The End of the Tour (2015)

Directed by: James Ponsoldt
Country: USA

Movie Review: Once there was a masterpiece called “My Dinner with Andre” that consisted of two men engaged in conversation about their lives while seated at a restaurant table. Well, that movie, directed by Louis Malle and written/acted by Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, somehow came to my mind while watching “The End of the Tour”, which doesn’t match the brilliance of the cited, but is assuredly a great film. The reason for this resemblance, is that this compelling drama about the real short-term relationship between two novelists, David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), who enjoys an incredible peak of fame after the launch of his acclaimed novel ‘Infinite Jest’, and his fellow interviewer and Rolling Stone reporter, David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg), relies almost totally on their engrossing conversations. The film, directed by the diligent James Ponsoldt (“Smashed”, “The Spectacular Now”) from a Donald Margulies’ screenplay, was based on Lipsky’s 2010 book ‘Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself’. Lipsky, is one of those committed men, eager for a good story, who leaves NY for a five-day tour with the secluded and enigmatically talented, Wallace. The attempts to figure out the latter’s character, which is a complex mixture of prominent ego, legitimate modesty, shyness, and solitude, play a fundamental factor to keep us avidly watching the ups and downs that arise from the protagonists’ interaction. The pleasure of gradually discovering each other suddenly takes a sour detour. At this point, they recognize not only the virtues of their humanity but also the faults, impossible to discern by reading a thousand-page novel. “The End of the Tour” is a subtle, genuine, and beautiful accomplishment whose enthrallment is as memorable for the viewer as the experience was for Lipsky. The film was a great opportunity for Segel to shine outside the comedy circuit and to confirm Eisenberg as one of the most solid actors of our days. Ponsoldt and Margulies were intelligent enough to set up a suitable narrative scheme to make the story work.

Horse Money (2014)

Directed by: Pedro Costa
Country: Portugal

Movie Review: “Horse Money” is the new drama from the celebrated Portuguese filmmaker, Pedro Costa, author of the remarkable trilogy based in Fontainhas, an impoverished neighborhood in Lisbon, which includes “Ossos”, “In Vanda’s Room”, and “Colossal Youth”. This time the subject is a bit different, but Mr. Costa retrieves Ventura from his last film. This man, played by himself, is a confused Cape Verdean immigrant, a retired bricklayer, who was admitted in a Lisbon’s hospital where he keeps escaping through the gloomy back passageways, losing track of the space and the time, and being haunted by ghostly presences of his past. To complement the disquieting phantasmagoric images, we’re granted part of the disorder that goes on Ventura’s head. These particular sequences are arranged with a persistent exactitude, and yet some elements seem not to fit quite well, making us even more intrigued and sometimes lost in the darkness of his alienation. Suffering from a nervous condition, Ventura is stuck in time – he says he’s 19 and believes the date is March 11, 1975, time of a failed military coup led by General Spínola. This occurrence apparently destroyed the company where Ventura was working. In one of his visits to what remains of this company, Ventura finds his nephew, who seems a ghost waiting for the money that was never paid after a three-month absence due to an epileptic seizure. He often bumps into Vitalina Varela, an anguished widow, who blames Ventura for the death of her husband. Another visitor is a man who stabbed him and whose restless soul also wanders throughout the hospital. The most memorable scene is when Ventura is tormented by voices inside the hospital’s elevator, in the presence of a living statue of a revolutionary soldier. Costa brilliantly plays with past and present, truth and hallucination, desires and nightmares, songs and silences, politics and misery, life, death… My head is still spinning in a sort of a watchful dazzle, and I cannot forget the sad, vague, and embittered expressions of these lost souls…or ghosts.

Down, But Not Out! (2015)

