" Cracks "

Year: 2009
Verdict: 8/10
Directed By: Jordan Scott




Eva Green- Miss G
María Valverde - Fiomma
Juno Temple - Di






Set in 1930's,in a bleak,secluded area,an elite all girls school.
No one was prepared for what was about to unfold.
Everything seems to be in it place, quite normal as it was.




An over achiever student named Di, who idolizes her teacher from top to bottom, she'll do everything in her hands to please and make her become a favorite
among the rest.
The other girls,part of her circle are either introverts or wants to be a copycat
of her.
Their dull and otherwise monotonous lives will soon changed once an overseas student from Spain named Fiamma, who knows more than what she's saying.

Fiamma, as opposed to the other girls is timid, silent, felt very alone and left-out but rather an intelligent an kid with a disturbing past, that's why she's been detained in a reformed school to rectify her wrong doings.

Then, there was this dame professor Miss G, who influenced them with false pretenses that ends in a disturbing and confusing matter.
An incident that robs off their innocence.
Miss G, who makes them believe that she's an all too knowing person,
a free traveler with all her misadventures and what not.
On the outside, she looks well mannered and kind, but inside her, is a dark and disturbing past and all the stories she made were deceitful lies that web into one another, about herself and her life.

Miss G carries on this alluring appeal which made the girls curious esp.
the student Di.
But, what drives her nuts was the love and care of this young mysterious
girl Fiamma,
whom she tries to get her attention, but couldn't because Fiamma was too clever to be fooled by her.
When Fiamma caught her stealing postcards and things that are not hers and stories about her travels which she only got from a novel.
She tried to punish Fiamma by letting her dive into the water a lot of times, almost killing her, when she clearly knows that the girl was asthmatic.
One night, the girls held a midnight feast, it almost went well till Fiamma got drunk. Miss G pretended to protect her, she carries her into her room but took advantage of her.

What happens after is a gripping ending, envy that turned into hatred, that turned into anger and then death.



Upon watching this film, it reminded me of Magdalene Sisters all over again.
It's upsetting to see that back then, the girls were silently tortured,
they have no choice and no freedom to do what they want.
What was once considered as taboo and lustful, they couldn't express their feelings.
A tale of longing, wanting and Desire.
Beautiful water setting, the tones in each scene even the structures, sets off the whole scenario perfectly.
My favorite was the break of the dawn scene where they have to practice their diving and all of them went skinny dipping. That moment looks so innocent and hopeful.
It was flawlessly taken, no malice involved.
Very keen and observant, each of these actors portrayed their role really well.
I've seen Juno temple before on Atonement and i think she's a great actress in the making and even though, I only saw Eva Green and Maria Valverde in this film, they're both captivating.
you could almost love them as much as you hate them.

" El Secreto de tus Ojos

French: dans ses yeux
International: the secret in their eyes
Year: 2009
Verdict: 9/10
Directed by: Juan José Campanella
Based on the novel: La pregunta de sus Ojos de Eduardo Sacheri
Played by: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil



" In one's eyes...you can tell if the person's lying or telling the truth, you have to look deep into it. "





A provocative thriller that weaves a tale of compassion, secrets that slowly unravels as it unfolds, a story about murder, mysteries in life and love.
Like a novel, it's a page turner that will leave you watching till the end.
Don't confuse this as a spanish film because it's Argentinian.


" A certain man can change his whole appearance, his face, his job, even his lifestyle, but one thing you can never change in him is his Passion. "

The protagonist of this film is played by Ricardo Darin, who's Benjamin Esposito in this film, late 30's he's working in the justice dept. for a clerical job, along with his colleague named Sandoval, who's light headed, a good companion, but also has a bad habit of drinking.
One day, along comes a lady called Irene Menendez Hastings, played by Soledad Villamil, ravishing, has a goos family background, recently graduated and has a degree from Harvard law school.

Esposito was instantly head over heels but chose to remain silent and kept his feelings to himself, coming from different backgrounds, he doesn't think he will be good enough for her.
One afternoon, Benjamin was asked by one of the judges to look into the case of a Young lady, who was tortured, raped and killed.
He was reluctant at first and uninterested about it, but all that is about to change once he gets involve in this case, too involve that it suddenly looks like an obsession, ultimately, finding out who the real killer is.




