Volver Pedro Almodovar :: Spain :: 2005 :: 2h01 Raimunda is exiled in a labourers Madrid with her teenage daughter, but still with one foot firmly planted in her provincial past. Times are hard for them, and when both her somewhat ex-communicated mother and her boyfriend die, she is thrust back into the murky depths of her [...]
Filed under: Europe, Spain | Tagged: Pedro Almodovar, Penelope cruz, Volver | Leave a Comment »
To keep the pace, the movie unravels quickly, leaving out one of the charms of the mystery genre – that you try to figure it out yourself.So we just watch passively and try to take it all in, making the thriller almost into a documentary, with some violence and chases added on. This makes it tempting to be somewhat indifferent towards the movie, especially considering there were no major mistakes. It is worth mentioning that there is some great photography – Paris (empty and with soft lighting, as always on film) and London come out well, with an added effect of frame upon frame to integrate the past into the present the way people imagine in real life (through transposition).
Filed under: America, USA | Tagged: Audrey Tautou, Ron Howard, The Da Vinci Code | Leave a Comment »
It is funny to note that friendship, love and music are the only real life factors considered important, as when they study or work we are oblivious to its contents. None the less, the grand details (paths followed, relationships chosen) and small ones (mystical mother-son link, human reactions) render the tale credible, funny and moving.
Filed under: America, Canada | Tagged: C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallee | Leave a Comment »
Les Filles du botanisteDai Sijie :: France, China :: 2005 :: 1h45Orphaned girl Li Min gets sent to a draconian botanist for a schooling placement where she meets An, his patient and dutiful daughter…. The violent shocks in the story-line do not make watching any easier either, forcing the viewer to take on a very lenient position towards the characters and their play, a requirement which was easily avoided with more attention to detail.
Filed under: Asia, China, Europe, France | Tagged: Dai Sijie, Les Filles du botaniste | Leave a Comment »
CampingFabien Onteniente :: France :: 2005 :: 1h35Wealthy man takes his daughter out on a holiday to Marbella, but they never arrive due to their car breaking down forcing them to stay with a group of habitual campers on their August routine. Picture them all dancing one behind the other with their hands on each other’s shoulders through the camp site, but do not be misled into thinking this is Les Bronzés.
Filed under: Europe, France | Tagged: Camping, Fabien Onteniente | Leave a Comment »
A sunny, fast cars, Cannes and beautiful houses type movie, if it was not for the main characters being played by Isabelle Carré and José Garcia…. We are supposed to believe that Garcia’s character has no interest in the advances of Carré’s character, who plays the clumsy seductress but none the less, there is no place to hide her astounding beauty or her charm in those little dresses.
Filed under: Europe, France | Tagged: Christian Vincent, isabelle Carré, José Garcia, Quatre étoiles | 2 Comments »
Their pain of betrayal, the tragedy of death and coma, and on top of that the frustration of not being able to talk to their partners, brings the two closer together…. Try going in with little more pre-knowledge than that the director takes on the ‘In the Mood for Love’-type theme and see where he takes you from there.
Filed under: Asia, S. Korea | Tagged: April Snow, Jin-Ho Hur | Leave a Comment »
The movie lightly argues in favour of accepting the similarities with their neighbour Pakistan, women’s rights, the lawyer’s defending-the-guilty problem and deals with the age-old theme of parentally planned versus romantic love as a basis for a marriage. Not enough new material to challenge the audience, repetition of explanation and tedious all-storylines-need-to-come-full-circle make this photo-book movie skim over the surface leaving an impression with but a few scenes.
Filed under: Asia | Leave a Comment »
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