Acapulco Golden (2005)

The resurgence that Mexican cinema experienced in the mid to late 90s not only represented the successful return of Mexican movies to the theaters and the rise of Mexican talent to the international film industry, but also generated a renewed interest in Mexican cinema that without a doubt has benefited enormously the Mexican independent scene, which during the previous years had survived stoically in the obscurity of low-budget films mostly shot on video (traditionally known as "Videohomes"). Shortly after the success of the "New Mexican Cinema", many young Mexican artists who in the past wouldn't have chosen cinema as the medium to express their art, began to rediscover it, and soon started to work in their own independent short films that found success in local festivals and the indie scene. "Acapulco Golden", the debut of director Joaquín Segura, is definitely one of the most famous of those movies, but sadly, it's not one of the best.

Loosely based on a famous crime that gained notoriety on the Mexican newspapers, "Acapulco Golden" is the story of Jonathan (Ignacio Riva Palacio), a young high school student whose biggest desire in life is to leave his mother Rosalinda (Alejandra Bogue) and go to Acapulco with his gay lover Sergio (Gustavo Villatoro) in order to live freely. When the couple discovers that Jonathan's mother recently got a life insurance plan for an enormous amount of money, they begin to conceive a plan to murder her and escape to the Acapulco of their dreams. However, it won't be that easy for Jonathan to kill her "dear mommy", and his doubts won't bring any good to their original plan. Not to mention that Jonathan's mother will prove an extraordinarily difficult woman to kill, which will complicate even more their desired trip to Acapulco.

Written by Eduardo Smeke (who is also assistant director) and Joaquin Segura himself, "Acapulco Golden" is a short horror movie that gives a dark comedic twist to the bloody crime that inspired its story. Making fun of the common gay stereotypes that are overtly present on Mexican TV (bad musical taste and flamboyant clothing for example), the writers show a big influence from this and other examples of Mexican pop culture in their style as they base a lot of their humor in this kind of referential jokes. While the idea behind the film is certainly a good one and the nods to John Waters' comedy are a welcome addition, the whole construction of the story is definitely lacking in character development and the way the plot moves from cliché to cliché makes some of its jokes predictable, tired and sadly unfunny.

Shot on 16 mm, the film looks surprisingly good, and its clear that director Joaquin Segura has a good eye for the camera. While his use of Diego García's cinematography is not exactly the best one (there are some poorly illuminated scenes), the pacing of the film and overall visual conception of the movie are pretty good for a débutant. As written above, the script makes extensive use of pop culture references and as expected, Segura's directing moves in that direction too. While his care for details is praiseworthy, his excessive use of clichés to make fun and a notorious tendency to go over the top make his movie feel too much like a typical Mexican TV series (no doubt a big influence on him). Segura's work with the actors is another of the short film's high points, as he manages to get appropriate performances from his cast.

The cast is very good considering the average quality of the script they had to work with. Alejandra Bogue, a trans-gendered actress who has gained cult status in Mexican TV, delivers a good, albeit over the top performance as Rosalinda. Her portrait of a bothersome mother is very spot on despite being a caricature, and makes one wonder if she based her character on any personal experience. The young actors Gustavo Villatoro and Ignacio Riva Palacio are both good on their roles, specially Riva Palacio who arguably has the most complex role in the film. Villatoro is subtler, although at times seems to be a bit too serious for the outrageous nature of this comedy. While the script isn't exactly very good, the trio of actors manage to make the best of it and are certainly responsible of making the movie an entertaining experience.

Soon after its first victory in the Kineko Festival of short films in 2004, "Acapulco Golden" earned a cult status among the audiences of universities' film festivals, who certainly were fascinated by the film's freshness and joyful use of stereotypes as comic reliefs. However, it's hard to think of "Acapulco Golden" as a worthy representative of the Mexican independent scene, as not only its many flaws bring down what otherwise is a good debut, but its self-awareness makes the movie lose that honesty and heart that good "Videohomes" possess. The film's high pretensions combined with its excessive reliance on pop culture references for comedic effect ultimately make the movie feel less like a homage to John Waters and more like a cheap mockery of his style. While good on the technical side, Joaquin Segura needs to polish his screen writing skills in order to be taken seriously in cinema.

5/10

Day of the Fight (1951)

In 1950, legendary director Stanley Kubrick was a young photographer who was beginning to be fascinated by the many films he discovered in his visits to the screenings done by the Museum of Modern Art and other cinemas of New York. The discovery of such a wide range of different films made a big impact on the talented "Look" magazine photographer, who began to experiment with the medium, heavily influenced by the fluid movement that was the trademark of director Max Ophüls' work. It was that very same year when Kubrick would have his first chance to make a movie, as his friend Alexander Singer persuaded him to make a short documentary that he could sell to a distributor of cinema newsreels. Kubrick accepted the proposal, and inspired by an article he had done for "Look", he began working on his first movie. That early film would be "Day of the Fight".

"Day of the Fight" is a short documentary that chronicles a day in the life of Irish middleweight boxer Walter Cartier, a very promising fighter who is about to face an important contender, Bobby James, on that very same day. However, before focusing on Cartier, the movie makes a short yet informative description of boxing, its history, and its fanatics; everything with the precise and direct narration by veteran newsman Douglas Edwards. After that brief introduction, the movie follows Cartier from early in the morning until the fight, which takes place at 10:00 pm. Through the day, we follow Walter Cartier and his identical twin brother Vincent (who is also a lawyer and Walter's manager) in their preparation for the fight, starting with a good breakfast and early mass, and the subsequent mental and physical preparation that Walter makes in order to become a fighting machine.

