borromeot Reviews

Ocean's Eight (2018)

A Comercial Operation

[2/10 · 16 June 2018]

Well, yes. what else was behind this "idea". Money. What's wrong with that, you may ask? Look at the movie. That's my answer. Not a moment of originality let alone truth. Very dispiriting because Cate Blanchett is an actress I truly admire and I felt uneasy, uncomfortable seeing her in the midst of this misguided money grabbing scheme - pun intended - An all female cast of glittering names, a power force on their own, right? So why not make sure they get a script and an idea that is worthy their talents. Within the last two years there's been a sort of abrupt stop and there are only reboots - Will & Grace, The X Files for heaven's sake, Baywatch, not to mention the comedies with Amy Schumer one a remake of "Shallow Hal" the other one with Goldie Hawn. Goldie Hawn! and they can't come up with a vehicle that is at least funny. Talking about Goldie Hawn, Overboard was remade, and Flatliners. The brilliant Melissa McCarthy made about a hundred films, can you remember one? Okay I stop. I love movies, I always have that's why I notice that something is going on, I don't know what but I don't like it. I don't like it at all. What I've been doing after every depressing movie I go back and heal myself with a vintage comedy, it always works.

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Guess who's coming to dinner?

[8/10 · 28 May 2018]

I'm a great fan of Miguel Arteta and Mike White's work. They travel a road that will take us to unusual places. I don't know if unusual is the right word because all of a sudden everything seems familiar, perhaps is the way Arteta and White got us there that is unusual. Opposite worlds sitting at the same table. Selma Hayek is wonderful and every though that crosses her heart and mind is perfectly visible to us. John Lithgow finds a new and disturbing face to his gallery of startling characters and Connie Britton is sublime as the hostess walking a thin line between empathy and something else. Wow! It really grabbed me and shook me. So, a highly recommended movie trying to survive in a sea of Avengers and remakes. Bravo!

S.O.B. (1981)

Breaking Wind In Hollywood

[7/10 · 3 May 2018]

I never quite figure out Blake Edwards as a filmmaker. He had a side that was as sophisticated and poignant as it was funny. Think "The Party" or the first Pink Panther, the other side was pure commercialism without any regard for its audience. SOB is a blatant example of that. Here he even uses his characters to badmouth "Last Tango In Paris" - The premise is terrific for a biting Hollywood satire but a premise is just a premise. He has to resort to farting during a sequence that should have been a comedy showstopper. Hey he got his wife to go topless and his wife was Julie Andrews - he must have heard cash registers in his mind like Richard Mulligan's character when he decides to put his wife in a porno=erotic something or other to make zillions of dollars. Richard Mulligan plays his suicidal director like he was in a Mack Sennett routine. Outrageous and I'm tempted to say, unforgivable. I must also confess that made me uncomfortable to see William Holden in the middle of it all. Shelley Winter, Robert Preston, Stuart Margolin, Larry Hagman, Robert Vaughn even a glimpse of the very young Rossana Archette keeps the film going. Loretta Swit - of MASH fame - plays a gossip columnist in such a way that may very well explain why she didn't have much of a film career. So, even if I'm aware I've spent a couple of hours with a bunch of characters I hope I never meet in real life, SOB deserves to be seen if only because it is a piece of film history solidly set on its day.

The Bible in the Beginning... (1966)

That unmistakable smell of money

[4/10 · 1 April 2018]

John Huston directed it and played Noah, yep. John Huston you know, the director of The Treasure Of Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon and his atheism shouldn't be an excuse for the embarrassment of The Bible...In the Beginning. Pier Paolo Pasolini was a Marxist, atheist, homosexual who made one of the greatest religious films of all time with The Gospel According To St Matthew. No, here, I suspect, the mastermind behind this super production is Dino De Laurentiis, the producer, the first name in the opening titles. Huge. Famous for very expensive movies with dubious results and intentions. Fortunately this - Highlights from Genesis and beyond - have a narration trying to explain the inexplicable. De Laurentiis believed in a cast of big names - like Harvey Weinstein - yes that's the laziest way to put together a production. Michael Parks is a beautiful 1960's Adam and so is Ulla Bergryd, his Eve. Richard Harris is Cain and Franco Nero Abel, George C Scott is Abraham, Ava Gardner, Sarah. and the film is now nearly forgotten. Pasolini used an unknown in the lead of his Gospel According to St Matthew, Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus and it became a classic. Commercial operations are one thing, great movies quite another.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

A Thoughtless Remake

[2/10 · 25 February 2018]

Sidney Lumet directed this Agatha Christie classic back in 1974. Albert Finney played Poirot and he was delicious and got an Oscar nomination for it. The rest of the cast was a cohesive group of heavyweights from Ingrid Bergman to Vanessa Redgrave, from Sean Connery to John Gielgud it also had a period reconstruction in scrumptious detail, wit, elegance and an infectious score. None of it is present in this new incarnation. None of it. No, the new version reeks of thoughtlessness and CGI. The actors seem to have been invited, not to play characters, but to watch Kenneth Brannagh act.

