Just because you're funny in Comedies, doesn't mean you're a comedian. This is not a skill for everyone. Nothing witty or insightful here. They couldn't even edit in more laughter.
Reviews
12 Reviews
Nine Films About Technology
(2021– )
Unexpected surprise!
12 June 2021
While the title is underwhelming, the series is surely not. The idea does feel Black Mirror-ish, but where it differs is it's not set in a not-too-distant future. It's firmly based on how we use technology today. These types of anthologies that are focused and time-constricted stories tend to feel cheaply acted and heavy-handed on social commentary, but NFAT is far from that. It's absolutely relatable to the every day person, or at least very familiar. It delves into how we interact with these devices, in turn, how we interact and lack interaction with each other. All the stories are interconnected in some way and show an unfiltered view of how we use our smartphones and computers. It deals with everything from vanity, intimacy, racism, isolation, ageism, sexism, catfishing, keeping up with the Jones's, insecurities, scamming, e-currency and more. The acting is on point and the messages are subtle and powerful. The episodes Going Vintage 1&2 had me in my feels a bit and I was not expecting that. Definitely a surprise for something I randomly watched and hope they expand on it.
Anyone else think this guy can play the next Freddy Kreuger??
28 February 2021
Books of Blood
(2020)
I didn't expect much so it went above my expectations
10 October 2020
I'm a sucker for a horror anthology whether good or cheesy, but this one treads a fine line. Three interconnected stories that all start off almost blandly acted and poorly written, but as the stories unfold, the insanity starts to ramp up. It interweaves human monsters with ghostly ones and the result is some very unsettling content. I also like that the visionaries for this film didn't rely heavily on CGI, and added a heavy dose of practical effects, cinematography and good editing to naturally disturb me. Learning that this is based off the work of Clive Barker, it makes so much more sense as it feels like a dark poetic nightmare from the 80's. Where the film falls short is the over-extension of one story, a loosely threaded connection and failure to captivate the audience out the gate with something truly compelling. Otherwise it was a good watch.
The Outsider
(2020)
This seems awfully familiar...
10 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
While The Outsider gripped me during the beginning with it's premise of a man being in two places at once, I soon became bored with the slow-pacing of the series and drawn out exposition. I'm not one to detract from a slow-paced series, but this series felt like it could have been trimmed down to 7 episodes.
As more things came to revelation, the quicker I pieced together what was going on and the only mystery I was anticipating is what this monster actually looked like. It was a deflating to see him just as a man and morphing a few times just to be crushed. I don't need all the information of a horror movie creature, but one like this one needed just a little bit more examination and I felt like I was only left with surface level knowledge of El Cuco.
Now, towards the end as more things were revealed, this monster was ironically mirroring another one of Stephen Kings horror icons. Pennywise. It's this shapeshifting monster that must feed every 27 days (as opposed to years) that can eat adults, but much rather have children because they taste the sweetest. He feeds off pain as well. Toward the end, adults go down into a cave to kill it, and it turns out to be much weaker than the lore made it out to be. Is this familiar at all??
While the acting was great, and the mystery fascinating, I felt that this series went to a familiar Stephen King place where the monster is actually another rendition of Pennywise and it feels more like a cop out than an extended universe.
I also didn't get the protagonists motivation to keep this monster a secret because other people would not "understand". Isn't it important that he be examined and identified so that they know what to do next time one of these rears it's head? Maybe better equip the world to handle such a monster? This show definitely continue the conversation of Stephen Kings ability to write a great story off of a great premise, and stumble at the end. This is coming from a fan of his work. A lot of my grading comes from great acting and a great first 4 episodes.
While the acting was great, and the mystery fascinating, I felt that this series went to a familiar Stephen King place where the monster is actually another rendition of Pennywise and it feels more like a cop out than an extended universe.
I also didn't get the protagonists motivation to keep this monster a secret because other people would not "understand". Isn't it important that he be examined and identified so that they know what to do next time one of these rears it's head? Maybe better equip the world to handle such a monster? This show definitely continue the conversation of Stephen Kings ability to write a great story off of a great premise, and stumble at the end. This is coming from a fan of his work. A lot of my grading comes from great acting and a great first 4 episodes.