Directed by: Miguel Gaudêncio
Country: Poland

Movie Review: This 71-minute small-scale Polish documentary, directed by the Portuguese, Miguel Gaudêncio, superficially gazes at feminine boxing in Poland. The director follows a team of four boxers and their trainer during 24 hours. Evincing pictorial qualities in its well-calibrated black-and-white images, “Down But Not Out!” doesn’t find much depth in the characters, failing to establish any exciting connection between the viewers and the protagonists. The film presents too much of unexciting fights, and too little about the brave Daria, Anna, Agnieszka, and Alicja, who keep being motivated by their talkative coach, Przemyslaw. The team spends one night in a small motel in the city of Poznan, where the next day they’re going to participate in a tournament. The pic deviates our attention from the women by also presenting men’s fights, more muscled and intense, but irrelevant to the story. After stepping into the ring for the first time, each pugilist shows more or less anxiety and eagerness to prove what they worth. But for me, these natural reactions weren’t enough to shape them accordingly because I still wanted to know more about their lives and personalities. There's a moment of frustration when an opponent decides not to fight Agnieszka due to health reasons, which is not particularly strong. An interesting aspect is when she makes reference to the diets and all the efforts put through, so they can be sufficiently prepared to compete. The combats are adorned with an often-intrusive synth score that projects the film more into a video clip rather than a real study. Boxing is not one my favorite sports, however, that fact wasn’t the motive for my detachment. I’ve found little substance here, and the only explanation is that Mr. Gaudêncio doesn’t have much of a story to consolidate his nice images.

Samba (2014)

Directed by: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
Country: France

Movie Review: Aiming to please the masses, “Samba” is brought from France by the team of directors, Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, who have made a smashing success four years ago with the enjoyable “The Intouchables”. As in the latter, Omar Sy is the main character, this time playing Samba Cissé, a Senegalese migrant who keeps trying to regularize his situation in France to avoid deportation, after ten years working as a dishwasher in Parisian restaurants. Therefore, and despite of the score featuring Gilberto Gil and Jorge Benjor, “Samba” the film, rather than enhancing the dance genre, tries to portray the sad reality of this man, even if using bland routines to do it. After being caught by the authorities, situation that requires a temporary detention and presence before a judge, Samba gets help from an NGO whose new volunteer, Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a sleepless senior executive under medical leave, feels sympathy for him and his case. Despite the warnings not to get too close to the undocumented people, Alice falls for Samba who, in the meantime, sleeps with the ‘vanished’ girlfriend of his friend Jonas. Facing difficult situations in the occasional jobs he accepts, and under the pressure of sending money to his unfeeling mother, Samba will rely on his ‘Brazilian’ friend, Wilson (Tahar Rahim), to give him a hand, while he begins a relationship of proximity with the anxious, and sometimes frenzied, Alice. Some of the little fun that arises from watching this too polished drama comes from the difficult communication among aid workers and migrants. As for the rest, the film slips in a few scenes, which sometimes are feel-good in the cheesiest way, sometimes are awfully unreasonable. All this is aggravated by the fact that the romance between Samba and Alice doesn’t spark good vibes. The film might draw some interest to viewers who are looking for dramas with warm stories and happy outcomes. For the ones looking for something original and solid, “Samba” doesn’t dance so well.

Corn Island (2014)

Directed by: George Ovashvili
Country: Georgia / others

Movie Review: From the acclaimed Georgian filmmaker, George Ovashvili, author of the masterpiece “The Other Bank”, comes the subtler but no less poignant “Corn Island”, another perspective of the hardships of survival in a piece of land shattered by the cruel war that opposes Abkhazians and Georgians. As explained during the first frames, the title comes from the fact that small islands are formed with rocks and dirt resulting from the annual spring flood of the Enguri River. These islands are blessings to the few local inhabitants who cultivate corn from spring to fall in order to subsist the extreme winter cold. The diligent direction of Mr. Ovashvili together with the astounding work of the Hungarian cinematographer Elemér Ragályi, facilitate closeness when we follow the arrival of an Abkhazian old man (Ilyas Salman) on one of these islands to build a shed and prepare the land for the crop. This is a big effort for his advanced age, but the man finds precious aid in his orphaned granddaughter (Mariam Buturishvili), a helpful, innocent teen who still holds a rag doll in their hands, but commence fearing the avid looks thrown by the soldiers who occasionally pass by boat or pop up in the shore. Uneasiness increases when the old man helps a wounded Georgian soldier (Irakli Samushia), hiding him from the sight of the officials from both factions. Despite the shots heard in the vicinity, the action is limited since the mood here is taken from the suspicion, apprehension, and tension of the soldiers’ visits and the sometimes ominous weather conditions that can spoil their chances of being succeeded. “Corn Island” was conceived in a slow yet detailed way, which suits a story of patience and dedication. Besides portraying a family legacy, the film is also an anti-war letter whose good and clear intentions make us ponder about the whole situation. Wringing sturdy performances, calibrated in terms of narrative, and enveloped by silences that speak volumes, this is another great film from an undeniably stylish filmmaker who keeps surprising.

