foxtografo

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Reviews

Los delincuentes
(2023)

Not bad, but very flawed
Firstly, I'll adhere to the popular opinion, this film is too long and needs quite a lot of editing, because it just doesn't need to be this long.

Still, I made it through the whole 3hs length, so it's not unwatchable, the pace is slow but it didn't feel like a pain to watch.

The story kept me interested and curious about what would happen, but the dialogs were a bit stiff and not too clever. Really not much the style of the regular "porteño" (people from Buenos Aires city), but then again the characters aren't from originally from there..

My main complain about the film is the acting. Most of the main characters felt like they were reading from a screen what they say, more than having feelings about it. For example the scene where one of the characters describes something that happened in his childhood, it he felt so disconnected from it, it was hard to watch. Having this feeling with most of the characters make me wonder if it's a problem with the direction, which wouldn't surprise me since the length of the film is such a miss..

On the bright side, being from argentina and having lived abroad for so long, seeing footage of Buenos Aires and Córdoba (which is a very popular destination for trekking and camping, done that a few times there and I love that area) makes me nostalgic and I really enjoy it.

The cinematography is interesting, not only because of the locations that I love, but the framings, the zooms and the camera work in general give some particular style to the move and I really appreciated and enjoyed.

Then in terms of story, I found it to be a bit anticlimactic in the end, at least in terms of characters reaction to the situations (again, the dialogs and acting failed to impress me).

There was some message there, with which I could relate, like the feeling of wanting to live a simpler life in nature, but the love triangle was a bit bland in the end.

I don't know if I would recommend someone to watch this movie, it's really too long for what it is and there are many better options from Argentinian cinema to look up before this one.

It's really a mixed bag, but the scale weight a bit more to the side of disappointment than enjoyment.

Leave the World Behind
(2023)

Why are people not understanding this movie? No ending? What are you talking about?
I absolutely enjoyed the tense mystery maintained throughout the movie.

Very interestingly shot, with some weird camera work keeping it kind of dreamy.. Now I'm thinking as I wrote that, how unrealistic some moments of my life felt when I was taken out of my comfort zone and shocked into a new reality.. it really felt like this.. Except for the very odd choice of the intro music (completely out of place, I don't know why it was like that, honestly) the music helped a lot with the tense atmosphere, I thought it was on spot.

The characters are well written, at least to the point of making sense, within what the society is today, of course, hate them if you want. I actually disliked most of them! That's probably the only reason I didn't give this movie a 10, but it doesn't get in the way of the story.

The story is VERY solid and VERY scary. Scary in the way that I can see this happening and I don't see it too far off, sadly.. Call me pessimist, paranoid, whatever, but the events in the movie are very solid and factible.

In terms of what's the point or what happens in the movie and in the end, I think it's almost spoon fed, it's literally said by one of the characters to another inside the car, after visiting the neighbour. Seriously, how people are missing this??!!

The very end scene is just to point at how distracted we are with media living in such a complex and troubled society today. You may or not like that bit, but take it off and it doesn't affect the story, which I found quite shocking with the last scenes imagery.

Honestly, it's one of the more solid movies I've seen the last years and I find shocking how people is not getting it (their words, not mine).. Some North Americans may take offence, I guess? Of course I don't know for sure, but might seem an unpopular, too scary vision of their (everyone's, anyways) future.. In short, this is a very solid, suspenseful movie with a lot to think about afterwards.

Highly recommended.

Escape Room
(2019)

An interesting idea, poorly written
The idea is nothing very new, but it could have really be way more interestingly made.

I honestly don't get what some reviewers got as "interesting" or "cool" of the rooms the characters need to escape.

From the beginning, the first thing that struck me was how simplistic where the things they needed to do to get out of the room, like get a key, bush a button... very unimaginative, seriously lazy writing. The writers could have done more research and get more advice if they couldn't think of anything more interesting or smarter than that (which repeated in most of the rooms, by the way!).

