Death becomes her

Film: Death becomes her (1992)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Actors: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini

Review:

Actress Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) and writer Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) are long time rivals. Helen's life falls apart when Madeline steals her fiancé, plastic surgeon Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis), and marries him. Helen becomes an obese, depressed woman.

Many years later Ernest become an alcoholic and miserable in his marriage, and he has been reduced to working restoring the looks of celebrities for their funerals. When Madeline and Helen meet again, Helen appears misteriously rejuvenated and thin.
Madeline, jealous of Helen, searchs for help of Lisle von Rhoman (Isabella Rossellini), who claims she has discovered the secret of eternal youth. She offers Madeline a magical potion to reverse the process of aging.
Meanwhile, Helen has seduced Ernest and conspired with him to kill Madeline. Before their elaborate plan can be carried out, Madeline falls down the stairs and breaks her neck, but she gets up and puts her head on straight. Ernest thinks that her resurrection is a miracle, and uses his skills to repair the damage done to Madeline's body.

Helen, thinking that Madeline is dead, arrives at the house, but Madeline shoots Helen. When Helen, with an enormous shotgun wound in her stomach, reawakens, Madeline guesses correctly that Helen was also a customer of Lisle's. The two undead rivals fight, but fail to do any real damage. Finally, the two ladies reconcile their differences and beg Ernest to repair their damaged bodies. Ernest agrees on the condition that he never see them again after the work is done. However, Madeline and Helen discover that his repairs are only temporary. They conspire to make Ernest drink the potion as well. Although Lisle makes an impassioned argument for immortality, Ernest refuses the potion, stating that a life lived forever is worthless.

In trying to escape, Ernest finds himself on the roof of the house. He slips and his suspenders get caught on the rain gutter, swinging him over an open pit. Madeline and Helen implore that he drink the potion so he will survive. Ernest refuses again, lets the potion fall, and then falls from the gutter. With Ernest, Helen and Madeline realize that they are now forced to take care of each other forever.

I think that is a very original movie, it's different from the other typical comedies. It is not a new film, but the effects are perfect for that year, when the technology was more difficult to use than now. Actually, the film won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
The movie is very funny and it's perfect to see in family on a Sunday afternoon!


Student name: Sofia Santos
Class: 5h

UP

Film: UP
Genre: Animation, Comedy
Author/Director: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
Characters: Carl Fredricksen, Ellie, Russell, Charles Muntz, Dug, Beta

Review:
The film is about Carl Fredricksen, who met Ellie, the love of his life, when they were very young. They share the same interest in exploration as their hero, famed explorer Charles Muntz.
Carl and Ellie grow old together, keeping since kids their dream of a house in Paradise Falls, in South America. Just as they seem to finally be able to take their trip, Ellie dies of old age. After a long time Carl decided to keep his promise to Ellie, and uses his old professional supplies to create a makeshift airship using tens of thousands of helium balloons which lift his house off its foundations. But in the porch was Russell, a Wilderness Explorer who was trying to help Carl to earn his final merit badge.
Finally, Carl and Russell start to understand to each other and, with a little help of a big storm, they find themselves in Paradise Falls. They live a lot of adventures and also met Charles Muntz, who is not like Carl think it would be.
This film is hillarious, but it also have details that make the story more 'real'. The sadness of Carl for loosing his wife is very touching.
It's perfect to see in family, because parents and kids will enjoy it!


Student name: Sofía Santos
Class: 5h

The bronze horseman

Book: The bronze horseman
Genre: Romance
Author: Paullina Simons
Characters: Tatiana Metanov, Dasha Metanov, Alexandr Belov, Dimitri--


Review:
"The Bronze Horseman" it's set in Leningrad, Russia during the World War Two. It is a story of love, war, Russia and the hardships a Soviet family would have faced during the war. Although this book is fiction, what happened in Leningrad is fact.
Two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, lived in a small apartment with their family. One day, they heard on the radio that Alemania had invaded the URSS. The same day, Tatiana met Alexandr, a young officer of the Red Army. They felt in love, but Dasha is decided to win, because she also love Alexandr. The officer and Tatiana had to fight for their impossible love.
In Leningrad everyone was starving to death and Tatiana and her sister escaped and go to Lazarevo, always followed by Alexandr Belov.
The novel is very romantic, and of course it has a lot of sad situations, with all the scanty food and the bombs and the innocent people dying. But is worth some drama, because the main story is the most beautiful ever. Paullina Simons writes the book so emotionally that it's impossible to be cynical about anything. Although, this book contains some humour.
You have to love reading to estimate it, because the book has almost 800 pages!
I already read it two times :)


Student name: Sofía Santos
Class: 5h

Big Fish

Book/Film: Big Fish
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Author/Director: Tim Burton
Characters/Actors: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jessica Lange

Review:

Edward Bloom was a man who used to narrate moments of his life adding them some fantastic characteristics. When he did it in his son's wedding, his son Will stops talking to him for years. Will lived in Paris, but a couple of years later, when his father got sick, he come back with his pregnant wife Josephine to visit him.
During the movie, Edward tell some stories specially to his daughter-in-law, who didn't know them until that moment. For example, Edward describes perfectly how he felt when he saw Sandra Templeton, his actual wife, for the first time. And how he tried to find her, crossing a lot of obstacles.
The movie is full of mystic and strange creatures, like werewolves, giants, siamese sisters and witches with glass eyes. It also show places that doesn't exist, like a small town in the middle of nowhere, very difficult to find, and with extremely nice people living in. And, of course, there is a circus which has the most incredible group of 'freaks' and acrobatic animals.
I love this movie because is different than the others. It's not the classic Hollywood movie, it's unique but still fun. I specially like Tim Burton's movies, he's very creative.


Student name: Sofía Santos
Class: 5h