21 Grams

Beautifully put together puzzle, with a brilliant script supported by excellent actors. The story isn't that new, it wasn't at all hard to follow and to organise the pieces because, having seen other Iñarritu's films, it was quite predictable. But the script is so well made and the performances are so great, that doesn't matter much. It's touching and a bit though to take in, but extremely powerful. I really liked it.

Mamma Mia!

Utterly funny. At times, so absurd it made me almost fall of my seat in laughter, my stomach hurt, and my eyes were tearing. At times, so cute and emotional, that made me want to cry (but of sadness, this time).

The plot itself isn't anything marvellous, but it works for the songs and the fluency of the film that becomes memorable, mostly because of the cast and the soundtrack.

Meryl Streep is funny, lovable, moving and charming. She sings well, delivers memorable performances of Mamma Mia!, The Winner Takes It All, Sliping Through My Fingers, and others. She really shines, as always, I mean, really, how could she not!? Pierce Brosnan's singing was awful, but so adorable! I loved his performance. Amanda Seyfried was the real revelation. She she sings well, carries the plot and all the emotion which goes with it, and is very easy on the eye. The whole cast ensembles delightfully, I think it was one of the best on-screen chemistries between all the actors I've ever seen.

There isn't a weak song among the 24 that feature in the soundtrack, they are all extremely enjoyable to the point I found myself singing along and "dancing" (how I could, considering the limitations of the cinema seat) each one of them. They create the great Abba atmosphere, convined with the sort of naive and innocent component of their music, the emotional one, and the fun disco one.

Even though at times it can be predictable and cheesy, it becomes trully a matter of no importance because the whole thing: the cast, the music, the scenery (beautiful, beautiful Greece, with turquoise seas), the dancing, the singing, the laughing, the crying, really overcomes any possible plot hole.

I loved it and found it an extremely enjoyable experience.

Evening

Not painful to watch at all!

I think Evening is highly underrated. First of all, it's pretty easy on the eyes: with such remarkable art direction and cinematography. The scenery was so beautiful, the houses, the landsacapes and also the costume design and the make up. And how it went from past to present on and on, very well achieved effect. And such stellar performances! Claire Danes, Patrick Wilson, Glenn Close, Hugh Dancy, Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette, Natasha Richardson... You can't really take trash about it.

The problem with this film is that the characters are quite one-dimensional and stereotyped, luckily, with such an amazing cast, that didn't bother me so much because they really could pull it off nicely. And as a matter of fact, it's not about the characters, but the story, which was so powerful and emotional and full of content and meaning, fluently led by the actors (which were all so great I wouldn't have space to describe each one separately).

Really worth watching.

Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon

Unique. The magnificent way it was made made me feel throughout the film as if I was Jean-Do. I felt when they stitched up his eye, I felt the helplessness of trying to speak but no one can hear you, when the woman was teaching him how to move his tounge I found myself imitating her, there on my cinema seat. Because of this, it's a very touching movie, but has also a lot of humor.

It doesn't pass slowly at all, even though it might seem to, because it's got an esthetic that many of us, morons, are not used to (exclude me ;))

Julian Schnabel prooves he's one of the best contemporary directors. I trully can't belive the Coen brothers stole his Oscar, it's completely ridiculous.

It's innovative, visually beautiful, well acted, emotional, fun, catchy and it achieves artistic cinematic excellence, being able to explore the inner workings of a characters very deeply and believably while blending cinematography, art direction, sound effects and musical score in such harmony.

It's really difficult to define what this film produced in me. I felt it like a journey, a journey to imagination, to another person's body, but being able to feel and think the way this person did. It moved me, it made me laugh, it relaxed me, it scared me, it hurt me, it caressed me, it astonished me.

The best film of 2007.

There Will Be Blood

Completely overated. I think the fundamental problems with this film are firstly, that the parts are better than the whole and secondly, that the plot itself is not worth a penny and it's simply a performance-driven and flawed motion picture.
I was begging for a script writer and a musician to come along and help this movie on which I had very high expectations. As I watched it, it seemed more and more like a cocktail of put-together scenes that didn't really follow one story line.
Daniel Day-Lewis could have played this character with his eyes closed, and he was no less than I expected and of what he's got me used to see from him. He owns the movie, without him, I wouldn't have sat through the unnecessary 140 minutes. And Paul Dano is a very promising young man, and he's been prooving that since Little Miss Sunshine.
The theming, which started from the very beginning in te very first scene, was, I think, very interesting, but very badly developed. It started geniously, with a look at the rooths of greed, and after that we imediatly see Day-Lewis character made into a real oil magnate, who's buying more and more lands to explode. But as the movie came to an end (VERY slowly...) I didn't find an appropiate closing to such a theme.
Synthesizing, this is a very flawed, unnecessarily long, performance-driven put-together scenes about greed, subject that's not appropiately developed.

