La Guerra de los Mapaches

I'm not exactly a fan of anime, but I would recommended this film. “The war of the raccoons in the era of Pompoko” is a Studio Ghibli´s film, performed by Isao Takahata and premiered in Japan on July 16, 1994.

The film is based on the popular Japanese tradition that says the raccoons have the ability to transform into humans or other creatures simply by wanting it. This film tells the story of a community of raccoons who discovers that humans are destroying the forest where they live, to build a new development. Raccoons are prepared to combat the deterioration of its territory, using all their power and their abilities in a war as never seen before.

The most interesting aspect of this production, is that plays numerous controversial issues such as war, violence, the role of old men and women in societies, the expansion of cities and family planning as part of the everyday life of societies today. Despite the seriousness of the topics discussed, the movie has great humor.

In contrast with its high quality, this is one of the least appreciated of Ghibli films to the public. Partly because of its lack of a happy ending, partly because of the negative position acquired by the man in the plot. However these aspects do not take away quality. I recommend it with all sincerity.

Film Review

Title: The fabulous destiny of Amelie Poulain.

Director: Jean-Pierre Jenuet

Starts: 5/5

Where/when it’s set: 1973 – 1997 France

Brief summary of the plot: “Amelie, Is an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, who decides to help those around her and along the way discovers love”. IMDB

Who it would appeal to: It’s a story of live; it suits to dreamers who are always looking for something different.

A film I have always enjoyed is The fabulous destiny of Amelie Poulain. It’s a French and German production launched in 2001. For luck the first time I watched it was on a TV channel, it was a Sunday afternoon in a cinema special. This movie was directed by Jean-Pierre Jenuet and it stars Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz and Rufus.

The Director does quite a deep psychological description of every single character. The main ones are a French girl called Amelie, her family, neighbors and future love. The director starts to show us her story before her birth. She comes from a non-traditional French family and his father - a doctor - thinks she has a heart disease then he isolates her, as a result, her mother - a teacher - gives her private classes at home. As a lonely girl Amelie decides to live in her own fantasy, the fantasy she makes to live the viewers while the movie lasts.

Amelie’s adventure is to help the people, as she says: “It's better to help people than garden gnomes”. While she lives the dream of save the world, as she can do it, we can follow the rhythm of her life by the agile voice of a narrator and the sweet sound of the music composed by Yann Tiersen. Moreover she gets pleasure from helping the community and she enjoys doing it in her own way. A guy who lost a mysterious photo album - which Amelie found – publishes and ad, but, she prefers to do a game of this delivery.

Definitely Amelie is a movie I’d recommend to everyone who wants to remember the magic of being a kid. This movie shows us the age isn’t important to define the way we live and it invites us to keep the magic.

By: Diana Atehortúa S

Biofuels in Colombia

Biofuels in Colombia

Recently in Colombia politicians have been trying to encourage in people an interest in the developing of technologies to produce fuels like ethanol and diesel from organic sources. They argue that this will reduce pollution in cities and will produce new jobs for farmers.

But instead improve life conditions in Colombia, biofuels is just another criminal business. There are some reports of farmers been forced to leave their lands in Chocó and Cesar departments in order to let big landowners to be able to cultivate African oil palms, the main raw material to produce biodiesel.

On the other hand, the assertion that biofuels reduce pollution is not completely true. They reduce carbon monoxide emissions due to the improvement of engines yield, however they increase the production of nitrogen oxides which produces acid rain, as dangerous for the environment and for humans as carbon dioxide.

We can’t be against the implementation of new technologies but we should strive to make them helpful for all Colombians and not for just a few opportunists.

Film Review - "The rite" ( horror movie )

Film Review - "The rite" ( horror movie )

Title:

The rite

Director:

Mikael Håfström (Swedish)

Cast:

• Colin O'Donoghue as Michael Kovak
• Anthony Hopkins as Father Lucas
• Alice Braga as Angelina Vargas
• Marta Gastini as Rosaria
• Rutger Hauer as Istvan Kovak
• Maria Grazia Cucinotta as Aunt Andria
• Ciarán Hinds as Father Xavier
• Toby Jones as Father Matthew
• Chris Marquette as Eddie
• Marija Karan as Sandra
• Torrey DeVitto as Nina

Where/when it's set:

U.S.A, Rome (nowadays)

Brief summary of the plot:

Michael Kovak works with his traumatized, father who is a mortuary but then he decides to enter a seminary school and he earns a scholarship. He studies for 4 years but when he's going to graduate he writes a resignation e-mail to his superior. Some days later a girl is runned over by a car in front of him and she asks Michael for her absolution, Michael does the prayers without nerve, while his superior observes the situation speechless. His superior make a desicion based in that event, he choose Michael for a hard work : he choose him to be an exorcist. That's how we are introduced by Michael sceptical eyes in the world of the demons.

