Film Reviews
Completed in during a Film News and Review Class in 2021
Manolo Caro’s Perfectos Desconocidos Illuminates Secrets
A cautionary tale of living both a public and private life, Perfectos Desconocidos (2018) is a dark yet comedic film which follows a harmless dinner party turned emotional bloodbath. Director Manolo Caro shares the potential dark side of cellular technology in his remake of a popular Italian film from 2016. Set in Mexico City, this riveting storyline centers around a singular question- how well do we know those closest to us? Its household setting, dinner attire, dialogue, and impeccable performance elucidates how detail-oriented this film is. Its clever ending, however, leaves many unanswered questions. Caro's Perfectos Desconocidos is brilliantly captivating, yet its semblance of occurring in real-time will surely leave one filled with angst.
- Eliana Flores-Barber
Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right Erupts With Drama
Lisa Cholodenko's satirical drama The Kids Are All Right (2010), is a story of family, love, and the unexpected. Julian Moore and Annette Bening exceptionally play the role of devoted yet troubled parents to their college-bound daughter and impressionable high school son. A late-night conversation sparks curiosity in both teenagers as to who their biological father (sperm donor) is. What follows is an eruption of a drama-filled storyline- fights, betrayals, and broken relationships. At the heart of it, the film focuses on the complexities of marriage and its title is a play on words for the overlooked emotional astuteness of teens. Cholodenko's simple dialogue, calm atmosphere, and warm tone colors perfectly parallel the laid back style of the film's Southern California home. A more than just “all right” movie, it has all the drama, hardship, and wit without being over the top. Its ending, however, leaves one pondering as to what happens next.
- Eliana Flores-Barber
Roger Ebert’s Review of Bonnie and Clyde is Sophisticated and Truthful
A successful movie holds the power to transcend one into another world, so much that one may lose sight of all the components that go into filmmaking. On the contrary, film reviewers are able to associate each technicality of a film to what worked best, what missed the mark, and distinguish the underlying message it may contain. In his 1967 review of Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, Robert Ebert takes a step away from the bank-robbing couple to elucidate the violence engulfing the United States in the late 1960s. By taking small details from the film, such as graphic bullet wounds, Ebert critiques the violence of real life that is often left out of popular films by stating “movies do not very often reflect the full range of human life.” In this paradox, society is called out for wanting to see realities of life but also being disturbed by the realness of it when seen in films. Ebert's review is elaborate, yet effortless and comprehensible in his syntax. He takes one into the depths of the film without spoiling the plot. His review, fluid and unapologetic, is a classic analysis of not only a film but of society itself.
- Eliana Flores-Barber
Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust is Captivating and Timeless
For many, the decision to leave home and everything they know is challenging in and of itself. The added struggle of maintaining cultural traditions in a place far from their roots is the biggest challenge faced by the Peazant family in Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust. The film set in 1902, is a period piece that goes beyond the traditional film structure. Rather than telling the story through a linear form, Dash focuses on the complexities of life and challenges that arise by jumping back and forth between characters. Amidst the gravity of the family dilema, the film is filled with serene dancing, picnics, games, ceremonies, and portrait photography, which reminds one of the beauty that comes with cultural traditions. The film's cinematography is poetic and mesmerizing. It fluidly takes one through different parts of the island, frequently pausing to allow one to take in the beauty of the landscape. It’s cool tone colors, and harmonious drumbeats transcends one into the storyline. This is a film that attaches itself to visual and auditory senses, and is based on emotional understanding. Daughters of the Dust is an extraordinary tale of the importance of family and change.
- Eliana Flores-Barber
Miranda July’s The Future is Strange Yet Insightful
What defines a midlife crisis? Quitting a job, adopting a pet, an affair, newfound friendship, and the phrase “Forty is basically fifty” running through one’s mind. Miranda July’s The Future (2011) is exactly that. When urban hipster couple, Sophie and Jason, are told they must wait thirty days until they can bring home their adopted cat, anxiety about their possible five year responsibility takes hold of them. Together they decide to quit their unfulfilling jobs as a dance teacher to toddlers and a computer tech support to pursue more fulfilling experiences-Jason becomes an environmental campaigner while Sophie has an affair. Narrated by the unexpected, creepy, meowing voice of their cat, this film portrays two individuals who are attempting to find meaning in their life. Their different paths, which lead them to separate, offers a more pessimistic view of perceiving one's current reality. July’s film is an acquired taste with its many strange characteristics- talking cat, odd dancing, child-like demeanor, and an obsession with a yellow shirt. However, the film, quirky and offbeat, shares the universality of fearing one has not lived life to the fullest and serves as a reminder that one has the power to take charge of their own life.
- Eliana Flores-Barber