05-11 Ron
In 1968 George A. Romero wrote and directed one of the all time horror classics Night of the Living Dead (remade in 1990). Ten years later he created Dawn of the Dead, " an apocalyptic horror masterpiece " according to the respectable movie critic Leonard Maltin. And in 1985 Mr. Romero ended his "trilogy" with Day of the Dead.
This year a new version of Dawn of the Dead, based on the 1978 film, has been released. Writer James Gunn and, especially, director Zack Snyder do a very good job as recreators of a scary and disturbing story about people turning into zombies. There are many similarities between Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later but I think 28, available on DVD, is more effective as an unnerving flick.
04-30 Ron
Shocking, brutal, vicious, bloody, sarcastic, thrilling, amazing, exciting, imaginative, and extraordinary. This is Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 1. A classic. Stunningly, goriness became art and the best martial arts film of all time in Tarantino's hands. Uma Thurman is incredible as a fighting ace in this action-packed homage to Asian movies. And, as in Pulp Fiction, the soundtrack is stupendous. Kill Bill is an event you should not miss.
Quentin Tarantino has not made many films. Reservoir Dogs was the first he wrote and directed, back in 1992. In 1993 he coscripted True Romance. As a writer and director he was lauded the world over in 1994 for Pulp Fiction, in 1997 for Jackie Brown, six years later for Kill Bill Vol. 1, and this year for Kill Bill Volume 2. Hail Tarantino!
4-14 Ron
Sometimes there are bouts of "nothing worth paying for" at the movies. Nonetheless, last Friday four films well-received by professional critics premiered in Belo Horizonte. Unfortunately I was able to watch just one.
It's funny how stories, fiction or not, about serial killers and the violence they commit lure me. Taking Lives, with Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke, satisfied my appetite for an exciting police drama, despite some corny moments.
The Oscar ceremony awarding 2003's best work on American films happened at the end of February but I would like to register the record set by Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King. It is one of the only three films to have received 11 awards, including best film (it was nominated 11 times), together with Beh Hur (1959, 12 nominations) and Titanic (1997, 14 nominations).
04-05 Ron
Holy Week is a good time to catch up on films you haven't watched yet. Here are some entertaining productions that have been recently released on DVD and video:
2 Fast 2 Furious, with Paul Walker (action); Anger Management, with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler (comedy); Antwone Fisher, directed by Denzel Washington (drama); Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, with Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu (action); Dark Blue, with Kurt Russell (crime story); The Italian Job, with Mark Wahlberg (heist story); Identity, with John Cusak and Ray Liotta (crime story); and The Life of David Gale, with Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet and directed by Alan Parker (drama/crime story).
Other films by Alan Parker I recommend are Midnight Express (1978), Fame (1980), Mississippi Burning (1988), and The Commitments (1991).
03-30 Ron
2003 was an unusual year in Hollywood because many good films were produced. Typically at Oscar time (this year the award ceremony was appropriately anticipated to February) we, movie lovers, struggle to come up with five films that should be lauded and voted for by the academy. My favorite last year, Matchstick Men, was not remembered in the best film category but three of the nominees, including this year's winner -- The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King, Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World, and Mystic River --are still in theaters around Belo Horizonte.
Other flicks worth your time:
Cold Mountain is a good romantic drama -- incredibly acted by Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renee Zellweger -- set during the American Civil War.
Out of Time, Denzel Washington's latest, is a somewhat entertaining crime story. The end is not a surprise, though.
Paycheck is a high-voltage action film with an ingenious story, starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman and directed by John Woo.
Something's Gotta Give is a fabulous love story, funny and touching. Diane Keaton couldn't be better while Jack Nicholson is, as always, on a league of his own.
03-04-2004
Top moneymakers of 2003 in U.S. movie theaters, according to Rolling Stone magazine:
- Finding Nemo ..... $ 340 million dollars
- Pirates of the Caribbean ..... $ 304 million
- The Matrix Reloaded ..... $ 282 million
- Bruce Almighty ..... $ 243 million
- X2: X-Men United ..... $ 215 million
- Terminator 3 ..... $ 150 million
- Bad Boys II ..... $ 138 million
- Anger Management ..... $ 134 million
- Bringing Down the House ..... $ 133 million
- The Hulk ..... $ 132 million
02-17-2004 Ron
It has been a rare week in Belo Horizonte because there are so many movies to choose from, catering for all tastes.
I strongly recommend The School of Rock to children (who can read subtitles) and adolescents. Cliches are minimized in this simple story -- many times bursting energy -- about a musician, played wonderfully by Jack Back, trying to make ends meet. And, for no reasonable explanation, it touched me at the end.
Torque is a motorcycle action flick. It is loud and the scene shots are right in our faces, which are perfect for a film based on effects rather than characters and touching moments. And the cartoonish segments fit well here, too.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are super in Lost in Translation, written and directed with incredible style by Sofia Coppola. If you wish to know what cool is check this one out. The film not only touches our hearts and minds but is also an ode to Tokyo and its people. And I'm longing for Bill Murray to win the Oscar for best actor.
12-03 Ron
Runaway means not under control. And that's the premise of Runaway Jury, starring John Cusak, Gene Hackman, and Dustin Hoffman. I enjoyed the plot but wasn't enthused by the film overall: the photography lacked crispness and the colors were pale, the story was longish, and the acting was rather disappointing. Dustin Hoffman seemed tired and Gene Hackman played his same old malevolent impersonation. Both are tremendous artists and could have acted differently -- Dustin being more vibrant and Gene more enigmatic and creepy -- to provide additional pizzazz to the picture.