Positive points:

Another movie about an exorcism but much more real and believable than his predecessors. Remarcable job of the actors. Good esthetic. Very scary moments.

Best scene: an hallucination of Michael in wich he saw a mule with red eyes, very disturbing !

Who it would appeal to:

People who enjoy horror movies and want to have some others frame to add to their nightmares.

Personal comments: it's a good movie that adds new expresions of evil to our repertory, new ways to show the

misterious events that surround an evil posesion, interesting characters to people that are sceptical and

to believers too. The "hop" is assured in any moment of the movie. ( expect it )

Jorge Hernán Pérez Puerta

Gnomeo and Juliet

Filme

"Gnomeo and Juliet"

I really love animation movies for kids, I find it so fun and I laugh like a child. The last movie I saw, was Gnome and Juliet, I liked it so much, that's why i want to share it with you.

Gnomeo & Juliet is a computer animated comedy-drama film based on William Sahkespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

In the story there is tow neighbors who despise each other. When they leave the gardens, all the garden objects come alive. One garden is filled with blue garden gnomes, and the other one have red garden gnomes. Blue and red gnomes, both are rivals of each other and have a lawnmower race. Gnomeo is the son of the blue queen and Juliet is the daughter of red king.

Juliet want a unique orchid which grow in a greenhouse far from her garden. When she was just to catch it, suddenly appear Gnomeo, who was trying to escape from a fight. When they saw each other was love at first sight. But when they discover their colors states that the relationship is romantically tragic.

Gnomeo and Juliet then have secret meetings in a secret garden, where they meet a pink flamingo named Featherstone. He supports and encourages their love, and the two begin to meet regularly. But when Gnomeo return back to his garden, he finds his mother distraught because the reds infiltrated the garden and destroyed the plant Gnomeo's deceased father planted.

The blues want Gnomeo to take revenge on the reds. He tunnels underneath to reach the red garden, but just as he is about to spray the prized flowers of the reds, Juliet sees him. The reds attempt to attack Gnomeo, but Juliet, to the surprise of her father and clan, defends Gnomeo, saying that she loves him. In mettle of the fight Gnomeo ends up on a road, and everyone believes he was run over by a truck but he didn't and can escape.

Gnomeo eventually ends up in a park, and climbs onto a statue of William Sahkespeare and tells him his story. Shakespeare tells Gnomeo that his story is very similar to Romeo and Juliet and that it is likely Gnomeo's will have a sad ending as well. But when Gnomeo come back home the story has a happy ending.

Review

Olivert Twist

This movie is based in a book called with the same name wrote by Charles Dickens and is about a poor woman that was pregnant in london, and she was collected by a hospice and there her child born and she died shortly after. Since that moment the child would begin to live his worst life. In the hospice he was always in problems and lived scared with his mates and hungry. Once He went out from the hospice and he was kidnaped by a thief and he was obligated to steal to pay to the thief, the food and the house where the lived.

At the end he realize that his father is dead and he gets the inherance of his father.

In my point of view this movie is really interesting because the story which will make us open our eyes to the inhumane conditions of the people who are exploited daily.

Thanks.

2012

I watched the last weekend the film 2012; everybody had said to me the film was bored and a waste of time, but I made a decision, so I watched the movie. And this is my opinion about it.

2012, is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world, this film is based in a Maya legend about the end of the planet. For this culture the year 2012 will be the last age of the planet. In this film a family has the opportunity to safe and protect themselves to the world destruction when the father discovered in the Yellowstone Park a government base where there were scientists and soldiers protecting the place.

It was directed by Roland Emmerich and starred by John Cusack, Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor

The film has many sets around the world; we can see Italy, China, South America, some places from Europe and specially United States.

This film is different because show what is happen currently in the planet, and it make to think in our lives, in the children, in the senior citizens, in the animals and especially in our world.

We would think it film is sci-fi, but true is that we can see maybe, what will happen the next years and what we to make to safe the world and the animals in the planet.

I recommend this movie because is different to other films that show the end of the planet, like independency day or the day after tomorrow.