Bloody Lost (03/22/08)

First of all I’d like to apologize for not having written in a while. As my readers should already know, my school year started last week, so the number of published stuff has decreased considerably. I know I promised not to neglect this site but I’ve been rather busy with school stuff, a new-born cousin, but most importantly because a friend of mine lent me the first few episodes of the fourth season of one of my favorite American TV Series, Lost. I’ve been watching a chapter per day during the week so, instead of watching a movie at night, I watch the series. If you’re from the States, you have to know Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber’s creation, or at least have heard of it and, if you actually watch it, you’ll agree with me when I say it’s more interestingly compelling than average. If you don’t have a clue on what Lost is about I’ve added a very brief plot summary from www.tv.com.

 

After Oceanic Air Flight 815 tears apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island on September 22nd 2004, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, housing and hatches with electricity and hot & cold running water, a group of island residents known as "The Others," and a mysterious man named Jacob. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative -- a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past.

 

The first season is probably the best so far (it won a considerable number of Emmy Awards) and it successfully introduced the characters making some of them likeable for the audience and others not so much. However, every character is three-dimensional and with good uses of flashbacks and –just recently- flash-forwards, the spectator is provided with a little more details on their background. The mysteries of the island are presented for the first time and may look too unrealistic but, as the story goes on, they’ll be explained in a believable fashion. Lost had everything and combined innovatively many popular genres such as suspense, drama, action and even science fiction.

The second season wasn’t as good though and was packed with too many plot events which seemed to have been added to the story just to engage the viewer until the next chapter and were left behind apparently forever (one can’t be sure yet because the series aren’t over). Besides, the new characters weren’t as complex as the original members. Fortunately the season finale was awesome and the third season –although is not as good as the first one- “re-launched” the show and took the audience to a different level letting them get to know the native inhabitants of the island. Nevertheless, some episodes ended climatically leaving the viewer eager for more in the next one and the following didn’t contain a single scene regarding the previous treated subject. Instead, it developed new characters which are absolutely irrelevant for the main story and seem used only to complete the 24 chapters of the season. In spite of this, the finale was literally breathtaking and I just couldn’t wait for the fourth part to be released on Peruvian TV and even less on DVD (just for the record, I dislike to watch the series I really enjoy on their regular broadcast, I prefer to see them on DVD), so I borrowed my friend’s pirate discs which apparently have been copied from a telly in the U.S.

So now you know the true reason why I haven’t written more reviews. I expect you to continue visiting the Web and check my former material –I doubt anyone but my cousin and I have read all 19-, it’s pretty good. What’s my position regarding the issue of film piracy? Well, this is an interesting subject to write about but it would feel awkwardly out-of place here, I’ll give you my statement sometime in the near future.

 

Anthony Minghella

This Tuesday was a sad day for movie lovers. Director Anthony Minghella passed away in Charington Cross Hospital, Great Britain, from a haemorrhage following an operation to remove cancer of tonsils and neck. Minghella, was an Academy Award winning director and had a number of above average movies which most of directors aren’t able to deliver in their entire career. Although I’m not exactly a fan of his work, I have to admit that films so beautifully shot as The English Patient –which is probably his greatest cinematic achievement- aren’t showed up in theatres as often as I wished. He died being only 54 years old and the whole cinema community should regret having lost a talent like his which could have provided us with more intellectually and visually delightful movies.

 

Mauricio Kahn

Lima, Mar 2008

 

The South American Crisis (03/05/08)

If you watch the BBC, CNN or any other news channel, then you must be aware of the tense and difficult situation two fellow South American countries, Colombia and Ecuador, are going through these days. Last Saturday, at 00:25, the Colombian army bombed the Ecuadorian territory of Santa Rosa de Sucumbíos –which is about a mile away from the border- in order to kill Raul Reyes, the second most important leader of the FARC (Colombian Armed Revolutionary Forces) and their international interlocutor with the press. The problem is Colombian President Alvaro Uribe apologized and justified his actions stating that his army engaged in combat with the terrorists in Colombia and pursued them across the border into foreign territory. However, when Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador, sent troops to the aforementioned area, they found out the attack had been planned with anticipation (the dead bodies were wearing pajamas) and the terrorists had been slaughtered, not killed after being pursued by Colombian forces.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez immediately sent troops to the Colombian-Venezuelan border and accused Uribe of being colluded with the “American Imperialism”. The United States of course, supported Colombia because the country is their ally in the “Plan Colombia” to eradicate drug traffic. Correa stated President Uribe doesn’t want peace by ending the civil war which has been afflicting Colombia for the last forty years and he also said that if a single Ecuadorian person had been found dead, war would have already begun. The Ecuadorian President had already accepted Uribe’s apologies but he enraged when he discovered the latter was lying. To make things worse, the representatives of Colombia in yesterday’s emergency OEA (American States Organization) session threatened to take actions one step further and formally accuse the Ecuadorian government in an international court for helping a terrorist group which by the way, has recently asked to be recognized as a political party. Why did the Colombian President have to lie? I don’t really know but if he was already aware of were the revolutionaries were, why didn’t he ask for permission or aid from the Ecuadorian army?

