아가씨 (THE HANDMAIDEN)
Recommended. 145 minute long with no second redundant. The story's tense and intense and a few surprises await. Made by Park Chan-wook of "Oldboy" fame, it contains just one brutal scene, well, physically brutal anyway. Telling stories plays a bigger part and puts the viewer in the same position as the gentlemen seeking unwholesome excitement under the guise of high culture. Music, cinematography, masterfully rationed nudity attract the eye and the ear. Heavy ending. The soft song over the credits doesn't soften the film - just the opposite: the sharp contrast only strengthens it.
ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE 3D
Watchable. Great animation with very good 3D. Water glistens, meteorites shines and the animals have toy-like furs. What's annoying is the dialogues which sound like drunk teens' who are too cool for school. It's chaotic too.
Thursday 28 July 2016
Tuesday 26 July 2016
1 minute past midnight Polish time. Here comes the promised review of
JASON BOURNE
Watchable. While it's far from poor, it's the weakest of the Bourne franchise. Not only does the film copy standard solutions from the series but also from other movies, e.g. Jason takes part in fights for a living like Wolverine. What's worse, he's clearly put on weight and his muscles are covered in fat. Two chase scenes are just too long. At the same time it's a sensible follow-up to the previous installments. Even Bourne's kills get summed up (32). The film refers to contemporary events, e.g. Syntagma Square protests in Athens, which brings the action home. Deep Dream is a swift reference to social media surveillance. Vincent Cassel is superb as a vicious agent, so is Alicia Vikander in the ambiguity of her character. Clear-cut structure lets you follow the film easily. Some major deaths change the scene. Intelligent and humorous ending promises a sequel. Very good music by Moby extends over credits. Fun guaranteed.
JASON BOURNE
Watchable. While it's far from poor, it's the weakest of the Bourne franchise. Not only does the film copy standard solutions from the series but also from other movies, e.g. Jason takes part in fights for a living like Wolverine. What's worse, he's clearly put on weight and his muscles are covered in fat. Two chase scenes are just too long. At the same time it's a sensible follow-up to the previous installments. Even Bourne's kills get summed up (32). The film refers to contemporary events, e.g. Syntagma Square protests in Athens, which brings the action home. Deep Dream is a swift reference to social media surveillance. Vincent Cassel is superb as a vicious agent, so is Alicia Vikander in the ambiguity of her character. Clear-cut structure lets you follow the film easily. Some major deaths change the scene. Intelligent and humorous ending promises a sequel. Very good music by Moby extends over credits. Fun guaranteed.
Friday 22 July 2016
FINDING DORY
Watchable when seen for the second time. I enjoyed the beautiful pictures, colours and jokes (excellent translation into Polish) again. I hope the after-the-credits scene announces the third installment. It's such a beautiful series and I'd love to find out more, e.g. about the octopus's unpleasant ocean experiences.
STAR TREK BEYOND 3D
Watchable. Great 3D scenography disguises a flat film. It's a compilation of elements from other space opera movies: rocky or wooded planets, a "Federation" and swooshing weapons like in "Star Wars", a female alien guide introducing a male hero to her planet and calling Scott "Montgomery Scotty" resembles Jake Sully's Na'vi guide in "Avatar", even the "save yourselves" line from "Event Horizon" gets recycled when an enemy tells the Enterprise crew he wants to save them from themselves. In the previous Star Trek film cultural differences were the pivot, here they're virtually non-existent while various language dialects are prominent. Even though comedian Simon Pegg co-wrote the script, he wrote no funny scene or line even for himself. Lousy costumes - aliens' heads looking like rubber. The whole thing is pure action with no depth just like in director Justin Lin's earlier "Fast & Furious" films. He should steer clear of SF.
THE NEON DEMON
Recommended. It's nothing like what I've seen before. A few taboos are broken - be warned! Graphic scenes accompany stunning visuals and hypnotic music in this dark tale full of surprises and pushing the limits. Calling it pure evil full of glam would be excessively superficial even if correct, too.
Watchable when seen for the second time. I enjoyed the beautiful pictures, colours and jokes (excellent translation into Polish) again. I hope the after-the-credits scene announces the third installment. It's such a beautiful series and I'd love to find out more, e.g. about the octopus's unpleasant ocean experiences.
STAR TREK BEYOND 3D
Watchable. Great 3D scenography disguises a flat film. It's a compilation of elements from other space opera movies: rocky or wooded planets, a "Federation" and swooshing weapons like in "Star Wars", a female alien guide introducing a male hero to her planet and calling Scott "Montgomery Scotty" resembles Jake Sully's Na'vi guide in "Avatar", even the "save yourselves" line from "Event Horizon" gets recycled when an enemy tells the Enterprise crew he wants to save them from themselves. In the previous Star Trek film cultural differences were the pivot, here they're virtually non-existent while various language dialects are prominent. Even though comedian Simon Pegg co-wrote the script, he wrote no funny scene or line even for himself. Lousy costumes - aliens' heads looking like rubber. The whole thing is pure action with no depth just like in director Justin Lin's earlier "Fast & Furious" films. He should steer clear of SF.
THE NEON DEMON
Recommended. It's nothing like what I've seen before. A few taboos are broken - be warned! Graphic scenes accompany stunning visuals and hypnotic music in this dark tale full of surprises and pushing the limits. Calling it pure evil full of glam would be excessively superficial even if correct, too.
Wednesday 20 July 2016
CAFE SOCIETY
Watchable. It's about how people delude themselves. I remember hearing from Piotr Tymochowicz that, when he talked to several murderer's mothers, they always believed their sons were "such good boys" deep in heart. Of course Woody Allen is about sharp observation and humour. So here we get a family believing their relative is a businessman, not a gangster. We've also got two people deluding themselves they're not in love. It's still Allen but long past his best productions and while it's full of wit, it's not laugh-out-loud funny. Just an ordinary rom-com.
TUMBLEDOWN
Watchable. The dog scenes, though far and few between, are the highlights. American smalltown lifestyle may be another attraction. Other than that it's a very morose (no rom-com here, in spite of Jason Sudeikis) story of love and mourning. And hardly plausible in that as nothing brings the two together for the whole movie and then suddenly they've fallen for each other?!The film's about a musician but the soundtrack is just so-so. It's inspirated by a true story but, sadly, not all true stories are worth a film. And certainly not when it's the scriptwriter's own story. The worst literature I've read always resulted from the writer's broken or mended heart. Film scripts are no exception here.
KOBIETY BEZ WSTYDU
Watchable. Advertised as a rom-com it's far from that. I laughed only twice. The women are beautiful but the story is silly and sexist, it's similar to "Och, Karol" but much less amusing. In the middle the story diverts towards crime. The gangster oil tycoon looks like Jan Kulczyk - Poland's late richest man. I wonder how his family is going to react.
Watchable. It's about how people delude themselves. I remember hearing from Piotr Tymochowicz that, when he talked to several murderer's mothers, they always believed their sons were "such good boys" deep in heart. Of course Woody Allen is about sharp observation and humour. So here we get a family believing their relative is a businessman, not a gangster. We've also got two people deluding themselves they're not in love. It's still Allen but long past his best productions and while it's full of wit, it's not laugh-out-loud funny. Just an ordinary rom-com.
