Nicolás Ruiz
Tomatometer-approved critic
Film critic and editor for different media outlets in Mexico. He writes about movies, popular culture, comic books, television, and literature. For the last four years, he has been an editor for the technology and geek culture blog Código Espagueti. He has a masters degree in comparative literature and enjoys random investigative work.
Mexico City
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Nightmare Alley (2021) |
Nightmare Alley is an elegant adaptation that tackles the obsessions of Lindsay Gersham in the context of the digital age. A cruel allegory of our use of image, persuasion and pathos. Full review in Spanish - N+
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| Posted Mar 03, 2022
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Blanco de Verano (2020) |
Formally and thematically stylish, Summer White is an intelligent coming-of-age that tackles the ideas of power and territoriality. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Jan 10, 2022
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Benedetta (2021) |
An intelligent film about messianism, representation and the egotistical power of leaders. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Jan 10, 2022
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Last Night in Soho (2021) |
With his unique sensibility for pace and rhythmic montage, Wright weaves a compelling psychological nightmare that revisits the idea of male gaze in horror films. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Nov 07, 2021
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The Medium (2021) |
The Medium is a bitter disappointment. A banal horror movie full of clichés, formal derivations and autoexotic tropes. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Nov 07, 2021
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Antlers (2021) |
A peculiar blend of monster movies with social horror that doesn't always hit the target. Nevertheless, an enjoyable and interesting film. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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Lamb (2021) |
Lamb is an ambitious movie that dwells, through christian values and mythical culture, on loss and the ever growing fear of becoming inconsequential. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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Hold Your Fire (2021) |
An astute coral film that explores police violence in the United States and the evergoing racial conflict in the heart of its society. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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Attica (2021) |
A chilling and visceral archive work by legendary filmmaker Stanley Nelson. Truly captivating, thoroughly horrifying. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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The Execution (2021) |
An ambitious and well crafted thriller that subverts the cultural expectations of the serial killer trope. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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France (2021) |
A tragicomical allegory by Bruno Dumont on the media representation of France and the terrifying future of a nostalgic and broken republic. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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Ahed's Knee (2021) |
A complex statement about violence, fascism, authority, cinema and the intimate relationship, in Israel, between victims, executioners and bystanders. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Oct 26, 2021
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Prayers for the Stolen (2021) |
Prayers for the Stolen is a well crafted movie that, nevertheless, lacks the ideological complexity of Huezo's previous work. In the end, this is a paternalistic and innocent take on Mexico's drug related violence. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Sep 18, 2021
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Tragic Jungle (2020) |
Olaizola threads between fantasy and naturalism to recreate a forgotten realm of history. By doing so, Selva Trágica transcends the boundaries of period pieces in search of a complex physical and conceptual experience. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Jun 11, 2021
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Crisis (2021) |
Crisis is an entertaining, albeit superficial and sometimes clumsy thriller, that portrays, with real courage, an urgent and complicated subject. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted May 05, 2021
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Nomadland (2020) |
Even if Zhao can be a little bit obvious in her emotional intentions, this character study is an interesting critique of the american dream. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Apr 27, 2021
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Relic (2020) |
An intimate film that manages to blend, with subtlety, j-horror influences in a psychological and allegorical portrait of loss and grief. A true class act from Natalie Erika James. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Apr 12, 2021
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Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) |
Adam Wingard understands the tone needed for a movie like this. And he understands the characters. With a keen visual eye, Godzilla vs Kong manages to create a fun new mythology based on the vast Toho lore. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Mar 30, 2021
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Undine (2020) |
Christian Petzold reflects on the architectural development of Berlin to summon mythical nostalgia and construct a modern vision of love and sacrifice. [Full review in Spanish] - N+
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| Posted Mar 30, 2021
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499 (2020) |
499 wants to subvert the usual narrative of violence in Mexico. In this effort, it's an ambitious and brave -but finally disappointing- attempt at docufiction. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Mar 22, 2021
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WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn (2021) |
This is not an innovative documentary, formally speaking. But it is sincere and human. More than a story about Adam Neumann, it's about the people who trusted him and the remaining hopes of an empathetic future. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Mar 22, 2021
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Console Wars (2020) |
Console Wars is a vivid representation of marketing and audiovisual culture in the nineties. A concise, precise and joyful documentary about a mediatic war that shaped the imagination of millions around the globe. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Dec 02, 2020
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Z (2019) |
There are a lot of pointless clichés and easy jumpscares in Z, but at the end Brandon Christensen manages to make an intelligent little horror film about trauma and normality. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Dec 01, 2020
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Roald Dahl's The Witches (2020) |
The Witches is an empty and joyless spectacle; a perfectly staged and horribly realized CGI banality. Zemeckis at an all time low. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Nov 03, 2020
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New Order (2020) |
New Order is a movie about fear. Fear of change, fear of social unrest, fear of political convictions. A conservative and manipulative dystopian film. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Nov 03, 2020
