Falling In Love

I could easily say that Falling In Love was a complete waste of two major talents. This movie is plain, stereotyped and even maybe a little boring, too long for what it had to offer. Now, that's a fact. But I can't say it was a waste watching Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro interact. They had a sparkling chemistry and they portrayed their characters beautifully.

So, despite its one-dimensional plot, I actually enjoyed this film.

My Fair Lady

Could you go more classic than this? After seeing Hairspray, you begin to wonder why musicals can't be more like older ones such as My Fair Lady?

With real performers on screen, memorable songs and a real argument, nor randomly put together songs. And! actual acting. Remember Audrey Hepburn's crying scene in which she throws a slipper to Rex Harrison? And that was in a musical.

Remember "All I want is a room somewhere, Far away from the cold night air. With one enormous chair, Aow, wouldn't it be loverly? Lots of choc'lates for me to eat, Lots of coal makin' lots of 'eat. Warm face, warm 'ands, warm feet, Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?"? That's memorable. The moment the movie ends you find yourself singing all the songs out loud. That's the effect a musical is supossed to have on the spectators.

Plus, I laughed, I cried, I had my eyes fixed on the screen during the whole 170 minutes. That's a classic. Audrey Hepburn. Rex Harrison. Now, that's a classic.

Hairspray

Seriously, what the Hell is this?

You Americans trying to show the world how tolerant and including you are when it were you, yourself who excluded and discriminated in the first place. And you still do. So don't give me that "we're all the same no matter the skin color" crap, 'cause I don't buy it, no matter how many black presidents get elected. You fill your mouths with feel-good songs about racism and equality sung by black or obese people and then you go and build a wall separating yourselves with the Latin community. And on top of that, you make it seem as if inclusion was easy. You know what? Go to Hell! I don't generalize, it's just that it's things like this Hairspray crap that trully gets me.

Please! Could you have tried any harder to demonstrate that you're fine with differences? I mean, white people are, unless they are grossly fat and/or in Barney-drag, ugly racists of the worst kind, but black people are just the absolute best folk ever with not a mean bone in their bodies. So IF this is not offending for black people, it MUST be for white people, without a doubt.

Anyway, even on top of the racism, this movie isn't even funny. I didn't laugh. Not even once. And I thought it was supossed to be a comedy. I just found it pointless, boring and stupid. Plus, the songs aren't even slightly memorable, if you asked me I wouldn't be able to sing not even one verse of neither of the songs. Neither are the choreographies. Hairspray ain't cute or entertaining: it is cultural pollution and an expression of the most thoroughly loathsome values.

The cast is not even average. It doesn't ensemble, it doesn't deliver, it doesn't perform. It's plain. I mean, Amanda Bynes? Zac Efron? Brittany Snow? James Mardsen? Queen Latifah? Could you have gone for people with LESS personality? And John Travolta is simply pityful trying to be funny in a fat woman's costume. That annoying voice and way of speaking, annoying movements and facial expression. I found him completely painful to watch. That shows how even good actors can't portray in such a crappy movie. No matter how good they are. It's the case of Christopher Walken and Jerry Stiller. Michelle Pfeiffer is the only one who actually delivers a respectable performance, revealing a hiden talent of hers: singing.

Finally, the only thin I can rescue is Nikki Blonsky and her enthusiasm. She's actually likeable and shows on screen charisma. And maybe the wardrobe.

Don't go near this movie. It's painful to watch and a big fat (excuse the choice of words) yawn.

Le Placard

Hilarious!

I think it's the smartest comedy I've ever seen. Believe me, after seeing this you'll understand why I depise American comedies so desperately, except for maybe a few exceptions. This film makes you wonder WHY ON EARTH no filmaker finds anything to write in a comedy besides: boy meets girl, boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl are forced to get to know each other, boy and girl realise they misunderstood each other, boy and girl end up together with a romantic, closing kiss. That mixed with a few typical, ordinary jokes and stereotyped characters.

This here is a complete twist to that structure, so if you're one of those Hollywood romantic comedy fans, just watch Le Placard.

The Constant Gardener

Wow. It's all I can say. It's been a long time since I saw a trully great, commited film like this one. The plot convines love, drama, political and social issues and mystery, everything that a film needs to be considered good. It's a moving, complex storyline that catches the spectator since the very first scene... or even since the opening credits by seeing so many famous names. In the end I found myself crying, but I didn't know if it was because of the tragic love story or the cruel reality of the African population and how the rest of the world takes advantade of it. That's what made me say 'wow'. I'm completely amazed and I found a whole new meaning in cinema.

On the other hand, the flawless performances were indespensable for the final achievement, the one that made me cry. If Ralph Fiennes is flawless then Rachel Weisz is beyond words. And the two of them convined... well, I guess that leaves me speechless. Dear God! I also found a whole knew meaning in acting, to tell the truth. Rachel Weisz plays Tessa with such core, such heart, such emotion and such determination, she disappeared completely in the role, she became possessed by Tessa's cause. Ralph Fiennes shows great emotion as well, and delivers a trully great performance, but it's undoubtly Weisz who shines in this film.

Technically, The Constant Gardener is excellence. Beautiful to watch, despite the sadness of the images of African villages. The director catched the beauty of Weisz in an espectacular way, with close ups and several other shots. The scenes when Justin sort of imagines Tessa being alive beside him are not only heartbreaking but incredibly beautifully achieved. The music is just boundlessly moving and it's almost imperceptible.

