Echeverria Reviews

                    I love watching films that I go into blind that end up being one of the best films I end up seeing all year, and that was the case with the film Searching . I knew virtually nothing about this film, and basically just watched it off the recommendation of my sister-in-law; She did not disappoint with her recommendation. Let me start off by saying that this film will not be enjoyed by everyone for one very important reason, it is shot in a strange way. It utilizes that filming style where rather than looking like it is filmed on a traditional camera, everything that you see is on a computer screen, and you only see the film through a webcam, or found footage from sites such as YouTube, or other video sites. It takes a bit to get used to, and if you are someone that does not enjoy found footage films, you will probably have a hard time enjoying this film, especially since the entire film is seen through a compu...

                    A good friend of mine was recently telling me about how much he loves the Resident Evil franchise, and it made me realize that I have never actually reviewed any of the films. Well, it is time to fix that and start at the beginning. While I was never a big fan of the games, I can wholeheartedly say that if you are a big fan of the games, you are probably going to hate the films. If you are not a fan of the games, you will probably enjoy the films slightly, but not much. This film is just not that good. Even if you go into it with an open mind, it is difficult to get into it with its screenplay, effects, and acting performances. Aside from that, you also have the unique and whacky directing style of Paul W. S. Anderson. Having directed films such as AVP , Mortal Kombat , and Event Horizon , you know to expect some zaniness and crazy effects in this film, and that is exactly what you get.    ...

               A new Fifty Shades book can only mean one thing, it is unfortunately time for me to tackle the film based on the surprising best-seller, Fifty Shades of Grey . I will be honest, I really did not want to do this, but the topic fits considering the recent release, and I figured I would have to tackle this at some point, so why not sooner rather than later? Okay, this review will not be pretty. If you are a fan of the franchise, and the film, you should probably just get out now because you are going to hate me by the time you are finished reading this. However, before I get into my issues with this film, let us first talk about the plot for a bit.             Okay, as I am sure you know, this film starts with young virgin, Anastasia Steele, going to conduct an interview with young billionaire, Bruce Wayne, I mean, Christian Grey. Sorry, a film this poor just makes me wish I...

                    With the latest installment hitting theaters, I figured now would be a good time to look at where the franchise began. This is a tale of humble beginnings when you consider where the franchise is at now, and what the plot has become. Imagine trying to explain to the younger generation who started out with Fast Five what the original film was all about. The first question they would ask you is, “where is The Rock?”. We need to keep in mind that the first film came out in 2001. After two decades, we knew that the franchise would change, but did we ever expect it to be this drastic? To fully understand, let us take a look back to the origins of the franchise, and give an honest review of the first installment.             The film starts off with a few cars pulling off a heist on a truck, which then leads to us getting introduced to LAPD officer Brian O’...

                    Sometimes you get a film that is so good, yet it gets absolutely snubbed at the Academy Awards in the worst ways, and for absolutely no reason. This is such a film. Why this film did not get the recognition it deserved, I have no idea. Still, just because it was not all over the red carpets and award ceremonies does not mean that it was not a good film, because this was a phenomenal film, and it features one of the best and most snubbed performances in a leading role by Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal is simply masterful in his performance, and it will be one of the defining performances of this generation. Jake Gyllenhaal has always been a good actor, but lately, he has completely transformed and elevated his game to elite levels, and, as a fan of his, I am having a great time watching his films. He is among the five best actors in the game today, and he carries this film to terrific status. Make no mistake, th...

                    I was hearing a lot of buzz about this show and I finally decided to check it out. My initial reaction? Holy hell, that was amazing. There is so much to love about this show, this season, these characters, literally everything. The way the season progresses, and the characters grow, you come to appreciate how much work went into this show and the writing behind it. I am an absolute sucker for character development and excellent pacing, and this show hits the mark (no pun intended) flawlessly. Oh, and did I mention the voice cast? We are talking about Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Zachary Quinto, Zazie Beetz, Seth Rogen, Mahershala Ali, Mark Hamill, and mother flipping J. K. Simmons in his most iconic and best role since J. Jonah Jameson and Terence Fletcher. Out of all of the characters cast, his was the absolute best.             The first episode starts of...