TUMBLEDOWN
Watchable. The dog scenes, though far and few between, are the highlights. American smalltown lifestyle may be another attraction. Other than that it's a very morose (no rom-com here, in spite of Jason Sudeikis) story of love and mourning. And hardly plausible in that as nothing brings the two together for the whole movie and then suddenly they've fallen for each other?!The film's about a musician but the soundtrack is just so-so. It's inspirated by a true story but, sadly, not all true stories are worth a film. And certainly not when it's the scriptwriter's own story. The worst literature I've read always resulted from the writer's broken or mended heart. Film scripts are no exception here.
KOBIETY BEZ WSTYDU
Watchable. Advertised as a rom-com it's far from that. I laughed only twice. The women are beautiful but the story is silly and sexist, it's similar to "Och, Karol" but much less amusing. In the middle the story diverts towards crime. The gangster oil tycoon looks like Jan Kulczyk - Poland's late richest man. I wonder how his family is going to react.
Tuesday 19 July 2016
JASON BOURNE
I've just seen it and would love to share my impressions. Unfortunately, due to a publishing ban, the review will appear on 27th July. I'll try to post it right after midnight though.
THE SHALLOWS
Watchable. A stunning beach off Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia imitates Mexico. Suitable, modern music - not the "Jaws" theme. I expected that "Jaws of the new generation", as the film's advertised, would be environmentally friendly or something, without killing the shark. The biggest change however is the lack of chauvinism. No sexist remarks towards the girl and she's educated, smart and tough. Modern CGIs make the shark look realistic, you can see even his gulls moving, and the whole ecosystem is shown. The carcass and crab-eating remind me of certain movie and make me wonder if the actress (Blake Lively) stands an Oscar chance. She well deserves it for sure. There's one movie-related pun - listen carefully! Spanish dialogues don't get translated which adds to the realism. The whole thing is the definition of suspense. What detracts from this perfection is excessive eye make-up (as for water conditions), the fact she always sees clearly even in salty sea water and just after emerging to the surface and a flare lighting up water surface. The rest could be justified. But these few details just ruin the impression of realism.
I've just seen it and would love to share my impressions. Unfortunately, due to a publishing ban, the review will appear on 27th July. I'll try to post it right after midnight though.
THE SHALLOWS
Watchable. A stunning beach off Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia imitates Mexico. Suitable, modern music - not the "Jaws" theme. I expected that "Jaws of the new generation", as the film's advertised, would be environmentally friendly or something, without killing the shark. The biggest change however is the lack of chauvinism. No sexist remarks towards the girl and she's educated, smart and tough. Modern CGIs make the shark look realistic, you can see even his gulls moving, and the whole ecosystem is shown. The carcass and crab-eating remind me of certain movie and make me wonder if the actress (Blake Lively) stands an Oscar chance. She well deserves it for sure. There's one movie-related pun - listen carefully! Spanish dialogues don't get translated which adds to the realism. The whole thing is the definition of suspense. What detracts from this perfection is excessive eye make-up (as for water conditions), the fact she always sees clearly even in salty sea water and just after emerging to the surface and a flare lighting up water surface. The rest could be justified. But these few details just ruin the impression of realism.
Monday 18 July 2016
HEL
Watchable. Lynch it isn't. Actually for the whole movie I was wondering: "what the hell is it?!" A seaside reasort outside season has got its atmosphere and the three cameramen together with a handful of actors, especially superb Marcin Kowalczyk as Kail (pronounced: Kyle), make use of it. No fantasy elements here however and not all Playboy bunnies look good, ex ones anyway. Before you get into the slow rhythm it feels just protracted and boring. Marcin Kowalczyk said in an interview that "everything caused goosebumps" on the location. Sadly, no viewer felt any. In spite of a murder early on, it's not a crime story. Shoddily made.
GENIUS
Watchable. The first hour is as arduous and onerous as Thomas Wolfe's writing process. The whole film looks drabby. Only for the writer's true blue fans.
ODDBALL
Watchable. Australian family movie. Partly predictable but fun with a cute dog and little penguins. Fantastic landscapes, cinematography bringing out all the colour, upbeat music (by a Polish composer). Likeable characters. The Polish dubbing is quite bearable too.
YUMURTA (EGG) (2007)
Watchable. A few days in a lovely town where people are friendly to each other. The story set against this background is subtle and non-invasive as the reason and the outcome of the man's visit are ambiguous.
Watchable. Lynch it isn't. Actually for the whole movie I was wondering: "what the hell is it?!" A seaside reasort outside season has got its atmosphere and the three cameramen together with a handful of actors, especially superb Marcin Kowalczyk as Kail (pronounced: Kyle), make use of it. No fantasy elements here however and not all Playboy bunnies look good, ex ones anyway. Before you get into the slow rhythm it feels just protracted and boring. Marcin Kowalczyk said in an interview that "everything caused goosebumps" on the location. Sadly, no viewer felt any. In spite of a murder early on, it's not a crime story. Shoddily made.
GENIUS
Watchable. The first hour is as arduous and onerous as Thomas Wolfe's writing process. The whole film looks drabby. Only for the writer's true blue fans.
ODDBALL
Watchable. Australian family movie. Partly predictable but fun with a cute dog and little penguins. Fantastic landscapes, cinematography bringing out all the colour, upbeat music (by a Polish composer). Likeable characters. The Polish dubbing is quite bearable too.
YUMURTA (EGG) (2007)
Watchable. A few days in a lovely town where people are friendly to each other. The story set against this background is subtle and non-invasive as the reason and the outcome of the man's visit are ambiguous.
Friday 15 July 2016
LIGHTS OUT
Watchable. Horror-wise there's not much to talk about. It starts scaring early on and scares every few minutes but in a jumpy way and actually I jumped only twice. Like with a number of recent horrors, here the realistic layer is more attractive. All the major characters, apart from the spook, obviously, are likeable, Teresa Palmer (Rebecca) is beautiful with fabulous long blonde hair and cool make-up so it's nice and easy to follow their story. The story, however, is a mix-up: logical and ideological. It lacks logic at times, e.g. when a protagonist gets a creased slip of paper saying: "I need help", they abandon the rescue attempt after a few minutes. At the same time ideologically it's incoherent as if the scriptwriters couldn't make up their minds whether to be sexist or not to be sexist. Rebecca is fiercely independent but in a manly manner - she's been having sex with a guy whom she'd kick out always in the morning. Luckily, in spite of the actress being hot, there's no nudity in the film. Still, her rationality is countered with two unstable women: her mother who's been on antidipressants for a few decades and a female psycho/monster/spook both of whom met... in a psychiatric hospital.
Watchable. Horror-wise there's not much to talk about. It starts scaring early on and scares every few minutes but in a jumpy way and actually I jumped only twice. Like with a number of recent horrors, here the realistic layer is more attractive. All the major characters, apart from the spook, obviously, are likeable, Teresa Palmer (Rebecca) is beautiful with fabulous long blonde hair and cool make-up so it's nice and easy to follow their story. The story, however, is a mix-up: logical and ideological. It lacks logic at times, e.g. when a protagonist gets a creased slip of paper saying: "I need help", they abandon the rescue attempt after a few minutes. At the same time ideologically it's incoherent as if the scriptwriters couldn't make up their minds whether to be sexist or not to be sexist. Rebecca is fiercely independent but in a manly manner - she's been having sex with a guy whom she'd kick out always in the morning. Luckily, in spite of the actress being hot, there's no nudity in the film. Still, her rationality is countered with two unstable women: her mother who's been on antidipressants for a few decades and a female psycho/monster/spook both of whom met... in a psychiatric hospital.
