Carlos Moreno Movies
- 1998
This Argentine dramatic anthology represents the second collaborative effort of Nicolas Saad, Mariano De Rosa, Salvador Roselli and Rodrigo Moreno, all graduates of Argentina's main film school, the Universidad del Cine (their first film together was the critically acclaimed Moebius). The four vignettes all take place in Buenos Aires during the state elections and offer unflinching and often unflattering looks at Argentine society as it prepares to enter the 21st century. The first episode "The Wish" centers on a poor country boy who finds success in the teeming city by participating in one of its many illegal operations. The second, "Life and Works," follows a band of Paraguayan construction workers as they try to reestablish a sense of cultural pride and community after meeting a woman whom one of them believes is the Virgin Mary. "Hard Times" follows a teenage outcast in his endeavors to romance an upper-class girl, and in "Comrades" the sound recordist of a campaigning politician finds himself unwittingly entangled in some shady business. Bad Times competed in the 1998 Turin Film Festival and was nominated for the Prize of the City of Torino. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pablo Vega, Daniel Valenzuela, (more)
In this beautifully mounted historical drama, Angelo Pardi (Olivier Martinez), an Italian soldier, is fleeing his country in 1832. After the fall of Napoleon, Austria is swooping down on Italy to take control of the nation, and like many patriots, Pardi is hoping to escape to France and fight for their freedom abroad rather than submit to Austrian rule. However, as Pardi discovers upon arival, an epidemic of cholera is sweeping the land, leaving death in its wake and causing most people to be fearful of strangers, who may well be infected. As he tries to outrun a trio of mercenaries who have been hired to take him back to Italy, he finds himself accused by a group of villagers of infecting their water supply. Trying to escape would-be captors on all sides and searching for refuge in a rainstorm, Pardi finds a house and takes shelter inside. Unknown to Pardi, Pauline (Juliette Binoche), the lady of the house, is at home, but to his pleasant surprise, she welcomes him cordially rather than sending him away. It seems that Pauline's husband is missing, and as she desperately wants to find him and Pardi needs to escape to friendlier circumstances, they travel together through the French countryside, hoping to avoid both the disease and the tragedy travelling in its wake. Reportedly the most expensive French production ever made at the time of its release, Le Hussard Sur Le Toit (released in the United States as The Horseman on the Roof) was nominated for ten Cesar Awards (the French Oscar); it won two, for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivier Martinez, Juliette Binoche, (more)
Ariel Dorfman's acclaimed play of the same name serves as the basis for Roman Polanski's drama, which depicts a politically and psychological complex battle of wills amongst three characters in an unnamed South American country. The trio in question is made up of Paulina Sigourney Weaver, her husband Gerardo Stuart Wilson, and Dr. Miranda Ben Kingsley, a seemingly friendly stranger who provided Gerardo with a ride home after a car breakdown. The trouble begins when Paulina claims to recognize Miranda's voice, and accuses him of being the unseen doctor who had subjected her to horrific torture during her days as a prisoner of the country's former government. Miranda, flabbergasted, denies any knowledge of such events, but Paulina is determined to have her revenge. The uncertain Gerardo finds himself caught in the middle, forced to decide if his wife is telling the truth or reacting irrationally due to her past trauma. The confrontation and shifts in power between the three inevitably raises issues of justice and revenge, especially in relationship to the punishment of war criminals. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, (more)
In this drama, a dying man makes a final, desperate bid to steal his ex-wife away from her new spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Imanol Arias, (more)
- 1992
- PG
When henpecked Harold Pigeon (Jeff Goldblum) becomes fed up with the bullying demands of his wife, Elizabeth (Mimi Rogers), he comes up with a plan to murder her and set himself free. However, when several attempts fail miserably, Harold lures his wife on a second honeymoon, where she inexplicably disappears. When the police suspect Harold for Elizabeth's disappearance, he must struggle to find his wife and clear his name. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Mimi Rogers, (more)
- 1989
This travel spoof finds two portly Brazilian teachers on a tour bus with their fellow passengers. The middle-aged women imagine what the lives of the travelers must be like, allowing for several sight gags and fantasy scenes. Included are a stereotypical Japanese tourist with a perpetual smile and a camera, a young French woman, an American couple, and a Brazilian left-wing intellectual. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mira Haar, Cristina Mutarelli, (more)
- 1986
In this Argentine comedy-drama, a lonely, aging and never-married woman lives all alone in her late father's musty mansion. One day she calls a plumber to fix a toilet. He is a bungler and nearly destroys her home, all the while making rather vulgar passes at her. She finds a certain charm in the braggadocio boob, and so when he tells her that he is going to enter a bicycle race, she offers to support his training. She then buys him a bike and lets him work out in her house. Things are well until a low-life buddy suggests that he sleep with the judge's wife to ensure a win. The young man tries, but simply cannot go through with the seduction. Unfortunately, the spinster, who returns home and finds them, doesn't know this and jealously gives him the boot. He then suffers more humiliation when he loses the race and slowly wobbles into the finish line. Fortunately, the forgiving woman is there to cheer him on. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Like boxes within boxes, this uncensored Argentine film on the perils of censorship shows what happens when the censor's cutting shears hang poised above the filmmaker and his supporters and cast. The film itself is academic and the acting somewhat shallow -- and it is about how a film became more academic than emotional when a director constantly thwarted emotive, "dangerous" scenes between his protagonists. As a result of the censorship in the story, the personal and financial lives of those involved in the film are also affected. But the question remains as to whether real-life censorship threats affected Poder de la Censura in the same way as the film in its story was affected. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Laplace, Fernanda Mistral, (more)
