Dispara (Outrage) starring Antonio Banderas and Francesca Neri

Posted on November 16, 2009 Written by ripitup

Dispara! (Outrage) with Antonio Banderas and Francesca Neri

For me there can be two reasons not to watch the same movie twice: Either I hated the movie or although the storytelling is captivating, it is far too depressing to revisit. For Dispara, it is the latter. It’s a Spanish movie from 1993, starring Antonio Banderas and Francesca Neri. The story is drama and not really action – so don’t let the poster and the title fool you. Some of the actions of the lead characters border on being unbelievably foolish and you can’t help feeling frustrated. But then again, the situations they are both in are disturbing and well, you can understand to why they panic.

Ana (Francesca Neri) works at a circus. She is a good horse-rider and a master at shooting. She performs impressive shows using both her talents. One night journalist Marcos (Antonio Banderas) cathces her show as an assignment for his newspaper and he really is captivated by Ana’s both beauty and on-stage performance. He tries and finally manages to get an interview from her. She has had an interesting life and she is genuinely nice. After spending little with each other, they fall in love. Marcos leaves town for a job and has every intention of seeing her again.

But then something horrific happens. Three mechanics working on a circus vehicle set their eyes on Ana and one night they rape her. They are violent and Ana is more than shaken by what she goes through. The next morning, she takes their address, her bullets and rifle and sets out to kill them. This time the men do not stand a chance. She shoots and kills all three of them. Although there is one eye-witness, she could probably have gotten away with it but one unfortunate event follow another: she is badly injured and has internal bleeding from the previous night’s rape, Marcos has come to her place to find out something has gone terribly wrong- when he gets a hysteric message from her and learns about the deaths of the three man, he intuitively thinks it’s her and makes some bad judgment calls- and well….the movie gets more and more depressing.

The last time I got this depressed by a movie happened during Requiem for a Dream. While this movie does have its faults (it doesn’t have the perfect visual quality but maybe it was just my DVD) but I couldn’t help but thinking how the director just could have shot some scenes better, especially the beginning.

The characters are both easy to empathize with, although but make mistakes with horrible results. You might also think the strange combination of romance, drama and vengeance do not work. It all depends on your expectations. As long as you are not looking for a masterpiece but a heartfelt yet disturbing drama, you will not be disappointed. Plus the performances are solid.

P.S. This is the only video I could find on the movie:

http://845b2903.ugalleries.net

Lestat, Dracula and Other Vampires featuring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Gerard Butler, Stuart Townsend and More

Posted on November 4, 2009 Written by ripitup

Vampires are mesmerizing beings. They’re labeled the undead, since technically they are neither dead nor alive. They mostly have a great sense of style and just are hot. Of course there is the whole ick factor of blood-sucking and all, but overall, they bring charisma, charm, lust and seduction to the screen. Many actors have taken on roles as vampires either in TV shows or movies, but right now this is a movies blog so we are going to go strictly film on this one. Now of course it is impossible to cover them all, so I am going to mention some of the most remarkable ones and if you disagree or think I’ve left some important ones out, well- please share 🙂

1) Interview with the Vampire (Based on the novel by Anne Rice)

Tom Cruise as Lestat in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

The first Vampire I met on screen was Anne Rice’s Lestat, portrayed by the skilled Tom Cruise:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGkBMe3j-Sk [/pro-player]

Now, the trouble with Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Lestat- probably it has to do with the script, I haven’t read the novel, so I wouldn’t know how Anne Rice meant him to be- he brings humor to the story. Lestat isn’t scary. Oh sure, Brad Pitt’s Louis was rightfully scared when Lestat was sucking the life out of him, but Tom Cruise with blond hair and terribly white skin does not equal something of a cold, Scandinavian or in our case a vampiric beauty. Tom is good with jet black, short or a little longish hair like he has in Mission Impossible 2 or Jerry Maguire. Well, I hadn’t initially found Tom’s look funny, I just thought he wasn’t exactly scary or desirable. But here’s what happens: He picks Brad Pitt as his life partner. I have no objections as in picking a guy like Brad to spend eternity with, let’s face Lestat could do a lot worse. But, need I remind you Lestat is a male undead? Sure, a vampire is a sexual being and he could be as gay or as bi as he damn pleases. But a male vampire (Tom Cruise) siring another guy (Brad Pitt) is not exactly a girl’s fantasy. Well, it is not mine anyway. You haven’t picked up on the vibe? Watch closely. Lestat adds a little girl played by Kirsten Dunst to the group and she keeps acting like a total brat. So Lestat gets pissed and threatens her with bringing home a sister. Dad Tom, Mommy Brad – and kid Dunst. One small, weird vampire family. Well, it didn’t hurt that the movie also features Antonio Banderas as a Vampire with beautiful long hair. But mind you, Banderas’ Armand is not nearly as destructively gorgeous as his El Mariachi in Desperado. There’s something wrong with the vampires in this movie. They are pretty. But they are not sexy.

