Welcome to my secret review page!
Here you can find my detailed opinions about series
and movies I've watched recently.
This list will be updated everytime I see
something that catches my eye.
Strange days (1995) ★★★★★This movie was another experience. I watched it barely knowing the plot, I just thought the memory discs concept was so interesting and I loved its approach in the movie. Strange days is very intense and I think part of that it's because it takes place in the last two days of 1999 in a world that is such a mess, just at the edge of being apocalyptic. Even tho, the New Year eve it's not really fundamental to the plot, I LOVED IT, it just added so much to the atmosphere. About the characters, Macey was the best, it was impossible not to like her and Lenny was great too, I liked the way Lenny, as a protagonist, is actually a loser, for example, he relies in the memory discs to revive those days when Faith was his girlfriend and it's cathartic the way he clinges to that wasted love. A moment I really liked in Strange Days was when Faith was performing "I can hardly wait" (Juliette Lewis is a great singer actually), first because I already knew the song before watching the movie and I had no idea it featured in any film and second, that secuence it's very well executed (that plane of Lenny staring at her). I still can't recover from the ending, I was really impressed by the plotwist (they were two plotwists). There's a scene when I thought "maybe this character is the killer" and when the killer it's revealed it actually ended up being him, but I was in shock nevertheless. That final kiss with that song at the end left me speechless.
I knew, even before watching Tank girl, that I would like it. I've never read the comics, but I loved the maximalist, punkish way of dressing of Rebecca. The soundtrack was brutal, I didn't expect those two songs of Björk and Lori Petty as Tank girl was phenomenal, like she really mastered the character, she was so charismatic and I can't imagine another actress in this role. There were some animated parts and even images of the original comic which were fine. The movie in itself was really fun and fast paced. There are only two reasons why I didn't ranked it with 5 five stars: first, the Rippers were really off putting, like it was something I couldn't ignore once they appeared. I know is a stupid reason, but I just couldn't ignore it (imagine my reaction when Tank girl kissed one of them). The second reason was that I felt that the ending was a bit rushed for me. But overall, I liked Tank girl.
American History X it's a movie everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime. Everything about this movie is perfect, is very well executed, that's why its message is clear and powerful. The performances of both Edwards (Norton and Furlong) are brilliant, being Edward Norton's the most prominent since he's the main character. The ending is so shocking because there's foreshadowing during the movie, but you connect the pieces once it happens (I know that wasn't the original ending, but it doesn't bother me at all). I loved the character development, for example, when Derek is in jail he realizes that his way of thinking it's not going to take him so far since every skinhead in jail made deals with said minorities they hated, so in order to survive he had to coexist with them. And that's just what literally happens with society, like it or not, you have to coexist with other groups of people you don't necessarily like. I found Danny to be a tragic character, the way he adored his older brother, his fate; he's also very interesting because he's the only one who seems to realize where did Derek's racism come from. Also, I have to mention that the scene that show the night of Derek's arrest still gives me chills. I know I'm being redundant here, but America History X is awesome. "Life's too short to be pissed off all the time".
At this point I think is safe to say that I don't like Lynch's style that much. I also wanted to like this movie so bad, but I couldn't. This movie had very good points tho, for example, the soundtrack was brutal (Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, The Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails in just one movie!); actually, the first act (from beggining until Fred ends up in jail) was pretty good, I found it eerie, subtle and mysterious, but when Pete is introduced the tone changed abruptly and I didn't like it. I was bored, I think that chunk of the movie was redundant and lacked the subtlety of the first act. I must say that I liked the ending and I think I got the meaning of the movie, I wasn't left so clueless like Mulholland Drive, but I think the execution of the 'it was just the protagonist hedonist escape fantasy' plot was better in Mulholland Drive rather than Lost Hihgway. Do I think that David Lynch was a bad director? No, not at all. He was very talented and I love the dreamlike atmosphere of his works, but the way he portrayed them is not for me. Lost Highway was worth the watch tho.
