The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network is a film that makes you wonder at several levels. To start with, a film is never just a film. It conveys the beliefs, values and point of views of its creator. In this case, things may be a bit different since the movie discusses a real case of life.

So one question here is how unbiased and objective is what is presented about the story of Facebook? Well, there are different opinions published and finally one .. just does not know!

On the other hand, even if the whole truth was known to the director, what he chooses to show, is what he considers to be the most important for his movie. So, this very choice at the end, partly conveys parts of himself. Given that angle, there are a lot of things that might be discussed, especially since David Fincher also created “Fight Club“.

Regarding the movie now: what is happening is presented with a fast pace, very well describing the main character, the underlying mentality and motives, the moves made, the lack of morality as well as all the key points of the story (provided that this is indeed the story). It is an excellent movie, given brilliantly. It is a blue print of our times, no matter how depressing that might be, for the lack of values we now-days suffer from. And I know what the answer to that is …

My rating: 08/10

Another Year (2010)

From time to time, comes a film that is so true about people, life and human relationships, that it really hurts. Most of the characters presented in “Another Year” are middle-aged or older. A couple of them have come to terms with life, to know their inner-self and enjoy everyday life, being happy with what it offers. Others trapped in the unwillingness to face their real issues,  strive to escape by day-dreaming, drinking, eating etc.

All the above is portrayed with outstanding performances from all the actors, in a simple way, like actually witnessing scenes from every day life of the characters involved. Short camera shorts from face expressions convey more meaning that a page of a book and one gets the feeling, more than in other movies, that scenes were carefully designed one-by-one to convey a specific meaning.

Mike Leigh created an amazing film that you should not miss.

My rating: 09/10

PS. A cherished friend pointed out that similarity of the main idea of the play with the verses of “Diafanos by Thanasis Papakonstantinou (inspired by the “Poem to be read and sung” of César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza'”. How true!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Back in the 80’s it was Lemon Popsicle and Saturday Night Fever. Nowadays, it is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. After three decades, the issues are the same although presented differently. This movie has originality, freshness and a cool mixture of video game, cartoon and hard rock essence. A honnest movie. To be seeing mainly by teenagers 🙂

My rating: 06/10

NOVO (2002)

NOVO is about memory and the lack of it: an idea initially addressed in Memento exploited here in a totally different way. Love, being in love and the desire for the other sex under the prism of the lack of memory. What does it mean for the person that suffers from it and what for those close to it. An excellent treatise about human relationships, suppressed desires that find their way out when the opportunity arises, cruelty that becomes imperative when the opportunity is threatened and the limits of moral that each individual places upon itself.

A wondeful movie you should see, keeping an open mind.

My rating: 08/10

Certified Copy (Copie conforme) (2010)

From where should I start? It is like the confusion that transcends the movie really disorganizes your own thoughts! This film reminds me of recipes that do have excellent and expensive ingredients to finally produce after several hours of preparation a really indifferent (if not bad) meal!

Abbas Kiarostami in Certified Copy has created a story which starts in an interesting way, has an exchange of ideas along the way which seem provocative, propagates efficiently the tension that exists between the characters to the spectator to reach a specific point where things start to become clear: it all has to do with the well-known conflicts between man and woman in a couple, the different point of view, the different needs that each of them has.

The excellent acting of the entire cast, cannot however save the movie: there are several ‘firecrackers’ thrown here and there to denote a kind-of philosophical flavor, not well related to the main idea of the film, as well as an attempt to provide an ideological background about what might save relationships ready to collapse. So, what a woman is always seeking is a strong man ,to lay her head to his shoulder. That should solve all her problems! Seems that the concept of having equal partners that may stand on their own feet in a relationship, is written in a letter that was never delivered to the director.

Has Kiarostami seen ‘Scenes from a Marriage‘ of  Ingmar Bergman? It is one of the films to see about man-woman relationships.

My rating: 04/10

Macherovgaltis (2010)

A world painted in all shades between grey and black, where the lumpen main three characters seem to live in a life with no purpose, no goals, no happiness, just to sustain an unjustified existence. A foul language is the starting and ending channel of every verbal communication between the three of them. The surrounding characters and places intensify the feelings of the spectator: meaningless discussions, threatening looks, reasonless fights and beatings. Fear and violence are the two sides of the same coin.

It is hard to relate to such a world. “Macherovgaltis” however depicts it extremely well, to the degree one may judge from what is presented. A tight direction, excellent cast and fast changing scenes like quick brushes on a canvas show a lot about places and people in a very short time. Photograph of both sceneries and people make an interesting movie to watch only for this quality.

My rating: 06/10

RED (2010)

R(etried) and E(tremely) D(angerous): how an ex-CIA agent fighting against the odds, the corruption and the US agencies with the support of couple of friends and ex-enemies (!) manages to survive and … save the world. Again!

For an action movie, not bad.

My rating: 07/10

PS. What is interesting that there are a lot of good actors in this movie that have shown in previous films they can do better than this. It is one hell of a crisis…

Paprika (2006)

Paprika (Papurika in Japanese) is one of the most challenging animation films produced. Animation, due to its historical evolution (Disney studios etc.),  provides the spectator with the subconscious impression that what he/she is about to see is addressed mostly to children, thus requiring zero mental effort to conceive the ideas presented by the film. Well, this is certainly a bad start for a film like this!

Satoshi Kon created a film that works in multiple levels. Artistically, it is really amazing. The real strength of animation comes from the fact that it has the power to visualize in a seemless manner scene transitions, which are extremely difficult (if not impossible) to implement in a real world movie. The ease of doing that is apparent from the introductory titles of the film, let alone the rest of it. The colors and lighting of every scene, especially during dreams, are astonishing. The parade of the heterogeneous characters, household artifacts and equipment, crane etc is beyond description.

Conceptually, it is one of the predecessors of Inception (Existenz being the other one). Would you believe it is based on a 1933 novel?! Here, using a totally different initiative, we have the concept of the dream within the dream merged with the traumatic experiences of the individuals that rule their conscious lives. A journey into the revelation of the truth and subsequent liberation.

Action wise, there is a plot designed that really keeps the spectator on its toes, as things happen fast one after the other, with a constant shift between dream and reality.

Finally, there are several messages codified or open-wide, within the story, giving food for thought, and a music acting as the salt and pepper in the movie.

One of the best Sci-Fi films one should not miss!

My rating: 08/10