We Are the Nobles (2013)

Directed by: Gary Alazraki
Country: Mexico

Movie Review: “Nosostros Los Nobles” a.k.a. “We are the Nobles” is a Mexican comedy that was turned into a top box-office in its origin country. Gary Alazraki’s directorial debut gives us the story of a rich family that suddenly became poor, in a stratagem of Germán Noble, a protective father and owner of a well-succeeded company, who made all the arrangements to teach their three slacker children a lesson on how tough life can be. Javi works with his father but only wants partying and is lost in ruinous business ideas; Barbara is the most spoiled and arrogant, willing to marry an opportunist who tries to pass himself as Spanish; Carlos, in turn, is a zen guy who makes part of an anti-capitalist group and is having an affair with his teacher. Therefore, no other option is available for them than start working hard in order to have some food at the table. After create this pretended situation, even Germán will understand that he himself has many things to learn about their children. Eased by the solidly built characters, the cast did a good job, helping to turn this social criticism in a watchable film, even considering its familiar tones and here and there some exaggerated situations. Adorned with warm colors, and more moralistic than really believable, “We Are the Nobles” gains in entertainment what lacks in originality, becoming the second comedy coming from Mexico released this year, along with “Instructions Not Included”.

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Big Sur (2013)

Directed by: Michael Polish
Country: USA

Movie Review: A big disappointment is what “Big Sur” revealed to be. Being a fan of Jack Kerouac’s novels and an admirer of some previous works of helmer Michael Polish, this film became a disillusion, suffering from the same problems of pace and energy, evinced in “On The Road”, other failed adaptation of the same writer, directed last year by Walter Salles. I wonder if the problem has to do with the difficulty of adapting the author’s works to cinema or if it’s the directors’ inability to deal with the written material. The film starts with a sober Kerouac, which is the same to say monotony is around, but even when he starts drinking, the somnolent narrative never gathered the right elements to drop all its torpor. The visual side was its stronger aspect, an asset in Michael Polish's attractive style, which alone was powerless to transmit the eloquence and dizziness that one may extract from reading a book such as Big Sur. The infinite words forming outbursts of elaborated speeches weren’t anything more than philosophical thoughts most of the times loose and disconnected, leaving me in a confuse state of mental dimness. This fact just proves that great books don’t always mean good movies. I was expecting something more 'out of the box', more extravagant, in order to depict an iconic work from the king of Beat Generation. Sadly, that didn’t happen, with Kerouac being vulgarized by this wishy-washy, pretentious exercise. Obfuscated performance by Jean-Marc Barr in the role of the mentioned American novelist and poet.

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Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche
Country: France / others

Movie Review: Very few films about search of identity and sexual orientation were so raw, intense, and sharp as “Blue is The Warmest Color”, a three-hour drama directed by the acclaimed Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche. The film, Palme D’Or at Cannes, evinces a steady but very commendable pace without never losing direction or slacking intensity on the detailed occurrences it tries to emphasize. Through a completely new approach and uncountable close-ups, the director was able to extract the exact feelings and expressions from the characters, creating the appropriated levels of intimacy. But this was not achieved without some controversy, since actresses Adéle Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux affirm they won’t work again with Kechiche, accusing him of moral harassment during the shooting of the film. Polemics aside, the truth is that every single minute felt very real, and none of the protagonists faltered even once. Adèle’s shyness, sweetness, and sadness were very well depicted, and her concern and affliction after a failed sexual experience with a male classmate was totally convincing. With an interesting dramatic side, “Blue Is The Warmest Color” stands above many other films with the same thematic, only sinning due to its overlong duration. Some will love it and say it was thoroughly designed, some will hate it and refute that sex was overmuch explicit… For me this is a great achievement of modern French cinema, portrayed with honesty and relying on an admirable ending.

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Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallée
Country: USA

Movie Review: Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée proves his enormous quality and versatility with this 100% American film about the battle of a Texan electrician and rodeo rider, Ron Woodroof (Mathew McConaughey), against pharmaceutical companies, medical institutions, and the authorities, after he was diagnosed with HIV. In 1986 he was told he would have only 30 days to live, in a time where AIDS was practically unknown and some medicines were being tested in first hand experiments. Getting progressively worse with the consumption of AZT, the only legal drug approved by FDA and administrated in hospitals, Ron decides to try alternative treatments, following the methods of a doctor who operates illegally outside the country. The success obtained led him to the idea of opening the Dallas Buyers Club, a place where paying members could find help on these non-toxic medicines. In order to do that, Ron will have to work hard to give up his drug addiction, as well as his homophobic behaviors. Matthew McConaughey has another memorable performance, well seconded by Jared Leto in the role of a transgender fellow patient and business partner. Vallée’s direction was noteworthy and straightforward, grabbing us intelligently for an authentic story. The lack of sentimentalism was another point in favor of this engrossing drama that, regardless how slovenly its characters might be, has a lot to teach about humanity and will to live.

