Reviews

Full disclosure: I am a longtime National fan, and I personally think that Matt Berninger is a genius. I watched this movie expecting a traditional band documentary, but even though I would have liked to see more live songs and other musical stuff, I found "Mistaken for Strangers" to be very entertaining and well crafted. Tom is Matt's younger brother, and the movie is mostly centered around his own experience joining the band on tour. He is immature, emotionally unstable, jealous of his brother's success, and kind of annoying, but somehow likable. One of the things that I liked most about the movie is the portrait of the different members of the Berninger family. They all seem like very nice people, and the love and respect that they have for each other (especially Matt and Tom) is evident throughout the film. Seems like both brothers have found a way to channel their own frustration through their art, and the results are very enjoyable in both cases. The movie shows that Tom really has filming talent, and I hope to see more of him in the future (but not exactly the B-class horror / barbarian flicks that he seems to enjoy making). My only complain is that I would have liked to see more of the Dessner and Devendorf brothers, and of course, more National music!

I went to a private screening yesterday with very low expectative, but "Clone Wars" surprised me. Being a fan of the Star Wars franchise since childhood, I wondered what was the real need for a movie like this, set between Episodes II and III, and telling the story of a very unimportant event in the Star Wars universe. But only 5 minutes into the film, I forgot about my preconceptions and became fully absorbed with the stunning visuals and the compelling plot. "Clone Wars" delivers, and definitely lives up to its predecessors. The only thing that seems a little odd is the fact that the main character and hero of the story (Anakin), is the person who we already know will become the cruelest villain in sci-fi history. I hope Lucas gives us more of these films in the near future, perhaps filling the gap between Episodes III and IV.