Thursday 14 July 2016
GHOSTBUSTERS - IMAX 3D
Watchable. To be watched in 3D only (top-notch, really), best at IMAX. The most 80s movie since the 80s. It's colourful, cheerful, makes you forget the world outside. Well, I admit, it's not all gold. A big part of the film is silly and the jokes popping up one a minute are often primitive and rarely funny which I blame on the script since the acting is superb. While there's not even one bad role in this movie, Kate McKinnon beats all. She well deserves an Oscar for her portrayal of a wacky engineer much akin to Doc Brown from "Back to the Future". A special flavour for those who watched the 1984 version of "Ghostbusters" are cameos of the original stars in new roles. Lots of 80s-style music will make you wiggle your feet till the end of the credits. Just make sure you shake off that green ectoplasm before you leave the cinema (after the after-the-credits scene)!
I'm watching a horror tomorrow. That's going to be tough... 'cause I ain't afraid of no ghosts.
Watchable. To be watched in 3D only (top-notch, really), best at IMAX. The most 80s movie since the 80s. It's colourful, cheerful, makes you forget the world outside. Well, I admit, it's not all gold. A big part of the film is silly and the jokes popping up one a minute are often primitive and rarely funny which I blame on the script since the acting is superb. While there's not even one bad role in this movie, Kate McKinnon beats all. She well deserves an Oscar for her portrayal of a wacky engineer much akin to Doc Brown from "Back to the Future". A special flavour for those who watched the 1984 version of "Ghostbusters" are cameos of the original stars in new roles. Lots of 80s-style music will make you wiggle your feet till the end of the credits. Just make sure you shake off that green ectoplasm before you leave the cinema (after the after-the-credits scene)!
I'm watching a horror tomorrow. That's going to be tough... 'cause I ain't afraid of no ghosts.
Two new screens are coming at the Muranow cinema in Warsaw this autumn. The cinema's still operating over the summer while being refurbished and rebuilt.
KOLLEKTIVET (THE COMUNE)
Watchable. The 70s are not my favourite period - the fashion doesn't appeal to me and everyone smokes. At the same time it's when free love was attempted. And never again. It just didn't work. In the film a couple fears alienation in a large house and starts a commune which fails on so many levels: property-wise and in relationships. The story is moving. But it's just a manifestation of all the myths about human nature modern psychology has disproved already.
KOLLEKTIVET (THE COMUNE)
Watchable. The 70s are not my favourite period - the fashion doesn't appeal to me and everyone smokes. At the same time it's when free love was attempted. And never again. It just didn't work. In the film a couple fears alienation in a large house and starts a commune which fails on so many levels: property-wise and in relationships. The story is moving. But it's just a manifestation of all the myths about human nature modern psychology has disproved already.
Wednesday 13 July 2016
UNDER THE SUN
Watchable. Nothing revelatory in this documentary about North Korea. My movie companion was checking on me during the film but to his surprise I was wide awake all the time. I truly enjoyed it. The film's almost funny in the way it depicts how staged the whole documentary was. It's full of close-ups showing emotions (smugness or drowsiness or sadness) contrasting with the utterances scripted by the local authorities.
Watchable. Nothing revelatory in this documentary about North Korea. My movie companion was checking on me during the film but to his surprise I was wide awake all the time. I truly enjoyed it. The film's almost funny in the way it depicts how staged the whole documentary was. It's full of close-ups showing emotions (smugness or drowsiness or sadness) contrasting with the utterances scripted by the local authorities.
Tuesday 12 July 2016
VILLE-MARIE
Watchable. While it doesn't lack in atmosphere, I watched it looking at my watch. Some plots don't close a full circle. Some scenes are stupid, e.g. the resuscitation by a paramedic looks amateurish and health care professionals don't wash blood off the face of the injured guy before putting stitches, or needless, like the one showing Monica Bellucci's breasts which made no other sense than to show them. Her make-up is more interesting - eyes and lips enlarged by expanding the contours. It didn't help the film however. I left the cinema with relief.
Watchable. While it doesn't lack in atmosphere, I watched it looking at my watch. Some plots don't close a full circle. Some scenes are stupid, e.g. the resuscitation by a paramedic looks amateurish and health care professionals don't wash blood off the face of the injured guy before putting stitches, or needless, like the one showing Monica Bellucci's breasts which made no other sense than to show them. Her make-up is more interesting - eyes and lips enlarged by expanding the contours. It didn't help the film however. I left the cinema with relief.
Monday 11 July 2016
MONEY MONSTER
Watchable. Skillfully builds up tension. Better than the trailer would imply. George Clooney and Jack O'Connell act convincingly. Have you ever seen George Clooney looking scared? Here's your chance. Jack O'Connell is no worse in the large scope of emotions enacted and his working-class accent. The story is predictable though. It's just good film workmanship, not new quality.
GULE GULE (THE RAINDROP) (1999)
Recommended. A beautiful film about love and friendship. It starts with the sound of sea waves. Then there's idyllic life on an island. A group of elderly guys spend time enjoying each other's company, helping those worse-off. Then the action starts. The whole film is joyful, heart-warming and uplifting. Very good dialogues.
MANHATTAN NIGHT
Watchable. All exploited movie cliches: a seductive woman who's far from innocent, child abuse, a lone wolf reporter, a psycho imprisoning a woman and even a "Saw"-like scene, all of that in a slow but atmospheric modern noir style. Simon's proposal is quite weird. The film is dark and heavy, the last half an hour quite disturbing. A bit like "Sin City" for real and with worse cinematography.
It feels quite peculiar to see the film at Warsaw's Kinoteka and then go out towards the Central Station where you come across a Manhattan-like skyline. At night.
Watchable. Skillfully builds up tension. Better than the trailer would imply. George Clooney and Jack O'Connell act convincingly. Have you ever seen George Clooney looking scared? Here's your chance. Jack O'Connell is no worse in the large scope of emotions enacted and his working-class accent. The story is predictable though. It's just good film workmanship, not new quality.
GULE GULE (THE RAINDROP) (1999)
Recommended. A beautiful film about love and friendship. It starts with the sound of sea waves. Then there's idyllic life on an island. A group of elderly guys spend time enjoying each other's company, helping those worse-off. Then the action starts. The whole film is joyful, heart-warming and uplifting. Very good dialogues.
MANHATTAN NIGHT
Watchable. All exploited movie cliches: a seductive woman who's far from innocent, child abuse, a lone wolf reporter, a psycho imprisoning a woman and even a "Saw"-like scene, all of that in a slow but atmospheric modern noir style. Simon's proposal is quite weird. The film is dark and heavy, the last half an hour quite disturbing. A bit like "Sin City" for real and with worse cinematography.
It feels quite peculiar to see the film at Warsaw's Kinoteka and then go out towards the Central Station where you come across a Manhattan-like skyline. At night.
Sunday 10 July 2016
THE NICE GUYS
Watchable. The script is not bad so I guess it's poor comedy acting. Neither Ryan Gosling nor Russell Crowe have been made for comedy. There are just several scenes where you know it was meant to be funny but somehow it isn't. Other than that I found that entertaining. Clear-cut scenario, fast action, vivid characters. As I have a penchant for mermaids, I have to add that the ones at the party are beautiful! What tails!
