Another strangely wonderful Almodovar [film]. Two comatose women and the men who love them. One, a male nurse, cares for the beautiful ballerina he used to watch from his apartment window, with tender attentiveness. The other, a writer/journalist, painfully visits the once-vivacious bullfighter he's with. I won't really say too much more about the plot because it should be experienced, not overheard. I'll say this: it's beautiful, sensuous (and sometime sensual) shocking (even when I saw it coming) and subtly creepy. It also examines the bonds of friendship in extreme scenarios we don't often consider. I really liked Hable con ella, it drew me in almost instantly (the first three minutes kind of repelled me) and I was engaged and invested throughout. You can watch it online on Youku, if you don't mind the Chinese subtitles.
Garish, ugly, over-the-top, a full-scale visual assault. There are colors in this movie that, as Robin Williams says about Graceland, have "never seen the light of day" (nor should they). A top-notch ballroom dancer starts doing non-regulation moves, loses his partner, pairs up with an ugly duckling novice, all things which threaten to raze his career and relationships with friends, family and mentor. The dancing is pretty, sometimes even kind of sexy and fun, but the rest of the movie and basically all the characters = loud and annoying. And that's the point. The mean ole stuffy conservative dancers are just a bunch of whiny, outdated, ridiculous buffoons all trussed up in eyesores like sequined lemon and magenta, while the ones we root for are draped in simple, subdued colors most of the time and rich reds when the occasion calls for them. Of Baz Luhrman's other films, this one is probably most like Moulin Rouge, which I found amazing when I was a senior in high school, but which would probably give me a headache now.
Sherlock Holmes
Dir: Guy Ritchie, 2009
Fun, but not enough of the feisty femme fatale. The odd-but-brilliant pugilist-cum-sleuth and his pistol-toting bro (as in bromance, not brother), Watson, try to stop ritualistic killings that have an apparent supernatural twist. And of course, an enticing woman comes out of the woodwork to spurn him on, but are her intentions all that pure? Not as gimmicky as I expected — you won't hear the word "elementary" and the pipe's not in every scene — which was good. It was enjoyable and well-acted/edited/directed (maybe his split from the "retarded," "manifester" (?!) Madonna brought back a better Guy Ritchie). I only wish Rachel McAdams's role had been a little meatier. See it in on le big screen (and say that in your best French accent).
Dir: Guy Ritchie, 2009
Fun, but not enough of the feisty femme fatale. The odd-but-brilliant pugilist-cum-sleuth and his pistol-toting bro (as in bromance, not brother), Watson, try to stop ritualistic killings that have an apparent supernatural twist. And of course, an enticing woman comes out of the woodwork to spurn him on, but are her intentions all that pure? Not as gimmicky as I expected — you won't hear the word "elementary" and the pipe's not in every scene — which was good. It was enjoyable and well-acted/edited/directed (maybe his split from the "retarded," "manifester" (?!) Madonna brought back a better Guy Ritchie). I only wish Rachel McAdams's role had been a little meatier. See it in on le big screen (and say that in your best French accent). 
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