Movies watched recently 18

I Could Never Be Your Woman: This is an amusing, though forgettable, romantic comedy. The script is unpretentious and mildly intelligent, with funny characters and some interesting themes and dialog. The storyline is believable enough and the humorous subplots work incredibly well. The acting is good, with the beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer adding depth to her character. Paul Rudd is perfectly charming and dorky and Saoirse Ronan is very spontaneous and works well with the accent. The technicals are fine, except the editing, which is just careless. The soundtrack is fun, though. This is an engaging romantic comedy.
Badlands: This is a unique movie, mostly due to its direction. Terrence Mallick has a distinctive, poetic style, here used in distancing you from the characters, showing a murder-spree with neutral eyes, but capturing details that make you love the movie. The numb acting and ironic, though naive narration, the haunting soundtrack, the natural cinematography, the slow-pace given by the editing, all add up to create an unforgettable experience. Everything about this movie is perfect and it all adds up to a thought-provoking, achingly beautiful but horrifying movie that I highly recommend.

How Green Is My Valley: This is a classic coming-of-age story with a winning charm. The screenplay inspiring: the characters are humane, the story is believable, the subplots are affecting. Its flaw is the corny dialog. The acting is very good, with a charismatic, natural performance by Roddy McDowall, a touching Donald Crisp and Maureen O'Hara perfectly capturing her character's changes. All the supporting cast is also attention-worthy. The editing gives the movie a slow, involving pace and the music is fitting. The direction is the standout. John Ford shapes up an iconic portrayal of a family and a village, giving us scenes that are remarkably heartfelt. I recommend this for anyone looking for a movie with a big heart.
Trust: This is a wonderful indie movie. From the very first moment, you are confronted with realistic, organic characters, witty, dry, unique dialog and an amazing capacity to find humor in the grimmest situations. The accting is simply fabulous: Adrianne Shelly convincingly carries her character through mood swings, despair, love and huge growth, while Martin Donovan shows hardly contained anger, withholding and darkness through subtlety. They have a fabulous chemistry and are supported by a brilliant cast. The soundtrack is beautiful and the cinematography is able to find poetry in these arid lives. The direction gets all these elements together showing Hal Hartley's spirit. It's a great lçove story and I highly recommend it.


Pretty Persuasion: I have mixed feelings about this acid comedy. On one side, it features a bunch of amazing comedy performances, specially the fantastic Evan Rachel Wood, portraying cold bitchiness perfectly and a flawless cinematography, with clean color and darkly funny tracking shots and zoom-ins. On the other side, there are too many story changes and mood changes. The dark, inappropriate humor is irregular, and sometimes there's just not enough humanity. Despite these flaws, Kimberly is a fascinating character and this is thought-provoking. This is the type of movie that you might just hate or love.

The Kid: This classic is my favorite Charlie Chapman movie. It's not just slapstick humor, though obviously those scenes are great and used to portray the characters. It has heart, it has a message, and it's not preachy but sweet and endearing. The chemistry between Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan is priceless, and the later shows a natural talent for comedy while touching everyone's heart. The story is simple, but filled with precious moments of beauty. Overall, this is the heart-warming movie that inspired all the others.

Movies watched recently 17

Enchanted: This is the type of lovable movie that everyone will fall for. It has all the Disney magic you could hope for: it feels like a Walt Disney cartoon. But Enchanted also modernizes the story creatively, adds depth to the traditional characters and includes a lot of different themes, not just for little kids. The jokes are hilarious, mixing naivety with irony explosively. The special effects are excellent and imaginative, not overused at all. The animation is fabulous and it's greatly mixed with real action. I also loved the gorgeous costumes and the joyful musical sequences. But the true heart of this movie is the lovely Amy Adams. This is the freshest, funnest and most perfect turn in a light role since, well, a long time. She captures the magic and feel of traditional Disney princesses, so that you can not avoid to fall in love with Giselle. She's deliciously over-the-top, she's subtle and emotional, she's just awesome. Go watch this , you'll have a great time!

Buena Vista Social Club: This is one of the movies that defines boredom. It's technically not a bad movie but as the subject didn't interest me and I didn't like the music, it just made me sleepy. I also felt it was kind of fake, a tourist's view of Cuba. Some of the interviews were interesting, but they got repetitive quickly. The live shows were just snore-inducing-that's the biggest issue with this.