The Constant Gardener is perfect in every level and in every aspect of the word. Eleven out of ten!

Greatest Actors, Greatest Inspirations

We all know Meryl Streep is the greatest actress of all times. But sometimes it is not clear why. Since she's my ultimate role model, I feel the necessity to number those reasons, synthetizing as much as I can:

1- Her constant mutation from role to role.
She is always re-inventing herself, unlike many actors she has never played one role twice. Just watch Sophie's Choice and Silkwood and start wondering how did she mutate so fastly from one role to another when they are so extremely different. Then watch The Bridges Of Madison County and Marvin's Room. In both movies she plays a mother BUT it's amazing how different they are, and there's only one year difference between the releases of the two films. Watch The Hours and The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia!. Or just watch Angels in America where she plays four roles. Then tell me she doesn't mutate.

2- She's multitalented.
She can do everything. Even at her age, we find her singing and dancing in many movies. And she does it greatly. We can even find her jumping on beds! Just watch Mamma Mia!, A Praire Home Companion and Postcards From The Edge. The best part is, she even sings differently according to the character she's playing!

3- You forget you're watching Meryl Streep.
Unlike most actors, Meryl completely submerges in the character. When you watch Kramer vs. Kramer, you're watching Joanna Kramer, not Meryl Streep. When you watch The Devil Wears Prada, you're watching Miranda Priestly, not Meryl Streep. When you watch Adaptation, you're watching Susan Orlean, not Meryl Streep. When you watch Ironweed, you're watching Helen Archer, not Meryl Streep. You're not watching an actor randomly doing stuff, pretending to be somebody, you actually see the character and you forget even Meryl's name.

4- She can manage to do absolutely any accent.
That's been alredy clarified. She can do Polish, she can do Dannish, she can do English, she can do Southern, anything, you name it. She can even do Bronx! Just watch her on The Ellen Degeneres Show ;)

5- She's so commited to her work.
She would always do anything in her power to become attached to the character and to learn how to portray it. She would do all the research needed and she would even learn Polish, even if it would not be useful for her because she'd later forget it. And most importantly, she's very responsible and always tries to grow the best atmosphere possible on set, with the rest of the cast and crew. (I know this only for references, but it's true!)

6- She's very natural.
Her dialogue doesn't seem rehearsed or forced. It just comes out naturally again, as if she truly was the character, deeply involved in the situation of the scene. It's always as if she's improvising.

7- Her roles are very demanding and clever.
Most of the times, she chooses demanding roles in intelligent films. She has done some light comedies greatly of course, but in drama she's just breathtaking. She constantly makes smart choices for her career.

8- She's down to earth.
Behind cameras, she's a lovely and kind woman who doesn't take advantage of her celebrity status, and she could really do that. Even though she holds the record in awards, she doesn't even consider herself a star! She treats everybody, including her outrageous fans, kindly as if she was one regular person as well.

9- She's a devoted mother and wife.
She's been married for thirty years with Don Gummer and has four children. Many co-stars talk very good about her parenting skills and say she has an enourmous mothering instinct that shows in her relationship with everybody.

10- Her signature gestures.
This shows her overwhelming personality and also gives more humanity to her characters. In each role she plays there's always one of her signature gestures that apparently come out naturally. Some of them are the lip tap, the temple scratch, etc.

11- She knows what she does.
Whenever you see her on an interview you learn more about acting. She shows a real knowledge about acting, but at the same time she shows that she does not do everything technically and that many things about acting are pure emotion, and there's absolutely no way to describe it. With her Inside The Actor's Studio interview, I learned more about acting than with any other, or from any other source, really.

12- She loves what she does.
It shows. It shows in her performances, in her interviews, in her constant enthusiasm, energy, willpower and commitment.


Next: Marlon Brando.

Across The Universe

Yes, it's somewhat rambling.

Yes, some versions of The Beatles songs are bad.

Yes, there are too many songs (although, I couldn't disagree more with this argument, you can NEVER get enough of The Bealtes!).

But I loved it. It's a very lovely story, very well and beautifully made, colorful, well acted, entretaining, touching both cheesily with a young love story and nostalgically with harsh subjects such as Vietnam and the revolution. You must admit is has potencial. It has all you can ask for. I was very disappointed in many versions of the songs such as 'Oh Darling', 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', and many others. And sad they didn't include 'Sexy Sadie'. Well, not sad... just surprised, given that there's a character named Sadie, you would expect that.

The story is very coherent actually, despite the rambling, and it's extremely beautiful. Nevertheless, the rambling has a signification, so it's not really rambling, but it can sometimes take your attention away of the truly important thing.

It's clearly a visual feast and it's also very entretaining despite the enormous ammount of songs. The performances are great, a very talented young cast, I absolutely adored Jim Stugess. Evan Rachel Wood and Joe Anderson really surprised me, too. It also has one of the greatest cameos in the history of cinema, which was Bono's. I just love him, and he was excellent and absolutely stunning singing 'I Am The Walrus', and in the closing credits performing 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', with his beautiful, beautiful voice.

Across The Universe it's a must-see. One of the best American musicals (I say American because, let's face it, it has nothing to do with Fellini, I mean, you really can't compare, but you also can't base your critics in comparisons, can you?)