malebranche Reviews

Blancanieves (2012)

sublime

[10/10 · 1 July 2013]

Snow White with flamenco and bulls.

The outdoor, hilltop venue undoubtedly added to the allure. The screen was hung on the castle wall on Barcelona's Montjuic and the orchestra was live. The flamenco songs were performed by a singer with a soaring voice standing under the screen. But this was just extras and Blancanieve is well worth watching without it. The music is transporting and the stunning B&W photography alone makes it worth while.

Wonderful entertainment and deeply satisfying.

Just go see it.

The Spanish Apartment (2002)

Spot on!

[15 September 2011]

I think anyone who when young has moved to a foreign city, especially alone, would immediately recognize and appreciate the truths apparent in this film. Certainly everyone's experiences are different but some things, the initial disorientation, the difficulties and pleasure of adapting to a new and very different set of friends, the joys of eventual acceptance and adaption of a new routine; these are probably universal. This film depicts all of this very well.

The Spanish Apartment rings especially true for me. Almost ten years ago I moved from NYC to Antwerp for one year then on to Barcelona, where I am living still. I was a bit older than the film's characters (late 20 's) but my experience was eerily similar. I lived just blocks away from their apartment, in Raval, and recognized many of the streets and locales. Myself, a Slovak girl I was dating, three male apartment mates from Bolivia, France and Italy. I made tons of expat friends from all over Europe (many of whom departed long ago) and eventually Spanish friends as well.

I'm older now and settled down but watching this, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and wished that I could travel back in time if only to relive one of those glorious weekends.

If you've never done anything like this watching The Spanish Apartment may be the next best thing.

The Barcelona tourist office should probably pay me for this.

The Undefeated (2011)

The Unwatchable.

[25 July 2011]

The trouble with Sarah Palin is most of us have already made up our minds about her and for the most part negatively. If Stanley Kubrick directed a positive film about her, and threw in all the spaceships, monkeys, atomic blasts and Alex's he could muster, we'd hate it still. We come to this film seeking comedy or horror. And Stephen Bannon is no Stanley Kubrick.

Bit of background. I'm an American living in Barcelona. The Europeans I've spoken about her with, those who've been paying any attention, either loathe her or are genuinely puzzled by her ascension. Bearing that in mind, a Catalan friend obtained a copy through some interwebz magic and invited myself and girlfriend to watch.

From the opening the room was filled with laughter. They were likely relying more on the subs and may have experienced a very different film from myself but our reactions were the same. Laughter, then boredom. A few more snickers then everyone turned their attention away from the screen and to the wine and the company.

Long story short, it was a campaign ad. A very, very long ad that only those smitten by Palin will likely watch.

The Dark Knight (2008)

First mythology of the 21st century

[10/10 · 22 July 2008]

There's not much left to say, everyone here's already said it. I'd just suggest seeing this film a few times. In the first viewing the movie overwhelmed. In subsequent viewings I had a chance to catch the details that really make it special. The facial expressions of Ledger's Joker; the little mocking moue he pulls after his interrogation-room guard answers that 6 of his friends had been killed and his brief pause as he plumbs his dark mind for his next words calculated to break the officer. The hysterical glee, that seemed to have little to do with acting, as the Joker tells the interrogating Batman that he does not want him dead.

Just about every word this creature says is a lie, the only literary creation to even approach this Joker's essence of pure evil is Lucifer. And for all his heroism and his having survived the film's moral minefield Bale's Batman leaves off alone and seeming essentially doomed.

Nolan has created a visceral, three-dimensional, fully realized Gotham, I could so easily see myself living there, then turns it into a battlefield for warring gods.

There is something mythic in this production that for me only increases on subsequent viewing. Pretty magnificent stuff!

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Painful, Beautiful and getting better every time

[16 July 2002]

The first time I saw TRL I'm ashamed to say I actually dozed off a few times. Five viewings later and I'm afraid I'm still missing something in this profoundly beautiful film. TRL is so much more than a war movie, it speaks some fundamental truths about human frailty, the insignificance of human concerns in the vast scheme, the complex mix of ugliness and beauty inextricably interwoven into everything. After choking down so many 'Pearl Harbors' this was just what I needed. Some of the critizisms are a little scary; 'long and boring', 'inauthentic--not enough blood', 'pretentious'. Sounds as if they're disappointed they didn't get more of the same.