Reviews

This is the story of the mathematical geniuses behind the Manhattan Project. It's an overall aesthetically pleasing film with decent cinematography and good in most technical aspects. Unfortunately it falls short in terms of script, where the protagonist's drama misses all targets and becomes very superficial. His story does not convince the viewer of the significance of whatever drives the drama forward: personal, ethical, spiritual, political, or other motivations. It ends up feeling like the director is trying too much to shove some feelings into the viewer, but without any foundations to substantiate them. None of the relationships (wife, friend, colleagues, the institution, etc.) goes at an adequate depth to produce meaningful dynamics - so the torment seems without much reason. It's a pity, cause I would expect that such a context is a great opportunity for the exact opposite.

This movie has not aged well from an artistic perspective, but will most likely remain immortal in terms of the message passed. The cinematography is extremely bad, acting (with a few exceptions) is comic and laughable, sound design is nonexistent. Still, there are is so much value at what the movie is sharing with the world about events that happened 100 years back that make it pertinent to this very day. Its subtle critique of both sides (left and right) is painstakingly accurate. It is a good film that everyone should give a chance. A la huelga, compañero!

Without any offence to Filipino cinema, this movie was horrible. I was misled by the number of people calling it a masterpiece and my love for foreign and historical films, and couldn't expect what was coming. I suffered so much watching it that in the end I sympathised with that girl begging to be shot in the head. The reasons of my suffering in brief: 1. Sound design is extremely bad, struggling to listen to the characters' voices, the SFX were childish. 2. Unnecessarily long (3 hours that felt like 5). Impressed to learn that was initialy 5h long... 3. Nonsensical and unrealistic violence, made you feel like you are watching a low budget splatter. 4. That joke of a Rambo-like fighting scene near the end of the film that was so amateurishly executed and so long, that felt as if it was a practical joke on the viewer 5. Random sex happening 6. With the exception of a couple of good scenes (like the hacienda fire), the cinematography/photography was very dull 7. Characters (even ghosts) appearing and disappearing without meaning or connection to the plot 8. Excuse my OCD, but even the title Oro, plata, mata (3 part) is not in accordance with the film which is somehow in 4 parts (city, hacienda, forest house, slaughterhouse). 9. The relationships between the characters in the plot were very superficial. Despite the good acting from a couple of the ladies, the rest was so thin that it couldn't hold together the plot.

In case you are expecting to watch a historical epic movie (like the ones OPM is often compared to) I would really suggest you skip. Instead of the treasure you are seeking, you will find a carton of spoiled milk.

Black Crows gave me very mixed feelings. I watched the show while in Syria, at the time when ISIS was going down. I was inclined to watch the show, despite the mixed reviews, mostly to exercise my arabic. Still, since I survived the whole thing, I would love to share a few observations with you guys.

The show is trying very hard to be aesthetically pleasing, with modern sleek direction, textbook lighting, good sound, etc. Still, due to all these elements, everything looks very unrealistic. Syria, especially in the rural areas is very dirty, poorly lit, and noisy. Unfortunately the show keeps reminding you that is being filmed in a nice clean studio.

The cast is suffering from the same issue. It is too "clean". You won't find your average ISIS fighter face within the cast. Covering all their faces with make up all the time doesn't help either....

The script is definitely based on research, albeit one of a sophomore university student. All the characters are like caricatures, very single dimensional. All behaviors and events are barely touched to their root cultural or political causes. The show will help the ignorant see few of the horrors that took place in the IS, but will not help someone who was already informed to do anything than visualize them (and the visuals are also borderline acceptable!). Also, throughout the show, there are so many characters behaving so irrationally (no, I am not referring to religious irrationality) that makes you want to jump in the screen and slap them in the face!

All in all, I would suggest the show to those who have some extra time to kill and are interested in watching an arabic production about ISIS. But... If you want to get a better sense of things, stick to your documentaries. If you are looking for quality ISIS splatter, stick to your bestgore visits.