12 de nov. de 2010
9 de nov. de 2010
2010 so far
So far 2010 hasn’t been a great year for film, sure there are some amazing flicks on this list but nothing compares to last year’s Inglorious Basterds, 2008’s Martyrs and the Dark Knight or 2007’s Assassination of Jesse James and Into the Wild. Anyways here it goes!
10
Inception - Nolan proves once again he can do no wrong and crafts a perfect blockbuster, it is propably the best movie of the year so far...
Toy Story 3 – Much better than the second entry and really as good as the first, the opening and ending sequences are the finest pieces of cinema art so far this year.
9
Kick-Ass – Great action, great fun and Hit Girl belongs in any list of the greatest cinema characters of all time.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World – Just like the social network this defines the current generation, it plays like a cross between a movie, a comic book (which is based on) and a videogame.
Shutter Island – Scorsese on top form and DiCaprio proving once again he is one of the greats.
8
Cemetery Junction – Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are known for being comedy gods but here they prove they can also handle drama extremely well.
Despicable Me – Agnes is the most adorable thing ever and the minions are also really fun, overall this is one of the best times I’ve spent in the cinema this year.
Howl - The perfect movie to satisfy the little pretencious prick inside me. Franco is terrific
Misterios de Lisboa – The longest time I’ve ever spent in a cinema room, a whooping 4h30m and I enjoyed every minute of it, great cinematography and Ricardo Pereira surprised me with his acting.
Robin Hood – Reviews weren’t great on this one but I really don’t understand why. This is a great medieval piece and probably the best take on the Robin Hood legend so far.
7
A Serbian Film – Banned in a lot of countries and for good reason. Nothing can prepare you for this movie and some of the images will haunt me forever, despite everything it’s a great cinema piece with some brilliant camera work.
Cop Out – I’m biast here as I love Kevin Smith but I genuinely laughed my ass off with this the movie referencing bit is genious
Get Him to the Greek – Granted it is not a great movie but this is defiantly the movie that had me laughing the loudest this year. The fur wall scene is something remarkable.
How to Train Your Dragon – Reviews on this one were great, I thought it was a good movie, well scripted with some of the finest animation ever seen but still not as good as critics made it out to be
Machete – Brilliant grindhouse fun, the closest to Tarantino you’ll get this year, need I say more?
Piranha 3D – This could have been awful, instead it is one of the funniest horror movies ever and with plenty of gore! The big massacre scene is one of the finest I’ve ever seen in a horror movie
The Other Guys – Will Farrell is a funny guy and so is Marky Mark but despite what you might thing this is not always a over the top comedy, in fact it’s quite offbeat and often hilarious
The Social Network – It’s interesting to see how the most addictive thing on the internet was born, it helps that it has a great scrip and a brilliant performance by Jesse Eisenberg. Very good film, but not the best of the year as most make it out to be
The Town – While not as good as Gone Baby Gone this is nevertheless a great adult drama by director Ben Affleck who, if he continuous to make movies this good might, surprisingly, become the new Scorsese
6
Alice in Wonderland – A missed opportunity, instead of adapting the book Tim Burton made a lazy sequel which is sad because the visuals are perfect and the casting is the best you’ll see this year
Clash of the Titans – The original is not very good but it’s fun, this is also not very good but it’s also quite fun
Diary of a Wimpy Kid – What can I say? I’m a sucker for kids movies
Going the Distance – It’s a funny romantic comedy, in fact, it’s the best romantic comedy you’ll see this year. Also Charlie Day is brilliant!
Hot Tub Time Machine – While I was expecting a bit more this is nevertheless a very funny romp, it’ll probably be even better for someone who remembers the 80s
Iron Man 2 – Better than the first and Robert Downey Jr is again worthy of a Oscar nod, but really, Iron Man is not a very interesting superhero is he?
Knight and Day – A forgettable Sunday afternoon action flick which is nevertheless quite enjoyable and it’s always good to see Tom Cruise having some fun.
