This week's edition: Songs and scores made for one film, then used for another film to create an unnerving experience in its new setting.

De Usuahia a la Quiaca/Pajaros - Gustavo Santaolalla

The Motorcycle Diaries (starts at 3:36)

My Blueberry Nights

Save Me - Aimee Mann

Magnolia (music video)

The Jane Austen Book Club ( starts at 6:58 )

Tinseltown pumps out yet another easy-to-digest rom-com. At least this one won’t rot your teeth with its feel-good syrup.

Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) is a soon-to-be single dad who takes on the task of explaining to his daughter (Abigail Breslin) why her parents don’t love each other anymore. Needless to say, Will’s uttering of the line, “It’s complicated,” doesn’t cut it. Because the kid might be 11 years old, but she’s also played by Abigail Breslin - a child actor whose precocious levels outdo even Dakota Fanning’s. Responsible parent that Will is, he decides to tell his little girl the story of how he and mom first met.

MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS

Warning: Don't watch any other videos further. They'll spoil it.

Disclaimer notice: Video is not mine to claim.

It was such a sweet movie. I fell in love with it. The ending is still etched so vividly on my mind. That was like the most sweetest kiss any guy would give to the one he loves. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

But it wasn't just that. I really like the way her encounter with different people was portrayed. It was artistically beautiful. My heart just overwhelms to the brink of emotions at every end of her encounter. Ah, I don't wanna spoil it anymore.

After the movie, I was like, "Okayyyy, I soooo have to check out who the director is and try out his other works. And when I opened imdb.com webpage, I was like, "Wowwwwww!!!!!!!! It's Wong Kar Wai's!!!! OH MY!!!!!" I wasn't shocked that he could produce a great film like this- it's just that it took me by surprise that the movie was purely English.

Jude was like awwwwwwwwww, simply gorgeous.................... I can't get enough of his voice. His voice simply accentuates the sexiness of British accent.

Yeah, I'm glad I watched this one masterpiece. And I'm really glad Nil dropped by.

In case my sense of taste in movies is not convincing enough, I shall boast its cast then:

We have JUDE LAW, NORAH JONES (Yeah it's that singer alright and I think this is her debut as an actress), RACHEL WEISZ, NATALIE PORTMAN, and DAVID STRATHAIRN.

And most of all, dude, it's WONG KAR WAI we're talking about here.

I knew I had to watch it after I saw the trailer in the cinema. It was out at the end of last year and yet, it's not even here in the cinemas of Czech Republic yet. =(

Nevertheless, don't miss it. It was a great encounter to me. It might be yours too.

Rating: 10/10

Listening to: Say Goodbye by S Club 7

How do you say goodbye to someone you can't imagine living without?

Elizabeth from My Blueberry Nights

I won't lie, I've enjoyed many a romantic comedy in my time, a few months back for example I watched Serendipity and thought it was pretty clever, but it's not as if I go out of my way to watch the latest "rom com" with Matthew Mc-however you spell his last name and Kate Hudson. So when previews for Definitely, Maybe started popping-up I was intrigued because this was one of the first movies of the genre that I was actually interested in beyond "That would be fun to watch on TV when I'm bored out of my mind."

Much of this probably had to do with 2 things: one, Ryan Reynolds is in the movie (and I still think the best role he ever had was the Harold and Kumar cameo), and two, from the trailer it didn't seem like the movie followed the tired convention of guy meets girl, guy falls in love with girl, guy sleeps with girl's best friend/burns down her house/ruins her career/says something really, really, really, mean (maybe not to those extremes but you get it), then makes sweeping gesture and wins her back.

The basic premise is this, William Hayes (Reynolds) is a succesful advertising executive working on children's cereal brands, he has a nine or so year old daughter (Abigail Breslin) and is currently going through a divorce with his wife. You never actually see his wife (or know who she really is) until the last fourth of the movie, and that's where the trickery of this movie comes into play.

Hayes's daughter wants to know the story of how her father and mother met, in hopes that they will reconnect somehow and stay together. From there on out the majority of the movie is shown through a flashback of Hayes's days after college, as he starts making a life for himself in New York City on the campaign trail of Bill Clinton in '92.

The movie makes a lot of jabs at the funny times that were the early ninteties, from lack of cell phones and internet, to actually showing a hilarious clip of George Bush back in the day. William Hayes's had three serious love interests during the period before having a daughter, there was his college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks), fellow ambitious workaholic Summer Hartley (Rachel Weisz), and mix between a slacker and cliche "freespirit" April Hoffman (Isla Fisher).

