I hope you meant "you too"... I hope to see more than two of us! Christian, Rod, and Jeff are, of course, required to be in attendance. I'd love to see this kick off the festival movie nights with a bang!

kypade, I'm sure it will be great. The reviews were dazzling.

Just got my hands on Little Princess today!

YAY

I kind of like the actor who plays Captain Crewe.

Darn all these identical avatars!!!!!

I will not have a chance to watch the movie til late tonight (techincally tomorrow).

But I will discuss the it tomorrow.

Allll by myself if I have to

Well, I just finished watching it. No spoilers here... I am late for an opening night of a play! It shouldn't run too long and I will technically be back tonight .

As for the film? Great ending. I don't want to reveal too much... not even a hint! Nice, kypade.

Look for a review later tonight.

EDIT -

I had a pretty horrible night. I don't need/want to get into it and am just going to go to bed. I'm sorry, but the review will need to wait until tomorrow. What a mess.

*spoilers*

Ok, so, did they get his 200,000 (the Italian estate) or did they get a whole 450,000? I enjoyed this flick alot, it was very cute, and the twists were fun, but I can't figure out if the exiled politician was in on it, or not. Like, was that check ever going to be able to be cashed?

This movie felt a little bit Usual Suspects for me in its twist at the end, but it was alot funner and took itself alot less seriously, and for that I really enjoyed it. The entire time I said to myself, everyone is in on this plot...everyone. I just couldn't figure out how until the end, so that was very good. The ultimate pull is not that Jaun is cheated, but that he is doing the cheating, but that he's doing it based on inside knowledge from Valeria of how marcos would respond to meeting him in a convenient store. And also, that he looks like a sympathetic guy, heh.

It was fun, not my favorite, but I definately think for people that enjoy heists and cons, this one does a very good job of staying just a touch away from one's expectations of how it will pan out. As I said, I couldn't exactly figure out how everyone was tied in, but knew they were, and that's a pleasing mystery to try and figure out. Like wait a minute....who is tricking who here?

Basically, the youngest brother didn't know, and the sister designed the whole thing in order to get the inheritance she deserved and also so that their brother would know the truth, right?

Hmmm, I actually don't have all that much to say but I did enjoy it. Watching the characters trying to outsmart each other and figuring out who was doing what was fun, but I especially enjoyed the scenes where they are playing out their tricks.

I didn'tm quite think it was great but still very solid.

B

So much for variety being the spice of life.

Spoilers will follow -

An otherwise mediocre film manages to be one of the more fun outings I've had recently. The best part of the film, of course, is the twist ending. We finally get the payoff of knowing just who was playing who. Perhaps that is why Nine Queens is so much fun - we can't be sure if Marcos is scamming Juan, or if it is the other way around. Juan keeps a low profile through much of the film, and carefully reveals clues to the audience that assert his skill - note the elevator scam, which even surprises Marcos - but at the same time comes across as amateurish and desperate, with the focus on his father's troubles and his financial woes. Of course, this is only distraction from his true plans. In retrospect, it seems almost obvious that the heist is being pulled by Juan instead of Marcos, as we are given all the reason to believe that Marcos - the skilled professional who even "saved" Juan from arrest - is truly the con artist, planning to rob Juan of the money he is using to bail his father out of jail. Despite the number of clues left behind, I was thoroughly surprised and satisfied with the ending. There are other aspects of the film worthy of note, such as the moment in which Marcos, educating the man that would later scam him out of over $200,000, tells Juan that everyone is a criminal. We see an interesting series of shots of people committing all sorts of crimes, conning strangers. This is perhaps the most subtle, yet significant "clue" about Juan and serves as interesting social commentary - perhaps we are all a criminal at heart, at least in the abstract. This deserves the attention of those looking for a fun time out - Nine Queens is well-done and diverting, but not afraid to pose interesting questions.

Grade B

I'm so excited, have you not seen this version before? It has a very different interpretation of the story. I admit it gets a little more Hollywood-ized at some points but I think its probably my favorite of the three versions I've seen...

I've suddenly realized I am a huge fan of Cuaron, so I don't see myself missing out on this. Two of this films are in my top 100 and the other I have seen was almost good enough -

Y Tu Mama Tambien - A - the visual flare for which Cuaron is noted is here along with a fantastic performance from Maribel Verdu (Lisa, who is struggling with her husband's infidelity and *spoilers* terminal cancer */spoilers*. Of course, "the boys", Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, deliever breakthrough performances. This film and Amores Perros, two great hits, certainly catapulted Bernal to stardom and Luna has since gone on to work with directors like Spielberg.

