Alexander's Talk

Revanche

Revanche was an Austrian crime drama romance. I simply loved the story and the characters and all the events seemed to follow so natural. There was not so much dialog, no music score only simple nature sounds like birds and raindrops. One man's revenge thoughts, who lost his girlfriend by a policemen on duty, after robbing a bank. Both men, the policeman and the robber grieved and felt guilty for this woman death.It was not a movie for every taste, due to some heavy scenes and some were repeating like Alex chopping wood or his dad playing the accordion which can test your patience to watch.I guess this was typical of European movies, the end was left for the audience's imagination. Good movie.

Avatar

Are there enough stars here?? No! Is this movie over hyped? No,although I thought it was ,this is the first time I actually was steering clear of reviews,trailers and wanting to know anything about a movie before seeing it.SO it made it even more epic and unreal than what I ever could have imagined.So here is the brass tacks.Should you see this movie the answer is YES,but only in 3-D and only in the theater.This is an experience fore sure the story,is breathtaking and beautiful and the Avatar world that is shown to us so gradually is so much more than your friends are trying to explain to you.This is one that when someone says you have to see it for yourself,its because its completely true.Is it groundbreaking? My God undeniably it sure is! The effects are so smooth and the transitions between the Avatar world and the Human world are seamless.This is really an amazing story.I honestly had not read reviews or watched the trailers for the very reason I wanted to take this whole experience in and not have my head all full of judgment and other peoples ideas and I am glad I stuck with my decision on that.Its a visual masterpiece,I guarantee won't be even half as great on Blu Ray or whatever when that is released.Seriously people,I know times are tight but really treat yourself to this ne,I guarantee you will not be disappointed.By the way there really is something here for everyone,We have the Action,Romance,Special effects,science fiction,my God that's the tip of the iceberg,I cant imagine someone walking away from this movie and not liking it at all...if that's the case they are complete Morons.See it in the theater!!!

Before the Rain (Pred dozhdot)

Before the Rain brought the war miseries in the former Yugoslavia perfectly.The beauty of this movie was not only in the look of war, but it was a perfect example of time circle.It was amazing what director Manchevski accomplished with this wartime drama. The first and third part were set in the former Yugoslavia and was more touching and authentic.Alexander Kirchov a prize winner photographer returned to his homeland after 16 years and witness the war in his village.The director showed us the meaning of the movie title, like something heavy was about to happen, before the rain.The story did not deal with the political aspects,but more human passion and it could lead in different and unexpected directions and how that could affect lives regardless where you are. Beautiful.

Law Abiding Citizen

Once in a while a really good thriller comes along, which isn't really something special... but it certainly meets my preferences and taste for high adrenalin thriller in the tradition of 7, The Negotiator and Four Brothers.

I like F Gary Gray films and this is an absolute thrill ride, despite what others may think, I just really enjoyed the movie. It starts off violently and tragically - as a lawyer I'm also interested in the concepts thrown into the movie, which are correct in some ways. Though fictional, it does provide an honest insight into the legal justice system, specifically how it fails others. Not everyone can have justice.

It was a simple movie, the thrill factor is very strong the first time around. It is a no frills, cold hearted flick which is designed to show pain, anger, fear terror and grief, which is portrayed and embodied by Butler really well. But in comparison to others, there was something lacking - it just wasn't as good as the others in my view. But it didn't fail... it just didnt reach the epic height I've put movies like The Negotiator or The Italian Job on. I think because the ending was very flat.... it didn't reach that supreme crescendo when the two rivals meet and have the shootout. It would have been great if Foxx finally snapped and did a Brad Pitt in "Seven." But thats done and dusted.

But still... definitely worth watching. People have been caning it for stupidity and a braineless plot or perhaps useless acting - I might only agree on the acting. The rest of the movie was okay for shock value and does keep people interested till the flat ending - it just ran out of gas.


Enjoy - if you can.

Speed Racer

Visually stunning but feels more targeted at a younger audience. Made me curious about the japanimation original though.

District 9

A Directorial Debut that is ure to please any "Sci-Fi" fan, and maybe some who aren't!

It's a way above average film, for a small time production. It is also very very gory, and gross at times. This film is definetly a shocker, but the ending dissapoints.

This film is a film in which you will be saying"I liked it, but then some scenes i absoulutely hated,but were needed to make this film complete and as good as it was"

A great directorial debut that from me, gets "Three and Half Stars out of Four"
Somewhat highly Reccomended!

District 9

A Directorial Debut that is ure to please any "Sci-Fi" fan, and maybe some who aren't!

