03.18.2010 | By Namreta Kumar |
*Updated December 2025
ShowBizCafe.com had the opportunity to talk to Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning about their film The Runaways, which opened March 19, 2010. They let us in on how the music and the rock icons Joan Jett and Cherie Currie influence them today.
03.15.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for sexual content, language and some drug material.
Release Date: 2009-11-20
Starring: Pedro Almodóvar
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Country:Spain
Official Website: http://www.pedroalmodovar.es/PAB_EN_Cap01.asp
One of Spain’s most talented sons gives cinema a new work titled ‘Broken Embraces’. Pedro Almodóvar reunites with Penélope Cruz to once again give us a visually sensual and beautiful, bold and impressive theater of the mind, but one that regrettably doesn’t break new ground. It is not his best film and thus the reason it wasn’t selected to participate in Spain’s Oscar selections for this upcoming ceremony. It is by no intention a bad film, it simply isn’t overwhelming. Were we asking for too much? Was that the problem?
The premise is interesting and very Almodovar. Harry Caine (LluÃs Homar), a screenwriter/director, suffers a near fatal crash that leaves him blind. After healing from his wounds 14 years later, he finds himself directing and editing his last movie which starred his eternal love.
There is beauty in his work, but I believe there was also writers block, which is why he recycled so much of his favorite films such as Elevator to the Gallows, Voyage to Italy and his own Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Pedro took the opportunity to become Tarantino in this film and craft a class in filmmaking to us all. His new work combines amour fou, crime-noir melodrama, satirical comedy, complex structures and subplots and anything else his head could devise. He’s good but his ambition got the best of him and the construction of the story ultimately did not rise to the levels of his previous works. It looks as if his focus left the narrative and shifted to the technical aspects and look of the film. Almodovar is accountable for his own success and it burns him here.
Nonetheless, the minor imperfections do not damage his reputation as a dexterous helmer nor should it influence your decision to see the movie. Penelope Cruz gives another mesmerizing performance as the “femme fatale†but one that doesn’t rival her character in passion and charm from ‘Volver’. The rest of the cast shows why Spain is a gold mine full of talented actors.
In a broad comment, this year was specifically a great year for Spanish movies. The box office has reaped the benefits of their marvelous stories and productions and we’re all the better for it. Almodovar is being challenged by other filmmakers such as Isabel Coixet, Fernando Trueba, Daniel Sánchez Arévalo and Alejandro Aménabar (half Chilean). I hope to see their work rival his because Hollywood awaits them desperately.
03.12.2010 | By Jack Rico |
‘Green Zone’ is the army version of the Bourne movies. It’s a full blown political thriller a la Tom Clancy with high octane action. The acting is superb, but the action is relentless. From the tense opening scene, and then for almost two hours, it’s non stop bullet battles, zig-zagging car and helicopter chases, and enough explosions to uncomfortably increase your heart rate and blood pressure! Is it as good or better than The Hurt Locker, another action war drama? No way. But it is definitely more entertaining. Read More
03.11.2010 | By Namreta Kumar |
She’s Out of My League is quite possibly the best romantic-comedy out, thus far, this year. The best part about this bromance is that it is equally a chick-flick. Read More
03.11.2010 | By Karen Posada |
‘Remember Me’ does a fine job at making you part of it without you realizing it. If you are into romantic dramas you are going to love it, it is more than just romance though, the importance of family is felt strongly as well. The plot is made up of love and loss and the sense that we have to ‘live in the moments’ because we don’t know when our last day on Earth will be. It is your typical boy-meets-girl story but with a sense of reality in it and a twist of faith.
Our main character Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) is a troubled soul, who feels completely helpless, he wants to be a hero or a voice to those that need it, like his younger sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins). He had a privileged life growing up, but now wants to make it on his own, away from his workaholic father (Pierce Brosnan); who doesn’t expect anything good out of him. With his poetic boy looks and the sadness he has about him, he has a way with the ladies. His roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington) convinces Tyler to date the daughter of a police officer (Chris Cooper), to spite him for arresting them one night. Tyler has no problem sweeping Ally Craig (Emilie de Ravin) off her feet. Tyler gets lost in his own game and ends up falling for Ally’s quirky personality. She has the ability to show him through their connection by their troubled pasts, that he can live again despite of all the pain he’s felt. She brings out the best in him.