The Phantom of the Opera: The book in which the musical is based is a remarkable love and obsession story; I haven't seen the stage musical, but the movie fully failed at capturing the book. The narrative was relatively faithful (though the disturbing themes were watered down)but the style and interpretation were cringe-inducing. I could make a big list with what they did wrong. The story was told as a flashback: bad idea, iconic characters don't grow old. Joel Schumacher decided to eliminate almost all feelings and replace them with elaborated dancing numbers and costumes. The scenes which were supposed to be most affecting were laughable. The acting is the most decent thing: Emmy Rossum's acting quality changes through the movie, but she mostly gets the vulnerability of her character and she's a good singer. Gerard Butler and Patrick Wilson were fine but they didn't have enough material to create appropriate characters. It's just fluff, and even as that it's not very good.

The Upside of Anger: This is a bittersweet story. I really enjoyed it. It's the type of movie that slowly wins you over with its honest, raw characters trying to overcome their issues. It has a wonderful screenplay: the characters are all developed and their lives are realistic, funny and aching. The pace and storyline are equilibrated and keep you interesting. The acting is brilliant: Kevin Costner delivers a mature, subtle performance and Evan Rachel Wood is quirky and very expressive, like all the daughters but the star of the show is Joan Allen. She is fully convincing as a woman going through a crisis. Her character is not always sympathetic, but Joan Allen fills her with pain and conflicted emotions and shows that through humor. The acting and story make this a beautiful movie.Thirteen: This is a frightening and disturbing vision of some 13-year-olds lives and how everything can go wrong. It's not a perfect movie, but it's a honest depiction of real lives coming straight from the heart. The story is simple and character-driven, following Tracy's change. The dialog and characters are very realistic, though some of the subplots should have been better developed. The acting makes this rawer and much more believable. Evan Rachel Wood delivers one of the best performances as a teenager: she isn't afraid to show Tracy in all her aspects, vulnerability, anger, loneliness, ecstasy, despair, and she stays in character from the first frame to the very last. It's really a unique tour-de-force. Holly Hunter and Nikki Reed are also excellent, providing great support. The first one is perfect as the mother, making us understand her side of the story. The direction is experimental: it's not great, but the digital cinematography is poetic and the hand-held camera actually feels edgy and gritty, like someone is actually following this girl. This is a very affecting movie that people should watch.


War of the Worlds: This is a very good adventure film. It gives a fresh look on the book, following its main ideas and spirit while adding humanity and chilling action. Tom Cruise, who I don't like at all, gives a good performance here, as a loser trying to bond with his kids in the middle of total disaster. He's charismatic. Technically, this is very good, with some of the best special effects I've ever seen, a great cinematography, fitting make-up and good set design. But what really stands out is Spielberg's direction, simply masterful. He blends all the elements together beautifully, creates impressive suspense (the hiding scene with Tim Robbins) and actually made me feel empathy for the characters. It's an excellent blockbuster because it's not only explosions and action.

Movies watched recently 16

Half Nelson: This is an original spin-off of the traditional inspiring teacher-student relationship. The screenplay is very good, with realistic dialog and characters, slowly developed and their relationships are very well-built. The technicals are excellent, specially for an indie: the cold, dirty colored cinematography, the simple, involving editing and above all the mysterious, heartfelt music create a great ambiance. But the true highpoint of this movie, as everyone says, is the mind-blowing acting. Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps are perfect examples of how natural performances are emotionally affecting. Gosling shows why he's considered one of the best of his generation, shaping up a human character who's never wholly likable or unlikable, just a man struggling with himself. The direction is unexpectedly mature, blending all these moments together using a unique vision: urban, poetic and truly raw. It's a very good movie.
Down In The Valley: This western set in modern LA had everything to be great, but all of the qualities get lost in the embarrassingly bad second part. This seems to be composed by two movies: the first one is a subtle, beautiful meditation on love, reality and delusions and the second is a failed try to criticize American society. Technically, this is frankly good, with a dream-like cinematography, a fitting country music soundtrack,gorgeous, exhilarating shots and two excellent performances by Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood. He is perfect as a seriously disturbed man who believes to be a cowboy and she poetically captures teenage rebellion and passion. The screenplay is what ruins it. After there's an unneeded twist, this becomes a lame hostage drama with nothing to say. All the film loses its meaning, which is just a shame.
A Love Song For Bobby Long: I really enjoyed this. Granted, it's no masterpiece, it's a bit corny, but it's mostly heart-warming and feel-good. The story is simple, with few but interesting characters, amusing dialogs and touching revelations that aren't (too) exaggerated. The acting elevates this: it's genius to get John Travolta playing a vaguely unlikable has-been, Gabriel Macht also shapes up convincing emotions but the star of the show is Scarlett Johansson, playing a young, white trash woman. She's the heart and soul of this movie, filling it with emotion and involving you: she fills the screen. The technicals are also good, with a fine soundtrack, good editing and great nostalgic cinematography. The direction is also effective, not any innovative but making this feel extremely cozy. Overall, it's a nice, feel-goo film, and we all need those.