This movie was SO BAD. I watched with cero expectations, because I didn't have any reference prior and I thought the plot was cool. Well, the only good thing about it was the short length, I mean I didn't wasted so much time watching it and Katherin Isabelle, she had like 2 minutes of screen time, but I don't care. The rest of the movie was garbage in my opinion, the main character had a bland personality and everyone in this movie was just so dumb, everyone always made the wrong decisions and it was frustrating. There wasn't any intrigue, I thought that there was going to be a plotwist (for example, I thought Gavin was pretending to be part of the 'Blue ribbons' to then get information; none of this happened btw). There's no secret, no intrigue, no change in the plot, I hated every character, the soundtrack was mid, the ending was ridiculously bad (it made no sense at all), there was no deeper message, at one point I didn't know why the character did the things they did. To conclude: don't waste your time with 'Disturbing behaviour'.
I LOVED THIS MOVIE, the moment I finished it I knew this was going to become my new comfort movie. You see, I've alway wanted to watch it, but I never got the chance for whatever reason. However, all these years searching for this movie were worth it. First of all, it is set on a desert, so that was such a good point for me. On the second place, I genuinely enjoyed it, for a ton of reasons: Stanley Yelnats it's like a very lovable main character, you actually feel sorry for his bad luck and all the other characters like Zero, X-ray, Zig-zag, etc. they're all very memorable, they all have unique personalities. Also, the way the plot (and plotwist) develops it's like so good, near the end everything makes sense in a way I didn't expected it. Disney really doesn't make movies like this anymore, because even tho Holes is supposed to be like 'suitable for minors', it really touches some heavy topics like racism, the whole family curse cycle, and there are guns and mentions of smoking and stuff. Can you imagine Disney pulling a movie like Holes today? About the end, the end was so satisfying, justice was served and it left me with such a good taste afterwards. I have to mention that the soundtrack was FIRE, I've humming 'Dig it oh oh, dig it' since I finished it like a couple of days before. As a side note, I don't know why there isn't a edit of this movie with 'Dirty Harry' (Gorillaz), I think it fits like so well and I swear I would do it, but I don't have the editing skills.
I think everything about The Craft is perfect. The cast was very well selected in its roles, I mean I cannot imagine another actress who isn't Fairuza Balk to play Nancy Downs, like she really mastered the character and I also think Robin Tunney was a good chocie for Sarah (I love Alicia Silverstone, but I can't imagine her in a movie like this). I really like about this The Craft the way it handles all the magic stuff, because it doesn't demonize at all the Wicca culture (I'm not a follower of the Wicca, but never the less, I think it should be treated with respect, since it's a religion), anyways it showed that, actually if you abuse the power the magic can give you, things get pretty rough for you. The conflicts that the 4 girls faced we're super relatable and interesting and I also loved the ending, it's a well-rounded story. Good soundtrack too, my favourite character was Sarah, I mean she deserved better and I'm happy how the things turned to her. A very 90's classic.
I'm sorry, I really wanted to like Mulholland Drive, actually I was excited to watched it because I'd like to explore more of the David Lynch's cinematography, but this movie wasn't for me. Don't get me wrong, Naomi Watts was brilliant as Betty and the whole movie had this uncanny,'something's wrong, but I don't know why nor what' vibe that I love, and the whole 'Silencio, no hay banda, no hay orquesta' thing it's tatooed in my mind. Also, Mulholland Drive didn't leave me indifferent, actually I felt like this strong dread for days since I finished it, like it was a really weird feeling, I don't know how to describe it. The problem this movie has, in my opinion, it's that I enjoyed more reading the theories that people had about it than watching the movie, because I'm going to be very honest with you, I didn't understand a single thing that was happening on the screen. I think part of it it's because Mulholland Drive wasn't supposed to be a movie in the first place, and I have the impression that the whole first part (beginning until 'Silencio' scene) was like the idea of the pilot for said series, but for whatever reason, I didn't get made. It's such a shame I didn't like Mulholland Drive the way I wanted, but well, I tried.
Jawbreaker was pretty fun to watch and I think it's safe to say that Courtney, Marcie and Julie are one of the most iconic trio of popular friends along the Heathers and the girls from Mean girls. It was a very fast passed movie in my opinion, and it had a pretty interesting premise for me. I liked the way Fern got the chance to be like one of the popular girls she admired and it made her show her dark side. Also, it's important to mention that Courtnet wasn't just a bitch, she was a fucking sociopath, like her behaviour wasn't normal. Anyways, the soundtrack was like very 90's (duh) and I loved the colorful outfits. I think this movie lack something tho, maybe it lacked of a more serious and deep message. Don't get me wrong (again), it has a clear message, but I don't think it the movie didn't go into it that deeply like Heather for example, Jawbreaker it's somehow more light if you ask me. Actually I don't know why this movie wasn't adapted into a musical instead of Heather, like I think it has far more material for a musical than Heathers since it's more light and less violent. I wouldn't say I didn't like Jawbreaker, I did, but just no that much.
