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Oppenheimer (2023)
Is this really a movie about the bomb?
For me I heard a different story. I revived the terrible tragedy of mad men trying to take over the world and leaving the task to fight tirany to the "new kid on the block", the USA. The then 160 year old country which was founded with high moral values became the strongest of all countries thanks to the commitment of all its citizens always upholding right from wrong, good vs bad. Moral & immoral! Sadly this is not longer true. If today's society is challenged in the way it was back in the 40's we would become a chaotic mass of crybabies, finger pointing chickens blaming whoever is weak. Nolan sets up this giant explosive alarm clock which may and probably not awaken our souls drowned in consumerism while the rest of the world led by corrupt socialists succumbs to poverty. Is there a way to really "Make America Great Again"? The "new kid" became a weak fat couch potatoe not able to vanish even a Maduro!
Fury (2014)
Vick Morrow replaced by Pit?
For those of us who watched COMBAT on TV back on the 60's with Morrow and Nimoy Fury is like a COMBAT big screen version. Why? Well, every episode was sort of wise American troops fighting the dumb Germans who wold walk directly into machine gun fire one after the other. Certainly you will enjoy being entertained by this film about the hardening of rookie boy leaving aside the fact that it would have ended much earlier if the Germans knew how to use their Panzerfaust. I missed more detailed shots of what was happening inside the Tiger tank and how the Germans felt they had a far superior weapon but well, this is an American movie.
Babylon (2022)
These folks had a lot to work on
I once read that a Falcon F16 fighter jet is impossible to fly without the aid of the onboard computer, if the computer fails the pilot is good for nothing. I don't know if this true but when someone is trying to imagine the scenes in Babylon, it is impossible to imagine them by yourself. You need aid from a very well coordinated team cause every 5 seconds of film required billions of neurons at work... and this the secret for an outstanding film. Indeed it will take a place in movie history for its unique way of starting a story. The first hour alucínates your senses, maybe the 2001ish finale doesn't keep the needle in high but definitely this is a must see movie.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
WHY SO POLITICALLY CORRECT? Music???
Just wanna mention two details missing from this great feel good movie. #1 Why not mention a real enemy? North Korea with Rocket Man Kim Jong-un is an available enemy. Tom decided to play it safe and doesn't hints who the enemy is. #2 ehhh, great music? Maybe half of the success of the original Top Gun movie was because it had a fabulous soundtrack with Danger Zone and Take my Breath Away becoming hits. Nothing new here (Lady Gaga sung what?, can't remember).
Encanto (2021)
Is Disney for kids or for Boomers?
I like to write my reviews hot from the oven, I just watched Encanto 1 hr ago. It is absolutely incredible what computer animation can do now a days. Perfect landscapes, awesome architecture and beautiful rendered characters but... ooops. Is this a story for your kids or grandchildren? During the entire movie maybe I heard a kid next to me laugh twice... and some were sleeping. Is there a story to understand? Seems you have to take along with you your local movie club enthusiast and let him explain what is going on; if he can! My only positive remark is that the crew managed to collect quite a few of Colombian beautiful samples like the incredible Caño Cristales, the mountains peaks, typical coffee farms and the famous yellow butterflies of Colombias's Nobel price winner Gabriel García Marquez. But where is the Magical Realism he is so famous for? A Magical house? Fail! For me the director and all the crew should go back to college and study again why and how Magical Realism was praised for being a unique literary movement of the 60-70's. And relax, Sofia Vergara is not around!
It seems Disney should rate their movies and give them some "intellectual" stars rating. Probably if I knew it was rated with 5 intellectual stars my review would be different but for me Disney is where you go with kids to have fun. No fun here at all!
Life Itself (2018)
Not a movie for virgin brains.
Is my title wrong? If you are offered escargot during your teens probably your review about them would be terrible. You must be out of your mind to like the ugly snails... but years later you love them. Same with movies. This movie sucks... Is your first reaction. What the hell is Samuel Jackson doing? A narrator who quits? What is going on here?
Well, finally you start to get a hold on the idea and start to think... "This is bad and it is getting worse". Unexpectedly now you start to figure it out... Oh, this is good... And better. Wow! Hey! What happened to the subtitles? I want to understand! No,no, the idea is that you don't understand everything in life. So... Use your brain a bit and enjoy this wonderful movie. Sad but refreshing but really worth watching. Yes, it for a special autumn day, if you are not in the mood watch Godzilla instead.
Das Boot (2018)
I know, it could be better but is not bad at all.
We know the recipe, get together some characters, the strong, the weak, the damsel in distress, the gay, the traitor, some German uniforms, a sex scene and let it be. The plot is fine, actors are professional, the action scenes simple and they made something watchable for the weekend. So instead of asking for more just lay down and enjoy it, it is not a waste of time. Say to yourself, the next sub movie maybe would be better, let's wait for it.
400 Bullets (2021)
hehehe, hohoho .. is this a movie?
I thought Prometheus would be the worst movie ever but somehow some guys got together and decided they were going to shoot a movie. So they manage to gather some army trucks, some old containers and a couple of lamps. Then they went out looking for some very needed actors searching for some weekend cash, gave them some lines and here we go. The main idea is that the good guys are fighting the bad guys and they only have 400 bullets. Yes, they are in an important advanced outpost with tanks, armored vehicles, humvees and lots of equipment but somehow the only two soldiers left there have no ammo... absurd. When the two good guys get together the oriental honourable fellow forgets completely his pal is sleeping and the bad guys arrive and finish him off. Oh no... why am I watching this!. Why?? Because I want to know that most probable this would turn into something worse! And it did!
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
What a pleasant surprise.
