mateusolivotti Reviews

Sound of Metal (2019)

Sensitive, realistic and surprising

[8/10 · 24 December 2020]

Sound Of Metal is a drama film released in 2020 distributed by Prime Video and directed by Darius Marder.

First, it is essential that the film is watched at a very high volume and in total silence, because, due to the protagonist being deaf, the feature focuses a lot on the noises and sounds around him. Sound editing is great and gives a very realistic tone to the story, there are times when you get a little distressed by not hearing or understanding some things, and this is great, because it makes the viewer feel like the character. In fact, speaking of the protagonist, he is one of the best things in the film, without a doubt it is the best work of Riz Ahmed's career and can even earn him an Oscar nomination, all the characters are very well developed, with the character of Olivia Cooke , who plays the girlfriend of the main character, the actress is very well in the role, but she is not as well worked as the others, in the third act they even try to give her a greater depth, but nothing much. The film's photography is good, it has very beautiful plans and the director knows what he's doing. The feature also braces with some comic reliefs that work well, help to lighten the film a little. After all, it is very pleasant to follow the character's trajectory, you really care and support him a lot.

I think the third act is a little less than the first two, it is good, of course, but not as good as the others, but the film gets it right at the perfect moment, the final message is very good.

The Edge of Theocracy (2020 TV Movie)

A non-standard mockumentary

[7/10 · 24 December 2020]

In general I really like the humor of Porta Dos Fundos, I'm not a big fan, but I like some videos and there was a time when I followed the YouTube channel a lot.

I liked the film, it is a very well produced film, a good art direction and with a humor that works (even if not all the time). It's the default humor of Porta Dos funds, if you don't like that humor you will hate the movie, I liked it even though it was lost in some moments and too strong in some parts, especially in a joke that is just a lot of bad words without nexus and that is not funny at all. They do a parody of the program Cidade Alerta, a part that I found very funny and has good humorous points.

However, the film ends with a musical that is completely meaningless, dull and weak. As for making fun of religion, I don't see myself apt to criticize that part, because I'm not religious, but I recognize that those who are very religious can be offended.

Theocracy in Vertigo is a cool film, nothing more, without many surprises, just good entertainment with some jokes that don't work or aren't funny, a great production. I don't think it's their best Christmas special, but for those who like this kind of humor, they will have fun.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

Fantastic performances

[9/10 · 19 December 2020]

Ma Rainey´s Black Bottom is a drama film released in 2020 and directed by George C. Wolf.

The film surprised me a lot, I was expecting only a film with good performances, but I ended up finding a film with excellent art direction, good direction, and of course, exceptional performances. In the technical sense the feature is perfect, the costumes the setting, etc., you really feel like you are in the Chicago of the 1920s, which in a "period" film is always essential. The film offers great performances, without a doubt the performances of Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman are one of the best of the season and one of my favorites at the Oscar 2021. It is also worth mentioning that the film has a great speech on racism, and addresses the theme of one of the best forms of Black Klansman.

I confess that when I was watching the film I felt a little sad, as this will unfortunately be the last time we will see Chadwick Boseman on the screens, and this is the best role of his career, I really hope he has at least an Oscar nomination. Viola Davis even with little screen time has a great presence and is a very striking character, and her makeup is great and I believe she will be recognized in the category of best makeup and hairstyle. However, without a doubt this is a Boseman film, this is where the film focuses most of the time and has the best and most surprising monologues. I believe that this would be a perfect film, if it weren't for the fact that the director didn't know how to adapt the play on which the feature is based, so, in some moments he remembers a recorded piece too much, and for an adaptation this is never good.

Ma Rainey´s Black Bottom is a great film, one of the best of the year with two of the best performances of 2020, but the adaptation of the original work is not very good, making the film resemble a recorded play.

Female Trouble (1974)

The best film of John Waters career

[8/10 · 19 December 2020]

Female Trouble is a black humor film released in 1974 and directed by John Waters.

