Rodrigo_Amaro

Another so-and-so romantic comedy that almost hits the right notes while addressing the issues of trust in romantic relationships in the digitalized era of internet and social medias. Almost impossible to avoid cliches from the genre (for better or worse), "Red Flags" attracts us a little because the couple is charming, some of the situations are greatly presented, and the story has a nice pacing. What kills the enjoyment is the seriousness of important themes, treated in a shallow manner, overreacted and things that weren't fully explained or fully developed.

You definitely know how it goes (or should know): a good girl (Kes van den Broek) coming out of a bad relationship and with many trust issues tries to avoid entering a new one but when Mr. Perfect (Danny Dorland) comes along things heat up and it feels like that love finally found her. She's a carefree hotel worker, still undecided of what to do with her life; he's a rich type who is very popular as an influencer, but his wealth comes mostly from his parents. But this smug prince charming is very requested everywhere with countless social gatherings and parties, so it's quite obvious that the girl might see some problems with him, or dating isn't his thing though he proves otherwise - in problematic ways.

Anyway, the real revelation of the man's red flag was kinda dumb and forced, and I'll leave out of this review. But if we were to talk about certain real experiences, the actual red flag that could make her avoid him for good was the end of their first date. The worn out device of wetting each other with a hose, then the guy takes control of everything with a passionate kiss while holding the hose creating a rain-like effect, that was beautifully, actually. What comes next is a cup of tea invitation but the man's gotta go because the internet folks needs him, it's a "work" commitment. If one cannot give you the time when a special moment comes, then they're not for real, as they're not seeing you as a priority. Change plans for that special someone, but he didn't.

Then there's the previous boyfriend, who somehow returns asking her back. Was it a cheating situation or she felt used for something she wouldn't aprove? The script made it look a cryptic thing, and the captions didn't help much either.

What I admired the most was how the girl kept her guard and composure for most of the time, you can sense that she really fights back in resisting this new adventure/potential good romance; and an ending I could not see it coming (which would work better for a different movie).

But having the great final moment doesn't improve an overall idea, or everything that we've been through. Small entertainment and nothing more. 5/10.

"Hell's Highway" has a somewhat interesting plot despite the cliches thrown in it, and it's quite enjoyable for most of its presentation.

What wrecks this horror/bizarre comedy are its cheap production values, painfully yet hilarious editing, weak special and makeup effects, and the atrocious acting from the ensemble casting, except the leading woman Phoebe Dollar as the sexy hitchhiker who needs to kill whoever pickes her up on an endless desert highway. She does a great job, seductive and scary. Considering that basically everyone comes from softcore and/or porn movies where acting isn't the required need except for the hot action, they're all better in what they did outside of this picture. But there's hardly ever any sex in here.

It revolves on a group of college kids driving through a desert highway and when the mysterious Jacinda asks for a ride they're in it for something extremely dangerous that could cost their lives. There's a legend about that place where a couple died in the 1800's trying to cross it, and a curse sprung out from there as a woman kills whoever crosses her path and she needs to add more and more victims to her list. Among the victims there's big name of porn Ron Jeremy playing a failed film producer who tries to make an "audition" with the girl and then comes an hysterical moment.

There are fine moments of thrills and horror to make you fully invested in it as we try to antecipate what comes next. Then, it becomes weirder, funny (intentional or not), with one lousy dialogue after another, and the image quality shot on video is simply dreadful. "Hell's Highway" is one of those flicks that cannot be taken seriously, and if you're in it for some good laughs you're about to be deeply rewarded, but also annoyed. There's no way that the girls in the car would accept Jacinda simply because the boyfriends thought she was hot - those girls should dump them right there for simply that opinion. There are other things to be complained but better not.

Why I was watching this? Pure boredom, perhaps, but mostly it was a curious view in seeing Jonathan Gray outside of softcore flicks, maybe see some different acting skills outside of hooking up with babes. Great looking dude and quite a good actor in those films. Here, he was wasted badly. Poor delivery of lines and cheesy acting (like basically everyone there), it's simply weird. But the script doesn't help anyone either. The scene where the fate of his brother is revealed was awfully written and his reaction was non existent. Where's the big cries, the big shouts, the huge "NOOOO". It became something else, it's unbelievable.

An embarassing experience but not a complete waste of time. It's destined for "special occasions" when you need to watch something bad, laughable and trashy. 4/10.

A delightful real treat to readers of Guimarães Rosa novel "Grande Sertão: Veredas", the short documentary directed by Silvio Tendler ("Jango", "Os Anos JK") makes the route travelled by the author and later narrated by the main character of the novel, while following jagunços and their cattle crossing desert areas of Northeast. Singer Milton Nascimento and actress Zezé Motta alternate narrations from the book and thoughts expressed by the author through notes and letters.

Won't comment about the book as I haven't read it (yet). As for what is shown, it's a quite interesting experience following some of the actual locations described and how difficult the whole crossing was - even though the documentary establishes the difference of a crossing done in the mid-20 Century as compared with the new technologies and improvements of the 21st Century. Also shared are plenty of anedoctes about Guimarães and the jagunços are shared by locals who knew those stories through decades and through other people who knew the man - Rosa's detail for dialects, language and the way the ranchers speak, called the herd by singing and certain descriptions were all gathered through many scribbles he did during the journey, and that's one of the many qualities of the novel, as an authentic and unique experience. He lived that reality and covered with great accuracy, learning a lot along the way.

It's a small project but a good one, destined to bring readers of "Grande Sertão" closer to the experience but made decades later, bring curiosity on new readers through the excerpts narrated, and the places visited. It's always great when filmmakers take a time to present anything revolving our great literature. 7/10.