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What I enjoy most about the movie is how well its balance between action, comedy , dark humor, tech, its a very well balanced across the board, it never felt like dragging or over stretching the script to cover ground or more time, there are times where it falls on pace but not too bad so you can just forgive it, for a low budget movie of only $3 Million, some sites suggesting $5M but still made $17 Million world wide so it was a total hit. The CGI has a few flaws here and there but I would say its because budget and probably the tech was not there, the movie goes wild in terms of sci fi as the main character gets a chip implanted in the back of his neck, yeah you can already tell how cliche and predictable this movie might be and still make a great watch, that is probably the most impressive part.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6499752/
• Platform: AppleTV+

Rottentomatoes Rating

As it is expected Grey's life becomes a living nightmare having to adapt but most important accept his quadriplegia condition on top of the loss of his wife Asha, here is where I compare Elysium to Upgrade, Grey gets approach by a tech billionaire who is basically looking for someone who has nothing to loose, it is the case and the movie on this aspect is very very cliche with all the classic aspects of the everything goes for Grey. Eron is this eccentric tech billionaire who offers him a chance to walk again by using an experimental computer chip called STEM, yup we almost there if not ask Elon. The chip is implanted in Grey's spine at the back of his neck, similar to the most recent Halo TV series, like Commander Chief could listen to Cortana; Grey can communicate with STEM, the chip not only reconnects his brain to his limbs and restore mobility, it turns out to be way much more than that, its an artificial intelligence that can speak to Grey and with his permission take control of his body with a single mission, STEM can't let Grey die as the both would go offline, this reboots Grey life who though would never walk and everything was over for him, putting him on to a journey to track down the men who murder his wife and left him for dead.

The movie really chines on the action scenes, specially when Grey goes wild with the help of STEM, almost never touched and with every single action calculated by a high end Ai makes him John Wick on steroids, there is also a very unique camera work that captures the mechanical precision level that Grey works with when STEM is on the wheel. During the fight scenes when STEM is controlling his body there is this camera angle where you have this sensation of auto aiming like you were playing a FPS game, it is expected that with such precision violence is just brutal, creating this ambient of horror for anyone who mess with Grey, its also during this scenes that the movie tend to feel a bit cringe and disturbing on how brutal STEM can be and how Grey reacts to it.

It is also interesting the philosophical approach and implications of the movie without getting too heavy, the relationship that starts to develop between STEM and Grey makes me wonder if we will ever get to such point in tech, I think depending on who you ask we almost there, just open any chat bot and start a conversation like you were buddies and it will answer any of your questions and there will also be times depending on the question that you will most likely fall into getting the answers you wanted to hear, what gets me to the next question of how much dependent we will become of tech in the future, now days there is close to nothing that we can do without a mobile device or internet, they both are part of our identity but Upgrade also approach this at first from a different angle with Grey as how initially he very rejects tech at a personal level to latter on have a more intimate experience sharing his mind and body with a high end Ai, there is such a contrast of how things start and end for him during the movie regarding tech.

Grey realize everything that went down with STEM's plan to get to him so he tries to fight back, even attempt to suicide but there was a moment when STEM tricked Grey and had a hacker remove a safety feature that gave STEM full control of his body without needing his permission anymore, this happen when STEM almost got shut down at first and Grey was loosing control of his body, his nightmares came back and though STEM was telling him the truth, an Ai that can tell lies? or is that consider survival mode? from that moment you can tell that Grey would become a slave and thats exactly what happens when its reveal that STEAM could put Grey's consciousness into a virtual reality that would become his jail and STEM remain with permanent control of his body.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #upgrade, #scifi, #revenge, #technology, #stem, #cyborg, #thriller, #violence, #artificial, #intelligence, #paralyzed, #implant, #future, #control, #body, #murder, #machine, #logan, #marshallgreen, #whannell, #action, #dystopian, #vengeance, #conspiracy, #twist

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I decided to check what was on my bucket list although more recent movies I have watch, decided to watch Locked (2025) and Drop (2025), both horror movies that are decent but I can't denied I was tempted to fast forward a few times. If you watch Locked poster you will know immediately what it is about, not an easy movie to make since its one of those tight space movies with very few characters, the movie focus on Eddie Barrish fucked up live as a father, thief and he even looked like recovering from drug addiction although I'm not so sure if they mention it during the movie. Eddie's Van alternator broke and he needed less than $500 to repair it but had no cash at the moment so he starts trying to look for cars left open and see what he can steal until he got into the wrong car.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26671996/
• Platform: AppleTV+

Rottentomatoes Rating

I wasn't sure what to expect since Skarsgard movies are not my favorites and the last movie I saw from him, The Crow remake wasn't any good. For Anthony Hopkins all I have is love for because most if not 80% of his movies are good and consider he is the iconic "Hannibal", probably the perfect guy for this movie when it comes to be the role of the oppressor. The plot is very simple although not so predictable to what is going to happen in the short term, the ending I never saw coming, I though it would be more develop but I'm satisfied with.