               Sometimes you come across a film that you watch simply because it is there, and it turns out to be pretty dang good. Law Abiding Citizen is such a film. The first time I watched this was completely on a whim because it had been rented at my house and I sat down because I was not planning on doing anything else. Well, I am glad that I did because this not only ended up having a fantastic screenplay and pace to it, but it is also the best performance I have seen Gerard Butler give, and Jamie Foxx was no slouch in this either. There is a lot to love about this film. It is crafted well, polished, keeps you engaged, and the actors deliver some great performances. There is one big issue that people have with this film, as do I, but we will save that for later. For now, let us talk about the plot, and what the film does right.             This film gets off to a running start. Y...

                    Every Star Wars film that has come out since the release of The Empire Strikes Back will always be compared to this film. It is the standard by which every Star Wars project will forever be judged, and for good reason. It introduces several new and interesting characters such as Yoda, Boba Fett, Lando, and the Emperor. It also expands the origins and characters of Han Solo, Leia, Luke, and Darth Vader in some absolutely tremendous ways. You are given greater reasons to support or dislike these characters, and it gives the lore more depth. This is honestly my favorite Star Wars film, and it would take a herculean effort to even top that. The only one that has ever come close, given that it conveys similar emotions, is Revenge of the Sith . Whereas the predecessor ended with hope, this one ends in pain.             This film takes place three years afte...

               Ah, the film that has absolutely nothing to do with the book except maybe the plot and will probably forever be recognized as the zombie film with Brad Pitt in it. While this is not a great film by traditional film standards, it is honestly not that bad by zombie film standards, but the bar for those films is pretty low in this generation. World War Z suffers from what several films within this genre suffer from, and that is lack of depth. Outside of the lead being played by Brad Pitt, the rest of the characters are absolutely dull, and even Brad Pitt is not all that great here. He is emotionless, but that is the way his character was written. This film suffers greatly from that.             This film resembles nothing from the book, which is only a problem to fans of the book, but where it affects the film is that a screenplay needs to be written from scratch with nothin...

               With the release of the latest Mortal Kombat film, it is time to revisit the film that gave us the greatest theme song of all time, 1995’s Mortal Kombat . Let us get this out of the way right now, this film features some terrible acting, subpar screenplay, and some of the worst special effects I have ever seen in a film. Having said that, this film is totally wicked, and I love it. Despite these obvious flaws, the film went on to be a major success at the box office, making over 120 million dollars on a budget of only 18 million. Since its release and overall criticism over the subpar acting and laughable dialogue, the film has since been reevaluated and become a cult classic, and for good reason.             One of the reasons why this film achieved cult status is due to its respect towards the source material. Despite its many flaws, and the PG-13 rating, the film still...

               The merc with a mouth finally showed up on the big screen and it was everything that many of us hoped it would be and had anticipated for years upon years. 20 th Century Fox may have botched some comic book films pretty badly over the years, but, with this one it seems like they truly understood who the character was, what he needed to be, who to cast, and the cherry on top was that they embraced the character by making the film rated R. I am not a huge stickler when it comes to ratings because I am not under the impression that a lot of cursing and blood makes a good movie, but in this case, you cannot do the Deadpool character justice without the blood and the mouth. Truthfully, while I have never mentioned it in any of my reviews, I have always been very vocal about my indifference of Ryan Reynolds as an actor. I think he is good, but I do not see him in the same way a lot of people see him. That being said, he was the perf...

               I will always stand by the statement that The Lion King is the best thing that Disney has ever created. I will forever die on that hill. I love everything about this film. It nails every aspect that a Disney film tries to nail. The characters are fantastic, the score is tremendous, the songs are catchy and heartwarming, the story is great, and the ending is truly marvelous. I understand that there is some controversy over the origin of this story, and I welcome you to do the research, but, personally, I do not care. This film is its own thing, and it represents a turning point in Disney, where they pull away a bit from all of the princess tales and start to add more adventure style stories to their repertoire. I will not be getting into what the story is about because by this point, even if you have not seen the film, chances are you know what it is about. Instead, I just want to talk about the reasons why I love this film. ...

               With the release of Godzilla vs. Kong happening this week, I figured I would continue my journey into the MonsterVerse with Kong: Skull Island . I will be honest, having to follow up Godzilla , this film did not do a great job of it. I enjoyed this film to a degree, but I also had some major issues with the film that I will get into later, but first, I want to talk about the film and some of the things that I enjoyed from it. For those that are familiar with the original King Kong film and the Peter Jackson remake, this is not anything like that. It does not follow the basic Kong storyline that you might be used to. This film takes place in the 70s and revolves around an organization named Monarch looking for a place called Skull Island, where coincidentally, they discover Kong. Unlike the original, however, the plans that they develop for Kong are different. The original revolves around someone wanting to find the world’s next...

