A bunch of mini-reviews of films
Moro no Brasil
I was admittedly skeptical. I mean, my stomach churns when I watch another documentary (or feature film) by a foreigner who "discovers" Brazil. Usually, that person does not speak Portuguese and has really learned very little about Brazil or Brazilians (let alone the many Brazils).
Although I thought the opening segment of the film was a bit strange, I was hooked in the northeast. I wondered why I hadn't bought a few dozen strange percussion instruments at the feira in Caruau and was ready to go back. Actually, I am always ready to get back to Pernambuco, but this was just fuel.
The Rio part was actually really fun and I loved how Kaurismaki didn't try to pretend that the film captured all of Brazilian music but rather that this was some pretty awesome stuff that he had run across. This segment in particular served as a nice complement to the Paulinho da Viola documentary, Meu tempo é hoje.
Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music
Not a great or particularly artful documentary, but it is great fun if you love music or have a fascination with buckdancing (Emmylou does it). John Hartford pretty much hosts, which is great if you are a bit of a music wonk because John was a walking encyclopedia of old time music (especially fiddle tunes).
Cocalero
Cocalero is a fine, journalistic account of Evo Morales' road to the presidency of Bolivia in 2005. I was glad that it gave some of the opposition's viewpoints while still focusing on the figure of Morales and his circle of campaigners and supporters.
There is nothing very profound about the film; it is more of a document of what happened. This said, it would be a very useful teaching tool to demonstrate how populism actually work and how populists from the proletariat rise to power, often through unions.
La vie en rose
Surprisingly, this was a pretty good biopic. Sure, we were drug around Edith Piaf's life, but the script wove different points together fairly effectively by juxtaposing different moments. I think this was helped by the fact that the juxtapositions were not always the obvious ones that you often see in film scripts.
The acting is, of course, the dealmaker in the film. Without Cotillard's performance, it would have been a pretty mediocre film.
Real Women Have Curves
I saw the play years ago and was pretty excited to see the adaptation. Unfortunately, the acting was terrible and it seemed like they altered the plot in ways that just weakened the story....
I was admittedly skeptical. I mean, my stomach churns when I watch another documentary (or feature film) by a foreigner who "discovers" Brazil. Usually, that person does not speak Portuguese and has really learned very little about Brazil or Brazilians (let alone the many Brazils).
Although I thought the opening segment of the film was a bit strange, I was hooked in the northeast. I wondered why I hadn't bought a few dozen strange percussion instruments at the feira in Caruau and was ready to go back. Actually, I am always ready to get back to Pernambuco, but this was just fuel.
The Rio part was actually really fun and I loved how Kaurismaki didn't try to pretend that the film captured all of Brazilian music but rather that this was some pretty awesome stuff that he had run across. This segment in particular served as a nice complement to the Paulinho da Viola documentary, Meu tempo é hoje.
Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music
Not a great or particularly artful documentary, but it is great fun if you love music or have a fascination with buckdancing (Emmylou does it). John Hartford pretty much hosts, which is great if you are a bit of a music wonk because John was a walking encyclopedia of old time music (especially fiddle tunes).
Cocalero
Cocalero is a fine, journalistic account of Evo Morales' road to the presidency of Bolivia in 2005. I was glad that it gave some of the opposition's viewpoints while still focusing on the figure of Morales and his circle of campaigners and supporters.
There is nothing very profound about the film; it is more of a document of what happened. This said, it would be a very useful teaching tool to demonstrate how populism actually work and how populists from the proletariat rise to power, often through unions.
La vie en rose
Surprisingly, this was a pretty good biopic. Sure, we were drug around Edith Piaf's life, but the script wove different points together fairly effectively by juxtaposing different moments. I think this was helped by the fact that the juxtapositions were not always the obvious ones that you often see in film scripts.
The acting is, of course, the dealmaker in the film. Without Cotillard's performance, it would have been a pretty mediocre film.
Real Women Have Curves
I saw the play years ago and was pretty excited to see the adaptation. Unfortunately, the acting was terrible and it seemed like they altered the plot in ways that just weakened the story....
posted by Ryan at 3:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home