The Other Woman

Honestly I was not expecting much from this film that decided to watch probably because Natalie Portman was on top of my mind after her honors in this award season. Before her amazing role in Black Swan I did not enjoyed much her performances and since this movie was done before -surely was released to take advantage of all the buzz- I assumed that film was going to be similar to her previous ones. On top Lisa Kudrow whom I also don’t enjoy much was also here. Still, I gave it a try as lately have the need to watch easy-to-watch movies.

With all the above out of my system let me share that you have no idea how wrong I was.

Natalie performance is one of her best –not as good as in Black Swan, but close- in a dramatic role as a troubled woman carrying too much baggage from her far and recent past which makes her today quite sarcastic, especially with her stepson William. Portman has an unattractive character maybe as unattractive as her character in Black Swan, which makes me think that probably she feels more comfortable playing this type of roles thus making them more believable. But Portman shines with this pas de deux between her and Charlie Tartan who plays young William; yes, is her movie but Tartan also shines and makes Portman shine. Then Lisa Kudrow character is awful, loud and even when was a bit overplayed, I did like her performance. Is the husband, Scott Cohen who was on the not good acting spectrum which was a true shame as could have made movie more compelling.

Film tells the story of Emilia (Portman) that recently lost her just born child, trying to make a family with her husband and his very special –and lonely- son; she’s the second wife and is seen as the home wrecker especially by William’s school moms; she’s a disaster with William, with her husband and with herself. You try to understand Emilia, sympathize with her but she will make it hard until slowly, very slowly more details are revealed and then you will be not only inside the story but also very shocked. Still it’s an American movie so yes, has a happy ending.

Does not hurt that story is set in Manhattan and New York City looks quite nice in many scenes; but this is a film to watch because Portman performance and the strong drama in a nice film by Don Roos.

I like the movie, a lot more than what I could expected and I do recommend it to those that enjoy surprisingly good dramas with the plus of a remarkable Natalie Portman performance that makes everything believable.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @MOC (please be aware that trailer tells story TOO MUCH and in order, which is not the case with the movie)

Largo Winch II (The Burma Conspiracy)

After my positive entertaining experience with the first Largo Winch I was looking forward to the sequel hoping to have a good escape moment again with this French comic-to-screen character that looks and feels so human which is refreshing for a change from typical Hollywood movies. But this time I did not enjoyed the film that much as in my opinion this film lacks many key entertaining elements that were present in the first installment, including the story, the amazing locations, the cinematography, the action, the car chases with the WOW cars, the “normal” fights, a remarkable evil character -like Kristin Scott Thomas character in the first- and yes, the raw sex scenes typical of French cinema.

Still have to admit that Tomer Sisley again had a good performance which helped me to watch until the end and most surprising was to see Sharon Stone looking good in the big screen and yes, in that scene with the white dress that absolute recalls her most famous film. Have to share that during her scenes I was looking at her lips and to my surprise seems like she was speaking French, but there were some moments where I could tell she was not; still according to Sisley, Sharon Stone speaks good French and that’s news for me (LOL!).

Seems that I was more interested in finding if Stone really speaks French than following the story that starts with Largo being W Group’s CEO and on the very day he announces his intention to sell his corporation and use the proceeds to create a humanitarian foundation, he’s accused by the United Nations of crimes against humanity. To prove his and his deceased adoptive father innocence he will retrace the steps of his past three years, which will take us mainly to the Burmese jungle. According to what I read this time producers decided to create an original story while keeping some of the graphic novels characters; surely because of this decision, story ended up being a lot less interesting and entertaining.

To watch only if you wish to see Sharon Stone speaking (?) French and looking a lot better than in her previous films; but if you skip it won’t be missing much.

Enjoy.

Watch trailer @MOC

Un Giorno Perfetto (A Perfect Day)

Thanks to a my dear photographer friend was able to watch this Ferzan Özpetek film that absolutely blew my mind thanks to a slow buildup (even if you knew the outcome as is the beginning), great style, interesting camera moves and the most outstanding performance by Isabella Ferrari as Emma. Ferrari is truly impressive performing but also her wardrobe and makeup are perfect for the character making the watching her experience quite unique for contemporary Italian cinema, as in a way made me recall great performances by the likes of La Loren and La Magnani from the Italian cinema glory days.

Based on Melania Gaia Mazzucco novel Özpetek’s tells about love; yes love… from kids’ love, to forbidden love, to love for your work and position, to unrequited love and most of all: obsessive love. Main story is about Emma and Antonio (Valerio Mastrandea) who are separated with Emma, her daughter and son living at her mother’s (great Stefania Sandrelli) home; the other stories are satellites that rotate around them and their children. In just 24 hours the life of this broken family will be not the same anymore.

Film premiered in competition at 2008 Venice fest where Isabella Ferrari won the Best Actress award and in 2009 she was nominated for a Nastro d’Argento that after watching the film -and with my almost blind adoration for Giovanna Mezzogiorno- I say that this award should have gone to Ferrari instead of Mezzogiorno’s performance in Vincere. That’s how good Ferrari is in this role; but also Mastrandea and the supporting cast –including the children- give compelling performances.

