Change Your Image
english-express
Reviews
Frost/Nixon (2008)
FROST/NIXON- 122 minutes of a PRETTY GOOD FILM
Loved it.Just loved it! For many different reasons I have been watching films on TV lately and tonight was no different. I usually dislike most of Ron Howard's films especially the two he got the Oscars(Cacoon and A Beautiful Mind),but today I got a good surprise-I do believe he orchestrated perfectly the whole film and delivered a good entertainment of what was one of the harshest moments of America's contemporary history.Being from South America I just remember the news on TV and the possible impacts.Watching the film tonight reminded me of the turbulent days of Mr Nixon's presidency and his later resignation. How accurate is the film to the real facts? While watching it I remembered a friend journalist that told me how hard is to be face to face to someone that holds power,and/or is charismatic.Michael Sheen/David Frost showed us that,right?I could imagine ALL those
politicians that well coached usually beat the journalists down-some more than others! Frank Langella gave us a Nixon that may have haunted him while in the ongoing process of the film.He knew what he was doing! He is a solid actor."When a president does it's not wrong!" He says that and the air is suspended,the final clash,the final descending moments start to render.Superb moment! The whole film is a fined tuned piece of good dramatization and the supporting actors-Kevin Bacon,Oliver Platt,Sam Rockwell and Mathew Mac Fayden did fine.Rebecca Hall,as Frost's girlfriend was gorgeous,looking elegant and ethereal.And...."I Feel Love" sung by Donna Summers??? was a feast!(for all of us that LIVED those years and heard so much good music...!)
O Quatrilho (1995)
Antonia's Line or O Quatrilho?
This film was made in 1995 and so was Antonia's Line and both competed for the best foreign film at the Oscar's.You could even say that both are women's films,although not necessarily.At the time of the film's release I first saw O Quatrilho and then Antonia's.Both are good films,but I can understand why the Brazilian film didn't make it.But that would be comparing two so different films. O Quatrilho was produced and directed by The Barreto family-people that have been involved in the movie making business for all their lives,and O Quatrilho is a good example of their work. The actors and actresses,the main characters are well famous in Brazil's dramaturgy and they deliver good performances.The plot is about Italian immigrants that came to Brazil in late 1800's/early 1900's to start a new life.And many of them went down to the South to work in grape vineyards,mostly.Italians are Catholic and that explains the strong presence of priests in their community. The main story is about two young newlywed couples that are neighbors.Bruno Campos and Patrícia Pillar are the first couple,and Glória Pires and Alexandre Paternost the second.And a major swap takes place.Since the very first glance at the couples we see that they are with the wrong partners.Bruno Campos plays a sophisticated guy married to a rude,down to earth woman (glória Pires),and Paternost is married to Patrícia Pillar,a dreamer,a happy-go-lucky woman that immediately shows (we feel)her discontentment and unhappiness-her husband is pragmatic!The sexual tension starts to build up and they break down their rigid moral/religious code(meaning the characters of Pillar and Campos).The other couple(Pires and Paternost)get the news of the fled of their spouses,and amidst their feelings of wrath,and being scorned,they immediately understand that together they will have the chance of not only surviving(remember that we are talking about a hundred years ago or so,and life was much harder,specially for the people that lived far from the big centers.And they had children of their own to be taken care of).So "the magic of love" straightens everything:the couples get their "right" counterpart then and life goes on.Time passes by.The end shows us Paternost/Pires well established,rich folks(banker) and the other couple happy,looking just happy surrounded by their children for a photograph.It is like THEY had made the right choices despite a possible God's will!And religion/God is shown in a truly cynical way:the priest(portrayed by the excellent Cecil Thiré)condemns Paternost for his "sin" living with "other man's woman" but changes his mind when the "sinner" shows he is prompt to obtain some clearance and starts contributing to the church's new roof! Everything can be forgiven then! A weak point is Ms Pillar's attempt in speaking Italian-she could have practiced much more!The sound track is of high quality and CaetanoVeloso's voice and words keep on singing in our minds!Jaques Morelenbaum also signs it. It is a good film,but again, running in Hollywood against Antonia's Life was bad luck.It didn't diminish the flick though the Dutch production is heavier weight.