Most of the countries which took part of the OEA meeting supported Ecuador and asked for regulations to avoid having the same problems again and a commission to investigate in depth the events of last Saturday. I reckon no one, under any excuse, has the right to violate the state’s sovereignty and invade it, and even less to bomb foreign territory. It’s as if someone broke into your house to kill one of his enemies without your permission, it’s inadmissible. Anyways, what does Venezuela has to do with the whole problem? Why did Hugo Chavez send troops to the border? I don’t believe he’s mad as some say but if he’s not, what are his political intentions? Fortunately Peru –where I live in- didn’t get involved with the situation and although President Alan García formally met and supported Rafael Correa yesterday, our position as in most countries’ case remains a pacifistic one. We already had a military conflict with Ecuador about thirty years ago and got involved in a war with Chile during the nineteenth century mainly due to our kind spirit which led us to help Bolivia in their conflict. Trust me, we know what is like to be devastated by a war we didn’t start.

I really hope this serious issue will soon come to a solution which benefits both parts. The OEA has just pronounced and without condemning Colombia, it affirmed no country has the right to military attack another. The same thing could –and must be happening- in the Peruvian jungle because we have a frontier with Colombia and it has been said many times that some FARC terrorists occupy part of our territory. I don’t think war is going to break through during the twenty first century but Ecuador undoubtedly had to protest and seek for support in the continent or this could happen again, not only to them but to other countries. Nevertheless, hostilities between South Americans will do no good to anyone. If any country of the third world wants to progress and not remain in underdevelopment, South America as a whole should act wisely to prevent events such as this and develop international policies which benefit not damage fellow countries.

Final Holiday Week

Unfortunately for me, this is the last week of my summer holidays and I’ll be back to school in just five days. As this is my senior high-school year, I’ll be busier than usual and won’t be able to publish as many reviews per week. I’ll probably write one every week, as well as a commentary, and another review during the weekends. I’ve kept my promise of writing five reviews every week, having written sixteen in the past three weeks. Trust me, this was not an easy task, especially because I had to construct them during my free time and they certainly took some of it. But I’ve written them gladly and with the firm purpose of gaining more readers and to provide with quality reviews. Hopefully you’ve been enjoying them so far, and I promise I’ll try hard not to abandon the site during school-time.

 

Mauricio Kahn

 

Lima, Mar 2008

 

Rating the Oscars (02/26/08)

Honestly I regret having stated just a couple of days ago that the Academy Awards weren’t as tedious and boring as some other critics say. Last night’s ceremony lacked spectacles; most of the presenters did nothing but announce the winner –Steve Carell, Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen did a little better though- or introduce us to some videos which were at times touching and showed younger people how the Oscars were in its early and middle years, but didn’t really contain anything remarkable. I’ve always hated the Best Song category because I think the live performances are just a waste of time and fail to entertain the viewer. Jon Stewart’s job was low-key, too low-key for my taste and although some of the little he said provided us with some gags –actually, with just a couple- I reckon any average comedian could do the same. These may have to do with the screenwriters’ strike which lasted until a week ago and therefore with the little time they had to prepare the event but, as James Berardinelli does, I’d enjoy watching someone more daring and irreverent like John Cleese hosting the ceremony. Maybe it has more to do with the Academy banning too many types of jokes –and films- and it isn’t really Stewart or the writers’ fault. Lost In the past seem to be actors like Marlon Brando and George C. Scott refusing an Oscar, David Niven’s memorable speech or even Cuba Gooding Jr’s effusive words of thank and Adrien Brody’s kiss with Halle Berry. Nowadays, the Oscars are just monotonous and I’d preferred them if they were more like this year’s Golden Globes.