Watchable. The script is not bad so I guess it's poor comedy acting. Neither Ryan Gosling nor Russell Crowe have been made for comedy. There are just several scenes where you know it was meant to be funny but somehow it isn't. Other than that I found that entertaining. Clear-cut scenario, fast action, vivid characters. As I have a penchant for mermaids, I have to add that the ones at the party are beautiful! What tails!
Tuesday 5 July 2016
MR. GAGA
Recommended. Occasionally I thought I could dance. How naive of me! You just have to see what these people do with their bodies! Breathtaking muscles, extreme strength and agility, incredible memory of moves. The softness of Ohad Naharin's movements defies belief. The film presents also interesting behind-the-stage stories. Watch the scenes during early credits!
Recommended. Occasionally I thought I could dance. How naive of me! You just have to see what these people do with their bodies! Breathtaking muscles, extreme strength and agility, incredible memory of moves. The softness of Ohad Naharin's movements defies belief. The film presents also interesting behind-the-stage stories. Watch the scenes during early credits!
Monday 4 July 2016
KAMPER
Watchable. About relationships, career choices and how they change in time. Some bits are funny, like about a friend's pregnancy: "To nie rak. Gorsze rzeczy sie ludziom przytrafiaja." ("It's not cancer. Worse things happen to people."), badminton, the billboard or the "Killer Chef" show. Most is just too much life-like. It's sexist too - she kisses a guy, he, in turn, has an intense sexual affair and it's him who leaves her.
TIME TO LOOK AT GIRLS: MIGRANTS IN BANGLADESH AND ETHIOPIA
Watchable. This documentary is what I actually expected. Still, it's worth watching to remember that if you end up on the street, many bad things must have happened to you already.
Watchable. About relationships, career choices and how they change in time. Some bits are funny, like about a friend's pregnancy: "To nie rak. Gorsze rzeczy sie ludziom przytrafiaja." ("It's not cancer. Worse things happen to people."), badminton, the billboard or the "Killer Chef" show. Most is just too much life-like. It's sexist too - she kisses a guy, he, in turn, has an intense sexual affair and it's him who leaves her.
TIME TO LOOK AT GIRLS: MIGRANTS IN BANGLADESH AND ETHIOPIA
Watchable. This documentary is what I actually expected. Still, it's worth watching to remember that if you end up on the street, many bad things must have happened to you already.
Sunday 3 July 2016
Looks like I've finally managed to sort the remaining posts so here comes the missing part from late April till last Thursday. A new post is coming tomorrow and then one the day after etc.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
L'AFRIQUE VUE PAR RYSZARD KAPUSCINSKI
Watchable. I had great respect for Ryszard Kapuscinski for several years. What struck me in the film was his claim that muslim terrorists are no real danger and it's not a war. Well, that was several years ago which led me to accepting the fact that, while his observations were often to the point, they have only historical value nowadays. You can't generalise on what he said. You can only get insight into what the world looked like at his time.
THE GHOST PEOPLE
Recommended. Harrowing stories of albino people being hunted down for the assumed magical properties of their body parts. A documentary.
DOBRA ZENA (A GOOD WIFE)
Watchable. The topic of a wife discovering her husband's war crimes deserves better: a better script, directing and acting. An interesting idea got diluted in ordinariness.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
FACTORY GIRL
Watchable. The actors are neither good-looking nor acting well. Yet, a story of unrequited love involves you in the way that you just want to see where it leads.
UM GHAYEB: MOTHER OF THE UNBORN
Watchable. Made by an Egyptian in a French way - the camera follows the woman whining about her infertility and about several superstitious cures that didn't work. The kind of documentaries I hate. I mostly watched in disbelief and sympathy how the poor in rural Egypt live.
DER STAAT GEGEN FRITZ BAUER (THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER)
Recommended. A great thriller. Keeps you on the edge of your seat.
KRIGEN (A WAR)
Recommended. Partly a realistic portrayal of every day peace-keeping forces' work in Afghanistan and moral decisions involved, partly a gripping courtroom drama.
FUOCOAMMARE (FIRE AT SEA)
Watchable. Told slowly. Still, the film highlights the contrast between the typically middle-class Italian lifestyle and the experiences of refugees arriving in Lampedusa. The Italians work 9 to 5, listening to the music on the radio at work, discuss how to prepare meals or how to treat a non-life-threatening eye problem. The refugees have suffered imprisonment, hunger, thirst, few of them got to the island alive.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
LAMB
Watchable. A sad story of an underdog kid - abandoned by his widowed father, bullied by his uncle and by better-off kids in the town. Slightly optimistic as he manages to protect his lamb from slaughter. Very colourful - cinematography is the biggest asset of the movie.
EXCUSE MY FRENCH
Watchable. Supposed to be a comedy but not really funny. Annoying commentary. Mildly interesting as it portrays multicultural Egypt in which the kid decides to convert from Christianity to Islam to better his social standing in a state school.
WALSER
Watchable. Luckily it's only about 70 minutes long. About a clash of cultures and communication modes. Unfortunately with no scientific grounds. Totally implausible.
PEACEABLE KINGDOM. A JOURNEY HOME
Recommended. A heart-breaking documentary about what normally happens to young farm animals and about how it's impossible to save them on a larger scale.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR AT IMAX 3D
Watchable. Great music and 3D, Tom Holland's heart-warmingly English accent. The film follows a fight-talk-fight-talk sequence. My favourite scenes are: Iron Man recruiting Spiderman and Iron Man's youth when his father finds him relaxing on the sofa and asks: "Who's the homeless on the couch?" Like all recent superhero movies it's half an hour too long. In fact it has like 15 endings in the film plus one after the first and one after the second credits.
FAN
Watchable. Shahrukh Khan is excellent in the double role, action takes you round the world, the fan's strife is perfectly accessible on the human level too. Music could be better though. No great hit here.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR
I skipped "The Other Side of the Door" and "Bone Tomahawk" - both seen before and I just saw:
THE CANAL
Watchable. Moderately scary. Good ending. Set partly in an abandoned loo. Nothing new.
ENTRE LA GLACE ET LE CIEL
Recommended. An astounding documentary on the history of work at Antarctic polar stations and the discovery of the global warming. The scientist's plight to warn the world is totally convincing.
DESDE ALLA (FROM AFAR)
Watchable. Very gay at times but with a twisted story thrown in. Neither of the protagonists is attractive so there's no erotic tension whatsoever. Just communication issues and cynicism.
LA VANITE (VANITY)
Watchable. About the right for making the most vital decision in life - the one about own death. Protracted but will make you laugh and cry a few times each.
MOTHER'S DAY
Watchable. Not very funny, even the comics doing stand-up within the film. More like an awfully politically correct drama about parenthood and how it is the worst thing in life. As if I didn't know already. Ugly toddlers abound. It's mostly the trope of being left for a younger woman that kept it all together. And all that cheese is remarkably well acted by Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, name it. In all it's a standard Hollywood fare which you just swallow without thinking much.
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING
Watchable. The comedy is silly and a bit vulgar but it's quite an interesting take on the generation gap.
COMOARA (THE TREASURE)
Watchable. Showcases human foibles and hopes.
