على كف عفريت (BEAUTY AND THE DOGS)

Recommended. It happened in Tunisia. But could be anywhere. A hard-hitting story which is so realistic I was not surprised to read at the end it was inspired by real events. It takes you step by step through the night when the crime took place: from just before, skipping the actual rape, throughout the aftermath. You just want her ordeal to end, expect somebody will save her but that's not going to happen. All her hopes get taken away one by one. But in the course of the night she finds enough inner strength to survive. The protagonists' names: Maryam and Youssuf refer us both to Christianity, like indicated in the film where the names are perceived as anti-Muslim, and to the Quran which constitutes the second bottom of the tale. She could be the holy mother of the prophet, who was also persecuted, though in different ways. And, like in the Sura of Yusuf in the Quran, Youssuf gets falsely accused and jailed. Is he a prophet too?

PETER RABBIT

Recommended. It's going to be the hit of the spring. I was laughing my head off. The best comedy I've seen in a long time. Exceptionally good translation and dubbing in Polish bring out the wit in: "I got carried away a bit. The way it happens at war", "I think I broke my rib. How many ribs do rabbits have?" or "She keeps baring her teeth at him. For them it means she likes him." (I'm translating 'back' into English from Polish now so the original may vary slightly) Electrocution and demolition are hilarious. Plenty of cheerful pop music of the like of "We No Speak Americano". Top-notch animation - the furs look like real and all the creatures are downright cute. The scene with an apologetic rabbit looking like a beaten dog grabs your heart. Domhnall Gleeson has such sexy eyes he looks smoking hot even with his hair dyed brown. Filmed in New South Wales, Australia - strangely the down under makes for the English countryside. Ends in mid-credits with the store scene being the last one.

불한당: 나쁜 놈들의 세상 (THE MERCILESS)

Watchable. Follows the standard pattern of Korean crime movies, with an obligatory scene of extremely cruel torture and with even the same two actors as usual: Im Si-wan and Sol Kyung-gu.

THELMA

Watchable. Image one: a father and a child walking on ice under which fish are visible. Scene two: the father attempts to shoot his daughter. Shot three: the movie title flickers. The final pieces of the puzzle are handed in to the viewer only towards the end. It's about how family curb your uniqueness and how, in this case, religion is the means. Outstanding cinematography with several great shots of otherwise mundane places. Decent ambient electronic music. Feels a bit lengthy though, in spite of being just under two hours.

GRAND FROID

Watchable. This dark comedy about an undertaker facing bankruptcy would be funnier if only it weren't so drowsy. It has some amusing bits, e.g. when an old lady gets nearly run over by a truck and he's waiting to see if she gets killed. But it's mostly just a slow, quiet tale about a few likeable losers.

As I was sitting waiting for the screening I overheard some marvellous - it was "The Post". The music by John Williams is great even on its own.

I AM NOT A WITCH

Watchable. A heart-wrenching tale of a little girl accused of witchcraft. An apt portrayal of African villagers' mentality. Unfortunately the 90 minutes drag. And what ruins the movie is Vivaldi. Some African songs are sung as well. But the loud "Four Seasons" pieces are completely out of place. Both the volume of the music and it being a European classic.


FRANCOPHONIE FESTIVAL

LE TEMPS D'ANNA (ANNA'S TIME)

Watchable. A Swiss love story between a young watch-making entrepreneur and his schizophrenic wife. Clear-cut, well acted but nothing more than a romantic tale.

BARRAGE

Walked out. A mother returns to Luxembourg after a long time abroad and attempts to reconnect with her school age daughter which is awkward and boring. Additionally disturbingly their dog gets killed.

DIE GÖTTLICHE ORDNUNG (THE DIVINE ORDER)

Watchable. It harks back to the times when Swiss women were fighting for voting rights - only to be won as late as 1981-1990 depending on cantons. Hard to believe, though it appears to be based on facts, that in the 1970s there were still women, living with their husbands and sometimes even children, who never had orgasms. At first that seems a trivial and awkward episode in the story but that's how far their rights were neglected. They lived with guys even though they didn't satisfy them. While the world has gone a long way since then, their struggle and mass protests resemble much those we experience now in Poland. The spite and aggression, both from most men and some women, are just the same. It was interesting to see the process of the social change when women stopped cooking and cleaning and went to work. But the story lacks suspense. It's only for people interested in women's rights outside the cinema as well.

