Movie of the Week: Wind River

My mom being here in Portugal means going to the cinema a few times, and I’m so glad she pushed me to see this movie, because Wind River was such an amazing and heartbreaking experience.

Have you heard about this movie? No? So, this is the description:

“An FBI agent teams with a town’s veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation“.

I’m not even sure how to describe it more accurately, other than saying that it’s so much more than that. It’s much more than finding a killer, it’s about family and friends, and how there are so many different ways of dealing with pain, how truly isolated some places and some people are. About injustices and the unfair treatment and prejudices against the Native American community.

The cinematography of this movie is just stunning, and some actions and events are strong and difficult to see. But that made it even more powerful to me. And the acting? WOW!

I truly loved this movie, though of course it’s not perfect, some parts could have been dealt with differently, and some issues should have been dealt with. But overall, this is that kind of movie that will stay with me for a long long time, so I have to highly recommend it.

I’m giving it 4 stars, I loved it!

Now to you. Have you seen Wind RIver? Thoughts???

Movie of the Week: Beauty and the Beast

People, I have seen Beauty and the Beast twice now, and I’ve loved it a lot both times. I cried. I laughed. It made me super duper happy.

We all know the story, right? I have to say that I loved how faithful they were to the original animated movie, but they made it better, because they deppened the relationships and bonds between the characters, and filled some major plot holes from the animated version.

I loved all the characters and the actors playing them. Seriously, the casting was genius! Emma Watson was a perfect Belle, and I personally loved Dan Stevens as the Beast, especially while in Beast form, because he was so expressive! But Luke Evans as Gaston was brilliant and Josh Gad as LeFou was AMAZING! I loved what they did with LeFou’s character, because they actually gave him a brain and a personality.

Like I said previously, I think they did amazing with building the connection between the characters, and that’s especially true with Belle and the Beast’s relationship. There’s more moments and more talk, and actually getting to know each other in this adaptation, and YES! It was awesome.

Just to finish it off, I’m a huge fan of the musical side of this movie, and I was singing along throughout the whole movie… eheh 😀 .

I’m giving it 5 stars, for sure, because I loved it so much!

Now to you. Have you seen Beauty and the Beast?
Have you loved it as well? What are your Thoughts about it???

Movie of the Week: Demain Tout Commence

As soon as I saw the trailer for this movie, I knew I wanted to go watch it. It finally premiered here in Portugal last week, so last wednesday I joined my mom near her work, and went to see this amazing french movie, Demain tout commence.

Just a small thought though, people in Portugal has to start supporting more diverse forms of cinema. When I was looking for movie theaters to go to, to see this movie, I found out that it was only showing in a few cinemas in the center of the city, and it was not in any of the bigger ones, in shopping malls and so on. It’s sad guys!

Now, this movie was amazing. I loved it so much. It was funny and emotional, and cute and serious. And it had such amazing interpretations! Omar Sy is simply fantastic, as usual, but Gloria Colston, who plays Gloria, is beyond amazing. This girl has a huge future ahead of her, because she’s so expressive, and she carries the movie in 2 languages! Just… WOW! Antoine Bertrand, who plays Samuel’s BFF and lifesaver, is also a scene stealer, and he has some of the funniest scenes. 

I loved the story, though I was a bit confused for a huge portion of it. But in the end, it all makes sense, and I will say it: it made me cry!

Now, guys, I know that most of you reading this are maybe not fans of French movies, or you just don’t pay attention to it, but just know that this one is so so worth it. Go see it!

(for some stupid reason, I can’t find the trailer with english subtitles… SORRY!!!)

I’m giving it 4 stars, I loved it!

Now to you. Have you seen Demain Tout Commence? Thoughts???

Movie of the Week: Lion

One Sunday at the Lunch table, my brother and his wife started talking about a great movie they had just saw – and they basically told us the whole story of the movie. Lion, A Long Way Home was suddenly a movie I desperately wanted to watch. For the following 3 I wanted to watch it, but there were no theaters near me that were playing it. Luckily when I got back to Lisbon, the movie was still at one theater somehow, and so I finally went, dragging my mom with me.

I don’t think I ever cried as much while watching a movie.

Surely you know the story by now, right?

Five year old Saroo gets lost on a train which takes him thousands of miles across India, away from home and family. Saroo must learn to survive alone in Kolkata, before ultimately being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty five years later, armed with only a handful of memories, his unwavering determination, and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, he sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home.

But the story, based on real events, is much deeper than that. We see Saroo’s struggles for years, since the moment he gets lost at 5 years old, managing to survive in unbelievable circumstances, to his issues when older, uncertain of where he belongs, feeling guilty for having a better life than the ones he left behind, and without being able to find them, and the frustration of it all.

It’s a movie that pulls at your heartstrings. It’s beautiful in its simplicity!

Everyone is great in the movie. I’m a huge fan of Dev Patel since Slumdog Millionaire, but in a way, his role here is even sadder and even more amazing. The rest of the cast is also amazing, especially little Sunny Pawar and Nicole Kidman.

It gets 5 stars from me, because I loved this movie so so much…

Now to you. Have you seen Lion? Thoughts???

Movie of the Week: Hidden Figures

This was one of the movies I was most excited to see since I first saw its trailer, and I have to say that it didn’t disappoint, not one bit.

By now you should all know what the movie is about, right? 

The incredible untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

The story is amazing in its impact. There’s not anything new to the story, because we can see the role of these women from a simple google search, but there is such a strong message and poignancy to this movie. Mainly because I think that nowadays we don’t truly know what it was to be a person of color in the US in the 60’s. And a women in that era, by the way.

I will admit that I cried. I cry each time I see those kinds of social injustices and it makes me cry out of rage.

