Category: Cinema

{mosimage}Abandoning virgin territory is not an easy task when you are a teenager full of lust, but you do not want to behave like a jerk. Nothing like a good road trip to solve the problem…

Teenage comedies that deal with the sexual desire of unsuccessful youngsters are nothing new.  In the cover of the DVD, this new movie was advertised like being better than American Pie, so I was quite curious to check it out.

Unfortunately, the predictions were not true. Sex Drive is quite topical from the beginning to the end, so do not expect big surprises here. Even the sense of humour lacks of a bit more of transgression. Maybe 10 years ago, the movie would have been cool, but come on! we have seen dozens of the same kind of films during the last years.

If I have to choose something, I would stick to the good performances of the secondary characters.  Amanda Crew looks delicious as the eternal female friend Felicia, Seth Green is surprising in his role of the Amish Ezequiel, Clark Duke is maybe the best of the movie with his talent to seduce all kind of women (I see that the script writers have taken a look at PUA techniques) and James Mardsen is convincing as the angry older brother.  But Josh Zuckermann in the main role as Ian is just average, and you do not really feel much identified with his lack of talent or luck with the female sex.

With a couple of good moments, like the final funny ending with the “cat fight”,  the movie is just the average one you can see with some friends one evening while eating popcorns and forget 10 minutes later. Not a bad choice, but it does not really add anything much to the genre.  I was not expecting a masterpiece of comedy, but all in all, a little disappointment.

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best:  The references to PUA techniques to pick up women by Lance´s character.

The worst:  we want more “titties” and transgression in this kind of teenage comedies!

The detail:  It is said that one of every five relations in USA is started online. So maybe you have a Ms Tasty waiting for you there in some chat…    

{mosimage}A new French movie with high voltage of erotic scenes and drama. 

I must confess that I have never been a great fan of French cinema. Although being Spaniard, I never felt identified with the slow rhythms and the psychological drama of most of the contemporary French movies. There are of course a few exceptions like Amelie or L´Auberge Espagnol, but in general, French cinema bores me. And it happens more or less the same with this Historie of Richard O. The plot is twisted, the dialogues are blurry… the sex scenes although sometimes beautiful, do not transmit energy enough, Paris, although being on summer, looks like a boring city… Certainly Mathieu Amalric has charisma (for many of you he can ring a bell as the bad guy in the last Bond movie, Quantum of Solace), and his character is pretty lovable along the movie, being maybe the best his strange relation with Le Grand, but that is not enough to raise the movie to a decent level. 

As an anecdote, there is also Finnish language spoken in the movie by Tiara Comte, the girlfriend of Le Grand. If you are into French cinema and oppressive atmospheres full of characters tormented by existential questions, then maybe this film is for you. I will meanwhile continue praying for the French cinema to entertain me… 

Rating 2/5. 

{mosimage}The best: The charm of Amalric and the sauna scene, “Hyvin sanottu” 

The worst: I find it basically boring, not spiced up even with the erotic scenes. 

The detail: Mathieu Amalric is the villain in the last Bond saga movie, Quantum of Solace.   

{mosimage}A young British couple is going to see how a romantic week end camping at a lake turns into the worst nightmare. 

I was surprised about Eden Lake… in good and bad ways. During the first half an hour of the movie, I thought that it would be the typical horror cliché movie with the monster or the psychopathic killer who lives near the lake hunting the young couple and the children around, killing them one after another. But this plot turned to be quite refreshing, making the enemy visible and tangible in the shape of a gang of chavs with not many scruples and killer instincts. Kelly Reilly makes a great role as Jenny, but overall, my hat off for Jack O´Connell as Brett, you will really hate the kid along the movie! And scratching a bit on the surface, the movie indeed brings a strong message to re-think about what kind of education the young kids are receiving nowadays from the parents. 

The action is thrilling, exciting and the rhythm of the movie makes you be in tension all the time. But it has also bad points; the plot is not much plausible often, and many actions from the character have no real sense. As well, for sensitive people, there are quite many violent and shocking scenes, so this is not a movie you want to show to your young kids for a nice Sunday evening in family. 

