Café Media

“The King’s Speech”: Full of Small Pleasures

cafeadmin@cafemediallc.com (Alejandro Riera) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:00:00 +0000

You know it’s Academy Awards season when a film about the British Royal Family hits the big screen. Last year, it was young Queen Victoria’s turn, and four years ago Dame Helen Mirren clobbered her competition for the Best Actress award for her outstanding performance as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Queen.” This year, King George VI enters the royal sweepstakes with director Tom Hooper’s and scriptwriter David Seidler’s extraordinary “The King’s Speech.” And, frankly, I don’t give a damn if its release was calculated to attract the attention of Academy voters as long as we get to see two sensational actors spar on the big screen aided and abetted by an equally fantastic cast.

A Very Dark Pas de Deux

cafeadmin@cafemediallc.com (Alejandro Riera) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:24:55 +0000

What is the price of perfection? How far would you go to reach it? Can it be reached? And what would you be willing to sacrifice in order to reach it? Your sanity? Such questions lie at the heart of Darren Aronofsky’s intense and nerve-wracking psychosexual horror film “Black Swan,” a film that redefines the concept of a rollercoaster ride by taking you inside the mind of a ballerina who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Don’t Take These Ladies For Granted

cafeadmin@cafemediallc.com (Alejandro Riera) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:06:49 +0000

There used to be a time, not so long ago, when Hollywood would give working class women their due on the big screen. It did not shy away from portraying them as strong, independent characters capable of taking on the big guys. These films –like “Norma Rae,” “Silkwood,” “Mask” and “Erin Brockovich”– were big box office and critical successes. Alas, today those portraits have been relegated, not to say segregated, to independent and foreign cinema. Hollywood would much rather have their women be brainless professionals chasing after boors like Gerald Butler in mediocre romantic comedies.

‘127 Hours’ Can Fly By Really Fast

cafeadmin@cafemediallc.com (Alejandro Riera) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:24:12 +0000

Aron Ralston is an adrenaline junkie. And, like any junkie, he is selfish and reckless.

At a moment’s notice, and without telling anyone, Aron will pack his backpack, fill up a bottle of water, pick up his car keys, load his BMX bike at the back of his four-wheel vehicle and drive to Utah’s Canyonland National Park. There, his ears plugged with his MP3’s headphones, he will bike up and down the park’s canyons, hills and mountains and even hike up the side of a canyon or two. He may fall down several times, scratching and bruising countless body parts. But he will pick himself up, laughing. Aron wouldn’t have it other way. Alone, in the Utah desert he is the happiest man alive. He is begging for trouble and trouble will come in the shape of an 800-pound boulder.