Labyrinth (1986)

While searching the web for a musical that wasn't too long --which is basically an impossible task since most musicals last more than two hours-- I stumbled upon Labyrinth. I had never heard of it before but I did see pictures of David Bowie from this movie which is why I ended up watching it. 

The story follows Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), a teenager with a very vivid imagination. When her father (Christopher Malcolm) and stepmother (Shelley Thompson) go out and leave her to babysit her stepbrother, Toby (Toby Froud), she is so annoyed with his continuous crying that she wishes the goblins would take him away. Which they do and Sarah must solve the Goblin King's (David Bowie) labyrinth before midnight or else Toby will become a goblin.

The plot is very simple and far from being great, meaning that it kind of comes out of nowhere, it develops too fast and yet it takes too much time to get to the ending. Also, it isn't very original as it has some elements of The Wizard of Oz. And yet, as flawed as it is, the plot still manages to be interesting and entertaining. 

Also quite interesting are the characters Labyrinth is filled with. At the beginning, Sarah is an innocent but immature and spoiled brat who only cares about herself and finds herself in an Alice in Wonderland kind of scenario, but, as the movie moves forward, she becomes this mature, no longer selfish young woman as she learns many life lessons. A very young Jeniffer Connelly does a wonderful job in the leading role. She is so lovely and makes all the interactions with the fantasy creatures look so natural! Hoggle, the coward and stubborn goblin is quite an interesting guy, and Ludo, a hairy monster that looks like Chewbacca, is cute and lovable. 

TriStar Pictures

However, the character that truly stands out is the villain, the Goblin King, the reason obviously being David Bowie. He is simply wonderful. He is evil and menacing and yet so humorous and charming, it's hard to decide whether to hate him or to love him. Also, whenever he starts singing, which happens very often, it's an incredible joy.

Labyrinth also has some pretty solid special effects. While they do look dated and you can often spot the use of the green screen, they still are quite charming and add some magic to the film. The owl, for example, although it looks cheap compared to today's standards, is very impressive.

There is one thing that about Labyrinth that quite disappointed me, the fact that it isn't really a musical. There are just some weird musical numbers that don't advance the plot, nor add anything to the film, they are just there to give David Bowie the chance to sing. While I love listening to Bowie sing, it just didn't make sense to me. 

300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

Genre

Action | Fantasy | War

Director

Noam Murro

Country

USA

Cast

Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro, Jack O'Connell, Hans Matheson, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham, Andrew Tiernan, Yigal Naor, Andrew Pleavin, Ben Turner, Ashraf Barhom, Peter Mensah, Gerard Butler, Michael Fassbender, Caitlin Carmichael, Jade Chynoweth

Plot

Greek general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) leads the charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and vengeful commander of the Persian navy Artemisia (Eva Green).

Opinion

After eight years, they thought it was appropriate to release a sequel/prequel/simultaneously-story to 300. Unfortunately, they didn't do a good job.

300: Rise of an Empire is numbingly dull, and a huge waste of money - both mine and the producers' - and time. However, somebody may seen it as a great Act II of Men's Health Magazine's theatrical transposition.

Passing over the historical errors, which are fewer in number compared to the first film's, scenes are not extra filled with over-colour-correction. Instead, there is light coming from everywhere.

The film only seems to exist to glorify the CGI blood industry: I've never seen such copious - and a bit unrealistic - a spilling of blood before. I have the suspicion director Noam Murro has a fetishism for blood since the camera doesn't miss a chance to capture the 'essence' of it.

In the first film warriors looked like a group of bodybuilders; in this one, not only warriors but also farmers, poets, and sculptors look like a bunch of oiled guys showing off their sculpted abs. The female character has a more important role, however, the pointless sex scene couldn't be missing. And the hunchback, who previously made all the Spartans die, kinda helps the Greeks winning. 

The acting is so bad makes you cringe. 

Quotes

Themistocles: I would rather die free than live as a slave. 

300 (2006)

Genre

Action | Fantasy | War

Director

Zack Snyder

Country

USA

Cast

Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Giovani Cimmino, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro, Stephen McHattie, Michael Fassbender, Peter Mensah, Kelly Craig, Tyler Neitzel, Robert Maillet, Patrick Sabongui, Leon Laderach, Tyrone Benskin

Plot

When the ambitious King Xerxes of Persia (Rodrigo Santoro) invades Greece with his army to extend his vast slave empire, the brave King Leonidas of Sparta (Gerard Butler) brings a force of 300 warriors to defend the passage of Thermopylae, the only way by land to reach Greece.

