Author: Antonio Diaz

Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo are the best con men in the world, able since childhood to plan amazing scenarios to cheat people around. The beginning of the movie is promising, and the addition of the always sweet and delightful Rachel Weisz adds an excellent touch to story, but I felt a bit disappointed at the end.

It is true that there is nobody better than Brody for this kind of tormented characters, with those big sad eyes always taking control of the scenes. He is a great actor, and shows it once more. His love story with Penelope (Weisz) is beautiful, naïve and intriguing. But sometimes the rhythm of the movie goes down. The scriptwriters seemed eager to add so many notches into the final twist end that I had the feeling everything should have ended half an hour before.

Honestly, I start to feel a bit saturated of these movies offering a threesome of main characters that play tricks on each other, where nothing seems to be what it is, and you always assume that there will be (and therefore there is) a final twist. Sometimes, I would prefer the story to center more on the interrelations among the humans involved there, instead of plotting what new twist to add to make the story even more complicated to decipher. Although the photography of the movie and the clothes the characters display are superb, this left me with a bittersweet taste.

Rating 3/5

The detail: In the end, it is mentioned that the characters will drive to Helsinki, but you never had the chance to see the Finnish capital, just a road with a too good pavement to be Russian, and a too bad pavement to be Finnish…

The Brothers Bloom Trailer

If you like gloomy animation movies, certainly you will enjoy Metropia. From Scandinavia comes a plot that has to do with mind control and a new world order, all set in quite dark landscapes. Director Tarik Saleh achieves the desired effect of feeling comprised in a sad world walked by sad gray people, and you can also notice the hand in the script of Stig Larsson, a very hot name nowadays due to his Millennium trilogy (the part of the daughter from the big magnate abused as a child has his signature all over it).

However, I could not fully enjoy the movie. It tries to be provocative, but falls in a middle way. Same with some nudity and explicit scenes, in the end they seem to be censored so children could watch this, when supposedly should be just an adult animation movie. And I cannot get used to the way the characters are drawn, with small bodies but huge heads. The beginning was promising, but at some points of the film, the lack of energy from Roger, the main character, is contagious.

Worthy a try if you are open for some different European animation with deeper meaning than just killing all what moves around, but I was expecting a bit more from this one. Not as visually and idealistically shocking as it should have been.

Rating 2/5

The detail: Vincent Gallo puts the voice of the main character, Roger.

Metropia Trailer

There are many movies whose main scenario takes place in a concentration camp. Most of them are harsh and touchy, although a few can even explode some sense of humor like in the genial La Vita É Bella from Roberto Benigni, but certainly, In Tranzit offers an idea a bit fresh and different from what you could have previously have seen.

Based on true events, it narrates the life in a Russian transit camp one year after the end of Second World II. The camp, warded by women, receives the unexpected visit of a group of male German prisoners.
The movie turns into a great essay of human nature, where hate, love, hope, and physical need for human contact gets mixed, forgetting about the dark past. I enjoy every moment of it, although most of it is just shot inside the fences of the camp. There is always expectation for something new to happen, and the interactions of the people sharing the camp are fantastic to follow, subtle but deep.

The cast is another strong point here, with both main characters Vera Farmiga and Thomas Kretschmann having a very strong charismatic presence in front of the camera. And if we talk about charisma, what to say about the intervention of John Malkovich… just perfect in his role of sneaky, cruel but witty NKVD colonel. The only actor who does not convince me is Daniel Brühl (who by the way is half Spanish half German). I had the same feeling when I saw him in Tarantino´s Inglorious Basterds; I just do not see him in those roles as tough soldier.

If you like movies about war with an intelligent plot, this In Tranzit will be refreshing. It is true that the end can turn into a bit dissappointing, but all in all, it will entertain you and feel identified with the characters, suffering and enjoying during their stay in Russia, all over the movie.

Rating 4/5

The detail: Kretschmann trained as an Olympic swimmer in East Germany before starting his career as actor

In Tranzit: Scene with John Malkovich

The Nazi Germany has been the topic for thousands of movies during the recent years. Although usually depicted as evil, sometimes we have assisted to the more human side of German Nazis (if not, just look again at Oskar Schindler in The Schindler´s List).

Good is a movie just made to shape the talent of Viggo Mortensen. He fits perfectly a role of a person who can be intelligent, sensitive, but also tough if needed. One of the biggest questions that the humankind ask themselves when the concentration camps were discovered were “How this could happen?”. The movie tries to dig deeper in how good citizens can end up corrupted or assimilated to an evil system, but all in all, Good left me a bittersweet taste after I finished watching it.

