Reviews
Lottery! (1983)
I love that show!
I've watched this show when I was a kid and loved it! It's about two guys who, sometimes like they were heaven sent, go to people's houses giving them their lottery prizes, changing their lives. If anyone knows the name of this series in portuguese, please contact me.
A Simple Wish (1997)
One of the smartest recent movies for kids
I am a big fan of kids flicks, but I know when I see a flop. That's not the case. "A Simple Wish" is one of best children movie I've ever seen, alongside Miracle on 34th Street (the original), A Bug's Life and a few others. It's really easy to screw up when making a film for kids. They don't expect much and amuse themselves with a little dosis of real humour and no story at all. But when the movie is really well done, it can become a classic.
The movie is about the male fairy-godmother Murray(Martin Short at his best), who's having a little trouble making Anabel's (Mara Wilson) dream come true because of his little experience in "godmothering". And above all that, they have to fight the evil ex-fairy-godmother Claudia (Kathleen Turner), who wants to rule above all her ex-mates.
The plot sounds a little common? It might even be, but here it has been so well structured that we are carried to Anabel's life and we feel the helplessness of Murray, who's trying so hard to save the day, even though he don't have the skill to do it. He has a good heart and that's all that it takes.
The characters are lovable. Amanda Plummer is especially funny, as Claudia's sidekick. The dialogues are clever yet simple, perfect for kids and for grown ups who enjoy real pure fantasy and delightment.
Nós Que Aqui Estamos por Vós Esperamos (1999)
A perfect resume of the 20th century!
Marcelo Masagão did the best thing when he used the money he got for doing a CD ROM and made a movie. Its his first directing job. He made a kind of collage of all the important images and stories of the 20th century. His purpose was to talk about the banalization of death through the wars. The way he chose to do this was astonishing. Stories of anonymous people tied up all the world History, making us really think about what death became to us as humans. A great movie, I hope it becomes part of the obligatory movies list, because it represents our century in a way no other director had done until now. Long live Masagão!
On the Edge of Innocence (1997)
Most bizarre teen movie of all times
You've seen Panic, She's All That and a lot of other teen flicks, right? I can assure you haven't seen nothing like this. In a psychiatric hospital for adolescents, five of them run away on the shrink's car. Very strange... The only good thing about it is Joshua Jackson (most known as Dawson's Creek's Pacey Witters), very cute as the boy who believes to be engaged to a extra-terrestrial. Anyway, it's worth a look.
Leave It to Beaver (1997)
Once you start seeing it, you can't leave the room!!
Leave it to Beaver is not what I would have chosen from the video shop shelves, but it really surprised me. I've never seen the old TV series (too young for that), and I don't know if the movie relates to it in any way. It's nice and genuine fun for the whole family. That movie got me, my parents and all my brothers stuck on the couch for two hours! Tha misadventures of this cute little boy are amazing! It's the kind of thing anyone of us has been through: parents pressure, looking up to your older brother, breaking things... all that happens when you're 8 and have a lot of energy to spend. You'll be glad you watched it.
Central do Brasil (1998)
Can anything be better than this?
It´s not everyday that we can see a movie as great as Central do Brasil. And here, in Brasil, it´s once in a lifetime. The story of the woman who takes a lost boy to go find his father is touching. Fernanda Montenegro, in another of her inspired actings, take us on a magic travel through forgotten places of the country where we can find a little of ourselves in everything, from the train station called Central do Brasil (which is in Rio de Janeiro) to the little store lost in the middle of a road, where you can find crackers and goiabada, things that might make one remember its own childhood. Vinícius de Oliveira, who appears as Josué, is a happy surprise. For a boy who use to shine shoes at Central do Brasil, he´s a great beginning actor. A movie like this is always nice and welcome. Everywhere.