The second problem with the ceremony –which is probably the most serious one, was that most of the awards given were way too predictable. Don’t tell me you didn’t foresee No Country for Old Men winning for Best Picture, the Coens for Best Director and Adapted Screenplay –not even them looked too thrilled for the recognition-, Javier Bardem for Supporting Actor –he tried to look surprised- or Daniel Day Lewis for Best Actor –he didn’t even pretend to be surprised-. Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton seem to have been the big surprise of the night and although they weren’t as “announced” as other winners, one doesn’t have to be too smart to realize this were the European Oscars. The real surprises were The Bourne Ultimatum which won all three awards it had been nominated to and The Golden Compass which unbelievably beat Transformers in the visual effects category. I expected a few more surprises in the important categories. I didn’t feel that thrill I used to feel before they announced a winner but maybe it’s because I’m getting older. I didn’t even watch the entire ceremony.

My predictions were not very accurate, I scored 10 out of 18 which means 56% of them were right but that’s mainly because I voted for the ones I wanted to win and thought were best and not for the ones I expected to end up the night with a golden statuette. At least I was right when I said No Country for Old Men would be the big winner of the evening, getting four Oscars, and Michael Clayton –alongside with Atonement though- the biggest loser.  I was happy for Robert Elswit and Dario Marianelli but I wanted both There Will Be Blood and Joe Wright’s film to obtain more rewards. Fortunately, the winners’ speeches weren’t as long as in previous years and a couple were funny and encouraging. I was also very glad when Javier Bardem spoke a few words in Spanish thanking his mother, grandparents, Spanish comedians and his country. Nevertheless these few positive things weren’t enough to make us get rid of the feeling of saturation that we had. I just felt I was getting the same and the same for a little less than four hours. Ultimately, a piece of advice to good ol’ Sid Ganis: make the Academy Awards shorter, in another time of the year, somewhere else (at least this would add a sense of originality) and without so many paradigms.

My score: 3 out of 10

Mauricio Kahn

Lima, Feb 2008

 

It's the Oscars (02/23/08)

If something can be said with absolute certainty about the Academy Awards is that everything, absolutely everything can be expected from them. Some of the most important actors and directors of all times have not received the golden statuette. The biggest omissions from the academy have to be Cary Grant, Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, Greta Garbo – who at the time was considered the best actress in cinema history -, Barbara Stanwyck, and especially, the incredibly funny Charles Chaplin, and Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense. Martin Scorsese’s case is well-known by everybody; he got an Oscar last year for his The Departed which wasn’t as good as his former, unrecognized films: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Even for him, the award must have felt like some kind of honorary compensation or recognition for his contribution to film industry throughout the years.

As with actors and directors, some extraordinary motion pictures have been outrageously beaten by others which weren’t nearly of the same quality. The previously-mentioned Taxi Driver was beaten by Rocky; Citizen Kane by How Green was my Valley and The Shawshank Redemption by Forrest Gump are just a few of many of this cases. Sometimes there aren’t any outstanding movies competing for the award and other times there are two remarkable films competing for it in the same year, as in the case of Midnight Express and The Deer Hunter in 1979 or Schindler’s List and In the Name of the Father in 1994. Some pretty good films don’t get any nominations and some crappy ones do like Norbit, which awkwardly got a nomination for best makeup this year. Therefore, the number of nominations or Oscars a movie won is not really relevant in order to determine whether a movie is good or not.  

I don’t think the Oscar night is one tedious or boring show and even though it’s certainly not the most entertaining event of the world, it does provide the viewer with a few gags from the different presenters and its host, in this case Jon Stewart, whose work in 2006 was better than last year’s Ellen DeGeneres’. The ceremony could definitely be shorter but the thrill and expectation one gets before knowing a winner –particularly in the Best Actor, Actress, Director and Motion Picture categories- is unique. I’m also aware that the Spirit Awards, SAG Awards and Golden Globes “announce” some of the winners and spoil the experience a little. But fortunately, we never know for sure, do we?   

 

My Predictions

I’ve been watching the Academy Award ceremony since 2004 when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won eleven awards for its eleven nominations, but this will be the first time I put my predictions on the record. Last year, they were pretty accurate though; my bets on The Departed, Martin Scorsese, Forest Whitaker, and Helen Mirren (I know everyone was absolutely certain the last two would win) were fortunately right. Although I’ve also been wrong quite a few times, –Munich was my favorite candidate in 2006 - this year I’ve seen and reviewed all five movies nominated for the most important award of them all, so I now have a better base to judge the nominees.

So without further preambles, here they are.   

 

Picture: Atonement. It has already won the Golden Globe and it is one of the most powerful movies of the last few years. I know No Country for Old Men is everybody’s favorite but as in There Will Be Blood’s case, it might be too unconventional for the Academy. Some say Juno may be the big surprise of the night, but Sid Ganis and his friends have never been inclined to reward an independent movie.

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood. This is a definite one; Day-Lewis is the best actor of the world and his performance in this film is excellent.

