ciffou Reviews

The Fall Guy (2024)

something to watch on a plane

[8 May 2024]

It's just silly fun. Ryan gosling can elevate the material with his charm and the makeup to show off his abs for a second. Other than that, it has no business being this long. The plot is so simple. I knew the ending was gonna be weak if they make the joke of having issues with the third act of the movie being filmed by blunt's character. I don't think the romance added anything to the story. It could have easily have been gosling's relative to keep him invested and save us the unnecessary exposition. Trust me. It makes no difference.

And then, Aaron Taylor Johnson. Bless his heart. He's obviously handsome, but he can barely emote. I think his wife knows his skills and he keeps getting him variations of the same character over and over. I like him, but ooof... I wish people of color could afford to make a career out of the many irrelevant roles he has played by now.

You don't hate this at all. You only wish they had acknowledged that it should not last more than one hour and a half.

Challengers (2024)

too little of them acting

[2 May 2024]

I felt that three of them were good but Guadagino chose to focus on (a) the product placement (god.. could they be more obvious?) (b) the annoying soundtrack accompanying the endless scenes in slow motion of people staring at each other, and (c) cool camera angles. Don't get me wrong. I understand film is another language in itself but I think the acting is far from the priority of the filmmaker. In the few moments where we get to see them interact with each other there is chemistry. I don't understand why he (or Amazon) chose not to focus more on that. I was so over that annoying soundtrack of gay 90s club. Did he choose to cut the story like that because he knew there was not much story to tell to begin with?

José (II) (2018)

A long film to showcase its photography

[7 March 2024]

I agree with the other person from Guatemala leaving his review here. As a Salvadoran I see the missed potential in talking about being LGBT in Central America. The movie is beautifully shot. Director Li Cheng obviously fell in love with the idea of portraying the chaos of the streets, the buses, the old buildings...We get it. He is a capable man. He is good at it. He's just not as good when it comes to screenwriting.

The moment I heard someone talking about ruins I knew the main character would go there for no significant reason at all.

Holes/ missed opportunities: First and foremost, Luis and Jose. I don't buy the relationship either. They are getting to know each other and suddenly Luis is talking about moving in together. How much time has passed?? I assume they met on Grindr or another app and I can only guess that's why Jose was looking for wi-fi in the beginning. What was different about Luis? We never get to learn that. Lingering shots won't tell a story and Heigh's "weekend" this is not.

These two characters don't know each other, but Jose's mom does recognize Luis and tries to talk with his mom. They could easily have found out their moms worked at the same place or go to the same church, if we would have actually seen these two men getting to know each other, and not only in bed. I am actually curious about Luis' relationship with his violent siblings and what his mom pretends not to know.

The mom and lack of work. Don't get me wrong. I know the issues that street vendors face in our region, but they show her selling in two different locations, so when she talks about not going to work because the cops took them out of a place, it doesn't make sense that she wouldn't go elsewhere. People can't afford to stay home because of that and it's not like she had a little place that the cops brought down, as they actually do in real life.

Mom/ grandmother: Why showing a grandmother for a couple of exchanges? She talks about leaving possible love behind to take care of Jose's mom. That's an interesting topic to explore. But nop... Let's move on to more long shots of the road.

Another motorcycle. Let's make something out of that, I guess. They could have discussed that that ride between Jose and Luis could NEVER happened without at least someone shouting a slur at them, that would make their embrace and the distance between strangers more meaningful, just like choosing not to touch when greeting each other.

I was actually falling asleep.

Escort Boys (2023– )

We get it, writers! You don't like the Me too movement

[13 January 2024]

Given people's reactions towards the Gerard Depardieu case in France, it shouldn't be surprising that in a comedy (written mostly by men), women can only be bitter, angry/entitled, angry/feminist or angelical, like the little sister.

I've only watched the first two episodes and I have enjoyed them, but the casual misoginy of the script throws me off. In the first episode you have a mom telling her daughter that by being independent and sure of herself, she scares men off, that she needs to tone it down, leave the extrems (of course by getting laid).

The second episode shows the angry, annoying wife wanting to hook up with someone other than her husband and an empowered woman who doesn't shut up, doesn't know what she wants and only finds pleasure when she's tricked into thinking she decided how the man had to take her.

Did we really need those characterizations? I don't think they add anything to the plot, but at least they let me see where the creator stands on this subject matter.

Broken: The Incredible Story of Brangelina (2018)

Could this be any more mysoginistic?