While the idea of the film was entirely Kubrick's, the screenplay for the narration was entirely the work of Robert Rein, who follows the typical style of narrative that had been prevalent during the 40s weekly newsreels of "The March of Time", as in fact, that company was the originally planned buyer of "Day of Fight. However, since the company went out of business that very same year, the movie was then sold to RKO Pictures, who under the RKO-Pathé brand, became the movie's distributor. Anyways, as written above, Rein's script follows the classic conventions of the newsreels of its time, mixing the educational purposes of the documentary with a heavy use of melodramatics in the voice-over's narrative. However, credit must go to Rein for making a very realistic, albeit sentimentalist, description of the boxers' life.

If the voice-over of "Day of the Fight" sounds archaic and outdated to us these days, Kubrick's direction of the film looks the opposite as while still limited to its medium's restriction, the young director managed to create a vibrant film thanks to his very fluid and dynamic use of camera-work. While the movie is still a documentary bounded by its obligatory narration, Kubrick uses his camera to create a character out of the real persona of Walter Cartier, and while the boxer has no lines in the movie, a lot of him can be known thanks to the images Kubrick's camera has captured of him. As the moment of the fight gets closer, Kubrick accelerates the pace, truly increasing the tension and giving the story a real feeling of suspense as the fight begins. The images from the fight are remarkably edited and the result is one of the best scenes of a sports documentary.

While the screenplay is definitely typical of newsreels, Douglas Edwards' narration gives it a slightly different edge, as he manages to put the perfect emotion on what he is saying. No doubt thanks to his many years as a sports newsman, Edwards gives his words an impact and presence that makes the movie real, as if one was there with Cartier training for the big day. True, it's still an outdated style of narration, but Edwards' style makes it enjoyable. The rest of the people who appears on film has no lines, while we follow the Cartier brothers in their day, everything is narrated by Edwards and there is no interview with the contenders. However, it's safe to say that in this movie Walter projects a lot of presence and so it's not a surprise that after his career as a boxer he had decided to become an actor (landing a small, yet memorable role in "The Phil Silvers Show").

Considering the magnitude and importance of Stanley Kubrick's career, it's very easy to dismiss this movie as part of his career; however, unlike his second work ("The Flying Padre"), there are many things in this movie that makes it interesting and showcase early bits of what would become the Kubrick's style. Sure, it has every flaw a newsreel could have (including the typical use of staged scenes), but it also feels different, as Kubrick's eye for photography gave it a new look (Certainly, Gerald Fried's music also helped on this). A short newsreel like "Day of the Fight" may not be the most impressive debut for a legendary filmmaker, but in all its humility, this little short represents the beginning of a Master's career, and that's enough reason to give it a chance. Kubrick fans, this is a must.

7/10

Mirindas Asesinas (1991)

The beginning of the decade of the 90s saw the rise of a whole new generation of directors in Spain, who through the last decade of the 20th Century would redefine Spaniard cinema and demonstrate that there was more in their country than Pedro Almodóvar's melodramas. Among that new generation of filmmakers (that also included names like Alejandro Amenábar, Enrique Urbizu and Julio Médem in its ranks) was a young comic book writer from Bilbao named Álex De la Iglesia, who after working in the art direction department of Urbizu's 1991 comedy "Todo Por la Pasta", decided to focus his career on film. His first movie, the short film "Mirindas Asesinas" (Literally "Killer Mirindas"), would not only be his first work as a director, but also his first collaboration with writer Jorge Guerricaechevarría, marking the debut of one of the most creative teams in modern Spaniard cinema.

The story of "Mirindas Asesinas" is set in a bar where a man (Saturnino García) is relaxing as usual after a hard day of work. There is a storm outside, and suddenly, a strange looking short man enters the establishment (Alex Angulo) and sits by the bar. Nervously, the strange man asks the bartender (José Antonio Álvarez) to give him a Mirinda (a popular orange flavored soft drink), which the bartender serves him immediately. After drinking his glass, the man stands up and prepares to leave, but the bartender stops him and demands to be paid. The man refuses to pay and states that he asked the barman to "give him" the drink, not to "sell him" one, so he takes out an enormous machine gun and brutally kills the bartender. After the homicide, he looks towards our hero, who watched the whole scene in panic, and asks him politely "give me a Mirinda". And that's just the beginning of his torture.

Written by both Guerricaechevarría and De la Iglesia, "Mirindas Asesinas" is very funny short film that playfully mixes horror, suspense and comedy in a story that already shows the duo's famous acid black humor at its fullest potential. While simple in its construction, the writers use the plot to play with the conventions of movies about serial killers, as in this case, the psychotic murderer is a diminutive man (clearly inspired in the figure of Woody Allen) who enjoys to murder or psychologically torture people in order to get his beloved Mirindas. Wild, absurd and anarchic, the black humor in "Mirindas Asesinas" goes certainly over the top in an almost comic book style; but in the end, it's that irreverent Grand Guignol style of storytelling what gives the film its charm and forecasts the writers future work.

In "Mirindas Asesinas", director De la Iglesia already shows a pretty good eye for visual compositions; no doubt a result of his years of working in the comic book industry of his country. The black and white cinematography (by Kiko De la Rica) is very good, and together with the electronic organ music that serves as score gives the movie a very atmospheric 60s look that makes a funny contrast with the events depicted on screen. While not a perfect movie, "Mirindas Asesinas" is very well constructed and has a nice pace; and even when the mix of genres may not be entirely successful, it's hard not to fall under the movie's charm. With a touch of camp that spices up the black comedy, this wildly fun short film feels like a bizarre kitsch homage to Spaniard cinema and the horror genre in general.