In my case I was prepared to watch a flop. I know the signs... Too many celebrities, sure flop. Oh no, what a surprise. Ok, some of the songs were new to me, not really hits but everything was so perfectly placed that I really enjoyed watching it and came out with a big smile on my face. It is not a supermusical but it was a perfect way to spend my Saturday evening. Your turn now.
Órbita 9 (2017)
Such a good idea and it was wasted, so sad.
First of all my review has a lot of bias in it. Folks, this is the first Sci Fi Movie ever filmed in my home town Medellín. I loved every scene of my unrecognizable city for most of the viewers. The woods, our Metro, our 5 kilometer tunnel... even our very first intelligent building. So the movie starts and suddenly you are wondering... why such a good plot was not filmed by Spilberg? This is incredible... but sadly you realize that when the budget is not high there would be some tradeoffs. When the movie is about to end you start to tell yourself... Hey, why! This story needs more parallel plots, more brains! So the end comes and girlfriends cry and bla bla bla. Producer, Director and Writer had the raw materials there to make the best foreign film of the year but sadly it was wasted.... but don't even think of not watching it. It is perfect Netflix movie for a rainy afternoon.
Dunkirk (2017)
Nolan's perspective is fresh and it didn't matter you knew what was going to happen next.
This movie has me rethinking my own set of rules which I use to distinguish between a flop and a masterpiece. My mayor rule states that when you can decipher what is going to happen next then automatically the movie is garbage. So... while watching Dunkirk, I guessed instantly how all stories would end. And you too! Bad fuel gauge... crash! Teenager on boat... death! Good old man at helm... success! Pilot drowning... saved! Ahh, including the absurd finale when Farrier lands on a German controlled beach. So this is the genius of Nolan, he turned my "worst movie of the year" according to my usual criteria to a masterpiece. You better get up and forget Netflix tonight and head to your nearest cinema. By the way Nolan, if you ever read this, your engine-less Spitfire flew at the speed of a Ranger from Interstellar, slow it down a little next time.
Rogue One (2016)
We all crave perfect movies but this one satisfies my yearly Star Wars dose.
I made the mistake of reading negative reviews about Rogue One before watching it and even though I am sometimes too critic it seems some folks are just too picky. It is a good movie! Don't wait for it on Netflix, you must watch it on the big screen!
I sat expecting the same mistakes of Episode 7 but couldn't find them. A fresh story and a good plot. Some passable on purpose mistakes like... why do you land an assault ship one mile away from a house your are going to search? Or, on episode 5 Walkers were really tough and Luke had to take care of them personally , the Rogue One walkers were kinda version 1.0 with weak knees. But this is not important, the good stuff (No Millennium Falcon here!)is that you get to see again some faces that spiked your adrenaline 40 years ago. X wing leaders are here... yippee! Admiral Tarkin... scary (Tribute to Peter Cushing?). And "you know who" is here too, watch out Princess Leia!
World War Z (2013)
Oh no, I walked into a zombie movie!
So... I decided not to read reviews before watching a movie. First of all even the smallest spoiler kills partially the excitement of watching it. Mr Mcluhan is not around to lecture us about reviews on how they affects the movies as media so I'll stop here, enough. Without knowing this was a zombie movie I ended up watching it. All my teen efforts to stay away from "the living dead" lost in a sec! Oh, well, c'est la vie! Gazillion zombies on red-bull and Brad Pitt making some bucks without acting or even learning some dialog. Heres the world' s most famous nerdy virologist with the simple task of saving the human race is sent to where the chaos started on an empty airplane with 3 marines as escort. Next time better send Master Chief along.So Prometheus like! I'm old school, I like dialog, I like a plot, I like character development, I even like fake science but all are non existent here, just a sequence of scenes which are supposed to be connected to each other. The opening scene is awesome and maybe this is the reason why after 1hr 55min folks still say... not bad, worth watching.
Prometheus (2012)
I wanna cry
Yes, it seems I live in outer space cause I had no idea this was an Aliens prequel when I walked into the movie theater... so during the movie I kept nagging my wife with brilliant remarks like; "this is so alien like" and "what a bad imitation". After restraining myself not to leave the final climax scene came when the pale human god gives "birth" to you know who my reaction was.... I wanna cry!
I still can't understand why Ridley Scott did this to us. The Alien saga had a couple of great movies with Aliens I & II at the top. A camel is a horse designed by a committee and Prometheus is like a class project where every team writes a bit ending up with an unconnected plot. The biologists decided they were too chicken to stay and returned to the ship and somehow they lost their way but never called for help. They just sat down waiting for the storm and when cobras show up they aren't afraid anymore. Tears start to form! Then the main character suddenly transforms after receiving a dose of napalm into a bionic spider-like flash creature. Hey! ... Is he done now? He is the main character Ridley, don't do this to him... he's the only one with a brain! Where's my handkerchief!
To tell you the truth, I can't wait for Prometheus 2. Ridley deserves a second chance, please don't blow it Scotty!
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
Enjoyed the movie but sometimes it was like watching 3:10 to Yuma
In an era when movie plots were quite similar I just can't refrain from saying that this movie is an excellent copycat of Columbia Pictures' 3:10 to Yuma played by Glenn Ford and Van Heflin two 2 year earlier. The movies are not exactly the same but the hotel scenes and having to wait for the train would be enough for today's Apple's lawyers if working for Columbia to sue Paramount. But never mind, both movies are excellent; perhaps the stronger characters of Kirk Douglass and Anthony Quinn beat soft Glenn Ford. To make it even watch 3:10 to Yuma's 2007 excellent remake by Christian "Batman" Bale & Russell Crowe. I still can't figure out how Police Woman's Earl Holliman who plays Quinn's son made it to Hollywood but again, in the fifties grocery clerks with absolutely no acting skills became actors (ring a bell?... the guy with the famous poncho!).