[28 December 2023]

First of all, I don't believe Angelina is a saint. At all. I think she's savvy and she goes for what she wants, which might be too much for some, but it is definitely too much for the "experts" in this documentary. The redhaired woman in particular really seems to hate her. The fact that Angelina could (key word COULD) be ruthless, does not mean that Brad is a saint either. His current relationship with the children is very telling. Granted, we could be only seeing what she wants us to see, but the opinon of the older ones have leaked as well.

Anyway, back to the "doc". It's poorly lit and the sound could have improved too.

Exit: Rett i fella (2023) Season 3, Episode 7

Not even the boat scene kept me awake

[23 December 2023]

After being subjected to the same things over and over again, I'm numb. Especially after watching the last episode and feeling there is no point in scenes like the one by the beach. It seems like it's more about showing that they can film them... the singing was cringey. It's no longer charming.

William's monologue in this episode had no punch at this point. There was not even shock value. We knew what was going to happen and even if the execution was different than what they hinted, it was still meh.

This episode also reaffirms how unimportant for the show Jeppe actually is. How could Celine think that her husband would turn to him for help instead of Henrik? But given that Henrik does have a life and issues to deal with as a character, it's obviously much more important to give Jeppe something external to deal with since he's no longer childishly grieving for a character we barely knew.

Again, it's a shame this show overstayed its welcome. That first season was incredible.

Exit: Lasarus (2023) Season 3, Episode 1

I'll watch just because it's definitely the end

[19 December 2023]

After an amazing season 1 I became somewhat disappointed with the second season. This premiere doesn't seem bad, just more like season two, and it's only because I just made sure that it is the final season, I'll keep watching. If that were not the case, I wouldn't do it. I can't shake the feeling that they are dragging a story that could have easily wrapped up in a couple of more episodes after the season one finale.

Our main characters have become exhausting, even William who was originally the least horrific of them all. Jeppe continues to just be there for whatever reason, Adam keeps getting away with it all and Henrik is just so different than the one we knew and liked to hate.

Stalk: It-Girl (2020) Season 1, Episode 8

Missing the mark

[25 September 2023]

This so far has been a disturbing yet enjoyable show. It knows what it wants to say and understands its limitations. I can ignore how cartoonishly evil the character of Pablo Cobo is, because at least he was built like this from the start.

However, in this episode we see much more of actors Carmen Kassovitz (Alma) and Lucas Mortier. I'm sure they are very capable but on this episode it seems like better directions or more takes were required.

She usually plays sad and unattached, perhaps that's why it was so unconvincing seeing her playing a "sydney bristow" responding to (imagined) directions on her headphones. Building "in-real" time action doesn't seem to be a thing the show should explore. On a positive note, at least someone within the show acknowledges that her character is weird, even for their universe.

The worst offender has to be Mortier. He's so wooden. I can't buy any of his scenes so I'm never moved by them. If I had to choose the worst one it would be the one at the lockerroom. The only thing missing was someone coming to the screen saying "end scene"... and then we have the end of the episode. It didn't have to shock *me*. I found it was obvious and expected, but it did have to elicit some believable shock from Kassovitz and Theo Fernandez. And that simply wasn't there.

So far, the show had not wanted to push the limits of their imagined world and now I understand why.

Horseplay (2022)

I actually think this is slighty better than TaeKwonDo

[20 August 2023]

For me, Berger's best film is still "Hawaii". Maybe because there's less background noise and he can focus on two characters and delve into their desires, emotions and challenges.

I am not a fan of Tae kwon do. It was full of hot bodies but there was no substance...yes, there was something lingering there but it wasn't explored in depth.

I think this movie at least gives us (for the first hour at least) the opportunity to understand some of the characters through the eyes of others (as "el viejo") and puts into question their contradictions. But as some of them leave, we get a very slow story that ends with a cliché which has no punch whatsoever...as someone mentioned before, by then, we don't really care about those characters. You end up needing more of a reward after watching it all.

M3GAN (2022)

they should have paid more to actors

[27 April 2023]

It seems that most of the budget was used on Megan. That's the only explanation to keep someone as prominent as David played as if it were a Disney channel movie. He only needed to look at the camera and say "ay dios mío". The kid in the woods is not that far either.

If you're able to let that go, you'll enjoy this movie... Don't let those tiny hands fool you. They are able to choke you apparently.

Alison is decent enough, but she could also show some kind of emotion about her sister's death, even if that's contempt. But i guess that is a weakness from the script more than her... Or not. Who knows?

