The Girl Is in Trouble (2014)

Directed by: Julius Onah
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Girl Is in Trouble” is a discouraging crime thriller that is by turns tedious, farcical, and dull. The story starts with August (Columbus Short), a Nigerian iPod DJ (better joke of the film), being fired from Manhattan's Lower East Side club ‘The Void’. It was in this same club that he met Signe (Alicja Bachleda), a Swedish singer-guitarist who is now begging for his help in a complicated case involving a murder. The victim of the murder in question is August’s best friend, Jesus Guzman, a Dominican drug dealer whose tough brother, Angel (Wilmer Valderrama), swears revenge. The crime, enveloped by blurry mystery, took place in the luxurious apartment of the womanizer Nicholas (Jesse Spencer), a pompous rich guy who, at that time, was accompanied by Signe, enjoying an unrestrained night of excesses. Certainly, one of them is the killer, but with the word of one against the other, who is telling the truth? First-time Nigerian-American director and co-writer, Julius Onah, attempts to a stylish approach, but the result was exactly the opposite. The junky messages occasionally popping up on the screen are superfluous, and the camera moves undecidedly and ungraciously. It felt like the homework hadn’t been done, and moreover, all this was aggravated by the use of incongruous tones, lame storytelling, unconvincing performances, and very basic dialogues. Music is visibly of great importance to Onah, and still the score didn’t work at all, so intrusive it was. The obnoxious characters were so uninteresting that I could only sneer. Everything went too bad in this inexpressive tale of international contours set in Downtown NYC.

The Salt of the Earth (2014)

Directed by: Wim Wenders / Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Country: France / Brazil / Italy

Movie Review: “The Salt of the Earth” is a masterly documentary about the life and work of the amazing Brazilian photographer, Sebastião Salgado. This touching piece of cinema was co-directed by the acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders and Salgado’s eldest son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado. Carrying an enormous emotional weight and impressive sense of timing, the stunning pictures of Mr. Salgado are slowly displayed, at the same time that we listen, completely stupefied, to his own voice, explaining the circumstances in which they were taken after a brief historical contextualization. There are times in which Salgado’s face merges into his pictures – a face that never expresses any sentimentality. However, through his voice, whether in French or in Portuguese, we notice the deep impact those moments had on him. After so many years covering death in its most various forms - war, genocides, disasters and starvation - it was admirable how Salgado sought desperately for life in its most pure manifestations – nature, primitive people, wildlife. ‘I got sick in the soul’ he says, expressing a painful discontentment for what we, humans, are capable to do to one another. ‘Suddenly I felt the urge to make a tribute to the beauty of our planet’. Everything in “The Salt of the Earth” has the right proportions. There’s no exploitation of the subject, and there are no forced attempts to make greater what is already great. A profound respect for a courageous man and his work is what we see here. I felt I could have spent another two hours looking at his photography, both heartbreaking and dazzling visions, and listen to the tremendous stories supporting it. Unforgettable pictures, unforgettable stories, unforgettable film.

The Tribe (2014)

Directed by: Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
Country: Ukraine / Netherlands

Movie Review: Cannes’ last sensation, “The Tribe”, is a praiseworthy, brutal piece of speechless cinema, a product of the mind of first-time writer-director, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky. Set in a sunless Ukrainian city, the drama follows a deaf-mute teenager who arrives at a specialized boarding school for people in the same conditions, being immediately incorporated in a ruthless gang of students dedicated to robbery and prostitution. Unsurprisingly, the latter activity has a teacher as the leader, and soon the newcomer is assigned to pimp two of the teen girls that are used to beat the truck parking lot during nighttime. He slowly gains the trust of his fellows but irredeemably falls for one of the prostitutes. When this girl realizes her pregnancy, no other option is ever considered beyond the abortion, which is done in a private house by an austere, creepy woman. This is probably the most disturbing scene of the film (disputing with the maniacal finale), where in a horrible environment and with precarious sanitary conditions, she’s tied with ropes like an animal, bravely enduring the pain inflicted on her. The young man, madly in love, starts stealing in order to pay for her time, putting himself in a perilous position. The situation reaches even bigger proportions after he realizes she’s about to be taken to Italy. As a sign language film, communication was never a problem in “The Tribe”, which was very perceptible, and even persuasive on the dramatic level. There are no words to express how brilliant was the deaf-mute cast, so genuine and powerful at all levels. Mr. Slaboshpitsky sparked confidence, filming with insistent assertiveness, and revealing a shocking realism, bestial violence, and raw sex scenes in its plenitude. Words? For what?