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE 4D
Watchable. Very health and safety minded - Quicksilver protects the back of the neck of the people he transports and very PC - no Islam is mentioned, while Christianity, Orthodox Church and Buddhism are. Various actors' attempts at Polish range from incomprehensible to hilarious (Michael Fassbender's American accent). The sword-wielding woman from "Batman v Superman" appears here as well - cross-film character placement's rife. The whole film looks as if the makers couldn't make up their minds whether they're making "X-Men" or "Avengers".
JEWISH MOTIFS FILM FESTIVAL
AKA NADIA
Watchable. What attracted me to the film was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - that turned out boring. The woman's feelings for both her current husband and her rebel ex were enough not to walk out.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC X-MEN (THE NIGHT OF X-MEN)
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
Watchable. New fantastic body-morphing mutants, some history mixed in. A bit too long and much too superficial throughout. Doesn't evoke the same emotions as the earliest parts of the franchise. Great music during credits ("Love love" by Take That).
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
Watchable. The "Inception" actress teaches about utopian architecter in Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters. Time travel. Unfortunately new mutant characters are lousy (visually), there are too many plots and virtually all characters are too stereotypical.
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Watchable. The initial rollercoaster ride through history is a good idea poorly enacted. Polish inadvertently sounds funny. A few jokes, e.g. "It's changed my life. I'm still living in my mother's basement. Everything else... is pretty much the same." Health and safety put to work by Quicksilver is remarkable. The first "X-Men" with a religious motif. While it lacks Islam portrayed, may it be that the evil born in Egypt epitomizes ISIS?
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AT IMAX 3D
Recommended. No worse than the fabulous first instalment. Anne Hathaway has never been more beautiful. Again, full-colour amazing visuals, stunning costumes and make-up. Endearing animal characters. A must see. At least once.
EIN LETZTER TANGO (OUR LAST TANGO)
Watchable. Protracted yet quite an involving story of love, relationship-building, dancing and artistic development. Pleasing to watch dance scenes by internationally-recognized dancers.
BASTILLE DAY
Watchable. Mundane fights and shootings. Ingenious plot with a few good twists of action and tongue-in-cheek dialogues. Jose Garcia is brilliant as Victor Gamieux.
MAANAM BYC PIEKNIE
Watchable. Too much John Porter and his foul language. At the same time a history of Maanam with a number of their songs set against political history of the past decades. Too much voice given to musicians who are neither educated nor eloquent.
THE IDOL
Watchable. Child actor Qais Attallah is an upcoming star. The film is a story of an extraordinary effort put in becoming a singer and of how a humble boy from Gaza, Mohammed Assaf, became a pop idol. His best songs are not in the film. You get a peek behind the scene of the "Arab Idol" show.
OJCIEC
Watchable. The film is nonsense. Random scenes showing off a sickly dizzying variety of filming styles. A few parallel stories add to the confusion. Pathologies which grow building up tension but stay pathologies only: birthgiving, a crying newborn, a 16 y.o. hooker, a guy pimping his sister, a chap photographing dead bodies, an old fellow whose son wants to poison him tells stories about pervert sex orgies in a concentration camp, lots of drugs and cigarettes, a sex murder and a mass one.
THE GIRL KING
Watchable. Quite good but also quite gay as the queen is a lesbian. But the film gets better and better when her tragic love affair threatens the country. You follow both an emotional story of unrequited love and politics in the making. All in all it shows how a ruler's sexual orientation can change the course of history. I wonder if it was her who set the grounds for modern gender equality in Sweden.
LOLO
Watchable. It's French and about love meaning lots of talking about sex. In spite of that the situation humour is quite good, at some points I laughed aloud. Dany Boon in the lead role.
ME BEFORE YOU
Recommended. Very British, including the aversion to watching subtitled movies. While it has some funny moments (like the girl chasing her runner-boyfriend on a bike shouting: "I'm supporting you!") but in a large part it's deeply moving and tear-jerking. It's also studded with very clever lines and to-the-point puns. Fantastic cast too, including Sam Claflin ("The Hunger Games"), Joanna Lumley's ("The Wolf of Wall Street") cameo, Charles Dance ("Alien 3"). It's a fairy-tale love story which doesn't end well.
W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)
Watchable. Gripping but feels protracted and is poorly made (cinematography, make-up). The "solution" is predictable.
A WALK IN THE WOODS
Recommended. A brilliant satire on aging. Bill Bryson made into a full-length movie. Full of quotations and Bryson-style jokes.
CONJURING 2
Watchable. Set mostly in Enfield, North London this time. Based on actual events, shows the real people's pictures over the credits. Btw, no scares follow the payroll! While I've always considered James Wan the master of horror, here you feel more of Hollywood workshop than the hand of the master. Like in a standard American horror the scares start early, are of the startling variety and are evenly interspersed. It's a bit too long too. In the first installment tension was being built up till the audience shrieked together in sheer (sic!) horror. It also gave me sleepless nights. This time you get scared over the whole film but to a lesser degree. The bloke who reportedly died of a heart attack during the film must have not seen part one.
It's another of Warren's cases so my guess is the 3rd film is coming.
ABLUKA (FRENZY)
Watchable. Very heavy, especially for dog lovers. I'm not too sure what's it about and it's slow.
PIPER
Watchable. A short film preceding "Finding Dory". It's lovely but without words and I'm not sure what it's about - a hungry bird?
FINDING DORY 3D
Recommended. A lovely little fish with big eyes is desperate to find her parents. Deeply moving. About family, friends, animals, helping the handicapped ones. It also gently reproaches kids who touch everything. There's an after-credits scene.
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP
Watchable. It took me long to get used to the oldfashioned language of Jane Austin. But it's a well-acted satire on posh people of her time. A good joke about 12 commandments.
W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)
Watchable again. I liked it better at the second screening. It's interesting how the road they drive back unwinds the spiral. Good music, sound and sound effects.
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP
Recommended after seeing for the second time. Still funny, including the 12 commandments. Delightful classical music. Some historical insight (peas being a novelty). Brilliant lines, to the point and so-Englishly indirect.
TOISET TYTOT (OTHER GIRLS)
Watchable. Very Finnish culturally. About typical teenage girls' problems - easy to identify yourself with but nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, what hinders watching is the form: an ordinary film gets interspersed with animation or girls' off-screen philosophical comments.
NOUS TROIS OU RIEN (ALL THREE OF US)
Recommended. Laugh-out-loud funny, with plenty of situation humour in spite of the serious subjects of dictatorships, tortures and community work in a crime-ridden neighbourhood.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
Watchable. I needed de-braining after a tough day and I got just that. In all other situations it would have been too annoying: poor acting, lame jokes and lines like "I don't normally hold grudge but you killed my parents." CGIs are class B too.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR
I skipped both "Conjuring" films as I had seen them earlier and I saw:
BEFORE I WAKE
THE BABADOOK
Watchable. Neither of the movies is very scary, in fact the horror part is quite stupid. The realistic - psychological layer is much better in both.
UN HOMME A LA HAUTEUR (UP FOR LOVE)
Watchable. First of all, Jean Dujardin is not a real dwarf. Secondly, even though it's a drama about how small we are in our superficiality, the dwarf is rich and a true gentleman so the main message seems to be: if you're unattractive, be rich and superpolite. The dog scenes are still demeaning but laugh-out-loud funny.