With a bit more polished script, it could have turned to be a classic of the horror genre. Still, it is pretty enjoyable and refreshing, so if you like excitement, a bit of horror and blood, and a girl who ends up literally covered in dirt after an extenuating hunting this film is for you! 

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}The best: The great acting of the young Jack O´Connell 

The worst: Sometimes the script just floods. Is it normal to invade private property or to stand frozen while your boyfriend gets tortured? 

The detail: Kelly Reilly will appear soon in the awaited version of Sherlock Holmes

{mosimage}Here comes a special edition in a double DVD pack of the classic animation movie from the Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki.

Hayao Miyazaki is probably the most international Japanese animation director nowadays. He has left in the past years splendid masterpieces like The Princess Mononoke or the recent Ponyo on the Cliff. Before these, in the year 1984, Miyazaki made what is considered by many his masterpiece Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind; the story of a young girl, pacifist inside her heart but warrior due to her destiny, trapped in the middle of a war between two nations while the world around is wandered by monstrous bugs and the air is polluted.

If you are a fan of Dune, you can find some points in common here, the huge bugs, the pacifist and ecological messages…  Maybe sometimes the storytelling is not all the fluent you could expect, but remember that Japanese conception of cinema does not always stick to western standards.

Miyazaki is able to create fantastic worlds with a deep background, so if you did not have time to revisit this work, now you have a great chance. The double DVD offers you also a documentary about the birth of Studio Ghibli and the possibility to watch the movie in two different angles, the normal one and other following the original drawings. If you are a fan of Japanese animation, this is a must have!

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}The best: The message of the movie.

The worst: Some jumps in the storytelling.

The detail: This is the first full length animation movie made by Ghibli Studio.

{mosimage}Nim Rusoe is a young girl who has an island all for her and a bunch of great animal friends that will help whatever the problem is.

It seems that Abigail Breslin is the new golden girl of Hollywood. Whatever role that requires a girl of around 10 years old, there she is! Our Little Ms Sunshine grows up step by step, but still has time to play with turtles, lizards and climb a volcano in her latest movie. I frankly find her a bit annoying in her performances, like she is always over-acting, but well, she still delivers a good one here, and her acting is credible enough. The other big star of the movie is Jodie Foster as the maniac adventure novel writer, while Gerard Butler in the role of the father and Alex Rover is a bit wasted, could have had a bit more of impact but gets pushed to a second level in most of the movie.

An easy movie to watch for the whole family, although maybe it is more aimed at the little ones of the house. My favourite moments in the movie are watching the hilarious lizard, honestly. Not a masterpiece, but it will entertain you.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}The best: The animals and the beaty of the island

The worst: Poor sharks continue being portrayed with a nefast fame.

The detail: There were used two different Australian sea lion to portray Silkie.

{mosimage}Poppy is a woman who seems never to lose her smile.

I had checked in imbd the rates for this movie, and I had great hopes after seeing that the punctuation was above 7. So after the first 15 minutes of movie, I thought maybe it would have a “slow” start. I continued thinking that after the first half an hour… and then when I was dead bored after one hour, I realized nothing would improve. The main character, Poppy, and her friends and relatives look not funny but retarded. There is no humour in the movie, no message, no decent plot… Basically nothing much interesting happens, and Poppy turns to be really annoying with her attitude.

I suppose director Mike Leigh wanted to give a positive message of hope for the people around their thirties, but the result is really poor. I felt more like slapping Poppy than identified with her philosophy of life.

Honestly, one of the worst movies I have watched in 2009 so far. Maybe I am wrong and the other thousands of people who voted more than 7 in imbd saw something that I was not able to, but my advice is to skip this film and search for something better somewhere else. Bad movie.

Rating 1/5. 

{mosimage}The best:  the scene with Poppy´s sister and the husband who is not allowed to play Playstation.

The worst:  …where to start…?

The detail: Sally Hawkins, the actress that incarnates Poppy, has appeared in 4 chapters of the popular British series Little Britain.

