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Reviews
In Pot We Trust (2007)
Interesting, but consume with caution
This documentary basically looks on some very interesting aspects of the medical marijuana issue. It tries to show a balanced account of the problem by letting speak a variety of representatives and opinions on the topic, government officials, law enforcers, politicians, lobbyists and the consumers. But there are a few points in which this account is somewhat blurred. While it makes very clear that there are some people that obviously profit from the use of medical marijuana (although those parts are often unnecessarily emotional), it does mix the issue of MEDICAL marijuana with the overall use of it. Also there is no mentioning that the marijuana prescribed is NOT a cure, but simply a palliative measure to ease the suffering. There is no mentioning of alternatives to smoking marijuana as well, while it is not the marijuana itself that makes the effect, but the THC in it. The anti-marijuana statements are sometimes not statements against the medical use of marijuana, and the part of the marijuana plantation raid seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the issue, but with the fight against the criminal suppliers of pot.
But still, this documentary is in comparison to the overall picture of the Marijuana issue very refreshing as well as its attempt to be balanced, although it sometimes fails to distinguish between medical and recreational use. Whether it should be legal for recreational use or not is an entirely different question.
But in the end, this seems to be the major problem in the whole debate, to differentiate between MEDICAL and RECREATIONAL use.
El laberinto del fauno (2006)
a waste of talent, actors, time and money
I was very surprised to see this movie getting so many good reviews and nominations after I saw a sneak preview last night. While I consider myself open minded, especially to fantasy content, I thought this movie was pretty funny. Funny in the sense of having the urge to laugh without being able to stop it. While I really liked the "real" part of the story I totally disliked the "fantasy" part of it. I convinced myself at first, that this was the only way for the girl to escape from the horrible and cruel reality but then it was too strange on the other hand to be just that. The real-world storyline would have made a great movie, exciting and full of statements about the human condition, but the other part was ridiculous. The cinematography wasn't bad in every single scene for itself, but put together it was a little bit overdone. Too many panning shots and repetitions in the camera movements. I really liked the sadistic fascist stepfather character, because it was not a pure monster but a character you could believe in. I have to admit, that the characters were all very well written and the actors underlined this by a very good performance but this horrible story! I can't get over it. I really had to laugh out loudly when I saw the child-eating monster with eyes in his hand. And the fact that the girl had to eat the grapes, leading to just another violent episode, was just unnecessary. And that is exactly the point. This "fairy-tale" was completely ruined by violence and gross scenes. There the fantasy should have been a contrast to the violent reality, which was crass but realistic and believable. Instead it was topped by the fantasy world. And this is exactly why I came to the conclusion that this wasn't just a little girls attempt to flee reality. (besides the complete lack of rational behavior or logic in some of the characters actions). All in all it was a combination of good actors, bad story and overdone cinematography that leads me to only one advice: DON'T PAY TO SEE THIS MOVIE!