Pacific Rim (Movie Review)
07.12.2013 | By Jack Rico |
The “1-4-0”:Â #PacificRim is a visual masterpiece that combines a nice balance of comedy, drama and action. A solid movie that has more sizzle than steak. Read More
07.12.2013 | By Jack Rico |
The “1-4-0”:Â #PacificRim is a visual masterpiece that combines a nice balance of comedy, drama and action. A solid movie that has more sizzle than steak. Read More
06.7.2013 | By Jack Rico |
The “1-4-0”: You should just see this movie to experience one of the most original premises of the year. Having #EthanHawke bust some heads open is the cherry on top! Read More
03.29.2013 | By Mariana Dussan |
After her fame with “The Twilight Saga” author Stephenie Meyers is at it again, this time with director Andrew Niccols (Gattaca), with another one of her best-selling novels, “The Host.” Now the questions lingering in everyone’s mind are: will it do as well at the box office as it did in print and will it outshine its predecessor? Read More
04.30.2012 | By Jack Rico |
The article was taken from a Spanish language article we wrote back on May 4th, 2012.
Mientras nos acercamos más a la gran fecha de 4 de mayo, día en que se estrena THE AVENGERS, una de las películas más esperadas en la historia del cine, recibimos una reseña del filme de un anonimo/a ansioso por hablar de que pensó del largometraje.
Desconocemos si es una “ella” o “él”. De todos modos, lo que importa aquí es la opinión, una que se ve muy sincera. Vale la pena mencionar, que ShowBizCafe.com no apoya los comentarios siguientes y solo es puesto como nota editorial. Gracias a la anomima o anonimo que nos entregó la nota:
“Tuve la oportunidad de ver la película “The Avengers” antes de que saliera en cartelera y no la desaproveché. Después de todo, se trata de “una de las películas más esperadas de este año” y aunque no soy un gran fanático de todos los superhéroes, hay algunos que me llaman la atención. Quería ver con qué iba a salir Hollywood esta vez.
Una vez sentado comienza la película. Con todas las ansias y esperando que me sorprendiera, ocurre lo impensable: me quedé dormido en los primeros 5 minutos.
No se si fue que todo empezó muy rápido o, por el contrario, muy despacio que me desconecté de la película. De pronto fue que vi varios superhéroes que no conocía y que son los que se roban gran parte del comienzo. Menos mal fueron unos pocos minutos en los que mis ojos se mantuvieron cerrados.
Una vez que recobré mis cinco sentidos empezaron a aparecer un par de superhéroes que ya conocía y hasta me sorprendí al ver a uno que sigo desde mi niñez.
Ahora si empieza la acción, que está muy buena pero que para mi concepto a veces se torna un poco ruidosa. Tanto que me saca de estar disfrutando la película a pensar que “está como un poco duro el volumen” entre explosión y explosión.
Me gustó mucho la idea de que sea en 3D porque definitivamente hay una diferencia abismal con las pantallas “regulares” que estamos acostumbrados a ver. Lástima que sea a través de unas gafas que personalmente después de unos minutos me comienzan a fastidiar y pienso en quitármelas para descansar así como me quito mis lentes de sol cada vez que me molestan durante el día y me encuentro con que no se puede ver bien la pantalla sin ellas. Miro a mi alrededor y veo a todo el público con unos lentes súper anticuados, como viendo a muchos Woody Allens observando una película. Me parece que ahí falló la tecnología.
Volviendo a la película, por supuesto Hollywood sale triunfador como estamos acostumbrados. Una vez nuestros superhéroes se ven derrotados y casi ya sin fuerzas, salen a relucir aquellas cancioncillas a las que muy bien acostumbrados estamos y que nos recuerdan que ahí no termina todo y que al fin y al cabo ellos son superhéroes y los buenos siempre ganan.
Me entretuve viendo la película excepto por aquellos minuticos en que mis ojos estuvieron ausentes. Tiene mucha acción aunque muy predecible y se la aconsejaría a aquellas personas que de una forma u otra les gusta lo relacionado con superhéroes. De otra manera creo que sólo despertarán cuando escuchen las explosiones.”
05.6.2011 | By Jack Rico |
‘Thor,’ the first Marvel superhero film of the year, debuts this weekend to high expectations from cinephiles to film executives. This film adaptation is faithful to the mythology of the comic book hero, has a well blend of humor and drama, is visually stunning, but stumbles through the end, and although it recovers, it does not manage to have a place in the pantheon of superhero classics such as ‘Superman II’ and ‘The Dark Knight.’ However, the film, mostly, is great popcorn fun and is worth spending the money to see, especially in IMAX 3D. Read More
03.26.2010 | By Jack Rico |
‘Chloe,’ Atom Egoyan’s new directorial work, is the lesbian version of Fatal Attraction. You can expect a high level of nudity and explicit, erotic sexual lesbian scenes that almost make it feel like soft core porn. The look of the film is different though and resembles more Stanley Kubrick’s artistic ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’ The pacing, cinematography and camerawork, even its musical score, ignites thoughts of the film. The acting is strong and the story, for 85% of its duration, is utterly enthralling… until it collapses at the very end in an hyperbolic mess.
A gynecologist (Julianne Moore) hires an escort (Amanda Seyfried) to seduce her husband (Liam Neeson), whom she suspects of cheating. The results will back fire on her and reveal a side of herself she didn’t know existed.
For most of the film, this erotic thriller carries a slow enjoyable pace. It never reaches the depths of boredom. Each scene is crafted carefully to develop the characters and the meat of the story. The situations they are all in are plausible, but with an edge to them. Then out of nowhere, 20 minutes before its denouement, it becomes risible and loses all cogency and believability. I don’t even want to try and figure out why that happened, but this movie could have been great.
