Movies seen during the last week

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

A timeless cinema classic featuring one of Paul Newman's most iconic roles.

Dolor y Gloria (2019)

Easily one of my Top 5 movies of this year. Fantastic work from Spain's master director Pedro Almodovar, with an amazing cast led by a superb Antonio Banderas. The Spanish actor really puts a performance, likely - I think - inspired by his director's persona. Also worth mentioning the actor Asier Etxeandia, with an equally memorable role.

The Farewell (2019)

A very sweet, tender film. One which most audiences can certainly relate to. It's being highly praised as one of the best of the year... whereas I can see why that is, it failed to strike the sort of impact I was hoping for. Nonetheless, I still definitely recommend anyone to go out and see it.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Another timeless classic featuring top performances from terrific actors. Hard to say which one of the main four I prefer... although, I do feel bit more inclined towards Kevin Kline.

Hustlers (2019)

Most likely not the film you would expect... Take that as you will. 

Jennifer Lopez - to my astonishment - delivers her best career role by a mile. 

A Herdade (2019)

As far as Portuguese movies go, this is up there with the best. A clear sign that our cinema is improving every year with talented people in front and behind the camera. To say it will be a potential Oscar contender, is a stretch. There's still a lot to be done to get a movie worthy of that accolade, but we are certainly on the right path. Tiago Guedes does an amazing job at the helm of the camera and Albano Jeronimo steals the show in a movie that contains a few other good performances.

Revisiting K's Choice

While going through Instagram stories, I came across a friend who had shared a video of a beach back home in Portugal with a song playing in the background. That song was 20,000 seconds by the Belgian band K's Choice.

Instantly I was transported to my teenage years where I would consume their music at a crazy pace. These guys were an absolute joy to listen to.

I remember - roughly - the first time I heard them. The single was Everything for Free and I heard it first in the same way that I would hear most of my music back in the day: Through MTV.

I was such an MTV fan that I would even record VHS tapes with music videos and would leave them playing in the background while I kept busy doing other stuff.

From K's Choice, to Radiohead, Foo Fighters... Lit, Pearl Jam, Offspring and Red Hot Chili Peppers... even Basement Jaxx, Blue Boy (Remember Me?) and OMC (How Bizarre)... these and many more would take over my bedroom, filling my hears with lyrics and melodies that - til this day - I still know by heart.

As K's Choice landed under my radar after god knows how many years, I decided to go on a trip of my own on Spotify and just dump track after track on my playlist.

Skimming through albums such as Paradise in Me, Always Happy and - my personal favorite - Cocoon Crash, I came across epic songs that have made some of my best years in high school.

Believe, Shadow Man, My Head and Not an Addict (likely to be their most popular song) are just a few of the tunes I had the pleasure of revisiting last night and the whole of today.

Each song almost prompted me into auto-pilot mode, delivering lyrics I didn't know I still knew and singing my heart-out just like I did when I was 16 or 17. In those moments, almost in a flash, I was then confronted with so many different stages of that particular time and how their music kept me company.

It was such an experience going through it all... but the best was yet to come.

I shared some of my thoughts on Instagram and even tagged a couple of friends that I remembered of being big fans back in the day. The reaction I got really appealed to a level of nostalgia that I wasn't expecting. I was overwhelmed with friends from different times and walks of life, who started interacting and evoking their own stories and memories, other sharing what the band means to them... while others would simply acknowledge the post, clearly alluding to some sort of significance in their lives.

And to think a simple post of a beach back in Portugal would kick-off such a turmoil...

 


 

Happy Batman Day: 80 Years of the Dark Knight

This year, we celebrate 80 Years of the Dark Knight... 

... and the big nerd in me couldn't resist posting this!

#LongLiveThe Bat

Scenes in London

21/09/19
(picture by Cristiana Moisescu)

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My favorite Batman movie of all-time

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

"Sometimes, nothing can be a real cool hand"

Man, oh man... what a movie!

After engaging in an interesting cinema chat, my friend confessed his profound admiration for Paul Newman, having some of his iconic films in his Top Three of all-time.

Over a couple of beers, I made a promise that night to watch a few of them.

Cool Hand Luke was among that list... and I can tell you, it stands the test of time.

Released in 1967, this motion picture was a commercial and critical success lead by Paul Newman, who had already cemented himself as one of the top actors in Hollywood.

But despite Newman's Oscar nominee performance, it's George Kennedy (better known to me as the Captain in the Naked Gun spoof trilogy) that steals the show in an Oscar winning tour de force. The man is absolutely superb. To be honest, both are.

In fact, one of the many qualities of this film is its casting... even actors with no lines during the whole film carry the right amount of gravitas to make Cool Hand Luke a masterpiece.

Their performances however would be nothing without the power of a strong script, which is based on a novel by Donn Pearce. Pearce was invited to adapt his own work for the big screen with the help of Frank Pierson, a combination that proved to be a successful one.

It's interesting to see that looks as back in the 50s, 60s and 70s some movies felt unconventional and almost "anti-establishment" - just like Newman's Lucas Jackson. They catch you off-guard, leave you uncomfortable and won't promise you a happy-ending. In the process, they focus on delivering a strong script brought to life by great acting.

Definitely recommend it

HER: "How do you share your life with somebody?" (Behind-the-scenes montage)

In a time where everyone is talking about the first reactions to Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of the Joker (2019), thought it was a good idea to share this clip with behind-the-scenes Broll of one of his most acclaimed movies: Her (2013), directed by Spike Jonze.

In this almost 4minute montage that I'm sharing with you, we hear Theodore (Phoenix) and Samantha (Scarlett Johansson) talk about their feelings and their place in a relationship. It's a taste of how wonderful the script is, beautifully crafted in order to deliver a poignant, heartfelt and relatable conversation that I guess most of us have had or thought about at some point in our lives.

And if these beautiful shots, the "backstage access" shots and the delivery by the actors wasn't enough... you still have Arcade Fire's Photograph setting the mood.

One of the soundtracks biggest gems, it is a track that reminisces of Yann Tiersen's work (think of Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain or Goodbye Lenin).

The instrumental carries with it the fantastic, the adventurous, the sheer wonder... just like Tiersen's work and it really blends in with the heart and soul of the movie, as well as this small insight into Jonze's masterpiece.