The Great Gatsby: Baz Luhrman, well-known for his excesses, may be a perfect choice to tell a tale in such an era of excesses. The assault on the senses are not as intense as expected: while there are moments where colors, movements, sounds, music explode or the editing is lightning-quick, there are also quieter moments that allow the sad tale to move along. It’s a nice story and it’s nicely told. Leonardo DiCaprio defends his role admirably. I should add […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama

Mud: a beautiful, quiet, slow-burning film. It takes its time to let the characters breathe and develop, the world their live in present itself and the touching, strong story grow. The whole cast is also solid in an unspectacular way (I mean this in a good way: there are no showboating scenes, just opportunities to develop the well-written characters), Matthew McConaughey being the stand-out. Visually, the film is non-intrusive.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama

The Place Beyond the Pines: the stories follow a meandering, unfocused path that while connected weakly by thematic elements, nevertheless feels inorganic, fabricated. They are, each on their own, interesting and ripe with potential, but the way the film evolves doesn’t allow them to develop fully. The cast is in general very strong, in a quiet, subdued way. The film is also very well shot (It caters to my old bias of long tracking shots; the first shot of the […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama

The Best Years of Our Lives: sporadically heavy-handed drama, its story falling squarely into the “important” category (even thought it’s pretty much a product of its own time, there’s some relevance in this day and age once more). Very well-shot (It was Gregg Toland doing the lensing after all). Acting is somewhat uneven, particularly early on before the characters settle in; Harold Russell presence is very earnest, but more inspirational than strong.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama