alejonebbia Reviews

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Entertainment for all ages...

[2 June 2010]

These movies "for kids" sometimes turn to be tedious attempts to provide a moral and lessons for the youngsters and they finish losing the main purpose, that is what we liked when we were kids, to be fun.

"How to Train Your Dragon" fulfills all the expectations, and for this reason it's recommended not only for children, but also for adults like me who refuse to grow up.

I love the Brit & American mix in the voices (I must confess I'm a big fan of Craig by the way), and specially the warmth in the voice of Jay Baruchel what makes Hiccup a believable -and lovable- character.

In conclusion: Highly recommended for all ages.

Lost: The End: Part 1 (2010) Season 6, Episode 17

I didn't expect anything less...

[26 May 2010]

I know that some fans are upset or disappointed for the way the series ended.

In the other hand, I know that some fans are highly satisfied with the way the series ended.

Personally, I'm not going to deny that I had my personal version of how Lost should've ended (who didn't?); and I also have a lot of unresolved questions I have to learn to live with.

But, even when I'm a big fan of Lost since the pilot to this very last episode, I'd decided to watch the finale with no expectations about what it should or shouldn't be like.

Lost have turned me upside down more that once (actually, almost always). Every time I thought I had it figure it out, the story managed to show me the Island and the characters from a new angle, a different perspective. More than once (actually so many times) I felt that thrill, those goosebumps for a new beginning.

I applaud Lost for that. It was never predictable, and that's a very good thing that I wasn't experiencing in a show since Twin Peaks ended 19 years ago (wow, it's been a long time).

What I did expect for the last episode of this wonderful series was to surprise me, to turn me upside down once again, to show me the Island and the characters from a new fresh perspective. I knew it couldn't give me all the answers I wanted in 2 1/2 hours... and I didn't want that. I still enjoy using my imagination and filling up the blanks with my own theories.

And this episode just did it again. It gave us a twist that many people (including me) were not expecting, and obviously generated love and hate in equal measures. It's everything I expected.

I just hope not having to wait for almost two decades for another show of this sort to show up again and shake our very core.

House M.D.: 5 to 9 (2010) Season 6, Episode 13

House is getting better time after time...

[9 February 2010]

I know that a lot of people are going to say that this episode was not really a "House" episode, that it didn't show up many diagnosis and innovating ideas from the genius of Greg House.

But what I like about this season in general is that shows more of the background where Dr. House moves around. Along with episodes like "Broken" and "Wilson" in which we saw more of the issues that House and Wilson have to overcome daily, in this one we could see a little more of Lisa Cuddy and the reason of why she shows herself sometimes distant and busy in another episodes.

A different perspective... the same wonderful show.

Flashforward: The Gift (2009) Season 1, Episode 7

What your destiny is going to look like?

[7 November 2009]

Is your future written in stone?

I think this episode, out of the seven that were already aired, is the one that provides the most in enrichment of the plot.

Like I expressed in my review on the main page of FlashForward, the chances for this show to not disappoint the audience was to continually keep feeding the audience with an intelligent script. And the primary question that had to be answered was the one above: Is the future indelible? Are we able to change it?

If the answer would be no, the plot would be turning predictable and, with time, boring. The first episodes, and even this one in some part, were leading in that direction. Although Mark got rid of the friendship bracelet that his daughter gave him to try to stop his future, all the new leads of his "flash forward" future kept showing up and his board was filling up little by little in the same way he saw it. Demetri was so certain of his upcoming death that didn't even want to try fighting his destiny. Even Al in this episode took the gun and shot himself because six month from now he knew he was going to be alive.

The turning, and key, point was Al jumping from the roof in a desperate attempt to change his future. The result? It didn't only changed his, Celia's and her kid's, those last 7 minutes of episode 7 were really "The Gift" (title of the episode) all the audience needed.

The future can be changed. Demetri and Mark felt that relief. We all did.

Now new questions have arisen: How to stop the train of the future from coming if you didn't have the chance of knowing who were you going to affect like Al did? Or even if you didn't have a flash forward? How do you know that something you are doing to prevent the future from happening is not really causing it? Can it just be stopped by drastic measures like Al's?

Really good questions that got me hooked up with just to the idea of a possible new dawn.

V (2009–2011)

It's a remake... but still looking really good

[4 November 2009]

I usually hate remakes. The best example is what they did with "Knight Rider", there was no need for it. The original was a classic (period).

With "V" I have mixed feelings... on one side the original 80's series was one of my favorite TV shows in my childhood. We even used to play at school who was a Visitor and who was part of the Resistance. But I have to admit that the special effects (guns, skin, etc.) were a little corny. Don't misunderstand me, it's been a favorite and it always will. But, on the other hand, unlike "Knight Rider" this show could use some modernization.

