1162. Y tu mama tambien

Y tu mama tambien
And Your Mom Too
2001
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

 

Well, I've been hankering for a comedy for awhile now. Unfortunately, this one contains teenaged boys. I don't like teenaged boys. Based on my experience in high school, I'm comfortable guessing that the feeling is mutual. Gross out humor isn't my thing, and boys are pretty gross. 

With their girlfriends on vacation, best friends Julio and Tenoch go to a wedding and meet the alluring Luisa. The actress who plays Luisa was actually the wicked stepmother in another List movie, Blancanieves. She also has an interesting take on maternalism here. After learning that her husband cheated on her, Luisa asks to accompany the boys on a trip to a beach they bragged about, not knowing that beach in question was made up by the boys in an effort to impress her. Ever seen the movie Bandits? It's kind of like that.

Just how young are these boys supposed to be anyway? I thought this was fairly disturbing, and the sex scenes were all excruciatingly awkward to watch. I suppose some will hail this as a brave exploration of teenage sexuality. Um, okay. That's not really territory I want to venture into, quite frankly. 

Also, I thought the narration was unnecessary. I think I've had about as much of Alfonso Cuaron as I can take.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

The ending scene was the first scene filmed.

Diego Luna wore a prosthetic penis to appear circumcised. 

1111. Gravity

Gravity
2013
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

I thought we could take a break from reviewing the older entries on the List with something that is pure Hollywood. I am guessing this is one of those additions the Listmakers threw in to give the impression this Book is a scooch more fun than it is, and they will probably remove it on the next round. I will cherish my Clooney moments while I can.

Dr. Ryan Stone is on her very first space mission to service the Hubble telescope. The NASA space shuttle is commanded by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski. A cloud of space debris strikes their shuttle and the telescope, which tears Dr. Stone from the shuttle and sends her tumbling into space, which begs the question: why the hell would anybody want to be an astronaut? Even the possibility of seeing Clooney in his space diaper couldn't entice me into a shuttle.

These kind of stories are always fun, where a disaster strikes and it is up to a resourceful protagonist to wriggle their way out of the situation. Of course, these plots are always a little more interesting if there's a realistic premise and execution. Not many space movies are scientifically accurate and this one is no exception. Still, it was nice to watch a movie with a space setting that wasn't a total mindfuck, like Solaris or 2001. And 90 minutes? I admire the restraint, especially coming from Cuaron.

The effects were outstanding and the actors were pretty, so it's a fairly engaging movie. Maybe not the most original entry on our List, but an impressive one nonetheless.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The opening scene is a single shot that lasts 12 minutes.

Sandra Bullock stayed in the rig for up to 10 hours a day.

The movie was 80% CGI. 

1104. Roma

Roma
2018
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

We must once again, shift aside our anger and bitterness over the wrongs Alfonso Cuaron has inflicted upon us, in order to judge this next movie fairly. The wrongs I am speaking of, naturally, are his bungling of the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. How can we do this, I hear you cry indignantly from behind your keyboards. Such things can't be forgotten, and certainly never forgiven! He ruined Dumbledore's character, you shout, and made them all wear Muggle clothing! Yes, believe me, I understand, but the List has called upon our vestiges of forgiveness before and we have gotten through it. I must ask you all to soldier on as bravely as you can, keep calm, and endure.

Roma follows the life of Cleo, a live in maid for an affluent family in Mexico City, 1970. Cleo becomes pregnant by her boyfriend Fermin, who has a less than ideal reaction to the news. While Cleo copes with her pregnancy, her employer Sofia attempts to hide her marital problems from the her children.

So this is the kind of story that I would probably love to explore in novel format, with somebody like Iris Murdoch or Virginia Woolf at the helm. As a movie, I was less enthused: it dragged in places and I can't really make a case for why it needed to be in black and white. It just seemed like a rather shallow attempt at making the film appear artier than it was.

That being said, I was still intrigued by the characters, although Cleo was certainly a tough nut to crack.  The ending was moving, but left me with one burning question: why did Cuaron give all of Ron's good lines to Hermione?

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

The delivery scene was done in one take.

Shot in chronological order.

Cuaron calls this the most essential movie of his career. That hurts, Cuaron.

1048. Children of Men

Children of Men
2006
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

I thought we would continue with our trend of apocalyptic films with Children of Men, which offers a much drearier, but much better take on the decline of humanity than Mad Max. Also I have a crush on Julianne Moore, so we need to talk about her as much as possible.

It's 2027 and society is crumbling due to an infertility crisis. Since the UK is one of the few still functioning nations, they are being flooded by refugees seeking asylum from other war torn nations. Theo is a civil servant who is enlisted by his ex wife Julian to acquire papers for Kee, a young refugee.

It's actually odd how similar this film is to Mad Max. Both movies deify the pregnant female and have a hardened, sexy male lead who is desperately trying to defend her/them. Of course, I much prefer this film. Cuaron does so many interesting things with this story and I am now slightly embarrassed I only know him from Harry Potter. For example, never showing Theo touch a gun. Subtle, but says volumes about Theo's character.

The aesthetic was also very cool. London didn't even look that different than it does now, just slightly gloomier so the story was all the more chilling. With male sperm counts on the decline, perhaps this is our future! If it means following the leadership of Julianne Moore, I'm not too fussed.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

In the novel the infertility crisis is caused by the men, but in the movie, the women are infertile. Sure, throw us under the bus, Cuaron.

Almost every shot has an animal.

Michael Caine based his performance off of John Lennon.