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Reviews
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Ruined by lousy acting
I hadn't seen this movie in years. I remember actually liking it when it first came up. Should I mentioned I didn't speak English at that time? Seeing it again this time I realized how horrible pretty boy Leonardo di Caprio and Claire Daines sound. Their pronunciation is lousy and they just don't have any sense of enunciation. Just watch Di Caprio's scenes with Pete Postlethwaite's Laurence: day & night. The movie is so well intentioned, the updating ideas are good, the production design excellent; even the frantic editing and the pop music fit this modern adaptation. But everything fails if your two main characters are played by modest actors who can't follow the archaic yet beautiful language of the great bard.A pity.
Star Wars (1977)
I've grown up
I felt in love with the Star wars movie saga when these movies were released again to movie theaters in 1997. I was just a teenager back then. I just watched them again in Blu-ray and some of the old excitement is gone. I guess almost 15 years of becoming familiar with great directors and great movies and also with Sci-Fi/Fantasy works done before 1977 have made me unable to close eyes to what is wrong with Star Wars. Though the movie is still a fantastic entertainment in a childish way, it has some of the worst dialogue I've ever heard in a screen –big or small- and terrible acting. Luke Skywalker is the archetypical hero and the character has great potential. However, Mr. Hamill wasn't skilled or talented enough to flesh out the character as it was written paper thin. As result, poor Luke is just a whining teenager. Harrison Ford fares much better as the rogue space cowboy because he was a very charismatic person not because he was the best of actors. Carrie Fisher is equally flat as princess Leia. Only Peter Cushing saves the day with decent acting as well as the powerful voice of Mr. Jones. The direction is mediocre but serviceable. The soundtrack sounds better than ever in its Wagnerian intensity and use of motifs. Watch it for old time's sake. Luckily, Empire Strikes back holds the passing of time much better.
The Bible in the Beginning... (1966)
I just can't believe this was directed by John Huston
I'm a great admirer of Mr. Huston's body of work. From Treasure of Sierra Madre to The Prizzi's Honor, without mentioning my personal favorite, Moby Dick, this great eccentric was capable to produce authentic gems or at least very decent films. But this? Oh boy, where to start on the wrongs: first, the pacing is so slow that you would think God took 6 centuries and not 6 days for the Creation. It's slow, slower and slowest. In a word: boring. Independently of the script (whatever your religious beliefs are, you would agree with me that the Bible is not the most cinematic book you could take to the big screen, but there are plenty of elements that could give a good story). Then, about the production values, the washed out color that worked so well in Moby Dick gives this movie a look much older than its 1966 release, and it feels cheap for an epic of such proportions. The cinematography is nothing to write home about. The makeup is terrible (just watch "old Abraham" makeup for a reference), the customs are anachronistic with its impeccable cleanliness. Talking about the casting, the great George C. Scotts ruins what could have been the best part of the movie with his annoying overacting. The music is just corny and bombastic. Huston is an indifferent narrator and the voice of an even more indifferent God. I gave it 4 stars in memory of the great director John Huston was despite this abomination. And because it's fun to see him as Noah. It's very clear that Huston was an atheist. Otherwise I can't understand the total lack of enthusiasm reflected in this movie.
Inception (2010)
Talk about overrated movies
Surely IMDb can survive without yet another amateur review for "Inception". I'm only doing this to justify myself about the 2 star rating. I would normally have rated this movie with 6 points. But as other reviewers state, I feel that is just fair to give a lower rate to balance a little the totally overblown rate it has. This film looks fantastic in Blu-Ray. There are several sequences that are a real visual delight (the Paris café scene where Di Caprio's character is explaining the young dream architect portrayed by Ellen Page and the 0 gravity sequence in the second layer dream). But the problem is that beyond that you don't have much. Looks like Mr. Nolan sacrificed plot line and character developed for the technical aspects. The plot is not complex, is just convoluted. The characters are cardboard thin and underdeveloped. I never imagined dreams could be as uninteresting as in this movie. Have you ever watched Fellini's movies? Or Tartovsky's? or Cocteau's? or Buñuel's? Plenty of dream-like images there
One last word: it's a pity to gather such fine actors and waste them as Mr. Nolan did here; Joseph Gordon Levitt, Cillian Murphy and Watanabe san do what they can with the script, but Leonardo DiCaprio can't do much to give some life to his character. An utterly uninvolving movie. I'll stay with Matrix if I want a Hollywood production dealing with a superficial questioning of our perception of reality and sub consciousness.