LOVE, SIMON

Recommended. I laughed and cried, often at the same time. Nick Robinson is so cute as Simon you immediately symphatise with him. The movie's high school flick for teenagers and their parents and everyone else. Plenty of comical scenes, e.g. a teenage couple dancing and the girl says: "You know, I'm really in love with you." "Really?! I'll be right back" and then he texts: "Get me out of here, please. Kids are drinking alcohol." "OMG. I'll be right there. Mum". The school vice principal and the drama teacher (Tony Hale and Natasha Rothwell) are brilliant too. All of high school age mishaps do happen and make you laugh out loud. And the wait for Simon's love's identity to be revealed creates perfect suspense. Good pop music blends in the picture. The initial breakfast and final breakfast fasten the story.

RED SPARROW

Watchable. Espionage-wise the storyline's well-structured, intense, gripping, with good twists of action and no loose ends. Yet it feels heavy. The whore-training is disturbing, then come tortures and then even more brutal torture. And I'm not into naked Jennifer Lawerence. Judging by the ending a sequel is likely.

EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY

Watchable. Standard BBC Earth with some curious facts and amazing shots, e.g. narwhals swimming through an ice canal, bamboo growing at the speed of 1 millimetre per minute, cute panda bears and raccoons, sperm whales sleeping floating vertically in the ocean, plants, creatures and their webs glowing in the dark, giraffes fighting with their necks and the defeated male leaving with a tear in his eye. Narrated by Robert Redford which gets lost in the Polish dubbing.

WEEK OF SPANISH CINEMA

ORO

Watchable. A group of men seeking Eldorado. They slay each other off, often not to share the prospective gold or to manifest their power, and as their number is dwindling, you just wait to see who's left. The clergy sanctify killings. The movie shows how people are eager to kill and die for a prospect of fortune and a myth. Women are treated as property and Indian ones hunted like animals. Set entirely in the New World, shot entirely in Spain. Ends with a flamenco song over the credits.


FINDING YOUR FEET

Watchable. For and about elderly people and awfully predictable so for ones who don't go to the cinema often or have Alzheimer's. Quite tiring for a representative of a younger generation. The locations brought back some of my memories both from London and from Rome - pleasures of which are displayed. The final dance in Rome was fun. The film wasn't really amusing but was cheerful enough. It's about how wealth and class don't protect you from heartbreak and how helpful ordinary working folks can be. Also on 'want' which should prevail over 'should'. There's some annoying product placement in the movie.

"Mary Magdalene" is coming out shortly. I wonder if it's going to restitute her actual importance as an aide to Jezus or if it's going to spread the Church's lie of her being a former whore who devoted her life to serving the prophet.

WIEZA. JASNY DZIEN (TOWER. A BRIGHT DAY)

Watchable. Another pointless and weird Polish movie: a conflicted family with an estranged member coming back after 6 years similarly to "Cicha noc" but at least not as vulgar and with amplified sound effects reminiscent of magnified visuals in "Pokot" ("Spoor"). Here at least the visual side is normal. The only interesting bits are those where you see and hear the same thing twice: first from the point of view of the older sister, then the younger, prodigal one, but they are very brief, like glimpses of both women's thoughts. It's "based on future events" which is intriguing in the beginning but leads to nowhere. The title tower must be the church bell tower but when the bell tolls it reverses the sisters' parental chores for a while only. Theoretically, though the movie doesn't show it, it may be a referral to "migdal" from which Mary Magdalene got her nickname and which meant tower. This personage would be also ambiguous: in reality she was an apostle and an aide to Jezus but has been considered a converted whore for centuries following a pope's slander. That would reflect the movie character of Kaja. There's anger mixed with envy on the older sister's side while the mother suddenly gets healed on Kaja's arrival. Also temporarily. Are the "future events" just possibilities? The mother remembers her both birth givings and seems to favour the younger one who was easier to bring to the world. The family is boring, only talking about silly things though. The whole thing is protracted and tiring.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - PITBULL MARATHON WITH THE LAST DOG

I decided to skip the previous 3 parts in order to be perfectly attentive at the new one and... I could't help a shut-eye and missed the key moments. I'll have to see it again.

