AuVid Reviews

Flora and Son (2023)

F'ing Good! Go watch it.

[9/10 · 16 October 2023]

This is a movie we can all sit down and watch with so many radically different people, and each of us can pick any of twenty (or more) different reasons to like it.

The production value is way up high, but no, it is no impeccable. The music, yes, it is that good. If you like music, you're more than likely to love this little gem of a movie.

The cast is almost perfect as well, all actors are extremely well chosen for their parts, except (maybe?) for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He plays his part really well, and obviously brings a 'big name' to the movie, but I would never say this is one of his best works or even that maybe someone else could have done this part a little better. Watch it and judge for yourself.

Nonetheless, the film stands on its own, and it IS a good time for anyone watching it, old or young, rich or poor, etc. This alone is quite an achievement.

Highly recommended.

The Adults (2023)

Siblings that don't know how to comunicate

[2/10 · 12 September 2023]

A weird trio of siblings that simply don't know how to communicate or never got the opportunity to grow up and relate to each other in a different, more meaningful way than that when they were little children.

Other than that, the seemingly endless stream of drama that comes from these people's trauma and unresolved issues just occupy the screen almost 100% of the time.

There is no history to be told here, no character development, no proper light and shade, no dynamic that makes watching this even remotely tolerable.

I would recommend avoiding it, as there are so many better alternatives to do with your time out there - better movies and activities alike.

Platonic (2023– )

Instead of stereotypes, human beings

[9/10 · 12 June 2023]

Wow! The BEST thing about this series (so far) is the writing.

They throw in a whole bunch of characters that, in a different "modern" series, would get the annoying stereotypical treatment: "the drunk", "the adulterer", "the manchild", "the bored housewife", "the friend", "the gay coworker", etc, etc.

Instead, in this one, they are developed like human beings; each one with their own feelings and their own behavior. Each one with good qualities, but also flaws, bad behavior. Keeps you constantly guessing what is it about to happen and, at the same time, feels incredibly relatable.

Production value, acting, everything else is also great (as per Apple standards).

Conclusion: hands down a great series to watch; alone or together (even better).

Robots (I) (2023)

No story development. Horrible.

[3/10 · 20 May 2023]

This is based on a short story from the 70's. It is no wonder it does not work.

You know those late night soft-core movies you used to see at 2AM, on which mostly everyone involved probably said about the plot: "why even bother?". This is just as bad.

The script is so badly adapted and developed that you almost feel sorry for the screenwriters.

The only reason you don't outright abandon the movie is just out of curiosity: "can this get any worse?", you think to yourself.

This is the 1st movie I see with Jack Whitehall and he is pure garbage. Zero ability to act.

Poor Shailene probably didn't know this before signing up for this mess. On the other hand, someone who was engaged to Aaron Rodgers for a whole year, well...

Beautiful Disaster (2023)

Pure Soap Opera

[2/10 · 5 May 2023]

If you've ever seen a production of those daytime soap operas or mexican telenovelas, you know exactly how this movie goes.

It is just one ridiculous scene after another, a collection of bad written clichés that will drive you mad.

There is a somewhat good production value here, but you definitely spend the last hour of this constantly wishing to "just put it in fast forward, I can't take any more of this; this film is too cringe for me".

The actors here are quite subpar, and you can't decide if the script is just horrible or if they don't have enough experience to know what a good or bad performance is...

See for yourself if you'd like, but i bet you'll probably regret it.

Tiny Beautiful Things (2023)

Bad, rushed adaptation with wrong cast

[4/10 · 13 April 2023]

The script clearly focuses on the wrong things, so, instead of developing the characters along the series, it very quickly gives facts and stories left and right without going deep in any of them.

When trying to connect with so many different audiences at the same time (and pandering to many of them), the story got lost in the way and became secondary to the narrative. A real shame.

The main character is supposed to be 49 (we buy it) with a 16 year old daughter, but her younger version of looks like a teenager, but she's playing a 33 year old married woman in all those out of order flashbacks? So very, very confusing...

