Anomalous Material just posted a Meme about 10 Things that Bring You Joy.
But before we start with mine… let me just say… “Forehead Titaes!” *giggles*
Okay, moving on… what are some of the things that bring me joy?
1. The sight of chocolate
In any shape or form. It doesn’t matter how pissy or how gloom I may be, I see chocolate and suddenly the world seems a better place. And forget about having a taste of the chocolate-y goodness.
Only without the Cannes part. xD
The Lima Film Fest opened tonight, at a freezing night for reporters. I saw people shivering, but we had to wait outside for people to go in before us… and you know I don’t do “social photos” I HATE, LOATH the social section on magazine and newspapers. So I decided to take more photos of the sceneries xD
And then camera people screamed at people “please, such-and-such a pose for this side too” so I felt obliged to take photos. And you know I hate using flash, even though it’s so dark… but I like blurry grainy photos anyway… so when I was going through the few photos I took, I thought… Hmm… wouldn’t they look nice in black and white?
So this is me trying some “classic” look.
I’m thinking of writing a 10 Tips for a Better Red Carpet event list. xD
Remember guys, it’s PASO, PASO, POSE. Not PASO, PASO, PASO… OKAY I’M GONE.
When did Eminem get such good DPs for his music videos?
Anyway, new single from Eminem’s Recovery album. Man, what a recovery. I don’t even like Rihanna, but this song is pretty good… and I hate Megan Fox so so much, but this is her best role yet, because she doesn’t speak.
Also Dominic Monaghan is looking kinda hot… always been, but it’s just him, being an abusive asshole on the video, and with the CGI fire – LOL, there’s something to the character. But then again, Eminem is also kinda hot there, so maybe my hot-radar is skew… I still wonder what he did to his face… but still some quiver. People kill the quiver when they speak usually… I never read Eminem interviews or articles. xD
I think I might need to do a shame-f*ck list. LOL
La Casa Muda (2010) – aka. The Silent House
Genre: Horror, Suspense
Directed by: Gustavo Hernandez
The Silent House tells the story of Laura, a young woman, and her father who decide to install themselves in their country house to fix it for sale the next day. At night time, Laura hears noises, so her father decides to check it out without ever returning.
The film, directed by Gustavo Hernandez, is supposed to be based on a true story from the 40s — I can’t tell for sure, though. The Silent House is very stylish, with prime photography, and nice sound design. The acting is fine, and it all should make a pretty good film, except it isn’t that great. Sure, the film is supposed to be a horror suspense, and it is in the beginning, but it gets boring 30 minutes into the film with repetitive running around, and cheap thrills without moving the plot… or lack thereof.
In the end, there’s a big reveal… of sorts, which isn’t that surprising. However, the lack of plot is just too much for a one 78-min-long shot — was it really one shot? It seemed like a DV camera, so it’s possible. Like I said, The Silent House looks really REALLY good, but that’s it.
2.5/5
COMPETENCIA OFICIAL – FICCION
Screenings:
Monday 9 – 8pm – Cineplanet San Miguel – Sala 1
Tuesday 10 – 5.15pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 1
Wednesday 11 – 3pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
Thursday 12 – 8.30pm – Cineplanet Risso
Saturday 13 – 8pm – Centro Cultural Católica – Sala Azul
Agua Fría de Mar (2010) – aka. Cold Water of the Sea
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Paz Fabrega
Cold Water of the Sea tells the story of a young couple about to get married that go on a holiday trip to a tropical “paradise”, when they run into a girl who seems to be lost in the middle of the night. When they try to find her parents, the girl has long gone, which creates a bizarre connection between the girl and the woman.
Perhaps Cold Water of the Sea’s best feature is its locations in the “exotic” beaches of Costa Rica, because neither characters nor situations live up to anything. It’s not as if we wanted high tension drama on this, but we at least expected to sympathize with the characters. However, we end up knowing little about them, having spent a bit less than 1.30hr into these people.
A lot of the time is spent on the little girl, who tells the couple that her whole family has died in a transit accident, when in fact they were alive. Why is that? “Kids are like that” stated the mother, but why did she come up with something like that? She is certainly more than a spoiled brat, treated differently from her three older brothers by her dad. There are certainly hints of Electra Complex in the girl, but nothing is explored. Instead, director Fabrega decides to make some sort of distinction between social classes? Just because one side of the story is set with a poor family at the beach, and the other of a well-off young couple at a fancy resort?
2/5
COMPETENCIA OFICIAL – FICCION
Screenings:
Monday 9 – 3pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
Tuesday 10 – 8pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
Wednesday 11 – 8pm – Cineplanet San Miguel – Sala 1
Thursday 12 – 10pm – Centro Cultural Católica – Sala Azul
Saturday 14 – 8pm – Cineplanet Primavera – Sala 1
What happened to MTV Breakthrough Videos?
The VMA nominations have been announced with Lady Gaga taking the lead with a record 13 nods (10 for Bad Romance, 3 for Telephone featuring Beyonce. Plus, 5 for Video Phone by Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga). Following that, Eminem with 8 nominations for I’m Not Afraid.