Throughout the story each relationship is examined, and small snaps back to reality give insight to the opinions of Hayes's daughter on the situation. This helps the movie a lot I think, because right before you get too caught up in a plot line or thinking you definitely know who he'll end up with, the daughter will have some key piece of evidence, or more likely will give her own classic juvenille opinion ("If she's my mom, I'm running away to Canada! I am not kidding!"). This keeps you on your toes, realizing you probably don't actually know who the mother is, since by the end of the second third of the movie, you come to expect that anything will happen and you won't be surprised if it ended up being anyone in particular. That said, for a nine or ten year old his daughter Maya seems a bit too smart, no offense to the genius 9 year olds out there, but I would think that after hearing about twenty minutes of her father's detailed past, she would just get bored and most likely save the question for another day. However, her interest is everlasting, which by the end of the film makes her less of his daughter and more of some sort of third party sorting out his love life for him.

Going back to the structure of a typical romantic comedy though, Definitely, Maybe may seem to at first break free from the chains of past film's ingrained layout, but upon closer inspection, it just cleverly hides it. I guess there is something to be said about how this love found, lost, and found again formula is endearing and timeless, but after so many years and films, something has to change. This movie doesn't necessarily change it, but camoflouges it enough so you think it's different until you look back. If you break the movie down to it's most basic elements then you can easily pick this traditional plot progression out, but what makes this movie interesting is that it constantly throws new situations and events at so that you can't really take in the larger scheme while watching.

Perhaps that's why I enjoyed the film so much, it was simply a cleverly constructed story out of the ordinary mold. It's sad then that, while the movie is perfectly cast, the characters aren't always so believable and some of the performances aren't the greatest. Rachel Weisz seemed inconsistent between the first and second half of the movie, and I never really understood her relationship with the other guy in her life. Elizabeth Banks seems to just give a generic performance, and that could be because her character is pretty boring. Isla Fisher's character was the most consistent throughout, but had weird lapses where she would do something that you wouldn't expect from the character you've been seeing, or simply contradict the perception of her you had earlier on. It gives the movie an aura of undevelopment, and almost shallow inhabitants. I guess you could say that since it's a flashback you only see the aspects of the characters that William Hayes remembers, plus with pretty much four main characters all vying for screentime and interaction, stuff will get lost in the mix. But with the limited time each of the female characters has, they do enough to be a good counterpart to Ryan Reynolds's performance. Unlike other films where he never really had to exhibit emotional or mental confusion (Amityville Horror does not count), Reynolds gives a genuine performance in which you can see the character's own anguish and bewilderment at the situation he's in, instead overplaying any of the feelings he has, he instead acts like a real person would in that situation.

The movie itself is a fair longer than your average picture, clocking in at almost two hours, but it never feels like it really drags (maybe a little during the middle of the second half), but instead feels like all the pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together, or falling apart however you want to look at it.

I recommend this movie a lot, especially if you're in the mood for something different. Not to sound cliche (which in itself is cliche) but this movie is pretty much the textbook definition of being more than the sum of its parts.

9/10

A rom com to watch,

Kind of long but very good.

Go watch it right now!

Weisz was educated at North London Collegiate School. She was then sent to Benenden School and eventually settled in St Paul's Girls' School. She then entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she graduated with a 2:1 in English. During her university years she appeared in various student productions, co-founding a student drama group called Cambridge Talking Tongues, which went on to win a Guardian Student Drama Award at the Edinburgh Festival for an improvised piece called Slight Possession.

"My Blueberry Nights" premiered at Cannes in 2007 as a nominee of the prestigious Palme d'Or award. In competition with films like "Persepolis," "No Country for Old Men," and "Zodiac," the movie lost to "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days." Amidst all these wonderful films, Wong's new work managed to get mixed reviews. I don't know how it managed to get positive quotes from critics.

Many of Wong's films have been praised by critics, especially "Chungking Express," but I've only managed to watch "In the Mood for Love," and an artist who is capable of making a movie as patient and beautiful as "In the Mood for Love" has no excuse for making a movie as lazy--and, dare I say, pointless?--as "My Blueberry Nights."

Elizabeth (Norah Jones) is gullible and naive. She leaves her cheating boyfriend and retreats into a local New York cafe run by the handsome and charming Jeremy (Jude Law). They talk, they eat pie, and they make off-the-cuff chatter sound like foreshadowing dialogue.

Later, she takes back her boyfriend, finds out he's cheating again, and leaves the city for Memphis in order to start fresh. At this point, Wong seems to be interested in making a pastiche of the American landscape, but he populates the story with stereotypes. Arnie (David Strathairn) is the self-destructive town drunk who is capable of so much more. He's obsessed with his separated wife, Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz), and he thinks they are still married. Sue Lynne has an accent, sports a bob, and goes out with different guys, perfectly fitting the stereotype of the town hussy. And when Elizabeth gets tired of this pathetic landscape, she goes to Las Vegas with Leslie (Natalie Portman), a gambling loser who can "read" people but still can't decide whether to fold or go all in. And don't we all know that's so, like, metaphorical?

