carloschewi Reviews

Out in the Open (2019)

Good film set in a well depicted post-civil war Spain.

[7/10 · 12 July 2020]

The film is good in general, but there is something specially remarkable: the way it depicts the post-war Spain. In the 1940s, the country is desolated by poverty and misery, and rural areas are some of the most disadvantaged parties amongst this general hardship.

The events are set in a village of rural Andalusia, though the action takes place in different places throughout the countryside. The sun heating all the time, water is scarce several times and many people dying of famine. The context of the film is just wonderfully portrayed.

The acting of Luis Tosar as an honest shepherd who is isolated from society is pretty good, and Jaime López as the kid does a good job too. The journey they make escaping from a cruel foreman played by Luis Callejo is at some moments slow, but the shocking image of a ruined rural Spain is still there bringing strong emotions to the viewer. The role played by the aforementioned Luis Callejo as a ruthless landowner is also fantastic, he makes you believe that this misery and unfairness actually happened in a devastated country just because of a senseless war.

The film might be slow at some points, and I strongly recommend having a little background about what happened in Spain during its civil war. Anyway, this movie is definitely worth a shot, as both the context and acting are great.

FIFA 20 (2019 Video Game)

Just disappointing.

[1/10 · 11 July 2020]

Sincerely, this is the most disappointing game I have ever bought. I have played Fifa for several years and I have always liked this game a lot. But this edition did not reach at all the level of the previous ones. The game has a lot of bugs and is difficult to play. This is something that should never happen, how can this be worse than the older Fifa editions? The players are difficult to control many times, the defenders sometimes stop running for no reason, and an infinite etcetera of fatal mistakes. I think this is the worst game Fifa has ever released with no doubt, I hope they correct the errors and improve the game in the next edition.

Mon meilleur ami (I) (2006)

Interesting introspective idea, but wrongly managed.

[6/10 · 10 July 2020]

The main idea of the film is brilliant, and I loved the way François (Daniel Auteuil) and Bruno (Dany Boon) get to know each other. The beginning is great and real friendship is really well depicted, but this is just a half of the movie. Then comes the other half, which is boring and made me feel disappointed. This second half tries to be original, but it just ends what was looking like an introspective masterpiece.

La Unidad (2020–2023)

Interesting but not too exciting series, caricatured in some aspects.

[8/10 · 7 June 2020]

The series follows the job of a secret police unit, which is created after the unexpected arrest of an important jihadist leader in Spain. There is not the typical "hero" who can achieve anything he wants, the series is rather focused on the general job of the whole unit trying to chase several terrorists who plan to carry out a terrorist attack. This show remarkably achieves to generate some tension even though it does not especially focus on any specific character. However, the story does not reach the point of being "exciting", as the narrative does not achieve to be completely engaging and many of the scenes lack impact. This makes the series be in some kind of a middle point between a show and a documentary, as the feeling is that the same story could have been told in a much more engaging way. Another negative thing is the fact that it caricatures both the police and the political power in Spain. It is true that many times politicians only think about the image of the government and do not care about telling the actual job made by the police, but the series exaggerates this aspect to the power of three. Overall, although having some negatives the series is worth a shot as it makes an interesting approach to the job of a secret Spanish police unit chasing terrorists not just in Spain, but in several countries. I rate it with a solid 7.5.