Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) by Stephen Daldry

In the melodramatic tone "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" wins all! It's what causes people to have adverse reactions to this film, because if you don't be involved with the pain and anguish you just see a non-fitting kid searching the impossible in a surreal family, where rules seem absent. I  was part of the ones who did get involved and saw through the kid something of myself, the need for understanding, the explanation for all life issues and the quest for the truth.
This film is adapted from a novel from Jonathan Safran Foer where a very smart kid with non-social skills lost his anchor to the real world, his father, in the 9/11. His mother doesn't understands him, he doesn't understand what happens, and the finding of an enigmatic key on his father belongings turns into the cathartic moment he needs for his path of self-discovery.
Thomas Horn, the actor that plays Oskar has a tremendous performance, he fits perfectly well in such a damaged and special kid, he turns words into perfectly endearing scenes. Max von Sydow, nominated this year for his role as "the renter" keeps the film in the necessary pace, balancing the drama in a unique way, limiting the overacting, the over drama and so on...It's fantastic to see an actor even without speaking being so expressive!!!
In the overall I think that the father-son relationship is so unlikely to be real, I know it turns his father into a god increasing the climax and giving his father a greater purpose in the kid's life and a profound general loss by his death. Oskar is very special and so parents should also be to keep to his level, but even so... for once the freedom he has in New York City it's hard to believe...and damn his father knows too much right??  Anyway a loss of a father is always deep enough no matter how brilliant or interactive he was, but in the end it does gives a better story line turning equally the film greater too.

 "If things were easy to find, they wouldn't be worth finding. "

To Do list!!!

Iron lady (2011) by Phyllida Lloyd

Margaret Thatcher is part of world history, but really that's not the point of this biographic movie. Coal miners and political views aside the Margaret we see here is flesh and bone, happiness and sorrow, rigid in her youth, firm to her ideas, though keep in mind, right or wrong has no place here. The story is told by memoirs of a delusional aged woman who remembers what she wants and how she wants. Are they any regrets? Maybe not...maybe some sorrow from a very self-righteous person for whom believing was everything. The real Thatcher was a sympathetic person? Did it appealed to the public? No...but that's not the point...the adamant here is seeing her as a human with flaws. Too much pride or conviction, a hell of a time in office, well we already now that is good for creating non democratic ideas. She accomplished something in the end though many didn't see it, they all do at same point, there is always something good, unfortunately wretched things come to mind first. The biggest thing of this film is that it picks a less likely friendly figure and we get totally enthralled by her story, her figure and oh hell we love the excellent Meryl Streep (no wonder, she won the Oscar for this one). The problem is that in end the film does not exceeds greatness, biographic films tend to be hard to be so and though nice and compelling they are not fresh enough to spark. Nice to see Jim Broadbent too!!!

"Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become... habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become. "

Tim Burton - "Frankenweenie"

Ho Ho Ho Tim Burton is coming again!!! It's seems a nice one :P

Hugo (2011) by Martin Scorsese

Brian Selznik wrote it in 2007 and now Martin Scorsese entail us with a 3D beautiful adventure for kids and grown ups. Not only a child story, it is also a tribute to cinema. Hugo is an orphan boy who's stuck as a clock keeper in the Gare Montparnasse in Paris in 1930s. Alone he survives by stealing food of the station and so he is always trying to be invisible to the station guard. His only reminder of his father is an automaton which he so desperately tries to fix it as if fixing it would bring his father close to him. But in all things there is always a secret, for the automaton to work it needs of a key...

