Reviews

A sober and complete piano concert by the Maestro Sakamoto, who gives us a great recital with songs from his latest album 12; in combination of legendary soundtracks such as Merry Christmas, Mister Lawrence; and other cult ones, such as Solitude from the Tony Takitani movie, or the video game LOL: Lack Of Love, in which he also has credits for helping create the world of the video game.

Leaving us, along with minimalist black and white cinematography, in line with the style of the Japanese musician of recent years, in a mythical NHK studio, a masterpiece whose greatness lies in its simplicity.

The story, which presents clear influences from Taxi Driver and presents an unknown facet due to many of the consequences of World War II, that of the Japanese holdouts, with Sakamoto doing a very cute portrayal of a veteran with PSTD, has beautiful scenes and presents a good narrative and images (sad that we do not have an HD version or at least 480p of the video clip), something that is not usually seen much in video clips of the time and that shows Dolby as a good director beyond a musician.

The Fiat Croma ad directed by Paolo Sorrentino is a normal commercial, starring Jeremy Irons, who makes a speech about travel and sensations with "Somewhere over the rainbow" in the background. It's a stereotypical ad that could have been directed by someone else and nothing would happen, so honestly, fine, but I'm not buying a Fiat Croma.

It may not be a great thriller, but it is entertaining. It is true that the script has holes and it seems that a guy with Asperger has written it, because the way to indicate that the characters are going to make love is too direct and these scenes being a fast valve to advance the story (which reminds me of the masterpiece of Tommy Wiseau's The Room). But the other hand, Keanu Reeves is the perfect disciple of Robert Michum in this movie and i love the blue suit which he wears.

A masterpiece of Spanish cinema, Goma 2 is a beautiful revenge story in which an ex-ETA member who has no problem calling themselves "the Spanish" and who is marked by ETA, decides to take revenge on the mafia farmers after the death of his wife (Ana Obregón, who provides a formidable performance) in an attack in Roussillon (Very in the ETA style) and the inaction of the Spanish authorities who supposedly control the protagonist as part of his amnesty pave the way for explosive revenge in on the other side of the Pyrenees.

Without forgetting Lee Van Cleef as villain in command and lawyer for the bad guys, making this piece of art one of the best samples of Spanish cinema.

Apart from special mention is the fact that the ETA members have a file with their members in Spanish, only in Spanish.

The prime opera of Takeshi Kitano as director, tell us the story of Azuma, a heterodox policeman who is immersed in a spiral of crime and corruption because in the course of a investigation discover that Iwaki,a friend of the protagonist is supplying drugs to yakuzas, and after a incident that if i tell it suppose a spoiler, Azuma starts a particular crusade against the yakuzas with a ending that show us the style that will have the rest of the films of Takeshi Kitano.

That style is a nihilist conception of the story, a very black humour or a cutting edition of the scenes added to the elipsis is the visiting card of one of the biggest filmmakers from Japan, with a soundtrack signed by Daisaku Kume with jazz touches that recall to noir films from the 40s and the 50s.

In conclusion, this film is a vital part of the filmography of Kitano and a must be watched movie if you want to learn about this great nippon artist.

This version of Jean Pierre Meville's "Le samourai" but in this case we have a getaway driver, a man who is like a city cowboy and this cowboy has a persecutor, The Detective (Bruce Dern), who try that to hunt it in all possible ways, and this is the leitmotiv of the movie.

In the other hand, we have a classic that had influences of the french neo-noir masterpiece that I referred to in the begining of the review, but is one of the most influential films of the world of getaway drivers, like in Drive (2011) of Nicholas Winding Refn or Baby Driver (2017) by Edgar Wright.