The work done by the actors is simply excellent, with every member of the small cast delivering a great performance in their small roles. In the main role, Álex Angulo (who would become a regular collaborator of De la Iglesia) plays the unlikely psychotic "Tubular Killer", in a remarkable performance that shows his natural talent for comedy and shows that even at this early stage his career already had a lot of potential. As our traumatized hero (funnily labeled "poor devil"), Saturnino García is simply delightful, as while even when his character is little more than a caricature, he never fails to make his character interesting and sympathetic. As written above, the rest of the cast is very good, although it's worth to point out that Ramón Barea is specially funny in his take of familiar Spanish stereotype.

For a debut, "Mirindas Asesinas" is remarkably good, and while obviously it doesn't compare to De la Iglesia's posterior work, it has a lot of what has made his movies enjoyable through his career. Despite some problems with the sound and fact that its over the top humor may not be for everyone, "Mirindas Asesinas" is an excellent debut that not only fans of De la Iglesia will be able to appreciate, as its simple yet witty brand of comedy never fails to be entertaining despite its darkness. Two years after making this, Guerricaechevarría and De la Iglesia would make the jump to feature length films with the indie classic "Acción Mutante", and another two years after that the duo would get international acclaim with "El Dia De la Bestia". and to think that all this came thanks to a Mirinda.

8/10

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

When in 2002 rumors began to be spread about a movie based on Disneyland's classic dark ride, "Pirates of the Caribbean", nobody expected that any good would come out of it. However, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" was released and against all odds became a success that surpassed all the expectations. The movie, a tale of fantasy, romance and swashbuckling adventures that chronicled the escapades of a group of 18th Century pirates, earned both critical and commercial praise due to its fresh take on the genre. Due to its success, two back-to-back sequels were announced, both with the same cast and crew of the first film. The first of those sequels was "Dead Man's Chest", a film that while certainly lacked a lot of the original's power, started a new and interesting story arc that has its grand finale in "At World's End".

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" continues where the second part ended: with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) making an uneasy alliance with former foe Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) in order to find a way to bring Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) back from "Davy Jones' Locker" the supernatural purgatory for those indentured to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). The urgency of their mission comes from the fact that Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company, has begun to purge pirates from the sea, organizing massive executions in an attempt to control worldwide sea trade. To face Beckett, the nine pirate lords must make up the Brethren Court, but since Sparrow, pirate lord of the Caribbean, was unable to appoint a successor, our friends must bring him back before its too late.

Once again, the film was written by Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, who continue the story arc that began in the previous film with an extremely detailed script that gives closure to many of the plots that were started by the previous two films. To do this, the writers employ a series of convoluted twists and turns that further explore the now complicated relationships between our heroes, who not only must survive Beckett's attacks, but also the consequences of their own choices and betrayals. Unlike the second film, this film is more focused on the characters than on the action scenes, in an obvious attempt to add more character development this time; however, this doesn't mean that the movie lacks in the action department, as there is plenty of it through the film. Of course, the movie keeps good doses of that special touch of humor that has given the franchise a lot of its charm.

As in the previous two installments, director Gore Verbinski takes the helm again and brings this adventure come to life in a very visually appealing way. With an extreme care for details and a great eye for visual compositions, Verbinski creates a sequel that manages to overcome the disappointment of the previous film, returns the story to its roots and concludes the series on a high note. Keeping a good pace despite the long runtime, Verbinski adequately handles the dialog based scenes and the action sequences in a well balanced way (with much better results than in Part 2) that even his extensive use of the remarkable special effects doesn't come off as over the top. It is clear in this film that while a mostly visual director, Verbinski knows a thing or two about film history, as at times he manages to capture the feeling of those classics about pirates with Errol Flynn or Charles Laughton in the main roles.

By now it is more than clear that Johnny Depp's character, Captain Jack Sparrow, is the driving force of the film. Once again Depp becomes the quirky yet charming pirate with great ease and talent, delivering a terrific comedic performance that still remains fun after all those years. Orlando Bloom isn't that lucky, as while he has improved as an actor, the writers have left his character in a third position after Keira Knightley, who in this chapter gets a lot of screen time and carries a considerable part of the film alone. This would be good if it wasn't for the fact that Knightley isn't as accomplished as an actress as those around her, as not only Depp manages to overshadow her, but the combined presences of Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy and Yun-Fat Chow prove to be too much a challenge for her. Among the cast Rush is a real joy to watch, as he steals every scene he is in.

Sadly, despite the many improvements that "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" has over its predecessor, it is also plagued by some of the flaws that brought down "Dead Man's Chest". It's main flaw is probably the enormous dependence the film has on the charm that the character of Jack Sparrow has over the audience. The writers know that Sparrow is a fan favorite, so they put a lot of the film over his shoulders, which results in many great scenes with him, but also in the belittling of the rest of the characters. The convoluted plot will definitely turn some off, but I think that the complex storyline added a lot of much needed character development to the film, specially as it allowed some characters a small chance to shine. Finally, I will only add that the script gets corny and silly at times, but not too much to be a real bother.

While not exactly a great artistic accomplishment, "At World's End" is a roller-coaster of fun that despite its long runtime still manages to be entertaining. It is unknown what is ahead for the successful "Pirates" franchise, but one thing is clear for me: the story arc that began in "The Curse of the Black Pearl" has a find its finale in "At World's End". It may not be an entirely satisfying one but, fans of this series will probably be pleased.

