WESTWORLD - EPISODE 1
Watchable. My first impressions: needless nudity, pointless violence, a run-of-the-mill film gave way to a bewilderment at the science fiction layer soon revealed yet didn't disappear completely. The SF layer is intriguing indeed: the androids through reveries tap into long lost memories and, as their creator says, long lost memories alter us, evolution is a result of mistakes and we come to this world as an effect of an illusion. Great music, views of Wild West landscapes, the hosts are remarkably well acted and I guess it's not easy to enact numerous personality changes over less than a minute. Calling the Westworld androids hosts reminds me of "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer - here they're benevolent as well, however it's them being used by humans, not the other way round. Poor translation into Polish (e.g. reveries, core to the plot, don't get translated at all).
DEEPWATER HORIZON
Watchable. Based on facts which I generally like. Starts in a horror style where the protagonists' day-to-day lives are marred by ominous signs. Later, however, the film goes along glory-to-the-heroes lines. Lots of wooden dialogues.
Friday 30 September 2016
Wednesday 28 September 2016
ZTRACENI V MNICHOVE
Walked out. First it's a peculiar story based around an incident from Czech history, made in a comic way which fails to be funny. Later suddenly you're informed it's happening in a movie and then you get plenty of interviews with the makers on shooting the film. The actual creators of this film clearly had no clue how to make it.
Walked out. First it's a peculiar story based around an incident from Czech history, made in a comic way which fails to be funny. Later suddenly you're informed it's happening in a movie and then you get plenty of interviews with the makers on shooting the film. The actual creators of this film clearly had no clue how to make it.
Tuesday 27 September 2016
DON'T BREATHE
Watchable. It's a slasher movie where a worn-out scenario gets a new twist: the slasher is blind and the vics are burglers. Seems like girls kept in the basement have become a norm in Hollywood, probably following the Cleveland capture case, here the new capture scene is a bit of novelty in terms of what and how is done to the vic. In spite of the cat and mouse game becoming boring at times, it's a real nail-biter of a film, well acted, with an exquisite initial scene and a good ending leaving the door open for a sequel.
Watchable. It's a slasher movie where a worn-out scenario gets a new twist: the slasher is blind and the vics are burglers. Seems like girls kept in the basement have become a norm in Hollywood, probably following the Cleveland capture case, here the new capture scene is a bit of novelty in terms of what and how is done to the vic. In spite of the cat and mouse game becoming boring at times, it's a real nail-biter of a film, well acted, with an exquisite initial scene and a good ending leaving the door open for a sequel.
Thursday 22 September 2016
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN 4D
Watchable. 4D here means 2D visuals + all sorts of shakes and blasts of cold air. No scents this time. The movements put you in a horse saddle, in the middle of a brawl or a shootout which is extra fun. The film itself is just fine. The makers seem to have had a problem deciding whether it should mimick the old version or be modern so they have mixed old-fashioned language and chauvinism with present-style multiculturalism and multilinguism and the eponymous seven are all macho men each of a different ethnic background. The seven get such a long exposure each that you get to like them all. Faraday's (Chris Pratt) smirk pervades the movie. However their conversations aren't particularly involving, their heroism is far-fetched and the story's typical for a western (apart from the fact it's a multiple remake).
Careful with popcorn or Coke in a 4D screen! Easier to spill than anywhere else.
Warsaw's Cinema City in Arkadia is harder to access now. You have to go round the shopping center to get the escalator to the first floor. So it's 5 minutes extra that you need before the movie.
Watchable. 4D here means 2D visuals + all sorts of shakes and blasts of cold air. No scents this time. The movements put you in a horse saddle, in the middle of a brawl or a shootout which is extra fun. The film itself is just fine. The makers seem to have had a problem deciding whether it should mimick the old version or be modern so they have mixed old-fashioned language and chauvinism with present-style multiculturalism and multilinguism and the eponymous seven are all macho men each of a different ethnic background. The seven get such a long exposure each that you get to like them all. Faraday's (Chris Pratt) smirk pervades the movie. However their conversations aren't particularly involving, their heroism is far-fetched and the story's typical for a western (apart from the fact it's a multiple remake).
Careful with popcorn or Coke in a 4D screen! Easier to spill than anywhere else.
Warsaw's Cinema City in Arkadia is harder to access now. You have to go round the shopping center to get the escalator to the first floor. So it's 5 minutes extra that you need before the movie.
Monday 19 September 2016
Saturday 17 September 2016
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC HORROROW (THE NIGHT OF HORRORS)
I skipped "Blair Witch" and "Sinister 2" which I had seen already and chose to see only:
THE HALLOW
Walked out. Black slime, scratches on a window and the car and corpse-like monsters amid baby screaming. All of that shown early on. And with an environmental/political message (in a horror!). Rubbish.
MY SOUL TO TAKE
Walked out. A slasher movie about a bunch of teenagers who are so stupid you just want them all to be killed.
I skipped "Blair Witch" and "Sinister 2" which I had seen already and chose to see only:
THE HALLOW
Walked out. Black slime, scratches on a window and the car and corpse-like monsters amid baby screaming. All of that shown early on. And with an environmental/political message (in a horror!). Rubbish.