This pretty much killed the movie for me, but I have to say, the pace is entertaining and there's the mystery of Who's behind all this, so I watched to the end.

The ending has one thing I liked, which is what one of character do to after figuring out a plan, and one that I didn't which is who was behind the whole thing, probably the blandest villain I've seen in years in a movie of this style (or any other style). That really shows how serious is the lack of imagination of the writers.

Then there's some extra bit after the ending, which tries to set a sequel and finishes taking all respect you could have had for the movie, some seriously lame hook that feels SO out of place and characters I couldn't help roll my eyes.

In general, it's an entertaining watch, but I felt it had much more potential wasted for a huge lack of imagination.

Choose or Die
(2022)

Has some good atmosphere and some bad moments
I enjoyed the atmosphere created from the beginning, the movie looks good most of the time and the characters are believable, with good performances on the mains.

I didn't find "laughable" the scenes that most of people criticize, I think it was part of the style of the movie. I understand some don't like it, this pointed more to the bizarre than the gory, I guess.. True, not all the scenes were great, in fact it's quite uneven and flawed (even the poster is quite bad..), but I think that within what it is, it keeps it's personality and style and goes that way, with a maybe a bit over the top ending but I didn't dislike it.

It's definitely not a bad movie and I appreciate it trying to do certain things in a different way.

All My Friends Hate Me
(2021)

Disappointing
Right after the end, I didn't know what to think about this movie.

I felt disappointed at the ending, I thought it was building up into something way more complex, all the clues pointed to a psychological thriller (horror? Where?) which would unfold in some shocking reveal, but ultimately felt bland and a bit of a waste of all the tension built up through the movie.

I wouldn't say it's a bad movie, the performances are good, the cinematography does the job decently and the pace kept me interested with a tense, awkward atmosphere of mystery and details which seemed to be building up a bigger picture and made me guess different interesting theories of what was going on.

In the end, I felt that all my theories were more interesting outcomes than what actually happens.

I see the point made at the end, I just don't feel satisfied, after going through all that time having to see all the annoying, unlikeable, judgemental characters attacking and mistreating the main character on his birthday party. Indeed, the main character has his moments where he says or do the wrong thing, but certainly he doesn't deserve all the negativity.

Anyways, I'm going to far in describing, Just didn't like the ending, I guess it's the kind of movie that has the objective of making you feel a certain way, but it's not the only thing I'm looking for in a movie.

Apache: La vida de Carlos Tevez
(2019)

Technically flawed, but an intense portrait of his life.
This was so enjoyable and interesting, I could easily ignore the not so good technical aspects of the series.

Even if I'm Argentinian, I didn't know much about the football star more than where he was from. I didn't know how much of a big hearted person he is, and having to endure such a childhood and coming up after becoming such a star as a humble, caring, loving person for whom humanitarian values are the most important his family taught him, is an absolute pleasure. I even watched interviews with the player after finishing the last 4 episodes (in a row) and it's really moving to see that there's still people that only want to help everyone be happy and safe, regardless their background.

I have to trust the depiction of the neighbourhood where he grew up, as you don't really go in there if you're Argentinian, but I can trust Carlos Tevez to have given an accurate insight of it, and it's shocking (maybe not so much for an Argentinian, sadly).

I found specially interesting to see how these humble people, some more aggressive and damaged than others, hold on for their families, sometimes in the sweetest ways, but can be absolute monsters when they go out to "work" or settling issues with other inhabitants of the neighbourhood. The ones that want to live a decent, lawful life have to suffer their surroundings, but almost accept it as what's normal, rejecting the law's enforcement (which, I know, can be even more violent, sometimes).

It's heart warming to know Carlos made it through all this and he's still loved and admired by everyone. It's the pure example that integrity can be kept in the most hostile environments and it can pay up, with a little bit of luck (Tevez had it all, ultimately).

