redtiago Reviews

Spiral (2021)

Policial Thriller not Horror.

[6/10 · 18 January 2023]

The new sequel to Saw loses much of the graphic and impactful horror of the saga. It´s more of a police thriller with horror elements than a horror film.

There is some influence from the film "Seven" but it is very far from the mastery of this one.

Nothing outstanding positive or negative, pretty much everything reasonable.

I found the dramatic record of actor/comedian Chris Rock interesting in a role far from the usual, wanting to show that he is a more versatile actor than one might think and he even managed. Without dazzling, but he did.

It is recommended for an evening on the sofa in front of the television, if there is nothing better to watch.

Hamburger Hill (1987)

Incredibly realistic, but not great cinema

[6/10 · 23 December 2022]

On May 11, 1969, troops from the US Army's 101st Division located the enemy North Vietnamese at the base of hill codenamed 937 in the Ashau Valley. Ten days and after eleven bloody assaults, the troops who fought there called the place "Hamburger Hill", such was the brutality and death of the war fighting.

The great virtue of this film also turns out to be its worst defect. It is a raw and realistic portrayal of the Vietnam War, in particular this take of Hill 937, unlike other films, it does not use the war to make allegories, metaphors or morality tales. It only portrays the daily lives of soldiers. Their psychological traumas, motivations or lack of it, tensions and conflicts and in general all their experience. The conflicts and tensions between them are triggered by racial and political issues of support or against the war, in fact it does not delve into these issues very much, as I also do not believe that there were major debates on the issues on the ground and the director's objective was the portrait staged with moving images (literally cinema) of the daily ongoings.

I think that it lacked a little in the intensity and duration of the battle scenes.

It turns out to be perhaps the most realistic film about the Vietnam War, said even by combatants in that war.

But as a cinematographic art, it falls short of great classics such as "Apocalypse Now", "Full Metal Jacket" or "Platoon". It does not delve into political (whether internal to the americans or the conflict itself) and racial issues, nor does it excels in battle scenes.

I recommend it, it's quite reasonable and incredibly realistic but I actually prefer the films mentioned above, less realistic but more and better cinema.

Balibo (2009)

Balibo Five

[8/10 · 20 December 2022]

It portrays the events that took place in East Timor, present-day Timor Lorosai, after Portugal left, a few months after independence was declared, before and during the invasion by Indonesia. Following the story of the "Balibo Five" a group of five journalists (2 Australian, 2 British and 1 New Zealander) who were executed at the point of surrender while covering the Indonesian invasion of Timor in 1975.

A young Ramos Horta, at the time the country's Foreign Secretary, invited the renowned war correspondent Roger East, a freelancer at the service of the Australian Associated Press, to be Fretilin's press chief and report on the invasion, he was reluctant but informed of the disappearance of the five journalists, leaves for Timor to conduct an investigation.

It's a film that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but it's very effective and competent both on a technical level and in terms of narrative. This one is a little confusing at first, but it becomes clearer over the course of the film.

I highlight the great work of actor Anthony LaPlagia in the role of a matured Roger East, no longer so fearless, bitter and reluctant but always dignified and pursuing the truth.

A good film that portrays the events that took place with historical loyalty, I recommend it.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

bland and lame

[5/10 · 20 December 2022]

The essence of the previous ones and "Shreck" is not present, the scathing wink to the adult audience with adult and politically incorrect jokes, which greatly amused the parents and adult spectadors in general.

It is too politically correct and becomes bland with no guts.

Technically well done, it has an interesting plot that can please both adults and children, but it lacks the "spice", that "forbidden" humor present in the previous scripts.

It's lame, a reflex of today's times, with this Hollywood tendency to avoid hurting sensibilities and producing an increasing number of uninteresting movies. How I miss the 80's!

I believe it is cyclical and when the ties get loose again, it will fall to the other extreme. It's happened before. While we wait leting out a huge yawn and succumbing to nostalgia.

Reasonable but not very interesting, I only recommend it to hardcore fans.

Black as Night (2021)

Compare to this one Buffy as intense horr😁r...

[3/10 · 11 December 2022]

It's a film that tries to navigate several waters like horror, comedy and social drama. But it sinks into all of them.

In terms of horror, it's light, aimed at teenagers new to the genre, it makes Buffy (clearly an influence) look like intense horror.

In comedy, it's bland and overly exaggerated, too "over-acting" by some actors, especially the character Pedro.

As a social drama addresses, yet, post Katrina, poverty and drug addiction in New Orleans without depth and lightly.

Movie get lost in too many intentions without being able to concentrate and do a good job on any of them.