- W.A.T. is typical Hollywood, a corny plot surrounded by super visual and sound effects. Actually the story was okay but the characters...Jesus!
One of the best movies in town is Os Normais. I was stunned when I watched it because I wasn't expecting much. Like Dri (my fiancee), I'm not a Fernanda Young fan (she's one of the screenwriters) but the plot is absorbing and many lines are very funny. The stars Luis Fernando Guimaraes and Fernanda Torres are as good as in the TV sitcom that has ended. And to top it off the production and photography are way above average, considering Brazilian films.
Great reference book: Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
11-19 Ron
Bruce Willis plays the leader of a special military squad in Tears of the Sun, an action movie set in Africa. Mushy and predictable but watchable.
11-18 Ron
Have you watched Matchstick Men? If not, and you live in Belo Horizonte, you missed a great one. For unknown reasons it is not in local theaters anymore (while Spike Lee's 25th Hour, a drag of a movie, is still playing).
Matchstick Men is director Ridley Scott's best work since Thelma & Louise (1991). I think it's one of the top films of the year: funny, touching, and exciting. Nicolas Cage leads the excellent cast in a story about a paranoid con man.
11-17 Ron
I disliked The Matrix: Revolutions. I didn't quite get the Wachowski brothers' message and, more than in The Matrix Reloaded, the philosophical conversations bored me. This time around I didn't care what happened to Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, nor the Oracle. Again the special effects were more than inventive. Not enough to save the flick, though.
On the other hand, Adriana, my lovely fiancee, enjoyed it. In her opinion the story based on Greek philosophy was engaging. Detail: she has read Plato and other philosophers but I haven't.
So, I don't know if you should consider my point of view after all.
11-03 Ron
Robert Rodriguez had an auspicious debut in 1992 as the editor, writer, and director of El Mariachi, a terrific and original action flick spoken in Spanish. Lamentably his next films were mostly disappointing. Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003, released in Brazil on October 31), both with Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, are part of the trilogy that started with El Mariachi, but are pointless and much, much less entertaining. From Dusk Till Dawn, with George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, and Quentin Tarantino (1996) and Spy Kids 2: the Island of Lost Dreams (2002) are below par, too. The only other exception is Spy Kids (2001), cool for adults and fascinating for children.
DVDs/videos worth watching: 28 Days Later, the best terror film in years, directed by Danny Boyle who brought us the mesmerizing Trainspotting, back in 1996; The Pledge, a solid drama starring Jack Nicholson, as a policeman, and directed by Sean Penn; 2 Fast 2 Furious, with Paul Walker, a remake much better than the original, although somewhat corny; and The Core, with Hillary Swank, predictable but amusing and full of special effects.
10-28 Ron
Intolerable Cruelty (2003), directed by Joel Coen (his brother was one of the co-writers), surprised me. I was expecting a dull-ish battle of the sexes kind of comedy because the trailer was lethargic and the two last pictures by the Coen brothers, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), were tedious. Nonetheless, plagiarizing Lucas Mendes, it is delicious. George Clooney is very good as the matrimonial lawyer and Catherine Zeta-Jones lovely as the bitchy divorcee (Quick question: is she naturally beautiful or does she always wear tons of make-up?).
Joel Coen, director and writer, and Ethan Coen, producer and writer, are important Hollywood filmmakers. These are their best: Blood Simple (with Frances McDormand, released in 1984), The Hudsucker Proxy (Tim Robbins, 1994), Fargo (1996), and The Big Lebowsky (Jeff Bridges, 1998).
Another worthy of your time, although not my type of movie, is Identity, with John Cusak, one of my favorite actors. In order not to spoil the ending I cannot tell you why I did not truely enjoy this suspenseful, tense, and unpredictable film.
10-13 Ron
When I read that Basic had Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta as the stars, that the story revolved around a platoon, and that Mr. Jackson was in Rio de Janeiro to promote the film I thought, "I have to watch Basic." But before going I decided to check the number of stars given by Roger Ebert. The film received just one, out of four. In addition, my mother, who loves movies and has good taste, said it was bad. Lucky me I didn't waste my money.
Good DVDs I watched in September: The Pianinst, a Second World War / Jewish drama with the Oscar winner Adrien Brody; Life or Something Like It, a light drama with Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns; Spy Game, a thriller with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt; Knockaround Guys, a crime drama with Barry Pepper and Vin Diesel; and the oldie Taxi Driver, with Robert De Niro.
09-26 Ron
Roger Ebert, is my favorite American movie critic. It doesn't mean I agree with every opinion he writes but, because of his wit and common sense, he deserves your attention. You can read his reviews and check the latest movie releases in the U.S. by clicking on the icon below.
09-22 Ron
Considering the period between the Memorial Day weekend (May 24 to 26) and the second weekend in September, these are the summer's biggest box office hits in the United States (..... millions of dollars):
- Finding Nemo ..... 334
- Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl ..... 288
- The Matrix: Reloaded ..... 280
- Bruce Almighty ..... 241
- X2: X-Men United ..... 215
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ..... 149
- Bad Boys II ..... 136
- The Hulk ..... 132
- 2 Fast 2 Furious ..... 127
- S.W.A.T. ..... 113
Seabiscuit ..... 113
- Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over ..... 109
- The Italian Job ..... 103
Daddy Day Care ..... 103
- Freaky Friday ..... 103
- Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle ..... 101
American Wedding ..... 101
I have recently watched an advance screening of The Italian Job, with Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron. When you see it playing in your neck of the woods don't miss it, especially if you're into heist movies. It is very solid entertainment.
