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| 800
BULLETS
(Alex de la Iglesia, 2002, Spain) |
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When
I was a kid, I wrote some stories that I read
nowadays and I find them ridiculous but normal
considering my age. 800 balas looks
like it was written by a 10-year-old boy.
It's nonsensical, insulting and it's also
very long! |
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| THE
AVIATOR
(Martin Scorsese, 2004, USA) |
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Technically
speaking, the movie is excellent. But Scorsese
still has a problem with length because not
only the movie is unbearably long but it’s
also irrelevant. The Aviator just
tells distant anecdotes about Howard Hughes
without being deep. As a whole, the movie
doesn’t have a unity. Just you take
any subject you want (the Katherine Hepburn
affair, the plane crash or the trial for example)
and you’ll still have the same movie,
because those separated anecdotes don’t
seem to influence in Hughes’ personality,
and what’s worse, they don’t say
or mean anything. |
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| BAD
EDUCATION
(Pedro Almodovar, 2004, Spain) |
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While
the movie is receiving mixed reviews, I still
think this is one of his best films to date.
Bad Education is an interesting noir
movie about relationships and betrayals. An
original screenplay with some twists and stories
within stories. |
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| BEFORE
SUNSET
(Richard Linklater, 2004, USA) |
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Some
people will be upset because the only thing
the two characters do is talk (even though
they should’ve known that, considering
its Before Sunrise’s sequel),
but what they say is, actually, really interesting. |
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| BEING
JULIA
(Istvan Szabo, 2004, UK, USA) |
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A
witty and funny movie. Being Julia
has a great start, it falls somewhere in the
middle but fortunately it rises again at the
end (even though I found the finale very cruel).
But the great pleasure of the film is Annette
Bening who, of course, is wonderful and elevates
the material. Yes, she gets the role of a
lifetime, but it perfectly fits her; she’s
ideal for the role and I can’t imagine
someone else playing Julia. |
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| BIRTH
(Jonathan Glazer, 2004, UK, USA) |
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A
personal favorite. Amazingly, most of reviewers
didn’t like this film because they found
it predictable and not very deep, but Birth
is one of those productions were everything
(and I mean everything) is perfectly done:
Alexandre Desplat’s score is marvelous;
Nicole Kidman proves again that she’s
the best working actress today; and Glazer
promises a very good career. And my congratulations
to the director and screenwriters for dealing
such polemic subject with class and tact. |
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| THE
BLIND SWORDSMAN: ZATOICHI (Takeshi
Kitano, 2003, Japan) |
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| BON
VOYAGE (Jean-Paul Rappeneau,
2003, France) |
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| CLOSER
(Mike Nichols, 2004, USA) |
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It’s
really hard to like a film with “disgusting”,
“selfish”, “coward”
and “buster” characters. Still,
that’s not even the problem. The thing
is, Closer is too cold and distant
to tell a good love story (pessimistic or
not), because everything seems calculated
and unnatural. |
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| COFFEE
& CIGARETTES
(Jim Jarmusch, 2003, USA) |
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There
are only two really good shorts (the one with
Cate Blanchett and the one with Rice &
Mead); the others are just good, mediocre
or bad. I give this movie two stars as an
average, because there are more bad shorts
than good ones. |
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| COLLATERAL
(Michael Mann, 2004, USA) |
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The
most entertaining part is the very last one,
the rest is very insipid. Some scenes are
completely ridiculous (the shooting in the
club is delirious). And… take note,
please: mixing suspense with stupid jokes
never works; believe me, it ruins the whole
atmosphere. In a few words: nothing special.
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| DAWN
OF THE DEAD
(Zach Snyder, 2004, USA) |
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The
movie never stops because Snyder doesn’t
want you to get bored. Sometimes it feels
like he’s obligated to do that, but,
well… it works. The plot promises you
fun and that’s what you’ll get
(if you like this kind of films). |
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| DARKNESS
(Jaume Balaguero, 2002, Spain) |
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Instead
of saying this is a bad film; let’s
say it’s a good B-Movie. It’s
a decent and entertaining horror production
where the finale is totally electrifying and
non-stopping. Of course, I saw the uncut and
R-Rated version, so I can’t imagine
how bad the American version could be. |
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| THE
DAY AFTER TOMORROW
(Ronald Emmerich, 2004, USA) |
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Guilty
pleasure of the year? Well… not exactly,
considering I know it’s not a very good
film. But, I do have to admit it was a nice
surprise to find out that it was not as awful
and insulting as Emmerich’s previous
films. Delirious and clichéd but okay. |
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| DISTANT
(Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2002, Turkey) |
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| DOGVILLE
(Lars
von Trier, 2003, Denmark) |
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Lars
von Trier keeps saying that world is filled
with evil people by torturing his female characters
again. But this time he says it better. The
original set design and the excellent metaphor
of how ungrateful the society can be, specially
with immigrants, make this movie worth a look. |
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| THE
DOOR IN THE FLOOR
(Tod Williams, 2004, USA) |
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| THE
DREAMERS
(Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003, Italy) |
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The
best thing about the movie are the characters,
even though I also found them really snobbish
and pedant. The worst thing about it, is that
the film feels empty: the relationship between
the two siblings is incomplete and the spirit
of that era is completely forgotten. |
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| ETERNAL
SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
(Michel Gondry, 2004, USA) |
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I
admit it; I’ve never liked Charlie Kaufman
that much. But this time his screenplay has
a meaning, is more original and Michel Gondry’s
inventive elevates the movie to a better material.
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