Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris directed by Woody Allen

So, I was going by my film collection and I found myself staring at Midnight in Paris, and then I thought it would be an interesting film to write about.

As I said, this is a Woody Allen film, and I know that there are some "haters" out there that won't give his movies a chance and all, but nonetheless, to me his films are (most of them) great, and that's why this is probably the first of some Woody Allen's films reviews.

The film tells the story of what to me is a perfect alter ego of Allen himself, wonderfully played by Owen Wilson. He plays a writer that is in need for imagination so to speak, he is trapped in his life even though he seems to ignore it at first, so, when he gets to Paris, the city of dreams comes to his aid. The film is a fantasy tale, that leads Wilson's characters back in time so he can meet writers like Hemingway, or artists like Dali, which of course is very interesting, not only to the character but to the audience as well.

Then you get the Woody Allen love story, which is basically a great succession of anecdotes taking the main character to the most bizarre situations and making him realize that the life he thought he had, is nothing but a big piece of nothing. 

The acting in the film is amazing, and there is an A list cast in here, from Wilson, to Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Adrien Brody, Tom Hiddleston and many, many others (even Carla Bruni). The writing... I won't even say, I mean, what Woody Allen does, even in his bad films, is beyond what regular writers can do, and he won an Oscar for this one, so you can figure! Paris is the perfect setting for this great story, and old Paris makes you want to go back in time, which apparently you can achieve, if you wait patiently enough until it's Midnight, in Paris...

MadHatterSays: Watch it!

                               4/5

Micro tale

Hey there! this is not another review, but today I got an interesting email: Some months ago I entered a micro tale in a competition, and today they told me that it has been selected to be part of an anthology that will be published with all the selected tales, which is VERY exciting!!!

The tale is in spanish, but I'll upload it just in case some of you want to read it.

Cada noche, el fantasma de Lady Ángela abandona su morada. Cálida y esperanzada sale para continuar la búsqueda de su amante perdido. Cada noche vuelve a casa sola, gris, fría, derrotada.

It is, as you can see, micro.

Thanks!

War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds directed by Steven Spielberg

Hey there, I know that this one is an "oldie" but I had a really low afternoon and I watched it, so I'll drop a line or two about it and that will be all for today, I'm exhausted of a "hard rock week of exams", so to speak.

So, here, we have Tom Cruise playing a "careless father, or if you will, a disaster of a father. His children 

have to stay with him for a weekend and guess what there's an Alien invasion that screws up the plan of doing nothing. This aliens are "driving" huge tripods that are killing absolutely everyone on their path. The world is at chaos and Tom Cruise has to take his children back to their mother, because it's pretty obvious that if they are with their mother, and the aliens get there, they will think: "what a beautiful family that is, let's let them live". 

There's great CGI in this film, as one would expect, and it's packed with action which is good because it makes the film less boring. It's not that I hated it, don't get me wrong, but I feel somewhat disappointed because the first 20 minutes are actually amazing (with the apparition of the aliens and all), but then it feels like it just loses it and it's an entirely different thing, which is not that interesting.

I got the DVD for like 1 euro and the review states: "Steven Spielberg at his best", well, obviously whoever wrote that has not seen any other Spielberg film, I wouldn't say this is the worst, but definitely not his best work. I didn't pay much attention to the music, and the writing was pretty stupid overall. What I really liked was the art direction, particularly the part with Tim Robbins and all, that was cool.

Basically, this is a "Family drama, with kids that don't get along with his father, + giant killing machines", with one of the most disappointing endings (or more accurate to say: one of the most random) I've ever seen.

MadHatterSays: Meh…

                      2.5/5 (I feel bad giving a bad grade to Spielberg)

Carnage

Carnage directed by Roman Polanski

Hey there! I had no idea of what to review, so I looked up and I found myself staring at the poster of the film and I thought "That's a must do!" So, there I go!

In case you have not watched the film (based on the play "The God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza) it's about two sets of parents who meet up in order to discuss a fight between their sons, where one of them has been injured. We are not talking about an epic fight, the situation is just one of the boys hitting the other with a stick and breaking two of his teeth. To me, the premise of the film could not be simpler and better.

This parents are very different from one another, something you can see from the very beginning. On the one hand, the injured kid parents (Jodie Foster and John C. Riley) are trying to be strictly diplomatic about the situation and are constantly dealing with it as if ethics and human morals was the only important thing in live. On the other hand, the "aggressor child" parents (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) are basically going on with it, you can tell that they "don't see the big picture", it's just two kids playing and one gets hurt, move on! That's probably what they think.

So, you get this two different and very interesting visions of the same event, now get the two sets of parents inside one room (yes, the movie happens all in one room), and expect the worse. 

The film is amazingly acted (For real, it's hard to come by a film with such performances). The screenplay is just spectacular, as it goes on for over 75 minutes and never fails to impress. Roman Polanski knows what he is doing, and filming the whole story in real time and in just one room is a challenge not many directors could undertake. Obviously, the film is funny as hell and what's also interesting about it is that once and for all adults behave like they usually say we younger people shouldn't.

MadHatterSays: Watch it!

                               4.5/5

Game of Thrones

Game of thrones

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with Game of Thrones. I just watch Sunday's episode so here's what I thought of it! I hope you enjoy it.

The episode picks up pretty much where the last one left off. We see the funeral of Lady Stark's father, what Arya is going through with the ones who found her in the last episode… King's Landing is "in the move" as they are changing a couple of things. Those on the other side of the wall are getting ready for an imminent attack to seek control of Westeros, and Daeneris is doing the same thing at the other side of the sea.

Again, and just like next week, I thought that the storyline of the episode was spectacular and it keeps your attention from beginning to end. This is the second episode in a row that I actually enjoy (and I don't think this happened with the other seasons). The directing, writing and acting were great, so I'm just starting to think that this season is going to be somewhat brilliant, but we are only in episode 3, so there's still a lot to come.

I missed Bran, because last episode was quite interesting for his storyline, I guess will be seeing more of him and that strange kid they come across in the near future. As for Jamie Lannister, well, I won't spoil you, but I must say that I'm starting to enjoy his scenes, he is a very well written character and I actually think I'm going to have fun with whatever happens to him. However, no matter how beautifully written the other characters are, Tyrion is by far the most interesting, funny and mysterious of them all.

MadHatterSays: Keep watching!

                               3.5/5

Oblivion

Oblivion

Hello everyone, I just came back from the movies, so I must be rally quick because I need to get some sleep. I went to watch the new Tom cruise film, here's what I thought of it.

Before I get to the film itself, I'm going to give you some background. Earth has been almost destroyed after a war, and Tom Cruise is supposed to be there getting sea water to get energy for another planet called "Titan" in which humanity has emigrated. 

I won't tell you more about it because half of it would be spoilers, so, I'll stop here. Now, the film: Oblivion is indeed an amazing piece to watch, it has great visual effects, great landscapes and the destruction of earth is quite brilliant to watch. But some nice images can't hide reality, Oblivion is one of those films that take themselves too seriously. As a friend of mine said, this is "the worst execution of the best idea one could have" and I agree with his opinion.

Technically, all but the score is great. The actors do the best they can with what they have (which is not much), and well, not even Mr. Freeman can help this two and a half hour film (although he is the best part of it). If you ask me, Oblivion has some nice lines, and some good intentions, but all the big surprises are too predictable and the plot gets stupid as it goes, so don't expect much mystery, there isn't.

MadHatterSays: Meh...

                2.5/5