Meanwhile he befriends a girl who he is not also the girl with the answer to his secret, since she has the key, but also she is the goddaughter of the old sour George Méliès, a former director aka big name of the initial industry back in the day. And here the adventure comes. Not only the history of cinema is revived but also an enthralling sequence of scenes and colors that grasp you till the end giving you a smile difficult to remove. We all have a child inside so it is easy to feel compelled to cheer for our hero Hugo in his quest, and also to appreciate how the cinema evolved and how nice it was even if it was without sound and the colors were added in each photogram. Regarding acting the kid Asa Butterfield kicked some ass...really...he is so emotionally pure in his performance, it doesn't feel like his acting at all. Chloë Grace Moretz is also pretty good as Isabelle and both make a very good duo. Words feel always small to talk about Sir Ben Kingsley, he plays a very good sour Méliès. It also nice to see Sacha Baron Cohen in a non comical role where he transforms himself completely demonstrating that he is indeed a fine actor. His role it's fantastic,  a rigid inspector with his canine friend who with apparently no kindness makes us laugh when we see his rigid manners that scream for a laugh.

It's indeed a very different film for Scorsese, bloodless and all but it's a great film to enjoy and appreciate because come on it's Scorsese the directing it's there all right.

Onde day (2011) by Lone Scherfig

"One day" is wrote to the screen by its author David Nicholls, in which it tells us a story of two people over 20 years. The story is told every year on the 15th July, the same day their relationship started back in 1988, when they graduated in Edinburgh. 

Emma and Dexter couldn't be more different, he comes from a healthy family whereas she comes from a worker one. Dexter is the typical playboy doing what he wants, aspiring nothing except his insatiably appetite for women and fun, sometimes to an extreme. Emma on the other hand wants to do something important with her life, maybe become a writer, but unfortunately life is hard and she starts waitressing in a taco place while Dexter is finding himself through the world. The fact is that they grow together, they keep up through the years like two different paths that need each other to survive. Dexter gives spontaneity to Emma while Emma gives him some humanity.

In the end life happens with its ups and downfalls! 

Bringing it to screen was not easy ... it was necessary to ensure the characters were well portrayed but in the end  the effort was reasonable. Jim Sturgess makes a better Dex than Anne Hathaway as Emma. In the end it still lacks a little insight into the characters. Dexter is the better characterized because of its tendency to destruction and the script lacks a better insight into their lives at some point or another, where to the viewer  their lives may appear so light. Nevertheless is a touching story and makes us think that destiny is real!!

"A dangerous method" by David Cronenberg

"A dangerous method" bring us with a beautiful soundtrack the story of Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), a young perturbed mind to the hands of Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) in a psychiatric hospital. Jung pretends to treat her with psychoanalysis, the movement Freud (Viggo Mortensen) initiated as a theory, believing also that repression of sexual nature are of utmost importance when treating and perceiving mental problems. Sabina appears grotesque before the audience, don't really know if she exaggerated in her performance, because it went a bit out of boundaries at first, yet demonstrated that a mind by itself cannot impede obscurity and devious behaviors that nowadays doesn't frighten us but we are in a different age altogether. Jung while tries to cure Miss Spierlrein, also form a tight relationship with the great Freud, as his pupil, yet their beliefs at the end diverge on the matter that Jung believes that there is more to it than just sexual behavior. However, as a kind of atonement he goes through that pathway without realizing it. Despite quarrels between Jung and Freud, Sabina maintains her life steady despite her excitement with sadomasochism treatment. She is so devoted because of her "disease" that she enrolls in medicine and psychiatry, later moving herself to Russia (her origin), where she is killed in the WWII by the nazis. Freud being a jew is exiled to London, where dies of cancer (83 year-old), while Jung lives to his 85th birthday installing the analytical psychology.

In the end we have a film with a really beautiful scenario between Austria and Switzerland, a cold Jung, an introspective Freud and a less deprived Sabina, a woman that despite her peculiarities changes her world and the ones around her, her strength is admirable in such an époque! Good job cast, though I'm not sure if the grotesque was not pretty near the ridicule.

A film to enjoy indeed! There is no black and white in the human mind and behaviour!