               Taking a trip down memory lane, I decided to dive back into the MCU, and it all started with one of the best comic book films made, Iron Man . Let us just start by stating the obvious, Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect choice to play Tony Stark. Much like Hugh Jackman with Wolverine, there will never be another actor to play the character the way he does, and I doubt anyone will ever try. And to think, it was almost Tom Cruise who was going to play Tony Stark. Do not get me wrong, I love Tom Cruise, but he would not have done as great of a job as RDJ did. This film and this character were the perfect options to launch the MCU, but not for the reasons that you would think. While among comic book fans, Iron Man is a great character and one of the clear leaders of The Avengers, he was not that popular of a character at the time. So, why would a character who was not popular be the right choice to launch a multi-billion-dollar fran...

            Funny, touching, and an absolute joy to watch for any aspiring filmmaker. The Disaster Artist succeeds in all the aspects that it is trying to succeed in, and it is a triumph for James Franco. It is a comedy that at its core shows very real emotions from the central characters, especially James Franco as Tommy Wiseau. James Franco’s performance is mesmerizing here. This is the best performance that he has ever given, as he steps into the rare shoes of an actor who no longer appears as an actor playing a role, he simply becomes Tommy Wiseau. Yes, Franco has given some great performances in the past, but here, he is equal parts hilarious, raw, touching, and charismatic. The raw emotion that he captures gives a glimpse into who Tommy Wiseau is as a person, and it shows what drives him to not only create The Room , but also what possesses him to release it despite the negativity that was experienced on set. Dave Franco also gives a solid perfo...

          As far as mockumentaries go, this might be my favorite film mockumentary ever, and quite possibly my favorite Andy Samberg performance, which is saying a lot because of how good he is in Hotrod . Of course, I am talking about the criminally underrated Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping . This film is not only a lot of fun and incredibly hilarious, but it is creative, full of heart, and features the great trio, The Lonely Island, as well as more cameos than you could possibly imagine. I am talking Akon, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Simon Cowell, freaking Seal! I mean just based off of that information alone, how do you not want to at least take a look at the trailer?             This film revolves around The Lonely Island playing fictional music group The Style Boyz, with Andy Samberg being the frontman of the group as Kid Conner. The film is shot as a musical documentary much in the style of Behin...

               Baseball is in the air so naturally I decided to review one of my favorite sports films ever, Moneyball . Moneyball features maybe my favorite screenplay ever, written by the legendary Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin has a wide array of terrific screenplays, but this one just might be his magnum opus. The screenplay itself is flawless, but I think what truly makes it as good as it is would be the way in which it is delivered, which just would not be possible if they had not gotten every single casting in this film just right. Brad Pitt was absolutely the right man for the job of portraying Billy Beane, and Jonah Hill came into this film and just absolutely shocked everyone with his fantastic acting ability, proving that he was more than a one-dimensional actor, and getting nominated for an Academy Award in the process. Moneyball is a simple enough story. It follows the events of the 2002 MLB season, particularly the season of the Oakl...

          The greatest underdog story ever told is also one of the greatest films ever made with one of the most inspiring backstories. Of course, I am talking about the quintessential boxing film, Rocky . If you have never heard the backstory to this, it is pretty dang amazing. Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay to Rocky in about three and a half days, and after presenting it to his representatives, they began to shop the screenplay out with a lot of studios showing interest, with one problem. Stallone was adamant that he needed to play the lead roles while the studios were dismissive of the idea, thinking that the role would be better suited for a well-established star. In the end, they managed to get an agreement for the film to have a little over a million-dollar budget and Stallone to be cast in the lead role. Not only did this film launch Stallone’s megastar career, but the film also went on to gross 225 million off the 1-million-dollar budget, ...

               It is time to review the greatest shark film that ever existed, friends. You all know what I am talking about; that is right, it is time to review Deep Blue Sea . This film is just absolutely bonkers, and it is so stupid in the absolute best ways. The acting is so cheesy, Samuel L. Jackson is his typical awesome self, there is no unnecessary romance angle, and the shark attacks are just freaking awesome. I feel like this must be one of those shark films that everyone has seen at one point or another, even if you did not intend to watch it. The first time I watched this film was on a late night at my cousin’s house in Mexico because it just came on randomly on TV and we just never changed it. The film starts off simply enough, a group of young adults are partying and drinking on a boat in the middle of the ocean (smart strategy) and are attacked by a shark from an escaped underwater research facility. Luckily for them, the sha...

