scheller_2003

Adapted from the novel by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, "I'm Still Here" actually improves on the book by focusing on the Paiva family and how every member was startled and heartbroken by the disappearance of their father (played with deep affection by Selton Mello). Anchored by a powerhouse performance by Fernanda Torres as the matriarch Eunice, the film narrates the horrors of the Brazilian dictatorship without ever being preachy or heavy-handed. By focusing on the human aspects and the sense of loss of those people who never got and answer about their loved one's disappearance, the script gets more powerful as it goes along. All the performances from the young actors are top-notch - a rare feat in Brazilian cinema - but it is Fernanda Torres incredibly restrained performance that really stays with you. She's persuasive and moving without ever being melodramatic, in a masterful work. This is the best Brazilian film in years, a gift from director Walter Salles ("Central Station"). Pay attention to the brief but powerful cameo by Fernanda Montenegro (an Oscar nominee for "Central Station") at the very end. "I'm Still Here" is a movie to cherish and to hold.

It is sometimes pretty difficult to differentiate good and bad movies. I like to believe any kind of movie can be good -- horror films, art films, chick flicks, action etc. This is a teen movie -- and a damn good one. It is what I like to call "a teen movie with brain and heart". The story revolves around four best friends which are going to spend summer apart for the first time. Miraculously, they find a pair of pants that fit all of them (despite their different body features) perfectly. (It is a teen movie, and one has to accept its premise in order to like it) Once apart, the pair of pants bring the four separate stories together. In common, the four girls will have growing experience, often revolving around losses and new beginnings. The cast incredibly strong for such kind of movie. Amber Tamblyn (from "Joan of Arcadia") and Jenna Boyd are good as the authors of a "suckmentary" about their hometown as standouts. America Ferrara (from the independent "Real Women Have Curves"), playing the Latin girl trying to get to terms with her uptown dad, shows incredible range and vitality and almost steels the film away. However, director Ken Kwapis has a firm hand and make all the stories interesting - the plot is completed by Alexis Bledel ("Gilmore Girls") involved in a light "Romeo and Juliet" story in Greece, and Blake Lively is a soccer player trying to lose her virginity in Mexico. Kwapis never loses focus and the film ends up being a satisfying experience: none of the stories is left without conclusion, but the script leaves the most interesting of them to the last minute. "Siterhood of the Travelling Pants" is not ashamed to be what it is: a very well-made commercial fare.