Paprika- japanese anime about dreams... very fluid even with today's technology in movie-making, animation still appears effortless and graceful when presenting a topic like dreams... the cartoon -look made it easier to identify (simple line concepts).. transition from reality to dream is hard to tell, made it more playful... imaginative... draw what's on your mind with ease and not worry about special effects, stunt men, blue screens, safety, overpaid actors etc... if you can think it you can draw it!
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)- in spanish with english subtitles, a journey movie both literal and metaphorical... beautifully shot all around south America (perfect for my independent spanish review)... it showed an aspect of the socialist guerilla leader "Che" Guevara (assasinated by Castro's men and the U.S.'s CIA)... the plot/structure is traveling around South America in a motorcycle for months (Romantic), the conflicts/antagonist: internal- the self, physical illness, social issues such as poverty, unfair wages, workers' rights, class system, diplomacy or lack of... Nature and its elements (estaciones)... inspirational!
Vincent and Theo (1990) - an artsy movie about Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo, who was Van Gogh's earliest patron and documentor (kept the letters, kept his paintings and organized them into an exhibit, sold them etc)... the actor really portrayed the crazy Van Gogh- I don't know how accurate this is but overall a great supplement to Irving Stone's biographical fiction of Van Gogh in Lust for Life... In art history classes, I learned that Vincent was "off" or on the "mark" spiritually/mystically with his "vision" but I didn't imagine him as super crazy like in this movie... you have to like Van Gogh and his work to watch this movie because at times the transition and plot is rough, it's just the life of Van Gogh and his turmoils...
Bitter Sugar- another spanish flick about love and revolution in Cuba
Harry Potter 5- it reminded me of what's happening lately setting me up for the book, I'm going to buy tomorrow... I heard they cut alot from the book, but I think they covered the gist. Book #5 was the biggest out of the collection.
La Vie en Rose- A French flick about the singer/legend Edith Piaf (the little sparrow)- being a sickly child, praying to Theresa, living in a bordella, mothered by a prostitute, own mother abandoned her for her singing career, working in a circus, singing to get money, losing a child, doing drugs, drinking, fainting on stage, affair with boxer, life=singing etc; The Voice of Paris.