alexgs1 Reviews

The Office: Goodbye, Toby (2008) Season 4, Episode 14

Michael is an idiot

[4/10 · 17 April 2024]

Come on!! All the nice things about Michael are taken over by his dark side in this episode. He is a hater, a bully, a sadist who feels pleasure to humiliate Toby.

No, not a protagonist whom I enjoy watching which is why I give a low rate for this finale that I was expecting the opposite.

And why ? Why there is so much hate from Michael towards Toby ? Just because Michael does not want to follow the HR policies of the company?

In addition the whole Andy Angela thing is no fun. Same to Jim and Pam.

The high rate in IMDb for this episode in my view is just due to the finale effect. People like to praise finales regardless of the quality.

This episode was just "bleh"!

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Anatomy of Boredom

[5/10 · 12 April 2024]

There is a big hype about this movie but honestly I don't get that. It is boring as hell, the story line is thick as a strand of hair, so you watch a very long movie with no meat to make it worth and interesting.

The acting is however very good specially from the main actress who is always competent on any movie she works. Still, there were people snoring in the movie theatre during the session that I watched. There was zero tension for me throughout the movie and I as waiting for a big surprise, a twist, a new element to bring the drama to the next level but it remained in the shallows. To me the fuss about this film is because it is feminist and directed by a woman and because the French press and critics love French movies, which helped to catapult this film in Cannes. But it's dull.

Perfect Days (2023)

Mwaaa.....

[5/10 · 24 March 2024]

Listen, it's an artsy movie, it's Wim Wenders, it's Japan and it's a feel good movie. Ingredients to make movie critics and movie buffs to adore it.

But if you look outside the box it's a long and boring film with a simple story line that it's stretched to 2 hours, with subplots that come and go with no purpose.

Additionally everyone's praising about the sound track, which is an additional "ingredient" added to the list above to make the "specialised masses" adore this film. But I found the songs chosen super cliché, honestly. I was just waiting for "Yesterday" to start playing at certain point. It's not a Tarantino-like soundtrack with famous songs originally picked up.

Finally I see the movie got an award in Cannes for best actor. It's a character who does not speak and simply smiles the whole movie. I don't want to disrespect the work done by the main actor of this movie but, really? Wasn't there another role in Cannes which was more difficult than this one and which excelled?

Fool Me Once (2024)

I liked it

[7/10 · 24 March 2024]

I have to write because it seems that only people who dislike this series take the trouble to come to IMDb and register their opinion.

This mini TV series is very well executed. My compliments to the entire cast who did a great job. I found actors here being very talented and competent, even those with minor roles. I didn't know those British actors except Joanna.

The plot is full of twists and I really didn't expect the final, very surprising.

Maybe one minor thing here and there which is not properly explained. One think that bothers me a little bit is the characters constantly withholding information from each other, everyone with their own secrets - after a while it gets a bit too much.

But I give a 7 to this entertaining series which came as a good surprise specially in the work done by its cast and the little details inserted in the story line related to how characters interact with each other in daily life which was pretty sharp. I recommend.

Don't Worry Darling (I) (2022)

It's repetitive

[5/10 · 25 November 2023]

It's a nice Palm Springs setting, full of coloques, sunshine, palms and burlesque.

But the film is too long for the storyline.

It could have been a Twilight Zone 30-min episode and that would have been more than sufficient. I am bored when I see the same dialogues being repeated on and on throughout the entire film. The script could have added other perspectives to the viewer. For example, what is happening inside the Headquarter? What are those earthquakes resulted from drilling? Or a brief flashback about how one of the other couples ended up in Victory.

Nevertheless I liked the art scenography a lot and I always enjoy watching Florence Pugh working.

Succession: Austerlitz (2018) Season 1, Episode 7

Griffin Dunne!

[9/10 · 4 June 2023]

So nice to see Griffin Dunne participation as the therapist in the same episode that we are introduced to the wolves in the junkies's house. Griffin starred in one of the movies that marked my younger years the most: An American Werewolf in London. Was intentional or coincidence? :) Apart from that, a typical Succession episode with quality lines, great acting and amazing location. Also nice to give the chance for Connor to be the host this time for his family as he seems to be always the less relevant of the sons. I was laughing a lot when Wylla is urging for a Starbucks in the middle of nowhere and he offers her coffee pods!

Blonde (2022)

Shame on you!

[1/10 · 9 October 2022]

Shame on you all who participated in this horrible movie! This is a project only aimed to cash in by exploiting the image of MM, demoralizing it, creating the most vulgar scenes involving her, based on zero evidence but one someone's sick imagination. If I were part of MM estate I would sue everyone. So much money that could have been better spent. Don't waste your time. Better watch any of the low budget TV movies made about her. Or try the version with Michele Williams as at least it does not disappoint. I don't usually give 1 start but this time it was impossible not to do so. Horrible, horrible.

The French Dispatch (2021)

Tedious

[3/10 · 24 October 2021]

Sorry about the bad review for those who love Wes Anderson. It is such a chaotic movie, too much information, too many characters and a no stop talking that after half an hour you get disconnected from the movie. If you think the trailer was confusing, well the movie is just the same thing stretched. A couple of people left the theatre in the middle. And this obsession for a multi celebrity "cast" is somehow distracting. It seems that it is a "cool" thing among actors to be on a WA movies, even if it just for the role of an extra.

