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

OUT OF DATE

FOTO: cinemaadhoc.info

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

DARK, BUT HILARIOUS

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Argentinian runner for this year's best foreign language ”Oscar” is an omnibus of different tales based on the crimes from passion that differ in length and quality, but are joined together present one dark and cynical comedy. Some of the stories are just plain heavy (battle on the highway, hit and run) while the others are hilarious (towed cars, wedding).

Almost every significant Argentinian actor is there, led by the Ricardo Darin and each and every one of them gives their small contribution to the film as a whole.

Overall, ”Wild tales” is one of the finest representatives of quality Argentinian dark comedy.

WILD TALES - 8/10

SMELLS LIKE TRUE DETECTIVE

FOTO: cines-verdi.com

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