peqdavid5

During this decade, something that I have noticed is the lack of proper and serious musicals. One of my personal favorites, "Rent" was a nice adaptation of the play but the whole merit was Jonathan Larson's (R.I.P.) "Mamma Mia!" was very amusing to watch, and I kept singing Abba songs for weeks. But, when the purpose of the movie is to maintain catchy songs that already existed, along with the image of the scene in your brain, "Across the Universe" wins the jackpot. Before watching this movie, my only memories of the Beatles' songs were those of Mom's Day Festival at elementary school, singing "Obladi-Oblada" in front of a small auditorium, shaking like I was in the Antarctica when I saw everyone was looking at us. Those certainly weren't good memories. "Across..." made me a Beatles' fanatic, and still now, 2 years later, when I listen to "Come Together" I remember my favorite scene of the entire film: JoJo arriving at New York, while executives, bums, pimps and prostitutes were singing and dancing. That is the whole credit of Taymor's masterpiece: take old Beatles song that were already famous and make you remember them in a completely different context. I'll never listen to "I Want You" without seeing Uncle Sam pointing at me and singing it. The film is stunning from the aesthetic point of view, original because of the whole construction of the storyline based on the songs and charming because of its mood.

****1/2 out of *****

I'm pretty sure that everyone remembers the looks on your faces the first time yo watched this film. Like me, millions and millions of people were shivering, with shaky hands and had Beethoven's ninth symphony on their heads for weeks after leaving their nearest cinema or after watching it on VHS or DVD for the first time ever. "A Clockwork Orange" is a movie that will remain on your memory during your entire life, not only for the film's brutal violence scenes, but for the entire social criticism. I mean, few films or few directors know how to transmit their messages like "Clockwork.." or dear old Stanley. Even a 12 year old (it is not recommendable though, unless you want a traumatized boy for the rest of his life) can understand the big picture of the film: the alarming fact that the society has become a hostile, violent ecosystem based on drugs, alcohol, popular music and sex. It is such a shame that most of the films of the 21st Century are based on these facts. And sometimes I must admit that I was afraid of Kubrick at sometime because in two of his films: "2001" and "Clockwork" had very accurate predictions about the not so far future. For example: in 2001, Clarke and Kubrick said that in the 21st century man kind would live in outer space and explore the entire Solar System. Also they described a very intelligent, autonomous computer with its very own feelings. Just think about it: we have the technology (I bet Apple and Microsoft already have their versions of HAL-9000 in development), what we need is the money and the motivation to do it. "Clockwork" is even more accurate about this century: hijacks, terrorism, 9/11, drug-dealers in every street of Mexico, Colombia and Central America... it's all there. Well, anyways, I loved the film. Highly recommendable (for all those who are mentally apt to watch it).

It's unbelievable how everything can be art when you look through the eyes of a genius. Sergei Eisenstein: the master of editing, the great father of Russian cinema, a role model for other famous directors like Charlie Chaplin or Andrei Tarkovski; author of cinematic masterpieces like Battleship Potemkin, Ivan the Terrible and Alexander Nevsky. Now we have his version of his Mexican adventure: "Que Viva Mexico!" an epic semi-documentary lost in time. Why was it lost in time for decades? Because no one in Russia or in the USA trusted this film enough to show it. Eisenstein was a nobody when he arrived in the USA to plan another project, the soviet authorities didn't want him in the USSR due to his polemic point of views of the October Revolution and the czarism. Sergei adored Mexico because of its beauty and its hospitality. Famous Mexican painters like Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and David Alfaro Siqueiros, along with his Russian partner Trotsky, helped him to inspire. Eisenstein filmed his version of the Mexican traditions and he was very close. As a Mexican, I didn't realized how magical these traditions were until I watched this film. A really good film maker knows how to show the real life in a fantastic way. Now, do I have to say the name of this really good film maker? I don't think so, I think you already know. "Que Viva Mexico!" highly recommendable, Mexican fellows: watch it, this is your real country.