PITBULL. OSTATNI PIES (PITBULL. THE LAST DOG)

Watchable. I couldn't quite make out who was who in the story, even before I dozed off. Luckily references to true events, like the Amber Gold scam, and plenty of humour, e.g. "So are you going to rob banks?" "No, set up one", made up for the excessive number of individuals appearing or mentioned in the movie. Doda - a Polish celebrity known for being known - plays the main female role and does so successfully. She does look and does act. All women characters are cold hearted bitches though. "Pitbull" movies by Patryk Vega used to be more rounded and wholesome in that respect, the females were ordinary, emotional creatures. Pasikowski made them all calculative, cruel whores.

POVEDA

Watchable. The situation in Spain in the first few decades of the 20th century was the opposite of the current situation in Poland. While many Polish women protest or are against religious education at schools, a century ago it created an opportunity for Spanish women to get education and employment guaranteeing independence. For a larger part the movie's very pleasant. Priest Pedro Poveda keeps setting up schools with only minor problems in his way, sometimes comical, e.g. when a girl's father thinks his daughter's been kidnapped by the villain priest and padre Pedro introduces himself to him. The ending is dramatic though - the radicals murder him at the onset of the Civil War in 1936. The movie's uneven, especially the fragmented conversation in detention is totally unnecessary.


FRANCOPHONIE FESTIVAL

HOCHELAGA, TERRE DES ÂMES (HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS)

Watchable. The history of the beginnings of Montreal and of Canada shown through a series of separate, protracted scenes from different periods. Some native languages, like Mohawk and Algonquin are prominent in the dialogues. Characteristic music and moments of sudden silence play a role too. One shocking visual effect gets amplified by subsequent silence but that takes place early on and the whole film is just a revision of the history of the region which could have been presented more engagingly.

LE FILS DE JEAN (A KID)

Watchable. An adult man without a father gets maneuvered into a trip which makes him experience life with two different families that he never had. That's the only thing that stands out in the otherwise mundane story.


NIEWIDZIALNE (THE INVISIBLES)

Watchable. Lots of conversations of really stupid people, poverty, alcoholism, sexual frustration and harassment, a sweat shop - nothing but pathology, all of that with scenes interrupted by prolonged blackouts filled only with dreadful 40s-like string music - clearly a remnant of it being originally a theatre play. Luck is within the protagonists' reach but they can't see it. The final explanation of what happened to the children is heart-rending. Yet the very last scene shows the scriptwriter ran out of ideas. The story focuses on misery and such depravation that even a bus ride is too costly, throwing in elements of the parallel world where people go shopping and pay with plastic. Domestic violence and inaccessibility of abortion are also key. Altogether it's unpleasant, visibly and audibly experimental and a bit theatre-like but with some seeds of truth and a loud voice in support of women's rights.

DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY

The festival contents has been announced. There'll be plenty of  different sections. A curious film will be "Grace Jones" by Sophie Fiennes who previously co-worked with Slavoj Žižek on "The Pervert's Guide to Ideology". I'm personally most looking forward to "Red Chapel" though - on North Korea. And to VR - these films are going to be in competition this year. One of documentaries to be presented at the festival will be

KSIAZE I DYBUK (THE PRINCE AND THE DYBBUK)

Watchable. "Jego ekscelencja subiekt" from 1933 is the only film by Michał Waszczykowski that I remember. Coincidentally it's one which tells about a shop assistant who's mistaken for a minister. He himself was Jewish, gay and a refugee but called himself "principe" and acted the role to the point where people thought he was an aristocrat. He became an Italian contess' sweetheart hence cutting himself off the painful wartime past when he lost both his parents. He was a movie maker who, apart from working in the factory of dreams, created the fantasy life he wanted for himself. Yes, he lied, or misled others at least, but did no harm to them and that was how he managed to elevate himself to live a dream. The story would have been more interesting if it had been told from the psychologic point of view instead of focusing on history, partly obscure. The description of his physique comes from the army register and says his nose was "wavy".

