Anthony Ramos – Film Fanatic

If You Feel It, Chase It: Tornado time for the revival of classic 90s disaster film

Hi Readers,

If, like me you love a disaster film, then I would recommend Twisters. It’s a stand-alone reboot of a classic film from 1996 – Twister and this time we’ve got Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and some dodgy politics. When visual effects and CGI started becoming more widely used in films, audiences were able to see never-seen-before events. In 2024, visual effects have to be almost invisible for the every man to be impressed.

Having worked in visual effects, I enjoyed the weather effects that were created and they looked very realistic. With advances in technology, we saw the use of drones and 3D mapping software as well as the social media effect on storm chasing.

Twisters (2024)

The opening scenes establish the character of Kate and her friends as they go on a storm chase as part of a research project. Javi (Anthony Ramos) is the grumpy one of the group who appears to be not as enthusiastic as the rest of the gang. When an EF 5 tornado hits the area, the group rush to collect data in the hope of testing Kate’s invention to stop tornadoes in their tracks. Unfortunately, it was much bigger than expected and Kate’s (Daisy Edgar-Jones) three closest friends including her boyfriend, Jeb (Daryl McCormack) are dragged into the wind tunnel.

Cut to five years later, Kate is living a sensible yet boring life in New York City, working at the weather centre, sending alerts to those in Tornado Valley. Her old friend Javi comes back into her life and persuades her to join his military backed storm chasing squad complete with state-of-the-art technology and pristine vehicles. They are funded by a mysterious Marshall Riggs, a real-estate tycoon in the Midwest.

Kate goes back to her native Oklahoma and comes across Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) and his team of rambunctious amateurs, filming their escapes for their popular YouTube channel and with a British journalist in tow who clearly doesn’t know what he has gotten himself into. At first Kate is on Javi’s side and sees Tyler and his friends as show-offs who like to ride danger and are just making money from their devoted fans. She has a few flash backs from the deaths of her friends and Javi’s co-worker, Scott (David Corenswet) is not pleased.

Kate was brought along for her apparent psychic gift of predicting which tornadoes will hold and which will disappear into the clouds. Her and Tyler compete for the best storms with her misdirecting him a few times until she sees the work that he and his group do to help those affected by the tornadoes. They sell merchandise to be able to give free meals to people who have just lost everything. They also stay and help clear up which is more than Storm Par and Javi’s team do.

Through Tyler and Javi and a visit to her mother, Kate finds her passion for storm chasing again.

The film has some big names behind the scenes with Steven Spielberg credited as Executive Producer as well as writers, producers of films such as Jurassic World and Top Gun: Maverick. The production design was great and I loved that the scenes were filmed in Oklahoma rather than a giant lot in Atlanta or London. It gave a very authentic vibe and made it seem more natural.

I loved the story arc and the action scenes as both contributed to making the film an exciting watch. Daisy Edgar-Jones was great as her character with her accent and manner and you could see in her movements and facial expressions that the anguish of losing her boyfriend and friends still weighed on her as she believed it was her fault.

Glen Powell was also great in his role. As a native Texan, he was a good pick for Tyler and while he just seems to be the naive jock of the storm chasing world, you gradually find out there is more to him than meets the eye. His looks and confident persona can make you think that he is a surface level character but everyone has layers to them.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film and even though I have not seen the original, the two were not linked so you can enjoy the sequel without prior knowledge. Disaster films are one of my favourite genres and this was a great addition. I give it 5/5.

Happy Watching,

Robyn

Summer of Cinema: In the Heights

I loved the setting and the massive dance numbers featured in the film. While on the streets of New York, the flash mob like crowds all dancing as one reminded you that this was heightened reality and a musical and not how things really work. That being said, the ideas and fears presented are very real to many people. One of my favourite numbers was 96,000 set at the local swimming pool where the characters all dream of what they would do if they won the lottery after the winning ticket was sold at the bodega.

Dear Readers,

I am back again with my new series, Summer of Cinema and today I am recounting my experience of seeing In the Heights. I went along with a friend and we both enjoyed the film despite its long runtime. Our screen was fairly quiet and we were sitting more forward than I usually choose but it did not detract from this lively, culturally eye-opening and fun musical. If you saw Hamilton, then you will definitely enjoy In the Heights.

The setting for the musical is the area of Washington Heights in Manhattan and almost in the Bronx. The characters in the film are mostly all immigrants from Latin countries and the plot centres around them trying to make it in a world where they have not had advantages that others have had. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote and starred in the original musical on Broadway that is the basis for the film.

