GabrielMarinho1 Reviews

Love, Simon (2018)

The importance of simple movies

[7/10 · 29 March 2018]

Maybe the importance of this movie is bigger than the actual greatness here present. Working as a casual forbidden love story and familiar drama, we see the story of an average teenager struggling to deal with the truth about his sexuality, witch has been hidden for years. The emotional intensity during this movie reaches extremely exaggerated points, and the character's resolutions seem as confused as he is, even though both of these aspects aren't unexpected once this is a hollywoodian adaptation of a book directed to teenagers. Above its tripping development, the whole picture is very touching and alarming, and could be even greater without the last ten minutes, that are simply in there to make the tears that have been hanging in you eyes fall (not that it is really degrading to the movie at all, it's just my opinion that holding your breath after the credits and then crying reveals a preety much more unforgettable ending). After all, Love, Simon tells us to look to a different reality, and shows how close these stories are from us, and how tough they are even if the obstacles in it could be easily undone if people were a little bit more tolerant.

Lady Bird (2017)

What happens after school?

[10/10 · 10 March 2018]

The omnipresent efervecence in the senior year is perfectly portraited in a simple, smart and dinamic coming-of-age story. The emotion transmitted in this movies isn't quite something you can put in words, if you've been through your teenage years you'll understand it, if you haven't, you will someday. The discoveries, the choices, the arguments, the parties, all the experiences that happen in that short period of time, culminate in completely exuberating (or desperating) days when they're brought toghether with an emancipating mind. Lady Bird, Christine's self-given name expresses exactly how her mind works, she wants her own life, simple as that. The reference to a flying bird may represent her desire into moving to New York, studying art and principally, getting out of her hometown, Sacramento, California. Saoirse Ronan gives probably the best work she's ever given, all of the anger and self-assurance is perfectly visible, quite violent sometimes, of course as teenage is in it's true form, brutal. It is really admirable that Greta Gerwig was able to put so much brutality in a delicate indie movie. This is not a film made to visually impress, it's just a story, told with a camera, with the humility necessary to make a movie like this. I dare to say we'll hear a lot from Greta in these next years, about stories that have the emotional appeal that is necessary to make us appreciate the days we are given, beacause as we're pretty well shown, they will change, and we will need to adapt to a new life. This movie proves that a decided woman can do whatever she wants, because after all, this movie is about the transformation of a girl into a woman, in it's true meaning.

Raging Bull (1980)

Raging Amalgam

[9/10 · 6 December 2016]

How far can repressed anger get? That's the question that deserved a Martin Scorsese film as an answer. Raging Bull(1980), is a genre mix that transits between Italian neorrealism, semi-documentary, biography and noir. The relation between Jake's personal life and professional career is the great element explored by Scorsese. LaMotta, that unloads all of his efforts to control his wife and brother's lives. It is in the cinematography and in the editing that rests the beauty that makes Raging Bull a grand exhibition of cinema. During the fight scenes, the viscerality and freneticity of the combats are marked by fast cuts, with some perspective of the photographers, abusing of close-ups and blood. As the principal objective from the screenplay is to show Jake's rise to fame and downfall, Scorsese builds the plot so genially, that when the spectator questions why did it all go wrong? He will find only one answer, Jake LaMotta.

The Accountant (2016)

The brilliance in the ordinary

[7/10 · 21 October 2016]

This movie doesn't try to be unforgettable, and this is what makes it insanely better. When a movie accepts what it truly is, it starts making sense. The Accountant just shows everything it has. Unfortunately, it was a little bit more than we needed, the subplots got the picture a little bit full, and sometimes it seems like it is losing itself. The good thing is that, for an average movie, this is almost flawless. Good cinematography, actors, but when it is about screenplay, it really doesn't show conviction, it is the only thing in the movie that tries to be what it is not. Maybe it is the reason it isn't a better movie.

The Godfather Part III (1990)

The masterpiece

[10/10 · 16 September 2016]

Maybe it has some spoilers but let's agree, this is the godfather, so feel free to read without ruining your experience. I always thought Coppola made this one with a different intention from the first ones, that are as beautiful as this one by the way. If you check all the technical elements of this movie, you will see a tired, hopeless, and sad construction, all of it converging to Michael, who's already sick of the family business and can't wait to finish the illegal stuff, but it keeps coming towards him, creating an atmosphere of anger and anxiety. At the same time, softly rhyming with the first two ones, representing the part that will never come out of Michael, the Don he was and all the empire he kept from his father. A nice work Coppola does here is the relationship with religion, we see a more devoted, and supportive Don, creating a whole different mark. Altogether with the new rising member Vincent, whose actions remember a lot of his father Sonny, and Michael's relationship with Kay, that is treated in a trivial, but heavy way by Coppola. A touch that i always thought made people feel uncertain about this one, is the unattachment of everything with the first two ones, witch is the whole point of the movie, creating this feeling that is something different. For me this is certainly the best one from the trilogy, independent, all of them are great, the only thing is that this one feels for me like a redemption for all that happened in those years for Michael, brilliantly shaped, messing with all the feelings almost twenty years after the release of the last movie.