Adi's Reviews

Thanks for the great review, it sounds like a wonderful movie.

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Kekexili - Chuan Lu

In 1996 a member of the self organized Kekexili mountain patrol is killed by poachers. Ga Yu, a reporter from Beijing is sent to investigate. He sets of on a 17 day patrol lead by Ritai, a charismatic leader and founder of the patrol. The goal of the volunteers, to prevent the poaching of the endangered Tibetan antelopes. Ga Yu's article shocked China and the government was forced to take steps to protect that last intact part of wilderness. In 1997 , Kekexili was declared a reservation. The film is a recap of that last patrol.

And it is an incredible experience, from the monumental scenery of Kekexili – Tibet, to Tibetan music, chants, songs, it’s a transcendental experience. The wide screen shots are a feast to the eye, the long pauses are reminiscent of Japanese and Russian cinematography.
Judging by the DVD cover and the first half of the film, i wasn’t sure if i was watching a national geographic documentary or a work of fiction ( perhaps it was the presence of the reporter that threw me off track ), but the realism was simply astounding.

The characters are incredibly simple and yet their story is larger than life. The incredible ordeal they went through chasing poachers is awe inspiring, the moral dilemmas they were faced with are enough to put the strongest of convictions to the test. This is one of the best films in 2004, the best Chinese film of the year, and yet another proof that a big budget and a bucketload of special effects don’t necessarily make a better film. Be sure to check it out.

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Thanks Addi it sounds like a really interesting movie.

Todo sobre mi madre – Pedro Almodovar.


So what is it about this film that makes it so special?

Well for one, Almodovar is known for creating colourful , exuberant characters ( he has a reputation for being one himself ) and this film represents, not only for me, the summit of his creative work. A nun impregnated by a transsexual dying of AIDS, homosexuals, lesbian actresses ,a transgender prostitute, and finally a mother whom ,broken with grief and mourning the loss of her son , stumbles onto new hope. As ever, Almodovar celebrates women and womanhood.


What i also love about Almodovar is his love for the arts and how he incorporates it in his movies. In this case he practically dedicated the entire film to the theatre . His films are multilayered, complex, full of vigor and life, representing the new Spanish society, coming out of the frankist era of oppression to a new found liberty and freedom.

The film is also coupled with an extraordinary soundtrack. A scene of Manuela riding the train to Barcelona through the night, while the most heartbreaking and melancholic piece of music is playing in the background…it absolutely ripped me apart. And just like that, Almodovar was transformed into one of my favorite directors of all time.

Solid review, I'll definitely have to check this out sometime.

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Latest Movie Review(s): Too lazy to keep this up to date. New reviews every week.

La nina santa – Lucrecia Martel

This film has been declared one of the best in 2005 by certain critics, apparently second only to Brokeback mountain, and to my big surprise, it was produced by Amoldovar brothers. So here's how the story goes;

16 year old Amalia attends a catholic school and lives with her divorcee mother. One day, a man brushes his privates against her in the street. First surprised, then intrigued, she later finds out that this man is Dr. Jano and is staying in her hotel for a doctors convention. Amalia, under the influence of her strict catholic school teacher decides that it is her mission to save this man, one would assume from sexual transgression seeing as how he's married, but the girl is attracted to him and her goal is to seduce him. Sadly for her, Dr. Jago is not interested in her, but is attracted to her mother. Disappointed and hurt by his rejection, Amalia tells her friend that Dr. Jago molested her, her friend tells her parents and the doctor is on the fast track to getting his career and marriage ruined.

And there you have it. On paper, this film sounds intriguing, in reality, it's dull as hell. It's absolutely crawling with meaningless scenes i.e. a man falls down a balcony completely naked and walks away, or half naked men in the background giggling and running to see something that is never to be revealed which leaves you thinking that you mistakenly rented some forgotten monthy python movie . Martel speaks in lengths about some transcendent higher abstract meaning to the film, but either i was too stupid to understand it or she failed to convey it to the big screen. It's good when films make you think, not so good when you don't know what to think.

Despite it's theoretically interesting premise, this film was absolutely killed by the incredibly long and boring scenes where the doctors converse with each other and other pointless situations , which the director , in my mind, needed to make the film last longer than 45 minutes ( i fail to see what other purpose they had ). As someone on IMDB rightfully noticed, it seems that southamerican directors place emphasis on style rather then substance. In this case, the formula failed miserably. It frustrates me beyond belief when films get critical acclaim simply because of their obscurity and theoretically difficult subjects.There are far better examples of latin american cinematography.

thank you adidas for the good reviews......

i'm going to start a small reviews too,,,seems to be close to yours...

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Thanks, I may give this a miss

5x2 – Francois Ozon

So, this is the new film from Francois Ozon, a rather talented French director ( the author of Swimming pool, i mentioned it earlier, decent film, but perhaps his most successful film is 8 woman – for the first time in history 8 women won the European film awards for the best female actor collectively, some say it furthered the devaluation of the European film awards ).

Unlike 8 women or Swimming pool, this film does not deal with any mysteries or murder. This is a film about 5 different stages in the life of one couple, from the bitter divorce, to the romantic beginning of the relationship. And it’s Ozon’s most mature and most cohesive film yet. I cannot find flaw to it. Sure, it’s not your “uuuhh,aaahhh” film, it’s a drama, but a drama that doesn’t make you snooze, but keeps you interested throughout the film.

Both of the leading actors did a great job ( if nothing else, you should pick this movie up just to see their freakish resemblance to Virginia Madsen and Hugh Laurie ). Ozon leaves various questions unanswered , forcing you to take an active role in the movie itself , to try and figure out the motivations the characters had for acting a certain way. And although it didn’t absolutely blow me away , it’s still a good movie, check it out if you’re not afraid of a little drama.