{mosimage}Welcome to the year 2707. Forget about civilization as we know it. This is about surviving the mutant invasion!

Visually, the movie is certainly shocking. From the first scenes in the trenches, you can smell all around an atmosphere very steam punk, where and old aesthetic gets mixed with the future time. Some people will find it weird and some people will love it, but well, remember that this is a sci-fiction movie based on role games, so it does not necessarily need to be much realistic with how the future could be in seven centuries, although the mix of I World War equipment, mutants and high technology can turn dizzy to more than one watcher.

Ron Perlman makes a more than decent role, although the undisputed star of the film is the tough soldier Mitch Hunter (Thomas Jane). What was a bit surprise for me is the short intervention of Jon Malkovich, who appears in the cover of the DVD (obviously just to hook a few more watchers expecting a bigger role from him). The quest through the destruction of the machine that is turning humankind into mutants has some good moments, but in the end it does not make me feel new sensations.

Honestly, I was expecting a bit more from the movie when I read the plot and watched the pictures. The mutants seem to be a copy of the zombies of 28 days later, and the members of the team that has the task of saving the world are falling so quickly one after another that there is not even time to develop a higher degree of relations among them.Not a bad science fiction movie, but it could have been better with a little more “spicy” plot and risky storytelling.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}The best:  the magnetic Devon Aoki holding again a deadly sword.

The worst: Jon Malkovich appears for less than 5 minutes on screen.

The detail: The movie is based on a pen and paper role game.

{mosimage}Vin Diesel is back with an apocalyptic action movie that will bring him from Russia to USA in a trip full of adrenaline!

Directed by actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz, this Babylon A.D. hooks you up for the first half an hour. The plot is kind of interesting, the post apocalyptic future reminds of Children of Men, the appearance of Gerard Depardieu is a nice wink…and that pretty much is. Because the more the plot advances, the more absurd it turns. What it could have been one of the best action movies of the last months turns into a twisted story that nobody fully understand in the end.

A pity, because the beginning was promising, Vin Diesel is credible and the chemistry with Melanie Thierry as Aurora does exist.Next time Kassovitz wants to mix philosophy and action in a movie, better think twice.

For the fans of contact sports, legendary fighter of MMA and K1 Jerome Le Banner makes a cameo. The general impression is nevertheless disappointing.

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best: Jerome Le Banner fighting in a cage with Vin Diesel.

The worst: they want to turn the end of the movie into something that nobody understands. They ruined the product with the sub-plot.

The detail: It seems Fox and Kassovitz did not have a smooth business relation. Fox cut 70 minutes of the planned length time. Maybe the reason for such a “rushy” final.

{mosimage}Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman featured as the Boleyn sisters fighting for the love of Eric Bana as the king Henry Tudor.

Certainly it is a delicatessen to see Portman and Johansson, two of the prettiest and skillful young actresses in Hollywood, sharing scenes. If added to this there is also the presence of the always great Eric Bana, the result must be more than acceptable. The environment is also nicely portrayed, with an eye for the detail in clothes and the atmosphere of the 16th century in England. But sometimes I feel that the movie lacks a bit of “punch”. Although acting is good, the story goes up and down, switching the spectator from an utterly great interest to boredom.

Not a bad effort thought, but it left the taste in my mouth that the final focus of the movie was just to find an excuse in the names of the cast to attract spectators more than taking care of a story that could have had a better script.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}The best: Natalie Portman

The worst: Not very accurate with real historical events.

The detail: Spanish famous actress Ana Torrent plays a small role as Katherine of Aragon

{mosimage}Shia LaBeouf is going to go though a hell of a time falling into the control of a “Big Brother” that analyzes all his Communications.

If you want to see the good side of director D.J. Caruso´s movie, it is good to try to shake some consciences in the fight for freedom of speech and rights to privacy against the hand of governments. Unfortunately, such an appealing idea falls into a nightmare of script. Half of what happens in Eagle Eye is just pointless, and leaves the spectator thinking “how the fuck is that going to happen in real life?”. Acting is nothing special, not even Billy Bob Thornton being able to save the film from resulting into a disaster.