Court (2014)

Directed by: Chaitanya Tamhane
Country: India

Movie Review: It’s quite impressive how “Court”, a befitting satire on today’s Indian judicial system, has been collecting prizes all over the festivals it participates. Venice, Viennale, Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong are only some of them, which recognized the subtle but well-outlined assessment behind the first work of filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane. The film is a long, cogitative and well-observed exercise centered in an absurd case of prejudice and bureaucracy involving the multiple arrests of the people’s folk singer and poet, Narayan Kamble. Accused of inciting a sewage worker to commit suicide, the fragile singer has no other option than relying on his dedicated lawyer who will have a female public prosecutor as a fierce (and often irritating) opponent. There’s also a somewhat superficial look at the family lives of the ones involved in the case, meaning the two lawyers and the judge, but curiously not the dauntless Kamble who turns out inflammable with a microphone but is becoming weary of the harassments he’s subjected to. This is a courtroom tragicomedy with so many good things – vivid imagery, admirable performances, a strong representation of Indian social status, and witty dialogues; however, on the other hand, it shows some difficulties flowing, especially when the camera lingers too much time on other small court cases, which aim to reinforce the stupidity of the legal system in cause, but deflects the story from its central point. Therefore, some editing would be valuable here. Mr. Tamhane has opted for a formal execution, which sometimes counterpoints with the confrontational jokes that are caustically being thrown in the air. “Court” is worth seeing for its pungent examination and clever observations.

Set Fire to the Stars (2014)

Directed by: Andy Goddard
Country: UK

Movie Review: Co-written by the actor Celyn Jones and the debutant director Andy Goddard, the British drama “Set Fire to the Stars” is a semi-biographical work that showcases the special relationship between the famous Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (Celyn Jones) and his big admirer, the American poetry professor John Malcolm Brinnin (Elijah Wood), who also aspired to become a poet and brought Dylan to the US for the first time in 1955. With galloping jazz tunes hovering the attractive black-and-white picture, the film was built from Brinnin’s perspective, depicting the efforts he made to save his hero from an inveterate bohemia and heavy alcoholism. Dylan reveals to be an insecure soul whose wife and starving children keep waiting for him to return home. Acting impulsively and characterized by bluntness in manners, everything can happen when he’s around - from public shame (more frequent) to brilliant interventions. Basically, the interest of the film relies on what the intoxicated Dylan will do next, which might determine the course of the story. The frames are nicely composed but the storytelling is not always expeditious, and on several occasions our struggle to keep focused is as hard as the mission of the hopeless John in trying to avoid that New York ‘kills’ his friend. Notwithstanding, and despite the mentioned quibbles, “Set Fire to the Stars” can give us a good idea of the importance of this particular phase in the protagonists’ lives. Love and hate, plus admiration and frustration, seem to walk hand in hand here. We don’t really come across with the genius of Dylan’s poetry but rather with the personality of the poet itself. The same is valid for the not so stimulating John Brinnin.

