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May 19, 2008Cannes Day Four -- BrazilLinha De Passe -- This Brazilian film by director Walter Sallesis a look at the hardscrabble life of the urban poor. Salles isalways sentimental, but he's getting subtler and quieter. His USbreakthrough "Central Station" was drenched in it, "TheMotorcycle Diaries" (about Che Guevara) was moresophisticated about its cheery outlook and now "Linha DePasse" is even better. But keep in mind that I apparently liked itmuch more than most. It follows a single, pregnant mom andher four sons. The eldest has found religion and works aresponsible job at a gas station. The next is a motorcyclemessenger who has already fathered one child. The next is 18and just about too old to capitalize on his promisingfootball/soccer skills and the youngest rides the city buses allday long, obsessed with finding out who he father is.(Apparently he was told his dad was a bus driver; the otherthree perhaps were fathered by another man.) If you've seenany movies, you can guess at some of the plot twists: adesperate son turning to crime, the one with faith having itshaken, the athlete getting a shot at a pro career and so on. Butit's done with subtlety and a mostly non-pro cast that reallydelivers. I can easily see why someone might find it predictable.But I was engaged and frankly, the modest optimism at the endis so low-key if not downright invisible, that I think it is Salles'sbest to date and a worthy contender for the runner-up prize ifnot the Palm D'Or or for the ensemble. The young men arepretty darn cute, too.The Chaser -- After a string of arty films, I went into "TheChaser" with modest hopes that a potential genre piece wouldentertain me. Mind you, if I never see another film about serialkillers again, I won't be sorry. This one puts a few modest spinson the tale: our hero is a cop turned pimp who realizes missinggirls have all been clients of one guy, a harmless looking youngman who is impotent and vicious. The pimp races against timeVisit our other sitesAdvocate.comOut.comOutTraveler.comPopnographyAdvocate GenQMr SardonicAdvocate InsiderOut.com StyleListHereTV.comGayWired.comAdvertisement
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to try and rescue the latest girl he now realizes is in terribledanger. Lots of running and shouting and slow-motion anguishensues. Our anti-hero is a good one, which made the filmbearable for me. But the way it was structured kept some of thesuspense out of it. And the silly cops who have the serial killerin custody, listen to him confess and yet still somehow mustrelease him and then fail to even trail him effectively turn thefilm into a cartoon. There's a dour twist but it's all very familiar.Someone kill the serial killer movies, please.Tokyo Sonata -- After press conferences with Woody Allen andMike Tyson (more on that later), I went to the final movie of theevening, Kurosawa Kiyoshi's "Tokyo Sonata." Kurosawa has agreat first name for a filmmaker (clearly he was destined for themovies), but I'm just not a big fan of his movies. This one ismore low-key and realistic than most of Kiyoshi's horror flicks-- at least for a while. A businessman loses his job but doesn'ttell his family. The eldest son ignores them and signs up for theUS military to serve in Iraq. The wife is bored. And theyoungest son is secretly using his lunch money to takeforbidden piano lessons. All fine, if unremarkable. Then thewacky plot twists start piling up, including the husbandworking as a cleaner of toilets and finding a pile of money, theeldest son switching sides in the war, the wife getting tied up bya burglar and then deciding to run away with him and theyoungest son turning into a once-in-a-generation pianoprodigy. Oy. I lost all patience with this one, though others wheactually like Kiyoshi liked this one too.Posted at 12:15 AM in Cannes 2008 | PermalinkTrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry:http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341ca4b653ef00e552554b8a8834Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Cannes Day Four --Brazil:CommentsVerify your CommentPreviewing your CommentPosted by: | This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
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to try and rescue the latest girl he now realizes is in terribledanger. Lots of running and shouting and slow-motion anguishensues. Our anti-hero is a good one, which made the filmbearable for me. But the way it was structured kept some of thesuspense out of it. And the silly cops who have the serial killerin custody, listen to him confess and yet still somehow mustrelease him and then fail to even trail him effectively turn thefilm into a cartoon. There's a dour twist but it's all very familiar.Someone kill the serial killer movies, please.Tokyo Sonata -- After press conferences with Woody Allen andMike Tyson (more on that later), I went to the final movie of theevening, Kurosawa Kiyoshi's "Tokyo Sonata." Kurosawa has agreat first name for a filmmaker (clearly he was destined for themovies), but I'm just not a big fan of his movies. This one ismore low-key and realistic than most of Kiyoshi's horror flicks-- at least for a while. A businessman loses his job but doesn'ttell his family. The eldest son ignores them and signs up for theUS military to serve in Iraq. The wife is bored. And theyoungest son is secretly using his lunch money to takeforbidden piano lessons. All fine, if unremarkable. Then thewacky plot twists start piling up, including the husbandworking as a cleaner of toilets and finding a pile of money, theeldest son switching sides in the war, the wife getting tied up bya burglar and then deciding to run away with him and theyoungest son turning into a once-in-a-generation pianoprodigy. Oy. I lost all patience with this one, though others wheactually like Kiyoshi liked this one too.Posted at 12:15 AM in Cannes 2008 | PermalinkTrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry:http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341ca4b653ef00e552554b8a8834Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Cannes Day Four --Brazil:CommentsVerify your CommentPreviewing your CommentPosted by: | This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
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Your comment could not be posted. Error type:Your comment has been posted. Post another commentFilm FestivalsFood and DrinkIowa Caucus 2008LesbianMusicOutfest 2008PartiesPoliticsProvincetown Film Festival 2008Queen Mary 2 Historic CrossingReligionScienceSexSportsSydney Mardi Gras 2008Taylor Hanson for The AdvocateTelevisionThe DinahThe HRC Logo ForumThe L WordTheaterTravelRecent PostsMTV Video Music Awards... Cheap, Or What?Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles: 30 Years YoungEric McCormack Auctions Off Porsche for ProjectAngel FoodWhat is the Advocate Insider? On 90210!OUTFEST REVIEW: Another Gay SequelAwards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, and Mama"Sordid Lives" Screens to a Sold-Out CrowdOUTFEST REVIEW: The World UnseenOUTFEST REVIEW: The Lost CoastOUTFEST REVIEW: Eleven MinutesRecent Commentscelebrity picture on OUTFEST REVIEW: The LostCoastvimax on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamapenis enlargement pills on Michael Guest is all smilespenis enlargement on Michael Guest is all smilespenis enlargement on Amman SegregatesLou on Cruise programming we missed...michaelj72 on "XXY" -- Another Terrific Queer FilmAt Cannesvigrx on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamaAdvocate Insiderhttp://www.advocateinsider.com/2008/05/cannes-day-four.html
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Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Community Guidelines |Legal NoticeAdvocate.com © 2008 Regent Entertainment Media Inc. AllRights Reserved.vimax on Awards Night: Miniskirts, Musicals, andMamaomar on Amman SegregatesArchivesSeptember 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008March 2008February 2008January 2008December 2007November 2007September 2008SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 Subscribe to this blog's feed
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