Gran Torino (2008) by Clint Eastwood

Gran Torino was one of those films I wanted to see because of the fuzz, but at the same time I didn't know what appropriate time to see it since I anticipated bloodshed and all of those stuff. In fact I couldn't be more wrong and it's one of my last seen movies that I've kept very dear in my heart, not only tells a great story but shows raw reality. Clint Eastwood plays the role of Walt Kowalski, a retired veteran from the Vietnamese War, who lives alone after his wife's death, estranged to his sons because of his not so friendly manners, estranged to their neighbours because he is mainly a racist who cannot tolerate the asians that took over the neighborhood. But this is just like peeling an onion, there are too many layers, and we discover a character impossible to love though it's grumpy and stubborn as hell. And the story develops as his friendship develops with the asians, something rather impossible at the begging of the story...and so it turns into endearing moments, nonetheless with some brutal reality, but most of all of respect, of love.

It is a great movie with a character who has the necessary grit to make the difference when difference cannot be achieved in the usual way. Great performance by Clint Eastwood!!! And great song at the end!!!

50/50 by Jonathan Levine

Like a beautiful rose that has its awful thorns, life itself is not to be granted. At least is what we all think when we are young, that we have a full and long life ahead of us, even if  life goes faster than a bullet. This was what Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) thought as well, a back pain is a back pain... no more.... This 27-year-old discovers however that cancer has no age, no race, no time or space ideal to appear, it just does...and so he has 50% of survival because it is a rare cancer nonetheless. But beware this is not a drama, it has its moments for sure, but fits perfectly in a dramocomedian type where friendship, parents, girlfriend are exposed to the new reality and feelings are perfectly drawn out of the screen to be perceived and the reality can be as exasperating as numb. And yes life is a bitch but it can also bring us all together in the worst moments...in the worst of times we are remembered of what we are, where we came from, where are we going and most of all who stands beside us. No matter what end befalls into this young man he is wide awaken to the world. We all are living our lives in obscurity like puppets, sometimes not realizing the bigger picture, the gift and bitch life can be.

The picture is quite well portrayed not only by the lead character but by his buddy Kyle (Seth Rogen), his analyst (Anna Kendrick) and his mother (Anjelica Huston).

The great about the movie is that it won't make us sad all through because it has so great laughable moments that equilibrates the 50/50, it's hard to digest because it's real, life is like this...we try to smile and think it's all ok, saying it so many times so that in the end is true, but will it???

Quote:

"Adam: See, but... that's bullshit. That's what everyone has been telling me since the beginning. "Oh, you're gonna be okay," and "Oh, everything's fine," and like, it's not... It makes it worse... that no one will just come out and say it. Like, "hey man, you're gonna die." "

"Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen

Midnight in Paris is the latest film of Woody Allen, the 6th film filmed in Europe, after 4 films in England and one in Barcelona. Woody Allen writes almost about the same thing over and over, but in the end most films surprise us by that glimpse of geniality that he is so very capable of. It is not only in the core of relationships and their development over problems that entice us... is even more how life can turn out to be a real surprise. The story of this one goes more or less like this: a bored Hollywood screenwriter decides he will become a real writer, of books, of novels, and is interpreted by Owen Wilson, which by the way is to be married to Rachel McAdams character, a typical republican spoiled American whose parents have lots of money.  Paris is only a place for business, maybe buying some cheap stuff, but oh no, not mingling with the Parisians or their strange life style. Well Owen Wilson's character, Gil, doesn’t think that, he represents the opposite, he falls to his knees for Paris and for all in it, and he wanders the city wishing to have lived between the artists in the 20s. Well, while her fiancée is keen to be passing time with a snobbish know-it-all American, Gil wanders and founds himself between 2 worlds, the real and the past, and the past is helping him figure out the present, his novel, his career, his life. He encounters characters that he would imagine only in his dreams: Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Dalí and so many that were present in Paris in the 20s. The characterization of all is pretty good with some nice gags. Well, Woody Allen always turn everything upside down...but in this one it revealed a more philosophical way, passing a little bit the relationships theme to a more personal one. Are we content with our époque? Don’t we wish all to live in better times? In the past? That’s obviously part of a human thing to fear the present and the future on the verge of not being able to perfect it more than others did...so we look into the past and wish it to be present, forgetting all the wrongs and being able to look just the goods. Well it’s idyllic for sure, but it’s human...It is indeed a pity that most of the potential of people is lost wandering in the past while we could change and build a better future.

