“Wild Tales” ("Relatos Salvajes") Movie Review

Year: 2014

Director: Damián Szifrón

Writer: Damián Szifrón

Stars: Ricardo Darín, Erica Rivas, Darío Grandinetti, María Marull, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg, Oscar Martínez, Diego Gentile

“Wild Tales” is nothing short of amazing, simultaneously hilarious and dark thrill ride. Actually, the less you know about the film, the better it is. When I saw it with a friend, we knew absolutely nothing about it, besides the fact that it’s Oscar-nominated and “fun.” So, when we sat down in the cinema, we were absolutely surprised, electrified and by the end of the movie – thoroughly entertained. I didn’t even know that it consists of six different stories.

“Wild Tales” is a black comedy, filled with violence and action that will keep you at the edge of your seat. It effortlessly combines action and tension with the comedy; it does the same with with drama, romance and thriller. The introductory story even takes the type of situation that we would usually see in cartoons and excitingly ushers us headfirst into the crazy world of the movie.

Damián Szifrón, who has been directing and writing primarily for TV up to this point, takes full advantage of his experience with the short form. In fact, the film originally included a seventh tale called “Bonus Track” and the order of the stories was different. Remarkably, every unique story is enough fascinating and exciting by itself, but there are still common themes and style between all “tales.” With hot-headed characters that are driven in one way or another to their breaking point and often to a quite animalistic state, “Wild Tales” makes you question the inherent humanity of our species. In relation to that the movie has great opening credits, in which each actor is represented by the image of a wild animal. The director himself chose a fox, because he has red hair and his father had a fondness of the animal.

“Wild Tales” is considered an Argentine-Spanish production with the notable involvement of Pedro Almodovar as one of the producers. The movie looks great cinematically and also sounds great. Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla, a two-time Oscar winner composed the soundtrack.

“Wild Tales” was among the Oscar nominated foreign-language films for 2014 and probably the most unexpected one, since it’s very fast-paced, filled with action and violence. It is also the seventh film from Argentina nominated for the award. The movie quickly became the most seen film in Argentina for 2014 and was shown in 275 cinemas throughout the country. Consequently, by the end of the it became the most seen film from Argentine of all-time. “Wild Tales” was also celebrated at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it reportedly received a standing ovation for about 10 minutes. The film was also in the competition for the Palme d'Or at the Festival.

The movie has 8,2 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3011894/

8,9 from users and 77 from critics on MetaCritic -  http://www.metacritic.com/movie/wild-tales

95% on RottenTomatoes -  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wild_tales

Trailer:

“Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” Movie Review

Year: 2014

Director: Matt Reeves

Writers: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Mark Bomback

Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Nick Thurston

The story of “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” picks up about decade after the events in “Rise Of The Planet Of TheApes”. At that time the virus unleashed in the first movie has wiped out most of humanity, while the apes are thriving and building their own community. This film has a new director - Matt Reeves who did “Cloverfield” in 2008. The old team of writers is joined by Mark Bomback and the result of their collective effort is a better and smarter script.

“Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes” was quite good. But this one is better in every aspect – the themes are more thoroughly explored, the dialogue is smarter and the plot is meticulously thought through. All characters in this film are well-rounded, this time both apes and humans. Needless to say, Serkis as Casear and Toby Kebbell as Koba both give strong compelling performances. And how could you forget the adorable Maurice (Karin Konoval)?! As to the human characters – the leader of the group – Malcolm, played by Jason Clarke is absolutely fascinating. Clarke puts so much emotion and intensity in his character without even speaking, so you could easily believe that he’s a real person dealing with his fears and desperation in a critical situation. Gary Oldman in the role of Dreyfus, although given less screen time also manages to create an intense and believable character. Sadly, the female heroes are not as strongly presented.

“Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” explores the main issues from the franchise more effectively, focusing on politics and diplomacy in time of crisis and war. It touches on our anthropocentric philosophy and self-entitlement as the better species. In a few scenes Koba takes advantage of this mindset to fool a few humans to think he’s just a stupid animal. And although kind of funny, these scenes are also very unsettling exactly for the same reasons. Simply, but effectively this concept is later reversed when Caesar says that he used to think that apes are better than humans.  

The movie does really good job at showing us the two sides of the conflict by focusing on two families from both species. We understand their fears and desires and by exploring the tension within both groups we see how thin the line between peace and war can be. On both sides we have the piece-makers and the assholes. But the film treats them equally, so we understand the motivations of the violent characters just as well.  

Strangely, the film has a little bit of “Jurassic Park” feel, at least for me. There are a few scenes with people nervously waiting in vehicles stopped in the middle of the rainy forest, a man dragged from under a car and the most obvious one – people hiding from a stampede of apes under a fallen tree. I don’t know if that’s on purpose, but as someone who grew up with “Jurassic Park” I absolutely loved it. Speaking of this, “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” builds tension very well. For a while it also turns into a war movie with well-directed action scenes and awesome dramatic shots. Of course, at the end there is a little bit of spectacle, not over the top, but suitable for a big blockbuster. Although well-done this act relies almost entirely on CGI that’s a bit noticeable.

The soundtrack by Michael Giacchino draws the attention with its more dominant use of percussions and a little bit old-school dramatic vibe that also reminds me of older movies like “Tarzan” or maybe the original “Planet Of The Apes”. I think it adds nicely to the great emotional pull and themes of the movie. And finally, I’d like to give this entertaining, endearing and smart cinematic adventure 5 Kubricks.

The movie has 8,0 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2103281/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

90% on RottenTomatoes -http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dawn_of_the_planet_of_the_apes/?search=dawn%20of%20th

8,2 from users and 79 from critics on MetaCritic - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes

Trailer:

“Guardians Of The Galaxy” Movie Review

Year: 2014

Director: James Gunn

Writers: James Gunn, Nicole Perlman

Stars: Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper , Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker

“Guardians Of The Galaxy” is funny, action-packed, full of adventures and most importantly – unique and lovable characters. In the first part of the movie we see how The Guardians meet and their formation as the group of outsiders that will save the galaxy. This part is a bit rushed and their motivations don’t seem completely clear. However, you can let that slide, knowing that this movie has the big task to present not only a whole new team of largely unknown heroes without doing origin stories; it also has to introduce the audience to the huge cosmic Marvel universe for the first time. And it does these things pretty well, while watching the movie you are immersed in this vast and colourful world. Besides The Guardians, you see other important personas and places in the galaxy, new races and essential entities from the Marvel universe like the Nova Corps, Yondu (Michael Rooker) or The Collector (Benicio del Toro).

“Guardians Of The Galaxy” is arguably the funniest Marvel movie and it can be easily classified as comedy. It has kind of goofy, cheeky humor and it’s very self-aware (in a good way). If you like that kind of thing, you will definitely love it. I saw it twice in the cinema, the second time the audience wasn't very excited, but at the first screening there were people around me who laughed so hard that scared me. There were also audible reactions to some of the songs. It was just one of these rare movie-going experiences when even if everyone is a bit noisy, there’s this feeling of shared excitement.

Of course, as everyone already knows even without seeing the movie - the soundtrack is great, with the songs perfectly fitting the scenes and keeping the humanity and its culture at the heart of this crazy, alien world. It’s not just great achievement as a music collection, but the way it is integrated as a central part of the story, even as a character by itself.

