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Paradise (2023)
Intriguing premise that was abandoned for a "love" story that eventually goes awry.
The idea that people can buy youth is an interesting concept especially when you add in the classicism issue it inevitably creates. For only the rich would be able to afford the exponential cost of buying 30-40 more years of life which will make them decades younger.
Where this movie fails is we never see the pros and cons of such a society. The movie spends all of its time telling not showing. Instead it veers off into a storyline about a man who worked for this lifeline company going rogue because his wife used 40 years of her life as collateral so they could purchase a condo they couldn't afford. When the loan comes due, all of it, due to the home burning to the ground the wife has to give up 40 years of her life and that's when the story goes off the rails.
We spend the next hour and half with the husband and his now elderly wife committing kidnapping , assault etc. In an attempt to get the wife's 40 years back. Both flip flopped between whether what they are doing the right or wrong thing, with the movie ending with both having the opposite viewpoint than what they started with and living completely separate lives with other people.
Though the plot was entertaining enough for me to want to see it through to the end, I didn't care about any of these people. I didn't care about the reasons for the lifeline company (which none were given until nearly the end of the movie). I didn't care about the faction that were fighting against them. I didn't care that the main character's wife lost 40 years of her life and had a miscarriage because of it and I didn't care about their love. This was because the writers did no world building and did nothing to build these characters.
The only person I had a smidgen of sympathy for was the young daughter of the woman who was running the lifeline company. She was truly collateral damage in this mess.
It is utterly shocking that the writers of this movie had such an interesting premise but completely ignored it for what was ultimately a husband's desperate quest to retrieve his wife's youth. This was really unfortunate as there was so much that could've been done with this story. So many interesting things that could've been explored. Truly a shame.
Run Rabbit Run (2023)
The rabbit was the best thing about this train wreck.
I agree with others. This was awful. The premise is nothing new but that should not have prevented it from being a good movie.
Instead we spent most of the movie with the mom of the possessed or was it reincarnated daughter, this was never clarified, acting like a nutcase with the daughter having screaming and violent fits.
I knew this movie was going to be a mess when a "birthday" party was held for Mia/Bunny only for it not to be a party at all. The only attendees was her father, stepmother and stepbrother who seemed as if he may have been autistic. There were no other kids at the "party" which was odd considering Mia was in elementary school. Surely other kids should've made it to the party. But then again it was so drab, no balloons, no color, no gifts, no games, they probably would've been begging to leave due to boredom. The adults stood around acting awkward with each other. Moreover, when there'd obviously been a problem with Mia and the step brother in another room, per Mia's scream, the adults didn't seem all that concerned and casually made there way to the room to see what was going on. What adults reacts that way to kids possibly being injured?
Didn't understand why the mom who was a medical doctor refused to get her daughter (Mia) any help when she started acting out to the point of drawing disturbing pictures, pretending to be someone she was not and becoming violent. Completely unrealistic.
Other things that didn't make sense, Mia has bruises all over her face and arms from her mother having a mental meltdown and thus acting like a complete maniac, but no one raises any concerns. I'm assuming she was still going to school while incurring all these bruises. So not one teacher raised concerns about the injuries she was suffering?
The dad frantically shows up at the house of the mom and Mia because the mom is not answering her phone. After banging on the door for 5 minutes, the mom finally opens the door. The father walks into the home to find it in complete disarray pictures broken and scattered all over the floor, and his daughter missing. They find the daughter hiding in some bushes outside appearing to be scared to death. The father is relieved to have found her and then that's the end of any concern from the him because we never see him again. After all that's been happening, he would've been all over that situation and looking to at the very least have Mia stay with him for a few days or weeks. But after this incident he apparently went back to his life without a care in the world. Again unrealistic.
There were many other incidents in this movie that did not track with what was happening. Again good concept, very bad execution.
Madre de alquiler (2023)
Mostly a train wreck but it was difficult to look away.
This started off intriguing, and quickly went in a direction I did not expect. The acting was not great, especially from the leads. Watching the FL attempt to cry and express anguish was painful to watch, and the ML wasn't much better. The producers really should've worked harder to find dubbing actors who could actually act with their voices because this also took away from the series. Most of the dubbing was flat and therefore had very little emotions coming from the characters' voices.
Moreover, the characters in this weren't the sharpest tools in the shed. Most especially the leads Yeni and Carlos. I could sort of give the former a pass because she was young and naive. However, Carlos was older and more experienced but spent most of the series going in circles and unable to figure out the simplest mysteries going on his life.
Additionally, he was an awful husband. He cheats on his wife with Yeni, the surrogate, but thinks saying he's sorry will make it all good. He sleeps with Yeni, taking her virginity (without even realizing it mind you) and the minute it's over he tells her that she makes him feel as if he can be himself. Even though they've known each other all of two seconds. Then follows that up by saying he misses his wife. Trash. SMH. He and Yeni had absolutely no chemistry. Their romance felt forced, which subsequently undermined any credibility to what I'm guessing was supposed to be their epic "love" story.
The matriarch of the main family, Carlos' mother, was absolutely awful. She was selfish, narcissistic and bordering on sociopathic. She was not a villain that viewers would love to hate. She was simply loathsome. Her evilness was oftentimes so over the top and without nuance that it destroyed what little coherence the show sometimes had.
Did not understand why Carlos had to babysit Yeni throughout her pregnancy. He was rich. Surely he could've paid someone to watch over her who could keep things confidential until she gave birth. I didn't understand why Yeni didn't just give the twin Carlos' family abandoned up for adoption being that she didn't want kids anyway. It certainly would've made her life easier. It didn't make sense that Julia would go to such extremes as kidnapping and assault etc. To find a surrogate for her baby. Surely there was a better ways to get what she wanted. Maybe even an underground network for finding women who would volunteer to be a surrogate. The pharmaceutical plot was so convoluted and over the top that it became silly.
