Monday, July 21, 2014

The world is facing probably its latest conflict and the mutants are in the brink of disappearance. Robots "Sentinels" are been created to destroy all mutants. The only solution is to travel thru time to the moment when sentinels were created in order to eliminate them. Professor X and Magneto join forces to send Wolverine to 1973 in order to fulfill this mission. During this period Wolverine will face the young Magneto and Professor X trying to convince them that they need to help each other in order to save themselves in the future.

Bryan Singer directs X-Men: Days of Future Past he brings back the true essence of the original X men, a true memorable scene like the rescue of young Magneto (Michael Fasbender) by Quicksilver (Evan Peters) make this movie unique. But the plot sometimes can be extremely confusing that you loose tracks of the situations or happenings, specially Young Magneto's actions. Probably the best role in the film is James McCavoy playing Young Professor X. Peter Dinklage was a waste, a great actor used for a really useless role.

Richard Linklater director of such films like Before Midnight, Before Sunset, Before Sunrise and Bernie. Explore the life of a kid till he is a grown up man in his new movie Boyhood. Starring Patricia Arquette and and Ethan Hawke. The film was shot in the period of 12 years and tells the story of Mason a curious kid, his sister Samantha and his divorced parents. During 166 minutes, we see this kid facing revelations like his mother wrong choices to find a proper man, but her work to go to college and make a living to raise her kids as great persons. Boyhood shows an important side of parenting and the word of circumstances surround a son and a daughter. How divorce parents are able to cope with confused kids, but also shows the value of family bonding and conversations between a father and his son.

The film is well articulated and not brag about interesting or groundbreaking techniques to tell the story of Mason, props in the film, social situations and political landmarks make you understand the changing time that this kids later adults face during 12 years of their life. The is no arrogance or pretentious style in the movie. The film is unique and simple. Simple cuts and music from that period helps you understand that time have pass, but also discovering Mason and Samantha and their friends reveal that a period of their life reached them make them a teenager or a your adult.

Boyhood is a beautiful film, powerful and educational experience for any father and mother struggling raise a kid.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Love, the lack of it and the lost of it. Can be expressed in words, and expressions, but also in music. Composers and songwriters do it all the time. You can be in love with a song, feel sad about a lost love or even feel melancholy for not been in love.

The film "Begin Again" directed by John Carney (Once) is the story of two lost souls in the streets of NYC. Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo) a struggling record label executive, divorced, unrelated to his teenager daughter and loosing his record label meet in a East Village bar Gretta (Kiera Knigthley) a young songwriter who travels with her boyfriend at the time Dave Kohl (Adam Levine) a big shot songwriter and singer who is brought to NY for a record deal, a few months later Dave break up with Gretta, after having an affair with an intern from the record label.

This two souls Dan and Gretta, connect each others to produce a record with songs written by Gretta and using NY sounds and places as a backdrop of the album. The whole experience will be a learning curve for Gretta and Dan.

Begin Again is a fun romantic comedy that makes you feel in love about NY with music and personal experiences.

Snowpiercer

A train travels over a snowy landscape, it goes a really high speed. Inside carry a very unusual shipment… People of several ethnicity's and several social levels. This is a basic premise of the film "Snowpierecer" directed by Bong Joon-ho (Mother, The Host). Snowpiercer is based on a french graphic novel Le Transperceniege. A group of people living in a dystopian world where the only way of survival is on a train (Snowpierecer). In 2014 an experiment to counteract global waning cause an ice age. The habitants of the tail of the train are people living in inhumane conditions, probably like slums. The train contain a very strict level of security and also provide food as protein blocks of food. Among the survivors in the tail of the train we have Curtis (Chris Evans)a rebel who is organizing a riot against the government of the Snowpiercer, specially Wilford the creator of the train. Curtis develop a plan for years and he is been helped by a group of angry people (Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt) willing to sacrifice all for the well being, specially to recover dignity and what every citizen want as their own right.

The story contain a collection of metaphors and semiotic elements that makes the film a try masterpiece. The society is divided by train cars, and you need to go thru all the chain to make it to the top. In a way the quest of the tail society in the train is like The Wizard of Oz, the journey is filled with challenges and complications, but when you reach the destination, the reward is the journey not the destination. The tail represents how societies are facing problems this day and age. Revolts, drepravation of food and water supplies and crowded conditions. Weapons are make with rudimental elements, even a torch is more powerful than night vision goggles. The hierarchy from the top of societies, like corporations are represented by Wilford who controls everything, security and social alienation and manipulation. Kids follow the script and been taught to love Wilford and despise the members of the tail of the train, other cars are filled with superficial elements: drugs, sex, alcohol, luxury. The quest is so unique for the members of the tail that none of seems to care about any frivolous things in the train, they seem amuse or perhaps ignore those things for the lack of it.

Snowpiercer is a better approach to a dying societies like The Hunger Games or Divergent.