Cocaine Bear (2023)

Sharknado with Bears

[3/10 · 3 April 2023]

The premise is just excellent: a Bear finds cocaine in the woods and ingests it; what happens after that? As anyone could have guessed chaos, complete chaos.

With so many good actors involved and a good director, i thought this would be good, entertaining, fun. It was none of that.

Instead of making something that stretches a little bit the barriers of reality and fiction, they went full force for the completely absurd (like sharknado).

If you think all the funny scenes could save the movie from being a disaster, let me tell you: no, it does not. You have a few chuckles (the actors are quite good), but other than that it's a complete waste of time. The absurdity and the very very weak story just gets more and more on your nerves as the movie progresses.

You People (2023)

Millionaire ensemble - poor movie

[3/10 · 3 February 2023]

Seriously?

We're all paying Netflix more and more each year for this trash?

Now it makes total sense why Netflix is scrambling to get more and more money anywhere it can; you just assemble like 5 or 6 "big names" in the industry (paying however many millions as necessary), re-heat some 2nd class script and call it a day? Really?

If it fails with 1 big star, the movie is just an unfortunate flop, but with that many, it is a pure waste of resources. I bet you could film a whole series with that much money.

This "comedy" borrows from as many good movies of the past as possible (no originality), with a couple of good jokes here and there, and it tries to spread around so many cultural references that most people will be completely lost half way trough.

Horrible. Just avoid it (there are much better options everywhere).

Extraordinary (2023– )

It gets worse and worse

[2/10 · 29 January 2023]

Wow. You can not trust reviews anymore. Whoever is giving 10s on this thing, you already know it's fake and paid for.

Great production value, good actors, but the story is abysmally bad. And it gets worse and worse on each episode until the last one.

1st - the main character starts unlikable and by the 8th episode you just want her to die she is so bad.

2nd - all the story lines and main arc just go round and round and get you absolutely nowhere.

3rd - not a single character is relatable. They are all a-holes. Never seen a show before where there were so many unlikable characters. Not even the sweet friend is OK because of how much of a pushover she is.

If the screenwriter for this show was aiming for some kind of prize for worst show of the year, she is absolutely in the right track.

Christmas with the Campbells (2022)

Not Good - at all! (worse than Hallmark's)

[2/10 · 2 December 2022]

Summary: A waste of everybody's time and money. Avoid it if you can (even if you love Brittany Snow). So many better options out there.

(1) HORRIBLE Script Whoever wrote this (Vince Vaughn?) really should abandon this career; this a collection of bad ideas and awkward moments, many of them really borrowed from other movies (and modified to make it look original) and even worse dialogue - almost NON-STOP!

(2) BAD Casting for the co-star Justin Long as a rugged man that loves the outdoor and for no reason goes through the whole movie trying to conjure a deeper voice (what? Why?). It is so bad, it keeps distracting you the whole way trough. He is so out of place, he couldn't even fake chemistry with the dog. I guarantee you he didn't audition for this; someone would have seen the tape and stopped this train-wreck before it got to production.

(3) A STORY that walks on a treadmill and slowly goes nowhere.

It really leaves you thinking why the hell did I sit here for almost 90 minutes? Did I really think this would get better at any point? The answer is clearly NO.

Sam & Kate (2022)

A Great Lighthearted Romantic Drama

[9/10 · 20 November 2022]

There are so many positives to this movie, I almost feel bad starting with the poster: it is so misleading!

You look at the poster and you thing this will be just one more of those crazy silly comedies. This couldn't be any farther from the truth.

This movie is deep and thoughtful, with intertwined stories very well connected and rooted in reality.

You watch it and it makes you feel all kinds of emotions:

• there is a light comedy that makes you chuckle on many places and, best of all, it never feels forced.

• there is unlikely romances that you can't foresee how this could possibly happen, and it catches you by surprise slowly developing into something nice and beautiful without any of those "magic moments" that so often happen on rom-coms.

• there is also a bit of drama that makes you cry and feel deeply for the characters and move you along the progression of the story in a very natural way.

In SUMMARY: an almost perfect script, filled with great actors, all very well cast on each role; you'll feel all the emotions and you'll be grateful that you have picked this film to watch at the end.

