jhmb2003 Reviews

Red Rocket (2021)

A firecracker

[7/10 · 18 February 2022]

"Red Rocket" (Dir: Sean Baker) is a good metaphor of Mickey, an off-market porn star, whose main feature is his egotism and lack of any kind of loyalty or empathy. This naturalistic comedy starts out well and fades a bit in its eagerness to parade around minor characters, most of them caricatures of characters with real flesh and blood. If the director's previous film, The Florida Project, had anything, it was the real flesh of its characters, its somewhat compassionate and sympathetic look with the misfortunes of the protagonists. In this film he takes a certain distance and works on characters that attract more for their eccentricities and moral emptiness than for their true human condition.

Nevertheless, the story is lively and maintains interest throughout the more than two hours of running time. The central character, Mikey, is undoubtedly the driving force of the action and the axis around which the rest of the characters orbit. However, the film could have been half an hour shorter and the final effect would have been no less satisfying. If the intention of Sean Baker was to make a grotesque parody in the style of the unforgettable Italian film "Brutti, sporchi e cattivi" he barely succeeded. Althoug being a good film, it is 2 or 3 points behind his previous effort. If The Florida Project is a rocket, Red Rocket is more like a firecracker.

Fever Dream (2021)

Boring and opportunistic exploitation of eco-terror.

[4/10 · 7 November 2021]

Fever Dream seems to be pieced together from fragments of other films, without it being possible to identify where and when things happen and to whom they happen. The movies seems more like a cold calculation to include all Spanish American nationalities so that no one feels excluded, and in the end they all are. It is a tedious but superficial film, with no merit beyond the occasional beauty of the odd isolated scene. A flawed, tenuous and irrelevant product.

Colonia Dignidad - Aus dem Innern einer deutschen Sekte (2020)

A Shangri-La dreamt by a pervert Führer

[9/10 · 8 October 2021]

Astonishing documentary about this rather unknown settlement in the Chilean Andes, populated by a weird, almost unbelievable flock of young Germans led by a crazy Führer, which endures for over 3 decades. The story is so engaging, twisted, mysterious and implausible that it is almost impossible to stop watching. Eerie and incredible testimonies and footage, as well as witnesses and victims of this cult sometimes seems to be the produce of a unleashed imagination. The only documentary of this sort that I´ve ever seen is "Wild, Wild Country", which sometimes looks weak and naïve in comparison with this true nightmare. Highly recommended.

Cry Macho (2021)

Painfully bad

[4/10 · 20 September 2021]

This movie is painfully bad. Hopelessly bad with no possible redemption. Although the general idea is nice and compelling, the script is poorly written, with plot-holes everywhere and no clear direction after the first 35-40 minutes. Also, the performances of the actors are so bad that may easily rank among the worst low budget amateur movies that populate B-class festivals. The venerable Clint is totally out of his character. So frail and so slow and clumsy. He is simply too old to be an old man. I want to forget this movie from his impressive career as soon as possible.

Space Force (2020–2022)

Boring Force

[3/10 · 1 June 2020]

Being a great fan of Steve Carell and The Office I had some expectations about the show but the truth is this series is nothing but garbage in a luxurious package. It´s like the writers had found a file full of jokes that were discarded from The Office as dull or incoherent and decided to use it in some way to produce this authentic waste of time. Boring, pointless, clueless plot. It does not deserve more than 3 points, just for the production design and part of the cast.

Roma (2018)

Imitation of Art

[6/10 · 21 December 2018]

Rome has the particularity of being a meticulously crafted movie, with great cinematographic moments, but it lacks essential elements: a good story to tell and interesting characters. It's a film made by someone who knows the technique of cinematographic works of art very well but is incapable of bringing interest to the events or giving a deep dimension to the characters. In fact, it's frustrating how blurry the image we have of the family is, there's virtually no close-up or any emotional or revealing dialogue. The maid's character barely stands out, although due to her natural introversion and submission, her role does not grow in importance. It's not a bad film, but it lacks the artistic and intellectual honesty that the Italian films of the 50s and 60s had, to which it refers openly or veiled on several occasions. Having said that, there remain some anthological scenes, of great cinematographic power, but which are small treasures hidden in a rather conventional and scarcely entertaining story. It is enough to review a film like Pasolini's Accatone to notice the enormous difference in intensity, honesty and artistic level of the cinema to which Cuarón pays tribute.

