Rudo y Cursi by Carlos Cuarón

Rudo y Cursi is the first feature film directed by mexican screenwriter Carlos Cuarón. The movie is produced by Cha Cha Cha, a company integrated by fellow mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Del Toro. Starring are Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna with supporting roles by puertorrican actress Jessica Mas and argentinean actor Guillermo Francella.

The story of brothers Tato "Cursi" Verdusco (Gael) and Beto "Rudo" Verdusco (Diego) who work in a plantation in their poor Mexican town. They also play in the local soccer team. One day a scout, Batuta (Francella), arrives and watches them playing. Tato is the first who is drafted to play at a soccer club in DF called "Deportivo Amaranto" but he also wants to be a singer. Rudo eventually is scouted to another team in DF to play as the goalie. They both become famous players but Cursi falls for a beautiful model (Mas) who is a social climber and Rudo becomes an avid gambler. Both brothers are against each other at the final soccer game of their lives.

Cuarón's debut as a director is very-well accomplished. The photography is great because of the contrast between the poor coastal mexican towns and the urban life at the DF. The story flows very smoothly without flashbacks or any goofy camera tricks that enhances a non-linear storytelling. His brother's camera work, like long takes are seen a couple of times throughout the film as well as the use of a voice-over narrator who explains the context. Gael and Diego's acting complement very well the kind of funny but very real story that Cuarón tries to tell. The script resembles his shorts like "Me la Debes" (You Owe Me One) and his famous movie "Y tu mamá también" in the sense of being a simple, funny, sexy and thought-provoking drama that can be enjoyed anytime.

Carlos Cuarón along with brother Alfonso, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo Arriaga and Carlos Reygadas are the new generation of mexican filmmakers who are making spanish-speaking cinema stand for itself nowadays.

Milk by Gus Van Sant

Milk is the new feature film of acclaimed american director, Gus Van Sant. It tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected to the public office in the state of California, concretely to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Sean Penn portrays Milk as one of the best performances of his career (he has been nominated to the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards). Also starring are Josh Brolin as Dan White, Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones, James Franco as Scott Smith and Diego Luna as Jack Lira.

Van Sant is a great director visually and this movie proves it once again. The storytelling is creative and innovative by mixing it with real footage from the 70's, unconventional camera shots or simply by not telling the story in a lineal boring way. Also Penn's performance gives a very emotional picture of the gay struggle in the 70's against the conservative right wing. Even if you are not a gay yourself, you can identify with what that group of men and women made in favor of the concept of tolerance. Franco's performance was good after his hilarious portrait of a pothead in "Pineapple Express", Brolin, as a great actor himself, makes the perfect anti-thesis of Milk, youngster Hirsch (previously directed by Penn in 07's classic "Into the Wild") makes the job as the young gay activist and Luna's performance was not that good because he was type-casted as the token latino guy who dies, not having that much speaking time. Anyhow, the movie is great and my highlights are Penn's performance who was marvelous, Van Sant never goes wrong directing because he is one of the great american storytellers and the theme is well-developed in a entertaining, visually atractive and moving way. 9 out of 10 stars.