To top it off, like a dollop of fatty whipped cream on top an already-sugary piece of blueberry pie, Wong injects sentiment into the story at will. Of course, each segment of the movie should have meaning, but if it comes organically from the story, it works. The story, however, forces characters to say specific dialogue and perform certain actions to make the movie's point, which Elizabeth spells out in the all-to-easy voice-over technique at the end of the film.

"My Blueberry Nights," essentially, is all tell and no show. This main problem is captured in one wonderful image near the end of the movie: Elizabeth remembers passing by the cafe, opening the door slightly, thinking, then letting the door close. Instead of letting us infer the shot is a flashback--we see her in the cafe already, so we know it's not an action she's currently doing--and what it means in relation to the story, she explains it in abstract terms to Jeremy and, in effect, to us, too.

Hopefully, Wong will take a note from Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days" by letting images speak for themselves instead of spelling out everything for the audience. Surely he knows this already: the silent moments of "In the Mood for Love" are what make it so beautiful, working as an emotional coloring book for the audience and letting us shade in what we see fit for the scene as Maestro Wong gives us a hint what we should be thinking about.

Rating: *1/2 out of ****

Catalogar a Definitely, Maybe como una comedia romántica no es un error ya que en esos generos se mueve principalmente la historia, sin embargo, existe un prejuicio contra esas películas que hace que se las catalogue inmeditamente como tontas, livianitas y el mayor prejuicio de todos para el público masculino es que "es una película de niñitas". En el caso de esta película lo que me entusiasmó a verla fue la participación de Ryan Reynolds, uno de los actores más versátiles y entretenidos de ver, Rachel Weisz el antiguo amor de mi vida y Isla Fisher (si "y", no "e", porque "Isla" se lee "Aisla"), el nuevo amor de mi vida. La sorpresa me la llevé al descubrir no sólo buenas actuaciones, sino que también una historia conmovedora por su simpleza y cercanía.

Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) es un joven publicista algo amargado por las derrotas profesionales y personales, la última de ellas su divorcio. Es su hija Maya (Abigail Breslin) quien se transforma en su psicóloga accidentalmente cuando, debido a una serie de inquietudes, lo obliga a contarle la historia de cómo conoció y se enamoró de su madre. Will decide hacerlo, pero ocultando los nombres reales de las mujeres con las que salió antes de casarse, para que así Maya descubriera por si sola cual de las tres ex novias es en realidad su progenitora. La historia nos transporta a la era anterior a la de Internet y de los teléfonos celulares, es 1992 y Will llega a Nueva York a trabajar en la campaña presidencial de Bill Clinton dejando en su natal Wisconsin a su novia Emily (Elizabeth Banks). En este nuevo mundo, lleno de oportunidades, Will conocerá a dos otras mujeres que lo harán competir consigo mismo, para definir no sólo con quien desea estar, sino que además para definir como quiere alcanzar la felicidad.

Definitely, Maybe nos pone frente a una comedia romántica que nos muestra como son las relaciones amorosas desde el punto de vista del hombre, sin personajes ridiculos, sin situaciones de humor burdo. Lo dije hace poco en la crítica de In Bruges (la cual pueden leer AQUÍ), el humor y la comedia son parte de la vida y en películas que se aprecien de ser realistas y quieran lograr mayor empatía con el espectador, deberán asumirlas como tal y no como un ejercicio de chistes fáciles y situaciones ridiculas. Definitely, Maybe puede sacar varias risas por situaciones en las que nos podemos ver reflejados, chascarros naturales de la vida, sin embargo, tiene un drama inherente al del crecimiento de todo hombre o mujer, la toma de decisiones no siempre sencilla y libre de dolor que va formando la persona en la que nos convertiremos. La historia del director y guionista Adam Brooks nos lleva a descubrir como nuestras decisiones son las que van definiendo nuestro mundo y personalidades y, a pesar de cagarlas, lo más importante es asumirlas y usarlas como aprendizaje para alcanzar la felicidad.

Ryan Reynolds nuevamente nos presenta una excelente interpretación, como padre de una niña de 10 años y como un joven veiteañero recién llegado a Nueva York. Potencia en esta película su estilo de humor sencillo y el gran carisma que transmite en pantalla, lo cual ya habíamos visto en The Nines (cuya crítica pueden leer AQUÍ) y espero próximamente en la ya estrenada en EE.UU. Chaos Theory (más información de dicha película AQUÍ). Elizabeth Banks no es de mis actrices favoritas, pero logra una buena personificación de la primera novia del personaje de Reynolds y aporta con un carisma pueblerino que se desmarca de las otras dos mujeres de su vida. Una de ellas es la inteligente periodista Summer personificada por Rachel Weisz, quien ya nos tiene acostumbrados a excelentes trabajos y representa el lado intelectual y a ratos frío de la ciudad. Por otro lado está Abril interpretada por la preciosa Isla Fisher, quien ya había tenido buenas críticas por su trabajo en la entretenida The Lookout y, creanlo o no, por su rol en Wedding Crashers. Isla es la juventud despreocupada, liberal y amante de la vida, que ve la ciudad como una extensión de si misma. Mención aparte es la actuación notable de Abigail Breslin como la hija del personaje de Reynolds, quien ya había destacado anteriormente por su rol en Little Miss Sunshine. Abigail es brutalmente convincente en los tristes momentos dramáticos y es un excelente ingrediente en los momentos de humor. Aunque con un personaje menor Kevin Kline se roba varios minutos de pantalla, con un personaje absolutamente entrañable.