Resident Alien (2021– )

Different (bad) show on Season 2

[3/10 · 20 September 2022]

The writing went downhill so fast on Season 2 that I felt the need to come here and write a review.

I do not mind the diverse hiring and tokenism of actors and characters in this show; on the contrary, I even think it makes for a more interesting story.

But even on Season 1 I already felt that the writing was not 100% good, sometimes it felt a bit like a soap opera, with so many different character arcs intermingled that was a little bit forced at some point. But the great humor always saved it.

On Season 2, it felt like the writers were completely lost, didn't know where to take the show and were filling blank pages with gibberish and artificial stories. The great humor of Season 1 almost completely vanished. Became a huge waste of time, I'm sorry to say.

Alone Together (I) (2022)

Good Effort, Nice story

[4/10 · 1 August 2022]

It's not bad, the story is nice, and kind and warm in parts, but... there are so many cringe-worth moments in the movie that I had to watch in two parts (and I almost gave up).

It is apparent (to me, at least) that the script needed more iterations and finessing (to remove the cringe moments for starters).

Also, none of the "couples" had much chemistry, I think the movie would be much better off with slightly older (mature) male counterparts and a more relaxed and relatable relationship between them.

Maybe in a few more years, with proper distancing from the pandemic, a refined script and more time to proper audition and cast the 2 main male characters the movie could have been much better.

Skymed (2022– )

W.A.D.

[3/10 · 11 July 2022]

How about a "new" series about Doctors?

Not enough? How about "Air Doctors"?

No good either? How about "WOKE AIR DOCTORS"?

Ah, now it's OK. Something for everybody... (face plant emoji)

I had a suspicion that Americans almost only make series about 3 professions:

• Doctors (and nurses)
• Lawyers
• Policemen (regular or FBI, CIA, or any type of investigator)

Everything else outside those 3, it is like it does not even exist.

Single Drunk Female (2022–2023)

Solid Comedy/Drama

[7/10 · 23 March 2022]

It is better than I initially thought it would be. I've seen all 10 episodes so far.

Sofia and Garrett really carry the show on their backs. Sofia is particularly impressive. She fits the role like a glove and is able to portray all the character sides (and complexities) in a really nice and relatable way, humanizing what would otherwise be a simple train-wreck.

At first, most of the secondary characters really annoyed me; but then, as the show progressed, I got used to them and they stopped annoying me so much.

Still... It is easy to see there is some "diversity quotas" being filled there. For instance, it is plenty OK to see the "chubby girl" as the funny best friend, but did she really had to be cast as morbidly obese? The main lesbian couple adds a lot funny scenes to the story, but did the secondary lesbian wife had to be so vapid and annoying? Couldn't she be portrayed with a few more brain cells and a more relatable side as it would actually be in real life?

Worth checking it out, just don't expect too much and be prepared to disregard the "annoyances" as they come.

Getting to Know You (2020)

Great movie, heartfelt and genuine love story

[9/10 · 31 December 2020]

If you ever come across this movie in search for a genuine heartfelt love story, you really don't have to look any further... This was very much in line with films like Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise", where the dialog flows so naturally along the movie and the connection between the main characters is so palpable that you sometimes even forget about the storyline; you feel as if you are right there with them and even begin to feel the same feelings. It's just wonderful. If one of the main objectives of a film is to move you, then this one gets top marks. You could guess this movie wasn't made on a particularly high budget, but you definitely don't feel it throughout: good sound, good photography, great actors... Very well done. Highly recommended.

Upright (2019– )

Unexpected Greatness

[10/10 · 1 September 2020]

I am usually NOT a fan of Australian Films or Series (although I love Australia and Australians alike), so I was biased to not like this from the get go. I decided to watch because it was only 8 episodes and the history seemed quite interesting.

I was so surprised by how great this series was that I decided to post a review (I usually don't go to the trouble of writing one, even when I like what I saw). This series absolutely deserve all the accolades.

As I mentioned, the story is indeed quite nice and very well divided between the 8 episodes. There is no "empty filler" in this bunch. Every episode is beautiful, funny, moving, entertaining in the exact proportion.