The film tells the story of Divine, who after not winning what he wanted for Christmas runs away from home and begins a criminal career. On the run, she is harassed by a vile driver, however, she does not let motherhood interfere with her plans for stardom and becomes a bizarre host of an apocalyptic show. This is my favorite film of Waters' career, it is part of a kind of "trash trilogy" by the director, which is composed by the films: Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Desperate Living. The film is very good, it is very different, brave and "raw", as well as some films by Waters, such as Pink Flamingos. The production of the film that was never something of great prominence in the director's career in this film is good, and the text of the film is great, with a very good and very current social criticism.

The protagonist of the film is the drag queen Divine, which is a trademark in Waters' career, having starred in his most famous films. This is a trash film, so it is not for everyone, the film is purposely exaggerated and very violent, but anyone who is a fan of this type of film will love it; As long as it has countless hits, it has two defects that are present in unfortunately almost all the films of John's career, which are: the too fast pace and the very easy resolution of his problems, but, still, Female Trouble is a very good film that deserves to be checked by trash cinema fans ..

Dogman (2018)

Had the potential to be a better film...

[6/10 · 19 December 2020]

Dogman is an Italian drama and suspense film released in 2018 and directed by Matteo Garrone. I went to watch the film unpretentiously and without much expectations, and I think it went well, because the film somewhat surprised me (mainly aesthetics). Dogman is a "raw" film, has no soundtrack and expresses the tension of the scenes with some close-ups on the characters, and this is one of the biggest hits of the film. The film has a very realistic and even pessimistic aesthetic, which I like a lot and has a good direction, in addition the violence never forces too much and is quite realistic.

However, as much as the work has many positive points, it also has almost the same amount of negative points. The characters are extremely shallow and have no depth, with the exception of the protagonist played by Marcello Fonte, who, despite having a good character construction and development, the actor bothered me a little, at certain times when the character should express anger or outrage, and the actor can't express any of those feelings, I honestly don't know if this is a fault of the director or the actor, but it bothers a little bit anyway. As for Edoardo Pesce (Simone) he delivers what the script needs, which is basically a generic bully, and this shows once again how shallow the characters are and a very strong script flaw in this regard. In addition, the film has at least five minutes more than necessary, if it had cut a little earlier it could present a better and less "strange" and "disconnected" ending, if I can describe it that way.

Dogman is a nice film, cinematographically very good and with a tone that perfectly matches the story, however the script presents serious problems in terms of depth and a certain "block" of the actors and the director. An average movie, but in general a cool and very different film.

Mulholland Drive (2001)

What is reality?

[8/10 · 19 December 2020]

Mulholland Drive is a plot and suspense film released in 2001 and directed by David Lynch.

This is one of the most different and creative films I have ever seen, it is impossible to describe all its complexity in just one text, and besides it is one of the (perhaps the best) films of Lynch's career, much of this is due to the fact that the studio gave the director total freedom to make the film he wanted, and it worked very well. It is extremely difficult to understand the film seeing it only once, because, in addition to telling various allegories and symbolisms, it does not have an "official interpretation", so each person can have a different perception of the work, and many times I even recommend reading some articles about the film.

The feature has an incredible look, give the picture the chosen color palette and the actors are all great. As much as the film has almost two and a half hours of shooting, the story holds you in a way that in no time becomes a tiring or boring film, each moment is extremely precise and necessary, nothing could be discarded, the experience of watching Mulholland Drive is almost like putting together a puzzle, the director gives you the pieces, and the viewer assembles them, and this is very cool and interesting to do.

Mulholland Drive is one of the best films of David Lynch's career and watching it is much more than entertainment, it is an experience.

Mid90s (2018)

A love letter to the 90s

[7/10 · 19 December 2020]

Mids90 is a drama film released in 2018 and directed by Jonah Hill.

This is the first feature directed by Hill, he was already a very notable actor due to his comedies, such as SuperBad, The Wolf of Wall Street, etc. The actor shows himself to be a talented director and even promising in his career, exceeding my expectations, the child actors are mostly very good, but I didn't like Sunny Suljic as the protagonist so much, I found the actor too expressionless and I had a little trouble to sympathize and care about the character, but it's really cool to follow his story and evolution. The film is a love letter to the nineties, the production is great and you really feel that time. The film is far from perfect, in addition to not being able to sympathize with the protagonist, the film in some moments exaggerates too much in the situations and the script shows that it does not care much about the secondary characters, such as the protagonist's brother, who in certain moment is completely forgotten by the plot and the mother, who had a good dramatic potential to be worked on but is totally wasted.