Scream VI (2023)

If only they could write good characters (Mindy is the worst)

[25 April 2023]

I'm sorry but the writers behind this reboot really need to learn that there has to be some heart in your movie. Most of the characters are just plot devices, especially Mindy. She's the worst. She starts with her theories in front of everyone, even her two friends who were almost killed the night before as if it was no big deal. At least, in the first two movies, Randy talked about it at the video store and during class, not in front of Sidney!

Mindy even jokingly "distrusts" and gestures to him as if her own girlfriend didn't die the night before. Courtney Cox does so much while talking about Dewey on the phone for a minute than she does the entire film.

She was the worst in the 5th, and it remains as such. And I know it's not the actress, since she's very good in "yellowjackets". It's how this is written.

Another example of the things the writers should focus on to make this universe "believable": First, Mindy and her brother are not Dewey... how indestructible we have to believe they are?

Second, are we supposed to believe the reporters would back off after Ortega's character hits Gale just to let them have one-on-one conversations and share some exposition?

Third, the sisters take their time to arrange the final confrontation even when the oldest just told Kirby "I'm going to look for help"??? In the others, at least they assumed they were dead, they didn't leave them hanging.

And finally, the bad sibblings...they have to be the second worst reveal (and acting) since Emma Roberts.

Sharper (2023)

campy Wild things did it better

[26 February 2023]

I was intrigued by the trailer and I was excited about watching this. I liked the first bit but then endured the bit with Sebastian Stan while thinking "i get it already and the trailer set this up faster". Every turn had me less and less invested. I'm not gonna say I saw the ending coming but it was obvious Sandy was not playing at least Julianne's character. How could this two pros not see that? And if the third guy was brought to help and outsmart them, how did they play him all those times before?

I didn't enjoy the payback. It was too convoluted. And making them go back together just make Tom look dumb and naive... So not deserving a happy ending.

The Fallout (2021)

Pretty decent film

[5 January 2023]

I watched it Despite the cloying trailer they made for it. It ended up being a pretty decent film, in which I finally saw nuances from Jenna Ortega, although Maddie Ziegler was my biggest surprise.

Even if the little sister was written as almost Every other younger sibbling, they allow her to have something different. Her scene with Ortega was really special, it was really telling, which made me much more upset about the following scene: the cloying scene with the dad in the woods, which already looked terribly corny in the trailer. More is definitely Not better.

Nevertheless, I applaud this effort and I'm really glad there were not statistics in the end to prove its point.

Hit the Road (2021)

The kid is the worst

[26 December 2022]

Pantea Panahiha is such an incredible actress and her performance deserved better. I hate that I had to pause the movie so many times because that kid kept getting on my nerves. I know he's supposed to be the comedic relief, but he's not. We understand from the get go that he's getting on the family's nerves, but we as an audience shouldn't have to suffer it too, because then the movie is ruined for us as well.

There are so many beautiful shots... especially the one taken from a long distance when we only see the silhouettes moving around. I find those are far better executed than the "artsy" choice of the stars. And don't even get me started with Jessy. I'd watch a thousand prequels with him and the mother.

Who You Think I Am (2019)

The "twists" are unnecessary

[13 November 2022]

I haven't read the book, but I assume it's better developed than the script of this movie. I was enjoying the story until Claire writes "the novel".

When she meets Alex, everything is too long. Knowing he's dead and this is just a fantasy, it doesn't have any meaning. I can't connect with his shock of finding out the truth. I assume they expected us to later understand that she was punishing herself through her writing, but I did not resonate with me at all. For a while, I thought they wanted to make an "atonement" kind of twist but backed out. But then,we get yet another plot twist! Ludo taking the high ground revealing to the doctor that Alex is alive. It seems like he did never reveal the truth to his friend and he decided to mess with Claire instead. That conversation would have been interesting - seeing this tool enjoying her distress. I hate to say that probably this man would have given us the reckoning the movie lacks.

The origin of the photos chosen by Claire was also way too obvious from the beginning. I knew it was going to be her exhusband's new woman.

And finally... I really REALLY love Binoche, but I can't buy her on this if she still looks so amazing. They dishevel her a bit and we're supposed to see an old hack, a woman with "wrecked" belly and breasts??... come on!

A League of Their Own: Batter Up (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

I'll keep watching buuuuuuuuut...

