving the movie a nostalgic feeling. This is slow moving and sometimes boring; even so, it's technically impressive, beautiful and meaningful.

Frida

At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.

Frida is a beautiful, inspiring movie about the amazing Frida Kahlo and her struggles through life. Not only it gets you to understand her art much better but it's also a story about life and suffering told beautifully. The screenplay is very good, it doesn't have the feeling that most biopics have, like they're rushing to the end and don't really know the person they're talking about. This feels like fiction, because Frida Kahlo feels like a person, she has flaws, a convincing personality, she's not just a victim, and some moments of her life matter more than others. Her reactions have a reason, not like you're supposed to think that, as she's a genius, she's a bit mad. The other characters have a realistic feeling about them too, and Diego Riviera is fascinating. The dialogs are quotable and there are some inspiring lines.

The acting is very good by all the cast, but Salma Hayek has the most powerful acting and outacts everyone. She looks a lot like Frida Kahlo, but there's a lot more to her performance. She creates an impetuous, sensual, intelligent, able to enjoy life character, someone that suffers but endures everything. You can't take your eyes off her, her performance is just magnetic. She never overacts, and the most emotional scenes are beautifully done and really touching. Alfred Molina gives Diego Rivera an edgy charm and has a good body language, acting subtely and he has a great chemistry with Salma Hayek even if I think she's more responsible for this than him. Geoffrey Rush is great, he creates an humble, intelligent thoughtful character perfectly. Valerie Golino is very good playing a lost, drunk, sad woman and has very expressive eyes. Diego Luna and Edward Norton are very believable and make the most out of their small parts.

The direction is excellent. Julie Taymor gives her movie originality, having perfect control over every aspect of the mvoie. Not just the camera angles are beautiful and able to express ideas, feeling and thoughts greatly, but the music and the part of the movie in which it is placed is perfect. Besides it sounds beautiful and has a great rythm. The color of the movie is well chosen and makes it look exotic, warm and envolving with all the red, yellow and bright colors, contrasting with the dark themes aborded but giving you a sense of South America. The editing is often good, but some scenes last too much. It's a matter of seconds, but it can give those scenes an awkward feeling. Overall a great movie I recommend.

Happy Feet

We've got personality with a capital Y. Why? Because we're HOT!

This is another movie about pinguins, those lovely, cute, sweet-looking animals. It has gorgeous images, some of the best, most amazing animation I've ever seen. It's a joy to look at and a very enjoyable movie. The story is nice and you can relate to the pinguins and feel some empathy towards them. Some of the subplots are very good: the love story is beautiful, the coming-of-age is deliciously innocent, the family/society rejection subplot is intelligent but sometimes a bit forced and the «macho» pinguins subplot is laugh-out-loud funny. The worst subplot was the ecological one, it just tries too hard to pass its message. The dialogs are often very funny and intelligent, with a lot of jokes young kids won't get. The pace of the movie is mostly addequate and keeps you entertained, but it gets a bit to slow and forced in the end, which I didn't like.

The cinematography and the animaton are beautiful. They create gorgeous images, with a wonderful dimension, cute, lovely pinguins, and the humans are the most realistic I've ever seen. The water and the ice lok real as do all the other animals. The angles are amazing, they make the images even better. The music sounds great and has beautiful lyrics. Nicole Kidman, Brittany Murphy and Robin Wiliams are good singers especially Kidman, who has the most cristaline, pure voice that fits the part. Overall, it's a fun movie, good to look at but lacking a great story.

Crash (2005)

You think you know who you are. You have no idea.

I have no idea in why this won Best Picture and had so many great reviews. Here, every character is either racist or a victim of racism, and if he/she is a racist it's because there's a reason, some sort of trauma in his past. Every character is one-dimensional and learns a lesson in the end. The dialogs sound fake, and the ONLY theme is racism, racism, racism. That even makes it less realist because people tend to speak about several subjects. Paul Haggis seems to think people will only onderstand the message if he repeats it all the time. All with me "Racism is bad, racism is bad, racism is bad". Now repeat this 500 times and you'll have a good part of this movie done. Even if obviously this is an important message, you don't need it to be thrown into your face. The stories come together in unnatural way, using to many coincidences, making it look false and predictable after some time. The changes some of the characters go through in the end are ridicolous and there's no reason for the to happen. Even if this is not a boring movie, it tries too hard to get you to feel something. If the characters had been better this would have been possibly a good movie. I'm not saying all were bad; a few had a certain dimension and their struggles were touching.

The acting is the best thing about this movie. All the actors are very talented and make the most out of ther parts. Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Michael Peña, Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard aand Sandra Bullock (during the first part of the movie) were very god. The worst perfomance was by Ludacris, who just seemed too self-conscious and fake to me.

Paul haggis direction is lame.I know he lacks experience, but I think this movie needed a raw, realistic style, not the emotionally manipulative shots used. Al the slow moving scenes, the bad use of sound and the still camera in angles that lack interest are useless.

The technicals are good. The editing is simple and common in this type of movie, not original but well executed. The music is well chosen and beautiful. The photography, even if sometimes it should have been dirtier loking, creates some images with the right mood. Overall, this is NOT a great movie or even worthwile, but it has a bunch of good performances and a good message, even if badly transmited.

The Conversation

I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of murder.

This is a brilliant study on obsessive and paranoid behavior and the effect technology has in our lifes and society in general. It's about a surveilance expert, Harry Caul, who has a crisis of conscience when he susects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered. This had happened before and he feels very guilty about it. But can he really know what's happening, or did he lose something with the capture of the sound? Or is his mind playing tricks on him?

This has a briliant screenplay. The leading character is fascinating, and the pther characters are seen by his distorced eyes in a frightening way. The dialogs, especially the conversation the title mentions, are mind blowing, meaningful and hold clues to what's going to happen. The pace of the movie is just right and it keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. The story is interesting, reflective and intelligent, and all the touchy subjects the movie talks about are aborded with sensibility, even if sometimes they can make you feel uncomfortable. You get to a point in which you don't know what's reality and what isn't, making this thought provoking. It's simply a great screenplay.

The acting is all at least above average. Gene Hackman gives his tortured, paranoid, character complexity and sincerity. He disappears into his part and you believe everything he does. He gives the character vulnerability and his acting is one of the main things that made me see the story by his point of view. Frederick Forrest and Cindy Williams do a good job in creating dream-like characters in just one scene, and Cindy Williams has an amazing delivery of her lines. John Cazale makes his character likeable and has a convincing chemistry with Hackman. Harrison Ford makes a good impression in playing the bad guy, with his soft spokenways and strong eye expression that contrast.

The direction is amazing. Francis Ford Coppola not only gets great performances from the casting, but he choses meaningful camera angles, giving his movie an unique feeling, and gets the best work from the crew. The angles he choses suggest an invisible presence, peeking into Harry Caul's life. They can be truly claustrophobic and make you know the characters' feelings. They give you a sense of space and time the way it's experienced by Caul.

The technicals are all great. The sound plays a huge part in this movie, and it's intelligently manipulated. It connects with the images during the conversation itself in an original fashion, in a different rythm, volume and tone than reality, showing us Harry's point of view and how what we hear is not always what is there. The cinematography, with all the dark, dirty colors works in showing us Harry's trip to a personal hell and the sudden flashes of red-the hotel scene-are shocking and used hauntingly. The editing gives the movie its exciting, but reflective pace. I really recommend this. It's thought provoking, technically brilliant and haunting.

Night On Earth

Don't blind people usually weardark glasses?
Do they? I've never seen a blind person.