In Order of Disappearance (2014)

Directed by: Hans Petter Molland
Country: Norway / Sweden

Movie Review: Stellan Starsgard stars in “In Order of Disappearance”, an amusing Norwegian gangster tale, written by Kip Fupz Aakeson and directed by Hans Petter Moland. This is the fourth successful collaboration between the director and the actor (“Zero Kelvin”, “Aberdeen”, “A Somewhat Gentle Man” – this last one also written by Aakeson), but only this time it’s Pal Sverre Hagen, as the eccentrically neat Mafia boss, who becomes one of the best motives to watch this flick. Set in Norway, the film opens with the exemplary Nils (Starsgard), a respected Dane who owns a company that provides snow removal services, proudly preparing himself to be awarded the Norwegian ‘Citizen of the Year’ prize. In the same breath, his son Ingvar, employee in a small airfield, is mistakenly kidnapped and forced into a van by two thugs, and then killed with an induced overdose. Unconvinced that his son was a drug addict, the modest Nils leaves the gentleness behind and becomes a merciless hitman, when he finds the gang responsible for his pain. One by one, he starts to eliminate the members of the gang as he tracks them down, but the main goal is to reach the inaccessible mad header, Greven (Hagen), a ruthless man whose only torment is the mother of his bullied son. Soon, Nils realizes that the best to get to him might be through the latter. His successive executions also trigger a gangster war between the local mob and the Serbs with whom they had an agreement to share the airfield for illicit businesses. Death is the word of order here; you will find so many that will be hard to count them all. Sometimes the film seems to get out of track, but the sarcastic humor (have you heard about Norwegian prisons?) and Greven’s immaculate figure, keep holding out the enjoyable levels.

White God (2014)

Directed by: Kornel Mundruczo
Country: Hungary / others

Movie Review: After a spectacular opening scene where filmmaker Kornel Mundruczo shoots hundreds of dogs frantically running throughout the streets of Budapest, I immediately thought: maybe I didn’t read appropriately the film's title - was it 'White Dog' or ‘White God’? Actually, I was expecting something different here; according to its title, probably something more austere and masterful, but surprisingly the film stands in the middle of an affecting family adventure and a slightly gory thriller. A dangerous position since it may be too light to please horror-thriller fans and too violent to be watched with family, especially if you have little kids. The story has two protagonists: the 13-year-old trumpet player, Lily, and her cute mixed-breed dog, Hagen. When Lily’s mother leaves the city for a few days in the company of her new boyfriend, she is forced to stay with her picky father, Daniel. Lily takes the inseparable Hagen with her, but Daniel dumps the poor dog into the wild streets. While the sad Lily steps into risky situations and starts misbehaving as she looks around for her best friend, Hagen tries to avoid the dog-catchers of the municipal kennel, but eventually falls in the hands of rascals, being subjected to maltreatment and then turned into a fighter, for their own profit. As a dog lover, knowing that there are people out there inflicting this kind of treatment to innocent animals, gives me the creeps and really pisses me off. These moments were the ones touching me more since the rest relies on a farfetched canine feast of rambunctious chases, tenacious attacks, and emotive incidents. Production and direction are splendid, yet the script is not tight enough (no bad guy escapes to the dogs’ fury, not even Daniel’s snitch neighbor). In the end, the positive factors ended up obfuscating the negative ones.

Life of Riley (2014)

Directed by: Alain Resnais
Country: France

Movie Review: Iconic French filmmaker, Alain Resnais, went more and more theatrically during the last phase of his prolific career (six decades), terminated a year ago with his death at the age of 91. The creator of timeless classics such as “Hiroshima Mon Amour”, “Last Year at Marienbad”, “My American Uncle” and “Providence”, was considered a conceptual visionary whose narratives evinced a bold distinctiveness associated with a strong socio-political content. His latest comedy-drama, “Life of Riley”, reunites seven characters, more or less intimate to the ‘invisible’ George Riley. All of them are going to interact over several episodes composed of stage-settings and separated by drawings, which work as substitutes for the establishing shots. This was the third play from Alan Ayckbourn to be adapted by Resnais - previous two were “Smoking/No Smoking” and “Private Fears in Public Places”, both considerably more successful. Even if somewhat tepid at times and struggling to extract the best from the cast, “Life of Riley” was superior to “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” from three years ago. The plot revolves around three couples (plus the daughter of one of them) whose relationships are jeopardized because of Riley, a mutual friend with only six months to live. While rehearsing for a play, the men are consumed by jealousy and feel abandoned while the women are battling one another to become Riley’s choice for a trip to Tenerife. The domestic quarrels flow in light tones and the J.M. Besset’s dialogues are pretty French. Hippolyte Girardot and Sabine Azéma’s performances stood out, categorically defining the quirkiest couple: Colin, the clock-watcher, and his agitated wife Kathryn. Each character’s close-up alludes to comics by using a gridded-pattern on the background. Not grandiose, but an honorable farewell for Mr. Resnais.