Maybe Blade is your average 90's cool and though action movie guy, but I don't care, he fucking rocks. The reason why I didn't give this movie 5 stars it's because I'm not that into action movies so there were some elements that didn't resonate with me, even tho the violence was pretty good, I don't have complaints regarding that. About the good things, well the whole initial secuence it's iconic, there's no other word to describe, it was like really cool. The soundtrack was amazing and I didn't expect that plotwist, that was really twisted. I liked Karen too, the dynamic betweeen her and Blade was interesting and at times subtle. I wasn't such a fan of the ending because I don't like open endings, I mean in these case, this movie was like screaming for a sequel and I don't agree with that at all. Actually I don't think I'm going to watch the second or third part (there was even a third part, right?). Anyways, about the vampires, I don't think Blade offered like a new perspective of them, but that didn't bother me. However, I still think this a 'must watch' vampire movie.
Fire Walk with Me (1992) ★★★★★I thought I had a good comprehension of the Twin Peaks lore until I saw Fire Walk with Me. Holy shit, where do I begin? Well, first of all, this movie synthesizes everything I like about Twin Peaks: the dream-like atmosphere, the horror of the suffering of Laura Palmer and the Black Lodge. At times, everything was so eerie, like the shot of Laura's face when she's looking at the fan or the sudden appearence of the white horse or that weird sound that the street wires did or the whole angel thing. After all, Twin Peaks it's all about the tragic story of Laura Palmer and how she falled into a selfdestruction spiral due to her inmense trauma, I swear, her death scene was so visceral and the sudden appearence of the Angel was so majestci/uncanny at the same time and the fact she dissociates her father from Bob was so heartbreaking to me. And, Oh my god, that final scene in the Black Lodge. All the elements I talked about combined in that sole scene and I actually cried to the facial expression of Laura, it was a sincere, tired, happy and at the same time sad laugh. Dude, I'm still affected by this movie, like I know I have to watch Season 3, but like first I have to recover from the grusomeness of Fire Walk with me.
I'm going to be really honest with you, it wasn't easy to watch the second season of Twin Peaks. You see, the first 9 episodes were PHENOMENAL, like I was so hooked, and that scene at the police station with the fire detectors leaking water and Agent Cooper speech was so beautiful and sad at the same time; or Maddie's last scene was also really terrifying. Like, the first half of the season was brilliant and obscure, but since it hit the 10th episode, everything went downhill in a evident way. Everything just turned so boring, I wasn't invested in the plotlines at all and for a moment I even stopped watching the series because it started to feel more like a chore to end one episode. Also, the character suffer from a heavy personality change, like Agent Cooper starts out as this intuitive, kind of esotheric and good hearted guy and during the second half he's turn into a naive and condescent person, or for example, Audrey at first was cunning and at times misterious and then she seems kind of lost without a love interest (I know the whole deal with Lara Flynn Boyle and Sherilyn Fenn by the way). Or Bobby, I mean from the start he was an asshole sometimes, but then he's like unbearable and so on, so on. Also, I heavily disliked that suddenly everyone forgot about Laura's dead, and don't get me started with the whole James plotline, let's not. Anyways I ranked it with three stars because those two final episodes made it all worth (and also I liked the addition of Annie, she was so sweet). I think the Black lodge is such a haunting concept and was well executed, I swear I was at the edge of my sit watching all the hell break loose. I wonder how people could survive 25 years with that ending?? Stay tuned for my "Fire walk with me" and Season 3 review ;)
Bang, bang you're dead! (2002) ★★★★★Honestly, this movie was such a powerful experience. I watched it because it showed in my recommended videos on youtube, and God, it was brutal. I swear, there's no other piece of media that portraits so accurately school bullying and violence as a response to it. It's so well done, I actually wanted to cry when it ended. It's touching in so many ways and it's interesting to see how the movie addresses the motive behind all the kids that feel like there's no other option besides violent acts towards the rest and/or themselves. There's a particular scene when they're rehearsing the play and it comes some sort of monologue of why these kids want to get guns and use them against their classmates. It's brilliant, like if you want to seek answers to these kinds of acts, there's this movie. It had a bittersweet ending if you ask me, but it was perfect.