5 Branded Women (1960)
No place for love or mercy in wartime
This relatively unknown gathers a very impressive cast of both European and American actors and actresses. Silvia Mangano gives a fine performance as the leader of the titled women. These women are casted away from a little town in Yugoslavia 1943 because they have slept with a Nazi Sargent (except innocent Vera Miles who didn't go beyond kissing but anyway is accused as the others), not before they are humiliated by their own people by cropping their hair.
The girls bound together and they wander around the country until they resolve to join the partisans despite their initial resilience. The women will form relationships with the partisans and a captured German Captain (R. Basehart).
But it's wartime and this is no Hollywood movie: there are no happy endings or black and white feelings or situations. The movie is gritty and somehow cruel. The movie has its flaws, the pacing could be better and some characters feel underdeveloped, but all things considered, this is a very good movie. It's not released on DVD, but you can find it over the Internet. It's well worth the search.
Tension (1949)
Not a bad little man at all
This may not be the best film noir out there, but it certainly is my favorite. It's a shame is not wider known. You have murder, adultery, a policeman with very dubious investigation methods, a simple little guy mixed in terrible business and a femme fatale that can easily fit in a "Desperate House Wives" episode. Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter star as husband (Warren) and wife (Claire) trapped in a dead end marriage: he is a meek pharmacist who works the night shift in a drugstore in order to save enough money to achieve his little domestic American dream. Unfortunately his wife has much bigger dreams than that: she wants a bigger man, with a bigger wallet, a bigger car and
you get the idea. When she runs away with her lover and poor Warren's dream and self- esteem are shattered, Warren comes with a plan to kill the big man
a plan that is quite silly and that attracts most of the negative critics again this movie, but please think again: would you really expect a nice little guy as Warren to come with a brilliant killing scheme? Of course not! As silly as the murder plan is, it's perfectly adequate for Warren's character. Mr. Basehart is absolutely brilliant in his performance: he makes his pathetic character so likable that at times I just wanted to scream at my screen:" Warren dear, what are you doing? You silly man, you could get dozens of woman, just dump that bi**h of a wife and move on!" Mr. Basehart was the perfect nice guy next door involved in criminal business by fate or accident that was a recurrent type in film noirs. And Audrey Totter
she is so deliciously vicious as the femme fatale! She is one of a kind; you'll never find one like this in the entire film noir library. All other secondary players are equally great. In summary, try it! Don't let the apparently contrived plot drive you away, just enjoy the quintessential performances by Basehart and Totter.
La strada (1954)
Accessible masterpiece
La Strada is a masterpiece. Fortunately, it has been acknowledge as one for more than 50 years and it has been widely discussed and analyzed for some of the most talented film scholars. There is also a variety of very goods review here in IMDb. There is nothing insightful I can add to those reviews. I would only recommend you to watch this movie. And watch it not only once, but at least twice. And watch it again. Part of its beauty is that Fellini doesn't impose a message on it; instead you are free to draw your own conclusions and get you very own interpretation of this apparently simple story. And those conclusions and interpretations may change or expand every time you watch it. Also, in a first view you may be totally absorbed by the great performances of Mighty Quinn and genius Giuletta Masina. But in a second view you can pay a little more attention to our third player: Richard Basehart as Il Matto. Mr. Basehart was a great actor and he was a master in conveying a complex character with very subtle gestures. Underneath the joyous and carefree façade of Il Mato lies a painful loneliness. Just watch for the scene where Gelsomina is looking attentively at a pebble and Mr. Basehart is looking at her with a face showing a world of sadness. The shot last only a few seconds, but it's incredibly touching. And the movie is full of this kind of beautiful, meaningful vignettes. This movie made me fall in love with three things: 1950's movies, Fellini's films and Richard Basehart. Enjoy!
Black Swan (2010)
IMDb TOP #73 ... really?
