ralch
13Mar13
Noooooo! (<-O) ¿¡Cómo va a serrrrrrrrrrrr?!
Wall
Displaying wall posts 1 - 30 of 32 in total
Michael Harbour
14Apr13
A regional beauty pageant contestant becomes, through sheer happenstance, a pawn in the Mexican drug wars. By staying with her point of view, the film very effectively conveys her helplessness and the confusion of the world she became a part of. The movie is so dispassionate, however, that I didn't really care about what was happening.
Daniella
13Mar13
Una muy buena idea terriblemente ejecutada. Sólo queda decir: QUE MALA MISS BALA!!!
Carlos Filipe Freitas
26Nov12
Reveals a smart plot within a clumsy style. Review and rating: http://alwayswatchgoodmovies.blogspot.com/2012/05/miss-bala-2011.html
micah van hove and 2 others like this
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The Future Mr. Gittes
25Nov12
I might give Holy Motors the edge right now, but yeah, this film is the real deal. Needs more love.
Cani
20Jun12
It's refreshing to see a young filmmaker who understands his influences. The shootouts are the most Bressonian since L'Argent
Kilgore Trout likes this
msmichel
29May12
Fascinating on target picture from director Naranjo (Drama/Mex) looking at the state of modern Mexico's lawlessness and moral bankruptcy. A young girl with visions of a beauty queen life inadverantly finds herself drawn into the struggle between drug runners, corrupt police, the dea and the military machine as she becomes a pawn to all. Young Sigman is a natural talent here and we share her journey intimately. Aces.
James and Kilgore Trout like this
Seen Said
11May12
An entirely terrifying, fully realized portrait of a politically ruined country's hopes and fears. In a way that is both mystifying and accessible, present-day Mexico's drug cartel rulership is presented using a smart, gender-conscious twist on its cultural symbolism.
Kilgore Trout and Neither/Nor like this
ramosbarajas
7May12
Visually the film is perfect. The cinematography achieves what many other films try to do and fail. The long takes and tracking shots establish a voyeuristic look into war that is unforgiving. That said the second half is weaker than the first. It lingers too much and can be complicated at times. The ambiguous ending however is very fitting seeing that the war on drugs being fought in Mexico continues to rage
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ramosbarajas
7May12
Overall I look forward to seeing the director's other work. Stephanie Sigman deserves a lot of credit for her performance of a character that, quite frankly, is underwritten in the screenplay.
sea-of-ether
13Apr12
Loosely based on a true story. I really felt for the main character, Laura, you just really want her to escape and go back to living a normal life yet that's not a possibility.
Nicola Altieri
11Apr12
Il Drive messicano, peccato solo per qualche tempo ed indugio marcatamente "festivaliero"
Paolo Simeone
25Mar12
Bravo Naranjo. Film teso, disperato, girato assai bene e con una protagonista che val da sola l'acquisto del biglietto.
Phil Worfel
18Mar12
Not really sure what the director was going for here. Much of the film is focused on the back of the actors heads or letting the action happen off screen. Both great techniques but here they are used ad nauseum. I was ready to feel the terror and the tragedy of the characters circumstance but instead found her to be a lump of clay that fidgeted with explosions went off. Really disappointing given all the praise.
Mouad Lemoudden
16Feb12
it aim to be aesthetically calm and authentic, trying to have an oppressive atmosphere in which the tension is established through remarkable car sequences and shooting. the main problem is the writing; Laura, the lead, is very under-worked on papers and lacks credibility. the film ends in an inexplicable manner, leaving room for disappointment.
Heikan
8Feb12
Mi principal queja con la película es que le falta un final sólido. Lo mismo se puede decir de la presidencia de Calderón y de su guerra con... ooh, I get it. Fuera de mamadas, muy buena película.
Manuel Molina and ramosbarajas like this
Barry Gilbert
30Jan12
A parable of the Mexican drug war, Scarface channeled by the Dardenne Brothers. Engaging and bleak it has the propulsive logic of a world in which it occurs to noone to question the order of things - they're all too busy just trying to survive. Well shot and acted, I was also reminded of the paucity of stories have reached America about one of the most dramatic sagas of our time. Guess it's still in the backyard...
