Reviews (4)

Balbuena is the BOMB!!!!
I loved this movie!! It was hilarious watching Balbuena adjust to New York and its different culture. My family really uderstood where Balbuena was coming from, since they are immigrants also. And it was interesting for me to see how his character adjusted and became stronger throughout the movie. It was a beautiful transition, and I enjoyed it very much. I am going to order Part 3: bajo la Nueva Ley. I saw it in school and loved it also. Go watch it, its great!! But, when I saw it in school, I was the only one laughing because I understood Balbuena and all his inside jokes. I think this movie will probably only be funny to Dominicans and other latinos, but it will open the eyes to others from different cultures. It`s a wonderful movie!!!

Civilization?
This is an upside-down and witty look at U.S. culture as seen from the perspective of a poor uneducated Dominican Republic immigrant, determined to come to The City of His Dreams and Make His Fortune. In other words, Horatio Alger meets The Gods Must Be Crazy. When I saw this film I was unprepared for the side-splitting look at our culture from our hero's fresh and naive perspective.

Nueba Yol will tickle your funny bone in addition to opening your heart to a completely different point of view of American life. Our hero, contrary to his and most people's point of view, does not find the answer to all his dreams in "Nueba Yol" (or New York). Instead, as in The Newcomers, he has one mishap after another, some with wierd outcomes.

His fresh look at the underside of American life is very reminiscent of the quest theme in The Gods Must Be Crazy. Instead of a coke bottle that must be returned to the Gods, our protagonist wants to make his fortune in order to satisfy the creditors who have foreclosed on his home in Dominica. The quest for his fortune brings him in touch with the usual losers and street folks who share a strange wisdom with him and appreciate him in unusual ways.

I won't spoil the ending for you but it does have a funny and surprising one. This film provided myself and my friends with a thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking evening.

GREAT STORY!
I think "Nueba Yol 1" should be a Primetime television sitcom on Spanish TV and English TV. It gives you that certain familiarity and good feeling that comes from a popular weekly show. Everyone should see "Nueba Yol 1". Just for the sheer fact that watching a heart-warming person like Balbuena in action makes us all smile at ourselves. I can hardly wait to see "Nueba Yol 3" (No 2)

Excellent Entertainment and Fact
Balbuena is the hero of this latino immigration story. The bilingual script is just too funny. If you have ever heard Burger King called burberging, then you will laugh a lot ! ... Read more

Amazon.com

In what may be the angriest portrait of Cuba ever made, director Leon Ichaso (Crossover Dreams) charts the journey of one young man from patriot to disillusioned dropout to angry rebel. Gustavo (RenéLavan) is an idealistic young Marxist scholar who dreams of attending the University of Prague. When he falls for an earthy dancer with a more pragmatic view of her homeland, who plans to escape to Florida, his ideals are systematically chipped away in the face of poverty, repression, corruption, and police brutality until it all becomes too much for him to bear. A far cry from the more romantic work of Tomás Guti&eacuterrez Alea (Strawberry and Chocolate), this film speaks volumes about a generation of exiles burning with anger and hate for Castro and his regime. It's also manipulative and heavy-handed, with Gustavo less a hero than a straw figure poised for a fall, and it's far less revealing than such self-critical Cuban features as Portrait of Teresa and Memories of Underdevelopment. But its vivid and passionate feelings of betrayal can hardly be dismissed. Ichaso shot portions of the film in Cuba and smuggled the footage out, but Santo Domingo doubles for Havana through the bulk of the feature. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (52)

Bitter Sugar is Excellent!
This movie is excellent to watch and is based on a true account that happened in Cuba a few years ago. It really sheds light on how awful, oppressive, and manipulative the Cuban government is, and also you can also see the underground struggle for personal freedom and democracy that many of the Cuban people share but can't outwardly express. This movie is a very powerful film.