This is a truly amazing movie which I love. It has five different stories, each on a different city, with very different people, but al in a taxi. All the people are very different, with different background, ambitions, culture and personality, but in the end, so similar. I loved every part of it, some of them are very funny, others touching, depressing, heartbreaking, enjoyable or simply beautiful. They are all wonderful portraits of the city in which they happen. They don't show touristic locations, but how the cities really are and how people behave and think. Every story is well told, with great pace, amazing, believable dialogues and realistic characters that you get to know very well in little time. They work both together and alone. They're all great and I can't choose my favorite.

In the first segment, a young tomboy taxi driver meets a wealthy talent seeker, who wants to cast her in a movie. In New York, an afro american meets an immigrant, his cab driver, lost in the city. In Paris, a blind girl takes a ride with an irritable cab driver from the Ivory Coast and they talk about life and blindness. In Rome, a cab driver picks up a priest and starts confessing, and in Helsinki a miserable driver picks up three drunks and they speak about the most depressing things that ever happened to them.

The direction is amazing in al its simplicity. The camera angles are steady, usually focusing no the actors and allowing you to concentrate on the dialogs.But there are some that show the city, the cars passing, the buildings, lovers in the middle of the night, junkies, etc, and these have ususual quality.

The acting is great by everyone. Winona Ryder, frequently criticized, is in my opininon very funny and totally different from her other roles. I really enjoyed her acting. Gena Rowlands plays her "opposite" in a nice, underacting way. Armin Mueller-Stahl is very touching and expressive (the moment he says he was a clown is very beautiful), with an amazing use of his eyes. Giancarlo Esposito and Jennifer Perez are fun to watch, too. Béatrice Dalle is incredibly charismatic and believable as a blind young woman, and Isaach De Bankolé is good. Roberto Benigni is about as hilarious as you can get, in his one man show. His speech is obviously very funny, but Benigni makes it mind blowing. Some will hate it, though I couldn't stop laughing. Matti Pellonpää delivers his speech in a dramatic, depressive way but without overacting.

The cinematography and the music are beautiful, make this movie feel nostalgic and help linking the segments. This is a very original, worthwile movie.

Chinatown

Forget it, Jake,. It's Chinatown.

This is a noir mistery, with a dark, haunting story, great acting and a brilliant direction. Its ambience is just perfect. In this story, every character has complicated issues thgat can't be solved, a troubled past and sins they can't atone for. It's all very dark and misterious, and it gets you in the edge of your seat. The political part of the mistery keeps you guessing and it's incredibly competent, but the character development and their personal issues are even better.

The screenplay is mind-blowing. All of its subplots are perfectly developed and are understood just at the right time, they keep you guessing. The characters are all believable and interesting: Gittes (Jack Nicholson) and his obsession, Evelyn (Faye Dunaway) trying to get her life back together and, Noah Cross, the personification of evil, have a convincing, elaborated relationship with each other. They are all, in a way or another, trying to atone but in Chinatown there's no redemption. The dialogs have a lot of meaning and are thought provocking. Some show the hypocrisy of people and others just their weakness, always ina tense, disguised way. There are a bunch of quotable lines too. The ending is surprising but well done and very fitting. The themes are spoke of with maturity and sensibility.

The acting is great. Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston have a very believable, amazing chemisrty between them, they seem to be always messing with the other's mind, trying to mistake him and convince him. All this is noticed just by a gaze, a movement or a blink. It's very subtle, but it makes the performances outstanding. Jack Nicholson creates a haunted character, strong but human. Faye Dunaway makes her character remarkably vulnerable and sad, even if at the same time a bit of a femme fatale. John Huston is evil, in his two scenes he's just perfect. All the secondary actors are talented and they make this movie better.

I highly enjoy Polanski's way of shooting, all the angles and camera movements he tends to use. He does a great job once again. The movie never gets tiring and some of the shots are breathtaking. They are a beautiful homage to older noir movies, even if still have their originality.

The music is haunting and it gives a movie a touch of originality. The editing pays homage to the noir movies from the 40's, showing the many layers of the story slowly and there's not one minute tat shouldn't be there. The cinematography, glossy but dirty, with an harsh, dark lighting creates the right ambience. Just brilliant and unmissable.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit' em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

This is considered a literary masterpiece, and I found it very good. It's about racism in a small town during the 30's, and it's seen by the eyes of a young girl, Scout. The story is told in an old-fashioned, traditional, comforting way, and the pont of view is truly great. It captures the feeling of childhood and all the kids are realistic, not annoying little brats. The adults are all believable and interesting, especially Aticus. His advice is wise, it never sound forced and you have to like him and respect him. The building social and racial tension are well written, as is the kids' life, with all the everyday routines, small mysteries and adventures. All the attitudes peaople have and their irracionality ar just greatly portrayed. The writing is beautiful and simple, but full of remarkable sentences and quite lyrical. This book is general culture, and it's really beautiful. From the innocent Boo Radley mystery to the thought provocking trial goes a long way, but Lee is able of creating fascinating characters and a really thought provocking story.

The DaVinci Code

As long as there as been one true God, there has been killing in his name.

The DaVinci Code, the bestseller that sold as much as possible. This movie works...as a comedy. (Almost) everything is wrong on this, with the exception of Ian McKellen and some of the supporting cast. Come on, the book was a fun, exciting, light read, with a good sense of pace and a lot of interesting puzzles to solve. Not perfection or anything, but nice.

The movie just sucks. The screnplay has no sense of pace and it fails to keep you interested or making you feel anything by the characters. It just provokes a total detachment , and you can't avoid to feel all the story is ridicolous. The dialogs are clichéd and even if I didn't read the book (I didn't remember it very well, anyway) I would have been able to guess what was gonna happen next. All the flashbacks are useless and badly written, the emotional scenes lack any sort of meaning and all in all, this movie can't even entertain decently.

The direction is really, really awful. Ron Howard uses all the clichéd shots on the most clichéd order. He seems to think he's doing a brilliant job, with all the flashbacks done in a degradé way, so very kitsch, melodramatic and funny (that was not the objective). He fails to make this movie consistent or interesting, he isn't even OK.

The acting was the best thing about the movie, even if not too good. Tom Hanks is automatic and severely underused, you'd never say this is the same guy that delivered such an amazing performance in Forrest Gump and The Terminal. The same can be said for Audrey Tautou who was so amazing in Amélie. Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina and Jean Reno are underused and can't even develop their characters. Ian McKellen is the standout. He uses such a funny irony, wittycism and cynism in this character that he just becomes a joy to watch and the only thing worthy on this.

The music is very annoying, It's always trying to make scenes exciting, but it doesn't. It just manages to sound overplayed and too loud. The editing is terrible; the movie lacks a decent pace and the scenes come and go in a meaningless, boring order and the transitions are amateur. The cinematography is sappy, with the colour used in an obvious way. It's meant to be very touching and beautiful, but it isn't. Overall, a movie that should be avoided by everyone. Recomend this to your worst enemies. I pity them.

Chicago

You wanted advice? Well here it is...straight from me to you...keep your paws off my underwear.

I watched this movie with low hopes, since admittedly I don't like musicals (Moulin Rouge and Romance & Cigarettes are the exceptions). This isn't bad, it's just fluff with everyone dancing and a happy ending. The story is fine, the directing is pretty good, the acting in worth watching, the wardrobe, cinematography and sets are all OK, and the editing is mediocre.