It's weak but still entertaining, due to the naïve interpretation of the main actress, the blink of an eye to some cinematic references and some well-achieved effects such as the vampires disappearing into smoke.

Still, I don't recommend it, it's weak and as such a waste of time to watch.

The Battle of Algiers (1966)

Seeds of independence

[9/10 · 11 December 2022]

Nominated for 3 Oscars and winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1966. A cinema classic that is frequently mentioned in several lists of the best films of all time, including the consecrated list, chosen every 10 years, by the BFI ( British Film Institute) which was voted precisely this year and in which it ranked 45th.

It portrays the struggle of the Algerian National Liberation Front for Algerian independence in its capital Algiers, from 1954 to 1957. It also portrays the respective strategic military response of the French, apparently managing to restore colonialist control by defeating the FLN. Meanwhile the seeds of revolution were sown and the population revolted en masse forcing the French political regime to grant independence in 1960.

The film results in an unavoidable historical document, but made with great mastery with a very sagacious cinematography in the use of long plans and close-ups, always with mastery and counting on great performances from the main actors. I also highlight the way in which, approaching a theme with extreme violence, there is the artistic choice of commitment in its exhibition. Resulting perhaps even with greater impact than if it showed gratuitous violence.

It's an excellent film, a classic that I highly recommend.

The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)

Not documentary, a good movie

[7/10 · 5 September 2022]

Based on the true facts of an operation carried out by Mossad agents to rescue as many Ethiopian Jews as possible from persecution and death in Ethiopia in the late 70's and early 80's.

To this end, they create a facade hotel in sudan. The film is well done in a very genuine way, but developing strong characters to avoid being just documentary. It has a lot of suspense, drama and even humor as only a story based on real events can. The only negative aspect that I point out is an excessive caricature of the Ethiopian rebel forces, it's not that I doubt the atrocities they committed, but dehumanizing them and characterizing them almost as if they were cartoon villains is not understanding the conflict and its consequences and motivations. The world is not divided in good and bad,it´s only black or white. And in that aspect it fails, a pity because in the rest it seems to me to be very realistic.

I recommend.

1922 (2017)

dark and very tense thriller

[7/10 · 5 September 2022]

Based on Stephen King's homonimous novel, it's a dark and very tense thriller that explores a simple rural family plot. A family dispute is taken to the extreme and everyone has to deal with the consequences. It explores human nature very well, which is one of the strengths of the writer who passes into the film in this adaptation.

Otherwise, nothing bad to say, well-chosen actors with good performance, good scenography exploring the rural American scenario, a somewhat slow dynamic but creating strong tension, it´s a well done movie. It just lacks for not being innovative, it's well done but it's one of many of this genre, but I still recommend it.

Ammonite (2020)

Could be so much more.

[4/10 · 5 September 2022]

Loosely inspired by the biography of Mary Anning, a pioneer in paleontology, having found her first fossil at the age of 11 and dedicated her entire working life to this science. As I am passionate about paleontology, despite being a layman, the film aroused my interest. Unfortunately, it lightly addresses the difficulties of Mary Anning, a woman of humble origins working in a scientific area dominated by men, in being recognized, academically and monetarily. A daily struggle to keep the store that supports her and her mother.

Focusing instead on a topic-less lesbian cordel romance... I was disappointed, because what appealed to me the most in the film is superficial.

It´s a pitty, because Kate Winslet is quite good in the role of a resilient, stubborn and somewhat brooding Mary Anning.

I'm not into this genre of film, but I dare say that even for those who are, this one is just reasonable, it doesn't go down in history.

With so much "juice" that Mary Anning's life had, was squeezed from it this lesbian cordel romance without the slightest interest.

Once again the due recognition of this great pioneer in science fall short, too short of deserved recognition.

It was worth the little he showed of her work and the disrespect of the (male) science society, but it could have been much more.

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Bad ideias in this one Spike!

[5/10 · 5 September 2022]

Spike Lee approaches the Vietnam War from an African-American perspective.

Spike Lee is a productive director focused on the social portrayal of the African-American community in all its scope, historical and present. Having in his portfolio some masterpieces but also great failures.

Being the present neither one thing nor the other.

A somewhat confusing film, with little dynamics, with poor use of technology, for example the principal characters image in Vietnam as in the present, is different and original but it doesn't work out is too weird and distracts the viewer from the plot.

Also the very message of trauma and the negative effects of war is lost to the most basic material ambition, in this case the gold bars.

Far from its best, an average film, yet somehow saved by the actors, despite Spike Lee's bad ideas.

