Tag: PENELOPE CRUZ

FERRARI (2023)

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Directed By: Michael Mann

Written By: Troy Kennedy Martin

Based on the book “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine” by: Brock Yates 

Cinematography: Erik Messerschmidt 

Editor: Pietro Scalia 

Cast: Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Patrick Dempsey, Shailene Woodley, Jack O’Connell, Gabriel Leone, Sarah Gadon, Michele Savoia, Valentina Belle, Tommaso Basili 

Set in the summer of 1957, with Enzo Ferrari’s auto empire in crisis, the ex-racer turned entrepreneur pushes himself and his drivers to the edge as they launch into the Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.

Every holiday season, Adam Driver seems to cast a big project that might be questionable or controversial.

This film is a portrait of a certain time and the title character’s life that helps explain it and capsulate his past and present. That becomes exciting as its director, Michael Mann, and anyone who is a history aficionado of the title character.

Michael Mann seems to get older you notice that he has more interest in camaraderie and the definition of decision in a person’s life which is usually an older man looking back on life, he might identify more necessarily looking to or including the audience.

The film isn’t like the character reflecting on his life or on his last day or days before his death. It just focuses on a certain period in his life. The worst of times.

Penelope Cruz looks ravishing even here when they try to make her look plain. As she gives an exciting performance throughout the film, she has an international flavor with a jealous streak. As she gets older, she seems to become a more interesting actor, as she is no longer an ingenue, and the roles she gets are filled with more emotions and quite frankly seem to be a bit more juicy, even if not, necessarily the star or the damsel in distress.

I love Lady Gaga, but maybe her role in HOUSE OF GUCCI, if she was going to command the screen so much. She is one of the few notable things about this film. As she is so captivating, you can’t keep your eyes off of her. Takes with could’ve been a thankless role. It gives her something to do with plenty of dramatic territory and scenes. 

Shailene Woodley as the character’s unofficial mistress seems miscast, It could also be the writing as she’s never as interesting as the other characters and can’t seem to keep up with them either as even Sara Gadon playing one of Ferrari‘s drivers seems to have more of a dramatic and more to do or at least throughout.

Patrick Dempsey plays a supporting character. He is barely recognizable in the film. That was quite good.

The film is a Slow Burn. This film seems more for an audience of current enthusiasts or history fans who went to see the story you brought to life yet don’t like to read, maybe the film was meant for people to of the Ferrari car and Branding providing more insight and renewing interest. How he even views his drivers as disposable and wants to keep his brand pure, even though for success, he would have to dilute and make more cars essentially having to hand it over to another business to replicate more copies faster.

I wonder if the racing might’ve been more exciting watching in a theater. The film keeps feeling like it’s building towards something that never comes. Even if it seems like the race will be what this film will revolve around. It Never gets that exciting until a little twist, which is honestly the most shocking scene in the film and one of the best scenes of the film as it finally feels like something is happening.

The only time the film seems to come alive is in the scenes of Penelope Cruz and some of the car crashes.

This film feels like a brick, solid and heavy something to build upon or off of that never quite grows and needs more construction, though it is very well-made. It’s not that entertaining, It’s something to more admire than feel anything for.

The film is like a fine wine that has aged well. It looks luxurious. It looks delicious and refined and looks well made but when you finally go to taste it, it’s not what you expected, nor as good as it should be. Though I guess it comes down to Taste.

Grade: B- 

VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA (2008)

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Written & Directed By: Woody Allen 
Cinematography By: Javier Aguirresarobe 
Editor: Alisa Lepselter 

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn, Zak Orth, Chris Messina
 

Sexually adventurous Cristina and her friend Vicky, who is bright but cautious, holiday in Barcelona where they meet the celebrated and wholly seductive painter, Juan Antonio. Vicky is not about to dive into a sexual adventure being committed to her forthcoming marriage. But Cristina is immediately captivated by Juan Antonio’s free spirit and his romantic allure is enhanced when she hears the delicious details of his divorce from fellow artist, the tempestuous Maria Elena. 

This is a partially unusual film for Woody Allen maybe it’s because it is set in Spain and the country is both artistic and romantic and sensual. This film is one sexy movie now all the leads are of course good looking and have been in tons of other films. Where they have been sex symbols and objects and that is what most films are there to do to make the actors look the best they can but in this film, they practically sizzle the film shows them at their best. 
 

Now in the Woody Allen canon of movies, it’s not the best but it is better than some of his others but it still seems slight this one as usual revolves around artists and muses and the philosophy of relationships. As Rebecca Hall’s character goes to Barcelona to finish her thesis and is engaged she brings her friend Scarlett Johansen who is a flight sexy beauty and they meet Javier Bardem and both end up falling for him though Rebecca Hall tries very much not to so Scarlett Johanssen ends up staying with him trying to find her own identity but problems soon arise as his ex played by Penelope Cruz comes back into his life.  

