If Steve McQueen shows the racial discrimination in England between 1969 and 1982 en su antología "Small Axe", we could almost take "It's a sin" as the witness to sex discrimination from 1981 to 1991. "They all died because of you," says the character in Jill, in a phrase that is a clear accusation to Margaret Thatchers or Ronald Reagans that caused thousands of deaths. In times of coronavirus, it is important to remember that there have been diseases doomed to inaction and rejection.
It has been said that it is the best series by Russell T. Davies and without a doubt it is, perhaps because he has managed to create a mosaic of lives in which practically all positions are in front of AIDS, starting with ignorance and misinformation. Ritchie, Roscoe, Colin and Jill, perhaps to a lesser extent Ash, are representations of a threatened community (aka society), facing unknown danger. But the anger that has caused the abuse, denial and death is replaced by an optimistic position: "I wanted you to be the first to know: I'm gonna live." The first episodes, above all, show the vitality of a secret but explosive freedom.
"It's a sin" is an exciting series, heartbreaking, difficult to see especially for those of us who live the AIDS pandemic in the present, who feel fear and pain very close. It is a tribute to the victims, but also a story of survival.
[Amazon] With this work, Barry Jenkins offers a new dimension to that representation of the trauma of slavery that is already common in movies and series. Majestic in the visual concept, deep in the psychological journey through the discovery of many forms of slavery and many forms of liberation. There are episodes that are masterpieces, there are ideas that reveal the genius of a great director.
[Disney+] Peter Jackson not only makes an outstanding documentary about The Beatles, but completes a piece of music history. It is the best description ever made of the creative process of music, but it also contains surprising moments such as the conversation between John and Paul recorded clandestinely. In some ways, it rewrites some of what was known about the band's breakup and builds a different perspective..
[HBO Max] Few films have achieved the balance between science fiction with a visual design that has marked the genre, with philosophical approaches about what is real and what is fictional (a premonition of fake news) and about destiny of the human being. Even today its messages work (including the transsexuality metaphor) and its structure is just as strong as a stand-alone film as it is as part of a trilogy.
[Netflix] Robert Greene completes the process of exploring the documentary through the representation of fictional scenes that we saw in "Kate plays Christine" (2016). This powerful formula for reconstructing reality has its highest expression in the best film ever made about the trauma of sexual abuse. Men faced with the darkness of manipulation and the injustice of the complicity of the Catholic Church. Surviving heroes who address trauma by establishing a deep bond of solidarity.
War as a trip to Hell. A hyper-realistic vision that step by step is becoming more and more allegorical. The Nazis ride through the fog, like horsemen of the apocalypse. Hitler portrayed, Hitler dead. The child turned into a man, the innocent gaze turned into horror. Requiem for the dead peasants. Hell taken to the movies like few times.
There is in this film a look towards death that is sustained in the androgynous symbolism of Tadzio and the decay of the environment (Venice) and of artistic failure (Gustav). It is the idealization of beauty and youth, the fantasy seen from reality (the gaze hidden behind the newspaper). Death that looks at life, the mask that melts in the city of masks. The hope of reaching the unattainable.
[Filmin] An excellent political thriller that tackles some momentous issues with great effectiveness: the West's ambiguous relationship with the jihadists, the search for peace by promoting war, or the political implications surrounding the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. That Obama's speech at the delivery of his controversial Nobel Prize opens each episode is significant. Smart, full of tension without the need for big action scenes, magnificent in form and content.
The Nordic countries are the ones that most control the sale of alcohol, but also the ones that have the most problems with it. This searching (and finding) of de-inhibition is a very sarcastic look. The film also works better on its uninhibited side than on the dark side. The courage of the proposal seems subjected to a certain moralistic reading. For the dance scene alone, Mads Mikkelsen deserves three Oscars. "What a life, what a night. What a beautiful, beautiful ride".
One of the weirdest documentary series that can be found. The irony of John Wilson manifests itself in episodes with strange themes such as scaffolding or ways of covering furniture. The mastery of the project is in how it manages to make each episode drift towards unusual paths, which cast doubt on the lucidity of the human being. It is an unusual look at life, a discovery of the most remote places of our existence.
A clever adaptation in which the author / director uses the camera to construct a family drama like a ghost movie, the vision of these "intruders" from a distance, the structure of the dark and sinister apartment always in view. But the secrets are not behind the noises and moldy walls, but inside the family. Karam creates a kind of ironic ghost-story in which the truth, like the apartment, has two levels.
An intelligent adaptation of the Anne Rice novels that manages to be faithful but at the same time update the story and its characters. It introduces interesting elements of reflection and builds much more complex characters, who are made credible by the splendid performances. The destructive and violent romanticism is shown without limits, and especially the appearance of the new Claudia is brutal and ironic. There is a dark sense of humor that accompanies an outstanding series.
From the beginning, the show marks its own style with an intelligent and acid sense of humor. These small stories that are carried out by the main characters, with their own entity, build a vision of race and tradition through a new generation that has been raised with white popular culture, as the reference to Tarantino shows. But above all it's full of unforgettable characters (Uncle Brownie, Big or Spirit).
[Göteborg FF] The justification for the animation is based on the concealment of the protagonist's face. Amin is an "unreliable narrator", who has based his life on lies to be accepted, as homosexual and refugee. A therapeutic journey to which we are invited to share Amin's memories (and some lies). At the end, we are moved and grateful for the courage of a man who didn't want to show his face but shared his soul.
