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When we watch a lot of films, it is natural to watch some very bad films. But what about a film that clearly proposes to be a pastiche of the already superficial and debatable 50SHADES OF GREY? The film 365 DAYS - a huge success at NETFLIX - is really a cinematographic product difficult to see, given the obviousness of its plot, scenes and ending. The great film critic from Rio Grande do Sul, Tuio Becker, once wrote a review about the movie LIPSTICK (with the Heminghway sisters) which was called "Boring, Bad and Moralist". I can paraphrase the great Tuio Becker to describe 365 DAYS.

Based on the first book in a trilogy written by Polish Blanka Lipinska (how can a woman write something so shallow about women?) and directed by a pair of Polish filmmakers (Barbara Bialowas and Tomasz Mandes), 365 DAYS tells an unbelievable story. Italian mobster Massimo Torricelli is having one of those normal conversations among members of the Mafia, about killing people in cold blood, when his father is shot by multiple shots, which also hit Massimo. There, he has a vison with a beautiful woman. He spent ten years trying to find her (including placing giant pictures with her face in his house (???). One day, when he arrived at an airport in Sicily, in his private jet (where he had a quick and violent sex with the stewardess), whom he meets: Laura, a Polish executive bored and distant from her boyfriend who constantly cheats on her. Massimo simply kidnaps the girl, imprisons her with him and gives her 365 for her to fall in love with him.

The film is a patchwork of the arguments of other works: GODFATHER, of course, removed all of Massimo's "existential dilemmas" in being a mobster. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, a fable recently adapted by Disney, where behind the monster is a tender and passionate being. And, of course, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, of whom he intends to be almost a copy, even in the form of a trilogy, but also in the origins of Massimo's brutality with women, justified by abuses he suffered in childhood. And finally, PRETTY WOMAN, in the repeated scenes in which Massimo takes Laura to designer stores to buy luxury clothes, while he is bored and continues to work in front of strangers. Of course, it never comes close to its cinematic models.

Worse than that, although it seems bold (there are sex scenes in abundance, but the actors' nudity is only allowed by the system) is in reality moralistic (Laura is called and treated as a prostitute for wearing a short dress). What about the scene in which Massimo, in order to convince Laura to have sex with him, handcuffs her in bed and makes her see another woman (who was on duty in the closet dressed as dominatrix) performing oral sex? Unbelievable!

Speaking of the script, it would be trying to explain a number of absolutely inexplicable things: no one (boyfriend, family, employees, authorities) went after Laura when she was simply abducted? In Massimo's companies, no one decided to oppose a kidnapping committed by the Owner just for fear of him? Couldn't those hundreds of people Laura had contact with on their travels rise up against a kidnapping of an executive? And what happened to the company that Laura presided when she disappeared?

It really is difficult to know what is worse in the film. Its ideology of justifying mistreatment of women (I have never seen a film treat women as objects like this), the idolatry of the script to unrestricted power and money, or the moralistic "end" (there will certainly be sequences).

Italian actor Michelle Morrone (seen in the great series IL PROCESSO) and Polish actress Anna Maria Sieklucka - quite bad, because they spend a lot of time making faces and mouths and sexual gymnastics - live the unbelievable pair of characters without any sense.

Of course, each person sees what they want and is free to like their favorite type of films. But facing the success of a (sub) product like 365 DAYS is sad. NETFLIX has about ten thousand films better than this one.

BATWOMAN has its pilot episode pre-released this week by CW, in which Australian actress Ruby Rose (of OITNB and JOHN WICK) makes her first appearance as BATWOMAN, BATMAN's successor. Batman has been missing from Gotham City for three years. The crime grew wildly. There is a special military force called The Ravens.

In this context, Kate Kane, Bruce Wayne's niece returns to Gotham City after years away because of a fight with her Father Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott). She is a former mariner, expelled from the military academy, a martial expert and homosexual.

Seeing the kidnapping of her crush (Policewoman Sophie Moore played by actress Meagan Tandy of PIRANHA 3 and UNSTOPABLE) by villain Alice (Rachel Scarsten of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY) she decides to assume the role of justice masquerade, like BATWOMAN.

The first of eight episodes already recorded by Channel CW (available on Amazon and ITunes) has all the shortcomings of the channel's juvenile productions, such as bad dialogues, exaggerated scenes and colorful looks that resembles a carnival show.