Even if the story is clichéd and very moralistic, it's entertaining. The characters aren't really well written, but they're well played and so it's not too noticable. The dialogs and relationships between the characters are very predictable. It lacks meaning and it seems like it has nothing to say, it just wants entertain a bit.

The actors all work effectively, but the clichéd characters don't help. Renee Zellweger looks a bit unconfortable while dancing, but she can express the contradictions, feelings and transformations of her character quite well. Catherine Zeta Jones isn't half as sexy as her character is meant to be, but she uses her eyes, body and voice in an interesting, sometimes funny way. Richard Gere can be annoying but charming and John C Reilly has the most likeable, touching character, even if awfully stereotyped. Queen Latifah nomination for Best Supporting Actress is a total joke, she did nothing worth seeing.

The main problem I have with this is that question that always comes to my mind when watching a musical: "Why the heck is everyone dancing all of sudden?". As the movie didn't absorb me, I just found it ridicolous. Still, I admit these were good choreographies, even if too theatre like. This feels like a stage play, not like a film, so the adaptation isn't realy good. The lyrics and the dances go from very good to laughable.

The directiong is good but... well, let's just say it's classic and without brilliance or originaity. The colors of the movie, glamorous and fluffy, fit the rest of it and accentuate the glamour. The editing is far from good, I can't see how it won the Oscar. Everyone just seems to start dancing out of no where, without any type of real connection. The sets are too much like stage play ones but the wardrobe is fitting. This didn't deserve Best Pic, far fromit, it's just an OK movie.

Manhattan

I think people should mate for life, like pigeons or catholics.

Manhattan might just be one of the best movies ever. Its style, themes and humor are obviously similar to other Allen movies, but this one has a touch of class and beauty that makes it quite unique. It talks about a group of new york intellectuals: Isaac (Woody Allen), a man on his 40's dating a 17 year old girl, Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), and lusting for Mary (Diane Keaton), who's his best friend's lover. At the same time, he's trying to come to terms with his lesbian ex-wife, Jill (Meryl Streep). The story keeps you hooked, and the realistic, very flawed characters are interesting. The dialogs have a lot of wit and intelligence, as in all Woody movies, but there's something else: some of the scenes with Mariel Hermingway are heartbreaking, and a lot of others are dramatic and sad. The storyline and the characters are some of the best ever, the nostalgic mood and the insignificance of these lifes are just beautiful.

The acting is simply great, and all the actors have a good chemistry between them. Woody Allen plays himself, but damn well, Diane Keaton is funny and good, too, but Mery Streep and especially Mariel Hemingway steal the show. MerylStreep plays a totally different character, I had never seen her like this before. She has the funniest delivery of lines, the best way of disappearing into her character ands showing all type of emotions. Mariel Hemingway transmits beauty, innocence and love in a pure, believable way. Her character is the most likeable and she makes the most out of that.

The gorgeous cinematography helps making this movie great and gives it its ambience and mood. The simple way Allen shoots the movie, with wide shots that capture a moment, a feeling, an emotion subtly, lets it breathe. It shows you New York with a lot of beauty and obviously Allen's love comes across. The editing is simple but effective, and there's not one second of the movie that shouldn't be there. Simply brilliant.

How To Be Good by Nick Hornby

Sometimes we have to be judged by our one-offs.

Wonderfully funny, enjoyable and intelligent, these are some of the adjectives that best describe this book. I had never read anything by Nick Hornby, but I had watched two movies based on his books, High Fidelity and About a Boy, which I enjoyed. The best thing on How To Be Good is its originality and freshness. A subject almost no one else has written about- how would a truly good person get along in the 21st century?, a witty, funy voice, and thought provoking questions make this truly great. The beginning isn't that good, but the witty remarks start and the characters are slowly, smartly developed. Then all the story changes, and that's when things get interesting. Katie, who's unhappily married to the cynical David, sees all her life changing when her husband meets GoodNews, a spiritual healer that makes David wanna change the world. It sounds pretty dumb, but all the dillemas the characters face, the empathy you feel for them make this worthy. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a nice, original, witty and still sweet book.

The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden

This is a dark drama about a young scottish doctor in Uganda during Idi Amin's brutal regime, and the relationship he has with this dictator. This is a slow paced book, and the leading characters are well developed and have depth. This book is filled with descriptions, and all of them have a beautiful feeling of Africa and can be breathtaking. Idi Amin's personality is fascinating and contradictory, one of the most evil villains I've ever read. Nicholas Garrigan, the doctor, suffers an amazing, even if realistic, change during the book. The supporting characters aren't really good; Sara and Marina are clichéd and the later should have been cut from the story. The ending could have been better, but the fascinating leading characters, the beautiful, sometimes horrifying descriptions and the exotic feeling of this book make it worthy if you're looking for a character study or descriptive thriller. This is a good, even if flawed, first book.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Tucson's the weird capital of the world...WEIRD.

One of Martin Scorsese's early movies, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is very good. It's shot in a raw, gritty, realistic way, and that's the best part of the movie. But there are a lot of other things to enjoy in this hidden gem: the performances, the music, the inspiring storyline and believable characters, the editing and the message and esquisiteness of this. The begginning is perfect. You see a young girl singing, next to her house, and everything's so dreamy. Then, you're introduced to Alice's life in a really well done way. As the story develops, the characters become more consistent and you can't avoid to like them. The dialogs are always realistic and meaningful.

The direction, as I said, is amazing. The hand held camera makes it realistic and gritty, and the dusty look of this movie makes this even better. The other great part of the direction is the femininist message. It works so well, without being forced, and at the same time it can show several beautiful relationships. The shooting is really well done, adapting to the scenes. It makes them often funny beautiful, touching or violent.

The actors are all very good. Even if sometimes I felt Ellen Burstyn was a bit hysterical, that's a part of the character. All her emotions come out in a gret way. This is a brilliant leading performance. Her character isn't slim, particulary pretty or anything; she's just a normal woman trying to work her life out. Kris Kristofferson gives his character wiseness and beautiful feelings, at the same time he underacts in a good way. Alfred Luter was very natural and funny as Alice's young son. I think everyone knows kids like him. Harvey Keitel was very frighening in his part, but a bit clichéd. I don't think this is his fault, though. Billy Green Bush is OK in his small part and Jodie Foster is very funny and charismatic in her small role. Diane Ladd is very funny and great to watch.

With all the great scenes, the beautiful photography, stunning direction, great acting and touching message, this is a very good movie.

Little Children by Tom Perrota

I didn't find this book very good. There's a feeling- like you're peeking and seeing things you shouldn't- that makes it interesting. But the storyline is very banal and too American Beauty-ish, and it's so negative and exagerated. Perrota sems not to know what he wants to do; some characters apeear and disappear all of sudden and the ending is confused and a real let down to me. The characters are too clichéd, we've all seen them before and they are too banal, they never reach an approprate intensity so it's hard to fel fascinated by them. The writing is good, as is Perrota's dark humor and satyrical view of life in suburbs, and there are some great scenes. I found one of the characters to be very original, but the way he acts sometimes really doesn't fit in the rest of the story. This is not a bad book, but I don't really recommend it either.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

This means something. This is important.

This movie is usually considered one of Spielberg's best, and I have to agree on some aspects. The direction and shots are breathtaking, the use of light is brilliant, but some of the conflicts should have been more developed. The screenplay is mostly good, but not the best thing abou tthe movie. The three storylines balance each other. My favorite was the one with the little kid, and my least favorite the one with Richard Dreyfuss playing Roy. I think the characters mostly lacked a background, which made them less believable. The dialogs are very often clichéd, but they can sound cute. The pace is amazing; the stories take time, and all the pieces come together in the amazing ending, as if it was a circle closing itself slowly.