Opinion

300 is a boring and stupid action film, that more than anything looks like a big screen adaptation of Men's Health Magazine. 

The number of historical inaccuracies is so high, labeling the film as fantasy it's the least they could do. The dialogue is a pure joke, and the jokes are awful. Every single scene is filled with over-colour-correction and it feels like sitting in front of a video game demo for two hours.

Now it comes my favorite part: the characters. The warriors look like a group of bodybuilders armed with shields and spears, trying to contend the title of Physique of the Year. The only use for the female character - god-awful played by Lena Headey - in the film is a pointless and ridiculous sex scene. And last, but not least, the emotionally wounded hunchback that sells out the Spartans and makes them all die - as if they had any chances.

Actors are the most useless thing in the film. They could have casted some guys at the gym and still have the same result since pectoral muscles have a way bigger screen time than facial expression, and all the actors do is yelling.

Quotes

King Leonidas: Give them nothing! But take from them everything!

Into the Woods (2014)

Genre

Adventure | Fantasy | Musical

Director

Rob Marshall

Country

United States | United Kingdom | Canada

Cast

Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, MacKenzie Mauzy, Billy Magnussen, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Frances de la Tour, Richard Glover, Joanna Riding, Annette Crosbie, Simon Russell Beale

Plot

The film follows the tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy)-all tied together by an original story involving a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt), their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch (Meryl Streep) who has put a curse on them.

Opinion

After many - and endless - months of waiting, the film has finally been released in Italy. It wasn't as good as I was hoping, but not even as bad as many people said it was. Into the Woods is a humorous musical, a good twist on several of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, with a delightful first half, and a gloomy ending, but not a kids film.

Having not seen the stage version, I've searched the Internet to be more familiar with it, and it turned out that many changes were made in Act II. Disney has actually cut everything important and meaningful for the show, such as the death of Rapunzel, making the character completely pointless now. Furthermore, in Act II, the narrator is almost gone.

On the other hand, the costumes, Meryl Streep's makeup and the sets are great, and the singing is good - great in some cases.

Among all the performances, which are pretty good, Meryl Streep's stands out. She is wonderful as usual, and several times she induces laughs from the audience.

Quotes

Witch: You're not good, you're not bad, you're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right. I'm the witch. You're the world.

Cinderella's Prince: I was raised to be charming, not sincere.

Witch: Stay a child while you can be a child.

Rating

7.0/10

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Original Title

El laberinto del fauno

Genre

Drama | Fantasy | War

Director

Guillermo del Toro

Country

Spain | Mexico

Cast

Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo, Manolo Solo, César Vea, Roger Casamajor, Federico Luppi, Pablo Adán

Plot

In the falangist Spain of 1944, armed with only her imagination, young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother.

Opinion

Pan's Labyrinth is an undefined film, a dark fairy tale for grown ups, halfway between the fantasy and the real world, which, in this case, is war. By looking around, I figured this is the main reason why many did not like the film. Having said this, I really liked it.

Guillermo del Toro, which deals with brutality and innocence, has created something different, something special. The continuous alternation between reality and fantasy, lived through a little girl's eyes, has an addictive rhythm.

Sergi López is excellent as the brutal and sadistic falangist Captain Vidal. Ivana Baquero, 11-year-old at that time, delivers a great performance.

Buy on Amazon.com | Buy/Rent on Amazon Instant Video

Quotes

Ofelia: Many, many years ago in a sad, faraway land, there was an enormous mountain made of rough, black stone. At sunset, on top of that mountain, a magic rose blossomed every night that made whoever plucked it immortal. But no one dared go near it because its thorns were full of poison. Men talked amongst themselves about their fear of death, and pain, but never about the promise of eternal life. And every day, the rose wilted, unable to bequeath its gift to anyone... forgotten and lost at the top of that cold, dark mountain, forever alone, until the end of time.

Rating

8.5/10

Winter's Tale (2014)

Genre

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Director

Akiva Goldsman

Country

United States

Cast

Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, Russell Crowe, William Hurt, Mckayla Twiggs, Eva Marie Saint, Will Smith, Ripley Sobo, Matt Bomer, Lucy Griffiths, Finn Wittrock, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Durand

Plot

Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) is a thief a thief raised by a supernatural demon posing as the gangster Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe).
After disappointing his mentor, on the run, Peter encounters a white horse that points him in the direction of the Penn mansion. Initially looking to steal something, he changes his mind when he meets and falls in love with Beverly (Jessica Brown Findlay), the beautiful daughter of the homeowner.

