Reviews

"City of God" was just a perfect movie. "Elite Squad" goes beyond that; it's a WTF movie.

Brutal realism, terrific acting (Wagner Moura... wow), brilliant script and plot, precise edition, unforgettable quotes... This movie is just insanely good.

If you live in a developed country you'll probably think this is just another thriller. For anyone living in a 3rd country it's way more than that: it's a brutal picture of our degradation and corruption, a revelation that runs over you like a truck.

The most striking aspect about the movie is how clearly it shows how everyone is at the same time guilty and victim in the whole war against drugs: the do-gooders NGOs, the politicians, the corrupt police and the not-corrupt but truculent "Elite Squad". It shows it precisely but with sense of humor and very smartly. In this war, everyone that proclaim to have moral and values is actually hiding skeletons in the closet. It's all a story of gangsters against gangsters in a degraded society.

This is the most overrated B movie in history. It's "interpretation" to some of the most beautiful music ever made is revolting. "Cute" centaurs and Pegasuses for the Pastoral? Stravinsky for a children's history of evolution? "Abstract art" for Bach's Toccata? Tchaikovsky for dancing mushrooms? If you like classical music (I do) run away from this pretentious garbage.

The movie is so bad that it only gets interesting when the music is as bad as it: Ponchieli, Dukas, Mussorgsky, etc. The joke works because the "homage" stresses the banality of the composition.

Not recommended for children (too boring, go watch Pixar's stuff) neither for intelligent adults.

This film is interesting just for 10 minutes. After that is very hard to pay attention to the visual excesses and the absolute absence of plot, story and decent music. It becomes just a succession of stupid repetitive video-clips. I tolerated it just for 40 minutes. After that, not even in fast forward. Want visual fascination? Look for Fellini's "Amarcord" and "E la nave va". Want good musicals? "All that Jazz" and "Singing in the rain".

One problem with this kind of "documentary" is that people go see it assuming that it is "the truth", since there is no acting and it has no previous script. Obviously, the "truth" is never in the screen or a book; it is out there, in life. So the point is not if it "shows the truth" but how convincing it presents his point: that america is a country dominated by self-feeding paranoia. Does it succeed? I think it has lots of good moments: when he shows the stupid Charlton Heston with alzheimer giving racist interpretations for violence, when the brother of the bomber in Oklahoma says that "there are lots of wackos out there" (and himself is a wacko), the funny summary of american history in cartoons, the (camp) advertising videos with bikini girls with machine guns, the interview with the militia guys, etc. However, even in some of its best moments the movie is closer to propaganda than to a "documentary", in the Discovery Channel sense of the word. This might be entertaining and funny if you previously agree with the ideas of the director ( and I do totally agree). If you just want to see a smart movie, are willing to understand the gun-crazyness of america or don't understand how eazy guns are so bad it might be irritating and confusing, sometimes.

This movie is a review of an old theme: the awakening from the "american dream" or what is the meaning of life for a typical middle-class man in western urbanized civilization. In 1949, a very famous theater play ("The Death of a Salesman") begun this discussion. Another example of this theme: "American beauty".

"About Schmidt" presents this discussion in a funnier and more optimistic view than the classic play. Maybe it's because this is Hollywood, pop entertainment or simply the fact that Marxism is dead and, therefore, the "american way of life" is seen differently today than it was in 1949.

This movie is highly recommended if you dream of being rich and famous and conquer the world. It tells you that the price is quite high, specially if you fail. But it also gives you some hope of redemption. Some people criticized the ending as being to sentimentalist (I'll not spoil it). I disagree. It made sense to me. It makes sense to U2's Bono, too ;-).

This movie is very good but it gets much better after you read the book. This is a situation where the book and the movie compliment each other in a marvelous way. There are lots of things in the book which the movie does not show: the inner reflections and impressions of the count, the political background of Italy's unification, the astonishing end and a lot of small details about the environment of the story. But there are also many things in the movie which the book can't show: the excellent performance of Lancaster & Delon, the beauty of Claudia Cardinale, the colors, light and spectacular scenery of the castles and landscapes of Sicily. So, I recomend you to read the book first. If you don't do that, this movie may even seem boring, because you may miss a lot of interesting details.

This is the only movie of the Star Wars series' that I saw, back in 1977. And I just can't understand the hype.

The plot is silly and idiot, the characters are shallow and childish, the conception and art direction is ultra-mega-kitsch, the music is cliché, ... well, I admit I don't like this movie.

If you like trash movies with all the "features" above, this is the "best" they can get: a perfect program for mindless couch potatoes. Sure it is very fun. But doesn't deserve all the hype.

The only defect of this movie is that it is perfect. The fact is that there's nothing more irritating in a movie than the unanimity. When someone hears that a movie is perfect, the best of history, etc... he/her creates expectations so high that no movie can ever fulfil. This movie is the case. Every single detail is crafted to perfection. Mario Puzo gave it the tense and realistic plot. Coppola gave it the dignity. Brando gave it the genius. Nino Rota gave it the passion...

Well, if you didn't see this movie, you are a very lucky person. You have the privilege of being able to see it for the first time and no experience can be stronger than the first one. But, first of all, forget all opinions about this movie. Don't create any expectation. Forget even this comment. And don't thank me for it. Just love "The Godfather".