Temporada de patos

I viewed this at the Toronto International Film festival and I was pleasantly surprised- simple, direct, and yet still very engaging.

It highlights the simplicity of childhood and the difficulty of early adolescence; as well as just simple, human joys. A film like this need not be complex, technically, I mean hey, it worked with "Clerks" didn't it?

I enjoyed this film tremendously because it was so realistic- it reminded me a lot of how I and other kids acted when we were younger (perhaps the pizza guy is excluded from this realism).

I would recommend this film to just about anyone, and I can't wait to see if it's ever released to video.

If you want to have a good time, go to this movie. Notice I didn't feel impelled to be pretentious and say film. This black and white movie is like a Woody Allen film but with at least two of the characterizations more three-dimensional. I won't ever forget the excitement of sitting in the front row of a 1200 person theater and hearing everyone laugh at once. And the excitement or of seeing video games widescreen just a few feet away--I was on the edge of my seat. Another great scene: watching whether the pizza deliveryman would beat the clock as he raced to the top floor of the apartment building. And then there was the visiting neighbor girl who could give Diane Keaton a run for the money. The key to this wonderful comedy in its perfect timing. After the movie which I saw at the Festival of Cortometraje in Guanajuato, Mexico, I met Paula Markevich, who polished the script. She told me she kept changing lines while she watched the boys rehearse. A film made with tenderness, humor and care. Enjoy, enjoy!

Not only Fernando Eimbcke challenged himself to shoot a movie inside of an apartment but he casted three kids without any experience in acting. The result is an original realistic movie with truly funny young characters. And yes: there are guns, drugs, flirting and bare buttocks but in a unworried way -enough to be fun and not scary. It is Eimbcke's opera prima for a long movie and he proved that his experience directing music videoclips and comedic short movies is a good foundation for this movie. He already got seven "mayahueles" at the Guadalajara Film Festival, a MTV Movie Award and he got his chance of showing Duck Season at the International Critics Week in Cannes 2004.

I think this movie is exceptionally great. I goes to show that a good film does not need of an elaborate scenery or a super script to be good or funny. The photography by Alexis Zabe was amazing; Situated in Tlatelolco, a place where many remember the killing of 68(read your history people)It shows a side of Mexico city that many people don't know. Since its stereotyped as the city with the highest crime rates in Latin America, in a way we are invited to a small fraction of the lives of 4 people. That is what I liked the most about the film, its mainly centered on day to day problems.

If you are not a native speaker, many of the jokes can be lost. other than that I recommend it fully.

best quote:

"vayase a la mierda, corrame. me vale pito"

No special effects, frenetic, head-spinning editing here - just a simple story about a day in the lives of two 14 ear old Mexican boys that turns out to be anything but typical. Eimbcke is clearly a major talent in the making,the simplicity belies his canniness and empathy with the human condition. The comparisons with Jim Jarmusch's low key delights are valid, there is a similar languid economy of action, there are also shades of Beckett here too, and Eimbcke has an eye that finds beauty and humour in the most mundane situations.The playing is wonderful throughout, Catano as Moko and Miranda as his pal Flama are the films core and things seem to happen around them, rather than to them, the catalysts are pretty teenager Rita (Perea)the neighbour in need of an oven, and hapless pizza delivery man Ulises (Arreola). I suppose at the film's core is the redemptive power of friendships,as in "Gregory's Girl" or "Stand by Me" both of which share an intuitive insight into adolescence and teenage awakening. There is even a hilarious post credit coda for all us credit fiends that clog up the aisles once the film ends!Simple,heartwarming, surreal and ultimately uplifting. Unmissible.