The photography is incredible. If you, like me, have never been to Australia, this series will take you there and give you some very nice "pictures" that you'll remember for a long time. Really beautiful and touching.

The acting, from all parts, big and small, is quite on point. For a foreigner it really looks like a diverse cast of characters that we would actually encounter in Australia. And all of them really did a great job, every person gave the right amount of emotions at the right timing. Very smooth, very real, natural and enjoyable.

All in all, I found this series to have a universal appeal and incredible quality on all aspects of production that (for me) was really unexpected. Big thumbs up! Highly recommended.

The Foreign Eye (2006)

A Prejudiced Look over Foreign People

[4/10 · 24 August 2009]

I really though this could be a great movie. I like documentaries. This one was supposed to have some great actors speaking to the camera about Brazil, so I was eager to give it a try and see for myself.

The director spend most (if not all) of the movie pretending to analyze which kind of view most foreign people have from Brazil, some after seeing a movie where Brazil is depicted, some a long time after they actually participated in such a movie and others that might have directed one.

At first it is really boring, because she insists on picking on such tiny details that were incorrectly depicted. And again, and again... (as if the actors were guilty of not knowing Brazil profoundly before playing their part; or as if they actually wrote the script - ridiculous in any way)

Then, it's really irritating, because we see that in fact she's on some kind of witch-hunt that can only do herself any good. Is it really anybody's fault if we think Carnival and Beautiful Women when we think of Brazil? Is it that bad? So, whose fault is it if we associate Scotland with Whiskey, Germany with Sausages, England with Fog, Italy with Pasta and so on? Come on...

After all, this movie is a complete waste of time, except maybe for her, the director.

Märzmelodie (2008)

A really sweet movie

[9/10 · 9 February 2009]

It's hard to find nowadays an even mildly good movie that is capable of making you leave the theater with a good feeling about yourself, about the others, about love, about people in general. This movie does just that.

I don't know the budget for this movie, but I assume it wasn't anything near the Hollywood ones. Yet, this movie has great actors and almost everyone does a great job at his/her part. The production is great, the cinematography is very good and so is the lighting and the editing.

The music is also very good indeed and what most pleased me (I usually HATE musicals) is that it never got in the way of the movie and it's storytelling, it never got more important than the other elements of the movie (the acting, the visual references, etc).

The moments where the actors sing (or dub, I can't really tell) never got boring because the music was good and the singing was kept very short and also because what they were singing actually made sense and was important part of their lines.

Normally I would give this movie a 7 out of 10 (the story could be stronger and a little bit less predictable), but what got my vote up higher to 9 out of 10 is that the general tone of the movie was really sweet.

That a great movie to watch with you loved one! Do it if you can...

A Simple Promise (2008)

NOT good: Predictable, politically correct with BAD acting.

[3/10 · 4 June 2008]

OK, so this could be a good film. We have a nice plot, a romantic couple with a beautiful girl... Yes, we all know this story already, but still it could be enjoyable.

Poor girl dreams of being a famous singer, works as a waitress as a side job. Poor guy, dreaming of being a famous painter, meets waitress and fall in love. And the story goes on as we all expected, but that is definitely not the problem!

The problem is that the acting is so poor that we get the impression along the entire film that we are watching the result of a high-school film project. The audio is also so bad, it made me remember films from the 70's.

I've seen a lot of low-budget films, but this is no excuse for this film to turn out so lame.

The Sasquatch Gang (2006)

What a Cr@p!!!

[1/10 · 14 January 2008]

I am seriously in doubt if this isn't the worst film I've ever seen...

Justin Long is very funny and he can well act, but this movie he choose to do is just awful. I wonder what kind of person would like this: Bad actors all around, not funny story, the plot is so simple and predictable as hell, even the geeks will get offended by the geeks on this movie.

Don't get me wrong, there are good elements in this movie, but they are so badly put together! The plot even offers some nice catches in the beginning but some of then don't even get an ending, just to top off how much this film s...cks.

What a waste of time! And I did not expect much, I was just looking for some laughs.

Well, maybe if was aged 3 or so...