Latino movie reviews

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (Movie Review)

Alex Florez’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan review says your patience for Adam Sandler’s hummus jokes will tell you almost everything. The comedy is built around a superhuman Israeli agent who wants to quit fighting and become a hairdresser, and the movie either feels ridiculous enough to enjoy or exhausting fast. Read More

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Movie Review)

Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior.
Release Date: 2008-10-03
Starring: Lorene Scafaria, Rachel Cohn (novela), David Levithan (novela)
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/

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If you like romantic teen movies and love Manhattan’s lower east side, you’ll be infatuated with the new cinematographic work of Michael Cera, North America’s sloppy king. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is an honest romantic tale full of authenticity, with a simple principle and a dialogue that’s intelligent and current.
 
Nick (Michael Cera) is a solitary character that wonders the world; meanwhile Norah (Kat Dennings) is an insecure person that is looking for herself. Although they don’t have anything in common except music, a casual encounter at a punk concert will become a romance that will change their lives forever.

This film perhaps won’t define the youth of our generation like “Sixteen Candles†from the master John Hughes, but it achieves to capture a real portrayal of the youth in NYC in 2008. This is credited to the young director Peter Sollet (Raising Victor Vargas, Five Feet High and Rising) who guides himself through big filmmakers such as Richard Linklater and Woody Allen, except that there are no neurotic characters or super-complex dialogues. What is evident is the relaxed vibe of the characters and of the movie. It’s a world where the only worry is the time it takes one to forget about one’s ex.

The main characters, Cera and Dennings are the new Allen and Keaton of today. There is a magnetism that exists between them and individually. The camera adores these two and their futures are almost guaranteed.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is directed to a young audience that is looking for love that is innocent and real, without radical idealisms or complicated answers to questions. This is a movie that will make you smile when you are sad and will make you remember the moments when love was pure and innocent.

Ghost Town (Movie Review)

Ghost Town is one of those romantic comedies that never quite clicks. At times, its humor is effective, provoking chuckles and laughs. At other times, the comedy feels forced and awkward. The romantic element is equally hit-and-miss. Read More

Appaloosa (Movie Review)

Appaloosa, based on the book by Bostonian writer Robert B. Parker, is not your Clint Eastwood western. It is unconventional, caustic, and dare I say, peculiar. Ed Harris, who directed, co-wrote and stars in the film missed an opportunity at creating an Oscar worthy film, if only he would have altered the novel’s story a bit. Read More

The Women (Movie Review)

Rated: PG-13 for sex-related material, language, some drug use and brief smoking.
Release Date: 2008-09-12
Starring: Diane English, Clare Boothe Luce (obra)
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.thewomenthemovie.com/

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The new film ‘The Women’, a remake of George Cukor’s 1939 film starring Joan Crawford, is an aspirational, entertaining, yet predictable dramedy about a group of powerful women who deal with life’s issues, particularly the male kind. Sound familiar? No, not a complete rip-off from Sex and the City, but enough parallels to make it eerily similar.

 

It’s set in New York City’s modern whirl of fashion and publishing. The story circles around Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), a clothing designer who has it all – except a faithful husband. Her best friend, Sylvie Fowler (Annette Bening), a high powered editor of a magazine, accidentally finds out from a manicurist that a sultry ‘spritzer girl’ (Eva Mendes) at Saks Fifth Avenue perfume counter is sleeping with Mary’s husband. The rest of the girlfriends rally behind her until their own friendships are tested to the breaking point.

 

The all-star cast of, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Candace Bergen, Bette Midler, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debi Mazar, Carrie Fisher and Debra Messing, gives the audience a chance to see a balance between good acting and entertainment. The film is basically a comeback vehicle for Meg Ryan whose classic romantic comedies of the past are now just classic nostalgia fare and a reminder of the current state of the neglected genre. She has not wanted to be stereotyped as the cute girl who can only play romantic roles, but one who can portray all types of characters. As of late, she has been in the thriller business. Unfortunately for her, the risk-taking has not paid off. ‘The Women’ will definitely get her back in the lips of directors and producers as it highlights her acting strengths and her charm.

 

Outside of the nonexistent casting of a man, and feeble acting by Ms. Mendes, there isn’t much to say negatively of the film. The rest of the cast contributes magnificently to their parts, Some standouts are Candace Bergen as Meg’s mother and Cloris Leachman as the high class housekeeper.

 

What I liked from this film is that even though it is pure estrogen entertainment, it manages to capture what women go through at the hands of callous and insensitive men with a twist of justice served. Most of us have either been a part of that of have heard of someone who has. A word to all women, us men can also identify with the chick flick sensibilities.