Prisoners

Be prepared, that was the best advice Keller Dover received from his father. A hurricane, a flood can happen, or any misfortune that makes people lose control. However, no precaution is good enough  when the worst nightmare a parent can face, the kidnapping of your own daughter, actually happens. In this unfortunate situation the question posed by the viewer is obvious: how far would a father be willing to go to save her? Keller has it very clear. Without too much trust in the police, rabid and driven by the basic need to save his little girl, his determination will make him cross the line.

Christmas Time

It’s that wonderful time of the year again. I am a bit of a Christmas freak: our tree has been up and shining since November 1^st , for the bemusement of all the upcoming guests. If that weren’t enough, I consider it a special achievement when I manage to wait until after my birthday (October 12^th) to start watching Christmas movies. Usually I fail, but what never fails is the very first choice: Love Actually is always number one.

Casually ordered, here is my personal favorites list!

Volver

Undoubtedly in Pedro Almodóvar's drama world, he is the king of melodrama. It's almost impossible not to get wrapped up in his bizarre plots involving a wide variety of feelings and issues from maternal love, parental hatred, female solidarity, relentless criticism to “machismo”, to the desire to kill and be forgiven, tales about childhood and hometown, family dramas, aging, sickness, life, death and superstitions. 

Stand Up Guys

Often, experienced actors have the same destiny as ex-presidents: nobody knows what to do with them. At some point of your career, no matter how many awards you have won, the only roles you get offered are the wise grandfather or the old villain, because unfortunately  commercial Hollywood has always been and will always be the kingdom of eternal youth.

NO is the 3^rd film by Pablo Larraín and it is set in the last years of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In particular, it focuses on the advertising campaign conducted by the opposition to convince Chile to vote "No" in the plebiscite, called by the dictatorship, that would in fact end the Pinochet’s regime. 

Oblivion

It is the year 2077. An alien invasion has caused the destruction of the moon. Men have fought with what they had and have not hesitated to use nuclear bombs. Planet earth was sacrificed to save the human race. The remaining few have moved to Titan, a moon of Saturn, while a handful of men have remain on Earth supervising giant converters/mills that extract all the energy from the oceans and seas. 

The Machinist

The first thing that strikes you when watching “The machinist” is the extreme thinness of Christian Bale who plays the tormented Trevor Reznick. Anderson, the director, wants precisely this effect and we are bombarded with close-ups of the face of the protagonist being all consumed, his ribs and spine standing out.

Kon-Tiki

"Kon-Tiki" tells the story of the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and the adventure resulting from the decision to cross, with a raft of all-natural wood, the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia: the aim is to prove the theory that the South Americans were the first ones to step foot on this land (and not Asians, like the dominant theories say).

Outbreak

In 1967 Billy Ford (Morgan Freeman) discovers a virus in Zaire called "Motaba" with a death rate of 100% and which kills within 24 hours of infection. The U.S. government assumea that bombing the infected population will destroy the only outbreak.

Evil (Ondskan)

What are the limits of power? Who do we blame or point at as evil? Who deserves to be punished and how? These are just some of the questions raised by the Swedish film “Evil”. In Sweden, during the fifties, within a conservative and rigid society, the young Erik Ponti, played impeccably by Andreas Wilson, seems to be out of control because of his temper, violent and irascible. Despite this, at home he stands stoically the punches that, for whatever reason, his grim stepfather inflicts on him.

Moonrise Kingdom

Being an adult is to forget that the games of children, with their shared rules, their imaginary scenarios and their plastic guns, are a very serious thing. Fortunately for all, Wes Anderson, the same author who eleven years ago introduce us to The Royal Tenenbaums, never became an adult and his films have kept the atmosphere from a fantasy world built during school break.

The Impossible

A mother will do anything for her children. Starting from little things, like exchanging sits with the eldest of her three children on the plane that is taking the family to spend a nice holiday in Khao Lak, Thailand, so that he will not argue with his younger brother. This happens a few seconds before the sound of the turbine breaks the tranquility of a blue and cloudless sky, as if it were a warning. The unthinkable can alter what we see in a blink.

Looper

Clearly, the time travel issue is one of the most attractive that can be explored by fiction, to bring characters from different periods together, to witness to the life of someone or simply to address the perennial debate over whether changing something in the past creates a different timeline (something reflected brilliantly in an episode of the Simpsons by the way). However, in "Looper", time travel is a catalyst for the real story and not the backbone of it.

Silver Linings Playbook

"Silver Linings Playbook" was already an attractive movie thanks to its director and cast, especially the two main characters, two young stars with legions of fans; but interest further increased after its success at the Toronto Film Festival.

The Secret World of Arrietty

There is an ocean of difference between the animated films we usually see in our theaters and those produced by Studio Ghibli. Without detracting from the great work of Pixar or Dreamworks, the Japanese studio films possess a unique magic, not only because they still hand-draw their work, which is one of its greatest virtues, but also because of the way it addresses family stories from a fantastic, honest and spiritual perspective.

Argo

Most successful spy films usually develop around impossible missions, conducted with the most spectacular resources ever seen and with glamorous fighters capable of defeating a small army with their own hands as main characters. The actual espionage, I believe, cannot be like that.

Wreck-It Ralph

Those who used to jump with joy while going through all the worlds and adventures of Mario Bros and those who spent countless hours at the arcades are the ones who can especially and fully comprehend the beauty and nostalgia behind the extraordinary world shown in the movie Wreck-it Ralph.