After coming within one question of winning a game show, 18-year-old Mumbai "slumdog" Jamal is arrested on suspicion that he cheated. While in custody, he regales an inspector with tales of street life and the story of the woman he loved and lost.
This movie won practically everything at the Oscars, which definitely means something. Watching it was like watching a race, everything running at full speed, with very different layers of the Indian society, sometimes with sense of humor, sometimes questioning the system. It is really smart and flows beautifully over the different stages of the life of Jamal. Also, back then, the cinematography, the editing, the sound design was overwhelming as if you could feel the textures, smell the intense smell of each situations, very sensorial. Overall a great movie.
with Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster, Dinara Drukarova, Gabriela Marcinkova, Jamel Debbouze, Johannes Krisch, Jude Law, Juliano Cazarré, Lucia Siposova, Maria Flor, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Mark Ivanir, Moritz Bleibtreu, Rachel Weisz, Vladimir Vdovichenkov
From the director of City of God, The Constant Gardener and Blindness
In this remake of the 1950 classic La Ronde, an all-star cast weaves through interrelated stories about love, passion and loneliness. From London and Denver to Phoenix and Vienna, people are haunted by their need to connect, despite the consequences.
In some way, the movie has a lot of similarities with "Love In The Time Of Money" in the way people connect, evolve, continue their journey with that evolution, and so on, in a sort of loop where it all comes back to the beginning, with a whole new perspective. This movie is beautiful in some aspect, the story of the Russian driver with the sister of the prostitute, the father seeking his daughter meeting this young and beautiful soul from Brazil, discovering disillusion... Perhaps if the movie had actually focused on the journey of Laura (amazing Maria Flor), and her encounter with Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster, this would have made the movie. Alas, the movie goes and comes back to the characters in such a laborious way, playing the "international" card, playing connectedness in a Babel way, but not engaging enough, to unequal.
From director Danny Boyle comes this harrowing tale of real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco), who literally cuts himself loose from danger -- and lives to tell about it when sliding rock pins his forearm under a boulder during a climb in Utah. To stay alive, Ralston resorts to his basest survival instincts. The film scored Academy Award nominations in the Best Picture and Best Actor (Franco) categories.
I hated the trailer, looked like an ego-trip with bad cinematography, and a countdown, sort of wanting you to watch him get out of his misery. The movie is quite similar to that, but I guess developping far more the emotional and psychological journey, it did the magic. James Franco is not as exhuberant as in the trailer, he can hold the movie by himself in a pretty impressive way. The camera work is mixing with the materials from the camera of Aron, allowing a narrative without being completely over-explicit. The colors are crazy, but I got to figure this has a lot to do with the light over there and how to communicate the changes in temperature. I guess besides the story which is pretty intense and has quite a lesson to it, the movie is ok, I would recommend just for the idea of an actor holding central stage for an hour and a half.
Love is a battlefield for several New York City dwellers: a prostitute and her trick; an artist and a receptionist he meets; a woman married to an unhappy art dealer with a secret; and a psychic out to save a man's life.
Cast was appealing, the fact that they got a grant from the Sundance to develop the movie upon the originality of the script as well, but... the production of it got it all fading into a terrible movie. The acting is good, but the situations are so staged, the quality of the shots so unequal, the cinematography imperfect that it felt like a tv movie, which actually is not even a relevant criticism, since they are making amazing tv movies, such as "Game Change". The problem is that everything feels like a chain of events, which could look pretty engaging if you look at "Babel", and not as good if you are kind of waiting for the next encounter to save the previous one. Perhaps in a very twisted way, I have never seen Steve Buscemi as handsome, and Rosario Dawson as terrible. Perhaps, the only interesting moments are the beginning and the end held by Vera Farmiga, amazing as a prostitute disconnected from the world.
with Matt Damon, William Ackman, Daniel Alpert, Jonathan Alpert, Sigridur Benediktsdottir, Ben Bernanke, Willem Buiter, George W. Bush, Brigadier General John Campbell, Satyajit Das, Jerome Fons, Barney Frank, Timothy Geithner, Alan Greenspan
From filmmaker Charles Ferguson comes this sobering, Oscar-winning
documentary that presents in comprehensive yet cogent detail the
pervasive and deep-rooted corruption that led to the global economic
meltdown of 2008. Through unflinching interviews with key financial
insiders, politicos, journalists and academics, Ferguson paints a
galling portrait of an unfettered financial system run amok — without
accountability. Actor Matt Damon narrates.