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR

THE STRANGERS (2008)

Watchable. First you learn there are 1.4 million violent crimes in the US a year and that the movie's based on a real case. Then you're informed that exact events of the night remain unknown which renders it even more creepy. You know there's going to be blood everywhere from the initial phone call scene after which the actual action starts. After a dull beginning it quickly turns gripping. I even cried out once. Scott Speedman is made look attractive and is plausible as James, Liv Tyler as the female lead less so. A much saying "Shall We Go Outside?" song is played. A red "hello" appears on a window pain looking both like "hell" and a reference to "redrum" from "The Shining". A great, startling ending. The final credits say: "The characters and events depicted in the photoplay are fictitious."

During the break after the screening a girl in the toilet imitated that unsettling banging on the door from the movie. That was brilliant.

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT

Recommended. Wow! Even better than part one. Bryan Bertino, the scriptwriter and director or the first part has co-scripted it with Ben Ketai and Johannes Roberts is a new director. The same gimmicks are applied, song titles carry a meaning again, e.g. Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now". The murderous trio appears to the rhythm of Kim Wilde's "Kids in America" they are listening to in the car. 80s pop tunes form the music backdrop and some accompany further slaughter, e.g. Kim Wilde's "Cambodia" or Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart". With more locations and lighting types as well as new characters and a larger cast in general, the story gets a tremendously entertaining uplift.  The girl is a problem teen with bad grades who mentions the dark comedy slasher film "Cutting Class" early on. Her mum says: "we're scared" meaning her and the father's preoccupation with the daughter's behaviour. Later, just before finding the first dead bodies the girl says a dog "scared me to death". Also several things they say or do in the begginning resonate with part one. New incidents include car-ramming and a pool scene. Both parts have great, startling endings. I hope for a sequel. In the beginning you learn it's "Based on true events" but there's a  "fictious" disclaimer in the final credits.

AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING

Watchable. Decent pace but with a number of standard American horror motifs like flies, worms, a contorted body. Generally predictable but with a few twists and one attack so sudden I jumped. Good, modern score by Rob (Aher). McKenna Grace (the little girl) is so lovely she's going to be the next big name. And she knows how to act too.

THE BYE BYE MAN

Watchable. The Bye Bye Man looks like Voldemort and his hound like a huge jerk chicken. No suspense, just college students having delusions all the time. The way the curse works everyone behaves like they have an obsession. The ending implies a sequel. Better not.

FRANCOPHONIE FESTIVAL

فيلم أفراح صغيرة (PETITS BONHEURS/SMALL PLEASURES)

Recommended. The "Small Pleasures" gave me great happiness. The film starts and ends with beautiful traditional Arabic music which you can hear every now and then throughout the movie as well. Breath-taking costumes. A mesmerising young actress as Fatouma. The story's quite special too - among women only. You learn a lot about Moroccan customes in the 1950s. It all ends well, each subplot. The music stays with you after leaving the cinema.

MIRACOLUL DIN TEKIR (THE MIRACLE OF TEKIR)

Recommended. A mysterious tale from Romania. Contemporary but traditional healing methods play a prominent role. Music score by Aisha Devi with additional chorals magnifies the feeling of eeriness. The plot focuses on getting pregnant and is so suggestive I ended up with a bellyache.


POLISH FILM AWARDS ORŁY 2018 - LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

No impact of the scandal on Polanski's popularity in Poland. In viewers' voting for the best movie out of the winners for the past 20 years "The Pianist" won. While the Polish Film Academy awarded Jerzy Stuhr, I wonder if he's known outside this country at all.

ESTIU 1993 (SUMMER 1993)

Watchable. A warm but tedious story of a summer of an orphaned girl which she's spending with her aunt's family. Disturbing at times since she's forced to undergo physicals after her parents died of AIDS. She feels unloved to the point of trying to get rid of her aunt's own daughter which enlivens the action slightly from time to time. But it's the ending that explains her motivation. Sadly, when she learns how to be cared about, she develops kind of BPD. All of that is shown through a slow and tranquil movie. There are plenty of close-ups of the children - pretty disgusting. Only the psychological  plot merits seeing it at all.

2023 update: at the Lux Film Prize Days I heard the following: screenwriter/director Carla Simón's parents died of AIDS and she went to live with her uncle and aunt.

INSYRIATED

Watchable. The title's brilliant. Suits the movie perfectly. Enclosed space occupied by two families lets you get in the plot quickly. You get to kind of experience a city under siege: frequent bombings, snipers shooting people in the street and in buildings, shortage of water, children asking if they're going to die and parents reassuring them the war is going to end shortly, houses pillaged, women raped - that scene is disturbingly evocative, the constant uncertainty. Appears plausible. I don't like babies so that subplot diminished my sympathy.