And it's heart breaking to see how many don't make it, and how much they suffer and how badly they end. In this story, Danilo is one of those, and the real story of the person who's based on is not exactly the same but equally sad (I'll add it on the trivia of this movie).

On the technical side, there could be some polish on the writing, some performances on certain intense scenes could be better, and the cinematography at moments felt a bit amateurish trying to light too much scenes that could have looked better with a natural lighting (nothing serious at all, I'm being very technical here).

The CGI used for the last scene has to be overlooked, the production obviously didn't have the budget do do better, but it really looks quite bad.

Acceptable flaws if you're up to appreciate the story of this amazing person.

Now I feel like I really admire Carlos Tevez, in his simplicity, he has so much to teach to all of us.

Eo
(2022)

Beautifully shot, cute animals. Very disjointed storytelling.
I really enjoyed the animals, the donkey(s) is cute and funny even when it's standing still. I would disagree that it was a great performance though, the animal is quite expressionless, but it's really cute and you quickly root for him.

The cinematography is definitely the strongest point of the movie, as a photographer I really enjoyed the composition of many of the frames throughout the film, and the shallow depth of field on the donkey's close ups gives a very enjoyable cense of closeness to the animal.

Following the donkey's journey through Polish lands though could have been more interesting if there was a better, more solid chain of events on the script. It was really confusing to see the donkey kind of teleporting from place to place and the story introducing and abandoning characters who don't always interact or affect the animal we're rooting for. Not even for the sake of the animal being a mere witness on the land, it didn't really work for me in that way.

There was a lot of randomness in the footage, probably trying to say things, show what the donkey's thinking, but not always made sense to me.

What I really disliked was the ending. I think it's absolutely unnecessary and if the point of it is what I think it is, it's really cheap. I don't want to spoil anything, just to point that I think the movie would be better with a different ending.

Kuolleet lehdet
(2023)

Uninteresting, fails to do what others have done way better before.
I actually like movies like what this is trying to be, but I couldn't get through all the amateurish look and feel of this movie.

The cinematography was bellow average.

Performances were very average even for the Wes Andersonesque wannabe characters.. I like dry humour, but I found this way too basic.

The story is very simplistic, even if I appreciate the light hearted feel, I just felt bored.

I honestly don't see why so much fuzz about this movie, I can't think of anything on it that I would find worth mentioning as something I'd remember in a week.

Quite disappointed, since everyone was telling me how good and sweet the movie is, but I just didn't connect or found interesting in any way.

Nine Days
(2020)

Beautiful. Can't think of anything I didn't like of this movie. What a surprise from this director!
A movie about life, about people, about who's better at living, who deserves living more than someone else.. ..about if that is even a valid question to ask.

About the small things that we give for granted but we cherish so much and don't even know, I cried a few times with those.. About failing, about being sad. About succeeding and being happy. All in one life, because that's what you get.

Really emotive, touching story, more for someone of certain age who's been wondering about these matters for a few years, now on my 40s.. Beautifully shot, beautifully performed.. Beautiful music!! That violin kept me emotional from beginning to end!!

I loved it, it's really a pleasure of a surprise and I'll be looking at this director closely to see what he does next.

I wonder how is the rating so average, I didn't want to read other reviews so I write mine with all the love I feel for this movie now, will have a look now, but how..?

The Omega Man
(1971)

Criminally ruined by the third act and the worst musicalisation I've had to endure in a movie
I find post apocalyptic thematic very interesting and intriguing. It's a great setting for very cool imagery and it gives chance for the characters to show their survival skills and some interesting action.

That's why I wanted to watch this one, but what a disappointment.

It starts well, the atmosphere is decently done, and the story, even if not very complex, serves to the purpose of having action and tension.

