SKINS (Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, 2007-2012)

 

Seasons 1 and 2

 

Seasons 3 and 4 

 

Seasons 5 and 6

 

 

Life can be very easy but it can also be very complicated.

Love, sex, frienship, drugs, party, alcohol, fashion, lies, reality, studies, family. Problems. All those real ingredients that can compose a teenager's life.



HOOLIGANS (Lexi Alexander, 2005)

When you feel that you are part of something, part of somebody; that is because somebody is also feeling that he/she is part of you. FRIENDS is not a word you can use to refer to everybody you know in the world. It is bigger, stronger, better. You can only use friends when you really have that feeling, that sensation that you are part of something that both, your friend and you, have created. It does not matter what's the point that links you. The important thing is that there is something that makes you feel what you feel, figth, trust and carry on come what may.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (Tim Burton, 2005)

Our weaknesses can make us stronger, but our greed can have the opposite consequence. We can be hard people with many aspirations and possibilities in life, but if try to have everything and if we think everybody is going to achieve for us those things we desire, we are terribly wrong. Nobody will do nothing for us and that is something we should learn since we were born.
For those children whose parents spoil and give whatever they ask for, life is not going to be easier but the opposite. It is better to learn how to survive by oneself before it is too late for us.

CHAPLIN (Richard Attenborough, 1992)

Charles Chaplin was a very famous British actor and director during the Silent period cinema, who was determined to continue doing silent movies even when the talkies had started to be important. This movie, in a way, has made me remember this man's career not only because it is a biography of Chaplin but also because of the introduction of some of the movies he made, which were of course silent - most of them- , which gives a really interesting contrast to the film. On the one hand, the film itself is a modern film more or less contemporary which was made according to the style of modern cinema. However, as I have already said, some clips of Charles Chaplin's movies are included so there is a melting between both styles of performance. This enriches the movie and allows the spectator to do a kind of comparison between the two ways of acting.



As the movie is a documentary, it has not provoked too many feelings as other films may have done, but it is very interesting regarding the comparison and contrast that I mentioned above. Also, it gives some details about the life of Chaplin and what I would like to remark concerning this, is how he fought to do silent movies, how he fought for what he believed although the rest of people were against. I think, and probably all of you too, that this is admirable because he did exactly what he wanted, although that decreased his income and his popularity.

DOG DAY AFTERNOON (Sidney Lumet, 1975)

I suppose that everybody has a reason for doing what he/she does. Some people have honest reasons and purposes. Others just go for hurting other people. But at the end, everybody has his/her personal reasons for carrying out his/her actions. Besides, appearances can be deceptive and what people do is not always a sign that they are bad persons or good. Because, as I have already said, at the end everything happens according to some reasons, and not all these reasons are necessarily bad.


 

SHUTTER ISLAND (Martin Scorsese, 2010)

"This place makes me wonder: which would be worse, to live as a monster or die as a good man?" I do not think I can find the right words to describe this movie. So, I will only ask you a couple of questions which can sum up in a few words what this film more or less wants the spectator wonder. What would you do if you discover that you've lived only lies and that you are exactly the kind of person you would never want to be? What if you discover that being mad is better than being aware of your reality?

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (Blake Edwards, 1961)

How can a person be so worried about what she/he has (materialistic things) instead of what he/she thinks, feels, wants to feel, loves? I do not know. I do not understant. A life based on luxury and caprices is not a good life because, at the end, the person who depends on these things is not really happy. Why are there people who flee from their lives, from their sentiments, from their reality? Why are there people who prefer not to accept that they are in love and thus to be unhappy the rest of their lives?

Those people who pretend to be what they actually aren't end up living a life which is not theirs, as Holly (Audrey Heburn)does. She goes for a life who does not belong to her, she pretends to be a free woman whose feelings do not betray her but at the end, all of this makes no sense because she realizes that she cannot deny that she is love with Paul (George Peppard) and that it is him what she wants in her life, even more than all the diamonds of Tiffany's.

The comparison that is made between Holly and her cat (called cat) has made me rememeber the movie Cat on a Hot tin Roof, which in fact has some similarities with this movie, not totally but at least partially. I think the protagonists of both films share some of their most important characteristics such as their great strenght to survive - accompanied or alone - as well as their own soul, which in both Holly and Maggie is assimilated with the figure of a cat.