The film is indeed worthwhile seeing, it has Paris, good actors, good scenes, hilarious events, and most of all a good lesson to be assimilated. I can say that he brought an almost master piece here.

“Gil: That's what the present is. It's a little unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying. “

Best July 2011 film - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 the great winner :PPPPP

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" by David Yates

I  cannot begin to write words because I am speechless...not because of the film... the one where it all definitely ends...it is breathless because I am breathless. The film is definitely powerful!!! It is full of emotions, rewrites history in a way only J K Rowling knew how to do it. The final battle is tough, is war, but it is also endearing, and caring and full of love, and above all of choices...no matter how our fate is written we have always a say in that. We are above sayings and  ideas of prejudice, we are above ourselves and we can amaze even our soul by upbringing the forces we never knew we had. How comforting it is to know that truth and good and evil is not so straightforward as one might think. I became breathless not because of the film but because I couldn't care less for the special effects or performances, though there were great ones like Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, and even the little ones....I was just becoming sad every second until the end because my youth vanished.... I read every book from 1998 until the last one was published in 2007, 9 years of reading, and 10 years of movies...and all ended this july....

I loved it and that's the best review I can make...I did not cry out but I cried inside from all the lost it brings, for all the joy, for all the moments of anguish and excitement, of living in a special world in those pages/frames...There won't be a substitute for this for I lived this through my growth and that something that I won't forget and will be with me forever.

I cannot say much more, but though my heart is full of sorrow and nostalgy, it endures and smile for such a nice past.

June film Poll

And the winner is X-Men : First Class :)
Hope you've all seen the film it's worth it!!!!!!!

"Kung Fu Panda 2" by Jennifer Yuh

After the amazing Kung Fu Panda of 2008, here it comes its sequel with a new villain , none other than Gary Oldman's white peacock. The animation movie is clearly more dark and more focused in the potential background of Po's story, of course his father could not be a goose, pandas were killed because of a prophecy and he was the sole survivor. The past is told in flashes in some extraordinary way, I loved the graphics, it made me remember how one tale was told in "Harry Potter and the Death Hallows 1". It's not a novelty so it's not at first very exhilarating, because they have to take down the peacock because he has a weapon that can kill kung fu forever, however, the story is fluid and with some very funny parts, including the fact that the bad guy is funny even being so evil (well he is kind of misunderstood, he has the pride of a peacock anyhow), and Po is Po with some slow mental and action problems, despite that he has what it takes to be the dragon warrior and most important to achieve inner peace. The film does not disappoint as sequels always do, however very interesting I wonder how many good stories they will find...

Beware my friends, for there'll be a 3 for sure!

"X-Men: First Class" by Matthew Vaughn

Mattew Vaughn known as the director of the recent fuzz "Kick-Ass", and also of "Stardust" had the honour to direct a prequel to all X-Men films made by now. I say this film is fundamental to truly understand everything about Professor X vs Magneto. I've always liked this Marvel Comics characters but never followed, so I knew very little before visualising the film. The story begins telling  Erik Lehnsherr's story (later called Magneto) and then we are back to the 60's and understanding how the so called mutants begun to have public action, intermediated by an agent of the CIA. It so interesting to see that they are mangled with real historical events. A school is created by Charles Xavier who is a geneticist as a result of his interest in his own mutation. Xavier is portrayed by Charles McAvoy beautifully, we seed a jolly good fellow, a young man with normal behaviour attending school and drinking in the pubs, living a real life. He never intended to use his gift to harm humankind but he never was exposed by his mutation, on the contrary Raven (later called Mystique) had to deal with her appearance in the same way a teenager as to deal with their hormonal and bodily changes, but they remained good friends even though. So mutants feared to be exposed and were ashamed or seeked revenge. It's on seeking extinction of the non-mutants that a guy named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) appears at the scene trying to have a WWIII by manipulation of Russia's and USA's missiles. It's here the young mutants go into battle to try to stop that. 

