Felipe Rosa

The Newsroom – Season 2

April 19, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

The Newsroom – Season 2: as the second season progresses, it becomes clear that the same weak points from the first season remain in place, even if somewhat less intensely: characters (particularly females, but quite a few are afflicted by this) poorly written (that they have personal problems, is realistic; the way they deal with them, not so much) and an excessively idealized world (where “bad” people turn “good” at a whim and “good” people can do “bad” things without […]

Categories: Non-Film Reviews • Tags: drama

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Divergent

April 18, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Divergent: wearing its influences in the sleeve, this film results both a minute variation and a minor version of them. The main problem is that the dystopian society portrayed in the film is dull, and its dynamics don’t seem very relevant. The lack of imagination extends to the visual aspects chosen by Neil Burger: costume and set design, as well as the action scenes, are all pedestrian. Shailene Woodley doesn’t have much to do with her role (the rest of the cast, needless […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, sci fi

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The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho)

April 15, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

The Way He Looks: certain stories call for a light, delicate touch and Daniel Ribeiro delivers it in spades in this film. Beautifully written, it intertwines its ideas seamlessly and creates a group of characters that are engaging and belieavable, as is their environment. The whole cast works beautifully, and the three principals, Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi and Tess Amorim, are simply tone perfect. Visually simple, unadorned, what puts the focus where it should be: the story. It’s an expansion of a likewise lovely […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama, romance

Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho – Full Short

April 15, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho (I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone): this delicate, lovely short by Daniel Ribeiro, deserves to be seen. (It’s in Portuguese, but subtitles are available.) After winning many awards worlwide, it was expanded by the director into a wonderful feature, The Way He Looks (even thought the literal title translation actually is “Today I Want to Go Back Alone”; the title change is meaningful).

Categories: Non-Reviews • Tags: drama, romance, short

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The 400 Blows (Le Quatre Cents Coups)

April 14, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

The 400 Blows: François Truffaut tells a simple story, and it’s a delicate, earnest, touching journey, told naturalistically. The characters (particularly the main one, wonderfully played by Jean-Pierre Léaud) are looked upon without any judgement. There is great control of the tone of the film; a low-key sense of humour permeates the film, a great counterbalance to the sad story. Henri Decaë’s camerawork has some strikingly beautiful images.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama, top

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Mad Men – Season 2

April 12, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Mad Men – Season 2: there is a great sense of continuity in the second season; it picks up where the first one left off (not necessarily in the plot, but in the spirit and mood). It retains everything, either bad (the art direction, too pristine, bothers; there is, at least, a reason for it to be so, as it fits the subject of the show) or good (pretty much everything else: writing and acting, in particular, remain top-notch; Jon […]

Categories: Non-Film Reviews • Tags: drama

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

April 11, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: this film’s story is relatively grounded (for the genre, of course; that’s not to say that aspects of it are not properly outlandish); the main character is appealing, for being so earnest and vulnerable. Likewise, the Russo Brothers shoot the action scenes, mostly, in a gritty way, appropriate for the nature of the main characters and villains. It’s a good-looking cast, even if they don’t have all that much to do; the recurring cast (Scarlett […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, super hero

Rio 2

April 10, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Rio 2: the weakest link in Carlos Saldanha’s film is the story, which is excessively busy; the messages that are supposed to be conveyed, however relevant they are, end up being poorly displayed. The voice cast is very diverse, but Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway (not trying to do too much and being perfect fits for their characters) are the highlights. That is not to say, however, that the film is not a pleasant journey; the animation is beautiful and colorful (Busby Berkeley being […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation

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Noah (2014)

April 5, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Noah: even thought it would be basically an opposition of terms, this film is not a particularly subtle epic. The brutal, allegorical story is pure Old Testament, but some of the undertones inserted by Darren Aronofsky (preservationism and religious fanaticism chiefly among them) are a product of our time. Well-done, with solid special effects and good performances from the cast (Russell Crowe, with the most conflicted character, is the stand-out). However, at the end, the heavy hand ends up being somewhat excessive.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, drama

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Fifth about The Seventh

Author Archives: Felipe Rosa

The Newsroom – Season 2

Divergent

The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho)

Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho – Full Short

The 400 Blows (Le Quatre Cents Coups)

Mad Men – Season 2

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Rio 2

Noah (2014)