Shopgirl

  

"Shopgirl" is, above all, a film that surprises. It surprises because of its subtlety, of the simplicity with which it penetrates into the story without resorting to heavy intellectual dialogue and deep characters.

8 1/2

The action takes place in Rome in 1962, over a two weeks period. The director and actor Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni), 43 years old, has delayed the start of shooting of his newest movie for 15 days, because of the state of confusion  he is living after the success of his latest work. To recover the lost inspiration ,he checks in a hotel in a Roman bath.

Goodfellas

This film has already gone down in film history as one of the best on the mafia. However, it is worth it to make it clear that it is not a saga-like “The Godfather”, nor an epic representation-like “Once Upon a Time in America”. It is a story of rise and fall: a chronicle of a soldier destined to be destroyed.

Chloe

"Chloe" is hired by Dr. Catherine Stewart to seduce her husband David, who has no interest in her anymore and even seems to be having an affair with a student. Her strategy is to confirm that her spouse cheating on her.

Four Minutes (Vier Minuten)

Ms. Bleibtreu has dedicated her life to give piano lessons in a prison. Her increasingly scarce student, have learning disabilities.

The Painted Veil

"The Painted Veil" is the story the understandings and misunderstandings of a man and a woman condemned to live together. It's that simple. Most of the film takes place in a village in China where a cholera epidemic has unleashed.

The Wave (Die Welle)

In “Die Welle” Professor Wenger and his students develop a socio-political experiment based on the idea that the rise of authoritarianism is incomprehensible if you have not lived its fascination. For five days, by agreement, the group lives ​​a project called “Die Welle”, which from the beginning is more successful than anticipated.

Match Point

The sunset of life has different effects on the ethics of people: while many become moralists as death approaches, others transform what was experienced in pure skepticism.

Bowfinger

Bowfinger is the name of a director of cheap and mediocre films on the brink of failure. When there seems to be no way out, this director (Steve Martin) has a prodigious idea: make a movie with Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy), one of the most renowned stars of the moment.

Games Of Thrones

Done. Just finished watching the second season finale. It took me a week to watch the whole 20 episodes of the first two seasons: normally, given how much I enjoyed this series, it would have taken me a couple of days...but a girl has got to work!

First things first, a short summary for those who live in a cave (just like I did until a week ago).

The Godfather

This is a story about tradition, heritage, and the strength of the family. This is a story about ties of honor, loyalty to one's word and respect for the elders. In turn, this is also a story about a criminal clan, of reasons that depend on the caliber of a weapon, of blood washed at the point of revenge.

Between honor and death this story is debated. At the same time, it is the chronicle of a family throughout the twentieth century, an epic saga covered with glory as much as of ambition and evil. It is the story of the Corleone family, in the Italian-American mafia film ever made.

Cannes 2012 - Winners

Just as for the Academy Awards, and altough quite late, here is an informative post on the outcome of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. And the winners are:

Caché

The family of Georges (Daniel Auteuil), Anne (Binoche Juliette) and Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky), apparently, has it all figured out. The father is a successful television presenter on a program of literary reviews; the mother a book editor and a housewife and the only son is twelve years old and attends school like any other kid. Everything fits the ideal parameters of a French upper middle class family.

Eagle vs Shark

Love is awkward, no doubt. "Eagle vs. Shark" seems to be made ​​just for reminding us that. This is the story of Lily, a naive cashier of a fast food franchise in Wellington, New Zealand, who falls for Jarrod, an insufferable jerk  who has never been able to overcome the traumas of adolescence and works in a video game store.

Midnight in Paris

After exploring the inability to be happy with what you have and the costant need, never satisfied, of desiring something else in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger", Woody Allen gives us now a beautiful fable about the importance of knowing each other and finding happiness in the present.

Gil (Owen Wilson), a screenplay writer who works for Hollywood, has arrived to Paris wih and his fiancée, Inez (Rachel McAdams), for a holiday before their wedding. Having been always captivated by the literary legend of the city of light, Gil believes that in its streets he will find the inspiration he needs to finish a novel he is writing.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Employing, again, the ironic tone of his previous works, director Anderson tells the story of oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray), shaped, no doubt about it, by the figure of Jacques Cousteau.

Zissou and his team's documentaries have lost the interest oftheir public, hence the attempt to regain their glory days with a new project: a sort of personal vendetta against a murderer shark that ate one of Steve's most intimate work collaborators.

Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette)

There is an overwhelming sadness in this movie, all so much sadder because the sense of loss is linked to something so aperently meaningless as a bike.

In this masterpiece from the 40's by director De Sica, we follow three days in the life of Antonio and his family, in post-war Rome. Antonio was just lucky enough to find a job, after months of disoccupation, one among hundreds of jobless people waiting in the streets to hear their name. His family could not be happier, but he needs a bike for his job and his bike gets stolen minutes after he starts working. It is a downward spiral of search and loss from that moment on.

Rudy

When you love football since childhood more than anything else, when you don't have the desired body for this sport and you play with team mates who are a body and half taller.

When your family, friends and everyone laugh when they hear you talk about dreams and goals, when they say and repeat that you are not worth what you want and you're a fool... When this happens, you will find yourself faced with the same story and life of Daniel E. Ruettiger,aka "Rudy".

Men in Black...and 3!

Men in Black is the absolute trash that turns into cult. This is not a critic, first of all because I personally like it a lot and, second, because such an ability deserves a Bravo!

This third and probably last part hits the theaters 15 years after the first one and 10 after the second part. This trilogy has all the ingredients of a successful trash/cult.

The Edukators (Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei)

This movie has elements that art should have: it shows you, it does not seek to prove an absolute point, it conveys. For me, being able to identify myself with 3 German guys and share their feeling of alienation of the modern world is a breath of fresh air.

I think the message is this: al long as young people feel the need to rebel against the mediocrity imposed by the systems created by previous generations, the continuity of the world is assured.