Unexpected (2015)

Directed by: Kris Swanberg
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Unexpected” is a drama of circumstances, set in an inner city of Chicago. It stars Cobie Smulders and Gain Bean, respectively as a high school teacher and student, who coincidentally find out they’re pregnant during critical phases of their lives. The third feature film from Kris Swanberg, wife of the film director Joe Swanberg (“Drinking Buddies”), is fictional, despite the filmmaker is living in Chicago and formerly had been a schoolteacher. The film starts with Sam (Smulders), reading online the top ten symptoms of pregnancy and the description for a job as coordinator in a museum. It’s not difficult to guess that she was pregnant indeed, and the museum was nothing less than her dream job, which she applied without high hopes. More difficult to guess was that one of her most liveliest and promising students, Jasmine (Bean), was also pregnant. Clearly, these women have different realities and options, and in both cases something in their actual lives has to be sacrificed for the sake of the new ones that are coming. Sam has all the support of her boyfriend, John (Anders Holm), and the couple doesn’t hide the happiness when they get married in secret; the only factor still in discussion is if Sam agrees on being a stay-at-home mother. In turn, Jasmine, carrying a tough past on her shoulders, breaks up with her immature boyfriend and ponders giving up college. A true friendship is established between Sam and Jasmine as they offer each other help and support while learning from their differences. “Unexpected” is evenly loaded with realism and familiarity, which are the best and the worst in the film. The direction of Ms. Swanberg is earnest and avoids fluctuations, but the material, treated with indelible comfort, blocked my true emotions, reason why I never felt anxious or worried for the protagonists’ future. The most memorable scene, also nominated as the nastiest of the year, has to do with 'drinking' Cheetos.

Paper Towns (2015)

Directed by: Jake Schreier
Country: USA

Movie Review: After a passable debut with “Robot & Frank”, director Jake Schreier proceeds to a bolder move with “Paper Towns”, a teen tale, set in Orlando, that even not breaking new ground, injects freshness and consistency in its characters and plot, and weaves a particular mood that is part mysterious, part charming. The film was based on the 2008 novel by John Green, feeling much more empathic than his opportunistically tearful success, “The Fault in Our Stars”. The 18-year-old college finalist, Quentin (Nat Wolff), is the narrator of the story, starting by telling us that he always had a crush for his quirky neighbor, Margo (Cara Delevingne). At the age of nine, when riding their bicycles, they’ve found a dead man. This happening was kind of a shock for Quentin, but represented a moment of excitement for Margot, who loved mysteries so much she became one. After that, the two friends have almost stopped talking to each other until a certain day when Margo incites Quentin for an all-night adventure, daring him to break into colleagues’ houses just for the pleasure of feeling free. She talks about paper towns and paper people in a way to show her disillusion with the world she lives. The reconnection was positive and Quentin gains new hopes in conquering his beloved’s heart. However, Margo skips school the following days, disappearing mysteriously with apparently no traces. Only Quentin was able to detect indecipherable clues, which take him for a memorable road trip to Agloe, a fictional place (paper town) located in the state of NY. He drives in the company of Margo’s best friend, Lacey, and his two loyal buddies: Ben (Austin Abrams), the film’s funniest character, and Radar (Justice Smith) who decided to take his girlfriend. Relentlessly obsessive, Quentin may be in good company, but he’s the only one who seems to believe that Margo is worthy and can be traced. Thus, this game of lost and found and self-discovery engenders a surprising, sweet ending.

Ant-Man (2015)

