Baran (2001) 4.0 stars. I have been trying to watch this movie but did not have the chance to do it until tonight and it is a masterpiece. It keeps you in suspense even though the story itself leaves lots of things unresolved at the end. It is a story about love and reality of living in conditions that we may call un-human. You have to sit down and watch it to understand it. Beautifully done.
Kwaidan (1964) OAR 2:35:1 - 3.5 stars. This one was a surprising film to find. It is comprised of 4 stories. A husband who leaves/divorces his wife because of better wealth somewhere else and yet finds himself going back to his ex-wife but a surprise is waiting for him. The next story is about two woodcutters and probably a tale we have seen before -- another surprise. The third story is the best and gives you the best visualization of colors in the film. The fourth story has no ending but gives you a glimpse of the directors intend in the story. I found all the stories quite fascinating and enjoyable. They are not horror stories but ghost stories.
Metade Fumaca (1999) 0.5 stars. Here's one that should have never been done. After 30 years in exile this guy returns to Hong Kong to see a girl that he has not seen for 30 years. The story is bad, the ending is bad and the acting is ok.
The Spy who Loved Me (1977) OAR 2:35:1 -- 4.0 stars. I loved this film. From the title song to the action/adventure sequences to the instrested gadgets. When it first came out, I thought that the car was out this world. The lovely xxx (played Barbara Bach) was excellent besides her beauty. Others beautiful women were part of this one and the story was not that bad.
Ay, Carmela (1990) OAR 1:66:1 -- 4.0 stars. Carmen Maura was excellent in this film (as always). This film is about some of the reality of civil war in spain. The artist are forced to perfom for the enemy despite their reluctancy of the script. The conflict is interpreted in a comical way but it delivers a strong message. The subtitle does not really convey the meaning of the sentences. If you know spanish, it is better just to listen and enjoy it.
Box 507 (2002) 3.5 stars A banker discovers (by accident) that the death of his daughter was not an accident but a plot to collect billions of dollars through a web of individuals who got paid off. He sets a bunch of events that eventually kills lots of them but not all... The story is very good and the acting quite good. Very entertaining movie.
Visible Secret (2001) 1.0 star. A sleeper --- no doubt about it. A young girl can see ghosts in the daylight and strings along a guy with no purpose. The end is supposed to amazed us or wow us but the film is poorly made in the sense that it does not have coherent in the story therefore the ending although unpredictable fails to deliver the punch line. If you are frustrated and nothing to do watch it, otherwise skip it.
License to Kill (1989) OAR 2:35:1 -- 3.0 stars Timothy Dalton, Benicio Del Toro, Pam Bouvier and Talisa Soto. A good cast of actors and the two women were excellent. Bond now goes and fights a drug dealer who has attempted to kill his friend and has killed his wife on their wedding night. Bond loses his license to kill but he really never loses it as the british intellegence agents back him up. In this film Bonds defy the laws of gravity by driving trucks on on side. Well, it does suffer from the Bond fiction but is more down to earth than the others.
