Latino movie reviews

Gran Torino (Movie Review)

*Updated 2026

In 2026, when stories about race, resentment and redemption are read with sharper eyes, Gran Torino still works best when its bluntness gives way to feeling.

Read More

Land of the Lost (Movie Review)

Rated: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, and for language including a drug reference.
Release Date: 2009-06-05
Starring: Chris Henchy & Dennis McNicholas
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.landofthelost.net/

Go to our film page

‘Land of the Lost’ only has two funny scenes worth enjoying. The rest is ancillary and periphery entertainment that distracts you long enough from zonking out. I must admit though, Will Ferrell and Danny McBride are funny guys and they can make boring look funny, as was the case here. Without them, this film could have been much worse. Simply put, the story just wasn’t very interesting. In order to compensate for the deficiencies in the script, special effects teams had to work over-time to force audiences to re-route their attention to it.

Based on the television series with the same name, Dr. Rick Marshall (Ferrell) is sucked into a space-time vortex alongside his research assistant (Anna Friel) and a redneck survivalist (McBride). In this alternate universe, the trio make friends with a primate named Chaka (Taccone), their only ally in a world full of dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures. Can they all make it back to our world alive, and if so: will Dr. Marshall go from zero to hero with his discoveries? These are the questions that are not worth sticking around for.

But I’m not going to go into bashing this film frame to frame. The bottom line is that Ferrell and McBride are great at what they do and they really are funny. They’re worth every penny, but not here. The reason is the story, an incongruous story and plotline at that.

The CGI was inconsistent, sometimes it was on, other times it didn’t fulfill expectations. Overall, this movie doesn’t fulfill my expectations nor will it yours.

The Hangover (Movie Review)

Rated: R for pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material.
Release Date: 2009-06-05
Starring: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://hangovermovie.warnerbros.com/

Go to our film page

‘The Hangover’ is the type of comedy I like. Slightly in your face, but never pushing the envelope past the point of no return (i.e; Observe and Report). It’s this year’s Pineapple Express. But the best thing about this film is the plotline. Absolutely fantastic! It’s really hard to find stories interesting enough to perk up your senses in today’s Hollywood.

Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and his three friends (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis) drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they’ll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can’t remember a thing, nor where the soon to be husband Doug is. With no clue as to what transpired and little time to spare, the trio must retrace their hazy steps, figure out what happened to Doug and get back to the weeding in time before anyone suspects what happened.

There are moments when the story drags a bit in the middle, but all worth disregarding due to the compelling and amusing story. So how was the acting? Terrific. Zach Galifianakis, the bearded fellow, was such an annoying puss that he really managed to get under my skin. Cooper was just a rock star and after this film, he’ll no doubt be leading man material in his next project.

This is perhaps the most entertaining film of the year. I enjoyed it and so will you!

Drag Me to Hell (Movie Review)

*Updated 2026

In 2026, when PG-13 horror often tries to be either too polished or too safe, Drag Me to Hell still works because Sam Raimi makes the chaos feel nasty, funny and alive.

Read More

Terminator Salvation (Movie Review)

Terminator Salvation does not seem like a Terminator movie, at least when compared to what we have experienced from filmmakers James Cameron (The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). This fourth Terminator is a different breed with a divergent feel, almost as if director McG (née Joseph McGinty Nichol) decided to fuse Cormac McCarthy’s The Road with Transformers. Gone (at least mostly) are the time travel paradoxes and the concept of a single, indestructible villain. In their place is a futuristic war movie. With its idea of an insurgency striking against an implacable evil empire, there’s more than a little Star Wars in Terminator: Salvation. However, not even at its Empire Strikes Back bleakest was Lucas’ series this dark. Read More

Angels & Demons (Movie Review)

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material.
Release Date: 2009-05-15
Starring: Akiva Goldsman
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com.mx/Sony/HotSites/Mx/angelesydemonios/

Go to our film page

‘The Da Vinci Code’ was such good, clever cinematic entertainment, that expectations for ‘Angels & Demons’ to either match or exceed its success were crucial. Regrettably, neither came true. The contrivances and absurd coincidences of the clues are so predictable and telegraphed that it zapped all the fun out of the film. This new effort by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks falls short of their talents and abilities. Hanks not only phoned in his performance, it looked like he created a cartoon version of his character Robert Langdon.

“Angels & Demons,” published in 2000 by author Dan Brown, sees Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared in the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization called the Illuminati to turn half of Rome into a wasteland.

Here’s the good and the bad with ‘Angels & Demons’: Entertainment vs. Implausibility.

