Category: DVD

{mosimage}Here comes a special edition in a double DVD pack of the classic animation movie from the Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki.

Hayao Miyazaki is probably the most international Japanese animation director nowadays. He has left in the past years splendid masterpieces like The Princess Mononoke or the recent Ponyo on the Cliff. Before these, in the year 1984, Miyazaki made what is considered by many his masterpiece Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind; the story of a young girl, pacifist inside her heart but warrior due to her destiny, trapped in the middle of a war between two nations while the world around is wandered by monstrous bugs and the air is polluted.

If you are a fan of Dune, you can find some points in common here, the huge bugs, the pacifist and ecological messages…  Maybe sometimes the storytelling is not all the fluent you could expect, but remember that Japanese conception of cinema does not always stick to western standards.

Miyazaki is able to create fantastic worlds with a deep background, so if you did not have time to revisit this work, now you have a great chance. The double DVD offers you also a documentary about the birth of Studio Ghibli and the possibility to watch the movie in two different angles, the normal one and other following the original drawings. If you are a fan of Japanese animation, this is a must have!

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}The best: The message of the movie.

The worst: Some jumps in the storytelling.

The detail: This is the first full length animation movie made by Ghibli Studio.

{mosimage}Nim Rusoe is a young girl who has an island all for her and a bunch of great animal friends that will help whatever the problem is.

It seems that Abigail Breslin is the new golden girl of Hollywood. Whatever role that requires a girl of around 10 years old, there she is! Our Little Ms Sunshine grows up step by step, but still has time to play with turtles, lizards and climb a volcano in her latest movie. I frankly find her a bit annoying in her performances, like she is always over-acting, but well, she still delivers a good one here, and her acting is credible enough. The other big star of the movie is Jodie Foster as the maniac adventure novel writer, while Gerard Butler in the role of the father and Alex Rover is a bit wasted, could have had a bit more of impact but gets pushed to a second level in most of the movie.

An easy movie to watch for the whole family, although maybe it is more aimed at the little ones of the house. My favourite moments in the movie are watching the hilarious lizard, honestly. Not a masterpiece, but it will entertain you.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}The best: The animals and the beaty of the island

The worst: Poor sharks continue being portrayed with a nefast fame.

The detail: There were used two different Australian sea lion to portray Silkie.

{mosimage}Poppy is a woman who seems never to lose her smile.

I had checked in imbd the rates for this movie, and I had great hopes after seeing that the punctuation was above 7. So after the first 15 minutes of movie, I thought maybe it would have a “slow” start. I continued thinking that after the first half an hour… and then when I was dead bored after one hour, I realized nothing would improve. The main character, Poppy, and her friends and relatives look not funny but retarded. There is no humour in the movie, no message, no decent plot… Basically nothing much interesting happens, and Poppy turns to be really annoying with her attitude.

I suppose director Mike Leigh wanted to give a positive message of hope for the people around their thirties, but the result is really poor. I felt more like slapping Poppy than identified with her philosophy of life.

Honestly, one of the worst movies I have watched in 2009 so far. Maybe I am wrong and the other thousands of people who voted more than 7 in imbd saw something that I was not able to, but my advice is to skip this film and search for something better somewhere else. Bad movie.

Rating 1/5. 

{mosimage}The best:  the scene with Poppy´s sister and the husband who is not allowed to play Playstation.

The worst:  …where to start…?

The detail: Sally Hawkins, the actress that incarnates Poppy, has appeared in 4 chapters of the popular British series Little Britain.

{mosimage}Welcome to the year 2707. Forget about civilization as we know it. This is about surviving the mutant invasion!

Visually, the movie is certainly shocking. From the first scenes in the trenches, you can smell all around an atmosphere very steam punk, where and old aesthetic gets mixed with the future time. Some people will find it weird and some people will love it, but well, remember that this is a sci-fiction movie based on role games, so it does not necessarily need to be much realistic with how the future could be in seven centuries, although the mix of I World War equipment, mutants and high technology can turn dizzy to more than one watcher.

Ron Perlman makes a more than decent role, although the undisputed star of the film is the tough soldier Mitch Hunter (Thomas Jane). What was a bit surprise for me is the short intervention of Jon Malkovich, who appears in the cover of the DVD (obviously just to hook a few more watchers expecting a bigger role from him). The quest through the destruction of the machine that is turning humankind into mutants has some good moments, but in the end it does not make me feel new sensations.