MY SOUL TO TAKE
Walked out. A slasher movie about a bunch of teenagers who are so stupid you just want them all to be killed.
Friday 16 September 2016
BLAIR WITCH
Watchable. I never managed to see "The Blair Witch Project" in one piece. It was so boring I walked out from the screening at first and caught up with the very ending on TV years later. The new version faster-paced and hosts attractive James Allen McCune in the leading role which makes the wait for the ending more bearable. Scary it isn't. More of an adventure film where high tech devices cause more problems than they solve.
Watchable. I never managed to see "The Blair Witch Project" in one piece. It was so boring I walked out from the screening at first and caught up with the very ending on TV years later. The new version faster-paced and hosts attractive James Allen McCune in the leading role which makes the wait for the ending more bearable. Scary it isn't. More of an adventure film where high tech devices cause more problems than they solve.
SLUGI BOZE
Watchable. Very good crime mystery with some brilliant lines, e.g. "Nie jestes feministka?" "Jesli pytasz o to, czy sypiam z komisarzem, to juz nie." ("You're not a feminist, are you?" "If you're asking if I sleep with the officer - not any more.") and lots of twists and turns of action. A bit too many set-ups but played interestingly. Each character is a fascinating distinct personality. Some loops don't close though, e.g. what about Ana's father? What with the property case? The "Silesian" doesn't speak with Silesian accent and her family roots are too twisted to stand. I must add I loved the plane scene at the ending.
ALOYS
Watchable. In a dream-like world times mix. Aloys lives like a few decades ago but has got a modern smartphone. The story however is on the margin of SF. It's rather trying to face the discrepancy between your real partner and an imagined one. The film's dull yet atmospheric in an old-fashioned way.
Watchable. Very good crime mystery with some brilliant lines, e.g. "Nie jestes feministka?" "Jesli pytasz o to, czy sypiam z komisarzem, to juz nie." ("You're not a feminist, are you?" "If you're asking if I sleep with the officer - not any more.") and lots of twists and turns of action. A bit too many set-ups but played interestingly. Each character is a fascinating distinct personality. Some loops don't close though, e.g. what about Ana's father? What with the property case? The "Silesian" doesn't speak with Silesian accent and her family roots are too twisted to stand. I must add I loved the plane scene at the ending.
ALOYS
Watchable. In a dream-like world times mix. Aloys lives like a few decades ago but has got a modern smartphone. The story however is on the margin of SF. It's rather trying to face the discrepancy between your real partner and an imagined one. The film's dull yet atmospheric in an old-fashioned way.
Wednesday 14 September 2016
HEART OF A DOG
Watchable. The film's weird and structure chaotic. It's also more of a slide show with a commentary than a movie. Some fragments are disturbingly odd, e.g. director Laurie Anderson's enaction of giving birth to a dog. Other are touching like her, even if peculiar, love for dogs. There's also a deeply emotional notion of how "you really don't want to lie to somebody who's dying" and of how she had no time to tell her mum she cared for for. It's also partly about how people try to preserve their acts and memories. So the film's a complete mess with some importaint issues acknowledged. The topic makes the film more suitable for All Saints' Day rather.
The refurbishment in progress at Warsaw's Muranow cinema has taken a funny turn: the cinema is totally gender-equall at present - with urinals in the ladies' loo.
Watchable. The film's weird and structure chaotic. It's also more of a slide show with a commentary than a movie. Some fragments are disturbingly odd, e.g. director Laurie Anderson's enaction of giving birth to a dog. Other are touching like her, even if peculiar, love for dogs. There's also a deeply emotional notion of how "you really don't want to lie to somebody who's dying" and of how she had no time to tell her mum she cared for for. It's also partly about how people try to preserve their acts and memories. So the film's a complete mess with some importaint issues acknowledged. The topic makes the film more suitable for All Saints' Day rather.
The refurbishment in progress at Warsaw's Muranow cinema has taken a funny turn: the cinema is totally gender-equall at present - with urinals in the ladies' loo.
Tuesday 13 September 2016
Sunday 11 September 2016
THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER
Watchable. Starts and ends with thunderous music adding meaning to otherwise innocent scenes, especially to the initial one. That somehow fierce music stands out. Robert Pattinson is not-so-readily recognisable in one of roles - not just his looks but his accent and manner of speaking. The film develops slowly and feels drowsy at times. I only don't understand how the depicted child - future leader - is different from all other children: throwing tantrums, obstinate, incontrolable.
Watchable. Starts and ends with thunderous music adding meaning to otherwise innocent scenes, especially to the initial one. That somehow fierce music stands out. Robert Pattinson is not-so-readily recognisable in one of roles - not just his looks but his accent and manner of speaking. The film develops slowly and feels drowsy at times. I only don't understand how the depicted child - future leader - is different from all other children: throwing tantrums, obstinate, incontrolable.
