"Pan's Labyrinth", "The Children of Men" and "Babel"
Three films from three exciting Mexican directors but with mixed results!
Quick review of each one and I'll start with my favorite out of the three and that is "Pan's Labyrinth"
Outstanding feature in pretty much all facets of a motion picture!
Beautifully crafted story full of childhood fantasy, wonder & innocence, balanced with the horrors of the Spanish Civil war, while in the middle of all this a lonely little girls struggles to come to terms with a new family headed by a father in lust with Franco's fascist regime both at home and at the front lines!
The line, "He won't even know your name", is the cornerstone of the father character and the most memorable in the film!
Directed by Guillermo del Toro with such skill it truly is a wonder to watch this chap work! Bit heavy on the ultra-violence but worthy of many awards and a lot of people will be looking at his next feature with much anticipation and interest. Good luck to you sir!
Second and without of a shadow of a doubt is Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men."
A simple tale told in a childless future of the New World Order society which is clearly closer than we think!
The film follows the story of Clive Owen's character as he becomes involved in an underground plot to smuggle out a pregnant woman while stopping to smoke some "pot" with Michael Caine (excellent cameo!) and getting shot at by both the British Police Force and the "Terrorist" group (CAN you tell the difference in their motives?!) who are trying to help the birth of the first baby in nearly 20 years!
Eerie, atmospheric, you name it, but this film had a great look right from the opening sequence! I though the acting was great especially from Clive Owen and Michael Caine. Julianne Moore was pretty forgetful and the supporting cast did just that and didn't try for much more.
Remember to watch for this line from Michael Caine, "Pull my finger!"
"Babel" - mmmm, in last place and for the right reasons! I found this a huge disappointment considering the director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu whose first feature was the excellent "21 Grams" and I was expecting something a little better than this to be brutally honest!
First off it's essentially the same structure as "21", but on a grander scale in all aspects - cast, story and budget etc,.
And, for me that is quite simply where this whole movie went wrong!
I would love to say that Brad Pitt & Cate Blanchett give the performances of their lives, BUT quite simply they don't!
They are far outclassed by the supporting performances of Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi (who quite rightly have been nominated for Oscars!) The story, or lack off was more than apparent from the outset and why all of the media critics have jumped all over this with teenage zeal is beyond me? Really break it down and it's not that great!
In a sentence, "Babel" was summarized by my friends 8-year old daughter with, "So this film was all about a gun!"
But I'm sure it will Oscars!
Quick review of each one and I'll start with my favorite out of the three and that is "Pan's Labyrinth"
Outstanding feature in pretty much all facets of a motion picture!
Beautifully crafted story full of childhood fantasy, wonder & innocence, balanced with the horrors of the Spanish Civil war, while in the middle of all this a lonely little girls struggles to come to terms with a new family headed by a father in lust with Franco's fascist regime both at home and at the front lines!
The line, "He won't even know your name", is the cornerstone of the father character and the most memorable in the film!
Directed by Guillermo del Toro with such skill it truly is a wonder to watch this chap work! Bit heavy on the ultra-violence but worthy of many awards and a lot of people will be looking at his next feature with much anticipation and interest. Good luck to you sir!
Second and without of a shadow of a doubt is Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men."
A simple tale told in a childless future of the New World Order society which is clearly closer than we think!
The film follows the story of Clive Owen's character as he becomes involved in an underground plot to smuggle out a pregnant woman while stopping to smoke some "pot" with Michael Caine (excellent cameo!) and getting shot at by both the British Police Force and the "Terrorist" group (CAN you tell the difference in their motives?!) who are trying to help the birth of the first baby in nearly 20 years!
Eerie, atmospheric, you name it, but this film had a great look right from the opening sequence! I though the acting was great especially from Clive Owen and Michael Caine. Julianne Moore was pretty forgetful and the supporting cast did just that and didn't try for much more.
Remember to watch for this line from Michael Caine, "Pull my finger!"
"Babel" - mmmm, in last place and for the right reasons! I found this a huge disappointment considering the director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu whose first feature was the excellent "21 Grams" and I was expecting something a little better than this to be brutally honest!
First off it's essentially the same structure as "21", but on a grander scale in all aspects - cast, story and budget etc,.
And, for me that is quite simply where this whole movie went wrong!
I would love to say that Brad Pitt & Cate Blanchett give the performances of their lives, BUT quite simply they don't!
They are far outclassed by the supporting performances of Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi (who quite rightly have been nominated for Oscars!) The story, or lack off was more than apparent from the outset and why all of the media critics have jumped all over this with teenage zeal is beyond me? Really break it down and it's not that great!
In a sentence, "Babel" was summarized by my friends 8-year old daughter with, "So this film was all about a gun!"
But I'm sure it will Oscars!
posted by Paul Anthony Lomax at 4:09 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home