The Fool (2014)

Directed by: Yuriy Bykov
Country: Russia

Movie Review: The multiple awarded “The Fool”, from emergent director Yuriy Bykov, is a pulsing drama that takes a bitter look in contemporary Russia and its socio-political problems. The hero here, in the true sense of the word, is Dima Nikitin (Artyom Bistrov), a modest, yet smart plumber who doesn’t hide his will to go further in his career. He’s studying hard to be a civil engineer, even knowing it’s going to be strictly necessary to bribe someone in the governmental department to take a position of that kind. Family life - with his wife and little son - is far from being perfect, since they still live with his parents, confined to an old house that doesn’t reunite the best conditions. His untouchable honesty, a virtue he gained from his hopeless father, will have a price after a call to inspect a burst pipe in District A, the most problematic neighborhood in town. A crack that goes from the first to the ninth floor of the decrepit building clearly indicates that it might fall in the next hours. Promptly, Dima reports the fact to the mayor, Nina Galaganova (Natalya Surkova was brilliant), who was in a degrading party, celebrating her birthday with her corrupt staff. With 820 people in danger, she shows concern about the problem and determination in solving it, but will the ‘system’ allow her to do the right thing? “The Fool” counts with exceptional performances, exhibiting enough intrigue, and uncovering the moral filth hidden under the carpet of bureaucracy and unreasonable solutions. It’s also packed with miserable scenarios of poverty, violence and drugs, and all the painful realities that are neglected in order to feed the wealth of the highest Russian patents. Yes, lamentably in some shabby countries, honesty and integrity are mistaken for foolishness.

Beautiful Youth (2014)

Directed by: jaime Rosales
Country: Spain / others

Movie Review: “Beautiful Youth” is disappointing, even considering the strong theme about the demoralizing social reality lived in Spain, where unemployment loomed a couple years ago, hampering the youths from building decent lives and leaving no margin for dreams or high hopes. The film, set in Madrid, starts particularly unfocused. There’s a worried mother and their three sons – Natalia, who occasionally steals from stores' beauty sections and decided to have an experience on amateur porn with her boyfriend Carlos (only to win 300 euros); Pedro who’s not doing great in his studies and says ‘I’m fucking sick of this woman’ when talks about his mom; and the little one, Irene who still need extra cares. The father left the house some years ago and only Natalia maintains contact with him. After a while, it becomes clear that Natalia and Carlos, both 20, are the ones to follow in this pessimistic adventure, which was no more than a potentially acceptable idea turned into an unskilled exercise. Natalia gets pregnant and starts looking for a job, however, her wish never materializes. In turn, Carlos, underpaid in occasional construction jobs, plunges into inertia and seems only concerned with video games and obtaining financial compensation from having been stabbed in the neck during a brawl. The whole is weaker than some parts, resulting in an uneven tale that was never really connected. By the end of the film there are some questionable options (photographs, skype) that first mislead us, and then take us to the infuriating conclusion. Filmmaker Jaime Rosales doesn’t seem to be the same who elegantly directed the sensational art-house “Dream and Silence” in 2012. Everything collapsed in “Beautiful Youth” - the camera moves awkwardly and tactless, the photography is unattractive, and the editing, a flop. Budget's fault? Blah!

