by Felipe Rosa
Beasts of the Southern Wild: a mesmerizing film, a fine balance between fantasy and harsh reality, beauty and ugliness. A big part of the reason is the incredible screen presence of little Quvenzhané Wallis. This is a magical little film!
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama, fantasy
by Felipe Rosa
Hope Springs: while the story unfolds like a low-key fantasy (therefore a little bit too perfectly, as it’s usually the case with rom-coms), it’s well sold by the cast. It’s a good example of how good actors play off each other, as the silences and reactions reveal as much about the characters as the speeches and actions.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: romantic comedy
by Felipe Rosa
The Bourne Legacy: entertaining action film, if it doesn’t bother you that despite the different setup (that ties it nicely to the existing universe) and hero (a willing one, as opposed to an unwilling one), this is exactly the same as the first film. The good cast sells well the story; visually, this is not as powerful or engrossing as what Paul Greengrass showed us before.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action
by Felipe Rosa
The Dark Knight Rises: one must admire the courage to tell a story that keeps the atmosphere so dread, almost drab. It is, however, the right way to tell the right story for these characters; Batman is a character born in tragedy, and respecting that is the right move. The cast is uniformly great. Technically, the film is a marvel (yeah, I know); the exception is the sound design, as either due to the sound mix or the voice filters […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, super hero
by Felipe Rosa
Total Recall: run-of-the-mill actioner; the story had elements to make this an interesting sci-fi film, but it was not to happen. Visually it also goes down the beaten path, abusing unjustified lens flares.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action
by Felipe Rosa
Carlos: very interesting, informative and above all entertaining, even if it slows down a bit towards the end (which is part of the nature of the story). It dealt admirably with the conundrum of telling the story of an obvious villain (even if one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist) and making him engaging and rich. Visually great (nitpick: the cars are always squeaky-clean and brand new).
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic
by Felipe Rosa
Savages: fun movie, profane in its storytelling. The violence is almost excessive (even if, based on reports, not at all inaccurate), and it works both ways: the potential violence both makes you want to turn your head away and watch for what comes next. Acting is a bit uneven: the main characters are left behind in a wave of scenery-chewing by the older supporting cast.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: crime
by Felipe Rosa
The Amazing Spider-Man: reasonably entertaining, with a capable cast, attractive production values. The issue lies on the question “is yet another origin story needed, this early”, and the answer is “no”. In particular, the villain here is essentially the same as in the previous films, cut from the same cloth. Therefore, the film feels simply too familiar, a reheated version of something else that wasn’t really all that great to start with.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: action, super hero
by Felipe Rosa
Ted: preposterous setup, stupid story, absurd climax; and yet, very funny at times. This is the perfect example of why comedies are so tough to judge and recommend; humor is something very personal, and hard to resist (in spite of itself sometimes). If one transcends the laughs, it’s a great one. Sadly, this one is not one of those.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: comedy
Fifth about The Seventh