South American Cinema Night: Mancora

SOUTH AMERICAN CINEMA NIGHT

Every 2nd Wednesday of every month
I'll be checking out a movie from any country in South America.
My goal is to see one movie from each country.
This excludes any films I see at film festivals.

Tonight's movie is from Peru:


Mancora
A little interesting drama from Peru.
It was going good for a bit there
and then the characters felt a little too exaggerated
after about 30 minutes in.
It was obvious what was going to happen
but at least I was hoping to see some great cinematography
and some strong performances.
It wasn't quite up there for me.
Would love to go to Peru one day.
The beach scenes looked awesome.

Overall, for this type of story, it was okay.
Nothing special to note.
Next month, I'll be checking out a movie from Argentina.


This movie was accompanied by a Peruvian inspired dish:
Ceviche served with Peruvian beer (Cristal).
The Before:


The After:

New Release Tuesday: Marley (2012)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


Marley
Good documentary.
I'll admit it, I never knew anything
about Bob Marley, except that
he was the king of reggae and from Jamaica.
And he is admired by fans of the green plant.
Other than that, never knew anything else.
This documentary covers all his life.
Very good.
A little sad towards the end but
I love how they did the credits with people
from around the world listening to Marley.
Very good stuff here.

A little long but good documentary.
A must see for all reggae fans and people
who are curious about Bob Marley's life.


This movie went very good with homemade Jamaican Jerk
and Red Stripes.

80's Monday: St. Elmo's Fire

80's MONDAY

[Every first Monday of every month is 80's Monday.
There's a lot of movies that came out
in the 80's that were so popular that I haven't seen.
I'm an 80's kid, so this segment will give me a chance
to catch up on some of those popular typical movies from this period.]


St. Elmo's Fire
Almost every 80's young star is here.
This was okay.
I didn't know there was going to be a lot of drinking
in this movie. If I would of known,
I would of picked up something refreshing to watch it
instead of water. But, good times.
Cheesy storyline and cheesy moments.
We got Emilio Estevez being a stalker.
We got Demi Moore high on cocaine.
We got Rob Lowe as a womanizer and alcoholic.
A lot of characters. It was a bit hard to keep track
at first. But, it was all good.
A decent story about friendship and love.

I don't think I'll add this to the 80's section but
got it out of my system.
Next month, I'll be checking out Risky Business
for 80's Monday. Good God!

High Fidelity

High Fidelity
This was pretty good and entertaining.
Had no idea what was it about except that it revolves
around a record music shop owner.
This is the same creators as the movie "Grosse Pointe Blank"
(which I wasn't a fan of).
I like that the main character here has a bunch of Top 5 lists.
And he creates more throughout his life.
One of the main lists here is the Top 5 heartbreaks he had.
He goes through each one of them as
he narrates to the audience.
I like some of the music on here.
This can kind of make a decent double feature
with "Empire Records."

Okay to check out.
It has Jack Black doing some pre-Tenacious D stuff.

Brake (2012)

Brake
This is the worst film I've seen in 2012 so far.
I don't even know why I wanted to see it.
I remember I hated the movie, "Buried" (with Ryan Reynolds).
Why did I decide to torture myself with this one.
It was a little annoying at first but okay.
But the ending was terrible.
Ooh, we got a big twist.
Then they messed it up even more after the big twist.
If you are reading this, and you want to see it,
I advise you not to.
So, I'm going to spoil it for you right here:
The twist is that this whole thing was just a test to see if
this guy can brake and give out confidential information.
Everyone was acting.
He passed. After the twist, everyone congratulated him
for being strong. Then, the stupid ending happens.
He is still being tested and he gave out the information
to the one he loves the most.
Boom!! We got ourselves a great film.

Stay away!! Worst film of 2012, so far. At least for me.

Breaking And Entering

Breaking and Entering
I like this drama.
I didn't think I was going to like it.
It took me a while to see.
But it was sitting in the "movies that I own but haven't seen" shelf.
I have a rule that every movie that I buy,
I must place it on this certain shelf.
After watching that particular movie,
then I place it with the rest of my collection.
Back to my short comments on this movie:
It got my attention majority of the time.
The ending was so and so.
I didn't know this movie had a lot of actors that I like.
Well, one actor that I admire a lot is Ray Winstone.
My favorite movie with him is a Gangster film called, Sexy Beast
(which I highly recommend).
He plays a detective in this movie here, but,
his role is kind of small.
Good performances here.
The Bosnian lady was pretty cool.
And Vera Farmiga playing a prostitute? Pretty crazy.

Good decent drama.

Attack the Gas Station!

Attack the Gas Station!
Interesting Korean movie.
It was way too long, but, interesting.
It had its funny moments.
Basically, a couple of no good misfits decide to
rob a gas station twice.
The second time, there's hardly any money.
So they decide to keep the employees hostage and
they become employees and collect money from customers.
See? That's a funny premise.
I like the beginning.
It keeps you intrigued.
But it gets a little tiring.
My favorite scene is when another gang comes
over to collect money from one of the real
employees. The robbers end up kicking the
gang's ass.

Not a must buy but cool little original story to see.