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Sunday, April 29, 2012

"The Great Escapism"

Posted on 12:06 PM by Unknown
ZABRISKIE POINT



Year: 1970
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 520
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

Starring: Mark Frechette, Daria Halprin, Paul Fix, Bill Garaway
IMDb: 7.0
RT score: 61%


Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point is his second of three pictures he filmed in english. Many critics says Zabriskie Point is his least impressive work. Wow, if this is his least impressive, then Antonioni must be a cinematicall wizard. But I actually this one is his best, even better than Blow Up.

Zabriskie Point takes place in the late 1960s, in the hippie era, in Los Angeles. A bunch of college students has their own radical meeting where they discuss "politics" while they are young and high. In this group there one individual named Mark (Mark Frechette) who's tired of all the conversations, which leading nowhere. He has the same political view as all the others, but he want to go even further, more drastic, use of sharp ammunition against the conformists. He get himself a hand gun. But he rather chose to steal an small air plane and flies it to the Death Valley in southern California where a young pot-smoking secretary named Daria (Daria Halprin) who's on her way to her employers summer house. On a weird coincident both Daria and Mark meets in the middle of the desert, and later make love in a desert formation called Zabriskie Point, where a lot of couples have made love before them. They forget all their worries, all about the world outside, the only thing there is, is love. A place where one could have stayed for ever and ever. But it is possible to actually do that? And I think the answer in obvious.









Zabriskie Point also have some good songs by Pink Floyd, which just fit so great with the events on the screen. One example is the opening scene where we follow the student meetings, where Pink Floyd's music is all we here, and there's no audible dialogues, to symbolize the facts that all of the students are doing drugs, not discuss politics. Another good example with use of Pink Floyd's music is when Daria is imagine that everything in her world is exploding. Zabriskie Point is a wonderful break from reality, as long as it takes us merciless back to earth.


Grade: B+

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http://www.flixster.com/user/filmfreak93

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"Stuck in Cuba? "

Posted on 11:46 AM by Unknown
MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT



Original title: Memorias del Subdesarrollo
Year: 1968
Country: Cuba
Language: Spanish
Number: 484
Director: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Starring: Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados,  Eslinda Nunez, Omar Valdés
IMDb: 7.7
RT score: 86%

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea's Memories of Underdevelopment is one of two cuban pictures that is listed in 1001 movies you must see before you dies. For being a communist country one could have the idea that they would delivered a lot of international successes like they did in the Soviet Union. Castro's Cuba had have very few. But one of them is this one, and it even deals with the revolution itself, and is not a propaganda film, but a story about the common man, in a strict and also religious Cuba. 

Memories of Underdevelopment takes place in Cuba from 1960 to 1962, during such events as the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the cuban missile crisis. Our protagonist is Sergio Mendoyo, a writer who'm wife have divorced him and gone away to the States. Sergio tries to contain such a normal life as possible. He sleeps with some girl, he reflects over politics, reflects over Ernest Hemingway summer house he had in Cuba. Reflects over the cuban people's underdevelopment, a word that is used multiple of times in this film. 



Memories of Underdevelopment is more of a reflecting movie, more than a plot driven film. It's a feature of every day boredom in Cuba. Sergio is in many way very much like Fellini's protagonist Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita. When it comes to the technical part in this film its average, it's full of interesting still images. But it's not more special that any other art movie. Some of the scene can be to long. Surprisingly enough  it's not an anti-capitalistic nor a pro-communist film, but a honest one. 

Grade: B-

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"A Real Stomach Ache"

Posted on 3:59 AM by Unknown
DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST






Original title: Journal d'un curé de campagne
Year: 1951
Country: France
Language: French
Number: 238
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Claude Laydu, Jean Riveyre, Adrien Borel, Rachel Bérendt

Venice: International Award, Italian Film Critics Award, OCIC Award, Golden Lion
IMDb: 7.8
RT score: 92%


Although Robert Bresson made three films before he made Diary of a Country Priest, this is called his first film because it's the first one where we see his famous trades mark that is so highly admired by many filmmakers, with it's realistic humanistic themed films, with natural lightning, sound and use of amateur actors which he call models.