What kept me watching the movie was the constant cat and mouse between Eddie and William, most of the time William had the upper hand and even though Hopkins doesn't have much screen time you know its him, well at least that's how I felt, in my case I didn't watch any trailers or even look at the movie profile in IMDB so it was a cool surprise for me when Hopkins shows up for the first time, I even had doubts because on the first scene you could only see his eyes.

William owns a luxury SUV, brand Dolus, the car is bullet proof and almost impossible to get out of once you are inside. He had the car just sitting on a parking lot under a pole light, waiting for the next thief as the car is open, the car itself is a trap where once the thief gets in he would lock him down, Eddie makes the perfect candidate not because he is a thief but he also have some kind of anger and attitude issues where at first goes wild trying to get out, swearing, screaming, he even tries to shoot the window but gets himself shot in the leg as the bullet bounce back, I'm not sure if that's how it works in real life though. William patch him up after Eddie pass out after loosing a good amount of blood, I doubt anyone would recover like Eddie does without any kind of food or medicine but the movie goes one and its here where they fall into all kind of arguments, Eddie mostly trying to trick William to let him go but it's never that easy.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #locked, #thriller, #skarsgArd, #hopkins, #claustrophobic, #car, #torture, #vigilante, #justice, #trapped, #suv, #criminal, #revenge, #psychological, #tension, #survival, #captive, #confrontation, #morality, #desperation, #father, #confinement, #escape, #suspense, #yarovesky, #flixfinder

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The sequel doesn't dive much into Chris autism as the first one, its more about Chris, Marybeth Medina and Ray King plus Braxton as the third or fourth wheel but this time he really had more screen time, on my previous post about the OG movie I stay away from the support cast as I wanted to talk more about the connection I felt with the movie and the brothers relationship but this time is more about Chris going after Ray King killer, deep inside the movie is very very similar in terms of motives, why it is important for Chris to get Ray's killer in first place. On the first movie Chris was locked up with a man named Francis Silverberg who was part of the mob and told him all his dirty tricks to laundry money, something that became interesting for Chris but bigger than that is that they build up a bond, same goes for Ray who has been working with Chris for quite some time and who Chris let go when he was taking down the Italian guys who killed Francis, Chris asks Ray "are you a good father" , Ray's answer is what moved Chris and let him go, years latter start giving him tips, snitch on bad guys for Ray to arrest, so they build a bond too.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7068946/
• Platform: Prime Video

Rottentomatoes Rating

This is really type of sequel where the creators heard the criticisms of the first movie, especially when it comes to how autism is portrayed. Christian feels more aware of his surrounding and there’s less of that awkward “superhero with a calculator” vibe. The supporting cast gets more to do too, especially Cynthia Addai Robinson playing the role of Marybeth Medina and Allison Robertson as Justine. The story has to do more with an investigation, conspiracies, missing people and some pretty dark subject matter like human trafficking but it never gets bogged down like the first one, this one kept the pace very well. The sequel finds a balance, mixing in humor and true bonding between the brothers, also towards Marybeth. The ending remains the weakest part of the movie and the story doesn't try to handle too many topics at the same time, I consider the sequel to be a big step up from the original. For me, this is the kind of sequel that actually makes you want to see more but how long would it take? if a third movie is ever made I doubt Affleck would still be the main character without a sidekick if it takes another 8 years to make.

Aside from the action, the movie is about family and second chances, reason why this time around had a bigger score and didn't have to wait for others to complain about mixing autism and assassins. Christian and Braxton have a lot of baggage, and the case forces them to confront their past and figure out if they can actually trust each other, I think none of them had a doubt if they could trust each other, specially coming from Chris. The investigation leads them to a shooting in Juarez, where they have to rescue the missing family and take down the trafficking operation, classic action movie stuff, but the script finds ways to keep things interesting, whether it’s through clever hacking sequences with Justine’s crew, the British woman on the phone now reveals herself now as an adult and not a child anymore. The plot is way easier to follow than the first movie as now they main characters stay together for the most part.