But there are two aspects that absolutely ruined this movie for me: The music absolutely annoyed me the whole time, it's incredibly out of place in every single scene, it's all over the place mixing styles from funky to western movie stuff, to folkie guitars in moments where the story is telling completely different things in different moods. It's like being in a funeral listening to salsa music and going to a rave and get classic orchestra music. It's unbelievably poorly musicalized and it really spoiled the whole movie for me.

The second aspect is the third act. In the last half hour, we see the characters that have done everything fairly right so far, throw everything to the bin and do every single stupid thing they could do to trash their own plans. It's absolute nonsense and almost insulting from the writers to be so lame in the way they wanted to add tragedy to the story. It's simply pathetic.

The acting is quite bad, pretty much everyone is overacted and stiff. Lots of nonsensical, cringe dialog, specially from the villains on the story. Somehow they're creepy and I see how it could have worked better but the writers did a terrible job and ruined a story with potential.

I haven't read the book in which this is based, this looks like a really bad adaptation, but I can't really bother looking that up.

An absolute struggle to finish this movie.

No One Will Save You
(2023)

Visually great, a roll-eye-fest from beginning to end (specially strong one then)
The movie really struck me visually from the very beginning and it's really solid throughout. Has some great atmosphere (specially the first part) and CGI.

The sound also made a good impression during the first tense scene, but I quickly realised that it sounded like another million movies I've seen before. Apparently, filmmakers are quite certain on the sound an alien or monster or something on those lines would make. The k-k-k-k-k-k sound. First roll-eye, I can't take it anymore, it DOES sound creepy, true, but let's have something new, please.

The following roll-eye (many), were due to the stupid action. The main character really pushed my patience doing everything wrong, in a very childish way, really annoying for a survival movie. This particular aspect made me struggle to watch to the end, but I really wanted to see what happens at the end. This curiosity I guess, it's a point in favour for the movie.

Well, the end isn't great, and I totally see why most of the negative revies criticize it. It looks like they tried to do something deeper, crazier, creepy, but it just didn't work. Not for me at least, I found the ending out of place and disappointing. Even also a bit pretentious.

It's hard to say if I'd recommend this movie, the first half has some good intense moments for horror fans, with great visuals and CGI (along with all the flaws I mentioned before, if you don't mind them), but I don't think the ending will be something many people will find in tune with the rest and as a whole, I don't feel it's a solid story/movie.

The Flash
(2023)

Fairly fun and entertaining, with LOTS of fan service but some awful, distracting CGI
Based on the Flash comic book Flashpoint, I really respect that instead of making a movie of hero vs villain they decided to adapt a specific story where several characters appear. I find it refreshing and also I'm surprised and intrigued why this hasn't been done before. Movies usually take things from here and there and they end up building something that not always works.. Anyway, the story is good, it has some humour (not always great though, I'm still struggling with Miller's performance), lots of action and a huge amount of fan service and cameos that the big nerds like me (no shame) will appreciate and enjoy!

It's overall a decent movie, but there's something really bad about it: the CGI.

What the hell happened to this production ending up looking SO BAD in that department. There's also so much unnecessary CGI of normal people that looks so fake and unrealistic! Example when Flash is travelling in time, the faces on the treadmill are done by CGI, strangely, and everything looks like you're watching a videogame cutscene (and not a great one) instead of a live action movie in the cinema. Flash body looks awful most of the time, regardless the very cool design of the suit. And every scene when the characters meet themselves and one of the faces are made by CGI, it's so horrible that distracted me from what they're actually doing.

One more, why Flash moves in slow motion while running? It's like he's gliding instead of giving steps! Really weird!

The bad CGI almost ruins the movie for me, it certainly made me lower the rating. I wish it would look better, but as it is, it's an entertaining, decent superhero movie.

Master Gardener
(2022)

Seen it done better before.
I have to say, I haven't seen any of the other two movies part of this thematic trilogy, but as far as I know they're independent stories.

To start with, the story is nothing original. It's been done many times before, and better.