I would love to tell you more about its details, unfortunately, that would spoil the story and the ending which is the best part.
It has some funny moments between Sandoval and Benjamin and heartbreaking scenes with Irene and benjamin but the must see part was around the football field, catching the killer and interrogating him afterwards.

The killer's motive is ruthless and senseless, yet we don't know how someone's mind changes and reacts to certain situations.
A tale about beginnings and changes, there's a lot of flashbacks and recollections that is vital in every scenario.

Kudos for them winning the Goya awards and the Oscar.
I think Ricardo Darin is a great actor, he can spill out emotions without any dialogue and he's work with this talented director also, J.J. Campanella, with films such as The Son of the Bride which is also a nice film.

Trailer:

Avance de El Secreto de tus Ojos en Yahoo! Video

here's winning this year's Oscar Awards.

El Secreto de sus Ojos gana el Oscar! en Yahoo! Video

Sherlock Holmes

Year: 2009
Verdict: 4/10
Directed by: Guy Ritchie













The hype of this movie and the buzz that has got everyone talking made me curious to see the film when it came out.
Sadly, It was disappointing to watch it right from the start.
The first ten minutes was already a big "yawn" for me.
Not to mention the accent of this peculiar Sherlock played by Robert Downey Jr.
Does he have to try so hard to sound like an english? why can;t he be just as he is.
I would've understand the whole thing better bec. he's swallowing his sentences the whole time.
To begin with, I don;t know what the story's leading,
I think the director has got a slight issue on that part.
It gives you raw images of this scenario and then, jumping into another scene without finishing the other one...
Sherlock in this story seems to be a demented, queer person when really he's not.
He tries to be almost funny even when he's not.
The director distracts you with special effects, slow-mo, breathtaking scenes, they were worth the wait and then, when he goes back into story telling, it's dull again.

Unfortunately, It wasn't the movie i was expecting.

I'm not a fan of Guy ritchie (ex-of Madonna).
Apart from his flop movie which he directed Swept Away,
I think he's better off as an Mtv director than doing a film esp. that of an "era" kind of thing.
It might've been better if he were doing this modern action fight film or a mobster mafia war.

But I like it, when he does close-up scenes with the actors, he knows how to pick the right angle.
The good choice of the OST- soundtrack goes well with the film which sounds upbeat, unique and catchy.
The setting was very much put into detail and the costumes were also well thought of.
If it hadn't been for Jude Law who portrayed as Dr. Watson, who i understand better in his dialogues, I would have neglect the film.

(Pictures from allocine)

"Some Like It Hot"

Year: 1959
Verdict: 9/10
Directed by: Billy Wilder

With an all star cast and a brilliant director behind, this is one classic film you wouldn't want to miss.
Despite Marilyn Monroe's notorious "bad" girl image, it think her role in this film matches her alluring sex appeal and flirtatious actions.
This brings back nostalgic b&w films that we don't often see nowadays...quality films.

The story is about two musicians in Chicago, struggling to make ends meet, they have no future and were somewhat lousy bass players.
Chicago in those times were known for their Mafia history and one night, while playing at this low-key jazz bar, an encounter between the bad guys and the police brought down a fiasco that didn't end well.
They ended up in a parking lot, hiding from the police and chaos, they thought they were already safe but too late to realize that they saw an actual murder between the mafia and his men(who betrayed the boss) and shot him to death.
Caught by the bad guys, they tried to escape but thought that the only solution for them not to get caught was to join a female orchestra band, headed by a certain Mr. Beanstalk, who was hilarious. But because they are men, the only way for them to be accepted was to dressed up and pretend they were ladies.
Enter, Marilyn monroe who's the lead singer, ravishingly beautiful but has a specific taste when it comes to men, she's attracted to bad boys with lots of money.
Particularly, someone like a millionaire who owns a yacht.
From there, the story goes further as Tony curtis immediately fell for her, but can't express his love because she's a "he" and he's technically in hiding and out of work.
Meanwhile, Jack lemmon, he was also trying so hard 'not' to be attracted to all the ladies, controling his man-urge, his performance in this movies was so funny.
He was paired up with an old retired fellow, who's instantly had a crush on 'her' the moment he walked in the hotel, but the twist is that, this old fellow's a millionaire, who owns a yacht, who bought expensive gifts to jack all along thinking that Jack lemmon's a lady.

The twists and the ending of this story may seem predictable but still well-thought of and really funny without trying too hard.