GDYNSKA SZKOLA FILMOWA (GDYNIA FILM SCHOOL) - THE BEST OF VOL. 1

Four interesting short films: 2 x crime, 1 documentary... comedy - a doc so funny I've created a new genre name to describe it, 1 comedy. Apparently Gdynia Film School professors focus on certain aspects not prioritised elsewhere: the hero and the fact the film has to be interesing. That has certainly worked in the shorts.

MATKA (MOTHER)

Watchable. The sound was so poor I could barely hear the dialogues and it reverberated and basically was of too low quality for a theatrical screening. The 30-minute crime story with politics in the background and some family psychology is thorougly engaging and surprisingly nearly complete. Only the politics disappears from the picture when the crime plot ending is revealed.

KONIEC WIDZENIA (TIME TO GO)

Watchable. The sound was so poor I could barely hear the dialogues and it reverberated and basically was of too low quality for a theatrical screening. Not too clear, I'm not sure of the outcome of the girl's action. At least Eryk Klum looks attractive as her incarcerated boyfriend.

MIEDZY NAMI (BETWEEN US)

Watchable. The disgusting babies in the beginning put me off. But insightful, both serious and amusing, conversations followed. It's just all you can possibly feel and think of when you're going to have a baby but your boyfriend pulls off towards the end of your pregnancy. All the deliberations and dithering come to the surface in the discussions between the girl, the boy and their uncle. And it all gives a comic effect.

DZIEN BABCI (GRANDMA'S DAY)

Recommended. A chav comes to an elderly lady to con her out of her money at the pretext of her grandson who... she turns out not to have. Then she turns the tables on him. The film's hilarious. Very smartly scripted by Marcin Kubawski.

Mateusz Nędza, brilliant in the chav role, is also a feature director himself.


TWARZ (MUG)

Recommended. An ironic picture of, mostly provincial, Poland: the staunchly Catholic front, erecting a giant Christ statue, lewdness, drunkenness, the lack of welfare for the disabled, racism, extreme consumerism, TV promoting stupidity and superstition, also favoured by the Church, superficiality, where the only real support is offered by a marketing agency going to extremes to sell products. The protagonist first helps an inarticulate guy buy alcohol, later he cannot articulate himself. And Christ looks the wrong way. Characteristic music accompanies the picture - Metallica in the drive scenes and "L'Amour Toujours" by Gigi D'Agostino in the club.

PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN

Watchable. America loved his raunchy comics full of bondage, spanking and dress-ups between women in skimp outfits. Yet the same in his private life ruined his university career. Curiously, the two women he lived with in a bisexual relationship outlived him by half a century. The scientist one reached the age of 100. Her relationship with the pretty one lasted till death. The movie's sexy and kinky, maybe a bit too much for one film. I felt overwhelmed. But at the same time it conveys powerful messages: Firstly, if you love, who's the object of your affection doesn't matter, you have to follow your gut feeling not just to be happy but, even more importantly, to avoid dejection. Secondly, a popular comic can spearhead a social change, smuggle it unnoticeably yet effectively. Funny his wife thought the Wonder Woman comic book would never get published. In fact when it was it outsold Superman.

MATKA (30 min), nagrodzona wieloma nagrodami, z fenomenalną tytułową rolą Danuty Stenki. Małgorzata – na co dzień ważny polityk – jedzie do domu nad jeziorem. Jej syn, narkoman, potrzebuje pomocy. Małgorzata prosi o wsparcie córkę. Na miejscu odkrywają półprzytomnego chłopaka i młodą dziewczynę. W obliczu tragedii ich wzajemne relacje komplikują się ujawniając skrywane urazy. Matka musi podjąć najtrudniejszą decyzję w życiu.
KONIEC WIDZENIA (15 min), nominowany do Złotej Palmy w Konkursie filmów krótkometrażowych na 70. Festiwalu Filmowym w Cannes. Historia Marty pracującej w warsztacie samochodowym ojca. Jej chłopak zostaje aresztowany. Marta z ojcem starają się mu pomóc. Dziewczyna staje przed życiowym wyborem, pomiędzy ojcem, a swoim ukochanym. Sytuację komplikuje fakt, który Marta wyjawia obu mężczyznom swojego życia.
MIĘDZY NAMI (30 min), przejmujący dokument o parze dwudziestolatków spodziewających się dziecka. Pod wpływem napięć i emocji decydują się rozstać, a dziecko oddać do adopcji. Nie jest im z tym łatwo. Do porodu zostały dwa miesiące. Dochodzi do rozmów i przeżyć kluczowych dla całego ich życia.
DZIEŃ BABCI (

