Million Dollar Arm
by Felipe Rosa
Million Dollar Arm: Craig Gillespie’s film has an interesting story; it is, however, one of
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama
Tag: biopic / historic
Getúlio
by Felipe Rosa
Getúlio: in spite of the name, João Jardim’s film offers little insight into the main character, his motivations and actions; in fact, while there is a large gallery of characters, little reason is given to get connected to any of them. That, in addition to an uneven pace, makes this film somewhat monotonous. Acting is unimpressive at best; Tony Ramos, in particular, doesn’t have the acting chops or the physique du rôle to be convincing. Walter Carvalho’s restless camerawork is competent and […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama, thriller
The Monuments Men
by Felipe Rosa
The Monuments Men: somewhat pleasurable, but surprisingly flat and unexciting film. It’s a great-looking cast and a very interesting starting point for a plot; the problem, however,
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama, war
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – Revisit
by Felipe Rosa
The Wolf of Wall Street: Martin Scorsese’s film retain its high energy in a second visit. It comes mostly from the great acting from Leonardo DiCaprio
Categories: Film reviews, Revisit • Tags: biopic / historic, comedy, drama
Goodfellas
by Felipe Rosa
Goodfellas: this film tells a story that is, at the same time, very entertaining and revealing of
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, crime
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
by Felipe Rosa
The Wolf of Wall Street: bold by choosing to be so forthcoming with its excesses; they are, however, either serving the story and the characters or defining the world. This film is an absolutely fun, if flawed, ride (assuming one is able to not be horrified by the excesses); the pace is somewhat uneven, but that’s because most scenes and sequences have such a high degree of energy that whenever one doesn’t reach those levels, it sticks out. Martin Scorsese is in […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, comedy, drama
Dallas Buyers Club
by Felipe Rosa
Dallas Buyers Club: while it’s an interesting and inspiring story, this film is so schematic and simplistic in its approach that it almost defeats the purpose. Characters are underdeveloped, so it’s almost surprising how good the acting is; of course, a good part of the effectiveness from both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto come from the extreme physical transformation they went through, but both of them (Leto in particular) are able to infuse humanity into the roles.
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama
Saving Mr. Banks
by Felipe Rosa
Saving Mr. Banks: a film of two mismatched halves; one half is so joyless that it takes away (some of) the pleasure of the whole. What is worse, from a storytelling point of view, it’s a clunky resort. It does, however, portray well what can be behind creativity and how painful the process can be. Emma Thompson, at first, seems to be doing a one-note curmudgeon (oh, but how well she plays that one note!), but her character rounds out […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama
Philomena
by Felipe Rosa
Philomena: as it usually happens with fact-based stories, this is at the same time unbelievable and sadly believable. The screenplay smartly mixes comedy with the drama, but is unable to sidestep its bias (warranted or not) or to hide its manipulative tendencies. The best reason to watch it is the masterful presence of Judi Dench, who created a great character, well-rounded, flawed and very touching; Steve Coogan is better than adequate in a role that doesn’t require all that much. […]
Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama
Fifth about The Seventh 