Change Your Image
dillonallen-perez
From California State University, Sacramento, he earned a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Teaching English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL).
Reviews
La uruguaya (2022)
Good, but the Book is Great
For me, the movie doesn't live up to the book. But, that's always hard to do-especially with a book like this. A lot of what makes the book great is the writing style. The prose is quick & easy to read. Much of the story is dialogue & internal thoughts. These things are hard to translate onto the screen. However, the director did a good job making a movie that looks slick & the actors brought the characters out pretty well. Without spoiling it, they also add some interesting (& meta) differences to the structure of the plot.
Because I rated the novel so highly, I was excited yet skeptical going into watching the movie. Although, of course, I would have loved for the movie to surprise me by being wonderful, it certainly could have disappointed much worse. It's worth a watch. I want to see more movies directed by Ana García Blaya.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Alright, but Disappointing
I haven't read any of these books, but was pretty disappointed by the end of this movie.
It was alright throughout most of it. It's in the style of one of my favorite genres of movies: rom-dramadie. It has some good quality parts. I believed every emotion that Constance Wu portrayed. Michelle Yeoh plays a great villain-I felt genuine anger. What I didn't believe was the relationship between Rachel and Nick. That didn't make me feel anything genuine.
He basically lied to her throughout their entire one-year relationship. He shows no real change or character development by the end of the movie. It makes him unlikable, being more of a complacent bad buy than the outwardly bad members of the family. The audience should be rooting for Rachel to leave alone. This leads to a very disappointing ending when she says "Yes" to the mother's ring, which makes it seem like she needed their approval all along.
The Menu (2022)
I'd Leave a Tip
The Menu is a great horror (comedy).
The suspense is not at the caliber of Shyamalan or Tarantino at their best, but it invited me to sit and forced me to stay.
All the actors give fantastic performances, especially Anya Taylor-Joy.
Any movie that successfully makes you feel strong emotions is doing its job. From the beginning, I felt annoyed, then angry. I got invested, rooted for certain things to happen to certain characters, flinched, grimaced, chuckled, and was ultimately satisfied with the ending.
It's an effective and entertaining satire.
Based on the reviews I see on IMDB & Rotten Tomatoes, I'd say The Menu is slightly underrated.
El Cid (2020)
Exciting Adaptation of a Classic
The first season of El Cid is exciting and promising. Though it starts a bit slow, as most epics likely will, the tension quickly mounts and consequential violence rides swiftly to the final episode.
The first episode does more than simply introduce us to the characters and setting. The conspiracy conflict at the heart of the episode is more than a setup for some cool action scenes. It's more than just a way to show how Rodrigo "Ruy" Díaz (later to be nicknamed El Cid) is our hero who aims to stop the king from being assassinated in this episode.
By the second episode, the same conspiracy is still heating up. No one knows who to trust. At the same time, Ruy has to fight in a duel as violent tensions and land disputes heat up outside the kingdom León.
Each episode gets better and better as the layers of conflict pile onto each other. If the show keeps building on itself this well in season two, this could turn out to be a great adaptation of Spain's Medieval epic narrative El Cid.
Everly (2014)
Good (Not Great) Tarantino-esque Action
Everly has a similar appeal as any good Quentin Tarantino movie. It's not as good as a Tarantino, but it scratches a similar itch. So if you're a Tarantino fan, but you've already seen all of his and aren't in the mood for a repeat viewing, Everly is worth a watch.
What are the Tarantino appeals? Funny dialogue in an overall dark, violent, bloody action movie. Some memorable, over-the-top characters. Trying to get revenge and/or redemption. Leaning really hard into the gratuity of b-movie genre conventions but presenting it all in a stylistic, purposeful way. It's more exciting than an artsy, impressionistic film. It's more artsy than your average exciting, blockbuster action flick.
Everly doesn't do any of these things as well as Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, or Pulp Fiction. The title character isn't as memorable as The Bride from Kill Bill, but Salma Hayek gives a good performance and she's a badass. Akie Kotabe is funny, his character billed simply as "Dead Man". Hiroyuki Watanabe plays a detestable villain (a sex slaver Yakuza leader) that we can all root against. Laura Cepeda makes a memorable appearance as Everly's mom. Togo Igawa is horrifying as the gruesome character "Sadist". I don't even want to talk about it.
Overall, it's not great, but it's pretty good as a fun, bloody mess.
On Becoming a God in Central Florida (2019)
Promising & Original Show (Gone Too Soon)
This first season gave us the beginning of a promising, exciting new series. I was so sad to learn that there would be no continuation of the show beyond the final episode of season one.
It's 1992 in some smaller town near Orlando, Florida, USA. Krystal Stubbs works at some smaller amusement park (Rebel Rapids) living in the shadow of the wealthier well-known Disney World. Her husband is becoming increasingly wrapped up in a pyramid scheme known as Founders American Merchandise (FAM).
Described by Showtime as a dark comedy, I'd prefer to call On Becoming a God in Central Florida a tragicomedy. I wouldn't want to mislead anyone. Don't go into this show thinking it's a sitcom. It's not going to be the funniest thing you've ever seen.
What I like best about the show is the drama and the critique of not only cult-like marketing scams, but the exhausting pursuit of the American Dream. That's where the dark satire comes in. On Becoming a God paints the American Dream as a tragedy without escape and one that affects everybody in or around the system (even widely worshiped cult leader Obie Garbeau The Second). Now that's pretty bleak. The show is sad and sometimes horrifying. That's where the comedy comes in to give us some reprieve.
"Sir, I'm afraid your credit card was declined." / "No, that's not possible. My card has an unlimited . . . Limit."
Théodore Pellerin as Cody Bonar (not pronounced "Boner") is hilarious in his aloof earnestness. Mel Rodriguez (as Ernie Gomes) is genuinely moving. He's almost too good. He delivers some monologues that create an atmosphere where I can't look away if I tried. He is talking to me. Ted Levine plays Obie Garbeau The Second. Though many worship him and he holds a great deal of power and influence, he is shown (surreally at times) as a tragic figure, à la Shakespeare's King Lear.
Kirsten Dunst is in the main role of Krystal Stubbs. Dunst doesn't just do a fake southern accent for this show. She is southern. The actress disappears into the role. I don't see the little girl I saw in Jumanji. I don't see Tobey Maguire's MJ. I don't see the Lacuna receptionist from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I see Krystal Stubbs.
Tragicomedy. Dark comedy. Satire. It makes you laugh and it makes you think. Season one of On Becoming a God felt like something I've personally been wanting: good, smart, funny, tragic, critical, cathartic American television that's not an adaptation of a British creation. That's the American Dream right there. The freedom not to be an adaptation.
SPOILER ALERT HERE: I love how the season leads to that final line being terrifying: "I want to make them rich."
Maybe this show was too good for us. I would be elated if they somehow get around to pulling together a second season of this exciting creation.