Breathe (2014)

Directed by: Mélanie Laurent
Country: France

Movie Review: As a psychological coming-of-age drama, “Breathe”, the second feature from actress turned director, Mélanie Laurent, doesn’t let us down. Laurent shared the writing credits with another French actor, Julien Lambroschini, basing herself on the bestselling novel of the same name by Anne Sophie-Brasme. The film is a refreshing tale of poisoned friendship between two teenage girls, depicted with solid emotional contours, but somehow penalizing the whole with a finale that seemed too brusque and easy for me. Josephine Japy plays the 17-year-old Charlene aka Charlie, who finds solace in the company of her loyal group of school friends since at home she’s restless due to their parents’ bitter relationship. When the seductive and easy talker, Sarah, impeccably performed by Lou de Laage, arrives for the first time, Charlie seemed conquered by her apparent freedom and self-assured posture. While Charlie willingly shares her most inner secrets with Sarah, the latter will do exactly the opposite, concealing aspects of her private life that are anything but cheerful or motivating. Can this life be an excuse for Sarah’s intolerable behavior toward Charlie? Her game consisted, basically, of manipulative moves, taking whatever she wants, and then unthankfully moving away again, avoiding and despising who helped her. This contemptuous falsity was successfully depicted, drawing an inevitable irritation that makes us take the side of Charlie when tragedy occurs. An oppressive suffocation (valid for both characters) can be distinctly felt throughout the film – the continual attempts to understanding what’s going on, emotional shakiness, an asthma crisis, an urgent open of a window, or a terrifying conclusion – all of them require a deep breathe.

Big Muddy (2014)

Directed by: Jefferson Moneo
Country: Canada

Movie Review: Debutant director Jefferson Moneo falls short in his inglorious attempt to turn “Big Muddy” (based on his 2011 short film) into a memorable neo-noir thriller with glimpses of western. Amid the many reasons that contributed to its non-accomplishment, we can point as the most determinant: an overfamiliar plot that was also disjointed, inexpressively dry characters, and a dismal approach. Probing a troubled family with a lot to clear up, both in the past and present, the film opens with an ireful man shooting two cops in the woods after escaping prison. Donovan is the fugitive, and his most probable next move is to look for Martha Barlow, the mother of his teenage son, Andy. The misunderstood Martha is a horse connoisseur turned outlaw, being involved in a series of violent robberies perpetrated in the company of her immature, jealous boyfriend, Tommy. Evidently, she’s not an example to be followed by Andy, who will confirm a sort of bad seed cursing the family; beyond stealing money from his mother, he shows no remorse when pulling the trigger on Buck Corber, Martha’s dodger former lover. The latter had already finished Tommy off, after having been hoodwinked by him in the most ludicrous scene of the film. Martha sees no other possibility beyond fleeing to Big Muddy and ask her estranged father for shelter. The confused Andy is the one who doesn’t know exactly what to do when he finds himself between a father who wants his family back and a grandfather who wants to teach him how hard is being a farmer. The title Big Muddle would have fit better, and not even the shootout scenes put away our enervation. Leaving much to be explained, especially concerning the characters’ past, Mr. Moneo’s writing would benefit if more definite and diligent toward a tight storytelling.

The Amazing Catfish (2014)