THE GODFATHER (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

This is a myth for the history of the cinema, so I thought I couldn't live any more time withoug having watched (completely) this motion picture. And, after watching it I must admit that the awards this movie has received are totally fair. I must confess that gangster movies do not really call my attention, in fact, I do not think I have seen much more appart from this one. Anyway, this movie is amazing and it is really well done with regards of mise-en-scène (lights are really well employed) and also with regards of other aspects such as framing or sound (in fact the soundtrack of this film is quite known and famous). I really have enjoyed the character of Michael (Al Pacino), who I know will become the most important one in the next two movies. However, I should admit that I wouldn't have included his romance in Italy because I like Kay (Diane Keaton) too much and I've seen the other relationship as an infidelity to her. But, anyway, Michael is the perfect son, the one who does not know what he wants in life but what he does not like. Nevertheless, the happenings occured in the context of his family make him change his mind and his way of acting dramatically.

Don Vito Croleone (Marlon Brando) is also fundamental for this movie and plays a fantastic role which I have admired too much during the whole movie. In my opinion, despite the shady business he develops, his sentences, his way of performing and his actions themselves make the viewer to feel totally involved with him from the very first second until the end. Besides, his particular way of speaking contributes to the mystery and suspense which exist during the entire film and which characterized this great and unforgettable classic of American cinema.

THE HUNGER GAMES (Gary Gross, 2012)

Anxiety for reading and knowing MORE. This is the feeling I felt the minutes after I watched this movie. I had not read the book on which this film based so I didn't know anything about it and went to the cinema with no preconceptions or idea. That's fantastic because I felt surprised (even though some things are quite typical and I waited for them without having seen them or read the book) but anyway, I think it is quite well done and I've liked it so much. Now, I'm reading the book (The first part), just to compare and because I really loved the story and, maybe because I've already watched the movie, I think it is better than the book - although the book is really good too. I don't think this story is as unrealistic as it is possible to think, because it is a perfect comparison - as well as an hiperbole- to the world in which we live in. In my opinion, that's why it has so publicity and people like it so much. At the end, it tells something that we live everyday. If you have money you can live with no worries. If you don't, the rulers of this world managed us as they want. Don't you really think that is reality?

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (Eric Bress and J.Mackye Gruber, 2004)

What would you do if you could change your past? How do you think your life would be if you changed something that happened some years ago and which you did not really like? Is this really the solution to our problems? To change the past in order to change our present and our future? Or at least the present of others... Just imagine that it would be possible for you to change some aspects of your past that marked your life forever. Just think in it. If you changed those events the rest of your life wouldn't have been as it really was, but at the same time you would have those happenings in your mind, even though for the rest of the people they would have never occured. So, what would it be your reality if you knew what really happened but you changed so and as a consequence, the reality for the rest changes? For me this movie is quite shocking. My feelings after watching it are not possible to be explained. Confusion, surprise, sadness, questions... Why do we always want to change our past? Would you do it for the person you love despite the consequences? Change one thing, and change everything.

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (Woody Allen, 2008)

How must we live? Should we do those things people explect from us or just living according to no rules and being really happy? And, what is love? Is love what people tend to say? Or is it that thing that people will never know because it does not exist? And, are there conventions or standards for love to exist? I mean, can love only occur between two people or are there other possibilities? These questions can be asked after watching this weird movie. Two people who are terribly in love but who cannot live together or just going out together because they hurt each other. Two friends who fall in love with the same guy but they do not know and both have sex with him, even the one who is married. I do not think this movie really has sense but at the same time I think it has all the possible sense that a movie could have. It presents a strange relatioship between a woman, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz), and a man, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem),who love each other but who cannot have a normal love story because they always end up killing them.

Then, two friends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), from NY who go to Barcelona in summer and there they meet a man that seduces them.

As a consequence of this, Cristina falls in love with him but, due to a problem, things do not happen as they had thought and Vicky, who is going to married a young American man, falls in love with him too. From this very moment, everything changes and a story based on lies and non-logical things starts. All the events that take part in this movie may make the spectator wonder about how should we live the life and how should we react to love. Really, is there any rules to follow when talking about feelings? Why don't we just feel, live and let it be?

