Rating: Summary: Wonderful twists Review: There are terrific twists that suprise. Why movies that show a nude man must always be unrated makes no sense to me. A wonderful and romantic movie.
Rating: Summary: Synchronicity and resolution: keys to this interesting film Review: I had only read bits and pieces about Sex and Lucia (Lucia y el sexo) when I attended a matinee this past weekend. The buzz on the film was very positive, and the story sounded romantic and interesting. After seeing it I can say without reservation, it is one of the best films to come to American shores in years One item of note I'll get out of the way now: Sex and Lucia is very sexually explicit, even more so than Y Tu Mama Tambien (which I also recommend: it's appearing on DVD in October of this year.) The sex scenes don't bother me per se: it's just that the first 30 or so minutes are very much centered around the physicality of the relationship between Lucia and her boyfriend, Lorenzo. I really thought the film's tone would be all about sex, so to speak. Not so however... The last 90 minutes delve very, very deeply into the complexities of Lorenzo and Lucia's relationship. Several ancillary but pivotal characters who are involved with Lucia and Lorenzo form the complex connections that make the story so interesting and involving. The movie begins in the present, then flashes back 6 years to the beginnings of Lucia and Lorenzo's torrid "romance." The film does flash back-and-forth so it might take you a while to put it all together while watching, but it's more than worth the effort. The film features a beautiful and fitting soundtrack: you are aware of it throughout the entire movie. I know it's available from Amazon.com France's site, but not stateside yet. If I can't find it here in the next few weeks, I'm going to have to break down and pay international postage and get my hands on a copy! The composer, Alberto Iglesias, is quite talented and evidently has released a few other albums I'll be looking for on Amazon. In the end all the characters' motivations, emotions and desires collide in a very, very chilling climax. I use the word chilling not to convey horror, but rather a sense of shock and disbelief. The ending is a surprise that does make you wonder about the people you surround yourself with, and how your life can change direction in a matter of mere moments. To say Lucia y el Sexo is a profound or thought-provoking film is probably too simplistic. It deserves every single accolade and piece of critical praise it has received. A movie I will be experiencing a second or even third time in the theatres in the weeks to follow. 7 stars out of 5....
Rating: Summary: An amazing movie Review: I guess people are molded by holywood standards and talk too much about some naked piece of flesh, but this movie is so much more than that. Relax and watch the movie and you'll enjoy it and if you have time to see the extras on the DVD you'll understand even better why it is so special. The plot, the actors, the camera and the music score are absolutely amazing. It's like drinking coffee at work (in US) for years and than you go somewhere overseas, in Italy or Spain and suddenly realize that coffee is so much more than some dirty brown water. You might not like it, but you'll have to accept that the real thing is great. Somewhere in this world some people think of acting and movies as a form of art, not just a money machine.
Rating: Summary: Overrated Review: A little bit overrated base on previous viewer's comments The story got a little murky sometimes. If you are looking for sex scenes, this is not the movie for you. It is worst than 9 1/2 weeks.
Rating: Summary: What's not to like? Review: Paz Vega is the most gorgeous woman seen on film in ages (imagine a taller, more curvaceous, and even more sexual Penelope Cruz), and this film knows it: her intoxicating face and body fill the screen at every opportunity and in many glorious stages of undress. Now THAT is a true goddess, fit to make all the generic makeup-addicted peroxide-blondes in Hollywood weep with envy and despair!
The plotline is a bit convoluted, like many post-Tarantino films these days the story is not presented in linear fashion but in bits and pieces which the viewer has to put together himself. It's not quite as distracting and confusing as it was in "21 Grams" because the story here is fairly simple. The plot also requires a fair amount of belief suspension: it's a bit much for us to believe that such a stunning juicy tamale like Paz would out of nowhere throw herself upon the nerdy writer-protagonist, but if you've ever been a nerdy writer type yourself I suppose that's a gratifying fantasy, hee hee.