En definitiva, Definitely, Maybe es una película que no tienen que ver tal vez, sino que deben verla sí o sí, ya que tanto Adam Brooks como el reparto nos entregan un peliculón que llegó recién el jueves pasado a las salas de cine de Chile. No se arrepentirán.

TRAILER: DEFINITELY, MAYBE

FICHA TÉCNICA
Nombre: Definitely, Maybe (Titulada "Definitivamente, Tal Vez" en Chile y "Definitivamente, Quizás" en España)
Año: 2008
Duración: 112 minutos
Dirigida y escrita por: Adam Brooks
Protagonizada por: Ryan Reynolds, Abigail Breslin, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, Derek Luke, Liane Balaban, Annie Parisse, Kevin Kline y Kevin Corrigan
Producida por: Universal Pictures, Studio Canal, Ringerike Erste Filmproduktion y Working Title Films

Pick of the Week:

King of Kong - One of the best, or at least most entertaining documentaries of last year, this chronicle of the battle between the two best Donkey Kong players in the world, Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, is a titanic struggle between good and evil. Mitchell comes out as a coniving and cowardly villain and Wiebe a lovable sad-sack and it's their stark differences that create this Shakespearean battle. Well worth a watch even if you couldn't care less about Donkey Kong.

Also Out:

Jumper - The pretty awful looking Doug Liman vehicle which I mentioned in the Region 1 picks briefly last week. It's saved for me by Rachel Bilson being in it but from what I gather from reliable source Tom, this is just headache-inducing SFX foolishness.
Peep Show: Season 5 - Still probably the most consistently strong sitcom on British television behind The Mighty Boosh, this one proves further proof that Mitchell and Webb are great performers when someone else writes their material.
Californication: Season 1 - I've written about this a couple of times on the site and why not? It's foul-mouthed, dirty fun but occasionally manages to side-step the limitations of its sex-comedy roots to provide some really sweet moments of pathos to go along with the ride.
Definitely Maybe - I'm yet to see this but a guy I work with who is a notorious misanthrope who said this was a very passable romantic comedy which translated means that this is some sort of rom-com genius.
WAZ: Extreme Sleeve Edition - I honestly couldn't care much less about this terrible looking film but what the hell is an Extreme Sleeve?
Semi-Pro - Will Ferrell tries to be Ron Burgundy as a basketball player and Woody Harrelson sucks the life out of the comedy by acting like he's in a serious, Ron Shelton-without-the-comedy sports movie. Half funny, half depressingly awful.
Mouth to Mouth - Another early Ellen Page curio in which she goes all GI Jane with the hair playing a young girl seduced by a cult. It look vaguely interesting.

The first part of the crust begins in a café, one that is owned by Jeremy (Jude Law) in New York City; he runs his café, goes through the videos of his security camera to capture an endearing moment that might have passed, and collects the keys of couples who estrange (just in case they drop by to pick it up and get together again.) Norah Jones who does her debut as Elizabeth in the film, visits the café to learn about her boyfriend’s rendezvous with another woman; despaired and angry she leaves the café and her keys with Jeremy- always returning to stand before her boyfriend’s apartment in longing and to Jeremy’s café for consolation. (Yes, sweet Jeremy provides all that is needed, including the always left over full Blueberry Pies.) “There’s nothing wrong with the Blueberry Pie, just people make other choices…” he offers as solace to a beautiful and dejected Elizabeth, and his leftover blueberry pies.

Later (in the second ball of dough) Elizabeth is rolled to leave New York, so she can get the change that is needed to her downcast mind; she spends her time saving money for a car that is her dream and meets people and relationships that make her learn more about love and sorrow, moving on and treasuring life- sending postcards with soul searching reflections (and without a return address) to Jeremy all along.

She begins to work in a Memphis bar, where Arnie (David Strathairn), a local policeman is forlorn and remorseful. He drinks to cope with the fact of a wife (played by Rachel Weisz as Sue) who has left him. Brought to a night of unbearable fury, when he sees his wife with another man, he gets aggressive and is led to an accident which costs him his life.

In an empty street, Elizabeth comforts a broken Sue who says, “I didn’t want him to die.. I just wanted him to let go of me, and now that he has… it hurts more than anything else in the whole world.”