Ok, the movie aesthetic is unforgettable, is brilliant and, actually I would like to see more movies with that type of ambience. To be honest with you, I wasn't a big fan of the dialogue being in full old english, it kind of distracted me at first and it made the movie kind of boring to me. I think it would have been better if they modernized the dialogue too. It had great scenes tho, for example the iconic aquarium scene was really pure and genuine. Didn't Clare Danes and Leonardo Dicaprio kind of hated each other during the filming?? If that's the case, you couldn't notice it trough the film, so that's a very good point actually.
Brutal and brilliant. I swear, if you have the opportunity to watch Drop dead gorgeous, please take it, you're not going to regret it. The satirical tone is so well done, I love the way it addresses the big problem that America has with beauty peagents, also Kirsten Dunst's character (Amber Atkins) was so adorable, like I genuinely felt bad when something bad happened to her, and believe me when I say shit happens to her. I was laughing in whole scene parade and the mockumentary format was a really nice choice. Also, Brittany Murphy was in this movie and I loved her character. What else can I say?? I don't know just experience this movie, I'm sure you're going to laugh a lot like I did.
This movie had me at that intro with "Every you, every me" by Placebo. The plot it's kind of cliché, but it's so well executed to the point that it isn't annoying. The soundtrack is oustanding, the plotwist is brutal and I think it's brilliance relies on the details. They really don't do films like this anymore. Of course, the ending blew my mind away, it was brutal and very cohesive, it really is a work of art seeing Catherine's face when she gets exposed and "Bittersweet symphony" starts playing in the background. I didn't give it five stars because I wasn't fan of some scenes, but I couldn't say at all that they ruined my perception of this movie.
The love I have for this show is otherwordly. Even tho, to this day there are only 8 episodes translated to english, I don't think that's an impediment to enjoy 'Shkola'. This show it's about the lives of the students of 9A, which used to be recognised for being quiet and a role model for other grades. During the 69 episode it has to offer, we follow the problems, the love, the hate, the dreams and the aspirations almost all of the students of 9A have, and that's exactly what makes it such a good show. You see, it takes place on Moskow, but you can be from any part of the world and still relate to the characters, or at least one. This show is so well done, that you can literally see people that you've meet during highschool in these characters. Everything feels so human and so accurate. While I was watching I couldn't help feeling 14 again, I could relate to Anya Nosova's edgyness, I used to have an Olga Budilova in my classroom, the conversations that Korolev, Isaev and Goryaev had are things I've heard before, Budilova's birthday is an accurate representation of going to your friends house for their birthday, Vera's desire to fit in and be viewed different; God, what a nice show. My favourite character was Vladimir Falikov, if you follow my recommendation and watch 'Shkola', you'll recognise him very easily, he's the guy that use colourful shirts and has long blonde hair. Even the teachers are accurate portraits of how highschool teachers behave. I know it's not subtitled in its entirity, but anyways, it's a great watch; the ending really broke my heart and left picking up the pieces for weeks, it's just so touching.
I really wanted to like this movie because, as you have seen in my "Movies" link, I tend to love movies that take place in deserts. Call it, 'gothic-western', but I'm very fond of that genre, so when I read the plot (vampires + desert) I got excited. The first scene was good, I liked the tone but as the movie progressed I started to get bored and I didn't like how it handle its characters. I swear I really want it to like, but I couldn't finish it. There wasn't a hook, I didn't like the characters at all, some aspects were completely unnecessary in my opinion and you know, it wasn't my cup of tea.
Twin Peaks (1990) - Season 1 ★★★★★You see, this is my introduction to Lynch's work and I already love it. The combination of surreal elements and a murder mistery is so well done, I can see why it had such an impact when it came out. Even tho it takes place in your typical small town, it doesn't feel cliché in any way and the secrets Twin Peaks hide within its habitants are actually disturbing. By far, my favourite character is Special Agent Dale Cooper, I find him very relatable and to be honest, these days it's very uncommon to have likeable protagonists. From the first shot, the series had me intrigued and the first season ended in a way it left me speechless. I definitely looking forward for Season 2 and I'll let you my thoughts on it here too ;)
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