MEXICO!!

It deals with everything and nothing, but mostly everything. From ages 12 to 20, this movie broke several hearts: it's made for us. And only for us. The choices you make right now, may not be the ones that ruin or improve your life: but they can reaaally make you miserable. Loneliness, depression, love, friendship and even some pot, this is how been a teenager in Mexico feels like. Nobody loves you and nobody cares about you but yourself. But even with all those problems, you can spend a nice Sunday afternoon with your best mate and hide your issues (for a while)... even if it's the last time you'll ever see the guy that makes you happy and helps you get out of your miserable life. Minimalistic and humble, this film is groundbreaking just for its simplicity and soulbreaking for its complex and emotive screenplay and philosophy. A perfect movie. A perfect ensamble performance: the best in Mexican cinema.

Gets you in all the right spots so the tears come down as easy as sneezing: suddenly, you're crying. The performances are by far the highlights of this piece of mexican-indie filmmaking. Between Elizabeth Cervantes and Julia Urbini, the directors managed to take some kick-ass emotions from their actresses. Juan Carlos Colombo is great in his weird character but he's the weakest spot in the movie as we never know what the hell is going on with him: we don't know his life, his context or background. It's just an ill guy next door. Anyways, it's a nice little film that should be seen by everyone. Specially young mothers and daughters from young mothers: they will cry their eyes out with this excellent film.

Andrés Montiel shines too and should be remembered as a nice actor who should get some work (besides TiVO commercials)

I could say a whole bunch of things about this movie but I think everyone has already said it so I'm going to focus on one single thing: Doug Jones. This movie IS about Doug Jones and his extraordinary ability to morph into any creature that comes from Del Toro's mind. Once I read he even comes up with a unique way to breathe for each character he does... now... THAT's acting.

Most solid mexican film in years. Nothing's over the top, overrated or pretentious, everything's in its right place. Outstanding visual design and excellent performances. Patricia Arriaga, the director, is a pure talent in storytelling and actors' direction. Excellent film. Top 10 of 2007.

An intense, raw masterpiece with extraordinary performances (specially Gerardo Taracena) and outstanding screenplay and beautiful cinematography. A marvelous work of pure art in mexican cinema. No money or big names: just pure love for filming.

It wasn't bad, not at all. But it felt like 30 minutes were not supposed to be in it. It was extremely long for the plot and the characters. I mean, I don't mind +2hour movies whenever the plot requires them to be that long! But this beautiful love story was not supposed to be this long. Cinematography, performances and direction are FLAWLESS, probably the best in mexican filmmaking last year (2006) but the movie lacks of a good rythm and sense of narrative logic. The screenplay ruins the total experience of watching this movie but if you concentrate on appreciating the cinematography and the music and the acting, you will enjoy this. The beginning is nice, the middle part is awful but the last 20 minutes or so are just priceless: funny, cute, lovely and amazingly filmed, a whole different movie. A troubled work of art that should be edited before shown to the cruel world of mexican filmmaking...

Great performances translating into beautiful moments an excellent screenplay with a nice, "right" direction and a superb cinematography... so what the hell is wrong with this? The hype was just TOO much. But it's actually a nice, classic masterpiece for mexican cinema. I love it but it's kind of embarrasing to accept it. I don't know why, it IS an extraordinary movie. The hype was just too much, sadly. Gael is excellent but Goya Toledo and Vanessa Bauche steal the show to all the male cast. Greatgreatgreat!

Best part of an awful trilogy that started amazingly with this one but flopped completely with "Manos libres" and saved just a little bit of dignity with "La niña en la piedra"... this couple (Sistach & Buil) need to stop doing films! If they can't repeat their genius as in this one, then there's no need for them to be in the business at all! Ximena Ayala is an excellent actress, I just saw her in her latest film and her talent matured beautifully since "Perfume de violetas"... but she was already marvelous here.

A poor screenplay (at the end), excellent performances, excellent soundtrack, nice direction. A nice piece of filmmaking that should be seen alone, not as part of any trilogy.

*Review coming soon*

Reygadas KNOWS what he is doing... what ever happened when he decided to do "Battle in Heaven" then? WTF? He has actual talent! This one is a masterpiece... simply flawless...

Brilliant!

It's a definitely unique movie in the jungle of the mexican movie industry. For no more than 4 years, mexican cinema has evolved to be inspired by the indie way of making movies: the characters are starting to evolve into human beings with flaws and awkwardness and the humour is silent and weird, nothing is obvious or predictable. Before this evolution, mexican filmmaking considered important to raise a warning about social issues and marginality, poor people struggling with reality and depressing scenarios. I think the best examples of how mexican directors care even more about their characters than the way they live or how poor they are, are "Duck Season" (2004) and this one, "Blue Eyelids" (2007)... If Wong Kar-Wai did a movie in Mexico, it would probably look a little bit like this one.