The story of a guy with a dark past and set of skills, retired from that life, trying to live a quiet life in a small job, but trouble comes up and the guy goes back to old habits.

I know, that's not all there is here, but the rest, honestly, didn't blow my mind neither. I just didn't connect with the characters or what they do. And it's actually weird, because I do like gardening and nature in general, but it just didn't click for me.

Also, I felt the visual aspect wasn't great. I get the pale colour palette, but still, the shots didn't catch my eye or made an impression, except for the monotony and bland character of it. I know many won't be so exigent with this aspect, but I consider it an important aspect and with so many great cinematographers in the industry, if a movie doesn't have this aspect covered, I feel frustrated and disappointed. After all, movies are a visual form of entertainment, which include other many aspects, but it's a visual thing first!

Besides all that technical criticism, I found the ending quite weird, awkward, a bit cheesy and even slightly nonsensical at some degree, considering the character Norma (S. Weaver).

On the performances side, everyone give solid acts, that's the strongest point of the movie for sure.

Quite a disappointment, I was expecting this to be a solid movie, but it ended up being a mediocre piece, for me.

Solace
(2015)

Interesting idea, poor execution
It's hard to believe than an interesting idea with such a casting for the main roles can end up being such a mediocre movie.

The script is not great, it definitely has its flaws, but what really bothered me is the camera work and cinematography. It really makes this movie look cheap. Even though there is a decent budget (big actors, cars being destroyed..), the style is completely absent. The shaky camera and quick zooms look horrible and distracting in this kind of movie, it's like the director made a couple of action movies and didn't know how to film this. It's a very dark story, with very dark characters and dialogs, but the visual mood tells a completely different story, and if you're aware of this aspect of a movie, it will definitely spoil this one like it happened to me.

Another big annoyance was the character Joe (J. D. Morgan), which was supposed to be a burned down cop with a big mess on his hands, but then he walks around with a gentle smile, being cool and nice and sharing some lovely scenes with his happy family. I actually like the actor, but it seems that he wasn't really guided into the character. Complete kill of mood. There were lots of moments where the characters kind of lose the touch with the nature of the story and I found that very distracting. This was supposed to be a sequel for Se7en. Compare it with that and you'll see exactly what I mean.

I'm sure lots of people will find this movie good, watchable. I feel like it had the potential to be way better, but the director failed to set the mood right.

I'm actually glad they didn't make this into a sequel for Se7en.

The Menu
(2022)

Good performances, weak story
I felt quite disappointed by this movie.

I'll start saying that the performances are very strong all around, but that's not enough to make a good movie. More so, watching a movie with such a team of talented actors and not being able to enjoy a good movie is quite frustrating as a viewer and makes me wonder about the writers and directors skills..

The story starts interesting, not because of it's originality, but the setting and atmosphere have enough tension and mystery to make me wonder what's going on and what will happen.

It doesn't take long for the reveal, we're left with the "why" of the reveal and everything becomes quite nonsensical and poorly executed in terms of story and events.

The cinematography is interesting at moments, with close ups of the gourmet dishes, but I honestly didn't feel like I was watching anything new or original, and the rest of the imagery didn't impress me or added to the story.

The characters didn't act much with common sense and rarely (on the very last scene, one of them) anyone does anything intelligent.

Someone mentioned that the tone of the movie switches between comedy and horror but doesn't really mix well, and I'd agree with that too.

In the end, I felt bored and didn't connect with any of the characters, a wasted opportunity.

El amor después del amor
(2023)

Emotive, beautifully filmed and a good portrait of the 70's and 80's in Argentina
I really enjoyed this series, even if (though I'm Argentinian) I've never been a hardcore fan of Fito Paez or Argentinian music in general. That being said, I love a lot of that music and I know a lot of it very well, as I grew up listening to it and it's part of my culture and it's burned in me, it brings back beautiful memories.

