Change Your Image
Sylar1962
Reviews
Bossa Nova (2000)
The funniest Brazilian comedy movie since Oscarito's
Funny, romantic, multilingual... There is a lot to say about this movie. It's one of those that put Brazilian cinema again in the path of quality. It's a good surprise seeing Bruno Barreto, who directed many erotic movies, did a very nice piece without any nudity, even with lots of babes in the cast. The story is about the romantic involvement between Pedro (Antônio Fagundes, our senior superstar) and Mary Ann (Amy Irving) and lots of funny things that happen around them. I could say I don't like Irving's performance because she looked very bored all the time. She was there only because she was Mr. Barreto's wife. On the other hand, all Brazilians were terrific, with lots of good acting from Alexandre Borges (Romario's alter-ego), Drica Moraes (Mary Ann's friend who dated with an American through e-mail), Giovanna Antonelli, Pedro Cardoso, Débora Bloch, and so many others that shine even in small roles. I particularly like Alberto De Mendoza (the tailor, Pedro's father), Spanish-speaker , helping his son on impressing the English teacher, in a very unusual way - watch it and check it out. If the movie's plot was not so original, I tell it doesn't matter. As in Centralstation, the most important is how the story is told, the cast quality, music score, and so many other things that make the real difference. I really recommend this movie for people from all nations, since the comedy shown there is universal.
Central do Brasil (1998)
The new Brazilian movie Golden Age
I could say "Central do Brasil" is the Brazilian cinema comeback. After 30 years of mediocrity on Brazilian productions, this movie is one the very first quality movies, starting a new era, with decent stories and the virtual end of cheap nudity from the time of "pornochanchadas".
The main plot, it's something seen even in many B American movies. The difference is how the story is told. It's about Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), an old woman who fooled simple minded and illiterate people from Northeast writing letters for them, keeping the money and not delivering the mail. Her fate changes when she meets Josué (Vinícius de Oliveira), a boy who had lost her mother, run down by a bus. Cold hearted at first, she goes with the kid for a trip heading Northeast to find the rest of his family.
The movie's pace is something slow, as in many Brazilian movies, but it doesn't make you sleep, for sure. Since it's character movie, you enjoy every little scene they appear. Montenegro is our Prima Donna, doing her work superb as usual - if (argh!) Roberto Begnini won an Oscar, she would deserve 10; the boy was very realistic, even if his acting wasn't brilliant by that time - he did it fine, though; Marília Pera, one of my favorites, was gold-shining as that neighbor who helps Dora on escaping from the criminals - she has a real perfect comedy timing that beats even professional comedians; pay attention on Matheus Nachtergaele, playing one of Josué's brothers and the always efficient and ready-for-the-action Otávio Augusto, as a corrupted police detective.
I recommend this movie for all non-Brazilians so you can learn about the real thing. We don't have just cheerful things like the Carnival and beaches or the notorious city violence. We have much more to show, and good cinema is one of them.
Heroes (2006)
I wanna be a hero, too!!!
The super-powered people plot has been exploited some other times. Superheroes, bandits, mutants... but the approach, this time is really thrilling. Instead of people wearing tights and becoming crime-fighters, they try to keep their lives as normal as possible, each character accepting his/her ability in a different way, as people are different. The whole story is really catchy, as are the characters, heroes or not. At the end of each chapter, you are really eager for the next. It's the main reason that makes a series a big success. All the suspense and plot twists made me really in love with Heroes. Pay attention to all the actors, who were highly well casted and directed, specially the babes Hayden Panattiere (Claire) and Ali Larter (Nikki/Jessica), the guest babes, Masi Oka (Hiro) and Zachary Quinto (Sylar). There are some very special guest stars, real living legends, who really rock... So, I wildly recommend this series to anyone, especially because of it's adult and advanced content.