"Ah!" Hopefully this movie will be seen by more people than usually documentaries do. It is IMPORTANT. Not because it is about the financial crisis and it is a hot topic right now, but because it is important for things to move. There are evidence that the system is corrupted, and it would be good that the Liberty that the United States of America took as a symbol would start at every level of the society, and not some freedom that some take from others, because they have the power to do so.
It is well constructed, with a comprehensive (but not simplistic) explanation to the premise of the crisis, the developments, and the nowadays situation, the aftermath, or in this case, the absence of it. Captivating.
with Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady), Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Oliver Maltman, Peter Wright, David Bradley, Martin Savage, Karina Fernandez, Michele Austin, Philip Davis, Imelda Staunton (The Girl)
Over the course of a tumultuous year, contented medical counselor Gerri (Ruth Sheen) and her geologist husband, Tom (Jim Broadbent), see their friends and relations through a series of happy events and heartbreaks -- including a birth and a death. Imelda Staunton and Oliver Maltman co-star in this character-driven ensemble dramedy from writer-director Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky, Vera Drake, Secrets and Lies).
Today I just saw the trailer again, and it made me want to write about it. This is the most unusual movie I had watched in a long time, I couldn't really understand why choosing such unusually unattractive actors, going through the seasons with nothing really relevant to it, with a boring couple and a drama queen complaining, whining the whole year long. I am used to see small stories character driven by amazing actors in France, and understand the richness of the content, the emotions. But the "British" version left me quite surprised. It is not that the people are handsome, or charming, or interesting because they have the best jobs, because they have something unique happening to them, quite the opposite. It is precisely their normality, make-up off, that takes us, make us embrace the beauty of their lives, their emptiness, their emotional journey, the richness that the actors embraced, the dept of their relationship. It is an amazing movie. And then I figured this is the same filmmaker as Secrets and Lies (Palme D'Or in Cannes Festival and Oscar of best movie — which is history in cinema, they never agree on movies), and I understood.
with Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Chris Zylka, Roxane Mesquida, Juno Temple, Andy Fischer-Price, James Duval, Nicole LaLiberte, Kelly Lynch, Jason Olive
Lovelorn college student Smith (Thomas Dekker) spends his days hanging with his friend Stella (Haley Bennett) and his nights lusting after his straight roommate Thor (Chris Zylka), until one wild party shatters his world in this comic thriller from edgy director Gregg Araki. After eating drug-laced cookies, Smith witnesses the murder of an enigmatic woman who has haunted his dreams, and he begins a bizarre journey that will determine his future.
If you are looking for a crazy movie leaning towards fear and loathing in Las Vegas, with teenagers and a whole conspiracy, you might go ahead and watch it. If you are not sure about liking it, you will probably hate it, simple as that. I really enjoyed the trailer, psychedelic and witty, which match pretty much the first half of the movie. But then, it turns into a thriller, reinventing the characters for the purpose of continuing the story into something serious, and it fails. It is no more about a teenagers journey into hallucination, which was the original point of the movie. It falls into a traditional dramatization, boring, that "Scary Movie" for example avoided and made a hit from. No good.
Pharmaceutical representative Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes a player in the big game of male-performance-enhancement-drug sales and, along the way, finds unexpected romance with a woman (Anne Hathaway) suffering from Parkinson's disease. Based on the real-life Jamie Reidy's memoir, Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, this satirical look inside the culture of Big Pharm is directed by Edward Zwick.
This is a remarkable romantic comedy. And so much more which is probably the reason why it is remarkable. The topics are original, pharmaceutical business insights on how to seduce doctors into choosing one drug or its competitor, and doctors making money out of it, the degradation of the health of Parkinson patients, due to a lack of interest for what will not bring money to the Pharmaceutical company, but even essentially, the relationship between Jake Gyllenhall and Anne Hathaway, which is romantic, but also very real, developing in one's weakness, learning, arguing, splitting, and dealing with reality. Still very romantic.
When his wife is sent to jail on murder charges she fervently denies, college professor John Brennan comes up with a meticulous plan for the ultimate prison escape — even though he's never committed a crime in his life.
The Next Three Days is a movie that is a bit surreal. Crowe plays the ordinary man, although there is no way the guy can actually become what he is in the movie just with preparation. So, when you pass that suspect element, the rest kind of flows, with a good suspense, good acting, good effect, good editing, we are definitely hooked. The small role of Liam Neeson helps the realism, which was definitely need in this case.