This is the general plot but the main important thing is Magneto life's story and how he became so close to Xavier, forming a bond that later, even being enemies, there's some part of them that are always meant to be together. It's no mystery that Xavier preferred to stayed at the humans side because he believed in the best of people. And I guess that's the characteristic we have always enjoyed about him, though sometimes hurt his faith and perseverance is undeniable.  

The film has everything to be liked, excellent actor, McAvoy and Fassbender are at the top (is there any language  he doesn't speak?) but all the cast is very well chosen and the story is very credible like it could really had been so...And all the answers are there, tender moments, doubt moments, moments that changed all X-Men history and more important that shaped Xavier as he is "today" with his school with all his students, even if Magneto left him because his suffering cannot let him go. If Magneto is what he is, he owns that do Xavier and that's why they'll never be apart.

I enjoyed so much the movie, but I don't have the background to keep telling nice stuff.

I just loved it:P

"Professor Charles Xavier: Listen to me very carefully, my friend: Killing will not bring you peace.
Erik Lehnsherr: Peace was never an option. "

"Erik Lehnsherr: This is what they wanted, for us to turn against each other. I tried to warn you.
[turns to Moira]
Erik Lehnsherr: You did this.
Professor Charles Xavier: No Erik, you did.
Erik Lehnsherr: I want you by my side. We're brothers, all of us. We want the same thing.
Professor Charles Xavier: Oh my friend, we do not" 

"The Tree of Life" by Terrence Malick

By far the most beautiful film I've seen lately. Malick is a supreme master that show us an enthralling visually beautiful mixture of 2 types of stories that complement each other. One is the birth of life and the other life itself as a human being, from birth to death passing through all the obstacles. As it is said in the film "There are two ways through life: the way of nature, and the way of Grace. You have to choose which one you'll follow." This is a nice statement that defines the family in cause, the father more rude and authoritarian tries to make his three children Men in the chaos of life, while the mother is more gracious and wants to teach the beauty of life through love. An so she says "The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by."

Life is hard, and from the beginning of the film we know one of their sons is dead at the age of 19, a tragedy for both parents and brothers. But more so, a question of existence and acceptance arises for all the family to accomplish grief and to forgive the way of life or the way of God. The elder brother after many years passed  still holds on grief reflecting on the past and the way his father treat them, the anger he felt when he was little, how he wanted to be more as his mother, as was the brother who died. He knows in his heart that it was preferable if it was him to die, people will miss him less, and he blames himself for it.

So, the film is about the journey, the lost moments, the prospects, the battle between grace and life, the battle between forgiveness and resentment, between anger and peace. It has so much we have or will dealt in past/future... because life is a tree, branching, even when it's cut, searching for new life, for new space to be alive and nurtured by grace. 

Malick made a terrific job, the actors are mere images of a whole picture bigger than life.

"The Eagle" by Kevin Macdonald

Kevin MacDonald, well known for "The Last King of Scotland", brought us an historic film about the loss of the ninth legion and with so their banner and the honour of Rome.

For the archives, the ninth eagle was lost by the father of Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum), and for that reason son seeks to clean his father name by employing a journey to rescue the eagle, even if he does not know where it is, perhaps at north very north of Adrian's wall.The journey is only possible with the help of his Briton slave Esca (Jamie Bell, very good in his role) who knows the terrain and the language of the people behind the wall namely the Picts, which are very nicely portrayed in terms of make-up and wardrobe.

The scenes of battle are very quick so I don't know if they look very convincing but the scenery (landscapes, mountains and rivers), and the companionship between the two is admirable. More so doing a film without a love triangle. Friendship though in opposite sides appears, and honour, bravery and camaraderie is the unit of the film. Two strangers bound to the same faith. Beautiful though not very thrilling.