This is the story about the young priest, who is remained nameless who arrives as the new towns priest in a small village named Ambricourt where he faces many challenges and seems not to fit in or understand the towns inhabitants. He's also don't feeling very well, his health is getting worse, while at the same time just eating bread and wine which doesn't makes it better.

To be honest I didn't think to much about this film. It was slow, and the dialogue and acting seemed kind of hallowed, I didn't feel very much watching it. I though it would be more realistic and more naturalistic. I think the narration makes it even more less, by giving it the same frame as the classical Hollywood model.



Grade: C-


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Saturday, April 21, 2012

"The Eclipse of Destiny"

Posted on 1:22 PM by Unknown
KANDAHAR






Original title: سفر به قندهار (Safar e Ghandehar)
Year: 2001
Country: Iran
Language: English, Persian, Pashto, Polish
Number: 982
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf  

Starring: Nelofer Pazira, Hassan Tantai, Sedou Teymouri, Hoyatala Hakimi
Cannes: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Golden Palm
IMDb: 6.7
RT score: 88%


Kandahar is an extraordinary story about Nafas, an afghan woman who fled to Canada during the soviet invasion. She have gotten a letter from her sister who was left behind that she is gonna commit suicide when the next full moon occurs. So Nafas decides to go back to her native country to pick her up before it's to late. But the Taliban ruled Afghanistan isn't a safe place, specially for women who have to wear burqas all the time. A place without law, poverty and diseases.

Kandahar is a good film which set the great mood, with all the amazing cinematography, colors and music. It also feels authentic with all the local resident which I highly suspect isn't actors at all but are who they are. It's also the case with the character Tabib Sahid a doctor who helps our heroine. He is an African-American who converted to Islam and came to Afghanistan to fight against the Russian. After the war he decided to help out by being a doctor and help the needy people. Sahid is played by Hassan Tantai who is in fact an Islamic terrorist. That kind of give us a little chill, because he's performance in the film, where he play are more helpful and understanding character. But isn't it like that if a person is to perfect he got to be a serial killer.

But enough about him. Kandahar is a great film, a journey into a different world. This film was released before 9/11, we see an Afghanistan that is split and out of touch with the world around it, and I think that this movie with make it easier to understand this society.



Grade: A-


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Sunday, April 15, 2012

"A Century Has Passed"

Posted on 5:19 AM by Unknown
TITANIC





Year: 1997
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 930
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Gloria Stuart
Oscar nom: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Editing, Best Dramatic Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound, Best Actress (Kate Winslet), Best Supporting Actress (Gloria Stuart), Best Makeup
IMDb: 7.6
RT score: 88% 

Well it's now 100 years since the unsinkable ship, R.M.S. Titanic hit an iceberg and sank down to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. 1514 of it's 2223 passenger froze to death, mainly because there wasn't enough life boats for every one, because every one though it was unsinkable. And the captain was also forced into taking a faster route so the biggest creation men have seen could arrive some day early. Well there's a lot of things that could have been prevented this from happening. But it's because of this accident that's why the safety about every vehicle is extremely important. It also the first time the rescue message S.O.S. (Save Our Souls) became the standard distress code.

Technically, Titanic is a story about the treasure hunter, Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) and his team who explore the wreck of Titanic just so they can find a lost jewel that was aboard the ship. A diamond necklace named Heart of the Ocean. After finding the safe that it was suppose to be kept, all they find of value inside is a drawing book with a drawing of a naked lady with the diamond they are looking for around her neck. An old women named Rose Dawson (Gloria Stuart) calls them and claims she is that woman on the drawing. She's then transported to the boat and tells the crew about the journey aboard Titanic. 



She tells about, her a rich american girl (Kate Winslet) who is engage to a rich, arrogant and snobbish steel plant owner named Cal Hockley (Billy Zane). She is tired of this strict life of all the lies and repressions. But on Titanic she meets the young and poor painter and adventures Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) who prevent her from trowing herself into the water. And she is eminently developed an interest for this extraordinary lad, who is more himself than any other of the people at first class combined. And Rose finally opens herself. But the fate want's it other wise, because of the horrible event that took place on the night on the 15. April. I guess you can figure out what happened to Rose and Jack.