But part of BATMAN's enormous fascination shifts to his heiress, creating a high expectation to see what happens. The outcome of the first chapter is very interesting.

Of course, the protagonist's lesbian life - because of the modernity of the theme of inclusion - and the fact that a female superhero is the protagonist brings the show more interest.

Let's see how BATWOMAN faces her next challenges and villains.

Australian moviemaker Daggar-Nickson and actress and producer Olivia Wilde have decided to endow their film with a hardness and violence rarely seen in the movies, making their lack of production resources a quality, giving the film an almost documentary tone. The film is extremely dry, without any concession and full of scenes difficult to watch, given the crudity with which the camera reports the facts of the script.

This more than naturalistic option is clear in the process of deglamurization of the protagonist Sadie. Olivia Wilde is easy one of the most beautiful actresses of the current cinema. His work on TV series such as HOUSE (the unforgettable Doctor Thirteen) or VINYL or in films like LOVE THE COOPERS or COWBOYS AND ALIENS always brought one of the most beautiful faces on the screens. Here she is completely brutalized and stripped of all charm, living (very well) the main character, a woman suffered physically and morally for the very serious abuses she endured. Their routine is to live in cheap motels or almost empty homes, physically training to resist abuse (and attack abusers) or in the painful sessions of the abused women's support group.

There are numerous scenes that look like a punch in the stomach. All very well made and raw filmed, almost in a cruel way. But fully embedded in the unsorted narrative that the movie chose.

A "gun-movie", "a female Frank Castle", "the solitary avenger", "a deesperate fighter against crime" or "frighteningly real monsters" are expressions that are read in reviews of THE VIGILANT. They are all highly laudatory texts. No wonder, the film was one of the biggest hits of this year's SXSW.

THE VIGILANTE, although it is a film about a figure usually rejected (mainly by the mvie critics) to take justice in his (or her) own hands, it surpasses this barrier by the easy understanding that the victims of domestic abuses conquer in the present times. More than a wonderful film, VIGILANTE is an important movie to see.

THE ENEMY WITHIN is a new NBC espionage series that starts from the premise that the FBI claims that there are more than 100,000 foreign spies in the United States today living as Americans.

This frightening premise gives the series a character of rare timeliness and tension in the universe of TV. The extreme preoccupation with terrorism in the world gives another dimension to the plot that focuses on an exceptional CIA agent who was extorted by a terrorist and handed over the names of four colleagues. Their execution earned her the US treason accusation and four life sentences without parole in a maximum security prison.

Three years later, the terrorist attacks again and she is called by the FBI to help capture him. The protagonist is the American actress Jennifer Carpenter (DEXTER and the series LIMITLESS), living (very well) the tormented "traitor" Erica Shepard. Next to her was the great Morris Chestnut, from GOLIATH and ROSEWOOD.

In addition to Carpenter and Chestnut, Raza Jaffrey (LOST IN SPACE), Kelli Garner (The Dream Girl), Sophia Gennusa, Noah Mills, James Carpinello (BLACKLIST and GOTHAM) and Cassandra Freeman (LUKE CAGE, NETFLIX).

The two great elements of THE ENEMY WITHIN are the fear of terrorism and the lack of trustworthiness of people in our times. The characters' difficulty in establishing trusting relationships with each other (the fear of being betrayed or the person having a double agenda) make the stories very interesting to see.

Although the screenplays fall into some common traps of espionage movies (good guys are never shot in the shootings or FBI vans arrive everywhere in a matter of minutes) or clichés of the genre (the relationship of the protagonist conquering the FBI's tough agent), THE ENEMY WITHIN has a wealthy and dynamic production, avoiding any moment of boredoom to the viewer.

The series has not yet been scheduled for release in Brazil, but can be accessed on HULU and the NBC application on Amazon Prime. It is well worth it for anyone who enjoys spy movies.

The year was 1970. Porto Alegre had many street cinemas. The Baltimore Cinema on Osvaldo Aranha Avenue was huge, with about 800 or 1000 seats. Its screen was gigantic and curved. It was passing movies on the Cinerama system, a process that stretched the image horizontally so that it was of an absurd size.The great launch of the year was George Seaton's film AIRPORT, a pioneer of what would be the genre disaster film. The genre, enshrined in this decade brought together a dozen famous actors and put the characters in the face of a natural disaster or a terrible accident.Of course the bad guys were punished and the good guys survived. With a few exceptions. To have tears from the audience. Even the posters of the disaster films were the same with the cast photos below.AIRPORT was based on a best-seller by writer Arthur Hailey who had sold millions of copies worldwide and told the story of an airplane where an unemployed alcoholic makes insurance and decides to detonate a bomb on board.The cast had Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset (beautiful and gorgeous), Helen Hayes (Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), Mauren Stapleton, and many others.One of the best characters was maintenance technician Joe Patroni, played by a veteran George Kennedy. He saved everyone with his intelligence, knowledge, and especially ability to never give up.I've seen AIRPORT more than twenty times.

