by Felipe Rosa
Shallow Grave: The kinetic, smart, colorful visual style barely hides the fact that the story is common, almost tired. No big matter, as the combination of story and style makes this film an entertaining one; also, an original story does not automatically equate to a good one. Helping is the fact that the characters and their interactions are interesting and well played by the cast.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: thriller
by Felipe Rosa
G.I. Joe: Retaliation: to consider this based on the film’s story or character is beside the point; this is a gun porn (and sword porn) film and as such it must be judged. Here, as well, it fails enormously, as the action scenes are over-edited in such a way to make the action tiresome, uninteresting. There was a missed opportunity when it was decided that the light banter, by actors that can sell that, should be dropped; it would make […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action
by Felipe Rosa
I don’t intend to post many trailers, but this one has a bit of personal significance to me. And to top it off, it’s actually looking pretty good. Rush is directed by Ron Howard and will be released in September 2013.
Categories: Non-Reviews • Tags: drama
by Felipe Rosa
Mogambo: solemn, awkward romance that fails to justify solidly why the characters are falling in love; by the other hand, as an adventure this is a fairly minor one. The exception is Ava Gardner’s character, well-constructed and well-acted. John Ford was out of his métier in many ways (most relevantly, perhaps, by having a female character as the central piece of the story, as well as not dealing with Americana); nevertheless, one has to appreciate that he took the risk. […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: romance
by Felipe Rosa
Trance: a serpentine, multi-layered, smart script that resulted in a film which is a very fun ride. As usually is the case, the character gallery is not exactly what it looks like and the central cast (James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson) bring them fully on to life. Danny Boyle’s visual style is a perfect fit for the story, with his free use of unusual angles, rapid cuts, different film stocks, great settings. This story could have been told in […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: thriller
by Felipe Rosa
Here Comes Mr. Jordan: while the high concept behind this movie creates a story that at times seems arbitrary, even manipulative, the final result is enchanting nevertheless. The cast defends the story well, in particular Claude Rains in smooth as silk mode. The camera work is classic and attractive, with beautiful dolly shots sprinkled here and there.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: fantasy
by Felipe Rosa
Lore: delicate and brutal at once, this is a meaningful road movie that works well both in objective and subjective levels. Acting is impressively good with the young cast, building up on the well-written and complex characters. Very strong visually, allowing us to appreciate the minutes of the world, much like the children; the mix of wonder and horror of the images set the mood perfectly. Not an easy film to sit through, but a very rewarding one.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama
by Felipe Rosa
Anastasia: elegant, well made, but ultimately a bit unsatisfying film. The game of smoke and mirrors played by the characters makes them unsympathetic and not very interesting. They are well played, however, in particular by Ingrid Bergman. The main problem is with how the story develops: while we may care about how things happen, the direction it takes seems mostly contrived.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama
by Felipe Rosa
Blancanieves: to call this film original is somewhat misleading, since this tale is centuries old and has been told, in fact, three times in the last year alone; the style is not original either, since it was the only way films were made for over 30 years. It is, however, an interesting translation to a place and time which keeps enough elements to be recognizable and makes enough changes to feel fresh. Silent films, of course, depend a lot on […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama
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