It is true that Mortensen´s work is once more flawless, but his relation with his Jewish best friend Maurice is portrayed sometimes in a too sloppy way. I basically enjoyed more the moments when Viggo tries to deal both with his shrinking marriage and her new love for a young student who turns to betray his confidence.

The final is certainly visually shocking, but you are not going to presence anything unique that you have not seen before in other movies or TV series dealing with the holocaust. I had the feeling that the movie was in the end too short, and the characters had to be sketched in a bit of a rush. Not a bad movie if you like Mortensen, but it will not enter the top list of films that deal with the Nazi German.

Rating 3/5

The detail: Mark Strong plays a secondary role as Bouhler.

Good Trailer

Sacha Baron Cohen made a little revolution in the comedy genre with the exhilarating Borat. Who has not tried to imitate with their friends at some point Borat´s accent and expressions in the last years?

The “on your face” spontaneous and transgress sense of humor of Cohen goes even farther here in the portray of a gay Austrian reporter who is not afraid to confront anybody in the pursue of his dreams and gay happiness.

The product, nevertheless, is not as “fresh” as in Borat. Although changing the characters, the formula has too many repetitions, and the spectator is not caught in disbelief so easily, even when Cohen tries really hard. For many “alpha males”, this must be a difficult movie to watch, but certainly, if you watch it with an open minded, and you know the kind of humor that Cohen displays, it will provide you with a few good laughs. If you belong to a conservative family, maybe better skip this one.

Although some moments are obviously scripted, like the encounters with Harrison Ford or the dominatrix in the swinger party, I think that the funniest parts is when you observe the reactions of the normal citizens to Cohen’s behavior, just if they get shocked, or they try to act like everything is cool.

I had watched some short videos of Cohen portraying the same character in Youtube, and I must admit that many of them were funnier than most parts of the movie. All in all, if you like the kind of humor that breaks all the rules about nudity, indecent behavior or male to male tongue kisses, this one will entertain you!

Rating 3/5

The detail: Cohen was “kindly” escorted by security after breaking into a fashion show in Milan.

Brüno vs Skinheads Video

I cannot deny that Kevin Spacey is one of my favorite actors in Hollywood. Same than people like Bill Murray, he is able to play his roles without losing a little part of his own recognizable identity.

The role of the depressed shrink Henry Carter, unable to deal with a normal life without smoking joints after the suicide of his wife, seemed to be made to fit him like a glove. Spacey seems to find himself at home playing those kind of roles that walk in the think line between madness, naiveté and geniality, like in K-Pack or Usual Suspects.

Maybe Shrink does not have special effects or great sex scenes with high voltage to attract the audience, but its deceitful simplicity is its strongest weapon. It narrates things in a way that we all can feel identified, even not being Hollywood celebrities. To Spacey superb acting, it helps the excellent array of secondary characters with the always delightful presence of Safron Burrows or the ferocity of Dallas Howards as an aggressive Hollywood agent (it can remind you the Jeremy Piven of the TV series Entourage). Howards really steals the show in the movie, being his appearances always accompanied by his Bluetooth headset some of the best moments of the film.

Shrink is a movie that will gain you slowly but steadily. A delightful collection of stories with credible characters, and with the always flawless intervention of Kevin Spacey. A nomination for him for the Oscars could have perfectly been well deserved here.

Rating 4/5

The detail: Robin Williams makes a short but interesting appearance as a veteran actor who cannot decide if remaining faithful or enjoying the pleasures of flesh.

Shrink Trailer

Kate Beckinsale i sable to show in this movie that she can be more than a pretty face in a bit super production (like Pearl Harbor, for example…) in this interesting drama that deals with honesty, freedom of speech and principles that go even beyond the law.

Based on true events, Beckinsale is an example to follow for all those who still believe that media has to dig into the dirty truth of the governments, and puts a question in our heads: “would you go that far, sacrificing your life for what you believe is fair?”.

Together with her, Matt Dillon makes a pretty decent appearance as the Patton Dubois, you cannot less than hating him in the end, and Alan Alda shows a touch of class every time he steals the scenes with his elegant speeches and looks.

A movie that keeps you in a total state of empathy with the main character, and does not lack of a final interesting twist to put the cherry on top of the cake. For all of you interesting in journalism, work ethics and the American government policy vs freedom of speech, this is a must see!

Rating 4/5

The detail: Based on true events suffered by New York Times writer Judith Mille who served almost 3 months in jail.

Nothing but the Truth Trailer