The love story itself isn't that original to be honest, it's the same love story that is as old as the ocean itself. But what really fascinate me about this film is that it have a huge almond of historical and class differences attached to it. We see the differences between rich and poor. For the rich this trip was just another trip to america drinking Scotch, smoking cigars and discuss politics, while the passengers on third class drinks and dance and having their times of their lives, because they are all immigrants who dreaming of the new world, not just Brits, but also Italians, Swedes, Turks, Russians and many others, most of them didn't make it, because they were kept under deck to avoid a big crowd so the rich people could get into the life boat first.




The Historical aspects of is that this was the biggest vessel ever build on that time. The ship was seen as unsinkable, and was the pride of the British Empire. This was during the so called "La Belle Époque" (The Beautiful Era). And the year 1912 is for many people the year that lead to the decline of the pride of all mankind and primarily the British empire, because of Robert Scott's failed attempt to reach the south pole first, and the sinking of R.M.S. Titanic. And two years later the first world war followed.

I will say I wouldn't have liked this movie if it were so selfish if it had just followed Jack and Rose during the the disaster. The film show us very much of the disaster itself and how many died. We see the horror and the madness. It's like Sergei Eisenstein's famous stairway scene in The Battleship Potemkin. It's so horrifying to watch all the people falling down in the water screaming, It's worse than hell. The movie covers every kind of personalities aboard as the ships goes down, and how they deal with it.

Does this movie deserve all that reconstruction? Does it deserve all the 11 Oscar wins? Yes and Yes. Titanic is a movie that is a great reminder of how important it is to follow who you are. And always think about safety and see it all in a perceptive compared to earlier times. Most of the Oscars Titanic won was basically technical, and I must say they are pretty good and convincing, both in art direction cinematography and costume. My conclusion of this film is that the love story might be a turn of, it's all the other aspect of it so superb. Rest in Peace.

Grade: B

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"An Allies Wet Dream"

Posted on 4:51 AM by Unknown
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS



Year: 2009
Country: United States
Language: English, German, French, Italian
Number: 1079
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Christoph Waltz, Brad Pitt, Diana Kruger, Melanie Laurent

Quentin Tarantino's seventh motion picture, Inglourious Basterds, is a war film specially inspired by the sub-gernes the mission war film, such as The Dirty Dozen and the original Inglorious Basterds, which this movie isn't a remake of. But there are some of the the same elements. Quentin Tarantino is famous for breaking boundaries, and he certainly did with this picture exactly called "Inglourious" Basterds. The perfect title. The movie is full of them, those basterds. That is impossible to don't love, or least one of them.

Inglourious Basterds tells many different tales from the nazi-occupied France, but basically it's the story about a group of jewish soldiers, lead by the american Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) who is dropped into Vichy France to take down as many nazi general, or nazi scalps as possible. "They call themselves the Inglourious Basterds, They are pretty much like the bounty hunters, and crooks of the wild west, specially the spaghetti westerns. But there's not only them, It's also the nazi detective, Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), know as "The Jew Hunter" who job is to find people, many of them jews. He also killed the entire family to Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) who escaped to Paris where she opened a film theater. Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels decides to screen a propaganda film in that theater, where almost all nazi generals will attend, including Adolf Hitler himself. That means this is a target for the Inglourious Basterds to attack. But Dreyfus also has some plans to avenge her families death. This is where all the Basterds meats.


Inglourious Basterds is an amazing, and fresh war film, or more like a black comedy. It's specially Christoph Waltz who steals the whole show, with is charismatic character Hans Landa. A detective who speaks a total of four languages; german, english, french and italian. And unforgettable, and funny performance. Brat Pitt is also funny, talking with his thick southern state dialect. I also loved Mélanie Laurent's performance as the best femme fatal in a long time. I could talk about all the characters, and all their original personalities, but you have to see for yourself. This is truly an original piece of filmmaking, and also a mix of many different sub-gernes that the new generation. What a genius.



Grade: A+



You can read all my reviews on:
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      • "The Great Escapism"
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