6/10

Buy "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007)

Shadows of the Dead (2004)

Zombies in film have certainly gone a long way since director Victor Halperin directed his Voodoo themed classic, "White Zombie" in 1932. The 1968 release of George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" would change the story of horror forever by removing the Voodoo aspects of the zombie concept and reinventing them as mindless beings, driven only by the hunger for human flesh. After that influential classic, zombies became iconic villains of the horror genre and many different explorations on the subject began to be done by future filmmakers, creating an entire sub-genre around the supernatural flesh eaters. One of the most recent variations on the theme has been the idea of zombies being conscious about their condition, with Andrew Parkinson's "I, Zombie: A Chronicle of Pain" being a good example of this. Carl Lindbergh's "Shadows of the Dead" takes this one step beyond, by adding an interesting twist to the tale.

"Shadows of the Dead" is the story of John (Jonathan Flanigan) and Jennifer (Beverly Hynds), a young couple on their way to spending a nice weekend in a cabin. As they travel through the woods by night, they blow a tire and are left stranded without knowing where exactly they are and without any way to repair their car. The couple decides to spend the night there and fix everything by the morning, however, this is only the begin of their problems as next to their car they find what seems to be a dead body. However, the corpse wasn't really dead, and to their surprise it bites John, infecting him with a strange and unstoppable disease. Hiding in their cabin, it won't be too long until the couple discovers that what John has is not a normal infection, but the early symptoms of a rare disease that will change their lives and their relation forever.

Written by director Carl Lindbergh, "Shadows of the Dead" is a very interesting take on zombie films that attempts to mix the horror and suspense elements of the zombie sub-genre with a more ambitious psychological drama. In the same way that "I, Zombie" did before, "Shadows of the Dead" explores the process of dehumanization of the zombie disease, as the characters begin to experience the rotting of their bodies and an unstoppable hunger for human flesh. However, what makes this film different is the addition of romance to the mix, as unlike "I, Zombie", this movie is based around the relationship between John and Jennifer and how they face the horrors they have ahead. The dynamics of their relationship becomes the main theme of the film, and one could say that more than a horror film, this movie works like a "supernatural drama".

Aware that his screenplay is not one that plays with shock and scares, director Carl Lindbergh opts for a very restrained and subtle approach to the story, focusing on creating an atmosphere of dread that fits very well with the sense of impending doom that fills the character's contaminated lives. Taking advantage of his own budgetary limitations, Lindbergh gives good use to Roderick E. Stevens's minimalistic cinematography to achieve a realistic look, almost documentary, pretty much in the same spirit as Andrew Parkinson's "I, Zombie: A Chronicle of Pain". While the low-budget certainly hurts the film a lot, the movie showcases some pretty nice looking make-up effects by Frank Jackson and Ryusakae Yamaguchi that Lindbergh uses well; however, while most of this sounds perfect, the movie suffers from two major problems that diminish the success of its other elements.

The first of those problems is without a doubt the acting. While both Flanigan and Hynds have some good scenes and show some talent at times, for the most part the couple seems to be bored and uninterested, delivering their lines with a tone that attempts to sound deep but ends up sounding indifferent. Flanigan is the one with the biggest problems, as since his character is the narrator he's the one in charge of carrying the film, but in his narration he sounds simply uninterested in what he is saying. Hynds fares a bit better, and she manages to make some scenes truly work despite the poor script; but sadly in a film completely character driven, the poor performances end up damaging the final product in an enormous way. Still, the blame should not fall entirely over the actors' shoulders, as to be fair, the script they had to work with wasn't exactly a masterpiece, and most of the acting problems could be traced to the screenplay.

As written above, Lindbergh's take on the zombie genre is interesting and with an enormous potential to explore. While comparisons to the excellent "I, Zombie" can be made, the element of romance in the plot truly adds a new dimension to the story that makes it fresh; sadly, Lindbergh's screenplay fails to exploit that enormous potential and delivers a story that at times attempts to be deep and philosophical, but ends up being slow, boring and simply uninteresting. The problem is that in his attempt to make his horror film a meditation about love and death, Lindbergh uses very poorly written dialog that sounds amateur. While Lindbergh clearly has the talent to direct a good movie (for an indie film, this one looks very good), his flawed script tragically brings down a product with an enormous potential to succeed.

Working on independent cinema is hard, but despite the lower production values, the same old rule for mainstream films applies here: it's harder to make a good movie from a bad screenplay than from a good one. I have no doubts that Lindbergh, Hynds, and the rest of the crew did their best in the making of this movie; sadly, the screenplay was way too flawed to make a masterpiece out of it. Still, if you liked Parkinson's take on zombies in his "I, Zombie", check out Lindbergh's "Shadows of the Dead". Just keep your expectations low.

5/10

Buy "Shadows of the Dead" (2004)

La Mujer del Puerto (1934)

Through the history of the Mexican cinema, prostitution has been a subject widely explored by filmmakers almost since the beginning, taking the themes beyond the usual archetype of the "hooker with a heart of gold" to the point of almost developing an entire sub-genre out of them. It has been specially in genres such as tragedy and melodrama, where prostitution has been employed the most, as it is in those genres where the dramatic elements of the characters can be exploited the most. It wasn't a surprise that the first sound film made in Mexico was a new version of Federico Gamboa's novel "Santa", the tragic story of a prostitute which had been previously done in 1918 with a lot of commercial success. However, the film that would really take the image of the prostitute to almost mythical proportions in Mexican cinema would be the 1934 movie, "La Mujer del Puerto".