Poketto monsutâ (1997)
Pokemon is a kid's must have
I have watched lots of Anime since the late 60's (no, it's not a mistake), and since I'm a huge cartoon fan, I decided to watch a little bit of Pokemon during a 1 a.m. session. At first, of course, I found it to be a smallest kid's feature, but it somehow had some relaxing effect on me. It came in a moment I really needed something to lower the stress related to unemployment and lack of money. The show is action-packed, it has a very touching character development plot, about the friendship of Ash and Pikachu. I think the secret is Pokemon has some pieces of my childhood's animes like Parman, for example, where the hero was determined, although kind of clumsy. It's very interesting to see each single character has it's own solo episode. My favorite is the one when Meowth tells how he learned to speak. About Team Rocket, they are so essential that people really miss them when they don't show up. Don't worry, they always show up. About Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, it's the so-called self-effacing humor, because they are in every city Ash and the gang visit, and they just explain "we are from a big family". Like any long lasting show, it lost some interest after the Johto saga, which I think to be the series' peak, but it's still watchable. The plot is repetitive, the animation is not state-of-the-art, but who cares?
Saramandaia (1976)
The Brazilian view on fantasy
Saramandaia is another great series from the genius Dias Gomes. The story is about a city where many fantastic things happen. It has a werewolf; a man whose heart literally goes up to his mouth; a winged baby, and other unbelievable things. It was a characters story, so people still recall them after all these years.
The main plot is about two beverage companies that economical and politically ruled a countryside town. The place, formerly known as Bole-bole, name of one of the companies, had it changed, by popular voting, to Saramandaia, the name of its rival. It was the very first time I watched fantastic actor Antônio Fagundes. By that time, I didn't like him because his character, Lua Viana, which was pretty cheesy. Of course, time proved I was wrong about mr. Fagundes' acting skills. It was very good to see beautiful and classy late Dina Sfat as a northeastern boarding house owner. I confess I still miss her sometimes. Americans like fantasy movies, so I recommend Saramandaia for all those guys who like to see the strange and the exotic.
O Bem-Amado (1973)
Dias Gomes' first masterpiece. The Citizen Kane of soap operas.
20 stars wouldn't be enough to rate this piece of work which is much more than just a soap opera. Written by late and acclaimed theater drama writer Dias Gomes, the plot, full of his usual political criticism, is about Odorico Paraguaçu, a very corrupted mayor in the small town of Sucupira, who tries, in vain, open the city cemetery for the public. Odorico attempts to get political revenue with such a "great" monument. Meanwhile, he, the well beloved himself, has a triple affair with the Cajazeira sisters, three old maids who pretend to be straight to rest of the citizens. The other protagonist is Zeca Diabo, an ex-cangaceiro, Lampião-like bandit, who returns to his home town to redeem himself from all the sins and crimes of the past.
For a long length series, O Bem Amado had a very agile, fast, action-packed script. There were almost no stops. Regis Cardoso's direction was really superb. The cast, led by late Paulo Gracindo (Odorico) and Lima Duarte (Zeca Diabo), was really all-star. I tell foreigners would think this series to be at least, intriguing. Specially because it has been made during the worst years of the 1964-85 Brazilian military dictatorship. It even has its own view on the Watergate scandal, that makes Zeca Diabo mad with Odorico...I'm not spoiling everything.
As various Globo TV soap operas, The Well Beloved has been exported to many countries all over the world, and I assume it has also been a major hit like the excellent A Escrava Isaura.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
It could be much worse...
What should I say first? This movie has fully followed the tradition of the CURSE OF THE ODD NUMBER MOVIE. The worst of it all was the action scenes, which were very lame. However, the picture had good moments, like the K-S-Mc relationship and those flash memories from the Vulcan and Doc. The script had a very awkward and amateur direction and it was very disappointing, since I'm a Trekkie. The excess of silly comedy lines annoyed me too. But it's a fresher movie, if compared to the almost-boring-to-death The Motion Picture. It's a work that would have gone better if either Nimoy or Meyer had directed it instead of our fearless Captain. I got really sorry about Shatner after I read his book about the ST movies backstage. He had a very hard time during the making of the movie, specially regarding the budget restrictions and all the good scripting ideas he had to trash because of it. Maybe, if they remastered it, added scenes and upgraded the lame special effects with graphic computing, there would be some hope... My brother has ALL the movies in DVD, as well as TOS and Enterprise. Some day I'm gonna re-watch it and give another comment, but I don't think it will be better than FAIR AT BEST.