Not So ‘Brand New’ Cherry Flavor
The fun tricks used in the production design and lighting read extremely well on-screen but hardly fulfill their purpose of trying to inject glamour into a lack-luster story with nothing to say.

At 18, fresh from high school, Marina, Ignacio, Adam and Mimi, school mates bonded by fate, shared a dream about adult life, a dream of fame, success, perfect skin and that one endless, true love that, surely, was waiting just around the corner for each one of them. But 30's arrived, and none of the sweet promises of youth was fulfilled. Alone, failed and frustrated, all four are forced to stop and look around to try to understand where it all went wrong, and find an emergency fix for their lives, before it's too late, and happiness escapes through their fingers forever. Secondary Effects is the bitter coming of age comedy that follows their steps in the search for lost dreams, lost hair and good sex, at least, if true love turns out to be a mirage.
The fun tricks used in the production design and lighting read extremely well on-screen but hardly fulfill their purpose of trying to inject glamour into a lack-luster story with nothing to say.
The quiet ache of guilt sitting at the dinner table, the silence after a truth is buried, and the way pain is passed down like a name.
Ultra-violent storytelling has never been my thing, but the issues with Scarface go beyond that. The film perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Latinx immigrants and uses gore and misogyny for shock value that never serves any purpose. The whole venture is frustratingly empty, and left me desiring something more.
A few episodes in, I realized the most prominent theme of In The Long Run wasn't culture, race or even finding independence--but the idea of belonging.
Canvas illustrates the story of a grandfather who, after suffering the loss of his beloved, struggles to reclaim his love for painting.
Remember when there was this amazing comedy titled "National Lampoon's Vacation"? To this day, it is a true classic of the genre and certainly put a new spin on precisely what KINDS of insanity could occur when taking the fam on the road. Then, like with so many successful films, there was the sequel (which for me was even MORE of a classic than the original!). However, the third film emerged....and then a fourth. Suddenly, the luster was gone and disappointment set in.