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Y Tu Mama Tambien (R-rated Edition)

Y Tu Mama Tambien (R-rated Edition)

List Price: $14.95
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Three thumbs down, if you get my drift ...
Review: A big disappointment. This review, by the way, won't contain anything new. It's just a negative vote against a movie that richly deserves a negative vote for the following reasons:

1.) the hype. I was led to believe this was a movie worth my time and money. It was not.

2.) the sex. I am not a prude, but sex comprised the entire universe of this tale and was run so ragged that it started to go putrid. Even the simplest mammals have something to think about outside of sex, sex and more sex. I guess the director cut out the defecating scenes because they weren't in good taste.

3.) the cliche ending. After a wallow in filth we are supposedly elevated to consider the evanescence of life with a stale old trick for rendering poignancy into the meaning of life. Give me a break.

The public relations people who plugged this flick do deserve a round of applause for their accomplishment. There is where the true brilliance of this movie lies. No doubt about it. There's plenty of garbage out there that can be parlayed into bogus 'art' and real money with the right connections and a lot of imagination.

Now a movie about THAT might be worth watching.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hooray for Mexican movies!
Review: Here's a film that gives me great hope as an alternative to mainstream cinema. The increased Hollywood-ization of foreign films has become a dire prospect and it's a shame to see how many great cinema industries have regressed in the last couple of decades (esp. Italian and French cinema). So, imagine my surprise when this movie came out of Mexico. It concerns the tale of a young woman in a troubled marriage who meets two teenaged boys who, in their attempts at charming her, mention a mythical beach on the Baja coast that they'd like to take her to. She calls their bluff and the boys are beside themselves with excitement. For her, it's a chance to throw caution to the wind and to loosen herself from the constrictions of her life. For them, it's a chance to maybe score with an older woman and take a road trip. There's many situations in the film that you've seen before, but, it's done with a fresh perspective and, as it's filmed in Mexico, an opportunity to see Mexicans like you've never seen them before. The most the average American has seen concerning Mexico is usually in gangster films about the L.A. barrios. Here, we see middle-class, urbane Mexicans and how they intermingle with rural peasants and natives. The film is sexually frank, even though on ocassion it tends to border on the cliche (the implication that male bonding rituals have a homoerotic edge to them is a tired one...this is clearly a somewhat feminist film.), but for the most part it seems to be about taking freedom to it's limits, be it sexual, physical, geographical, etc. The ending of the film leaves a lot of questions, especially as to the motives of the lead female character. Was she really just trying to broaden the boys' horizons and help them experience life as sensously as possible? Or was she really selfish and manipulative, knowing that her actions could destroy the boys' friendship, but caring little about the consequences. I hope I didn't give anything away with that one. Despite very, very minor flaws, such as the aforementioned, the film does give hope for the return of a sophisticated, erudite world cinema. The lead actors were all brilliant. Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal were both incredibly charismatic and believable as typical teens who think they know more than really do about life, proving once again that teenage naivety is a worldwide phenomenon. And bravo to the leading lady, Maribel Verdu. While not the most conventionally attractive of women, she belies a sexiness that would irresistable to grown men, let alone a pair of teens. Her loose manner combined with some smarts make her a prototype of the modern woman, divided by her desires and what she's grown up to believe women should be like. A phenomenal film that deserved every kudo that it garnered.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not amazing, not awful
Review: There has been a lot of buzz around the movie, but honestly I don't understand it. I watch quite a lot of foreign films, particularly Mexican, Brazilian, French and Indian. I really enjoy most of them. This was just ok. Production values were just ok. The actors playing the two boys aren't particularly nuanced or expressive. Sure they're 'natural' -- because I don't think they are acting at all, they are just goofing around, just as in their real life.

Maribel VerdĂș, however, is truly an amazing actress. Beautiful, subtle, alternately nonchalant and highly emotional. She rescued this film for me, and I intend to go see anything else she is starring in.

As for major life messages, "coming of age" has been done to death. I'm not particularly impressed that these two boys have grown up a whole lot, and the fact that they are alienated by the end of the movie is just sad, not poignant. The "life is short" message is handled much better, and again much more subtly, by the Maribel VerdĂș character. You really don't understand her actions and motives until the end, and then it is something of a revelation.

