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Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures

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Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures reviews
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8.5 User Score:

Movie Info

Genre(s): Adventure  |  Drama  |  Foreign

Written by: Karim Ainouz
Paulo Caldas
Marcelo Gomes

Directed by: Marcelo Gomes

Release Date:
Theatrical: February 9, 2006
DVD: March 20, 2007

Running Time: 99 minutes, Color

Origin: Brazil

Language(s): Portuguese / German (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring João Miguel, Peter Ketnath, Fabiana Pirro, José Leite, Zezita Matos, and Hermila Guedes

Two men, one escaping war, the other poverty, embark on a road trip in 1942, selling the twin forces of cinema (for dreaming) and aspirin (for pain) across the desolate landscapes and tiny hamlets of northeast Brazil. The powerful imagery of this Brazilian Western evokes a lost time and innocence. (Museum of Modern Art)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70

The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

The film is well worth seeing for its views of the parched wilderness of far-flung Brazil and its talkative depiction of an unlikely friendship.

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70

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

It is the sort of human-scale production that holds your attention with good acting, nice lighting and a screenplay that favors thought over action, thoughtful incident over full-blown episode.

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60

Variety Deborah Young

Film's pared-down look has a stylish simplicity.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

LIberato gave it a10:
Perfect1

Welington S. gave it a10:
A wonderful movie that says to much with almost nothing, with great caracters, great actors and a beautiful cinematography. A must see. I saw it theree times and I can't forget the images. Is reminds Vidas Secas, a movie made by Nelson Pereira dos Santos during the sixties.

Mark S. gave it a10:
Another good example of the "new wave" of brazilian cinema. See it.

Hans Z. gave it a2:
The great film mentor and head of the prestigious USC writing school Frank Daniel once said that the greatest sin a film can ever commit is to be boring. Well, Aspirins does it by the mouthful. This script requires no audience participation whatsoever. It promotes no fear or hope, it has no protagonist with a clear cut objective, no rooting interest whatsoever, no obstacles, no culmination or resolution. it is only bound by the unity of place, which is highly to be disregarded in order to create modern cinema and therefore becomes unbeliavebly tedious in the process. I watch over 300 films a year, and have rarely walked out of one. My girlfriend and I walked out in such rage and speed that I even left my waller in the theatre, which brings me to the question: How do I get my money back?

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