The storyline with the mother (Melinda Dillon) and the young son was brillaint and remarkable. This is the one where you can most easilly realte to the desperation and confusion of the mom, so the characters are really well written. It's the one with more suspense and it's pretty gripping, too. The story of Roy, his obsession and his family is not so good. I mean, I liked the way the relationship with his wife is portrayed, but his obsession is too sudden and childish, so unbeliavable. Claude Lacombe and his investigators is just the technical story; its characters have close to no development, and all they do is explaining you in a concrete way what's happenning.

The shots and special effects are both great and the best thing of the movie. Every sci-fi shot is fascinating, and the use of music in those is mind blowing. Just thge way the ending scene is done makes the movie much better and very thought provoking. The use of light and darkness is brillintly surprising; the ETs are signed with a hard to lok at light, and the rest of the time, there's mostly darkness. The UFO's are just lights of different colors, and that works. The special effects are mostly light, but the control of the wind and perfeccion with which everything's done make the stunning.

The acting is good by Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr and Cary Guffey. The first one shows such a desesperation and affection that you can only like her and roo for her. Teri Garr portrays the not understanding wife, and she does that amazingly. I found myself conecting more with her than with Roy, who was just mad. Cary guffey had the right cuteness and fresh look to make you love his character, and he has a good delivery for someone so young. Richard Dreyfuss is quite ridiculous, because he just sounds mad and I could barely connect with him. The actors fro François Truffaut bit weren't bad, but they didn't have much to do.

The cinematography was truly great, with al the impressive lighting, and the editing mkaes all ends meet beautifully. In the end, This is not a very equilibrated movie, but technically it's a masterpiece and it has one of the best endings ever.

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

This is one of the weirdest books I've ever read. I had to keep remembering that this is actually a true story, as it reads like another universe. The good thing is that there's no self pity; Burroughs always finds the funny side of things, and he seems grate ful to have lived such a messed up childhood and teen years. All the situations are so surprising you can't avoid to laugh at them. The writing is subtle and every word is well chosen. Tgr people involved in this are all real, despise the fact that the point of view obviously transforms them. It's very creative, and often touching. I connected with them, even if my life's totally different. Some of the scenes are really gross, though, so I recommend this if you're not faint hearted.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

I don't usually read true stories, because they tend to get boring. This one is incredibly exciting, because it tells a real story, recreating it and rewriting it with a lot of inside views,which makes it much more interesting. all the people here are understood by the writer, and there are no monsters, just people wyho do mistakes and pay for them. All of them are fascinatingly complex. The writing is great and I found it original. The characters atart by being described, in a very traditional way, and then you get to see whothey actually are. The sentences are offten really poetic and touching, and some of them are really disturbing. Everything gets more amazing when you know this actually hapenned. Overall, a fascinating read and a classic of modern literature.

Annie Hall

I feel that life is divided into the horrible and the miserable. That's the two categories. The horrible are like, I don't know, terminal cases, you know, and blind people, crippled. I don't know how they get through life. It's amazing to me. And the miserable is everyone else. So you should be thankful that you're miserable, because that's very lucky, to be miserable.

Annie Hall is one of the best movies Woody Allen has done. It's witty, intelligent, realistic, beautiful, touching, and unique. It toys with our concept of time, as we see a relatioonship and the beggining, middle, and end of it, not always in this order.

The screenplay, as in all Woody movies, is great. The romance always sounds so real- with its bad and good times, and no forced happy ending- that you root for them to stay together. The characters are amazing. Annie Hall is wonderfully developed. She's truly beautiful, sweet, humane and quite odd, which makes her endearing. Woody Allen is just himself, nervous and paranoid. The jokes are always thought provoking and incredibly witty and ironic. The dialogs are about as good as you can get; not just they keep you interested, but they're full of references to another movies and books and have a lot of criticism to our society and ourselves. The way the story is told gets you even more interested, with all the flashbacks giving you insight in who the characters were and who they become.

The acting is stunning. Diane Keaton, as Annie, gives one of my favorite performances ever. Her character is well written, but it's quite difficult to pull off. She can just get the right quirky, messy look,. with a lot of swetness and beauty. She has an amazing delivery, speaking about everything in a light, cute way. The supporting actors are all good, but no one can get close to Keaton. Woody Allen, even if just playing himself, is particulary good.

The direction is one of the best Allen has done, with the hand held camera and his way of starring at the camera and saying what he thinks or wishes. The editing makes the movie much more interesting; it runs smoothly an it's easy to understand, and at the same time it helps you to get a full understanding of the relationship. The music and photography are good, but not remarkable. Overall, this is an obligatory movie for everyone, and what every romantic comedy wishes to be.

Les Bidasses en Folie

Les Bidasses en Folie, a french movie from 1971, is a very short, easy to watch, slapstick hippy comedy. The gags are always very physical, and during the first half hour of movie they work and it's pretty enjoyable and funny. It' outdated and supposed to be cool, and that makes it even funnier. You laugh at how ridicolous it is. Then, the five characters go to war, and you just grow tired of watching them fall and acting stupid, even if it's still funny. The actors have some good body language, and the gags are funny, but it lacks any link of decent storyline or characters. It's just fluff, cute and sugar coated, with a positive feeling. It can leave you with a smile on your face, as some of the moments are spot on. Fortunately, it's short, because if it had 5 minutes more you'd be incredibly tired of watching this. It's not my type of humour, but it's not bad. I wouldn't recommend this, except if you have nothing else to do and only want some fluffy, 70's styled movie.

The Last Picture Show

One thing I know for sure. A person can't sneeze in this town without somebody offering them a handkerchief.

This is a subtle, real portrait of confused teenagers, the hidden lives of a group of people, and a town dying, with everyone going to the city. Its influence on more recent movies, such as American Beauty and Ghost World, is quite obvious. It's ahead off its time, because it is brave enough to criticise society and to show us the lives of a group of people, just as they are, without sugar-coating them and not being afraid of making them sometimes unlikeable, just the way people are. The screenplay is very good. The characters are realistic and well written, and their attitudes and actions are always where they should be. The pace is just right; it's a slw movie, but always entertaining and thought provocking. The dialogs are great, and they always have double meaning, so you really have to be focused on them to get to the core of their meaning. The fact that the characters go to the movies and that's really important makes this beautiful for any movie buff. Besides, the end of the picture show, is, too, the end of an era, the death of a town.

The acting is truly amazing, by just everyone. A look, a movement, the accents, the timing and delivery are just brilliant. all the actors were perfectly cast. Timothy Bottoms underplays a sensitive, shy character, but it works and makes the movie and his character not over the top. You can feel his pain, but in a subtle, still intense, way. Jeff Bridges makes an unlikeable character have a certain grace and you can root for him. He has a good timing and his feelings are real. Cybbil Shepherd has the most amazing body language you can get. She's seductive, sweet, mean, and most of all confused, and you can see all this just by looking at her. It's a complex character, and Shepherd has just the right look and freshness for the part. You can understand her character, even if you don't particulary like her. Cloris Leachman is incredibly expressive; her character is depressed and unhappy, and she's the nicest person. She's just so eager to be loved, and her movements show it all. Ellen Burstyn is very good, her character's in a point of her life in which she's stuck, without knowing how. Ben Johnson has some good delivery and you root for his character, but it's not that great.

