http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020530/

I was expecting an intense movie and indeed it was. Labelled as of the horror genre, it could be more precisely classified as a torture sick flic, with a twist. The twist is that the torturers are british children and the victims are a young couple, with a life project, that is going to end at “Eden Lake”, a beautiful location, where you would never expect bad things to happen.

So is this introduction a spoiler? It is not. The movie is promoted giving away this much, so most viewers know what to expect. However, because “horror” is also about suspense and surprise, I was disappointed that the movie came short on both, particularly regarding the ending chapter.

I usually appreciate “sad endings”, because in horror movies, once things start turning less bad for the leading “good” characters, the trend tends to hold, up to a previewable end.

The same goes for Eden Lake, but this time I would have appreciated a “happy ending”!, because of its surprise effect: the unfortunate young couple gets into trouble very early on… and that is it. It is a very “heavy” movie, that doesn’t uplift a person in any possible way. Quite an experience.

Frozen River (2008) – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978759/

and

Flight Plan (2005) – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408790/

I just love sad, white, cold environments, like those on Frozen River: a woman, living alone with her two sons, tries hard to put food on the table and ends up teaming with a Mohawk young mother, also facing a hard time.  Realistic, touching, with a perfect pace and no special effects. Very, very good!
I rate it 8/10

Flight Plan is nearly 4 years old but I knew nothing about it, except that “Jodie Foster would be losing her daughter inside an airplane”. The movie starts on the wrong foot, with very artificial environments that you just can’t believe: a subway station with no people at all and trains as clean as computer models without dirt texture, plus a snowy city with no cars and all buildings with the lights out… it seems – and maybe that was the point – that the world is nothing but Foster & daughter.
The plot improves a lot at the airplane, up to a *very* involving and emotional level. Quality only retreats at the ending scene, easy way out, via the classic punches, bang bang, explosions…
I rate it 6/10, but it could have been a 8/10 with a better begin and a proper end.

I watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) [VCB] on 2009–02–23.

Just superb, despite some technical failures on the early minutes: (1) the characters presentation dialogue, when the narrator refers to “Vicky only knowing what she doesn’t want”, when he should be referring to Cristina; and (2) some slightly out-of-focus frames, where the camera gets stuck on focusing arms instead of [pretty] faces…

The script is very involving and hot… to a level not exactly Woody Allen’s usual.
It is all about love and passion and the question “to endure, or not to endure?” a relationship where the fire doesn’t burn anymore.
Go comfortably numb?, like the Pink Floyd song…

I enjoyed it very much.

I was looking for a slow paced movie, and I got it, but it failed my expectations regarding its capability to drag me in, out of Lisbon/Portugal to Portland/Canada, for some 90 minutes . It was boring.

Paranoid Park is a skate park, near Portland’s industrial district. The viewer is presented with way too much amateur skate action, as an excuse to build the main character, one androgynous Alex (actor Gabe Nevins), son of separating parents, living with his oncle, and dating a sex wanting – but not quite getting – cold gray eyes blonde (Jennifer/actress Taylor Momsen). Alex main attachment is to a stakeboard.

Alex’s clearest line of character is his apathy. He is apathetic at school, to his mother and to the chance of having sex, which is very odd for a teenager. It seems that Gus Van Sant, the director, intended to show apathy as a possible effect of todays’ high pressure on youngsters, but not even the story’s main event – the accidental and peculiar death of a security guard – shakes Alex much.

I disliked the slow motion scenes, the narrative technique – with regular bits of flash forwards, then backing – and the time it took to get to the guard’s death, that could have plummeted the movie.

I enjoyed some photography, some music, and some comedy related to Alex’s apathy.

These days I tend to prefer movies where guns aren’t fired, where people talk without swearing every other minute (Californication), and where everyone isn’t a billionaire with a private jet… Simply put, it is easier to fictionalize starting from an extraordinary context, than to fictionalize with both feet on daily Earth, like this movie dares to do…

Dan Burns (actor Steve Carrell in real life) challenges extraordinary with his quasi ordinary life of a widower writer, playing mr. right, father of three girls, afraid of allowing them new levels of freedom, with arguments ranging from “you can’t drive the car” to “you can’t date the boy”.

Dan drives an old Mercedes turbo diesel van, writes to a local newspaper and the only women in his life are his daughters, since his wife’s death. Marie (actress Juliette Binoche), will be Dan’s catalyst to a new life and to old feelings, as long as they can both deal with one surprising coincidence, to be revealed at a family reunion…

The movie shakes at the Burns family reunion: there are so many Burns (Mitch, Jane, Cara, Lily…) that not all the characters get the chance to be developed, so they just “hang” there, until the end, like strange bodies. Despite the overcrowdness, Dan and Marie will get quality time at the bathroom, and the movie escapes nearly unscattered. Well done!

Interesting, different movie, about a man who has memory problems, after a terrible car accident.
This man ends up involved in a plot to rob the local bank.

