Just checking in

Man! It’s been like 2 weeks since my last post, but the problem is that I have been looking for a job, and if you notice is not that easy, especially if you are an immigrant (I’m legally here so back off!) but everybody thinks that you are going to run back to your country after the first month. Get the hint! I haven’t gone back in 2 years! I’m not leaving, I have put too many money to stay here :S

But that is that, I think I’ll post more movies soon, or games or something. Because I don’t think my life is that cool, or if you like leave a comment and tell me if you would like to know more about my misfortunes and adventures :P

See ya!

Movie Review Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club

I was disappointed of this movie, why? Because I heard that this one was the worst of the nominated and that is a big deal, I mean, worse than the wolf of Wall Street? Those are major words. But no, is not only, not the worst but I think is ranked among the best of the bunch. And here I was prepared to rant for a good long post, but no :S

The movie talks about a guy who gets diagnosed with aids during the 80’s in Texas and he wants some treatment but due to problems and bureaucracy he can’t get it so he goes to get it in Mexico (that against popular belief Mexico actually has a good health care) where he sees that the drugs for treatment are cheaper and work but the FDA don’t want to use it.

So the movie has a good structure and a good message, about the corruption in the health service.

There are some points where it threw me out of the rhythm a little bit like the sex scenes (that are like 2 and are like 1 minute long but even so) but you get some sort of a glimpse of the life of the main protagonist, not only smuggling drugs or fighting the government but also his everyday life.

In this movie you can see a growth in the characters, everybody changes and evolves in a very realistic way, they don’t show the magical change where the drunk, misogynistic, jerk into a caring loving family man, here the jerk turns into a guy who is a little less jerk, but that’s it he helps people and stuff, he finds the good in him.

I think that is very sad that when a movie that have the basic structure, character development, and a plot is to consider the best movie of the 9, and is not that good :S

*** ½ 3 and a half stars (I might be too benevolent but after watching the others feels right)

Movie Review 12 Years A Slave

12 Years A Slave

(AKA: Slavery bad, Brad Pitt good)

Sorry for the delay but today I’ll just post the movies left for this year “Best picture”

Is said in screenwriting that the story should be like a rollercoaster, with ups and downs, to make you feel safe and then scare you, make you worry about the characters, give you trouble and peace, change the rhythm of the film and keep you guessing what is going to happen, but this movie has a complete different idea of getting the audience interested, and that is, to make everything with the same tone and pace, so the audience get the tedious of being a slave, I think?

I hope you don’t get the wrong impression, this is a good movie, but kind of boring, because it feels the same from beginning to end, even when he is free again you feel it exactly the same, and I don’t doubt that how the things were back in the day, but if I learned something about adaptation is that you can trim a little bit the story to give those moments where is calm and feels like everything is going to be better and make other moments like is the worst it could happen. Somebody can say that I’m not getting in the story to feel those changes, well that is not my problem, is the writer’s, director’s and cast problem, because they have to make me feel like I care, but is just plain this movie, there is never more or less tension or worry, always the same level, and like in wolf of wall street you get desensitized and see it like something normal, by the middle of the movie the audience acts like people of that time, looking at slavery and all that like something of the everyday living, and that’s a problem because it loose its impact and strength.

The characters outside the Main protagonist are cardboard cuts of stock characters, the slave owner that likes his slaves, the mean slave owner and the drunk, among the characters and that gives you the idea that is not a real story, because the mean guy is really mean and doesn’t have any other character traits than drink and lash people around, no inside his life that I understand because is not like he was inside his house to see what happened there but everybody is there just as background to make the main character shine and be notice even more.

If any of my instructors that had a problem with my script tells me that they liked this movie you’ll have to also take back everything you said about my script, because of Brad Pitt scene where he appears and save the day, is in the third act of the movie and is pretty much the solution to everything, is god with an Amish look, and that feels like a deus ex machina that no matter how real that was, feels like the writer didn’t knew how to end it and just tossed a Brad Pitt to save the day, as I said before, you can trim it a little bit to make it look less convenient.

Some people say that the scene of the lashes is kind of gruesome and that raw, but it looks almost like the one in Starship Troopers, is not that bad. Also I think I have read a lot of books where they lash people so in my mind it looks way worse than that.