The Darjeeling Limited

Leave your individual "baggage" somewhere else. This film, these characters are much more than that. Much more than a plot, it's more really like getting to know the characters and catch (some of) the subtle but hilarious jokes. The humour is unique and smart and brings up a guffaw each time.

The way it's shot, directed and edited is very orginal and keen.

The performances are PERFECT. The characters are so real, and you end up loving and feeling sympathetic for each of them. Funny, wise and pathetic at the same time. Two of the three leading men are of my favourite actors ever. Adrien Brody, apart from being GORGEOUS, is, I think, one of the best actors alive. I've never seen him in comedy before, and I think it works perfectly, prooving that he's versatile, being able to do anything, and because of that, a trully excellent actor. Owen Wilson is so charismatic and adorable, I think he belongs on screen, but of course, he still needs a little development (he's nothing like Adrien). Here, in this movie, he really manages to be almost at the same level, though. Thumbs up! I adore him! Jason Schwartzman was also very good, but aside those two, rather plain.

The scenery is so beautiful, magical, intriguing...

I've seen other movies from Wes Anderson before and I liked them very much, but I really think this overcomes by far all his previous work. He's a trully great filmaker.

Ten out of ten! Not to be missed!

Curiosity: I was drinking Darjeeling Tea while watching it! ;)

Top 10

Saddest movies ever:

1) La Môme
2) Finding Neverland
3) Titanic
4) I Am Sam
5) The Pianist
6) Dead Poets Society
7) The Lion King
8) Iris
9) The Hours
10) Walk The Line


Funniest movies ever:

1) Death At A Funeral
2) Bridget Jones's Diary (1 and 2)
3) Le Placard
4) Goodbye Lenin!
5) Zoolander
6) Scoop
7) Little Miss Sunshine
8) Music And Lyrics
9) Meet The Parents
10) Meet The Fockers


Unforgettable Female Performances

1) Marion Cotillard - La Môme
2) Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia
3) Audrey Hepburn - My Fair Lady
4) Katharine Hepburn - The Lion In Winter
5) Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
6) Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice
7) Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich
8) Catherine Deneuve - Belle De Jour
9) Julie Andrews - The Sound Of Music
10) Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice


Unforgettable Male Performance

1) Marlon Brando - The Godfather
2) Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca
3) Al Pacino - The Godfather
4) Johnny Depp - Pirates Of The Caribbean
5) Jack Nicholson - Batman
6) Robert De Niro - The Deer Hunter
7) Sean Penn - I Am Sam
8) Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man
9) Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
10) Harrison Ford - Hannibal


Masterpieces

1) Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
2) Casablanca
3) The Godfather (all three of them)
4) The Wizard Of Oz
5) Breakfast At Tiffany's
6) Life is Beautiful
7) Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
8) The Lion King
9) The Sound Of Music
10) Annie Hall


Best On-Screen Couples

1) Kate Winslet & Leonardo DiCaprio - Titanic
2) Audrey Hepburn & Gregory Peck - Roman Holiday
3) Audrey Hepburn & Rex Harrison - My Fair Lady
4) Ingrid Bergman & Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca
5) Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge!
6) Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant - Notting Hill
7) Juliette Binoche & Johnny Depp - Chocolat
8) Vivien Leigh & Leslie Howard - Gone With The Wind
9) Keira Knightley & Matthew McFadyen - Pride And Prejudice
10) Gwyneth Paltrow & Joseph Fiennes - Shakespeare In Love

The Virgin Suicides

Tasteful, bittersweet look at youth and suburbia. Largely themed, this movie offers a shocking (litterally, I couldn't sleep after watching it) and beutiful look at the meaninglessness, hypocrisy and hollowness of suburbia and "respectable", bourgeois society, the slow but steady death of nature at the hands of the human race, the voyeuristic nature of the media and the idealization of youth and what it really is (spontaneous, awkward, rebelious, inmature, vivid sexuality).

