Smart People

{mosimage}Dennis Quaid is a University professor with a mess of a life, though brilliant, unable to connect with the students, and unable to communicate with his family.

 

Smart acting for a smart movie. I had no idea about what I could expect with this one, and I had a good time watching it. The strongest point is the acting of the main cast: we have a re-born Dennis Quaid better than ever as a grumpy University professor stuck in the past after widowing; we even have a decent Sarah Jessica Parker as a physician who will bring some light into Professor Wherterhold´s life, but overall we have a collection of great scenes by Ellen Page and Thomas Haden Church; their twisted relation and their sharp and sarcastic comments are kind of the best of the whole movie.

 

Digging up the family relations of a family full of talented members, director Noam Murro makes a very decent debut with a story that, although a bit predictable at some moments, will leave a good taste in your mouth.

 

Rating 4/5

 

{mosimage}The best: Page and Haden Church getting drunk together at a bar

 

The worst: Ashton Homes character is wasted and could have added much more to the movie.

 

The detail: The character of Ellen Page is 17 in the film. Although looking pretty young, her real age is almost 22.

Tropa de Elite

{mosimage}After the success of City of God, it is again time to discover the intrinsic situation in the favelas of Brazil

  

I certainly loved City of God and I was again able to enjoy a good piece of cinema with this movie directed by Jose Padilha.

 

Shot in Rio de Janeiro, Tropa de Elite portrays very well the real situation suffered in any favela of Brazil day after day. The differences between the educated class and the poor class, the corruption in the police department led by the low wages, and the silliness of responding violence with more violence by BOPE, the elite police group depicted here.

 

Wagner Moura is just simply superb as Captain Nascimento, he is able to build up a really plausible character, strong, fierce but weak and tormented at the same time. But the rest of the cast does not disappoint either. The script is intelligent, the rhythm keeps on going, the production is clever and the feeling of realism is always present.

 

A very entertaining movie with also a good deal of stuff to analyze for the viewers about morality and discrimination of social classes. Let’s hope that in the future Brazil continues giving us excellent movies, but with a more positive message extrapolated to a change in the harsh reality suffered there.

 

Rating 5/5

 

{mosimage}The best: Wagner Moura as Captain Nascimento gives an astonishing performance.

 

The worst: that sadly, most of what is portrayed in the movie really happens in the streets of Brazil every day.

 

The detail: Many pirate copies of the movie were leaked before its theatrical release, even though, it was the most watched Brazilian movie during the last year.

Just Buried

{mosimage}A dark comedy full of corpses, lust, jealousy and tones of humor! Follow Oliver in his new bussiness with the dead ones.

 

 

I had read some not so positive reviews before watching this DVD, so actually my expectations were gladly more than fulfilled at the end of the movie. Maybe Just Buried does not have the more original plot you can find in a comedy, but the movie gets increasing in quality the more you watch it, mainly due to the good chemistry and performances of the main characters, Rose Byrne as the lascivious and greedy Roberta and Jay Baruchel as the timid Oliver.

 

The location of the small community where the story takes place is perfectly suitable, the (non always so) accidental murderers  are plausible, and the evolution of Oliver’s character is really funny and evolves the whole essence of the movie, Maybe the end happens to be a bit too “in a rush” in comparison with the general rhythm of the film, but the final twist is certainly a good one, and you will feel like having been entertained when you reach the final credits, something that not all the comedies happen to achieve nowadays.

 

Rating 3/5

 

{mosimage}The best: It gets better after the first half an hour

 

The worst: not apt for people who cannot stand corpses

 

The detail: it has a strong inspiration from the movie Comedy of Terrors, where the main plot is basically the same.

Pintandwefall – Hong Kong, Baby

{mosimage}The follow up album to Wow, what was that, baby? just hit the streets the 21st of January

 

The followers of these young four energetic girls have not had to wait for long, after their debut work in 2007, for the release of the second studio album. The girls from Helsinki offer a collection of 11 tracks full of mischief, light lyrics, fun and garage rock riffs. The beginning of the album caught me a bit cold, but soon the music warmed me up with the second splendid Beef Rice or the enjoyable Angus.

 

Pintandwefall brings you all what you can expect from a young band, some fun and tracks that can be easily listened at whatever party with your friends. For those who are expecting a deeper and more philosophical work here, this is probably not your album.

 

Not a bad effort, but I would like to see how their style develops in a few years when the label of “young promising female rock band” does not work the same to attract listeners.

 

Rating 3/5.

Tropic Thunder

{mosimage}One of the funniest army squads you have ever seen in front of the screen is going to learn a couple of things about war and the jungle.

