lunes, 28 de febrero de 2011

The King's Speech

The King's Speech posterOf course, after the Oscars I have to write a review of this movie. It is a very good example of the British cinema to show the moments of their history and their political figures. Colin Firth makes a very credible work as George VI and you can feel his fear and pressure during several moments of the film. The dramatic moments are very well mixed and linked with some details of comedy, very well supported by Geoffrey Rush who works as well as usual in these cases. Helena Bonham Carter makes a good connection between the two main characters. The atmosphere and the environment of the royal family and the critical moments of this period of the history are very well reflected. You can feel that the director Tom Hooper knows very well what he is doing during the full film.

My score: 9 (out of 10)

True Grit

True Grit posterThis is a good remake of the classical film by Henry Hathaway, with John Wayne, in 1969. This new version is slightly more focused on the point of view of the young girl Mattie Ross, fantastically played by Hailee Steinfeld, but some parts, even the conversations, are almost an exact copy of the old version although updated to the current cinema. Jeff Bridges makes simply wonderful work and he is without a doubt in the best moment of his career. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin work very correctly as well. The atmosphere is very well captured with good details of the old typical westerns and good photography, but at the same time well seasoned with modern ingredients, like the real dirtiness and the explicit violence of the last quarter of the XIXth century in those places. A good film by the Coens.

My score: 8 (out of 10)

lunes, 21 de febrero de 2011

Black Swan

Black Swan posterThis is a movie about rivalry, competition, art, evolution, obsession, effort, dance and "losing of control"... in this case to achieve the "perfection". All the actors made a fantastic work; specially the small character of Winona Ryder as broken doll, the loving manipulator Barbara Hershey as Nina’s mother, the great Vincent Cassell in a perfect role for him, and of course… the amazing Natalie Portman who, in my opinion, has now ascended to a new level with this movie. I’m sure she is going to won the Oscar this year. Aronofsky has squeezed all the juice to his actors, and he focused almost the full movie in Portman, giving her the chance to show that she has become a fantastic actress. The result is an absolutely beautiful movie, aesthetically and musically speaking, and it is a new good work by this great director, playing with the reality, the fantasy and the madness, to chase a dream.

My score: 8 (out of 10)