I finally got to watch "The black swan" after hearing good comments about it for months. Once it ended, I came to IMDb to see if I was the only person in the planet who didn't like the movie. Well, it was a relief to see I wasn't alone. But it startled me that this movie is now 73 in the top 250 movies at IMDb! Well, this movie left me cold. Two hours passed watching a cliché ridden story about a crazy ballerina who somehow managed to get the role of Odette/Odille in Swan Lake at a presumably large American Ballet Company. I guess a ballerina slowly going crazy or destroying her personal life in search of perfection in her art is not a bad idea (watch the Red Shoes), but this is not the case of the movie. If I can define this movie, I would pick the lack of one thing: SUBTETLY. Oh well, I would also add CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Two things completely absent in the movie. Everything over here is told/narrated/musicalized/filmed in the worst in your-face way. It's so clear that the girl is crazy from the very beginning that what's the point on going on with her hallucinations? We know perfectly that what we are seeing is her deranged mind. No surprises, no turns here. The end is completely predictable though is utterly unbelievable. The acting? I haven't been impressed by Natalie Portman in other movies and this was no exception. I had seen enough lived and recorded ballet to have an idea how a prima ballerina looks and moves. Though Miss Portman underwent a difficult training for several months, it doesn't replace the years of hard training of a true dancer. If the effort on training your body is the best resource you have as an actor to pull the part, instead of facial expression and a thorough investigation of what being a dancer means, then Miss Portman deserves her Oscar. I personally prefer actors that may not be so fit physically but can communicate with their audiences with their eyes, facial expressions or language. I only saw a blank faced one expression Portman through the movie and a few shots of her arms trying to mimic a ballerina's moves. Mr. Cassel fares better with the little he was given to. Winona Ryder is properly over the top as the former prima ballerina dumped by Cassel. Ms. Kunis at least looks sexy and sympathetic in her brief role. Direction and cinematography: I know is hip and artsy to film as a 10 years old with an old camcorder, but don't you have the feeling that this is just becoming a tired way of trying very hard to be original when using such an old story thread as the one used here? I'll watch now The Red Shoes for a movie about ballet. And then I'll watch Psicosis for a thriller. And I'm sure I'll forget "The black swan" in a couple of days. It wasn't even interesting enough as to enter in my list of movies that other people love and that I love to hate.
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Needing a new version!
I love Ray Bradbury's book. It's just amazing how this 1951 story prefigured a lot of things from our current society. From big flat screens to people with Ipods stuck to their ears day in and night out, to stupid TV reality shows, everything is in the book, including the pervasive loneliness that has become a signature of our times, even if we are surrounded by technological gadgets that are supposed to bring us together. It's not difficult to visualize Montag's wife watching Big Brother while writing inane half written sentences in Facebook. Because the book is so current, it was very difficult for me to watch this movie; I have no problem with retro-futuristic 1960's sci-fi (I love Voyage to the bottom of the sea, for God's sake!), but I repeat, the story is so 2011 that the production design and cheap visuals don't involve me. Besides, the focus of the story is completely changed. Montag goes through a journey of discovery where he desperately tries to take her wife along, but she refuses to leave her dumb, comfortable life style; in the movie, most of Montag actions seemed to be inspired by his love of beautiful Clarisse, and I think that downplays the importance of such awakening. Both Oskar Werner and Julie Christie were wonderful actors, but here they are completely comatose, as it's the direction from Truffaut. The ending is particularly bland. In short, I found the movie pretty boring and uninvolving. In general, a movie that left me wanting for something more. I guess it's just that I liked the book so much that I'm not being fair judging it on cinematic grounds only. I really hope we can get a new version set in a near future, with a good script and a good cast; it would be very relevant in these days where classic and thoughtful books are ignored by most people and the books best seller list includes only Dan Brown's and biographies of trashy actors.
Alexis Zorbas (1964)
Zorba 141 minutes to go
I really wanted to love this movie, because it's one of my mom's favorites. But the truth is that I couldn't make any emotional connection with it. Young Englishman meets middle age Greek man in his way to Crete, who unabashedly asks him for employment. Englishman (Basil) accepts and takes Zorba as a kind of personal assistant. 15 minutes have passed, and you still have 2 hours and 6 minutes to go!