Where "Sex and Lucia" triumphs is in its sheer physical beauty and sensual richness. Few movies provide so much visual pleasure, and not only in the generous sex scenes but just overall, you really FEEL that "yes this is definitely a Spanish movie shot in Spain." You would never mistake this for some cheesy sterile Hollywood set. The whole spirit of the film is one of divine hedonistic abandon, the kind of guilt- and hangup-free vibe that American and British cinema still struggles to come up with, and something that the Spanish and Italians seem to have a monopoly on.
My only wish is that it had been shot on normal film instead of digital, because many of the exterior shots in bright sunlight are overexposed and washed out.
God bless Paz Vega a thousand times, may she live forever! Who needs Viagra with her around? As Tom Waits once put it, "she can make a dead man come."
Rating: Summary: Hot Spanish Review: This is a European film, namely part of the new Spanish Moderns for lack of a better way to explain how Spanish Directors and actors are pushing the envelope Europa style. This one reminded me of L'Avventura by director Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960. The desolate islands of the Mediterainian are beautiful, sun bleached, and scary.
Also, this film has its [hot] moments. (...) One wonders what actors and actresses are willing to do on screen and remain legitimate. And what's wrong with that?
This is not a John Wayne movie. There's enough here for a couple to get kind of kinky in the television light. Lucinda's boyfriend has a one-night stand on a romantic island. Never sees her again. She has a child.
Paz Vega of the dark hair and eyes loves boyfriend's novels. They fall in love and do those positions. He eventually finds out about his little daughter and almost has sex with the hot babysitter who has a porn queen mom. Something of an incestuous fantasy or episode drives the boyfriend to suicide. The babysitter either commits suicide or is murdered. We're not sure because at this point the boyfriend is writing a novel about all this and we're not sure what is reality or fantasy. Lucinda thinks her boyfriend has died and she goes to the island to pull herself together. There she meets... oh forget about it. The film's a half hour too long full of long takes on the ocean, but for aficionados or [hot] dudes and gals, this one is for you.
Rating: Summary: Hang on for a wild erotic ride and a good film too! Review: Unknowingly I watched the unrated version of SEX AND LUCIA and, as a result, was treated with quite a *memorable* movie experience. Don't get me wrong; I'm not adverse to sexual situations at all, I was just a little caught off guard despite the film's title. That being said, I enjoyed this film. The plot itself is quite interesting and admittedly sometimes confusing; there's a myriad of puzzle pieces scattered about that must be put in their proper sequence before there's any hope of making sense out of what's happening. The story is not told in chronological order and, worse yet, there are several plot lines that are intermingled together resulting in a jumbled mess at first glance. Take the time and effort to sort through the chaos and you may be rewarded at the end as I was. Recommended.
Rating: Summary: All the pieces do not fit together Review: This film is not bad at all, but also not terribly outstanding. Being someone who enjoys films that deal with inter-weaving plots and a stronger focus on themes and characters, I was surprised that I found this film less than interesting. I really love films like 'La Double Vie de Veronique', and 'Y Tu Mama Tambien', and found this film owed much to their inspiration. But in the end 'Sex and Lucia' played with its audience too much. After watching this film I felt the same way as after watching '21 Grams', and that is that I spent so much of the film trying to fit the pieces together that I did not have time to really care about them. Also the surprises about many of the characters made me distrust the film more than become intrigued by it. Each scene is well done, but in the end I ended up feeling very little for the whole. Not a lousy film, but not difficult to miss.
Rating: Summary: Overrated Review: In an attempt to get over losing her novelist boyfriend (Tristan Ulloa), Luc?a (Paz Vega) retreats to a quiet Mediterranean island. It's there, in the sun-soaked refuge, that the erstwhile waitress begins to examine both the passionate beginning and the darker details of their relationship. Fact blends with fiction and time bends in unexpected ways as her memories unfold.
Rating: Summary: Not Great Review: Not awful, but if you want an excuse to watch a few shots of porn and not feel guilty, then this is for you. There are some nice ideas in the movie, but they do not work together. I am not sure what the director was going for. There are many great foreign films to see before wasting your time on this. Watch some real pornography if that's what you want. Don't alibi yourself with this.
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