J*A*S*M

I’m very lukewarm towards Bond films (“it’s just Bond”), but the hero of Skyfall is not James Bond, it’s Sam Mendes. Skyfall is perfect craftsmanship, no more than that. Skyfall is such perfect craftsmanship that I can’t avoid being enthusiastic about it. I truly enjoyed the climax in the foggy Scottish Highlands. A brilliant Barden.

This comment contains spoilers (though not fully explicit), because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to say what bothered me about this film or what made it interesting. So, read after you’ve watched it! It’ll be better if you know as little as possible before you do. About 97% of it is an original movie that holds together and makes sense despite a fairly convoluted plot (which is something to say, because the untraditional supernatural phenomenon that the protagonists face would overwhelm many a screenwriter), and clearly leads to an effective climax after which none of the characters will be the same (and some will no longer be, period, lol). And then, bugger. After that effective climax comes the epilogue, which, besides having a completely different tone than the rest of the movie, is also highly morally controversial (how the storylines of David and Jill are resolved). It’s a real shame, a couple of minutes before the end I was downright ecstatic, but this “I-won’t-exactly-say-what” ruined to a certain extent everything the movie had built so far. And it could have been such a beautiful tragedy! (I’m still giving it a relatively high rating because it’s a very interesting, brilliantly made and original film.) Edit: After a couple of hours I’m able to appreciate those last couple of minutes as a relatively successful and cynical twist that it’s not at all common in Hollywood (the character who’s behaved the worst is the one that benefits the most from the situation). In fact, I kind of like the idea, though I believe that the movie arrives there thanks to breaking the clear rules of that supernatural phenomenon…

An entertaining and really well made Australian horror comedy about two brothers who produce organic fertilisers and the three young tourists they want to turn into fertiliser. There’s very little horror (though there’s a lot of carnage), and plenty of jokes. But don’t expect to cry in laughter, this is rather a nice and slightly funny flick with likeable characters. The plot is pretty predictable but still fun. Unlike the similar Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, the premise of 100 Bloody Acres is less original, but I liked this Australian comedy a little more. Strong three stars.

I can’t remember when was the last time Americans produced a truly above-average ghost story. 100 Feet isn’t one, so unless you need to watch everything, turn around and forget about it. The plot revolves around a woman who killed her husband (a police offer) in self defence and has been put in house arrest. Naturally, the ghost of the dead husband is also imprisoned in the house and he doesn’t have the most noble intentions. I waited for the very anticipated twist throughout the film, but in the end I was surprised, the film doesn’t have a twist. One good thing I found in this fairly well made movie is that it tries really hard to be scary and tense most of the time, without ever fully succeeding at it. The single-house location doesn’t exactly offer a sophisticate screenwriter a plethora of possibilities to fill a 100-minute runtime (excessive for this type of film), so we get all the clichés you can imagine and, as a result, the film soon becomes boring. The best scene is the punishment of the woman’s lover, it’s a pity that there’s only one like that. Overall score: 45%.

“A family dinner or a funeral… better the funeral, there would at least be one idiot less.” A remarkable Icelandic comedy that fascinated me mainly by how often it managed to surprise me, although after a few minutes I thought that it could no longer do it, that I was ready for everything ... A very likeable and incorrect flick.

What?

Yeah, Boyle and Franco probably did the best they could under the circumstances, but the fears I had before the screening turned out to be true: the premise is good for an autobiography, but not for a feature film. To allow the camera to leave that unfortunate wedged guy at least for a while, the script includes flashbacks and hallucinations that are pretty annoying and pathetic, though I understand the dramatic reasons behind them. But, considering the possibilities the creators had, the film is very brisk and energetic and Boyle again shows his strength: the blend of music and images. The ending (when the “action” is behind) managed to arouse some emotions. However, I still have mixed feelings about 127 Hours and I would love it if next time Danny chose more story-rich material. 7/10

Just like Zimmer recycles his music, McQueen here has recycled all of the movies about black slaves that have existed to this day. Honestly, this film has nothing unexpected or otherwise interesting. Ejiofor becomes a slave, is a slave for twelve years and then it’s no longer a slave. The end. I also had some problem with the time frame, it didn’t feel at all like it was twelve years, I actually felt that the story could’ve taken place in four years, or even less. But the execution is very good, without any excessive moralising or pathetic bullshit, so a pretty decent Oscar winner. BTW, the best performance is Fassbender’s, hands down, while Pitt surprisingly manages to annoy even in his short, almost cameo appearance.

This is really alright. Around the middle of the previous decade, the zombie sub-genre enjoyed a small boom, but things have got quieter in the last few years, with the zombies ending up more in the waters of uninteresting DVDs that rarely produce anything good. 13 Eerie comes from those waters, and I’m really happy that this time I can give thumbs up to a low-key new zombie flick – it’s just a nice little horror movie. The script is, of course, utterly generic, it won’t take your breath away; this one will please only fans of the genre, who will love the nicely atmospheric environment, the dirty feel, the blood, the good gore and, especially, the perfect look of the zombies – this time they aren’t just people splashed with fake blood and faces covered in chalk who don’t look different than your average mortal. No, here they look like beautifully awful, withered and wrinkled monsters dripping black goo. From this point of view it’s great. I also liked the relatively short run and the fact that the film doesn’t suffer from an excessively long and boring beginning.

Maybe I will write a longer review, but only after I recover from this crap. :-(