So -- three stars. Some aspects of this film are great, many are just mediocre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great but not life-altering
Review: This film was wonderful and very erotic -- an excellent choice for a quiet night at home with your sweetheart and take-out chinese food. But, unlike "New Sex Now" it did not change my life beyond all recognition.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Too Bad All Anyone Talks About Is the Sex.
Review: This is a fantastic, moving film. All anyone mentions about it is the graphic sex, and that's too bad. The story is powerful, the footage is impressive, and this is altogether a movie worth watching.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excelente!
Review: Y Tu Mama Tambien continues a recent tradition in Mexico in which some of the most insightful & powerful essays in the social-political-economic realm are realized in a visual medium, rather than in a written medium. You will want to watch this film a number of times so that you can understand all the social commentary, and it will entertain you each & every time. But don't let the noise distract from the core message - Mexico is a sexually maturing country that still has some learning before its masses can reach a place of honest, functional sex. The maturing teenage boys represent the country's sexual culture which has recently gone from overly closed & conservative to extremely open & disfunctional, the older European women represents the happy medium of functional, guilt-free open sex. I am sure that in a few decades, social historians will see this film as a watershed experience in Mexican sexual life.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A road movie with a difference.
Review: Only at the end of the movie do we find out the signifance of the title of this film, "And Your Mother Also." By this time Tenoch, Julio, and Luisa, the three main characters, have revealed so much about themselves by their words and actions that the title seems perfectly appropriate.

At the start of the movie we meet the two boys, Tenoch and Julio, both getting ready to go to college and begin their adult life. They are sexually active and adventurous. They meet Luisa(a married woman who appears to be about ten years older than the boys) at a party and invite her to go with them to a famous beach whose reality and destination are uncertain to them. After Luisa hears from her husband about his infidelity to her, she accepts their invitation and the adventure begins.

Much has been written about the sexual high jinx and racy conversation that underlie the entire film. Few adults will find any of the sexual language and behavior offensive, never mind titillating. The director approaches the subject with directness and frankness. These are young, immature boys and this is how they behave. Luisa, the "older woman," naturally finds the boys offensive, but she tries to teach them the true meaning of sexuality, at least her version of it. In the end the three companions have all grown a bit older and much wiser.

On the surface the film is a road story and much time is spent trying to find the special beach, "Heaven's Mouth." If that were all to the film it would not not generate much interest in the discerning viewer. But the movie is much more than a road adventure. We ride along with Luisa and the boys and watch the Mexican scenery and people out the window and we begin to understand a bit more about our neighbor to the south. Wealth and poverty exist side by side. The police and army are a dark and dangerous pressence that cast a shadow over the trip. We get a sense of that something bad might happen at any moment. Life is short and our relationships with people are most important. To trivialize sex is to trivialize the precious nature of life. At the end of the film the boys have begun to learn this lesson and are ready to start their adult life.

Few if any adults will wish to rent the "R" rated version of this film. Another lesson for us is the silliness of our current rating system that prevents serious directors from making honest adult movies. Y Tu Mama Tambien is about as objectionable as life itself. Those viewers who would prefer to watch the Hollywood version of reality are well advised to steer clear of this fine film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a sexy crowd pleaser.....
Review: When I first heard of this movie I thought "What an interesting title for a movie" So that was the first thing that intrigued me about this film. The second thing that drew me into it was Gael Garcia Bernal.. I love him!! When I went to go see this in the theater I was amused by the story and compelled by the characters. At the the beginning of the film I thought that the film was only about sex and teenage experiences. But througout the film, you are drawn in and begin to realize just how poignant this story is. This film mixes comedy, drama and romance to show how important it is to make the most out of friendships, love and everyday life. If you can understand spanish that's also an added bonus because you will pick up some things that they miss in the subtitles (mostly swear words, but Diego and Gael make that highly entertaining)This movie incorporates a lot of sex in this story, even I was a little suprised. This movie is very cool and it also has substance!! I highly recommend this!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nothing special
Review: This was quite an entertaining film - a pretty good combination of style and substance and definitely not something you would see in American cinema. However, I think the hype is a bit overblown simply b/c everyone wants to fall in love with 'the edgy mexican movie'. I was definitely drawn in while I watched in the theater, but there wasn't much to talk about afterward - which probably says something about the story/message. While I can appreciate a necessary [physical] scene - this film tended to depend on [physcial activity] to keep the viewer's attention.

I'd suggest to rent/buy 'Amores Perros' before this one. It has a much more memorable plot, more interesting style of storytelling, and doesn't use [physical] appeal as a crutch like 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' [though it still has PLENTY].

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Too much hype...
Review: This movie tries to grab you from two angles: The sexual relationship between the characters and the 'social' commentary. I found both to be extremely bad. My feeling is that this is a softcore film for girls, where you get tons of shots of the two male characters, and the narrator's commentary tries to make you feel as if it were an art film. Definitely not worthy. Coming of age? See The Graduate. Want to see upper class Mexico? Watch Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas.


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