"Excuse Me, You're in My Spot"

THE HEARTBREAK KID

Year: 1972
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 542
Director: Elaine May
Starring: Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin, Eddie Albert
Oscar nom: Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Albert), Best Supporting Actress (Jeannie Berlin)
IMDb: 6.9
RT score: 90%

Elaine May's comedy The Heartbreak Kid, is the story about the newly weds, Lenny (Charles Grodin) and Lila (Jeannie Berlin) who's off to their honeymoon to Miami. On the trip, Lenny seems to have second thoughts about the whole marriage, specially after their first night in bed together. When they finally arrives Miami, and Lenny can finally rest in the sun, a young tall blond goddess, named Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) suddenly appears, and says "excuse me, you're in my spot". And from that moment Lenny is madly in love with this college girl, with a rich and overprotective father (Eddie Albert). So this mean's Lenny is up against two problems. The first one is to gently get rid of his wife, and convince Kelly's father that he's good enough for his daughter.

What do I think about this comedy? Well I will not call it a classic, because I don't find it very special, or very funny for that matter. It's an easy going comedy, that doesn't give our main character to many challenges, it all appears to easily for him. And the ending is certainly not satisfying. And I also find Jeannie Berlin to be over the top annoying. But what I really liked about this movie was Eddie Albert's performance as Kelly's father. A really strong performance with authority and repentance. A real badass performance. Plus the movie also features a really sexy Cybill Shepherd.


Grade: C+


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"To Be or Not To Be"

PARADISE NOW

Year: 2005
Country: Palestinian Territories/France/Germany/Netherlands/Israel
Language: Arabic
Number: 1033
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Starring: Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal, Hiam Abbass
Oscar nom: Best Foreign Language Film
IMDb: 7.5
RT score: 89%

Hany Abu-Assad's Paradise Now is an amazing film that takes us deep into the Palestinian society, where every one is portrayed as human beings. Roger Ebert said something clever to some one who criticized him for "humanizing those animals". Ebert replied that by calling them animals they think exactly the way we think about them. It's not a movie that chooses a side, but it certainly shows us that these are not the monsters, but humans with all the emotions intact, with their fears and doubts.

We follows two young palestinian mechanics and best friends, Said and Khaled, who both have decided to enlist as suicide bombers to bomb Israeli targets in Tel-Aviv by dressing up like Israeli civilians, wearing black suits. But the plan doesn't goes as planned, when they trying to sneak out via the border fence, and they run in different directions to hide from the israeli guard patrol. It's a crazy day, and it's seems like their mission isn't going to be pulled off, while the the two friends try to find where the other person is. They might even have a second thought about the whole operation.

This film is a great study of the human mind, and the inner conflicts they have because of their insecureness about their mission. But it's also kind of surprising that these two ordinary men, with an ordinary job, who seems not to be very religious, who sits in the sun, smoking on a water pipe and drinking tea, becomes suicide bombers in the first place. Every character is three dimensional, every one has empathy for each other, and even ask questions about the situation and the conflict itself.

Paradise Now also has some funny moments. like when Khaled is giving his speech in a video statement, and the camera man have forgotten to record it. Or when Khaled is complaining about the tape around his body is to tight, when the fact is that they are never going to take them off anyway. This comical undertone destroys the myth of the well organized evil terror network. What a genius film that gives us the palestinians point of view, and how bad the situation really is. The acting is absolutely superb with real blood, sweat and tears, with great dialogues and realistic outbursts. This is truly the best film about the Israeli-Palestine conflict.


Grade: A


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"Let the Camera Tell the Story"

THE RED AND THE WHITE

Original title: Csillagosok, katonák
Year: 1967
Country: Hungary/Soviet Union
Language: Hungarian, Russian
Number: 471
Director: Miklós Jancsó
Starring: József Madaras, Tibor Molnár, András Kozák, Jácint Juhász
IMDb: 8.0
RT score: 67%

Miklós Jancsó's The Red and The White, is a wonderful made and well crafted war film, that is set in Hungary in 1918 where the russian revolutionary war also took place, between the white conservative forces, versus the red bolshevik army. It resulted in a red victory and a short lived soviet state, but it was only after four mounts it was dismissed and monarchy was once again established.

This movie focuses on a bunch of Bolshevik prisoners, some are executed, while the rest is sent out in the forrest naked, just so that the czarist troops can enjoy themselves by hunting them down one after one. As arrogant as they are, they underestimate the revolutionaries, because the reds have the people on their side. The czarist forces are portrayed as brutal and inhuman, specially in a scene where a bunch of the white soldiers tries to rape an innocent peasant girl, along with all their murderers and executions. While the red forces in the other hand are portrayed as heroes and martyrs, that in the end forms a line and walks slowly ahead towards an even bigger army of whites, that shoots them all down. And in the closing image we see one of the red soldiers rises his sword in salute for the dead ones.

