Fifth about The Seventh

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

Upside Down (2012)

March 15, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Upside Down: an interesting concept does not a good film make. While the idea allows for some mesmerizing visuals (even thought the way colors are dealt with almost put those to waste), there is little else that works here. The love story, which should be the core of the film, is poor and unengaging (as well as metaphorically unrelated to the original concept); the writing further shows its limitations by telling rather than showing at least one crucial piece of […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: romance, sci fi

I Was a Male War Bride

March 15, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

I Was a Male War Bride: there really isn’t a secret for making a good romantic comedy, but it seems to have been lost over the last 60 years or so. One starts with a good, funny story (if preposterously true, so much the better); create an engaging central pair of characters; write them smart dialogue; find a good cast that can read the dialogue properly and voilà! Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan, in this case, have great chemistry and […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: romantic comedy

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People Will Talk (1951)

March 14, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

People Will Talk: great film, which has its sheer humanity as the strongest suit. Very well-written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz: the dialogue is sparkling and it requires good actors to read it well; Cary Grant made a career of screwball comedies, so he is more than up to the task, but the whole cast is uniformly great. It’s a lovely story (even if it has a somewhat contrived set-up). The camera work is elegant, non-intrusive without being simplistic.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: comedy, drama

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D.O.A. (1950)

March 14, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

D.O.A.: a rather run-of-the-mill whodunit, despite the attention-grabbing plot (or story) twist, which allows for some interesting (but ultimately underwhelming) character dynamics. The real problem here, however, is how mishandled the cast is: Edmond O’Brien is not bad, but pretty much everyone else is either stiff as a board or over-acting. Curiously enough, this film has the opposite problem that Rudolph Maté’s other film I watched recently, since this one is visually engaging at times. Read also: Union Station

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: crime

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Quartet

March 12, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Quartet: a number of good things about this nice little, light drama. First and foremost, the acting is excellent: Dustin Hoffman, despite directing a feature for the first time, knows a thing of two about the subject (and shows some surprisingly interesting camera work); but with a cast of that quality, it would need a director trying to ruin the experience to make the acting bad. The collection of characters, fleshed out and alive, fell true to the story, a […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: drama

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Dead Man Down

March 11, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Dead Man Down: not unexpectedly, but there is almost nothing about this film that justifies it. The story, both the set-up and the way it evolves, is nothing if not absolutely preposterous. The characters, if they even deserve to be called that, are unpleasant and unbelievably irrational. Maybe good actors would be able to make the main characters interesting, but there’s not one in sight here.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: thriller

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The Day of the Jackal

March 10, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

The Day of the Jackal: cold and professional thriller that, by virtue of avoiding cheap thrills and grounding the story on reality, becomes all the more efficient. There isn’t much space for character development, but with both paralell procedurals being so detailed and precise, there really isn’t much need to. Quite well edited, reasonably well acted under the good hand of Fred Zinnemann.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: thriller

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