Directed by: Claudia Sainte-Luce
Country: Mexico / France

Movie Review: “The Amazing Catfish” is a Mexican drama that revolves around Claudia (Ximena Ayala), an unenthusiastic supermarket employee who was literally adopted by the HIV-positive Martha (Luisa Owen), after they've shared the same hospital room. Claudia was subjected to surgery after she was diagnosed with appendicitis while the moribund Martha is a dedicated mother of three daughters and a son, who was infected by the father of her two younger children. In their own way, each child is in need of attention – Ale, the oldest, is deeply affected by a breakup; Wendy seems lively and self-assured in her decisions but hides some worrying details of her life; the two youngest, Armando and Mariana, are frightened and disoriented with the situation of their mother. Claudia plays a central role within this family; the family she never had. More heartwarming than conspicuous, the film suffers from occasional relaxation, and its intentions of being seen as more natural as possible, sometimes fall in repetitive situations that don’t add much to the story. The characters could, and should, be better developed, but instead, the debutant filmmaker Claudia Sainte-Luce seemed more concerned about showing us bee stings, mosquito bites or jellyfish burns, besides Armando’s catfish swimming in a bowl of water. She tries to counterbalance the heaviness and sadness of the central story, creating situations that are both positive and encouraging – a vacation trip to the beach, friendly conversations, little moments of joy, a comforting shoulder when one has to cry. All this is justifiable but, even though, the film worked emotionally intermittent for me, ending as a personal letter that missed my essence’s address.

Spring (2014)

Directed: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
Country: USA

Movie Review: With only two feature films in their careers (not counting with the segments for the pathetic “V/H/S: Viral”), fellow filmmakers, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, have been conquering a legion of fans, and are now considered trendy representatives of the independent filmmaking. In their first film, “Resolution”, I didn’t get convinced of their capabilities since what it was supposed to be a horror film, became an unaesthetic, somehow pretentious adventure where everything seemed purposely created to baffle and supported on incoherence. With the conceptually bolder “Spring”, a modernistic romance horror sci-fi, which is mostly, if not entirely shot with handheld camera, I’m a bit more convinced, even believing that the film would have benefitted if had spent more time around the eeriness than in a romance that never showed many motives for us to care about it. The story follows Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci), a Californian cook who gets in trouble after the death of his mother (amazing opening scene), fleeing to a small village on the Italian coast where he meets the love of his life, Louise (Nadia Hilker). This lovable femme fatale is a researcher scientist whose availability is far from being regular. Getting too close and growing too fond of Evan, her dark secret will be exposed to him in a hideous manner. As an ancient creature, she confesses this is the first time she’s in love with somebody (naivety), but that love is menaced by increasingly dangerous transformations that turn her into a repulsive killing beast (a mix of alien and werewolf with scorpion tail). The dialogues might be baloney at times and the pace somewhat uneven, but “Spring” managed to properly engage with its sweetly bizarre facet and a few powerful scenes.

Backcountry (2014)

Directed by: Adam MacDonald
Country: Canada

Movie Review: Adam MacDonald’s directorial debut feature is a credible, tense indie thriller, based on true events, that realistically explores the misadventures of a passionate urban couple in the Canadian wilderness. Alex (Jeff Roop) and Jenn (Missy Peregrym) agree to go on a relaxing weekend trip into the nature, spending some well deserved time together, surrounded by sky, trees, and waterfalls. Convinced he knows pretty well where he was going, and planning on proposing to her, Alex lost the track for his route. Horrified, the couple finds themselves lost in the territory of a threatening black bear, without a map or cell phone. Even before that, Mr. MacDonald tries to distract us with the appearance of a suspicious stranger whose talk and behavior caused some uneasiness. In a first stage, the film relies on common strategies, playing with disturbing noises where the silence reigns, and tenuous lights upon the darkness. These preparations last almost an hour, with Jenn’s facial expression suggesting she was premeditating something harmful, especially whenever they had to opt for a direction. When the bear effectively attacks, we are shaken by the powerful, shocking images that convey a genuine sensation of terror. Alex, completely disfigured, ends up being meat dish for the avid bear, while Jenn is abandoned to her own luck, trying to follow her surviving instincts. “Backcountry” doesn’t really break new ground, however, its story is solidly built to a crescendo, what is another point in favor. It’s as if we wanted the story to come to an end, finishing with the agony, and at the same time keep on watching more. The score by Fréres Lumiéres was adequate for each situation while cinematographer Christian Bielz did a nice job.

