Viva · 2008
23 films · 23 reviews
Sometimes cinema tickles the senses, sometimes it tugs at the heartstrings, sometimes it exercises the intellect – but La Antena transmits to all three at once.
(Country: Argentina; Year: 2007; Director: Esteban Sapir; Writer: Esteban Sapir; Stars: Valeria Bertuccelli, Alejandro Urdapilleta, Julieta Cardinali, Rafael Ferro, Raúl Hochman, Ricardo Merkin, Sol Moreno, Gustavo Pastorini, Carlos Piñeiro, Florencia Raggi) , Official site
Feels like one long trawl through the photo album of somebody else's holiday.
(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Jonás Cuarón; Writer: Jonás Cuarón; Stars: Eireann Harper, Diego Cataño, Michele Alban, Cristina Orozco, Mariana Elizondo, Pia Elizondo, Emilia Garcia)
The will they/won't they nature of the romance - as different in essence to your average Hollywood hug-in as chalk from chihuahuas - is beguiling for those who can cope without the usual romcom signposts.
(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Ernesto Contreras; Writer: Ernesto Contreras; Stars: Cecilia Suárez, Enrique Arreola, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Tiaré Scanda, Luisa Huertas) , Official site
Buenos Aires, 1977 is harrowing at times, terrifying at others.
(Country: Argentina; Year: 2006; Director: Adrián Caetano; Writer: Adrián Caetano, Esteban Student; Stars: Rodrigo De la Serna, Pablo Echarri, Nazareno Casero, Lautaro Delgado, Matías Marmorato, Martín Urruty)
Always a cat’s whisker away from cliché.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Joan Marimón; Writer: Joan Marimón; Stars: Rose Avalon, Alberto Jiménez, Pau Roca, Belén Fabra, Eduard Soto, Alfredo Castellanos, Núria Megías) , Official site , Trailer
Lucrecia Martel's debut as writer/director captures the many layered character of the Argentinian upper-class so perfectly that explanatory scenes would appear bourgeois in their desire to tidy the place up a bit.
(Country: Argentina/Spain; Year: 2000; Director: Lucrecia Martel; Writer: Lucrecia Martel; Stars: Graciela Borges, Mercedes Moran, Sofia Bertolotto, Juan Cruz Bordeu, Martin Adjemian, Andrea Lopez, Leonora Balcarce, Diego Baenas, Sebastian Montagna, Silvia Bayle)
A glossy, superficial affair, leading up to a climactic sequence too laughable to impress in any way.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Julio Medem; Writer: Julio Medem; Stars: Manuela Vellés, Charlotte Rampling, Bebe, Asier Newman, Nicolas Cazalé, Raúl Peña, Gerrit Graham, Matthias Habich, Lluís Homar) , Official site
The plotline’s complexity is matched by the depth of the issues explored, with the cast uniformly coming up trumps.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2006; Director: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo; Writer: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo; Stars: Quim Gutiérrez, Marta Etura, Antonio de la Torre, Raúl Arévalo, Eva Pallarés, Héctor Colomé, Manuel Morón, Ana Wagener, Roberto Enríquez) , Official site
Bernal proves to be a vibrant director, his swooping steadicam and queasy close-ups placing the viewer right in the middle of the party.
(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Gael García Bernal; Writer: Kyzza Terrazas; Stars: Gael García Bernal, Tenoch Huerta, Luz Cipriota, Camila Sodi, Ana Serrdilla, Jorge Luis Moreno, Pamela Reiter) , Official site
Although the tone is a little uneven and the narratorial voice more of an affectation than any real use to the plot, there is a charm and verve to Amadeo’s film.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2006; Director: Santi Amodeo; Writer: Santi Amodeo; Stars: Juan José Ballesta, Adriana Ugarte, Manuel Alexandre, Julián Villagrán, Eugenio Roca, Ana Wagener, Mariano Peña, Ana Gracia, Jordi Dauder) , Official site
There is an energy to this low-budget film
(Country: Uruguay, Brazil, France; Year: 2007; Director: César Charlone, Enrique Fernández; Writer: César Charlone, Enrique Fernández; Stars: César Troncoso, Virginia Méndez, Mario Silva, Virginia Ruiz, Nelson Lence, Henry De Leon, Jose Arce, Rosario Dos Santos, Hugo Blandamuro)
While there is nothing wrong with a fly-on-the-wall attitude to documentary making, more facts and a little number-crunching would go a long way to bolstering Gaja’s argument.