The direction is simple, focusing on the actors, but still brilliant. The ending, so full of meaning, Cybill Shepherd shots, the large shots, languid and beautiful, the close shots, emotional and touching and the use of light and dark. The black and white makes this nostalgic and beautiful. Overall, really impressive; ahead of its time, tackling important issues and technically impressive. It's a true classic.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it.

One flew over the cuckoo's nest is a really funny, shocking, dramatic and touching movie. The story of Randall McMurphy, who is sent from prison to a mental hospital, under the orders of the evil Nurse Ratched, is amazingly well told. The screenplay has moments that are about as touching and beautiful as possible and the alway present dark humor makes the emotional moemnts ( and those are unforgetabble) tolerable. The characters have dimension and you like them, except for Nurse Ratched, who is one of those evil characters you can only hate. The dialogs are good too.

Jack Nicholson is really amazing. He has a great comic and dramatic timing, he makes his character likeable and real. His delivery is perfect, and his body language, the look in his eyes and deliberate energy are just mind blowing. Louisa Fletcher as Nurse Ratched is perfect, too. Her delivery is so calm and at the same time, you hate every single word that comes out of her mouth. The way she moves is so correct and so mean, at the same time, and her power is frightening that's brilliant. Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito and Josip Elic, Sydney Lassick, Will Samson are the standouts on the rest of the cast, wit their touching, painfully realistic performances.

The direction is just great. Milos Forman lets the actors work, and he gets the most out of them. The shots are always just right, and some of them make the movie much more powerful. Others just let you see how miserably wrong al this is, and make you think about what madness actually is. The cinematography is good, nothing outstanding, but it makes a good use of light and darkness. The music fits perfectly. The editing runs smooth but it's not outstanding. Overall, a great, unmissable, thought provocking movie.

Little Miss Sunshine

Where's Olive?

This is a very original, enjoyable movie. It's typical indie cinema, with its flawed, realistic characters, the dark humor, the way it includes a lot of drama, it's a critic to our society and is unpredictable. The screenplay is simply amazing.The characters are all so well written, you easily rot for them and can identify with at least one. The dialogs are brilliant; you can perfectly see real people saying that, but at the same way it's so satyrical and funny. The storyline has been seen many times, but the twists and the characters make it different from anything you've seen before. The introdution of the characters is so fascinating and beautiful that you imediately like them, despise all their flaws. The pace makes you be so hugely entertaining that it wil seem that the movie tok 5 minutes. The ending is just amzing, one of the best I've ever seen; so funy and dark.

The direction is great, too. The wide shots on the highway are beautiful and full of life and energy. The close shots are really cute and some perfectly brilliant (Olive's introduction), and others very touching (Olive conforting Dwayne) and others satyrical. The cinematography is full of light, but dirty too, which makes it look real. The music is perfect, as is its use.

Now, we get to the acting. Abigail Breslin is the best. She has a screen presence, comic and dramatic timing, delivery of lines and an ability to touch you that are really unsusual in a chld actress. Besides, she looks like a real person, and that makes her character beliavable. Steve Carrel is very enjoyable, and even if his character is not really nice he makes you like him. His comic timing is brilliant, and you can feel his emotions in a realy touching way. The third best was Alan Arkin. so funny, with such an original character stretched to the limits. You can only like him. Greg Kinnear is really funny, Toni Collette is realistic and equilibrates the movie, and Paul Dano has a perfect way of expressing emotions without barely speaking. This one is recommended.

Notes On A Scandal by Zoe Heller

And she knows, by now,not to go too far without me.

I read this book because I knew they were making a movie with Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, and I thought it looked realy interesting. It's realy a great character study, about loneliness and manipulation. The main characters are complex, and the point of view of the story realy works; it makes you unconfortable with what you're reading and at the same time fascinated. Besides, the image of the characters is distorced already, which works terribly well. The storyline is gripping, original and twisted; you can feel something's wrong, but you don't know what. obviously, that makes you want to know, so it's a fast reading. The writing is great and is emotionally intense, though not in the normal way. The dark humor works. I really recommend this if you want a (very) dark, twisted book an interesting character study and a surprising plot.

Mediterraneo

No, whore's good, whore's good.

This is a enjoyable, funny movie about a group of italian soldiers in an island, with only women and children. The screenplay is the best thing of this movie, and it makes it worth watching. The characters are funny and ridiculous, and at the same time you cnnect with them; the storyline is simple, but interesting, even if the romances are a bit idiotic; and the dialogs are usually great, even if sometimes sappy. Besides, italian sounds beautiful. The acting is mostly good, especially because the screenplay helps a lot. The men are all funny and make a strong ensemble, and all the women have to do is look cute. The direction is very nice, not brilliant. The sets are great; the island looks like a paradise, and you truly envy the characters for being there. The cinematography could have used the set in a better way; it wasn't bad, just you feel like it could have been better. It has touching moments, and most of it is jusst laugh out loud funny. It's no masterpiece, but certainly it's hilarious.

Chocolat

I thought you'd never guess. My favorite-hot chocolate.

Chocolat is a nice movie, the type of movie you want to watch in a Sunday afternoon. It has some good acting, a nice story, and it's good to look at, even if forgettable. The screenplay follows the book closely, so it has nice, uplifting subplots, engaging characters and a terrible ending. The narration was good, and it gave the movie a cute fairytale tone. The characters weren't very developed, sometimes they were clichéd, but all the actors are great, so it's easy to not notice that. The dialogues are OK, nothing brilliant but not bad, either. Lasse Hallstrom's directing is simple but effective; the chocolate is very well shot, and almost all the rest of the movie as a simple direction with no flashes of brilliance. It's actually a delicious movie, very good to look at.

The actors were great, even if their material wasn't very good. Juliette Bioche is lovely, with her smile always present and a certain sweetness that fitted the role perfectly. Judy Dench was pretty good, playing her typical cranky old woman, but she expresses her emotions in a god way and can be touching. Lena Olin was perfect for the part, with the right awkardness and pain. Johnny Depp did what he had to, which was looking sexy. Peter Stormare, Carrie Ann Moss, Alfred Molina and Aurelie Parent Koenig were good with their few scenes. The only bad element was Victoire Thivisol, who was too old for the part even if not a bad actress.

The music was pretty good, as were the costumes, the stunning cinematography and the sets. Overall, enjoyable, with gorgeous images and nice.

Gosford Park

Didn't you hear me? I'm the perfect servant; I have no life.

This movie is much more than a murder mistery. It's a satire to the futile society of the early 20th century, a touching story about a mother and a son, and much more. The screenplay is truly great. All the delicate subplots are we-written and have something to say, and they all come together in the end. None of then is just a filler; all are incredibly interesting and important. The comedy is subtle and intelligent, as is the drama, and both are together perfectly well. The down stairs part was dark, true and much more dramatic, even if the comedy is there too, in a much more heartbreaking way. The upstairs part is full of ligh and futility, and funnier. Both work. The dialogues are inspired and some of the best you can get, full of dark humor and inspired sentences.

The directing is great, with the camera moving around in a beautiful way and it's never tiring. The editing is brilliant, leting you understand every plot and they all come together beautifully. The order of the scenes is also perfect. The cinematography is adequate; in the downstairs dark and with some hints of light that are amazing, and upstairs it shows the light and color necessary. The music is great.

The acting. It's amazing, as the rest of the movie. All the actors are great. Maggie Smith, with her wittyness, is perfect; Kelly McDonald, the leaading, is softspoken and has a good screen presence; Kristin Scott Thomas is charismatic; Claudie Blackley is touching and her character is deeply sympathetic; and all the others are great. This is deeply recommended

Jeremiah Johnson

His name was Jeremiah Johnson, and they say he wanted to be a mountain man.

