Fantasmas

This is a sketch comedy show of how Julio's brain works. It's about his "profession" and how he is not any "one thing" in life. He is an artist that struggles with the question, "so what do you do?".

These sketches go far down a rabbit hole of fleeting ideas, with stunning makeup, costumes, and set design. Sketches range from bizarre sitcoms to reflective narrative moments on what it means to be an artist or creative person in the modern world.

For those who do not know Julio Torres, he is often associated with the term "magical realism". I'm assuming that if he ever wanted to be confined to a genre that would be appropriate.

I think the way the series starts is rather bold. He's consulting for a crayon company and saying they should make a "transparent" color. The crayon people are apprehensive - I don't blame them. So Julio gestures to a glass of water and basically says if water can do it, so can you.

I get this is supposed to show how creative Julio is and that he thinks outside the box, but really it makes no sense. You obviously can't make a transparent crayon, and if you did it would be the worst crayon ever.

So I was a bit put off by this, but the rest of episode was fine and strange in its own quirky way. Overall it's not bad. It's definitely its own unique flavor.

Julio Torres never presents a cliche' subject. Go with the flow, and enjoy every delicious moment. Surprises around every single corner awaits. Stories within stories, within stories. He packs each half hour segment like a can of sardines with his enchanting plots. His wardrobe and background settings are done with an artist's vision of both beautiful colors and unique geometric shapes. He may have changed his hair color of choice from blue to orange, but his signature creativity is still woven in the wickedly absurd vignettes. The new characters that he introduces to us like Chester the driver, played by Tomas Matos or Steve Buscemi, as the unforgettable Q, are hysterical! I can't wait for the next episode to come an take me into his magically twisted dreamland of delight.

I think that that the negative reviews are borne from people either not understanding or trying to apply logic to what is undoubtedly the quirkiest, funniest series I've ever seen. Highly unconventional, totally bizarre, and above all, hilarious, this series is without logic - don't try to understand it, just strap yourself in for a helluva ride. The humour is not quite American, not quite British, but takes the best elements of both. I was spellbound by it, unable to recall what the original 'plot' was, as the story flew off it multiple tangents, each more surreal and ridiculous than the last. Try it, you won't regret it.

Premise: been forced to watch this stuff by a group of friends. Had no idea.

Do not waste your time.

Opening scene somehow promising: "maybe we are getting into Zoolander territory?" I asked myself. You know, full on farce, clear over exaggerated characters who become a caricature of themselves and hysterical dialogues.

Well, the illusion evaporated quickly.

The whole thing is a step below the surreal stories kindergarten kids create when bored.

Our writer-director-protagonist gets into one senseless situation after another (+ pitiable characters who take the spotlight) with the explicit goal of taking himself seriously in the search of an earring and pretending to make the audience laugh (or at least giggle). The egotism is too intense for my brain and I had to (mentally) check out.

Seeing Steve Buscemi made me sad, but I guess the paycheck was alright.

Out of curiosity I had a look at some critic reviews. One pathetic sentence after another meant to elevate what i think are the author nightmares written once he woke up.

High-concept mania; dream logic-fueled sketches ; nihilistic remark ; loose, over-arching narrative ; digressive vignettes ; outsized characters

Must say would love to be a fly on the wall in the producer's room when the marketing folks are discussing the different ways to present this colorful scam to the HBO audience.