In the end they manage to rescue the missing family and take down traffic ring operation getting back Edith Sanchez aka Anais, son back to her although that part felt rush because it was not clear if she regain her life or stay as Anais, keeping in mind she was extremely violent . The brothers sharing a quiet moment on the roof of the airstream, drinking beers, reflecting on everything that’s happened for me is quite the happy ending, with Chris willing to lower his guard or awkwardness for his brother and show him some affection, is not that he doesn't want to its just that he doesn't know how to, they really put aside for the most part the awkward part of Chris on the movie and felt more like a regular guy. The movie leaves the door wide open for another iteration, with hints that there are more cases out there and more bad guys they can hunt down together. Justine’s crew is growing and Medina seems more comfortable working with the brothers, she also learn that sometimes you need to be willing to bend the rules for a bigger purpose, even if she still doesn’t trust them completely.

The ending is the weakest part because they some how got to Juarez in a matter of moments without any planning or road trip like, the bad guys HQ look very improvised and everything end up so fast, the movie mainly focus on been a comedy with some action, it was more about the awkward moments between the Wolf brothers adding action to it to spice things up, still a great watch that I give a 7/10

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #theaccountant2, #affleck, #bernthal, #action, #sequel, #brothers, #autism, #chemistry, #sxsw, #review, #drama, #comedy, #thriller, #fightscenes, #medina, #justine, #hacking, #trafficking, #plot, #cinematography, #soundtrack, #character, #dynamic, #rescue, #ending

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The story is touching but at the same time a bit cringy since we fall into the hacker man fallacy, but the overall story of the almost if not incognito super hero / accountant plays out very well and I think the hardest part for Affleck on this movie was to have no facial movement during his scenes, Ben Affleck plays the role of Christian Wolff, an autistic math genius that hard a very hard time growing up for not fitting in society where only his brother and father stood next to him, always teaching and protecting. The movie takes an angle on the family that we often don't see on this type of stories where is Christian's mother who abandon them, him, his father and brother, she left them behind because she couldn't stand Christian been different and his father been in the US Army away most of the time or having to relocate from one place to another. All this adversities turn Chris into a stronger man even if he didn't fit with many and learn how to survive in the concrete jungle. I really enjoy this movie, its not perfect with multiple flaws but very touching on top with a lot of action, besides you cant complain about the action because Affleck didnt have to do much when it comes to expressing any type of feelings.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/
• Platform: MAX

Rottentomatoes Rating

The Accountant is how it tries to do something different with the action genre with the movie not just about explosions and car chases but having this guy who’s trying to make sense of the world in his own way because he is just different with a good heart, rules can be different depending on the angle you look at them and the movie takes an extreme perspective at it, willing to deal with criminals to help others. The movie pace at a certain point becomes a bit draggy with flashbacks to Christian’s rough childhood, scenes of him being this stone cold killer and then these quieter moments where he is just doing what he loves, shooting, listening to metal or working on company’s cooked books. It’s a weird mix that I haven't seen before until now but it works for me, its true that the movie sometimes try to handle too many things at the time from the accountant, the killer, the math genius, the brother, the hacker and even a double agent, just too many things at once.

The movie has a very mix message when it comes to autism, I guess they wanted to say you can achieve what ever you want but going from accountant to assassin might be too much for a part of the audience, I guess you got to take it with a grain of salt and just look at this movie for what it really is, an action movie and not based on a real life story of an autistic kid who grew up and became an assassin. This also puts a lot of spice on the action hero character, I love how awkward Christian is, he has his own routines and he’s not always easy to root for, the bending laws aspect; but that’s what makes the character interesting. The action is brutal and satisfying with Affleck showing off why he was once Batman but also vulnerable as to why his brother always look after him.

Anna Kendrick brings a sweet girl to the movie as Dana. She is just perfect match for Christian, awkward in her own way too and her scenes with Affleck have a lot of chemistry but the moment you though there was going to be any romance for Chris the script said NOP not tonight and they just cut it off. She doesn’t get as much screen time as I would wanted and at first there were moments when she just come and goes, you know she is on the building but straight out of the scene where she could soften a bit Chris scenes, for example the scene where she and Christian are geeking out over accounting irregularities and it’s actually like they could have been the perfect match.

Jon Bernthal plays the role of Braxton, a stone cold hitman that goes around the world living a wild life, he is Christian brother. Bernthal is the second reason I decided to watch this movie because of his recent role on Daredevil, probably if it wasn't for that I would have put the sequel on my bucket list too. Similar to his role as The Punisher, he got this unpredictable energy, switching from charming to menacing real quick, that is how his relationship with Chris is after so many years of not seen each other, not that Chris didn't miss him is just that he didn't need him physically next to him, its hard not to know how to express feelings.

