labikkina Reviews

Big Eyes (I) (2014)

Big Eyes not for Big Screen

[5/10 · 9 January 2015]

The photography was nice. The acting reasonably good. But when it comes to the plot It's my opinion it is a made for TV kind of story. It is just "too homely". I don't know how much of fact is there in this movie as I'm not familiar with the biography of the painter (now I care even less to know) But even the social context of the period it serves to no excuse for Mrs.Keane to appear so unbelievably stupid to the point that not only she somehow deserves to be pushed around by her husband but also, it makes you think that despite of it all he was the main or probably the only reason her art was acknowledged and reached that kind of success. if the aim was to tell the painter's story it is fair to say that they got it so wrong that ended up giving such relevance and substance to the husband's character that is difficult to see if the other character has any other purpose besides being locked up in a room with her canvas. Or maybe that's exactly what happened in real life. I give it 5/10

The Liberator (2013)

Not all was bad

[3/10 · 24 December 2014]

Although I've heard this movie was around about a year ago, I didn't give it a try until I read somewhere that it was nominated for an Oscar in foreign film category so, I thought that it might worth the time. Well, not so much. Let's beging by saying that the casting of the main character just failed to convince in every possible way. Any one who had ever seen a portrait of Simon Bolivar can appreciate that. The actor looks are way too caribbean for a man who supposedly was born from European anscestors, father and mother both spaniards. The actor matches none of the physical features attributed to the historical figure who was 5 feet tall and weighted around 60 pounds. Watching Reamirez play Bolivar is like watching Adam Sandler playing Bonaparte. You just can't get pass the fact that you are watching a guy who's attempting to play somebody else. The same also happens with other key characters in the plot. On top of that, the acting is quite stiff. Most of the actors, including and specially Ramirez, seem to be reciting the lines in a school play, just rushing through the words without investing any emotions. Being Bolivar the great thinker as history claims he was, it is amusing to notice that the script does not conveys that eloquence and sometimes the dialogs don't even make sense, except for the very few moments in which is obvious the lines are extracted verbatim from historical research and those words result inspiring in their own right and not because the actor manages to awaken the emotions of the spectator. On the technical aspects, I like the photography and scenography; vestuary was nice too, and the effects in general are satisfaying enough. In short, I think you need to be south American and more particularly, a venezuelan national to overlook its many flaws and to watch this film with tender eyes, which is regretful as Bolivar is one of the greatest figures in universal history whose thoughts and actions changed the course of an entire continent and had a huge impact on others. A life story that definitely deserves to be told and known in a more dignified way.

White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

2min out of 91

[4/10 · 16 December 2014]

"Nice-to-watch-on-a-Sunday-afternoon-if you-don't-have-anything- better-to-do." kind of movie. I liked the photography, the soundtrack, and scenography, though. Not so much the plot which is a poor vehicle for what the central idea of the movie is or tries to be. The acting wasn't exactly Oscar material either, specially the girl playing Cat. I couldn't hate her and I couldn't feel any sympathy for her either. She was just annoying and that detracts a lot from the message that the film as a whole seeks to deliver. They could have cast a different actress who was able to add more depth to the character and not make it appear so trivial, Shailene Woodley just confused indifference with shallowness, two different concepts. The plot reveals itself early, no need to be particularly observant to imagine what could have happened and there are many obvious reasons for that, however the motive that set in motion the events resulted a bit less predictable and those turned out to be the only 2min out of 91min of film that I found somewhat interesting.

Horns (2013)

An OK movie for those moments when you have nothing better to do

[5/10 · 8 October 2014]

The plot is far from being original, in fact is very,VERY formulaic a part from the "horns factor" which by the way I couldn't help but notice that they look like a pair of turds coming out of Daniel Radcliff's head.They looked better though during the last 10 minutes of the movie.Still, they could have done a bit better there in the make up department. Other than that, the rest was reasonably well accomplished.

As for the rest, the photography was nice, special FX too. The acting acceptable.

Definitely not a movie that I would recommend, but I would not say is too bad to watch either.

Black Butler (2014)

Total disappointment 3/10 just for the effort

[3/10 · 22 August 2014]

Oh...so many faillures that I don't know where to begin.... Well, I just couldn't even bring myself to watch the whole thing. I wasn't expecting the movie to be the exact representation of the anime version, but I did was expecting it to have the feel and look of it. For starters, the casting of the main characters was quite unfortunate.There is no chemistry between them and the girl doesn't have the fragile image needed to make the butler presence more powerful which is a key element since that goes with the balance of the character's psychology that plays with the irony that, while the Butler is the servant of the Master, the Master is totally dependant on the Butler and somehow slaved to him by contract. In the movie case he looks just a servant. The acting was even more cartoonish than the anime itself. The actor portraying Sebastian, did somewhat nicely but lacked the character's distinction and charm, not to speak the sensuality.This guy looks more like a hairdresser than a butler. He constantly reminded me of one of those old commercials that tries too hard to sell cheap bath soap to illiterate housewives. The girl doing Ciel's "impression" is kind of cute but nothing more, lacking just the same attributes as the guy playing Sebastian, but adding the even less forgivable sin of not looking stylished at all. Not even like a hairdresser. It is obvious that the movie budget couldn't afford much in costumes desing either. That top hat looks horrendous on her, not to mention the terrifiying ugliness of the gigantic, stiff bow she wears in one of the first scenes. I mean, in the anime /manga, Ciel's style is absolutely exquisite and precisely his impeccable style is part of how the character is perceived so, the fact that the costumes didn't match that takes away a lot. As for the soundtrack, it didn't do much for me either. The whole thing is an effing school play.