It's as indie as it can possibly get and it's full of moments to prove it: the characters are awkward and boring, the situations are uncomfortable, the humour is subtle and comes from the most unlikely moments of silence and the dialogues are dull and full of brightness. The movie tells the story of Marina and Victor, who probably met in Junior High School but they're now just a couple of strangers who share the most painful of diseases in big cities like Mexico City: loneliness. Marina wins a trip to a beautiful beach and decides she doesn't want to travel by herself but she has no one to call. That's where Victor, a lonely, boring insurance office worker pops into frame and, after deciding they are going to take the trip together, they start an awkward, surreal relationship to "know each other better" before going to the beach.

This movie has been slaughtered by some of the audience and critics who recognize the great moments and the excellent performances and direction but call the screenplay "too unrealistic" and the situations "too dull". The fact that they acknowledge this characteristics from the wonderful script (written by the director's brother) proves my theory on the New-New Mexican Cinema style (New-New because back in the early 90s there was a New Mexican Cinema, this one's different, so it's New-New) and shows how mexican audiences are not ready to fully enjoy an experience like this one. Anyways, it has been loved by everyone; with lots of excuses, but loved nevertheless. The characters are actually more realistic than they look and the whole movie makes you smile and feel in love... and awfully lonely at the same time. Gorgeous art direction and set decoration, along with one of the greatest cinematographies of last year, complete this wonderful piece of cinema that mustn't get lost in translation as loneliness and love are universal codes. Enjoy!

A truly cute, innocent and funny piece of mexican animation. Some stuff still looks really "Flashy" but it deserves a chance. The soundtrack and the voice talent along with the nice screenplay are great to make this film really enjoyable.

Shot in HD video in the director's dead grandmother's house, this movie tells a day in the life of a family of 5: the shy son, the pothead daughter, the unemployed dad, the cute, old uncle and the dead mom. On the eve of a special day, they cope with their depressing reality and boring lives.

Jose Angel Bichir's revelation is simply beautiful and inspiring. He carries the entire movie over his shoulders.

It may follow the same plot line as Quemar las naves and maybe even Garden State (you know: dead mother, depressed losers trying to cope with reality and everyday life) but it takes the opposite way from those movies and avoids every single drop of hope and brightness, making us realize nothing's going to change after that beautiful last frame and the whole family will probably kill themselves.

The rythm is extremely slow and it may annoy some people but the last 30 minutes or so are completely worth the wait. The whole movie is subtle and quiet but it speaks a lot about despair and loneliness: two delicious common places in contemporary mexican cinema that we're always oh so happy to go back to.

A truly fantastic debut from a really promising director/screenwriter.

Flawed but overall really beautiful and poetic. A piece of experimental cinema that deals with love and loneliness in a weird, slow, not-so-great way that haunts you even if you don't love it to death. A tough-to-watch movie that deserves a chance.

Weird, beautiful, sexy, deep, pretentious, slow, tender, cruel, out-of-this-world, funny, boring, stupid, illogic, gorgeous... A masterpiece on conceptual art. Love it to death or hate it with all your guts but you can't ignore it. A triumph for Mexican art beyond filmmaking. Ivan Avila Dueñas has something to say about life and relationships through the eyes of the ultimate married couple: Adam and Eve.

This action-flick starring "Matando Cabos" stars Tony Dalton and Silverio Palacios and directed by Alejandro Lozano goes from Mexico to Argentina in a fun, exciting ride. It starts as a fantastic crime movie with wonderful, wicked performances and mischiveous characters. Jordi Molla really stands out in what's probably the best supporting performance of the year (seriously!)... unfortunately, after the thieves get to Argentina (their goal is to exchange their stolen dollars for argentinian pesos), the plot starts to flop and the characters lose their wickedness and sort of untouchable attitude and become regular guys doing unrealistic stuff. For example, Ana de la Reguera is supposed to be a gorgeous femme fatale and she actually gets into character... until they get to Argentina. Silverio Palacios is funny as hell (once again) as the only one that is down-to-earth and doesn't buy all the Big-time-thief shit from the others and we love him!... until they get to Argentina. Tony Dalton is the only one that supports the film from start to finish as a bad/good guy with issues... and thank God Jordi Molla **SPOLIERS AHEAD!!** doesn't stay too long in Argentina, just for a scene or two, **END OF SPOILERS** so his character NEVER fades and becomes the real deal in all of his scenes. The visuals are great and the cinematography is beautiful, the screenplay is not original but is entertaining... even in Argentina. The twist at the end is actually kind of funny but it feels too false and unnecesary. It ends everything so quickly and abruptly that it doesn't seem right. And, you know what? The car chases are actually not better than the ones in "Matando Cabos", Lozano's first movie and Dalton's first screenplay (he repeats here, all by himself), and the humour is missed, even if this was specifically created as a crime-action-drama, far away from "Matando Cabos". Anyways, the movie is great and flows fast: it's definitely better than your regular northamerican action mess. Alejandro Lozano is a great director, and Tony Dalton writes really good screenplays, but this one needed a little more time in the oven. Best scene? What a about a fight in a supermarket with supermarket-weapons? Hilarious and exciting!

