angieortiz-ri Reviews

Unpregnant (2020)

DON'T LET THE LOW RATING DISCOURAGE YOU

[8/10 · 12 September 2020]

Unfortunately, when you have a film centered around a "controversial" topic such as abortion, there's going to be thousands of biased, 1 star ratings that bring the average score down real low. The majority of which from people who didn't even watch the movie. "Unpregnant" is not your average "chick flick." In fact I watched it the first time with my male friend and he really enjoyed it. It's witty, adventurous, and pretty original. In most of these teen adventure/comedies, the humor is too forced, storylines are cliché and not well developed. However, nothing about "Unpregnant" seemed too forced. The humor was casual and enjoyable, it had a great, catchy soundtrack, and character development. Along the way, the girls met many interesting characters and faced various obstacles that were actually unexpected and fun. It was a good mix of silly and serious. None of the scenes dragged out, it had a good pace, and a satisfying ending. So again, don't look at the ratings and listen to these 1 star reviews... if this movie interests you, give it a try. I think it's worth the watch, and it's free on HBO MAX so why not!

Euphoria (2019– )

100% Worth Watching, Even if You're Unsure at First

[10/10 · 9 August 2019]

Every Sunday night for the past few weeks I've stayed up to catch the new episode of Euphoria. This show brings to the table elements that bring forth a whirlwind of emotions in the most raw and unforgiving way. The visuals - amazing, 10/10, in fact, Euphoria is the most visually stunning show I've ever seen. The storyline tends to jump all over the place - however this is what keeps it exciting and stimulating, which even adds to the underlying theme of drug addiction. Speaking of which, as far as I know having studied substance abuse and addiction and having seen it portrayed in many ways, this show stays very close to reality in its portrayal. Not just the way an intoxicated person may be feeling, thinking, or seeing, as we experience through Rue, but also the way it affects family, friends, and the person themselves. The LGBTQ+ community also gets very large recognition on this show; it discusses certain aspects of what being apart of the community means and does it in a pretty respectful way, so that is a part of the show I appreciated. The many other topics the show brings up, such as domestic abuse, pedophilia, relationships & sex, drug rings and dealers, blackmail, family problems, pregnancy & abortion, relapse - as well as many others - were dealt with in pretty realistic ways. I don't want to say they were dealt with in ~good~ ways for all of them because sometimes things aren't always good and there aren't happy endings or good decisions being made, and that reality being portrayed is what makes the show so honest and realistic. 10/10 for this show. Can't wait to see what comes next.

Hereditary (2018)

Not bad because it was not good, but because it is unnecessarily scarring and traumatic

[1/10 · 29 June 2018]

This is probably the most traumatizing movie I've ever experienced in my entire existence. I'll just start with this, by the end of the movie, no one in the theatre clapped. That says a lot right off the bat.

I'm a huge fan of horror movies, I watch them all the time, I love the thrill of feeling scared. Most of you reading this can probably relate to that. Well this movie did not do that for me. This movie rips apart the layers of your soul and faith in all things good in the world. I don't mean to sound heartless when I say this, but this movie doesn't make you want to clap at the end, it makes you want to off yourself. You'll wish you never stepped into the theatre to watch this. From the beginning of the movie, things were almost a bit comical. I actually found myself laughing so hard I had to step out of the theatre to take a breather for a moment. Boy, do I regret returning. When I came back into the theatre and sat and watched the rest, I never found myself laughing again. I wanted to scream and cry and I couldn't even bring myself to walk out and just leave because you feel glued to the screen like if you look away the things you've seen will stay with you anyways and haunt you there. When I say this movie terrified me, I feel like the writers and directors are sitting back and feeling proud that they accomplished their goal they had set for their audience. Well I wish I could meet those people and punch them in the face. This movie is not a horror, this is a dramatic reading straight out of an anti-bible written by the devil. And I mean that sincerely. This movie will make you make you stay awake all night, not because you're "scared" but because you're disgusted at the way this movie made you feel. I could go on and on saying these things but I will say one last thing: if you're reading this and think "this sounds interesting I'd like to see it for myself." My response would be don't spend your money on it and watch it in a public theatre. Wait for it to come out on cable or on DVD and watch it in the comfort of your own home, away from anyone with inncocence in them, even if you're 18, I still recommend this movie for much older adults. This is not for the faint of heart and especially not for that of mind.

A Quiet Place (2018)

A Waste of My Money

[2/10 · 15 April 2018]

I was very excited about seeing this movie as it has received many great reviews and recommendations. However, upon viewing it, I just realized people's standards for horror movies just aren't what they should be. This movie has NO plot whatsoever. The acting, I admit, was quite good. The concept of the story was abundant with originality but lacked in a proper execution. For starters, I kid you not, every single movement made by every character was so completely and utterly predictable, this had to be the most original cliché film I've ever seen (not to mention I had the ending figured out within the first 15 minutes of the movie, so that was a bummer). Second of all, it is very hard to believe these people have survived this long. I admit, they had an advantage having a deaf daughter, causing them to have already known sign language which allowed them to communicate while staying silent. I was very excited about seeing this movie as it has received many great reviews and recommendations. However, upon viewing it, I just realized people's standards for horror movies just aren't what they should be. This movie has NO plot whatsoever. The acting, I admit, was quite good. The concept of the story was abundant with originality but lacked in a proper execution. For starters, I kid you not, every single movement made by every character was so completely and utterly predictable, this had to be the most original cliché film I've ever seen (not to mention I had the ending figured out within the first 15 minutes of the movie, so that was a bummer). Second of all, it is very hard to believe these people have survived this long. I admit, they had an advantage having a deaf daughter, causing them to have already known sign language which allowed them to communicate while staying silent - but these people are just plain stupid aside from that. They leave the batteries (a useful resource) in the store with their kid. The father has a whole diagram and knowledge of the ear on his desk yet... never figures out they can use high pitched noises to harm the creatures... They choose to live in an old, creaky house in the open rather than set up a camp by the loud waterfall where they could live freely... They decide to have a child during this epidemic?? There's just so many more things I could go onto list. Aside from the character stupidlity, there's also just various plot holes in every single part of the movie. First off, why was the scene with the screaming man even included? Next, the whole storyline with the father and daughters disconnect due to her having caused her brother's death is so forced and thrown into the movie clearly as some kind of character-arc plot device for when the father sacrificed himself... just annoying. Also, how did the boy drive the car after his father's death? There was definitely no way he was taught to drive during that apocalypse let alone him magically being able to reach the pedal? The kid's like 4 feet tall. Also, just throwing this out there... the design of the creature's and their connection to light and sound is eerily similar to that of the Demogorgon monster from stranger things... JUST SAYING. Anyways, overall this movie was a waste of time and I found myself hysterically laughing at the stupidity of it rather than enjoying it as I thought I should have.