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

A Starchy Rom-Com

[4/10 · 14 January 2018]

I saw another Woody Allen film, "Wonder Wheel" just the other day. I was overwhelmed by Kate Winslet's performance even if the film is not one of Allen's best, Kate Winslet makes it a must so I started searching for other Woody Allen films that I may have missed. Magic in the Moonlight (2014) I didn't even know this movie existed and it has Colin Firth in the lead. Colin Firth has been a favorite actor of mine since Apartment Zero (1988) and Emma Stone won the Oscar last year. I organized my evening to enjoy every minute of this unexpected treat. Well. the film looks wonderful and it has Eileen Atkins in it but the romantic aspect of the tale left me completely cold. Emma Stone projects discomfort more than anything else and Colin Firth performs as if he was on a stage. Every line is recited and their chemistry is also acted. By not believing in them the entire film felt like a plodding attempt at something that never materializes. Maybe next time.

Molly's Game (2017)

Clinically sharp

[7/10 · 14 December 2017]

The focus is clear and yet cold and distant unless Idris Elba is on the frame. He is a human with his complexities but without barriers. He is open, accessible. Jessica Chastain is a technical marvel to be admired but it is hard, very hard to warm up to her. I felt I needed to see in her what Idris Elba saw and I could do it with my head but not my heart. In any case, it is a brilliant performance. Aaron Sorkin writes and directs this time with remarkable self confidence. The film, like the script is clinically sharp, surgical actually. I bet it's also a great read. For Aaron Sorkin's fans and I count myself as one, this is a must.

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Timothee Chalamet

[10/10 · 14 December 2017]

I cried my eyes out. It was cleansing and reinvigorating. Timothee Chalamet is the living image of a friend from my childhood. He had a similar experience but a very different outcome and it made me think with a broken heart that if my friend had had a father like Elio's father he could have had a real chance at a happy, constructive life, instead of the agonizing pain that he went through. I hadn't though about him for years and Timothee brought him back to me with enormous power. What a beautiful, beautiful performance. Armie Hammer is a total revelation, the perfect foil for a first love. Michael Stuhlbarg introduces us to a character I had never seen on the screen before. He moved me no end, Then, of course, Luca Guadagnino. My hat to you sir. This is a film I will see many times.

Downsizing (2017)

At Your Own Peril

[7/10 · 2 December 2017]

I'm a die hard fan of Alexander Payne I've been waiting for Downsizing with childish anticipation. The first few minutes of the film I felt at home. Matt Damon's wardrobe alone told me I was in male Payne territory. Matthew Broderick in Election, Paul Giamatti in Sideways - ordinary to the point of being invisible and then, the downsizing, No idea where the story goes from here and neither does Mr. Payne. There is something of John Frankenheimer's Seconds, although, clearly, that's not Downsizing's intention. No, what is Downsizing about? I never ask myself that questions because I usually don't have to, but I have to now. I have no idea if it was an an allegorical piece too clever for me or was it that the great Alexander Payne was venturing into virgin territory with one of his old invisible characters as a guide. Without having everything quite figured out. Hong Chau is lovely but was she suppose to be comic relief, tears and all? I couldn't tell and yet, I was transported and intrigued and at a certain point I was moved even if, I couldn't quite believe in the whole thing. So, go, at your own peril.

Daddy's Home 2 (2017)

Now, let me ask you...

[2/10 · 8 November 2017]

A group of heavy hitters, one way or another. Mark Whalberg starred and produced "The Fighter" Mel Gibson gave us "Braveheart" and "The Passion Of The Christ" John Lithgow is one the best actors we've got, from the transsexual in "The World According To Garp" to Winston Churchill in "The Crown" and Will Ferrel one of the most popular comedians around for over a decade. All together in a comedy! Now, let me ask you. is this the best they could come up with? Lazy, opportunistic without a single original idea. Is this movie going to make any money? I'm asking because if it does, I should shut up and dedicate myself to gardening or something like that. Clearly, money is the only reason behind this enterprise and I'm giving it a 2 and not a 1 out of respect for the crew and all their hard work.Phew.