Directed by: Peyton Reed
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Ant-Man” is far from constituting an outstanding presence among the extensive cinematic Marvel experiences, but is also true that the film, directed by Peyton Reed and co-written by Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”, “Hot Fuzz”), Joe Cornish, Adam McKay, and Paul Rudd who also stars as Scott Lang, doesn’t embarrass the voguish genre based on the comic books. The well-intentioned burglar, Scott Lang (Rudd), is released from prison after three years, and his only wish is to reconnect with his young daughter who lives with his ex-wife and her new boyfriend, Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), a well-known police officer. Unable to find a job because of his tumultuous past, Scott can’t provide the child support that would bring him closer to his daughter. Frustrated, he decides to join his former cellmate, Luis (Michael Peña), in one more criminal scheme for money. However, when infiltrating himself into a house to break a high-security safe, instead of jewels or cash or any other inestimable asset, he just finds a special suit, the one that he’ll be using to help the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), defeating a former protégé, Darron Cross (Corey Stoll), who just finished a jeopardous version of the Ant-man suit called Yellowjacket. Scott has a first bad experience as the Ant-Man, but after well instructed, he distinctively passes a tough test where he had to steal a device from the Avengers’ HQ. Once that mission is accomplished, he should be ready to steal the Yellowjacket suit from Darron who promptly uses it to shrink himself when sensing danger. From then on, we a have a series of moderately entertaining microscopic battles, and a complex voyage through the world of electronics, the solution found to destroy the enemy. Paul Rudd fits perfectly in the role of the anti-hero who suddenly is turned into a superhero for a good cause and for his own sake. The humor works sparsely and the scenes don’t throb with much creativity or originality, however, I’ve been more bored with some of the previous Marvel sagas.

Trainwreck (2015)

Directed by: Judd Apatow
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Trainwreck”, starring and written by Amy Schumer, is the best comedy directed by Judd Apatow, who never convinced me before with movies like “Knocked Up” or “This is 40”. This film succeeds on many fronts, and I left the theater with a big smile on my face, even disliking its totally staged ending, fancied at the New York Knicks’ Madison Square Garden, which if more extended could really have wrecked what had been done till there. Regardless the final slip-up, the merits go totally to Ms. Schumer, a stand-up comedian who shines with her engaging semi-autobiographical work. Here, Amy plays Amy, a writer who works for S’nuff, a men’s magazine whose unkind director, Dianna (Tilda Swinton), gives her the worst assignment ever: to write an article about the reputable sports doctor, Aaron Conners (Bill Hader). Obviously, sports are not part of Amy’s life. Instead, she prefers getting drunk, smoking pot, and sleeping with boring guys she picks on her nights out. The only one who’s recurrent is Steven (John Cena), a well-intentioned bodybuilder who gets devastated when he finds that she sleeps with many other men. At this point, we recall the first scenes of the film where, in her childhood, Amy and her sister were told by their father that ‘monogamy isn’t realistic’. If Amy opted for following the advice of her father, her sister Kim (Brie Larson), by contrast, did the opposite, living happily in the suburbs with her husband and stepson - a life that Amy simply doesn’t understand and constantly mocks. Everything changes abruptly when the generous Aaron and the disoriented Amy fall in love, in spite of her difficulty in accepting his true love and control her addictions. “Trainwreck” worked great as a romantic comedy, and the jocular tones are as pleasing as the dramatic side, where we can find a sort of bittersweet honesty. The presence of NBA stars, LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire, conveys a bit more of reality while also provides funny moments.

Mr. Holmes (2015)

Directed by: Bill Condon
Country: UK / USA

Movie Review: “Mr. Holmes” might not ring a bell for the less attentive, but if the name Sherlock was mentioned somewhere in the title, you would instantly guess that the film is about one of the most famous detectives in our planet. However, the year is 1947, and Sherlock Holmes, magnificently played by Sir Ian McKellen, is long-time retired with 93 years old, getting more and more debilitated, forgetful, and a fusion of emotional and a bit grumpy. Regardless these changes, he’s still polite, efficiently assertive when transmitting information, and conscious about his own errors from the past. Returned from a recent trip to Japan that brought him good and bad surprises, Mr. Holmes is happy to be at his farmhouse in the English countryside, where he solely has the company of his devoted housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), and her young son, Roger (Milo Parker). The latter is very clever and shares the same enthusiasm for mystery cases and bees as the detective, who takes pleasure in teaching every detail of beekeeping while stimulates the boy’s perceptiveness about his own writings and those of his ex-partner, Dr. Watson. Nonetheless, not everything is easy, and the old Holmes struggles every single day with his memory and with a particular case that keeps coming to his rusty mind, involving a depressed woman called Anne Kelmot (Hattie Morahan). This is the second collaboration between McKellen and filmmaker Bill Condon, who directs with the same rigor and formalism that he has already accustomed us; the first one was 17 years ago, with the mesmerizing “Gods and Monsters”. Here, the heartfelt story, based on Mitch Cullin’s novel, “A Slight Trick of the Mind”, is more about aging and how to learn from our experiences in life, than really solving a mysterious murder case. For this reason, “Mr. Holmes” might not be a good choice for the ones looking for puzzles and enigmas. It’s not a perfect film, but Mr. McKellen’s performance together with the undaunted message conveyed with gentle, resolute tones, makes it slightly above the average.