Rio Johan
30Jan12
Yes, the film is stylish, than substantial. And of course, if you do aware with the film premise, I don't think it is supposed to be a portrayal of reality. It's not supposed to be a kind of life like film, I think. But Gerardo Naranjo has his sense of style to put this unusual story feels so tense and gripping.
Nikyatu
21Jan12
I am a fan of Naranjo's: not his latest film. I can't accurately articulate WHY said film did not resonate with me and I found this reviewer's critique quite apt: "these ideas are so embedded in a dizzying narrative that's conveyed by ultra-immersive technique that they register more like stray bullets that seem to be coming at you from every direction--they have impact, sure, but you're not exactly tracking them.'
Matt Richards
18Jan12
So this new one looks at poverty and fame via a beautiful young woman who dreams of becoming a beauty queen but instead gets caught up in a Mexican gang war. Some exception looking shots but on the whole full of motivation holes and way too unbelievable. Mexico's Academy award submission lacks the sass of Naranjo's last flick Voy a Explotar (I'm Gonna Explode). 3 stars
suddenmoves
23Oct11
Style over substance at best, pointless, misgynatic trash at worst, I really don't get why this is getting the praise it is.
Nikyatu likes this
VENIMOS LOS JODIMOS Y NOS FUIMOS
10Oct11
Laura Guerrero (Sthepanie Sigman), una joven Tijuanense de 23 años de edad quién tiene la ilusión de participar en un concurso de belleza local, presencia de manera fortuita un sangriento ajuste de cuentas entre carteles del narcotrafico. Tras el hecho, es obligada contra su voluntad a unirse a una de las celulas del crimen organizado bajo las ordenes del poderoso capo de la droga Lino Valdez (Noe Hernandez) quién utiliza su influencia para convertir a Laura en la reina de la belleza de su estado para servir a sus propositos, lo que hace que la tranquila vida de Laura de un dramático giro de 180° al hundirse en un abismo de corrupción y violencia. Tomando lejanamente como punto de partida algunos hechos reales, este interesante trabajo de Gerardo Naranjo se quiere una cruda reflexión sobre las terribles consecuencias de la actual guerra contra el narcotrafico en el norte del país; la primera parte del film es estupenda, sin embargo, la contundencia del discurso se diluye bastante durante la segunda mitad gracias al limitado alcance de un guión obvio y de a ratos efectista (del cual, hay que señalar que, afortunadamente y a diferencia de otras cintas recientes sobre el tema (y de la "sabia" opinión de los productores Diego Luna y Gael García Bernal), casi no cae en el ya bastante sobado cliché ideológico de "estaríamos mejor con López Obrador". A pesar de sus errores, la película es muy recomendable gracias a la eficacia de una puesta en escena de gran habilidad y perfección técnica (notable el estilizado trabajo del fotografo Mátyás Erdély), pero sobre todo, por la actuación de Sthepanie Sigman (una actriz a tomar en cuenta), quién construye un personaje lleno de complejidad, tan vulnerable como verosímil. Bajo los auspicios de la Twentieth Century Fox y gracias a su buen desempeño en festivales internacionales, la cinta ha gozado de una más o menos correcta distribución y éxito de taquilla, lo que no ha dejado de generar opiniones encontradas tanto de algunos sectores del público (quienes consideran bastante negativa la imagen del país manejada en el film), como de la critica especializada. Nominada para representar a México como mejor película extranjera en los premios Oscar de 2012.
Pouya G. Asadi
10Oct11
I am interviewing the illustrious Gerardo Naranjo tomorrow, who made the film Miss Baja. This is a gripping film based on the travesties of Mexico and the drug cartels that basically own the country.
Garry Eunson likes this
fakebook (Tom)
3Oct11
A world that is besieged by the lawlessness of narco-traffickers is pretty brutal, and this is a brutal, unflinching film about this reality. I found the script to be a bit unbelievable--not with respect to the demise of civil society and the corruption of power at all levels, but with respect to the credibility of the plot--but the film is powerful as a document of real social conditions, and also as a thriller.