Thanks for the review, I am not a big fan of Swimming pool but a Huge fan of 8 Woman I will keep my eye out for this one.

Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee

No need to do a summary i think, you've all seen it. Don't bother reading if you've not seen it as this "review" ( or rather a collection of thoughts and reflections on the story itself ) will be full of spoilers.

Ok, it was an amazing film, obviously, i've been waiting to see it for some 7 months now, ever since i heard it won Venice ( i love Ang Lee and eagerly await each one of his movies, but a gay cowboy film obviously intrigued me more than usual ). Finally, last night i saw it. I was a bit worried that i built it up too much, but it exceeded all of my expectations. From the very start you could see this was going to be an extraordinary film. It’s setting , Wyoming,( although as i gather it was actually filmed in Canada ) is spectacular, Ang Lee really brought the realistic portrayal of Annie Proulx’s environments to life (the woman has an affinity for rugged forms of living, this couldn’t be more true for Brokeback Mountain ). The hardships of cowboy life ( not at all romantic, but rather an undesirable way of life ), scraping for a living, having kids you can’t really afford, doing odd jobs to support your family, living in crap dwellings. And then a love story born between two men amidst these hardships.

Even though i heard plenty about how it deals with the prejudices the two men faced, i must admit i wasn't expecting such tragic consequences ( if i am correct, when Ennis speaks to Jacks wife about his death, the scene of Jack being killed wasn't Ennis's fears put to screen but rather the truth of what happened ). What made this film so powerful was the lack of explicit affection the two men showed towards each other. At no point in the movie did they confess their true feelings, it was all implied, never spoken out loud.


I was a bit annoyed by Ledger's acting, it was similar to his work in Lords of Dogtown, like he had something in his mouth that made him speak in a slightly annoying way. I thought that made his acting too visible, Gyllenhaal's performance seemed much more believable. Other than that, it was a wonderful, heartbreaking drama. And yet, people laughed at scenes that didn't merit laughter ( Ennis's wife seeing them kiss, also a highly powerful scene that may not have been seen that way by heterosexuals,him making excuses to go fishing with Jack ), the first sex scene also produced a couple of loud protests of shock mixed with laughter and ridicule,which of course annoyed and saddened me.

I can't wait to see Crash so i can compare. It has to be pretty freaking special to top Brokeback Mountain.

Nice reviews dassy, interesting picks and I'm loving the low word count. quick reviews are sometimes what I'm looking for and can't always get it on Mofo.

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Nice review Addi-dassy thanks I really liked the movie also.

Crash was good but IMO, the Oscar belonged to Brokeback.

After some time has elapsed from seeing both of them, Brokeback is the one that remains exceptional in my memory.

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Volver - Pedro Almodovar

Another great film from this hyper productive and multitalented artist ( I also hear he’s a great writer, well ok, that goes without saying seeing as how he writes most if not all of his scripts ). Here’s how the story goes: Raimunda ( Penelope Cruz ) ,her sister Sole ( played by the wonderful Lola Duenas from Mar adentro ) and daughter Paula go back to their home town to visit with relatives and neighbors and to visit the tomb of their mother who was killed in a fire a few years back. When they return to the city, Paula kills her father in self defense after he tries to fondle her...her mother then tells her he was not her real father, and decides to hide the body. In the meanwhile, their aunt dies and Sole goes back for the funeral. There is talk in the village that the spirit of their dead mother has been seen roaming the village, and their aunt was under the impression that their mother was still alive and taking care of her, but they dismissed it as the ramblings of an old woman gone slightly bonkers... But upon her return,Sole is visited by her mother....

Volver has been deemed Almodovar’s most mature work yet; there are plenty of odd situations and quirky humor, but no eccentric characters ( not excessively so anyway ). Instead , these are just ordinary catholic people, so deeply caught up in traditional beliefs and superstitions that the idea of ghosts haunting their lives is not far fetched to any of them. Almodovar displays the life in a small catholic village with a sort of endearing nostalgia; there is a definite contrast between the lives of the characters in the big city and their quiet life in La Mancha, Almodovar's home, where neighbours still help each other, and where it's perfectly normal to buy and decorate your own grave.

This is not his best film, in my opinion, the cinematography is not as impressive as in Hable con ella and especially La mala educacion. The plot is also a lot simpler and more obvious than La mala educacion, which is not a bad thing in my opinion, it leaves you plenty of time to contemplate the characters and their motives ( unlike the aforementioned film which for me, required repeated viewing ) and simply enjoy yourself. Also, Cruz's powerful persona finally comes out, and it's a damn shame she can't fully express it in her english speaking films...

All in all, a good laugh and a few very powerful moments ( Cruz singing, the scene at the end ), make a film worth viewing...

apples pages with trailer

Thanks Addie for the review Nice to see you back and writing reviews

Ay, seconded

And i'd also like to mention that my friend pronounces this film 'vulva'. Just thought i'd share

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muchas gracias....( i think that's how you say it...*expects to be crucified if it isn't correct* ) damn, it's been a while since i've seen a good film....
nice to see you both... 'ave you seen it golgoty?

Come on! it's you, you don't think we would fall for the old 'my friend etc'

Not yet. I watched me first Almody the other day - Habla Con Ella - and liked it a lot. Class cinematography, like you say in that review - and just all round full of spiceyness and deft touches and good performances. Gonna get round to more. Got 'La mala' sitting around on disc.

Que va mujer, yo hablo Castellano sabes

Heh, no seriously, it was so cute. He asked in passing if i'd seen it, with that pron. But, then again, he does say 'yars' instead of years. Maybe he's got interchangeable vowel syndrome or something? He's a strange lad