Let me explain…the bad is that this film is ‘The Da Vinci Code’ on steroids, it’s so over-the-top. The clues are never ending and they are too easy to create any suspense. Also the acting was, for some reason or other, below par. Perhaps the cast’s uninspired efforts were a byproduct of shooting in a studio lot as opposed to Vatican City, which did not give any clearance to film on its premises. No wonder you saw so much CGI this time around. Finally, the ending takes a turn to the absurd, fully confirming that corporate studio heads prevailed by creating a film for the ‘everyday joe’ and not the literary fans of the book.

The good can be described in the beautiful and elegant camerawork of cinematographer Salvatore Totino, and a captivating story that tells of the mysteries inside the holy Vatican City. There are many scenes that are very entertaining to watch and delight in.

Still, the bad outweighs the good and the preposterous plot outweighs everything. If you’re a fan of the book you’ll be entertained but disappointed, and if you’re not, the same thing.

Management (Movie Review)

Aniston plays a traveling saleswoman who sells cheap art to small companies in motels. She has a fling with an aimless, underachieving assistant motel manager (Zahn) at one of her stops, and he ends pursuing her all over the U.S. Talk about getting suckered into vulnerability. Steve Zahn dripped that adjective in his latest performance in the film ‘Management’, also starring Jennifer Aniston. The movie, which has all the makings of an indie film, but it’s really targeted towards a more mainstream audience, is perhaps the best romantic comedy of the year. That’s really not saying much since the genre hasn’t put out a real charmer in a while. Read More

Rudo y Cursi (Movie Review)

Rated: R for pervasive language, sexual content and brief drug use.
Release Date: 2009-05-08
Starring: Carlos Cuarón
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: Mexico
Official Website: http://www.rudoycursilapelicula.com/

Go to our film page

“Rudo y Cursi†is a lively and engaging comedy that highlights some drama in its storyline. Regrettably, in the end, feels a little thin, largely because it is unsure of how earnestly to treat its own lessons about fate, ambition and brotherly love. There is a lot of velocity in this ultimately familiar tale of rising and falling, but not much gravity. “Rudo y Cursi†is partly about the consequences of taking a game much too seriously, but at the same time it treats everything else — life, death, love, money — like a game.

 

Beto (Diego Luna) and Tato Verdusco (Gael Garcia Bernal) are half brothers who work together at a banana plantation and live with their extended family in a village in southern Mexico. When the two of them are suddenly (and somewhat improbably) plucked from rural proletarian obscurity and turned into professional soccer players in Mexico City, they achieve fame as Rudo and Cursi, nicknames that can be translated more or less as tough and corny.

 

But Mr. Cuarón also has trouble managing the tone of the film as it swerves from light-hearted absurdity toward a darker, more cynical view of its characters and their fate. Too often he allows “Rudo y Cursi†to coast on the likeability of its stars, who seem at times to be enjoying themselves more than their characters are able to.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Movie Review)

Rated: PG-13
Release Date: 2009-05-01
Starring: David Benioff
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.xmenorigins.com/

Go to our film page

Is the bootleg online version of ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ better than the cinematic experience? If you already saw the illegal downloaded version, should you spend your money to watch it in a real movie theater? I personally haven’t seen the unauthorized edition, but from the feedback I’ve received from those who have and with my take from the theatrical version – yes, you should see it in theaters only if you enjoyed what you saw. It would enhance the experience that director Gavin Hood intended to originally put forth, but, if you didn’t like the story to begin with, odds are you won’t like it after you see in the big screen.

‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ is set prior to the events of the original X-Men films, sometime in the 1970s. It begins principally with Wolverine and partially with a few other legends of the X-Men universe. Some highlights include characters and story lines that have been long anticipated. The movie also explores Logan’s romance with Kayla Silverfox. Kayla’s fate triggers Logan’s involvement with the ominous Weapon X program, a top secret, billion-dollar military experiment, in which Wolverine obtains his indestructible metal skeleton.

The film had several problems ranging from blatant gaps in the story, underwhelming performances by new characters, to the unacceptable, second-rate CGI effects throughout the film (in particular a cameo done by a CGI Patrick Stewart). Unfortunately, these critical factors in particular, were too distracting for me to overcome. In its defense, there were many laudable moments such as Hugh Jackman’s performance of Wolverine (I can’t see anyone else ever playing him) and Liev Schrieber as his archenemy brethren, Sabretooth. Ryan Reynolds, who has been bashed by some bloggers for being casted as Deadpool, was likable in playing the wise cracking sword killer.

Overall, you have the good and the bad making ‘Wolverine’ an average film. Brett Ratner’s “X-Men: The Last Stand” turned out to be a better films on all levels. On a separate note, watch out for two clips after the credits, one scene immediately after the credits begin and the other at the very end of all the credits. These will reveal some of what may come in the next sequel.