1st Summoning
(2018)
Just watch the VHS 2 segment about the cult
8 August 2019
This story was bloated for absolutely no reason and very predictable. It was obvious that they were trying to stretch their run time by putting a sub-story about a love triangle that goes absolutely nowhere. I caught myself frequently checking how much time was left with 20 minutes left in the film. If you watched a found footage movie about a cult or ghost or anything of this nature, you have already seen this movie except 1st Summoning did it worse than all those.
Sicario
(2015)
Daniel Ortiz Rants on: Sacario
2 October 2015
I saw the preview for this movie a couple of months ago, and it seemed interesting enough for me to wait for it to come out on video. It gave me the illusion of a modern day Traffic. After seeing a couple of reviews online from some critics that I usually trust to give valid opinions, and calling this a must-see, I thought I'd give it a shot. Also coming fresh off of watching Narcos on Netflix, my Latin drug dealers appetite was still there.
So first and foremost, I have to say this movie did an excellent, and I mean excellent job of putting you in suspense from the beginning and keeping you there until the end. We were able to see this world open up through the untainted eyes of FBI agent Kate Macer played by Emily Blunt. As the protagonist of the film, she was just as much in the dark about what was going on as we were. Every time I found myself asking, 'What the hell is going on?', you can see that she was wondering that too, and when the time was right those questions were answered; but with every question answered we were taken deeper into a really ugly world where the bad guy, good guy line is completely blurred.
I loved the fact that this movie had multiple layers, and each layer that we delve into uncovered something surprisingly dark and unexpected. All three of the main characters were also layered and the more you learned about them, the more you understood their characters and what they really stood for.
The cinematography was exceptional. The beautiful sky's and dark landscapes of Arizona, the sheer scale of the small SUV's entering into the massive, flat and impoverished city of Juarez. Each large landscape scene was used to give the viewer a true understanding of the environment that the officials were about to encounter and it held no bars.
As mentioned before, I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie and the director understood how to use each scene to keep tension throughout the film. There was one part where I thought it was a filler scene and seemed out of place, but then it ties that filler to be just as important and puts us back in that bubble of tension.
The Score! Holy Crap, THE SCORE! The music in this film created a sense of dread in the viewer whenever there was an infiltration of extraction of some sort. Jóhann Jóhannsson needs to win an award somewhere in the near future for how awesome this score was.
Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin were absolutely amazing in this movie. Both had polar opposite personalities but knew were in tune idealistically on the goal of their mission.
Overall Grade: A
I've scrolled through all the movies I've reviewed and this is the first movie I gave a solid A to. I couldn't find much flawed about this movie. The pacing of the film was amazing, the the movie was beautifully shot, the actors all put on great performances, THE SCORE was phenomenal, and the surprises were never expected. I wanted to clap at the end of this movie, but no one else did so I held it in; but this film is definitely a must see. Check out more of my reviews Daniel Ortiz Rants on wordpress
So first and foremost, I have to say this movie did an excellent, and I mean excellent job of putting you in suspense from the beginning and keeping you there until the end. We were able to see this world open up through the untainted eyes of FBI agent Kate Macer played by Emily Blunt. As the protagonist of the film, she was just as much in the dark about what was going on as we were. Every time I found myself asking, 'What the hell is going on?', you can see that she was wondering that too, and when the time was right those questions were answered; but with every question answered we were taken deeper into a really ugly world where the bad guy, good guy line is completely blurred.
I loved the fact that this movie had multiple layers, and each layer that we delve into uncovered something surprisingly dark and unexpected. All three of the main characters were also layered and the more you learned about them, the more you understood their characters and what they really stood for.
The cinematography was exceptional. The beautiful sky's and dark landscapes of Arizona, the sheer scale of the small SUV's entering into the massive, flat and impoverished city of Juarez. Each large landscape scene was used to give the viewer a true understanding of the environment that the officials were about to encounter and it held no bars.