"La Mujer del Puerto" (literally, "The Woman of the Port") is the story of Rosario (Andrea Palma), a young peasant woman who lives poorly with her father Don Antonio (Fabio Acevedo), who works as a carpenter for the town's mortuary. However, tragedy strikes the family when Don Antonio falls seriously ill and is forced to stop working, complicating a lot their financial situation. To make things worse, Rosario discovers that her beloved boyfriend (Francisco Zárraga) is nothing more than a ladies' man who played with her and shows no interest in helping her. This revelation enrages Don Antonio, who then is decided to kill the treacherous man but their encounter will have very tragic consequences for Rosario, as Don Antonio gets killed in their meeting. Without anybody willing to help her, Rosario decides to become a prostitute in the port of Veracruz, but this is not everything that fate has reserved for her.

Loosely adapted from Guy De Maupassant's short story "Le Port", the movie was mainly written by Antonio Guzmán Aguilera and Raphael J. Sevilla (also assistant director), who really added a lot of Mexican flavor to Maupassant's tragic tale by setting the story in the port of Veracruz during carnival time. The writers were also the ones who decided to focus the story on the character of Rosario, the woman of the port, and while it may look at first like an obvious attempt to cash in the enormous success of "Santa", it's truly a decision that benefits the movie by increasing the dramatic potential of the story, as it allows a better exploration of the themes of guilt, pain and sacrifice. However, while the movie excels in its handle of melodrama and really has a great development of the character of Rosario, its narrative feels somewhat uneven, although a lot of this could also be blamed on the directing and editing of the film.

As one of the directors who arrived to Mexico in the early 30s with Sergei M. Eisenstein, director Arcady Boytler brought with him a lot of influence from the Soviet montage theory that Eisenstein had developed, and applied it through the film with several digress of success (sometimes remarkable, sometimes without any apparent sense). With a very good eye for the visual compositions, Boytler shows in "La Mujer del Puerto" a lot of influence from the German expressionist movement, resulting in an excellent use of Alex Phillips' cinematography, who creates beautiful contrasts of light and shadows that perfectly frame Rosario's tragic story and fill it with a powerful and often haunting atmosphere. While the direction of actors wasn't his strongest trait, in this movie Boytler manages to get very good performances by his cast, particularly from his débutant stars, Andrea Palma and Domingo Soler.

The acting by most of the cast is for the most part uneven, but fortunately, the actors in the main roles deliver performances so good that manage to elevate this aspect of the film to new heights. While definitely a bit old for the part, lead actress Andrea Palma is simply amazing as Rosario, displaying a enormous natural talent that makes easy to forget the slightly obvious detail about her age, and ultimately transforms a typically melodramatic character into a mythic and iconic role. The movie was also the debut of another big Mexican star, Domingo Soler, who in his small appearance (as the sailor that falls in love with Rosario) already shows that big charm and enormous presence that would become his trademark in the future. Comedians Arturo Manrique and Jorge Treviño (Panseco and Panque) appear in small roles that, while a bit out of place in the film, manage to be both funny and entertaining.

Now, while Andrea Palma is really divine in the movie, and Boytler gives the film an amazing look, "La Mujer del Puerto" suffers from several flaws that often diminish its worth among other classics from the same period. The main problem is, as written above, the oddly uneven way the story is structured, as it wastes a lot of time focusing on meaningless events (very long scenes of townspeople during the carnival for example) while very few is dedicated to the truly important parts of the plot. While I don't mind the slow pace and the way its used to build atmosphere in the movie, it feels strange and even out of place when compared to the very rushed way the movie ends. The change of pace is very abrupt, and one ends up feeling that something was missing in the whole thing.

Despite those very notorious flaws, "La Mujer del Puerto" is filled with truly otherworldly scenes that are of an almost magical beauty, and that almost manage to erase the negative impact of those flaws. While there were definitely better Mexican movies in the 30s, Arcady Boytler's "La Mujer del Puerto" still has a powerful magic that makes it a gem. Definitely a flawed masterpiece.

8/10

Buy "La Mujer del Puerto" (1934)

The Devil-Doll (1936)

While he is famous for being the mind behind Universal's 1931 horror classic, "Dracula", director Tod Browning is also often labeled as another of the director who struggled the most when the invention of movies with sound arrived to cinema, smashing the careers of many professionals of the silent medium. One of the best American directors of silents, Browning did struggle with "talkies", but thanks to the enormous success of "Dracula", found himself in a very good position. Sadly, "Freaks", his next film, became so controversial that he lost the favor of the audience and the studios, who were not ready to the tale of the love between a midget and a "normal" woman. While he managed to recover from this, he never had again the commercial success of "Dracula"; a real shame, because in 1936 he directed the film that finally proved that he had understood the benefits of the new sound era: "The Devil-Doll".

In this film, Lionel Barrymore plays Paul Lavond, a former banker who was wrongfully accused of fraud and sent to prison for 17 years. In prison he meets another convict named Marcel (Henry B. Walthall), an odd scientist who becomes his friend and plan their escape together. After escaping, they hide in Marcel's house, where Lavond discovers that Marcel and his wife Malita (Rafaela Ottiano) invented a way to minimize objects, in an attempt to reduce people in order to save space and food. Sadly, the process damages the brains of living beings, reducing them to puppets who can be easily controlled with the mind. Lavond is at first horrified by this insanity, but after the sudden death of Marcel, he decides to help Malita if she agrees to help him in his revenge. Now, disguised as an innocent old lady, Lavond returns to Paris with his devilish living dolls, decided to make those who send him to prison pay for every year he spent without his family.

