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Reviews
Sylvie's Love (2020)
Not a good experience, bad acting
Well this movie has good costumes, scenery, and music, but wooden acting and a lousy story line. I'd say the male lead is not an actor at all-- his body and facial expressions do not correspond to his lines. It's amazing to me that some reviewers found this movie uplifting, while I didn't see anything good happen.
Les Misérables (2012)
If you liked the musical, don't go to see this
What a dreadful movie! With one exception, none of the main actors have good singing voices. On top of that, the quality of the recorded voices is terrible.
Many of the images on the screen are so bad as to be disgusting -- these include numerous unnecessary and distracting closeups of faces. If you think Paris is a beautiful city with probably some squalid locations, forget it -- you will only see the squalor in this movie. Anyone who enjoys looking at vast expanses of feces (literally) may enjoy the movie.
All these are the fault of the director -- bad casting, casting without regard to voice quality, an experimental approach to recording voices, and poor design of what is on the screen. Perhaps there was an intentional plan to have the movie be faithful to the novel and not faithful to the musical. But then, why make a musical? -- there is barely a minute of spoken words without music in this movie.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
If you are really old you may love this
Well, I am 28 and did not find much to connect to here. The visuals of India were superb, and so evocative. The scene shifts briefly from Jaipur to Udaipur, and since I have been in Udaipur, the part of the film that was shot there brought back wonderful memories. There is also a grand old restaurant/bar in the film, presumably in Jaipur, but evocative of many similar establishments in India.
I had spent some time in official government offices when I was in India, so I can say that the scenes occurring in the public records office ring absolutely true. Oh, and so good to see one of those Indian phone-answering services from the India point of view.
The characters, however, are a bit too one-dimensional and follow a predictable script. You have to suspend belief to think that they could change long-held patterns of thought and behavior in just a few months. The wife who never became even slightly accustomed to India seems like the only realistic character, but the script writers (or maybe the original novelist) do not take a very kindly attitude toward her. I personally know many more people who are like her than who are like the other characters.
To me, the retired judge with a secret was the most memorable character, and the viewer gets truly caught up in his life.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
If you like S/M porn, you will enjoy this
Wow, what a disgusting movie. In the theater where I saw it, there were families with children 3, 4, 5 years old .... In my opinion they should get free obligatory tattoos saying "Lousy Parent".
The person I went with had read the book and so understood the story. I think the movie-makers did not bother to make a story that actually fits together and that the viewer can understand. The movie is just an excuse for showing gross scenes.
Key things that the viewer needs to know were not mentioned in the screenplay. At the beginning of the movie, one of the main characters is convicted of libel, but we don't know whether he wrote a true story or not. At the end of the movie, the screenwriters may think they told whether he was vindicated, but I don't think they did explain it -- whether this was on purpose or by writing an incoherent script I'll never know.
Also, the second primary character is a whiz at hacking computers, but the screenplay doesn't mention that until about halfway through the movie. If you read the book, you know that she is a computer hacker, but you don't need to see the movie; if you didn't read the book, you are in the dark.
During the opening credits the viewer is treated to incomprehensible visuals which have nothing to do with the plot or with any of the characters. What's with that?
Finally, I'll avoid giving any spoiler, but the main question raised by the movie is never answered in any way that makes sense... you simply cannot tie the pieces together... the script does not contain a story that could actually work out as the writers show you it did.
The Social Network (2010)
An unpleasant time had by all
It's a story of really despicable people making a lot of money. If you are interested in making a lot of money, too, you won't find out how they did it by watching this movie -- all you will know is that Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in the US.
The flashback technique is used very ineffectively. The scenes of depositions (or whatever it is that is going on at those tables -- why aren't we told?) are unnecessary for introducing the next segments. It seems to me that the movie makers, while telling us about two lawsuits, are actually only protecting themselves from a lawsuit. They are trying to persuade us that the events in the movie, true or false, were presented in sworn testimony. Who cares? The story could have been better told straight forward.
Also, if the flashforwards had been omitted, there would have been some time left to let us see what happened that turned the company into a money-maker.
The actors did a great job of portraying unpleasant human beings who destroyed everyone who tried to get close to them, but that's not reason enough to see the movie.
Eat Pray Love (2010)
Cardboard woman goes around the world
Why does the movie and the IMDb main details page say this film is based on a novel? It is based on a memoir. From what I hear from friends, and read in the other reviews here, the memoir is a good one; but I did not read it. The movie, however, has no actual person behind the screen image of the protagonist, Liz. She is a cardboard recipient of images and words -- like the theater audience, she does not respond in any way. Oh, to be fair, there is one episode where she takes an action that seems to reflect the presence of an actual human being there -- but I will not elaborate on it here since it is not enough to make anyone want to see the movie.
