QUICKIE: Mar adentro (Alejandro Amenabar, 2004)

Coming from Alejandro Amenabar, writer and director of Abre los ojos (original version of Vanilla Sky) is the true and utterly compelling story of Ramon Sampedro, a Spaniard who petitioned for 28 years for euthanasia after breaking his neck and becoming a quadriplegic.

Amenabar really has a knack for storytelling - his work always touches the very center of my heart in ways that no other does. Javier Bardem's outstanding performance as Sampedro is one that makes it seem as though he has gone through a life of quadriplegia himself.

Normally I opt to watch non-English films dubbed over, simply because while absorbing subtitles, I miss so much in the visuals that I feel I'm missing the intended experience completely. Mar adentro, however, sucked me in so deeply that I was able to follow everything closely.

The film is shot in Ireland, and the score reflects it, containing not only beauty all around, but also some bagpipe pieces that really capture the moments.

I highly recommend that anyone and everyone make some time for Mar adentro.

REVIEW: Last Days (Gus Van Sant, 2005)

I'm not positive why this couldn't simply call itself a movie about Cobain. Instead it's dedicated to him, inspired by him, blah blah blah... Van Sant did this with Elephant also... Oh no, its not about Columbine, even though it looks identical. It's merely inspired by the events. I'll assume it's a legal issue.

As for the film itself, its what I would call a visual masterpiece. It could be shown in an art gallery alongside the works of Van Gogh, Bosch, Renoir, Klimpt and Rothko. The compositions are beautiful, and they keep the silence of the film bearable.

When it comes to story and characters, there isn't much, and we as the audience have to fill in a lot of blanks. If someone watched this without knowing who Kurt Cobain was, they would most likely suffer from severe boredom because there is practically no direct insight into this character at all - everything is implied with multiple possible meanings.

The meanings I took away from the film were impressive, and the images will definitely stick with me. One thing I like about movies is when their titles are mentioned, a flood of imagery comes to my mind - and with Last Days, there is more than plenty to feed that flood. Oh, and Ricky Jay has a small role - always a plus.