This is not a remarkable movie, though it has some good scenes, breath-taking views and beautiful shots. The dialogues are often clichéd, and the storyline is just mildly good. It's about a mountain man played by Robert Redford, and his struggle to survive. After that, you see his life with an indian woman and a little boy; those scenes are very cute. It's mostly quite boring and not absorbing enough, though. One of the main problems of this is that Robert Redford isn't capable of holding a picture. His character never is tri-dimensional, and it's never iconic. He still has some moments in which the emotions of Jeremiah come out, and those are beautiful and touching. The supporting actors are better. Delle Bolton, who plays Swan, shows a nice deal of emotion with her body language, and Josh Albee as Caleb is really expressive, and his character is the one I cared the most about. Will Geer is pretty funny, but his character isn't very well-written.Allyn Ann McLerie plays crazy very wel, in her few scenes.

The visuals were the best thing on the movie. The locations are some of the best I've ever seen, and I think you can say they are the main element of the story. Without the mountains, the peace and beauty this movie has would disappear. Sidney Pollack's direction is great. His close shots are always lovely, and his wide shots are perfect. Then, there's some great music too. All those songsabout Jeremiah sound beautiful and have good lyrics. As I mentioned, I didnt enjoy the dialogues much, but some of them are truly poetic and seem to echoe on the mountains. The ending is well done, too. This is not an unmissable movie, but it's very beautiful

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Robbie and Cecilia, stil alive, still in love, sitting side by side in the library, smiling at The Trials of Arabella? It's not impossible.
But now I must sleep.

Ian McEwan's Atonement is a great book, with all its dark twists and touching moments. During the first part of the book, the character development is subtle, and you can feel the sexual tension in the writing, exactly as the pain of the characters, that increases as the book goes by, and a lot of confusion they feel. Then, the second part is horrifying, and it makes you notice how the actions in the past can change everything around us. It gets you to see the story from another perspective, which is very interesting. The third part is great, too; it reforces the idea that our actions deeply affect our future, and it explores guilt, fear and love very well. It makes you think about how much people change during time, and how our actions can be so impulsive. I found the last part to be fulfilling and very thought provocking. Besides, it's touching and the ending makes your emotions spin. The storyline is very interesting, even if not too original and the characters are realistic and always likeable. I recommend this a lot

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: how the Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll Generation Changed Hollywood by Peter Biskind

This book is very funny and shows and interesting view of the 70's, as a decade and the cinema from that time. The gossip is very funny, but I think it's probably exagerated to be more interesting. But I still can see some of it being true. All the behind the scenes episodes are fascinating, as are the analysis Peter Biskind writes. I don't agree with some of them, but I stil think that they still show a good prespective. After reading this, watching the movies mentioned gets much funnier, since you almost can see what ahappened during the shooting. That's another good thing on Easy Riders, Raging Bulls; it doesn't just describe what happened, all the stories come alive in front of you. Biskind's writing is very funny, sometimes ironic and you can notice he actually loves 70's movies. It's well-written, and it's all sort of sugar coated, which works. It doesn't usually get boring, though the episodes descibed get to be a bit similt with each other. I recommend this for movie buffs and people who want to know morre about the 70's.

The Phantom of the Paradise

An assassination live on television coast to coast-that's entertainment.

This is a small movie very few people as ever heard of. The screenplay and the acting don't really matter in this case. I think Brian DePalma wanted to create a satire to the very popular popstars and the glam rock era. It's a very weird movie; if you mixed The Phantom of the Paradise with The Portrait of Dorian Gray, satire touches and dark humor and setted it in the glam rock era, this is probably what you'd get. The settings are amazingly well done and very original, as are the make up, clothes and cinematography. There are some incredibly original scenes that get you by surprise, which is just the objective. This is quite obviously done by a young director, withh its wild imagination and ways of changing the direction of the movie (too) quickly. As an example in the scene where you find out what Swan did, and you only have clues, like, one minute before.

Though, the direction is greatly innovative. It perfectly captures the madness of drugs, singers trying to innovate the most ridiculous ways and the way popstars are just images to society. The shots reach, sometimes, a level of brilliance. There's the scene in which Swan confronts Winslow, aside shot that's great; there are the scenes with Winslow writing, the light flickering and Phoenix appearing behind him, also incredibly beautiful, there are the lesbian sex scenes, there's the shower scene, a clear homage to Psycho, and much, much more.

The story is full of weird, interesting characters. Winslow Leach is quite an idiot, but I found myself rooting for him to get his way. William Finley doesn't do much, but his facial expressions during the first half of the movie are greatly funny, as are his lines. Paul Williams, who did the score too, is great as Swan, the malefic popstar/producer. His voice and mannerisms create a funny, scary character. Jessica Harper as Phoenix was cool. She was sweet, had just the right looks and sang well. Gerrit Graham as a...weird rock singer is hilarious. Obviously, the script isn't meant to be taken seriously: it's al a huge silly parody, with a lot of style and not a lot of substance (even if you can still find a lot of accurate, funny lines).

Finally the music. It's just perfect, fitting on the movie and having great lyrics. It's very original and unusual to listen to this type of music all in the same movie.

This is an hidden gem from the 70's, stylish and very well made, even if way silly. You need to be in the mood for it, but if you are, you'll defenitely enjoy yourself.

Thelma & Louise

You shoot off a guy's head with his pants down, believe me, Texas ain't the place you wanna get caught.

This is one of the most enjoyable movies I've ever seen. The gripping story, the action, the well developed characters, the great acting, the dramatic tension and the dark humor kept me on the edge of my seat. I've never seen any other Ridley Scott movie, but this one is surely great.

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were amazing. Davis created a character with whom you empathise immediatly. She can be a bit dumb, but she's sweet. Her crying scenes are very believable, as is the amazing transformation her character suffers during the movie. Besides, she has a great comic timing and can be very funny. Sarandon shows a down-to-earth attitude, and her eyes are incredibly expressive. Har character changes realistically during the movie, and her crying/confused scenes arevery touching and heartbreaking. They have a really great chemistry together, and their characters balance each other.

The supporting cast is good too. Brad Pitt is incredibly hot (as always), and he has just the right look and mannerisms for the role. Harvey Keitel is just there, but his voice fits in the little time he has of dialog. Christopher McDonald is incredibly funny and beliavable, I loved his performance; the way he walked, spoke and dressed was perfect. Michael Madsen played is character fairly well in the touching subplot he had. Timothy Carhart as Thelma's rapist had a sinister intensity and charm that was great.

The direction was amazing. Ridley Scott shot a road trip mostly with a dusty, yellow look. He had some surrealist moments (the jamaican guy smoking pot in the desert) that were very cute and enjoyable. The rape scene was very intense and disturbing, and setted the mood of the film. The dramatic tension you can feel comes in good part from his direction. The music was good and created the right mood for the filmThe locations were great. They showed poverty and lots of dirt and decadence, but the desert was beautiful. The stunning cinematography helped giving the movie its ful of style look.

The argument was amazing. The storyline kept you increasingly interested and the characters were touching and you cared for them. The dialogues were sharp and well written. The only problem was that some of the subplots shouldn't have been there.

The last thing I wanna say is that some moments were clichéd. Like, when Thelma is talking to Louise on the phone, she opens the door of the fridge. This is not too bad, but sometimes it gives the movie a not realistic quality. But, on compensation, there are some incredibly original moments, like when Thelma robs a store. Overall, one of the most enjoyable movies ever, great direction and performances

Rebel Without a Cause

You're tearing me apart!

