You disgust me. Your thirst for life disgusts me. You have no ideals. You have found the strength for an erection, that’s why you'll survive.

Seven Beauties


The Pitch:

I am not a holocoust movie's fan at all, but I dicided to watch this one because of Lina Wertmueller, who was the first woman ever nominated for directing a feature.

High Points:

It is such a picaresque story which follows the life of its hero, Pasqualino, wonderfully played by Giancarlo Giannini.

Plus, I liked the graphic depiction of concentration camp scenes. It is very well-done!

Low Points:

The audio. I had a difficulty understanding the dialogue on the USA DVD version.


Comments:

SEVEN BEAUTIES is such a stunning film. I cannot deny that sometimes, it's hard to follow the weird situations that Wertmuller's camera depicts, but the cast is just excellent, in special, Giannini and Shirley Stoler , the latter played the unattractive female commandant that Pasqualine tries to seduce to get out from the concentration camp. Stoler is so great, specially when her character says: "First you eat, then you fuck.” The sex scene between Giannini and Stoler is funny and bizarre.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay.

Revolucionary Road

The Pitch:

I love a dramatic film. And I cannot deny that a story about an unhappily married couple strikes me a lot.

High Points:

The sweetbitter dialogues shared by the unhappy couple.

Low Points:

Ironically, the unhappy couple played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is very annoying.

Comments:

At first glance, I did not get why April (Winslet) is so unhappy. She's a miserable and bitchy woman, but the screenplay did not help me to understand her insatisfaction. Regarding her talent as an actor is unquationable- she's excellent!

However, who really shines in this movie is DiCaprio. O.K., he still looks too young nearby Winslet- she's powerful!-, but DiCaprio shines- he created a real "human" character. His sense of guilt, fears, and even protection towards his wife is perfect. The scene when April says she does not love him anymore, DiCaprio made me cry without giving any response to his wife. Unhappily, he was snubbed by the Oscar. It was unfair!!

I did not read the book- the source -to Justin Haythe's screenplay, but I did not like it. Sometimes, he created "clicle" situation in order to the couple starts arguing. I did not understand the reason for the existence of the couple's 'neighbours.

Sam Mendes did not remind me of anything that he did in "American Beauty."

Michael Shannon got an Oscar nomainaiton. His character in the movie is interesting, but it does not add anything special for the whole picture.

Kate was the Golden Globe winner as Lead Actress in a Drama, but she was missed out on an Academy Award nomination. Due to the difference in rules between the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, Winslet's performance in The Reader was considered a leading one by The Academy, despite winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance.

The movie got 3 oscar nominations: Art direction( it did not deserve it), Support actor, and costume design.

The Pitch:

The story itself is very interesting: Benjamin is born with the physical appearance of an old man, but he s aging backward.

High Points:

It is a huge and beautiful production: its plastic is amazing, but that's all!

Low Points:

O. k, Brad Pitt is beautiful and he is a very nice actor, but his Benjamin Button did not challenge him as an actor at all. I thought the character is much bigger than him. Plus, he is helped by the visual effects and makeup;

I never thought a 165 running time movie would be a problem, but here it is. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a very boring and slow movie;

I never read F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story, but I am looking forward to reading it, because I believe Eric Roth's adaptation from it- it sucks!. Roth built boring and tiring diologues. They made me sleepy!!

Comment:

I do love David Fincher as a filmmaker. He is very talented, but he did not demonstrate anything good that he did in his previous films. His work here sucks, I think. It seemed to me that he was forced to do it. Also, I did not understand that Benjamin Button got 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Pitt. Well, Taraji P. Henson made a very nice job as Pitt's adopted mother, but I did not care much of her character.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was praised by people whose tastes I respect. I find myself bored and depressed. There is, in short, nothing I liked about it, except Cate Blanchett- but she is always GREAT even when she makes part of “shitty” movies such as “ Indiana Jones“, and “Elisabeth: The Golden Ages”

Oscar:

It won three Oscars for Art Direction, Makeup, and Visual Effects.