When I heard that Lupita Nyong'o was nominated for the Oscar I thought that she deserve it (because the other that were nominated where in really crappy movies) I mean the scene where she gets a hit on the head with a glass bottle is great, if she acted that and the bottle was CGI it looked great, and if it wasn’t, well anyone that can take hit like that deserves an Oscar :P

In general the movie is fine but as I said, it might feel that is long and nothing is happening, because of that this movie is not worthy of being among the best picture of the year, have some good highlights but beyond that is somewhere in the dull side, even so you can watch it and might be even enjoy it.

You can see that this movie was made to aim for an Oscar, not to please the audience or to make them think about the wrongs of the past or anything, this movie is an Oscar seeker and nothing else.

As Eddy Murphy said in Bowfinger “White boys always get the Oscar. It's a known fact. Did I ever get a nomination? No! You know why? Cause I hadn't played any of them slave roles, and get my ass whipped. That's how you get the nomination. A black dude who plays a slave that gets his ass whipped gets the nomination, a white guy who plays an idiot gets the Oscar. That's what I need, I need to play a retarded slave, then I'll get the Oscar.”

*** 3 stars (Good but meh, nothing memorable about it)

Movie Review: American Hustle

American Hustle

(AKA: Fuck Screenwriters and say everything three times)

What happens if you throw the script by the window and tell the actors to do whatever they want? One of the worst movies of the year! :D That by some reason is nominated for best movie :S

Don’t get me wrong I have never been too strict to make the actors say their lines just like the script is written, if they have a problem with a line they can paraphrase it, but is that, just change the words and keep the message. Why am I saying this you might ask? Well is because this movie is a train wreck that the academy wants you to think that is a good movie.

While watching this movie my brother and I felt like some scenes where disarticulated and the characters didn’t act like themselves from one scene to the other, so we made a quick search in the internet and found that most of the movie was improvised! Hooray! But was so made up on the spot that even affected the plot, that is a great “No, no” in the film industry, because you can feel where they stick something that doesn’t feels organic, that it shouldn’t be there, and that is how this movie feels from beginning to end.

The movie is inspired by some FBI operation in the 70’s but here is where adaptation comes handy, there is a difference between “Based on” and “Inspired by” because Based means that there should be some actual events, and Inspired by means that everything could have been made up (Just like hearing a musical piece and that will make you think in a story) so the movie is not real events at all, then the actors had problems with the script from the beginning. Can you imagine? I mean you have people that have been in superhero movies (Batman, Mystic, Lois Lane, Hawk Eye and Rocket Raccoon) people that have read some of the most outrageous roles and now they have problems with the script? There has to be a problem with the script, so what do you do? Well this director said “Say whatever you want” in other words “The script was shit anyway” or “I don’t care for the writer” and they did it, that is why some scenes feel like are part of another movie.

Then I think they had a 50 page script because they are repeating everything 3 times, so they were something like “We can’t do a movie with a 50 page script… But if we say everything 3 times we get a movie 3 times longer! I’m a genius!” and no, you are not who ever came with that idea, I mean you notice almost immediately that they are saying everything 3 times, maybe because is all the improvisation and they need to fill the blanks while they are thinking in what to say, but there is something call “Script” that was made to avoid that, I know is kind of new it was invented during the old Greece (or maybe before that) but is a good tool to know what to say during a scene.

 

I just want to quote here something that happened during the filming of this very expensive home video, “According to Christian Bale much of the movie was improvised. So, during the shooting of the film he noted to David O. Russell, "You realize that this is going to change the plot greatly down track." To which the director replied, "Christian, I hate plots. I am all about characters, that's it." Well mister Russell, you can’t have characters without plots, hell, you can’t have a movie without a plot, well you can but is going to be a really bad one, just like this one. Also you need to direct the actors so they characters stay as they are supposed to be and keep on track of the story.

I heard that some people talked about the cleavages in this movie like it was something good, and is not that good, I mean you can watch a cleavage anywhere is normal, not to consider it as one of the high lights of the movie, because is not.

The nomination of this movie is an insult to the Film industry, because it means that you don’t need a script or a director to be consider one of the best movies of the year, you only need a big budget to hire lots of names and make it look like is the 70’s and here is your award, that awful.

Well if you call yourself a writer, or director or anything that works in the industry (Even as an independent filmmaker) save yourself the sore and all the gastric problems for all anger this movie might cause you, also the headache of trying to figure it out what is script and what is improvisation, because is equally bad.

* 1 Star (Not worthy the 2 hours to watch it, there is nothing to watch, is not even entertain as watching a bad movie)