[9 November 2022]

I'm not a MRA. I'm neither white nor straight. So don't dismiss my review as "trolling". I'm intrigued by the show. I LOVED the movie, but I think the show doesn't know what it aims to be. The tone is off. By trying to be inclusive (ticking the boxes), they also fail by presenting caricatures and I find that unintentionally disrespectful. What would have really happened to a black woman throwing tantrums all around during that period of time? What would have happened to an openly gay man saying out loud the "quirky" line of "definitely not interested in women"? Also, by presenting a caricature of a macho rich man saying things like "Look at those calves!", they are also dismissing the perversiveness of everyday interactions and their sexism. I do hope it gets better. We'll see.

Bisping (2021)

Entertaining for the first 75 minutes

[2 November 2022]

I believe this documentary could really have benefitted from (A) another director; or (B) not having Bisping as one of the executive producer (with obvious power on the final cut). He's charming (and handsome) enough to keep you hooked. The movie manages to drag while still dodging the more interesting part of his story. Obviously there are things he doesn't want to share - but those would have provided more humanity to it all. Granted, I might not be the target audience. I would have loved to know more about his parents, his wife's "purpose" of just "being there for him", what drives him to keep hurting his body, more than what the bros think about him...except for Michael Jai White, who is not afraid to not act and talk like a grown-up frat boy.

If the target audience is only Joe Rogan fans pumped by the cringy words of Vin Diesel that "being an alpha is a pain in the a.." there is no need of the artsy shots of the gloves and Bisping's dramatizations of his own moves before we see the actual footage. In my opinion, the rhythm changes by the time we see the footage of his wedding and endure the cringy narration of Bruce Buffer. Then, it's more about reliving those fights than getting to know him and his journey right before that.

Bros (I) (2022)

Neither charming nor funny

[28 October 2022]

Billy is no Julia Roberts in "My best friend's wedding". He can't pull off being neurotic yet charming. I struggled during the first 45 minutes wondering if I should turn my TV off or carry on. You only have to see the first five minutes to understand why Luke McFarland's character would ask him to tone it down during a family meeting (with relatives that look nothing like each other). You just can't root for this very annoying leading man, who is skeptical but chooses a restaurant with live dance and songs as a good spot for a family outing. The gag is the music during awkward moments. Funny!

For a movie that keeps making fun of Hallmark movies, they really needed to be more self-aware.

The editing is also really bad. It looks like a Netflix reality where it's painfully obvious that close-ups were part of a different take.

It seems like they came up with sketches or gags first and then they wondered how they could put them all together through a needlessly long story. Most of the artists are overacting as if that would make this funnier.

Luke is decent enough in his performance, but he has been better in other things.

We Were Once Kids (2021)

It could have been shorter

[21 September 2022]

This is a good documentary that, unlike what typical bros from IMDB would say, is not for "the era of whine". It does talk about the entire cast, even those who someone says here are suspiciously silent, but this is not about the rest of the teenagers who were part of the cast. It's about those who had the power and basically used the life stories (AND IMAGES) of these kids, while filming them naked and using drugs. I have never been a fan of Harmony Korine, and now I dislike him even more. The creepy aura around Larry Clarke does not surprise me. This old dude talking with a teenager about another grown man wanting oral sex seems more like a way to bring that topic up. I do believe that Hamilton Harris, being the writer, wasn't able to objectively edit many of his conversations. The monotone can get a little bit tired.

It's not the best, but it's worth watching, especially for those who are unable to put themselves in the shoes of teenagers from "the wrong side of the tracks" (Of course, that's not the user base of this site)

Riders of Justice (2020)

A fatphobic movie that brings nothing to the table

[10 July 2022]

Once you watch the movie, you realize why there's such a big gap between the movies directed by Thomas Jensen - I guess Mads and Nicolas Bro are big pals of him to keep joining his projects.

The best part of the movie are Mads and Nikolaj (Otto). I guess it has to be a Danish film if you can get good acting in a terrible comedy (?) with an awful script.

The worst part is the fixation with how much they use being fat for cheap laughs: if Mathilde is told by Lennart that she's fat, we have to laugh, if Emmenthalter takes too much space in bed, we are expected to laugh and then the likeable character of Otto says that fat people want to be around other fat people so they don't look as big... what's with the writer/director's obsession with the subject?

It's not worth it. I didn't get anything out of it. Maybe watch it on a plane and that's it.