This is pretty much Penelope Cruz’s movie even though her character comes is not in the film until halfway in. She is talked about so much that when she finally shows up she is everything you expect and worse. Javier Bardem is good as the lothario with sex appeal. Which he should be since Woody specifically wrote the role with him in mind and had no other choice lined up to play the role. 


Scarlett Johansen gives a good experience but she still suffers from the Rosario Dawson syndrome. Where a star actress is always stuck in the girlfriend role. Only here Scarlett is sexy given tons of screen time but not too much to actually do other than be almost a prop in the background always she isn’t given a real character to play. On the other hand, Rebecca Hall makes a deep impression maybe it’s because she is in a way playing the Woody Allenish character the nebbish only this time female. The film is the best-looking cast Woody has ever worked with. 

This is a film that shows the bohemian ideals that seems to be at war with the nouveau riche the establishment represented by Patricia Clarkson and Kevin Dunn. Clarkson’s character is a romantic dreamer who always wonders what if she would have run off with a poor lover years ago. She imagines her life could have been more exciting and fulfilled, Whereas now she has money but is bored she loves her husband, but he doesn’t seem to return the favor he cares more about business than objects. He views her as just another possession I don’t know if that was intended but that is how I felt watching the film. 


 In essence, this is a film about the What If. The ideals and problems you could have by running off with that smooth talker. It is also the nightmare story of the ex-girlfriend who never leaves and haunts and stalks you who takes things to the extreme to try and get you back and intimidate your new girlfriend. Though the film doesn’t go the thriller way it chooses to be a little more realistic in a dramedy romantic comedy way.


The film is a good movie to watch it is a good time waster. I’d say it is worth buying if it was 14.95 and would be a lot more interesting if Woody Allen gave a commentary just to see what his thought process was since this is such a big departure from his other films around that time. Which at that point was an improvement. 

 GRADE: B

BANDIDAS (2006)

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BandidasFeatured

Directed By: Joachim Ronning & Espen Sandberg
Written By: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
Cinematography By: Thierry Arbogast
Editor: Frederic Thoraval

Cast: Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Steve Zahn, Dwight Yoakam, Sam Shepard, Denis Arndt

In 1848, a New York bank wants to put a railroad across Mexico, so it buys up small banks around Santa Rita, Durango, and evicts farmers on the proposed rail line who owe money. The bank’s henchman is the murderous Jackson. He runs afoul of two women, María, the tough but uneducated daughter of a farmer, and Sara, the European-educated daughter of the owner of one of these banks. To feed the now landless people and to seek revenge, María and Sara become bank robbers, veritable Robin Hoods. But Jackson and his hired guns are after them. What are the women’s options?

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ZOOLANDER 2 (2016)

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zoolander3

Directed By: Ben Stiller
Written By: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller & John Hamburg
Based On Characters Created By: Ben Stiller & Drake Sather
Cinematography By: Daniel Mindel
Editor: Greg Hayden 


Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Justin Theroux, Kristin Wiig, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christina Hendricks, Olivia Munn, Jon Daly, Billy Zane, Andy Dick, John Malkovich, Alexander Skarsgard, Moshe Kasher, Fred Armisen, Kiefer Sutherland, Naomi Campbell, Ariana Grande, Kate Moss, Sting

Derek and Hansel are lured into modeling again, in Rome, where they find themselves the target of a sinister conspiracy.

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I’M SO EXCITED (2013)

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imsoexcited

Written & Directed By: Pedro Almodovar
Cinematography By: Jose Luis Alcaine
Editor: Jose Alcedo
Music By: Alberto Iglesias 


Cast: Hugo Silva, Antonio De La Torre, Javier Camara, Miguel Andre Silvestre, Cecilia Roth, Blanca Suarez, Paz Vega, Carmen Machi, Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Laya Marti

A technical failure has endangered the lives of the people on board Peninsula Flight 2549. The pilots are striving, along with their colleagues in the Control Center, to find a solution. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque characters who, in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could be summarized in two: sex and death.

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THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY (2016)

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BrothersGrimsby_review_031116_2

Directed By: Louis Lettier
Written By: Sacha Baron Cohen, Phil Johnston & Peter Baynham
Story By: Sacha Baron Cohen & Phil Johsnston
Cinematography By: Oliver Wood
Editor: Jonathan Amos, Evan Henke, Debra Neil-Fisher & James Thomas 


Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Penelope Cruz, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, Tasmin Egerton, Scott Adkins, David Harewood, Annabelle Wallis, Gabourey Sidibe, Barkhad Abdi 

MI6’s top assassin has a brother. Unfortunately for him, he’s a football hooligan from the town of Grimsby. Nobby has everything a man from the poor English fishing town of Grimsby could want – 9 children and the most attractive girlfriend in northern England. There’s only one thing missing in his life: his little brother, Sebastian. After they were adopted by different families as children, Nobby spent 28 years searching for him. Upon hearing of his location, Nobby sets off to reunite with his brother, unaware that not only is his brother an MI6 agent, but he’s just uncovered a plot that puts the world in danger. On the run and wrongfully accused, Sebastian realizes that if he is going to save the world, he will need the help of its biggest idiot.

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