danielatala8

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Junta Yamaguchi's creative movies, especially the ones about time travel. And with this movie River, he takes a familiar concept about time looping and adding a new twist to it!

River follows the life of Mikoto, a girl working at an inn in a quiet and peaceful village called Kibune. One day she stands by the river that flows through the village and makes a prayer, after that time seemingly loops back exactly 2 minutes, but the twist is that she's not the only one affected- the whole village is!

Watching River feels like partaking in a small and private pleasure. The movie doesn't really have a grand scope other than its premise, you get to experience everything within the confines of its own boundaries, the inn and the village. And that's fine, and brilliant because it's in these smaller sets where you can make everything more personal and comforting for the viewer. The story is riveting and its characters even more. Also the sheer ambition and discipline made into making this movie, I watched the behind the scenes of this movie and they actually had a timer for every scene- and if one scene didn't end in exactly 2 minutes then they had to rewrite it on the spot or do everything much more faster!

The actors are all doing great jobs here and do amazing in capturing the absurdity of this situation that they're dealing with.

The music is almost non existent but there, it does its job with simple motifs.

If there's anything negative to say about this film is I guess the filming isn't very nice looking, I know it's meant to be done in the cheapest way possible so I give this a past. Weird use of bloom effect throughout.

Also the movie doesn't really go much deeper into the whole "memory doesn't reset during time loops"-situation, as the movie later shows people are panicking and some even resort to violence and stabbing each other which isn't really explained. I know I'd be fuming if someone stabbed me during a time loop. It's alright though, but it would give the movie another dimension.

Either way, I enjoyed myself a lot watching this movie, it has some funny twists and quirks that will charm everyone. Check it out!

I had the immense luck of seeing Paris, Texas in cinemas- in 2024! My brother bought tickets and I went in knowing nothing about it, what a beauty of a movie it is- especially in its gorgeous 4k restoration.

Paris, Texas follows a man that seemingly disappeared for four years leaving his son behind with his brothers family, his wife also disappears.

What first strikes me about this movie is how poetic it is, it shows the American landscapes, both rural and urban areas with such care and beauty that you just want to drink every detail on the scenes. It's amazing and a big part of the story.

The actors are also amazing, not a single performance was out of place. Also the music, I feel like it's almost a caricature of American blues/country but it all feels so perfect with the movie and its context- it sounds just like the main character in a way!

What made this movie fall a bit short for me was the story, and some of the motivations- what I mean is that it builds up to something that is perhaps not in proportion to what the character does- I don't want to spoil it but you'll get it when you see it. Also this movie leaves a lot of threads hanging loose and some motivations are a bit unclear. Maybe it's what the director really wanted, to mirror the human condition, and the tenacity that unites us and ultimately tears us apart.

Watching Almodóvar's latest film "The Room Next Door" feels almost as if you're watching some sort of comedy- wether it's intentional or not, I'm not sure but it was definitely worth a watch.

The Room Next Door follows the character Ingrid, who out of a sheer coincidence she gets to know about the condition of her friend, Martha who is terminally ill in cancer. They both reconnect, and in their reconnecting Martha cooks up a plan to end her life, with her friend by her side.

First of all... I gotta say this movie is so funny, like unintentionally so, I can't believe that I'm saying it but the tone and the delivery of these lines is just so funny. I'm not sure if it's because of Almodovar's Spanish language becomes something else when translated to English or maybe it's because the absurdity of these situations in the movie put a layer of humour that feels very unintentional, concerning the subjects touched in the movie.

The positives, I love the set designs, the clothes, some of the story beads are kind of compelling- you want to know more about them. Also the performances of Julianne More and Tilda Swinton is great, I really liked seeing their friendship on the screen, it was acted in a very tender and human way that I liked to see. Even if they were fighting for their lives to keep the screenplay tone serious it just felt like it fell apart, every single way.

I guess ultimately where the movie falls apart is in both story and tone, here Almodóvar lays too many loose threads in the story that have no impact in the overall story or really make sense for the plot. There's a contrived subplot about the world and it's eco crisis that really doesn't go anywhere. And also characters that hop in and hop out without them even impacting the story. You could basically delete all of the scenes that John Turturro was in and it wouldn't matter. Also the ending is very bad, it doesn't really go anywhere or it doesn't really tie what has happened in the story.

All in all, I'd say it's worth a watch. In all the wrong ways though, I found this film funny but I don't think it was the intention. I feel like Almodóvar should take a big break, watch some of his own movies and see where it all went wrong.