05.18.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for some sexual material and brief partial nudity.
Release Date: 2010-02-12
Starring: Katherine Fugate, Abby Kohn
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.valentinesdaymovie.com/
05.18.2010 | By Jack Rico |
The first 20 minutes of ‘The Messenger’ should remind you of the power movies can have on anyone. It is very well acted, but a tough movie to watch. This film is not for most people, but if you can stomach it, it is worth the time and money to see. It’s not every day war movies are released and less so when they have to do with such a gut-twisting premise as this.
In his first leading role, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband’s death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
Let me tell you why the film is good and worth the watch. The Messenger will jolt you emotionally, close to the way Precious does. It’s emotionally raw with situations that feel very real and unsettling. It’s brutal. You say “why do I want to see that?â€, but it’s like watching a car wreck on the highway – you slow down to see the post carnage. It’s the macabre part in all of us. Once the story reels you in, the film hits you with excellent acting from Foster and Harrelson. They own the screen and you are absorbed by their lives, problems and thoughts. Just when you can’t take enough drama, Harrelson breaks the tension with off the cuff humor which reminds you that this is just a movie. However, the pacing is off and it feels choppy at times. It goes off into tangents sometimes the way a conversation with a friend might. You can reel him back in, but you can’t do that to a movie. Part of those tangents that didn’t work were the bizarre romantic scenes with Morton and Foster which just didn’t match the level and intensity of the rest of the film, then a wedding crash by the protagonists which seemed out of place.
Credit goes to first time Israeli director Oren Moverman and Italian co-writer Alessandro Camon for creating a script that effectively captures the tribulations of post war trauma and the complex scenarios they harbor within them.
You won’t find many films that shake you ardently the way this does. Even with some of its flaws, it was a satisfying piece of work that you can for sure be pleased with.
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05.11.2010 | By Mack Chico |
Rated: Not available.
Release Date: 2010-01-22
Starring: Peter Schink, Scott Stewart
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://legionmovie.com/
05.11.2010 | By Karen Posada |
Rated: R for strong bloody violence and language.
Release Date: 2010-01-29
Starring: William Monahan, Andrew Bovell
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://edge-of-darkness.warnerbros.com/
‘Edge of Darkness‘ was directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) who also directed the English mini-series from the 80’s with the same title on which the movie is based on. Not being familiar with the mini-series I thought the previews had given too much away and I could guess the outcome of it. I was wrong. There are many surprising moments and twists that have you guessing and wanting to know more. The story unfolds nicely and though at times it is hard to understand Gibson’s mumbles as well Winstone’s english accent, I enjoyed the thrilling ride.
This is the story of a Boston police investigator in the quest to find out who brutally shot his daughter and the reason why. Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) is a widowed parent who has a estranged relationship with his only daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic), he seems to love her deeply but know very little about her life. Once she’ shot he’s got nothing to loose and decides to put justice in his own hands. On his road to finding his daughter’s killer he opens up a can of worms and finds himself in the middle of a big corporation/governmental plot. In this quest he ends up getting to know his daughter more than he did when she was alive and finds that her principals were just what he taught her. A professional killer (Ray Winstone) sent to kill Craven proves to be his only ‘friend’ through his dilemma, a character that complements him well. Craven states the premise of the movie perfectly ” you had better decide whether you are hanging on the cross or banging in the nails”, this is exactly what the film makes us think of as we are introduced to new settings and characters.
The one thing that bothered me about the film were the moments where Craven hallucinates hearing and seeing his daughter as a child and an adult, there was no need to play the crazy card; his irreparable pain was enough and his misplaced anger worked to show it. Craven acting as a superhero for the later part of the film would have bother me except that knowing he’s a father that finds himself on ‘the edge of darkness’ and his only purpose is to revenge his daughter’s death lets me accept his ‘superpowers’.