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World " by Edgar Wright (2010)

I saw this film because I have friends that loved it, and I was intrigued... and that was how I stayed n the end also....Intrigued!!!

Scott Pilgrim is a graphical novel by the Canadian Bryan Lee O'Malley. The story is a bit surreal, but well... it's supposed to be...Scott is a lazy guy whose only thing in his life is playing guitar in the band " Sex Bob-omb". He soon falls in love with an american girl named Ramona Flowers, but to have her he has to defeat her 7 ex-boyfriends...did I say they were all evil, yes they are, and have powers, strange ones obviously :P

Michael Cera, yes that guy of "Juno", and "Arrested Development" is Scott, the perfect choice for this character since his face is of a procrastinating, lazy and depressed guy, but also youngish. I can't say much to try not to spoil, but the film is quite amusing when we see that all boundaries are off, this not a real story, but at a same time does not have the pretence of being an heroic film so that's refreshing and entertaining and it amuses enough to stick on your mind. If you think this is for geeks you're wrong!!!

I can't help but to praise the minor roles of Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick,Brandon Routh, and Jason Schwartzman that made the film more credible and amazing.

"The Beaver" by Jodie Foster

"The Beaver" is not a strange story, people are getting into depression and lethargic stages more than in the preceding century, not because things are worse, but because we lost our ability to talk, to resolve our problems facing them without fear and with our heads up, we lost our ability to move on, we stick to bad things too much, we can't let go and we accumulate too much pressure being of work, family, friends, ourselves...the world is a conniving bitch theses days and we stand so hard to survive...

This film directed by the 2 Oscar awarded actress Jodie Foster tells us a story of a family in which the parent (Mel Gibson) has acute depression, so profound he stays almost catatonic...but when this continues Jodie's character has no more to do than to throw him out to protect their sons from his madness. He thinks he is a failure, his father built a toy company and he is just in his shoes by inheritance..he is not fulfilled, but he does not know what he wants now, depression talks for him anyway....

Change occurs when he finds a lost toy, a stuffed beaver and decide to keep him, and while in a very threaten situation, the puppet comes to life in his bare hand, as a real puppet, an advisor, an incentive to life and creation, and from now on he learns to live again, he conquers most of his family, except his older sun, who's objective is to eliminate everything similar to this father so that madness cannot befall on him. 

Everything tends to the better, because the beaver restored his self-esteem, but everything comes to a price, and at a certain point the puppet must leave...but how when is intrinsic to his soul and body. Catharsis happens and never will be the same.

Mel Gibson has an extraordinary performance here, as well as all the cast, Jodie gets older with such graciousness that is amazing to see. The film is very well supported by Anton Yelchin (as the elder son), and Jennifer Lawrence (as schoolmate vs potential girlfriend).

I enjoyed the story, it is sad, but it's touching and it's nice to see that real family problems are put to screen, maybe it will educate some minds and we'll be more tolerant towards this type of disease that's not easy to pull out nor live with or within it.

"The Hangover Part II" by Todd Phillips

The Wolfpack is here all right, but it is what we expected??? That's the problem, it is exactly the same story in a different country, Thailand, with some typical chaotic experiences in Bangkok but nevertheless it makes us smile. It is disappointing but entertains in a more Sunday afternoon movie than a novelty.

Here Todd Phillips wanted to be bold and explore some other city than the Las Vegas sin city, he chose Bangkok, not bad of a choice if we consider the genre and the exotic and extraordinary stuffs that really happens there, especially involving ping pong balls. It is the perfect place to loose yourselves I guess, though I regretted putting again the Chow guy, it didn't please me in the first and I wanted him dead in the second... All in all everything happened in the same formula and even if we like to see the wolfpack together, one time is memorable, two is a bit pathological, some nice rewriting would do the trick, and the movie would take a  different road and that would be nice...After you are amazed you only see disturbed guys that pills and alcohol unleashe the worst on them, we've seen that....now it's just boring.