Change Your Image
kanedebano
Reviews
Monk with a Camera (2014)
A story about how we can reboot our own essence
Realized in the clean, yet engaging narrative style that marked the most recent work of the Mascara/Santi directing duo ("Chris & Don"), "Monk with a Camera" is a documentary about one fundamental life assumption: people can change, if they want to. And nothing could deliver that statement as strongly as Nicholas Vreeland, the son of famed Vogue director Diana Vreeland and a perfectly introduced Manhattan socialite who decides to abandon metropolitan life to become none other than a Tibetan Buddhist. And beyond: becoming the abbot of the monastery that he has helped to renovate. A story that Mascara and Santi seem to have willingly chosen to report without indulging in mere controversy (something that it would have been so easy and obvious to achieve given Vreeland's prior life as a photographer and socialite), but rather observing from a distance this remarkable experiment in deeply reconsidering one's own essence. Beyond what could have been perhaps just another expected, almost obvious, exaltation of Buddhist philosophy's impulse towards achieving inner spiritual balance through change, this unpretentious, yet very coherent documentary ends up leaving you inspired (and perhaps even reassured) from a much broader point of view, Buddhist or not.
The Blacklist (2013)
Great series spoiled by totally inadequate lead actress
This is the kind of series you don't get to watch very often. It's interesting, intriguing and well developed. That kind of rare show you really want to love and give the 10 star it would have deserved. This is why you can't stop wondering why in the world with a concept like this and an actor like James Spader in the lead you would even remotely consider an actress like Megan Boone to star opposite him in a prominent role. I mean, opposite the guy who gave us Alan Shore you have the most expressionless, frigid and unsexy FBI agent you could possibly imagine. She is a piece of wood with photoshopped moving parts. With that square, unchangeable expression she looks inadequate even when she's around extras. On the other hand, Spader is great as ever, and so is most of the supporting cast, starting with Diego Klattenhoff, Ryan Eggold and Parminder Nagra. What a shame, this could have a been a contender. And yet it isn't.
Now You See Me (2013)
How to waste a great cast of actors
I was surprised at how stupid, nonsensical and repetitive this movie was with such an incredible cast of characters. The preamble is good: a group of mentalists and illusionists gets picked up by a mysterious third party who turns them into a team and turns them into a Las Vegas sensation while a secret plan unfolds underneath. But that's where everything stops making sense. From then on it's a series of car chases with the police, magic shows in prominent theatres around the world while a man tapes the illusionists to try and unmask their tricks. But why he does it is never clear and never will be until the cheesy, predictable finale. Besides the spectacular special effects and camera movements, there's nothing here. And two incredible actors like Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are completely wasted in roles that hardly make sense in an already disconnected storyline.