Brad Pitt in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire — Brad Pitt as Louis in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

Antonio Banderas as Armand in Interview with the Vampire

Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire

2) BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

Gary Oldman as Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula

Now Dracula is the ultimate myth, legend, fantasy. Dracula is the most famous Vampire of all times. Many versions have been written since Bram Stoker’s and many actors have played him. And this one with Gary Oldman is sort of fun. The cast is great. It has Winona Ryder as Dracula’s love/lust interest, Keanu Reeves as her fiancee and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing. The problem is Dracula seems much too much like a cartoon character. The movie was directed by Francis Ford Coppola ,however it more feels like a Tim Burton movie. And I think I would have liked it more if it had been a Tim Burton movie and with Johnny Depp as the Dracula. Gary Oldman is a fantastic actor but this movie is listed as a horror romance whereas the way it has been shot and acted out as a parody. Or maybe it just feels that way because it was short in 1992 and the effects aren’t that good. There is also a very superficial on my part that Dracula is very ugly for the most of the time. You saw the picture above, right?

3) DRACULA 2000

Gerard Butler as Dracula in Dracula 2000

trailer:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oprkYnHObk [/pro-player]

Now, this Dracula is fun. It is not scary or that much exciting, but it is fun. After all, we have young women being trapped,seduced, fed on by Dracula. And Dracula is Gerard Butler. Now, we shouldn’t have any lack of masculinity or charisma issues, right? But there’s something off about this particular vampire. He is supposed to be the perfect seducer. And fine, sure he looks a lot better than most of the people you would meet in a bar- but I am not sure I would have recognized Gerard Butler, had I not known he was in it. This clean- shaven face makes him look too young- and he is kinda young himself- and too innocent. However I was checking out stuff with Dracula 2000 and I came upon his audition, where he looks utterly different. He has long hair, a beard and he looks like he could be the perfect Pirate of the Caribbean- minus Jack Sparrow’s a little eccentric behavior. I am posting the link, but I will put an image just to give you the picture. Butler appears in this video very similar to his image in Attila. And below is how he was in Attila.

Gerard Butler as Attila in Attila. But of course he is not playing a historical hero in the audition- he is darker,much darker- And I think this look could serve him better as a vampire.

Enjoy Gerard’s Dracula audition:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk3syqGaPN8&feature=PlayList&p=8981B582471B3361&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=31[/pro-player]

4) QUEEN OF THE DAMNED

Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the Damned

video from the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz1HcYmlBq4&feature=related

I think Stuart Townsend makes the perfect Lestat. Of course I’m biased, not because I’m a great fan of Stuart – I became fan after this movie, but because this movie captures the goth and rock spirit that comes with the vampire territory. Here when Lestat wakes up, he also sort of takes a hard rock band under his wing and becomes their singer. The whole world falls in love with this vampire and his music. Rockstars have tons of groupies and many front men are considered as sex symbols. They have added the dark side and the allure of the vampiric quality and bingo! You have a vampire movie with a really cool soundtrack and a vampire that can really seduce. It is not highly rated but I believe this movie to be very underrated. If you like Vampires and hard rock, you will enjoy this movie.

P.S: I’m not including Twilight because I have already done a number of posts on Twilight and Edward Cullen.

If you want stuff on the Twilight movies and cast:

Twilight Saga and The Rest of The Cullen Family

New Moon Dissected

Pattinson vs.. Lautner

Robert Pattinson isn’t vain. He is British!