Brilliant Film and Hanuntigly Devastating
This is an incredible film that was made on a very small budget. I believe some if not all the actors worked for free. If you are from Cuba you know how realistically real and scary this movie is. Leon Ichaso, the film's director hit the nail on the head on this movie because everything in it is exactly how it is and is all true. I left Cuba when I was four but I have since gone back to visit a few relatives that I have there and I can tell you that it is devastating to walk thru the streets and see all the filth,hunger and desperation of its people. This film hit me too close to home and I was moved to tears when I first saw it. To this day everytime I watch it I can't help the tears from rolling down my face. I'm glad that this brilliant movie has been made available on DVD so that more people can see it and take a closer look at the way desperate people live in a country that was once beautiful now torn apart by the harsh and cruel not to mention unhumane regime of Fidel Castro. The film was shot in black and white which makes it all the more real since it would be foolish to do a movie that takes place in Cuba in color since there isn't any. All of the actors did an excellent job with their roles. I wish this film would've of reached a bigger audience when release in 1996 but since it was a low budget film it was only seen by most people living in Miami where the majority of its population is cuban. If you care about what really goen on Cuba today and the struggles that the people over there go thru to break free from under its fascist regime you should see it. I have it in my movie collection and is one of my favorites but I can't watch it too often because it hurts too much. Overall is an excellent movie, I was dissapointed that it was not even considered for an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign film. This movie deserved not only the Oscar but praise and recognition worldwide.

Great movie
I though the movie was stimulating. I creamed in my pants a couple times.

A fifth star for having the guts to make this movie.
Made in beautiful black and white plus an infinite range of greys, this is a "Romeo and Juliet" in modern world story with Capuletos and Montescos being the People vs Big Brother Castro.

It's not Casablanca but it could be a classic if the academia one day took off their mask and recognized its quality.

As for the reviewer below, this is not propaganda from Miami. This is about people who want to be free and people -like you- who want others to be slaves. And listen up: there is no blockade, millions of sex-searching tourists with no conscience seek the island every year leaving their money at hotels where Cubans are not allowed to enter and the tips to the prostitutes.
Cuba is a slave country, you are in your right to like it, but at least admit it.

When you have nothing, why not do nothing together?
This visually stunning, slap-in-your-face film is ultimately painful to watch. You have to admire revolutionaires that for nationalism & personal conviction are willing to put up with so little so much of the time. Watching those young people applauding at the outdoor Castro speech rallies makes you wonder what other options they had. They either wanted to be there & feed their anti-Yankee imperialism beliefs or felt that they would be questioned for staying away. Or perhaps there was nothing better or more interesting to do than attend that outdoor group experience. When you have nothing, why not do nothing together & show solidarity en-masse.

The fresh music & performances heard in the movie, esp. the afro cuban (more afro than cuban, interestingly enough) is a delight to hear and enjoy the proto-African flavored dances that both black & white execute in this film.

When my uncle was last permitted to vacation in Miami--before Clinton made it difficult for the frequent immigration & visits of Cuban nationals--he was often questioned as to why he kept returning to Cuba after his yearly visits to Miami. He was well read in Marxist authors & it showed when he spoke. His Miami relatives questioned him as to why if things were so scare as he claimed they were, though not so scarce that he would repeatedly return to Cuba visit after visit during the 90s, why didn't the remaining Cubans with nary a roast chicken to eat even on Sunday, not rise up & rectify things. His reponse was: we don't rise up because all the brave & decisive Cubans have left & migrated to the USA or other ports of haven.

Or maybe the brave Cubans are still in Cuba holding onto what little remains of a native Cuban culture & identity there still is instead of wanting the wild abandon & comfort & endless summer after a hard day at the offices or local Walmarts of Miami, USA. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Definitely not for everyone, this film by Reb Braddock (executive produced by Quentin Tarantino) has become a cult favorite--but only for the cult that enjoys its humor dark, twisted, and deeply bloodstained. Angela Jones is a young woman in Miami who is so obsessed with the crimes of a local serial killer (William Baldwin) that she takes a job working for a company that cleans up murder scenes, just to get closer to him. She digs the work, learning the tricks of a trade that is focused on removing unsightly bloodstains that come in multi-pint-size pools. Braddock and cowriter John Maass craft a nerve-racking finale in which the killer romances the cleaner, with surprising results. Not for the squeamish. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (13)

curdled
Watchable, but not very entertaining. If you want a good dark comedy watch The Doom generation or Blood Simple. This movie falls short in too many ways to describe. The acting is mediocre at best, and the storyline drags. The concept is interesting, but they just don't do enough with it. Would do fine as a short film, but at feature lentgh it becomes, stretched too thin