The first episode was great in special effects, and so far keeps the essence of the original story plot about the invasion and the objective that the visitors have. Some change of names (Diana is now Anna); Mike Donovan and Julie Parrish (a cameraman and a doctor) are now Jack and Erica (a priest -like Father Turney in the original- and a FBI agent?) and is her son, Tyler, instead of his son, Sean Donovan, who's attracted with the Visitors; the reporter Kristina Walsh is now a man: Chad; and so on. By the way, who would be my favorite character Willy? Ryan?

Anyway, I still give credit to this reimagining of "V"... it looks like it's going in the right direction, same original idea with better effects, and good acting so far. I hope that stays in that track.

The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

What the eyes can tell... without needing a word

[3 November 2009]

I'm Argentinian, but I generally don't like Argentinian movies. And it's not because there isn't any good actor/actress in the country. The fact is that there are a lot of excellent actors... what happens is that normally the movie scripts just suck.

In this case the movie blew me away... the plot, the performances, well... everything. A special thing that I really loved was the beautiful close-ups, the little expressions in the faces of everybody, the wrinkles, the words not said with the mouths, but with the eyes, every desire, every single detail of the number of emotions that everyone has.

"El hijo de la novia", "Luna de Avellaneda", "El secreto de sus ojos"... it's not a coincidence that all these movies have Campanella and Darín working in tandem.

This is the way more Argentinian movies should be: actors+SCRIPT.

Moon (2009)

Unexpectedly unique!

[3 November 2009]

I've just finished watching "Moon" on DVD. At first, I didn't think it was going to be anything out of the ordinary-Sci-Fi-spaceship-kind of movie.

But it was growing and growing in intensity until I was completely immersed in a brilliant performance by Sam Rockwell, more proper of a theater soliloquy than a spaceship.

The moral standards keep bouncing back and forth. And you start wondering what's right or wrong. I started the movie ignoring GERTY, then that feeling became hate, and I finally loved that smiley robot. Kevin Spacey always display his remarkable style in every film he's made (one of my favorite actors ever, by the way), even if he's just a voice in the movie.

I never liked considering that movies should give us a moral at the end or be philosophical, but if the script is good, the acting is great, and it ALSO has that extra magical thing that leave us thinking about it for a while after you walked out of a movie theater or turned your TV off... I might say: "It's worthwhile to be recommended".

Flashforward (2009–2010)

A show that still have my hopes up... finally

[31 October 2009]

I must confess that I'm a big Suspense/Mystery/Sci-Fi fan. A show that blew my mind in the 90's was "Twin Peeks". What a master piece!

"The X Files" never got my attention, nor any other show since then until the beginning of the 2000's. Most of them just treated us like we were dumb or something like that, what I call "baby stuff". At least in my case, I want shows that challenge my intelligence not that underestimate me.

It was not until 14 years after "Twin Peeks" that another show completely got me wondering week after week what was coming next. Challenging the standards of TV shows, astonishing me episode after episode and creating a wonderful universe where the characters come to life vividly. Of course I'm talking about "LOST", in my opinion, the greatest story plot ever to be on TV.

But again, since then, one after another every new show was mere copies or adaptations of old series, old plots, etc.

"Heroes" had a great beginning (the first 22 episodes of the first season were just great), but does not always achieve all the potential it has. Good series, but still waiting for the show to go the extra mile.

"Fringe" has some interesting episodes... but still not there yet.

And this year, while waiting impatiently for the last season of "LOST", "FlashForward" came... I watched the pilot and got trapped in the plot, in the story, in the possibilities ahead, in the mysteries to solve... I just loved the idea of having a (2:17 min) flash of your life 6 months in the future and what are you going to do with that information. Why? How? Who? So many questions and so many expectations that I thought that maybe in future episodes I was going to be disappointed somehow (sadly so many other shows already did that to my expectations). But...

So far six episodes... so far the hopes are still up... so far the story keeps adding new facets to the plot... and so far it's a 10 out of 10.

I hope that the show keeps my hopes up and also gives us "adult material", not just the "baby stuff".

Heroes: Chapter Twenty-Three 'How to Stop an Exploding Man' (2007) Season 1, Episode 23

It could be much better... the season deserved it

[28 October 2009]

In general, the first season of Heroes was a 9.5 out of 10 for every single episode to me... except for the last one. What were they thinking honestly?

It would be nice to see a long fight between Peter and Sylar (like the glimpse of the real combat between them in the episode "Five Years Gone"), but I could also be satisfied with some of the other heroes finishing Sylar... Hiro (as predicted in the last comic book of Isaac), Claire or even getting his ass kicked by Jessica/Niki.

The problem with this episode is not the duration of the final fight or who killed (?) Sylar. Neither is the fact of Peter not flying by himself to explode in the sky (that might be explain by the fact that he was unable to control his powers at that moment... if he couldn't handle his radiation... obviously he wasn't able to fly or use any other of his abilities).

The big hole in the plot, in my opinion, is the (cheesy) fact that Nathan, melodramatically, came to help. Please, come on... did the fantastic 22 first episodes of this great series deserve a soap opera finale with the two brothers finally showing their love for each other?

It could be much better than that.