IN TIME (Andrew Niccol, 2011)

Rich people - no matter of what kind of coin is the one needed to be so - are the only ones who are able to live with no worries. If there were no money but time, I mean, if people paid their food, their hobbies and so one with time instead of money, life would be maybe more complicated, but at the end the result is the same. Rich people would have all the time for them to have fun whereas poor people would need to work hard, even to steal, not to eat some days... just with the purpose of surviving and get more time. And that is all. This movie could be perfectly considered a kind of metaphore of our real world. A perfect calm for those who were born surrounded by money and luxury and a fight for those who must make an effort everyday if they want to be happy or at least to be. Nowadays, quite movies are based on the same topic probably because it is a question that worries many of us. Why are there so many people with unthinkable salaries and who live in enormous houses with many people working for them while others die because they do not eat enough and work from early in the morning until late for a miserable salary? Is this really fair? I do not really think so. But, that is life and this movie represents so very clearly. That is why I like it although it is a recurrent theme in today times.

DOROTHY MILLS (Agnès Merlet, 2008)

People are so much egotistic and they tend to try to achieve their happiness without caring about how much they can hurt someone or not. This movie is a very well example of this. Dorothy Mills (Jenn Murray)is a young complicated girl who is accused for having killed a little baby. Nevertheless, the investigation is quite difficult because she is said to suffer some mental problems and that is why a psychiatrist is sent to her village in orther to study Dorothy. There, some odd things happen, which keep the audience in suspense during the whole movie. Dorothy is available to talk with three dead youngs who died in a fatal "accident" that at the end of the movie is discovered. Moreover, this young lady is used by these three people's parents in orther to talk with their relatives so Dorothy gets possessed in so many times.

From my point of view, the use of ligths, shadows and even the composition of the scenes is wonderful so that the spectator feel worried and waiting for what is going to happen next. I do not think this is really a horror film, it is more about suspense and so on even though the make-up of the girl and the strange happenings may disturb the spectator. Anyway, the story itself is quite sad and has made me think about how selfish people are because this film could be considered as well a kind of metaphor of life.

THE VOW (Michael Sucsy, 2012)

Life can give you another opportunity to make your beloved to fall in love with you again. Yet, I do not think this is an opportunity but a painful punishment. How can you look at the love of your life when she or he had forgotten you? How can you live? How can you overcome the fact that the person you love the most will never remember your face again? I do not think I could overcome this, though I would do the same as Leo (Channing Tatum), who tries to re-win the heart of Paige (Rachel McAdams).



Even when he feels everything is lost and even when he sees that his wife is trying to flirt with another man. Even then he is in love with her and he tries her to be in love with him again. Even then... Probably all these happenings - as well as the fact that the Leo's voice is heard during all the movie, narrating his feelings - makes de viewer to be identified with him and shows his point of view more than hers. That is why this movie makes the spectator to feel like if it were Leo. And these feelings are horrible... but at the same time beautiful.

This movie is... NO WORDS.



I think the crew which has filmed this movie has made a really good job because this movie really moves the spectator and makes it to be involved with the characters and to empathize with them. Actually, I do not know the rest of the people bu I have felt as this painful love story were mine; and that is what I absolutly search in a movie.
In my opinion, this movie will be one of those favourite films I see when I feel sensitive, such as the case of the great success The Notebook (Nick Cassavetes, 2004).
Wonderful movie, wonderful emotions... I just can add:

"I vow to seriously love you, in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once in a lifetime love. I vow to love you and no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find a way back to each other."

MILDRED PIERCE (Michael Curtiz, 1945)

Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) is a drama about the murder of Monte
Beragon (Zachary Scott), occurred in a beautiful but mysterious house near the beach.
During the screen duration, the spectator may see not only the investigation of this
crime but also a personal story about some past events that Mildred Pierce (Joan
Crawford) narrates when she is interrogated.

Temporal order is quite important in this movie because it is totally discontinuous due to the flashbacks that are included for the narration of these past events and that are necessary to understand the movie.
During the whole movie there is a sense of mystery, which is mainly based on these flashbacks because the introduction of past events complicates the action even more since the spectator is likely to have suspicion not only on the woman but also on the other characters. Besides, these flashbacks are narrated from Mildred’s point of view, which makes the spectator to be far more identified with her.

The point of view in this movie is also important and relevant because it makes the viewe to interpret the film in a different way. Whereas at the beginning everything seems be in one way, at the end it is discovered that it isn't, and the perspective is changed grafually in the course of the movie. There is also a component of surprise, nobody thought that the killer was going to be the person who in fact is.

That's why this movie is especially representative for its mystery and for its surprise. You may suspect and blame different people but... who is the murderer?