It's a way above average film, for a small time production. It is also very very gory, and gross at times. This film is definetly a shocker, but the ending dissapoints.

This film is a film in which you will be saying"I liked it, but then some scenes i absoulutely hated,but were needed to make this film complete and as good as it was"

A great directorial debut that from me, gets "Three and Half Stars out of Four"
Somewhat highly Reccomended!

District 9

A Directorial Debut that is ure to please any "Sci-Fi" fan, and maybe some who aren't!

It's a way above average film, for a small time production. It is also very very gory, and gross at times. This film is definetly a shocker, but the ending dissapoints.

This film is a film in which you will be saying"I liked it, but then some scenes i absoulutely hated,but were needed to make this film complete and as good as it was"

A great directorial debut that from me, gets "Three and Half Stars out of Four"
Somewhat highly Reccomended!

Julia

Julia was a drama thriller directed by for me unknown Erick Zonica. Tilda Swinton was amazing in her role as the ,sexy crazy alcoholic woman.In one of her meetings at the AA she met Elena who asked her to help her kidnapped her son Tom, from his rich grandfather.Julia who was so desperate for money, agreed and that triggered the rest of the movies journey through crime, suspense as Julia failed to play the game of criminal, cause she started to feel affection for the boy. Aiden Gould played the role of Tom very well. Although I liked the movie, I found it too long, and also some scenes in Tijuana Mexico was sometimes beyond belief. But overall it was very entertaining.

The Desperate Hours

A dense cat and mouse game featuring old Bogart, still pulling it off, maybe not as menacing as he could have, but it is his charcters rogue-like ambiguity that carries the movie. A hostage drama at its core, the movie features a many characters and depicts their conflicting interests. Of course, the increasing tension between the captors and the glooming disaster is what fires up the heat of suspense. Very good. HX

Avatar

How much money were spent on that? A waste! Absolutely a waste...
Plot? Boring! Performances? Nothing special! Special effects? Ok I suppose they were good, but what happens when u sit on the crappiest seat on the cinema like I did? What happens then, when u are not able to enjoy the special effects? I will tell u what happens. You get bored, you grab your seat and u say;"Ok be patient, it will be over in a while", but it's not over, so u grab your hair and u say ;"Ok be MORE patient, you can make it though! U paid 12 euro to watch this crap on 3D and u will stay the distance!" It wasn't even a cool movie, damn! About the race of Navi... They were rediculous! By the way Sam Worthington was cuter as an Avatar than he was as human.... An episode of Lost is 1,000,000 times more interesting than this movie, holy shit even Desperate housewives are more interesting
Cry James Cameron, CRY!
You all just feel sorry to say that the movie was lame, because he spent so much time and money on it.

The Hurt Locker

I got The Hurt Locker recommended and it seemed to be nominated also for Awards.That was the reason I watched this movie.The movie was shot in a documentary style, so it gave an impression of realism. However, it was far from being realistic. It was about a team of bomb experts in Iraq count down their time before they can go home. Every time that caption came up, to tell how long they had left, caused this movie to drag on and on. It just felt like it used too many cliches. The actors were good, some parts were entertaining but overall I felt I was wasting my time watching a movie that had no message, no goal, no inspiration. Don't watch it if you are a war movies fan, you'll be disappointed. Average movie.

Disgrace

Disgrace was an adaptation of novel written by J.M. Coetzee and directed by Steve Jacobs. The main character was English professor David Lurie, a cold and uncaring man played by John Malkovich.He was a professor at an South African University..He started an affair with one of his students which cost him his job. He left to Eastern Cape to live with his daughter Lucy. She grew flowers and vegetables,to sell in the local market. One day three young black men appeared and asked to use the phone. They raped Lucy, nearly killed David, and shot all Lucy's dogs, destroying the house and stole David's car. Being a dog lover myself, this movie was very hard for me to endure. It was a heavy movie about race, sex, revenge, dog mistreatment and apartheid.

Beauty and The Beast (La Belle et la bête)

"Love can turn a man into a beast, but love can also make an ugly man handsome."

LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE (1946)

Director: Jean Cocteau
Country: France
Genre: Drama / Fantasy / Romance
Length: 96 minutes



The 40s was a splendorous time for French filmmaking. The famous French surrealist Jean Cocteau was internationally known because of his multilayered, provocative talents within the art of cinema after directing his first feature film, Le Sang d'un Poète (1930). In the case of La Belle et la Bête, one of the most beloved and famous fairytales ever known by all generations of mankind, he adopts a different facet. This time, he displays a more strict and conventional narration for obtaining a more accessible storytelling. Marcel Carné had directed an astoundingly moving and passionate epic of romance last year, Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), and Jean Cocteau heals the injuries of the hearts of the Second World War the next year, an era of reconstruction and of a new beginning. The surreal influences of Luis Buñuel and Jean Cocteau himself are noticeable throughout the filmic style of La Belle et la Bête. However, it is undoubtedly the best and most magical and moving cinematic adaptation of the immortal play by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, including the great, colorful musical Beauty and the Beast (1991) directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise released by Disney 5 decades later.