          Well, with everyone’s favorite holiday, Valentine’s Day, fast approaching this weekend, I thought why not go and review a romcom that might not be that great, but that I personally enjoyed for whatever reason. And no, I will not call this a guilty pleasure because I do not feel guilty about liking this movie at all. No Strings Attached is one of those romcoms that borrows its formula from basically every romcom in the book. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl sort of likes guy, but overall does not want to be with boy at the moment. Rinse and repeat. And you know what? That is okay. Not only is it a simple formula that works, but it is nice to watch a film with literally so little at stake. Not to mention that the two leads in question, Natalie Portman, and Ashton Kutcher, play exceptionally well with each other. They certainly have good chemistry. The film follows a very basic plotline that can easily be deciphered by the title. Kutcher ...

            When I first heard that Jon Favreau was going to write and produce a Star Wars series, I was absolutely excited at the prospect of what he would create. I feel like we often forget that this man laid the foundation for what came to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that he has created and directed other fun films throughout the years. The guy knows how to craft a show, but what he really excels at is character development and progression throughout his stories. Everything has purpose and meaning, and I believe that The Mandalorian just might be his magnum opus. For the record, this will only be a review for season one of the show, as season two will come at a later date.             This season starts off with Pedro Pascal’s character, the Mandalorian, accepting a job to retrieve a prized bounty of fifty-years of age. Right from the get-go you get that traditional Star Wars feel t...

       Now that our attention has been grabbed by King Kong decking Godzilla straight in the face, I figured this would be a good time to review the film that started off this whole MonsterVerse that Legendary and Warner Bros. have going on, 2014’s Godzilla . Now, this was a complicated film that divided the fanbase for several reasons that I will get into, but let us please start with something obvious, Godzilla looks freaking incredible. A+ to the team that designed him and brought him to life because they truly did a 180 from the absolute abomination that was the last American Godzilla attempt. That was some weird lizard that ate fish, but what we see in this film, this is Godzilla. This was a true kaiju.             Okay, my first big issue with the film is a bit of a spoiler, so warning, but it also kind of is not because it happens within the first act of the film. Ready? Here we go. What was the point of...

            Every so often you run into a film that is so insanely good, but absolutely flopped at the box office either due to lack of promotion, or people simply were not interested in the film. Sometimes, that film is so good and is set up perfectly for a sequel that you will unfortunately never see due to the film flopping. The Nice Guys is that type of film. This movie is amazing and generates so many authentic laughs. I remember buying it on a whim one black Friday because it was cheap, and it was one of the best purchases I have ever made. This film is mysterious, entertaining, hilarious, and just an absolute delight and features what is possibly Ryan Gosling’s best performance in a film.             This film was directed by Shane Black who was also responsible for directing a very similar film to this one titled Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which was also incredibly funny and featured a great cas...

          Graphic novels do not always translate well to animated films. Some stuff always gets left out, the art is not always on par, the cast selection is not always the best, and sometimes it is just a miss. DC graphic novels are typically done pretty well, though, and The Dark Knight Returns might just be the absolute best of the bunch. The best decision that was made when it came to this film was to separate it into two parts. The DC animated films have a restriction of needing to stay under 80-minutes and there was just no way that you could get every story element from the graphic novel into one 80-minute film. The decision to split it just allowed them to do the graphic novel justice and allows the audience to experience the excellence that is The Dark Knight Returns in the way that it was meant to be experienced.             This story focuses on the return of the Batman, and it is the inspi...

          Star Wars is a legendary franchise, and A New Hope was the perfect beginning to what goes down as the greatest space-opera of all time. George Lucas crafted a film from an incredible vision that he had, and it is absolutely phenomenal. Reviewing this film is going to be difficult for me without gushing over it because this is my favorite franchise of all time and this entry hits on all cylinders. Every actor is perfectly cast, the pace and story are incredible, and the dialogue is both witty and triumphantly hopeful. This is the beginning to something that is still going on all these years later. If you are a fan of any of the Star Wars films or shows, you should go back and watch this film to see where it all began.             By now, we should all know how the story goes. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, yadda yadda, but right from the opening sequence you can tell that this stor...