Mids90 is a good film, it has a very good direction, hard-working actors and a captive story, but suffers from a great waste of characters and a protagonist difficult to care.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)

The Sex-psychology

[8/10 · 23 November 2020]

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) is a comedy film released in 1972 and directed by Woody Allen.

The film is divided into seven segments, all disconnected from each other, but with the same theme: sex. The stories range from a man hopelessly in love with a sheep to the functioning of the human body. As the film is divided into segments I will give a brief pass in each one of them to at the end talk about the film as a whole (without spoilers)

Segment 1: "Do Aphrodisiacs work?" This is for me the second best story of the film, it is very funny, fun and has a medieval soundtrack that I really like.

Segment 2: "What is Sodomy?" "What is Sodomy?" it is without a doubt the best of all the stories told in the film, it is hilarious, surreal, creative and in a way worrying.

Segment 3: "Why Do Some Women Have Orgasm Problems?" For me this is the weakest segment, it has some really funny scenes, but unlike the first two not all jokes work and it's not that creative.

Segment 4: "Are Transvestites Homosexual?" This segment, like the others, is very funny, but there is nothing more worth mentioning, just fun and the ending is a very good ironic ending.

Segment 5: "What Are Sexual Perversions?" This is the shortest segment, but in a short time it can be funny and well differentiated from the others.

Segment 6: "Are Medical Scientists' Experiments and Research on Sex Valid?" This is the most entertaining story in the film, it makes reference to some established films like Frankenstein and is very creative.

Segment 7: "What Happens During Ejaculation?" The look of this segment is great, it all takes place inside the human body, and everything is very well done, funny and done intelligently.

Now, let's go to the film as a whole, it is a lot of fun, very funny, mostly creative and has hilarious scenes. It's a very different job in Woody Allen's career, even though some segments are weaker than others, none are actually bad. It is very worthwhile to know this film, which is not one of the best known in Allen's filmography.

Casino Royale (1967)

Cassino Royale (1967)

[5/10 · 19 November 2020]

Casino Royale is the strangest and most different film from James Bond, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?

The film tells the story of a criminal organization known as Smersh that is wiping out agents from all spy agencies in the world. Away from the British Secret Service, Bond returns to active duty, working out a secret conspiracy to fight the enemy.

Firstly, the film is confusing, in the final stretch there are three twists and turns out of nowhere and completely meaningless, the characters change sides, feelings and character too quickly. Still in the final stretch, the identity of the villain is revealed, and as much as it is "cute" the revelation is very poorly constructed and meaningless, I am a fan of Woody Allen, however, he appears only in an initial scene and then just right at the end of the film, I really missed Allen in the feature. The film has too many plots, I think it has at least four, and if the film had more time (to work the plots better) or less time (to cut discard some plot) it would be much better. The film is a satire and has a "slapstick" humor, which works sometimes, but at other times the jokes are not funny at all and to finish the film it has a strong cast, but a large part of the talent of the wasted actors.

Even with all these negative points the film is not so bad, the production design is great, really impressive, you can see that it was an expensive film and all the scenarios are very well worked and are really incredible (especially the psychedelic scenarios of the act Final). The end of the third act is very fun, funny and well choreographed, in this part the film becomes a complete and meaningless bullshit, but I liked that, and it is one of the funniest parts of the film.

Casino Royale is a very average film, it undoubtedly has more mistakes than hits, but part of it is compensated with really impressive scenarios and the end of the film, which can be unusual, funny and unpredictable. I recommend this film for anyone who is really a fan of the James Bond films, just to know and draw their own conclusions from this unknown film that eventually became cult, for those who no longer like the films of the 007 saga will hate the film.

The House That Jack Built (2018)

A perfect portrait of a psychopath

[6/10 · 29 October 2020]

The House Jack Built is a film by director Lars Von Trier, released in 2018. The film tells the story of Jack, a serial killer who has killed over sixty people over twelve years. Jack tells his story divided into five incidents, as they are called, for the mysterious Verge.