Honestly, I was expecting a bit more from the movie when I read the plot and watched the pictures. The mutants seem to be a copy of the zombies of 28 days later, and the members of the team that has the task of saving the world are falling so quickly one after another that there is not even time to develop a higher degree of relations among them.Not a bad science fiction movie, but it could have been better with a little more “spicy” plot and risky storytelling.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}The best:  the magnetic Devon Aoki holding again a deadly sword.

The worst: Jon Malkovich appears for less than 5 minutes on screen.

The detail: The movie is based on a pen and paper role game.

{mosimage}Vin Diesel is back with an apocalyptic action movie that will bring him from Russia to USA in a trip full of adrenaline!

Directed by actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz, this Babylon A.D. hooks you up for the first half an hour. The plot is kind of interesting, the post apocalyptic future reminds of Children of Men, the appearance of Gerard Depardieu is a nice wink…and that pretty much is. Because the more the plot advances, the more absurd it turns. What it could have been one of the best action movies of the last months turns into a twisted story that nobody fully understand in the end.

A pity, because the beginning was promising, Vin Diesel is credible and the chemistry with Melanie Thierry as Aurora does exist.Next time Kassovitz wants to mix philosophy and action in a movie, better think twice.

For the fans of contact sports, legendary fighter of MMA and K1 Jerome Le Banner makes a cameo. The general impression is nevertheless disappointing.

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best: Jerome Le Banner fighting in a cage with Vin Diesel.

The worst: they want to turn the end of the movie into something that nobody understands. They ruined the product with the sub-plot.

The detail: It seems Fox and Kassovitz did not have a smooth business relation. Fox cut 70 minutes of the planned length time. Maybe the reason for such a “rushy” final.

{mosimage}Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman featured as the Boleyn sisters fighting for the love of Eric Bana as the king Henry Tudor.

Certainly it is a delicatessen to see Portman and Johansson, two of the prettiest and skillful young actresses in Hollywood, sharing scenes. If added to this there is also the presence of the always great Eric Bana, the result must be more than acceptable. The environment is also nicely portrayed, with an eye for the detail in clothes and the atmosphere of the 16th century in England. But sometimes I feel that the movie lacks a bit of “punch”. Although acting is good, the story goes up and down, switching the spectator from an utterly great interest to boredom.

Not a bad effort thought, but it left the taste in my mouth that the final focus of the movie was just to find an excuse in the names of the cast to attract spectators more than taking care of a story that could have had a better script.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}The best: Natalie Portman

The worst: Not very accurate with real historical events.

The detail: Spanish famous actress Ana Torrent plays a small role as Katherine of Aragon

{mosimage}Shia LaBeouf is going to go though a hell of a time falling into the control of a “Big Brother” that analyzes all his Communications.

If you want to see the good side of director D.J. Caruso´s movie, it is good to try to shake some consciences in the fight for freedom of speech and rights to privacy against the hand of governments. Unfortunately, such an appealing idea falls into a nightmare of script. Half of what happens in Eagle Eye is just pointless, and leaves the spectator thinking “how the fuck is that going to happen in real life?”. Acting is nothing special, not even Billy Bob Thornton being able to save the film from resulting into a disaster.

As an entertainment product, it offers nothing special to make it outstand from the other million action movies in the market nowadays. And from the script point of view, I would send a couple of the scriptwriters to clean toilets in some remote school of Africa, and see if that can refresh their ideas not to make us waste our valuable time with insipid products like this.

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best: Michelle Monaghan

The worst: Can a phone ring in the metro for 20 seconds and the owner nor the other passengers realize it is just being stolen?

The detail: Julianne Moore is the one who takes care of Aria’s (the computer) voice.

{mosimage}Discover the life and overall the great music of a salsa legend, Hector Lavoe. Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez in the main roles.

For many readers, especially the ones that lived the salsa boom in the 70s, the name of Hector Lavoe  can be very well known. For many others, especially in Europe, this film is a great opportunity to discover a bit more about latino rythms and salsa. The movie has certainly great moments, especially the ones that happen on stage, with Marc Anthony doing a pretty decent job both in vocal skills and acting as the tormented artist, drug addict and father unable to find a balance between his career and his family. Unfortunately, the film is more focused on Jennifer Lopez as his wife Puchi, and that destroys the movie. I have the impression that the best JL´s movies are those ones where she does not talk much and express herself dancing. Here, unfortunately, she talks too much and the acting is sometimes close to ridiculous, like her boring monologues in front of the camera in the sequences where she is interviewed.