Lifeforce (1985)

schizophrenic mess

[5/10 · 26 July 2022]

Tobe Hooper made his masterpiece, although not consensual, in his first work "The Texas chain saw massacre" in 1974, he became popular and recognized in the great success "Poltergheist" in 1982, made in partnership with Steven Spielberg (producer and screenwriter). In between, he directed, among others, the successful TV series "Salem's Lot" in 1979, based on the homonymous work by Stephen King.

The reason why he was invited to make this "Lifeforce". In both a femme fatale fights telepathically in a web of sexual seduction with a male character, in both evil is weaved in the web of carnal desire in which man is the most weak.

With a screenplay by Don O'Bannon (writer of the masterpiece "Alien") and Don Jakoby based on the book "The Space Vampires" by Colin Wilson.

It starts with a space science fiction environment where cosmonauts discover an unknown ship with three human-looking beings or I would even say supra-human two "Adonis" and a "goddess" of blinding beauty.

Obviously they can't resist taking her, oh and the other two as well, to planet Earth. All this in the first minutes of the film without suspense and tension as in "Alien".

The flesh is weak and misogyny was not only allowed but current in the 80s. (Nowadays it is inconceivable with the dictatorship of political correctness, but anyway, let's get back to the subject.) On Earth, the stunning beauty and her muchachos try to destroy it all by vampirizing not the blood, but the life force of humans. Causing chaos in London.

Perhaps because it has a big budget, Tobe Hooper bets on too many fronts making a schizophrenic and confusing film between science fiction, vampires and hordes of zombies!?

Resulting in a mediocre film that sank in the boxoffice and was devastated by critics, it was the beginning of Tobe's decline. But as they say that time heals everything, today it is seen with some nostalgia and an absurd comic pleasure.

And the truth is that horror movie fans (me!) were always waiting with great curiosity and enthusiasm for his next film, until the moment of his death. (in 2017, RIP)

Zombie Tidal Wave (2019)

Terrible / Great movie

[8/10 · 26 July 2022]

If the first "Sharknado" was already Bad/Good this Zombie Tidal Wave still manages to be Worse/Better than the aforementioned.

Produced by the same crazy guys (or not, they make a lot of money!) it's a Terrible / Great movie one of the best that the b series produces.

Anyone who liked it and had a great time, lot´s of fun, like me, with "Sharknado" I strongly recommend it to everyone else to run away from it as fast as you can...

Valley of the Dead (2020)

A lot of fun

[7/10 · 26 July 2022]

During the Spanish Civil War, the Nazis conduct experiments on the civilian population of a remote area in Spain, turning them into zombies. Francoists and revolutionaries then unite to survive the chaos.

Comical zombie horror with an Indiana Jones touch and a lot of fun as only the Spaniards know how to do.

In line with the films of Alex de la Iglesia but with less refinement.

I recommend it's a lot of fun.

How It Ends (2018)

Banal

[4/10 · 26 July 2022]

Implausible, alarmist catastrophe film, lacking any scientific rigor and with a plot/script that is too banal in this genre. One more among many technically, to my layman's eye, it looks good, good interpretations, survival suspense on the edge, but without neither head or tail.

In the end, it redeems a little by not even trying to explain the inexplicable.

It can be seen well on a Sunday afternoon, when the tico and the teco are half asleep. Stretching out on the couch and drooling from the corner of mouth in a proto-zombie state. (argh!)

Beyond Skyline (2017)

Overall it's a good for is low budget

[6/10 · 19 July 2022]

Despite presenting itself as the sequel to 2010's "Skyline", the connection to it is very tenuous. Does not follow any characters. It just takes advantage of the same event, the extraterrestrial invasion.

Creating an all-new sci-fi story.

Despite being a low-budget, b-series and that fact is noticeable in some dialogues, clearly in the poor quality of most of the actors and in the aesthetics of the film, the plot and the extraterrestrials' acting are interesting, having moments of creative brilliance mainly in the scenes inside the ship.

Overall it's a good b-series. Passes the idea that with a better budget, dialogue revision eliminating the accessory nonsense (a lot of) and with good actors, it could result in a great film of the Sci-Fi genre.

I recommend it to sci-fi fans with a tolerance for series B and it´s usual nonsense.

Sucker Punch (2011)

Creative Freedom

[7/10 · 19 July 2022]

Maximum creative freedom for Zack Snyder, presenting us with a dreamy fable full of style and action.

It's not his worst movie, but it's not his better either. It's fun and well done in terms of effects and scenography, the actresses play well in the "game".

But it's far from brilliant at the story level. It stands out more for the action and special effects, almost looking like a video game but in which the spectator only watches Zack play. Zack's inprint is clearly noticeable.

