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Wheels (2014)
Must have missed something here......
I've been tracking this movie for quite a while due to the sky-high rating and superb reviews - after a bit of sweat, tracked down a copy and watched it during the weekend.
Well....hum?....er?......must have missed something here. Quite frankly, the movie is mediocre at best with subpar acting - save for a very fine Patrick Hume as the mercurial Drake Jones - and with a very lame script. A pair of paraplegic hobos attempting to hustle their way to survival seems fit for an interesting indie flick, a turn-of-the-century take on Midnight Cowboy. However, in various parts, the film just drags on with flashback overkills meshed with overacting; at moments, you seem to be watching a Mexican soap opera or a missed episode of "As the World Turns"......
Its not necessarily a disaster and does have its moments, but, quite frankly, 9,1?!?
A bit of editing and less histrionics would have made for a finer movie.
The way it is, reasonable at the very most.
Constantine's Sword (2007)
Skip the Film - Read the book!
Went to see this film with great expectations - Carroll's massive book with the same title is fascinating to say the least - a brilliant writer with exceptional knowledge of his topic. But the film is a far cry from the book; actually, I found the documentary quite tepid, adding little to facts, otherwise, very well known. The antisemite aspects in Christianity are highly complex issues, treated, for some unknown reason, in a simplistic manner in the film (which, again, is not the case of the book, a grand incursion into the subject). Anyone with even a slight interest in history will find the film lame and a bit boring. He attempts to touch on various points and, in my opinion at least, loses himself by aiming at various targets at once.
In regard to the rise of the Fundamentalist Christian Right, which is progressively taking over America and its Government, I would suggest another documentary, the excellent "Camp Jesus" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486358/), which is way better than "Constantine's Sword" at getting the message across - in Carroll's case, stick with book and skip the film, which doesn't do justice to Carroll's genius.
Cargo (2006)
Merely Stupid.
The theme seems somewhat of interest, and it could have held attention if it were not for Daniel Brühl's character, "Chris", who is annoying to an extreme. For some reason, that the viewer is never able to understand, the incredibly innocuous Chris is able to screw up everything he touches from scene one until the grand finale. Anyone with even half a brain, finding himself in such a perilous state, would lay the lowest profile possible in an attempt to merely survive - which is the exact opposite route taken by Brühl's highly infantile and ridiculous character. After 30 minutes into the flick, you come to detest the guy's guts, wishing that the hostile crew would just fling the half-wit overboard and get it over with.
Do yourself a favour - skip this flop.
Os Óculos do Vovô (1913)
Fragments from a Distant Past
This is an extremely rare gem that I was lucky enough to see screened at the MoMA/NY in the mid-90s. Billed as the earliest Brazilian film still in print, I ran, together with another half a dozen people, to the museum to catch it on one cold autumn afternoon. And it was quite worth the effort.
The film, or what exists of it, runs for about five minutes or less and tells a very simple story of a young boy who paints his grandfather's glasses; on putting them on, the old man thinks he's blind, but quickly discovers that his grandson has darkened the lens. The grandfather laughs at the childish prank and the film comes to a sudden end.
Although very simple and short, this piece of braziliana, no doubt, offers the viewer, especially those who are Brazilian or Latin Americans, a fascinating glimpse onto a time long gone; for the sheer distance in time, I watched the film with pure nostalgia and enjoyment, savoring each and every minute of it.
Inspetor Faustão e o Mallandro: A Missão (Primeira e Única) (1991)
Brilliant!
What can be said about this absolute masterpiece of Braziliana trash? No acting, no script, no nothing - pure chaos, and with a soundtrack to match it (the "Rap do Ovo" sung by Sergio Malandro & Fausto Silva is a moment of pure bliss - must be seen & heard to be believed). For an hour or so, the viewer will be stunned with the "riveting performances" of Sergio Maladro, Fausto Silva, Costinha and a stream of forgettable names in a flick destined for cinematic glory. For those who have seen (and survived) the Mr. T self-help classic, "Be Somebody (or Be Somebody's Fool)" or any of Charles Band's grand productions, will certainly find this title more than memorable. Considering that the piece was already aimed for the trash bin at its very release, this is a very hard film to find, even, here, in Brazil - and with no DVD release in sight, finding a copy is quite a dauting task. But if you are lucky enough to stumble onto it - don't pass up the chance! This gem will certainly make your brain go mush!