The Invisible Guardian (2017)

Lots of references to The Silence of Lambs

[6/10 · 27 March 2021]

I have not read the Spanish book but either the author or the director (or both) may like a lot (as I do) the movie The Silence of Lambs.

There are many references to the 1991 movie, which I list a few:

• FBI-trained agent
• Serial killer
• Victims are all women
• The troubled childhood of the police agent
• The similar looks of Clarice Sterling (Jodie Foster) specially in the last scene when she explains the case.

• The scene where she goes to bedroom's of one of the victims and checks the wardrobe and other things and ends up finding naughty pictures.

• The scene when we finally see for the first time the killer acting, more than halfway through the film.

• The scene at the end when the police agent enters the serial killer's hiding place, specially how she moves and points the gun in the dark.

• lots of rainy scenes (though this film had far more).

There may be more but those are the ones I remember. I didn't list typical scenes that are in any serial killer movie like authorship / nails/ fingers, which are also on Lambs obviously- I've tried to show what is common in those 2 films only.

Goya's Ghosts (2006)

Very bad....

[3/10 · 30 March 2008]

I had this DVD to watch, thinking that I would see a type of biography o painter Goya, but the movie was about everything but Goya. This movie is about a young woman taken away from her family by the Holy Inquisition, allegedly because she practiced Jewish rituals (only because the poor girl did not like eating pork!). The rest of the movie is about torture, humiliation, driven by a poor script (can't believe it is by JC Carrière as I could not believe this cr** is directed by Mr Milos Forman) centered on a religious man and that young woman and that is all.

Ah, and there is Goya, I forgot, playing a completely peripheral role - that could be the role of John, Paul, Peter, Manuel, Joaquim, Jose or anyone. Very disappointing - one one these movies that will be forgotten for ever (if it has not had happened yet). Rent "The Name of the Rose" if you want a movie about the Holy Inquisition. And I don't know what you should rent, if you want to watch a movie about Spanish painter Goya. Maybe a director of a good caliber, not Forman, still needs to make it. PS: the Spanish painter, Goya - the title role who is lost in the plot - is portrayed by a Scandinavian actor, something that makes this film even more difficult to be taken seriously. Maybe next time we should send Javier Barden to play the biopic of Norwegian painter, Edvard Munch!

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

coitus interruptus (*may have spoilers here*)

[6/10 · 19 February 2006]

I saw Brokeback Mountain yesterday and left the theatre with this piercing feeling, which is not pleasant at all.

The general feeling in the end is like a 'coitus interruptus' by a huge pain piercing your stomach.

Looking back to the movie, it gives you a wish of having changed the facts to have the plot ended up differently.

Also, I missed loves scenes in the movie (is that only me?) as this is all about the love between the 2 guys, but once they finally get together, you don't see them cuddling, holding, touching, kissing each other. They go to those fishing-escapes, but the movie show them only chatting, discussing future, etc. As if they were only chaps. I guess if someone has to wait 4 years to see the one he loves, at the moment you are together with the person, you would enjoy every single minute the more you can.

I don't know.... I recognise it is a good movie, but I didn't like the insatisfaction feeling it brought me, so I am not sure if I can give it a high score.

Flightplan (2005)

This Movie is Great!!!

[8/10 · 15 November 2005]

OK, my frineds are not talking to me anymore because I said to them that I just loved this movie. I saw it for the first time on the movies and now some years later on TV and again, this movie kick azz!

Don't miss Flightplan! It is the best of Hollywood can make in entertainment movie. Since the movie starts you cannot get your eyes off the screen. The plot really catches your attention and the cast (all) is superb. Not only Jodie Foster but all supporting roles. I loved the performance of the stewardesses: they are so like in real-life. If you have had travelled enough, you may have experience those pretentious air crew and how they can look up down on you! And this is so shown in the movie! The actresses are very convincing! Congrats! When sitting in the movie theater you really feel you are inside the aircraft and the drama becomes more real and tense. It is impossible not to identify yourself with the main character and that is the power of the movie the way you get involved with the whole plot. OK, in real life, the main character would be probably arrested when leaving the craft, because of all the threat to the aircraft she caused and because of racism... Long time I haven't seen such an effective Hollywood blockbuster. And the merits to Jodie Foster who shows knowing to choose good roles. Of course, this role was made for her! Don't miss it!

Angels in America (2003)

Wow!!!!!!!

[7/10 · 6 March 2005]

I saw the play many years ago and liked it. When I rented the DVD I was expecting something average but I was wrong. This is a very good adaptation from a play. Al Pacino has an absolutely amazing performance. I have never seen him performing so well a role in none of his movies to the cinema. His acting fits so well on the character, his words flow so witty and natural from his mouth. That's when you recognize a real good actor. The choice for the role of Roy Cohn could not have been better. Meryl Streep is excellent as usual and I loved to see her on the role of Ethel Rosenberg. Mary Louise Parker also succeeds with the role of the crazy Mormon wife. Most of times crazy, but sometimes very down-to-earth. And she can be so funny! She is gorgeous! The other main actors are OK, nothing really remarkable. Lots of religion discussion, sexual preferences and politics. But never tedious. Don't't miss it!