Gaga also makes a record by getting Video of the Year for Bad Romance, and Telephone. Plus, they were also nominated for Best Choreography alongside Video Phone – To make that clear, that’s 3 Lady Gaga related videos in the Choreography category. Like I said, Lady Gaga is pretty much the only thing worth keeping an eye out now.
Pink, or should I say Dave Meyers [I should really get to work on my Meyers Music Video Director post] who directed the video for Funhouse, was nominated for 2 VMAs including Best Directing and Best Editing. But you should really check out how fun Please Don’t Leave Me is. Wickedly twisted.
But here we are because of the Breakthrough category, because we all know that the Breakthrough category is the only category that is or could be potentially interesting. And here was the surprise… the most likely to win this year would be the one that won Video of the Year 2009 at the UK Music Video Awards. How outdated is that for the VMA?
Continue Reading…
José Martí: El Ojo del Canario (2010)
Genre: Drama, Biography, Historic
Directed by: Fernando Perez
FYI: NOT official artwork.
Jose Marti: El Ojo del Canario tells the story of Jose Julian Marti Perez, the Cuban national hero and Latin American literature figure, between the dates when he was 9 years and 16 years old.
The film is more a representation of different things that could have had an effect in the way Jose Marti saw his motherland Cuba. Born from his Spanish father from Valencia and his mother from the Canary Islands, Jose Marti grew up a pretty privilege life getting to study at private school, learning mathematics, and reading.
He is bright and studious, and his mother and teacher want him to continue his studies, despite his father’s desire for him to start working right away. At a tender age, he goes off to work with him, and earns him praises for his King-styled handwriting. In school, he is very influenced by his best friend Fermin Valdez Dominguez, as well as his teacher Rafael Maria de Mendive. All of this, plus his exposure to slavery, which was still practiced in Spanish-ruled Cuba, made him want to yearn for a free Cuba.
The two leads who play Marti in the film — one as a child, and the other as 16-year-old Marti — are more than capable to carry the film. In fact, Damian Antonio Rodriguez who played kid-Marti reminded me of a young combination between James Franco (Milk) and Ben Whishaw (Perfume: The Story of a Murdered). Despite me not believing that Daniel Romero, playing 16-year-old Marti, looks anything like Rodriguez, there’s no denying the talent put into his characterization.
The film doesn’t feel all that connected, sometimes jumping scene from scene without any flow, however that doesn’t take away much from the acting and the story director Perez wanted to tell. Cuba is showcasing a very well put together biographic piece.
3/5
COMPETENCIA OFICIAL – FICCION
Screenings:
Monday 9 – 10.30pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
Tuesday 10 – 10.15pm – Centro Cultural Católica – Sala Roja
Wednesday 11 – 9.45pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 1
Saturday 14 – 3pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
Hotel Atlântico (2009)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Directed by: Suzana Amaral
Hotel Atlantico tells the story of an actor (Julio Andrade) – referred to as The Artist – who finds himself without a job, so he decides to embark himself into an aimless adventure, where he meets people and gets himself in unexpected… and even absurd situations.
Funniest thing is, all the supporting characters are probably more memorable than the protagonist himself. From the sacristan (Gero Camilo from Carandiru) and his aid, to Diana (Mariana Ximenes), the daughter of the doctor who wanted to be major. Though, Andrade had moments where he could have looked like the protagonist on Jesus Christ Superstar.
Perhaps, the most absurd of situations is how The Artist ends up in the hospital, and his meeting with Diana who happened to recognized him when he needed aid. But the most moving encounter is when he meets Sebastian or Sebastião (João Miguel).
2.75/5
COMPETENCIA OFICIAL – FICCION
Screenings:
Friday 6 – 10.15pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 8
Monday 9 – 7.30pm – Centro Cultural Católica – Sala Azul
Friday 13 – 10pm – Centro Cultural Católica – Sala Azul
El Vuelvo del Cangrejo (2009) – aka. Crab Trap
Genre: Light Drama
Directed by: Oscar Ruiz Navia
Crab Trap tells the story of Daniel (Rodrigo Velez) and the relationship he makes with La Barra, a little black community in Colombia’s Pacific coast. In it, he meets with Cerebro (Brain), the leader of the afro-descendant natives who are having territorial issues with a white man called El Paisa, who wants to build a hotel on the beach.
The film is a little over 1.30hr, even though it feels it could hit the 2hr. mark. It’s slowly-paced with descent performances from the main cast — even if some of the scenes and situations felt forced. The most interesting part of the film is, perhaps, Daniel’s relationship with Lucia (Yisela Alvarez) a little girl he befriends in the community. Other than that, I did not care about him as a character, so I didn’t care for what he was looking for, or whether he would get it.
Cerebro’s struggle with progress distanced me even further from the story, when you had other characters that didn’t have issues with it. Cerebro’s antics just end up as a childish, not comfortable with things changing. However, I will give in into something — El Paisa playing his damn Reggaeton music every night was annoying.
2.75/5
COMPETENCIA OFICIAL – FICCION
Screenings:
Saturday 7 – 8.30pm – Cineplanet Risso
Sunday 8 – 10pm –Centro Cultural Católica – Sala Azul
Wednesday 11 – 10.30pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
Thursday 12 – 8pm – Cineplanet Primavera – Sala 1
Friday 13 – 3pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
