brazil | the m0vie blog

422. Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here) (#228)

Posted on June 7, 2025 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week with special guest Ingrid Machado, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This week, Walter Salles’ Ainda Estou Aqui.

In 1970s Brazil, the Paiva family lives a charmed and tranquil existence. As the country around them slips into dictatorship, the family has managed to hold on to something close to normality. However, that peaceful life is suddenly and brutally shattered as the outside world comes crashing in.

At time of recording, it was ranked 228th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: "I'm Still Here", Andrew Quinn, brazil, cultural relevance, emotional depth, Fernanda Torres, imdb, ingird machado, Ingrid Machado, memory, military dictatorship, Movie, podcast, political issues, relevance, social commentary, The 250, trauma, Walter Salles | Leave a comment »

107. Cidade de Deus (City of God) (#20)

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and this week with special guest Aine O’Connor, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s Cidade de Deus.

Over three decades in the eponymous Brazilian slum, lives intersect and collide amid poverty and criminality. A young by named “Rocket” tries to navigate – and account for – the fickle winds of chance in a turbulent urban environment.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 20th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: aine o'connor, brazil, Cidade de Deus, City of God, Fernando Meirelles, latin america, olympics, rio, The 250 | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Rio 2

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Darren

Rio 2 is a solidly-constructed sequel. It lacks the emotional heft that has come to distinguish most of the more memorable family films. Instead, it opts for a constant barrage of music and colour to keep the young audience engaged. Nothing ever lingers too long, with a set piece or a musical number sure to kick off within a scene or two. There’s nothing wrong with this approach – Rio 2 is a perfectly enjoyable piece of family film.

At the same time, it never slows itself down (or even tones itself down) long enough for use to invest in the characters. There is always something happening, which means that our characters never seem to catch their breath. Given the movie’s story touches on heavy themes like connecting with one’s roots, cultural identity, and environmentalism, there is a sense that these ideas might work better if given room to breath a bit.

Still, the result is engaging and diverting, if not entirely satisfying.

All the way to Rio…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Amazon, Birds, blue sky animation, brazil, environmentalism, film, Fox, Movie, review, rio, rio 2 | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Zero Theorem

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.

The Zero Theorem is a mess. Of course, this isn’t a surprise. Part of the charm of Terry Gilliam is the way that the director seems to wallow in chaos and disorder – dysfunction and mess are two of his calling cards as a director. However, The Zero Theorem often feels more like a scrapbook of half-composed ideas than a finished film, packed with some interesting ideas and wonderful visuals, blended to a story and script that lack any real subtlety or nuance or insight.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brazil, dystopia, Movie, non-review review, oppression, review, terry gilliam, the zero theorem | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Summer in February

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Darren

Summer in February is a lazy and contrived piece of pretentious twaddle. Exploring the true story of a colony of artists living off the coast of England in the early years of the twentieth century, it never offers anything more than a fleeting sketch of its characters and the world they inhabit. Benjamin Wallfisch’s powerhouse period score does a lot of heavy lifting, but it can’t do anything to keep the movie afloat. At one point, early in the film, artist AJ Munnings settles a hefty bar tab with an improvised drawing on the back of a bill. This film feels like it would be hard-pressed to pay for a glass of tap water.

Ride away from the cinema! Away!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bbc, brazil, Danny Welbeck, dominic cooper, england, february, film, Gary Lineker, Hattie Morahan, Laura Knight, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Movie, Nicholas Farrell, non-review review, review, Roy Hodgson, Summer in February, United States | 4 Comments »

Best Indecision Ever! Movie Reviewers & Fear of Absolutes…

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Darren

I had the pleasure of catching Midnight in Paris at the weekend, and I liked it. I really liked it. I confessed in my review that I thought it was Woody Allen’s best film of the past decade, and – as I left the cinema – I found myself wondering if perhaps it was the best of Allen’s films that I’ve seen. I’ll freely concede that I have yet to work my way through the director’s extensive filmography, but I have been a lot of his more famous and celebrated films like Annie Hall or Manhattan. Still, I feel reluctant to say that, which is admittedly quite strange. I am a movie reviewer (or, if you’ll allow me a hint of pretension, a “critic”) why am I so scared of superlatives?

Simply the best?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Allen, Annie Hall, best, brazil, criticism, film, Manhattan, Midnight in Paris, paris, praise, review, reviews, Woody Allen | 4 Comments »

Desert Island Discs

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Darren

The ever wonderful Andy over at Fandango Groovers has put together a rather excellent little project among film bloggers where we’re all essentially playing ‘desert island discs’. For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, it sees the person in question stranded on a desert island somewhere with only a handful of items – in this case films. Each person will then choose their own eight films that will presumably see them through the rest of their lives in something resembling tranquility. Of course, the kicker is if we arrive on the island and there’s no DVD player.