The Other Side of the Wind (2018)

Welles Kaleidoscope

[7/10 · 13 November 2018]

Extremely complex as it is, The Other Side of the Wind invites reflection and nostalgia. They are remnants of a lost cinema that only film connoisseurs and lovers can enjoy to the full, given its countless cinephile winks. It is a film ahead of its time and that arrives at the wrong time, its anachronism condemns it to look at it with a mixture of melancholy, irony and delight. Such a film is not for the general public and this should be clear. It can be seen as a fake film that hides behind itself an enormous documentary value. In other words, an inverse process to the one that has been rehearsed in recent years: the mockumentaries. The problems of The Other Side of the Wind are also its virtues: its protagonists are much bigger than its characters. The most obvious case is John Huston, who finds it very difficult to think of Jake Hannaford and stop seeing him as John Huston. It's as if Taylor Swift's biopic was played by Madonna. The other problem is that the best cinematographic scenes are those of the unfinished film that Hannaford is filming, especially the sequence that begins in the public bathrooms and ends with the two lovers outside the car, in the middle of the rain. There is also a magnificent scene with a wooden ceiling that casts shadows reminiscent of the scene of the mirrors in The Lady of Shanghai. That being said, whoever worships cinema Orson Wells - I worship him - will not waste his time watching this kaleidoscopic version of his talent.

Don't Breathe (2016)

The real horror is here

[3/10 · 29 May 2017]

In this awfully dumb movie all of the rules of a good horror have been broken or ignored. As a result: 1) The thieves are involved in kind of competition of ineptitude and stupidity. 2) It's is impossible to feel any empathy with such morons. 3) The blind man is not only blind, but most of the time seems to be deaf, which is impressive, given his ability to defend himself. 4) The mix of natural and supernatural horror is appalling. 5) The dialogues may have been written by someone of the janitorial service who was hanging around there when the script was... I don't know what. 6) Everything happen at the wrong time in the wrong moment. 7) etc.

The Revenant (I) (2015)

A sophisticated entertainment with a glimmer of poetry

[8/10 · 31 January 2016]

The Revenant is not a great movie, it is a solid, sophisticated entertainment, which sometimes achieves certain poetic intensity. But above all, it is a product made conscientiously to try and entertain big audiences, especially young people and adolescents. The plot, as known, is fairly linear and predictable, we do not care so much what will happen but how it will happen, and here the script writers have put their greatest efforts. The film is enhanced by multiple cinematographic, literary and historical references, although many of them may seem obvious to an experienced film viewer. The film succeeds at times to evoke the spirit of the novel Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, because of its obsession with open spaces, exploring long distances and sometimes a true visionary power, trying to explore the American dream of racial domination and expansion under a standard of a relentless violence. Moreover, there are also references to other major films, such as Dersu Uzala, by Kurosawa, in a key scene in which the main character must share his helplessness with the Pawnee Indian. In my opinion, the movie reaches its splendor during this part. There are even references to ancient literary traditions, such as the Song of the Cid, an epic poem of the Spanish Middle Ages (a clue scene almost at the end of the movie). All told, the film, like all major Hollywood productions, suffers from gigantism, exaggerations and unnecessary cruelties of dramatic effects, and some implausibility. The characters still tend to be quite credible, but the superlative performances achieved disguise the little affection that writers have for their characters.

Spring Breakers (2012)

There is no paradise in Earth. Paradise is just another form of hell.

[8/10 · 2 September 2013]

Understandably, the film wakes much rejection. A quick view or not reflective enough can mislead us to believe that it is superficial. On the contrary, Harmony Korine's film is a bitter satire (at times cynical) about the American youth culture and, in large part, global. The shallowness of the characters is deliberate. The three crazy travelers do evil in pure boredom, the banality of evil is presented here in an ironic contrast to the free and unlimited sexuality and drug use, the Holy Grial of these girls. At times, the three chicks seem the witches of Macbeth, messengers of death and emptiness. Harmony Korine is a moralist, his film denounces the horror that lurks behind the glamour of drugs and free love. But Korine delivers his message with a style that copies and reproduces the mechanisms of fashion, so that a teenager is attracted yet shocked by what you see on the screen. Watching this movie, it is impossible not to remember Less Than Zero, the novel that enabled Bret Easton Ellis earn his place under the California sun. The state of affairs is certainly catastrophic for Korine: a. The pursuit of happiness is reduced to get lost in a perpetual orgy. b. The perpetual orgy is slightly threatened only by religious zealots as the only challenging force. c. No more parents and adults, no more institutions concerned with the physical and mental health of its citizens. d. Youngsters' paradise is depicted as one of the many faces of hell.

