Whip It (Movie Review)

“Whip It” has got to be one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a while. It was fun and very entertaining. It may make you want to go out and join a roller derby team or at least give yourself a cool and tough pseudo name. Read More

Casi Divas (Movie Review)

Rated: PG-13 for mature sexual content, language and thematic material.
Release Date: 2009-08-21
Starring: Issa López
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.casidivas.com/

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I have to admit that neither the title nor the trailer would have made me go see Casi Divas; I came out of the movie theater surprised at how fun and interesting it was.
 
The film was a hit in Mexico which is what helped launch it in the U.S. The plot of the movie is to find the main movie star for a soap opera turned movie. It sounds a little ridiculous but among the mockery of soap operas and other themes that make up the plot we stumble along some interesting themes such as: the racism of the indigenous people in Mexico, the way women factory workers at the border are abused by the coyotes, and a common theme among teenagers who try to follow Hollywood’s hype by doing extreme diets. The cast is made up by five women Patricia Llaca, Ana Layevska, Diana Garcia, Daniela Schmidt and Maya Zapata one stud Julio Bracho; each one of them offers a different view point and element to the story.

 

The movie sticks to its roots by the way the characters speak and by having its setting in Mexico City in places where the locals live. The movie is in Spanish but the subtitles make it true to the American viewer, they even change some cultural references so we can connect better to what the characters say when they refer to their cultural icons.
 
The movie is well rounded, its audience (teenagers, adults) will not be disappointed thanks to the different cultural themes that it touches upon along with the mockery and slapstick comedy; it has something to offer everyone, it is a movie that will surprise many.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (Movie Review)

The Time Traveler’s Wife really tries to fly through time with a fast-paced beginning. The love story will captivate you and may make you fight back your tears, but the film loses its essence as the story unfolds.

The time traveler, Henry (Eric Bana), disappears into time because of a genetic anomaly, which makes this film sort of sci-fi, since it is, after all, from a screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, who wrote Ghost. He seems to want to recapture this story once again but fails at it. Clare (Rachel McAdams) has more of an imaginary friend at times than a husband in Henry; her side of the story keeps the film more grounded. We see an element of sadness and loneliness in her life because of Henry’s off-and-on appearances, which we can relate to. The story just gets weirder and more surreal as the movie continues, which makes the plot shaky.

The book, which was very successful, should not have come to life, at least not on the big screen. The film touches upon an interesting dilemma between whether our choices have been made for us or if we have free will when dealing with the past and future. Henry is able to travel from the present to both the past and the future, but it gets so complicated that the main character ends up competing for his own wife with his old and young selves.

Since the story is told by the way their romance unfolds, not by the passing of time, there is some rhythm that one can follow. One thing viewers can look forward to is a couple of nude scenes spread throughout the film. You may go and enjoy the romance of the story, but don’t expect to get much out of it.

Ponyo (Movie Review)

Rated: PG for mild action and brief language.
Release Date: 2009-08-14
Starring: Hayao Miyazaki
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Country: Japan
Official Website: http://www.ghibli.jp/ponyo/

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Ponyo turns from a sweet simple children’s story to a convoluted drama that is even hard for adults to follow. It does send out a good message though, of love and kindness towards the ocean, but the story revolves around too many surreal things that even for a children’s film is hard to get in tune with.
 
This new animated film by Hayao Miyazaki an Academy Award winner is a heartwarming film about a boy and his pet fish who fight the entire ocean, literally, to stay together. Its cast is composed mainly of stars from the Disney Channel such as Noah Cyrus, Frankie Jonas and Selena Gomez who is of Mexican background and surprisingly does a lot of the minor character’s voices. Some of the other big stars are Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson and Matt Damon who has a very small role in the film. 
 
Seeing that the film had great success in Japan, there is potential for it to achieve the same results in the U.S., but the film’s turn from a simple story to a convoluted apocalyptic end of the world as we know it, may bore, confuse and disappoint many children. The film sticks close to its Japanese culture with minor elements to incorporate American viewers such as a change in a few character’s names. It is almost 2 hours long which will make it lose its intended audience after the first hour.  Although it is a little too unreal at times and one has to struggle to not criticize, judge the story or some of the character’s actions, those who enjoy anime may still like the film even if just for its roots. The rest of you should just wait for it to come out on DVD.