Love, Victor: Brave (2022) Season 3, Episode 8

Disappointing by-the-numbers ending

[21 June 2022]

The show was never a masterpiece but it was definitely worth a watch. It never managed to have a congruent rhythm and, as expected, the last season wasn't an exception. You could see everything coming miles away (Spoilers ahead): the "I don't want to go to college", the "I can't have just sex, I'm a good gay who looks for a relationship", the "I realize I need you but I see you kissing a decent guy (and decide to throw that out there when leaving for emotional manipulation). Luckily, Lake stayed true to herself even in this very narrow space. The others, not at all. Through most of them, the show tells kids everywhere: "The bravest thing you can do is NOT being single". It really had the chance to be outstanding and show them that it is OK to leave your high school love behind, learn from it and survive - that you don't have to hate each other, that big dramatic gestures are not necessary to prove love. My favorite scene of the season has to be when Lake quietly said "goodbye" to Felix. Other than that, I hardly fell any emotional engagement. I didn't care about the Benji - Victor relationship anymore. I couldn't care less about Raheem being mad. Nevertheless, most of the time we were stuck with these three. Mia and Victor were the second most important thing of season one but then they hardly shared screen time afterwards. Isabel and Victor falling out during season two was a huge part (and something rarely presented on a show about Latino families dealing with sexuality) but, as it was with Mia, they only shared one (very short) scene during this final season.

The creators knew they had limited time to wrap things up early on. They could have done something way more meaningful as Andrew Haigh did with the "looking" movie.

I know I'm not the target audience for the show anymore but I did like it anyway... I could see how it grew from the very awful first episodes with that cheesy 80s vibe. If it hadn't been for Hilson's acting skills playing Mia, I would have given up on it. I'm glad I didn't but I never expected that I would find myself rushing to YouTube after the end just to cleanse my palette watching the final scene of "Can't hardly wait", reminding myself there are good ways to use "Only you" to wrap things up.

After Yang (2021)

Please don't try to find meaningful user reviews on this site

[7 May 2022]

Rotten tomatoes will give you better opinions than "the girl is annoying. I don't like it so it's a pretentious movie".

I can accept that the first half is kind of slow and we don't really connect that much with Colin's character. I will talk more about him later.

The great start led me to believe the movie was going to take me on an unpredictable ride with different rhythms a la "ex machina", but it did not. I had to pause and resume.

The second part was beautiful though, especially the part of Kyra reminiscing her conversation with Yang. Yang's memories made it worth it. It leaves you thinking with all those philosophical questions such as what makes someone asian, why we assume anything would like to be human, or why we have to have hopes for endings. It was a wonderful experience but I don't think Jake's point of view was the best approach from the get-go. We only connect with him when we see him through Yang's eyes, way later in the film. Perhaps if more time was given to Kyra and Mika's solo times?

I'm really interested in watching what this director will do next and I'm glad I have seen this unconventional effort.

Now to a Colin related tangent: I really appreciate his recent acting choices such as his part in " The north water" or in "the lobster". He is great there and he does a good enough job here. I'm happy he managed to turn it around after the wild 00s. I kept remembering that because Clifton and him were also part of Schumacher's wonderful 'tigerland' and it made me wonder what they might have talked about after all this time and what has changed about them since then.

Baskets: Denver Revisited (2019) Season 4, Episode 5

Too much Chip, little Christine and no Martha

[20 March 2022]

An episode with too much Chip does not work for me. It becomes a slug. The only time I laughed during this episode was when Christine got to see and react to what was happening in the cameras. She's the greatest gem of the show, so any episode that does not show lot of her becomes a forgettable one for me. The only thing that makes it less enjoyable is having no Martha whatsoever. Not a terrible episode, just another forgettable one.

Twilight's Kiss (2019)

Good story but better supporting cast

[6 March 2022]

This is a nice quiet story. It has all the elements to be an indie "darling". It's well done but I think it would have been far superior if we had focused more on Hoi than in Pak. We've seen Pak's story so many times and there is nothing really new there. You could say the same about Hoi but he at least has some nuances and much more heart. He's not only looking for love but giving it all around, to his grandchild and more importantly to his friends.

This last part is what really made the movie stand out. The stories of these various gay Chinese men and their struggle for a retirement home is far more interesting than the love story and I really wish we had seen more of it. A sequel perhaps?

Zola (2020)

Entertaining but forgettable

[6 March 2022]

I think this story had so much potential. John Waters would have done wonders with it . The result we have here is so lackluster. It's not the acting nor the story, it's its execution. I don't know why the director chose to take the artsy route. To have long quiet shots of a car in motion does not make it smarter. To have face-to-face shots surrounded by mirrors has got to be part of the first semester of film school . It's worth a watch but it could have been so much more if the tone had been the right one .