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN 3D
Watchable. Full of cliches. But at the same time with a handful of africanist flavours ("Chief Mbongo, I presume?", warriors whose faces and bodies are whitened, a fictional Bantu-like language, George Washington's letter to King Leopold II politically correctly altered to convey a strictly and strongly anti-slavery message, African customs and music). Christopher Waltz brilliant as ever. I have some objections to the cinematography though - while the jungle is dark due to the lack of sunlight, here open space is brownish-dark too. Equatorial Africa is colourful in reality and in the film it got darkened and browned for no reason. Poor 3D. One endearing scene is the lions' greeting - incredible what current CGI technology is capable of.
TINI: THE NEW LIFE OF VIOLETTA
Watchable. Shot in Almeria, Spain as well as Taormina and Catania on the eastern coast of Sicilly, Italy, it's a perfect holiday movie. The plot and events are silly. The characters are cute. Long-legged Martina Stoessel is lovely in the leading role. Everyone around her is charming and the holiday spots picturesque. Unfortunately in Poland it's shown in the dubbed version only. The music is just something light holiday-style but it stays with you.
THE BFG 3D
Walked out. For children only and for slow ones in that. Dubbed.
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Watchable. Appears to be a remake of "Marguerite". This one made me uneasy too - it's like being forced to laugh at somebody's misfortuene. Still, this one is more humane than the French one and with less sex of course. Hugh Grant looking old and Meryl Streep act just fine but the greatest role is the one of little known Simon Helberg as the pianist Cosme McMoon.
CHOCOLAT
Watchable. It's similar to the Polish TV series "Bodo" - from rags to riches and to rags again, with a stint in prison. Omar Sy is great both as a clown, when he resembles young Eddie Murphy, and in the more dramatic part, when he fights for racial equality. It shows how you can make an interesting film about any obscure character because every human being can be a subject. Still, the story is quite grim and about some circus and theatre actor so basically not my cup of tea.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
L'AFRIQUE VUE PAR RYSZARD KAPUSCINSKI
Watchable. I had great respect for Ryszard Kapuscinski for several years. What struck me in the film was his claim that muslim terrorists are no real danger and it's not a war. Well, that was several years ago which led me to accepting the fact that, while his observations were often to the point, they have only historical value nowadays. You can't generalise on what he said. You can only get insight into what the world looked like at his time.
THE GHOST PEOPLE
Recommended. Harrowing stories of albino people being hunted down for the assumed magical properties of their body parts. A documentary.
DOBRA ZENA (A GOOD WIFE)
Watchable. The topic of a wife discovering her husband's war crimes deserves better: a better script, directing and acting. An interesting idea got diluted in ordinariness.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
FACTORY GIRL
Watchable. The actors are neither good-looking nor acting well. Yet, a story of unrequited love involves you in the way that you just want to see where it leads.
UM GHAYEB: MOTHER OF THE UNBORN
Watchable. Made by an Egyptian in a French way - the camera follows the woman whining about her infertility and about several superstitious cures that didn't work. The kind of documentaries I hate. I mostly watched in disbelief and sympathy how the poor in rural Egypt live.
DER STAAT GEGEN FRITZ BAUER (THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER)
Recommended. A great thriller. Keeps you on the edge of your seat.
KRIGEN (A WAR)
Recommended. Partly a realistic portrayal of every day peace-keeping forces' work in Afghanistan and moral decisions involved, partly a gripping courtroom drama.
FUOCOAMMARE (FIRE AT SEA)
Watchable. Told slowly. Still, the film highlights the contrast between the typically middle-class Italian lifestyle and the experiences of refugees arriving in Lampedusa. The Italians work 9 to 5, listening to the music on the radio at work, discuss how to prepare meals or how to treat a non-life-threatening eye problem. The refugees have suffered imprisonment, hunger, thirst, few of them got to the island alive.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
LAMB
Watchable. A sad story of an underdog kid - abandoned by his widowed father, bullied by his uncle and by better-off kids in the town. Slightly optimistic as he manages to protect his lamb from slaughter. Very colourful - cinematography is the biggest asset of the movie.
EXCUSE MY FRENCH
Watchable. Supposed to be a comedy but not really funny. Annoying commentary. Mildly interesting as it portrays multicultural Egypt in which the kid decides to convert from Christianity to Islam to better his social standing in a state school.
WALSER
Watchable. Luckily it's only about 70 minutes long. About a clash of cultures and communication modes. Unfortunately with no scientific grounds. Totally implausible.
PEACEABLE KINGDOM. A JOURNEY HOME
Recommended. A heart-breaking documentary about what normally happens to young farm animals and about how it's impossible to save them on a larger scale.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR AT IMAX 3D
Watchable. Great music and 3D, Tom Holland's heart-warmingly English accent. The film follows a fight-talk-fight-talk sequence. My favourite scenes are: Iron Man recruiting Spiderman and Iron Man's youth when his father finds him relaxing on the sofa and asks: "Who's the homeless on the couch?" Like all recent superhero movies it's half an hour too long. In fact it has like 15 endings in the film plus one after the first and one after the second credits.
FAN
Watchable. Shahrukh Khan is excellent in the double role, action takes you round the world, the fan's strife is perfectly accessible on the human level too. Music could be better though. No great hit here.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR
I skipped "The Other Side of the Door" and "Bone Tomahawk" - both seen before and I just saw:
THE CANAL
Watchable. Moderately scary. Good ending. Set partly in an abandoned loo. Nothing new.
ENTRE LA GLACE ET LE CIEL
Recommended. An astounding documentary on the history of work at Antarctic polar stations and the discovery of the global warming. The scientist's plight to warn the world is totally convincing.
DESDE ALLA (FROM AFAR)
Watchable. Very gay at times but with a twisted story thrown in. Neither of the protagonists is attractive so there's no erotic tension whatsoever. Just communication issues and cynicism.
LA VANITE (VANITY)
Watchable. About the right for making the most vital decision in life - the one about own death. Protracted but will make you laugh and cry a few times each.
MOTHER'S DAY
Watchable. Not very funny, even the comics doing stand-up within the film. More like an awfully politically correct drama about parenthood and how it is the worst thing in life. As if I didn't know already. Ugly toddlers abound. It's mostly the trope of being left for a younger woman that kept it all together. And all that cheese is remarkably well acted by Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, name it. In all it's a standard Hollywood fare which you just swallow without thinking much.
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING
Watchable. The comedy is silly and a bit vulgar but it's quite an interesting take on the generation gap.
COMOARA (THE TREASURE)
Watchable. Showcases human foibles and hopes.
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE 4D
Watchable. Very health and safety minded - Quicksilver protects the back of the neck of the people he transports and very PC - no Islam is mentioned, while Christianity, Orthodox Church and Buddhism are. Various actors' attempts at Polish range from incomprehensible to hilarious (Michael Fassbender's American accent). The sword-wielding woman from "Batman v Superman" appears here as well - cross-film character placement's rife. The whole film looks as if the makers couldn't make up their minds whether they're making "X-Men" or "Avengers".
JEWISH MOTIFS FILM FESTIVAL
AKA NADIA
Watchable. What attracted me to the film was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - that turned out boring. The woman's feelings for both her current husband and her rebel ex were enough not to walk out.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC X-MEN (THE NIGHT OF X-MEN)
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
Watchable. New fantastic body-morphing mutants, some history mixed in. A bit too long and much too superficial throughout. Doesn't evoke the same emotions as the earliest parts of the franchise. Great music during credits ("Love love" by Take That).