Despite that one deficiency, the whole of the film should not be dismissed. The engrossing, sometimes transfixing artistic sensuality of the sequences will keep you glued to your seat. The premise evokes real questions that ultimately many marriages suffer from, such as – can one ever really be only with one person for their whole life?
‘Chloe’ has an answer for that and it’s not necessarily the one you want to hear. The movie is a bit twisted, but it is very entertaining, you can’t wait to see what happens next and am sure most of you will feel the same too.
03.5.2010 | By Jack Rico |
‘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’.
The plot goes like this – three Brooklyn cops who work at the same precinct wind up at the same deadly location after their personal problems converge them there.
Kudos to the comeback kid Ethan Hawke, who continues to deliver powerful, intense and captivating performances. One of my favorites from him is ‘Before The Devil Know’s You’re Dead’ from legendary director Sydney Lumet. Just a wonderful small film that didn’t get much play in 2007. He now reunites with helmer Antoine Fuqua from their days in ‘Training Day’ to deliver an impressive and fervent interpretation of a cop doing anything to provide for his family.
The rest of the cast, Don Cheadle, Wesley Snipes and Ellen Barkin also delivered magnificent performances as well. Wesley Snipes, who hasn’t been in much of note in nearly a decade, settles into this role as if he was born for it. And Ellen Barkin is unforgettable as the foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails FBI agent who makes life hell for Tango. I don’t mention Richard Gere because I thought he was the weakest link. His range is limited in these fiery films and what’s worse, he plays the same guy in every movie. Romantic dramas like his ‘Nights in Rodanthe’ or ‘An Officer and A Gentleman’ are a better fit.
Outside of the great acting the film does dribble into some typical police cliches, such as the dirty cop attending confession or undercover officers agonizing over turning against a friend they’ve made in the hood. These scenes are here, but they don’t distract you or make you say, ‘WTF, again!?’. It fits well with their characters and it didn’t bother me at all, I doubt it will for you.
Ultimately, it’s all about being entertained and taken to a world you submerge for two hours to then came back satisfied. ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ does that and in a fine way.
Other films like this:
03.3.2010 | By Jack Rico |
It’s finally here! Tim Burton’s new phantasmagorical Real-3D remake of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is 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 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 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!
02.17.2010 | By Jack Rico |
The new psychological thriller, “Shutter Island,” based on the popular novel by Dennis Lehane, comes from the dexterous and practiced hands of legendary director Martin Scorsese. The film is deluged with a plethora of twists and turns, brilliant acting by Leonardo DiCaprio and jarring scenes of suspense created and framed to perfection by its helmer. You should be excited to see this film… the entertainment value is high and the production quality is of the highest caliber. It’s definitely a must see movie!
For those of you who unfamiliar with the plotline, we’ll reveal only a succinct version. The film adaptation tells the tale of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who are summoned to a remote and barren island off the cost of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a prisoner from the island’s fortress-like mental ward. Not much can else be revealed because anything more can ruin the movie experience.
One thing you will take away from this movie is Scorsese’s prowess in the visual department. Some of the camera shots seen make you wish the projectionist could pause them and play it over and over again. After seeing all of DiCaprio’s films, Shutter Island, in my humble opinion, is perhaps one of the top 3 best performances of his career (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Shutter Island and Basketball Diaries, in order). That is what you await at your local theater this weekend.
A major subtext in the movie’s theme is a question asked by all of us, at one point or another in our lives: Am I mad, or is the world around me mad? What’s real and what is not? (I’ve been there before). Just like Hitchcock, the story is constantly deviating us from our path of clarity, creating scenes that don’t really exist and submerging us into a nightmare we can’t manage to wake up from.
At first, the film seems to be just another intriguing noir detective story but it is so much more than that. The references and homages in the film are multiple, everything from “Out of the Past” to “Shock Corridor” and “The Snake Pit” to Hitchcock’s “Spellbound.”
“Shutter Island” is a world where nothing is what it appears to be. It’s suspenseful, mysterious, ambiguous and insane. Now that sounds like a fun movie!
09.19.2009 | By Jack Rico |
‘The Burning Plain’ is a bleak film which is heavy on the visceral drama and light on substance. The script isn’t compelling nor are the characters and last I heard, the idea behind creating a movie is to entertain audiences to some degree, not make one miserable and despondent.
Three stories about three women swing back and forth in time and place, gathering apparently disconnected and twisted scenes into a monotonous tale of betrayal, love, and death. The film stars Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger and a new crop of actors.
Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, now turned director, is a magnificent penman who creates scenes that bring the best out of actors and his director. Regrettably, as his fourth work shows, he has reached a repetitive, one-dimensional plateau where he can’t seem to free himself from. Once again, Arriaga tells a story of various characters paralleling each other. He began with this structure in ‘Amores Perros’ and continued in ‘21 Grams,’ ‘Babel’ and now ‘The Burning Plain’. When I spoke to him, Arriaga contested that he felt the composition and story of this film are completely different than anything he has done before. He needs to take a closer look at his films and pick up on the recurring patterns – multi-narratives and gut-wrenching, emotional dramas. There isn’t anything wrong with Arriaga continuing along this trademark path, but isn’t variety the spice of life? Versatility is where you prove yourself to be better than just one style and I am hoping to see something distinct and fresh for his next project.
This is a Hollywood indie intertwined with a Latino story. For Hispanics, the decision to watch this heavy film for the sake of supporting a fellow patriot is ignorant. You make your decision based on the quality of the script and the acting. In this case, the script is banal, too serious and melodramatic and the acting, though arguably strong, is not compelling and lacks believability. I recommend you wait for his arch nemesis, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film ‘Biutiful’ starring Javier Bardem for a more enjoyable experience at the movies in December.
