CLASSIC SPANISH CRIME TWISTER

Spanish cinema makers really like to intertwine stories, especially when it comes to crime related scripts. „Contratiempo's” director and writer, Oriol Paulo, uses that very vessel of overlapping to build itself into a really complex script.

In the center of this plot twister are two murders and potential scenarios of their conduction. Every single story aspect and script path will be covered, leading the viewer to a somewhat expected finale. Besides that very ending, all of those classic crime movie tricks will be there, bringing us back to the Golden era of the genre.

If you are into old school Poiroesque crime stories, you should definitely watch „Contratiempo”.

CONTRATIEMPO – 7/10

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NAIVE, BUT PRETTY INTERESTING

Spanish cinema brings us some truly original ideas, although at the very edge of probability in real life.

Script about the young cop that is forced to pretend to be a prisoner after a mutiny in a jail breaks out on his first day at work is one of those flicks that starts really slowly and unconvicingly, but manages to pick up the pace, develop some really interesting subplots along the way, only to end in a brutal and unexpected way, bearing the trademark of modern Spanish screenwriters.

Alberto Amann and Luis Tesar are really good as leads, absorbing the fact that supporting cast somewhat fails to impress (Marta Etura, Antonio Resines).

„Cell 211” deserves its chance despite its clumsy beginning.

CELDA 211 - 6/10

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REALISTIC ENOUGH

There are two types of horror movies: trash-slash and psychological.

„Sleep tight” is one of the latter, being just as realistic to make you really scary and disgusted by the story of a janitor (Cezar) that sedates and sleeps with the attractive young woman (Carla) that moves in into building he tends to. A lot of that reality goes to the terrifying performance by Luis Tesar who will continue to play with your mind resiliently to the very end of this Spanish flick.

„Sleep tight” is a classic horror movie that will scary you enough to think about it after it finishes.

MIENTRAS DUERMES - 7/10

FOTO: albertalvarez.com

SOLID

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Momentum from the fifth part somewhat slows down in „Fast & Furious 6”, bringing the crew to London to hunt for the international terrorist. Some of the characters are gone, some new ones are there as well as the ghosts of the past. Action sequences are solid, as well as some of the new concepts, such as the CGI filled ending scenes.

„Fast & Furious 6” is one the better parts of the saga, but certainly not the best one.

FAST & FURIOUS 6 - 5/10

OUT OF DATE

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Snuff movies have been the subject of just a few movies so far, Spanish ”Thesis” probably being the first major one.

Date of production is the major problem for this thriller, making it just not frightening or explicit enough for today’s standards. Plot is solid, but somehow naïve, especially combined with the unconvincing roles of Ana Ana Torrent, Fele Martinez and Eduardo Noriega.

”Thesis” maybe was a good and suspense thriller, but two decades ago.

THESIS - 4/10

SMELLS LIKE TRUE DETECTIVE

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Detective movies/series has turned dark in the recent years, following the global trend of Scandinavian crime noir. ”La Isla minima” is the Spanish interpretation of this fashion, settled in the marshes of central Spain in first post-Franco years.

Crime itself is as expected, brutal and mysterious. Atmosphere is adequate for the subject and all the needed milestones in the plot are there, creating solid amount of tension throughout the movie. This is also the main problem for this flick, the predictability and the almost 100% safe ending.

However, „La Isla minima” is one solid detective crime thriller and a true representative of the latest fashion in the genre.

LA ISLA MINIMA - 6/10

ART OF DARKNESS

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Alejandro Gonzales innaritu is the man of the cinema. Every single one of his flicks is a small masterpiece and ”Biutiful” doesn’t fail to achieve the greatness of its predecessors.

This time, the main role goes to the back streets of Barcelona and its inhabitants, Chinese and African immigrants fighting for survival. Amongst them is the terminally ill man (fantastic Javier Bardem) with the rare gift of seeing the dead ones before they go to the heavens.

Photography is just plain amazing and as with every good Mexican director (Del Torro, Cuaron), moments of horror are there as well. Script is just too heavy for a reiterative watching of this quality flick.

”Biutiful” is just another one of those Innaritu’s ”biutiful” movies.

BIUTIFUL - 8/10