Sunday, March 6, 2016

Topic 5: Recommended Watching!




Hi there!

The unit we're about to finish has dealt with work and careers, basically trying to make a living for oneself and our loved ones in our daily grind.
I guess many great movies have been made about this very topic; however, one of the ones that really struck a chord with yours truly (i.e.: me) is 1992 Glengarry Glen Ross. The plot is as simple as it is so callous in its depiction of reality: a group of salesmen need to compete in a company's sales contest. The hapless one who loses in such a contest will be fired. Not a very intricate story, I suppose, but, man, when you have blokes like Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey or Alec Baldwin in the cast, you bet you're gonna witness a true performing tour de force
One of my biggest beefs with Spanish movies is that the actors are rarely this convincing and good. The best Spanish actor/actress just CANNOT hold a candle to guys like the ones you'll see in this SUPERB film. But, again, maybe that's just my opinion, and you know what happens to opinions, don't you?

;-)



Enjoy!

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    3. Hey, Paula!
      So you claim all American performers but the ones you mentioned are mediocre? Ha! Now that's a bold statement!
      Of course I didn't mean to write off Spanish cinema as a whole. I just don't like it nowhere as much as I like American cinema, which is meant to be a thriving industry, and many times, it shows, as the movies (especially of the early 90s and before) were quite good and entertaining. There are quite a few Spanish flicks that I have enjoyed, though!

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    5. Hey! "But the ones you mentioned..." means "apart from the ones you mentioned" hehe
      And, yes, mine was a pretty bold statement too! hahaha

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  2. To be honest, I really like American cinema there are a few film very stunning and as well there are a really good actors.
    But I´m seeing lately a lot of Nordic cinema and French movies, and I realized that this kind of films are very good too and interesting.
    I have to recommend you a French film that I´ve seen few months ago,the movie is title: "Bienvenidos al norte"(the film is about the work) and it´s very funny.
    Because I have to say that American people don´t know how to do comedy films,maybe in other subjects are the best but in comedy...they are very tatty.

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    1. Absolutely, Kety, the French have understood the concept of cinema as an industry, as a source of income and have made a couple of good and some very successful films in the past (the good and the successful didn't always go hand in hand, though).
      Two Norwegian or Danish films which I enjoyed a lot are "The Hunt" and "Headhunters", two great movies, actually.
      Of course, I don't agree there aren't GREAT American comedies; there ARE HUNDREDS of them!

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  3. In the past I didn't think that spanish cinema was good, because I had seen torrente and other in this way.
    Then I was discover that there are good spanish film such as: "mar adentro". This film is pretty good.
    So I don't think that american films are good and spanish films not. Although the majority good films aren't spanish.

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    1. And the spanish actors and actrees are very good for instance "penelope cruz"

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    2. And the spanish actors and actrees are very good for instance "penelope cruz"

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    1. The Executioner! (El verdugo), now that IS a great film.
      Some of my other Spanish faves are: What have I done to deserve this, Talk to Her and Matador (a great erotic thriller), both by Almodovar, El Bosque Animado, The Holy Innocents, Viridiana, Quién puede matar a un niño? and, of course, one of the BEST (not Spanish, but period) actions films ever, and quite probably, Alex de La Iglesia's only really good film, The Day of the Beast. His career went downhill at an alarming speed after that!

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  6. WRITTEN BY TATYANA ARNALDOS JURADO


    I've seen the film, but I'm afraid that do not have enough background to speak about it because my unload only lasted 1 hour and 22 minutes -I don't know what the heck happened!- So I'll speak about that reduced time...

    I suppose that these films are choose according to what we can understand (aren't they?), but I have not been able to understand almost anything because all they spoke too fast- especially Kevin Spacey and Jack Lemmon, though to the latter didn't need it because he transmitted intensity in every shot.

    Conversations were too fast and I had almost got enough time to translate. Al Pacino is the only one actor who I've understood something.

    I didn't count how many times was said the word 'fuck', but if I had done I suppose it would be said a 247 times... what a good manners have these blokes!...

    BTW ¿What happened with the contest? Who worker is fired? I really wanted know who was... :-(

    And please, next film something more easy, Javi.

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    1. I can't tell you here who was fired, Tatyana! (I'll tell you in person or by email), as I don't want to spoil the film for the ones who want to see it!
      Of course, the films are not aimed at foreign viewers, hahaha, so the actors sometimes speak at lightning speed! But that is why subtitles were invented, weren't they? ;-)
      And yes, the F-word pops in a couple of times!

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