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claudio_carvalho

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5973 reviews in total

Mrs. Dolores Solano (Jacki Weaver) brings her son Pat Solano (Bradley Cooper) back home in Philadelphia from the Karel Psychiatric Facility, in Baltimore. Pat had been interned for almost nine months diagnosed with bipolar disorder after finding his wife Nikki (Brea Bee) cheating on him with her lover in their home.

Pat is still in love with Nikki, but he can not get close to her since she has a restraining order against him. Pat has to go to therapy sessions and he jogs expecting to keep his shape, and his father (Robert De Niro) believes that he is a quitter.

When Pat meets the widow Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), he finds that she is an unbalanced girl. Tiffany and her sister Veronica (Julia Stiles) are close to Nikki and she offers to deliver a letter from Pat to Nikki despite the restraining order. In return, he shall dance with her in a competition in the end of the year. Pat accepts the challenge and gets close to her training for the competition. On the day of the competition, Veronica unexpectedly brings Nikki to the theater, affecting Pat and Tiffany.

"Silver Linings Playbook" is a lovely cute movie that won 1 Oscar and was awarded with another 60 wins and 71 nominations. The gorgeous and sexy Jennifer Lawrence is wonderful and deserved the Oscar. The story is original and touching and I really loved this movie that is full of emotions, has great performances and direction, excellent screenplay and adorable characters. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Lado Bom da Vida" ("The Good Side of the Life")

During the trial of the prime suspect of the murder of Mrs. McGinty, Miss Jane Marple (Margaret Rutherford) is the only member of the jury that believes that the accused is innocent. The judge schedules another trial and Miss Marple invites her friend Jim Stringer (Stringer Davis) to go to the house of the victim to talk with her sister and snoop around.

Miss Marple discovers that Mrs. McGinty was an actress and she joins the theatrical company of H. Driffold Cosgood (Ron Moody) to investigate and find the real killer. But soon people around her dies and Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) and Mr. Stringer are worried about her safety.

"Murder Most Foul" is another entertaining story by Agatha Christie with her sweet and snoopy Miss Marple. Mrs. Margaret Rutherford is hilarious and her logic is always funny, especially when she discusses the crimes with Inspector Craddock. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Crime É Crime" ("Crime Is Crime")

The waitress of a dining Jill (Amanda Seyfried) returns early in the morning and does not find her sister Molly (Emily Wickersham) at home. She goes to the police department to report that her sister is missing, but detective Powers (Daniel Sunjata) and his team do not give credit to Jill's words.

Some time ago, Jill claimed that she had been abducted by a stranger and dropped in a hole in the middle of the Forest Park, where she found the corpses of other missing girls. However she succeeded to escape but the investigators did not find any evidence and Jill was sent to a mental institution.

Jill decides to investigate where Molly could be and she brings her revolver for self-protection. When the police discover that she is armed, they begin a manhunt to arrest her. Nobody believes that Molly has been kidnapped and believes that Jill is delusional. Is she?

"Gone" is a conventional and predictable thriller that entertains. The story is developed in a right pace and with the usual clichés (car chases, detectives that do not believe on a victim etc.), but the conclusion is good. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "12 Horas" ("12 Hours")

When I was a teenager, Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables" was the most impressive tale of injustice that I have ever read, with the heartbreaking story of Jean Valjean, a man arrested for stealing a piece of bread and haunted by the persistent and merciless Inspector Javert.

Then I saw at least two great versions of this novel in the cinema, the 1935 with Fredric March and Charles Laughton, and the 1998 with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush in the roles of Valjean and Javert.

I had the highest expectations with this musical, awarded with several wins and nominations. Unfortunately this version does not develop the character Jean Valjean and shows him after many years in forced labor as a thief, omitting the whole beginning of the injustice in the story. It is impossible to feel sympathy and pain for his suffering.

There is more emphasis to the story of Fantine in the beginning and Anne Hathaway is excellent. However, Russell Crowe singing is unbearable; Hugh Jackman singing is boring and the songs are terrible and I stop watching the DVD of this pretentious version with 45 minutes running time. My vote is one (awful).

Title (Brazil): "Os Miseráveis" ("The Miserables")

In 1993, the IRA member Collette (Andrea Riseborough) is arrested in the London tube after leaving a bomb in the facility. MI-5 Agent Mac (Clive Owen) offers a deal to Collette to become an informer. She accepts the agreement to protect her son and in return Mac offers a new identity to her after a period working for the MI-5. Soon Mac learns that his superior Kate Fletcher (Gillian Anderson) is using Collette to protect her mole inside the Irish organization. Mac tries to find the identity of the informer and protect Collette.

