Movie reviews

WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL

I went to a meeting with two film editors: Agnieszka Glinska and Marcin Kot Bastkowski. Here are some funny quotes:
"Czasem film wygral festiwal, a jakby jury to zobaczylo, to by sie zdziwilo." ("Sometimes a film has won a festival but if the jury saw it, they'd be surprised.")
"Kiedys mialam sytuacje, ze rezyser nie chcial przyjsc do montazowni, bo nie chcial patrzec na to, co zrobil." ("I once had a situation where the film director didn't want to come to the editing room because he didn't want to look at what he had done.")
"Teoretycznie moglam tu dorysowac lub dopisac, ze mialo byc to, tylko nie mialam tego nakreconego." ("Theoretically I could draw or write something extra here to show it was to be there. The thing was I didn't have it shot.")
"Ktos kiedys stwierdzil, ze film to aktor i operator. I siedz tu w kinie 20 godzin." ("Someone once said that a film was an actor and a cameraman. So go and sit 20 hours at the cinema.")
 "Co pani robi, kiedy pani chce cos zrobic w jedna strone, a rezyser cisnie w druga?" "No, to musi byc, jak ja chce." ("What do you do when you want to do it one way and the director pressurizes you the other way?" "Well, then it has to be the way I want.")
"Kto z panstwa widzial ten film?" "Aha, 1 osoba. I to jest moj syn." ("Which of you have seen the film?" "Right, one person. And it's my son.")


LEGEND

Recommended. Tom Hardy speaking Cockney in a double role - well, I had never liked the actor before but here he's unbelievable and the role(s) is Oscar-worthy. Very London-oriented. I guess not everyone will understand it. But Londoners will. It builds the legend of East End and tells a bit of history of what London was like in the famous 60s. It's also about emotions, family, love. A beautiful and moving story. With some tasty bits like all the cuppa scenes.

WOMAN IN GOLD

Recommended. Seen again. Loved it all the same. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, is brilliantly acted, has sharp dialogues and a moving, based on facts, story.


ADWOKAT W ROLI GLOWNEJ (ADVOCATE IN THE LEADING ROLE)

INHERIT THE WIND (1960)

Recommended. Brilliant, often humorous dialogues, like between a darwinist and a biblist: "Your views have evolved". A great, clever courtroom drama.

...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1979)

Recommended. A great courtroom and outside-courtroom drama about law and ethics.


11 MINUTES

Recommended. Never mind the plot. The cinematography itself deserves an Oscar. Nothing I have seen before. Just like years ago in Aronofsky's "Pi" the world was a system of interconnected characters and events, here the same effect is achieved in the most film way - visually through cinematography and editing.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY

Watchable. I'm not into sadism or masochism, not lesbian, not fond of aging people and hardly interested in entomology. Yet, this film sustains a lot of erotic tension. With no nudity! That's an achievement. Well-structured with clever subtle twist of action.

AGNIESZKA

Watchable. The first part is very much like drab Polish movies of the 80s. The second part is more modern and a bit of a psychological thriller. Unfortunately terribly stereotypical - the main character is a strong woman indeed but working in sex business and specialising in ball busting.

CRACHE COEUR (RAGING ROSE)

Watchable. No taboos in this film about adolescents (e.g. the girl masturbates). Quite refreshing, very life-like. Great music by the director Julia Kowalska's younger brother Daniel Kowalski. If I didn't quite like it, it's because of shabbiness and the closeness to real life which is both a plus and a minus.

BESTIA (1916)

Watchable. Simplistic plot even if the story is relatively involving. Expressionistic acting for the silent movie looked quite funny.

LE TOUT NOUVEAU TESTAMENT (THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT)

Watchable. The Polish Oscar candidate ("11 Minutes") is much better. The trailer implied a comedy but there was only one funny scene in the film ("Is this God? I imagined him differently"). The film is very sad and depressing, about child abuse. Full of stereotypes, e.g. Icelandic Jokularsson plus an Eskimo. The last few minutes are the best - a completely new, cheerful even if tacky vision of the world, including e.g. pink sky with flowers scattered on it and gravity switched off. The world is created on a computer.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC DEPPA (THE NIGHT OF DEPP)

I skipped "Dark Shadows" which I had seen before.

Depp is quite an actor, capable of pulling off a few distinctly different roles. Each of them convincingly.

BLACK MASS

Watchable. The first half an hour was so dull and boring I considered walking out. But James "Whitey" Bulger was clearly a dangerous psychopath (20 on Hare's scale is a likely guess) which made the remaing 1,5 hours more and more interesting. At some point you just find yourself glued to the seat.

THE LONE RANGER

Watchable. Beautiful views of New Mecixo fantastical rock formations, characters resembling those of the "Pirates of the Carribean", handsome Armie Hammer and action make it fun to watch. Could be a bit shorter though.

THE RUM DIARY

Watchable. The best of the three films of the night. Involving from scene one in which Johnny Depp is the most realistic drunk ever. Then he meets a beautiful lady (stunning dyed blonde Amber Heard ) and her manipulative husband. The story itself could be clearer and the drug-taking scenes were less interesting to me. Seems like one lowlife got extremely lucky.


BURNT

Watchable. Standard American artisanship - accents don't matter to them, acting is good and the plot good. Dialogues could be more humorous. On the whole, it's one of several movies-about-restaurants.

LARJUNGEN (THE DISCIPLE)

Watchable. Finnish Oscar candidate? Is the 2016 Oscar race for the best dog abuse award?! In this film one disturbing dog scene only. The whole film is Strindberg-like: set in the Åland Islands hence the characters speak Swedish, a family in which the relations turn more and more perverted, slow development, increasing brutality. But I've read and seen it several times before.

IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI (TALE OF TALES)

Recommended. In my opinion the year's best movie. Finally in the 21st century these unusual tales from the 17th century could be filmed. Modern day make-up, casting, costumes, access to locations in Italy, acting, special visual effects made it happen. Visually stunning, with powerful stories.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORRORS

None of the presented four movies was scary. In other terms the quality varied.

THE LAST WITCH HUNTER

Watchable in parts. Best to wait for a DVD so that you can fast forward from time to time. A mixture of interesting scenes and good CGIs with lousy ones and ridiculous visuals. The human part of the plot was more comprehensible to me than the magical part.

DEMON

Watchable. I couldn't fully grasp the story. The film is very chaotic. At the same time it's well acted, with some witty lines, e.g. to a son: "Uzyj swojego mozgu choc raz. Po 30 latach." ("Use your brain at least once. After 30 years."). All shot in almost black and white.

THE GALLOWS

Watchable in parts. Some scenes are fun, predictable but fun. Most of it, though, is a camcorder record which is just completely overused by movie-makers.

THE VATICAN TAPES

Watchable. The best of the four. It has an interesting story, made look plausible by the opening Church officials' statements. Good acting helps enjoyment. The whole Antichrist motif is nothing new though.


ASIAN HORROR NIGHT

None of the presented three movies was really scary. But all of them were innovative, at least to a European viewer.

FAK WAI NAI GAI THOE (THE SWIMMERS)

Watchable. Beautiful cinematography. Intriguing story being part-horror part-crime. Unpredictable too.
Chutavuth Pattarakampol as Perth is a true hottie. The ending is protracted.

DEO WEB-TOON: YE-GO SAL-IN (KILLER TOON)

Watchable. Too many twists in the protracted ending. Other than that it's an involving detective story.

YIEUTJIB JOMBI

Watchable. Here zombies are a containable and curable disease. The five short films vary in quality: from downright ridiculous, like the zombie/human couple in love, to quite good like the one about finding your way back to the society after you've eaten people when ill.


THE PROGRAM

Recommended. Not just another gripping headline story of a journalist investigation. It changes your view on doping in sport. As the doc in the film put it, now we're able to bypass physiology. The point is, not everyone is born strong but winning is in your will, not body. Besides, Lance Armstrong donated lots of money to a cancer foundation which wouldn't have been possible without his doping-based victories. A clever film showing there are two sides to each question.

I AM MICHAEL

Watchable. A dull film about a controversial issue - a gay activist turning Catholic and straight. Too many protracted scenes.

SPECTRE

Recommended. Nothing short of perfection and cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema deserves an Oscar. Unmissable first scenes. The whole thing is just killing in opulence. The plot is smart and some, even if few, lines are hilarious e.g. Bond asks Q to make him disappear and says: "I'll send you a postcard" to which he responds: "Please, don't". Ah, and another brilliant, multi-layer title.

DHEEPAN

Watchable. There is a story so it's quite easy to follow but it's just about immigrants trying to build a new home while troubled by their war past which gets reignited by French gangs' shootings.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT WITH LISTY DO M.

I skipped "Listy do M." which I had walked out from a couple of years ago. So I ended up watching:

LISTY DO M. 2

Watchable. A few funny scenes like with the sheep in a shopping centre: "Wiec to jednak pana owca." "Przepraszam, nie rozpoznalem na poczatku." ("So it's your sheep after all." "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize her at first.") make it better than part one. It's touching at times too. But the plot is far from perfect. The cast also doesn't always act out the humour of dialogue lines.

SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE

Watchable again. "No one wonders how is crack doing or is cocaine mad at me" and the accompanying changing room scene are the highlight of the film. Together with the beating up of the gyn. The rest is well-paced and easy to follow but not entirely funny.

LOVE, ROSIE

Recommended again. Rosie's best friend and her lines like "It's great being your best friend. You think your life is fucked up but look at you and it puts it in a perspective." are my favourite. Sam Claflin and Christian Cooke as well as Suki Waterhouse and Tamsin Egerton are hot. The plot is contrived and heart-touching.


FIVE FLAVOURS FILM FESTIVAL

BIG FATHER, SMALL FATHER AND OTHER STORIES

Watchable. The story is dull. It's mostly loose scenes from the countryside and from the city plus a few disturbing facts, like a rape, dullified too. I watched mostly for the exotics of Vietnam: both nature and culture.

BAAHUBALI: THE BEGINNING

Recommended. Tollywood which is very much like Bollywood minus the change of language from Hindi to Telugu. The most costly Indian production ever - 40 m $, it earned 9 m $ worldwide on its opening day. 90% of the film are CGIs. And it's all top-notch: the fairytale-like story, the music, the opulence, the visuals, the clear-cut characters. I'm looking forward to part 2 to be released in autumn 2016.


SLOW WEST

Watchable. Typical western motifs, brutality but also a lot of humour resulting from a clash of cultures.

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 3D

Watchable. Brilliant twists of action, CGIs, music, scenography (shot in Paris, Berlin and Atlanta - I wonder where). Unfortunately mutants look like pale Giger's aliens and act like zombies. It also gets annoyably politically correct at times.

MACBETH

Slept through. Lullaby-style music from the beginning to the end. Monotonous recitation. Dull darkish colours.


FIVE FLAVOURS FILM FESTIVAL

ANINO SA LIKOD NG BUWAN (SHADOW BEHIND THE MOON)

Watchable. It's all talking - 3 people, 1 place. It should be a short story or a theatrical play, not a film. But the dialogues are full of twists and turns.

DIE XUE JIE TOU (BULLET IN THE HEAD)

Watchable. A light take on "Deer Hunter" - this time by John Woo. Violence here looks like in "Miami Vice", one of the characters even wears a white suit, so even pastels have been derived.