The Funniest Film Noir Ever
Do you ever pick up one of those movies at the video store and say, "Wow, this is going to be so terrible that I just have to see it!" Well, I do, and that's exactly what I said about "Curdled". I was so wrong - this film is fantastic! Originally a short film, Curdled struck Tarentino like lightning and he promptly urged (forced) Braddock to make it into a feature length movie. I would not ordinarily apply such a cliché phrase as "wickedly funny" to anything, but that is exactly what this film noir is. Gabrielle (magnificently performed by Angela Jones) is teetering on the brink of an obsession with serial killers. Her consuming desire to understand the mind of a murderer motivates her to land a job with a post-murder cleaning service. Her new occupation allows her the opportunity to get closer to the crimes than she had anticipated. This film is out of this world, if you don't mind the sight of blood and laughing at crazy people, that is. I giggle sadistically to myself even now at the thought of it. Oh yeah, William Baldwin is in it.

finally!
Ive been waiting for this to hit dvd for awhile,Ever since I watched the vhs I was hooked.This thing aint for everyone thats for sure.You gotta have a dark sense of humor or just hang it up and watch something else.The dvd is fully loaded.It has:the short film it was based on,deleted scenes,commentary,plus a gallery,tv ads,a kelly preston tv show,plus alot more.its a shame there arent more people who know about this great flick.

Best special features ever!
This is the same fun, quirky black comedy that all the other reviews mention. Thankfully, the DVD is letterboxed, and has truly extensive special features; among them:

* Commentary by the director and producer (co-writers Reb Braddock and John Maass),
* a making-of featurette complete with brief interviews with cast and crew,
* the 30 minute short film that caught Quentin Tarantino's attention at a film festival in Italy,
* the even shorter 'Baby Curdled' - a film school directing project by John Maass,
* an extensive photo gallery mostly consisisting of candid shots of the cast and crew,
* deleted scenes and an alternate ending,
* the original theatrical trailer,
* by far the coolest interactive menu - watch for the fly!
* the commercials and made-for-tv movie that are seen in the film,
* the 'dance of death' rehearsal - you have got to see this!
* probably more than I'm not recalling

Most features have an introduction/explanation by director Reb Braddock.

SMILY-FACE BLACK COMEDY CAN'T DISGUISE THAT IT'S A DUD.
This is a Tarantino movie. He didn't write or direct it, but executive-produced it. Surely must have been a blooper, because although it wallows in blood (don't all of his endeavours, predictably?) and scrambles to put a "just kidding" face on its darker impluses (don't all of his endeavours, again?), it never quite manages to emerge as a coherent or compelling film.

Angela Jones (the taxi driver in Pulp Fiction if you recall) is a Columbian in California smitten with murders. She takes up a job as a cleaning maid, not your ordinary maid but with a niche-business company that cleans up messes on crime scenes. On one of those scenes, she meets up with a real psychopath killer -- played with as straight a face as possible by Billy Baldwin -- who likes to hack women for dessert.

Intriguing pretext. Unfortunately, the actual movie while neat in bits and parts, is overall quite a boring fare. Jones, the ever so murky maid, has a grating type of naivette about her which is funny probably to people who like to see their women cutesy and hyper-melodramatic, but is annoying to me.

Not sure why this dud was produced. But sounds like with the likes of Kill Bill Quentin may well be developing a real taste for such gore which, if unsuccessful, can be shrugged off under the garb of "oh, it was a black comedy" or a spoof or some such weak-kneed toss-off.

(P.S. The movie goes by the name of "Fetish" in Japan) ... Read more