I've never been a fan of Melissa McCarthy. Even the most successful actress films, such as the series MIKE & MOLLY and GILMORE GIRLS, BRIDESMAIDS and SPY have always seemed to me uncreative and with a low mood, based almost exclusively on the protagonist's obesity.

For all this, there is no way not to be positively surprised at CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?, a drama about a failed biography writer who finds a dishonest way of trying to survive.

The actress has completely degranulated to live the great character Lee Israel, a resident of a very old building in Manhattan, who can not live with her craft of writing. Scorned by her agent (excellent work by Jane Curtin, of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE), Lee Israel goes on to sell memorabilia from other famous writers, "fabricating" entirely false personal letters.

His company is a homosexual alcoholic outsider experienced by the equally competent Richard E.Grant (African actor who was notable for works in movies like Robert Altman's GOSSFORD PARK and the series DOWNTON ABBEY and GAME OF THRONES).

The coexistence of the two underprivileged generates a number of dramatic situations, full of emotions and solidarity, from absolutely deprived people.

The British actress Dolly Wells, seen in THE DIARY OF BRIDGET JONES and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ZUMBIS also appears prominently.

Californian filmmaker Marielle Heller, 40, also an actress (A WALK AMONG TOMBSTONES with Liam Neeson) does a great job, leading the story with great skill.

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? is a typical independent American film, very suitable for those who are interested in an unusual story about people in economic and emotional situation of absolute necessity.

VICE by Adam McKay is a film far above the expected. There have already been many cine biographies of politicians of the past and current time, but the originality of the VICE narrative has rarely or almost never been met.

Starting with the storyteller's brilliant choice, how to tell it, alternating scenes from the past and the present, real scenes, supposed discoveries or absolutely fictional things, VICE completely innovated the genre, creating a difficult framework to overcome. Even Sheakspeare's dialogues are used by the script brilliantly.

Christian Bale in the role of Vice President Dick Cheney is simply stunning, not only by physical transformation, but by the adoption of every gestural (even facial) of the real character.

Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell, Alison Pill, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Tyler Perry and spectacular special appearances by Naomi Watts and Alfred Molina make a first-rate cast to take the story of the film.

A creative and modern film, VICE does not shy away from giving its opinion on the facts it portrays. But it also gives voice to those who think differently, at various times, notably in the extraordinary scene in which the protagonist addresses the viewer, justifying his actions. Superb moment of high level cinema.

The post-credits scene is equally conceived and realized in a remarkable way, deserving a separate discussion.

For all this, VICE is inscribed on the first level of modern political cinema.

The Mule, produced and directed by Clint Eastwood is a beautiful drama based on a New York Times report about the use of the elderly as "mules" by drug cartels.

Backed by a cast of great actors, Clint Eastwood reaches the age of 89 still capable of a tour de force as this story impressive, dramatic and full of issues to be reflected.

Winner of 4 Oscars and 3 Golden Globes, Clint Eastwood entered his name among the biggest in Hollywood, from the westerns of Sergio Leone to the great works like THE UNFORGIVEN and MILLION DOLLAR BABY, of his own.

Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, Laurence Fishburne, Taissa Farmiga, Michael Peña and Andy Garcia are the leading names in the superb cast that takes the story of the ninety-year-old who takes a turn in life by working as a "mule" for a drug cartel.

But the film brings much more than this, as a beautiful and deep reflection on family relationships, guilt, responsibility about our own mistakes and so on. It's a lot of relevance to be reflected after the movie is over.

Of course, in a career full of masterpieces such as Clint Eastwood (we're not even talking about MYSTIC RIVER, BIRD or PALE RIDER, this THE MULE is far from entering the top shelf.

But the persona, the category, the intelligence and the differentiated sensibility of the filmmaker guarantee that even a smaller film of his is very worthy of being watched and tanned to the extreme.

Old Clint still has a lot of movies to excite us.

