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.