On my forties now, and living abroad for almost half of my life, I wish I was a part of all that, watching this series made me quite melancholic and that's pure merit of the production value which is outstanding. The costume and settings design is excellent, and the attention to detail lifts up the experience really high.

Knowing the musicians that appear in the story and the melodies and songs that Fito plays even in their early stages of development is something that probably Argentinians will enjoy the most, but even someone that doesn't know the characters could get interested in researching further into these music legends of our country and find some of these gems which probably are not known internationally.

As mentioned before, the cinematography (I'm a photographer/cinematographer, so I get quite technical in this aspect when I watch) is absolutely beautiful, it's really one of the best aspects of the show, really high standards for a "TV series"!!

And again, I felt very touched throughout the episodes, which speaks of good writing, so another great achievement there!

I have to say, some times the performances were uneven, mostly from the main character Fito (played by Ivan Hochman) who felt a bit overacted by moments, but I understand the real Fito has some special, intense body language (even for an Argentinean!) and that can be a huge challenge! Still, it's not something that ruined the show and the physical resemblance really helped. Specially Micaela Riera as Fabiana Cantilo, incredible resemblance!!

Overall an excellent show, I really enjoyed it and I'm really looking forward to see more Argentinian artists brought into more series of this quality.

Well done all the team, and thank you for bringing me back home.

Renfield
(2023)

Nicolas Cage saves this of being bad bad
He manages to turn this quite mediocre film into a good bad average comedy action flic with his classic funny expressions and "overacting". He's just perfect for the role, I loved the "remake" Vera Lugosi's Dracula scenes at the very beginning of the movie.

Again, Cage can't be more funny in any other role and he's pretty much the only thing in this movie that I actually enjoyed and made me chuckle (I didn't really laugh at any point..).

I didn't particularly love the self esteem plot thing, not that it's not funny and makes sense, I just found it not working by times.

Quite full of clichés too, that's something that's never necessary or appreciated.

Average cinematography, very colourful to try catch the eye, but it really looked cheap at times, in a very technical way, for a photographer...

The gore was intense, almost Mortal-Kombat-ish! Fun for sure, there's no hold back with the bloodshed!

Overall an entertaining, silly movie. I was expecting a little bit more of a B-style than such a commercial take, having such a weirdo like Nic Cage, but it's fun to watch.

Everything Everywhere All at Once
(2022)

What a joke. Best movie of the year? What??!!
Seriously. What a joke. The Oscars have never been by far any sort of guidance for me, but I can't help feeling curious about the movies they award. This is probably the most irrational one of all time.

I can't agree with ANY of the aspects awarded by the Academy, it's a seriously flawed movie, with a very weak script and dialogs, average performances (when not lousy), mediocre cinematography and repetitive cheap humour.

The story tries to be complex but it's just messy. I understand what's going on and what it wants to say, but its choppy editing and frenetic pace is just unenjoyable and uninteresting. I literally fell asleep in the cinema, and thought of walking out at least twice but stayed to the end to really see if there was any redeeming value in it. There wasn't.

Part of the boredom and walking out feeling was the cringe dialog. It got me rolling my eyes throughout the last hour, especially at the end with all that speech and preaching about life and love and blah, blah, blah.. terrible. After watching two hours of cheap, quirky, repetitive and unfun humour and cheap choreographies don't come to me trying to be serious and dramatic (and cliché) because it's not the time or place.

Best actress??? WHAT??!! None of the performances were worthy of big praise! It's a cheap looking action flick, what the hell?!

The costumes and set design are quite horrible. Seriously. Costume design got another award! What is it to praise about a costume made of teddy bears? Originality? NO. Hard work? NO. Is it interesting? NO. Sets are just boring. I don't remember a single one that was interesting or at least looked good. Even the "final fight" was lame. That's part of the poor, uninteresting cinematography, below average. I've seen LOTS of TV shows that look WAY better than this "Academy award winner". Again, what a joke.

