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Reviews
Las chicas del cable (2017)
Am I the only one who thinks the last episode is a disaster?
****all spoilers**** They resolve many pending issues towards the end, so it seems they need to come up with new ones and it feels awkwardly rushed to me, and even worse, totally inconsistent with the main characters...
Lydia: now that you are finally rid of the need for money because you are no longer blackmailed, You decide to steal from your fiancé because... your friends want you to?? You have 4 friends! It would be sooo difficult to relocate 4 people in the company so yup you need to throw away your future with the man you love for them.
Carlota: It was very dramatic that you gave up your freedom to get Sara out of jail, but it doesn't seem that much of a sacrifice when you spend all your time where you used to anyway. Why are you so mad about "losing your job" when you no longer work there? you've got your principles OK but at least shouldn't talk in first person. And the coup d'etat plot is totally unimportant, why tell anyone...
Ángeles... seems the most consistent of all
Marga, since she got the boy she became a bit uninteresting...
I really enjoyed the first part of the show, its a pity they screwed up in the end :(
Laggies (2014)
Float away quirky lost soul
Well yeah it's a happily ever after story; So not so far from the cliché, but still is about someone totally out of place in her own life, who just wants to escape momentarily her reality; and that's not the usual story or the usual character.
In most romantic comedies the protagonist may have this quirk that leads to a conflict that then is resolved in front of a crowd.
In this one there is a woman wanting to hang out with a bunch of teenagers, because that actually makes her feel free, as opposed to the en-corseted life that she didn't consciously decide (she just... went with the flow).
It might sound a silly premise but it is so well acted that it is liberating. One gets to understand Megan and feel good about her decisions instead of embarrassed (or even in spite of). It is also floating good to feel how the people she opens up to don't judge but instead, show they really are as weird and f*ckd up in their own way as she is.
I personally ended up with the feeling of wanting to find this strangers with whom I could feel understood rather than get advised to go right back on track.
Bokura ga ita (2006)
different in its unique realism
This anime is different from most shojo... It does great with the weird and spontaneity of the characters; specially with Yano the male lead. At the beginning Takahashi is just as refreshing in her out of the blue; but unfortunately when the plot gets more anxiously intricate she becomes more and more serious and plain... And the pace of the telling is sometimes awfully slow... Nevertheless it is something to watch; and the more-more intricate is gripping in the way it is told; not because of the events described by themselves (which are a bit too soap-opera like...) but because of the way they are depicted, the way they affect the characters and their relationship; It is very realistic; you get the feeling you are witnessing a real relationship between real people with its great amount of problems and ups and downs. Therefore its sometimes hard to watch (others funny and engaging) but correlatively interesting.
Crossing Lines (2013)
sigh for what it could have been
I join those who've said this could have been great.
The idea has potential, the bringing in different settings, different European subcultures and their problems in relating one another is very interesting. The actors seem very good! If only the script wasn't so bad... flawed in the logic of the cases, melodramatic, easy, stereotyped... why???
Still watching though; cause the actors and the paneuropean thing has something very attractive about it, but feeling pain every time something very stupid is shown... (several times in every chapter) ... ... ...
Blue Valentine (2010)
Crude and tender
Crude is how to describe this story. As reality itself; sometimes softly tender others never-ending rough and bitter with no damping. Is thanks to showing both sides that despite the rawness it can convey some hope. In this authentic film making many times the first is forgotten giving just slow sour anguish to experience. I recognize and thank the mastery of being able to genuinely portray both.
Acting and directing are superb. What I find interestingly discussable is the plot itself; it has managed to be as gray and polemic as real relationship. Many lean openly on his side; my companion stated that she had the problem, she was the one unable to be happy dispraising his efforts to recover her. For me though he is easy to love she is also to understand. His inability to grasp how he could meet her needs shows he also had a problem; he lacked the realism and active companionship that she needed not to feel alone with the load; but is more complex than that. She couldn't even articulate clearly what she needed or accept that he couldn't be different from the warm idealist he was. At some point there is a desynchronizing that disables them to understand the wavelength of the other (quote from oth review). Significantly the director omits the transition between the sweet and the sour for us to fill the unexplainable with our own experiences.