A director that I have a lot of respect for, because having good films and others not so good, one thing is for sure, it is well noticed when a film is directed by him, it has "signature" let's say.

I recommend it to action and video game fans.

Sisters in Arms (2019)

war in female mode

[8/10 · 2 July 2022]

Inspired by true stories of international volunteers who joined Kurdish women warriors in the war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

It is a war film with a female sensibility, it focuses on a young woman, Zara, Yazidi (a Kurdish ethnic-religious community whose members practice an ancient syncretic religion, Yazidism and reject Islam) who, after an attack on her village by Isis, is taken by them sold into slavery and raped. In the attack they kill their father, take their mother, brother and an uncle who survives a shooting and rescues Zara's mother.

With the help of her uncle, she also manages to escape and decides to enlist as international volunteers trying to save her brother and take revenge on the men who caused her so much harm.

A solid script that explores the political situation and the various motivations of the guerrillas womans. Well done, dramatic but very realistic and without melodramatic excesses, in a cinematographic universe mostly dominated by men, with honorable exceptions such as Kathryn Bigelow, it gives us a more feminine and I would say more human vision of war, with the vile violence inherent to a war evidently present thought.

I highly recommend.

Planet of the Vampires (1965)

it´s a "so bad, so bad it's good" flick

[5/10 · 2 July 2022]

This film was one of those that, stated by the screenwriter himself, Dan O'Bannon, influenced Ridley Scott's "Alien", namely in the scenes inside the spaceship. This statement aroused public interest and become a sci-fi cult film.

After this introduction I must say that despite a comic book and typically colorful "pop Art" aesthetic, often used in Italian horror and/or sci-fi cinema, the film is bad and clearly series b.

It even has good ideas scattered throughout the film but very disconnected with weak dialogues, bad representation, very poorly done scenes due to the budgetary gymnastics of these low-budget productions.

But it's a lot of fun, It fell straight into the "so bad, so bad, that it's good" category.

Obviously it's not for all tastes, you have to have a passion for cinema and respect for the dedication and effort of those who try to make it even without money, in short, one has to like cinema series b.

Planet of the vampires is worth for despite its meager budget and meager production resources, it has surpassed itself in terms of aesthetics and cinematography, acquiring, despite the bad script, bad representation, bad scenes, its own identity, mainly aesthetic but not only so. One fun and cool identity that made it, with the help of the publicity of the "Alien" crew, a cult movie.

I recommend it to fans of series B cinema, namely the "so bad, so bad it's good" genre.

Them! (1954)

so, so with some good moments

[6/10 · 2 July 2022]

One more film from the 50s influenced by society's fears of the nuclear age and the cold war.

A sci-fi suspense thriller with a strong influence from the policial genre.

It has a very successful beginning with a series of aerial shots aaccompany a police reconnaissance plane, then ground shots following the police car, ending in a close shot of a girl who walks in shock with no destination.

The initial aesthetic is dark following the investigation. It changes tone to a more relaxed atmosphere when a scientist discovers the cause for the destruction, giant ants caused by genetic deformation at the site where nuclear tests took place. Darkens again at the end, in the battle for humanity.

It has good moments, the eggs and their incineration (was it an influence on Ridley Scott in "Alien"? I don't know, but it's very similar) but it falls short of what I expected, lacks more horror and action, much of the film's plot focuses on up in the discussion of science and military politics of how to act. And there are few scenes of ants attack and when it happens, let's say that despite the terrifying aspect, they don't give much fight. And it is already known the worse the monster or villain, the stronger the confrontation and the hero, the better the movie.

Reasonable I recommend it only to horror and sci-fi fans interested in the cinematographic evolution of these genres.

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

delicious movie with great special efects for the time

[7/10 · 2 July 2022]

From the science fiction series "science fiction - horror movies" directed by Jack Arnold for Universal in the 1950s, opened with "It come from outer space". "The incredible shrinking man" together with "the creature from the black lagoon" and "revenge of the creature" form the most famous and relevant trio.

A sci-fi thriller with a lot of suspense and surprisingly well done for the time. Clilfford Stine in charge of the special effects did a brilliant job. Two examples of his artisanal ingenuity: 1st - In the mythical scene, which entered in the cinema anthology, the fight with the spider. A moment of cinematic horror whose quality is demonstrated in the fact that it still works today with the same physical impact that was its hallmark at the time. Arnold and Stine used a simple system of double exposure accompanied by the use of a metronome, which marked the exact times of each of the actor's gestures, without ever seeing the tarantula above him, memorizing the number of strokes coinciding with each one of the gestures. Long before the green screen... 2nd - Faced with the impossibility of achieving by simple magnification the effect of the monstrous drops of water, Arnold "created" giant drops of water with nothing more, nothing less than condoms filled with water that, when falling, after being magnified, gave the exact image of giant drops, which burst around the actor. In the end, the production noticed that one of the portions of the budget corresponded to the purchase of 1500 condoms, Arnold justified: "The shooting was so exhausting that, once it was finished, we all decided to have a special party..."😁

The movie is pretty cool, the only downside is the moral message, most movies of the decade had their moral message, being naïve and quite religious.