The Dark Horse (2014)

Directed by: James Napier Robertson
Country: New Zealand

Imagine a blend of “Shine”, “The Chess Players” and “Once Were Warriors”, and you’ll have “The Dark Horse”.
Director James Napier Robertson, based himself on the true story of Genesis Potini, a former speed chess champion of Maori descent who, as a part of his therapy for bipolar disorder, focuses on teaching kids with a high risk of being recruited by the lawless local gangs.

The story takes place in Gisborne, Genesis’ hometown, where the chess club entitled The Eastern Knights hosts a bunch of smart kids showing a huge eagerness to participate in a tough championship in Oakland. The man behind this unthinkable idea was the feverish Genesis who, under the effect of pills and in the midst of his litanies of excitement and awe, faces the suspicious parents, including his own brother whose son, Mana, reveals great skills and interest in the game but is about to be initialized in his father’s gang through a traumatic ritual. 

With a predilection for backlit photography, Robertson presents us two distinct sides: a sweet one, carrying noble intentions and positive attitudes; and a dark one, where a tough social reality is toxic enough to be vehemently condemned. 
There’s a strong sequence of images that confronts the two opposite realities: while Mana gets visibly disturbed with the violence of the ritual and is forced to cope with it, the other youths give wings to artistic creativity on the streets in order to raise money for the trip. 

Cliff Curtis, in his most notable performance to date, was brilliant as Genesis, an exemplary man that despite the illness, never ceased to believe in his dream. 
“The Dark Horse” isn't emotionally perfect, yet its positive message stays with us.

Cinderella (2015)

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Country: USA

Movie Review: Competent film director, Kenneth Branagh, launched a contemporary version of Disney’s classic fairy-tale, “Cinderella”, which may not reunite consensus among enthusiasts of celebrated romantic fantasies. Despite  some new details added to the plot, the ‘song’ remains the same in its essence. Chris Weitz (“About a Boy”, “The Golden Compass”) was in charge of the screenplay, and therefore, the sweetness patent in the film doesn’t really surprise me. Branagh missed the opportunity to explore a bit more the maleficent stepmother, but in return there’s an explicit sense of purity, kindness, and forgiveness in Cinderella. It’s as if the story had put the bad aside to fixate itself in the perspective of the good. Instead of crying and sobbing while locked in her cold room, the confident Cinderella sings, with her beloved prince in mind, never losing hope in a better future. We can say the thrills are gone, but that fact made room for a stronger personality of the title character. Funny moments are not abundant, but we can find them occasionally, here and there. As for the romance, there’s some magic on several occasions. Lily James transpired candor as Cinderella, floating in her blue dress (costume design by Sandy Powell was commendable) and glass slippers, but it was the splendorous Cate Blanchett as the cruel stepmother who stole the show with an imposing performance of pure class. It’s a pity that Helen Bonham Carter has been so modest in her brief appearance as the Fairy Godmother. Overall, “Cinderella” is far from greatness but managed to entertain, exhibiting structural solidity and rich visuals illustrated with a range of resplendent colors.

Cub (2014)

Directed by: Jonas Govaerts

Country: Belgium

Movie Review: The first scene of the Belgian horror flick, “Cub”, shows a woman in the woods frantically running from a devilish creature that eventually ends up grabbing her by the neck. After stir our curiosity with this premise, “Cub”, directed and co-written by the newcomer Jonas Govaerts, falls in a spiral of brutal scenes where graphical violence is remorselessly spewed at the sound of tense sonorities. Taking into account its genre, this could have been positive if the plot itself along with most of its characters weren't so coarse. Sam, an unquiet 12-year-old kid, spends a weekend in the woods, joining his group of Cub Scouts leaded by three inappreciable adults: the reasonable Chris, the self-indulgent Jasmijn, and the unbalanced bully, Peter. They spread the rumor that a half-human half-beast creature inhabits the forest, being responsible for numerous deaths that led to the closure of an old factory nearby. What was taken as a joke by the rest of the campers, was confirmed by the bullied Sam. He effectively sees this werewolf of the forest, named Kai, and creates a heinous bond with him. Their first victim was Peter’s pit-bull - put into a bag, left hanging from a tree and beaten up to death with sticks. As the story moves forward, we are taken to Kai’s father, a huntsman that takes pleasure in setting up ingenious traps in the woods, causing the death to his passing victims in a variety of atrocious ways. What could have been nice surprises, ended up being disclosed at an early stage, and the film is turned into a contrived mess where we can’t find anything particularly satisfying after digging into it. It’s all depicted with a stirring madness, but ultimately, “Cub” becomes corrupted by its own naivety and inconsistencies.