Great Expectations - A- - I can't begin to profess my love for this film. Although received with mediocre reviews and generally passed over by *everyone*, I'm a huge fan of this romantic update. Hawke is above average and Paltrow stunning... other performances from De Niro, Chris Cooper, and the fantastic Anne Bancroft are worthy of note as well. The script is perhaps the weakest point of GE, but nonetheless romantic and touching. In my opinion, the cinematography here is E.L.'s best work, and the pop-score so wonderfully complements the film. Of course, being filmed in the town where I grew up always helps to add a bit of nostalgia.

Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban - A- - The best Potter film to date. I think this film best captures the spirit of Hogwarts and the teenager characters. The score from Williams is superb and Cuaron literally makes magic with the budget granted to him. I can't wait to see how he has directed Children of Men, which looks to be an equally pleasing blockbuster.

So, yeah, I sort of think he is great.

its been too long since ive seen nine queens, but it was remade as criminal, in english, and i'm pretty familiar with that...obviously, i cant be sure unless i rewatched it, but i remember distinctly having the same problem with the original as i did with the remake. that problem, of course, being that the ending makes no sense. not like, i didnt get it, but that its just one huge plot hole after another, and basically negates everything that comes before it. plus, the film is definitely not fair to the viewer (well, the remake isnt anyway), because of stuff like the trainee criminal being alone with the sister and showing us no hint that anything is up...there's no way that if given a chance to be alone with someone, that most of the time you have to pretend you dont know, you'd make small-talk and act like yr not a couple. yknow? but mostly, i think the ending is just terribly written and turns what was an enjoyable film, if only for fluff reasons, into a bunch of nonsense. its possible that nine queens ends differently than the remake and i just misunderstood it the first and only time i watched it, i guess. should have tried to get my hands on it for the weekend, but i've been outta town anyway and doubt i couldve gotten to it.

Zach...you like Prisoner of Azkaban the best as well? Yay!

Slightly off topic, but just wanted to mention that this is looking like a very good year for Spanish-speaking, and especially Mexican directors.

Babel, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, and Volver all seem like they will end amond the year's most acclaimed movies.

I think at least 3 of them will end up in the top 10 best reviewed movies of the year.

Was the Nine Queens remake the one with John C. Reilly?

I kind of agree with you there, but its a problem most heist movies suffer from. What was the remake?

Basically, I can see little hints now. The sister said she was dating someone for a year, and most importantly, that during the scene were the old conman is throwing up Marcos asks Juan if he's ever heard of the politician going into exile. I guess we're supposed to recgnize from that small moment that everyone knows Marcos isn't up to snuff on reading the morning papers. But it wasn't quite enough for me. I agree with you that part of the fun of a good caper is the ambiguity of the hints, not their misplacement. Like, small moments where someone does something that you ctach and question, rather than those moments being intentionally acted out by one player but we're supposed to guess they were designed by the other. Basically, this whole movie pends on the fact that the sister knows everything about her brother, and sets up the entire thing knowing her brother will fall for a novice in a convenient store, knowing the brother has these friends of his he can spontaneously call and "arrange it," to convince the green hand to become his partner, and knowing that he would give up the inheritance he screwed them over for in this particular plot. Also, knowing that once he lost the fakes he would get the real ones (interestingly enough the same couple on the motorcycle is part of Marcos arrangement earlier on, which leads us to believe he is still working for him, not for Jaun, later on).

Eh, I still enjoyed it, it had a quick pace and didn't drag, so I don't want to sound overly critical when it was still pleasant but not something to write home about.


BTW, I can't wait for Babel and Volver!

I rented The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro) to watch it tonight. Anyone else seen it?

Criminal was the remake with John C. Reilly and Diego Luna.

Yeah... both had problems but I liked Nine QUeens more. I guess since I saw Criminal first, I was more involved with the overall "play."

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[align=right][font=Georgia] ... To An Enchanted Engagement! [/font]

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On Friday, October 27th, World of KJ is proud to present another film night, featuring acclaimed Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron's celebrated fantasy film, A Little Princess. We cordially invite you to join us in a night in celebration of the imagination. Hosted by KJ's Jeff S. (RougeONE)

Also coming this weekend...

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[font=Century Gothic] Discussion, Reviews, and more of Almodovar's 1996 gem as well as other films! Not to be missed![/font]

Yikes, i'm a little behind with this

I'll try and catch a couple of films over the weekend, and also find time to comment on Jeff's 'review' of Bad Education

"ALL LITTLE GIRLS ARE PRINCESSES!!! DIDN'T YOUR DADDY TELL YOU THAT, MISS MINCHIN??!!"

Sorry, got carried away.

Hmmm, I actually completely forgot that I HAVE seen Little Princess. Years ago.

Of course about the only thing I remember about it now is the scene that um takes place in between buildings. or something like that. I did like it back when i watched it. (as a tiny child). I'd have to see it again to fully comment on it now that i am so old.

Jeff, anyone: Any thoughts on A Little Princess?

I'm sorry. I have it right here next to me and totally slept through all of yesterday. I will watch it today, very soon, in the afternoon.