Opinion

Many critics said this film was a huge fail, so I wasn't expecting a lot for it. But you know what? I loved it. Based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Mark Helprin, Winter's Tale is a good film of its genre, and moved me. The story is lightly told, and its 118 minutes slip away like a bird in flight.
Colin Farrell is wonderful: he is perfect in the role of the thief who falls in love. You can clearly see he puts himself entirely in the characters he plays; Russell Crowe's character Pearly Soames, obsessed with Farrell's, reminds me a bit of Javert (Les Misérables), the evil version of course. He didn't impress me though.

Buy on Amazon.com | Buy on Amazon Instant Video

Quotes

Peter Lake: Don't know who's more foolish; The horse who won't listen to his master or the master who listens to his horse.

Peter Lake: Is it possible to love someone so completely, they simply can't die?

Rating

7.8/10

New in December: Cinematic Holiday Treats

December's incoming titles make for a satisfying mix of the new and returning, with a number of genuine standouts that haven't been seen on Netflix (or not seen for a long time, anyway). Directors such as David Fincher, Michael Mann, Peter Weir, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Cameron Crowe, and Robert Rossen are represented, as is a certain superspy by the name of Bond, James Bond.

Add in a dash of Paul Newman, a pinch of Will Smith, and a spoonful or two of Jim Carrey, David Bowie, and James Caan, with a garnish of Jo(h)ns�Wayne, Travolta, and Voight�and you've got some tasty treats of cinematic goodness. Where are the women, you ask? Good question. Among the better titles, there's Jodie Foster, Jennifer Connelly, and Charlize Theron, but most of the films with strong female leads fall decidedly in the crappy category (yes, Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman, and Shelly Long, I'm talkin' to you).

The Thoroughbreds

Almost Famous

An ode to 1970s rock and roll, Cameron Crowe's autobiographical Almost Famous (2000) is the writer-director's most personal film, even beyond its status as a fictionalized account of Crowe's early years as a teen rock journalist for Rolling Stone. While (convincingly) portraying a very specific time and place in his young existence�life on the road with a Led Zeppelin-like rock band�Almost Famous is also a kind of looking glass into everything Crowe was to do as a filmmaker in the years to come, shining a light into the soul of a man whose sentiments and musical taste would enrich such films as Fast Times at Ridgmont High, Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, and even the underrated Elizabethtown.

The film abounds with humor, charm, and Crowe's distinctive sense of humanity, not to mention a killer classic rock soundtrack (authentically enhanced by Nancy Wilson's era-appropriate originals) and a cast to die for�starting with the young Patrick Fugit, whose ingenuous performance holds its own with those of Frances McDormand, Billy Crudup, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. That's to say nothing of Kate Hudson's luminous turn as Penny Lane, still considered her defining performance (even after so many bad rom-coms), or the very funny Jason Lee as the fictional band Stillwater's insecure frontman. If this theatrical version of Almost Famous feels slightly lumpy and truncated (the longer, "Bootleg" cut provides some needed breathing room), there's no denying the film's warm, beating, nostalgic heart.

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Romance with a Touch of Smut: CASHBACK

If you like your romantic comedies with more of an adult sensibility than today's Hollywood usually allows, take a look at 2006's Cashback. Despite its unassuming title and a plot description that does it no favors, the film manages to combine romance, whimsy, and a bit of healthy European randiness with an artistic sensibility that never interferes with its off-beat humor. This is owed to fashion-photographer-turned-director Sean Ellis, around whose Oscar-winning short of the same name the film was based (a short whose fantastical conceit--a young artist with the ability to freeze time--is incorporated here and successfully deepened). If you're familiar with the '80s films of Bill Forsyth--Gregory's Girl and Local Hero being two personal faves--then this has a similar sensibility, only with a bit of magic and a lot of breasts.

This overlooked charmer stars Harry Potter's Sean Biggerstaff and a cast of fellow Brits, including the lovely Emilia Fox

Yes, there are a fair number of beautiful ladies doffing their kits (as they say in the U.K.) throughout the film. So if that kind of thing frightens you, or if naked ladies are against your ideals of Art, Cinema, and Good Taste, then by all means dial up something with Julia Roberts or J-Lo. Otherwise, this slow-burn examination of a young artist's fascination with love, beauty, and the female form offers many small and satisfying rewards.