In This World: this is a raw, gritty, though flawed movie. It's about illegal immigration, it uses amateur actors and a documentary-film style, which is sometimes too showy. The story is simple and very affecting, showing a realistic situation so many of us ignore. The acting is extremely natural: the actors seem to be actually playing themselves. Though there's no denying Michael Winterbottom has a distinctive visual style, he overuses it. The documentary style fits perfectly some scenes, making you feel like you're withing the movie, but other times it's just intrusive, like he's saying "This is a really really gritty film" which is not needed at all. It's still a good movie.

Movies watched recently 15

Bagdad Café or Out Of Rosenheim: This is a good indie movie. It has a simple screenplay, with decent characters, beautiful relationships and a lot of metaphorical meanings. I really enjoyed the acting, with Marjanne Sagerbrescht and CCH Pounder portraying opposites beautifully. The direction is excellent: it manges to show many emotions and a subtle morale without much dialog. The cinematography is also beautiful, as is the theme song. Its flaws are a slow beginning and a cheesy ending, but between those there are big amounts of humanity and friedship. You will find yourself charmed and amused by these characters and all their beauty!

Proof: This is based in a play and it notices. It has few, but well-developed characters , it focuses on dialog, which is intelligent here, and it's very involving. It tackles an interesting issue-madness and genius- with a lot of emotion. The acting really carries this movie: Gwyneth Paltrow is fantastic here, fully embodying her character (remarkable delivery of dialog and chamaleonic body language), making Catherine and her struggles human, Hope Davis does her usual great supporting role, Anthony Hopkins is charismatic and Jake Gyllenhaal is impossibly cute. The direction was just about average: the time jumps were a bit clumsy and sometimes the music became intrusive, but it mostly involves you. This is perfect if you're looking for a n emotional roller-coaster with realistic characters and great acting.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut: This is an impossibly funny movie.Like in the TV series, the humor is risky, cultural but very simple and obviously it works perfectly. The gags follow quickly but they are intelligently supported by a wild, surreal story that keeps you interested. The characters are all hilarious, with their squeaky voices and amusingly childish look to show a lot of personality and quirks. The songs are addictive- extremely bad singers create an hilarious effect with the silly lyrics. Overall, it's a brilliant satire to America done with a lot of laughs.

Todo Sobre Mi Madre: This is a powerful, very human drama. It has an impressive screenplay, about a woman confronting her dark past: the characters are outsiders from society but you get to understand them, the dialogs are realistic, the cultural references are metaphorical and, above all things, this has pure emotion. The direction is masterful: Almodovar has a unique style, introducing humor and showing rawness through creative camera angles, shots and editing. The acting is excellent: Cecilia Roth creates a subtle character and gets all her emotions across heart wrenchingly and all the supporting actors are fitting and fully believable. The technicals are very professional. This is a beautiful story about redemption and dignity.

Movies watched recently 14

21 Grams: This depressing Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu movie is worse than Babel, though still fine. The screenplay has got to be one of the most depressing things ever: the characters are realistic but their lives are so miserable that it can get a bit unrealistic and the voice-overs are a failed attempt to add depth . The acting is powerful: Benicio del Toro is frighteningly real as a too religious man being overcame by guilt, Naomi Watts shapes up her character beautifully and carries on extremely difficult scenes with intensity and Sean Penn plays his character with a lot of feeling. The supporting actors are also good. The direction, use of the music and cinematography are all distinctive. It would have been a much better movie if the editing was linear, using time better: this way, it can get muddled, messy and lose some of its impact.

The Big Chill: This is an agreeable film enjoyable enough, but forgettable. The screenplay is average, with a promising premise developed around shapeless characters and dull situations, but it has an interesting meditation about Baby Boomers. The direction and technicals, especially the soundtrack, make this fell very dated, giving it a funny 80's feeling. The acting is unremarkable, mostly due to the lack of screen time each character has and how poorly written they are ( but William Hurt was hot, which made it much more bearable). Overall, I just think it could have been so much better.

