LatinoNoir Reviews

City of God (2002)

My personal favorite film of all-time

[10/10 · 21 December 2003]

Having watched this in the theatres, I can say that this is the best movie-going experience I've ever had. This is a masterpiece of filmmaking. The recreation of this true story and true to life depiction of life in Brazilian favelas is brilliant. The film is also visually stunning, with great use of color and camera work. Some of the very few detractors claim the cinematography and soundtrack glamorize the tragic events that transpire in the story...but they don't truly understand the filmmakers' message. The highly stylized cinematography and hip soundtrack only reflects the attitudes of the young men who live in these places. This is the best way these young men can look at the world around them. It's a fast and furious lifestyle and that's what the cinematography and soundtrack aspire to help recreate. There's absolutely no sign of glamorizing the violence in this film, however. This film gets my highest recommendation and I urge people to check it out. The region 1 DVD comes out Feb. 17, 2004 and will include a 45 minute documentary of the true story on which the movie is based. I hope it's not too late for the film to at least get Best Foreign Film recognition at the Oscars. If it were up to me, it would win BEST PICTURE, but that's not likely to happen. Lord of the Rings' ROTK isn't anything to sneeze at, unlike last years Chicago, though.

Ringu (1998)

Now THIS is a GREAT HORROR film

[8/10 · 15 March 2003]

While not nearly as frightening as many people have claimed, it still is one of the scariest films out there. I mean, honestly, horror films don't exactly scare me to death like it does for some hyper-sensitive people who watch films. Now that's not a slight on the genre, however. I love horror cinema. I feel critics need to be more open and appreciative for the creative aspects of many horror films out there. They see a couple awful horror films (mainly in the U.S., unfortunately)and shut themselves out for others out there that deserve to be seen and given respect. They're really missing out, especially when it comes to Japanese Horror. And Ringu IS the primary example of how wonderfully dazzling the horror genre can be. Warning!!! POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!! The idea of the vengeful spirit (Sadako) putting out a curse on society for living the life she couldn't live was brilliantly conceived by director Nakata with a hypnotic use of sound and creepy atmosphere in the air. Some complain that since it is not as scary as the hype made it out, it is not a good film. That's just not fair judgment. It was well shot, well composed, well acted, well made, and had a genuinely intriguing premise. It has high aspirations as a work of class art. It wasn't as fast paced as other films within the genre, but I welcomed that. It was slowly building up to a truly shocking climax. Some guy mentioned here that he saw the ending a mile away, yeah sure. Ok, maybe he did guess that Reiko was saved from the curse because she made a copy of the video and had her ex watch it...but there's no way he expected her to end up planning to have her DAD watch the tape to save Yoichi. I don't care what anyone says, that was unexpected. But it was a fitting end. It just takes the idea of the chain-letter to the extreme. END OF SPOILERS!!! In conclusion, not all horror films are junk meant to give some cheap thrills. Many are actually quality pieces of filmmaking that can provide the audience with an ample dose of entertainment, thrills, and intriguing tales. Ringu is a must see for anybody remotely interested in horror films and just films, for that matter. It is a classic so get the Region 1 DVD for those who can make use of it(Besides, it's better than the U.S. remake for those wondering, although that one was solid in its own right.) It is worth noting that I feel Ringu 2 was a disappointment, although competently made. But Ringu 0: Birthday, is a GREAT prequel and another GREAT movie from Japan, while not really a horror movie.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Not a good film...disturbing for the wrong reasons, not as gory as people have made out

[5/10 · 15 March 2003]