From director Ridley Scott comes this tense crime thriller starring Denzel Washington as true-life Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas and Russell Crowe as the dogged outcast NYPD cop charged with bringing him down. Ruby Dee (in an Oscar-nominated role), Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin and Chiwetel Ejiofor lead the supporting cast in this powerhouse tale penned by Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List) and based on actual events.
This movie was incredible in transporting us into the Harlem of the 70's, with its fashionable shops, the sex drug rock n roll, the war America never managed to win, the police that got a lot of self-interest in mind, and the opportunists that came along. Denzel Washington is amazing is the portrayal of this man who had the respect of the social class and ruled the drug trafficking in a smart way, all the way to the top, with something ethical and untouchable. Russell Crowe is perfect in playing the good cop, the one that follows the rules, even to the most stupid extend, just because it is the right thing to do, loosing along the way respect, and not even classy to start with. This couple together is the perfect combination of opposite, till the day they get together and finally crush everyone else. All this looks very contemporary, it is a big production portrayal of a society, and at the same time, the story in a way is very character driven, it has a very human aspect (Frank Lucas' grandmother is unique), you get to love the good ones as much as the bad ones. Very interesting. When I read "The Heart of a Woman" by Maya Angelou, I was reminding myself of the only thing I could, the first footage which I remember in black and white of Harlem, at the beginning of the movie.
with Gustaf Skarsgård, Torkel Petersson, Thomas Ljungman, Amanda Davin, Annika Hallin, Jacob Ericksson, Anette Sevreus, Mats Blomgren, Malin Cederblad, Antti Reini, Mirja Burlin, Marie Delleskog
Gay couple Sven and Goran adopt a child. But when Patrik arrives in their lives, it turns out that he's not 1.5 years old as they were told by the adoption agency — he's a rebellious, homophobic 15-year-old.
Sweden can be a far more evolved country than others, specially when it is about gay rights, and then so picky about their rights. It is more or less what happens in this story about a gay couple trying to make everything perfect in a society that still perceive the parenthood of gay couple, odd, or worse. Of course, there is this kid (amazingly performed by Thomas Ljungman), uniquely outlaw, homophobic, but also enough gave up on, who will of course be more reluctant to build a trust, with any new parent. It is still a comedy, with breakdowns and breakups which are portrayed in a very comical way, which gives an unusual balance to the seriousness of the topic, which is of a gay couple trying to integrate in a society that beyond their laws, are not ready to incorporate gay parents.
After he's laid off from his longtime job at a soulless retail giant, average middle-aged guy Larry Crowne decides it's time to change his life by heading back to college, where he finds a new perspective — and a new romance with a professor.
I didn't realize this movie is directed by Tom Hanks. I am always impressed by actors who dare stepping in the shoes of a director, even more when they act in the same movie. Mostly perhaps because it is a lot of responsibility, and if you fail, you may also loose your recognition, as an actor. This one is a pretty simple story, of people loosing their job, and having to rebuild themselves. Of course it is a romantic comedy, with a little bit of gag, so it doesn't take the topic to heavily. It is refreshing, naive, with cute characters, well acted, not necessarily bad, perhaps not memorable, that's all...
When fugitive ex-cop Nick Cassidy steps onto a window ledge high above a busy Manhattan street, police psychologist Lydia Anderson tries to talk him down. But soon Anderson suspects that there's more to Cassidy's stunt than meets the eye.
I am getting convinced that American producers are really skills in creating amazing tension, set, visual effects, action driven movies. I believe this one has achieved those goals. The cast is really good, although their capability are far more extended than what we can see in this movie. It is a good action thriller, with no mental exercise to do, simple, straight to the point, with character you can define with two words, no subtlety, but if you are not expecting more than that, than you might actually have a good time watching "Man on a Ledge"!
with Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams (Julie and Julia), Laura Dern (Dr. T. and The Women), Jesse Plemons, Rami Malek, Jillian Bell, Ambyr Childers, Lena Endre (The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo), Kevin J. O'Connor, Josh Close, Barlow Jacobs, Mimi Cozzens, Madisen Beaty
A heavy-drinking loaner named Freddie finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new "religion" -- some say cult -- he forms after World War II.
Today is a day where I do not have much to say about a movie. The Master is a movie that has great actors, great cinematography, an interesting and polemic topic, a realism that isn't questionable, dialogues shaped in intonations, silences, unsaid and strange meaningful words. The journey of the characters makes us know a lot, with their unpredictable behaviors, intentions... in almost a language that looked foreign to me, since I couldn't really understand them. It felt I was mislead, out of it, in a way because I was reading the first layer and it wouldn't tell me anything, and the second layer was telling me more without managing to get me involved, I felt as far from them as I could. I felt the same with "There Will Be Blood", so perhaps it is the style of the director I cannot connect to, perhaps it is just that I was tired, uncomfortable and the movie was long... I didn't feel anything, that is all... I would recommend to watch it, and write something back in the comment box that would illuminate me!