Elizabeth’s writes her feeling and reflections from this to Jeremy, as always- making him fall in love with her already.

The third part encompasses another place and time, when Elizabeth moves to Las Vegas as waitress in a casino. Here she meets with Leslie (played by Natalie Portman), a poker ace and addict, who comes across as a rash, untrusting and impulsive woman. They strike a deal when Leslie borrows money from her to get back into to the game, promising to give her a part of the share if she wins-and her car if she loses. Elizabeth ends up with the car, when Leslie tells her that she lost and agrees to give Leslie a ride to her father, the man who taught her poker, so she can borrow more money. Here, Elizabeth sees an uncaring Leslie lose a father who loves her and whom she’s at odds with, when he dies in a hospital. It is after this that an alienated Leslie, feels united with her father- all when it’s too late. Later, Leslie tells Elizabeth that she can’t part with the car since it belonged to her father, a possession that was his pride and joy; and reveals that she hadn’t lost the game infact and had walked away with all the money- never knowing why she otherwise lied to Elizabeth, (just as she doesn’t know why she does many other things), until she says “It’s a long ride Beth…I didn’t want to go alone.”

This is where Elizabeth’s trip comes to an end, when she discovers more in life and relationships than she knew before. She goes back to New York to find her boyfriend’s apartment empty, just as her heart removes all traces of him, and walks over across the street to a Jeremy who has been waiting all along, with his blueberry pies.

And Elizabeth reflects… “It wasn’t so hard to cross those streets after all, it all depends on who’s waiting for you on the other side.”

Norah Jones, does very well for her first film looking simple and pretty, and with a filmmaker like Wong Kar Wai (this being his first English feature film) who garnishes his films with tuneful soundtracks, there can’t be a Norah Jones without a score coming from her self. Jude Law does his role perfectly; the other stories are pretty engaging and meaningful too. But there’s something that’s constantly missing in the film, and may be that feeling stems from the humongous expectations that one has from a director like Wong Kar Wai.

The director concludes his sweet dish by showing us a scrumptious shot of the blueberry pie, while the actors kiss - this being the yummiest scene in the movie. But for the rest of the film for me, maybe it’s a little like what Jeremy said for his blueberry pies- There’s nothing wrong with My Blueberry Nights…. Just people make other choices.

My last movie trip was tought. For a brain. To digest this injustice which is mostly hidden to "civilised world".  The Constant Gardener, Invisible Children and The Kite Runner (thanks to oceanshaman for a tip) have one thing in common. Stolen lives, childhood, hope and dignity. Of the whole generations, continents,.. People and kids as collateral damage of power play. Yet every human being has heart and soul, so many dreams, love and hopes within,...are those hope and dreams less worth than western ones? How can we talk about high level of moral values, humanism  and scientific achievements our civilisation has built if small part of human race use other majority as a tool for their own well being? People as predators.

As Baba in The Kite Runner says: “No matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. (..) When you kill a man, you steal a life. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?”

The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener  is a story of African poverty, ruthless exploitation of continent and people in order to maximaze corporations' profits (in this case Pharmaceutical colonialism), with underlying beautiful love story beetwen Justin and Tessa (Ralph Fiennes  and Rachel Weisz).  Movie is based on John le Carre's  novel The Constant Gardener. (Trivia: Le Carré published an essay entitled "The United States has gone mad" in The Times in January 2003, protesting against the war in Iraq, saying: "How Bush and his junta succeeded in deflecting America's anger from Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein is one of the great public relations conjuring tricks of history.")

Movie is directed by Fernando Meirelles  who directed also  Cidade de Deus - City of God . Stunning pictures of landscape and sensitive portrait of suffering and survival of African people who are desparately  waiting for leftovers from rich man's table. So sad.

INVISIBLE CHILDREN  

At the end of the movie Justin run from rebels who are stealing children.  Wanted to know more about, i found documentary  INVISIBLE CHILDREN  , which really shocked me. Still have picture of those fearful and fearless kids in my head. Made me think how i can help. Cos if this documentary doesn't move something within people than we are the ones whom this civilisation has stolen the soul not just to African people. Kids as a weapon, kids with weapon (5-12 years old, reminds me on City of God); fearless trained small killing machines. Ruthless power of tribes, fueled by corrupted governments, financed by multinationals and U.N. with the purpose to further exploit African land and people.

See this shocking video and spread the word...

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3166797753930210643&q=invisible+children&ei=xZ9SSOWHJKOQigKNqOjpCw]

And see the role of US, U.N. and Russia in Africa. Unbelievable! (have African people ever had a possibility to decide for themselves)

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplaydocid=895946678208916397&q=un+role+in+africa&ei=UqBSSKDNPIWgiwKYppGFCg] 

And it's getting even nastier. See some article bellow on which big media mostly don't  pay attention but are crucial to understand what is really going on.

