Recent Movie Bits

Yes have not been posting reviews but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching movies. So, here are some mini-unusual reviews for some movies that have seen lately.

127 Hours by Danny Boyle - While watching couldn't help but to recall Tom Hank's solitary role in Cast Away a film that was too much for me; maybe knew too much about story but film didn't "shock" nor move me. A lot less interesting than what story could have been and I find James Franco's performance acceptable but not much else. Enjoy!!

À Deriva (Adrift) by Heitor Dhalia – Wanted to watch film because I really enjoy Vincet Cassel performances and wasn’t disappointed here but I also enjoyed very much Laura Neiva unusual performance as Filipa; still nothing much else was interesting in this film that had an unpredictable not-interesting story with not interesting tech specs. If you skip it won’t be missing much. Enjoy.

A la deriva by Ventura Pons – Not so interesting story with good performance by Anna Azcona; as always in Pons films there is a gay character and this film is not the exception. Film is not as good as other Pons film but still if you like his style maybe you will enjoy it. Enjoy!!

Ça commence par la fin by Michaël Cohen - I really love Emmanuel Béart but couldn’t take her performance here –with real life husband as her love interest- was so boring and annoying that had to stop watching as became too repetitive and so not-interesting that gave up. Sigh.

The Company Men by John Wells – Entertaining with interesting story, wished Ben Affleck was more expressive but other performances by Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper are good. Enjoy!

Duk haan chau faan (All About Love) by Ann Hui – Entertaining and quite amusing lesbian interest film from Hong Kong that could entertain many that enjoy the genre. Not your usual story nor style in the genre but if you decide to give film a try probably will laugh, smile to this good production values film with acceptable oriental style performances. Story is basically about fear of commitment. Enjoy!!

Exit Through the Giftshop by Banksy – Hilarious, surprisingly entertaining and great story message, no matter if is a hoax or not. DO NOT MISS IT! Big Enjoy!!!

Illégal (Illegal) by Olivier Masset-Depasse) – Outstanding performance by Anne Coesens with an interesting story that applies to many other countries in the world that have illegal aliens living there or crossing by. Worth watching especially for those that enjoy women centered stories. Enjoy!!!

Le bruit des glaçons (The Clink of Ice) by Bertrand Blier – Story and film became really annoying after a while but sustained watching. Not worth it, if you skip it won’t be missing much. Still Anne Alvaro performance as Louisa saves some moments. Sigh.

Les petits mouchoirs (Little White Lies) by Guillaume Canet – Love to watch Marion Cotillard performances and here is all right but she’s overshadowed (too much for me) by other ensemble cast performances like great François Cluzet and Benoît Magimel that had more interesting roles thus more flashy performances. Film looks and feels like any of those films that have talkie large ensemble stars cast but somehow I kept comparing it to Darbareye (About Elly) without the interesting crime twist. Only to watch if you really like Marion Cotillard performances. Enjoy!!

Map of the Sounds of Tokyo by Isabel Coixet – Had to stop watching as couldn’t take it anymore. I usually like Isabel Coixet films and also Sergi López performances (btw his cameo in Potiche was fabulous!) but film style became unbearable and annoying. Sigh.

Mother and Child by Rodrigo Garcia - Great Annette Bening performance wish she could be nominated for this performance and not the terrible movie she got nominated for. Story and film are entertaining but story is too predictable. Enjoy!!

Potiche by Francois Ozon – Don’t miss this film highly enjoyable comedy “a la francaise” with outstanding performance by Catherine Deneuve. LOVE this movie that absolutely cheered me up. Enjoy!!!

The Next Three Days by Paul Haggis - Entertaining at moments but story and film is uneven; Russell Crowe as a weak character doesn’t do it for me, even when in this film his character became the driven force, was not credible for me. Still film is watchable considering those recent mainstream American cinema releases. Enjoy.

Vénus noire (Black Venus) by Abdellatif Kechiche - Was expecting a very hard to watch film and was a LOT more harder to watch than what I imagined; so hard it hurt. But it’s an amazing dramatization of a true story with extraordinary and very expressive –yet silent- performance by Yahima Torres as Saartjie “Sarah” Baartman. Don’t skip film and stay until credits to watch real-life scenes. Amazing, yet very hard to watch, not a story to enjoy but one that everyone in the world should watch. Big Enjoy!!!

White Material by Claire Denis – Excellent performance by Isabelle Huppert but not much else; story seems like many others told many times before. Enjoy!

Hope didn’t forget films that have watched. So this is it for this movie bits post. Good news is that after tomorrow Sunday, February 27th industry news will be back to normal, so probably I will be back to normal writing reviews… lol!