Stardust: This is an excellent fairytale. It has a cosy, familiar feeling about it, with the deliciously evil villains, the innocent leads and the beautiful love story, but also dark humor. It feels honest and it's intelligent and accessible, warming your heart and making you care for the characters. Michelle Pfeiffer plays one of the most fantastically evil, charismatic witched I can remember, Charlie Cox captures the innocence and growth of his character earnestly and Claire Danes is just purely lovable. The direction is common but professional and technically it's very good. The costumes, sets, use of music, make-up and editing contribute to make this an entertaining, beautiful fairytale.

Bridge To Terabithia: As the book, this is a great movie about friendship and growing up. The screenplay adapts the book faithfully, actualizing it appropriately and adding useful action scenes that end up making you know the characters better. It's obviously written with love and care. The acting is natural: Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb ares charismatic, subtle and perfectly believable, with a unique chemistry between them and Zooey Deschanel is the best in a very good supporting cast, making you fall in love with her character. The direction is loveable, though slightly flawed. The wardrobe and sets are amazing, original, beautiful. All the technicals are fine, too. This is just beautiful and I believe it will become as classic.
Dead Man: This is a subverted western: not really about guns and fighting, more a bout poetry and illusion. The screenplay is incredibly simple but interesting and very thought-provoking, with some dark humor and natural dialog. The acting is also really good, with Johnny Depp embodying the essence of the movie and diving deep into hell with his character and several amusing, though slightly distracting cameos. The direction is brilliant: Jarmush shoots it with a clear black-and-white, involving shots and meaningful, metaphorical camera angles. This and the psychedelic, laid-back, dark soundtrack by Neil Young, make the movie seductive. Its only flaw is the dragging pace and some repetitive moments, though mostly the scenes are beautiful and needed.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

On Beauty is a good social analysis with amusing, real characters, but it has too many flaws. The writing is bland and disinteresting: it rarely is funny or poetic. The basic story is promising, but it lacks imagination and the settings are predicable and unrealistic. This means there are fascinating, humane characters thrown into a story that drags for too long and seem disconnected. It definitely needed to be cut down in length and some supporting characters were only there as a trigger to action. Overall, Zadie Smith is able to satirize people very well but she's not a good story teller yet.

Movies watched recently 13

Undertow: This is a raw, gritty thriller that I really like. It's a simple story, gorgeously shot and extremely well-acted. It's a twisted fairytale ( a bit like El Laberinto del Fauno). The dialog is natural and realistic, the characters are fully-developed and the pace is gripping. The acting is excellent: Jamie Bell becomes his character and fully nails the accent, he's the standout in a very good cast. This is the director's movie, though. It's style is distinctive, with effective freeze-frames, small details and quirks in every scene, and capturing images. You really feel like you're inside the movie. The cinematography is inspiring and vivid. The score is packed with tension and also lyrical beauty. The editing is intelligent, and the voice-overs are emotional and fitting. It's a strange, disturbing movie, but I loved it.

Italian For Beginners: This is a great love story, with realistic characters, believable relationships and a romantic heart that will get to everyone. Its style (using the Dogme 95) makes it look more realistic but also seductive in an everyday life kind of way. The story is simple, honest and charming, with involving pace and an uplifting ending. The acting is great by the whole cast, that just gets into character. I can't single out any of the leads. Overall, this is a really good movie that will make you feel good about love and life. I recommend it.
Brokeback Mountain: I really liked this. It's a poignant, touching romance, that uses all the conventional romantic formulas in a gay love story. The screenplay is excellent, with humane characters, beautiful, poetic dialogs and it is subtle. The acting is excellent: Heath Ledger is truly amazing, getting perfectly into character and breaking your heart with his sensibility and fears and Jake Gyllenhaal fills his character with life and is the heart of this love story (you can't avoid to love him). Michelle Williams is also perfectly intense. The direction is gorgeous: during the beginning it captures the Westerns, showing heart-stopping views and revealing close-ups. It also chronicles the characters as they get older subtly and explores all aspects of their life carefully. The cinematography is beautiful, and the score, with its traditional american sound, has depth to this. If the movie has flaws, those are the small episodes that could have been better developed. Even so, this is a beautfiul, affecting love story.