MATKA (30 min), nagrodzona wieloma nagrodami, z fenomenalną tytułową rolą Danuty Stenki. Małgorzata – na co dzień ważny polityk – jedzie do domu nad jeziorem. Jej syn, narkoman, potrzebuje pomocy. Małgorzata prosi o wsparcie córkę. Na miejscu odkrywają półprzytomnego chłopaka i młodą dziewczynę. W obliczu tragedii ich wzajemne relacje komplikują się ujawniając skrywane urazy. Matka musi podjąć najtrudniejszą decyzję w życiu.
KONIEC WIDZENIA (15 min), nominowany do Złotej Palmy w Konkursie filmów krótkometrażowych na 70. Festiwalu Filmowym w Cannes. Historia Marty pracującej w warsztacie samochodowym ojca. Jej chłopak zostaje aresztowany. Marta z ojcem starają się mu pomóc. Dziewczyna staje przed życiowym wyborem, pomiędzy ojcem, a swoim ukochanym. Sytuację komplikuje fakt, który Marta wyjawia obu mężczyznom swojego życia.
MIĘDZY NAMI (30 min), przejmujący dokument o parze dwudziestolatków spodziewających się dziecka. Pod wpływem napięć i emocji decydują się rozstać, a dziecko oddać do adopcji. Nie jest im z tym łatwo. Do porodu zostały dwa miesiące. Dochodzi do rozmów i przeżyć kluczowych dla całego ich życia.
DZIEŃ BABCI (

MATKA (30 min), nagrodzona wieloma nagrodami, z fenomenalną tytułową rolą Danuty Stenki. Małgorzata – na co dzień ważny polityk – jedzie do domu nad jeziorem. Jej syn, narkoman, potrzebuje pomocy. Małgorzata prosi o wsparcie córkę. Na miejscu odkrywają półprzytomnego chłopaka i młodą dziewczynę. W obliczu tragedii ich wzajemne relacje komplikują się ujawniając skrywane urazy. Matka musi podjąć najtrudniejszą decyzję w życiu.
KONIEC WIDZENIA (15 min), nominowany do Złotej Palmy w Konkursie filmów krótkometrażowych na 70. Festiwalu Filmowym w Cannes. Historia Marty pracującej w warsztacie samochodowym ojca. Jej chłopak zostaje aresztowany. Marta z ojcem starają się mu pomóc. Dziewczyna staje przed życiowym wyborem, pomiędzy ojcem, a swoim ukochanym. Sytuację komplikuje fakt, który Marta wyjawia obu mężczyznom swojego życia.
MIĘDZY NAMI (30 min), przejmujący dokument o parze dwudziestolatków spodziewających się dziecka. Pod wpływem napięć i emocji decydują się rozstać, a dziecko oddać do adopcji. Nie jest im z tym łatwo. Do porodu zostały dwa miesiące. Dochodzi do rozmów i przeżyć kluczowych dla całego ich życia.
DZIEŃ BABCI (

MATKA (30 min), nagrodzona wieloma nagrodami, z fenomenalną tytułową rolą Danuty Stenki. Małgorzata – na co dzień ważny polityk – jedzie do domu nad jeziorem. Jej syn, narkoman, potrzebuje pomocy. Małgorzata prosi o wsparcie córkę. Na miejscu odkrywają półprzytomnego chłopaka i młodą dziewczynę. W obliczu tragedii ich wzajemne relacje komplikują się ujawniając skrywane urazy. Matka musi podjąć najtrudniejszą decyzję w życiu.
KONIEC WIDZENIA (15 min), nominowany do Złotej Palmy w Konkursie filmów krótkometrażowych na 70. Festiwalu Filmowym w Cannes. Historia Marty pracującej w warsztacie samochodowym ojca. Jej chłopak zostaje aresztowany. Marta z ojcem starają się mu pomóc. Dziewczyna staje przed życiowym wyborem, pomiędzy ojcem, a swoim ukochanym. Sytuację komplikuje fakt, który Marta wyjawia obu mężczyznom swojego życia.
MIĘDZY NAMI (30 min), przejmujący dokument o parze dwudziestolatków spodziewających się dziecka. Pod wpływem napięć i emocji decydują się rozstać, a dziecko oddać do adopcji. Nie jest im z tym łatwo. Do porodu zostały dwa miesiące. Dochodzi do rozmów i przeżyć kluczowych dla całego ich życia.
DZIEŃ BABCI (