Strongly suggest not to miss this movie that’s perfect for those that enjoy great films by Özpetek, very good European cinemas and strong performances in strong dramas in films that tend to be noir.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Best "Thor" trailer yet is a VW/Superbowl spoof

Hast thou dawwwww?



Obviously a takeoff on "Little Vader," and a funny one, but part of me hopes the whole "kid loves Thor" bit isn't just wishful thinking on Marvel's part. One thing the early reviews seem to agree on is that this is the "youngest" Marvel-movie yet in terms of likely appeal - i.e. it's more about the straight-up fantasy/heroics than it is about Iron Man's middle-aged ennui or Hulk's anger issues - and it really would be cool to see one of these things take off primarily with kids in a big way.

MovieBob's (other) insane Wii2 Theory (maybe) gets slightly less insane

Oh! And hey, check out my interview on PixelJumpers...

The Escapist has some Reddit pix up, purporting to be design-scans (from developers toolkits?) of Wii2 (aka Project Cafe, aka "The Stream") controllers that - if real - look an awful lot like my "other" guess at the device's format; name that it'd be essentially the "bottom half" of a 3DS in the button/screen setup.

That's certainly what it looks like, and makes me even more curious if one of the "big reveals" of this machine is going to be that you can actually USE a 3DS in place of a controller. "It's made of stuff you already might have!" strikes me as a very Nintendo-esque marketing theme, and it'd go hand-in-hand with the all-but-innevitable confirmation that it's going to be backwards-compatible with the Wii Remote as well. They would, after all, be INSANE to tell people that all of the plastic attachments they bought for Wii Sports aren't "useful" anymore.

And the countdown to "Skyward Sword will be delayed to be a Wii2 launch-title but don't be mad at us because look! OMG! Smash Bros. 3DS and Raccoon Mario is back!" begins...

THE B-LIST: FEED ME

At the start of Lent, I made a few commitments. One, as part of the symbolic fasts we all participate in, was to refrain from drinking anything but water (except on Sundays, of course). And I’ve done just that, although half way through my angry taste buds began suggesting that next year I punch myself in the spleen instead. Another one, as suggested on the blog of Fr. Philip Neri Powell, was to offer up any Lenten sacrifices in reparation for the horrific damage done by the priests and bishops who abused children and covered-up the abuse. And I’ve done that as well. That left the final thing, which was to make three posts a week here (I’m a notoriously slow poster) during the Lenten season to help keep my focus on God. By my count, I’m one short. So here’s a last little something before I go silent for the rest of the Easter Triduum.

Since this is Maundy Thursday, the holy day in which we commemorate the Last Supper, it seems fitting to take a look at that event. Like it or not, probably the first image that comes to mind when we think of the Last Supper is the ubiquitous painting by Leonardo DaVinci.

Everybody knows it. That’s why, not too long ago, Battlestar Galactica ran a popular ad campaign based on DaVinci’s work (so popular in fact that it spawned similar rip-offs promos from Lost and The Sopranos). Because of all the symbolism inherent in the original painting, some people spent literally weeks trying to decipher the hidden meanings in this photo.

But the folks at SyFy were hardly the first to utilize the iconographic image. We’ve seen it co-opted time and time again by films over the years, each to their own purpose. Let’s take a look at a few shall we?

Some, like M.A.S.H., had a tinge of seriousness to them…

..while others, like History Of The World, just played it for laughs.

The Dirty Dozen offered a different perspective, but the general idea is still there.

Now you might think Alien is a bit of a stretch…

…but with just a bit of imagination, you can see what they were going for.

And while we never actually  saw this scene in the Star Wars trilogy, it’s pretty much a guarantee that Lucas will CGI it into the Super Fantastic Amazing Special Editions if he thinks there’s a dime to be made from it.

Just what is it about the Last Supper that inspired DaVinci and so many other artists to try and recapture the moment. What is it that still speaks to us so deeply even now? Well, it’s probably way too big of an event to assign just one simple meaning to, but in this year’s sermon for the Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper, Pope Benedict touches on one of its most profound aspects.

According to the Pontiff, it’s during the Last Supper that Jesus “prays that all may be one “as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). Christian unity can exist only if Christians are deeply united to him, to Jesus. Faith and love for Jesus, faith in his being one with the Father and openness to becoming one with him, are essential. This unity, then, is not something purely interior or mystical. It must become visible, so visible as to prove before the world that Jesus was sent by the Father. Consequently, Jesus’ prayer has an underlying Eucharistic meaning which Paul clearly brings out in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:16ff.). WITH THE EUCHARIST, THE CHURCH IS BORN. All of us eat the one bread and receive the one body of the Lord; this means that he opens each of us up to something above and beyond us. He makes all of us one.”

So, in a certain sense, the celebration of Maundy Thursday is the celebration of the beginning of the Church. Or to put it another way, it’s our birthday! A birthday in which we receive the greatest of all gifts in Jesus, and are then instructed to go out and regift Him to others. So happy birthday everyone. And Happy Easter. I’ll see you on the other side.

Little Fockers