Birth: This is the perfect example of style over substance. The screenplay creates a believable leading character and an interesting exploration of grief, but it has many plot holes, a ridiculous ending and the supporting characters are sketches that lack personality. Nicole Kidman's performance is mind-blowing: her quiet withholding, soft delivery of dialog and intense scenes perfectly fit the movie. Cameron Bright is annoyingly bland and you just can't believe him (probably he was also badly directed). The direction is exquisite, with cold, detached shots in sober colors giving it it's controlled feeling. The soundtrack is hauntingly creepy. It wounds up being mostly a failure: a movie with a tour-de-force performance and good techs but with a meaningless story and nothing to say.

Monsieur Verdoux: This is a dark comedy by the usually sunny Charlie Chaplin, and it doesn't work very well. The basic idea is brilliant (a man who robs and murders widows to support his family) and it has some ironic touches that work. The dialogs have no wit and are perfectly unnecessary, because Chaplin just acts like he's in a silent movie. It gets worse as the story moves: the gags start by being mischievously funny but wound up being flat and the story starts as a dark comedy but develops into a moralistic drama. Technically, it's well-done and fluidly directed, but it's not very good.

2 Days In Paris: This is a very acute examination of relationships and cultural differences. The screenplay is totally hilarious, filled with realistic characters and situations and Woody Allen-esque dialog. It make you laugh because it takes a light-hearted look at extremely realistic situations. The differences between societies are alos fascinating and create a lot of funny moments. The direction is very good, making everything come together organically and filling each scene with little details that make it seem real-life. The acting is perfect by everyone: they are all talented and funny, embodying their characters and delivering their dialog explosively and naturally. It's a fantastic romantic comedy. Monster House: This is a very enjoyable animation movie. It perfectly captures the 80's feeling and has an irresistible innocence. The animation is original, well-done and with charmingly simple lines. The voice-work is phenomenal, specially by Steve Buscemi. The direction is very good, with a slightly shaky camera and "scary" shots very well-used: it's different form normal animation movies, and it's very effective. The screenplay is good: the story is simple and captivating, the supporting characters are amusing, the dialogs are funny and the concept of the house is fantastic, but the leading characters and the chemistry between them is clichéd (Harry Potter, anyone?). Overall, it's a real fun ride for everyone.


Mean Creek: This is a great, very sensitive and poetic movie about being a teenager. It perfectly captures the changes and feelings, the fear of having to choose. The characters are realistic and human, with flaws and problems, but also qualities, the dialog is incredibly natural, the story has a striking simplicity with lots of thoughts running under. The acting is amazing: some of the most natural performances you'll see delivered by a very young cast. They are all brilliant, and extremely charismatic and capture the feelings, always embodying their characters. They have a great, almost palpable chemistry between them. The direction is excellent: Jacob Aaron Estes involves you and gets the ideas and thoughts across . The cinematography is brilliant: the color is rich, while believable, and the hand-held camera is perfectly used to get you into the movie while there also are some revealing, simply beautiful still shots. The soundtrack is also amazing, giving the movie an ethereal feeling and making it even more poignant. Overall, this is a truthful, beautiful representation of teenage life.

Away From Her: This is an impressive romantic drama. It's the story of a couple, married for many years, when she discovers she suffers from Alzheimer's disease. The screenplay is beautiful, with believable, poetic dialog, realistic, well-defined characters and a simple, well-developed story told at the right pace. All it's elements work together. The acting is perfect: Julie Christie is incredibly expressive and fills her character with personality, life, youth and beauty; George Pinsent lets Julie Christie shine, while affectingly portraying Grant, an example of perfectly-suited underacting. The supporting actresses are also excellent. The direction is mature and amazingly captures the suffering and pain of this situation without ever being sappy or begging for sympathy:a rare thing. The sets, wardrobe, cinematography and score are disarmingly simple but make all the emotion flourish and are realistic and well-suited. Overall, this is a brilliant drama with great sensibility and honesty.