Try to focus on the salsa music, and (although not an easy task) forget about the omnipresence of Lopez all over the film.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}The best: Some scenes of Marc Anthony playing with the band are awesome and gives you a really good feeling about how the real life of Lavoe was.

The worst: Jennifer Lopez trying to act tormented in front of the camera, but not achieving it.

The detail: in USA the title of the film was “Who killed Hector Lavoe?”.

{mosimage}Nicholas Cage is an experienced hitman who never gets attached to anybody… until he arrives to Bangkok.

If you like action movies, maybe you can even find this one a little enjoyable. For the rest, it will be not less than quite disappointing. The plot is not original at all, the experienced lonely assassin that receives a new work that will carry him some headaches when he starts to get attached to a (mute) woman and to his assistant. All the stereotypes are here, the moral internal fight, the bad guys queuing to get killed by Nicholas Cage, the snipers not able to put a bullet in his head no matters how many times they shoot… even the end is a copy of Leon the Professional. One of the few nice features is to enjoy the magic of Thailand, otherwise, the storytelling shrinks like the Titanic.

Only for hardcore fans of Nicholas Cage (of course making of himself more than ever) or hitmen movies. If not, better skip it.

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best: the amazing life and magic of Thailand, well captured in the movie.

The worst: The script is weak and the stereotypes of the genre are chained one after another.

The detail: The film happened by chance to be shot while a real coup d´ete took place in Thailand.

{mosimage}Jason Stevens is about to discover after the death of his grandfather that there are more important things in life than just the money…

This is a movie that will reach equally children and adults. The message is simple to catch: forget about being greedy and materials values, and concentrate on the most important things in life: the love, the family values, and the spirit of helping the needed ones.

Although the script is not flawless and the quality goes up and down through the movie, it gets balanced pretty well by the good acting skills of the cast. Drew Fuller is credible as the posh young guy with easy life who will turn 180 degrees his life due to the legacy of his grandfather, but I would say that the little Abigail Breslin (the girl of Little Miss Sunshine) and Bill Cobbs as Mr. Hamilton are the best of the film.

Although the storyline does not provide with big surprises, there are some excellent moments like the family dinner for Thanksgiving or the “battles” between Jason and the homeless for the park bench. So remember, money does not provide you with happiness… but it can always help a bit, overall on times of worldwide crisis.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}The best: Abigail Breslin, who literally steals the scenes where she appears from the rest of the cast.

The worst: the script has some flaws

The detail: The car driven by Jason in some scenes is a '70 Dodge Coronet R/T

{mosimage}Dennis Quaid is a University professor with a mess of a life, though brilliant, unable to connect with the students, and unable to communicate with his family.

Smart acting for a smart movie. I had no idea about what I could expect with this one, and I had a good time watching it. The strongest point is the acting of the main cast: we have a re-born Dennis Quaid better than ever as a grumpy University professor stuck in the past after widowing; we even have a decent Sarah Jessica Parker as a physician who will bring some light into Professor Wherterhold´s life, but overall we have a collection of great scenes by Ellen Page and Thomas Haden Church; their twisted relation and their sharp and sarcastic comments are kind of the best of the whole movie.

Digging up the family relations of a family full of talented members, director Noam Murro makes a very decent debut with a story that, although a bit predictable at some moments, will leave a good taste in your mouth.

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}The best: Page and Haden Church getting drunk together at a bar

The worst: Ashton Homes character is wasted and could have added much more to the movie.

The detail: The character of Ellen Page is 17 in the film. Although looking pretty young, her real age is almost 22.

{mosimage}After the success of City of God, it is again time to discover the intrinsic situation in the favelas of Brazil

I certainly loved City of God and I was again able to enjoy a good piece of cinema with this movie directed by Jose Padilha.

Shot in Rio de Janeiro, Tropa de Elite portrays very well the real situation suffered in any favela of Brazil day after day. The differences between the educated class and the poor class, the corruption in the police department led by the low wages, and the silliness of responding violence with more violence by BOPE, the elite police group depicted here.