Friends (1971)
When We All Learned to Love
Rating this flick 10 out 10 makes me a person that grew up in the sixties.A flower child,and someone like Paul and Michelle just knew that the real importance in life,was to live and to live was to love. I was 18 years old back then,and although I'm from a big city(São Paulo/Brazil)I watched Friends when I was living in Manaus(north Brazil-the jungle place)and my heart just pounded and almost stopped when I rediscovered this film(I couldn't remember the name either in English or Portuguese),but was throughout Elton Jonh's biog that I came across it and a gentle soul has posted it on youtube.I watched.Ít is still a grand movie. Paul,a British boy living in Paris,meets Michelle,a girl that has just became orphaned.Their social-economical level are as distant as the Earth and the Moon,but it didn't bother them a bit.Young,under age,and they just follow their only option to live.Michelle after trying to live with a stupid cousin,sees that the only thing she has left in this world is a small cottage,owned by her late father,in an idyllic small place,Camargue,in Southern France.It is like there was nothing else,nobody else in that world.Just two of them,starting as friends,companions,but then as lovers.A child is born from that love. The director could express the sixties with vivid colors and it is funny because there are neither riots nor anti war displays,but he superbly shows HOW we felt back then.We were pure and innocent and believed in social justice and love, above all.Make love,not war. The scenery is beautiful:the wild horses,the sea,the whole environment,and the youngsters that portrayed Paul and Michelle did a good job!The scene when Michelle is at the cemetery putting flowers to her father(I believe!)is somewhat strong.SHE,really made me believe,in that moment,how alone,how the solitude was present in her life. The Brazilian culture is over sensual,(probably because we are in the tropics)so their nudity didn't matter,and them being under age,is part of the concept THEN,when we didn't talk(or knew,or mattered about children'molestation,that by the way,DOES NOT OCCUR !) "Paul!" "Michelle!"(they calling each other was printed in my soul!) This film is NOT intended for greedy souls. NOT FOR THE GREEDY!
Okuribito (2008)
Touching
I'm still moved by this film.I had heard about it and decided to rent.It's really moving,it's really compelling.it gets you and makes you reflect.But somewhat it dragged-even with the music.The actors and actresses did a good job,the script is something fresh,at least for me!But it dragged! I'm used to watch all kinds of movies,all kinds of different cultures,and I do enjoy the Japanese culture,exactly to the fact of their way of doing things,their ethereal beauty. It's a beautiful film,no doubts about it.Good performances,dido.Music?first class! Topic?innovative! so why did it drag? I don't know,really don't.I can't point a finger to the problem,but it's a must see! To all! If someone asks me what this movie is all about,I can star saying:it's about a young musician that discovers another talent,the one he does awfully well."Isn''t about death and stuff?""yes,that to,but it's much more...It's about learning to live" It's about love.Understanding.
The Guitar (2008)
it's great,but not to everyone...
just finished watching it on cable TV.dding't have a clue what would it be,but loved!just loved!It's always surprising to see how women,generally speaking,react towards the hardships of life.in one single day,Melody get's fired and dismissed by her boy friend-not to mention that in the same day she was diagnosed with cancer and a month to live.The director chose the winter landscape to sum up the tragedy,the lack of any possible sense life can be,the despair... the actress (Burrows) offers us a superb acting,especially when she's suffocated by the weight of her existence,and her pain.Outstanding.When she decides to abandon her terrible living quarters and goes to a loft,she is ready to enlarge her limits,her boundaries .she needs then beautiful artifacts ,and she buys them.Roscoe and Cookie become part of her cure.the guitar was her long dream,buried in the past and finally she gets it.it could be a pet or a child,but for her was the guitar.probably is a female's film and not to be seen with glasses of moralism.loved the direction,the photography,the plot,the acting.
Luna de Avellaneda (2004)
what a film!
just saw it last night,at 2:30 a.m.,on cable TV.it was such an unexpected joy!i'm still digesting the film,its humor,its brilliant direction,every single aspect that makes it a superb film.had never seen anything from the director before,but while watching it,i reckoned:it's a genius,sheer,pure genius.not to tell that i kind of woke up the family laughing,terribly,laughing...his little touches of being human,that belongs ,only,to the big ones.i'll talk to everyone about it.if films are made to entertain us,it did it;if films are made to enlighten us,it did it;if films are made to make us feel that we're part of some big thing that we can and cannot discover truly,this did it!success?failure?don't we encounter those in our lives?watch it,and enjoy!