It's not even a case of high expectations, it never looked amazing in the trailer for me. I was interested in the concept, and as I said, the awards made me curious, but if it hasn't won all those prices, I'd be trashing it anyway, because it's a really bad movie for me.

Finally, I have to say, as an action/fighting movie, it's also very mediocre. The choreographies are average, nothing I haven't seen in a Jackie Chan's TV movie on a Sunday afternoon. Seriously boring.

I even find disrespectful how this movie got the prize against the other WAY BETTER movies competing.

And again, WHAT A JOKE.

Awards aside, this is a bad movie.

The Wolfman
(2010)

Very solid movie with OUTSTANDING cinematography
It's weird to see such a low score in IMDB.. Looking through the first 20 reviews or so (the most agreed) all the ratings are above 8, with even some weird ones giving a somewhat low score but the actual words say they liked it.. what is this, I don't know. Now to my views on this film.

Firstly, I HAVE to mention how beautiful and atmospheric its the cinematography! Pretty much every frame of the two hours (I watched the director's cut) are worth of printing to look and enjoy for more than what they last in the movie!

The acting is solid for what the story tells, the story is nothing exceptional but it serves the purpose.

It may get slow a few times, but it's not meant to be some bombastic superhero movie, it's a dark monster movie with the classic drama of the struggle of losing humanity.

The action is very well made and entertaining, and the practical effects look cool too. The CGI is good but a very few times it looks unpolished. Nothing that bothered me or ruined the experience.

Overall, it's a really well made monster movie and it's really unfairly underrated for no apparent reason.

It really deserves a watch, and if you can get the Unrated Director's Cut, will be probably better!

Les cinq diables
(2022)

An intriguing tale with interesting elements
As a premise, it has a mix of elements that called my attention. The trailer shows interesting imagery and characters and the movie lives up to it.

Through the first half I was very curious about what the characters do and how events would develop.

There acting performances are solid throughout, and even if I heard some mixed opinions about the story being all over the place, too much going on and confusing, for me the elements were always clear and the story is quite simple to understand.

There's a little twist at the end that might leave you thinking to figure out what it means, but even if you don't, the story makes perfect sense and it even surprised me with its tone.

The cinematography is ok, nothing special, but the story is interesting and well paced so it kept me entertained from beginning to end.

Minuscule: La vallée des fourmis perdues
(2013)

Boring and disappointing
Like someone else said, I'll feel like an Ogre bashing on a child's movie, but I was so disappointed on this that I'll do it. After all, not all kids will have a great time ONLY by watching little cute bugs make funny fart noises.

By the trailer and a few minutes into the film, I enjoyed a lot how cute the little bugs are and how cool the mix with real forest footage looks. I really felt curious about the macro-photography style and how would that work.

But soon I was bored and disappointed, and it became a drag to get through it, even with the short 84 minute runtime.

The writing it's incredibly weak, and I've loved MANY other "kids" movies! Most Pixar and Disney movies have way deeper stories and character development, this didn't have any of that.

Plus, there isn't even good fact reference, as the bugs and physics are very inaccurate in their behaviour. Yeah, I know it's a comedy for kids, but a little sense wouldn't hurt, and kids could learn from it!

The story has an absolute lack of time coherence and continuity, which broke a lot the sense of realism for me, and I'm pretty sure a kid would notice this too.

I've also watched this in 3D, which looks good in the very close ups, but the landscapes are not thought to impress with the use of depth and look complete flat. Even more, the very slow fade between landscapes footage feels very weird when watching in 3D, annoying.

A very disappointing movie, even if I was going for a relaxed watch, it ended up being quite a negative experience, definitely not the great indie animation movie I expected.

Infinity Pool
(2023)

Pretentious, pointless nonsense.
I'll be very careful before picking up another movie with Mia Goth. I've seen enough of her repetitive, annoying high pitch nasal voice performances. Terrible. Seemed interesting the first times I've watched her, but now it just became playing the same character over and over again, and it's not even a character I actually want to watch!