It's a little bit unrealistic and kind of stiff at some points but the plot was unrealistic enough to warn the audiences this wasn't a very serious movie with a very strong critic towards something.

But even if this isn't the masterpiece some of us expected, it's still a wonderful, exciting and extremely entertaining thriller with amazing cinematography (what can we expect from a mexican movie if it isn't beautiful cinematography?) and a fast-paced screenplay, along with a poweful ending.

It's nice to see a mexican movie that doesn't deal with crime and poverty in the same way most of the 90s mexican movies did. Instead of dividing the movie between "rich" and "poor" (because the characters do that themselves), the director divides everything between "right" and "wrong" and works with ethics and morality providing us with flawed characters that, when scared, are unable to control their instincts and lose their humanity.

The movie tells the story of three thieves that enter a prestigious "forbidden city" where the rich and privileged live surrounded by a wall (The Zone) and, when attempting to mug her, kill an old lady, starting a manhunt where two of them die. The remaining kid (Alan Chavez, in one of two extraordinary performances this year, double-nominated for an Ariel) hides in a boy's basement, where he develops a small relationship with him by realizing they're not different from each other. Unfortunately, the "Board" of neighbors will do ANYTHING to chase down the remaining boy and "make justice".

The best of the entire movie is definitely the ensamble cast that includes the elite of "good actors" in mexican cinema instead of just an "all star" cast of "hotties". From Daniel Gimenez Cacho (one of the best mexican actors ever) to classic old foxes like Blanca Guerra and newcomers like Daniel Tovar, Alan Chavez and Marina de Tavira, including underrated actors like Andres Montiel, Mario Zaragoza and Enrique Arreola, the cast is strong enough to portray a "mini-government", sort of Big-Brother-ish, that won't stop until "their security is total". The metaphor towards the ultimate "Zone" (USA) is subtle but acid.

Don't miss this for anything in the world. A little bit over-exaggerated but exciting enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Hilarious!

One of the darkest black comedies I've ever seen. The screenplay is over all flawed and absolutely not perfect but it's an entertaining movie and we need some light, unpretentious entertainment in Mexico.

Definitely a nice option for a funny afternoon.

*The most interesting mexican movie I haven't seen...*

*After a seventh view, review coming soon*

Best mexican movie of the decade.
Best movie of 2008 so far.

Strong, powerful, compelling and visually stunning.

It has everything it needs to become a truly magnificent piece of filmmaking but there's something missing through the entire movie.

The screenplay and the great directing by Aaron Fernandez are splendid as the wonderful cinematography and art direction/set decoration and some scenes are truly memorable and breathtaking but the performances (ironically "raved" as "extraordinary" in the poster and official trailer) are gray and kind of lame, specially from Emery Eduardo Granados, the lead role. He doesn't shine one single moment. When working with a non-professional actor you have to be able to create an actor out of him, but here, the more experienced (but equally young) Alan Chavez steals Granados' thunder all the way.

Even with all its flaws, the movie is still excellent and cruel and it deserves to be seen. I may not be perfect but it's definitely SOLID and that's good enough for me.

Slow-paced, dark, twisted, haunting and one of the most interesting characters in recent years captured on film are just some of the elements that shine in this spanish/mexican film.

It deals with Aro Tolbukhin's murders (he set several people on fire in the Guatemala jungle) and what people surrounding him think was behind that. Everyone has his or her own opinion about Aro but even if the real Aro has very little to say, he gives away valuable information behind the man, and by studying the man, we get behind the murder.

The fascinating thing about the movie (flawed but effective) is the way it is told. It's a documentary, told with real footage some french directors had gattered for a film about Aro and mixing that with current footage the new directors filmed for the new movie (mostly interviews with the nun Aro fell in love with while in Guatemala and his nanny back in Hungary) and, for the best part, a fictional work of beauty with actors playing the most mesmerizing moments in Aro's daily life. In this part, the dexterity of the directors comes to life when you realize how the chapters are filmed. We meet with Aro's recolections of his childhood and adolescence in Hungary (recolections no one believes at 100% because of the fantasy world Aro may have created around him) along with the reality behind his last years in Guatemala told by the nun (Sister Carmen) and some villagers who knew him as Hans, a German navy man.