A Hard Day (2014)

Directed by: Kim Seong-hoon
Country: South Korea

Movie Review: It had been a while since one of these virulent Korean thrillers didn’t hold my attention. To be more precise, the last one was “Snowpiercer”, a Bong Joon-ho’s creation, released more than a year ago. Even considerably distant from the riveting action movie cited above, the brand new “A Hard Day”, the sophomore directorial feature from Kim Seong-hoon, was thought with logic and cooked with enough energy and intensiveness to solidly entertaining me during the toughest day in the life of Western District homicide detective, Ko Gun-su (Lee Sun-kyun). After a tiresome day, where he and his colleagues were subjected to a meticulous investigation for bribery, detective Ko drives in the middle of the night in order to meet his sister and little daughter for the final burial of his mother whose funeral happened hours before. However, tragedy occurs and he accidentally runs over a man who was standing on the side of the dark street. In panic, and under the pressure of a patrol police car that was checking the area, he hides the dead body in the trunk. After being stopped at a DUI checkpoint, which was the funniest scene in the film, he couldn’t find any better solution than dump the body inside his mother’s coffin. From then on, he starts receiving threatening phone calls from an abusive corrupt cop, Lt. Park (Jo Jin-woong), who inexplicably demands that he brings the body of the victim that after all was wanted for murder. Most of the plot’s twists had a successful impact while just a few ones are guessable, fact overturned by the director’s efforts in bringing in exciting physical confrontations and chases. In truth, the scenes of violence are firm and ferocious, but never uncontrolled or overdone. If you dig cat-and-mouse thrillers, this is a good choice since Mr. Seong-hoon found a positive equilibrium between a thrilling script and tight action.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)

Directed by: Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Stanford Prison Experiment” is a fact-based thriller directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez (“C.O.G.”) and written by Tim Talbott, starring Bill Crudup as the obstinate Dr. Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford University psychology professor who conducted a singular experiment in 1971. He carefully selected 24 male students, which half of them will be incarcerated for 15 days as real prisoners while the other half will act and dress (uniform and glasses accordingly) as prison guards. The objective is simple: to test the influence of the personality in the conflicts between guards and prisoners. The students seem highly motivated for earning some extra bucks for the summer ($15 dollars/day) while participating in a study case that should be seamless and pacific. However, what started being something almost illogically funny or even stupid, ends up slipping into crazy behaviors, where the guards really abuse of their power, taking a sadistic pleasure in humiliating the inmates. The reactions vary according to each personality: some try to rebel and then escape, some adopt a subdued posture, some others are more vulnerable to the pressure and start freaking out, one demands his glasses, another refuses to eat as a protest… Even more curious was to observe their silence during their parents’ visit, and the arrival of an ex-con to join the staff. The performances are on-the-nose, and psychologically speaking, the film gives us a lot to reflect upon. The Stanford Prison Experiment was terminated after six days, and the film cleverly ends by reenacting posterior interviews with the involved. Mr. Alvarez managed to set the perfect edginess and counted with Christopher McQuarrie (director of “Jack Reacher” and co-writer of “Edge of Tomorrow”) in the production.

Magic Mike XXL (2015)