I did find it interesting learning how surrogacy had been illegal in Mexico and thus is severely frowned upon. I also found it interesting but not surprising, how racist the white Mexicans were towards those who were deemed as native Mexicans. Colorism was a huge theme in this which was also very interesting.
The ending of the series was just as ridiculous as the journey throughout . After all the hell these people had put each other through, and I mean hell. Life altering lies, aggravated assaults, murders, kidnappings etc. It was absolutely unfathomable that they could , in the end, come together as friends, lovers and colleagues to create their own little pseudo happy family. Please. RME.
This series could at times be entertaining. I'll give it that, but overall it was a hot mess of plot holes, contrivances, ridiculous storylines and dumb characters.
African Queens: Njinga (2023)
Interesting and Informative dive into African History
I know the story of Njinga but only the high level version. This was a good introduction to who she was, her people and the historical context of her life.
What I liked about this is that the historians told the history as it was and didn't attempt to paint Njinga as this perfect leader who didn't do some pretty brutal things herself to gain and/or maintain power and often had to adhere to the slave trade in order to maintain some form of peace and protect her people.
The acting and writing was a little weak in the first episode, but got stronger as the docu-drama progressed. This was very good and has inspired me to read the book about Njinga's life.
I hope Netflix will do more seasons of this as there are other African Queen's who were known for their valiance, leadership and strength. I would love to see their stories told as well.
A Model Family (2022)
Off the Rails into the Illogical within the first 20 minutes
As the title of this review states this went bad pretty quickly. So the premise of this show sounded interesting. And to start I could see why the ML would make some bad choices being that he was desperate for money.
That said, it made absolutely no sense that when the dirty money practically landed in his lap, he instead of just stealing it from the criminals car and getting the hell out of there, he takes their car and buries their bodies, in his backyard no less! Dumb. Even dumber he leaves the phone on of one of the criminals whom he buried. Which means the signal can be tracked and is how the Korean mafia found him. He then proceeds to search online with his home computer about large bank deposits and how to launder money. Stoopid.
This guy is supposed to be a professor at a University. You'd think he'd have been smart enough to do his internet searches on how to conduct criminal activity at a public library. SMH.
I stopped watching about halfway through the 2nd episode as I could no longer suspend disbelief due to the lack of logic in the ML's actions.
Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022)
A Boring Tale of Lust
I've not read the book or seen any of the other adaptations of this tale. Nevertheless I thought the story was severely lacking in depth. When Connie asked Lord Chatterley for a divorce and went on about how he didn't want her to be happy etc. And treated her like crap, I was baffled. He wasn't the epitome a doting husband but I didn't think he treated her like trash, unless I blinked and missed a scene.
Moreover, Connie's relationship with Ollie lacked everything that relationship should've been if it was going to be a torrid affair. There was no chemistry between the characters, which resulted in the sex scenes being mechanical and soulless. In addition to this, I did not see this great love story between the characters. Connie came off as desperate to be touched after her husband could no longer perform his marital duties in the bedroom and Ollie seemed ready willing and able to engage in what was essentially easy sex for him. There was no emotional connection between her and Ollie, just sex and even that lacked passion.
Even the characters on their own lacked personalities. They were just kind of there acting out a role but I had no idea who these people were and why they were doing what they were doing especially Ollie. Why Connie had absolutely no guilt over what she was doing. She was getting laid and that's all that mattered.
The cinematography was stunning in this. So there's that, but other than that this movie was a waste of two hours.
Endangered Species (2021)
Terrible movie
Wow. Where do I even start with this one. First how are you going to go to Africa and on a safari no less and know nothing about the country or the native wildlife there? Moreover, how can a family be so ignorant and disrespectful of the reserve that they'd ignore all protocol and drive into the park without proper instruction to do their own safari, something they've never done before? Again, a lack of respect for the environment in which they were in and an understanding of it.
Also, after they drove into the park without proper authorization would the park rangers not go after them?
Lastly a wild safari drive was not the place for the father to allow his teenage son to get a driving lesson. The characters were so stupid and annoying in this I didn't make it past 30 minutes. If I could give this a negative rating I would.
Curse of Aurore (2020)
Just Another Silly Horror Film
It had its creepy moments and they did well with setting the scene but otherwise this was ridiculous at best.
The characters spend most of the movie driving around this snowy Canadian village having a strange encounter here and there while being completely obnoxious. Things didn't start to happen until the last 10-15 minutes of the movie and by that point I was over it. It might've actually held up as a descent movie if the characters weren't so annoying and stupid. Most of their actions were clearly contrived, making little sense and therefore was just there to move the plot along.
La nuée (2020)
Interesting plot, terribly written and executed.
Like others, this was terrible. I don't understand how the locust went from being normal to needing blood to survive.
How is it possible to buy gallons of blood? That right there took me out of the movie.
Could not have cared less about the family and their drama. Even after learning she had killer locusts on her hands the mom continued to breed them, sacrificing her own blood, the family pets and stealing and sacrificing the neighbor's livestock to feed their dangerous appetite. This made absolutely no sense.
Additionally a swarm of killer locusts gets out early on in the movie, they kill a goat and we never hear or see of them again. I guess they skipped over that town full of people and found new hunting grounds in the great unknown.
Again, good idea, horribly written. The American name for this movie "The Swarm" is very misleading. The swarm is only seen twice during the entire 100 minutes of this movie and when seen it is less than impressive. If you're looking for a boring family drama this may be for you. But if you're looking for a suspenseful thriller with a little horror thrown in this ain't it.