Antichrist (2009)

Let's thank the worms and oblivion

[7/10 · 12 May 2013]

This is a film that under no circumstances should watch the squeamish or affected by depression. It is intellectually challenging and sensitive, a tour-de-force that not everyone can complete. Lars Von Trier begins to unfold here the film would lead to an even higher level in Melancholia: an amazing photograph, stunning production design, and performances of an almost intolerable realism. Beyond this, Antichrist is an adult nightmare that makes films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like Dr. Dolittle. There is in homage to Tarkovsky film, but there is a huge difference: Tarkovsky always revealed deeply spiritual and pious. Von Triers shows us a demonic and ruthless nature. Of the countless clues and riddles proposed by Von Trier, perhaps very few viewers are able to reveal all, but the main idea of the film is that the feminine nature of evil has a very deep core, abysmal, connected with the mysteries of earth. Of course, there is no God and pray is in vain, because the only prophecy that we will hear is that of our own death, as horrible animals. Whatever it is about, we have to admire the genius of the director, taking from him humbly and reverently what we were able to understand, and tolerating what we do not understand. 9/10

Bordertown (2007)

Mexplotation

[3/10 · 13 August 2012]

The first problem of this movie are the characters: weak, disconnected with the surrounding horror, and too attractive to be true. Jennifer Lopez delivers a class-B performance, as well as the always overrated Antonio Banderas. The second problem is the script. Its ludicrous looting of different sources, from literature to movies does not work at all. Having read a lot about the Ciudad Juarez crime spree, I only want to say that this movie is a cheap package with no other goal than try to make some money. But the result is obvious, superficial, submissive, and pretentious, using almost every cliché about the Mexicans and the USA-Mexico border. The author should read more Bolaño and McCarthy and forget Juanes. Final word: boredom

A Serbian Film (2010)

unnecessary exhibition of atrocities

[1/10 · 18 April 2011]

This Serbian film is not a funny film, not bizarre or hilarious, nor frightening. It is just plain sick and Nazi. The horror on behalf of horror. It's a commercial version of the movies we don't want to watch, unless we are as sick as the guys who made this flick. Compared with A Serbian film, Pasolini's Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma is like Toy Story. The main reason to defend this movie is "these things really happen". Many things happen and nobody wants to watch them in a screen. No examples are needed. The only way to explain why this movie exists is that Serbia has been living in hell for most of the '90, and the people should be numb or indifferent to most of the horror and cruelty that can get in the most extreme movies that are distributed in that country. Please help me to understand this unnecessary exhibition of atrocities.

El corredor nocturno (2009)

Nietzschean runner

[8/10 · 7 November 2009]

At the beginning, we may guess that we are watching another classic movie about a psycho, but we are lured by this well crafted story to another more complex level, where all we know about the main characters is doubtful. A strong acting duel lead by Miguel Angel Sola and Leonardo Sbaraglia, can be watched and enjoyed as a thriller. But, in fact, this solid film is an allegory inspired by Nietzsche's ideas about morality, basically, wealth, strength, health, and power (an ancient Greek hero) count as good; while bad is associated with the poor, weak, sick, and pathetic (the sort of traits conventionally associated with slaves in ancient times). The chilling performance of Sola, an strange atmosphere and great dialogs support this very interesting film.

Pierrot the Fool (1965)

Nothing but breaking the laws of good filming

[4/10 · 27 February 2007]

This is an example of how "art" could become old and ultimately boring and silly. And being extremely boring is the worst sin of Pierrot. The movie is chaotic and the pace is slow. The script is also pointless. In comparison with movies with similar background and cultural environment (as Antonioni's Blow Up) Pierrot looks like an experiment filmed by high school doped guys. I do recognize some findings, but at the end the trial is a total failure. More than 40 years after its modest success, not much of this movie can be rescued, but short cuts, nice landscapes here and there, and a couple of interesting dialogs and gags. But you can find here most of the materials used in the next decades to make wonderful films. I guess at the point this movie was made, Godard had no idea what to do with them but breaking the laws (of cinema). In exchange, we do not receive anything but confusion.

The Black Dahlia (2006)

De Palma refuses to comply with the new rules

[7/10 · 2 January 2007]

Considering all the adverse commentaries about this movie, I guess that now any director who dares to come up with some personal stuff, is punished with a rough reprimand by the public.