After witnessing a fatal bus crash, teenager Lisa believes she inadvertently played a part in the tragedy. As she tries to deal with her feelings, Lisa becomes emotionally abusive to those around her — and to herself.
How to start. First the positives, this movie is an original portrait of adolescence entering the adulthood. Lisa is opiniated, thinks she gets the world in a better way than anyone, smart-ass with all what comes with it. When something real happens to her, the emptiness of her world becomes striking, she needs to connect with the people that were affected by the accident, realizing they did not care as much, they didn't relate in the same way, and in a way, they reacted with what their situation was at their present time, while she didn't have anything else than a strong responsibility and tons of feeling she cannot canalize. In her search of justice, it becomes clearer than her action are driven by innocence, except that everything not related to the case becomes a way for her to get attention, to shape her life into something more dramatic, existential, shocking, involving others in a journey that she doesn't understand herself, except that instead of being constructive, it destroy her self, her identity she thought was uninteresting.
The dialogues are amazing, the contrast between this movie and the vast majority of movies made today is the quality of the vocabulary, the choice of words, the literate way of communicating and misunderstanding which is such a big part of our life and conflict, which in most movies doesn't have any place. The adult characters are shown quite all evolved, or think they are until they break, facing the innocent voice or contact of adolescence, showing how adulthood is perhaps as complex as adolescence, except with more tragic experience that lead the way to more complex reactions. There are amazing dialogues and monologues, most often lead by Jeannie Berlin, the cast is actually impeccable and Lisa (Anna Paquin) is perfectly irritable, perhaps a bit predictable.
Finally, what was an interesting point, which was for Lisa to have
reached a truth and an ability to fight a real cause that no one sees
because she fights everything else in the same manner looking like she
created her own drama and discrediting her to the eyes of adults, this
point becomes a caricature that is so obvious to the eyes of the viewer
that it makes the movie fall a little bit flat. Too bad for a movie that has such a nuance and sensitivity.
This gripping thriller about Cold War espionage follows an English spy as he returns to MI-6 under a cloud of suspicion. In the years since he was sacked by the agency, some suspect that he's become an operative for the Soviet Union.
A good enough adaptation, despite the complexity of the story, the amount of characters, the back and forth in flashbacks, clues, details that foment the plot. The acting is excellent, which helps a little the story to fly, since its density tends to make it sometimes slow. I guess because the story forces you to look at the intrigue in the way "Smiley" (Gary Oldman) looks at it, we are missing the objectivity that would help reveal who is the mole, this part is really brilliant. Aside from that, it uses the traditional codes of espionage, the old-fashioned spy movies style of the 70's. It's good.
Lawrence, a spindly, self-effacing civil servant, is a senior researcher for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, preparing for a G-8 summit that will determine the scope of the world's effort to reduce extreme poverty. In a crowded café, he chats awkwardly with Gina, a young Scot with time on her hands. They share a couple of meals, and he invites her to accompany him to the summit in Reykjavík. Once there, as romance blooms, Gina's past, Lawrence's work and proclivity to compromise, and the presence of ministers and presidents spur her to act.
April 2010: TV movies are not all bad. They can actually have a very decent content, great actors and an actual aesthetic. I was amazed by Kelly Mcdonald, although I couldn't stop thinking how much she was reminding me of Kate Winslet. And I think I adore Billy Nighy's sense of humor (I'm sure it's his considering he has the same ways in all his movies). Anyway, It is sensible, very interesting in a political point of view and a beautiful love story. What more to ask?
Update 08/2012: Ah, just found out the author is the author of the movies "Love Actually" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral". And the director directed the last two "Harry Potter".
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers for a secret experiment during World War II. Transformed into a superhero named Captain America, Steve goes after the Axis. With his perfect physique and heightened reflexes -- and his sidekick, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) -- Steve battles the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).
