Reviews

Avatar did not disappoint in delivering grounds breaking visual and audio. James Cameron again pushed the envelop of the cinematic technologies. I expect the industry will follow, and bigger and better things will come. That's good for movie fans.

However, this movie is not up there with James' earlier classics such as Alien, Abyss, or T2. The story and characters are weak and clichéd. The plot is essentially bits and pieces from Miyazawa's legendary Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky.

For all these years, Hollywood still makes movies about the white guy maverick gets the beautiful exotic girl, while over-man-hooding all the local guys. This idea alone is not much above the anti-imperialism undertone the movie is trying to convey.

I watch movies more with emotions than analysis. Oftentimes I judge by whether the story or the characters touch me.

In the case of Hoy y mañana, I don't feel for the protagonist at all. She wondered aimlessly and lived by instinct. She had a lot of people caring for her, her uncle, her well-to-do pregnant friend, her boyfriend, and her dad, who seemed to have been trying to instill some sense into her forever. Even her prostitute friend was generous and helpful. She used all this kindness surrounding her, and then carelessly tossed them aside, like used tissues. Her aspiration, the theater work, which is supposed to be her identity, seemed shaky, without a promise to be in production, and ran by a slime.

The production quality of the movie is plain vanilla. The story line is just a digital camera following the protagonist around the streets over night. The clients she encountered seemed unconvincing. The hand-held camera work, Blairwitch Project style, went overboard. I had to turn away from the screen a few times. There's really no point in creating a style just for the sake of being different.

There are so many good movies out there, even if you are into indies and foreign films. Don't waste your time on this one.