Belle is one of three daughters and a son of a nearly ruined merchant. Her two other sisters, Félicie and Adélaïde, are authentic termagants who exploit Belle as a full-time servant. After returning from a business trip one day, the merchant gets lost in a forest nearby and stumbles upon an isolated castle. He knocks the door expecting for an answer of the owner, receiving no answer. Finally, he decides to enter the magically surreal and fantasy-filled castle and picks up a rose for Belle. On his way out, he finds the owner of the castle, who just happens to be a half-human, half-beast monster with magical powers. The Beast sentences the merchant for death unless he agrees to give up one of his daughters. The tender and always faithful Bella decides to sacrifice herself for the father and, after being sent to the castle of the Beast and living with him, he finds out that the Beast has also human qualities and feelings despite her monstrous appearance. Director Jean Cocteau won a Prix Louis Delluc in 1946.

In Cocteau's adaptation of La Belle et la Bête, sentimentalism abounds. However, it is this sentimentalism the one that exalts the human condition and assigns to the nature of man a physically scary and unpleasant appearance. The original play serves the purpose of being a representation of intolerance, an unintentional objective successfully achieved by the books that inspired the retelling of the story The Elephant Man (1980), by David Lynch. This message is fairly summarized with the statement "people are frightened by what they don't understand". Director Jean Cocteau was very careful at considering such fact and, although significantly reducing the total running time, displays a massive amount of mythical symbolisms, fantasy elements and allegorical imagery. The concept of the Beast is not derived from a meaningful humanization, always paying tribute to the concept that the Beast symbolizes the sadness, the ego and the external solitude we build in our lives through the significance and influence of our particular actions. Belle, of course, represents love as the solution of all problems, the powerful machinist of expressive sentiments and the escape train from a seemingly inescapable, internal doom.

Due to its classical and bourgeois nature, the atmosphere of the movie represents both sides of the coin: good and evil, materialism and snobbishness versus modesty and conformism, ambition against benign intentions, superficiality contrasting emotional profundity and the appreciation of the soul, and the list goes on. The plot elements inside this metaphorical love story maximize the importance of the heart. Through an extensive use of fantastically groundbreaking and underrated special effects principally obtained through the clever use of diverse camera techniques, the internal walls of the castle acquire a dense atmosphere of gloominess and surrealism. As the merchant walks in, candles start to light by themselves while arms coming out from the walls hold them. Several casual artifacts in the dining room become alive in front of Cocteau's lens while the expressive gestures of the protagonists react to the supernatural phenomena. Performances, therefore, carry a heavy importance in the story.

All of this would not be obtained without a dazzling art direction and an exquisite, elegant and varied costume design that resembles a 19th-Century Paris. The screenplay written by Cocteau contains a delicious amount of poetry and self-reflexive dialogues of impeccable precision and thought-provoking messages of love and morality. Josette Day incarnates the character of Belle, the misunderstood and mistreated sister whose loyalty forces her to give her life for the most important person in her life: her parental figure. On the other hand, we have the theatrically multiphacetic artist Jean Marais, who plays three different and respectively important roles: Avenant, The Beast and, naturally, the handsome Prince that appears at the end thanks to the power of respectful empathy and corresponding love. Despite the fact that the actions of our dear female protagonist have the influence of an emotional background (her father), the humanity inside Beast is the one that awakens her humanitarian interest of help, even slowly persuading Beast to achieve redemption. Regardless of the reason behind the initial, monstrous transformation of the character, it is treated as the least interesting fact. This event is never explained, not even presented as a prologue. The true moral message is given in the end, when the already known final transformation of Beast to a stereotypically handsome Prince occurs due to an interesting, climatic decision of a supporting personage. Nonetheless, this strictly male stereotype of bourgeois aroma is not supposed to be taken as a cliché: it is a symbol of perseverance and the oblivion of a past that should be used as a reference for the correction of today's decisions.