As mentioned before, I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie and the director understood how to use each scene to keep tension throughout the film. There was one part where I thought it was a filler scene and seemed out of place, but then it ties that filler to be just as important and puts us back in that bubble of tension.
The Score! Holy Crap, THE SCORE! The music in this film created a sense of dread in the viewer whenever there was an infiltration of extraction of some sort. Jóhann Jóhannsson needs to win an award somewhere in the near future for how awesome this score was.
Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin were absolutely amazing in this movie. Both had polar opposite personalities but knew were in tune idealistically on the goal of their mission.
Overall Grade: A
I've scrolled through all the movies I've reviewed and this is the first movie I gave a solid A to. I couldn't find much flawed about this movie. The pacing of the film was amazing, the the movie was beautifully shot, the actors all put on great performances, THE SCORE was phenomenal, and the surprises were never expected. I wanted to clap at the end of this movie, but no one else did so I held it in; but this film is definitely a must see. Check out more of my reviews Daniel Ortiz Rants on wordpress
Avengers: Age of Ultron
(2015)
Good watch, and expected by now
10 May 2015
We start off the Summer blockbuster fiasco with Marvel's colossal Avengers franchise. The only film franchise of its kind to date where most of its members drop more successful solo projects than the Wu-Tang Clan. I was anticipating this film as was half of the world to see what the super-villain Ultron could bring to the table.
The story is based on Tony and Bruce (Ironman & non-Hulk in case you didn't know) concocting a plan to create highly evolved Artificial Intelligence in order to keep the world protected like TSA 10.0, but plans fall apart when the A.I. that they birthed concocts plans of his own.
First off, the action in this film is great. All the fight scenes are energetic and I only found complications during a fight scene on a freight liner because of the dark shaky cam.
I loved the interaction of the team during the party scene at the Avengers headquarters. It shows how much they jelled as a team since the first film. I also enjoyed that they didn't put a heavy investment of time on only the bigger heroes such as Ironman and Captain America, but they did a neat little back story on Hawkeye, helping to pull him away from just being a filler character, but just as important as the other members.
The introduction of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver was also a decent addition, even though I believe Evan Peters played a much better Quicksilver in X-men: Days of Future Past. Aaron Taylor-Johnson seems to coast through the role, but Elizabeth Olsen nailed it as his much cooler sister putting most of the Avengers through fear hallucinations.
Speaking of hallucinations, she was able to put a spell on the Hulk that absolutely drove him mad as he tore through a city in what seemed like a meth-high. I would've loved to have seen what the Hulk saw since we know so little about what would scare the beast.
This movie was jam-packed with pluses, but it did have a few downers. On the preview for the films they depicted Ultron as being this Sinister cold robot that was hell-bent on world destruction, but I didn't get that after watching the movie. His opening scene when we first see him in physical form, taking on the scraps of many of Tony Starks robots, it was pretty creepy seeing him limping around and philosophizing slavery and being a puppet.
Once Ultron creates a body for himself all that seems like it goes out the window. I was hoping he would come off as more Darth Vader with his ideals, but it felt more like a used car salesman. It felt like he was humanized down to a sleaze ball that lies in your face then winks at you just so you he just lied.
Also, I wasn't too crazy about how vision looked. I get it, he's supposed to be a Cybernetic Organism, but ..he looked too much like a human in a human suit.I think if they removed his pupils like they did in the comic book we would see an equal balance with his robot side.
I'm also tired of them rescuing people. No, I'm not some jerk that thinks they should ignore the helpless, but if you read the comic these wars didn't have random bystanders all over the place. It just loses focus on the action when they constantly have to do the "rescue the baby in the carriage" routine. I say lets take the battle to space. From the clip after the credits, hopefully it will lead to that.
Overall Grade: B
Even though this was a good film, I feel like I'm overdosing on Avenger- related movies. They feel like their all stretching and filling at the same time. Maybe I'm just ready for the Infinity Wars to start so I get through the next 20 movies that will preface it.