Gibson’s words from our interview resonated as the movie continued, I got the connection he made to Jacobean tragedies and this film and you will too. It is a film that does make you think about how much power the government and how little we may be able to do about it. For those that know the series they might not find it as appealing as they already expect the shocking moments but it may appeal to them to see it under a new light. At some points the thought provoking plot does get in the way of the action but the moments of surprise make it worth it.
05.11.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity.
Release Date: 2010-01-08
Starring: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://daybreakersmovie.com/
Daybreakers has an intriguing premise: What would happen if a mass vampire epidemic swept across the planet and humans – the major food source – became endangered? The best parts of Daybreakers relate to exploring the society that might emerge in such a situation, including the potential economic, political, technological, and military implications. Ethan Hawke stars.
The movie is effectively interwoven into the story’s tapestry, and may intrigue those who have grown weary of standard-order vampire movies. In addition to the back story, the movie raises questions about ideas as far ranging as what it means to be human and the morality of ethnic cleansing (an allegorical aspect). Daybreakers is primarily an adventure/thriller, and there are plenty of traditional elements, but more thought went into mapping out the scenario than one often uncovers in this sort of motion picture.
In an era when the vampire concept has become marginalized by writers and movie-makers principally concerned with cashing in on a payday and promoting necrophilia, it’s refreshing to discover directors who return to the old school concepts as an inspiration for something different in some ways from what we’re accustomed to.
05.4.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for sexual content and smoking.
Release Date: 2009-12-18
Starring: Michael Tolkin, Anthony Minghella
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://nine-movie.com/
05.4.2010 | By Mack Chico |
Rated: Not available.
Release Date: 2009-06-11
Starring: Francis Ford Coppola
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Country:USA, Argentina
Official Website: http://www.tetro.com/
Meet Francis Ford Coppola 5.0: The Interesting Failure phase. Which certainly beats 4.0, the paycheck period of 1990s films like “Jack,” in which Robin Williams made the stretch of reverting to childhood. But “Tetro,” the second in Coppola’s new line of low-budget art films (following last year’s headache factory “Youth Without Youth”), is hard to take seriously.
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In La Boca, the café quarter of Buenos Aires, a grimacing, unsuccessful writer named Tetro (Vincent Gallo) on the run from his own nonlegend is hunkered down with his girlfriend Miranda (Maribel Verdú) and working as a light man in the theater. He receives an unwanted visit from his younger half-brother, who works on a cruise ship and cherishes a mistaken view of the older sibling as a generous soul.
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This movie will be remembered, perhaps, for the little brother, who is played by newcomer Alden Ehrenreich, an effortlessly appealing youngster who strongly resembles Leonardo DiCaprio.
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Coppola, working in creamy black-and-white that suggests 1960s French and Italian films, wrote his own original screenplay for the first time since the 1970s. Opera is his inspiration — or possibly his infection — as he unloads an elaborate tale of celebrity, sexual revenge and family secrets that creep out of the expressionistic shadows.
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The brothers, especially the older one, have been poisoned by the renown of their father (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and by the gruesome fates of their mothers.
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The gorgeous look of this frazzled, fractured monster is enough to hold your interest, for a while at least, and Gallo radiates the appropriate level of crazy for his part.
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Still, the more dramatic revelations and tragic inevitabilities that turn up, the harder it is not to laugh. Give credit to its maker for directing with an earnestness suggesting a pretentious 22-year-old. Having passed through the phases of Interesting Apprentice, Mad Genius, Chastened Bankrupt and Shameless Wage Slave, Coppola at 70 may be the world’s oldest student filmmaker.
05.4.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG for mild language, some rude humor and sports action.
Release Date: 2010-01-22
Starring: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.toothfairy-movie.com/
I didn’t really know what to expect of the latest family film ‘Tooth Fairy’ starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. At one point I thought it might be the same fare as his 2007 ‘The Game Plan’, which was #1 at the box office for two weeks in a row, but no, this was nowhere near as charming as that one. ‘The Tooth Fairy’ was just bad cinema. The Rock is a simpatico guy, but with a ludicrous plotline, uninspired dialogue, the worse camera editing I’ve seen in years and a paltry supporting cast, there was no way he was saving this sinking ship.
