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blacklives4ever
Reviews
The Eternal City (2008)
Awesome
This film should be widely released. I saw it tonight at the Salem Film Festival in Oregon and thought of it as one of the most original and beautiful films that has come out in the past several years. It has the feel to it of Italian films of the 1940s-60s, which is what the filmmakers were going for. It's an independent film, and sometimes it shows by seeming slightly amateur in its editing and making, though not much - for the most part, it is a very professional film. The scenes that are not there to move the plot along always have something that keeps it interesting, such as a recurring joke or a quirky interlude. I hope this film gets the recognition it deserves.
Real Women Have Curves (2002)
Never have so many done so much with so little
The plot isn't much, really. But it's realistic, and it's accurate, and it's so very powerful that I have to give it 8/10. It's so funny because this is really what Mexican families are like. Well, usually mothers are not so concerned with their daughter's weight - yeah, every family is different.... but it's such a big family and everyone is always there and they always know everything about everyone and it's so hard to hide things. I know because I'm Mexican American and although my immediate family is small, when all of my Mexican relatives get together it's loud and joyous and people just barge in.
The beauty of this movie is that even with a small plot (not unlike that of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with a much different outcome and objective, of course) it brings so much of everything: love, hope, determination... after watching this you'll want to do great things to help your family. And another thing is who cares what you look like? It's what's inside that counts. We've been hearing that since pre-school and we've been watching movies with that message, but this is the one that will mean the most to girls in this generation because being "fat" is what so many girls are concerned about that. On TV, movies, magazines, and everywhere else you look you see perfect, skinny women telling you it's all right to be different and to "be yourself" while wagging their perfect behinds in your face.
Overall.... this is a perfect movie to watch as an American youth because it covers so many problems we seem to face. 8/10
The Ring (2002)
This movie stays with you...
The weirdest thing: this movie is not all that scary. Well, it is. But not the "scary" that most American audiences expect, with decomposed-faced ghosts popping up, grabbing your ankle, weird noises in the wall. Nope, this ghost hardly makes any appearances at all. There are one or two jump scenes, but nothing that will really freak you out. What makes this movie so scary is the sense of impending doom, like a black raincloud hanging over your head, ready to burst any minute. It's the kind of fright that hasn't been successfully made since The Sixth Sense or even Psycho. Hardly anything is shown, but everything else is shoved in your face to make you think that you saw everything that you didn't really see. And that's what gives you nightmares.
What's also creepy is that it's not your everyday plot: psycho killer on the loose, or even boy who can see ghosts. No, this plot has been weaved and woven to the point where only those with enough patience are able to sit down and unknot the plot until they can go "oh! now I get it...." but just like fractions, that's not the end. There's back story and after story and clever twists and turns and meatballs every now and then.
So if you're interested in a good psychological ghost thriller, grab a trustworthy pet to cuddle and a glass of water and, contrary to what many critics say, watch it alone! It's juicier that way and will have you leaping backward away from your television set faster than you can say "seven days."
My take: 8/10