They meet aging French lady, whom Zorba romances. Next, we are introduced to the beautiful and inaccessible young widow of the town; every man in town desires her but she doesn't like anyone, so the men despise her. Basil has a kind gesture to her. 1 hour and 15 minutes to go
Basil and Zorba get their hands to try to put an old mine property of Basil to work, Zorba gives us a few one liners, calls the French lady a dirty old cow, incites Basil to go and chase the widow and spend less time with books, Zorba goes to town, spends money that it's not his own with a young chick. 45 minutes to go
Basil finally decides to aboard the widow, they spent the night together, young boy in love with her kills himself, town men go mad, they kill the widow while Basil does nothing but to call for Zorba, and Zorba "defends" the widow but leaves her alone amidst all the men
next the French lady dies while the villagers loot her house. Next, the mining project fails, but what the heck, sh%t happens in life, right? Basil and Zorba eat lamb, they know Basil will soon depart, and they dance in a long shot primarily designed to hide the fact that these are doubles who are dancing and not Alan Bates and Anthony Quinn –end of the story- thanks God because it already clocked 141 minutes.
I don't mind to disrespect those who really like the movie and have a deep emotional connection to it. As I mentioned, my own mother belongs to this group, though a suspect her liking of this movie is more related to fond memories of her youth than to actual appreciation of the movie. I love Anthony Quinn as an actor; my favorite movie of all times right now is La Strada. But in this film, I think he was a real ham, especially on the early scenes. And the accent was awful to me; I have to admit I have heard very few Greeks speaking English, but the accent wasn't believable enough for me, it was more Mexican than anything else, and it came and go along the movie. Alan Bates was completely comatose. I mean, his character has spent what should be a passionate night with this gorgeous woman,she is killed, and he has no feelings at all? No sadness? If he does, this actor has nothing to demonstrate it. Lila Kedrova was much better,but after spending a morning hearing a real Frenchwoman navigate through English didn't do much to convince me about Kedrova being a French lady.
I know the Director won an Oscar, and the Academy should know better, but for some reason I didn't like it; it came as pretentious and cheating, but it maybe that I'm just going through a Fellini's period where my standards are too high. I especially detested the scene where Zorba is dancing outside Basil's bungalow. The fast editing shots between legs and torso are nothing to me but a mean to disguise that those weren't Quinn's legs doing the dance. About the script, I beg to differ, but I didn't found anything enlightening about human condition but the sense that man are cruel, very cruel, no matter if they are educated English writers or ignorant Greek adventures; in any case, the life of a woman has zero value and life has to go on eating and dancing and looking for new experiences. But again, it maybe that my expectation was to find something similar to La Strada, where a human being suffering does have an impact on the conscience and emotional life of a brutish man. These were some of the most excruciating 141 of my movie watching experiences, but they were worthy; now I don't have to accept from anybody the argument that this is one of the greatest movies ever made. If you think so, I totally respect you, and more power to you. It just doesn't fit on my "greatest movies list". Maybe I'll give it another try in some twenty years (If God gives me life of course, and if the movie is still preserved in some mean) and I'll see if my opinion changed. Meanwhile, this movie belongs to the category "I'll see it again if you put a gun on my head and force me to".
Los jueves, milagro (1957)
Faith is a good thing ... or not?
Before I was able to get this movie, I read a lot of negative criticism about it, especially from people who seem to be very fond of Mr. Berlanga's distinguished career. This early film was marked by controversy and bad blood from the beginning; look at the office number given by IMDb; 236 people viewed it at its release. Yes, only 236 people: talk about box office failure! Berlanga was starting to be a bitter critic of his society at this point; he had already had problems with censorship, but somehow he was able to have his view respected on his previews films. Not with these one. Censorship was so hard that Berlanga requested to feature the name of the Priest who imposed major changes on the script as the actual script writer. It didn't happen that way, but the movie's script had to reflect the changes introduced by the censors resulting in a much watered down picture and quite far from Berlanga's intentions, but still bearing Berlanga's seal. Thus, the film didn't satisfy anybody; neither the catholic censors nor Berlanga's followers.
And some of the controversy goes on after 50 years of its release. Fortunately, I'm a casual observer and I can overlook those debates so deeply attached to Spain's tumultuous mid to late XX century life, and take this movie for its sheer value.
It's been said that Berlanga's early style reminds that of Frank Capra. You can take "Los Jueves" a little bit like an evil sister to "What a wonderful life". Instead of having a good hearted man who has selfishly influenced the lives around him and is now in disgrace, you have a bunch of mean and really selfish characters (the teacher, the mayor, the doctor, the inn owner and the wealthiest citizen) who are now in disgrace and come with a plan to boost the economy of the once prosperous town of Fontecilla: they will fake the apparition of Saint Dimas and make a huge business out of it. As in "What a wonderful life", you have a celestial intervention to make our protagonists see their lives in retrospective. But instead of having a nice angel in the making, our citizens of Fontecilla will get gangster looking, straight from film noir Richard Basehart, who will make them see the evil of their ways with a very unorthodox method.