The love connection here is strong; Pattinson and de Ravin make the romance as well as their life stories very real to the audience. It’s hard not to fall in love with Pattinson in this film; he is the typical artsy passionate guy every girl would want. The quarrels among characters, especially “the big fight” between the couple is a bit ridiculous. The script tries to create drama where there really isn’t. Admittedly the ending is the strongest part of the movie, the filmmakers took a cheap shot at the audience, but it is the reason for the ½ star. It is a cheap shot that works, without it the movie wouldn’t have an impact and it would be easy to forget. We are given subtle hints about the ending throughout the whole movie but we only connect the dots when we arrive to it, it is what will make the audience feel a stronger connection to the story.
I definitely recommend it to the hopeless romantics; it will touch your hearts and leave you a little depressed. You are left with the sense that we do need to cherish every moment and live as if today was our last day.
03.9.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for language and some sexual content.
Release Date: 2009-12-04
Starring: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.theupintheairmovie.com/
03.6.2010 | By Jack Rico |
The 2010 Oscars are here and fans have their thoughts of who should be the winners on Oscar night. I’ll be personally looking at the Foreign Films category because that is where I think the best films of 2009 are! Two Latin American films are nominated. My peeps are putting their share! Read More
03.5.2010 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated December 2025
Brooklyn’s Finest is a very good film that brings together some wonderfully gritty acting, an engrossing storyline and a riveting ending. There are some twists that you’ll enjoy and overall it’ll remind you of films such as Crash and Serpico.
03.3.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for some crude humor.
Release Date: 2009-10-30
Starring: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess
Director(s):
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Country:USA
Official Website: No disponible.
One of the worst movies of 2009 is Gentlemen Broncos.
Directed by Jared Hess, the creator of ‘Napoleon Dynamite’, the film revolves around a young writer whose novel is plagiarized by his favorite author.
The comedy is some of the more corniest I’ve seen in my life and the dialogue is ridiculous.
It is amazing that such horrific films as this continue to be created for the public consumption.
03.3.2010 | By Jack Rico |
It’s finally here! Tim Burton’s new phantasmagorical Real-3D remake of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is shockingly a bore. All that eye-popping colorful imagery was just eye candy to sidetrack us from focusing on the anemic script adaptation. Even though it is one of Burton’s most beautiful films, it is not his best. This goes to show you that story is everything. The acting performances were vacuous and the entertainment value was surprisingly subpar. Will kids like it? Yeah sure, kids like almost anything that looks like a video game.
Burton’s adaptation centers around Alice (Mia Wasikowska), a young british teenager who falls down a tree hole and rediscovers all the marvels of a surreal place called Wonderland.
There is something to be said about the director’s need to create a movie that has been filmed so many times by so many people in so many countries. Does he think his version will be the definitive one? Disney might argue that. Burton is a remake master and there is a major flaw with that method of filmmaking – you are always going against the original, therefore your version will most likely always be weaker.
Alice in Wonderland is not funny or charming but a bit fatuous and insipid. It drags in various places especially in the beginning. Much of this tediousness is due to the bad acting of the female protagonist Mia Wasikowska. Talk about needing some acting classes. She was neither convincing nor surprised at anything, but rather seemed arrogant and spoiled. Mr. Eccentric himself, Johnny Depp, couldn’t hit the magical and funny strides of his predecessor Captain Jack Sparrow from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ The rest of the cast was mediocre at best, so was the whole movie.
On some high notes, the cinematography is outstanding, kudos to Dariusz Wolski for hitting a home run. The 3D experience was very fun, but any 3D film that comes out after Avatar is going to pale in comparison. Nevertheless, for those of you that rarely see three dimensional movies, it’s a trip and a half. The great moments are few and the yawning moments are plenty. If you think that the 3D scenes and the colorful visuals will be enough to amuse you, think again. The special glasses will start to weigh on you and the english accent will begin to annoy you. That’s what happens when a movie you think is going to be great turns out be a dud!
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