What's really special about this film, is the cinematography with many long-takes that last for many minutes. It is not one position, but a moveable camera that jumps from one event to an other, without thinking it's just one scene, and it engages us even more, in that way that we feel like we watching as it really is, which gives the movie a more realistic tone. The story is great, because it follows the red forces, and it is their actions that drives the story and keeps it going. It doesn't follow some certain people, it follows many of the prisoners, of every culture and ethnicity. The only thing that is negative about this movie is the portraying of the white soldiers, and some of the details to make them look bad, like their own orchestra, which might be a turn off, and even a propaganda cliché. But then again it's communist Hungary. But besides that this movie is perfect, in length, in cinematography and in excitement.


Grade: A-


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"A Truly Dark Noir"

THE BIG HEAT

Year: 1953
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 263
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby
IMDb: 8.0
RT score: 100%

Fritz Lang's The Big Heat, is probably among the greatest film noir I've seen, and I don't usually like this genre, but this is an exception. It's the story about the police detective Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) who just come a cross a murder, that looks like a suicide, but is in fact something bigger, according to a lover of the murdered, which ends up dead. Dave becomes more involved in this case than he should, because it might effect his love ones. But Dave is one of those who doesn't leave a case unsolved.

The Big Heat is a great film noir. The reason I think it's great is because it isn't as stylistic as the other noir films. Here there's is no glamour, every one has an average look. A killing is a horrible thing, not poetic in any ways, which this film is able to bring out perfectly. Glenn Ford gives us a pretty solid performance as the vengeful policeman, that won't rest until he track down the killers. In other words, Fritz Lang, the creator of the greatest thriller ever made M, has once again given us a great film that shocks us, thrills us, engages us and makes us ask questions, but the only problem I can think of is that some of the question that keeps bugging us becomes unanswered. But otherwise I loved every second of this movie. 


Grade: A-


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"Happy 50th Birthday, Algeria!"

THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS

Original Title: La battaglia di Algeri
Country: Italy/Algeria
Language: French, Arabic
Number: 436
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Starring: Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Oscar nom: Best Foreign Language Film (Italy) Best Original Screenplay, Best Director
Venice: Golden Lion, FIPRESCI Prize
IMDb: 8.2
RT: 99%

It is now 50 years since Algeria got it's independence from the french, after countless of bloody battles that cost over one million dead's, most of them civilians. It was on the 1st of November, 1954 that the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) declared war against the french settlers, and this has become their national day. They weren't as experienced as the french soldiers, they where basically just local villagers with no war experience and was a easy match for the french forces, who did every dirty trick in the book to tear their network apart, specially with the help of torture, which made the international society react and the french came under a high pressure. And also the french experienced inner conflict between leftists and conservatives. It's was in other words their Vietnam.

The Battle of Algiers is set in the Algerian capital Algeries where we follow three FNL members, who see all the repression in the Casbah (the muslim part of the city) and decides to assassinate as many of the local police men and politicians they can, to draw international attention. But as always the french's revenge is ten times worse, specially when a bomb is placed in the middle of the casbah and many civilians dies. It's from then the FNL have to plant bombs in the french part of the city like in cafes and airports. Then the government decides to use the highly experienced paratroop squad, lead by Colonel Mathieu to track down all the FNL members, no matter what.

The Battle of Algiers is a wonderful piece of film making. It's almost like a documentary, filmed in black and white, hand held, locations where it really happened and with amateur actors. It also even features the real resistance fighter Saadi Yacef playing basically himself. The only professional actor in this film is Jean Martin as the french paratroop general with his characteristic sunglasses, which makes him one of the greatest bad asses in the history of motion pictures. And to top it all, there's the Ennio Morricone soundtrack.

What I even love more about this movie is that it's never aged a bit, since it was released in 1966. It is as relevant today as it was then. We can clearly see the same thing going on in many countries today as in this movie, like in the on going Arab spring and the Israel-Palestine conflict. It was actually banned in Israel for many years. It was also banned in France, mostly because of the portraying of the french forces in the movie. And one other fun fact is that this movie was screened in Pentagon right before the invasion of Iraq, to do the opposite of what the moral of this film is. In their case it was how to eliminate a whole terrorist network.

The Battle of Algiers is a wonderful example of what kind of powers the motion pictures has. It's not just entertainment, it also has an objective to educate us, to tell us how it really is, or how some certain people feels about it. The perfect political drama, and probably one of the few movies that actually have change the world, and actually educated us, and influenced us politically. And I hope it's still with us after another fifty years from now, which it certainly will.


Grade: A


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"A Very Long Movie"

A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

Original title: Un long dimanche de fiancailles
Year: 2004
Country: France/United States
Language: French
Number: 1027
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Marion Cotillard, Dominique Pinon
Oscar nom: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
IMDb: 7.8
RT score: 78%

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's reprise his collaboration with actress Audrey Tautou in A Very Long Engagement, after the great success with Amelie. To bad that this is exactly the same movie, only dressed up in a military camouflage. The movie is set in France, right after the first world war. Mathilde who's engage to her boyfriend, Manech, who's missing, and no one knows if he's dead or alive. As in Amelie we get to go deep into the characters private life and hobbies, and I couldn't have cared less that Mathilde loves playing the tuba.

