Larrok

The OST by Mansell is beautiful, and Sam Rockwell is an actor I adore, a great character actor (see The Green Mile, Seven Psychopaths, Galaxy Quest, Hitchhiker's Guide..., etc.) who here demonstrates that he brilliantly surpasses a real graduation exam by acting with another version of himself. I liked Source Code less, even though the idea is always interesting to explore, from Groundhog Day onwards.

The opening of Pasternak is amusing, and the credit titles featuring animals associated with the staff roles are beautiful. I think the episodes improve in quality: the first two, the ones about the rat poison and the grotesque clash between the two drivers, are probably the most anonymous. The one with the explosives engineer is already better, but the best comes with the last two. In the end, I would rate it a 3.5/5.

I saw "White Christmas" and it’s absolutely brilliant, engaging, and unsettling. Highly recommended. Of the 6 old episodes, I’ve only seen the one with the prime minister who has to screw the pig and the dystopian one where everyone is on exercise bikes, and I must say they are quite below White Christmas. All in all, though, it seems to me to be an excellent series that holds up against the legendary Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, even if the themes are more realistic and plausible, and for that reason probably more terrifying.

The levels of madness reached in the last part are remarkable. Violence by the bucketful but also room for a few laughs, especially in the first half. Notably, there are numerous similarities to Rosemary's Baby, which it is undoubtedly indebted to. Shocking ending.

Visually excellent film, both in the dreamlike/schizophrenic sequences and in the shots during dialogues or everyday actions; outstanding performances from Shannon (one scene in particular is the outburst at the charity dinner) and Chastain, the exasperated wife trying in every way to save her husband from the drift that his mind is taking. The soundtrack is also effective, though used sparingly. The deliberately open/ambiguous ending leaves room for various interpretations, although personally I didn't dwell on any particular hidden meanings. Not the best film of 2011 (the podium, in my opinion, goes to "C'era una volta in Anatolia," "Il Cavallo di Torino," "Melancholia," and "Una Separazione"), but I give it 4 stars anyway.

Pretending to ignore the embarrassingly repetitive explanations or the pseudo-scientific dissertations from the characters (if Nolan could learn to leave a bit to the imagination, it wouldn't hurt... but hey, that's his style), overall it's a decent blockbuster with some welcome callbacks to Moon (the helper robots, the video messages...). I'd rate it around 3.5 to 4 stars until we dive into the black hole half an hour from the end; from there on, it becomes a string of galactic facepalms: 1) "the fifth dimension" behind the daughter's bookshelf that even Homer in The Simpsons wouldn't believe; 2) McConaughey, with a goofy smile, exclaims, "love is the key!" really?? I never would have guessed! I thought the key was the smell of armpits!!; 3) Eureka!! Eureka!! (okay, I'll forgive her just because it's Chastain); 4) him magically waking up in the hospital without a scratch... after all, what do you want it to be? He just fell into a black hole, nothing a good sleep can't fix; 5) and of course, as the cherry on top, it had to end with Cooper going to get the lovely Brand, FOR GOODNESS' SAKE! All of this drops the score by at least one star.

"The Young Rage," "The Days of Heaven," and "The Thin Red Line" are all three clearly superior to this "The Tree of Life," which in my opinion, in the first part, gets too lost in visual grandiosity with images like National Geographic (galaxies, volcanic eruptions, jellyfish, dinosaurs???). I didn’t like the classical music score either, which, unlike "2001," here was almost grating. Chastain was good, as were the kids. It gave me the impression that Malick wanted to make the definitive film by cramming everything in: life, the universe, God, family, memories, evolution. Too much stuff all together, dear Terrence; I’ll stop at Guadalcanal.

Beautiful nostalgia-indie record without too many frills. The best are the opening and closing tracks.

well-crafted post-apocalyptic, unusual soundtrack (in a positive way)...the "ghost run" at night to the notes of "djed" is evocative. The story is stripped down to the bone. Guy Pearce is excellent in the monologue "let me tell you what God did for you... He shoved a bullet into you, and then He left you down here with me who feels nothing for you, I don't give a fuck if you die tomorrow; God gave you a brother who isn't waiting for you, He gave you a brother who isn't even thinking about you right now... it doesn't matter that you came out of the same woman's hole, the only thing that matters is that I am here right now and he is not; your brother left you there to die... that's what people do! If you don't learn to fight, next time you'll die." Three and a half.

The kid competes in unpleasantness with the boy from "We Need to Talk About Kevin," although the latter remains the most unbearable. Honestly, it didn't drive me crazy either... yes, I can understand that it's interesting to dress up a family psychological drama as horror (by the way, not the most original idea). I also recognize that it is superior (even technically) to the average films in its genre (and it doesn't take much, let's be honest!). However, the meaning behind it didn't seem anything exceptional to me. I liked the images of the old horror films broadcast on TV.