The beautiful English actress Kate Beckinsale produces and acts the AMAZON PRIME VIDEO series, THE WIDOW about a woman who receives the news that her husband died in a plane crash in Congo and three years later comes across an image that appears to be his in a television report about riots in the capital of the African Country.

She embarks on an almost suicidal journey to Congo to find what she believes to be her husband. It will confront the country's poverty and violence, militias, people and criminal organizations interested in bury the subject and all kinds of danger.

The narrative follows the model currently in vogue, of fragmenting the story in different periods of time, alternating the scenes of the past and the present, passing, little by little, to the spectator information about what happened.

It also creatively uses the ability to repeat scenes from different characters' points of view, especially with respect to the plane crash (key element of the story) and the days leading up to it.

Kate Beckinsale, whose career features some very interesting works, such as Martin Scorsese's AVIATOR, comes from the five films in the ANJOS DA NIGHT franchise, which was the vampire Selena, the protagonist in her black latex suit. Here, she follows the line of the brave and adventurous woman, not hesitating to drop everything to go after what she believes to be her husband.

In the supporting cast, some good actors, such as Alex Kingston (ER and Dr. WHO), Charles Dance (GOSSFORD PARK, GAME OF THRONES and THE IMITATION GAME) and Matthew Gravelle (BROADCHURCH).

There are eight well-crafted chapters, counting in a creative and suspenseful way the endless quest for the solution of the mystery.

The WIDOW is a great series that looks without tedious. It's worth it.

The Acorn TV Channel (available on Amazon Prime Video) specializes in European crime series and movies. Accompanying the current trend, there is a lot of movies from Nordic countries.

LONDON KILLS is an original Acorn TV series made in England chronicling the crimes investigated by an elite group of detectives from the London Police.

Although each episode tells a specific story, the backdrop involves the mysterious disappearance of the Chief of Police's wife.

In addition to showing beautiful landscapes in London, LONDON KILLS has a very different feature from the other series of the genre: it assumes a documentary tone, almost as if it were one of the programs on real crimes.

British actor Hugo Speer (from NINFOMANIAC 1, THE FULL MONTY and THE INTERPRETER) interprets DI (Detective Inspector) David Bradford, who resumes his post after the trauma of his wife's disappearance, still under investigation by another unity. The Scottish Sharon Small (of ABOUT A BOY) makes DS (Detective Sergeant) Vivienne Cole, candidate to boss if the former leader did not return so soon of his absence. And the desglamurized Bailey Patrick and Tori Allen Martin make the team as DC (Detective Constable) Rob Brady and TDC (Trainee Detective Constable) Billy Fitzgerald.

The tense relations of the working group always submitted to a gigantic pressure is another very interesting subject focused in each case.

LONDON KILLS is not only very good at watching, but it incorporates the most modern trends to be seen in the next few years in the TV series about cops.

GONE is a recent series about an FBI task force tasked with investigating cases of missing persons as soon as they occur.

Chris Noth, the ever-present Mr. Big from SEX AND THE CITY plays agent Frank Booth, a veteran who leads the unit and breaks paradigms by inviting her to be a beautiful young kidnap victim many years ago.

The idea is to have someone on the team who knows the subject from the side of the victim and who, after releasing by Booth himself, spent his life studying this type of case as self-defense.

The protagonist is the Texas actress Leven Rambin, seen in TRUE DETECTIVE 3 and HUNGER GAMES. She lives Kick Lannigan, still traumatized by the violence she suffered as a girl, but able to see clues and details that go unnoticed by other agents. Next to her is the great Danny Pino (from LAW AND ORDER S.V.U. and COLD CASE), a tense agent willing to solve cases as soon as possible.

The trio make up a fascinating team to be seen. Another point of interest is to see the diversity of cases that GONE brings to the screens. Screenwriters have to strive to create completely different cases to attract viewers. There are already twelve episodes of the first season, as there is still no news of a series renewal.

GONE is a great cop series with many new features in its genre.

A good serial killer movie with breathless Spanish locations and very gorgeous Spanish women. It is always good to see Timothy Hutton acting. Once he was one of the most gifted actors of his generation. He made some bad choices in his career. But his presence in the screen is positive as usual. The movie is very interesting both because of the plot and the characters. The subject of genetic generation of people is very present and also scary. The serial killer movies usually are very repetitive. This one has several novelties. In my opinion the great problem here is the screenplay that is very obvious in its solutions. If you like a thriller, you can see it.