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I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) |
A passionate essay about love, approval and death. Kaufman conjures a powerful sense of impending doom in a critique of modern romantic expectations and the most insidious forms of masculine ego. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Sep 23, 2020
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Tenet (2020) |
Tenet is an obnoxious, cold and unpleasant movie. Nevertheless, Nolan achieved a rare formal experiment never seen before in summer blockbusters. Hollow, cynic and revolutionary at the same time. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Sep 13, 2020
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Host (2020) |
Rob Savage capitalizes on the fear of quarantine with a surprising elegance. Host is a fun, purposeful and intelligent movie that combines, unseemingly, the thrill of jump scares and the intense consciousness of a collective, underlying, anguish. - Código espagueti
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| Posted Aug 31, 2020
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Bad Boys for Life (2020) |
Bad Boys: For Life is a silly and entertaining movie that recreates the lost spirit of what action films used to be in the nineties. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Feb 17, 2020
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Jojo Rabbit (2019) |
Jojo Rabbit isn't nearly as funny or smart as it thinks it is. Despite of all it's good intentions this is an unpleasant, manipulative and downright dangerous satyre. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Feb 17, 2020
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) |
Marielle Heller did a charming and heartwarming movie that truly understands the complexity of its characters and tackles them with ambitious form. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Feb 17, 2020
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The Irishman (2019) |
This movie is a monument. A beautiful essay on old age, filmmaking and fiction by a grand american master. Mesmerizing and deeply moving. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Dec 06, 2019
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The Dead Don't Die (2019) |
In my opinion, this is the first patronizing and culturally insensitive Jarmusch film. A smart formal comedy that quickly turns into a banal and empty rambling. Disappointing at best. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Nov 20, 2019
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Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) |
This is a disappointing, pointless and joyless film. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Nov 20, 2019
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Bacurau (2019) |
This clever western remixes genres in a playful manner to achieve a surprising statement about comunitary love as a act of resistance. A necessary and beautiful film [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Nov 20, 2019
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Joker (2019) |
This movie isn't as intelligent or irreverent as Todd Phillips might think. But it does challenge the conventional structures of the genre and the ideological implications of superhero movies. Flawed and riveting. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Oct 04, 2019
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Midsommar (2019) |
Ari Aster did it again. Midsommar is a symmetric representation of fears around individualism and community life. A truly visionary and creative take on contemporary social horror. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Oct 04, 2019
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High Life (2018) |
High Life is a captivating cinematic achievement, a movie that portrays with sensual delight the compassion and horror of human emotions. A impressive film from an impressive filmmaker. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Sep 23, 2019
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Why Don't You Just Die! (Papa, sdokhni) (2018) |
Sokolov made a horrific and amusing tale about contemporary cynicism and romantic hope wrapped around a dark action comedy with clear influences from Ritchie, Tarantino and Park Chan-wook. This movie is a blast. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Sep 02, 2019
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Feral (2018) |
Feral is an intelligent and idiosyncratic horror movie. A false documentary that digs deep in Mexico's religious beliefs and dangerous superstitions. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Aug 23, 2019
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The Lion King (2019) |
In trying to make a naturalistic movie, Jon Favreau forgot that myths dwell on magic and symbolism. As a result, The Lion King is a soulless fiasco. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Aug 14, 2019
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The Gasoline Thieves (2019) |
Huachicolero is a beautiful and thoughtful film that portrays, with acumen and sensibility, the culture of violence and misery in Mexico. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Aug 01, 2019
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Kabul, City in the Wind (2018) |
An intimate journey into the everyday life of a city destroyed by war, invasions and fanaticism. A truly compassionate, honest and beautiful film. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jul 23, 2019
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Take Me Somewhere Nice (2019) |
A heartfelt roadtrip of personal discovery. Sexy, slick, well paced and wonderfully filmed, Take Me Somewhere is a promising debut. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jul 23, 2019
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Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) |
Spider-Man: Far From Home has some great moments... but it finally doesn't manage to balance the solemnity of its premise with the comical intentions of its director. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jul 15, 2019
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Annabelle Comes Home (2019) |
Annabelle Comes Home is an interesting take on PG-13 horror. Nevertheless, Dauberman's film ends up being as tiresome and empty as any of the previous installments in Wan's universe. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jul 02, 2019
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Toy Story 4 (2019) |
Toy Story 4 is an intelligent film about transcending nostalgia and moving on. The perfect ending for a saga that has accompanied the dreams of a entire generation. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jun 27, 2019
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Under the Silver Lake (2018) |
With Under the Silver Lake, David Robert Mitchell created a deceptive movie that works as a semantic essay on millennial boredom. A cult classic in the making. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jun 20, 2019
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Murder Mystery (2019) |
Murder Mystery is an algorithm based comedy specifically created for distracted viewers and a clear symptom of Adam Sandler's catatonic and derivative comedy. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jun 18, 2019
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Dark Phoenix (2019) |
Dark Phoenix is a disappointing and disrespectful finale for fans of the franchise and source material. A grey and joyless film. [Full review in Spanish] - Código espagueti
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| Posted Jun 10, 2019
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