Film reviews | Fifth about The Seventh

Boyhood

July 14, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Boyhood: Richard Linklater shows in this film that he is well aware that the most special effect is the story; furthermore, that the story can be unadorned, as long as it’s earnest and well-told. There’s nothing that is as rich as life itself, after all; there’s nothing that suggests more how engaging this film is than the fact that the periods that aren’t on the screen are missed. The tenacity behind this project is incredible, but that wouldn’t amount to […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

July 13, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Matt Reeves’ is a great accomplishment in many levels. The most obvious one is, of course, the special effects that create such level of authenticity with the ape characters; it’s hard to know when the special effects end and when the motion-capture performances of Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell (just to mention the two that have more to do and therefore stand out the most) begin. Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman are good presences in the human side […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, sci fi

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Life Itself (2014)

July 11, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Life Itself: before getting into the film itself, a note: I wasn’t much a Roger Ebert fan, as I always thought that his reviews were, for the most part, spoiler-heavy and opinion-light (to be fair, that is something that plagues the great majority of mainstream critics). Steve James’ film reinforces the notion that Ebert loved films, obviously (something I respect and relate to, in spite of); but it goes beyond that, and informs much about the subject, his relationship with cinema and with […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, documentary

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Obvious Child

July 7, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Obvious Child: despite the courage to deal with a hot-button issue, Gillian Robespierre’s film story is very simple and generally unremarkable. The central character is not very relatable (part of it comes from the brand of humor her stand-up comedy sketches displays, a reflection of her sense of self; comedy tastes are rather personal, but fart jokes are generally easy and unfunny) or well-defined; Jenny Slate’s performance doesn’t add much, and neither does the rest of the cast. Visually very dull, […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: comedy, drama

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Begin Again

July 4, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Begin Again: in spite of the simple, old story, John Carney’s film is an interesting watch; it is driven by the passion of art (music in particular) that, for being so earnest, is very relatable. The great looking cast (Mark Ruffalo is a great presence, Hailee Steinfeld and Catherine Keener good additions for the time they are on, but it’s Keira Knightley, who has a nice singing voice, who is the highlight) and the nice songs go a long way to make it a pleasant ride. […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama, musical

Snowpiercer

July 2, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Snowpiercer: an interesting action film; Joon-ho Bong executes with great measures of violence what is a great concept of a dystopian world, one which violence is far from being simply a concept; as it so ofter happens with good science fiction, this one has also something to say about our present times. Set design is an important part of this film, and it’s quite well executed. The cast is generally interesting (and refreshingly mixed), but Tilda Swinton in particular is fun […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, sci fi

22 Jump Street

June 30, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

22 Jump Street: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s film is not devoid of laughs, but they are few and far apart. Channing Tatum and Ice Cube are the main reason for them; Tatum, in particular, if for no other reason he is given more to do and has more screen time. As in the previous entry to the series, the story is almost an afterthought (and, in a much self-referenced bit, basically the same one told in the first film). Visually, it’s a rather nondescript […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, comedy

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Transformers: Age of Extinction

June 29, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Transformers: Age of Extinction: this film presents strong evidence (if there wasn’t enough already) that Michael Bay is a firm believer that “more is more, and if there is more, it’s also better”; only that can explain the repetitive, noisy and excessive action scenes (if they can be called that; the lightning fast editing allows only the explosions to register, not what is actually going on) and the inane dialogue (so many lines are purely a description of what is […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action

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How to Train Your Dragon 2

June 25, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

How to Train Your Dragon 2: visually striking animation, with a beautifully realized world and varied, well-designed characters (both humans and dragons) and dynamic set pieces and action scenes. However, the main strength of Dean DeBlois’ film is its story; it focuses on a heartfelt, touching narrative in lieu of low-brow, easy humor. It helps that the voice acting is low-key, with character-building being its main priority. Read also: How to Train Your Dragon

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, fantasy