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Reviews
A Single Man (2009)
A really good artistic piece of American cinema
I've said this many times and I'll say it again, "The importing thing is how you tell it". So, that being said, There is no problem within this film fanatics mind with Clichés (Wich by the way are considered so because they work and always have worked, it mainly depends on how they are used), stories told more than once or with familiar places.
In the case of A Single Man, we have all this beautifully told, with great poetic cinematography and direction. Amazing performances and outstanding music, resulting in a great and really simple but depressive story brilliantly executed, with grace, calm and beauty above all.
Don't care if it reminds in any way to "American Beauty", which in my case it didn't but I see here that to many it did, thats a great film to be compared to, so If i was the director I'd actually see that as an honor, even if those who compare it don't intend to do so.
A single man is a great piece of American cinema, specially when it delivers such great but calm pace in times when everything, specially the movies, are always in a rush. I believe this film is an excellent reminder that it still is possible to create good non independent cinema in the U.S with out it having to be a big budget.
It's basically a really good artistic, sensible and well thought piece of American cinema at its best.
Oh and MAN was this a really sensual and erotic piece, and I'm not even gay... :)
Vice Versa (1988)
The only good swap film to the date
I first saw this movie in the 80's. I was about seven or eight years old, around the same year I saw "Like Father Like son", also "Big" with Tom Hanks and later on saw the two "freaky Friday Remakes" and "Hot Chick", Don't remember exactly if I've seen "18 again", think I have. Anyway, of all these SWAP films Vice Versa has always been my favorite, actually I consider it to be the only good swap film to the date.
But, to confirm this position I developed when I was just a Kid, I saw again tonight, couldn't find the movie, so I decided to watch it divided in eleven parts on youtube (Kind of a desperate act huh) and I am SO pleased to say that I remain with the same idea: "Vice Versa is simply the best swap movie done to this date".
And really, who cares if the idea has been already made over and over again? Remember it's never what you tell, it's how you tell it, and in this case it is perfectly told. And damn is Savages and Reinholds acting brilliant, really, I think Reinhold is the only actor to deliver a believable portrayal of an eleven year old kid, except in one or two scenes where he over acts, but nothing of importance honestly, and Savage well he really is flawless in this film.
P.s: On the bottom of the Swap Film list I have "Like Father, Like Son", if there's anything worse than seeing Dudley Moore acting, is seeing him acting as a teenager... NOT believable at all, he sucks big time.
Cube (1997)
Unbelievable: You just don't buy it
O.k so. looking around in the comments, I had a hard time both finding a good review on how bad this film is and also coping with the idea that SO many people find it mind blowing.
Basically, the idea is one more of those enigmatic thrillers about strangers appearing out of the blue in the middle of somewhere and trying to find out where? why? who? and how... I know this was done in 1997, and back than (I think) the concept wasn't so burn out, but either way, a good idea doesn't necessarily guarantee a good movie.
So for starters we HAVE to trash the acting, specially of the two characters who "shine" the most: Quentitn (Sycho Cop) and the doctor which name I just forgot and don't care to remember. They REALLY don't no crap about interpreting a fictional character, it seems that, to them, acting mean being as melodramatic and loud as you can.
But in general, all the actors and actresses in the movie sucked big time. But thats not the worst part, actually what makes it even worse is the senseless character development: One minute I'm scared and almost numb, the next I'm a real bad ass and I ROCK. One minute I'm an idiot and, as if it wasn't very predictable, I'm a genius. Really, nothing justifies one thing or the other, there are no leading steps towards the next point, it all just happens, the characters ¡just do what they have to do in order to make the movie go on, despite the lack of logic in there Acts or thoughts.
Another real problem is the dialog, just plain stupid, cliché, stereotyped and really not justified.
It seems that one of the main problems within the script is the fact the the writers forgot to consider that it's in hard moments when the best of us comes out, and even if it doesn't, it wont justify the overall craziness just because... Things must be logic within the world that is being presented to the viewer, and CUBE really does a BAD work in accomplishing that.
Paris (2008)
Some how disappointed
I was really looking forward to see this film for different reasons: The trailer made it look really heart filling, Juliet Binoche and basically because I love French cinema. So I finally got to do so, but man was I disappointed.
It wasn't utterly bad, but basically, for me, it just didn't grab me at any point. Everything and everyone (Each character) seemed so dry, so inexpressive, things would happen and they'd all be like "OH... o.k" and at moments they even seemed to contradict them self's. I don't know, I've seen lots of movies where each characters story is intertwined and some are good, some suck.
I've seen it in American, Italian, French, German and even Spanish cinema, so that kind of story telling is not unique in it self anymore and because of that, it's harder to do it, and I think that in this case, seeing how non of the stories needed the other to exist, none of them really coexisted as one and there fore there was no reason to tell them all in the same piece, well it simply wasn't the best of movies, again it doesn't utterly suck, it just isn't as good as it could have been.