It's difficult to imagine what was in Judd Apatow's mind. A serious comedy of sorts? Adam Sandler is at the center of the confused attempt. He's better than he's ever been in a part that is, quite frankly, disagreeable to say the list. This creature that has achieved fame and fortune but without building any interior life. A bum, ignorant, silly, self pitying, spoiled, uneducated, moronic and I could go on but I guess you get the picture. The strange thing is that the story is structured in such a way that seems to imply we're suppose to feel for him even feel identified by his predicament. He's told he has a fatal disease at the beginning of the film but then miraculously he gets better and then you have another hour of film in which new characters are introduced. I wanted to run out of the theater and scream. There are a few funny moments and Jason Schwartzman and Eric Bana are very good but,somebody please tell me, what the hell was this?
Reviews
12 Reviews
The Hurt Locker
(2008)
The Brilliant Explosion Of Kathryn Bigelow
28 June 2009
I spent the entire film grabbing the arms of my seat. I was there in Irak, steps away from my death and the death of those around me. The tension, the suspense is at times breathtaking, literally. "The Hurt Locker" is a miracle and the definitive consecration of a great filmmaker, Kathryn Bigelow. This is also a rare occasion in which I went to see the film without having read a single review or knowing anything about it. One should try to do that more often because the impact of the surprise translates into pure pleasure and in this case, sometimes, you have to look away from the unmitigated horror. Jeremy Renner is a real find. He is superb. A kind soul, wild man with enough arrogance to make him appear reckless and yet his humanity precedes him. People may commit the mistake of avoiding this gem thinking that it's just a war film. Don't. It isn't. It's a great, engrossing film about human emotions, not to be missed.
Chéri
(2009)
Pfeiffer's Friend
27 June 2009
You can't really tell as far as Stephen Frears is concerned. After the sensational "The Queen" another film that is only slightly more tolerable than the dreadful "Mrs Henderson Presents" Here Rupert Friend in the title role is a delightful throwback to Oscar Wilde territory. You understand Pfeiffer loosing her head for him but not why he looses his for her. She's certainly beautiful but lifeless. She looks more distant than ever, struggling to find the tone of her performance and I'm afraid she never does. Not a glimpse of the Pfeiffer from "The Age Of Innocence" or even "The Fabulous Baker Boys" No sense of period or of intention. Kathy Bates is an annoying over the top caricature but Ruper Friend is the oasis that makes the aridity of this nonsense truly bearable. I had seen him before, most remarkably, in another story with another older woman, Joan Plowright in "Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont" He is an actor with, clearly, a few aces up his sleeve and I bet he will dazzle us with other surprises in the future. Here he's badly served by his director, co-stars costume designer, make up and hair and in spite of that he emerges as the only reason to see this film.
Che: Part Two
(2008)
Notes From An Argentinean plus a Personal Confession
17 January 2009
I love cinema so what I'm about to confess embarrasses me deeply. I had given a thumbs down to "Che, Parts 1 and 2" without having seen the film. Terrible I know. But I felt into a trap perpetrated by...who? I don't really know but there has been a negative word of mouth that spread like wild fire and, no matter how smart I think I am, I fell into it. But, thankfully, I bumped into an Argeninean film director, Martin Donovan, a man I love and admire. When I told him I wasn't going to see it because I knew the film was a failure he looked at me as if he was ready to punch me right on the face and Donovan is a pacifist! He took me aside and told me how much he loved the film and why. I went to see both parts straight away and, "Che, part 1 and 2" is the best film I've seen in 2008. It is, of such purity that it will remind you of the work of some of the great masters of the past. The regard for its audience is something that we're not used to anymore. I don't know if we ever were. Riveting, moving, without concessions and Benicio del Toro is just extraordinary. We can see his soul, we can actually perceive it. The humanity of the man is overwhelming. So, thank you Martin Donovan once again for educating me so honestly. Bravo Del Toro, Bravo Soderbergh and everyone involved in this landmark film. Don't commit the mistake I was about to commit. Go see it, now, on the big screen
Eastern Promises
(2007)
An Actor's Courage
27 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I was bowled over by Viggo Mortensen's performance. I saw the film about a week ago and his eyes, his look, his smirk has been with me every day since. He is rapidly becoming my favorite actor because he makes something new, long lasting, thought provoking and totally true, out of the characters he plays, the way he plays them and I feel also, why he plays them. Here he is a Russian mobster's driver, or is he? The important thing is that you won't be able to take your eyes of him. Here he has David Cronemberg at his side / or sides, once again. Cronemberg seems to know and understand Mortensen's power. And Mortensen seems to trust him completely. Eastern Promises is a really good film with and extraordinary Viggo Mortensen at its very core. Not to be missed.
Apartment Zero
(1988)
The Identity Of Zero
25 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I have no idea the sort of effect "Apartment Zero" had when it first came out back in 1989, but now in 2007, the film seems not merely relevant but revolutionary. Two personalities devouring each other in entirely different ways. One out of need the other as a way of life. It's financial need that makes Adrian (Colin Firth) open the doors of his hermetic universe. What a perfect moment for Jack (Hart Bochner) to find his way in. Once Adrian has a lodger that looks like one of the movie star pictures that decorate his apartment he will develop a different kind of need. I was breathless anticipating a fatal blow and uncertain as where the blow was going to come from. Identity has been a favorite subject for ambitious filmmakers from Bergman's "Persona" to Fincher's "Fight Club" but Martin Donovan (the director) dissects the conflict here from an angle I had never, not only seen before, but imagine. The film is chilling and perverse with an under taste of humanity, the most recognizable one - longing. A longing that takes over with the throbbing intensity of an open heart. Colin Firth is astonishing. Not a single false note and he was a very young man back in 1988. The maturity and depth of his performance puts it among the most extraordinary I've ever seen. Hart Bochner is another surprise. He gives himself completely to a character that is "whatever you need him to be" The film was kind of dismissed in my country - Argentina, as an opportunistic device for a thriller, using and unresolved time in our confused and confusing history to tell the story. Okay, well, we've been wrong many times before and many times since. The film's theme is as universal as the struggle between good and evil itself. The top notch DVD contains an insightful interview with David Koepp (Co-writer) and a very personal and moving commentary by the director Martin Donovan. 10 out of 10.