Movies watched recently 12

The Darwin Awards: This is just a goofy comedy that will make you laugh, but it's very flawed. The screenplay is obviously hilarious, and some of the solutions presented are interesting, but certain points of the plot are useless (the forced romance, the kid shooting a documentary, etc.) and Siri was very poorly written. The acting is good: Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder pair well and have a good comic timing. The cameos are very amusing. The direction has some effective shoots and it elevates the funny moments. The technicals are alright. Overall, this is a fun, but forgettable and flawed movie .
King Kong (2005): I don't like action movie, but I found this intelligent and obviously a work of love, even if it was way too long. The screenplay is good, with a simple love story, moderately well-developed characters, appropriate and witty dialogs. The direction brings it to life with all little details developed: the shots are always lively and well-thought, you can feel the care Peter Jackson put on this. The sets and wardrobe are perfect and amazingly detailed, getting you into the movie. The extraordinary soundtrack and lushly beautiful cinematography also add value to this. The special effects are satisfactory, but not wonderful: they don't capture weight and the dinosaurs are obviously fake. Kong is amzingly expressive and one of the best things in the movie. The acting is very good: Naomi Watts is engaging and transmits emotion, Adrien Brody is smokin' and very expressive and human, Jack Black brings his character's obsessive quality to life and Jamie Bell captures his character and gets him under the spotlight with little screen time. The problem is the (lack of) editing: many of the action sequences could easily have been cut out, because they reduce the emotion and get very repetitive. It is good, but sincerely overrated.

Once Upon A Time In America: This is a very lauded movie about the Mafia. It has a good screenplay, with complex, interesting characters and realistic relationships between them. The dialog is intelligent. The acting is all-around excellent: Robert DeNiro is brilliant filling the screen with his charisma, and all the huge cast is talented. The direction is gorgeous, with evocative images and shots that capture all the feelings of the characters. The cinematography is very good, with subtle changes through the movie and gorgeous images. The complex editing is a bit confusing, but it adds originality to the film and helps building up tension between characters. The Ennio Moriconne is lyrical and really original. This is worth watching (but not the best gangster movie ever).

2:37: This is a gritty indie movie about australian teenagers, with several interconnected story lines with different levels of quality. The story is mostly well-written: the characters are generally well-developed, the pace is involving and the ending is brilliant. Its flaws are in some forced dialog and clichéd characters, but it's nothing too bad. The acting is natural ( mostly by unknowns) and Teresa Palmer delivers an amazing performance, making you really feel for her character. The direction is predictable but well-executed and effective, and the cinematography is really outstanding, using natural light to give the movie a unique feeling. The editing is a bit clumsy: some characters disappear for long stretches of time. The atmospheric soundtrack works well. I think that it could have been less graphic: it wasn't needed. Overall, this is a great achievement for such an amateur film, and it succeeds at showing what high school can be like.

Books read recently 5

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: This is a very touching and affecting read. It's written almost as a play: the characters are shaped through realistic dialog and the scenery is evocatively described. It's a very simple and short book, that will grip you and make you feel for the characters, who are human and beautiful. It's thought-provoking and it has a great epic feeling about it. The story is well-told, at the perfect pace, and it perfectly analyzes these men's lives. The ending is brilliant and raw. I recommend this for its humanity and simple, raw portrait of life.


Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Patterson: This is an excellent book.The characters are believable and intelligent, and the relationships between them are well-developed. The writing is appropriate for its age group and effectively conveys emotions and feelings. The plot is subtle and realistic, with a positive message delivered naturally. There are a lot of themes developed, adding depth to this story and successfully drawing you into this world. It has a great pace, that will keep you wanting to know what's going to happen, and gives you emotional blows at the right time. It's a book that everyone can enjoy!

My Blog Turns One Year Old!

And to celebrate, you get a list of my favorite performances.

I'm in a listing mood, so here it goes. These were performances that touched me, fascinated me and kept me glued to the screen. They had something uncommon about them: these were not just actors playing their parts, these were real people living inside the screen.

John Hurt in The Elephant Man:His portrayal of John Merrick, cruelly nicknamed "the elephant man" is the most touching performance I've seen. He made his character humane and sympathetic, transmitting all emotions subtly and beautifully. Physically, he fully transforms, but still, he's able to show what's under all the make-up. It's the type of performance that reaches deep within you and I'll never forget it.


Al Pacino in The Godfather Part I/II: Al Pacino plays Michael Corleone, the son of a Mafia boss who is forced to become the Boss perfectly. His transformation is wholly believable: the character always keeps his core, but changes a lot. With his subtle use of body language, unforgettable dialog delivery, expressive, focused eyes and sexiness, he creates a man who's trapped in his own life but still tries to keep his values and family intact. No one else has ever given a performance like this.


Nicole Kidman in To Die For: Suzanne Stone really is an unforgettable character. This ice-cold, ambitious woman, who'd do anything-really anything- to be in TV is awesomely played by Nicole Kidman. She sugarcoats the character, while allowing you to see what's inside. She never gets out of character, creating a unique body language that shows the character's fake nature, expressive eyes that create a full-fleshed person, and using a soft, mellow voice to deliver her dialog. She elevates this film and creates the most fascinating mean character. You just can't take your eyes off her.


Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Clementine Kruczynski is an extroverted, impulsive, foul-mouthed young woman. It's an extremely risky character, who, in the hands of someone less talented than Winslet, would have become an hysterically over-the-top caricature. Instead, she makes her character fascinating, with her ordinary beauty, unpredictability, and quirks hiding a sensitive, confused girl. She's able to show all this with a single look. It's a unique mix of entertainment, humor, sensibility and raw emotion. You can't avoid loving her.


Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense: Cole Sear is a troubled kid: he can communicate with the dead, and because of this he's picked on at school. Haley Joel Osment becomes Cole, it's as simple as that. He plays him with rarely seen intensity, without making this boy cutesy or precocious (which happens so many times with young actors). He is perfect in every aspect, but what really stands out are his eyes, permanently teary and expressive. When he's delivering his dialog, he captures all the cracks and nuances in his character's feelings. It's an imposingly natural performance, and Osment is a scene-stealer here.


Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands: Johnny Depp gives a pitch-perfect, heart-felt performance here. Edward, the shy man created by an inventor, deeply desires to love and touch, but he can't. This gives the performance its undercurrent of sadness, that becomes heart-breaking by the end. The awesomeness of this resides in the amazing mix of hilarious slapstick comedy and raw emotion, both of them beautifully played. This is the type of performance you feel, the type of performance that reaches a higher level.


Julianne Moore in The Hours: Any of The Hours leading ladies could be here, honestly, but Julianne Moore was the most impressive to me. Her depressed housewife is just like I imagined this character to be. She's likable even if she leaves her family: you can't help but understand her and root for her to be happy. She captures depression without ever being melodramatic or getting out of her part even for a second. She's sympathetic without begging for sympathy, and makes her storyline even more affecting. The chemistry she has with the camera is divine: she's not a showy performer, she simply becomes this woman. The magic of this is contained in little moments, looks, sentences that build up to create a woman.


James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause: This searing portrait of being a teenager is raw and true. It's obviously a deeply felt performance, with James Dean blending with his character forever. The special touch of this is its deep clinging for affection and search for a beautiful world. His confusion and fear come off perfectly with his whimsy moments, aggressive delivery of dialog, dreamy stare and self-aware movements. Everyone can relate.


Diane Keaton in Annie Hall: Annie Hall is the core of this movie, with her apparent simplicity and loveliness. Diane Keaton makes her imposingly funny while also believable, infusing her with vital little quirks and, above all, a darker side. She never makes her dramatic, going with the spirit of the movie, but explores Annie's insecurities, issues and obsessions through dizzy body language and fast dialog delivery. It's a simply human character, while also being one of the most hilarious nes ever portrayed. Oh, and some of the lines she speaks are just immortal.


Jamie Bell in Billy Elliott: This was the first acting performance I really loved. Jamie Bell filled this role with youthful energy and life, doing brilliantly expressive dance scenes and presenting a very realistic, natural 11-year-old boy with ease. You like this character from the moment you see him and you root for him. His chemistry with the other cast members is perfect and is dialog delivery is remarkable. He has natural charisma, holds the screen and fills this movie with feeling, without ever being unnatural or sappy.

Movies watched recently 11

The Painted Veil: This is a beautiful romance with excellent acting and gorgeous images. The screenplay is good, realistically portraying the relationship between a young couple and their development as people. The setting is also superbly developed, exploring chinese society subtly and intelligently. Its flaws are that the dialog could have been a bit less pompous in some scenes (but it's mostly fine) and the ending scene wasn't needed. The acting is immensely powerful. Naomi Watts left me in awe: she embodied the character in all little details, creating a real person with nuances. Edward Norton was also good, with some brilliant scenes and always convincing: they have a brilliant chemistry between them. The supporting actors are also good. The direction captures beautiful images and allows the characters to develop. The cinematography is inspiring: the color is vivid and beautiful, and it absorbs you. The soundtrack is very beautiful, completing the movie without being intrusive. Overall, this is a movie I'd recommend.


The House Of Mirth: I thought this was a very boring movie, with a good leading performance. The screenplay is clichéd and doesn't fully develop, with disinteresting characters and bad dialog. The basic story line is fine, but the pace ruins it. The acting is mediocre by everyone except Gillian Anderson, who gives her clichéd character life and feelings, using great body language and edgy delivery of dialog. She makes this not a total waste of time. The direction is unremarkable, and the technicals are genuinely bad. The cinematography makes this look cheap, the editing is not swift and doesn't allow supporting characters to develop, spending time repeating the same things. The (almost) lack of soundtrack doesn't fit here. Overall, this is not worth-watching.

