The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist (1973) is a good movie. First, remember it is from 1973. The special effects weren’t that evolved. Thus, a lot of them are just make up. Nevertheless, you can get some great views, like rotating heads, levitation and some other. The story is mostly what you would expect for the title. The main drawback is that we do not get a proper exorcism working. The devil disappears by other means (check the movie to understand). Also, there are some minutes from he beginning of the movie that aren’t relevant. I know they connect with the exorcist, but in fact they do not bring anything new to the story. With those scenes, the story could be made better and more interesting. But probably the director noticed the movie was getting too big, and just decided to cut the story. I just can say I think the end could be a lot better.

Also interesting is to read about the actress who made the girl character. She was almost nominated to an Oscar, but then they noticed she used some stunts and a dubbed version. So, if you want an Oscar, try to make it real.

Smash, Season 1, Episode 1

Smash, S01E02

Smash is a new series. It is classified as Drama, but for now I do not think Drama is the right classification. It is not a comedy, is not action, is not horror, probably it is not romance, but drama.. ok, why not. I am not sure if I will continue watching it, but I will give a second chance, and wait for the next episode. Why not? The story is not bad (Broadway backstage), there are some nice girls, and it is completely different from the other series I am watching at the moment. So, wait for more posts about it in the future.

The Pillars of the Earth (miniseries)

The Pillars of the Earth (episode 1)

I am reading the book The Pillars of the Earth (in Portuguese), almost at the end of the second volume, and started today to watch a miniseries that was created based on this book. It is (they say) the master piece of Ken Follet. If it is or not, I can’t say, as it is only the second book I am reading by Ken.

Back to the miniseries, this is always a problem to comment on a movie or miniseries after reading a book. Mainly because you imagine things, places, characters, and then you get places and characters with other aspects. But I started watching the series knowing that.

This episode shows that the director is cutting some scenes (like the supernatural sex scene between Ellen and Tom the Builder), and changing some bits of the story (Jonathan is found by Philip and he delivers him to the monastery in the forest, and only later he goes to Kingsbridge, taking Johnny Eightpence with him to take care of the baby).

But, hey, we can’t expects things to go exactly as in the book. In any case, I expect to watch the next episodes soon.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

First, yeah, it is a good choice to see The Exorcism of Emily Rose in Christmas Day. Much better than watching it on Halloween or something. I was expecting something more from the movie. It doesn’t have that big special effects I was expecting (but that’s probably good, as Jennifer Carpenter as a great performing), and during the movie I forgot it is based on true facts (or at least they said) and I was expecting some non-natural behavior in the Court Room. But then, that would make the movie not credible.

The story is not that good to take two hours of movie. Not that the movie is boring (in fact, I couldn’t stop it in the middle to go into the restroom), but you get to the end wondering… is it just this? Well, that was my feeling…

Bolt (2008)

Bolt (2008)

Back to animation movie. Bolt is from Disney, this time without the help of Pixar. But I did not miss Pixar in this work. The movie is great. Animation is cool. Characters are cute. And the story, unlike the last Up from Pixar, is both comic and dramatic, and I got a great time watching it.

Although the story is nothing really new there are a couple of details that make the movie interesting. For example (spoilers alert) the fact of the dog (Bolt) do not have any idea about a standard dog behavior, but Mittens, a cat, is able to teach him. And more, as far as he learns, he loves to be a dog. If you like animation movies, I recommend.

Up (2009)

I like animation movies, not just because of the story itself, but because they are usually comic and also because I like to see the advances on computer animation. And Pixar movies always astonish me because of the animation and graphics quality. This is not an exception. This movie is great.

Unfortunately I am not that happy with the story. Not because it is not plausible. I am used to that in animation stories (and not only animation…). But because I lack humor. There are a few that I can recall, but most of the movie is a drama, or just old jokes. And that is a shame. I am a really admirer of some animation movies that have different levels of humor, from kids to adults. In this I could not find adult jokes… but probably I was distracted….

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Shawshank Redemption

I finally got the time and took the initiative to see this movie. It is in the top of IMDB, so I really needed to watch it. Well, the truth is that I do not like some of the movies in the top IMDB, and the truth is that this is not one of my favorite movies. I agree it is good, the story is great, the acting awesome. But it is not the type of movie I crave. It is a drama. And it is difficult to me to rate high a drama. Sorry.

In any case, the movie is worth its more than two hours of length. And note! There aren’t girls! And I watched it till the end. That says a lot about it

Big Fish (2003)

Big Fish

Probably it is enough to say that this is a Tim Burton movie to explain why it is in the top 250 movies on IMDB. I am not properly a fan of dramas. It makes us think too much. While that is good from time to time, it also makes me depressed. And this movie makes us think yet more when you have old parents.

But hey, let’s continue on the movie. I mentioned Tim Burton already, right? So, expect fantasy. Lots of fantasy. Also, expect comic scenes. Watch the movie with your heart and mind opened.

Finally, although this movie is from 2003, it is nice to notice that Alison Lohman continues to be beautiful. And she is one year younger that me. Oh, let’s get back to reality… damn

Gran Torino – 2008

Gran Torino is not, finally, a common Hollywood movie. And great I did not know it before watching it. This way it was easier to watch and enjoy it. I will not talk more about it or it will be a big spoiler.

Clint Eastwood is great on this movie. Of course, great as director, but specially great as main actor. I really like his interpretation. And I love his grunts. Yeah, it is true.

The movie misses some nice young girls in bikini. Probably it misses some more action. But that will lead to a common Hollywood movie, good to watch and have fun during the weekend.

This one is different. You have fun, as there are some brilliant jokes and funny scenarios. But the main characteristic of the movie is to be a drama, and that is all that matters. If your mood changes easily with a sad story, be careful when to watch this movie. Probably I should took that care and watch in a sunny day. Now I can… kind of sad.

In any way, this is a movie I can understand to be in the top #250 of IMDB. And with my vote (10 on 10) it should get upper.

The Illusionist

The Illusionist is a nice movie. The soundtrack is wonderful, the image is wonderful, the story well told, and nice actors. Regarding actors, and not commenting on Jessica Biel (I think you can guess), Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti did very impressive interpretations.

I just did not like one thing: to hide from us the full story until the end. You know, they show us just what they want we to see. Thus, at the end, you think you know everything that happened, and “unfortunately”, you don’t.

In any case, a good film. 8 in 10!