Basically, La Belle et la Bête is a French masterpiece that cannot be subject to a review that contains new ideas to say: everything has been said before. Even so, it does not really matter. So much magic and haunting moments never seem to tire the audience of repeating the experience of reading the play, of seeing the act in a theatre, of seeing the musical of Disney, of analyzing and falling in love with Cocteau's version. It is a spectacle for the eyes and a sonata directly written for an inspiring commotion of the heart. The screen offers a tear-inducing and breathtaking finale, just to leave the viewer hoping for more. Every single technical and cinematographic element of this gorgeous and definitive magnum opus makes of Cocteau's best film a beautiful experience to live. It is one of those artistic creations that should make Jeanne-Marie very proud. Much more than a family film, it is a feast for the soul and one of the best adaptations ever written.

100/100

Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise)

"Jealousy belongs to all if a woman belongs to no one."

LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (1945)

Director: Marcel Carné
Country: France
Genre: Drama / Romance
Length: 190 minutes



One decade after France temporarily dropped the cinematic criticism towards the bourgeois class and one decade before the French New Wave grew in size and worldwide importance, the visionary and sagacious directors Marcel Carné and Jean Cocteau molded the bases for meaningful French filmmaking. Almost no epic tale of love, betrayal, romance, affairs and strictly human relationships had been permanently immortalized in such a powerful way. Les Enfants du Paradis is one of the best epic tales that, although executed most of its influence in the subsequent soap-opera formula, does not fail to magically transport the dumbfounded and enamored audience to an ecclesiastical world of religious influence and passionately emotional connections. Class members and human qualities collide in a delicious story. Ultimately, the film is life itself, and a perfectly orchestrated opera of visual beauty, extremely rich character development and a witty screenplay. Never before had cinema been so movingly explicit, but it is the direction by Carné the one that provides to the unforgettable three hours of length a substance as significant as the purpose of any admirable art form.

This triumph made during the Second World War is set in the beautiful times of 19th-century Paris, and revolves around the proud woman named Claire Reine who is loved by four very different men: the theater mime Baptiste Deburau, the unstoppable Casanova of pretentious acting abilities named Fréderick Lemaître, the scheming thief Lacenaire, and the ambitious Count Edward of Monteray. Claire goes under the name of Garance, a reference to a beautiful flower, and starts a love relationship with Baptiste, until the fates and misadventures of each character intertwine in an incredible connection of deceptions, kisses and broken hearts. Jacques Prévert received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Original Screenplay in 1947, ridiculously losing it against Muriel Box and Sidney Box for the film The Seventh Veil (1945).

Les Enfants de Paradis is the main film that is commonly found in any lists made by renowned critics regarding the best films of all time, especially those who refer to the important cinematic samples in the history of France. It is also catalogued as the French Gone with the Wind (1939). This vague and almost insignificant trivia offers a brief glimpse of the magnificence of the movie. Nevertheless, it is an experience that speaks for itself, even making the suggestion to the viewer to not know any single plot element before seeing the film so this grandiose ride acquires a bigger quality of unparalleled unexpectedness. As a film of more than three hours in length, it may be subject to several interpretations. Regardless of the almost endless perspectives one may own towards this giant icon of romance, the truth is it was the gigantic air of hope that a devastated society needed, and the inspirational ray of light that the people needed to see in such tumultuous times. If the habit of past and future generations of film critics consists in comparing the technical aspects and the epic atmosphere of this masterpiece with the internationally acclaimed Gone with the Wind (1939), irony will be found. Whereas one film was made on the eve of World War II, Carné's most memorable effort was stuck in the middle of turbulent times and the story was set in a historical period of Romanticism proportions of theater and poetry.

In Les Enfants du Paradis, we get the incarnations of several metaphors of the time. Garance is as important just as Baptiste is interesting. All of them do not lack character substance, but to witness the perfectly performed personalities of several counterparts collide in amorous affairs and non-prioritized confusion makes of this artwork an involuntary comedy. Garance is the woman whose moral standards, extreme feminism and elegant snobbishness are challenged when a street performer falls in love with her because of being an eye witness of a minor, but typical crime (for those times, evidently). The Occupation of France is, therefore, illustrated through the several acquaintances she meets because of her lifestyle, resulting in several affairs of realistic hilarity. What seems to be a torrid affair between these two characters is transformed into a story with random and casual events interlacing between each other. Is it the force of fate or is it the glorious power of irony? Baptiste is the humorously neorealist representation of a classy society, not in abundance of goods but in abundance of human delights of psychological enchantments. Considering the times in which it was made, the materialistic count stands for the Nazi brutality that was being disseminated throughout the world, perhaps with the merely humble purpose of showing an empathetic attitude towards an audience that urged for better life conditions and, consequently, more peace. Lacenaire is the "bad influence" that, inevitably, always wanders through the streets of any city, despite of its low economy and of its particular glamorousness.