The story in its essence is not very unique or different from that of the other Marvel movies. But it’s presented in a fresh, heartfelt form, revolving around a few memorable and intriguing badass characters. Chris Pratt as Star Lord (Peter Quill) is… well, he is THE Star Lord. He is funny, charming, a bit heartbroken and lost in this crazy world, where he is the only human. Peter Quill is the most fleshed-out character and he is at the heart of the story. The other big stars of the movie (and not just for the kids) are definitely Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel). With their unique friendship and backstories, along with the amazing CGI, these two can easily steal the show, providing some of the most emotional and funny moments in the movie. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (David Bautista) aren't exactly on the same level, but I hope that they’ll have more screen time in the next movie. It is also true that the villain is quite plain, but that didn't really bother me. The only character (or the acting – I’m not really sure) that actually annoyed me was Nebula (Karen Gillan) - there’s just something about her manner of moving and speaking (it’s probably subjective), but I guess there wasn't much time for her backstory as well. Outside the Guardians the most intriguing character for me was definitely Yondu. And his weapon… wow!

The movie looks great and it is certainly the most colourful Marvel film with some really amazing space scenery. The space imagery, along with the action sequences, would probably look even better and clearer without the 3D. Still, the 3D wasn't bad and it was actually used in a really fun way for a few scenes.

“Guardians Of The Galaxy” makes me very excited about the sequel, because now that it has laid out the basics we can get more character development. And I can’t imagine how excited I would be if I watched this as a kid (especially for Rocket and Groot). So, I will give this charming and refreshing space opera 5 Kubricks, although I realize that it might be the geeky part of me speaking… 

The movie has 8,5 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2015381/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

8,6 from users and 76 from critics on MetaCritic - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/guardians-of-the-galaxy

91% on RottenTomatoes - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guardians_of_the_galaxy/

Trailer:

“Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes” Review

Year: 2011

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Writers: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Starring: Andy Serkis, James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton

“Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes” isn't a sequel or a prequel to the original movies, it’s not exactly the standard remake, too. It is closest to a re-imagining of “Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes” (1972) with different, more relatable for the 21st century, plot.

Having said that, the great achievement of the movie is to actually make the entire story of how the planet of the apes came to be rather plausible. You don’t watch this movie occasionally going “That’s absolutely ridiculous”. The story is pretty much straightforward, but the detail is what makes it an enthralling experience. The movie is a little less than 2 hours long and it feels like half an hour. I heard some complains about the pacing in the beginning of the film, but for me it was timed perfectly:  it gives you time to get to know the characters before the badassery of the apes ensues.

The movie has a surprising emotional pull and the brilliant Andy Serkis as Caesar just breaks your heart. He is indeed the lead in the movie and the most fleshed out character, not Will Rodman, the scientist who takes care of him (played by James Franco). He is more schematic and far less engaging, but sometimes reminds us of doctor Frankenstein. John Lithgow`s performance as Will’s father is also good and touching. But as a whole the humans are largely in the background of the story, the most intriguing characters all throughout the movie remain the apes. The best example is Freida Pinto’s role as Will’s girlfriend who, except for being very beautiful, doesn't really have anything to do on the screen.  But that’s not that unsettling, since the monkeys are genuinely fascinating and the movie deliberately focuses on them. You understand their motivations and even root for them by the end.

The cinematography is great, the movie is beautifully shot. The CGI is also excellent (all motion capture), for me it wasn't entirely convincing in the scenes with the younger Caesar, but it didn't really take me out of the story. I have another minuscule gripe – the presence of a little bit of voice-over, which probably the movie could go without.

The movie touches the well-known questions about intelligence, our treatment of animals (minorities if you wish), corporal greed, what can be justified in the name of science etc. These problems are presented, although not explored in huge dept. Still, “Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes” is a terrific movie, well above the average blockbuster – it is visually gripping, smart, well-balanced and moving. I give it 4 and a half Kubricks.

The movie has 7,6 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318514/?ref_=nv_sr_3

82% on RottenTomatoes - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rise_of_the_planet_of_the_apes/?search=rise%20of%20the%20plan

7,8 from users and 68 from critics on MetaCritic - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes

Trailer (warning: as most Hollywood trailers, it shows too much):