Understanding AFRICOM:
A Contextual Reading of Empire's New Combatant Command

In early February 2007 the White House finally announced a presidential directive to establish by September 2008 a new unified combatant command with an area of responsibility (AOR) solely dedicated to the African continent. While there had been chatter and debate over a period of years about the form that such a military command should take, the announcement to proceed with centralizing military resources in Africa should not have surprised anyone paying attention for the past seven years 

Pharmaceutical colonialism in Africa

Africa: EPA Means Economic Enslavement 

The new plan of the European Union to have economic agreements with her former colonies has not received much attention in terms of critical analysis especially by the civil society groups and trade union movements. The agreement represents another way of rapaciously and legally exploiting the resources of the third world countries especially Africa where most of the population are living in absolute poverty. In the first place, the goods to be exported to European countries are mostly agricultural produce with little local content and market value while European countries will bring in finished goods which are high valued. This definitely means the continuous underdevelopment of the third world countries. Therefore, there will continuously be wide technology gap, increased trade imbalance and capital flight from the countries.

WTO Proposes Slavery for Africa

"Full, untrammelled stewardry is the best available solution to African poverty, and the inevitable result of free-market theory," Schmidt told more than 150 attendees. Schmidt acknowledged that the stewardry program was similar in many ways to slavery, but explained that just as "compassionate conservatism" has polished the rough edges on labor relations in industrialized countries, full stewardry, or "compassionate slavery," could be a similar boon to developing ones.

Beutiful african music from The Constant Gardener

_________________________________________________________

The Kite Runner

With current US politics the future for Afghanistan, Iraq, etc seems no different than African ones. Permanent presence of troops, suportof their corrupted governments and juntas which empowers constant civil wars will leave the countries robed of natural resources, diminishing of local culture and people without a future.

But as Marc Foster  shows in The Kite Runner (based on Khaled Hosseini  book The Kite Runner) behind those games there are real people with real lives, real hopes, real sadness,... They are not a pictures in newspapers; they hope, fear, love, play, ...

AFGHANISTAN MISSION CLOSE TO FAILING (Guardian) 29/2/08

The Afghan government angrily denied the US director of national intelligence's assessment yesterday, insisting it controlled "over 360" of the country's 365 districts. "This is far from the facts and we completely deny it," said the defence ministry.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0832266/

This review contains minor spoilers.

Since one film about Ryan Reynolds as a father was clearly not enough, I sat down and watched a second. Not to mention the "From the creators of Notting Hill and Love Actually" plastered on the cover - the latter of which is among my favorite romantic comedies. And to top it all off it has three gorgeous and hilarious female actors - Rachel Weisz is not normally a funny actor but she was surprisingly so in this film - which, while not enough to carry a film, sure helps to make it enjoyable.

The plot is extremely reminiscent of the tv show "How I Met Your Mother" which is one of the few shows I enjoy watching - mainly for Neal Patrick Harris who is amazing - but at least this time the mom is there from the beginning, it's just a matter of figuring out which girl is the one. It's an interesting concept, albeit not too intriguing. I had figured it figured out part way through - but the ending still somewhat surprised me. I wouldn't say it was the best ending; I enjoyed it but it felt both paced too fast and perhaps too improbable. I thought the characters acted too different at the end from how they acted throughout the rest of the film.

That's not a fault so much of the actors as it is of the producers who probably pushed for a more commercial ending than what the writers originally had in mind - which is of course all speculation, and it is entirely possible that the writers always had this ending written. Apart from the enjoyable but slightly off ending, the rest of the film had some pretty entertaining writing. There were no ab-killing jokes, but that would have ruined the more dramatic moments, and overall it was more one long situationally funny film which sort of builds up without going anywhere. It doesn't sound that appealing but it was entertaining.

While the story was enjoyable but not amazing, and the direction and camera work nothing special, the actors were what I enjoyed most. Not necessarily the acting itself but the actors in general. I have always liked Ryan Reynolds and he's good in his typical way here. As was Abigail Breslin who I'm more indifferent to but theres no doubt she has talent. The three ladies were all great - I've always enjoyed Isla Fisher since I saw her in Wedding Crashers, and as much as I hated Hot Rod, I laughed at her jokes - and they all brought something different, but the surprise of this film was Kevin Kline. His role was not huge but every scene he had was hilarious and I would find myself chuckling even when there was no joke.

So I enjoyed the movie, it was not a best for any of the actors but it was entertaining. I would recommend it if you like a dramatic romantic comedy (which is an odd genre, and I'm not entirely true it exists but it felt the most fitting) and especially if you enjoy the actors since they would be the main reason for seeing this film.

Il film racconta che nel 1946 Rick (Brendan Fraser) ed Evelyn (Maria Bello) O'Connor si sono ritirati nell'Oxfordshire dopo la loro attività di spie durante la II Guerra Mondiale. Si sentono molto annoiati, e così decidono di accettare un'ultima missione. Il loro obiettivo: scortare un prezioso manufatto fino al museo di Shangai, Cina, dal quale era stato rubato.