Still, a delight of a movie, I recommend it.

Godzilla (1954)

A piece of art, a masterpiece!

[10/10 · 2 July 2022]

A piece of art, a masterpiece!

Gojira had a budget 10 times that of an average Japanese film at the time, but had a turnabout with 10 million viewers in Japan. It launched a new genre in Japanese cinema, the monster movie. It was quickly exported and remade by Hollywood.

Nine years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Gojira is on the one hand a permanent metaphorical warning of nuclear dangers, on other hand an instrument of collective catharsis for the Japanese people.

Godzilla's starting point was Eugéne Lourie's 1953 film "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", based on the story by Ray Bradbury, in which a dinosaur is hit by nuclear tests in the Arctic and terrorizes the US. . (film to i see when possible!) The work, dedication and meticulousness of the special effects make this film one of the references that demonstrates the best that was done at this level in the 50's. And it's a work of art, that scale model of Tokyo, it's even a pity to be destroyed it in the final battle. Also contributing to this art is the fact that the animation technique of, for example, "King Kong" was not used, instead being represented by an actor wearing dinosaur clothes. What has become a feature of Japanese cinema. An art when it´s well done as in Gojira, but disastrous when badly done, source of irony and joke of poorly done sequels.

I highly recommend it is a masterpiece!

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

good humorous science fiction and mystery thriller

[8/10 · 2 July 2022]

After the use of nuclear bombs in World War II. Society in the following decades developed well-founded fears about nuclear. Naturally, these fears were exponentiated by cinema, the present film being one of the classic examples.

It is a good humorous science fiction and mystery thriller, for the time very well done, innovating in the editing technique, dynamic and aggressive with long and complex shots.

Without wanting to reveal too much because it's one of those films in which the spoilers really spoil. I can say that, as was typical of the 50's hollywood cinema, it has a message and a moral that it wants to convey, reminding me a lot, what is well, the 1st series of "Twilight Zone".

I haven't seen the modern remake with Keanu Reeves, but I recommend this one and I suspect it's better cinema.

Cargo (I) (2017)

Australian zombie pandemic

[9/10 · 17 June 2022]

Excellent Australian zombie film, innovative and with an excellent plot and script.

A couple with a month-old baby try to survive a pandemic of a new disease that turns the infected into zombies. It doesn't go well, the mother dies, the father is infected and he has less than 48 hours to find a solution for the baby.

Very well done with excellent performances, perhaps the best role by Martin Freeman, beautiful photography taking advantage of the beautiful Australian landscapes, effective cinematography although not innovative.

I strongly recommend it!

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

Cloverfield (boring) series

[6/10 · 17 June 2022]

I honestly loved Cloverfield a surprising, innovative, dynamic, action-packed monster movie with a very interesting plot/script.

Some movies of the Cloverfield series were then made, not being directly sequels, they belong to that universe with parallel stories and different cinematographic genres. All this being very confusing and none of them reaching Cloverfield's brilliance.

This "The Cloverfield Paradox" unfortunately fits exactly what I said in the previous paragraph.

Not a bad sci-fi movie, a team tries to save the planet by producing a source of energy for everyone thus ending the war. The process is not easy and not without risks. Inadvertently opens the door to other dimensions and their inhabitants including the monsters that attack the planet in "Cloverfield". The permise is interesting, but they focus on the expedition and its adventure, and they only approach the monsters in a very, very secondary maner, being just science fiction, with practically no elements of horror or action which makes it a little boring.

It's not bad but it's a different genre of "Cloverfield" and it's a bit boring, don't be fooled.

Earthquake (1974)

Classic disaster movie

[6/10 · 17 June 2022]

Disaster movie from the 70's, done the old fashioned way with much character development. For a more impatient audience can be boring, for the more patient it makes the movie more interesting.

Has an elite squad with good performances.

Technically it's done in the best way for the time. The least good thing is the classic conservatism in cinematography is not very daring even for the time.

Still, it withstands the test of time relatively well, it's quite reasonable so I recommend it to anyone who likes the genre.