I think it had lots of symbolism as well. Firstly, the contrast between the slow motion takes of the girls in the ideal innocence and beauty of girlhood, and the normal takes when you are able to see what's behind all that crap, the reality. The ironic connection between the trees' sickness and the lives of the girls and people of suburbia in general, specially between Cecilia and the elm.

The performances were all great in the perfect ammount: not too pretencious or too over the top, but not unnoticed. I couldn't take Kirsten Dunst seriously, but after seeing this and Marie Antoinette, I certainly think she's got potencial.

Above all, it is tastefully and beautifully done, everything from the yellowish colors to the scenery and clothing, as well as the camera work, the music, everything.

Ten out of ten, thumbs up for Sofia Coppola!

The Savages

Woah, pretty fucked up lives!

The Savages it's a very disturbing movie, very real. It comes to a point where you don't know wether to laugh or to cry. Even though none of the characters is actually a good person, you feel sympathetic for every one of them, and that's owed to the flawless performances of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney and the rest. Even though it's not artistically challenging because it lacks of certain details such as visuals and filmaking originality, I liked it very much.

Two Days In Paris

It generates a great atmosphere, and though the plot is quite light, the performances, the originality, the script and the whole esthetic made it. It's shot in an unusual way that I found very appealing, the narration was great and funny. Even though there isn't a strong story, it manages to develop in a fantastic way with a marvelous script and hilarious performances, specially Albert Delpy, I just fell of my seat with him. Julie Delpy was great both in directing and acting, she made a very adorable character, despite her naughty past. Marie Pillet was alse very funny. The rest of the cast worked great ensemble. The two best things about this movie were the original esthetic and the script. I found myself laughing throughout the two hours. Great movie, hilarious.

Because I Said So

Greetings again from the darkness. It is now official. Diane Keaton has reached the parody of herself stage. She has become a caricature of her character. The loopy, over-the-top 60 year old female who screams stereotype with each line.

Exactly what this movie is: purely stereotypes. The character development is poor as are the performances. I didn't really get to know neither of them. Not one. I mean, you can spect stereotypes in a romantic comedy, but this is just too much.

The only merely respectable thing was Mandy Moore, who, even though the script was poor, managed to show her on screen charisma which will be able to develop later in new movies, I hope.

It doesn't even work for a rainy afternoon or a pajama party with friends. I didn't laugh at all. Not once. Pure crap.

The Last Kiss

Too much nudity, too much drama, poor performances (except for Casey Affleck, that had few on screen minutes), too pretencious, poor screenplay. Didn't like it.

I don't know, maybe it was because I was actually expecting a romantic comedy and instead, I found a wannabe-adult drama that is far too pretencious for what it has to offer, which is nudity in excessive ammounts and extremely unnecessary, a tangled plot full of drama and holes, a screenplay that seemed to be written by a four year old (seriously, can´t you make a sentence of more than five words?) and a great cast that somehow does not develop well: Zach Braff was too over the top for my taste here and really he couldn't show me why the hell was Michael in love with Jenna OR attracted to Kim, he just seemed fed up with life and with both of them, Rachel Bilson did an unatural and more troubled Summer Roberts, Casey Affleck is a great actor but they didn't give him his deserved on screen time, Jacinda Barrett did a nice effort and the rest were practically unnoticed.

Bad movie.

Enduring Love

One of the most beautifully (and originally) made films I've ever seen. The visuals were great, the opening scene was so believable and beautifully shot it was creepy, the hand-held camera and the odd shots were amazing.

As far as the acting, Daniel Craig surprised me nicely, after seeing him in his rather awful performance as James Bond in Casino Royale, I didn't expect much mostly because after reading the book I knew it was a complex character he had to play, but given that he had pulled out great performances in movies like Munich, Elizabeth, Love and Rage, Layer Cake, etc, I think I underestimated him. Rhys Ifans is a genious, I loved him in Notting Hill and he kept the same level. Samantha Morton was very good as well, very natural, I liked her as Claire.

The writing was also very good but I really think it misses the real point of the book which was more focused on science versus religion, logic versus spiritual discussions and Claire's ENDURING LOVE to Joe and their relationship which is not well developed in the film, focusing on the stalking stuff. And they cut several parts of the book that I thought were very important. They changed an extremely important part: Joe does NOT kneel down to "pray" with Jed. That's an important starting point. It seemed like the movie wanted you to think maybe Joe has some ambivilent feelings and might even be attracted to Jed which is a very different take than the book.

But I do think it was well done as far as technic stuff like camera work, soundtrack, visuals, special effects, etc, but does not do justice to a magnificent book.