Besides her annoying performance (again), the plot seemed ridiculous from the very first time the main "special thing" (don't want to spoil anything, but it was a real WTF moment, in a bad way) of the movie happens. I just thought it was so stupid and ridiculous that struggled the whole rest of the movie to keep interest and watch.

I endured this pain of a movie just to see if it was going to show something to redeem such stupid and unoriginal (this has been done so many times before, and better) premise but it didn't. It carried on with it's pretentious style and dialogs.

I can't think of anything solid on it, just a couple moments of intense practical effects violence (taken from daddy, but that's ok..) and some of the cinematography and sound.

But honestly, I'm only glad I didn't go to the cinema to watch this pile of trash, I'd be furious!

The Banshees of Inisherin
(2022)

Great performances, interesting setting and premise, unclear point
By "unclear point" I'm probably being unclear! What I mean is that the two main characters (two friends) fight, get more and more stubborn, get to a very tense point when you expect them to clear thoughts and understand their wrongs, but.. Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a bad movie, the cinematography is quite beautiful, the landscapes look great on the big screen, and even the indoor scenes are naturally lit, giving a sense of realism to the 20's story setting. It looks great indeed!

There're a lot of chuckling throughout the movie, and the animals are lovely and fun to watch as they interact with the characters. It almost makes me feel like going to live in a farm for a while!

The performances are excellent all around, the characters are solid and believable while the story unfolds, but then the story's message is unclear to me. I just didn't get anything but bitter sadness and the frustration of two people that won't put themselves in the place of their friend, having things changed or not, I find this pointless and even if not realistic, unworthy of telling as a story.

Some may find certain meaning I don't, some may enjoy the setting way more than I do and appreciate details I've missed, but my feeling at the end is of an unsatisfying ending for a story of friendship, which we all have had in our lives.

Triangle of Sadness
(2022)

Just a few moments of fun doesn't justify the length
I was so excited about this movie by watching the trailer, but let me tell you, it LIES. It's one of the most misleading trailers I've ever seen.

For starts, the movie is WAY too long.

The first 20ish minutes with the couple arguing is completely unnecessary and uninteresting.

The yacht part is the best. It has the most intense part of the movie and features Woody Harrelson (for a little while, at least). Unfortunately, this is a third of the movie, and after taking way too long to get there, it then drags another hour with a very poorly developed act, dragging so much I was even feeling like walking out the cinema.

The last act, "The beach" doesn't have as much to say to be so long.

All the movie has something to say, there are a lot of funny moments, there's a lot of criticism, sometimes deep philosophy, but needs some serious editing. It looks like the director was having so much fun shooting that didn't want to cut anything, and the result is a very uneven paced movie. In my opinion, it could lose like one hour length without losing any of the story and message (s).

My other issue is the ending. Without spoiling anything, I'll say, some times the open ending is unnecessary and annoying. This is the case.

I'm highly disappointed on this movie, I was expecting so much more.

I've heard so many times people prising trailers, saying to the guys that make them "great job" because the trailers look intense, showing the "action" parts, but in the end making the movie look like something it isn't. I find this dishonest and misleading. Not a great job at all.

12 Angry Men
(1997)

Pure social criticism.
That's what this is and is very well done.

Great performances all around.

The dialogs and conflicts between the 12 men discussing the verdict after the trial of a man are loaded with a lot of social conflict, hate, prejudgement, racism and classism.

Your blood will boil watching men treating others in ways that you probably had the misfortune of witnessing in your life.

Injustice is everyday news in this world we're living in, but there's always someone who fights, someone who thinks on his own, who believes there's more to it than the first thing it's been told.

This is an homage to those people, and it serves to keep us alert on thinking twice before judging anything or anyone, and to fight ignorance to finally be able to live in peace with each other and with ourselves.

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