Ad ogni costo (1967)
Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s.
Been spreading the word around the neighborhood about this forgotten cultural curiosity like a virus! The amount of clichés and stereotypes in this piece make the entire thing hilarious and a good deal of fun to watch. Rio becomes this absolutely exotic venue, with non-stop carnivals and pageants, strange folk a galore and people who go by the name of "Stetuaka" (?!?!) - believe me, I have been born, raised and lived a good part of my life in Rio and have never, ever known anyone by the name of Stetuaka (played simply by one "Jussara" - may the Almighty bless her whoever she is!). But, and this is the main point of interest and solely for this I give it a ten, there are some exceptional external takes that give us a very good glimpse of Rio de Janeiro when it was still a breathtaking city and an incredible place to live (and not the violent, crime-infested & decadent urban disaster it is today) - excellent shots from the pre-expansion Copacabana Beach, Downtown, the Pavãozinho Slum and, most amazingly, a still pristine Barra da Tijuca, a very far cry from the horrendous scenario it has now become. For those of us, who live here or know Rio, a very nostalgic piece, not to be missed. Oh, yes, almost forgot...there's also some sort of a loosely built plot, about a heist around a handful of diamonds, but that's really secondary, of nil interest.
La polizia chiede aiuto (1974)
Hum...must have missed something here.
POTENTIAL SPOILER!!! BEWARE!!! (Well, not really, but just to be on the safe side of things).
From the glaring reviews posted here, on IMDb, I went out of my way (and, boy, did I ever go out of my way to see this dud! I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, so hunting for a three-decade old and rather obscure giallo wasn't necessarily a walk in the park) to fetch a copy of "What have they done to your daughters" and what a put down it was! The film's plot, tenuously copied from Jules Dessin's 1948 masterpiece "Naked City", is so full of holes, seems like a swiss cheese! A good many of the leads go nowhere and the killings, which are central to the plot, or so seem to be, are really never explained; we have no idea why a mysterious biker goes zooming around Rome, with a meat ax, butchering lust-crazy teenagers, private detectives and, even, a district attorney (played by a rather dazed Giovanna Ralli - her 70s hairdo stood out way, way more than her deadpan acting). Well, yeah, there's the usual link with the "rich & powerful", but its just too lame to fully explain a good deal of the killings. The film ends on a rather low key, leaving you to wonder if there wasn't anything a tad more interesting to do with your 90 minutes instead of watching this incredibly confusing piece of italiana. In all due respect with the previous comments, can't really see what the praise is all about - probably, I should go back and give it another shot - but that would be wasting another hour and a half, and life is just too short of a deal.
Sexangle (1975)
Usual Porn Flick of the 70s and not much else - with the exception of Cosey.
There's not much to be said here - actually, I don't really believe this film should be mentioned at all if it were not for the presence of Cosey Fanni Tutti, which makes the flick sort of a cultural curio. The picture in itself is just like any porn flick from the mid-70s, where various situations lead to a good amount of licking & sticking (all very explicit and shot "up close and personal" - mind you, this is NO softcore piece). Yes, there seems to be some attempt of a story here, about interior decoration and very horny patrons, but not much else, I'm afraid. The only point worthy of a line or two is Cosey, who, around the time of shooting, was making her way as an iconic figure of the radical performance ensemble, Coum Transmissions, and was on the verge of breaking all musical barriers with the emergence of the legendary industrial outfit, Throbbing Gristle. This alone, makes the viewing a one-of-a-kind experience, especially for those of us interested in Coum and TG. Considering that there are no existing videos of Coum's highly controversial performances, I guess this is the closest you will ever get to see Cosey in action. Even if its just a glimpse, within a cheap porn flick.