MichaelMontoya2517 Reviews

The Descendants (2011)

From a person who's lived through it....

[10/10 · 13 February 2012]

This movie is one of the best movies I've seen in a while, and that's judging it from what it is. I became a fan of A P after watching Sideways and ended up reading the book before watching the movie. I think the biggest problem people have with this movie is that it's not the typical "HOLLYWOOD" movie that forces "emotion" down our throat nor is it the typical "INDIE" film with shaky cameras, far out one shots and so on. It's simple, a bit plain, and raw. We're presented with characters that may not seem interesting at first look, but when it comes down to it, AP has once again showed us a reflection of ourselves and people we know around us. We're normal. We're not all flashy people with cool lives and have interesting personalities. Some people just ARE and live that way. I recently lost the person who would have been my mother in law. I'm twenty four, and my girlfriend is twenty two, and her little sister is fourteen. My girlfriend has recently taken custody over her sister, and with their father passing away before the little sister was born, I've found myself in a bit of a father role and it's scary and new and very strange at times. I completely related to Clooney's character right away, and could feel the frustration he felt, and the emotions he felt. I think he did well with dealing with them. It felt real to me. In fact, everyone's emotions toward the tragedy the film presents felt very real. I saw those same reactions from sisters, aunties, uncles, grandfathers and grandmothers. Some blamed others while others completely lost it. Some felt mad, while others just cried and broke down. Some were oblivious to the news(like the grand mother in the movie) while others were simply there to comfort(Sid). I really appreciated the entire movie, scenery, and dialogue(and at times lack there of). I really enjoyed the frustration they felt one minute, the humor the next, and the forgetfulness of the tragedy at times. It was like seeing a movie based on what my girlfriend and I were going through, and it felt comforting that someone had captured that so well. Not every tragedy will be filled with a room full of criers. Some might. Not all we be filled with humor and relief. Some will. For us, it was everything. It didn't seem real, and at times, it seemed dull. This movie has a special way of presenting itself in that manner and I really liked it. I'm sure not everyone will like. Either they're use to super hero action movies, horror movies, or stuff like Twilight. Maybe you are into good dramas and indie flicks and for whatever reason you didn't connect with that one. For me, a person who's just lived through it and am discovering to be a dad type to someone I'm still getting to know…it was simple, perfect.

10/10

Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)

Just O K

[22 June 2011]

Vanishing On 7th is about a small group of people who find themselves fighting against….well…..darkness. The rules are simple enough. If you find yourself in darkness, the "darkness" can swallow you up, leaving only your clothes, shoes, watch, etc, behind. So it's up to our small band of people to stay in the light as best they can. The movie in my opinion started off very creepy. I kept thinking to myself that it had a big Stephen King vibe to it, and I was super excited as the movie continued. My only complaint(at first) was that it felt a little rushed, and that opportunities at "JUMPY" parts were being wasted. As the plot continued, the movie felt more and more bland. I had a hard time connecting with anyone really. Perhaps if they had just taken a few moments in the beginning of the film to show everyone's back story just a tad, instead of just Mr. John L's story at the theater, it would have been just better. I totally think the idea was a cool one, and think that if a Stephen King had worked on the script and a brighter, fresh low budget director had gotten his hands on the project and had showed it some love and compassion, this film would have been a very creepy and memorable movie. Instead, it's pretty dull, lacks the intensity, and turns out to be just an alright movie.

Quarantine (2008)

Quarantine...somewhat entertaining

[9 February 2011]

Quarantine, the remake of Rec: Before you go and see this movie I must ask the question first. Do you know that this is a remake of a very scarier and superior film Rec? If not, think about checking that one out first before seeing this. Yeah if you don't speak Spanish you'll have to read the subtitles but I assure you, you'll be thankful to see that one before seeing this.

My Review: With that said, here is my review on Quarantine. I'm a big zombie/infection fan, and this set up of a virus in a sealed off building seen through first person and presented as reality seems like one hell of a good idea. Sadly, the film just kind of gets dull for me. My biggest problem is the acting. It feels like actors pretending to act like it's real. From little things like the camera man stepping into the frame to fix the documentary type host's hair to the delivery of lines that try to hard to sound improvised, the movie seems to try TOO hard to be real. Some of the edits in the film, which I found out from the commentary, are pretty amazing because what seems like one shot may in fact be three of four spliced together. But some of these splices just remind me that this is a movie, and it takes away from enjoying the film. An example of this would be the camera moving around all crazy, then suddenly coming into a close up of someone getting eaten oh so perfectly, then moving away to becoming all shaky again. Everyone just seemed to be trying too hard to be like, "This is so real". The infected themselves look kind of scary, and people's reaction to the build up of deaths in the building in no way seem real….again I go back to the realism, lol…but it's not just that. The movie almost seemed like they were trying to out do the movie they were based on, and just because you have an American cast with Hollywood backing you up, doesn't mean you're going to come out with a better product. It's hard not to compare the two films, but where Quarantine failed, Rec succeeds. I never care about the characters in Quarantine, the story seems to sort of go nowhere, and the scares aren't so scare nor is the infected whereas in Rec, the characters are instantly care for because of the realism behind them, the story moves at a good pace, and there are scares thrills and the infected are scary as hell. Quarantine is an okay movie but I highly recommend you see Rec first.

