BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Pain and Glory (2019) in Movies
Feb 3, 2020
Antonio Banderas, rightfully, has earned his (surpisingly) first Oscar Nomination for portraying a somewhat fictionalized version of the Spanish auteur - a once prolific film Director at the tail end of his career coming to terms with who he is, the physical pain he is currently feeling as his body ages and the reverent feelings and fond memories he has for his mother.
It is a strong, subtle and nuanced performance by Banderas - one that is in stark contrast to the bravura and panache that he has shown previously in such films as ZORRO, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO and as the voice of Puss 'N Boots in the SHREK films. Banderas' acting his been getting better with age and while I do not think he'll win the Oscar, I do think that this is not going to be the only Oscar nomination he will receive in his lifetime.
I was happy to see Banderas work in his native Spanish language - the same goes for Penelope Cruz who plays Banderas' character mother in flashbacks. I recently saw Cruz working in Spanish in 2018's EVERYBODY KNOWS and was just as transfixed by her performance in this film - worthy of a nomination. She is very good in English Language films, but she elevates to a different level when she works in Spanish. I would have loved to see a whole film about her character - and not just get a few scenes in flashback form.
Watching these 2 performances was well worth the time of watching this film, and that is good for I did not connect with the themes, struggles and plot set forth by Almodovar.
PAIN AND GLORY is Almodovar's semi-biographical meditation on life - and as such is a little to "navel gazing" for my tastes. When I watch these types of films either I get sucked into the narrative and characters (like I did with Alfonso Cuaron's ROMA last year) or...I do not.
And...unfortunately for PAIN AND GLORY...I did not. It is a good picture with 2 really good performances but one I was kept at a distance from and one that I never really connected with.
Come for the meditation, stay for the performances. And...PLEASE...if you watch this, DO NOT watch the dubbed version. Listen to the performances of Banderas and Cruz in their native Spanish and read the subtitles.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
Mia (Sophie Nelisse), has had trouble fitting in living in Mexico which includes trouble with girls at school and adjusting to living with her father, step-mother (Nia Long) and sister. Three teenagers, Sasha (Corinne Foxx) her step-sister and her two friends convince her to go swimming with them at a secret lagoon rather than go on a glass bottom boat tour. The lagoon happens to be near a sunken Mayan city where Mia's father Grant (John Corbett) is working. The girls grab some scuba gear and decide to seize this opportunity to see the discovery for themselves and find that it is the hunting ground for deadly great white sharks. With their air supply running out and having to navigate the labyrinth of tunnels the girls find themselves in a race against time and the deadly sharks to try and survive.
This movie was okay but I thought it was going to be better. I hadn't seen the first one so I don't know if they are connected in anyway but I believe they are not. I wanted to see a good shark movie especially since during shark week a while back I had seen a lot of shark shows this year and the movie they did called Capsized which was pretty decent. This movie started off good but failed to set the tension in a gripping way. I didn't like the fact that since they were swimming in caves the lighting was dark and didn't allow for a lot of visuals. It was good for mood setting and ambiance but I thought it was a little gimmicky when they used the flares and it changed everything red. I say that because the CGI of the sharks left me underwhelmed as well. The sharks were supposed to be blind for having evolved or lived in caves the whole time and also adjusted to be more sensitive to sounds. To me the CGI looked unbelievable and threw off the emergence from enjoying the movie. They could have been better or the way they built the tension could have been better. The movie did have a couple of frightening "jump scares", one of which surprised and got me. For some reason I really didn't like the ending, for me it was the main character acting out of character and then there being to many "jump scares" back to back at the end. If you see it you'll know what I'm talking about. Anyways I give this movie a 5/10.
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