Felipe Rosa

Rise of the Guardians

March 28, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Rise of the Guardians: while it’s not a new idea to create an “out of context” group of superheroes (Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen came to mind, even thought it’s certainly not the first implementation of such idea either), it is a good one. Execution is strong, as usual, with character design (as well as their ancillary effects) generally (but not universally) interesting. Camera work (so to say) is very dynamic, consistent with the genre. But, most importantly, […]

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

Leave a comment

Spring Breakers

March 26, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Spring Breakers: a sliver of a story, which is neither interesting, exciting nor funny, concocted together by almost random, abstract, exploitative images. If there is any rhyme, reason or irony to this film, I missed it. (I have no qualms with amorality tales, but I prefer the ones that have any qualities in them.)

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: bottom, crime

Leave a comment

The Croods

March 25, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

The Croods: colorful, good-looking animated film (nowadays it seems to be harder to make a bad-looking animation than a good-looking one), that, however, fails where they usually do: in telling a story with heart. The main issue is how heavy-handed the story gets; and while the name of the film suggest it, the brand of humour is not crude (nor, as DWA films usually have it, so heavily dependent on pop-culture references). It’s a fun ride, but for the most part […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation

Leave a comment

Zero Dark Thirty – Revisit

March 25, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Zero Dark Thirty: a second view shows how tight and well structured the whole movie is; there is not much here that does not serve to show how the story unfolded. It does so with clarity, but without hand-holding the viewer. There is not much space left for character development, but there is some, strongly defended by Jessica Chastain. The film is quite expertly done, directed with strong hand, well shot and edited. It remains solidly in the list I […]

Categories: Film reviews, Revisit • Tags: thriller

Leave a comment

Seven Days in May

March 24, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Seven Days in May: tight, efficient and above all, realistic political thriller. A big part of the realism comes from the camera work; it’s not one thing all the time, it shifts as the needs require. At times, its nervous like a documentary; at times, long takes that let the actors breathe and work. It is quite a cast, and they are effective; most surprisingly, Burt Lancaster, not playing a charismatic rascal for a change. Very well-written, as well.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: thriller

Leave a comment

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

March 20, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Gentleman’s Agreement: this film’s theme, by all means an important issue, is dealt with at turns elegantly and heavy-handedly, making this a movie that is both good and “important”. The great cast defends beautifully an interesting, rich set of characters, that are above all very well-written (particularly the female ones): Celeste Holm, in particular, lights up every frame she is in: her character is probably the best written and sympathetic of the whole bunch, and she plays it beautifully. Gregory […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama

Leave a comment

The Professionals (1966)

March 19, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

The Professionals: one would expect that, with a cast of this charisma (Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Lee Marvin) and a story with its roots on a classic setup, this would be a great Western. However, the writing falters early on: despite the limited number of characters, they are neither well-developed nor particularly interesting, and both the drama and the action are pedestrian, at best. The whole cast seems to be playing small and lesser varations of other roles they […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: western

Leave a comment

From Up on Poppy Hill

March 18, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

From Up on Poppy Hill: while the old-school 2-D animation style fits perfectly with the feeling of nostalgia and innocence that permeates this lovely, delicate film, it’s also a good reminder that it doesn’t matter much the style a story is told, if it’s earnest and heartfelt. As is generally the case in Studio Ghibli’s films, the heroine is well conceived and written, and action unfurls in a natural, unforced way; the (for them) unusual realistic setting doesn’t prove at […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, comedy, drama

Twelve O’Clock High

March 17, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Twelve O’Clock High: solid military drama, with good, if unspectacular, acting and story. The sparing and effective use of actual archival footage for aerial battle scenes increases the drama and excitement; on the ground, the film caters to an old bias as Henry King, many times, let whole scenes unfold with long takes. When that happens, the camera is not static, but using dolly movements to re-frame the action as needed: it’s both economical and effective.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama, war

Fifth about The Seventh

Author Archives: Felipe Rosa

Rise of the Guardians

Spring Breakers

The Croods

Zero Dark Thirty – Revisit

Seven Days in May

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

The Professionals (1966)

From Up on Poppy Hill

Twelve O’Clock High