Maria Bello prendo il posto di Rachel Weisz che aveva annunciato fin dall'inizio che lei interessava il ruolo di Evelyn perchè non le piaceva la sceneggiatura. Piccola curiosità: La tomba dell'Imperatore Dragone con i suoi guerrieri in terracotta è ispirata alla reale tomba del primo imperatore della Dinastia Qin. Il mausoleo è localizzato in Cina a Xi'an.

A produção ("North Country", no original) é baseada em uma história real e muito importante, pois abriu portas para a questão do assédio sexual nos EUA, em local e época (Minnesota, 1989) onde o machismo e a incompreensão eram massacrantes. Uma mulher passa a trabalhar em uma mineradora ao retornar à sua cidade natal, depois de um casamento no qual apanhava do marido. O diretor Niki Caro (de "A Encantadora de Baleias") poderia ter optado por fazer mais um daqueles ótimos filmes de julgamento, mas prefere mostrar o desenrolar dos acontecimentos até que a protagonista chegasse aos tribunais.

O filme é excelente e tem algumas cenas memoráveis, graças ao talento de seus intérpretes. Qualquer filme com Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins e, principalmente, Sissy Spacek tem meio caminho andado para dar certo. Mas Charlize Theron e Frances McDormand dão show em atuações magistrais, sem excessos nem faltas. Demorei a reconhecer Michelle Monaghan - sucesso por "O Melhor Amigo da Noiva", e vale uma menção de louvor a Sean Bean (de "Tróia" e da trilogia "O Senhor dos Anéis") em pequeno mas eficiente papel.

O filme de recebeu 2 indicações ao Oscar, justamente para as interpretações de Charlize Theron (concorreu a Melhor Atriz, perdendo para Reese Witherspoon por "Johhny & June") e Frances McDormand (concorreu a Melhor Atriz Coadjuvante, perdendo para Rachel Weisz por "O Jardineiro Fiel"). Mas ambas já haviam sido oscarizadas: Charlize levou dois anos antes, por "Monster - Desejo Assassino", e McDormand por "Fargo", de 1996, ambas na categoria de Melhor Atriz. Isso sem falar, claro, de Sissy Spacek, Oscar de Melhor Atriz em 1981 por "O Destino Mudou Sua Vida", de 1980, e mais 5 indicações. Na (discreta) trilha sonora, Gustavo Santaolalla, vencedor do Oscar de Melhor Trilha Sonora por dois anos seguidos ("Babel" e "O Segredo de Brokeback Mountain").

Se você não viu ainda, pegue em DVD. O machismo, a incompreensão, o assédio e o preconceito retratados no filme podem parecer assustadores para alguns, mas são reais, e ainda muito presentes 20 anos depois.

Fiquei chateado ao saber que Rachel Weisz não voltaria ao papel de Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell em “A Múmia - A Tumba do Imperador Dragão”, a segunda seqüência da franquia iniciada em 1999.

Bom, pelo menos poderiam ter escolhido outra atriz para o papel que foi de Weisz nos dois primeiros filmes. Não que eu tenha algo contra Maria Bello, mas ela não tem nada a ver com a Evelyn Carnahan que conhecemos!

Weisz fez uma personagem doce e “falsamente frágil” que era divertido de ver. Pelo que podemos notar nos trailes do novo filme, Bello não transmite a mesma “doçura”.   

Querem uma sugestão de atriz que poderia ocupar melhor o papel que foi de Rachel Weisz? Carla Gugino! 

Ou será que ela está com a agenda cheia?

Assisti Um Beijo Roubado meio que por acaso. Era o único filme que estava passando naquele horário em que escolhi ir ao cinema com meu namorado. E com certeza não me arrependi dessa escolha não premeditada.

Nora Jones estréia nos cinemas no papel de Elizabeth, uma jovem mulher de coração partido que descobre que seu namorado foi com outra no charmoso café de Jeremy (Jude Law), localizado em Nova York.

Zangada com a traição, Elizabeth termina o namoro e deixa suas chaves com Jeremy, caso seu ex-namorado as queria de volta. Noite após noite, Elizabeth volta ao café para conversar com Jeremy, onde eles acabam ficando cada vez mais atraídos um pelo outro.

Decidida em sair da cidade para tentar se conhecer melhor, Elizabeth parte em uma viagem através dos EUA, onde acaba em Memphis, Tennessee, e começa a trabalhar em dois empregos, pois quer economizar para comprar um carro.

Sem revelar seu endereço, Elizabeth manda um cartão-postal para Jeremy, que fracassa ao tentar localizá-la de volta. Em Memphis, ela conhece o policial Arnie Copeland (David Strathairn) que se tornou alcoólatra pois não consegue abandonar sua ex-mulher Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz) e testemunha o trágico fim dessa separação.