The Holiday
(2006)
Almost Like Old Times
10 February 2007
Well yes, a 2006 romantic comedy that delivers what it promises. Mostly due to the disarming likability of the four leads plus Eli Wallach. Not for cynics, naturally, but very few things are and what the hell I laughed I was moved and I surprised myself all the way through. I came out of the theater smiling from ear to ear. Listen, that's not small feast in a world that seems too self conscious to be cute, even smartly cute like in this case. Kate Winslet can't help but being truthful so, there you go, you identify with her Rufus Sewell situation rooting for her - and I'm a guy! Cameron Diaz is, how can I put it? Yes adorable. A scatterbrain with a brain. Jude Law is another than I don't remember when was the last time he was this charming and Jack Black manages to keep it real and I was taken for a ride, going along, falling happily in Nancy Meyer's lovely trap. Well done!
Humoresque
(1946)
A Startling WB Melodrama
20 January 2007
It opens with a close up of John Garfield and that, already, gets you going. The intensity and power of the man. A from rags to riches tale with an extra something. The extra something here is Clifford Odetts, the language is as pungent as its pace. The truth in John Garfield's face rises everything several notches but, perhaps, the biggest surprise from a 2007's standpoint, is Joan Crawford's performance. She's never been one of my favorites, I always thought impossible to warm up to her and her tough lady from the wrong side of the tracks left me cold but here, she's rounded and brilliant, torn between who she is and who she would like to be. Great lines, fantastic close ups - wearing eye glasses, removing the glasses and squinting - At moments you feel the camera devours her. The director, Jean Negulesco - Three Coins In The Fountain, How To Marry a Millionaire - never flown this high. This 1946 Warners melodrama has the stuff that great works of art are made of. Thrilling
Apocalypto
(2006)
The Artist As A Tough/Rough Man
16 January 2007
One of the roughest, toughest art films I've ever seen. Remarkable, sensational. Non a mean task to put aside all the gossip surrounding the man behind this miracle and look at "Apocalypto" for what it is : a startling piece of art done by one of the most startling artists of our time. But I was able to do exactly that and sit there open mouthed, totally transported to the world Mel Gibson had in store for me. I don't want to get into any spoilers but let me tell you there are, at least, 4 moments - not merely technical but emotional - that are a first for the movies. There is violence in the film yes, but not nearly as much as in "Casino Royale" and definitely more justified. I'll take my wife next time, she stayed home, brainwashed by the avalanche of misinformation claiming it was one of the most violent films ever made. I know my wife well enough to know she will love "Apocalypto"
Magnolia
(1999)
The Calculated Genius
2 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I remember being startled when I saw "Magnolia" back in 1999. I enjoyed it throughly and I sang PT Anderson's praises. We're in 2007 now - two days into the New Year - and I decided to see "Magnolia" again with a couple of people who were seeing it for the first time. Shocking really. The brilliance is still all there but I couldn't help seeing through it. It all felt so damn calculated that its smart ass phoniness took over my senses. Only Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance made me "feel" something. When I was with him I was somewhere and Tom Cruise is fun to watch. Julianne Moore is unbearable and the whole movie drags from, by now, predictable turn to predictable turn. The frogs are wonderful but they are just frogs pouring over the Valley. I'll see it again in another six years and let's see what happens. I feel that Mr Anderson, if you forgive the impertinence, needs a doses of humbleness. Talent he has, in enormous quantities.
Something for Everyone
(1970)
A Lansbury Pearl
21 December 2006
Angela Lansbury as a decadent noblewoman, glaring out into her shaky future is nothing short of sensational. One of the most entertaining performances ever put on film. She has to overcome two massive obstacles, wooden Michael York as a co-star and Broadway legend Harold Prince as her "film" director. She succeeds and overcomes both problems with the help of a scrumptious script and a personal zest that it's pure Lansbury. She has been, consistently, one of the most startling actresses to come out of Hollywood, she is, often, the only redeeming quality of some indifferent movies. Unfortunately, the enormous success of "Murder She Wrote" has overshadowed her powerful impact as an actress. To introduce her to a younger audience that knows her only as Jessica Fletcher is always a thrill. From "Gaslight" right up to "Nanny McPhee" As a piece of trivia...Did you know she was offered the part of Nurse Ratchet in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"?
The Misfits
(1961)
Everybody's gonna die
9 December 2006
To view "The Misfits" in 2006 turns out to be quite a chilling experience. Prophetically in its "doomness" - personal doomness that is. Arthur Miller writes, unwittingly, his wife's swan song and she sings it with a combination of uppers and downers. Pay attention to Eli Wallach describing Marilyn to Clark Gable. Was that Miller himself being particularly misogynistic or what hell was it? She talks about herself, they all talk about her. She is a hurricane right in the middle of a human storm. Montgomery Clift seems to be talking about himself too. The whole bloody thing is really close to the knuckle. Arid, depressing, slow and yet, riveting, funny, mesmerizing. "The Misfits" should be seen for a variety of reasons but to see Gable and Monroe sharing a black and white screen a short time before their deaths is an experience on itself.
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