MUST LOVE DOGS (Gary David Goldberg, 2005)

The end of a relationship does not mean the end of your love life or your love stories. Your life does not end when a man or a woman decides not to love you any more even though the heart does not say the same immediately after the breaking-off. Nevertheless, the end of a relationship probably would mean the beginning of a new life and new love stories and, maybe, you will find the love of your life. That is why, when we talk about love, we must not desist. The man or woman who is going to make us happy is maybe waiting for us, and we may do not know it.

An important fact I cannot forget to mention: John Cusack!
I know I've discovered this actor this year, but I am in love with him. Hence, I must say that there is and excellent performance which produces motivation for the spectator who feels involve with the characters, and especially with him.



Anyway, Must Love Dogs is a love comedy I have enjoyed so much and that I strongly recommend you, not as a must but as a relax.

VA A SER QUE NADIE ES PERFECTO (Joaquín Oristrell, 2006)

Living without one of our senses must be difficult, especially for those who at the beginning of their lives had it. On the other hand, those people who suffer the lack of one of their senses or cannot walk correctly have something that we do not.
They appreciate many things that common people cannot. And that is beautiful. Moreover, they find other of their senses stronger so they can supply, in a way, their lack.
Anyway, either you do not have one of your senses or you have lost it during your life, life itself is difficult and firstly, you need people to understand you, and then you need to have a good sense of humor.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (James Watkins, 2012)

Where do we go when we die? Are true those stories and legends about that woman whose child died in terrible circumstances and, as a consequence, once she's dead she tries the same for the rest of the children? I do not really know, but after watching this movie I neither want to check it...

This is a horror movie, more based on thriller than on shouts, which has made me feel fear and even shame, because the end is not as happy as it could have been. Nevertheless, I really think this movie is well done and, of course, the end is perfectly linked to the rest of the movie. Al well, in my opinion, the mix between the fear element and the moving one is tremendous and makes the viewer to be involved with the plot and the story all the time.

On the other hand, as I have already mentioned in other occasions, I love watching movies in which the main character is played by an actor, famous for having done other series, movies or sagas (such as Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the role of Arthur in this movie but also who is especially known for being Harry Potter).




By the way, the way in which light is used in this movie I think is appropiate and perfect for the topic and for the atmosphere that is created. The mystery and fear are all the time present and helped by this use of lights and also by the use of the sound.

UP (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, 2009)

Animated movies not necessarily must be seen by children. In fact, this kind of films may be quite emotive and sometimes not really understodd by kids as an adult actually could do.
Up, by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, is a really sad but interesting and beautiful story about two people who meet when they are children and pass the rest of their lives together, trying (more or less) to complete their dreams.



You, I, everybody has their own intentions and aims in life and their own dreams, which, when people are young and have all their life to enjoy it, usually think will be perfectly achieved. But, when we eventually arrive to the end of our days we will probably realize that those dreams we had when we were younger have become just dreams and have not been accomplished. Nevertheless, life is a great adventure (the single one we will really enjoy) where we live new experiences almost everyday so, I do not think it is necessary to create a concrete purpose to fulfill in our lives but to be happy.
Ellie and Carl achieve so. Hence, I think their purpose in life have been accomplished. However, for Carl it is not enough and in my opinion, what he makes is a very pretty gesture which demosntrate how much he is/was in love with his beloved Ellie.

Nice movie and touching as well. I recommend you to see it. In 'Comentario de Textos Audiovisuales en Lengua Inglesa II' teachers showed me the first minutes of the movie which now I am going to show you (more or less)just for you to know whether you would like to watch it or not.
Enjoy it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_popout&v=UHMD_EqM61I

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (Marc Webb, 2009)

"This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story."

People are very different between each other. There are people who want to fall in love and live with this person for ever whereas there are people who just want to have experiences without being related to someone all their lives. The problem starts when these two kind of people meet each other and start a relationship. Who is gonna change? Who is gonna lose? Who is gonna achieve its goal: the one who wants to share its life with this person for ever or the one who does not?



She is Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a girl who does not want problems in her life. She thinks life is difficult enough to make it even more difficult falling in love with someone. She thinks love does not exist and she also thinks that she will never be in love with anybody. Destiny is not part of the world for her, and the only thing she wants is to be happy and to make whatever she needs and desires.



This is Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a boy who really believes in destiny and love. He has always been quite sad because he's never found a girl who loves him. When Summer appears everything changes. He tries to deny his feelings but it is impossible. He is totally in love with her.

