Foreign - Cinema Crespodiso

Review: ‘The Rover’

“The Rover” is an Australian western set in the future, but that doesn’t mean sci-fi in any way, as actually they go in the other direction, depicting a world totally collapsed and depressed, a harsh world with no amenities or benefits of technology, but instead a barren land of little food and less hope. This is the world in which this story exists, and it is a brutal world, one in which the rule of the land is merely survival of the fittest and nothing more.

And in a scenario like this, one must be wary of people like Eric (Guy Pearce), a man whose sole possession is his car, and who has nothing else in his life, and definitely nothing to live for. The movie starts with him sitting in his car in the heat of the desert as flies buzz around his face, and he can’t even be bothered to swipe them away, he just lets them land on his face and mouth and he doesn’t care at all. So when three dumb criminals steal his car and use it as a getaway vehicle, he sets out to find the guys and get his car back because he’s got nothing else, nothing to lose, no loved ones waiting for him, no place to go, he has all the time and hate in the world, so off he goes, looking for his car.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The Raid 2’

“The Raid 2” is a brutal movie. Masquerading as an action film, it is actually a mob infiltration drama mixed with a horror movie, in which the horror comes from the fact that an intense fight scene can break out at any moment, during which our monster hero proceeds to cut, rip, break, brutalize and dismember his opponents in increasingly honorific ways, blood splattering everywhere. You will know him by his trail of dead. And he’s pretty much the only good cop in all of Indonesia.Continue Reading …

Florida Film Festival 2014 review: ‘The Double’

“The Double” is a bleak, angst-ridden surreal psychological thriller dark comedy about a man, in the midst of an existential crisis, who meets his physical double and at first they appear to be allies but things quickly go from bad to what the fuck. From writer/director Richard Ayoade and loosely based on the 19th century Russian lit classic of the same name, “The Double” is one of the most original and interesting movies I’ve seen in quite awhile, bursting with ideas and a deliberate energy that just makes this whole thing hum along very loudly and distinctly.Continue Reading …

Florida Film Festival 2014 review: ‘Dom Hemingway’

“Dom Hemingway” is mostly a showcase of Jude Law, who gets to put on some weight and play an over the top character with a penchant for cussing and long monologues, and while he knocks his portion of the movie pretty much out of the park, the rest of the movie around him is merely good, with some flash and style to go along with a little bit of substance, but ultimately not really saying anything new or unique with the story and characters.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Kon-Tiki’

“Kon-Tiki” is a great Norwegian historical drama about explorer and scientist Thor Heyerdahl, who set out on a journey in 1947 with five men on a raft made of balsa wood from Peru all the way across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia, in an attempt to help prove his theory that Polynesia was populated by migrants coming from the east, as opposed to the prevailing theory at the time that the settlers came from the west. But really it is a story about how this fella Thor had an idea and was determined to see it through, even if that meant absorbing tons of rejection from all sorts of people and eventually heading out on this dangerous mission just to prove his point.

This is a pretty spectacular movie regardless of whether the story is real or what was fabricated to enhance the drama of the movie (apparently there was some beef with one of the characters being portrayed very differently from his real life counterpart, resulting in the filmmakers even coming out and apologizing to the family members of this misrepresented person). It is a pretty simple set up, in that these six guys agreed to set out on this mission, and the 101-day, 5,000 mile journey pretty much changed them all forever (but then again, how could it NOT?). But while the mission and goal are easy to understand, it is obvious that the trip was not going to be a piece of cake.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The World’s End’

Here is “The World’s End” – from the writers, director and stars of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” comes a movie about a group of friends reuniting to recreate a pub crawl 20 years after their failed first attempt, and during this pub crawl they work out a number of issues among themselves while also coming to the realization that their old hometown seems to have been taken over all “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” style.

“The World’s End” may be about a group of friends, but really its about two of the guys, ringleader Gary King (Simon Pegg) and Andy Knightley (Nick Frost), and even then, it’s really just about Gary King, BUT REALLY in the end when it’s all said and done this movie is actually about all of us. So the movie starts with a retelling of a pub crawl attempt by five teenagers in a small UK village, with the goal being to down a pint at 12 different pubs over the course of a night. This first attempt is a failure.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Holy Motors’

“Holy Motors” is an arty French satirical dark comedy, and goodness is that a lot of quirky baggage for one movie, yet here they are, daring to be as arty and as French and as wonderfully weird and off the wall as possible. Those out there adverse to such whimsical and sometimes maddening storytelling will find much to dislike in this movie, while conversely those who seek out different and strange movies will stumble across an embarrassment of riches in this twisted journey of one man going about his day’s work.

The best way to see this movie (or just about any movie, in my opinion, which is why you are here to begin with), is with as little information beforehand as possible. That way there are no expectations and nothing is spoiled and the movie can take it’s time in showing it’s cards. If at all possible, bookmark this review and see the movie first and then come back here and read the rest. You’ll have a more bewildering yet exciting and ultimately fulfilling experience, trust me on that one. And this is the internet, so it is not like this review is going to go anywhere. We’ll all still be here when you get back.Continue Reading …