Ibane’s ramblings
“The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc is bound to be noticed.” S. KierkegaardArchive for Film
The Wrestler (2008)
I belong to those who admire “Requiem for A Dream”, I was fascinating for that movie, the intensity of the tragedy and the no hope ending caught me, apart from the soundtrack that I think that it is one of the best pieces of Clint Mansell.
So I was ready to watch the movie in a good mood expecting something deserved to be watched. And I was not disappointed, I really liked it, and I think that Mickey Rourke is superb in his role, though some times you feel that he is not even acting, that he is playing himself, but who cares. He is amazing and he is able to transmit a very wide range of feelings to the spectators, you love his character, Randy the Ram, also you hate him when he screwed it up, you feel sorry, sad, pain, mercy. Basically Mickey Rourke manages to do what an actor suppose to do, acting.
The story has a solid script and Darren manages extraordinary well the tempos and with that short shots allows you to feel closer to the story. Some times you feel that you are watching a documentary rather than a fiction film. Probably the fact that there is no soundtrack, I mean that there is no a composed song for the movie, just a bunch of a good songs that are played in the background it helps to have this feeling of documentary. Don’t get me wrong, this fact does not diminish the quality of the film, actually I think that it was necessary to give more strength to the story.
I enjoyed the movie and I got the feeling that maybe we get back to the track and we start to see some good movies. It is well known my opinion about the poor quality of movies nowadays. This one definitely breaks that tendency and though I don’t generally share the Oscar awards nominations, in this case I think that Mickey Rourke with all merit 
deserves it. I don’t care if he wins it or not. Who cares.
Vicky Cristina (Wherever)
I watched this film because I still have the excellent memories of watching “Match Point”, which I consider a very good film with a marvelous soundtrack. “Vicky Christina Barcelona” is not close to my favorite one, actually it is pretty far, though I think that it is ok film thanks to the performances of Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall, who I think that plays perfectly the role of well-educated repressed American girl.
Probably the thing that I dislike most from the film is the way that Woody Allen make us to attend to a tourist bus-tour for Americans in order to please Catalan Government and Barcelona city. I understand that Barcelona needs some promotion since it is selling paellas to Americans one of the main incomes but I truly think that there is another channels for that. Using a film ends up being very gross and I felt like not coming back to Barcelona ever. Woody Allen did the same in “Match Point” and London but it was much more smoother and the story had enough strength to keep location away, this time it seemed the other way around, first location, second story. It seemed that the deal was Woody Allen needed to spend some working-holidays in Barcelona, Catalan politicians see an opportunity to promote the city and voila here we go. I guess that Woody Allen could start a saga with different cities “Vicky Christina Bangok, Sydney, Lima…”, sell t-shirts, mugs and so on. Woody, I am joking, please don’t. As always, politics and art don’t get along very well.
In any case, the film can be watched with no much pain. There are funny moments and hilarious dialogs between Pe and Javier Bardem, however the story lacks of credibility and some solid background where to hold it. Scarlett was unnoticable for me, and that means something.
Anyway, I will go to see next Woody Allen movie hoping that this he has not been enchanted by any politician and he is been able to focus on what he really knows to make, just films.
The Dark Night or The Shinning Joker
I watched the film with some reservations, I had heard too many times how good was and bla bla, so I was careful with my emotions. The film does not feel long despite of being more than 2 hours long. I don’t really understand why Hollywood keeps increasing the length of the films. It is getting challenging to deal with the film after drinking 2.5 liters of coke from your mega enormo combo, since apparently it is not possible to get smaller. Anyway, I am sure that some brain is thinking there. In my humble opinion you can tell a good story in 1 hour and half of the next. Many proved in the past like Hitchcock, that it is really ok to have a good film around 90 minutes.
The story is well built and consistent. Nolan provides us a dark Batman and throw us the question how far we should go in order to defend us from the evil. Old question with difficult answer. Also he tries to dig in the human nature with the scene of the two boats. One boat loaded with criminals and the other loaded with good citizens. I found that part a bit unnecessary and the Nolan’s way out is a bit naive. Actors performance is really above the average, I would like to mention Gary Oldman, who I had forgotten lately in any remarkable role, Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney is convincing, the always reliable Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.
Obviously i have to mention apart, Heather Ledger, who is just the real star of the film in my opinion. Nolan’s Joker shows intelligence, a dark sense of humor and no mercy. Those who know me will know what I am saying that Joker is very macarra. The comparison with Jack Nicholson’s Joker is maybe not fair, he was brilliant also, maybe too histrionic as Jack is, so this last one I liked most.
I recommend the movie for those who want to have a good time and enjoy the adventures of the black Knight. Nolan’s attempts to give a deeper vision to a film might be a bit annoying some ,times however I personally appreciate this touch.
Boring Caos Calmo
I had the misfortune to watch the Italian film “Caos Calmo”. I was encouraged by the good reviews that some brainy film critics gave to the film. I wonder if it would not be better that some critics said in the headline which studio is paying their salaries (at least, the ones from my dear Spain, they did the same thing with the last Indiana Jones, I have read in some prestigious Spanish newspaper, the best Indiana ever!?). Otherwise I can not understand how some one can claim that this film is the one that will bring the re-birth of Italian films. If this is the re-birth, I foresee a not very long life to the Italian film industry.
Despite of having one of the best assets, Nanni Moretti, here only his contribution is as an actor, the film has no sense from the beginning. The acting is depressing, the little girl is annoying, the conversations are absurd, even the soundtrack, though having good songs, does not match at all with the pace of the film. Even the sex scene, which obviously has had the expected outrageous reaction of the Vatican (the best marketing campaign you can have as a intellectual European leftist film maker, some comments from Vatican), is pathetic and for that, I really prefer to watch the professionals. I am not sure yet if Roman Polanski’s appearance is irrelevant or boring. After suffering every single minute of the 105 that this torture lasts I was wondering if I could say something good about this film. Not really.
So if you have some one or some annoying relative that you want to get rid of please recommend them this film. It will take a while until they forgive you and speak to you back.
Indiana Jones and the kingdom of ruined dreams
Last Thursday I watched the last film of my admired Indiana Jones. I have special affect for Indiana Jones films, the first one, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, was the responsible for discovering my passion about films. Their scenes impacted me very deep and also it brought my first cinematographic love, Marion Ravenwood, played by the beautiful Karen Allen. I still consider that the scene where she is dressed with that white dress…
However, in this last episode all that imaginary that I have been keeping in my mind since my childhood has been ruined, seeing Marion like an old lady, seeing Indiana Jones doing slow moves, the wrinkles,…I don’t know, I got the feeling that someone was slapping me and saying wake up, it was just a dream, this is the reality.
The film itself is not bad, not great though, it has their moments and Cate Blanchet, as always, even playing the evil side here, she is superb (I am not objective here, she is one of my loves in the world of movies). I did not like the patriotic touch where Indiana is showed as a great American, also the space thing was a bit too weird, although I understand that Mr. Spielberg got nostalgic and wanted to remember E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The son of Indiana Jones nothing to remember and the disappointment of seeing Karen Allen so old.
Coming out from the film theater I was thinking that it is true what they say about some dreams should never come true…
Ibane's ramblings 