Here’s the story. A bad deed on the part of a tough minor-league hockey player (The Rock) results in an unusual sentence: He must serve one week as a real-life tooth fairy.
He wears a ballerina dress when first becoming a fairy and instead of it being a funny moment, it was a bit embarrassing. I’m wondering why he needs to be working these types of films. Could you imagine what his wrestling buddies must be saying? His body of work isn’t so bad at all. His previous roles in films such as ‘Race to Witch Mountain’ was great family fun potpourried with thrills, chills and action. ‘The Game Plan’ was a touching and charming movie that makes grown men cry when they see it.
Director Michael Lembeck, mostly a TV director, shouldn’t be doing movies. His camera shot selections were not flattering to the actors and showed the many audio dubbing flaws caught by the lens. Just intolerable. Adding to the demise of the movie was seeing a New York legend Billy Crystal in a pajama like costume regurgitating screenwriter Lowell Ganz’s stale and infantile dialogue.
Do not spend your money this week on ‘Tooth Fairy’. If you want the same family vibe with lots of smiles and warm, fuzzy sentiments and a tear or two, see ‘The Game Plan’ on DVD. You’ll be grateful I recommend it to you.
04.20.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.
Release Date: 2009-12-18
Starring: James Cameron
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.avatarpelicula.es
04.20.2010 | By Terry Kim |
Rated: R
Release Date: 2009-12-16
Starring: Scott Cooper
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.crazyheartmovie.com/
Crazy Heart is an underdog story—and an underdog story a few decades overdue, to be exact—about a fifty-seven year-old country singer, Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges). Blake is broke, has a twenty-eight year-old son he hasn’t seen since he was a toddler, and has a severe drinking problem. To top it off, he falls in love with a small-town reporter, Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), while performing in Santa Fe. Feeling a tad more reinvigorated from his new love, he decides to pick things up a bit, and slowly puts pen to paper after years without song writing. Just when he thinks things are looking its best, he hits rock bottom yet again: while baby-sitting Jean’s son at the mall, he loosens up with a drink at the bar, and loses sight of the kid in the process. After the mall ordeal, Jean storms off, leaving Blake all alone. After a few days of wallowing, Blake checks himself in to rehab, and finally finishes the songs he has been putting off for all those years. He finally accepts the fact that although he may no longer occupy center stage, he is happy knowing that his protégé, Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), will take over in his place.
Jeff Bridges has been nominated for four Oscars, and it is the sincerest wishes of many that he will take home his lucky fifth. I cannot help but compare the story, and Bridges’ performance to last year’s The Wrestler, in which Mickey Rourke also played a world-weary man, looking for a way back in. Crazy Heart does not boast any fancy camerawork, so Bridges’ acting inevitably steals the spotlight. One can almost smell the whiskey from off screen, as he lugs himself around dusty motels. He is also personally invested as one of the executive producers of the film. Robert Duvall also appears in the film as Blake’s old friend, and is one of the producers as well.
Crazy Heart is an honest tale about how it is never too late to get your life back on track, and about taking your trials and tribulations and channeling them through an art form, like music. All music was done by T Bone Burnett, who is a music producer renowned for soundtracks like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Cold Mountain, Walk the Line, and The Big Lebowski. It is interesting to hear some of Blake’s songs repeated throughout the film, a realistic depiction of the redundancy entertainers are subjected to; indeed, some of the live performances, whether they take place in bars or bowling alleys, begin to weld together so that they are indistinguishable from one another.
Coupled with the raw landscape of the American Midwest and the mellifluous country music, Crazy Heart is not only recommended for all y’all boots-toting cowboys out there, but for anybody suffering from heartache and mental blocks, and could use a buoyant story about an old dog that can learn new tricks.
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