Problemista

3/14/2024

Isn’t it amazing how failures can often lead to unexpected successes? Those missteps frequently have a way of opening meaningful doors, even if it doesn’t seem that way at the time they occur. But how readily are we aware that such developments can occur? Such is the whirlwind experience of Alejandro Martinez (Julio Torres), a young, idealistic, inventive Salvadoran toy designer who emigrates to New York in search of a job in an incubator program at a major American toy manufacturer. But, to apply for the position, he must be present stateside, which means he needs a work visa to reside here long enough to make his pitch. That possibility seems to evaporate, though, when he loses his job as a client curator at a cryogenics company. Fortunately, however, as he’s making his exit from the wor

4/21/2024

I was drawn in to this one because it features Tilda Swinton, one of my favorite actresses. She is, in this movie too, an absolute power house of talent, and the sole reason to keep watching. Unfortunately, the movie is entirely unwatchable, as each and every main character, and quite a few of the secondary ones as well, is insufferable. This may be on purpose, I suspect it is, but I really need at least for either the protagonist to be likable, or in the case of an antihero, for the supporting cast to be likable. Here, I get neither. Now, there are clear overtones drawing a message about immigrants coming to the United States for work. The message being that they're incompetent infantile unlikable narcissistic habitual liars without a conscience. Personally, I don't subscribe t