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versus75
Reviews
Babel (2006)
Sadly, it was somewhat disappointing.
I was quite disappointed by this film. It felt too gratuitous, too forced. The tragic aspect was pushed too far and for no apparent reason but to show grief. It felt to me that the director/writer just took the easy way out and used the same formula as in their previous films and went overboard this time. The Japanese story had no relationship to the other 2 except for a very weak link; a link that was used almost as an excuse to show another (yawn) story of grief. I understand the director/writer planned a trilogy; but did they really have to make all 3 films back to back? With the same exact formula? Even the soundtrack by Santaolalla was virtually identical to the previous work.
The acting wasn't great either; Gael Garcia's Tijuana drunk was completely unconvincing, Brad Pitt's phony baggy eye makeup wasn't either and the dull cinematography completely robbed the film of any atmosphere, instead of making it gritty as I assume the filmmakers wanted.
What the film said to me basically is; the filmmakers are trying too hard to be tragic, and sad, and anti-happy-Hollywood-ending and also put more care in big exotic and expensive locations and big name actors than in a convincing film.
I hope this director has a different card up his sleeve and proves he's not just a one trick pony.
Sexo, amor y otras perversiones (2006)
embarrassingly bad
this is the kind of film that ruins all the progress Mexican cinema has made during the last few years. the film tries so hard to be shocking and racy, and the results are incredibly clumsy and moronic. one leaves the film feeling that Mexican (as well as most catholic Latin American countries) filmmakers are so clueless about sex, that they have to use toilet humour to mask the shame they feel about sexuality.
this is the typical film that screams "I want to be controversial in a country that's sexually repressed" yet cannot find one intelligent way of doing it.
one of the most pathetic films I ve ever seen.
La bête (1975)
a bad joke
this film was shrouded in scandal for so long that it became a very sought after item...the outrage, the mystery, etc. it had everything to be a great piece of film-making, but ultimately fails in every extent. it's a terribly bad comedy, a pathetic horror movie, a lame erotic film.
the 2 disc DVD includes a gorgeous booklet with stills, interviews, essays on bestiality, etc. as well as an extensive interview with the more-than-pretentious director. for those who have heard about it but never seen it, the package will seem fantastic until one actually sees the film. disc 1 contains the edited film, badly translated to English but with good visual quality. disc 2 contains the director's cut, in an awful transfer, in french.
what can I say about the actual beast? a hand puppet of Kermit the frog would have been more effective and shocking.