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Nada +, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are:  Cuba
wiki

What We Watched:



Nada +Overview:
Carla, a postal worker in Havana, fulfills her romantic longings by opening letters and rewriting them into passionate prose before sending them out again to their intended recipients. After her co-worker Cesar catches her, Carla turns her amorous talents on him.

Beautifully filmed in black and white with accents of brilliant color, Cuba's 2003 Oscar entry combines visual humor, poetry, satire of Cuban bureaucracy and a lighthearted love story.

My Thoughts:
A lovely and fun movie, Nada+ has been compared by others to the French film .  I can see the comparison - both feature imaginative young women who alleviate the loneliness of their lives by helping others anonymously - and though is by far the better film, Nada+ was also a good watch.  The two films came out the same year, so I don't think it can be said that one was influenced by the other. 

Nada+ makes the most of its low budget with clever camera shots and techniques.  Most of the film is black-and-white, but strategic bursts of color enhance the film - to me it seemed like the b&w emphasized the ordinariness of life, while the color enhanced the little things that brought the characters pleasure and a break from tedium.  The camera moves into unique shots, such as a first-person shot when Carla is called into the boss's office - giving that moment the feel of dread one gets in such a moment.  There are also tiny bits of animation and animation-style shots that give the film a unique look.

Carla is suitably neurotic, as one might expect from someone who steals letters and rewrites them, but she's also very likable and sympathetic.  If Cesar seemed flat at first, the entire film is from Carla's perspective and in the beginning she doesn't know him.  He's the handsome co-worker she's always noticed but never spoken to.  The boss and her underling were very over-the-top in performance and character, but it suits the style of filming and worked well here (and they reminded me of the principal in Casi Casi). 

It was good movie and I'd recommend it for anyone who enjoys independent films.

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on February 12th, 2012)

Cool it Carol, a review by Jimmy

Title: Cool it Carol (1970)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Pete Walker
Rating: NR
Length: 1h42
Video: Widescreen
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Robin Askwith
Janet Lynn
Jess Conrad
Derek Aylward
Kenneth Hendel

Plot:
Two teenagers leave home for London and instead of finding streets paved with gold, they find prostitution, drugs, rip-offs and vice. Based on a true story, colorfully reported in a British newspaper at the time, this sex film is now highly regarded and can be seen as a true reflectionof the change in moral standarts that arrived with the seventies.


As written in the synopsis this is the story of two teenagers from the british countryside seeking adventure in the big city. Carol won a beauty contest and count on this fact to succeed in London. Obviously things do not go as planned when they find themselves empty handed. The synopsis suggests that it is a drama with a "writing for television" vibes, although this is not the case and the whole is rather amusing due to the naivety of the two protagonists. Robin Askwith gives the kind of performance you expect from him (if you enjoyed the Confessions of ... serie you will also appreciate him here). Janet Lynn is excellent in the title role, she plays the naive unashamed young girl in a perfectly credible way. This film has its share of nudity (as usual Robin Askwith presents his backside, which is always interesting for the ladies) which is not a surprise ... the contrary would have been. The story don't go in the direction that one might think and our players will do pretty well instead.

Rating :

(From The Movies From Within My Lifetime on March 23rd, 2011)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

2.06 The Mask (1996-01-18)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Nancy Merritt Bell (Story By), Michael McKinley (Story By), Jeff King (Story By), Jeff King (Screenwriter)
Director: David Warry-Smith
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), David Marciano (Detective Ray Vecchio), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Daniel Kash (Detective Louis Gardino), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Catherine Bruhier (Elaine), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Lee Purcell (Louise St. Laurent), Rodney A. Grant (Eric), Denise Virieux (Michelle Duchamps), Nathaniel Arcand (David Kitikmeot), Deborah Tennant (Daphne Kelly), Lindsay Merrithew (John Robinson), Chris Earle (Rental Clerk), Curtis Jonnie (Albert), Ellen Sylvester (Victoria), Tracy Bomberry (Patty), Nancy Bomberry (Sara), Sam Moses (Mr. Mustafi), Helen Richmond (Ms. Krezjapalov)

A boring episode with hardly any fun in it.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on August 12th, 2009)