Now, considering myself a serious film buff, I make it a point to not limit myself from any genre of filmmaking. Also being that I'm an aspiring film maker, I tend to push the envelope as far as I can, content-wise and I'm always fascinated to see how far other directors have gone in their films. Of course, this "cannibal" film had me interested not only because of its notorious publicity as a serious "gorehound" movie and as "the most violent movie ever made" but also because it was supposed to have an engrossing morality story to it. So, I rented it and while I realized the influence it had on the overrated yet effective film "The Blair Witch Project" that was the only noteworthy aspect of it. The REAL animal killings, as mentioned by many here, were completely unnecessary and only served to disgust the viewer. Now, I have an ULTRA strong stomach, so I wasn't shocked by it, just angry that a filmmaker would stoop so low as to purposely kill a form of life just to hammer home the point that "advanced" society can produce people who are no more moral and civilized than the cannibal tribe we are introduced to in the story. There are ways to do things. The animal scenes just brought about a double-standard and a sign of hypocrisy from the filmmaker. Of course, I would have had no problems if those scenes were staged, and if Deodato actually delivered on other gore scenes concerning "cannibalism" and human killings (obviously, those would have to be fake as well). However, the film wasn't nearly as gory as others made it out to be as a lot of violent acts occured offscreen. It was mostly sleazy, especially with all the nudity. The rape scene by the male reporters was realistically disturbing, but not convincing in its motivation. Worst of all though, it's "moral" message was delivered unintelligently and I wasn't compelled by the story at all. It didn't help matters that the acting was atrocious and that the dubbing was awful. The cinematography was simplistic, although that was the intention to capture the feeling of a documentary. What I got was a trashy, brutally awful film to sit through, without any redeeming or thought-provoking story behind it. Sure, I've seen plenty of graphic movies that actually entertained me, but that wasn't the intention for this film. I wasn't expecting to be entertained by the movie, but I was expecting its so-called "important" message to be convincingly portrayed. Still, I recommend people to watch...especially film students. Maybe they'll get something out of it, definitely not enjoyment.

Audition (1999)

How could anyone like this overrated junk?

[3/10 · 22 February 2003]

This is the most highly overrated Eastern film I've ever seen. I kept hearing this hype about Takashi Miike's "Odishon" and with the fact that I absolutely love Japanese films, I thought I'd give it a try...boy was this movie awful on so many levels. I had problems with many plot points, especially with the way the actual "audition" was handled...it just came off as a poor attempt at comedic, light fare. And I'm not going to buy that, "Oh, that's because you don't understand Japanese style of humor" because I've been exposed to several Japanese films with effective elements of humor. Asami's character was not written well enough, and the actress portraying her came off as more annoying than threatening. Spoiler ahead!!! I thought the film should have ended the moment we and Shigeharu heard "kirri kirri!" in that scene in bed, where he thought he was having a nightmare. That would have been more thought provoking, instead, we were given the obligatory, in these types of "Fatal Attraction" movies, "The crazy B#$ch gets killed in the end while reeking havoc on the poor guy." That was just so...predictable. Oh well, I hope Miike's "Visitor Q" is better.

Cure (1997)

This is one HELL of a movie...Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a master filmmaker who needs to be noticed around the world

[9/10 · 22 February 2003]

WOW!!!! Now THAT was an EXCELLENT ending to a GREAT movie. It stuck with me for several hours after first watching it and the second time was no different. It had slow methodical pacing, but it was never boring. I, for one, appreciated the elliptical editing as it's just a filmmaker doing something different and being creative. Actually, it added to the hypnotic arc of the story. It didn't bother me whatsoever, although it wasn't nearly as effective in Kiyoshi's other great movie, "Kairo." Koji Yakusho was brilliant as troubled Detective Takabe and the mysterious drifter with hypnotic powers was very convincing as well. The use of hypnotism to get others to kill and rendering themselves soulless, was a refreshing take on the serial-killer subgenre, of which I love. Someone commented here that only people who "buy the mumbo jumbo" hypnotism storyline would like this film, and comments like those always bother me. Narrative films are not REAL LIFE, even the ones based on true stories. They are works of art, and try to tell us entertaining, comedic, frightning, and dramatic stories to keep the audience interested. I don't have to believe in the subjects their stories are telling me, nor do I believe they need to solve the world's problems. All I care is that they give me an interesting idea, an interesting story, with well-written dialogue, and if it ends with a bang. These, blended with great acting (now that's an area that needs convincing in film), great camera work, and an engaging score. Those are what make films interesting and "Kyua" aka "Cure" has all those qualities. Highly recommended.

Spiral (2000)

Like a Tim Burton movie, only darker

[8/10 · 10 February 2003]

I enjoyed this film very much. It effectively combines humor, fantasy, and a few moments of horror with a solid film making effort from Higuchinsky. Brilliant visuals and a very original story concerning spirals. My only complaints are that it had its dull moments and wasn't as daring as it could have been. Still, I give this a solid 8 out of 10. The U.S. should take note of this and other fine Japanese horror/fantasy films that have come along recently and have them available on Region 1 DVD. Actually, Asian cinema in general, have some of the finest films that have been unnoticed by the American public because they're hard to find. I strongly recommend people to go look for these treasures, they're hard to find, but once you find them, you'll be glad you did.