As an entertainment product, it offers nothing special to make it outstand from the other million action movies in the market nowadays. And from the script point of view, I would send a couple of the scriptwriters to clean toilets in some remote school of Africa, and see if that can refresh their ideas not to make us waste our valuable time with insipid products like this.

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best: Michelle Monaghan

The worst: Can a phone ring in the metro for 20 seconds and the owner nor the other passengers realize it is just being stolen?

The detail: Julianne Moore is the one who takes care of Aria’s (the computer) voice.

{mosimage}Discover the life and overall the great music of a salsa legend, Hector Lavoe. Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez in the main roles.

For many readers, especially the ones that lived the salsa boom in the 70s, the name of Hector Lavoe  can be very well known. For many others, especially in Europe, this film is a great opportunity to discover a bit more about latino rythms and salsa. The movie has certainly great moments, especially the ones that happen on stage, with Marc Anthony doing a pretty decent job both in vocal skills and acting as the tormented artist, drug addict and father unable to find a balance between his career and his family. Unfortunately, the film is more focused on Jennifer Lopez as his wife Puchi, and that destroys the movie. I have the impression that the best JL´s movies are those ones where she does not talk much and express herself dancing. Here, unfortunately, she talks too much and the acting is sometimes close to ridiculous, like her boring monologues in front of the camera in the sequences where she is interviewed.

Try to focus on the salsa music, and (although not an easy task) forget about the omnipresence of Lopez all over the film.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}The best: Some scenes of Marc Anthony playing with the band are awesome and gives you a really good feeling about how the real life of Lavoe was.

The worst: Jennifer Lopez trying to act tormented in front of the camera, but not achieving it.

The detail: in USA the title of the film was “Who killed Hector Lavoe?”.

{mosimage}Nicholas Cage is an experienced hitman who never gets attached to anybody… until he arrives to Bangkok.

If you like action movies, maybe you can even find this one a little enjoyable. For the rest, it will be not less than quite disappointing. The plot is not original at all, the experienced lonely assassin that receives a new work that will carry him some headaches when he starts to get attached to a (mute) woman and to his assistant. All the stereotypes are here, the moral internal fight, the bad guys queuing to get killed by Nicholas Cage, the snipers not able to put a bullet in his head no matters how many times they shoot… even the end is a copy of Leon the Professional. One of the few nice features is to enjoy the magic of Thailand, otherwise, the storytelling shrinks like the Titanic.

Only for hardcore fans of Nicholas Cage (of course making of himself more than ever) or hitmen movies. If not, better skip it.

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best: the amazing life and magic of Thailand, well captured in the movie.

The worst: The script is weak and the stereotypes of the genre are chained one after another.

The detail: The film happened by chance to be shot while a real coup d´ete took place in Thailand.

{mosimage}Jason Stevens is about to discover after the death of his grandfather that there are more important things in life than just the money…

This is a movie that will reach equally children and adults. The message is simple to catch: forget about being greedy and materials values, and concentrate on the most important things in life: the love, the family values, and the spirit of helping the needed ones.

Although the script is not flawless and the quality goes up and down through the movie, it gets balanced pretty well by the good acting skills of the cast. Drew Fuller is credible as the posh young guy with easy life who will turn 180 degrees his life due to the legacy of his grandfather, but I would say that the little Abigail Breslin (the girl of Little Miss Sunshine) and Bill Cobbs as Mr. Hamilton are the best of the film.

Although the storyline does not provide with big surprises, there are some excellent moments like the family dinner for Thanksgiving or the “battles” between Jason and the homeless for the park bench. So remember, money does not provide you with happiness… but it can always help a bit, overall on times of worldwide crisis.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}The best: Abigail Breslin, who literally steals the scenes where she appears from the rest of the cast.

The worst: the script has some flaws

The detail: The car driven by Jason in some scenes is a '70 Dodge Coronet R/T

{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.