Felipe Rosa

The Newsroom – Season 1

March 9, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

The Newsroom – Season 1: there are many elements to writing in addition to the story; dialogue, characters and structure are the ones I pay the most attention to. The first season fails miserably in one of those: characters, particularly the female ones, are so badly built that it almost ruin the whole experience (romantic relationships are also rather weakly portrayed, which certainly has a connection). Almost. Structure and dialogue, however, are vintage Aaron Sorkin; he obviously loves the sound […]

Categories: Non-Film Reviews • Tags: drama

Oz the Great and Powerful

March 8, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Oz the Great and Powerful: there are no sacred cows, but when one sets up, as Sam Raimi did, to use extensively an universe so well-known and beloved as that of The Wizard of Oz, comparisons have to be made. And while the film is fun and does not succumb completely to the weight of the original work, it falls into the usual traps: the story becomes a fight against tyranny, complete with its Agincourt moment. Nevertheless, in less broad […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: fantasy

Scarlet Street

March 6, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Scarlet Street: good little drama with noir sensibilities, mostly on the characters with (darker) shades of grey (at best). Edward G. Robinson, once more, plays nicely a character that is not his usual métier; Fritz Lang seems to able to extract vulnerability of him. Not particularly engaging visually, however; Lang has certainly much more interesting films in that regard (or in other regards as well).

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama

Howard Hawks

March 3, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Still in my early teens, before the love for films had taken its firm roots, I already had a keen interest in Westerns. Those days, one of the networks used to have on Saturdays, near lunchtime, much to the chagrin of my family, a session where Westerns were broadcast; generally cut down to fit the 2-hour slot with millions of advertisements, badly dubbed. They were, nevertheless, generally Westerns of good quality. It was one of those Saturdays early afternoon that […]

Categories: Non-Reviews • Tags: people

Hatari!

March 3, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Hatari!: pleasurable and entertaining, as one would expect out of Howard Hawks. The two distinct halves mingle well, and they are both very successful on their own. The action scenes, if one can get past animal rights activism (which incidentally I did), are exciting, well shot and edited. But, as is usually the case, it’s when the film pauses to let the characters breathe, that it all comes alive and makes us truly care for the group of characters and […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, drama, romance

Appointment with Danger

March 1, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Appointment with Danger: a run-of-the mill crime drama with a good ear for tough-talk dialogue, but harmed by a story that doesn’t make much sense at the particulars. Character motivation is illogical for the most part. Visually, this is unremarkable in every sense, without any shots that stand out. This is a Film B in every sense of the word.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: crime

Frankenweenie

February 28, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Frankenweenie: the inspiration of this story is obvious, and it is, for the most part, a nice little re-imagining of the story. As this is a Tim Burton’s film, it has the expected mix of bizarre and slightly perverse, which nevertheless feel a bit out of place. Visually, this is an interesting case: while the style is similar to what Burton has showed before previously, the shot selection, camera movements and to some extent the lighting feel “real” (as in […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, fantasy, horror

Game of Thrones – Season 2

February 27, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Game of Thrones – Season 2: while beautifully produced (the diverse locations are a marvel, costume and set design are strong and diverse), this season was uneven and unfocused, with too little time for the stronger, more interesting characters. The problem may be with the source book. Probably with a 10-episode season, one can’t do much better, but the choice to tell it in that many episodes (while economically understandable) is to blame. As the source material continues to expand, […]

Categories: Non-Film Reviews • Tags: fantasy

Game of Thrones – Season 1