marucope Reviews

Captain Fantastic (2016)

Every parent's story

[9/10 · 23 June 2022]

I watched this movie after someone recommended it to me. I didn't really know what to expect. I had read some reviews - half of them said the movie was brilliant, warm, and moving while the other half claimed it to defend anti-Christian values.

When the movie began, I was surprised to relate to neither of those points of view. To be honest, I don't think it intends to offer parenting guidelines. I don't think the main character - a middle-aged father of six - is supposed to represent a role-model. Instead, I found it to be a very realistic portrayal of parenthood.

As parents, we are forced to make decisions every day about what we allow our children to do, what we encourage, what we forbid, and how we justify each of those decisions. Most of us want our kids to have better lives than our own. Although the sentiment behind this pursuit is of genuine love and desire for our children to strive, and not have to face the hardships or injustices we have experienced ourselves, it leaves us with no playbook. We have to make new paths as we go. These often lead to guilt, self-doubt, confusion, contradictions, sorrow, and fear. However, they also lead to the most fulfilling, adventurous, fun, and rewarding moments, when we get to see our kids have fun and thrive.

I thought the way that the director presented opposing lifestyles, where each family finds the other one grotesque, to be a very good reflection of reality. It seems it's hard for the more mainstream family to feel genuinely happy when others so different achieve good results. We are all quick to see other parents' faults, and call them out on what we consider to be harmful for their children, while accepting our own parenting limitations comes more easily. Perhaps, the highest we can aim for is the ability to listen, be open to hearing different perspectives, and knowing when to apologize for making other uncomfortable.

I think I can relate to the main character, because I think in some people's eyes, I'm that kind of mom. Being different can be hard when others are so quick to judge you. It is also very common to feel misunderstood without having the chance to explain yourself, because mainstream people are clearly uncomfortable the whole time.

I think the lesson this movie leaves me with is "Normal does not mean 'better', it just means 'more easily accepted'".

Despido procedente (2017)

Funniest comedy I've seen in a long time

[10/10 · 4 May 2022]

After every plot twist there was another plot twist. Amazing acting, wonderful script, and a surprise that kept you on edge for the entire length of the movie. 10/10 for me.

The plot is very simple, yet things take a turn for the worst, and then the bizarre. I was definitely entertained the whole way through.

A must watch if you loved The Office US.

Querida voy a comprar cigarrillos y vuelvo (2011)

Brilliant if you like smart movies

[9/10 · 31 October 2018]

Querida Voy a Comprar Cigarrillos y Vuelvo Is truly a masterpiece. It's definitely not your everyday movie.

The setting is really relatable. The characters are down to Earth and have simple psychological profiles. The acting is amazing. Even supporting actors and actresses were very believable. Combine that with a good script and the narrations of the original book's author, and bingo! A great movie is born.

Everybody behaves and reacts exactly the way people actually would. The movie forces you to think what you'd do if you were in a position to make what people normally consider life-changing decisions.

The soundtrack is nice. The pace is quick and since it's a relatively short movie (under 90') so it'll likely keep you interested the whole time.

When things don't work out the way you expect them to, you can't help but to ask yourself: what could I have done differently to get a more desirable outcome? Querida Voy a Buscar Cigarrillos y Vuelvo dives right into that - and does so brilliantly!

Black Mirror: Metalhead (2017) Season 4, Episode 5

EXCELLENT IDEA impossible to watch

[3/10 · 12 January 2018]

The idea is brilliant. A techy device that exists nowadays -a robot dog- goes rogue and for some reason decides to kill people. I'm not sure why it got to be more than one dog nor why they decided to kill every single person on Earth, but let's move along.

So robot dogs are out hunting every living creature to extinction for an undisclosed reason. It's not just people, there is literally not even a forest left. I guess they were just destroyers of nature.

So these robot dogs are killing everyone but there's a small group of survivors and they communicate over... wait for it... walkie talkies. But our main (slash only) character doesn't hear anybody on the other side; however, she can't know for sure if the other side can hear her. So every time she communicates (which she avoids as much as possible to keep the dogs from picking up the signal and locating her -although for some reason, not the people on the other end; or maybe they did, we never find out), she speaks out to all her loved ones just in case.

So a kid, maybe her kid, is sick and dying or in pain. So she and two others go out on a quest to give the dying kid a teddy bear which I get, cause if you're in some apocalyptic empty shit world, you would at least stick together. So somehow, she knows the address to the warehouse where such teddy bears were stored. Who knows how the f@#$ she came across that very precise piece of information? Maybe her late uncle had worked at that factory and kept going on and on about deposit numbers over dinner. Oh uncle Jake, can you stop already?

So they know the warehouse where there's one of those teddy bears like the one the dying kid had, and they know the serial number to the box they're in because why the eff would that make sense?! Not like the rest of it did.

Btw, these super life destroyer dogs, they only see in black and white and are super limited; throwing too many pieces of candy at 2000 second intervals really knocks them out; and can replace a paw with a knife but won't fix its own paw.

I get that it's technology we already have. I get how the b&w works for this episode. I get why whatsherface goes out on the mission to get the teddy bear cause there's not much else she can do. I get that the idea of robot vs people is creepy to people and seems more real a threat than ever. I get that she has emotions and they do not therefore, they're more effective. I get it all.

I still think it's boring as fudge and would rather like a cucumber like an ice-cream til there's nothing left of it than watch this episode again.