Also, if Ultron had less of a human personality and was just a cold A.I. sentient that didn't give me the feeling of a mattress salesman trying to get months-end commission, the villainous side of this film would have shot up notch. Follow me at www.danielortizrants.wordpress.com
The story is based on Tony and Bruce (Ironman & non-Hulk in case you didn't know) concocting a plan to create highly evolved Artificial Intelligence in order to keep the world protected like TSA 10.0, but plans fall apart when the A.I. that they birthed concocts plans of his own.
First off, the action in this film is great. All the fight scenes are energetic and I only found complications during a fight scene on a freight liner because of the dark shaky cam.
I loved the interaction of the team during the party scene at the Avengers headquarters. It shows how much they jelled as a team since the first film. I also enjoyed that they didn't put a heavy investment of time on only the bigger heroes such as Ironman and Captain America, but they did a neat little back story on Hawkeye, helping to pull him away from just being a filler character, but just as important as the other members.
The introduction of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver was also a decent addition, even though I believe Evan Peters played a much better Quicksilver in X-men: Days of Future Past. Aaron Taylor-Johnson seems to coast through the role, but Elizabeth Olsen nailed it as his much cooler sister putting most of the Avengers through fear hallucinations.
Speaking of hallucinations, she was able to put a spell on the Hulk that absolutely drove him mad as he tore through a city in what seemed like a meth-high. I would've loved to have seen what the Hulk saw since we know so little about what would scare the beast.
This movie was jam-packed with pluses, but it did have a few downers. On the preview for the films they depicted Ultron as being this Sinister cold robot that was hell-bent on world destruction, but I didn't get that after watching the movie. His opening scene when we first see him in physical form, taking on the scraps of many of Tony Starks robots, it was pretty creepy seeing him limping around and philosophizing slavery and being a puppet.
Once Ultron creates a body for himself all that seems like it goes out the window. I was hoping he would come off as more Darth Vader with his ideals, but it felt more like a used car salesman. It felt like he was humanized down to a sleaze ball that lies in your face then winks at you just so you he just lied.
Also, I wasn't too crazy about how vision looked. I get it, he's supposed to be a Cybernetic Organism, but ..he looked too much like a human in a human suit.I think if they removed his pupils like they did in the comic book we would see an equal balance with his robot side.
I'm also tired of them rescuing people. No, I'm not some jerk that thinks they should ignore the helpless, but if you read the comic these wars didn't have random bystanders all over the place. It just loses focus on the action when they constantly have to do the "rescue the baby in the carriage" routine. I say lets take the battle to space. From the clip after the credits, hopefully it will lead to that.
Overall Grade: B
Even though this was a good film, I feel like I'm overdosing on Avenger- related movies. They feel like their all stretching and filling at the same time. Maybe I'm just ready for the Infinity Wars to start so I get through the next 20 movies that will preface it.
Also, if Ultron had less of a human personality and was just a cold A.I. sentient that didn't give me the feeling of a mattress salesman trying to get months-end commission, the villainous side of this film would have shot up notch. Follow me at www.danielortizrants.wordpress.com
V/H/S Viral
(2014)
Below my low expectations
27 October 2014
So I understand the concept behind these V/H/S movies: An anthology film with a wraparound story, and none of the stories really fully developed or explain much further than what the viewer sees. I'm OK with that and actually find it to be a fun idea. We also see the same concept in the ABC's of Death anthology films. The only downside is that we never get a full grasp of the segments. Granted, some leave a lot to the imagination of the viewer, but some are so vague its hard to piece together. The first two V/H/S films were no gems, but each had 2 or so segments that stood out and actually engaged us while the others tended to disappoint. This new film continued that trend. the downside is that there were only 3 segments this time (not including the wraparound) which I found highly disappointing.
The wraparound was utterly boring and uninteresting. I get the irony of the guy wanting to go viral, but the tie-in at the end was confusing and forgettable.