Les Invasions Barbares: This is a good, though flawed movie about Canadian society. The screenplay has some very good dialog but the storyline is too static, as the relationships between characters never really develop. Rémy Girard was excellent, with funny delivery and convincing emotions, but Stéphane Rousseau isn't believable. The supporting cast is unremarkable. The direction is quite good: the beginning is absorbingly well-done and there are some really beautiful shots. The technicals are fine but ordinary. This succeeds at portraying a fragile society and intellectuals, but not at showing human relationships.

Books read recently 4

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer: Jonathan Safran Foer's first book is not as good as his second, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close but it's a very good book. The story is elaborated but easy to follow, covering a lot of themes and styles equally well. He shows mastery of English in the segments narrated by Alex, which are quite funny though make him sound idiotic in the beginning. The history of Jonathan's family is very colorful and well-written. The pace is not very good, with big differences in intensity.Some of the characters aren't very well-developed, but others are amazing. The ending is just perfect and heartbreaking. Overall, I enjoyed this and recommend it: it's honest, funny and original.

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: This contemplative story is extremely well-written and it has some very good characters, though it repeats itself sometimes, getting lost in beautiful writing. You can relate to the characters and there are some interesting themes about women and 20th century society. The stream of consciousness technique gets you into the characters' minds and allows you to see the same scene by various points of view, but it has a problem: the thoughts seem to repeat themselves over and over, which gets boring. This is an effort to read, but it's ultimately rewarding.

Movies watched recently 10

The Big Sleep: This movie has an unique cool sultry mood, witty dialogs and chemistry between the two leads, but the plot is contrived and impossible to understand. The screenplay is very bad: the plot is too complicated and the pace is all wrong. The dialogs are witty and full of innuedo, though not some of the best I've seen.The direction and cinematography are very good, giving this film a uniqe mood. The acting is fine by the two leads, who play their usual roles without much brilliance. I don't understand why this has become a classic.

Girl, Interrupted: This is a decent adaptation and a very good movie. The screenplay keeps close to the book during the first half, and then differs from it (that's the weakest part, because it feels a bit forced). The narration is flawed, but the dialogs are excellent, the characters are human and beautiful and some scenes are incredibly touching.. The acting is really impressive. Winona Ryder is unforgettable, with her expressive eyes capturing her character and a perfect delivery of the dialog getting you to understand Susanna. The supporting actresses are also excellent: Angelina Jolie shows her acting chops keeping her character believable and having some really standout scenes and Brittany Murphy lets the wounds of her character be seen using subtle, effective acting. The music and grim cinematography work her. This is a good movie with really great acting.

Good Bye Lenin!: This is a sophisticated comedy/ touching drama. The screenplay is very good: it's an original story with interesting themes, honest emotions, witty dialogs and full-fleshed characters. The acting is very good: Daniel Bruhl gives a strong performance, capturing is character's mixed feelings and utopia, and Katrin Sass uses her expressive eyes to show her character's difficult emotions. All the supporting cas is also good. The direction is simple but it has some very good shots that are able to capture the whole scene unforgettably. The piano soundtrack is fitting and remarkable and the cinematography is also beautiful. One of the flaws of this movie is the narration, which is redundant and over-done. Even so, this is a very enjoyable film with a thought-provoking subject.


Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: I LOVED this movie. It's an honest, thought-provoking portrayal of love, human relationships, feelings and memory. The screenplay is amazing: realistic feelings are involved in a wild story that explores the leading character's mind perfectly. The characters are fascinating and human and the dialog is witty and believable. The acting is inspiring: Kate Winslet delivers a unique performance that has become one of my favorites: her character could have become ridiculously over the top, but she's able to make her charismatic and extroverted while expressing emotions rawly and delivering her lines unforgettably. Jim Carrey plays a very different role from his usual greatly and the two leads have pure chemistry. Kirsten Dunst also delivers a very convincing performance. The direction and editing are very inventive and creative, making the movie dizzy, romantic and intelligent. The music is brilliant: Jon Brion's soundtrack is a knock-out and Beck's theme is nostalgically fitting. In the end, it's "just" a beautiful love story, extremely well-told and original.

Girl, Interrupted
The Big Sleep