The interpretations were amazing, all 3 ladies were flawless. The story is great, and so is the cinematography and the direction of this movie. It was one of my favorite movies in a long long time, and I wish that everyone would go to see it.

It absolutely gets 4.5 stars from me!

Now to you. Have you seen Hidden Figures? Thoughts???

Movie of the Week: Arrival

Hey guys! When I’m at my sister’s house, I end up watching a shit load of movies, eheh, which is good, because I haven’t been into movies or TV much lately. Arrival was something that they had watched before, but thought that I should watch it too, so watch it we did. And wow people! This one surprised me. I wasn’t expecting much, because I hadn’t even heard of the movie before, but WOW.

So, just so you can know what it is about:

“Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.”

For once, I loved that a movie about aliens wasn’t all about killing and violence. Instead, it was about understanding and cooperation. I was in awe with this one. So good.

The whole concept of the movie is so cool, and it’s one of those where you have to truly pay attention to every detail, because there are a lot of things that you won’t see coming. This is one I highly recommend. And the language? Beautiful!

It gets 4.5 stars for sure!

Now to you. Have you seen Arrival? Thoughts???

Movie of the Week: La La Land

Hey people! I haven’t talked about movies in a few months, but last night I went to watch La La Land, and given that the movie was just nominated for 14 Academy Awards, I thought that maybe I could share my thoughts on it.

I’ll start by saying that I wasn’t curious about this movie. I saw the trailers and they did nothing for me, on the contrary. I love musicals, I love Emma Stone, but everything else about this movie didn’t speak to me at all. Still, given the choice between La La Land and Resident Evil, my answer was obvious!

I have to say the movie surprised me a lot. I liked the cinematography and the overall feel of the movie. But beware, because of the way this movie was shot, it might make you dizzy and give you slight headaches, because it sure gave me one.

I also liked the story, it has that old Hollywood feel with a modern twist, and it’s very well accomplished. And more so, I absolutely loved the ending, those last 10 minutes made the whole movie for me, and I was so glad that it went that way.

Now, while I absolutely love Emma Stone, I can’t stand Ryan Gosling… sorry! I feel like he’s one of the most overrated actors of his generation, and while he has his good moments in this movie, I don’t think his performance was all that spectacular. To be honest, while these two actors work great together onscreen, I find it kind of strange that they didn’t look for other actors who could fill the singing part a little bit better.

While the movie was way better than I was anticipating and it’s a visual feast, I don’t find it a movie worth of 14 Oscars’ nominations. Damien Chazelle, the director, sure had a great vision, but is this the best movie and best screenplay of 2016? What about best actor and actress? I honestly don’t think so, but I’m curious to see what your thoughts are on it. 

I have to say though, the music?! FANTASTIC!

For the first time, I’m rating a movie (and I’ll start doing so), and I give this one a solid 4 stars.

Now to you. Tell me your thoughts on La La Land.

Beauty and the Beast (Trailer)

The trailer for the upcoming Beauty and the Beast just came out, and it looks glorious. Check it out :D.

Movie of the Week: Bridget Jones’s Baby

Hey people! How are you?! Cool? I had a blast last night, when I went to the movies to watch Bridget Jones’s Baby, which was totally unexpected! I have to admit that I was very sceptic about this movie, and I was not planning to go see it, but then my sister wanted and needed a fun comedy to watch, and we ended up going last night, and oh boy, it was funny as hell. I will risk saying that it was the FUNNIEST of the 3 Bridget Jones‘s  movies.

To start, I was worried about how they would spin the story so that Bridget was not with Mark anymore and how they would explain that, but they did explain it, it made sense and it was sad as hell, but understandable nonetheless.

The actually dilemma of the movie was also well done and the humour in the plot was off the charts. I loved the interactions of the characters and how, even though a lot of time has passed, they are still very much the same old characters we know.

I’m gonna say it again: I loved the humour! This was the type of hilarious that had me twisting my legs and cursing the water I had just drank. THAT FUNNY!

I have to admit that I was rooting for Mark since before I saw the movie, because the story wouldn’t make sense to me otherwise, but I have to admit that I did like Jack, and I was super happy with the resolution of the movie.

I was initially a bit on the fence also about the age of the cast. Nothing wrong with these actors or their ages, don’t get me wrong. But I do think they’re a bit over the age for romantic comedies… sorry. But I have to say: IT WORKED! Renée Zellweger looks good in the movie, and she looks normal, which is a great thing. I love Colin Firth, so I can’t say a bad thing about him to be honest. And Patrick Dempsey is very much still Dr. McDreamy, right? Emma Thompson as Dr. Rawlings is a scene stealer though, she’s spectacular! Sarah Solemani is another show stealer, she’s amazing  :D.

To wrap this up, this movie is so funny and well done and I have to recommend it.

GO WATCH IT NOW :D!

Movie of the Week: Begin Again

This week I saw an awesome movie! My brother-in-law was listening non-stop to the Begin Again soundtrack, which prompt me and my sister to want to watch the movie, which we did, and loved it.

The format and concept of the movie is super unique, and the way it’s filmed was a plus for me, because it seemed like an amatour film at times, which added to the concept as well. And I just love the casting, because Mark Ruffalo is a genius and so is Keira Knightley. Adam Levine really surprised me, mostly because I didn’t even have a clue that he was in the movie.

I really loved the story about how these 2 characters found each other and helped each other become more themselves – does that make sense?!

The soundtrack is beyond awesome! Keira’s voice is not always spectacular, but the songs are beautifully written and all the songs have a meaning and a purpose on the storyline. It’s definitly worth having a listen to it – I need it for my phone ASAP.

Have you seen Begin Again? What did you think of this movie?