I loved how both visions (Aro's memories of the past and Aro's reality put on film) have completely different styles in storytelling (realistic and raw, without a single bit of drama in his Guatemala days and more fictional, almost poetic in a beautiful b/w for his past), cinematography and music (the directors avoid the use of music for the adult Aro and use it in a dream-like fashion for the young Aro), even the performances and direction are different. There is the strongest spot in the movie: the performances. Some may think a completely breathtaking character like Aro Tolbukhin may give an actor the role of a lifetime, and they are probably right but I wasn't as surprised by the mostly silent Daniel Giménez Cacho/Zóltán Józan/Aram González trio of performances as I was by all the female characters, from Sister Carmen played beautifully by Carmen Beato and Aro's sister, Selma, played by Eva Fortea and Mariona Castillo. I think this happened (female being more amazing than male) because women were the most important element in Aro's mind. His entire life was changed constantly and intensely marked by women who abandoned him: his mother who died at birth, his sister who died tragically in a way Aro would NEVER forget (you'll see why) and sister Carmen, who he loved in many ways we discover through the film. The Aros were silent and their work was reduced to intense inner monologues we are seduced into translating and participate in. The man of the hour, Daniel Giménez Cacho, in an award-winning performance (Ariel 2003 along with Carmen Beato and a nomination for Eva Fortea), was, of course, extraordinary and enjoyed his character to the fullest, taking us to places we didn't want to go in a sensual, hypnotizing way. However, after waiting over 50 minutes to listen to him, he disappointed me by being unable to pull off the "Hungarian from a Bulgarian family impersonating a German speaking Spanish which he learned in Guatemala from a Catalan nun" accent I was expecting from him. Something as tiny but as important as an accent ruined the last part of his performance because he had a challenge to overcome: sharing screentime with the actual Aro Tolbukhin. Both Carmen Beato and Giménez Cacho were given the challenge of creating and performing these characters when seconds ago we were introduced to the real sister Carmen and Aro, and along the way we are sent back and forth from the real characters to the actors. Beato pulls it off perfectly but even if Giménez Cacho also manages to survive this battle, by the moment he speaks for the first time, everything falls appart. His performance is still among the greatest I've ever seen but it could've been in the top 3 if it weren't for that damn accent.

Another complaint: the language. Most mexican people complain about how some movies portray mexican characters speaking English ("The Alamo", "Frida" and some Golden Era movies about Zapata and Juárez come to mind) but we can't respect other people's languages? That's ironic. I thought, by the names of the young actors playing the Tolbukhin siblings, they were going to speak Hungarian but, if they were already using a lot of different languages to tell the story (the interviews are in Hungarian and Catalan), why do the kids speak perfect Spanish? Aren't there enough cute kids in Hungary? It's a useless, stupid complaint but I needed to get it out of my chest, sorry.

Overall, the movie is a outstanding work of research and beauty and even if the format may alienate some of the audience, you have nothing to fear: it never gets too slow or too quiet and there's always a piece of madness in the mind of one of the most wonderful man on film in the last decade.

At the end of the movie, you'll realize many things: not only the reason behind Aro commiting all those murders (and the way he did it) but also the answer to the question in every single character's minds: why did he confess some crimes he didn't do? The answer is right here, and it's one of the most compelling things I've ever put my eyes on. Aro was a murderer but the reasons behind every death in his life are logic and stunning. Wait and see.

One of the most painful, most beautiful, most gorgeous, funniest, sexiest love stories ever told on film.

Simply extraordinary!

*Review coming soon*

It may not be really original or have some big flaws and lack of depth on some important issues they "try" to talk about but it's definitely fun, entertaining and worth seeing.

The most amazing of its elements is RYTHM, something really hard to achieve in contemporary mexican cinema: the rythm never flops, even if it's not a comedy the whole time and has some dramatic touches here and there.

And, of course, the wonderful 4 lead characters, along with the actresses portraying them, steal the entire movie all the way through.

A wonderful experience!

One of the most hilarious comedies ever filmed in Mexico, compelling and lovely.

Amazing!

*Review coming soon*

*Review coming soon*

Extremely hilarious satire of the soap opera world in Mexico (a country that treats soap operas like a religion) with amazingly effective and compelling performances and some amazing moments through the great screenplay.

The ending flops a little bit but the hilarity never drops.

Also, it has an awesome drinking game: drink every time you see Miguel Pizarro (a truly excellent actor in a hysterical role as a TV extra who does everything to become a true star) in some scenes in the background playing... an extra in the movie where he plays an extra! Genius, simpy genius.

A good experience that makes fun of itself and the audience, used to demand very little from entertainment.