The brothers face off in a brutal fight but instead of killing each other they end up reconnecting in their own awkward, emotionally way with Braxton been the more sentimental one. It’s not the type of reunion that will make you drop a tear or anything but you can tell there’s a lot of history and pain between them, specially from Braxton how he felt Christian never care for him. The movie ends with Christian moving on to his next job, still living in the shadows but maybe a little more at peace with himself as he has now found a good part of his past in his brother, they agree on meeting sometime but Chris never set a date.

Both Affleck and Bernthal do a great job at the characters and to be honest the rest of the cast did great too, I have zero complains about action but do have some serious ones about the story, there were so many things that just happen without much context or details, the "British" women on the phone wasn't until a very good part ahead of the movie that is reveal who she was and I think it was too late and never gave the proper character development, I would say that is the problem when a movie tries to do too many things at once where it then starts forgetting the important ones, usually left behind, overall a great watch that potentially was not a good candidate for a sequel even after it left the door wide open with the missing pieces but making sequels on 2023 and 2024 was the trend so why not try a movie that was above average.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #benaffleck, #autism, #action, #thriller, #accountant, #crime, #drama, #numbers, #plot, #twist, #brothers, #family, #treasury, #investigation, #violence, #robotics, #chemistry, #cast, #performance, #flashbacks, #hitman, #sequel, #direction, #soundtrack, #character

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Episode 5 is the proof that women on Mobland has way more power than men, it is the case of Maeve who puts on a hit on Vron after been humiliated in front of other women at Tommy's funeral. Comrad once told Maeve "dont forget I'm the judge" but if she really gave the order to kill Vron, Comrad threat didn't age well. Lets see where this all takes us because now Richie not only lost his son but now also lost his trophy wife, there is nothing worst that can be done to a gangster that killing his wife or kids, that is a clear declaration of war, Maeve is wild and I only wonder at what point she is going to get Eddie in action if he ever will, there is the question if Maeve really told Eddie to kill Tommy.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31510819
• Platform: PARAMOUNT+

From both sides, Comrad and Richie, none of them want to pull the trigger first, it is the case on how Comrad calls in everyone from the family who is involve in the business, leaving Brendan and Seraphina out. In the case of Brendan he once lost a lot of money on a deal he was working on for the family and after that has been banned for life and Seraphina well she not Maeve daughter so its just obvious that she is not welcome at Costwold but Comrad still has love for her. Everyone else is at Costwold to discuss if its safe to go to the funeral, here is when I think Comrad is more about making money than been wild, same goes to Richie even though bust sometimes just talk too much, I guess probably thats how it is once a gangster is settle and has a ton of power. What is curious about this episode is how Harry goes from been a possible informant as Maeve and Eddie were speculating to everyone going to the funeral because Harry says its fine, Comrad and everybody at that house put their faith in Harry. Lucky for them Harry is on their side, he even sneak guns and grenades at Richie's place after getting caught one of Richie's bodyguard and black mail him for fucking Vron, Richie's wife.

You dont have to be genius to understand that Richie wants to expose Comrad, I think his plan is to get him to go to Tommy's funeral as the maximum disrespect so he can have enough excuse to go after him but why now? Richie already blew up Kevin's house so I dont think there is any excuse necessary, unless he is doing this to paint Comrad as a traitor and potential snitch against their providers, basically him on a Checkmate situation.

At the funeral Eddie had to show off, he looks Richie straight to his face and said how sorry he was for his lost, same thing to Vron and even try to give her a kiss, Harry had to pull on him and he answers he was only trying to meet her, honestly its the first time that I felt cool with Eddie for been so savage, for the most part he does feel like Joffrey from GOT.

Brendan and Seraphina characters have a bit of more development on this episode, Brendan in the past try to get her to jump ship with her but she puts him a stop right away, this was a strategic pause before she asks Comrad how to proceed, to what he said just listen to him but do not commit to anything. Brendan asks her for 1 hour of her time for lunch and talk about this deal he is brewing, she accepts to listen to what he has to say although the offer is really wack, what caught her attention was the possibility of getting a nice cut out of it going up to 75%, reason why she push so much is because Brendan is trying to deal ruby from Mozambique but it seems she knows where are this coming from based on a ruby Brendan show her and even knowing who is the buyer, this can be a strategy to put Brendan against the wall before she talks to Comrad about it or this might be her just been greedy and trying to leave Brendan with crumbs since he is so desperate to do something that can put him back on a good word with Comrad.