The story was written by Browning himself, giving his very own spin to the plot of Abraham Merritt's novel "Burn Witch Burn"; however, the screenplay was done by Guy Endore, Garrett Fort and Erich Von Stroheim, so actually very few remains from Merritt's novel in the movie, and it's truly more a Browning film. As usual in his stories, Browning focuses on the misadventures of an outcast, in this case Paul Lavond, who while being the hero of the story, has to resort to brutal crimes to achieve his vengeance, almost like a horror retelling of "The Count of Montecristo". The story unfolds nicely, and despite being more than 70 years old, it still feels fresh and original. This is definitely because the characters of the film are so very well developed that truly feel and act like real complex persons despite the fantasy elements of the story.

Now, the true surprise of the film is definitely Tod Browning's effective direction of the whole thing. While he is revered for his work in "Dracula" and "Freaks", most critics and fans tend to agree that his best work happened in the silent era, as those films (as well as "Mark of the Vampire") have their best scenes in the silent parts. Well, this movie proves that idea wrong, as not only "The Devil-Doll" is heavily based on dialog, it is remarkably well-executed and is definitely on par with most of Browning's best silent films. As usual, Browning mixes horror and black comedy in a delightful subtle way, even referencing his own classic "The Unholy Three" in occasions. Finally, it must also be pointed out that in this film Browning crafts truly impressive scenes with special effects that still look awe inspiring even today.

Of course, not everything is about Browning, as certainly without his superb cast the final result would be very different. Lionel Barrymore is simply amazing as Paul Levond, portraying the tragic figure of the good man consumed by hate, forced to commit crimes to clean his name. Barrymore was a master of his craft, and he proves it in the scenes where he must disguise himself as an old lady. Maureen O'Sullivan and Frank Lawton, fresh from Cukor's version of "David Copperfield", are reunited again, playing Lavond's daughter and the man in love with her. The two of them are very natural, but is O'Sullivan's talent the one that shines the most. Italian actress Rafaela Ottiano gives a very good and scary performance, although the fact that Barrymore's character is the focus of the film limits her screen time quite a lot. Overall the cast is pretty effective, and one of the main reasons of the movie's high quality.

It's a shame that Browning's career was considered beyond redemption after the huge commercial failure of the misunderstood "Freaks", as this movie proves that there was still a lot in Browning to give after mastering the craft of making "talkies". While it's hard to deny the importance and value of both "Dracula" and "Freaks", it is only in this movie where Browning shows a true understanding of the new technology, as while the movie is still very visual, it's at its core a very dialog oriented film, and Browning demonstrates he can handle it. While the story has that feeling of being taken straight from a pulp novel, it's very emotional and dramatic (without being overtly sappy), and it could be said that it's in this movie where Browning finally combines the best of both worlds.

Like most people, I too used to believe that Browning's best days happened along Lon Chaney during the years of the silent era, however, "The Devil-Doll" is a film that has made me reconsider that thought as this movie has everything that made Browning great in the silents, as well as his full domination of the new technology. While definitely nowhere near "Dracula" or "Freaks", this is a "talkie" that shows him at his best.

8/10
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Mark of the Vampire (1935)

After the commercial failure of his controversial masterpiece "Freaks" in 1932, director Tod Browning found himself in serious problems to find new projects. Browning was a man of proved talent, being the director of some of the best silent films starring Lon Chaney as well as the mind behind the 1931 horror masterpiece "Dracula". However, "Freaks" proved to be too ahead of its time and sadly suffered the prejudices of audiences clearly unprepared for the tragic story of a midget in love with a full grown woman. In this state of disgrace, the studio rejected his projects and instead gave him the job of directing "Fast Workers", a melodrama with former silent superstar John Gilbert. Fortunately, luck was still on his side as in 1935 he was allowed to direct a remake of his successful silent "London After Midnight", a movie that would reunite Browning with Dracula himself: Bela Lugosi.

"Mark of the Vampire" is the story of the tragedy surrounding the wealthy Borotyn family. The patriarch, Sir Karell Borotyn (Holmes Herbert) has been murdered under mysterious circumstances, and soon everyone in town suspects it was the work of Count Mora (Bela Lugosi) and his daughter Luna (Carroll Borland), as these two deceased nobles are rumored to awake by night as vampires and wreak havoc in the small superstitious village. Inspector Neumann (Lionel Atwill) doesn't believe in this, as he suspects there is a more mundane motif for the murder of the rich old man, however, when Sir Karell's only daughter Irena (Elizabeth Allan) becomes the vampires' new target, Insp. Neumann will have to join forces with a strange scientist specialized in the occult, Prof. Zelin (Lionel Barrymore) to solve the mystery before someone else gets killed.

As written above, "Mark of the Vampire" is essentially a remake of the now lost classic "London After Midnight", although this time Browning enhances the horror elements of the story by focusing on the couple of vampires and their actions instead of the mystery of the plot. The story is pretty convoluted and very clever for its time, with a nice use of black humor (some even see it as a satire of horror films of it's time) and very surprising plot twists to keep the mystery a secret until the end. Sadly (and like always happened to Browning), the film suffered approximately 20 minutes of cuts by the studio, who disliked Browning's idea of incest as background for Count Mora among other things. Unable to fight the studio (as they were still mad at him for "Freaks"), Browning had to let them cut the film, leading to the creation of many plot holes in the already convoluted story, ultimately destroying most of its effect by enhancing its flaws.

