Movie reviews

PUPPY

Watchable. A short film preceding "The Emoji Movie". A very simple story told with a pinch of salt. "The Prince of Darkness" turns "a puppy waiter", as Dracula puts it, until lots of skeletons arrive. Will be OK for Halloween.

THE EMOJI MOVIE

Watchable. Quite fun, with music and dance but only one amusing scene - a video with a funny cat. A double-dimension story with a hacker named Matrix, flying cars and skyscrapers like in "Blade Runner", "Valerian" or "The Fifth Element" and the Bots look like Transformers. The characters go through plenty of popular apps. The story becomes moving towards the end. Very good Polish translation, with a number of puns. Mostly for teens. One early mid-credit, no post-credits.

CZŁOWIEK Z MAGICZNYM PUDEŁKIEM (THE MAN WITH THE MAGIC BOX)

Recommended. Futuristically ruined in an unspecified war Warsaw looks absolutely spectacular thanks to visuals by Studio Produkcyjne ORKA. The film reverberates with movie classics, plays with the current political situation in Poland and Europe, contains also references to Bodo Kox's earlier "Dziewczyna z szafy". It starts with a verbal mention of "Men In Black" in the context of erasing memory. "Blade Runner" showed an investigation in Chinatown, here we find a date in a Chinese restaurant, omnipresent dust, a real rose and an android. One of music pieces composed and orchestrated by Sandro di Stefano resembles a slowed-down and toned-down version of Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna". Just like in "Seksmisja" ("Sexmission") the protagonist's daughter in one time is an elderly lady senior to him in another. An escape from 1952 communism leads to another regime in 2030. The chief of the Bureau for National Security wears a brooch (the current Polish Prime Minister is famous for wearing one) attached to her uniform. A TV news strip informs of a massacre of Muslims in France. There's a complete vision of the future: shoes with neon soles worn by an 83-year-old, a fluorescent skirt glows in the dark, payments are effected with a chip implanted in one's hand, patients in a coma are suspensed in vapour, we see a VR walk in the wood. The radio's illegal, the internet restricted and controlled. Water's rationed.  Computers take the form of flat transparent wave-hand monitors. LCD commercials are individualised to the point of absurdity.

I remain under the impression of customer service in Cinema City (where I saw the above movies). Friendly as always. I also realized that hearing "Goodbye" from the staff does make me feel better.

SHOT CALLER

Recommended. A brilliant, gripping and intense crime drama confirming what behaviourists say: no matter where it's the place in hierarchy that counts, you have to be on the very top to become free from stress. The convict ends up reading "The Human Animal". Perfectly acted by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, with great music by Antonio Pinto.

CE QUI NOUS LIE (BACK TO BURGUNDY)

Recommended. Should be served with good wine. Otherwise you leave thirsty. A pleasant, peaceful, simple, uplifting tale of running a vineyard and dividing family property in order to pay a tax on inheritance. I just felt totally happy after seeing it.

I saw the French movie courtesy of Cinema City.

BABA Z LEDU (ICE MOTHER)

Walked out. About elderly people's daily problems.