Monsters – Low budget big monster movie film, it’s very well made with some very good editing
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Times – Not as good as Pirates of the Caribbean which was obviously what the studio had in mind but nevertheless quite fun
Red – The best pure action movie of the year, which is not saying much I know
Salt – Also quite an enjoyable Sunday afternoon action movie
She's Out of My League – Jay Baruchel is a funny guy and it’s nice to see him in a leading role, the movie, however forgettable, is actually quite enjoyable
Shrek Forever After – Better than the third one but doesn’t even compare to the first two, still Puss and Donkey always provide a good laugh (also check Scared Shrekless)
Unthinkable – Low budget flick about a terrorist who plants bombs all over New York and his interrogation. Some very good acting by Michael Sheen and a very good twist in the end!
Wolfman – As good as the original, which also wasn’t a great film, this is still a fun monster movie and they don’t make them like this anymore. Also Del Toro is perfect cast
5
A Nightmare on Elm Street – A missed opportunity to make Freddy Krueger scary again, it has some good sequences and good acting by Earl Haley but with this terrible scrip Freddy comes out not funny, not scary but actually rather annoying.
Date Night – Tina Fey is the funniest woman in Hollywood, Steve Carrel is one of the funniest guys but they have a terrible scrip to work with.
Grown Ups – A great comedy cast but once again a terrible script, some funny scenes but all very forgettable
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang – This is strictly for kids, but has beautiful photography and the nicest little farm you ever did see
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thieves – Not as good as Clash of the Titans which is not very good news as Clash was not a very good movie, some decent effects and acting but once again, terrible scrip and predictable story
Predators – I was expecting so much more, this is nothing but a lame slasher with some good gore.
Resident Evil: Afterlife – Much better than the first but much worse than the second and third, if you don’t enjoy the franchise there really isn’t much for you here
The Book of Eli – It’s a good idea and it has some great actors in it but it ends up being just a bit boring. There’s a good little twist in the end but really go watch last year’s the Road instead
The Expendables – The perfect action cast and this is what they make? There is some fun to be had here but it could have been so much better, a disappointment.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice – Strictly for kids, enjoyable if you want something light but ultimately completely forgettable
4
Cat's and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore – I actually quite liked the first one back in 2001 but this is pushing it in terms of stupidity, small kids will love it though
Contraluz – Portuguese cinema’s attempt of going mainstream fails miserably. The acting is good and the photography, though a bit too polished, is also good but the script is awful and the connections between the stories are too forced. Kudos for not having a happy ending though
Legion – Not much to say here, just a lame horror movie
The Crazies – Remake of a 73 George A. Romero movie which wasn’t very good to begin with, this is even worse, everybody else seemed to love it though so I may have to give this one another go
Valentine's Day – Lame attempt to imitate Love Actually, fails miserably.
When in Rome – Only good thing you’ll find in this by the books romantic comedy is Kristen Bell’s lovely face. Oh, and what a waste of Danny DeVito
3
The Losers – Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans are cool but the movie and the rest of the cast are awful. By the way, the movie does not have and ending and it’s pointless without a sequel so unless that gets greenlit don’t bother, actually, don’t bother at all…
2
Tekken – One of the worse videogame adaptations ever and that’s saying something…
The Last Airbender – First it was Dragonball and now this? How the fuck does one ruin one of the best animated series ever? The cartoon has great storytelling, great scrip and it’s lots of fun, the movie is the most boring piece of “cinema” you’ll see this year. I mean it is truly awful, there isn’t a single person well cast, the scrip is really bad and there isn’t a single laugh to be had and mostly this has some of the worse directing I ever did see, how is this by the same guy who did Sixth Sense and the Village? The worse movie of the year so far!
1
Thankfully there hasn't been a movie as bad as Dragonball this year do nothing deserves "1" so far.
Next is the list of movies that came out or are coming out this year and I still have not seen. There's a few interesting trailers and the grade is what I expect from each of them:
127 Hours – 9 (according to critics one of the best of the year)
All Good Things - 7
Animal Kingdom - 6
Another Year - 7
A-Team - 6
Biutiful - 9 (Inarritu's latest)
Black Death - 6
Black Swan – 9 (looks great, Aranofsky can do no wrong, he's directing Wolverine 2 as well!)