The cast are a mixture of well-known faces: Anthony Ramos from Hamilton (another Miranda Broadway original); Jimmy Smits (The West Wing); Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn 99) and new comers: Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace and Gregory Diaz IV.

The story is set in Summer and centres around a city wide blackout. The residents all have their own dreams: Usnavi wants to carry on his father’s legacy in Dominican Republic; Vanessa wants to become a fashion designer in Midtown; Daniela wants to make her business work despite moving to the Bronx and Nina wants to leave her college and reconnect with her neighbourhood.

Throughout the film, we see each of these characters and others trying their best to fulfil these dreams. They try to get through the tough times to emerge out of the other side with their heads held high. Many of the songs centre around working hard as an immigrant in New York City and the challenges that come with being an immigrant. Much in the style of Hamilton, the songs are political, personal, full of truths about the world.

This is a story you can’t help but get lost in and swept up with the emotions of the Barrio and even though the struggles of the characters are not similar to my own, I felt that I could relate to their pain and their hope for the future. Especially after 2020, the film feels very timely. The characters make their own dreams come true without waiting around for the right time. They also compromise to make the best out of a situation.

Overall I enjoyed the vibe of the film and the colours and dance numbers helped me escape to another place for a while but still kept me grounded in the issues facing immigrants in New York. The film was long but the pacing was good and I didn’t find myself worrying about the time once I was enraptured by the film.

I give this film 4.5/5

Happy Watching,

Robyn

A Star is Born / A Simple Favour

Hello readers,

I know another post so soon is not characteristic for me but yesterday I saw ‘A Star is Born’ and it really moved me so I couldn’t not write about it. I will also give my thoughts on ‘A Simple Favour’ another great film that I saw last week.

A Star is Born

This film was one of the few films that has affected me in such a physical way. I have been known to cry at many films but this one elicited a different reaction. It’s beautiful story and combined with the original sounds and brilliant performances by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born moved me. I felt strongly for the characters and their pain which stayed with me for several hours. It was as if the events had happened to me and not just on the screen.

As this film is the fifth version of this tale, you may think there was nothing left to do with the story but this film proved that this simply isn’t the case. Lady Gaga plays Ally, a waitress who sings in drag club. She isn’t pursuing a career successfully due to music industry executives telling her she has the right voice but the wrong face. When famous rock country singer Jackson Maine (Cooper) stumbles across her performing, he immediately recognises her talent. She is invited to sing on stage with him and they perform her original song. She quickly becomes successful while Jackson is struggling with alcoholism, drug addiction and tinnitus.

All the songs were written especially for the film and always express the character’s feelings at that point within the film. My personal favourite is Shallow which is the first song Jackson and Ally sing together.

There has been a lot of buzz around this film and for good reason. Even though this is Lady Gaga’s first film, I will be disappointed if she doesn’t receive award nominations. I give A Star is Born 5/5.

Cast:

Lady Gaga (American Horror Story) as Ally

Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) as Jackson Maine

Sam Elliott (Road House) as Bobby, Jackson’s manager/brother

Andrew Dice Clay (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane) as Lorenzo, Ally’s father

Rafi Gavron (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) as Rez, Ally’s manager

Anthony Ramos (Younger) as Ramon, Ally’s co-worker and friend

A Simple Favour

A Simple Favour really surprised me with it’s plot. The trailer gave me some ideas as to what the film would entail but I was truly surprised. The film follows mummy vlogger Stephanie played by Anna Kendrick becoming friends with Emily, a fellow mum at her son’s school. They drink martinis together and tell secrets. Emily is a very mysterious person and never reveals anything about her past. She also disappears for a while with no explanation. Even her husband Sean and son Nicky don’t know her secrets. She is always impeccably dressed in suits and works in the city as a PR manager.

After Emily goes missing, Stephanie tries to find her. I don’t want to say much more as it would spoil the film but what happened next was shocking and unexpected.

Anna Kendrick was amazing as always and excelled in a darker role. Her humorous tone and attitude really worked well with her character. Blake Lively was also very different and surprised me with her performance. Her whole body changed into her character, every movement or look was carefully executed. Her outfits and the decor of Emily and Sean’s house added to the rich glamour of their world.

I give A Simple Favour 5/5.

Cast

Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect) as Stephanie

Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) as Emily

Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) as Sean

Ian Ho (Willa) as Nicky

Joshua Satine (Godless) as Miles, Stephanie’s son

Other films I have seen recently that I would recommend are Faces Places (2018), Fight Club (1999) and Superbad (2007).

Happy Watching,

Robyn 🙂