Jamie Foxx portrays rhythm and blues legend Ray Charles, who rose from obscurity to become world famous despite losing his eyesight at age 6, a hardscrabble upbringing, repeated struggles with racism, romantic letdowns and his own heroin abuse.
What I love about the movie is the combination of amazing music, and the incredible journey that has been the life of Ray Charles. If is filled with choices, definition of right and wrong over the course of a century, how someone can define his own existence, and somehow change the life of so many other, become a symbol of what a man can overcome, without ever making it a cliché or a perfect American story. It follows him in a way that is human, and never looses this perspective. Beautiful. And Jamie Foxx has in it the performance of his life.
with Miranda Otto, Glória Pires, Tracy Middendorf, Marcello Airoldi, Lola Kirke, Tânia Costa, Marianna Mac Niven, Marcio Ehrlich, Treat Williams (127 Hours, Hollywood Ending, Hair), Anna Bella
When American poet Elizabeth Bishop makes an inspiring visit to Rio, she catches the eye of an old friend's lover, Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares, and begins to blossom under her attention, changing in ways she never imagined.
Word to mouth... The trailer sold me completely, the story is amazing, and tragic, and unusual. Two brilliant women. And unfortunately it was playing for only two more days. But coming out of the movies, I knew why. The story is amazing, the acting of almost everyone is great, the chemistry almost there, but unfortunately, pushing too much the character of Lota into a stereotype, Glória Pires lost us on the way. So that makes it for an incomplete movie, where the next thing you want to do is to read Bishop's poetry, read the women's bio, dig deeper in this story that wasn't an easy one and still, a beautiful one. The other weakness is perhaps the ellipses that build the story, they make it look like there was nothing wrong with Bishop, and that Lora was just neglecting her. Which I am not sure is quite true.
Iconic filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock struggles with his marriage, the censors and the financiers of his 1960 film Psycho in this biopic. Driven to prove he still has an edge, Hitchcock crafts what would become one of the greatest thrillers of all time.
"The Girl" was to The Birds what "Hitchcock" is to Psycho, two different moments of Hitchcock life, and somehow a continuity. The interpretation of Helen Mirren is quite close to the interpretation of Imelda Staunton as Alma Reville, Both versions of Alfred Hitchcock are creepy. The only thing that changes is the perceptions of the actresses towards him, which in both movie are tough undeniably, but sort of forgiving in Hitchcock, while you pretty much think of Hitchcock as a serial killer in The Girl. Fascinating anyhow, because of the complexity of Hitchcock himself, but also as it describes the creation of a new genre, as well as the 1960s industry insider's look...
Hoping to forge a better life, Denmark native Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) enters into a marriage of convenience with a womanizing baron. But when the couple moves to Nairobi, Karen falls in love with a free-spirited hunter (Robert Redford) who can't be tied down. Director Sydney Pollack's lush period drama earned seven Academy Awards, including statues for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
I guess I was very confused by this movie, perhaps I should take the time to watch it all over again...
"What does this movie mean.
Do you know first that this is a true story? It is. It is about a woman from Denmark going to Kenya and marry a friend for a business arrangement: she gets a title and he gets rich.
I found this movie, i must say, quite boring. The thing is that nothing happens, we can't read any sign in the eyes of Robert Redford, playing an amazingly cold and beautiful lonely man (same as in The Horse Whisperer). And Meryl Streep is all Danish, i must say she plays her part quite well. We are not attached to this Robert Redford who doesn't even seem to have any interest in her. We also wonder why she suddenly finds him interesting as she used to be interested in his best friend. The landscapes are so too much shown, sometimes we feel like accelerating the movie to see the following dialogue. Indeed, i did! Well, there is the situation of war while we are in World War One, and the situation of minorities in colonies all taken by European empires and exploited with no sense. There is all this complicated background, but this could have still be a very intense lovestory, with loads of historic references and a lost cause to protect minorities. It is instead a slow and cold movie, very much Danish. I don't mean it in a bad way, Danish are not showing so much and that's even more gratifying when they do, after knowing them enough.
At the end of the movie, you cry because of the music and the sadness of the story. But still, you have a strange feeling and wonder why caring about this trivial love story.
Days passed and the look in the eyes of Meryl Streep, hiding this great loss or on her protegees, remains. And you still wander what was so special in Robert Redford attitude that made him so ambigious. You don't exactely know who he was, what was he doing and why he died. You are obsessed with the lack of information, why was he interested in her specially, and why didn't he show it more.
Okay no more question, but if someone read the book, can he or she tell me if we know more about him, or of it is the same mystery."
with Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, Solange Knowles, Jay-Z
As director, producer and star, Beyoncé is in charge of the portrait she presents in this film about life at the top of the pop universe. Using on- and off-stage footage -- some shot from her own laptop -- Beyoncé provides a window into her world.
First, I just wanted to quote an article published by : blog.zap2it.com - frominsidethebox
"Beyonce's 'Life Is But a Dream' ratings hit decade high for HBO docs
Critics were not kind, but Beyonce's directorial debut "Life Is But a Dream" scored the highest ratings in a decade for a HBO documentary.
The film -- co-directed, co-written, starring, executive produced and sometimes even shot (on a web cam) by Beyonce Knowles -- drew 1.8 million viewers for its 9 p.m. premiere on Saturday (Feb. 16). That just beats out the previous champ, Spike Lee's Hurricane Katrina chronicle "When the Levees Broke" which drew 1.7 million viewers in 2006.
In these days of monster ratings for nontraditional shows like "The Walking Dead" and "Downton Abbey," 1.8 million may not sound like a lot -- but for a HBO documentary it's a big deal. It's also a considerably larger number than the network averages for a first run episode of media zeitgeist show "Girls." And pretty much anything that airs on HBO expands its audience substantially through repeats and video on demand viewing.
Beyonce "
- editorial@zap2it.com, 19 February 2013
This is exactly how I saw it. Brilliant idea of HBO to get such a huge star in an exclusive documentary, this would definitely draw a lot of attention, from the fans, and from people who are curious like me. It reminds me of the strategy to bring Tim Burton to the MoMA, New York: most successful exhibition of all time. People who don't go to the museum would go because they love his movies, mix of genres. I knew a bit about Beyoncé, not enough to think much about her but had a good impression. I felt that was kind of a tribute to her fans, opening a little door to who she was except an exceptional entertainer and singer. The goal is achieved. In a weird way, she is very much what you would think of her, a strong business woman (who knows where the wind blows, a little like Madonna, and knows how to keep the lead), a great public relation person, smart, and giving a human face to herself, not going for the scandal but to the authenticity. She shows the aspect people can relate to, more universal, like having a child, miscarriage... I had more conflict with what she think as normal as an artist being able to "do her craft". Anyway, interesting mix of self recorded testimonies, the conversations with an interviewer, behind the scene recordings, live performance shows of amazing production value and herself singing in studio (or car) confirming her amazing voice. I was surprised by the amount of music she put in it, but I guess it is because that is what is the most valuable thing she needed to share, her singing.