 

Tropic Thunder is an intelligent comedy. It has a great cast full of stars that can also superbly act, like Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. or Tom Cruise, although I feel that Nick Nolte and Jack Black are a bit wasted and could have offered much more to the spectators. But the main idea of making fun of the cinema industry, coming from a bunch of guys who are some of the most powerful cinema industry characters nowadays, is certainly refreshing.

 

The plot is good, and it will entertain you, but maybe the second time you watch it, you will not find it as funny as the first one. All in all, it counts with some glorious moments like the fake sketches to introduce every actor at the beginning, the dialectic confrontation between Stiller and Downey Jr. or the exhilarating Tom Cruise, far from his usual image of perfect “super-hero”.

 

Rating 3/5.

 

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The best: Tom Cruise as Hollywood producer with no scruples and Robert Downey Jr. taking the acting method too far. And the fake trailer with Tobey Maguire “Devil’s alley”.

 

The worst: Killing a cute panda is not funny.

 

The detail: “Simple Jack” character and the discussions in the film about acting as a total “retard” drew some big polemic with criticism by different associations.

  

Smiley Face

{mosimage}Follow the adventures and misadventures of Jane, a hardcore pothead who is going to have an interesting day…

 

Reading the opinions in the forums, most of people agree that they enjoyed watching this film while being high. Well, I was not high when I watched it, so I don’t know if that affected my “perception”, but I was not much pleased with the result.

 

Certainly Anna Faris has some good acting skills, and she matches perfectly for the comedy genre (her face will ring you a bell if you follow the Scary Movie saga), but the situations seemed to be too forced to be funny; all along the movie I just timidly laugh, but there was not real moment that I found totally hilarious. The character is portrayed more like a retarded person than like a funny pothead, and in the end you just feel angry about how a young talented woman is ruining her life for not having brains. If that was the intention by director Gregg Araki, then congratulations, because he totally achieved, but as a comedy film that tries to entertain, it certainly disappointed me.  

Rating 2/5

 

{mosimage}The best: Adam Brody as the dealer and the funny faces of Anna Faris.

 

The worst: when you have this special feeling of “why the fuck am I watching this?”

 

The detail: The woman who gives a ride to Jane in the motorcycle is the exuberant Natashia Williams, former wonder bra model.

  

Damn Seagulls – Hunting Season

{mosimage}If there is a band that definitely defines the trendy “Fullsteam” Finnish sound, that is Damn Seagulls. They come big and strong as the bears in the album cover.

 

 

I must confess that I never felt the urge to check on the sound of Damn Seagulls…until now. I thought that all the heat around them was a bit out of proportion, more like a well orchestrated marketing campaign. But I was wrong and this Hunting Season is a good proof of it. Since the first second I started to listen to it, I realized this guys really rock, (and my opinion was promptly backed up by my girlfriend who asserted from the other room that she liked that band I was listening…who am I to contradict her?)

 

Sarcasm out, the point is that the band sounds good, compact and with ideas. Maybe they do not count with the best singer in Finland, maybe the artwork of the CD is not the best you can watch at during the last months, but there is some kind of special magic in their compositions that get you hooked. Great lyrics like in Novus Ordo Mundi, Dead Pigeons  or Gone by the Dawn (my favorite one), for putting a few examples, will make you play the CD once and again.

 

Damn Seagulls have one more follower from now on. Pretty recommendable and enjoyable album!

 

Rating 4/5.

Entwine – Painstained

{mosimage}It is already 10 years since the first album release by the Finnish band, and they come back stronger than ever with their sixth studio album!

 

 

Painstained is probably the best Finnish rock-metal album that I have listened to in the last month. You can really notice there the hand of “magician” producer Hiili Hiilesmaa, the man behind the sound in albums of huge bands like Sentenced, Apocalyptica, HIM or the Portuguese Moonspell.

 

Hiilesmaa have made possible that Entwine runs away from the more classic brutal sound that usually Spinefarm´s bands have, achieving a very well balanced and squared album that can really hit the mainstream audience. Mika Tauriainen´s vocal skills are superb and songs like Soul Sacrifice, Strife, Lost in My Denial or Greed of Mankind are instant classics.

 

Let’s see how 2009 goes for the Finnish metatheads, because they certainly deserve bigger international attention. For the moment, you have the chance to check them out live very soon in the Spinefeast 2009 that will take place 29th-30th of January.

 

Rating 4/5

 

Related articles:

 

Interview with Mika Tauriainen:

 

http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/899/152/

 

Hanna Pakarinen – Love in a Million Shades

{mosimage}The Finnish singer, who became very famous in her native country after representing it in the Eurovision song contest in Helsinki a few years ago, release her fourth studio album.