What kept me thinking there is more to the series are the many threads developing like Bella and Harry romantic connection at least from Bella whenever she gets horny, making things worst would the though if Kevin and Harry will have a problem because of Bella, based on the first five episodes I would say no but how far will Jan keep pushing Harry into Bella's arms?. Bernard and Seraphine deal brewing is also interesting and I think it deserves more development, I hope they just dont kill the idea and let Bernard really screw up things for the family once again. Based on this arguments besides the war between families going on, I think there is way more to the series, considering this is only on the Harrigans side, what else is to develop on the Stevensons?, cool episode and I'm starting to like Eddie's savage attitude.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #mobland, #funeral, #harrigans, #stevensons, #maeve, #harry, #eddie, #conrad, #richie, #betrayal, #tension, #crime, #family, #revenge, #wake, #explosion, #grief, #power, #violence, #rubies, #strategy, #guns, #drama, #secrets, #ambition, #flixfinder

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Después del impactante episodio anterior, posiblemente "The Path", tercer episodio de la nueva temporada de The Last of Us, sea el más importante de la segunda parte; esto lo digo porque desde ahora en adelante la historia será relatada desde el punto de vista de Ellie quien después de los eventos traumáticos causados por una venganza, es de esperar que así como ocurre con un virus, sea ella infectada por el odio lo que le hará transitar de un camino oscuro en dónde obtener su venganza sea el final; justamente la manera de relatar el transitar es lo que más me ha generado expectativas, ya que sé que habrá muchos factores envueltos para desarrollar y profundizar en los actos que deba realizar la ahora única protagonista de esta historia.

After the shocking previous episode, possibly "The Path", third episode of the new season of The Last of Us, is the most important of the second part; I say this because from now on the story will be told from the point of view of Ellie who after the traumatic events caused by a revenge, it is expected that as happens with a virus, she will be infected by hatred which will make her go through a dark path where getting her revenge will be the end; precisely the way of relating the journey is what has generated me the most expectations, since I know that there will be many factors involved to develop and deepen the acts that the now only protagonist of this story must perform.

A pesar de mis expectativas anteriormente dichas, de igual manera sentí cierta preocupación al pensar que este pudo ser un episodio de relleno, esto lo digo porque esperaba que existiera momentos en dónde después de un vil ataque no solo hacia Joel, sino el realizado por los numerosos clickers, se mostrará que la vida debe continuar, que se debe superar los traumas, aprender de los errores y hacerse más fuertes, muchas cosas que al decirlas parece ser fácil, pero la realidad es que la perdida para muchos personajes, en especial para Ellie es muy duro de superar y eso es lo que justamente se convierte en el motivo principal de este episodio y del resto de esta historia. Quiero enfocarme en Ellie porque hay demostraciones y definiciones hacia su personaje lo cual es importante, primeramente observamos una actitud de estar tranquila y de haber aceptado lo sucedido lo cual para la vista de muchos podrá hacer ver qué Ellie sufre, pero no existe un nivel de resentimiento, ni venganza, pero al ser definida como una mentirosa, es donde podemos ver qué no estamos consciente de la Ellie que se ha creado después de lo sucedido con Joel, ya que estamos viendo una fachada, un caparazón que posiblemente esconde a una persona que está comenzando a consumirse por el odio.

Despite my expectations previously said, I also felt some concern to think that this could be a filler episode, I say this because I expected that there would be moments where after a vile attack not only to Joel, but the one made by the numerous clickers, it will be shown that life must go on, that one must overcome traumas, learn from mistakes and become stronger, many things that by saying them seems to be easy, but the reality is that the loss for many characters, especially for Ellie is very hard to overcome and that is precisely what becomes the main reason for this episode and the rest of this story. I want to focus on Ellie because there are demonstrations and definitions towards her character which is important, first of all we observe an attitude of being calm and having accepted what happened which for the view of many may make us see that Ellie suffers, but there is no level of resentment or revenge, but being defined as a liar, is where we can see that we are not aware of the Ellie that has been created after what happened with Joel, since we are seeing a facade, a shell that possibly hides a person who is beginning to be consumed by hatred.

El trabajo de Bella Ramsey como "Ellie" es excepcional, en especial en la primera mitad del episodio en dónde nos demuestra diferentes facetas de su personaje; personalmente esperaba ver en ella procesos del duelo lo cual si se presta atención si existen, pero no de una manera ordenada como muchos hacen ver; su desesperación y negación se observa en el momento de despertar en el hospital, su estado de tristeza y depresión al momento de enfrentar la soledad de su hogar, la aceptación al visitar a la tumba de Joel, pero de todas esas facetas, es la ira la que más me ha impresionado y a pesar de ser una escena con muy poco tiempo, la actuación de Ramsey así como la dirección de Peter Hoar posiblemente crearon una de las mejores imágenes que podemos ver de esta serie.