LA RAGAZZA NELLA NEBBIA (THE GIRL IN THE FOG)

Watchable. Keeps you in suspense from early minutes till the very end. But not everything is clear in the story, not even the title, and the movie feels protracted. Jean Reno, speaking Italian, in one of the roles is a special attraction. The author of the novel, Donato Carrisi, scripted and directed the film so the resulting movie is very true to the book, e.g. the sequence of presented events in broken chronology.

The book itself is written in a simple language, easy to follow, protagonists' motivations are explained.

OSCARS 2018

Only about 5 minutes late (past 2 a.m. Polish time) since Pro Sieben froze but ABC has worked on https://www.brettygood.com/

Jimmy Kemmel about 2018: "The year men screwed up so badly women started dating fish".

I was rooting for Willem Dafoe to win Best Supporting Actor. He didn't. Sam Rockwell did. He would have been my second choice.

Amazing Gal Gadot's presenting the Make-up and Hairstyling. My fave "Darkest Hour" wins. My fave costumes were in "Victoria & Abdul", yet the not-so-special "Phantom Thread" has won.

Of the nominated Documentary Features I've only seen "Last Men in Aleppo". "Icarus" has won so I need to catch up.

"At the very first Academy Awards the Best Picture Oscars were given for 2 pictures. This is kind of what we did last year."

Sound Editing - my guess was "Dunkirk". No surprise here. Sound mixing should be the same. Of course it is. I hated it but it did stand out.

Kumail Nanjiani unfunny again, just like in "The Big Sick". Production Design for the magnificent "Shape of Water", just like I hoped.

Foreign Language Film - "Una Mujer Fantastica" ("A Fantastic Woman") was great, still I preferred "On Body and Soul" and it was my strong favourite.

Actress In A Supporting Role - Allison Janney. Yeah!

Animated Feature Film - "Coco" unsurprisingly. But they're emphasizing the importance of Mexican culture. Is it political then? I just loved the enchanting, luminous animation.

Visual Effects - Ego's Planet blew me away it's "Blade Runner 2049" that's won.

Film Editing - oh, no, "Dunkirk"?! Not "I, Tonya"?! OK, I guess aerial photography may be hard to put together.

Jimmy Kemmel's thanking "the movie-going public". First from the stage. Now in person at the cinema across the road. With baskets filled with unhealthy sweet or meaty snacks. And a member of the public's introducing next presenters.

Live Action Short Film - "The Silent Child". An excellent short film but a surpring choice. I expected the more American "DeKalb Elementary" would win. The main adult actress is signing simultaneously to speaking her acknowledgements.

Isn't Salma Hayek wearing the most beautiful dress tonight? I love the way it shimmers. Nicole Kidman's creative and elegant. But Salma's nicer.

Best Adapted Screenplay - James Ivory for "Call Me by Your Name". Yes!
Original Screenplay: Jordan Peele for "Get Out". Well deserved.

Cinematography - "Blade Runner 2049". Not "The Shape of Water"?!

"This Is Me" reminds me of how ice dancers performed to it at the Pyeongchang Olympics. I loved it but now I find "The Mystery of Love" even more heart-gripping.

An advert interrupted my viewing. I can see the Original Score went to "The Shape of Water". Sadly never to "Star Wars".

Original Song - "Remember Me"from "Coco". Oh dear, no wonder Emily Blunt announced it. The song was blunt.

Best Director - I hope for Jordan Peele and it is... Guillermo del Toro for "The Shape of Water" - admittedly another great film.

Actor in a Leading Role. Gary Oldman? Yes! Turns out he's from South London. Has lost his accent. Always considered him American.

Never thought Jodie Foster was so tiny and Jennifer Lawrence so huge.