I found myself reflecting on the word "movie" -- just moving the camera around the world does not make a movie. To be a movie it would have to move or be moving, but this doesn't happen.
I did enjoy the travelogue -- places and food were excellently captured, and the music was wonderful.
I live in a small town where the majority of people have had experiences like Liz'. Other reviewers here mention that no one could make a movie like this about a man, but in fact there are male characters in the movie who are in situations parallel to Liz'. Most of the people I know who went through this are male. I was hoping to get some insight into their experiences from this movie, but alas it is not possible from watching a cardboard woman who has no interpersonal, spiritual, contemplative, or emotional core.
Ha-Sodot (2007)
Moving and multifaceted (two M's)
"Secrets" is a film about everything. Just when you think you know what the main theme of the film is, it shifts direction subtly. I think you have to know at least one person who is like a character in this film to find it believable, or you possibly might just be interested in unfamiliar cultures. Practically every event in this film could not possibly happen in the US, but the movie is not a fantasy.
What are the secrets that the viewer gradually comes to understand? They are things people don't tell other people. They are things that people don't know about themselves. They are a culture's basic assumptions that normally go unquestioned. They are ancient Jewish mystical practices that are not supposed to be talked about. They are insights into biblical writings that were never uncovered before. They are little twists of language, like how many M's are in a sentence. They are what happens to people when they face death.
And the secrets of what makes this an amazing film? They are the uniformly great performances, the cinematography that lovingly caresses the city of Sfat (or Zefat, as the Israel road signs say), the beautiful and moving music, and the the questions that haunt the viewer emotionally and intellectually afterward.
El laberinto del fauno (2006)
Fantastic
I saw this movie on the DVD, which has English and Spanish subtitles -- a rarity as very few videos in Spanish available in the US have Spanish subtitles. The (English) audio commentary by the director is very interesting and informative, and his enthusiasm for this production just shines through the commentary, so I recommend it highly.
The language, direction, acting, cinematography, and music are all extraordinary. This is a true fairy tale, with a villain you can't miss unless you happen to like fascists, and one of the most beguiling heroines in all literature. Not for children, a key theme is death and immortality. The movie haunted me with two thoughts: that even children can easily recognize good and evil, and that when things are going as bad as possible, maybe something good is happening if we open our minds to it.
Why one of the main characters is called Pan in the English-language title I can't imagine... he does not have the name Pan in the movie and is not the mythical Pan. The title in all other countries (The Labyrinth of the Faun) is much better and more evocative of the many symbolic levels of the labyrinth.
The Departed (2006)
I departed, and so did everyone else
This film should be rated for language: not suitable for any age. I saw it in Argentina. At the cinema, there was one showing a day, at 11:45pm, and there were stern warnings that only adults could buy tickets. The language was so coarse and untranslatable that the audience gave up and left. I was the last to leave -- eerily watching the images continue on the screen in front of an empty room. I did discover that nearly all the characters were lying to each other, so it did not really matter that we could not understand what was being said.
Upon my return to the US, I saw that the DVD is available and is labeled "not authorized for sale or rental outside the US and Canada." If only that had been the general policy for this film, we would not have exported such an embarrassment for US culture and especially for the City of Boston and Massachusetts State Police.
In Spanish, the title of the movie is "Los infiltrados" which does not have the meaning of "departed," but everybody in the theater joined the departed, anyway.
La tragedia de Macario (2005)
Excellent and moving historical fiction
This movie puts flesh and bones on a dimly remembered news story about the most fatal single incident in the history of Mexican immigration to the U.S. The viewer becomes personally immersed in the gritty details of farm work in Mexico, the hopes and fears of families in great poverty, the distant promise of a better life in the U.S., Catholic faith, police corruption, and even beer-hall gambling.
The musical interludes that fill in the story line are fantastically beautiful and informative. A special bonus is the surreal comforting intervention of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who, however, is helpless to prevent the unfolding tragedy that can be no surprise to anyone who reads the film's title.
The mechanics of the DVD are a bit primitive -- you are given a choice of Spanish or English; if you choose English you get Spanish audio with English subtitles. The subtitles surprisingly whitewash some of the most troubling moments in the Spanish, especially the interactions with the sheriff's deputies.