(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Lucía Gajá; Writer: Lucía Gajá; Stars: Rosa Estela Olvera)
Sanchez and Bayona never lose sight of the requirements of the genre, providing plenty in the way of seat-gripping tension and finding suitable shocks in the everyday.
(Country: Mexico, Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Juan Antonio Bayona; Writer: Sergio G Sánchez; Stars: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla, Mabel Rivera, Andrés Gertrúdix, Roger Príncep, Carla Gordillo Alicia, Georgina Avellaneda, Alejandro Campos, Oscar Guillermo Garretón) , Official site
An interesting genre hybrid that hits more than it misses.
(Country: Argentina; Year: 2002; Director: Adrian Caetano; Writer: Adrian Caetano; Stars: Julio Chavez, Soledad Villamil, Luis Hachin, Agostina Lage, Rene Lavand, Enrqique Liporace, Daniel Valenzuela, Freddy Forbes, Ernesto Villegas)
An engrossing and very terrifying experience.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza; Writer: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza, Luis Bardejo; Stars: Manuela Velasco, Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchud, Martha Carbonell, Claudia Font, Vicente Gil, Maria Lanau, Carlos Lasarte, María Teresa Ortega, Pablo Rosso, Pep Sais) , Official site , Trailer
The impressive framing and gorgeous washed-out look does not extend to the script of what is, ultimately, a rather pedestrian film noir.
(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Ricardo Darín, Martin Hodara; Writer: Patricio Vega, Eduardo Mignogna; Stars: Ricardo Darín, Diego Peretti, Julieta Díaz, Andrea Pietra, Vando Villamil, Carlos Bardem) , Official site
Silent Light is a powerful, technically excellent piece of cinema.
(Country: Mexico, France, Netherlands, Germany; Year: 2007; Director: Carlos Reygadas; Writer: Carlos Reygadas; Stars: Elizabeth Fehr, Jacobo Klassen, Maria Pankratz, Miriam Toews, Cornelio Wall, Peter Wall) , Official site
La Soledad hinges on a central conceit that weighs heavily, but if it can be accepted it is the key to a work of staggering power.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Jaime Rosales; Writer: Jaime Rosales, Enric Rufas; Stars: Sonia Almarcha, Petra Martínez, Jesús Cracio, Miriam Correa)
Thieves suffers from a story which is really too slight for its length, but explores its metaphorical aspects in some depth.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Jaime Marques; Writer: Juan Ibáñez, Enrique López Lavigne; Stars: Juan José Ballesta, María Valverde, Patrick Bauchau, María Ballesteros)
It may not be flashy but there are flashes of cleverness sparkling throughout.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Nacho Vigalondo; Writer: Nacho Vigalondo; Stars: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga, Juan Inciarte) , Official site
Bittersweet has rarely felt so life-affirming.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Félix Viscarret; Writer: Félix Viscarret, based on the story El trompetista del Utopía, by Fernando Aramburu; Stars: Alberto San Juan, Julián Villagrán, Emma Suárez, Violeta Rodríguez) , Official site
Darin... again proves that he can break your heart with a look, conveying unspoken emotion with a glance that taps you into his pain.
(Country: Argentina, France, Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Lucía Puenzo; Writer: Lucía Puenzo; Stars: Inés Efron, Ricardo Darín, Valeria Bertuccelli, Martín Piroyansky, Germán Palacios, Lucas Escariz, Luciano Nóbile, Carolina Pelleritti)
At once a noirish thriller, a social drama, a morality tale, a coming-of-age story and a compelling allegory of 'fortress' USA.
(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Rodrigo Plá; Writer: Rodrigo Plá, Laura Santullo; Stars: Daniel Giménez, Maribel Verdú, Daniel Tovar, Carlos Bardem, Marina de Tavira, Mario Zaragoza, Andrés Montiel, Blanco Guerra, Enrique Arreola, Gerardo Taracena, Alan Chávez)
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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