It's uses all the techniques as Amelie, and since that was a romantic comedy, it doesn't fit into a war film. It isn't serious enough, it's to bright to be a war film, and it also bugs me that many soldiers accidentally shoots their hands in order to get out of the front, what a Vietnam cliche. The stylistic layers only makes me sick and offended that they want to make a colorful fruit punch out of the muddy trenches. What did I like? Well Audrey Tautou is hot, and it's kind of interesting to watch Jodie Foster act in French. But otherwise it's a movie that I sincerely hate, because it's a romantic melodrama comedy that has no respect for the actualities and human suffering, but is only interesting to show us another author film, and also it's to long. I don't care if it's based on any novel or how close it is. It's a movie that I really can't stand.


Grade: D


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"Role Reversal"

BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL

Original title: Deus e o diabo na terra do sol
Year: 1964
Country: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
Number: 429
Director: Glauber Rocha
Starring: Geraldo Del Rey, Yoná Magalhaes, Maurício do Valle, Othon Bastos
IMDb: 7.4
RT score: 100%

Glauber Rocha's Black God, White Devil is the story about the poor peasant Manuel who just have shot his landlord for trying to cheat Manuel of his earnings and have no other choice than to flee along with his pregnant wife Rosa . In their journey they come across a religious sect with a self proclaimed prophet who makes Manuel kill his first born son, it then ends up with Rosa killing the prophet, and Manuel and Rosa is once again on the run. Then they join a christian outlaw gang. The bounty hunter, Antonio das Mortes is hired by the catholic church to take these outlaws down, once and for all.

Black God, White Devil is a part of the Latin American movement called "Cinema Novo" (New Cinema) which is a wave that was heavily influenced by the Italian neorealism, in that way that it's focusing on the poor conditions of the lowest in the society, which apposes the old fashion Latin American cinema with all it's Hollywood, like melodramas and musicals. And that's exactly what Black God, White Devil is, all it's symbolism and criticism towards the catholic church who says that "thou shall not kill", but sends out a gun men to kill people, without no forgiveness. The films most powerful scene is where das Mortes shoot down and massacres all of the prophets unarmed followers with a Winchester rifle, which might be a symbolism of what actually the Christianity has stand for the last two thousand years. I loved all the films symbolism, but I have to admit all it's symbolism, and less plot made it a little boring. But overall it's a good religious film about the dangers of religious extremism.


Grade: B

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"Viva La Emperor"

NAPOLÉON

Year: 1927
Country: France
Language: Silent
Number: 36
Director: Abel Gance
Starring: Albert Dieudonné, Vladimir Roudenko, Gina Manès, Edmond Van Daële
IMDb: 7.8
RT score: 92%

Abel Gance's masterly four hours long silent epic, Napoleon is by many considered to be the greatest biographical film ever made about the great Napoleon Bonaparte. We follow him from his early childhood during the days at the military academy, where the young Napoleon from Corsica is demonstrating his leader skills in a snowball fight, and is from then seen in no other clothes then his uniform, because his destiny is certain. He then gains greater responsibility during the french revolution in Paris where he also falls for the rich and beautiful Josephine who wont marry him because of his rank and class. He is then promoted to general over the Italian army, an army full of exhausted and inexperienced soldiers. There's no expectation of a victory, it is here Napoleon proves them wrong, and light a sparkle inside every soldiers and defeats his enemies.

The films ends here, because there was a plan for a sequel to continue Napoleon's rich and exciting life. But sadly enough, Napoleon was actually not very well received by the audience or the critics and became a flop and Abel Gance's carrier was in ruin, specially when the sound came and he was unable to adapt, but he did anyhow made another Napoleon movie about the battle of Austerlitz, but neither that one become successful. After many short cut versions, Napoleon was finally released in it's full length by film historian Kevin Brownlow and was premiered in 1981. and it's from then considered to be one of the greatest film ever made.





The reason why Napoleon have been considered a masterpiece is because of all the technical achievements this movie has to offer. It's basically contain all the film techniques that was revolutionary at that time it was made, such as fast cutting, majestic close ups, hand held camera shots, multiple exposure and many more. One great example with the fast cutting is during the battle scenes, and specially the battle of Gibraltar, a wonderful, exhilarating chaotic scene, more chaotic that Eisenstein's Odessa scene. And also the cross-cutting scene where we see the chaos in the french parliament while we follow Napoleon's dangerous voyage from Corsica to the main land in a small rowboat battling a great hurricane.

I can only imagine how great it would have been to actually seen this in a theater with an actual orchestra playing in the background, it would have been the most reverence moment in my life. I try not to sound like a bitch when I say that the only problem with this film that it's actually is to long, because there are many part that I thought this movie could be without. But overall I think that watching this film have given a bigger reverence towards Napoleon as the great leader and strategist he was, and what you can achieve if you only work hard for it.


Grade: B+


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