Wagner Moura is just simply superb as Captain Nascimento, he is able to build up a really plausible character, strong, fierce but weak and tormented at the same time. But the rest of the cast does not disappoint either. The script is intelligent, the rhythm keeps on going, the production is clever and the feeling of realism is always present.

A very entertaining movie with also a good deal of stuff to analyze for the viewers about morality and discrimination of social classes. Let’s hope that in the future Brazil continues giving us excellent movies, but with a more positive message extrapolated to a change in the harsh reality suffered there.

Rating 5/5

{mosimage}The best: Wagner Moura as Captain Nascimento gives an astonishing performance.

The worst: that sadly, most of what is portrayed in the movie really happens in the streets of Brazil every day.

The detail: Many pirate copies of the movie were leaked before its theatrical release, even though, it was the most watched Brazilian movie during the last year.

{mosimage}A dark comedy full of corpses, lust, jealousy and tones of humor! Follow Oliver in his new bussiness with the dead ones.

I had read some not so positive reviews before watching this DVD, so actually my expectations were gladly more than fulfilled at the end of the movie. Maybe Just Buried does not have the more original plot you can find in a comedy, but the movie gets increasing in quality the more you watch it, mainly due to the good chemistry and performances of the main characters, Rose Byrne as the lascivious and greedy Roberta and Jay Baruchel as the timid Oliver.

The location of the small community where the story takes place is perfectly suitable, the (non always so) accidental murderers  are plausible, and the evolution of Oliver’s character is really funny and evolves the whole essence of the movie, Maybe the end happens to be a bit too “in a rush” in comparison with the general rhythm of the film, but the final twist is certainly a good one, and you will feel like having been entertained when you reach the final credits, something that not all the comedies happen to achieve nowadays.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}The best: It gets better after the first half an hour

The worst: not apt for people who cannot stand corpses

The detail: it has a strong inspiration from the movie Comedy of Terrors, where the main plot is basically the same.

{mosimage}One of the funniest army squads you have ever seen in front of the screen is going to learn a couple of things about war and the jungle.

Tropic Thunder is an intelligent comedy. It has a great cast full of stars that can also superbly act, like Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. or Tom Cruise, although I feel that Nick Nolte and Jack Black are a bit wasted and could have offered much more to the spectators. But the main idea of making fun of the cinema industry, coming from a bunch of guys who are some of the most powerful cinema industry characters nowadays, is certainly refreshing.

The plot is good, and it will entertain you, but maybe the second time you watch it, you will not find it as funny as the first one. All in all, it counts with some glorious moments like the fake sketches to introduce every actor at the beginning, the dialectic confrontation between Stiller and Downey Jr. or the exhilarating Tom Cruise, far from his usual image of perfect “super-hero”.

Rating 3/5.

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The best: Tom Cruise as Hollywood producer with no scruples and Robert Downey Jr. taking the acting method too far. And the fake trailer with Tobey Maguire “Devil’s alley”.

The worst: Killing a cute panda is not funny.

The detail: “Simple Jack” character and the discussions in the film about acting as a total “retard” drew some big polemic with criticism by different associations.

{mosimage}Follow the adventures and misadventures of Jane, a hardcore pothead who is going to have an interesting day…

Reading the opinions in the forums, most of people agree that they enjoyed watching this film while being high. Well, I was not high when I watched it, so I don’t know if that affected my “perception”, but I was not much pleased with the result.

Certainly Anna Faris has some good acting skills, and she matches perfectly for the comedy genre (her face will ring you a bell if you follow the Scary Movie saga), but the situations seemed to be too forced to be funny; all along the movie I just timidly laugh, but there was not real moment that I found totally hilarious. The character is portrayed more like a retarded person than like a funny pothead, and in the end you just feel angry about how a young talented woman is ruining her life for not having brains. If that was the intention by director Gregg Araki, then congratulations, because he totally achieved, but as a comedy film that tries to entertain, it certainly disappointed me.  

Rating 2/5

{mosimage}The best: Adam Brody as the dealer and the funny faces of Anna Faris.

The worst: when you have this special feeling of “why the fuck am I watching this?”

The detail: The woman who gives a ride to Jane in the motorcycle is the exuberant Natashia Williams, former wonder bra model.