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
Watchable. The "Inception" actress teaches about utopian architecter in Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters. Time travel. Unfortunately new mutant characters are lousy (visually), there are too many plots and virtually all characters are too stereotypical.
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Watchable. The initial rollercoaster ride through history is a good idea poorly enacted. Polish inadvertently sounds funny. A few jokes, e.g. "It's changed my life. I'm still living in my mother's basement. Everything else... is pretty much the same." Health and safety put to work by Quicksilver is remarkable. The first "X-Men" with a religious motif. While it lacks Islam portrayed, may it be that the evil born in Egypt epitomizes ISIS?
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AT IMAX 3D
Recommended. No worse than the fabulous first instalment. Anne Hathaway has never been more beautiful. Again, full-colour amazing visuals, stunning costumes and make-up. Endearing animal characters. A must see. At least once.
EIN LETZTER TANGO (OUR LAST TANGO)
Watchable. Protracted yet quite an involving story of love, relationship-building, dancing and artistic development. Pleasing to watch dance scenes by internationally-recognized dancers.
BASTILLE DAY
Watchable. Mundane fights and shootings. Ingenious plot with a few good twists of action and tongue-in-cheek dialogues. Jose Garcia is brilliant as Victor Gamieux.
MAANAM BYC PIEKNIE
Watchable. Too much John Porter and his foul language. At the same time a history of Maanam with a number of their songs set against political history of the past decades. Too much voice given to musicians who are neither educated nor eloquent.
THE IDOL
Watchable. Child actor Qais Attallah is an upcoming star. The film is a story of an extraordinary effort put in becoming a singer and of how a humble boy from Gaza, Mohammed Assaf, became a pop idol. His best songs are not in the film. You get a peek behind the scene of the "Arab Idol" show.
OJCIEC
Watchable. The film is nonsense. Random scenes showing off a sickly dizzying variety of filming styles. A few parallel stories add to the confusion. Pathologies which grow building up tension but stay pathologies only: birthgiving, a crying newborn, a 16 y.o. hooker, a guy pimping his sister, a chap photographing dead bodies, an old fellow whose son wants to poison him tells stories about pervert sex orgies in a concentration camp, lots of drugs and cigarettes, a sex murder and a mass one.
THE GIRL KING
Watchable. Quite good but also quite gay as the queen is a lesbian. But the film gets better and better when her tragic love affair threatens the country. You follow both an emotional story of unrequited love and politics in the making. All in all it shows how a ruler's sexual orientation can change the course of history. I wonder if it was her who set the grounds for modern gender equality in Sweden.
LOLO
Watchable. It's French and about love meaning lots of talking about sex. In spite of that the situation humour is quite good, at some points I laughed aloud. Dany Boon in the lead role.
ME BEFORE YOU
Recommended. Very British, including the aversion to watching subtitled movies. While it has some funny moments (like the girl chasing her runner-boyfriend on a bike shouting: "I'm supporting you!") but in a large part it's deeply moving and tear-jerking. It's also studded with very clever lines and to-the-point puns. Fantastic cast too, including Sam Claflin ("The Hunger Games"), Joanna Lumley's ("The Wolf of Wall Street") cameo, Charles Dance ("Alien 3"). It's a fairy-tale love story which doesn't end well.
W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)
Watchable. Gripping but feels protracted and is poorly made (cinematography, make-up). The "solution" is predictable.
A WALK IN THE WOODS
Recommended. A brilliant satire on aging. Bill Bryson made into a full-length movie. Full of quotations and Bryson-style jokes.
CONJURING 2
Watchable. Set mostly in Enfield, North London this time. Based on actual events, shows the real people's pictures over the credits. Btw, no scares follow the payroll! While I've always considered James Wan the master of horror, here you feel more of Hollywood workshop than the hand of the master. Like in a standard American horror the scares start early, are of the startling variety and are evenly interspersed. It's a bit too long too. In the first installment tension was being built up till the audience shrieked together in sheer (sic!) horror. It also gave me sleepless nights. This time you get scared over the whole film but to a lesser degree. The bloke who reportedly died of a heart attack during the film must have not seen part one.
It's another of Warren's cases so my guess is the 3rd film is coming.
ABLUKA (FRENZY)
Watchable. Very heavy, especially for dog lovers. I'm not too sure what's it about and it's slow.
PIPER
Watchable. A short film preceding "Finding Dory". It's lovely but without words and I'm not sure what it's about - a hungry bird?
FINDING DORY 3D
Recommended. A lovely little fish with big eyes is desperate to find her parents. Deeply moving. About family, friends, animals, helping the handicapped ones. It also gently reproaches kids who touch everything. There's an after-credits scene.
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP
Watchable. It took me long to get used to the oldfashioned language of Jane Austin. But it's a well-acted satire on posh people of her time. A good joke about 12 commandments.
W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)
Watchable again. I liked it better at the second screening. It's interesting how the road they drive back unwinds the spiral. Good music, sound and sound effects.
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP
Recommended after seeing for the second time. Still funny, including the 12 commandments. Delightful classical music. Some historical insight (peas being a novelty). Brilliant lines, to the point and so-Englishly indirect.
TOISET TYTOT (OTHER GIRLS)
Watchable. Very Finnish culturally. About typical teenage girls' problems - easy to identify yourself with but nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, what hinders watching is the form: an ordinary film gets interspersed with animation or girls' off-screen philosophical comments.
NOUS TROIS OU RIEN (ALL THREE OF US)
Recommended. Laugh-out-loud funny, with plenty of situation humour in spite of the serious subjects of dictatorships, tortures and community work in a crime-ridden neighbourhood.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
Watchable. I needed de-braining after a tough day and I got just that. In all other situations it would have been too annoying: poor acting, lame jokes and lines like "I don't normally hold grudge but you killed my parents." CGIs are class B too.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR
I skipped both "Conjuring" films as I had seen them earlier and I saw:
BEFORE I WAKE
THE BABADOOK
Watchable. Neither of the movies is very scary, in fact the horror part is quite stupid. The realistic - psychological layer is much better in both.
UN HOMME A LA HAUTEUR (UP FOR LOVE)
Watchable. First of all, Jean Dujardin is not a real dwarf. Secondly, even though it's a drama about how small we are in our superficiality, the dwarf is rich and a true gentleman so the main message seems to be: if you're unattractive, be rich and superpolite. The dog scenes are still demeaning but laugh-out-loud funny.
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN 3D
Watchable. Full of cliches. But at the same time with a handful of africanist flavours ("Chief Mbongo, I presume?", warriors whose faces and bodies are whitened, a fictional Bantu-like language, George Washington's letter to King Leopold II politically correctly altered to convey a strictly and strongly anti-slavery message, African customs and music). Christopher Waltz brilliant as ever. I have some objections to the cinematography though - while the jungle is dark due to the lack of sunlight, here open space is brownish-dark too. Equatorial Africa is colourful in reality and in the film it got darkened and browned for no reason. Poor 3D. One endearing scene is the lions' greeting - incredible what current CGI technology is capable of.
