3.5, Latin America/Spain

Y Tu Mama Tambien

2001 / Alfonso Cuaron > Y Tu Mama Tambien is the sort of sexual exploration film that validates the genre itself. It takes a while to peel off its layers, from an adolescent idyll to sexual discovery to a certain realization that the harder you press against another, the quicker you become repelled. Certain lessons hidden inside the film are harsher than one would expect (and hope for), however the beauty of the film may lie in the fact that it will mean something different for everyone.

Ripely timed, the sexual sequences are enthralling and necessary. As a road movie, it depicts the countryside of Mexico through the eyes of two metropolitan Mexicans and a Spaniard. This causes a bit of annoyance at times when the narrator takes on a considerably more socio-political tone. Thankfully, it doesn’t overshadow the relationships between those in focus. Now, who could have guessed that Cuaron’s follow-up to this would be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

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2.0, Korea

I Wish I Had a Wife

2001 / Park Heung-sik > Two of Korea’s finest actors (Peppermint Candy’s Sol Kyung-gu and Happy End’s Jeon Do-yeon) in a romantic comedy? While an interesting setup, the script itself is often flaccid and tries too hard to be anti-mainstream. And that’s pretty unfortunate, because it’s not often you get actors of this caliber to jump onto a film of this sort. Often quite predictable and drawn-out, I Wish I Had a Wife tries to mimic the pacing and emotion of films such as Christmas in August and Someone Special, but ultimately crumbles into an overwhelmingly mediocre production. Recommended for fans of the actors, but no guarantees for those who like romantic comedies.

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1.5, Korea

Les Formidables

2006 / Cho Min-ho > It’s becoming a bad habit: Long, drawn out action flicks from Korea that try to have a deeper meaning, some level of emotion, but ultimately end of being a limp exercise in keeping our interest. To further add to the group we have Les Formidables, a buddy film of sorts, but not really. Unlike Bloody Tie, which showed considerable potential before caving into its own plotline, Les Formidables never truly gets off the ground. We always wait for something to happen, something we haven’t seen 6.2 million times before, but that never passes. The proper formula for this and other, similar films: Reduce the superfluous emotional baggage, recut it into ninety minutes, and then maybe we’ll have something watchable.

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3.5, Europe

Fat Girl

2001 / Catherine Breillat > This is a flawed film, but one could argue that it is so by its own accord. Fat Girl is a frank dissection of adolescence, mental isolation and sex, a combination that puts the viewer in an awkward, even shameful position. The first third of the film does a tremendous job in setting up a girl’s first encounter with a sheep in wolves’ clothing where the dialogue, above all, is spot on. The middle third goes limp, and is driven simply by its predictability.

However, the finale remains the hotly debated topic, one that has made or broken the film for many. Typical of the French-speaking region, tension is built-up with an underlying sense that something will go wrong. And it is understandable that we believe in the world of circumstance, but circumstance is often an excuse for a cop-out. Was this a cop-out by Breillat? Unlike most films, here the answer doesn’t matter. The ending is poignant, unforgettable and leaves you amazed at your own capacity to find warmth in such an absurd situation.

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2.5, Europe, Japan, United States/Canada

Silent Hill

2006 / Christophe Gans > At the hands of the director of Brotherhood of the Wolf, I expected more: At the very least, I imagine, a level of depth that gives meaning to the film outside of its video game universe. The tone of the film evolves from abject horror early on to a psychological metaphor of oppression and injustice. And while that may be a brilliant wavelength to follow, the underlying foundation doesn’t satisfy. Once I got past the so-called conventions of a proper film, however, the perverse beauty of the villains and their inversely gorgeous surroundings, together with a polished shine on the overall product, combine into a relatively memorable experience for an otherwise mediocre event.

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3.5, Europe, Japan

Fear and Trembling

2003 / Alain Corneau > Set in the Tokyo of 1990, it’s hard to grasp exactly how accurately Fear and Trembling represents the typical Japanese office atmosphere. One can argue, however, if that’s even the point of the film: Maybe we shouldn’t notice the relative stereotypes presented here in this story about a Japan-born Belgian woman who comes back to her birthland to work in a conglomerate.

Her experiences are comic and tragic, and her pitfalls in misunderstanding the way to climb up the social ladder keeps us interested. Minus the somewhat illogical lull that occurs in the middle, much of the storyline is entertaining and curiously thought provoking. It might be harder to digest at face value (especially when we have companies like Sony being headed by a British-American), but with a grain of salt, one can find definite enjoyment in this little gem.

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3.5, United States/Canada

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

2006 / Adam McKay > There are a lot of jokes in Talladega Nights—in fact, almost as many as there are product endorsements—but thankfully, the success ratio is high enough that it’s hard to stop laughing for much of the film. Moreover, the surrounding cast in John C. Reilly, Gary Cole, Sacha Baron Cohen and a surprisingly stunning Lesbie Bibb gives the film a balance usually found tipped in other Ferrell films. It’s tongue-and-cheek, silly, self-deprecating, but thankfully knows exactly what it is (as witnessed by the outtakes during the end credits). And it’s probably the best Hollywood film this summer so far.

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1.5, United States/Canada

Mini’s First Time

2006 / Nick Guthe > The initial premise is intriguing: Rebellious teenage girl starts moonlighting as an escort girl only to find herself in a hotel room with her step-father. Unfortunately, the film peaks 10 minutes into the story, and while the opening credits were some of the snazziest I’ve seen in a while, Mini’s First Time descends into a predictable and cliche’d storyline,wasting a solid performance from Alec Baldwin and a very effective one from Carrie-Anne Moss. Also, Nikki Reed, who plays the lead and co-wrote the teen drama Thirteen, is someone to keep on the radar (and hope she keeps herself off The O.C.’s).

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3.5, Europe

Sweet Sixteen

2002 / Ken Loach > Winner of Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2002, Sweet Sixteen is short on style and all about substance. Set in the town of Grenock, Scotland, it primarily follows the path of Liam, a 15-year old played impeccably by local Martin Compston, as he tries to put together a future for his mum and sister.

Liam’s character development is the strongest aspect, and it’s easy to find ourselves anxious and cheering for him as he matures into a man. His psychological awareness and inadequacies are key, as there’s always something flaky in his understanding of his relationship with his mum. This represents an Achilles’ heal of an otherwise incredible teenager and is the motivation behind much of Liam’s actions. It is a study, in the end, of what kind of will love gives and takes away.
One thing that definitely stands out is Loach’s choice of music: Often contemporary and poppy, it gives the film—as well as the viewer—a foundation of exhuberant hope even in the bleakest of scenarios.

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2.5, United States/Canada

A Scanner Darkly

2006 / Richard Linklater > It’s pretty simple: Without the witty back-and-forth prose/dialogue that Philip K. Dick originally wrote in his short story, A Scanner Darkly would be half the film it is. This banter, often engaged by the characters of Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey, is what keeps much of the film from being a snoozefest. Keanu Reeves is innocuous as usual, which takes away from the level of impact a character like his could have had. The rotoscoping works exactly as intended, and should truly be noted for its creative flexibility as well as its budget-cutting capabilities. As for the basic plot and climatic sequence, it’s all a bit too cliche for this day and age. The final feel of the film is a nice, contemplative one, but that comes only after one hasn’t dozed off somewhere in between.

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