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kittylee55
Reviews
Sukkar banat (2007)
Sweet!
Caramel is a sweet movie, about women, for women. It shows the tone of contemporary Lebanese society, which is similar to what other parts of the Mediterranean were like some 50 years ago - obviously Lebanon is more conservative than Europe or the US.
I liked the characters, but had a hard time understanding the demented relative, who spoke very fast - I was also surprised that so much French is still spoken in Lebanon. The main character's affair with a married man seemed a bit old-fashioned, but at the end she gets rid of him, which is good.
There is attention to the small details in this movie which make watching it very enjoyable. Things like a teenage son telling his father on the phone that his mother was next door smoking marijuana - which is not true - or the female hairdresser with a crutch on a female client, lovingly washing the client's hair - several times a week.
Funniest of all was the Muslim wedding, where the family hired musicians and dancers with swords - obviously there are no colorful Bedouins running around anymore, so you have to hire "folk" dancers to provide a traditional Arab wedding.
Histoire d'O (1975)
Weird
This movie gets points for the cinematography and the settings - the castle looks fantastic. Rather than a porno movie, this is more like a story about S & M, and bondage and obedience. There is a lot of female nudity, but no male frontal nudity.
The story follows O, a French woman who is taken to a castle by her boyfriend, where she is initiated into submission. Right there I have a problem with the story, because she is suffering through all this to please her boyfriend, played by Udo Kier - now in 1975 Kier looked gay, gay, gay, so why would a woman do all these things for such a gay guy?
The random sex maybe typical of porn, but is not necessarily a turn on - one interesting contrast between American porn and French porn is that all the French actresses had small flabby breasts - now you never see that in American porn - American women should be proud of their large, aggressive breasts!
The story is more like a male fantasy - this movie would have been better if done with a sense of humor - the fact that this movie takes itself so seriously makes some parts of the story unbelievable. This movie will provide you with some strange entertainment on a rainy night. Just don't expect too much from it.
Dog Soldiers (2002)
Good to watch on a dark rainy night
I only watched this movie because I'm a fan of Sean Pertwee. I found the production a bit disappointing, obviously done on a very low budget - the werewolves live in this tiny old cottage - the film would have looked better if they had used a larger cottage - all those soldiers and werewolves living in this tiny space is unbelievable.
The story has interesting parts, and the actors put in good performances in this film. The cheap look of this film reminds one of older horror movies - the werewolves walk on two feet and are exceedingly tall - I prefer werewolves that turn into real wolves, but these werewolves looked like people wearing costumes.
There are truly scary parts, and the werewolves are creepy and disgusting. The film was shot in a forest, and the scenery adds to the mystery of the story.
Ordeal by Innocence (1984)
Unintentionally funny
This film is on my list of worst movies ever made. The story is disconnected and it is difficult to understand what is going on or the reason for the characters' actions. All films need to have an inner logic, and this film just doesn't have it - the story doesn't make any sense.
To see Faye Dunaway, Christopher Plummer and Diana Quick wasting their talents in this movie is a crime. Faye Dunaway is the lucky one, because she plays the victim and gets killed early in the film. On the other hand, Donald Sutherland must be an amazing actor because he manages to look good in spite of bad directing and bad writing; his performance is believable and he manages to stay in character in spite of everything.
If Dame Agatha Christie were alive she would die laughing! The movie is that bad!
Sólo Dios sabe (2006)
I found this movie disappointing.
The beginning of the movie is the most interesting part and takes place in Mexico.
The ending of this movie is a cliché, a "disease of the month" type of movie. The moment the leading characters get to Brazil, they begin to get bogged down with problems, and the movie gets to be more and more of a downer.
The movie shows the outer rituals of the condomble religion, but doesn't explain the belief systems and the philosophy behind this combination of African religions and Catholicism. They should have done more research.
It shows scenes of condomble ceremonies, and of an island in Brazil where apparently everyone practices African religions.
Watching this movie is like watching 2 different movies. I recommended with reservations, as the ending is too melodramatic, like a Brazilian TV novela.