The work of Bella Ramsey as "Ellie" is exceptional, especially in the first half of the episode where she shows us different facets of her character; personally I expected to see in her grief processes which if you pay attention do exist, but not in an orderly manner as many make it look; Her desperation and denial is seen in the moment of waking up in the hospital, her sadness and depression when facing the loneliness of her home, the acceptance when visiting Joel's grave, but of all these facets, it is the anger that has impressed me the most and despite being a scene with very little time, the performance of Ramsey as well as the direction of Peter Hoar possibly created one of the best images we can see of this series.

Me gustó como Mazin ofrezca el liderazgo pleno al personaje de "Ellie", me pareció una gran decisión no demostrar una gran carga emocional de ese personaje en este momento de la historia, que sepa cómo lidiar con la perdida, pero que también tenga o muestre diferentes comportamientos con las personas que la rodean, en especial con "Dina" quien en mi opinión cada vez más se convertirá en el ancla de Ellie hacia su humanidad; es claro que Dina será un apoyo incondicional, pero también deberá ser la oportunidad para una mejor vida y me gusta que así como ocurre un desarrollo lento para demostrar lo capaz que será Ellie en su camino hacia la venganza, pero también se toman su tiempo para desarrollar la historia de amor entre ellas dos, algo que es de mucha relevancia para esta historia. He visto en tres oportunidades este episodio y estoy plenamente conectado con la manera pausas de relatar esta historia, el tiempo que están tomando para el desarrollo de ciertos sucesos será fundamental para dar validez a esta corta segunda temporada porque estoy seguro de que el ritmo será más trepidante para el relato de una tercera parte; creo que al ser pausados pueden brindar otros aspectos que no son vistos en el videojuego y eso es lo que hace funcionar muy bien a esta producción de HBO.

I liked how Mazin offers full leadership to the character of "Ellie", it seemed to me a great decision not to show a great emotional charge of that character at this point in the story, that she knows how to deal with the loss, but also have or show different behaviors with the people around her, especially with "Dina" who in my opinion more and more will become Ellie's anchor towards her humanity; it is clear that Dina will be an unconditional support, but she should also be the opportunity for a better life and I like that as well as there is a slow development to show how capable Ellie will be on her way to revenge, but they also take their time to develop the love story between the two of them, something that is very relevant to this story. I have seen three times this episode and I am fully connected with the paused way of telling this story, the time they are taking for the development of certain events will be fundamental to give validity to this short second season because I am sure that the rhythm will be more fast-paced for the story of a third part; I think that by being paused they can provide other aspects that are not seen in the video game and that is what makes this HBO production work very well.

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• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3581920/
• Platform: PRIME VIDEO

One of the most powerful sequences is Ellie returning to her house with Joel, as I expected she moved from her some what girly room to the garage and turn it into an armory. The fence of the house was full of flowers and cards, the kind of gestures that are supposed to tell others you are sorry but all I could think about is who is going to clean up all that?. She finds Joel’s old watch and gun inside a box left on top of his bed, honestly I was just waiting for the moment she breaks down, it was when she hugg his jacket that tears finally came out, it’s the first time we really see her let her guard down. Bella Ramsey absolutely nails the character once again, making Ellie’s pain feel raw and real without a single word similar to when she wakes up at the hospital. It’s a tough scene that I'm sure it was not an easy one to film, I still think about who decides if its good or not? even if this are not the events from the game I think the series nail it.

Ellie goes to Tommy for his approval and join her to locate the ones who killed Joel, but he suggest to get Jackson on their side they need to take this to the Town Council. There’s a council meeting where Ellie explain her reasons and points to ask for a group to go after Abby and her crew, not only for revenge but for justice, honestly I never expected this was going to be approve at least not at first, the main reason because they have lost too much already and they’re not willing to risk more lives for revenge to put things simple. It was 8 votes who said NO against 3 who said yes, lot of people also gave out their opinion on how its too risky to send 16 of their best to hunt down Joel's murder when it would be more beneficial for the town to recover in the short term, they key point here is that everyone though it was a random murder and not hat Joel was the specific target, not even Ellie knows this for sure because she got late to the party.