Is not this really a love story? I do not think so, I actually think this is a fantastic love story different from others. But it is not happy at all. I wonder how I would behave if I were Tom... and I feel quite stressed.
In my opinion Tom is not the only who is in love. He is the one who accepts the reality, although he also creates false expectations which does not help him at all. Anyway, I think Summer, more than Tom or less, has felt love. But all my theories are broken at the end of this romantic but non-romantic movie where some hard words that Sum says sum up what this story has been for Sum. Here I leave you the video which you can watch or not, depending on whether you are going to see the movie or not:



But at the end, not everything is sad; there are also new beginnings, new opportunities, new loves. And the destiny keeps working, as Tom believed.

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (Darren Aronotsky, 2000)

... Maybe this is the best way for me to describe my feelings after watching this touching and painful movie. [...]
Because I am still in shock and I don't think I can find the words to define them and definitly, if I had to express my feelings in just one word, it would be: shock.

Drugs can have very hard consequences so we should be careful. However, there are people who everyday take drugs, maybe because they are absolutely obsessed with them, maybe because they don't know. But finally, the result is always the same: problems, more problems and death; and this movie is a clear example of this.

Illness



Dependence



Madness



Death...
Great use of lights and shadows, wonderful employ of make-up and clothes and excellent editing strategies. In general, great movie but quite hard. Anyway, I recommend you to see it because it will probably leave you without words... And that's fantastic if we talk about cinema.

I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY (Dennis Dugan, 2007)

What would you do just with the purpose of helping a friend?



What this movie demonstrates is that good friends really exist and may make people think about whether they would do for their friends and what would not. In addition, it may make people think in whay their friends would be capable to do for them.
In my opinion, one of the best things a person might find in the life is the security of having someone next to you that would protect, fight and do whatever for you. That is why I think the friendship is not something important in life but a really necessity for people, and this movie is a sample of this because, although it is a comedy, it also has a strong sentimental component. Not everybody would be determined to pretend homosexuality and marry you just for you to be able to keep your children with you. This is something really beautiful and definitely moving.

BABEL (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006)

How to define this movie? As a weird one, alien, interesting, attractive... It presents different stories of very different people who in fact have different nationalities and languages or even ways of comunication, one of the girls is actually deaf and mute. All of these people are interconnected for one or another reason but at the same time there is a big distance between them, which is the language.

The title Babel is really well selected in my opinion because this movie deals, in a way, with the communication between people of different languages as well as the things people from different races can have in common or in contrast.

I have not found this movie especially easy to understand because it mixs several stories which at the end are parts of the same story but at the beginning is not easy to link the different cuts between one story and the other. Anyway, I consider this movie quite interesting because it shows how difficult the life can be for people and it does not matter whether these people are rich, poor, American, Arabe or Mexican, deaf, mute, both or none.

Here I leave you the trailer for you to enjoy it:

:)

Hello everybody!

I apology for the time I have not visited this web page but I have been quite busy with my exams and assignments so I have not found the time for watching movies and share them with you. Very soon I will re-start with my negative and positive recommendations and I hope you'll like them.

See you very soon :)

MYSTIC RIVER (Clint Eastwood, 2003)

When we lose someone we really love and need in our lives we do not pay attention to reasons, we just desire the guilt to suffer at least the same as you, or the same as tour relative did. However, anything will not give you back this person; neither the prison nor the assassin death.



When we are victims, when children, of any kind of abuse or something, we are likely to commit this kind of things as well when we have grown up. However, as we have been so hurt, we will probably try to avoid others to suffer the same pain. But ours is for life, and if anybody believes us, what can we do? What do we have?



Other people are more fortunate. There are people in the world who fight so others can be quietly and in peace. Their decision for becoming this help for society may have some special reasons or not but, being a good and a noble man has, sooner or later, its advantages.



Excellent element of suspense which keeps the viewer wondering WHO. Those events happened off-screen are more important because they reveil the name of the assassin. Besides, the use of lights and shadows is greatly developed and contribute to the creation of expectancy over the spectator. In some way, it makes me remember Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008) in the excellent use of shadows in order to announce the spectator that something is wrong. Moreover, the use of an exact and similar scene in two occasions provokes a common knowledge that something wrong is going to happen in the sencond time.
-The First time that the car disappears throught the street Dave (Tim Robbins) is going to suffer abuses while the second time he is going to die.

In my opinion, everything is wonderfully linked and the movie is really well thought and represented. Furthermore, the job of actors is fantastic, especially that of Jemmi (Sean Penn).