Pattinson vs. Edward Cullen: The Cute Robert Pattinson, The Beautiful Edward Cullen

Twilight Movie Review: Twilight Mania

The Other Man starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney

Posted on October 23, 2009 Written by ripitup

The Other Man starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney

Can I have another movie? Another movie where Antonio Banderas teams up with Liam Neeson? Because this can’t be it. It shouldn’t be. Liam Neeson is a marvelous actor. I have tremendous respect for his work. No matter what the genre, he shines through his role. Take a look at Nell, Schindler’s List, Michael Collins, Love Actually, Kinsey…The list goes on. And last but not least I have seen him in Taken- a breath-taking action drama, where he proves to be an impressive action hero – at the age of 56, which is downright cool. And in the same year as Taken, I saw him in The Other Man, where he plays the husband, as opposed to the other man portrayed by Antonio Banderas. And Antonio Banderas is a good actor. Sure he has to play roles that greet his Hispanic roots (he has never mastered the American accent, as you might have noticed) and this of course blocks his diversity to some level but other than that, he is almost always fun to watch. And under normal circumstances, he would be perfect to play the lover. He has made a name for himself for being hot – and rightfully so. Remember Desperado? Femme Fatale? Original Sin? Never Talk to Strangers? Even if he played guys that fall for the lead females deceptive ways (apart from Desperado), he is perfect as the sexy man. Hell, the first two Spanish guys were blonde, boyish and not nearly half as masculine.

So normally, it is a good idea to cast Neeson as the devoted husband who gets crushed to find out his wife had an affair. And it would make perfect sense that a woman could fall for an exotic looking stranger. But then there is the movie plot where I didn’t get or sympathize with any of the characters.

The movie overall has a very dark, gloomy and tedious atmosphere. Instead of mystery and curiousity, boredom is much more likely to happen. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why Laura Linney’s Lisa would fall for Antonio’s Ralph. He doesn’t have anything going for him (not even looks- you should see the haircut and the white socks). He is an average guy who doesn’t even have an ounce of mystery around him (well- that’s what you think a woman cheating on a devoted,stable and predictable husband would go for). So Lisa cheats and we can’t see why. I can’t see what it is about Lisa that made those two men love her that much…

Did I not go into the plot? Well, when Peter (Neeson) finds out, he finds out who and where he is and sets out to…well to kill him. The cat and mouse thing gives the movie a little thrill, but then it is slow again and the twists we get do more harm than good.

If it hadn’t been a movie with Neeson and Banderas – and I really like Laura Linney’s work too (especially The Life of David Gale with Kevin Spacey) – I would have just said that it was a slow movie and not exactly my thing. But I know how much excitement the actors can bring to the right parts and how capable they are of picking good scripts. So the result is disappointment and well, hopes for a reunion – fingerscrossed, with a different director and a screenwriter.

Posts Featuring Antonio Banderas

OF LOVE AND SHADOWS (1994)

Favorite Revenge Movies

Thick as Thieves

Dispara

Actors, getting naked and their take on nudity

Thick as Thieves starring Antonio Banderas, Morgan Freeman and Radha Mitchell

Posted on October 22, 2009 Written by ripitup

Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas in Thick As Thieves.

Ripley (Morgan Freeman) is an aging, master crook in debt to the Russian mafia. He requests the help of another expert thief, Gabriel (Banderas) to pull of a 4o-million-dollar heist. Ripley also has an attractive god-daughter called Alex (Radha Mitchell) whose father was killed- probably by none other than Ripley himself.

The movie shows us how fast and dangerous stunts Gabriel can pull and that Ripley can track him down. He gets Gabby’s interest by mentioning how much the theft will be worth. Gabby is also very interested in Alex…

Are you smelling clichés? Are you expecting Antonio’s character to get Alexa into bed within the second day he sees her? Are you also expecting Abby to care a lot for this woman that he sleeps with twice? Well, you are right. It is in so many ways a very typical script. It does have some good twists, although you will notice them coming. Well, clichés aren’t that big of a problem. How they explain the twists are. It is not logical at all. But if you just don’t question anything, it is an OK movie.

Now, I really do have to write about some of the comments made about the movies and the actors though. I read this funny comment that Banderas was too old for the role. Trust me, the movie has many issues but the actor’s age is not one of them. Well, the fact that he can get the girl for instance is one of the few things that made sense. He is 49, in good shape and all though he has matured, he is good-looking. The problem is that his character just seems too plausible and too naive . Other than that the movie does entertain. Just don’t think. About anything.

Posts Featuring Antonio Banderas

OF LOVE AND SHADOWS (1994)

Favorite Revenge Movies

The Other Man

Dispara

Actors, getting naked and their take on nudity