 

  

I think that Hanna was unfairly voted in the Eurovision song contest. Maybe she did not perform an amazing act to win, but she is still a singer with excellent vocal skills, like she shows once more in this new record filled with pop and soft rock and the unavoidable ballads.

 

With a sound that drinks from the 80s, Hanna offers a collection (not a big collection though, only 9 tracks) of easy-listening songs, where we could highlight the introductory Almost Real or the more rocking single Shout it Loud.

 

I still believe that the weak point is that the album is aimed mainly at a young female audience. Most of male listeners will find it too “soft” for rock and too cheesy for pop, although you can always use it to create a romantic atmosphere with candles and wine in a snowy winter night with some special company close to you.

 

The album is basically offering what you expect, no more no less, but it would be nice to see Hanna in the future rocking a bit wilder.

 

Rating 3/5

  

Chasing the opportunities of tomorrow – Interview with Finnish band Automatic Eye

Pete and Heikki are the core of Automatic Eye, a band that is growing steadily fast in the Finnish and international music scene. They recently won the Award to the new best act of 2008 by Ylex-radio and have participated last week-end at the Eurosonic festival in Holland. And opposite to the Finnish stereotype, they run away from depressing feelings and fake humbleness to offer just tones of good vibe. Pete attended the questions of FREE! and both guys answered a short Q&A where you can discover more about their music, their drinking beer habits or the opinion after kissing another man.

Automatic Eye

Hello Pete and thanks for being so kind to answer the questions. So can you tell us a bit more about how you started playing music, and how you got to know each other?

No problem! We had been playing in several small bands before Automatic Eye, and actually we met each other from a mutual group we played for a really short while. We decided to establish this band and here we are now, happier than ever!

You both are the core of Automatic Eye, but do you usually play with the same musicians (at MySpace appear TommyGun, Y and Niko) or do you change them often?

We’ve been playing with the same guys for about 1, 5 years. They are like band members for us, there’s no need to change them.

How would you describe in a couple of sentences to the readers what they can expect when listening to your debut album Don’t let the past come between you and your happiness?

Songs with catchy melodies, I could say that chorus is our god and I believe I’m not typing a wrong answer with that sentence. The album is not too “Finnish”; with this I mean the dark melancholy style we usually have here. On our debut we try to explore the positive and the “happier” side of the music and hopefully succeeding with that.

It is weird, we are Finnish but not too humble" -Pete from Automatic Eye-

And about the title of the album, do you feel often trapped by your past actions?

Yeah, used to. The album is an escape from thinking about the past things you’ve done in your life. It’s so easy to spend your energy worrying about yesterday rather than seeing all the opportunities of tomorrow.

You have recently won the prize for “New Act of 2008” given by Ylex-Radio. Were you expecting that your first album was going to be so well received?

It’s always a really big honor to receive a prize that is a result of a vote; feels really great to be recognized with something like that. The first album has given us a lot of opportunities by so far and hopefully we’ll get more in the near future as well. I could say that we expected some kind of success with the album, (yeah it’s weird, we’re Finnish but not too humble) and here we are pretty well reaching our goals.

You are playing this week in The Netherlands at the big Eurosonic festival that gathers many new bands from all over Europe. Is just another gig more for you, or do you think that could give you much more media attention and promotion? (And in case you answer this after participating at the festival, just let us know what your impressions about it are)

The Eurosonic-festival is a great opportunity for us. We’re gonna play a kick ass-show there and hopefully we’ll receive more gigs and other attention with our performance in there. The guys with suits are responsible for all the other stuff.

If I am not mistaken, you have played abroad before, in Japan in 2006. How was the chance to go there? How was the Japanese audience?

I lived in Tokyo for a year and got to know the local scene a bit. We were asked to play on a small indoor-festival in there and of course we went. It was an amazing show, audience was fantastic and the whole trip there was fantastic.

Finland seems to live on a golden age for heavy metal bands, but also indie pop-rock seems to be in a very good moment. It seems that every one of three young guys plays an instrument in a band. Are you happy with the actual situation, or do you think that there is too much competence for a relatively small market as the Finnish music market is?

I don’t see a problem in the Finnish music scene for new bands. There’s always a niche for new bands if they’re interesting enough. And if the Finnish scene gets too small, there’s a world out there waiting!

Anything you want to add for the readers?

Yeah, help yourself during the dark winter and download our first single “Away From Sunshine” for free!  http://www.last.fm/music/Automatic+Eye

FREE! Q&A with Pete and Heikki

Pete:

Favorite bands?

Jimmy Eat World, Anberlin, Fall Out Boy, Quietdrive, and Eve6 to mention a few

Favorite concert you have recently watched?

Too hard to choose.. Muse in Malaysia, Jimmy Eat World & Anberlin & Ellegarden in Japan…

Is there any Finnish band you would love to share stage with?