Everything has to be a soft, straight, silly story. Any deviation from that point, any attempt to tell something with a personal language is ignored or heavily criticized by the massive audiences.

As a Brian De Palma fan, I ought to say this is one of his best works in the last 20 years. Far better than the average Hollywood production because De Palma refuses to comply with the new golden rule: "Nothing too personal, nothing so obscure. Everything must be understood by a 13 years old kid". Other great directors, as Scorsese, lost this battle. Now, he only makes weak but overrated movies, like "The departed".

The Black Dahlia was not made to insult the public, but push them to think on the story. Seems to be the same, now. Every scene is like a piece of a lost puzzle, deliberately hidden, and thrown away at any moment. This kind of cinema is not Peter Jackson, not a teen saga, this is adult cinema.

I do not care about the real story of the girl that was murdered. James Ellroy acknowledged that point and he is cool with this adaptation. I do care about De Palma engagement with his own style, against all odds.

The Joker Is Wild (1957)

A couple of Sinatra's great songs and little more

[3/10 · 27 December 2006]

The movie starts so high...and falls short. The first 35 minutes are pretty good, including Sinatra's charming performance, his wonderful songs, Jackie Coogan, the Chicago mobsters, et al.

After the climax in the hospital, the story loses focus and strength, and is hanging around for the rest of the time.

Everything is plain but unlikely. We cannot believe that someone could improvise a whole monologue. The love story is just ridiculous.

Other than the voice of Sinatra and some exceptional shots, the movie becomes boring and pointless. At the end, we are wondering what are we watching at.

It is another Vidor's failures, a director who has been largely overrated, now almost forgotten. Very disappointing.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

A remake of a non-existent movie

[2/10 · 5 November 2006]

I have seen this movie after a couple of years because I am not very fond of Jim Carrey's theater of faces; so I tried to avoid him as much as I can. Finally, I found a good actor doing his job. Unfortunately, I also found a flat, fake, boring movie. Despite all of the favorable criticism, to me "Eternal.." is a corny love story decorated with pretentious elements, such as the editing. The director and writer have stolen son many little things of other great movies (particularily from Europe) that in America people could think this is an original stuff. That's understandable where even people who know about cinema do not know anything about movies from other countries. It's like a remake of a movie that has never been done. I am suspecting that audiences' memories are erased from time to time. This is the only way you think "Eternal..." is original. Should I choose a similar movie, I prefer by far "Total Recall" (Schwarzenegger - Verhoeven). This flick is pure joy, action and epic. America needs to find again it's own, strong voice again. Very fast.

United 93 (2006)

The risks of telling the simple facts

[7/10 · 4 October 2006]

This astonishing movie has some very strong points I would like to address: We've got a problem. In September 11, 2001 America was the victim. In a strange, perverse way, the rest of the world began to suspect that America was the attacker. Most of the people in my country don't give a dime about the "official" story. They think that all was set by the government or at least with the complicity of some politicians, including the President, George W. Bush.

This movie is not a propaganda and that's why It could serve as a testimony in a better way than any other efforts, such as government press releases and fake documentaries: There are no superhero characters, terrorists are what they are, but not monsters, there are no "patriotic" or didactic dialogs or actions, and, best of all, it didn't buy any of the conspiracy theories. Just the simple facts. The truth, sometimes, is very hard to believe in.

The Journey (1992)

Classic and stainless trash

[1/10 · 11 September 2006]

This is not a comment, this is a warning. My personal ranking (1,350 movies) sets this one at the bottom. I could talk about its pointless story, lack of good actors, no script at all, boring and stupid political satire, overcooked surrealism, corny dialogs, etc. I am plenty of reasons. But the most important of them deserves an explanation: This films is a landmark in my record as a movie snob because I chose working instead of watching a movie. A took an unauthorized break in my job and came to the theater. I chose "El Viaje" because at that time -early '90- Solanas was at least his own legend. Well, after 50 minutes of torture I returned to my job, hopeless, depressed and angry. After that, I promise to myself not to watch a Solanas'movie never, never in my life. Nevermore. And I kept my promise.