The film mixes black humor and suspense in a way that works well, it is definitely not a film for everyone, due to its acid humor and extreme violence, it is very difficult for me to be impressed with the violence in the cinema, however, it has a moment in third act that was difficult to watch, however, I see much more as a quality of the resource, as it seeks to shock and succeeds very well. Matt Dillon's performance is excellent, for me, the best performance of his career, and Bruno Ganz is also very well in the film.

The House Jack Built is a film that impresses with violence, with great performances, but sometimes predictable and that sometimes gets lost trying to put philosophy in everything, which is sometimes forced and pretentious.

The Graduate (1967)

Mrs. Robinson

[10/10 · 28 October 2020]

What to say about The Graduate? This is, without a doubt, one of the 50 best films of all time. The film tells the story of Benjamin, a young man who upon returning home after graduating is seduced by Mr. Robbinson, a middle-aged woman who is a friend of his parents, until he knows Elaine, daughter of Mrs. Robbinson and is lost. in love with the girl. Everything about the film is simply incredible, but there are points worth mentioning, such as the direction of Mike Nichols (who was even nominated for Oscars), the soundtrack that is sensational and the performance of all the actors. However, there is one thing in this film that stands out more than any other in my view, which is the ending, which is simply extraordinary, an optimistic but pessimistic ending, in which you know that the characters are happy at that moment, but you can notice look at them and even on the soundtrack a question in the characters' heads: we are happy now, but will we be happy forever? And that is why The Graduate is for me one of the best films ever made in the history of cinema.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

A sad and true portrait of Hollywood

[10/10 · 28 October 2020]

Sunset Boulevar is undoubtedly one of the greatest masterpieces of cinema and certainly one of my favorite films.

The film tells the story of an unsuccessful screenwriter who has a flat tire and seeks shelter in a large mansion that appears to be abandoned, but the owner of the house was Norma Desmond, a big silent movie star who hasn't made a film in twenty years. . So she decides to hire the boy to write the script for her next film.

I'm in love with this film, everything about it is incredible, soundtrack, direction, visual and obviously Gloria Swanson's brilliant performance, which I consider one of the best female performances in cinema. For me a mandatory film for everyone who says they love cinema, it is an absolute classic that deserves to be seen. He is certainly worthy of the 11 Oscar categories in which he was nominated.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Spinal Tap!

[9/10 · 28 October 2020]

This Is Spinal Tap is a mockumentary (fictional documentary) released in 1984. The film tells the story of the fictional British band Spinal Tap on their US tour.

Many point to this film as "one of the best comedies of all time", but, as much as I really think a film is very funny, the point that most catches my attention is the part of the false documentary, it is amazing how the film succeeds perfectly reproduce a common documentary, it is not for nothing that many unsuspecting people confused the film with a real documentary at the time of its release, moreover. as much as it is a low budget film it is very well produced, in addition to all this, the film manages to perfectly blend humor with fake documentary, and all of his jokes work and many of these jokes (in fact almost all) were improvised by the actors .

The mockumentary genre already existed at the time, but it was this feature that popularized the genre and undoubtedly one of (perhaps the best) film of its kind, unfortunately the film was not very successful at the time, but a few years later with the commercialization of VHS, the feature won cult status, and finally had its genius recognized and in 2002 the film entered the collection of the Library of Congress of the USA of films that need to be preserved due to their extreme cultural and historical importance. This Is Spinal Tap is a historical film, funny and very well produced and acted, I recommend to everyone to see.

The Breakfast Club (1985)

A Perfect Portrait Of Adolescence

[8/10 · 28 October 2020]

The Breakfast Club is a drama and comedy film released in 1985. The film tells the story of five young people with very different personalities who, being placed in detention at school on a Saturday, are forced to meet and thus form a strong bond of friendship. .

The strength of this film is impressive, I was born 20 after the release of the film and even so it marked my childhood a lot. He can portray adolescence very well, even in just 97 minutes of viewing, the characters are great and can make you even moved by the relationship of the five.

This film is part of the line of teen films by director John Hughes, which launched in the eighties: Ferris Buller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles and of course The Breakfast Club.