"Shadow Dancer" is a dramatic thriller developed in slow-pace with a good story and a confused screenplay. The situation of Collette is heartbreaking since she has to betray family and friends to protect her son. The performances are top-notch, but there are ellipsis (or cuts in the edition) that are confusing. For example, I did not understand why Collette kisses Mac. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Agente C – Dupla Identidade" ("Agent C – Double Identity")

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" is an awful movie, actually one of the worst I have ever seen. The story is a tribute to the ignorance and to the outcast and the lead girl screams are terrible to be heard. Maybe pretentious intellectuals and First World viewers that are disassociated to this reality, like those that come to Rio and include a tour through the slums in the touristic sightseeing, are responsible for overrating this movie. But for those like me that live in Third World countries and see similar situations on the streets and in the news, this movie is corny and detestable. My vote is one.

Title (Brazil): "Indomável Sonhadora" ("Indomitable Dreamer")

In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) is not successful with "North by Northwest", having bad reviews. He reads Robert Bloch's novel "Psycho" and decides to make a movie; however the Paramount studios refuse the project.

Hitchcock discusses his idea with his agent Lew Wasserman (Michael Stuhlbarg) and decides to finance the production with his savings against all odds and is supported by his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren). Hitchcock casts the cast with Alma and his assistant Peggy Robertson (Toni Collette) and Paramount is responsible for the distribution. Meanwhile Hitchcock is under additional tension since he believes that Alma is having a love affair with Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston).

"Hitchcock" focuses in a period of the life of the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock during the production and release of "Psycho". This behind the scenes shows a disturbed man under tension and quite arrogant genius. It is amazing to see the failure with "North by Northwest" and how this master has not wined an Oscar when we see the kind of movies and directors are nominated to (and wins) the Oscar in the last years showing how decadent Hollywood is. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Hitchcock"

Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) and Mr. Stringer (Stringer Davis) are collecting money for The Reformed Criminals Assistance League, and the old lady decides to pay a visit to the stingy Old Enderby (Finlay Currie). They go to his manor and witness him dying frightened to death by a cat. Miss Marple snoops around the house and finds a piece of mud that she keeps with her.

She calls the police and later she reports to Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) that Old Enderly was murdered. However he tells that the Death Certificate states the cause of his death as heart failure and Old Enderby had had a severe heart condition for many years. Miss Marple decides to investigate one of the heirs but she finds her dead in her house with her housemaid Miss Milchrest (Flora Robson). Then she lodges in The Gallop Hotel to investigate who might be the murderer. When her prime suspect is killed, she finds the reason why the assassin is killing the relatives of Old Enderby. Now Miss Marple plots a scheme to catch the killer.

"Murder at the Gallop" is another highly entertaining comedy and mystery with Miss Marple. There are delightful scenes, like Miss Marple telling the Inspector Craddock that he should read Agatha Christe, or Miss Marple dancing Twist with Mr. Stringer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sherlock de Saias" ("Sherlock in Skirts")

The senior partner of an investment brokerage Jeffrey (Nikolaj Coaster- Waldau) has a breakdown and kills his two associates and his wife. Then he takes his three-year old daughter Victoria and the one-year old daughter Lilly and drives his car through a winding snowing road to Clifton Forge. He has a car accident and fall off a cliff, but he brings his daughters to an abandoned and isolated cabin to kill them, but the children are saved by a creepy ghostly creature.

Five years later, Jeffrey's brother Lucas finds the children that were raised without social relationship and claim that they have been raised by Mama. Lucas disputes the custody with the children's grandmother but Dr. Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash), who is studying the girls, selects Lucas to take care of the children. Lucas lives with his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain), who plays in a rock'n'roll band, and Victoria and Lilly moves to their house. Soon Lucas and Annabel find that the girls were not delusional and they are not alone in the house.

"Mama" is a creepy and scary horror movie, with a frightening story. The girls Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nélisse have convincing performances in the role of two young sisters that are left alone in the woods for five years. Unfortunately, the conclusion disappoints. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Mama"

The Lunar Base Ark explores ore and unexpectedly is hit by a meteor shower and has severe damages. Colonel Gerard Brauchman (Christian Slater) sends the crewwoman Ava Cameron (Amy Matysio) to repair a wing that is full of CO2. Dr. Lance Krauss (Brendan Fehr) warns that the gas may cause paranoia and hallucinations. Ava brings a sample of the meteor for analysis and Dr. Krauss finds that there are spores attached to the meteor.

Ava accidentally cuts her finger in a sample but she hides the cut from the doctor. Soon Ava gets pregnant and delivers an alien offspring. However, neither Col. Brauchman nor Dr. Kraus believes in her words and they believe that Ava is delusional. He offspring bites the crewman Bruce Johns (Michael Therriault) and the crew discovers that Bruce has been cloned by the alien. Soon they find how dangerous the clone is.

"Stranded" is a low-budget movie and a lame rip-off of "Alien" and other movies of the genre. The characters are not bright as astronauts should be and they usually take the wrong decisions. "Stranded" is not a good movie but there are others worse and worse. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

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