"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008)

"Melhor Direcção Artística", "Melhor Caracterização" e "Melhores Efeitos Visuais" foram os Óscares arrecadados por este enternecedor e original filme de David Fincher com Brad Pitt e Cate Blanchett nos papéis principais (com excelentes desempenhos). Conta a história de Benjamim Button, cuja ordem temporal de existência é contrária ao normal, ou seja, rejuvenesce em vez de envelhecer, com uma história de amor entre duas "almas gémeas desencontradas no tempo". Uma obra extraordinária, sem dúvida.

Ricardo Tomaz Alves




Storyline

On the day that Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, elderly Daisy Williams (nee Fuller) is on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital. At her side is her adult daughter, Caroline. Daisy asks Caroline to read to her aloud the diary of Daisy's lifelong friend, Benjamin Button. Benjamin's diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being diagnosed with several aging diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time. Abandoned by his biological father, Thomas Button, after Benjamin's biological mother died in childbirth, Benjamin was raised by Queenie, a black woman and caregiver at a seniors home. Daisy's grandmother was a resident at that home, which is where she first met Benjamin. Although separated through the years, Daisy and Benjamin remain in contact throughout their lives...

"Raging Bull" (1980)

Como pode um filme sobre um pugilista temperamental ser tão belo? Perguntem a Martin Scorcese, o seu realizador. A vida de Jake LaMotta é interpretada brilhantemente por Robert DeNiro (cujo papel neste filme lhe valeu o Óscar de de Melhor Actor) com cenas de combate que influenciaram tantos outros filmes de pugilismo e de intensidade extrema no que respeita à família e aos princípios e valores que lhe diziam respeito. As cores preto e branco usadas intencionalmente oferecem uma luz e dinâmicas muito próprias ao filme que tem um ritmo perfeitamente estruturado para prender o espectador, com grande edição de Thelma Shoonmaker (premiada com Óscar de Melhor Edição). Um filme obrigatório para qualquer coleccionador.

Ricardo Tomaz Alves




IMDb #79

Storyline

When Jake LaMotta steps into a boxing ring and obliterates his opponent, he's a prizefighter. But when he treats his family and friends the same way, he's a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment. Though LaMotta wants his family's love, something always seems to come between them. Perhaps it's his violent bouts of paranoia and jealousy. This kind of rage helped make him a champ, but in real life, he winds up in the ring alone.

"Inglorious Basterds" (2009)

O melhor filme de Quentin Tarantino até à data? Muito provavelmente. Com Brad Pitt (Tenente Aldo Raine) à frente de um grande elenco em que se destaca Christoper Watz (Coronel Landa) com uma espectacular interpretação que lhe valeu um Óscar para Melhor Actor Secundário vemos a 2ª Guerra Mundial de uma outra forma. E de que forma...

Ricardo Tomaz Alves




IMDb #97

Storyline

In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

"Barry Lyndon" (1975)

É difícil de falar de clássicos sem nomear "Barry Lyndon" como uma exímia obra-de-arte e uma verdadeira lição de como fazer cinema. Não sendo um filme sobejamente conhecido, talvez como deveria ser, foi premiado com 4 Óscares da Academia (Melhor Dorecção artística, Melhor Fotografia, Melhor Guarda-Roupa, Melhor Banda Sonora (adaptada)). Sendo quase como um quadro em contante movimento fica na história como tendo, se não a melhor, das melhores fotografias de sempre. Stanley Kubrick não sabia fazer maus filmes e este é mais uma prova disso.

Ricardo Tomaz Alves



IMDb #212

Storyline

In the Eighteenth Century, in a small village in Ireland, Redmond Barry is a young farm boy in love of his cousin Nora Brady. When Nora engages to the British Captain John Quin, Barry challenges him for a duel of pistols. He wins and escapes to Dublin, but is robbed on the road. Without any other alternative, Barry joins the British Army to fight in the Seven Years War. He deserts and is forced to join the Prussian Army, saving the life of his captain and becoming his protégé and spy of the Irish gambler Chevalier de Balibari. He helps Chevalier and becomes his associate until he decides to marry the wealthy Lady Lyndon. They move to England and Barry, in his obsession of nobility, dilapidates her fortune and makes a dangerous and revengeful enemy.

"Inception" (2010)

Se fizermos uma lista dos melhores filmes de sempre este tem de estar incluído. Christopher Nolan revela todo a sua mestria neste filme genialmente escrito e realizado com actores de primeira linha como Leonardo DiCaprio e Joseph Gordon-Levitt, entrando no mundo dos sonhos e teorizando a possibilidade de serem ou não controláveis. Com uma fotografia fantástica e uma banda sonora decortar a respiração é uma obra obrigatória para qualquer amante de cinema.

Ricardo Tomaz Alves



IMDb #12

Storyline

Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.

"Full Metal Jacket" (1987)

Stanley Kubrick soube retratar eximiamente a crueza e dureza da guerra na sua verdadeira essência, desde a recruta à acção, em "Full Metal Jacket".




IMDb #81

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: "If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human, fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grabastic pieces of amphibian shit! You will not like me. But the more you hate me the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair. There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless. And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps. Do you maggots understand that?"

"Fight Club" (1999)

A primeira publicação deste blog não podia ser outra que não um trailer de "Fight Club", um filme de David Fincher protagonizado por Brad Pitt, Edward Norton e Helena Bonham Carter. Para a Cinemania, um dos melhores alguma vez realizados.



IMDb #14

Storyline

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.


"If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you
read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't
you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly
can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so
impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all who
claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think
everything you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told you should
want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex.
Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a
fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will
become a statistic. You have been warned......"
                                                      Tyler