Directed by: Gregory Jacobs
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Magic Mike XXL” is ridiculous at every level, starting with its title and finishing in the deplorable situations created along its nearly two fastidious hours. As you can guess, this is a sequel of “Magic Mike”, dated from 2012 and directed by Steven Soderbergh, which at that time, threw some originality to the screen, guaranteeing fair entertainment. Reid Carolin wrote the XXL version, just like the original one, but this time the script is simply a joke, a road trip of male strippers filled with embarrassingly unnecessary episodes, so devoid of insight or interest. If the writer’s job was a fiasco, the new director Gregory Jacobs was a disappointment exhibiting a heavy-handed style that can’t be compared to the sturdiness evinced by Soderbergh, key for the success of the previous version. If this was not enough, the star Matthew McConaughey didn’t return, so the film trusts solely on Channing Tatum, who plays once again the fantastic ‘Magic Mike’ Lane, to draw some excitement. However, he just couldn’t do it because the repetitive dance performances were never stirring and the bothersome episodes reserved by the plot didn’t work in any circumstance. Three years after he has renounced to the stripper life, Mike, takes a break from his own company to join the remaining ‘Kings of Tampa’, now preparing to retire in style. On their way to Myrtle Beach for one last performance, they’re subjected to a few meaningless experiences that switch from stupid to fabricated, or play both at the same time – to start, Mike flirts with Zoe aka Dolly Tits; then, he helps ‘Big Dick’ Richie retrieving the confidence in his sex-appealing; after that, they have a car accident that throws the driver to the hospital; the next cheesy episode is when Mike stops by a strip club he knows very well and reconnects with the mesmerized owner, Rome; before the last strip, the group still has time to reunite at the house of a middle-aged mom who was hosting a small party for her hysterical middle-aged friends. Shallow and staged, this XXL feels more like a lousy XXS. Did the fans ask for this?

Hard to Be a God (2015)

Directed by: Aleksei German
Country: Russia

Movie Review: Dated from 2013 but actually being exhibited in NYC theaters in 2015, “Hard to Be a God” is the swan song from Russian filmmaker, Aleksei German, who died in 2013. The film is a freakish three-hour odyssey, with dark venues on the background, based on the 1964 novel of the same name by the brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Adapted by Mr. German and Svetlana Karmalita, the script is outlandishly drawn by an endless succession of abominable experiences and killings, presented in black and white, and set in a medieval, outer planet called Arkanar. The foggy, swampy, and muddy landscapes, together with the fierce hunt for thinkers and wise men, throw us into a chaos taken from the most hellish descriptions by Dante. Imagine a nefarious version of “Lord of the Rings”, with no magic or color, and injected by indecency, violence, eccentricity, and eeriness. The film starts by introducing the feared noble scientist, Don Rumata (Leonid Yarmolnik), who is sent from Earth, in an attempt to save the persecuted wise ones. But for that, he will need the help of a doctor, Budhak, who had disappeared mysteriously. Seen as a God, and with more than 300 ears cut from the evildoers, Rumata will become fatigued from the murkiness that reigns in the planet where nobody seems to have a heart. Sometimes the film moves in a confusing way, bursting with so many odd characters and huddled scenarios – the ones that you can almost smell the pestilent air. The film wouldn’t lose meaning if trimmed for at least half-hour, but what might be exhaustive for some viewers, becomes a delight for others, especially for the enthusiasts of bizarre art house with a hint of classic. Here, one can find some terms of comparison with the last Ben Wheatley’s “A Field in England” and the Czech classic “Marketa Lazarova”. Monstrous and hilarious by turns, “Hard to Be a God” is a grotesque epic that despite nauseous, grabs you by the balls.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (2014)

Directed by: Julie Taymor
Country: USA

Movie Review: Julie Taymor’s fondness for staged films is widely known, and the filmmaker makes now her third incursion in Shakespearean territory with the comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which was captured in the sequence of her own off-Broadway production play. After the huge visibility obtained with the Broadway's “The Lion King” in 1997, her cinematic career began strongly and confident two years later with the gloomy “Titus”, starring Anthony Hopkins as the title character. After “Frida”, a quaint biopic about the surrealist Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, and “Across the Universe”, a lame musical inspired by the music of The Beatles, she returns to Shakespeare with the “The Tempest”, her weakest film so far. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, despite extended in duration and filmed in a real theater with an audience, compensates what the previous film had failed in terms of entertainment and craftsmanship. Dramatized with tenacity and often humor by the great cast, the story is faithful to the original, interconnecting four young Athenian lovers (Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius), a troupe of six laborers who are working on a play, and the fairyland characters (king Oberon, queen Titania, and a funny supernatural elflike creature called Puck). In this keen hybrid composition of live theater and cinema, Mrs. Taymor’s direction never loses track of the best moments offered by the settings of Es Devlin and the choreography of Brian Brooks. The score by the Academy awarded, Elliot Goldenthal, is another added value to a film that needs you receptive and in the right mood to fully enjoy it. Moviegoers will be divided, saying that better adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays were made for cinema. Even agreeing with them and considering that theater is not my cup of tea, I must say that I’ve found in this particular version an exquisite appeal that comes mostly from the performances of the cast and the technical implementation.

