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matt75-1
Reviews
Tetro (2009)
Coppola does (a beautiful) Almodovar
This movie is pure, utter Almodovar. Mr. Coppola's themes and some of his visual touches are recognizable, but he has chosen to take a completely unorthodox road to depict the most unusual of his Italian family sagas. The result is a camp, over the top, compelling, visually stunning movie, which I am sure I will want to watch soon again.
Yes, the first 20 minutes drag a bit too much and are filled with cliché's, yes some dialogs may seem a bit flat and insincere, but then the drama picks up, the relationships evolve and the story becomes so baroque, melodramatic and enjoyable. You will never believe that Vincent Gallo actually speaks or understand a word of Spanish: he has the worst accent ever heard north of the border. Still, he is pretty good for this part. Maribel Verdu (Miranda) is perfect. Alden Ehrenreich (Bennie) is a discovery: he photographs like a young Marlon Brando and under an exceptional direction makes miracles in his role.
Sex and the City (2008)
One
This movie was such a disappointment: so disrespectful to the series, the characters' original complexity, and women's complexity!
I was particularly let down by the script. First of all, the jokes were not funny. From the 'Saint Louise from St Louis' to Charlotte's Mexican incident, everything was so unlike Michael P King's style. Then the plot: predictable (Samantha's ring/ Smith being the guy getting it to her; the password of Carrie's email folder being 'love' like on the key chain...) but most of all characters were out of their 'tv series' parts. Especially Carrie: hitting Big with the wedding bouquet and screaming at him in the middle of 5th ave, really?!? Planning a honeymoon in Mexico, really (btw, the guy greets them with 'welcome to Mexico', that's
'broad' and silly
)?!? Telling Miranda 'you ruined my wedding', really? That dinner scene seemed like out of an episode of The Hills
.
I personally also found Jennifer Hudson terrible: she already won the 2008 Razzie to me (altough I should check if Sharon Stone is coming out with a new movie...).
In general, if you think of what you saw in this movie without the affection you have for these characters, you must admit this is a terribly corny romantic comedy.
Think of how wonderfully touching and poignant some episodes were. Like the one when Miranda finally took the courage to tell her feelings to Steve... It was titled 'One', and it was indeed a fully satisfying, beautiful episode.
This movie is just a 1/10...
La ragazza del lago (2007)
An Italian version of a bad Law and Order episode
Everything in this movie from the production value to the acting - is underwhelming .
The result is something that resembles a bad television episode of a crime series, definitely not movie. The story is simple and narrated in a very straight forward way. An average episode of Law and Order SVU has many more smart twists and turns than this production.
The camera work and the cinematography are just alright. The casting and the direction of the actors are very poor. The result, as in too many Italian movies lately, is that actors are left alone to do what they can, showing enormous differences in their performances. You have Tony Servillo and Valeria Golino doing their job, but most of the rest of the cast is borderline amateur.
This movie greatly embodies the little ambitions that too often have been lately seen in Italian Cinema.
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
many cute intertwining stories, but the main character is unbearable
I really enjoyed most of the story lines: great plots, fine writing and acting. Those involving the kids are exceptional: the psychological complexity of the characters as it emerges from their stories is startling.
Nonetheless, I almost completely disliked the way the relationship between Miranda July's character and the shoe salesman unfolds. I found Christine unbearably annoying in her incessant expressions of lack of confidence in herself, as well as in her attempts to be poetic in everything she does in her life. Furthermore, the scenes where she tries to interact with the guy felt often artificial and pretentious.