However much this film has marked me a lot, I have to admit that it is not perfect. The feature has some slightly unnecessary and meaningless scenes (like when they start dancing out of nowhere), some exaggerations and clichés. But it is a remarkable film, funny, captivating and fun, even with some mistakes in my view.

Borat (2006)

Striking, hilarious and courageous

[9/10 · 28 October 2020]

Here we have what is probably one of the best comedy features of the last twenty years and for me without a doubt the best film of Sacha Baron Cohen's career. The film tells the story of Borat, a reporter from Kazakhstan who travels to the United States to make a documentary on American behavior. One of the points that most catches my attention is the script, which, however simple and without major surprises, is still great and with excellent jokes. One point that I need to emphasize is that it is definitely not a film for everyone, because the feature presents jokes with basically all ethnicities, religion, lifestyle, etc. and for some people it can be a type of humor considered "offensive", but it is a humor that pleases me is why I like the movie so much. After all Sacha Baron Cohen is in one of the best performances of his career (perhaps the best). But of course, not everything in the film is perfect, as it presents a couple of scenes that seem to be a little bit played in the plot and at least for me things are resolved very easily, but that takes almost nothing from the shine of the film.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

Borat's return!

[8/10 · 28 October 2020]

Okay, the first Borat was controversial, sparked some processes, but its 2020 sequence will likely have many, many more processes. Without a doubt Sacha Baron Cohen is a brave person. 14 years after the events of the first film Borat is sent back to the United States, but this time with a different purpose and alongside his daughter. We waited 14 years for a sequel to the first feature, and was it worth it? the answer is yes! It was very worth it Borat 2020 presents the same kind of humor as the first film which is great, again a very good performance by Sacha Baron Cohen and most importantly: extremely heavy criticisms of the American lifestyle and the Trump administration, which is undoubtedly the point highest in the film. Perhaps anyone who is not fully familiar with current US policy will not understand one or the other joke, but you can have fun just the same. At certain moments in the film you will find yourself asking: What is this? How hasn't Sacha Baron Cohen been arrested yet ?? And this is just amazing. But obviously not everything in the film is wonderful, it presents some problems of the first film, as things are resolved very easily and happen very fast, for me the first Borat (2007) is still better, but the second feature manages to honor the first well. Borad (2020) is a great film, even though it is not perfect and a little inferior than the first, it is a great sequel and a very funny comedy film, with heavy criticisms and pertinent to the USA

The Disaster Artist (2017)

The Disaster Artist

[8/10 · 9 October 2020]

You do not necessarily need to have seen The Room before watching The Disaster Artist, but I recommend that you see it, because this way the film is more fun and you can have a greater contest of what is happening. The film is a lot of fun, it's funny and James Franco is great, maybe one of the best works of his career, his accent and eccentric way of being reminds a lot of Tommy Wiseau. The film pays a very beautiful tribute to the cinema and the film The Room, the direction of James Franco is operative, he does not present anything special or striking in his direction.

Taxi Driver (1976)

You Talking To Me?

[10/10 · 9 October 2020]

We certainly have here one of Martin Scorsese's best and most striking films, one of Robert De Niro's best performances and one of the biggest Oscar wrongdoers of 1977, in which the film ran for four categories, including best film, but won none. . Certainly one of the things that stands out the most is the New York setting, the city is practically a character in the film, the soundtrack is also great, the direction of Scorsese needs no comments, and the feature has what is in my opinion the best character study in the history of cinema. Judie Foster also looks great in the film, showing that at just twelve years of age she was an excellent actress, and even received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Absolutely fantastic film in all aspects.

365 Days (2020)

365 ways to destroy a movie

[1/10 · 9 October 2020]

365 dni is the new movie in the Netflix catalog, and I honestly don't know how Netflix saw this movie and thought "Okay, it looks good."

The film should be called 365 defects or 365 ways to destroy a film, and I will not waste time citing all errors, I will mention only the most serious ones. First of all, the film has almost no history, just some justifications for putting on sex scenes, editing and editing are a disaster, so the film at times becomes confusing, the script is shameful and one of the worst things from the film, and to finish the direction and horrible in all aspects, the film is directed by two people and it weighs a lot.

