Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by Tomas Alfredson, 2011 (R)

with Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises), Colin Firth (The English Patient, The King's Speech, A Single Man), Tom Hardy (This Means War, Warrior, Larry Crowne, The Dark Knight Rises), Mark Strong (Robin Hood), Ciarán Hinds (Margot at the Wedding, The Debt, In Bruges), John Hurt (Melancholia), Simon McBurney, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse), Toby Jones (Snow White and the Huntsman, The Hunger Games, The Girl), David Dencik, Kathy Burke, Stephen Graham

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.

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The Girl in the Cafe by David Yates, 2005 (TV-14)

With Bill Nighy (Wild Target, Total Recall, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Rango), Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Ken Stott, Corin Redgrave, Wolf Kahler, Penny Downie (Invictus), Marit Kile, Anton Lesser, Meneka Das, Martin McDougall, Louisa Bojesen

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".

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Captain America: The First Avenger by Joe Johnston, 2011 (R)

with Chris Evans (Avengers, Puncture), Hugo Weaving (Cloud Atlas, The Matrix), Natalie Dormer (Casanova), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games, Captain America: The First Avenger, Julie and Julia, Margin Call), Dominic Cooper (An Education), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln, Hope Springs, Men In Black 1, 2, 3), Hayley Atwell, Richard Armitage, Sebastian Stan

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.

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Face/Off by John Woo, 1997 (R)

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!

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Today is (not) a review day! CineBlogger #55

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.
"

Read it all in http://www.cineweekly.com/blogs/0055-cinema-just-for-fun.html

Bel Ami by Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod, 2012 (R)

with Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Uma Thurman (Kill Bill), Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Partir), Christina Ricci, Colm Meaney, Philip Glenister, Holliday Grainger (The Borgias)

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...

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Korkoro (Liberté) by Tony Gatlif, 2009 (NR)

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.

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