Ellie will go no matter what the council decided, question was who would be with her?? in the end it was only Dina and a guy who they had problems in New Years Eve dance, the scene of Ellie and Dina leaving Jackson riding through the countryside are something else in terms of how vivid the landscape looks, its here were Ellie also visit Joel's grave 10 miles away from Jackson. There’s a sense of calm, almost too much as they continue traveling on horse, on a post apocalyptic world you would expected them to get jump in any moment.

The ending of Episode 3 felt more like a transition, the show is shifting from Jackson to Seattle and splitting things, not so sure if this is going to work out that well. As they travel the episode gives us a bit of downtime with Ellie and Dina, we going to get to know them way better although the trip felt very very short. They talk about the past, about their kiss at the New Year’s Eve party and about the people they’ve lost, it’s awkward and sweet and a little sad, the kind of conversation you have when you’re trying to distract yourself from what’s coming. The rain, the campfire, the nervous jokes, like two people trying to find comfort and trying to avoid the main topic but they just can't as much as they try.

The calm doesn’t last as they get closer to Seattle, they stumble upon a group of Seraphites, members of a religious cult and they have been slaughtered, including a child. From the marks on their faces and how they get tied so much to a weapon like a hammer I knew it has to be some sort of cult although I don't know much about the Seraphites, they do use techniques to travel efficiently in groups and watch for each other but when they sound the alarm I remember a girl asking his father "daemons?" to what he answers back " ...wolfs" , so are this in fact the same W.L.F Ellie and Dina are after?

The show doesn’t spell out who did it, not much evidence but that's just my speculation, WLF stands for Washington Liberation Front, Abby’s group and there are fingers pointing at the like responsible for the killing. They also have a massive presence it Seattle, I would say they own the city and that includes no infected probably, with the man power and ammo they got its a lot, unless they have rival in town, Ellie and Dina have not clue what they about to go to war with.

The show has to take a breath after all the craziness of episode 2 and I find this the perfect soft landing, but will Ellie be capable of carrying the series into the next seasons? I dont know about game stories but on TV there is always a main character with a side kick, Ellie and Joel were a team, as the younger one Ellie was Joel's side kick so is the series going to put her in the center of the story? it is true that Joel felt like he was not doing much on season 2 but come on they guy only had 2 episodes, go back season 1 and you will see who is saving Ellie ass every here and then, even though her a lot of the things she know and their journey was way longer than how much it took Ellie and Dina to get to Seattle.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive,#thelastofus, #ellie, #joel, #dina, #jackson, #grief, #revenge, #seattle, #seraphites, #wlf, #council, #tommy, #abby, #violence, #cult, #prophet, #ramsey, #loss, #journey, #relationship, #justice, #episode3, #season2, #mourning, #betrayal, #flixfinder

Posted Using INLEO

Posted Using INLEO

Un nuevo verano ha llegado y en el campamento Pineway, un grupo de jóvenes consejeros llega a ese mágico lugar con la necesidad de divertirse y disfrutar de esa etapa de la vida, pero lo que ellos no saben es que ese no será un verano cualquiera, será "Un Verano Infernal".

A new summer has arrived and at Pineway Camp, a group of young counselors arrive at this magical place with the need to have fun and enjoy this stage of life, but what they don't know is that this will not be just any summer, it will be "Hell of a Summer".

Esta comedia de horror originalmente fue estrenada en el Festival Fílmico Internacional de Toronto en el 2023 y no fue hasta este año que la exitosa distribuidora "NEON, estrenó brevemente en las salas de cine para después tener un lanzamiento en el formato de "Video on Demand". Este film significa el debut en la dirección y guion en un largometraje para Finn Wolfhard, protagonista de la serie "Stranger Things", así como también para Billy Bryk, quienes han compartido diferentes trabajos en sus carreras actorales; en esta primera oportunidad creo que tomaron una acertada decisión en realizar un slasher, la cual creó que es un género fácil de hacer aunque es cierto que también se presenta cierta dificultad por la gran cantidad de películas que existen y posiblemente sea eso lo que motivo a estos nuevos directores, ya que este film presenta un notorio homenaje a clásicos como "Friday The 13th" y "Scream".

Es notorio que Wolfhard y Bryk, aprovechan de muy buena manera los escenarios en dónde se desarrolla la historia; la fotografía es impecable, los ángulos y la panorámica que capta la cámara ofrece muy buenas imágenes; la iluminación y el predominio de ciertos colores como naranja, marrón, amarillo, rojo y negro, me hizo recordar a films de terror de finales de los 70' y 80' lo cual es la gran referencia o influencia de este film aunque creo que se pudo hacer un mejor homenaje recreando icónicas muertes; justamente una de las mejores escenas del film es el comienzo lo cual ofrece una demostración de felicidad, vulnerabilidad y correcto uso del suspenso, pero lamentablemente ese nivel o esas características no se repiten en el resto de la película.