TINI: THE NEW LIFE OF VIOLETTA
Watchable. Shot in Almeria, Spain as well as Taormina and Catania on the eastern coast of Sicilly, Italy, it's a perfect holiday movie. The plot and events are silly. The characters are cute. Long-legged Martina Stoessel is lovely in the leading role. Everyone around her is charming and the holiday spots picturesque. Unfortunately in Poland it's shown in the dubbed version only. The music is just something light holiday-style but it stays with you.
THE BFG 3D
Walked out. For children only and for slow ones in that. Dubbed.
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Watchable. Appears to be a remake of "Marguerite". This one made me uneasy too - it's like being forced to laugh at somebody's misfortuene. Still, this one is more humane than the French one and with less sex of course. Hugh Grant looking old and Meryl Streep act just fine but the greatest role is the one of little known Simon Helberg as the pianist Cosme McMoon.
CHOCOLAT
Watchable. It's similar to the Polish TV series "Bodo" - from rags to riches and to rags again, with a stint in prison. Omar Sy is great both as a clown, when he resembles young Eddie Murphy, and in the more dramatic part, when he fights for racial equality. It shows how you can make an interesting film about any obscure character because every human being can be a subject. Still, the story is quite grim and about some circus and theatre actor so basically not my cup of tea.
Saturday 2 July 2016
Another portion of overdue reviews:
QUAND ON A 17 AN (BEING 17)
Watchable. A gay film. It's not about adolescence as such. It's about young homosexuals. The school and family motifs are fine, convincingly shot and acted but the core topic is very niche.
45 YEARS
Walked out. About a couple who have been with each other forever, know each other inside out and keep talking about the obvious. The most boring family ever.
EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE (EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT)
Watchable. Black and white. Slow and drowsy yet about secluded settlements in the Amazon and about how such little societies develop (in the most distorted ways). About individual people's moral ambivalence too.
FAIR PLAY
Recommended. About a sportsgirl whose closest family and social circle is so keen on success they don't mind taking themselves or giving to her harmful performance-enhancing drugs. Quite chilling.
A BIGGER SPLASH
Watchable. Dakota Johnson is even hotter here than in the "Fifty Shades of Grey". The island is beautiful. The drama between the people isn't, part of it is plain weird. The immigrant invasion on the island forms the background for no apparent reason.
VAN VALAMI FURCSA EN MEGMAGYARAZHATATLAN (FOR SOME INEXPLICABLE REASON)
Walked out. For some inexplicable reason someone made this movie about a lazy loser. I saw no reason to continue watching it.
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
Watchable. The thriller part about being locked up in a cellar by a psycho is great. The SF ending with alien's mechanical-looking tentacles is lousy. Just the very final scene of choosing the direction at a road fork is tongue-in-cheek.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
L'OEIL DU CYCLONE (EYE OF THE STORM)
Recommended. A powerful courtroom drama tackling the issue of child soldiers. Makes you understand the criminal in charge which doesn't mean you get anywhere near being fond of him.
THE MODEL
Recommended. It's so true about every young girl's life (love, friendship, intrigue, sex abuse, awe at glamour) - this one is just more glamorous than average as the girl is a 16 y.o. model in Paris.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
SEMBENE!
Watchable. Funny to discover that Ousmane Sembene, who I knew as a writer, was predominantly a film-maker. He even tackled the female circumcision problem. While you learn such trivia, the film overall is quite dull.
A FORK, A SPOON AND A KNIGHT
Watchable. Nothing special or important but it's quite uplifting to see a community of teenage boys from disadvantaged backgrounds meeting to play chess.
LA BELLE AT THE MOVIES
Watchable. Dull yet heart-warming - about the history of cinema in the Congo. Kinshasa doesn't have any cinema venue now, yet several people remember their exact locations.
THE BOSS
Watchable. A standard American comedy about a vicious boss. Some glamour in the beginning. Very American about being tough in business. Acted well, involving but not very funny.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
OBURONI
Recommended. Hilarious (an infectiously giggling relative, a guy carrying a wiggling armadillo etc.) about a Polish Ghanaian looking for his father back in Africa. Ghana looks the same as 20 years ago. His journey, somewhere between ourbursts of laughter, truly touches your heart. A sad ending is made up for with some amusing comments at the very end.
MEMORY CARDS
Watchable. Zanzibar is pure beauty but the film doesn't answer the question of how and why the writer disappeared and doesn't even formulate it clearly.
QUAND ON A 17 AN (BEING 17)
Watchable. A gay film. It's not about adolescence as such. It's about young homosexuals. The school and family motifs are fine, convincingly shot and acted but the core topic is very niche.
45 YEARS
Walked out. About a couple who have been with each other forever, know each other inside out and keep talking about the obvious. The most boring family ever.
EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE (EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT)
Watchable. Black and white. Slow and drowsy yet about secluded settlements in the Amazon and about how such little societies develop (in the most distorted ways). About individual people's moral ambivalence too.
FAIR PLAY
Recommended. About a sportsgirl whose closest family and social circle is so keen on success they don't mind taking themselves or giving to her harmful performance-enhancing drugs. Quite chilling.
A BIGGER SPLASH
Watchable. Dakota Johnson is even hotter here than in the "Fifty Shades of Grey". The island is beautiful. The drama between the people isn't, part of it is plain weird. The immigrant invasion on the island forms the background for no apparent reason.
VAN VALAMI FURCSA EN MEGMAGYARAZHATATLAN (FOR SOME INEXPLICABLE REASON)
Walked out. For some inexplicable reason someone made this movie about a lazy loser. I saw no reason to continue watching it.
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
Watchable. The thriller part about being locked up in a cellar by a psycho is great. The SF ending with alien's mechanical-looking tentacles is lousy. Just the very final scene of choosing the direction at a road fork is tongue-in-cheek.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
L'OEIL DU CYCLONE (EYE OF THE STORM)
Recommended. A powerful courtroom drama tackling the issue of child soldiers. Makes you understand the criminal in charge which doesn't mean you get anywhere near being fond of him.
THE MODEL
Recommended. It's so true about every young girl's life (love, friendship, intrigue, sex abuse, awe at glamour) - this one is just more glamorous than average as the girl is a 16 y.o. model in Paris.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
SEMBENE!
Watchable. Funny to discover that Ousmane Sembene, who I knew as a writer, was predominantly a film-maker. He even tackled the female circumcision problem. While you learn such trivia, the film overall is quite dull.
A FORK, A SPOON AND A KNIGHT
Watchable. Nothing special or important but it's quite uplifting to see a community of teenage boys from disadvantaged backgrounds meeting to play chess.
LA BELLE AT THE MOVIES
Watchable. Dull yet heart-warming - about the history of cinema in the Congo. Kinshasa doesn't have any cinema venue now, yet several people remember their exact locations.
THE BOSS
Watchable. A standard American comedy about a vicious boss. Some glamour in the beginning. Very American about being tough in business. Acted well, involving but not very funny.
AFRYKAMERA 2016
OBURONI
Recommended. Hilarious (an infectiously giggling relative, a guy carrying a wiggling armadillo etc.) about a Polish Ghanaian looking for his father back in Africa. Ghana looks the same as 20 years ago. His journey, somewhere between ourbursts of laughter, truly touches your heart. A sad ending is made up for with some amusing comments at the very end.
MEMORY CARDS
Watchable. Zanzibar is pure beauty but the film doesn't answer the question of how and why the writer disappeared and doesn't even formulate it clearly.
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