The Actors (2003)

The Caine Mutiny

[7/10 · 21 December 2009]

A ham actor without a penny. Who better than Michael Caine to play such a character? He is totally and utterly hilarious but, as in most of Caine's performances, he goes for it for real. The film seems to be a showcase of Dylan Moran and he's splendiferous in his double act with Caine. This, however, is where the script falters. Moran's impersonations should have been incorporated in a rather more organic way. They are too much of an act on their own and makes the potential plausibility of the plot fly out of the window. Never mind. Get it if you can find it. There is enough in it to make it a pleasurable journey.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

A Brilliant Filmmaker With Very Little To Say

[6/10 · 3 October 2009]

Very entertaining, that's for sure. Great little moments "inspired" by other movies. "The Guns Of Navarone", "Operation Crossbow" and a myriad of 70's B exploitation Italian movies. Tarantino is certainly clever and knows how to use the camera but then, I have to say it, nothing. The childish "divertimento" dressed in smart ass dialog remains there. The entertainment value is, perhaps, the most one should expect from a movie but it seems a damn shame that such a talent should be put at the service of something so one dimensional. I can't help but remember Ernst Lubitch's "To Be Or Not To Be" that was also a comedy with remarkable, inventive dialog but it also had so many other layers that "To Be Or Not To Be" after 70 years still resonates with whoever has seen it. Christoph Waltz is terrific and Brad Pitt is always great fun to watch but the experience is purely epidermic in spite of some truly gruesome moments. Am I expecting oranges from an apple tree? If that's so forget what I've just said and run to meet Tarantino's basterds.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Meryl Streep, A Character Actress As Star

[7/10 · 13 July 2007]

Unmissable for Meryl Streep fans. She plays second fiddle to Anne Hathaway here - screen time wise, otherwise she's the whole bloody orchestra. She's the one reason to see the film and that in itself is one hell of a reason. Meryl Streep is fearless and part of the joy of going to see her films is that we know for a fact that she's going to dare and dare and dare. From Sophie's Choice and A Cry in The Dark to Death Becomes Her and Plenty. Here the story is as unbearable as most TV commercials but she, Meryl/Miranda transforms it into something else. We connect with her evil queen because her evil queen is much more real, much more human than anybody else on the screen. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are fun but they're in the periphery of a story that's so wafer thing they can't really move to the center. Anne Hathaway is kind of invisible and her character only changes costumes and make up. There is no real tangible growth. Now that I got that out of my system. Go see Meryl be Miranda. You'll have a lot of fun.

The Goddess (1958)

Immortalizing Kim Stanley

[10/10 · 20 June 2007]

I'm a sucker for great, enormous performances. This is the ultimate expression of that. Kim Stanley was 40 years old when she made this picture, her first. Apparently Paddy Chaeffsky, John Cromwell and a group of brilliant actors decided to put their efforts together and create this vehicle for one of the greatest actresses that ever lived. I. for one, will always be grateful to them for their generous and visionary gesture. The film cost, 5.000$ but it's worth a fortune as the surviving (immortal) document of an unrepeatable personality capable and willing to drown into another. Although Marilyn Monroe was not only alive but at the top of her game at the time. This devastatingly sad story seems to reflect Marilyn's own. Kim Stanley is glorious, glorious! If you're interested in acting as art. You can't miss this extraordinary movie.

The Substitute (1993 TV Movie)

Amanda Donohoe as Bette Davis

[8/10 · 11 June 2007]

A surprising, classy, if not perfect, melodrama /thriller/comedy of horrors. Amanda Donohoe is exceptional in a character tailor made for Bette Davis. Those smiles with a creepy underneath. She goes for it in a performance that it's as complex as it is fun to watch. This movie by the enigmatic Martin Donovan is a mix of extraordinary moments - cinematic, surprising, beautiful, frightening and funny as well a downright bad, amateurish moments - I'm trying to find everything Donovan has done. Not an easy thing, believe me. But for what I've seen so far, he is a welcome lyrical oddity. "The Substitute" uneven as it is, remains in my mind as if inviting me to see it again. I will, for sure. Mark Wahlberg makes his film debut here looking straight into the camera. I bet Donovan knew what he was doing. I highly recommend it for lovers of the strange and unique.