As in most Browning's films, the power of the movie is in the haunting visuals conveyed by this master of silent films, images so powerful that in a way make up for the messed up and disjointed storyline. In fact (and like "Dracula"), most of the best scenes in "Mark of the Vampire" come when nobody talks and only the images are what carry the story. Taking his expressionist influences to the max, Browning makes the figure of the vampire to embody the ultimate vision of irresistible evil, as their unnatural shining in complete darkness makes them diabolically attractive. Browning always struggled with the use of sound, and this problem shows again in "Mark of the Vampire", although the high quality of his cast manage to improve Browning's direction in this "talkie".

Lionel Barrymore is very good as the eccentric Prof. Zelin, and while he receives some bash for giving an over-the-top performance, I think his acting is right on the money, as he is not a serious Van Helsing, his character seems to be wicked, almost as wicked as the monsters he fights, so his hammy touch is, in my opinion, very appropriate. Lionel Atwill shines as Insp. Neumann, bringing a sense of dignity to the film as the stoic hero who is forced to work with what he considers as superstitious fools in order to fulfill his mission. Borland and Luogsi are simply wonderful as the almost silent vampires, relaying mostly on gestures to convey their emotions. Jean Hersholt, Donald Meek and Ivan Simpson have nice turns in supporting roles, with Meek and Simpson delivering some nice comedy that seems to parody stereotypes of horror films of its time.

Sadly, the film (or what was left of it) suffers from many flaws that effectively make the brilliant parts of it look bad, leaving the final product as simply a slightly better than average 30s movie. Not only the cuts done by the studio ruined the storyline, as being honest, Browning's talent wasn't as fond of talkies as it was of silents. Browning was a genius of black comedy, but this skill couldn't translate well to sound movies and often his attempts of comedy look too over-the-top for the overall mood of the movie. To make things worse, the performances of Elizabeth Allan and Henry Wadsworth (the main romantic couple of the movie) are atrociously poor, paling in comparison to the work of the rest of the cast.

"Mark of the Vampire" is a very good film of Browning's short post-"Freaks" career, as despite being plagued by many problems, it still works as a nice tale of mystery and horror. It is definitely not the typical vampire movie, and a number of factors make me to be willing to believe that Browning intended this to be a satire than a proper horror (for example the fact that vampires are silent and humans are very talkative for example). While certainly not a masterpiece, it is a fine film to watch despite its troubled upbringing.

7/10
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Legally Blonde (2001)

When a young Amanda Brown attended Stanford Law School, she discovered that the life of a college student at a highly competitive private university had a kind of problems a bit different than the ones she thought she would find there. While her academic performance at Standford wasn't bad, she found a very hostile and antisocial kind of intellectual elitism among the students, that made school almost a hell for her easygoing, ditsy and somewhat naive personality. During those years at college, Brown wrote many letters to her friends, writing about her funny (and not so funny) experiences on campus in order to find something nice out of them. Soon, the letters became the basis for her first novel, "Legally Blonde", and later, the novel became the basis for a fun movie that would become one of the embodiments of "Girl Power".

"Legally Blonde" is the story of Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), a young and spoiled valley girl who after graduating from University, seems to be heading for the perfect life after she marries her boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis). However, destiny has a surprise for her: Warner decides not to marry Elle, as he thinks that her style is too frivolous and vain for his plans to become a politician after attending Harvard Law School. Brokenhearted and disappointed, Elle decides that in order to recover Warner, she needs to prove him that her life can be more than shopping and beauty salons, and that she can be as intelligent as he is. So with that in mind and and exceptional LSAT score, Elle travels to Harvard determined to become one of the top students in her class. In Harvard she'll find not only difficult classes, but also the hostile and skeptic reception from the rest of the students.

Remaining relatively faithful to Brown's novel, "Legally Blonde" joyfully plays with the typical conventions of chick flicks and gives them a nice (and much needed) twist. Avoiding the usual stereotypes of the teen comedy, the screenplay by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith succeeds in that it is not only funny, but also witty and surprisingly intelligent. Like the source novel, "Legally Blonde" is more than a romantic comedy about winning back a boyfriend, it is ultimately a tale of self-discovery about a woman decided to surpass what was expected from her and become better without stopping from being herself. While silly at times, the story never loses its charm thanks to an assortment of funny and well developed characters that turn this piece of fluff into a very funny and respectable comedy film.

In this his first feature length film, director Robert Luketic takes the wise decision of taking a restrained approach and simply letting his cast do the magic. This simplistic take on the story works for the best, as by keeping the film focused entirely on the characters and the story, Luketic avoids teen comedy's clichéd devises such as over-the-top physical comedy or the abuse of toilet humor. In fact, this focus often brings back good memories of those fish out of water comedies of old, but with of course, a very sleek and modern approach that benefits from the good dose of post-feminism (and fortunately, not overtly preachy) that carries the source novel. While not exactly a very original work, some credit must go to Luketic for managing to get some remarkable performances by his cast in this his debut as a director.

Now, the true highlight of the movie, and probably the best reason to give this film a chance is without a doubt Reese Witherspoon's performance as Elle Woods. As the determined blonde of the title, Witherspoon is delightful and shows an extraordinary talent for comedy, having lots of fun while making her character a very real and sympathetic person, far from the stereotypical Valley girls that are often used as stock villains in teen comedies. As her former boyfriend Warner, Matthew Davis has some nice scenes, but he is completely overshadowed by co-stars Luke Wilson and Selma Blair. Wilson showing off his natural comedic talent and Blair making a nice performance as Elles's rival. Jennifer Coolidge and Holland Taylor appear in supporting roles that only improve the film's charm with their great performances.