Blue Valentine - 7
Buried - 7
Burlesque - 6
Centurion - 6
Charlie St. Cloud - 5
Cyrus - 6
Devil - 6
Dinner for Schmucks - 6
Due Date - 7
Easy A - 7
Edge of Darkness - 6
F - 6
Four Lions - 8
From Paris with Love - 6
Frozen - 6
Gainsbourg - 7
GreenZone - 6
Heartbreaker - 7
Greenberg - 7
Gulliver's Travels - 5
Happythankyoumoreplease - 7
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 - 8 (the end begins!)
Hereafter - 7
Howl – 8 (next on my list) * seen it
I'm Still Here – 7 (thank god it’s fake…)
Jerusalema - 6
Jonah Hex - 5
Legend of the Guardians - 6
Les Aventures Extraordinarires d'Adèle Blanc-Se – 8 (the kind of movie I love)
Let Me In - 7
L'illusionist - 8 (this year's Belleville Rendevouz)
Little Fockers - 6
Megamind - 6
Mission London - 6
Never Let Me Go - 7
Paranormal Activity 2 - 5
Remember Me - 6
Repo Man - 6
Rubber – 6
Saw 3D - 5
Skyline - 6
Somewhere - 8 (Sofia Coppola latest)
Tamara Drewe - 7
Tangled - 6
The American - 7
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader - 7
The Company Man - 7
The Fighter - 8
The Ghost Writer - 8
The Karate Kid - 6
The Kids are All Right - 7
The Killer Inside Me - 7
The Last Exorcism - 6
The Runaways - 6
The Switch - 5
The Tempest - 7
The Tourist - 7
The Warrior's Way – 8 (cowboys + ninjas + samurais!)
Tron: Legacy - 8 (the original is a classic and this should be great!)
Tropa de Elite 2: O Inimigo Agora é Outro - 8
True Grit – 10 (should be the best movie of the year)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - 6
We Are What We Are - 7
Winter's Bone - 7
You'll Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – 9 (it’s Woody Allen)
1 de nov. de 2010
24 de out. de 2010
6 de out. de 2010
Erotic Terror, Andy Wharol e John Ford
Produto desenvolvido na década de 60 do século passado, as obras inseridas no contexto do Erotic Terror são uma forma de representação Pop do género "Terror". Representação moldada pelo espírito que se vivia na época, de libertação de inibições, com o cunho de uma cultura jovem emergente, revelando, por isso, traços de alguma ingenuídade, que resulta, na maior parte das vezes, num desenquadramento entre uma estética "light" e o choque que cinema de terror sempre intenta provocar. É, digamos, uma fusão de contrários.
Essa faceta Pop pode ser vista quer pelo lado formal assim como pelo espírito que orienta a textura do argumento de tais obras.
A propósito, convoco para aqui também a estética Pop das obras de Andy Wharol - o artista que mais profundamente encarnou o modus vivendi que o espírito da época de 60 "instituiu". Os seus trabalhos, levados a cabo em diversos quadrantes de intervenção artística, instituem, divulgam, padronizam e tranformam em ícones toda uma série de imagens produzidas pela cultura do consumo massificado.
O objecto de representação e a forma mimética do espírito Pop da época cujos ícones representa, revelaram-no como um divulgador de uma mitologia, de um determinado padrão ético e estético, retratando os seus heróis, os seus modelos.
E se referi Andy Wharol como um artista cujo trabalho se subordina à consagração de uma mitologia, preso a uma ideologia, tal perspectiva de enquadramento aplico igualmente ao realizador John Ford, fiel retratista e divulgador dos padrões éticos que a jovem nação norte-americana criou para si, retratando o percurso heróico de muitos dos fundadores dos alicerces morais da pátria.
Chegados a este ponto, vem a talhe de foice recordar o que tão oportunamente me referia, certa vez, a Sara Lourenço (colega no My One Thousand Movies): "todos os filmes obedecem a uma economia política do signo (significante)".