Após sair de Memphis, Elizabeth vai para Nevada e conhece Leslie (Natalie Portman), uma bela mulher viciada em jogar pôquer e com vários problemas com seu pai.

Após suas experiências pelos EUA, Elizabeth volta à Nova York e vai ao café de Jeremy, onde só assistindo o filme mesmo para saber o que vai acontecer! E Realmente vale a pena!

Um Beijo Roubado vem recebendo muitos elogios e já está em cartaz nos cinemas de São Paulo há mais de 2 meses. Dirigido pelo diretor Wong Kar-Wai (Amor a Flor da Pele), o orçamento de Um Beijo Roubado foi de US$ 10 milhões e foi o filme de abertura do Festival de Cannes 2007.

Além de Otis Redding, Cat Power e Nora Jones, a trilha sonora do filme ainda conta com Ry Cooder, compositor da trilha de Paris, Texas, e já está disponível aqui no CineLounge.

Elenco: Norah Jones, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn, Cat Power, Frankie Faison
Duração: 111 minutos
Gênero: Romance / Drama
País: China / França
Ano: 2007
Diretor: Wong Kar Wai
Roterista: Wong Kar Wai e Lawrence Block

Para assistir o trailer do filme clique aqui

Confira também a trilha sonora de Um Beijo Roubado em AINDA MAIS TRILHAS

Funcionam?

Seguem-se meses repletos de recasts (com Bryce Dallas Howard a substituir Claire Danes na saga Terminator, e Maria Bello a substituir Rachel Weisz na saga "A Múmia", e Maggie Gyllenhaal a substituir Katie Holmes na saga "Batman"), de remakes na televisão (com Life on Mars e The Office), de remakes no cinema (Quarantine, remake do espanhol "Rec", realizado e pronto a estrear poucos meses depois da estreia mundial do original & e O Olho, remake de um original asiático) e de re-imaginações (O Incrível Hulk e Battlestar Galactica 2003)

Qual o melhor e o pior exemplo de um recast, um remake e uma re-imaginação que se lembra?

Starring: Edward Burns, Andy Garcia, Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz
Director: James Foley
Writer(s): Doug Jung
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Runtime: 97 min
Rated: R for language, violence, sexuality/nudity
Official UWF Score: 4 1/2 Stars

Reviewed by: Stinger

James Foley churned out a brilliant film led by a terrific cast with Confidence. If you like crime/thriller movies and films that deal with the art of conning, then you must see this film, again if you already have. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better, similar film.

Edward Burns stars as master conman, Jake Vig. Once Jake and his crew, Gordo (Paul Giamatti), Miles (Brian Van Holt), Big Al (Louis Lombardi), and corrupted LAPD officers Whitworth (Donald Logue) and Manzano (Luis Guzman) con $150,000 from a man who happens to be the accountant of a crime kingpin (Dustin Hoffman), Jake offers his services to the kingpin to pay him back. Jake promises to pull off one huge con to get the kingpin his money back. Hoffman agrees, and one of the kingpin’s men are sent to work with Vig and the crew. Rachel Weisz joins the gang as Lily (a pickpocket), and helps set the con in motion by befriending a lonely bank higher up (John Carroll Lynch). Things seem to go disastrously wrong though.

Few times does a film piece together the way Confidence does. Almost everything that could possibly to right, went right in this film, and the result is a 4 ½ star brilliant film. The cast is top notch, especially for this film, it probably wouldn’t have worked nearly as well with a different cast. James Foley deserves credit for taking what could have been a train wreck of a film, and making something truly outstanding out of it. There’s more than enough twist and turns in the film to confuse the hell out of almost anyone, but Foley maintained all of this and told it in a way that isn’t very confusing at all and glues you to the screen, as the film grabs a hold of your attention and doesn’t let go.

It’s not a classic, but it does come mighty close to it. This isn’t a renter, weekend flick, this is a must have for your DVD collection, so go out and pick up a copy today.

~ Stinger

"Brendan Fraser's seen it twice, and he says it's a big labia," says GOSSTEPPER's Editor-In-Chief, Ho Slags, speaking of award-winning actress Rachel Weisz's labia. "Apparently, each side looks a bit like a fat apple ... or something as fat as an apple. Like a pear, maybe? A fat pear?"

But Weisz's publicist, Morty Mortensensen, denies Fraser and GOSSTEPPER's claims.

"Rachel Weisz's labia is no bigger or smaller than any other celebrity labia. It's probably the same size as Anna Friel's, another English Rose actress with a labia."

Weisz was unavailable to comment on the claim that she has a grotesquely malformed labia (the vaginal equivalent of hunchbackery), as she is currently busy working with Baz Spazzman on his new film, Whore In New York Git FUNkeeee.

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