Ok the summary is not very elaborated, but perhaps because it is as simplistic as that. The story is very straight forward, starting with a good weak guy who is transformed into a very powerful handsome guy who doesn't forget his values. He falls in love with a strong woman, but will never get to be with her. He fight with a lot of friends, because he is the good guy that everyone wants to follow, and against the big bad guy who happens to have the same powers as him. They incorporated some Norwegian myth of the tree of life and the Casket of Ancient Winters, which are probably only there to give depth to a flat story. The only fun thing is the cinematography, portraying New York and America of the 40's.
with Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon, Dominique Swain, Nick Cassavetes, Harve Presnell, Colm Feore, CCH Pounder, Tommy Flanagan, Thomas Jane
An anti-terrorism agent goes under the knife to acquire the likeness of a terrorist and gather details about a bombing plot. When the terrorist escapes custody, he undergoes surgery to look like the agent so he can get close to the agent's family.
Do you remember this movie? Long time, 1997, fifteen years! This was one of the good action movies of that year, with an interesting concept of swapping identity, with physical transformation, to the limit of science fiction. But the most interesting is how we relate to the characters. We get trapped in what is the inside of the character, even tho it is still played by the same actor, in other words, a great performance from John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. The director, John Woo, manage to create the ambiguity, play with how fast we accustom to the new face of the character, and how fast the other characters start believing as well. Aside, the movie got a little bit old, and in a way, the general plot is more or less the same, a bomb is about to explode, and we have four days to stop it. Still, very much worth seeing!
Hello Everyone,
Today, I received a notification that another interview on my blog has just been published on "CINE WEEKLY". It is a great honor, and helping grow the 2-year old baby blog. Sharing! Thank you for reading this blog!
" Saturday, August 25th 2012 CineWeekly.com Presents CineBlogger #0055: Cinema Just for Fun
Description:
A blog on movies and series written by an animator, editor and video artist and especially a cinema lover. The idea is to have a quick look at a movie, with the basic infos, the trailer, the poster, a small summary and a review. Since I am European, I may have seen movies that are not that mainstream in the US, and therefor propose an alternate look at cinema today.
Genre: All Writers: Just Me Site Age: 2+ Years Updates: Every Day
3 Favorite Movies:
The Matrix, Jackie Brown, Deconstructing Harry
Any other questions or comments?
I offer people to comment on the post, one opinion is always less relevant than many, therefore I invite people to give their opinion.
"
Armed with good looks and devastating charm, manipulative journalist Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) climbs from the depths of poverty to the height of Parisian society, taking up with a variety of beautiful women along the way. Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod direct this erotically charged period drama based on the classic novel by French writer Guy de Maupassant. Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas co-star.
I vaguely remember Maupassant's book, from reading in at 13, not probably getting any of the nuances, and confusing in with "Au Bonheur des Dames" of Zola which interestingly happens in the same period and in the same neighborhood. Anyway, I didn't sense the political game, the bitterness of a society, the power women had and at the same time didn't, the manipulations of Georges and by Georges, into climbing the social ladder. The movie is dark, filthy of desire that power attract, giving a vision of french 19th century a disgusting feeling, despicable game that one plays over the other, in the only aim that is possession, erasing the innocence with everything money touches. The acting is good, Uma Thurman is actually really convincing as a women ahead of her time, Kristin Scott Thomas is unbelievably unbearable as a submissive lover (she always has these roles where she is in control, attractive, totally the opposite here!). I wouldn't say a masterpiece, but an interesting reading of what could actually be thought as a contemporary story, not so different from nowadays after all...
with Marc Lavoine, Marie-Josée Croze (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), James Thiérrée, Mathias Laliberté, Carlo Brandt, Arben Bajraktaraj, George Babluani, Ilir Selmoski, Kevyn Diana, Bojana Panic
Based on the real-life experiences of a Gypsy family living in Nazi-occupied France, this poignant drama explores the broader definition of freedom through the eyes of characters who see permanency as punishment.
Interesting... I wasn't enchanted by Transylvania, but heard so many good things about Gadjo Dilo (The Crazy Stranger) and was put in front of this movie a little by force. It confronts us to a reality we have a lot of cliché about. The characters are really good, crazy, wild, beautiful, different, and in this world war 2 Nazi regime that decimated one fourth of the gipsies. Taloche is the absolute representation of the Gipsy in its freedom, his attachment to earth and the elements, living in symbiosis with them, living free of any code and settlement. Darko is the passionate dark representation of the Gipsy, with the anger, cry for freedom, dangerous mind, and then you have all the nuances and the richness of a culture that we don't really understand. The movie gives a strong look at the fear from a society that is no longer in peace in the status-quot, afraid of the neighbor, afraid of the government, trying to find a new identity, between justice and hatred. Very strong and disturbing.
