Attending a premiere has many advantages, but without a doubt, the best is when the own director introduces the film. Just priceless…

Because, after having seen his previous film (Clouds of Sils Maria with Juliette Binoche), I kept thinking that it might have been just one of, so I decided to watch this one to confirm my suspicions…after all curiosity killed the cat. Of course, he has a very particular way of telling stories about deep and intricate personal relationships. This time, he told us that, after working with Kristen Stewart (incidentally, the only American, or non-French, who won ever a César), he was eager to discover or find her limits as a performer and hence he wrote this movie. By the way, about the boundaries, he said that he still has not found them… He went on to say, that this time next year he will be participating with a film under the experimental section. Thank God this film was only in the “dare” section! Continue reading ““Personal Shopper”” →

It’s been 7 years since he directed his first feature film, “A single man”, so personal, so intimate with the gorgeous Colin Firth and a redhair, Julianne Moore. By this time now, you probably have guessed that I’m talking about Tom Ford.

Now, this time, his second film is even better, if that’s possible!! But, the tables have turned, or, at least, the roles. He repets the scheme….another redhair, this time Amy Adams, who I believe is Ford’s alter ego in this case. (as it was Colin Firth in his first film). Let me point out why I think this is…Tom Ford introduced the film at the Festival with his characteristic thick rimmed glasses in his hand….and both Firth’s and Adams’s characters use a similar pair! Continue reading ““Nocturnal Animals – Animales nocturnos”” →

As its title says, it arrived and I finally watched it. Good science fiction films are always worth waiting for. Furthermore, not everyone is able not to fall into the dead easy and trite of the genre.

I was just discussing it with a friend on Facebook…after all, Denis Villeneuve might not have been a bad choice to direct “Blade Runner 2” after so many years. Especially after some of Ridley Scott’s latest bungles – he went from the top with “A Good Year” to the bottom – crashing with astonishing ease in “Black Hawk Down”. Continue reading ““Arrival – ¿La llegada? (título por confirmar)”” →

How wonderful is to feel like a child once in a while. Very few people have the ability of combining so effortlessly, both fantasy and reality as good as Spielberg and, in this case, it’s my Spanish fella: J.A. Bayona. By the way, his name sounds so much better in English than in Spanish. It felt awkward at first, when the film festival director introduced him (thanks Claire!).

Straight to the point, please don’t watch this film if you don’t believe in magic. In order to enjoy it, you MUST suspend your disbelieves. Otherwise, you are in danger of suffering a colossal disappointment. Don’t say later that I didn’t advise you… Continue reading “Second act: “A monster calls” – Segundo acto: ” Un monstruo viene a verme”” →

A cold is what happened since I promised that I would write almost every day about the London Film Festival. It was impossible to keep up with the rythm, and I ended up 2 days off work, at home, and missing 3 of the 18 films that I was watching. Be patient, I wrote my critics & impressions, I just need to type them and translate them. So, here we go…”Once upon a time…”

It´s always especial to watch a film that was released the year you were born. “Manhattan” opened the BFI LFF (London Film Festival) for me this year. Lately, I believe that everything happens for a reason and I had to wait 37 years to watch it. It also seems that Woody Allen could had perfectly been a psychic. Because no one else could have predicted his life better than himself writing, directing and acting in this film. Continue reading ““Opening Night – Noche de gala: Manhattan”” →

Today’s post has to do with a course I am doing at the BFI in London about Steven Spielberg. I still don’t know how, but here I am preparing a presentation for tomorrow’s class. “E.T” was taken, so I chose to talk about “The Terminal”. Without knowing why, after just watching it, I now know that it was my reconciliation with Spielberg after “A.I” and “Catch me if you can” or “Minority Report”. He had a tendency of making two hours and thirty minutes films that were about ego more than anything else.  Continue reading ““The Terminal” – “La Terminal”” →

It’s a summer night in 1988 and a few days before my first Holy Communion. So my brother, one of our favourite cousins and I decide to sit in front of the TV. Back then, it was anything but flat! My parents switch the channel to watch a film all together before our cousin leaves as it’s his last evening at home before we celebrate our Holy Communion in all three at the same time (kind of typical in Spain). The title of the film, at first, is a little bit scary:”Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Wow! Even sounds dangerous. I didn’t have the slightest idea that this film would change my life to the point that I still remember the exact day of the event! Continue reading ““Close Encounters of the Third Kind”- “Encuentros en la tercera fase”” →

There’s only a handful of people who can watch a Terrence Malick film and like it. I’m one of them. I don’t know what it is, but if you ask me…I can say that Malick is to film what poetry is to literature. Poetry is not everybody’s cup of tea, same with Malick. You actually have to forget everything you know and get lost to fully enjoy what’s in front of your eyes.  Continue reading “Let’s talk about Malick – Pongamos que hablo de Malick” →