The opening sequence, with night music and fireflies on stellar skies, sets the mood for something different, like a teen horror flick, but then the set changes to something close to Fargo – small town, simple people, icy roads, cold snowy days… and unexpected events.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the main role of Chris Pratt. He has sadness on his eyes and that might be the reason why he is/was a very good choice for his character. I also enjoyed Jeff Daniels as “Lewis”, the blind man! Matthew Goode is a convincing bad dude, as “Gary Spargo”. No other actor/actress has the chance to develop a credible character, but everyone does a very professional job, on the few minutes they get.

My rating: 6.5/10

The Lookout (2007) (DVD)
[buy, via amazon.com]

The Lookout (2007) (Blue-Ray)
[buy, via amazon.co.uk]

Check the official trailer:

Not as good as I expected.

Bang bang overload, secret informers recycling, infiltrated people all over the place, intel powered by cell phone messaging, and a highly conservative – but effective – cast, at least for the three main roles: DiCaprio as Costigan – the cop who loses his previous identity, in order to go dark in the Mafia –, Nicholson as Costello – the local mafioso supremo, but a FBI informer – and Damon, as Sullivan, the criminal infiltrated as a cop…

The first hour is very much Scorsese on rails. I am sorry, but I slept for a moment.

The movie’s second half feels solid and modern. I’ll remember…
(1) When Costigan chases Sullivan: a brilliant night scene, with smoky alleys, mirrors and shadows, conditioning the outcome of the pursuit, and the viewers’ immersion. It is hard to achieve a better blend of artistry and raw “hide and seek”.
(2) The sole sex scene manages to push “the right buttons”, in a very short time and showing nothing – an achievement considering all the available meat these days.

The script itself is not original nor exceptional. There is the crystal clear boss: Nicholson/Costello. There is the obvious hero (DiCaprio/Costigan); and his alter-ego, although you never really hate him (Damon/Sullivan). A classical triangle.

The final chapters are way too explosive. So much shooting…

My rating: 7/10

The Departed (2006)
[buy, via amazon.com]

The Departed (2006)
[buy, via amazon.co.uk]

Check the official trailer:

The movie’s first minutes picture a military night operation, mostly seen from the night-vision goggles of American soldiers. The other battling side is Middle East insurgents.

Jim Davis (Christian Bale) is one of the U.S. soldiers – he will find unemployment when back at home.

Davis’ unemployment days are “harsh times”. Mike Alonzo (Freddy Rodríguez of Six Feet Under fame) is in similar situation: no job and unsuccessfully (not) looking for one. Alonzo’s big difference is that he never killed a person, while Jim is portrayed as a killing machine, mentally disturbed with hallucinations of his deeds.

The duo spends the time smoking pot and cruising unfriendly neighborhoods. Other diversions include drinking, throwing Alonzo’s résumé out of the car’s window, efforts to sell an illegal gun, and fake phone calls to convince Alonzo’s girl that he did try to find a job, during the day.

It reads like the poorest grounds for a good movie, but the characters are solid and the action effectively develops to involving scenes. It doesn’t end well, but “Harsh Times” manages to teleport the viewer to a context of “everything goes” world, where people aren’t quite sure of what is most important: personal relations, money or jobs.

My rating: 7.5/10

Buy it via: amazon.com [Americas] ; amazon.co.uk [Europe]

Check the official trailer:

Here is an interview, with Freddy Rodríguez, about Harsh Times:

Captivating story about (regular?) people on a small community.

But what is “regular” on a young mother, (nearly) a Ph.D. in English Literature, having a Summer affair with (nearly) a Lawyer? And, not counting the two main characters, what to say about an ex-cop who invests his days and nights on terrorising the life of one skeletical middle age man, once accused of being a sex offender, after exposing his naked body to young children? Uhm… a movie crammed with odd people? Not that easy.

In this overpopulated and stressed world, most people don’t know themselves, simply because they don’t have the time to do it. And even when time is plenty, most don’t exactly live a plethora of revealing situations… So, as in your own community, the people in this movie might surprise, a lot! One successful business consultant is also a consumer of used panties…; the cop is also a killer; the very critical women on the park are void of initiative; and the swimming pool is the place for daycare and romance. It all glues beautifully.

My rating: 9/10

[not available, via amazon.com]

[not available, via amazon.co.uk]

Superb movie! Crash level superb!
The main actors and actresses are all minors, but their roles are demanding and very complex: one of the boys has to deal with the death of his twin brother, while other is trying to lose weight, against his own mother’s will… There is a girl, looking for love from the wrong person, and an adopted child having problems to fit in.

It seems all tragic, but it is actually funny, most of the time. It is no comedy, but one can’t resist the decisions these children take, to achieve their goals. I would have preferred a much different ending and – I suppose – many people will feel uncomfortable with it, but it sure is coherent with the characters.

My rating: 9/10

Twelve and Holding [buy it, via amazon.com]

[not available, via amazon.co.uk]

Left to right: Jacob Carges (played by Conor Donovan), Malee (check below) and Leonard Fisher (played by Jesse Camacho)

Left: Malee Chuang (played by Zoe Weizenbaum)
Right: Carla Chuang (played by Annabella Sciorra)