10,000 Km (2014)

Directed by: Carlos Marques-Marcet
Country: Spain

Movie Review: Natalia Tena and David Verdaguer may have been the only actors in “10,000 Km”, but that reality didn’t undermine the low-budget drama, which is an upfront exercise mounted with earnestness by the debutant director and co-writer, Carlos Marques-Marcet. What seemed to be another inconsequential story of separation that relies on modern technology to survive, ended up evolving into a heartfelt experience where the feelings sprout genuinely intense in the day-to-day of Alex and Sergi, a couple from Barcelona whose love is put to a test when she goes to L.A. for a one-year artistic residency in photography. The challenge of staying apart and still have to make the relationship work, can be followed since ‘Day 1’ when the possibility is considered with mixed feelings amidst their Sunday routines. On one hand they’re happy since it’s an opportunity, taking into account the difficult economic times in Spain, but on the other hand, they know the separation won’t be easy, and a blend of fear and sadness install. The first day without each other – ‘Day 2’, starts enthusiastically with Alex showing her gorgeous house. However, along the way, every day will bring different emotional states and the moods will change accordingly. Sometimes they’re totally in tune with each other: cheerful and optimistic while throwing in witty lines, supportive and understanding, having virtual sex… but other times they’re sulking, arguing, or reconciling from those arguments that mirror their frustrations, the burden of waiting infinitely, and even occasional unjustified jealousy. Some other days are represented through few hasty images that suggest nothing but sleeping, boredom, or anxiety. Having gone through a similar situation with my wife (identically, she came to the US to study photography), I’ve identified myself with so many things here, what ascertains that Mr. Marques-Marcet knows what he’s portraying, crafting this film compellingly through the involving performances from the cohesive pair of actors.

Learning to Drive (2014)

Directed by: Isabel Coixet
Country: USA / UK

Movie Review: “Learning to Drive” expeditiously mixes drama, comedy and romance, relying on the always outstanding Patricia Clarkson and the multifaceted Ben Kingsley in the main roles, to create a feel-good movie, set in NYC, where the ethnic diversity reigns and the work messes so many times with people’s lives. The film marks the return of the Catalonian filmmaker Isabel Coixet, known for her deeply existential dramas such as “My Life Without Me”, “The Secret Life of Words”, and also “Elegy”, which had the participation of this same duo of actors. For this script by Sarah Kernochan based upon an article written for ‘The New Yorker’, she adopts a lighter mood and funnier posture, aspects that, despite bringing a sense of déjà-vu, worked charmingly within the context of the story and its location. The opening scenes are the strongest, establishing the proper foundations for what will come. The insecure literary reviewer, Wendy (Clarkson), jumps into the cab of Darwan Tur (Kingsley), in the middle of a big argument with her husband, Ted, who just expressed his intention to leave her after admitting an affair with a younger student. Unable to cope with the situation and lacking self-confidence, Wendy would never dream to get close to Darwan, a graduated American citizen of Indian descent, who lives in Queens with his undocumented nephew. All happened when she decided to take driving lessons with the acquainted cab driver. From then on, we are presented with some street adventures with Wendy taking the wheel, and also with the arrival from India of Darwan’s future wife, a modest woman sent by his sister, whom he had never met before. The lessons won’t make every problem disappear, but will have a positive effect on their personal lives. The film succeeds in most of its jokes while keeping projecting the NY warmness on its frames. Some situations of the storytelling, however, didn’t feel so new while other aspects, like Wendy’s imaginary encounters and her daughter’s amorous letdown, lacked relevance.