If one approaches "Legally Blonde" expecting some deep and insightful comedy, the disappointment will be, without a shadow of a doubt, of truly enormous proportions. However, taking on account the lack of pretensions of this movie, it becomes a very funny experience that never gets boring despite its complete lack of realism in its plot. In fact, one could even say that the film's big and only problem is the fact that despite its twists, the story ends up as predictable for the very nature of the fish out of water style of comedy (underdod beats obstacles against all odds). Still, while the ending may be predictable, it's everything in between what truly matters, so "Legally Blonde" makes up for that flaw with very funny jokes and the great performances by its cast.

"Legally Blonde" is not a comedy masterpiece, and without Witherspoon, it probably would lose a lot of its charm, nevertheless, it's joyful play on the genre's typical stereotypes, together with its nice message and why not, its unabashed silliness, make it an extremely attractive and charming comedy for those days when mindless entertainment is preferred over complex film-making. Reese Witherspoon makes what otherwise would be typical fluff, into almost comedic gold, and "Legally Blonde" is legally good.

7/10
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Young and Innocent (1937)

Whenever one thinks of Alfred Hitchcock films, it's almost impossible not to think about his famous Hollwood period where he directed a series of movies considered among the most important American films in history. Due to this powerful reason, his early British work is sadly often forgotten despite of having an enormous importance in the development of his style and a quality sometimes as high as his American films. Of the films of that period, 1937's thriller "Young and Innocent" is a very special case, as despite being an excellent movie, it's often ignored as is overshadowed by the movies that were done before and after it: the popular "Sabotage" (1936) and the classic "The Lady Vanishes" (1938). Nevertheless, "Young and Innocent" is an excellent thriller, that represents another step in the development of Hitchcock's favorite theme: the innocent man on the run.

One morning, writer Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney) is taking a walk along the seaside cliffs to clear his mind when he makes a gruesome discovery: the dead body of actress Christine Clay (Pamela Carme) washes ashore. As he runs to call an ambulance he is seen by two young swimmers who begin to believe that he is the murderer and call the police. As he returns to the crime scene, Tisdall is arrested as a suspect and taken to the station; but while at first Tisdall is confident that it's all a mere misunderstanding, soon he finds himself in a predicament: he had met Christine Clay and she left him a large sum in her will, giving him a motive to be the killer. Without any way to prove his innocence, he escapes in order to find the real killer and clear his name. On the run, he'll find Erica Burgoyne (Nova Pilbeam), a young woman who begins to believe him, even when she is the daughter of Col. Burgoyne (Percy Marmont), the man in charge to find him.

Written by Hitchcock regular collaborator Charles Bennett (with Edwin Greenwood and Anthony Armstrong), the movie is very loosely based on "A Shilling for Candles", one of the Alan Grant series of novels by Josephine Tey. The adaptation is not faithful, as what happened was that the writers took only the chapters where Tisdall is a fugitive and built their movie from that (it doesn't even include Tey's signature character, Inspector Alan Grant). What is left, is a similar story to "The 39 Steps" (also penned by Bennett), but where the romantic comedy elements and the relationship between the couple get a more prominent role than the adventure and suspense of the previous classic. The dynamics between the characters is what sets this movie apart, as the main characters have remarkably well developed and have some nice jabs at some screwball comedy during the movie that gives it a charming tone.

As written above, "Young and Innocent" is essentially a thriller on the vein of "The 39 Steps", but while the tone of this story is considerably lighter, the Master manages to shows off his dominion of suspense through the film. Brilliantly using the excellent cinematography by Bernard Knowles, Hitchcock creates some of his best shot scenes among his British work, with a very clever uses of camera-work and miniatures that make this movie one of his most visually pleasing films. However, Hitchcock knew that in this story the characters were the star, so while many of his "camera tricks" shine through the movie, he never lets the visual effects to overshadow his actors, and keeps an excellent balance between the action sequences and the dialog-ridden scenes. While it certainly feels a tad unpolished when compared to other movies from that period, it has plenty of that special something that can only be described as "Hitchcocknian magic".

In a film like this, based entirely around the personalities of the characters, the performances by the cast are a key factor in the success of the movie, and fortunately this cast doesn't disappoint. Derrick De Marney is quite effective as our innocent man on the run, Robert Tisdall, delivering his lines with a charming wit that forecasts the characters that Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant would play years later. However, who really shines in the movie is the beautiful Nova Pilbeam, as Tisdall's unwilling partner in crime, Erica Burgoyne. Previously seen in Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much", Pilbeam shows off her natural talent in one truly remarkable performance. Edward Rigby has a small yet quite funny role in the film, and he makes an extraordinary display of his talent for comedy. The supporting cast is good too, and includes nice performances by well-known actors Percy Marmont and Mary Clare.

While in many ways this movie could be considered a minor gem in Hitchcock's career, it has enough interesting elements that make it an important movie. The film's blend of suspense and humor wasn't new to Hitchcock, who always liked to spiced up things in order to break the tension, but "Young and Innocent" took this one step forward and set the basis for many of the Master's future films. In fact, in many ways "Young and Innocent" could be seen as the companion piece to "The 39 Steps", in the sense that many years later, Hitchcock would take elements from both in his masterpiece "North by Northwest". As many critics have already pointed out, the witty figure of Derrick De Marney's role has a lot in common with Cary Grant's suave character from that movie.

While definitely not a perfect movie, "Young and Innocent" is a nice movie to watch, as its charming wit never fails to be amusing. It certainly feels dated by today standards, but despite its old age, it still is a thrilling tale of adventure and comedy. Sadly neglected as a classic from this period, "Young and Innocent" is definitely as good as most Hitchcock films. Fans of Hitchcock should not miss this one.

8/10
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