Tanhausser_Gates Reviews

Kantoku · Banzai! (2007)

Kitano brainstorming..

[7/10 · 26 October 2007]

So.. Kitano has a sense of humor after all! Just kidding. The movie has some points for the general audience but most of it requires some background in history of Japanese cinema, kitano's career, kitano way of life, etc..

So if you really want to see everything from Kitano's factory it's OK to watch, if you are really knowledgeable about all that stuff you probably got to watch it, but if you are neither one of them then you'll do fine without even knowing that it exists, although if you watch it (and have the presence of mind of not expecting much of it) then you can have a reasonably good time with it.

Kitano is having a hard time accepting he is meant to make movies of a special kind which is not the case of this movie.. He even mentions it in the movie: "I said I wont do another movie with violence and I got to stick to it" Well.. I'm afraid our dear Mr Kitano will have to swallow those words sooner or later, preferably long before he runs out of money.

The Signal (2007)

Excuse me? Horror? Terror? What are you talking about?

[8/10 · 26 October 2007]

Hey, I give it an 8.. So its not like I didn't like it, but by all means this movie never scared me anyone in the theater not even by far.

Yet this is an interesting movie.. Shocking, but not in a gross way. We are used to see the bad guys in all movies depicted like brainless killing machines, but this is different, what if it had a point after all? So here you are unable to judge a guy slamming someone else's head with the first thing at hand hard enough for the job.. OK, that's wrong, you know it, but pictured in the way its explained in this picture you got to admit that perhaps there is a point after all.

And so it goes.. You are watching the self-destruction on the human species in a gruesome but meaningfull way, I know, its contradictory.. Or not?

Timecrimes (2007)

It leaves asking for more..

[8/10 · 26 October 2007]

One of the common issues with time-travel movies is that they are filled with holes in the story, things that you never get to know how happened or why they did happened in the first place.

This movie is perfect in that sense, the plot is squared and every small detail has a meaningful reason to exist so in a way is mathematically perfect.. Which leaves you with a rewarding feeling but on the other hand if you understand the plot you can solve the mystery 3/4 down the movie and the last minutes are just obvious.

But this is a great movie.. Thats why it leaves you wondering what would it had been if the plot were more ambitious and more factors had been involved in the equation. Perhaps more characters and more interaction between them.. Who knows! You just want more!

Fermat's Room (2007)

Simple but very effective

[9/10 · 26 October 2007]

Considering Luis Piedrahita is a famous Spanish comedian, Rodrigo Peña is behind several TV shows and Santi Millan is to Humor what Aleister Crowley was to occultism : The wickedest man on earth, plus this is their first movie experience.. it takes a considerable amount of faith to buy a ticket for a movie like this.

Then they tell you about the subject of the movie: How could a movie with 4 mathematicians locked in a room could be interesting? But there was something really fresh about this gang that made me want to see it.. I guess I like crazy people! First of all.. All the characters are delightfully drawn, like the old "Airport" movies, you are given a background of each one of them until they meet for a curios party: An unknown person hosts a math competition, invitation only, no cellphones or escort allowed.

From that point on you feel like one of the characters discovering the story as it unfolds to them.. There is no way you can imagine what lays ahead and if that were not enough they'll keep you busy with riddles and math games.

Do not fear being abused with dense mathematical issues hardly understandable to anyone, this is for all audiences and will keep you tied to your seat until the end.

Trigger Man (2007)

I'd rather watch my neighbor's holidays video..

[5/10 · 26 October 2007]

This is barely a 5 even for an amateur film festival.. You can tell this is the result of a 'different' weekend of a bunch of pals. No realism, no continuity, no nothing.. Just "make sure you finish the film in a weekend time" kind of film.

See.. There are a few things you don't do when there is sniper shooting at random people, for instance: You do not stand still in the clear making noises, specially at the same spot where someone else has been shot, and specially you do not scream and wave at them.

So after some of that the "bad guys" just don't know where to go and run in front of the last survivor who is pointing a gun in the right direction at the right time, end of the film.

I hope it was fun for those who made the movie at least.. Because watching it is no fun at all.

REC (2007)

The old king of raging fear that makes adrenaline flow

[10/10 · 26 October 2007]

Watched it at Sitges Internation Film Festival.

Now.. Not being a fan of "home-made" cinema I was extremely suspecting about this film. The first 5 minutes really put you down.. I was thinking "Oh no.. Not another amateur experiment please!".. But that's exactly what they are meant for.

After you relax and even prepare for occasional laughter at how bad a film it is the story slowly swirls and sinks in you with pulsating intensity and believe me: You are going to jump all over your seat for the rest of the film.

Please: Do not take kids with you unless they are grown up enough to deal with horror movies or you are up to a few non-sleep nights full of tears and nightmares.

If you love good horror movies you'll love this one.

Cassandra's Dream (2007)

Watch the first 30 minutes then go home

[7/10 · 26 October 2007]

As said before this a generous 7 for the old times.

The first 30 minutes is a sequence of situations that portrait a family of depressive losers. Once Woody is satisfied he has convinced you that there is no hope for those characters and you should not expect any happy ending at all then he begins to tell the story.

Which by this point is meaningless since you already know how is it going to end.. And as you would expect it all makes sense thanks to weird turn in the last scenes of the movie.

This is going backwards Mr Allen! All that said I have to mention that the filming and the acting is worth a 10.. Too bad!

Dororo (2007)

Just another Jap Samurai Movie..

[7/10 · 17 October 2007]

It's not a bad movie but it's all too predictable.. The character's roles are over-exploited and basically the story is explained in 10 minutes of the beginning of the movie.. The rest of it are just battles.

They even make fun of themselves in a few of those battles were they purposefully just keep dropping the level of the special effects until it becomes a parody of itself.

If you want a film for the whole family this is it, the kids will enjoy it and there is something to make everybody laugh.. But do not expect anything else out of it that another Japanese samurai film of the bunch.

I'm sorry for those passionate defenders of this film.. No matter how much history there is behind it this is not a great addition to the arts, it will become obsolete in a few months only to be remembered by hard fans.

Just saw it at Sitges International Film Festival.

Blood Tea and Red String (2006)

Delicattesen for the senses

[10/10 · 8 October 2006]

Forget about the story.. This is for those who watch movies to gather sensations, feelings, emotions. If you are the kind that enjoys paying attention to the detail you will love this one, if you want easy entertainment try something else. There are no big laughs or dramatic scenes in this one, this is a movie about feelings and sensibility taken to the extreme. If you are a extremely sensible person you've got to see this one, it is for your kind! Most likely women are going to understand and enjoy this movie to its maximum for its a masterpiece of feminine expression and subtlety.

Just watched it on Sitges Fantastic Cinema Festival with an almost full audience on a weekday at 9:15.. Unbelievable!