Actress: Ellen Page for Juno; this is actually a blind shot from me as this is the only nominee I’ve watched perform. Nevertheless, they say comedies are harder than dramas and Page is just perfect and comfortable with her part.

Director: Ethan and Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men, it’ll be between them and Paul Thomas Anderson. I’m sorry for him but my vote goes for the Coens whose trajectory adds a plus for them.

Screenplay, Original: Diablo Cody for Juno. Her screenplay is undoubtedly one of the most original of recent years making –quoting James Berardinelli- “everything Juno says is worth listening to”.

Screenplay, Adapted: Atonement. This is a difficult one, since There Will Be Blood might be the winner, but it’s far too daring for the Academy.

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men. This is also a definite one. He’s won every award he’s competed for with this role and his portrayal of the silent assassin is fascinating.

Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone. Just for the record, I haven’t watched Cate Blanchett’s performance so maybe she’s the best (as she seems to be the favorite).

Cinematography: There Will Be Blood: Robert Elswith.

Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum: Christopher Rouse

Visual Effects: Transformers.

Sound: No Country for Old Men.

Sound Editing: No Country for Old Men.

Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Score: Atonement.

Makeup: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Art Direction: Sweeney Todd.

Animated Picture: Ratatouille.

I hope most of them are right. I’ll check my results tomorrow. According to my predictions, Michael Clayton will be the biggest looser of the night and there won’t be any “big winners”, but No Country for Old Men will end up with four Oscars at the end of the night. Anyways, enjoy the ceremony!

 

Mauricio Kahn

Lima, Feb 2008

 

Welcome to M's Film Spot! (02/14/08)

Ever since I started watching movies, I’ve liked to discuss them with my friends or relatives to know what they thought about them. Sometimes I agree with them, sometimes I don’t, but what’s fantastic about films in general is that the impact they have on people depends on every individual. Therefore, two people will never have the very same impressions about a motion picture, and the exchange of ideas and opinions between them is always interesting and instructing. It was only the day before yesterday that I started writing movie reviews, and I’ll use this site as a way to make them public and to have access to other people’s opinions about it.

The reason why I started this is simple. I usually discuss movies with my cousin Sebastian and often don’t agree in some points regarding them. Because of this we almost always start a fructiferous conversation defending our positions with good and consistent arguments. To make my arguments better, last week I “developed” a rating system which takes into account various aspects from a film (theme, acting, characters, style, direction, screenplay, etc.) and started to actually give a score to every film I watched. On Monday, during one of our conversations I said I would actually write a review, just for myself or anyone who asked me about it, and he suggested not to do it that way but to make it public in his web. He said he could create a separate page for me which would be totally independent. So here I am.

By now you ought to be asking who I am besides from Sebastian’s cousin. Well, my name as you must know is Mauricio Kahn and I’m also Peruvian (that not-so-small country from western South America). I’m also in my middle teen years but I’m actually younger than him, I’ve just become 16 and this’ll be my senior high school year. I’ve watched more than enough films during my life, though, to know at least something about them. I have a very large DVD collection which varies between classic and modern films (I have more from the former category) and I like to analyze them and compare them (although I strongly believe every film is unique). I like movies from every genre, from comedies to westerns and action flicks to dramas, as long as they’re well made. I consider myself a fan of Alfred Hitchcock, whom I reckon is the greatest director of all times but I also admire many other directors, screenwriters, actors, composers and many other people from the film industry. As I’m from Peru, my native tongue is obviously not English but Spanish so don’t be surprised if you come across some mistakes in my writing. I decided to write this site in English so I could practice it and to make it accessible to more people. I promise I’ll do my best to avoid committing too many errors and to make this webpage as enjoyable for my readers as possible.

I don’t really know if I have a “writing style”. I just watch a movie, eventually take some notes, grab my laptop computer and write a review of no less than 500 words and no more than a thousand. I always write them without reading any other reviews from the internet so my reviews are 110% mine. After I  write them, I visit James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert or my cousin’s site to know what they thought about a particular film. I also occasionally read reviews from the BBC or some Peruvian newspapers.

I’ll try to write about five reviews every week, I know it’s not much but I don’t get paid for this and I have other occupations. I don’t know if I’ll have a commentary section to publish my thoughts about certain subjects yet (I guess this very section could be used for that); all I want is for this page to be a place to discuss movies openly. I hope this site will gain regular readers little by little, and any suggestions you want to make, you can always contact me or Sebastian. Try reading my first two reviews to get an idea of how I criticize movies. I’ll do my best, and I honestly hope you'll enjoy this site. If you like movies, you certainly will.

 

Mauricio Kahn

Lima, Feb 2008

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