Thursday 8 September 2016
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS
Watchable. It starts cheesy and flat - the relationship develops without evoking any emotions in the viewer (or me at least). Later it becomes so deeply moving that you forget all the cheese. Tissues should be sold together with tickets - can't do without them. Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender act up to the scratch as usual.
Watchable. It starts cheesy and flat - the relationship develops without evoking any emotions in the viewer (or me at least). Later it becomes so deeply moving that you forget all the cheese. Tissues should be sold together with tickets - can't do without them. Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender act up to the scratch as usual.
Tuesday 6 September 2016
MORGAN
Watchable. Yet another female assassin movie, this one by Ridley Scott's son Luke. And with run-of-the-mill motifs: a superhuman girl living closed in a room with a glass wall, developing mentally and physically at a speedy rate etc. While the general storyline is predictable, who kills who and when is less so which results in some tension efficiently gluing you to the screen. With some superficial questions about what makes a creature human. More emotions equals less control. Too much gets revealed too early in the movie hence there's little mystery left. The final scene implies a sequel. However lousy it sounds, it's well made. Typically skilled Hollywood artisanship. The psychological assessment scene in the Luke Scott's film is a clear reference to a similar evaluation in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" but that one was much more subtle and ambiguous. Luke needs to find his own way, following his father's steps hasn't worked.
Watchable. Yet another female assassin movie, this one by Ridley Scott's son Luke. And with run-of-the-mill motifs: a superhuman girl living closed in a room with a glass wall, developing mentally and physically at a speedy rate etc. While the general storyline is predictable, who kills who and when is less so which results in some tension efficiently gluing you to the screen. With some superficial questions about what makes a creature human. More emotions equals less control. Too much gets revealed too early in the movie hence there's little mystery left. The final scene implies a sequel. However lousy it sounds, it's well made. Typically skilled Hollywood artisanship. The psychological assessment scene in the Luke Scott's film is a clear reference to a similar evaluation in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" but that one was much more subtle and ambiguous. Luke needs to find his own way, following his father's steps hasn't worked.
Monday 5 September 2016
OSTATNIA RODZINA (THE LAST FAMILY)
Watchable. It's very Polish and about quite particular personalities: the Beksinskis. So if you're not familiar with the topics, it may be quite hard. The realities of those times (from 1983 to 2000) are painstakingly rebuilt through scenography although... I remember the 80s as very colourful, not dark in hues of brown like in the film. Dawid Ogrodnik looks and speaks just like Tomek Beksinski. There's a brief footage of "vampire" Wojciech Jagielski interviewing Tomek. The dialogues are filled with absurd humour which somehow isn't amusing in the depressing movie. The whole thing is grim but enlivened with brilliant music: "Don't Go" by Yazoo and "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" by Ultravox.
BRIDGET JONES'S BABY
Watchable. Funny to see it shortly after my 43rd birthday. I can only hope I won't get knocked up! It's very funny, e.g. a guy trying to unfasten Bridget's dress: "How, the hell, am I going to get into this?!" or about two men who where telling her to "think the pain" away during labour: "You have an entire human being to push out of your vagina. I'd love to see them think that away." At the same time the film's very PC and with a tacky ending.
Watchable. It's very Polish and about quite particular personalities: the Beksinskis. So if you're not familiar with the topics, it may be quite hard. The realities of those times (from 1983 to 2000) are painstakingly rebuilt through scenography although... I remember the 80s as very colourful, not dark in hues of brown like in the film. Dawid Ogrodnik looks and speaks just like Tomek Beksinski. There's a brief footage of "vampire" Wojciech Jagielski interviewing Tomek. The dialogues are filled with absurd humour which somehow isn't amusing in the depressing movie. The whole thing is grim but enlivened with brilliant music: "Don't Go" by Yazoo and "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" by Ultravox.
BRIDGET JONES'S BABY
Watchable. Funny to see it shortly after my 43rd birthday. I can only hope I won't get knocked up! It's very funny, e.g. a guy trying to unfasten Bridget's dress: "How, the hell, am I going to get into this?!" or about two men who where telling her to "think the pain" away during labour: "You have an entire human being to push out of your vagina. I'd love to see them think that away." At the same time the film's very PC and with a tacky ending.
Friday 2 September 2016
LES SAISONS (SEASONS)
Watchable. A nature quasi-documentary (with some history features here and there which detracts from the pleasure of watching a nature film). Some shots are beautiful, yet the whole thing is chaotic, looks like edited at random. The last half an hour is very sad. I was crying like a baby.
NERVE
Recommended. A fantastic adrenaline ride. My palms got really sweaty at the hanging scene. Very good, matching music and creative credits. Dave Franco looks/acts really hot in this film.
Watchable. A nature quasi-documentary (with some history features here and there which detracts from the pleasure of watching a nature film). Some shots are beautiful, yet the whole thing is chaotic, looks like edited at random. The last half an hour is very sad. I was crying like a baby.
NERVE
Recommended. A fantastic adrenaline ride. My palms got really sweaty at the hanging scene. Very good, matching music and creative credits. Dave Franco looks/acts really hot in this film.
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