Take My Eyes (2003)

overrated

[4/10 · 19 February 2005]

This movie was highly recommended to me by a friend but I was actually disappointed after watching it. The plot is not original - woman married to a violent man - and the acting, which has been so highlighted here in IMDb, is nothing special. The main actress overacts since the very first scene, walking with her son at the streets during the night. I also did not feel any sympathy for her because, even being constantly beat by a violent husband, she insisted in going back to him. How on Earth would someone go back to such man? The ending is also meaningless (I said to myself, "'s it over??!"). Te Doy mis Ojos could be easily compared to an ordinary TV movie. Pity

Dogville (2003)

Bible

[10/10 · 24 July 2004]

Ok, I could not read all reviews of Dogville here at IMDB to see if anyone else had the same impression about the film as me.

I see Dogville (which I loved it) as an extract from the Bible. (*potential spoiler below*)

Just like the character of Nicole Kidman was an angel (not because she was so kind, please) sent from Heaven to Earth to assess humankind. She is sent to this small town, having contact locals and being exposed to all sort of humiliation.

And in the end, after her dreadful passage into this world, the rage of God is there, merciless, to punish all mankind.

It sounds scary...

My Life on Ice (2002)

Nice Movie

[7/10 · 15 November 2003]

That's the kind of movie that makes you leave the room with a nice feeling that the world is beautiful and everyone is in peace. The best scene though is when Etienne's stepfather starts doing a strip tease for him. Great! Pity it lasts only a few seconds as the latter changes his mind. By the way, the school teacher becomes boyfriend of Etienne's mum, after the boy is reprimanded at school. At least that is how I understood, but I got a bit confused when I read the previous user's comment.

Capturing the Friedmans (2003)

Huumm, so what?

[6/10 · 26 October 2003]

I have just seen this movie in the Sao Paulo Movie Festival. I don't know why the movie didn't touch me at all. After the session was ended, a question came to my mind: `so what? that's their business, not mine!'.

The movie sometimes takes you to a direction where you presume the Friedmans are in fact guilty. Sometimes it takes you to the opposite side. The point is: so much it was said about the `disturbing life and rotten secrets' beneath that apparently normal upper middle class family. But it my view, there was nothing wrong with them (obviously not considering the supposedly father's taste for child molestation). OK, every family has its problems, its arguments and its bed moments. But the Friedman's looked a normal and very close family for me: the love among brothers, the respect for the father, a passive mother.

It is like watching `A Cry in The Dark' with Meryl Streep: scandals, hysteria, Press pressure, accusations with doubtful evidences (the statement of the supposedly molested victim is unconvincing), but you won't have the charismatic characters of that film (except David, the elder brother, who seems to be the most affectionate son). 6/10.

O Fantasma (2000)

A cruel reality resulted from loneliness and desire

[9/10 · 2 January 2003]

`O Fantasma' is definitely a disturbing movie. After seeing it, surely you will leave the movie theater thoughtful, impressed and full of pessimism. A movie that makes you think about loneliness in the big urban areas. A story that may be happening outside your house, while you live a comfortable life inside. It is a lonely world that belongs to the night, to the shadows, making part of the underground of the big cities. Once belonging to this world, it seems that its habitants are deteriorated into indigent human beings, who lose their names, homes and origins.

The movie tells the story of Sergio who works at night as a garbage collector on a big city. He lives alone with his dog - and that introduces you into a universe where man and animal live under merged boundary conditions. Sergio is a lonely guy. Homosexual, he keeps himself away from a female job colleague who is always flirting with him. He has no lover, family or friends. But he seems to be always in the company of an enormous desire, which will conflict with his own loneliness.

Loneliness and desire summarise Sergio's reality and push him into a primitive world, where man becomes animal. The protagonist tries to consume his strong sexual desire through anonymous, casual and wild sex. Thus, it is on the dark corners, public toilets and other filthy places where Sergio tries to satisfy his sexual impulse. But the promiscuity of those moments does not appear to satisfy him, since his desire leads him to the figure of an attractive swimmer guy. A guy who lives in one of the districts that Sergio runs into his night shifts, during his journey of work and garbage. That hard and solitary reality makes desire becomes obsession. Apparently, a single motivation only exists: search the young guy, peeping, observing him from distance and getting touch with an opposite environment.

But Sergio seems to be conducted to an unavoidable end: a curious reversal process of the Human evolution. From human being, he seems to revert through a trail that takes him to some animal condition. As if loneliness and desire would lead to the most primitive stage of mankind. The anti-evolution process transforms him in an irrational creature: he eats, drinks, urinates and evacuates as an animal. It is when Sergio abandons his man's part and, protected by black latex clothes, ruptures with the present and starts roaming on an urban world like an animal guided by his instincts only.

A frightening scenario, result from a contemporaneous reality - at same time empty, isolated and cruel. And that victimized Sergio.