Finally, this analysis leads us to the consideration of Baptiste's theatrical talents, representing a society that was folklorically attached to street shows, slapstick humor, carnivals, Shakespearian plays and Baroque and classical art and music. The way to show culture towards the surrounding fellow men was the discussion of the influence of the works of the most renowned poets, playwrights and musicians. This characteristic is beautifully decorated with a dazzling costume design and a very accurate art direction, and the primary source of power for the film are the facial gestures, the ingenious camera shots and an intimate musical score of deftly constructed nostalgia. The total length of the film is completely justified, and more than assuming the role of an epic story of almost-documentarian nature, the extraordinarily written screenplay of Jacques Prévert alludes the futility of illusions built towards materialism, snobbishness and multiple love affairs, whether they are extramarital or not. Hence, an ambiguous, implicit eroticism plays its role of comedy and ambiguity. Taking into consideration the physical appearances of the male cast featured in Les Enfants du Paradis, it is hard not to point out the androgynous personification of Baptiste, perhaps a detail that contrasts the homosexuality of Carcel Carné in times of intolerance.

Les Enfants du Paradis is a glorious masterpiece of glowing brilliance. In the Boulevard of Crime, one may be asking: "To what crime does the boulevard refers to?" In the end, one realizes that the answer is not the robbery of a golden watch. It is the submission of the soul and the spirit to unnecessary earthly blessings rather than to the dedication and commitment to an artistic purpose or a merciful one. The irony of the title is found in the fact that the director and the power of a dedicatedly genius cast is trying to remember a past paradise. It is not literally a paradise, but the molding of a modern society with Nazism and technological warfare as its bases ultimately leads to a more equivocate existence? Where did the Casanovas disappear? At least they were passionate and classy. When were provincial towns conquered by entrepreneurial forces and commercialism? Where is the romance, and why was it forgotten? Of course thievery and a social system partially determined the life conditions of families and individuals, but art was escapist and love was the solution for any issue. Thanks, Carné, for reminding us a better "paradise", and for using childhood as a reference to a purer state of innocence.

100/100

Sex and the City 2

Extract

The casting is perfect. Bateman, Kunis, Wiig, and even Affleck all superb.
The stage is well set and there are some truly hysterical moments, but we are left in tepid running water here and I just don't know why.
"Office Space" was pure comedy genius with both "in your face" comedy and subtleties that have made it a classic.
"Extract" had some serious potential with the casting and premise as well as some of the gags, but the execution and pacing were just not there.
Some of the scenes just drag on and on long after the laughter is gone (see stoner sequence).
Still, there were enough "laugh out loud" moments that I wanted to see more.
I read an interview with Mike Judge who spoke about this film which he wrote a long time ago and only now got to make it as he wanted to make it so long ago and I am wondering where that vision went.
Some fantastically funny moments, some great comedic acting/timing and some really wasted potential for a superlative comedy.
Good movie. Definitely watch it, but I had hoped for more.

(500) Days of Summer

When an indie film receives as much hype as this one had one gets set to be a bit disappointed. In this case, one would be wrong.
Swimmingly excellent in every aspect this film was just a delight to watch.
We are told from the word "go" how this film will end and usually that is a pitfall, but in this case it leaves us wondering where the trail will lead as we weave in an utterly un-chronological fashion through our lead's recall of the relationship.
Isn't that how it really goes though? Never from 1 to 100 (or in this case 500), but snippets that get us from here to there. We remember the most recent and then perhaps insight into the middle and back to the start an then somewhere else in between. Some people might find this vehicle trite, but I feel it was very well done.
In fact, many vehicles are drawn upon to make this marvelous story work. Time, black and white, musical numbers and dance. We even get a little Fellini on you, but they all work. They are a perfect depiction of how perception takes hold and love holds sway to tell the story rather than having us believe the reality which is what our lead must eventually come unto if he is to walk away in one piece...maybe even wiser (if not too jaded) than he was before.
Fantastic performances by Joseph Gordon Levitt (Tom) and Zooey Deschanel (Summer) both of whom never disappoint. Levitt came into his own in my opinion in "The Lookout" and "Brick" and continues his great performances in great films here. Deschanel, ever the stunning, velvet-eyed Goddess, is perfect in her part as the independent, smart, beautiful woman that we all want, but, as she tells us from the start...we cannot have. That is just the way she feels and she never professes otherwise. She is not the product of some bad mix of emotional baggage she simply is as she is with no apologies.
Watch this as soon as you can and go with it...it will take you places you have been before if you are honest with yourself. Summer was.