This is a classic teen angst movie, and one of the first to capture it realisticaly on screen.

James Dean gives an incredible performance as the troubled, confused teen, trying to stand up for himself and understand what's going on is his life. you can notice his fear and eagerness to be loved in his gaze, his movements, his laugh and his voice. When he shouts the famous line "You're tering me apart!", it's truly heartbreaking. He creates a character with whom you can easily relate and who's incredibly simpathetic.

Natalie Wood has a steady sweetness and beauty, a woman-like quality in a confused, stuborn teenage girl. She's beliavable and has a good deal of touching momoents, without overplaying them. She has a good chemistry with James Dean, too. Sal Mineo as Jimmy's friend is the best of them, though. He was just 16 when the movie came out, and this is noe of the est teen performances ever. His character has a fear, a confusion, and above all, such a need to be loved, that you can't avoid to want to protect him and help him. His puppy-like eyes, begging to be loved, his sweet, young boy's voice, and his way of shivering all the time, the doubts you can feel he has make this performance great. You never doubt by a single moment that what you're seing is real. His performance is the best in the movie, I think, even if everyone is just great.

Al the supportings are amazing. Jim Backus as Jimmy's dad, keeps up with the difficult task of making us like and understand his confusion abou his son and at the same time wanting him to be stronger and seeing Jimmy's side. The gang members have a typical teen arrogance, but they are real. The actor's that play Judy's parents have a nicely played scene too.

The screenplay is incredible. It portrays realisticly the confusion of teenagers and their parents, it has very touching moments, it's suspenseful, the characters are all beliavable and you care by them. Here, you can feel the lack of communication between adults and teens. But the most singulat thing of all is the satire to american society. You can see the irony of all this seemingly perfect families, hiding in their houses and arguing. Some of the shos suggest this, too; the way outside everything's perfect, and inside of all the suburbian houses and the minds of the characters everything's confused and messed up. I liked the ending resolution a lot, too, showing that sometimews people just can't live with themselves.

The directing is good, with some shots that are sort of campy and fits in the mood of the movie. I liked some subtle touches, like Dean's red jacket and Plato's socks. The music was sometimes a bit overplayed, but mostly, it worked. This is a great movie, not to be mised by anyone!

Wings of Desire

Longing. Longing for a wave of love that would stir in me. That's what makes me clumsy. The absence of pleasure. Desire for love. Desire to love.

Wim Wenders always makes movies that are pure poetry. This is one of them. It's about an angel who decides to become a man when he finds love, but it's not sappy at all. The writing is a poem; the music is a poem; the direction is a poem; and the performances are a poem.

This movie is very subtle and of rare beauty. It has a dreamy atmosphere, and at the same time very dark. You can feel something wrong is happening: you can see the Berlin Wall, a lot of people contempling life, and the black and white makes everything look like it's happening elsewhere. Wim Wenders shoots beautifully, with the camera always moving softly, making you feel the characters. A great example is the first scene in the nightclub. The voice overs are an original way of showing feelings, and, in this case, very rewarding.

You have to like slow paced movies to enjoy this noe. The first hour is just charater development, and the angels walk through the city, helping people and thinking about life. Then, Bruno Ganz's character decides to become a man, coming into this world to live and feel, and suddenly everything gains colour for him. His entrance in the world of living is a beautiful metaphore, and the dialogue between him and Marion is brilliant.

The performances are great, too. Bruno Ganz can express all of the emotions of the character without speaking, most of the time. The look in his eyes, his body language, and the way he delivers his few lines is amazing. Solveig Dommartin has a good delivery and body language, and her voice overs are very touching. Otto Sander is fine, too, and all the people that appear in just one scene perfectly capture their characters.

This is very envolving; it gets you in another world and touches you deeply.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy,in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.

This is a very enjoyable, touching book. The writing is great and the narrator's voice is humorous, painful and beautiful. The story is very original and thought provocking; some scenes are really emotional for the reader, but Eugenides writes it in a no-big-deal way. What I mean is, the writing doesn't force you to think something, but the scene on itself does. The sentences are sometimes so beautiful and evocative that they become breathtaking.The burning of Smyrnas and all the begginig is very interesting, but the story grows better when we get to Cal's life. It's a great reading.

MASH

Kiss my hot lips.

MASH, a war satire by Robert Altman is hugely creative, funny, and true. It portraits the madness of war, and all the ways to stay sane by going crazy. The leading character, played by Donald Sutherlaqnd, is very cool and always calm and laid back, though not in your usual way. He delivers his lines perfectly, and you can never figure if he's actually mad. But, as any Altman, this has a huge lot of characters, in this case, mad. Some are total freaks, others people under a lot of pressure, and others just plain stupid. There's Hot Lips (hilarious Sally Kellerman), who stars in some of the funniest scenes, Frank Burns ( Robert Duvall playing a fervorous catholic pervert), Painless Pole (John Schuck, a dentist who tries to commit suicide when he "finds out" he's gay) and a huge list of original (to say the least) characters.

The direction is effective; it begins in a documentary style and becomes studied with each shot in the right place. I loved the rugby game, with all the fast, full of energy shots, it mad me laugh so much, and, at the same time, feel uncomfortable. It showed just the attitude of wars. I'd like to mention, too, the song Suicide is Painless, and the cinematography, that felt wet and dirty, just like it should.

The last thing I want to mention is that I didn't find this sexist at all; it was seen by men's point of view, and Hot Lips character is quite acuratte. Besides, all the man were idiots, too.

Itg's a movie that movie buffs have to see; it's a funny comedy, thought provocking, intelligent and that didn't lose any of its actuality. Pretty great.

Tess

I'd rather take it from my own hand.

The best thing about this movie is it's flawless direction. Roman Polanski shoots some scenes with such a beauty that it can take your breath away. It's a simple direction, but it's just perfect. It akes you feel what the characters feel, even if not all the time. This movie needed a lot more of editing. It has a running time of almost 3 hours, and some scenes seem to last forever, others are to quick, and some aren't useful at all. It became boring after a while.

The beginning is great: the dancing shots, so full of life and hapiness, the suggestion of the very red strawberry, the beauty of Nastassa Kinki filling all the screen, and the humour of the dialogues were terrific. Then, when Peter Firth's character appears, the story takes the shape of a typical 19th century romance, and it never explores well enough the consequences of Tess's relationship with Alec. It moves forward too quickly, and then it drags forever, until its abrupt, yet poetic, ending. I think all the implications of the story could have been explored better.

The cting by Nastassa Kinski is amazing; you can feel her emotions, even if her character almost never mentions them, and her beauty is totally apropriate for the charater. She has a magnetic screen presence and great body language. I hated Peter Firth's performance. He overplayed his character and made him incredibly unlikely and coward. He was miscast and annoying. Leigh Lawson is good, creating a character at the same time funny, posh, charming and that you hate.

The technicals are good, with a gorgeous cinematography, and the music is beautiful, as are the background sounds. An incredible direction and two very good performances aren't enough to make me recommend this to everyone. Watch it if you like Roman Polanski or Nastassa Linski.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

My goal is to go home and take a nap.

