Secrets & Lies (1996)

IMDb double tags "Secrets & Lies": comedy + drama. Unfortunately IMDb doesn't also mention how much of the one or the other you get, and I assume the ordering is alphabetical. So, a warning - what we have here is about 95% drama, a maybe a 5% of bitter comedy. Fortunately, that doesn't spoil the movie (well, at least if you're not looking for a comedy).

The development is a bit long, even though it somehow follows two lines of action. We're introduced in the life of a family living in the London suburbs of the '90s. On one side we have a single mother of modest condition, a factory worker, close to depression and in constant conflict with her soon-to-be 21 years old daughter. Give the occasion, the uncle, a photographer somewhat more successful in life, at least financially, tries to plan a barbecue reunion. Meanwhile, an adopted optometrist, decides after the death of both her parents to search for her natural mother. Probably it won't be a great surprise where the investigation leads.

The movie is built on top of this story, maintaining a slowly but steadily increasing tension level up to the climactic meeting in the end. The risk is to get you bored if you're not patient enough to digest all the symbolic elements - for example, the photo sessions that insist on the idea that there aren't any ordinary people free of troubles. All this slow development is meant to also define in more detail the characters, the actors doing an amazing job. The characters are relatively diverse, so until the end there is a chance to start relating with one or the other. That's probably the main strength of the movie, because otherwise it doesn't excel technically. Probably the screenplay could be easily adapted to a stage play. The finale comes with a predictable climax, but is also somehow cathartic, which, depending on the person, could exert a strong impact. Not necessarily concerning the family situation in the movie, but the generally entangled family situations where it's sometimes awfully hard to maintain a balance. But well, as someone told me once, "families are always getting complicated" :)...

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

I lost tracks on how many times I've put "The Kid Who Would Be King" on pause until finishing it. I guess it's a personal record of something like 6-7 times over 5 days. The funny part is that the first half of the movie, which I had to fragment a lot seemed much better than the second half. Long story short: we have a re-telling of the knights of the round table, where the role of Arthur is given to a boy in London who finds Excalibur in a stone forgotten near some construction yard, and from that moment is doomed to save the country. The threat: Morgana + a hord of undead who will take over at the next total eclipse = in 4 days.

The movie is somewhere between Narnia and Harry Potter. Meaning that the target audience is between 10-15 years old, but it's not that light, it works for older people too. I decided to watch it despite not having high hopes since it's been quite a while since I've seen a decent fantasy. In some parts I'd say it's actually more promising than the examples referenced before. The problem is that you feel that something's coming: either a part which is too much for kids, either on the border of getting ridiculous. And it comes indeed... and it goes away... and it comes again. Anyway... on the plus side:
- it's more fantasy than what the trailer suggests
- it has a top notch production design (really, I was surprised), decent VFX and some cool camera work
- the score has a fine touch of synth, barely present there, but still enough to make it count
- Patrick Stewart as the old Merlin

Unfortunately, those parts on the border of getting ridiculous are a bit too... cringe. But it might be a matter of taste = for all the rest it deserves a chance. And definitely for the age of 10-15 is quite ok.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 ( seen from the 30+ perspective ;) )

Incendies (2010)

I should write a decent review for "Incendies". It deserves it. Even though it's not exactly the ultimate masterpiece as some rankings say, and the pace it develops in the first half it's way too slow. However, I'm sorry but I'm definitely not in the right mood to write an entry on this. All I can say, in the spirit of the movie, is that families are complicated. That ... and Happy Holidays! :) ... for who's still in the Easter season ...

Rating: 4 out of 5

Blue Jasmine (2013)

I don't like Woody Allen. I always found him over-appreciated, especially since every year (I actually don't remember when was a break) the "new" released movie is not much more than a mix of situations from other 5 previous productions. So I don't how I ended up seeing "Blue Jasmine". Especially given that the summary, the trailer and the expectancies from Woody Allen pretty much label the production as a "girls movie" (no matter how stereotypical this may sound) ...

Actually I know how it happened. I had something like three reasons. One: probably it will get (as in most of the years) some nods for the upcoming Oscars and since I'm struggling to do a sort of coverage of the event ... Two: it was a good opportunity to catch Sally Hawkins in a more consistent role (don't ask). Three: in the area where I reside, the last weekend of September is dedicated to a regional wine fest (to be read: in the evening the town center resembles more or less a packed sardine can, to analyze the atmospheric composition you need a breathalyzer and the noise level makes me thank the Heaven for how lucky I was to catch a rent closer to the suburbs) .. anyway, since it was probably the last year when I have the opportunity to attend the most important public social event from the town's life I decided not to close myself in my cave anymore but I still needed a escape route from all the fuss + an additional motivation to move my legs downtown. That's how I ended up watching "Blue Jasmine".

I made a double intro because I'm not in the mood to write about the movie. Without thinking too much, is probably the best I've ever seen from Woody Allen (definitely above "Midnight in Paris" to take a recent comparison). I don't know if this impression is very objective. The description of the start situation sounds like this: A woman from the New York's upper class (Cate Blanchett) gets broke after her husband is uncovered as a big time financial crook, and ends up killing himself in the prison. Following that, the widow is forced to move temporarily with her step sister (Sally Hawkins), a saleswoman in a San Francisco supermarket. As any Woody Allen script this one also revolves around the problems and relations in a couple, between couples, between couples friends, anyway in a sort of 10 people limited circle. Nothing new in that. What's new, at least in what I've seen (maybe excepting "Match Point" to be fair) is that despite a comedy label shown on IMDb, the movie is much more deep and categorizing it as drama (and just drama) would probably be much more appropriate.

I don't know how objective am I, probably I'm not, because instead of what I expected to be a light flick as "Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona", "Midnight in Paris" or others, I found myself watching something that started to relate to some more or less real life facts. I'm not in the mood to elaborate on that and that's the reason why I also don't want to write about the movie too much. I'll resume on appreciating the role made by Cate Blanchett who leaves behind pretty much every other cast member ( with all my 2nd reason stated somewhere above :) )

As subjective I would be, I guess the movie's ending gives me reason for crediting it, almost exclusively, as a drama. I had a sort of "surreal" sentiment ... to say so when I left the cinema, augmented by the surrounding euphoric context. I felt a real need to find an empty street in my way home to digest the way the movie ended (which normally is quite easy to get where I live at 22:30, but in this case was impossible). I wanted another ending. At least a more complete one, any, but more complete ... I really feared that the last scene will be the last.

Rating: 4 out of 5