Alien (1979)

a striking film

[9/10 · 9 October 2020]

Alien is certainly one of the most striking and influential sci-fi films of all time, after all, the feature film released in 1979 serves as inspiration for several current films and series. Undoubtedly one of the things that stand out the most in the film is its simply incredible practical effects, the film was released over 40 years ago and even today they are incredible, and of course, the film would be nothing but Ridley Scott's direction that unlike many films at the time, the director prefers to leave a mystery around the creature, which really reveals itself only at the end of the film. In my opinion, the only reason this film is not perfect is that it has at least 4 or 5 minutes more than it should have, there is a scene at the end of the film that would be perfect if it ended there, but instead the film he decides to continue with one more threat, which he resolves until quickly.

Trainspotting (1996)

One of the most striking films of the 90s

[9/10 · 16 September 2020]

With brilliant direction, incredible performances, frantic editing that blends in with the film and phenomenally merging humor with the sad reality of drug addicts Trainspotting is the best drug film ever made. The only shortcoming of the feature is that he does not enjoy his secondary characters as well, but it takes almost nothing from the shine of the feature, in addition he has one of the scenes that most impacted and marked me in the cinema, the "baby scene". Simply amazing film.

Scoob! (2020)

A disappointment

[4/10 · 9 June 2020]

"Scooby!" is an attempt by Warner to try to build a new shared universe, the "Hanna Barbera Universe". It is undeniable that the animation of the incredible feature, however, that is not enough to save the film, which is predictable, self-explanatory, superficial, moreover, things are very easy to solve and there are several narrative facilitations and the main defect of the film is that it just doesn't look like a Scooby Doo film, because it has no mystery and the main thing in the series (at least for me) was to try find out who the villain was under the monster or creature fantasy. But the film is not all bad, besides the animation being great the film has good jokes, it is fun to a certain extent and I recognize that for children from four to eleven years old, who are the target audience of the film, it works a lot well, but for a slightly older audience, it doesn't work much anymore.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

a misunderstood film

[7/10 · 5 June 2020]

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" tells the story of one of the biggest and most famous serial killers the United States has ever seen. I saw a lot of people talking badly about this movie because he "didn't show the monster Ted Bundy was" or "romanticized a serial killer", but the purpose of the film was to tell what Ted Bundy was like in his girlfriend's view, played by Lily Colins, so I think it is wrong for people to speak ill of the film in this respect, because his intention was never to be a film like "Zodiac", but to tell the story of a murderer in the view of a victim of his manipulation. The film assumes that you already know Ted's story briefly, so maybe you don't like the movie very much if you are fast and don't know anything about it, I recommend you watch the series "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes", which as well as the movie is available on Netflix. This is undoubtedly the best role of Zac Efron's career, he is fantastic and he is the highlight of the film, Lily Colins is also very well, she can convey guilt, sadness and doubt very well and you feel sorry for her , technically the film is also very good. But the film gets a little lost by making things happen too fast and simplifying others.

The Fanatic (2019)

Just terrible

[1/10 · 5 June 2020]

I watched The Fanatic due to its "fame" of being one of the worst films of 2019, but I did not believe that the film could be as bad as they said, however, the film is really one of the worst films of 2019 and one of the worst performances of John Travolta. The film tells the story of Mosse, a collector of cinema articles who, by not obtaining his favorite actor's autograph, becomes obsessed with him. With this premise, it would be possible to make a reasonably good psychological thriller, but the direction of the performances, the editing and the script holes (which are many) totally spoil the film, and the final act is ridiculous. I would even say that it can be considered a prejudiced film, because the protagonist clearly has autism, and the film treats this with total ignorance. The Fanatic is just not the worst movie of 2019 because Cats was released the same year. I don't recommend anyone watching this movie, it was an hour and twenty-eight minutes totally wasted.

The Room (2003)

Horrible, but good

[2/10 · 5 June 2020]

If The Room were a comedy film it would be fantastic, however, the film was made to be a drama, and if you take it seriously, the performance of the film is horrible, the script is one of the worst ever written, the editing is terrible and the direction is horrible. However, the film has fun, and it has a lot of fun, and it is very funny, the only reason I have not evaluated this film better is the fact that it was made as drama and takes itself very seriously. I recommend everyone to see this classic Cult bad, the best of the worst, The Room.