Dante the Great was cheesy and added no horror value. Some of the visuals with the cloak were cool while some were low-budget. A power-obsessed redneck magician is just not an appealing story.
Bonestorm was absolutely annoying. The shaky go-pro cams and the characters "bottom or the barrel" personalities gave me nothing to root for. There was just nothing there for me to grasp or understand to make this engaging
Gorgeous Vortex was the only gem of this film. The ability to travel into an alternate universe and switch sides with your counterpart was pretty cool. The subtle differences they start off with only gives you clues that this isn't just a reflected world, but that something very strange and evil was happening. The only downside of this segment was that we wanted to see the main character explore the rest of the world even though he can't because of time. Also, the realization of the horror of this segment might seemed far- fetched to some, but I think it was an interesting add to make it that much weirder.
All in all, one good segment cannot carry an entire movie whether it has 6, 26, or in this case 4 stories. I hope this series continues because they are fun....and now I expect them every year, but they are going to have to hold their writers to stricter script ideas and lay off too much independence because thing can get cheesy really quickly!
The wraparound was utterly boring and uninteresting. I get the irony of the guy wanting to go viral, but the tie-in at the end was confusing and forgettable.
Dante the Great was cheesy and added no horror value. Some of the visuals with the cloak were cool while some were low-budget. A power-obsessed redneck magician is just not an appealing story.
Bonestorm was absolutely annoying. The shaky go-pro cams and the characters "bottom or the barrel" personalities gave me nothing to root for. There was just nothing there for me to grasp or understand to make this engaging
Gorgeous Vortex was the only gem of this film. The ability to travel into an alternate universe and switch sides with your counterpart was pretty cool. The subtle differences they start off with only gives you clues that this isn't just a reflected world, but that something very strange and evil was happening. The only downside of this segment was that we wanted to see the main character explore the rest of the world even though he can't because of time. Also, the realization of the horror of this segment might seemed far- fetched to some, but I think it was an interesting add to make it that much weirder.
All in all, one good segment cannot carry an entire movie whether it has 6, 26, or in this case 4 stories. I hope this series continues because they are fun....and now I expect them every year, but they are going to have to hold their writers to stricter script ideas and lay off too much independence because thing can get cheesy really quickly!
Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014)
The fun that I expected *Spoiler at the end*
11 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
So this is the film I've been waiting the whole summer for. Finally the Guardians of the Galaxy are here!! OK, so to be honest, I know little to nothing about them. I was a huge comic book nerd during my post- pubescent years and that includes the less iconic characters, but to be perfectly honest this is one of the stories I wasn't very familiar with. I found it somewhat odd that Marvel would choose such an obscure hero team to focus a movie on, but I found it refreshing after continuous iconic hero's such as Spiderman, Ironman and Captain America kept churning out redundant film after redundant film. Also, the first full trailer was pretty awesome.
I ended up going to the Saturday night showing of the movie to avoid the influx of nerdiness that can end up making the environment either very fun or a pain in the ass. The plot loosely related to some of the events that occurred in the first Avengers movie, but definitely stood on its own. The story revolved around Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) who comes across an orb that unbeknownst to him possesses one of the most powerful stones in the universe. While trying to pawn off the orb, he stumbles across a group of social outcasts that end up becoming the protectors of the known Universe.
The movie reminded me of a cross between Firefly and the rebooted Star Trek, which I realize Zoe Saldana is also in. The intergalactic social degenerates theme has been done before, but throwing in some pretty interesting characters made it come into its own.
Chris Pratt does a great job as Star Lord, and I was a fan of him being a lead since hearing he was casted for it. I was concerned about his look since I know him best as Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation, a tubby dimwitted Jack-of-all-trades, but he obviously took the part seriously and got into leading role shape. The real actor that drew me in was all CGI. A foul-mouthed, machine gun toting Raccoon named Rocket. That was enough to consider this a must-see and definitely didn't disappoint.
Director James Gunn held back no punches with the visuals creating some spectacular environments and colorful creatures that possessed average depth, but contained originality in super powers and intelligence. The only drawback I can think of is that there wasn't too much back story on any of the characters other than Peter Quill, but that would've definitely added an extra hour or two.