This horror comedy originally premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023 and it wasn't until this year that the successful distributor, NEON, briefly released the film theatrically and later had a "Video on Demand" release. This film marks the feature film directing and screenwriting debut for Finn Wolfhard, star of the "Stranger Things" series, as well as Billy Bryk, both of whom have shared different jobs in their acting careers; in this first opportunity I think they made the right decision in making a slasher, which I believe is an easy genre to do although it is true that it also presents some difficulty due to the large number of films that exist and possibly that is what motivated these new directors, as this film presents a notorious tribute to classics like "Friday The 13th" and "Scream".

It is notorious that Wolfhard and Bryk, take advantage in a very good way of the scenarios where the story develops; the photography is impeccable, the angles and the panoramic that captures the camera offers very good images; the lighting and the predominance of certain colors like orange, brown, yellow, red and black, reminded me of horror films of the late 70' and 80' which is the great reference or influence of this film although I think a better tribute could be done recreating iconic deaths; precisely one of the best scenes of the film is the beginning which offers a demonstration of happiness, vulnerability and correct use of suspense, but unfortunately that level or those characteristics are not repeated in the rest of the film.

La manera en que ambos escriben el guion me hizo notar que existió la necesidad de dar profundidad a los personajes, no solamente ser parte del cliché de las víctimas de este tipo de films, algo que de igual manera es evidente, pero creo que hubo la necesidad de explorar la comedia y a la vez el suspenso por como se comportan los numerosos protagonistas de esta historia lo cual considero un punto positivo porque todos son sospechosos y por supuesto, todos son víctimas y como dije anteriormente la influencia y el homenaje al género slasher es más que evidente, pero repito, la necesidad de dar protagonismo a cada personaje, me pareció algo acertado, digo algo por qué a pesar de contar con muchas características o cumplir las reglas del género, creo que se resta impacto a lo que es el asesino y por supuesto a las muertes, en mi opinión es lo negativo del film y lamento que no se contará con la intensidad o la necesidad de filmar muertes gráficas porque estaba convencido de que el humor hecho para esta película funcionaría muy bien con mejores escenas de terror.

The way they both write the script made me notice that there was the need to give depth to the characters, not just be part of the cliché of the victims of this type of films, something that is equally evident, but I think there was the need to explore the comedy and at the same time the suspense for how the many protagonists of this story behave which I consider a positive point because they are all suspects and of course, all are victims and as I said before the influence and homage to the slasher genre is more than evident, but I repeat, the need to give prominence to each character seemed to me something right, I say something because despite having many features or meet the rules of the genre, I think it subtracts impact to what is the murderer and of course the deaths, in my opinion is the negative of the film and I regret that it will not have the intensity or the need to film graphic deaths because I was convinced that the humor made for this film would work very well with better scenes of terror.

Esta es una de esas producciones en donde existe una excelente idea a desarrollar, pero creo que no alcanza el verdadero potencial que sus creadores querían transmitir, es una lástima porque la película tarda en ser divertida lo cual creó que es parte del plan de sus directores y guionistas a causa del desarrollo de sus personajes o por lo menos ofrecer el contexto de cada desde el punto de vista del buen protagonista, me refiero al personaje de "Jason" interpretado por Fred Hechinger; desde ese punto se crea una base para la comedia la cual después debería convertirse en un caos con las muertes y demás, pero repito, eso no sucede de una manera regular como ocurre en estas películas y eso genera decepción, por eso creo que el verdadero potencial para cumplir como una comedia de terror, no se alcanza lo cual hace que Hell of a Summer sea una película regular, si es entretenida, pero no es para nada perfecta aunque si puedo decir que es una correcta presentación para estos jóvenes directores y guionistas.

This is one of those productions where there is an excellent idea to develop, but I think it does not reach the true potential that its creators wanted to convey, it is a pity because the film takes a while to be funny which I think is part of the plan of its directors and screenwriters because of the development of its characters or at least offer the context of each one from the point of view of the good protagonist, I mean the character of "Jason" played by Fred Hechinger; from that point a base for the comedy is created which later should become a chaos with the deaths and so on, but I repeat, that does not happen in a regular way as it happens in these movies and that generates disappointment, so I think the real potential to fulfill as a horror comedy, is not reached which makes Hell of a Summer a regular movie, if it is entertaining, but it is not perfect at all although I can say that it is a correct presentation for these young directors and screenwriters.

Cover image edited in canva; the image was taken from the following source