The Holy Girl (2004)

old fashioned symbolism

[3/10 · 4 August 2006]

It's really hard to enjoy a movie in which nine out of ten characters speak so softly, whispering and grumbling without any sense. I cannot be engaged in a story built exclusively with environmental and symbolic elements and no suspense at all. I do not want to listen anything about the same old debate concerning catholic education and sexual repression (may be 20 or 30 years ago). I suspect this movie is out of season and out of Martel's range. The '60 and '70 were really good but I am not interested in remakes. Despite the above listed complains, I think Martel is talented but may be she still has to find her own voice. I liked "La Ciénaga", the other Lucrecia Martel's effort. It was less pretentious and more entertaining. In summary: this is a boring, pointless, old-fashioned film. I have watched this kind of story before, better written and executed by many directors, v.g.: Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura and Peter Weir (Please take a look at "Picnic at the hanging rocks") only to name three of them. All in all it deserves a 3/10.

The Aura (2005)

An awesome movie about a zombie made by a zombie

[8/10 · 8 July 2006]

Fabian Bielinsky's sudden death gave me an incentive to write these lines. Since the first time I watched "El aura" (The aura) -three times by now- I was touched by an awkward, strange feeling. ¿What was about? A story of a zombie, a man who is not aware about his own death (This is not an spoiler, nothing to do with the plot). In a way, it was the same thing I felt watching "Carnival of Souls" (Herk Harvey 1962). These movies are not only about ghosts, lost souls, lost people, they were made by them. Ricardo Darin's character is Bielinsky himself: had he the feeling about his impending end? If you didn't know anything about this weird tale, take a look of it. Some people complain about its pace, the story, the absolute lack of sense of humor. And they compare El Aura with Nine Queens, the other Bielinsky's movie. In my point of view Nine Queen is a nice, frivolous exercise, but once and for all, "El aura" is a whole new game, a different stage. If you are in the right mood, it will take you to another world, the world from Bielinsky was making this film, near his own end.

Honkytonk Man (1982)

minor classic

[8/10 · 23 March 2006]

Despite almost every critic I've read, I think this is a real gem by Clint Eastwood. A honest, sensitive effort in the road movie tradition. The minor tone, the naive sequences soothe Red Stovall's journey to his fate. The movie also displays a touching view of the depression era in USA. Like animated Roy Emerson Stryker's pictures the photography is remarkable as well as the sound track. I've learned about lots of singers and musicians that recorded only to give a final testimony of their art. I guess stories like these deserved a movie like Honkytonk Man. Long life to Clint, one of the most underrated talents not only in Hollywood but in the rest of the world.

Badlands (1973)

Badlands vs. Lord of the Rings

[10/10 · 18 May 2004]

It´s really funny to come across with comments in which the author considers Badlands as a "dull" and "artificial", "pretentious" and "boring" movie. This kind of comments come from the kind of people who think that Lord of The Rings is the Holy Grial of cinema. OK. You don´t have to watch 1,000 or even 100 movies to realize that Badlands is a real gem and Lords of the Rings and sequels are some sort of goofy entertainment, mostly for teens and dreary adults. I only recommend to review a list of 10 classic hits: Breathless, Taxi Driver, The Godfather, Picnic at the Hanging Rocks, Easy Rider, La Strada, Cul-de-Sac, Solaris (the original Russian flick), Walkabout, Aguirre. These movies were made with the same stuff of Badlands. They are real, they are powerful, they are masterpieces. Lord of the Rings should be compared with "Seven Flags", "Disneyland" or "Ringling bros." This is another business, nonetheless much more profitable than making cinema as art. Badlands and Lord of the Rings "aren't the same ballpark, they aren't the same league, they aren't even the same f...sport", as Jules (Pulp Fiction) would say. Let me tell you this: Terrence Malik made a piece of art. Not flawless, not entirely funny, but is art, and he does not insult our intelligence like most of Hollywood-made flicks. 9/10

Big Fish (2003)

Big Fish, small movie

[5/10 · 12 May 2004]

Watching a movie like 'Big Fish' I realized I am sick of 'fantasy'. I am sick and tired of watching so false and artificial stories. So overwhelmingly decorated that they seem birthday cakes: look good, taste bad. The minor lies beneath this movie are nothing in comparison with the major lies. Black doctors delivering white babies? Black kids in white churches? In the '40? In Alabama? These are just little examples of 'real fantasy', if you excuse the oxymoron. The political correctness is the main lie, by no means the only one: Britons speaking like southerners? 33 years old guys acting as teenagers? Etc. This fantasy, decorated with corny FXs and clichés, does not deserve its fame as a great movie. It's just a medium entertainment if you don't have anything else to do. Certainly, Tim Burton improved his performance in comparison with the abominable 'Planet of Apes' but he is still very far from his best shape ('Ed Wood', 'Batman', 'Sleepy Hollow'). 5/10.