The one thing I will say was absolutely amazing and flawless was the movies soundtrack. It was based on a cassette tape called "Awesome mix Vol. 1″ which Peter's mom gave to him some time in the 80's. It contains some really awesome tunes from the 70's and 80's including Blue Swede's Hooked on a Feeling, Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky and one that's my current favorite, Redbone's Come and Get Your Love. It's so good I've been playing it since the movie came out.
Overall Grade: B+
WHAT??? WHY???? Before you bite my head off for this review, the only reason I give it a B+ is because of what I said earlier; it's been done before and there's nothing new or unique about it. It's still a fun and funny thrill ride of a movie, but there was nothing out-of-the-box about it. The characters are engaging and hilarious, even the very literal Drax the Destroyer. The visuals are incredible and the tongue and cheek approach to a superhero movie gives it a nice colorful comic book feel that some movies in the genre lack.
Look forward to laughing and enjoying a nice intergalactic movie that doesn't take itself too seriously and has a dope soundtrack.
*Spoiler coming up below. Do not read further if you do not want to know the ending credits*
OK, so the Howard the Duck cameo in the ending credits I think that's just a nod to another obscure Marvel character and not another Howard the Duck movie. I still think that the Howard the Duck movie was very underrated and one of the greatest films of all time ..I think.
I ended up going to the Saturday night showing of the movie to avoid the influx of nerdiness that can end up making the environment either very fun or a pain in the ass. The plot loosely related to some of the events that occurred in the first Avengers movie, but definitely stood on its own. The story revolved around Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) who comes across an orb that unbeknownst to him possesses one of the most powerful stones in the universe. While trying to pawn off the orb, he stumbles across a group of social outcasts that end up becoming the protectors of the known Universe.
The movie reminded me of a cross between Firefly and the rebooted Star Trek, which I realize Zoe Saldana is also in. The intergalactic social degenerates theme has been done before, but throwing in some pretty interesting characters made it come into its own.
Chris Pratt does a great job as Star Lord, and I was a fan of him being a lead since hearing he was casted for it. I was concerned about his look since I know him best as Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation, a tubby dimwitted Jack-of-all-trades, but he obviously took the part seriously and got into leading role shape. The real actor that drew me in was all CGI. A foul-mouthed, machine gun toting Raccoon named Rocket. That was enough to consider this a must-see and definitely didn't disappoint.
Director James Gunn held back no punches with the visuals creating some spectacular environments and colorful creatures that possessed average depth, but contained originality in super powers and intelligence. The only drawback I can think of is that there wasn't too much back story on any of the characters other than Peter Quill, but that would've definitely added an extra hour or two.
The one thing I will say was absolutely amazing and flawless was the movies soundtrack. It was based on a cassette tape called "Awesome mix Vol. 1″ which Peter's mom gave to him some time in the 80's. It contains some really awesome tunes from the 70's and 80's including Blue Swede's Hooked on a Feeling, Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky and one that's my current favorite, Redbone's Come and Get Your Love. It's so good I've been playing it since the movie came out.
Overall Grade: B+
WHAT??? WHY???? Before you bite my head off for this review, the only reason I give it a B+ is because of what I said earlier; it's been done before and there's nothing new or unique about it. It's still a fun and funny thrill ride of a movie, but there was nothing out-of-the-box about it. The characters are engaging and hilarious, even the very literal Drax the Destroyer. The visuals are incredible and the tongue and cheek approach to a superhero movie gives it a nice colorful comic book feel that some movies in the genre lack.
Look forward to laughing and enjoying a nice intergalactic movie that doesn't take itself too seriously and has a dope soundtrack.
*Spoiler coming up below. Do not read further if you do not want to know the ending credits*
OK, so the Howard the Duck cameo in the ending credits I think that's just a nod to another obscure Marvel character and not another Howard the Duck movie. I still think that the Howard the Duck movie was very underrated and one of the greatest films of all time ..I think.
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