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Underlay by his immigrant status and queer identity, Salvadoran-American writer/comedian/actor Julio Torres manages to visualize his own fanciful conceits (a creative mind inherited from his artist mother) and welds trendy elements, like cryogenics, NYC art scene, toy design, into his feature directorial debut PROBLEMISTA, chiefly regarding the symbiosis between Alejandro (Torre), a struggling toy designer-to-be and Elizabeth (Swinton), a cuckoo art critic who employs him as her assistant. Trying to secure his toehold in the Big Apple, Alejandro, an immigrant from El Salvador, is not a rudderless young adult adrift in the megalopolis. His vocation is to be a toy designer and he has more than enough talent for it. But after his application to the Hasbro intern program is rejected, he must seek employment to validate his visa. His best chance lies in Elizabeth, who is hurt for an assistant who is conversant with computation, namely, FileMaker Pro, the database application (an initially funny frivolity is magnified ad nauseam, even Swinton looks out of sorts rephrasing that accursed moniker), as she is bent on organizing an exhibition of his painter husband Bobby (RZA), who is currently a"corpsicle" in a cryogenic experiment. The premises are quite far-out, and Swinton risibly makes a splash of that exasperating, overweening self-centeredness which is the sequela of residing in NYC far too long. In her garish get-up, with frizzy, cochineal tresses, Elizabeth is a nightmare for anyone to encounter. But she is tolerated considerably despite of her outrageousness and flamboyance. Perhaps because she doesn't care for pretense, unapologetically being true to herself, a tenet Torres seems to propagate and abide by unconditionally. Only a good boy like Alejandro, whose anonymity almost reduces him to a nonentity (his brush with fetish is a stiff tease), can handle Elizabeth’s eccentricity without protestation, and is emboldened by her to be proactive for once, boldly claims his place in the Hasbro company, other than settling for a stopgap. Still PROBLEMISTA’s allure remains on the surface. For all its scintillating brainwaves (the anthropomorphic Craiglist guy, the dark place where Alejandro must contend with the downside of human nature, etc.), the story is loosey-goosey and Swinton is weighed down with the heavy lifting to keep the wacky storyline afloat while the meet-in-the-future finale doesn’t mount to anything but a beggar belief reaction from Elizabeth. “Looks like we both have made it!” Not enough goodwill (a heightened reconciliation between two rival women), plurality and genderqueer affirmation (cameos from trans-artistes Charlene Incarnate and Shakina, Torres’s boyfriend Scully is cute as a button) could lift PROBLEMISTA from the slapdash assemblage of half-baked ideas and half-hearted novelties. Torres makes a good fist in crafting his debut feature through his own perspective and personal reflections, but mirabile dictu, that will not necessarily set the world on fire. PROBLEMISTA is safely ensconced in its own niche of queer absurdity. referential entries: George Miller's THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING (2022, 7.0/10); Sofia Coppola's ON THE ROCKS (2020, 5.9/10).

主角亚历杭卓，一个从萨尔瓦多来的小伙子，对设计玩具有着满腔热情。亚历杭卓在纽约的打拼，签证问题，工作的不确定性，这些都是我们很多人可能面临的问题。那种对未来的不确定感，那种在陌生土地上的孤独感，每一个细节都刻画得淋漓尽致。特别是当他收到那份工作offer的时候，我的心里也跟着紧张起来，因为我知道，这不仅仅是一份工作，这是他留在这个国家的机会，是他继续追逐梦想的希望。最让我感动的，其实是那些小人物的故事。比如脾气暴躁的孤独女人，她的形象让我想到了很多人，那些在社会边缘挣扎的人们。他们可能看起来冷漠，但内心深处，其实都有着自己的渴望和梦想。电影用一种幽默的方式，让我们看到了这些人物的另一面，让我们看到了他们的温暖和善良。 结尾，虽然有点童话色彩，但我觉得这正是导演想要传达给我们的。不管现实多么残酷，我们都要保持着希望，因为只有希望，才能让我们有勇气去面对那些困难和挑战。电影里的那种乐观和积极，真的给了我很大的鼓舞。 “科技”元素，我觉得挺有趣的。虽然有些特效让人感觉有点出戏，但它们其实也是在用一种幽默的方式，去讽刺我们现代社会对科技的依赖。比如那个莫名打开的手电筒，还有那个无法同步的云端备份，这些都是在告诉我们，科技虽然给我们带来了很多便利，但有时候，它也会让我们感到无助和困惑。不管你是不是在异国他乡，不管你是不是在追逐自己的梦想，这部电影都能给你一些启发和思考。文章来源：电影咖啡 觉得值得一看，想看原片的可以直达公众号：电影咖啡 免费无套路，不用谢

还有两天就要离开这个城市，进行新的旅途了，这部电影是临别哈法前最好的礼物。移民为什么焦虑法理上的身份身份？因为只有这个国家可以让ta实现ta想实现的东西，只有这个国家可以完成ta的梦想。这注定是一条无比艰难，充满荆棘的道路。这部片子说，你不要当那个被选择的人，你要当那个主动选择的人。每个移民都需要走出自己的道路，主动争取自己的权利。主人公其实是有别的，远没有那么艰难，也很不错的工作机会拿到绿卡的，但那就放弃了自己的梦想。我很喜欢这个情节，身份与梦想的交叉性在这里体现的淋漓尽致。拿到身份是为了梦想，但如果两者缺一，又如何选择呢？电影的答案是：我全要。可电影毕竟是造梦的艺术，童话般的故事又怎么会发生在每个人身上呢？接下来的这几段不算影评，只能算我对自己过去三年的总结：22年年初是我最焦虑的时候，找不到工作，gpa压力如山大，有明确的目标，但不知道怎么达到。最后我其实一半是逃避，一半基于现实的选择了延期毕业。结果好运真的降临到我的头上。系里的老师给我安排了TA的工作，这是我第一份在加拿大工作。后来TA的老师给了我RA，让我还没毕业就有了一份工作。那是我过去两年运气最好的一段时间。后来发现RA的工作远没有想象中那么美好，繁琐重复而无聊。而我的老板，也跟片中一样，被很多人评价脾气古怪，非常不好相处。也许少数族裔女性在学术圈就是得这样才能生存吧。这份工作到后来真的没有什么价值，但为了PR，不得不一直做着这份工作。如果不是为了PR，我的生命会延长一年。一部分为了挣钱，我虽然没有做cleaning boy，但我真的去医院当了21天小白鼠，挣了我三个月的工资，期间甚至继续正常工作。但可笑的是，跟电影一样，这份工作根本没有给我PR。移民政策瞬息万变，CEC项目改革，靠这份工作拿PR顿时遥遥无期。24年的2月到3月是我最煎熬的时刻，每天睡不着觉。准备雅思到崩溃，不是因为这玩意有多难，而是我发现我考8.5分也无济于事。但我真的很幸运，就在这个月，bc省的学校给我发来了博士offer：只要通过博士二年级的考试，我就可以拿到PR。收到offer的那一天，是我这么多年来最快乐的一天。谁知道未来会怎么样呢？我真的能拿到卡吗？当我垂垂老矣，看待这段往事的时候，我会怎么看待这几年帮助我的那些人呢？那时的我做出了什么工作吗？ta们给我留下了怎么的烙印呢？我只能相信时间的力量，时间会给我答案。