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

Directed by: Liz Garbus
Country: USA

Movie Review: During the last couple of months I had the chance to watch some movies about the life and work of musicians. From documentaries about Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, to fictional films based on real lives, cases of “Love & Mercy” about Brian Wilson, Mia Hansen-Love’s “Eden”, inspired on the life of the filmmaker’s brother, or the not so satisfying “Danny Collins”, which found its basis on the experiences of the folk singer Steve Tilston. Now’s the time for a biographical documentary film about the singer and civil rights activist, Nina Simone, brought to us by the hand of Liz Garbus (“Love, Marilyn”). Pulsing with fierce energy and vibrating with the strong presence, both on and off the stage, of Ms. Simone (born Eunice Waymon), “What Happened, Miss Simone?” was treated in the most traditional way, fact that didn’t obfuscate the power and richness of the artist’s life, which speaks by itself. We can feel the anger and the no-fear attitude of Nina, a former Julliard’s classical pianist, whose concerts became a problem at some point due to the insistent and incisive social-political message. Having gone through racial discrimination, the intractable singer who started playing gigs in bars with a fake name so that her mother couldn’t find out, shows her difficult personality, an aggressive, revolutionary posture, and skills as a singer-pianist-composer. Ms. Simone’s daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, explains to us why her life was a burden since her mother decided to abdicate of being a caring mom to embrace the artist 24/7. Other friends participate by commenting their own experiences with Nina or aspects of her private life, which includes her marriage with the abuser Andrew Stroud, a former cop who became her manager. Garbus managed to put together the essential pieces (archive footage and interviews) in order to create an exhilarating portrait of a lonely, bipolar musician who once affirmed: ‘I’m not nonviolent’.

Youth (2015)

Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
Country: Italy / Switzerland / others

Movie Review: The notable Italian director, Paolo Sorrentino, has a more nostalgic come back with “Youth”, an expressionistic and unflappable poetic opus reflecting on life, work, and creativity, aspects that are differently regarded by two aging, lifelong friends who are spending a period of time in a Swiss spa located near the Alps. The retired maestro and composer, Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine), became embittered and apathetic after his beloved wife got sick, having no intention to conduct again. He often enjoys the presence of his best friend and filmmaker, Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) who, in turn, is overexcited with a new upcoming film that he intends to turn into a testament of life, the perfect ending for his career. The good friends like to take long walks, during which they talk about past happenings in detail, agreeing they’ve become forgetful. Occasionally, Fred and Mick have the company of a downcast Hollywood actor, Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano), and of Fred’s daughter, Lena (Rachel Weisz) who is trying to cope with the recent separation from Julian, Mick’s son, who has found in the eccentric pop-star, Paloma Faith (herself), his reason to live. Even the Argentine former soccer star, Maradona (Rolly Serrano), is present, attending to his bad shape, which also makes him wonder about the future. Apart from these secondary and yet conspicuous characters, it’s enriching to see how Fred and Mick change significantly when facing two personal challenges: the former received an invitation to play for the queen of England, while the latter gets disappointed when his first-choice actress, Brenda, refuses to participate in his film. Bringing to mind Raul Ruiz’s final work, the observant “Youth” doesn’t exhibit the same catchy sumptuousness as “The Great Beauty”, but still manages to create a salutary harmony when it puts together the diversified score, gentle pace, sturdy photography, and reliable performances. The hearty musical finale doesn’t beat Petzold’s “Phoenix”; anyhow, it’s still worthy of mention.

Jackie and Ryan (2014)

Directed by: Ami Canaan Mann
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Jackie and Ryan”, the third feature film from writer-director Ami Canaan Mann, ends exactly as it starts, leaning on the same soft tones, which are never subjected to a variation along the story. Ben Barnes plays Ryan Brenner, a musician that travels in an open freight car, in winter, heading to Ogden, Utah, to see his long-time fellow, Cowboy, who meanwhile left his wife and little baby to try his luck on the road. Ryan won’t see or play no more with his mate whose story ends tragically, but will experience love when fate leads him to Jackie Lorel, dimly portrayed by Katherine Heigl, a former pop singer whose success a few years back allowed her to buy a valuable condominium in New York. Jackie is far from having a relaxed life. With a little daughter, she’s in the middle of a complicated divorce and struggles with financial problems. The approximation of Ryan, who also gains some inspiration to write his own music, will function as a stimulant for Jackie, now encouraged and determined to resolve her life. Sensitive but too moderate, “Jackie and Ryan” strolls on the edge of banality at the sound of folk melodies, threatening to dive into that obvious abyss. Ultimately, Ms. Canaan Mann wasn’t able to avoid this fatal step since the film remains in its folkie breezes and emotional torpor while trying to fabricate a couple of sweet romantic episodes and resolute moves. The script proved to have something to give, but the approach didn’t reveal a qualified maturity to consistently address the protagonists’ attachment and simultaneously create tension through their economic woes. Moreover, I found Ryan a considerably stronger character than Jackie, which contributed for the unevenness of the whole picture. The filmmaker engenders a happy finale for “Jackie and Ryan”, yet this very American drama fails to find its own melodies.