by Felipe Rosa
The Art of Getting By: much like its main character, this movie has barely anything to say. The character seems to have what is generally defined as White People’s Problem, and honestly, that’s as uninteresting as it can get. A pity, as both of the young actors have been in interesting movies before.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama
by Felipe Rosa
Green Lantern: excessive exposition (the price of having a somewhat minor superhero, I suppose), clunky story, uninteresting characters in general. Even the villains, usually a staple in the genre, are quite boring. But visually it’s not that bad. Doesn’t save the day, particularly because the use made of the interesting powers are quite sparse.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, super hero
by Felipe Rosa
Beginners: quite a nice little movie. Despite (or because of) its quirky structure and aesthetics (mostly the old, quiet songs), it has a sweetness and a sincerity that are hard to argue against. The cast, in particular Christopher Plummer, is quite strong.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: comedy, drama
by Felipe Rosa
A Streetcar Named Desire: an acting masterclass. Vivien Leigh is just superb. The movie, however, doesn’t hide its origin (not even tries, to its credit), and therefore it feels quite a bit too contained. Nevertheless, a powerful story, and quite interestingly shot (and lit).
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama
by Felipe Rosa
The Trip: hands down, this movie has the most hilarious moments of the year. As soon as both actors start making their impressions, it raises to another level. The quiet moments in between, while interesting as well, have a completely different feel to them. So, at the end, this movie has 2 halves, both satisfying on themselves, but that don’t quite match, leaving an uneven feeling to it. But still quite fun.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: comedy
by Felipe Rosa
Super 8: the blueprint for this is very clear; this is something that Steven Spielberg could indeed have done. The story, the setting as well as the underlying themes are there, particularly in the older movies. But not enough is done with the blueprint, it’s a bit less polished than could have been. The highlight is the incredible quality of the kid’s acting, top to bottom.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: sci fi
by Felipe Rosa
Children of Men: quite well-written sci-fi about a sad, drab future (not over-explaining what is going on is a great part of it). Strong cast, but what really elevates this is the amazing camera work by Emmanuel Lubezki. (But of course my bias towards long, continuous takes is quite well-documented.)
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: sci fi
by Felipe Rosa
Kung Fu Panda 2: looks beautiful (and, surprisingly, makes good use of 3D; it means a lot coming from me), but it doesn’t have the heart or the content to match that beauty. The characters are flat like a board, if one can even call them that. It’s not even all that funny.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation, fantasy
by Felipe Rosa
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: an actors’ movie if there ever was one, and indeed they are all great. It is quite amazing what good acting and good dialogue can do, even when the characters are so undeserving of our sympathy. You still want to watch them and understand them. Or maybe just watch the glorious train wreck that you know is coming.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama
Fifth about The Seventh