[HBO Max] Will Sharpe achieves in this representation of truth and lies a multi-layered narrative that plays with the perception of reality (shooting scenes) and fiction (movies imagination). And he manages to make a true crime fiction that is admirable in its creativity, but also in its depth, about morality and conviction. In the extraordinary four episodes he builds and rebuilds the different versions of a crime.
It captures horror through a horrifying everyday life, using the viewer's cinematic memory to reflect the perversion of the Holocaust off-screen. The invisible look at the daily life of a family that has achieved their aspirations as human beings, at the same time dehumanizes them, and the introduction of expressive overhead shots breaks that invisibility to show the most direct reality. The director takes risky decisions that manage to integrate perfectly, and an ending that places us directly in the horror of the denials of the reality that we constantly live.
[Disney+] For many parents it can be a frustrating series because they don't live up to the playful Bluey and Bingo's parents, but basically it's a very entertaining show, which episodes like "Sleepytime" that are short film masterpieces. Although controversial for a somewhat patriarchal vision of the family, it's a celebration of playing as a fundamental educational process. And only for that it is worth it.
[IFFR] The opening of Rotterdam FF is a fascinating film, built on a solid script with brilliantly developed characters. Between the dark comedy and the thriller, it has characteristics of other ATJ titles, but in some moments, in the game of coincidences and the weird tone, it is reminiscent of the Coen brothers. Addressing topics such as grief and the consequences of our actions, this film is full of surprises.
"How is a baker like a beggar? They both need bread". This is a story of bakers and beggars. Rich and poor. From those who can buy a cow and who have to steal her milk. A western with a feminine look. Kelly Reichardt's cinema is quiet but deep. She constructs the characters with patience but complexity. The last one is a radical film that talks about the roots of capitalism through a story of friendship.
A clever chronicle of disappointment, the downfall of a myth, Dr. Huxtable meets Mr. Hyde. One of the most resounding descriptions of sexual abuse that broadens the look towards the depth of its consequences. Kamaus Bell reflects on the artist and the sexual predator, and on the "rape culture" that he has allowed (and allows) that defends the guilty and disapproves of the victims. The best definition is given by a victim: "Bill Cosby is a master at his craft. Whether it be acting, comedy or raping, he is a master."
[RTVE Play] Fragments of love with 3D animated paintings. Unattainable loves, lost loves, loves recovered through a shop window, permanent loves and traveling loves. Alberto Mariego shows different kind of loving expressions, passionate, wrapped in colors (blue, red...), almost impossible definitions, but enveloping and hypnotic. Get love back before it's too late. Soko sings: "We might be dead tomorrow."
[Netflix] The film masterfully handles subtext, it has an emotional background that is expressed without the need for dialogue. The filming in New Zealand gives an almost dreamlike aspect to the landscapes of this anti-western, a kind of reverse of the genre. There is a constant tension that is shown in the distorted strings and sepulchral winds of Jonny Greenwood's music.
A wonderful surprise in a series of conversations between producer Rick Rubin and singer Paul McCartney around music, and only around music. A deconstruction of the songs of The Beatles that is full of anecdotes, nothing revealing but always pleasant to listen to. They talk about influences, personal relationships, the passion of youth, the desire to experiment... They talk about music, and only about music.
Music is the message. Questlove chooses the recorded (and unwatched) edition of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, and builds a complex portrait of an era, the contrast between the man conquering the moon and the heroine conquering Harlem streets. Each performance expands as a narrative line, a vindication of the community. And furthermore, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Mavis Staples...
[HBO] The best comedy of the year. Apart from the obvious chemistry between Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, it builds a story that intelligently walks through risky areas. A representation of the dichotomy between the comfort zone and the bravery posed by the confrontation between the characters. Deborah and Eve have complex personalities that grow through their difficult relationship, while we enjoy the conflicts.
[MUBI, 4K] Neon lights. Romantic Neo Noir. Run to avoid tears. Undying love. Never leave your apartment key on the Midnight Express. Hong Kong colonized by music. Can an apartment cry when its owner abandons it? Two stories that are two road-movies of feelings. "Where do you want to go?. Wherever you want to take me."
Focused on the investigation of a real event, the series manages to be addictive despite the fact that it eliminates the direct presence of the accused and the victim. The focus is exclusively on the complicated investigation process, the frustrating search for evidence, the compilation of a vital puzzle. It surely has the best Swedish and Danish cast in a series in recent years.
[Apple TV +] Overwhelming animated film that's full of brilliant ideas, beautiful designs and old-school animation. This story of growth (perhaps also coming out), confronts freedom with oppression, religion with paganism. The dark, squared village faces the colorful, infinite forest. The own identity (the wolf) that must be found and, above all, accepted, is a theme that respects the intelligence of the viewers.
There's a subtle construction that is sustained in two long sequences during the first part: the interview and the class. They are the two springs that raise the main themes of the film, and for this reason the structure proposed by Todd Field is exquisite and intelligent. The secrets are the inner demons, the symbolic representation of a persecution that is more psychological. Supported by a superb Cate Blanchett, the film has that Kubrickian film planning that at times can be too obvious, but feels comfortable in the construction of spaces that suffocate and imprison, despite their breadth.
A splendid thriller, which has more strength in its background than in the police investigation, and possibly the best English cast of the year. It's a clever idea that reveals important data for the police plot, but also to build an environment of hostile coexistence, talking about the inability to face a future that was taken by a privatization of industries that meant a dismantling of the economic base of the UK.
