Movie Junction

Roberto Benigni’s “Life Is Beautiful” (1998) had a terrific run with critics and audiences. First, it won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes, followed by an Academy Award for the Best Foreign film, with Benigni bagging the Best Actor award. The box-office success in the U.S. was astonishing, too, especially for a non-English movie. Benigni, who was the leading star in Italy at the time, immediately shot to fame with this film. You can forgive Benigni for creating “Pinocchio” (2002), which has a rating of 0% with the Rotten Tomatoes critics, and that also appears in the list of all-time worst movies. Nonetheless, “Life Is Beautiful” succeeds because Benigni beautifully mixes humor against the backdrop of the Holocaust without offending anyone. The film almost becomes a satire that is driven through the eyes of a young boy. There are not many films that can explain the horrific events of the Holocaust to a young audience, and Benigni’s Oscar-winning film is one such f

Director Alejandro Amenábar gained publicity in Hollywood after Cameron Crowe decided to create a remake, “Vanilla Sky” (2001), of Amenábar’s Spanish film “Open Your Eyes” (1997). “Open Your Eyes” garnered positive acclaim from critics, and it currently appears on the list of best sci-fi movies. Nonetheless, the movie launched Amenábar’s career in Hollywood, although it was short lived. “The Others” (2001) is the only movie Amenábar ever directed in Hollywood. This is rather surprising because the film was a smash hit at the box-office as well as with the critics. One would have hoped Amenábar would get more projects following the success of “The Others,” but he just vanished and started making movies in Europe.   “The Others” fared immensely well, in spite of its being marketed as a horror movie. There is no gore, violence, or cheap thrills, and it attains a PG-13 rating, making it possible to be viewed by wide audiences. But the main reason the film is immensely p

I don’t know what’s up with the names of recent movies. Look at some of Hollywood movies this summer, “Bad Teacher,” “Horrible Bosses,” and then a few from 2010 like “The Perfect Host,” and “Good Neighbours.” These movies use adjectives to catch our attention that represent a central character or a movie’s theme. While “Good,” “Bad,” “Perfect” may describe a character, these adjectives-- instead of letting the viewer decide on the qualities of the character--leave very little to one’s imagination. It ends up giving an impression that there is something remarkably abnormal about the characters, even without seeing the movie. It’s like we are forced to form an opinion right away. What’s more, when I see the aforementioned names, I immediately know the movie’s setup; either the film consists of raunchy humor and out-of-place sequences, or it has grisly violence. Of course, after seeing the movie, viewers can themselves judge the characters, but I don’t know why studios

“I chose not to choose life…I chose something else.” – Mark Renton, “Trainspotting” The origins of “Trainspotting” (1996) probably started with director Danny Boyle’s debut movie “Shallow Grave” (1994). While the main plot of “Shallow Grave” works as a crime thriller, the film’s founding elements revolved around a supporting character’s drug addiction and his leftover money. Boyle takes the idea of heroin drug addiction from “Shallow Grave” and fully expands it in “Trainspotting.” Looking at Boyle’s filmography, it is apparent that the director doesn’t hesitant about taking risks with his projects. Using the grim theme of drug addiction, Boyle builds a terrific modern piece that is extremely offbeat, structurally pulpy, and emotionally depressing, yet it manages to pack significant implications of substance abuse in a meaningful artistic fashion. A complicated project like this could have fallen apart, but at the hands of Danny Boyle, “Trainspotting” becomes a bree