I think this book talks about very important and real subjects, in a sensitive, beliavable way. Melinda Sordino just entered high school, and she's an outcast. This shows the way she deals with her life, but it's far from being a chick flick. The leading character has depth and problems, and she's what makes the book deep. The writing is realistic, it seems like it was written by a 14 year old, and it says a lot of beautiful, true things. It nails school, teachers and the way kids can be so mean with a certain funny irony, and at the same time you can feel the suffer of Melinda. It has beautiful descriptions, haunting scenes (the rape scene), touching bits (the ending conclusion), and funny, with ironic, truthful observations. It is always very enjoyable and sad; the way Melinda chooses to stay silent makes perfect sense and creates a dark, great mood. It is, too, a way of warning people for the problems that kids can have. You should read this, not just because it is greatly written, but because of its message. Adults should read this, too, I think this is a book that older people can enjoy.

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

The girl at her music sits in another sort of light, the fitful, overcast light of life,by which we see ourselves and others only imperfectly, and seldom.

This book is a very interesting choice; thought-provocking, funny at times, touching, honest, powerful and quite easy to read. It's about an 18 year old girl who's put in a hospital for the mentaly insane, and it's an autobiography. The story is told in small, impressive small scenes, character descriptions and reflecting about depression and madness. The writing is beautiful, even if not particulary elaborated. The characters are fascinating: you understand all of them, in their fears and madness, and you see how close you really can be to them. It reveals, too, how stupid is the sistem that diagnosys madness. The storyline is interesting, with so many great characters, feelings and emotions. I just loved it, and I really recommend it.

The Elephant Man

I am not an animal. I am a human being. I am a man.

"The Elephant Man" is one of the most touching, beautiful, best movies ever made. It tells the story of John Merrick, called The Elephant Man because he had a facial deformation, and his quest to be accepted as a normal human being. The screenplay is wonderful; it shows two amazing leading characters, that face real problems realisticly, a great storyline that evolves naturaly, and lots of pain and hapiness. The lines are very poignant and beautiful, too, as are the moral implications of this movie. The way this intelligent, kind, cultored man can't be accepted is painful, because you want him so much to succed.

Great part of the success of the movie is because of the actors. John Hurt gives a mind blowing performance, and one of the very best I've seen; his kindness is real, the way he talks is real, the way he walks and gets into the character is just unbeliavable. You can actually feel his pain on your skin, such is the streght of his performance. His breakdown scene in the train station, is just a cry for freedom; and it sounds so truly angustiated, that you can almost believe this is actually happening. Anthony Hopkins is very good, and he has a very good chemistry with John Hurt, that evolves during the movie. I think he underplayed is character, but it worked and let us foccuse on John Hurt. The supporting cast is all very good, even if outshined by John Hurt.

The soundtrack is hauntig. It perfectly sets the dark, dramatic tone of the movie, and makes the movie have more impact on you. The editing is good, particulary in some of the scenes. The make up is the best I've seen; it's beliavable, and it must have been tremendously difficult to do, but it's simply amazing. Lynch's direction is original; I don't think he was trying to pull the tissues, if you know what I mean, but to show a touching story just focusing mostly on the actors, wich works. I loves some of his shots, like the part in wich John Hurt is humiliated by people in the hospital; it just shows you all the confusion and pain of the moment. The black and white colour is dark, and it makes you just think about the story, without lots of colour to distract you.

This is a simply flawless movie that everyone should watch; it has an important message delivered without being sappy, great performances, direction, music and editing. If you haven't, go watch this right now. It is sure to make you cry.

Prizzi's Honor

Charley, I've been doin' three to four hits a year for the past couple of years, most at full pay.
That much?
Well, it's not many when you consider the size of the population.

This movie is often good and funny, but sometimes 's not focused enough. The story tries to cover a lot of themes, genres, and plot implications wich doesn't always work. The best parts are the ones wich deal with Charlie/Irene complicated relationship, in wich you never know for sure if she's manippulating him from the beginning or not. One funny thing was the homage to Mafia movies, such as The Godfather. Some lines really hit their targets, too.

The acting is very good, and the best thing of the movie. Jack Nicholson plays an incredibly dumb character, that gets wonderfully developed by the end. He has a great comic timing. Kathleen Turner is very good, she has a great chemistry with Jack, and can look innocent and the moment after a total bitch. Besides, she ha a great, calm, sure delivery. Anjelica Huston is very funny playing mean / jealous / spoiled / mannipulative/sweet, though lack of screen time hurts. The supportings are all great, and the one who plays the Don is hilarious, with his sadic way of saying his lines.

The direction is simple, but has some original shots, it works with this material. It's mostly steady camera. The music creates a contrast; it's quite cheery and happy, and that makes the movie funnier. It's a very dark comedy in my opinion, and sometimes a romance drama. It's worth watching, and original, but don't expect a masterpiece.

Hollywood Ending

You know, I would kill for this job, but the people I wanna kill are the people offering me the job.

This is quite an interesting Woody Allen movie, in wich he seems to satirize his problems with the studios, journalists and shooting movies even if generally it's just good old Woody, not that I mind. I find his movies always enjoyable.

This particular one has all the usual Woody jokes, about all type of subjects, that work very well. The cators are good too: Allen is better in this one then in others, and the way he plays the blind gags is brillinat. Téa Léoni is very expressive and all the supporting cast does well, as usual in his movies.

The directing is regular, with no shots with brilliance, but not academic; Aleen-ish, I'd say. It's a nice movie, and I recommend it if you want a nice Woody.

To Catch a Thief

Why do you want to buy an ond car if you can get a new one cheaper? It will run better and last longer.

This is a very enjoyable romance mistery, with a good script, good actors, and a great direction. Alfred Hitchcock is amazing: in the suspense scenes, he uses his normal wway of shooting, wich obviosly works, and in the romance bits, he just shots in a way that makes you feel the sexual tension even more.

The two leads are great; Cary Grant creates an heroic icon, more than a flesh and blood person, wich sometimes work and others don't. Grace Kelly is simply, perfect: her character is full of light and beauty, and she irradiates both of them. By the way, her delivery of lines is amazing, fitting into each scene. When she's on the screen, it's impossible to stop looking at her, because she's so magnetic, and with a slight hint of mistery. The chemistry between them is incredlibly hot and beliavable, and you can almost feel it on your skin. The supporting actors are all excelent; my favorite was Brigitte Auber, who seemed so innocent and fresh.

The screenplay is good, though it could have been better. The resolution of the mistery didn't leave me entirely satisfied, but it wasn't bad, either. Cary Grant's character is a bit too heroic sometimes, but nothing too bad, either. Overall, a solid, enjoyable suspense movie.

Keeping The Faith

God was showing off when he made you.

So, the movie I watched today was Keeping the Faith, a normal romantic comedy directed and starring Edward Norton. I haven't seen anything else with him, but I'm soon gonna borrow The 25th Hour from my uncle's.

Well, I can't particulary recommend this one. The biggest problem I had with this film was Ben Stiller. I guess some people find him funny, but I don't. His mannerisms annoy me, and I find him quite expressionless. Jenna Elfman doesn't do much more than acting hyperactive and looking anorectic, mostly because of the way her character is written. Ed Norton is good, often funny and creates an interesting character with a script that could have been much better. It's predictable and too long, at least for me, mostly in the storyline and sometimes in the lines the characters say, even if those are often funny. The direction is O.K., not particulary brilliant but not bad, and there were some beautiful shots.

The other problem is the pacing of the movie. It spends too much time on Ben Stiller/Jenna Elfman relationship, and Edward Norton disapperars for some time. Overall, this isn't too bad ; it's sometimes funny and has nice set locations. But it's too common and cliched to be great. If you want a nice, entertaining romantic comedy try Love Actually or High Fidelity.

Another Movie Blog

Hi! I decided to create my own blog, where I'll post reviews to books and movies, Oscar predictions, lists and all that type of stuff. Hope you enjoy reading it.