REC (2007)

One of the best horror/zombie movies of all time!

[9 February 2011]

My Prologue to the movie: Since the first time I saw the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead, I've been scared to death, and completely obsessed, with Zombies. Soon, I incorporated rage infection and viruses to my list of what I considered a Zombie type of movie. When I first saw the trailer to a movie called Quarantine, I was super excited. Finally, someone was doing a movie on Zombies the way me and my friends have done since Jr. High. I headed to IMDb and founded out that it was actually a Remake of a Spanish movie…and usually like originals to remakes, and see that the Spanish version had a better title and a scarier trailer, I decided to watch it first. Thank God I did.

Summary: Rec is about a TV host, Angela, and her camera man, Pablo, as they tag along a routine graveyard shift with two firemen for their show, "While You're Asleep". After getting a type of domestic disturbance call about an older woman, the four end up heading to an apartment building where they meet two police officers and the tenants of the building. Things go quickly wrong when the older woman attacks one of the officers, putting him critical condition. As they try to leave the building to get medical assistance, they discover that the building has been sealed off and quarantined. Soon, the group discover that there's some sort of virus in the building, and they must do everything they can to stay alive.

My Review: Like I said, I'm a huge zombie/infection fan and I highly enjoyed the film. From its direction, dialogue and acting, everything seems to be grade A. Since such movies as Cannibal Holocaust and the more recognized Blair Witch Project, films from first person have either been very well put together…District 9 and Cloverfield in my opinion…..or are very bad….Diary of the dead and the remake to this, Quarantine…..But Rec seems to be one of the best so far. The acting didn't seem like acting, but like real people reacting to real situations. There was no cheesiness to it, and everything honestly feels legit. The scares are well perfected, the tension is off the charts, and the thrill will leave you on the edge of your seat. This is just not one of my favorite zombie or horror films, but one of my favorite films in general. I highly recommend this indie movie goers, horror fans, zombie obsessed people, fans of foreign films, and people who like a good thriller. Honestly, one of my favorite movies.

[Rec]² (2009)

LOVE and HATE for REC2

[6/10 · 9 February 2011]

Getting to the main point of my LOVE and HATE that I have for rec, I think it was said best from a previous review that the main difference between these two movies....and this may be a semi spoiler behind the infection...is that the first one is more of a scientific infection while the second film is more of a religious infection. So with that said, I will write a summary of the film as well as two small reviews. One for die hard zombie fans and one for horror fans.

First, the summary of the movie as a whole. The second film begins exactly where the other one left off. A small SWAT team enters the building with another QUARANTINE type doctor and are asked to document everything. The camera work goes from one camera to numerous cameras such as another video camera and mini cams put on the SWAT member's helmets. I felt this was really cool giving us numerous shots and cuts without taking away from the first person view. In the middle of the film, we're introduced to a trio of teens who find their way into the building with a camera of their own. And then, as the first film, the group must fight to stay alive.

Second, the review for Zombie fans of the first film….If you're a zombie fan, you have to like the mass hysteria of the unknown, and that's something that the first film presents to us. What seems like a routine call at an apartment building turns out to be one of the first responses to an infection outbreak. The first film satisfies these rules of infection, aggressive attacks, and not knowing what exactly is going on to the T. The second film is a slap in the face to us zombie fans because it takes away from a disease that turns us into homicidal maniacs with the hunger for flesh, and changes it into possessed puppets of a demonic force. The infection turns out to be in fact demons traveling through people by way of bites. Possessed people can talk, are scared of the cross, can change voices and walk on walls. But they're not zombies. They're not infected with rage. They're not infected with mutated rabies . And again, this is truly a slap in the face for zombie fans. We don't go and see Vampire part 2, only to find out they're really mummies. And we don't see werewolf part 2 only to find out they're really vampires. This change of infection to possession may ruin the movie for some of us zombie fans and therefore, turn out to be a crappy sequel with a few scares. 4/10

Third, the review for Rec and horror fans…..If you're not a DIE HARD zombie fan, and loved the first one as a good horror movie, this film may be seen as a pretty cool sequel. The character development is no where near as good as the first film, but it's still pretty good. Right away, the scares are there. The power has gone out from the first film, so this time around, our characters are left in the dark, adding an edge to everyone's already big fear. The infection's back story….and again, semi spoiler for it's origins….is not in fact an infection, but possession. It's not often that possession doesn't look cheesy and funny thanks to spoof movies on the exorcists. These possessed people look scary as hell and the way they speak really scared me. On one of the first jump scenes, I screamed. Movies don't usually get me to scream so there you go. The movie is a very good follow up to an instant classic of a film. And I'm sure horror fans of Rec would definitely fall in love with it's sequel. 6/10