Lost Highway (1997)

The last GREAT U.S. Horror Movie

[10/10 · 10 February 2003]

After this, the U.S. Horror Movie Genre died, and what a shame. This film is simply a masterpiece, a true nightmare caught on film and concocted by the genius of David Lynch. This is his best work, Mulholland Drive is great, but can't compare to this underrated classic. Everyone involved in the film hit their marks and the actors involved gave some of their best performances of their careers, especially Bill Pullman, Balthazar Getty, and a creepy Robert Blake. Must be seen more than once, I won't explain anything except that Bill Pullman's character transforms into another person, and other, otherworldly events occur. Strongly recommended for film buffs.

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)

Another girl kicks every guy's butt, movie

[1/10 · 20 September 2002]

I'm definitely not sexist, but come on, haven't we seen enough of sexy or (in Lucy Liu's case)Wannabe Sexy girl kicks every guy's butt in a mindless action flick? I mean there's just too much of that, even Quentin Tarantino is stooping to that in his next film "Kill Bill." I know women kick butt and it's good to see female heroes in films, but it just seems like these film makers are focusing more on the fact that a girl could kick a guy's butt other than developing a genuinely interesting story. And that is what's missing in this movie. I saw this piece of garbage for free, but this was the worst movie I've seen all year. Here's my best description: explosions, girl kicks guy's butt, explosions, Liu kicks random guy's butt, more explosions, Liu kicks random guy's butt, end of story. Recommendation to avoid. This movie doesn't deserve a detailed review from me. * out of ****

Opera (1987)

The ending almost killed this otherwise interesting movie

[4/10 · 2 October 2001]

I've been watching a lot of Dario Argento movies lately, even buying two of them without having watched them before(Opera and Deep Red). And unfortunately, I've come to the conclusion that, while talented, Mr. Argento is DEFINITELY OVERRATED by all his fans. I've seen a lot of his films: Trauma, Phantom of the Opera, Deep Red, Suspiria, and most recently Opera. Opera really disappointed me and because of this movie, I will not trust another Argento fan again, as I will watch his other movies at my own risk. However, there are some positives to both the director and his films. I will first start off with Opera's positives.

Warning! POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!! The suspense is great, there are eye-opening murder sequences,(If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean) the mise-en scene is wonderful and the cinematography is terrific despite one particular editing blunder during the scene when Betty, the protagonist, is walking along the streets after the second murder takes place. Moreover, the lush colors used make the film beautiful to look at. Some scenes look straight out of Suspiria (the best of what I've seen from Mr. Argento). All these positives can be found throughout the movie and it gets off to an intriguing start. However, the last half hour of Opera really drags the movie down. Now I'm sure everyone familiar with Mr. Argento knows of his writing weaknesses. All his fans forgive him of this negative, and I, being a screenwriter, was willing to forgive him for this, but Opera really tested my patience until it wore off in the final, cheesy scene. There are lapses of logic throughout but the last scene is too much. It is the most cartoonish ending I've ever seen in a movie. Why did she react that way all of a sudden after every horrible thing that had just happened? It really clashes with the overall dark tone of the story.

I was okay with the killer's motive, but they should've given us more logical clues that point to his crazed motive. I would have also preferred to have seen more dream sequences from Betty that would further elaborate the story. Other negatives of the movie: The actress who played Betty really dropped the ball and underplayed her role significantly. She almost took the suspense out of every suspenseful scene with the way she reacted to them. Not nearly enough fright shown for a girl being stalked and tortured by a crazed killer. It could've been an excellent thriller or giallo, as they're known in Italy, but it turned out to be just a great looking film with no substance. Too bad, the man has great talent, maybe he should direct stories or scripts written by more accomplished horror writers. Imagine Dario Argento making a movie based on a Stephen King novel... Oh well, I still give Opera 2 1/2 stars out of 4, which isn't bad. But his fans make it seem like all his movies are can't miss four star features, and I have yet to agree with them. Suspiria came the closest at 3 stars for me and this along with Opera could have been real contenders for 4 stars.