Apulanta

And any Finnish band you would hate to share stage with?

No matter the genre if the people in the band are great. Hate to share the stage with bands that are assholes.

Automatic Eye

When you are not working on your music, what hobbies do you enjoy?

Scuba diving, Football

Who drinks more beer of the 2 of you?

This is a tough one. I guess that in the end we can’t remember. Someone has to come to judge some weekend!

What is the craziest thing you have done being drunk?

I’m a bit exhibitionist… like to be naked in various places. Yeah, one more thing with almost quoting Katy Perry’s words: “I kissed a man but I didn’t like it”

What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you backstage?

Rather not tell that…

If you have to choose, do you prefer spending time in a bar or in a summer cottage?

I would take the bar to the summer cottage

Heikki:

Favorite bands?

Rock, Pop, Punk.. Bands like Hellacopters, Bon Jovi, Anberlin, Foo Fighters and Hardcore Superstar.

Favorite concert you have recently watched?

Bon Jovi at Stadium, Helsinki or Foo Fighters at Provinssirock

Is there any Finnish band you would love to share stage with?

Yep, White Flame. These guys can party!

And any Finnish band you would hate to share stage with?

Everybody has their own style, so no.

When you are not working on your music, what hobbies do you enjoy?

Partying, ice hockey, football and writing. But everywhere I go music is always there with me.

Who drinks more beer of the 2 of you?

I think we are both pretty talented on that one. But I think Pete wins, cause I usually lose my memory after 14-15 beers. Sad thing.

What is the craziest thing you have done being drunk?

I thought I was telling jokes with Bob Marley in Spain. But it made more sense when I was drunk.

What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you backstage?

There was some sound-technician and me. The rest is history…

If you have to choose, do you prefer spending time in a bar or in a summer cottage?

Make a guess… Yes, ten points. Bar – Cause every day is a happy day at Molly Malone’s.

Photos taken from the band´s official MySpace website.

For more information visit:

www.automaticeye.com

Tense territories and asphalt gardens

{mosimage}Two new and interesting exhibitions will delight the lovers of photography from January until March at the Finnish Museum of Photography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Asphalt Gardens exhibition brings together photographs of Helsinki from 2007–2008 by photographic artist Taneli Eskola. Eskola (1958) is a Helsinki-resident photographer specialising in landscape and photographic art who has photographed kinds of secret gardens, views that we come across when, at the right moment, we take an oblique look, bypassing standard viewing angles and emblematic places.

 

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The exhibition coincides with the publication of Julia Donner and Taneli Eskola’s illustrated non-fiction work Löytöretki Helsinkiin, paikkoja, polkuja, puutarhoja (“Exploring Helsinki, places, paths, gardens,” published by Multikustannus). The book prompts us to look and to experience gardens in places where we do not normally see them. The author himself will discuss about his exhibition on Wednesday 18.3. At 7pm. (In Finnish language)

ASPHALT GARDENS – Paradises beneath the urban fabric

Photographs by Taneli Eskola

Finnish Museum of Photography 22.1- 24.5.2009

 

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The Tense Territories exhibition, which investigates the concepts of personal space, control, ownership and identity, offers multiple views of new forms in contemporary photography. The exhibition is made up of four solo exhibitions and is part of Helsinki Photography Festival 2009.

TENSE TERRITORIES

Mohamed Bourouissa, Sini Pelkki, Carrie Schneider, Sauli Sirviö

Finnish Museum of Photography 22.1–24.5.2009

 

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For more information visit:

www.fmp.fi

Kung Fu Panda

{mosimage}The last creation from Dreamworks is an incredible animation movie full of humour, martial arts and all the magic of ancient China. 

We are certainly having a golden age about great quality animation movies released in DVD. If a few days ago we could enjoy the adventures of the little robot Wall-E, now a friendly but masterful at Kung-Fu Panda will delight all the family at the home screens. And it counts with some scenes that will remain in your memory for long time. For example,  the escape of Tai Lung from jail is one of the most thrilling moments I have experienced watching a film in the last months. Kung Fu Panda has a good plot, it is intelligent, the characters are marvellously portrayed and it is technically a new step forward in the evolving animation world. But not only that, the work of the actors lending their voices to the characters is amazing; an astonishing list that involves Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan or Lucy Liu. 

If we have to put a “but”, I would say that the story seems short with only 1 hour and 28 minutes, leaving you angry for more (a sequel maybe will appear soon in the horizon?). Maybe Kung Fu Panda is not as deep, romantic and bittersweet as Wall-E, but as a product of entertainment for children and adults, it surely ranks very high in the animation genre. Funny, intelligent and worthy to see! 

Rating 4/5.