Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Got two of these, each from a different reviewer. First up...
Caught Nicotina at the Miami Int'l Film Festival last night. This film was pure fun - the whole audience was laughing, clapping, and excited throughout the film, which follows approximately 8 characters all after 20 diamonds in possession of the Russian mob. It is filmed in real time and the director uses "24"-style editing to show multiple storylines at once. The main characters are well played, interesting, and fun to laugh at and with. Diego Luna plays Lolo, a techno-geek obsessed with his next door neighbor, a Spanish musician. Lolo is charged with obtaining a list of passwords and names attached to multiple Swiss bank accounts which will be traded for the 20 diamonds.
It is to Luna's credit that the audience is rooting for Lolo despite the fact that he is stalking the woman next door. Lolo is working with Nene (Lucas Crespi) and Thompson (Jesus Ochoa), who argue all night about the perils of smoking - Nene says death is a matter of chance and coincidence so why quit smoking when you enjoy it, while Thompson is playing the probabilities and begruding the cancer stick. Smoking turns out to be a theme that unites all the stories. Nene and Thompson pick up Lolo to make the exchange, but a series of mishaps leads Lolo to grab the wrong CD and when they arrive to meet the Russians, another series of mishaps leads to a shoot out...Over the course of the night, Nene encounters a pharmacist and her husband (who is trying to quit smoking), the Russian encounters a barber and his wife (who wastes all their money on cigarettes), and the movie gets played out until every story is resolved in one way or another.
It is the type of movie that is hard to describe because of the intricacies of the plot - the pacing is a lot like other caper films - Lock Stock, Ocean's Eleven, Snatch, etc. so if you enjoyed those films, you will definitely enjoy this one. The director stayed for a Q&A after the film, but the only interesting thing we learned is th at he had an easy time getting Diego Luna for the film despite his post-YTuMamaTambien fame since he has known Luna since the kid was 5. All in all, it's a fun movie - great with popcorn and a pack of cigarettes.
Good stuff. Thanks. Next up, we’ve got Fast Eddie...
Hey Harry,
Fast Eddie here. Last night I was privileged to see the Brazilian film "Fala Tu" at the Miami International Film Festival. This documentary follows three aspiring rappers in the slums of Rio. The film has a guerilla film to it - no steadicam at all. The film's theme is that rap in Rio is not about aspiring to own a mansion and drink bottles of Cristal. It's about finding an alternative to dealing drugs or committing violent crime and rapping just for the sake of rapping.
The great thing about Fala Tu is that it is not heavy handed - it just follows the three subject rappers and documents their lives and families and their art. The most memorable of the three stories is that of Macarrao, which is Portuguese for "Noodle" - he was nicknamed because he was so skinny and white as a kid. Macarrao raps about life in his neighborhood - "visiting day" at the local prison, striving to do good when doing bad is so much easier. He fights with his wife but clearly loves her. He is in constant conflict because he loves his community and his neighborhood, where everyone knows him and he knows everyone, but he doesn't like living in poverty. His wife just wants out. What happens to him over the course of the film is astonishing and just way too real.
The film also follows Togum, a Buddhist rapper who strives to become the first Black spokesman for the President of Brazil. The film focuses on Togum's relationship with his father, who left the family when Togum was 5 years old but reunited with Togum when the two crossed paths on a bus twenty years later. Watching Togum and his father bond over music as the father lies dying of cancer is one of the more poignent scenes captured on film in a long while.
Finally, the film shows Combatant, a female rapper, as she struggles to find a place in her life for rap, work, and family. Her story is not really fleshed out and feels a bit tacked on. There is also a hilarious scene with a local DJ whose girlfriend gets robbed at a bus station - the thieves then offer to sell the DJ back some of his computer equipment for $100.
The producer of the film was present at the screening - it was his first time in the United States - and he said that as a DJ at a community radio station, he got to know these rappers and that he and the director made the film to show the world a little slice of life in Brazil. Mission accomplished.
- Fast Eddie
Thanks, guys.
"Moriarty" out.
