These are the premieres that hit the theaters this February 14:
Por Philipp Engel
On the Rocks (2020), the previous and already misunderstood film by Sofia Coppola in these parts, ended with Rashida Jones, who had spent the entire film in jealousy, accepting a Cartier brand wristwatch from her husband as a desolate capitulation. In this authorized biography of Priscilla Presley, the King of Rock gives the aforementioned, played by a Cailee Spaeny in porcelain doll mode, another luxury watch – now Bulova brand – before her arrival at a Graceland rebuilt for the occasion. Symmetry, it is not in vain that Sofia Coppola’s films are a network of her obsessions, starting with those cages as golden as Versailles (or luxury hotels in Tokyo or Los Angeles), in which one breathes a chic tedium that can become unbreathable in more modest and repressive environments such as those of The Virgin Suicides or The Seduction.
Priscilla synthesizes both extremes, since the Elvis composed by Jacob Elordi, antithesis of the carnal Austin Butler in Baz Luhrmann’s lavish film, is shown as a self-absorbed and superstitious redneck, who alternates the Bible with yoga books, while manipulating, neglecting and he confines that teenage bride to Graceland, modeled at his whim solely to make her an official partner and mother of his only daughter: the now deceased Lisa-Marie, who opposed this “vengeful” film in which not a single song plays. by Presley. That doesn’t matter either, since the exquisite and overwhelming musical selection, again by Thomas Mars (singer of Phoenix and Sofía’s husband), once again makes the difference with classics “from yesterday and today” like Baby, I Love you, sung by the Ramones, or How You Satisfy Me?, by Spectrum. It is not a perfect film: Elordi paradoxically does not measure up, he goes too far as anticlimactic (in the end the doll was him), and the difference in height with the empowered Spaeney (twice the real one) ends up seeming like an involuntary gag. But, beneath the lavish photography of Philippe LeSourd and the trademark pop baroqueism of the house, beats a story bathed in a genuinely painful, even abyssal, melancholy. Sofia is unique in serving poisoned cocktails: as a Valentine’s gift, this is ideal for breaking up with your partner.
By Salvador Llopart
Let’s say his name is César (Hugo Silva) and her name is Teresa (Alexandra Jiménez), and they make up a couple in danger of imminent collapse. Let’s add between the two a real character, a famous rocker, for example, Coque Malla, and thus we enter the terrain of the sentimental triangle that marks the film. Where Coque, who has been César’s indestructible idol his entire life, even tattooing lyrics to his songs on his arm, has become Teresa’s one-night stand. That is the starting point of Looking for Coque, signed by debutants Bellón and Caldillo; debutants in the feature film, although veterans in the short with a famous person in it, as suggested by their previous Una noche con Juan Diego Botto or Cariño, I have fucked Bunbury. Now they face a strange form of romantic comedy, marked by flashes of verbal genius, also crossed by undercurrents of melancholy.
A proposal of ironic romanticism should be added, where César/Silva and Teresa/Jiménez, as a couple, get tangled in unexpected, crazy, absurd situations that make you laugh, even though something as serious as the couple’s trust is at stake. Questioned for a specific infidelity. Hugo Silva creates a character as detestable in his closedness as he is adorable in his honesty; a complex combination that the actor defends with passion, as Alexandra Jiménez also puts self-sacrificing passion into this unfaithful Teresa, but, nevertheless, in love with her. Longing for forgiveness.
This is not a simple film, no, where humor dissolves the most complex situations with a smile. Looking for Coque is all about the couple, with good-natured Coque flying over, rather than intervening, between them. The two of them talk and talk without ever being silent. His constant presence, without respite or pause, adds to this romantic comedy sustained by highly effective verbal engineering an air of witticism that does not contribute to the final balance.
Por P. Engel
The life of Bob Marley, since he was shot in 1976 and went into exile in Great Britain, where he recorded Exodus and was diagnosed with cancer. Although key figures such as Coxsone Dodd or Lee Perry briefly appear in the flashbacks, it remains a conventional biopic, correctly interpreted and set, that does not capture the reggae fever, even omitting it in the most epic moments, replacing it with cheap techno. A far cry from Fall Who Falls (1972), the great classic about the country with the most musical talent per square meter.
By S. Llopart
More than the usual epic, the youthful adventure dominates here. It is located on the outskirts of the Marvel universe, where Spider-man lives. The spider powers confront here the power of premonition, knowing what is going to happen. There are slaps, helicopters that explode and escapes at every car. The usual. Textbook competent. Paved, too. The beginning of the adventures of a group of super heroic teenage girls willing to distribute firewood (juvenile). More will come. like the subway
By S. Llopart
There are timely movies, opportunistic movies, and then there’s Couples Therapy, which opens today, Valentine’s Day. He looks for his popular face in the meeting between the singer-songwriters Rozalén and Marwán, who talk about their things in the corners of the footage – little – that the supposed documentary leaves them. The topic, to generalize, is the love of a couple and how to avoid heartbreak. But in reality it sells us the so-called Focused Therapy of Emotions (TFE), another psychological technique. The result is one less film.
By Jordi Batlle Caminal
A film to which you must go armed with a rosary and missal instead of popcorn, Birth glosses the figure of Andrés Kim Dae-geon, the first Korean Catholic priest, executed by beheading in 1846 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1984. It is a luxurious work, formally appreciable, with the air of an epic blockbuster and a lot, a lot of geographical coverage, as well as abundant historical information. But very long and dramatically weak.
Por P. Engel
While waiting for the premiere of Dragonkeeper, the great animated co-production between Spain and China, this product arrives, arising from a television series, brand Fantawild, another of the hundreds of studios dedicated to animation in the Asian giant. It’s something like if Kung Fu Panda wanted to be Avengers: Endgame, and ended up with a past Masha and the Bear: a crescendo of pyrotechnic and hyperbolic action, without much sense, soul, or humor. My seven-year-old daughter thought it was “chepe-chepe.”
