A single man

George (Colin Firth) is both main character and narrator in A single man (Tom Ford, 2009). We know it because of his voice explaining his life, but also because the entire movie is sprinkled with memories about his partner, Jim (Matthew Goode), who has recently deceased. These memories are thoughts that he has through the day, and they may seem to be about a previous, completely different life. Losing the loved one is for George the most horrible tragedy, and his life makes no sense now. Some of the flashbacks even appear in a very melancholic black and white.

Colin Firth is a great actor and he makes credible the literature professor who is thinking about commiting suicide.

I  liked narration but I loved mise-en-scène and the use of colour saturation, which are just incredible. Maybe the fact that the director is a also a fashion designer helps in that aspect.

I  strongly recommend it to you.

Everybody's fine

The thing I liked the most about Everybody's fine (Kirk Jones, 2009) is the personal point-of-view. The story is about a a recently widowed Frank Goode (Robert De Niro) who decides to visit his 4 children in Christmas, since they can not (Or that is what they say) go to visit him. He begins his trip, and each first time he sees one of them, they appear in the screen as a 7 year-old child. I loved this device. It means that he still sees them as if they were children, and in my opinion, that is a very sweet way to let us know that Frank really loves and cares  about his children, even if he may seem cold.

This point-of-view really surprised me, since I am only 19 and I have never really thought about how parents feelabout their children. 

Nevertheless, I do not think the film is a very good one and I found it takes pleasure in the melancholic scenes. The scenes in the train, when Frank is totally alone and disappointed, for example.

Adam

Adam (Max Mayer,2009) is named after its main character, a Manhattan engineer who suffers from Asperger’s syndrom. Unexpectedly, one day he meets a woman. He likes her, but his autism affects to the relationship.

As you can see in the picture, a medium focal lenght is used in Adam, maybe to express that there is a lot of distance between Adam (Hugh Dancy) and Beth (Rose Byrne). They want to be closer, but it is not so easy as they would like it to be.

Adam is not a predictable film, and it has some funny and sweet scenes, but I it is just a normal film. Not great.

Up in the air

Up in the air (Jason Reitman, 2009) tells us the story of Ryan (George Clooney), a solitary businessman. The very first part of the movie is very funny, since we realize how well he manages in his way of life.

Ryan seems to enjoy his life. The problem begins when he meets Alex (Vera Farmiga). And what begins with sex, becomes guadually something more. 

I am not telling you the end of the movie but I will say that Jason Reitman seems not to be a fan of the classic romantic comedy. As in Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007) the main character, Ryan, must face a problem. At the end of Juno, the main character is happy, even if the end is bittesweet. At the end of Up in the air, things are not perfect either. But in both films, the protagonist learns a great lesson.

Inglourious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) is divided into 5 chapters. Here you have 5 reasons why you should watch it:

1 Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). He is the responsible of the funniest scenes and the wittiest conversations. Listening to him talk German, French, English and Italian fluently is also a pleasure. To finish with him, his face at the moment he knows is going to be marked for life..

2 The soundtrak. Most of the tracks are by Ennio Morricone. Music in the first chapter has an interesting effect. You think you are watching a western and not a film that takes place in the occupied France.

3 Samuel L Jackson. Ok, I know he is not acting as Jules, speaking about hamburguers in Europe, but the narrator's voice is his.

4 Shosanna's (Mélanie Laurent) story, the reference to The Searchers (John Ford 1956) at the end of the first chapter (When she is introduced), and the scene when the cinema burns.

5 The last reason for watching Inglorious Basterds, just if you are a real Tarantino's fan are.. the dialogues. This is a long film, in part, thanks to the tedious nonsense dialogues.  The "Who I am?" scene is one of them.