Django Unchained (2012)
Tarantino's entertainment
It is not respectful with serious historical events in which he gets his hands. It doesn't go deep in developing characters or conveying emotions. It doesn't care for self-reinvention: reuses an established formula with the variety of elements already seen in previous movies; one of them, scenes with a type of violence pointless as wantonly selftorture: the lack of realism in the context takes away any meaning that could come from acknowledging the crudity of factual events.
All and all it is entertaining, this is why he gets away with it. The intrigue is masterly sustained through almost the whole movie; from the scene introducing passerby Dr Schultz, appreciating how situations are surprisingly unfolded is highly enjoyable. The characters though touching stereotypes and remaining on their surface have a singular originality that makes you want to know them and the rhythm of the action never demounts. Then there is also the criticized mono-thematic hang up of Tarantino: Revenge? yes, but not any type; its always the weak undermined character that overpasses the worst difficulties, becomes unbelievably strong and demolishes what seemed to be undefeatable; There is a source o pleasure in watching our own feeling of insignificance and impotence being overcome and that is a key part of his successful formula.
Australia (2008)
How to make this movie slightly better
I first saw the movie on theater when it was released and still remember the weariness of bearing the whole length of the never-ending patched up plots which fell so often on clichés it felt insulting.
Recently I checked it again, and unlike the first time I was able to find some good points about it (without being lobotomized as sb says.:)) Maybe it was because I already knew its flaws and had no expectations at all and definitely because I could skip the insufferable parts at will.
On the whole I was left with the impression that aside from the terrible script this movie could have been saved with an editing that omitted the plot lines and elements that downgrade it:
- No narration, which makes already the first impression of the movie fake and prevents realism's gripping surprise. Should have started with the fight at the bar, unleashing the characters and their reasons little by little.
- No magic, it just gives the movie an unbelievable framework that I kept trying to overlook to perceive a slight consistency in the characters or the story.
- Cut clichéd lines as much as possible saving some comical turns. Most of them can pull out a laugh.
- Give a more natural view of aboriginal people highlighting their culture rather than their role of victims. It seems they try to do so at the beginning (spontan humorous use of western machines; subversion of their views; community life..). If they had given more protagonism to natives it would have turned a much more interesting movie
- Make the movie half its length shortening specially the second part (the bombing) to transform it into a very short turn of events that gives some interest and challenges the predictable happily ever after postponing it.
The outcome could be not a good but an enjoyable movie. Why? The raw material is not all that bad; The story even though inspired by Out of Africa and others has interesting hues; the characters have some complexity that could be exploited if their stories were slowly insinuated and their attitude gradually evolved; The acting is not complete waste. Even though she has been harshly criticized I think Kidman portrays fairly the transformation from acquiescent cynic (bit too contrived) to dazzled,(actually believable). Jackman doesn't do too badly either although he is given even less the chance of showing some depth. The kid I honestly wouldn't rescue (unexplainably seems to have been the most praised) if he had behaved more like a real kid with trust issues, sorrow and difficulty to understand and less always cheerful and supernatural his relationship with Ashley would have appeared more natural (not the actor's fault probably but the directing).
No Strings Attached (2011)
romantic comedy but with tinges of reality
It is true that it is predictable, that it resorts to stereotypes and clichés when it comes to side characters or plot development, very remarkably in specific scenes. It is a romcom after all, but it can still reach you in a level because there is an underlaying reality beneath the main characters. Even if they are not developed very deeply their attitudes and reactions reflect authenticity specially in the case of Emma (Portman). Yes its a bit exaggerated and dramatized, the humorous side is supposed to be brought out, but how she fears getting involved and is incoherent with what she thinks she wants, how in the crave of self protection she is totally irreverent to feelings of another and doesn't care hurting if it turns things to a saver stage ("I think you should sleep with someone, Ill sleep with someone too") are schemes that are not normally portrayed in romantic comedies but real people trigger. That is why despite all the clichés one can actually get emotionally involved and of course enjoy the comical part as well which has some good points.
One side comment for sex scene: FOREPLAY PLEASE I seriously doubt many women could actually enjoy sex like that and promoting that image doesn't help.
I liked very much the acting of Natalie Portman even if its not a great role; its what puts the movie together and Kutcher is not that bad. Enjoyable movie as a whole