At the end, everything goes well, faith and goodness triumph, and why should this be a bad thing? In the process, we are highly entertained, the photography is great, the direction is excellent, the pacing is fluid and all the actors are superb, remarkably Jose Isbert and a solid as always Basehart.
Give this movie a chance and enjoy it!
Outside the Wall (1950)
Life outside the wall
Richard Basehart was an extraordinary actor, who never received the accolades his talent deserved. There may be many reasons for it, but I guess one of them is the kind of roles he played in his early carrier. These roles are so hard to classify as the actual movies in which these roles appear. Take this movie for instance; it's easy to take it as a film noir, it isn't. I'm not sure if there is a gender in which it can fit.
In this, Mr. Basehart plays a young man who has been released from prison to 1950 Philadelphia, after purging a sentence for accidentally killing a guard at a reformatory school at age 14. He is alone, friendless and has no experience dealing with the outside world as an adult, and certainly he has no experience with the "dames". But having no experience doesn't mean he is naïve or innocent; he has received lessons from thieves, kidnappers and killers though our boy is an inherent straight soul.
Larry (the young man's name) soon gets tired of the crime filled, mean streets of Philadelphia, and he is also disenchanted of women (the first woman he finds in a bar tries to get away with his wallet), so he moves outside town to try to find a quieter place. He ends up in a sleepy town called Jewel Lake, where he lands a job as lab assistant in a TB clinic. Larry thinks he will finally have a problem free life when
he meets sexy blond chief nurse Charlotte, who is more an ambitious working girl willing to use her sex charms to climb than pure femme fatale. Larry is attracted to sexy Charlotte and though she is not indifferent, she is expecting to hook someone with money, lots of money.
Larry also meets sweet nurse Ann, who is a much nicer working girl and also seems attracted to him (I can't blame any of the ladies making passes at Larry; Mr. Basehart looks absolutely hot in this movie) but he also encounters fellow ex-convict Stoker, who is a patient but has stole no less than one millon dollars, and this encounter and his desire to get Charlotte as his girl set troubles in motion! I won't spoil the end of the movie for you; it's hard to get, it has its flaws, but it's worth to watch. Enjoy it!
La vena d'oro (1955)
Sweet romance in 19th century Italy
What a sweet little romantic movie this is! Situated on Rome's outskirts on late 19th century, Young Corrado (an unrecognizably young Mario Girotti a.k.a. Terence Hill) is a high school student who wants to be an archaeologist; he is accepted by Professor Manfredi (Richard Basehart) as his assistant. Young Corrado is fascinated by the man, who is attractive, intelligent and educated (and single!). Corrado takes him home to dinner and meet his mother, who happens to be a beautiful young window (Marta Toren). Professor and mother fall for each other instantly in a tender scene with some beautifully arranged Mozart based music. Corrado is busy flirting with a sort of cougar, a Contessa, and also dealing with his tender sweetheart. But he finally realizes that mother is having the time of his life with the Professor. At new year's eve ball Corrado sees his mother kissing professor Manfredi and he goes mad with jealousy; he runs away; mother feels awfully guilty and she and professor break away with deep sadness even if they confess their mutual love. Luckily our spoiled brat is good hearted and he learns a thing or two about true love, he comes to his senses and accepts his mother's right to be happy with Manfredi. He realizes mom is a woman and that he'll gain an ideal father figure. End of the story. It's quite simple, but the movie is so beautifully directed and photographed, has gorgeously looking exterior and interior sets, and it's so well acted by beautiful people, that it's a delight to watch. Not a classic a la Fellini, but well worth to catch it.
Ánimas Trujano (El hombre importante) (1961)
Impressive!
Being a long time Toshiro Mifune's fan, I really wanted to watch this movie. Finally, I caught it on cable TV. Mifune's performance is really brilliant. I have no idea how Ismael Rodriguez came to the idea of Mifune playing a Mexican indian (Mifune didn't speak Spanish at all!)but he is just perfect for the role. I mean, I hardly can imagine somebody else doing Animas Trujano. This man is so bad and yet you are moved to sympathy at the end. I loved the serene, noble wife portrayed by Columba Dominguez.
In a sentence: this movie should be highly recommended. Bravo!