The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014)

Directed by: Tsui Hark
Country: China

Movie Review: Vietnamese-born director, Tsui Hark, is already a reference when it comes to spectacular Asian flicks that combine adventure, fantasy, and action. In his latest, the 3D “The Taking of Tiger Mountain”, he based himself on Qu Bo’s novel ‘Tracks in the Snowy Forest’, focusing on a particular episode of the communist Chinese revolution, and bringing in, both real and fictional characters. Thoroughly mounted and sharply shot, the film is another colorful adventure, but this time lacking the fantasy, splendor and mystery of “Detective Dee”. And how I missed these aspects! On the one hand we can call it minimally entertaining, taking into account some curious characters that include soldiers, spies, bandits, and assassins; on the other hand, its violent scenes are too detailed and set up with a clangorous ostentation (a tiger attack was the most ridiculous of them), gradually becoming more tiresome than substantial. Another aspect that deserves a bit more attention from Mr.Hark is the duration of his movies – almost two hours and a half for a movie with this visual intensity is too much, and only works for masterpieces such as the first Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sentimentality also dwells here, designed by the presence of Knoti, a scared, famished little boy who thought to have lost his mother. With all its faults, I have to admit that one of the most freakish villains of the contemporary Chinese cinema can be found here. Actually, Lord Hawk, terrifically impersonated by Tony Leung Ka-fai, was a spectacle for the eyes, coming instantly to my mind when I try to figure out something positive. “The Taking of Tiger Mountain” is a razzle-dazzle that probably would give a good comic book. Usually, it’s the other way around.

The Wonders (2014)

Directed by: Alice Rohrwacher
Country: Italy / others

Movie Review: Alice Rohrwacher is an emergent Italian filmmaker whose impressive talent could be proven in her debut “Corpo Celeste”. In her second feature-length, “The Wonders”, she keeps involving us with her powerful filmmaking, vigorously pushing us into a story that conveys as much beauty as sadness, in its own melancholic yet observant way. The characters are intriguing; it seems that there’s always something to be discovered in them. This sense of unpredictability is present throughout all the film, functioning as a secret formula to keep us pursuing a story that takes the time to evolve. With an attentive social awareness, “The Wonders” is centered on teenager Gelsomina who lives in a rural region with her parents and three younger sisters. Their house seems not to gather the best conditions to be living in but has a neat honey laboratory that mainly guarantees their livelihood. Being a real expert with bees, Gelsomina is indispensable to her father, Wolfgang, a traditional beekeeper whose stubbornness and strictness is followed by limited ambitions. Since he lacks responsibility and is a big spender, indulging himself into certain eccentricities like buying a camel to reward his daughter’s work, the family has sunk in debt. A unique opportunity to overcome the situation arises when they are invited to participate in a TV show contest for farmers called ‘The Land of Wonders’. Gelsomina, despite stuck in her family life, will also reveal an admirable maturity when deal with an emotionally insecure friend of the family, Cocó, and a quiet troubled teen, Martin, who arrived to help her father. The uncanny finale proves that this family doesn’t break, even in the worst situations. Slightly less riveting than “Corpo Celeste”, “The Wonders”, overall is a palpable, rich drama.