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Aftermath (2012)

Directed by: Wladyslaw Pasikowski
Country: Poland / others

Movie Review: Written and directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski who has been dedicated to TV series since 2004, “Aftermath” is a Polish drama involving two brothers, decided to unveil a dark secret hidden by the whole village concerning the massacre of Jews in times of German occupation. One of the Kalima brothers, Franciszek, returned from America where he was working in asbestos removal and demolitions. His absence from his father’s funeral made his brother Jozef resentful, but in his rude way he will show a good side after finding some grave stones buried in an old deserted road. The brothers were not well seen by the community, a problem that came from the times when their father was alive. Technically there is not much to point here, with the film accomplishing its purposes of showing an oppressive atmosphere, but in terms of story and dialogue I was disappointed. The story drags itself for long periods, evincing sluggishness on the moves and methods that made me stop searching for the secret and boringly wait for the revelations, which were not surprising at all. Several times, a false tension was created without consequences, while in other situations the absence of that tension was unjustified and even required. Set up with dark tones and with a photography that remind me the 80’s, “Aftermath” never impressed, ending up in a sentimental family fuss that, once for all, thwarted its possibilities of success. It was considered best feature film at Jerusalem Film Fest.

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Escape Plan (2013)

Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom
Country: USA

Movie Review: Excluding “Evil”, released in 2003, the films directed by Swedish Mikael Hafstrom’s tend to be forgetful. “The Rite” was a complete failure on horror and the new “Escape Plan” isn’t much better, being another weak blockbuster stuffed with the same stereotypes and machinations. Hafstrom tries to take advantage using two tough icons of action genre, Stallone and Schwarzenegger, fact that will certainly save the film financially, but didn’t improve a strained story depicted with a standard approach, where nothing new happens. Ray Breslin (Stallone) is a skilled expert on finding security breaches in maximum-security prisons. Known for his talent of escaping, he and his business partner will be tempted by a CIA agent to accept a last risky job. Kidnapped and incarcerated in an unknown prison, which seems more a spacecraft, he will try to escape the tight security with the help of another inmate, Rottmeyer (Schwarzenegger) who gained his trust, and the facility’s doctor. “The Escape Plan” doesn’t reserve enough surprises and its heroes adopt the same defiant pose that we are used to. With too sophisticated methods and theories, I wonder how can be possible to know so much about a place with so little observation time. Consequently, its lack of credibility instantly corrupted the idea. Among kicks, punches, and sneaky tricks, this is a narrow-minded film that only might work for fanatics of MacGyver series, so popular in the 80’s and 90’s.

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All Is Lost (2013)

Directed by: J.C. Chandor
Country: USA

Movie Review: J.C. Chandor’s sophomore feature film, "All Is Lost", proved the filmmaker’s abilitiy behind the cameras, since this one-man film carried so much intensity and let us prostrate with so many frustrating situations along a turbulent journey. The simple plot covers the afflictive story of a solitary sailor, performed with sobriety by the legendary Robert Redford, whose boat is accidentally hit by a shipping container that was drifting in the Indian Ocean. Struggling against time and facing adverse weather conditions, this man will try to remain calm and use up all the possibilities to save himself from drowning. It was noticeable that Redford committed himself to this role with all his soul and the result is a real test to our nerves and comfort. Being limited in story and almost speechless, it was incredible how strong and powerful the images were, making impossible to take our eyes off the screen. Every minute was worthy and Chandor’s sense of direction was astoundingly surprising. If in “Margin Call” he employed a talkative approach to tell a story wrapped in some complexity, here the strategy was completely opposite, yet not less efficient. Even with a predictable finale, the film was rigorous in its details and realistically depressive in its calamitous occurrences, ensuring that the viewers remember it as a reference in survival genre. Mesmerizing, “All is Lost” also makes us anticipate Redford in the run for the coveted Oscar.

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