LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (2007)
Posted by: REY. on: September 28, 2008
How long would you wait for love?
Florentino Ariza (Javier Bardem) spends his lifetime to wait for the woman of his life, Fermina Daza (Giovanna Mezzogiorno). At a very young age, the telegraph operator has set his heart for the beautiful young maiden. They have even agreed to marry, until Fermina’s father sends her to live in the village far from City of Cartagena. Living apart, Fermina realises that this love is just an illusion which blinded her heart. She agrees to marry Dr Urbino (Benjamin Bratt), who’s handsome, well-educated and a highly-respected person.
Rejected by Fermina after waiting for so long doesn’t make Ariza changes his heart. He tries even harder to make himself a ‘better person’. He vows to stay pure for her. When he finally breaks the vow to some 600 women in his lifetime, his heart never shift its devotion from Fermina.
The movie is an adaption work from a masterpiece novel of the same title written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Although I’ve never read the novel, I wouldn’t be surprised if people despise the movie. I, for example, couldn’t see the relation between cholera and love from this movie. If I should refer about this only from Ariza’s mother’s statement who mistakenly remembered her son falling blindly in love for Fermina with a cholera, I think that’s very shallow and insignificant way of making the connection.
For a Don Juan, Ariza seems growing far too old than the other main characters in the movie. I understand he carries a huge burden and desire all of his life, but I would expect him to look at least similarly old with Fermina & Urbino (not older) after some 50 years later and so many women! He even looks older than his own uncle.
Nonetheless, this is an excellent and inspirational love story. A so-so movie with great settings, though.
My rating: 3/6
THE NINES (2007)
Posted by: REY. on: September 23, 2008
This is the weirdest movie I’ve seen! I still don’t get what the movie is all about, yet I actually enjoyed watching it especially with the role that Reynolds played. Consists of three parts, small part of each linked to the others although each part can go as a stand alone “short movie”. However, it’s the combination of those three that explains what is The Nines and what is “wrong” with Gary/Gavin/Gabriel (Ryan Reynolds).
Basically every life-being has a number, and God being number 10 and human number 7. In between there are The Nines, who are almost perfect, and Koalas. Unconsciously, Gary controls his fate and the kind of life he wants to live in. Strangely enough, he can’t make them perfect because he always bumps into problems that force him to wake up and re-shape the life, incidentally killing the characters that were previously involved in his life. On every “life”, there are three other characters who always there: the witty and charming Margaret/Melissa/Mary (Melissa McCarthy), the sharp and mysterious Sarah/Susan/Sierra who keeps giving the wake-up call (Hope Davis), and the kid, Noelle (Elle Fanning).
Because each part runs in a short span, we cannot predict what’s coming our way until it changed into a different story altogether. It’s the kind of a lite sci-fi movie, even though you don’t get it, you can still enjoy it. All in all, you can use your imagination to comprehend the whole thing. Was Gary an angel though??
My rating: 5/6
CJ7 (2007)
Posted by: REY. on: September 10, 2008
This movie airs in cinema sometimes last year. I just happen to miss it until I saw this weird plush toy at my friend’s car. She said it’s CJ7. What on earth is that?
Although very poor, Chow Ti (Stephen Chow) dreams big for his son. Chow Ti sends Dicky (Xu Jiao) to study at an expensive school hoping that one day his son will have better future. Dicky is practically a mock for the whole school. He wears dirty uniform and ragged shoes his father found at the garbage dump. Chow Ti feels bad that he couldn’t afford fancy toy like CJ1 robot for Dicky, so he went to the garbage dump and found an orb for Dicky to play with. He told his son that this orb is way much better than CJ1.
Strange thing happens at night when Dicky was locked inside the cabinet because he was very naughty. The orb transform into a cute little pet. Dicky’s imagination goes wild, he believes his new pet is the solution for all his problems including getting high score on the school test. So when he failed, he blamed his pet which he named CJ7.
Okay, now I remember why I didn’t watch this movie although I knew Chow was in it. It has aliens! I just don’t click with aliens. The movie is a bit weird, I never get the full laugh or the full melancholy. It still has comical jokes a la Chow though and it’s a good watch for the kids so they’ll learn about parents unconditional love, making friends, study and things that money can’t buy.
My rating: 3/6
MR BROOKS (2007)
Posted by: REY. on: August 31, 2008
Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner) has just been voted as “Man of the Year”. He is calm, successful, a loving husband and father. Everything is perfect for him. But behind the perfect life of Mr. Brooks, hides a psycho who’s addicted to murder, who takes murder as an art, who’s extremely good at it. No one ever suspects him, until his latest murder takes a witness. His secret is in jeopardy if the witness talks. If that is not enough of a problem, now his daughter also comes home with a huge secret which daddy has to take care of.
It’s not everyday to watch Kevin Costner plays a bad guy like this. Even as a psycho, we could still his usual charming character. In this movie Costner has an alter-ego (played by William Hurt) whom Mr. Brooks communicates with regularly. This character emphasizes Mr. Brook’s smartness and sharp mind as an individual with double personality. The alter-ego is strong, but not too powerful. Mr. Brooks proves he’s in charge most of the time.
I have a mixed feeling about this movie. Costner is good, considering he’s not much of a killer type but he manages to make me think that “Wow, even prince charming could commit murder!”. I personally would like to see more from Demi’s role in here. Demi Moore as an ambitious police detective is too forget-able. The best part of the movie is definitely the impression it made afterwards. A psycho can hide in everyman. A psycho is about controlling mind. A psycho is also human with basic feelings: love and fear.
My rating: 4/6
PENELOPE (2006)
Posted by: REY. on: August 29, 2008
Most often, we prefer what others have than our own. We think others live a better life than what we’re going through. Meet Penelope (Christina Ricci). A sweet girl born to a super rich family. She has everything any girl wants, but freedom. Her family was cursed. The first daughter born from the Wilhern family will have the look of a pig!
She’s locked in her house all of her life while Mom (Catherine O’Hara) is trying to find a ‘ pure blue blood’ to marry Penelope so that the spell can be broken. Every rich boy who saw her face ran away in agony. Who wants to marry a girl with a snout? Penelope suffers because she doesn’t have the ‘normal’ look, but her Mom makes it worse with her marriage arrangement, possessiveness and constant whines!
After more than a decade, this is the first time again I saw Ricci on a film. The last one was “Now and Then” in 1995. Surprisingly, her look doesn’t change much. She plays very well in this modern fairy tale, not too pretty and not overly ugly. Her snout makes her just unusual and we don’t pity her at all because she has stronger personality inside. James McAvoy also plays very well. Casual, charming and down to earth. The kind of guy next door that we want to meet. I wonder if the chemistry between them is real? It’s too believable!
With or without curse, love will find its way. And Penelope is not always an obedient girl, her spirit finally breaks free after she ran away from home (from Mom to be exact). She learns to love herself the way she is (mmm… and this kinda reminds me of “Ella Enchanted”).
My rating: 4/6
Books to brighten your day…
- Haroun and The Sea of Stories [Salman Rushdie]Salman Rushdie Puffin Softcover, 1993 Children Fiction 0-14-036650-4 TGA Sency – IDR 114,000 The worse thing happened to the greatest of all storytellers: Haroun’s father, Rashid Khalifa, has lost his ability to tell stories. This is khattam-shud! That’s the only thing Rashid was good at. All the mess started with the elopement of Soraya, […]
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