Actress in a Leading Role. Hope for Margot Robbie. Couldn't recognise her in the audience at first. No, it's Frances McDormand. Even old actresses look stunnigly young. Frances is exceptional as she's kept her hair grey.

Best Picture - so many marvellous ones and "The Shape of Water" is the winner. One of them.

MADAME

Recommended. A bitter-sweet satire on the upper class: following gurus on psychology, cuisine, music, fashion, possessions, acquaintances. They also think they own others and script and direct their lives on a whim at the same time reassuring themselves they're "democrats" and makers of their own destiny, e.g. when challenged on the fate of immigrants, they will cite exceptions, male ones, as if they were obvious and regular. The posh rely on migrant servants completely so maintaining status quo is in their interest. But a servant, fluent in 3 languages, can easily pass herself off as one of them. And she's the one who truly appreciates their life pleasures. The story's also about love and on how our social environment limits us in the choice of a partner. The servants are genuine while their patrons frustrated and unable to achieve what they truly want.

ÉPOUSE-MOI MON POTE (MARRY ME, DUDE)

Watchable. An intelligent comedy of errors with serious undertones. Not entirely hilarious but provides a few good laughs. Frederique is a character like Dupree in "You, Me and Dupree" or Spike in "Notting Hill". The movie challenges our attitudes as it reverses sexual advances gender-wise. The last scene with the Moroccan official is a gem as it smartly turns the immigration issue around.

PHANTOM THREAD

Watchable. Filled with old-fashioned charm in London I didn't recognise. Very peaceful in the first part and unsettling and perverse in the second. The movie covers three areas: the message that adulation doesn't mean understanding, creating and living haute couture and, mostly, the invisible thread binding some people even if love ebbs and flows and even if the introvert world of a distinguished tailor gets rocked and sometimes turned upside down by his extrovert muse. The film's too intellectual and too little emotional.


FRANCOPHONIE FESTIVAL

DALIDA

Recommended for the second time. "Salama Ya Salama" sung in Arabic was my fave song this time round. The movie still hits hard, especially her driving others and herself to suicides. She was strong enough to leave her partners first but too weak to live without them. She disguised her tears with a smile.


GURGACZ

Walked out. I woke some viewers when I was leaving. Boring. Specially extended for the cinema, it shows men in uniforms walking through woods in silence every few minutes. In between you hear monotonous testimonies of the times of the cursed soldiers. Not for history buffs who know it already. Only slow and deeply religious people can possibly appreciate the story of the partisan priest.

LADY BIRD

Watchable. Oscar nominations?! Seriously? Quite an ordinary tale about being 17-18. Realistic. Doesn't stand out in any way.

DNEVNIK MASINOVODJE (TRAIN DRIVER'S DIARY)

Watchable. Ordinary and with a superfluous love affair of the young guy but very pleasant and relaxing. Exudes warmth, the screen is filled with light. It also makes light of the biggest traumas you can have in this profession. Analysed deeper, especially the character of the cute blonde trainee (pun intended), it manifests our fears becoming greater than the actual occurences we dread. The moral problem of killing somebody while performing your work duties gets a satirical take. I was laughing my head off at all the conversations about running someone over. What would constitute black humour elsewhere is so light here I found it thoroughly entertaining. The satire extends on other aspects of the job, e.g. a wife asks her train driver husband: "What time will you be back?" "21:16"

MARLINA SI PEMBUNUH EMPAT BABAK (MARLINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS)

Watchable. Involving but slightly disturbing and quite brutal. Still, the story's unusual - it's an Indonesian... western. Vivid colours of the landscape and clothes contrast with the dark plot. The social undertones emphasize the inefficiency of law enforcement and women's predicament when they become clogs in the system of male domination. One is reclaiming her worth. The movie's quiet and slow-paced.

BLACK PANTHER 3D

Watchable. The start is confusing, for quite a while I couldn't make out the plot. The beginning is also totally PC: pro-refugee propaganda, blacks only, women only strong and clever, fluent even in Korean but speaking with hard African accents in English. Some conversations are spoken in a local language sounding like a Bantu one with added glottalizations. Luckily little Kendrick Lamar in the score, unlike on the official soundtrack album. Amazing African music, with ear-catching vocals dominates the sound layer of the film. Deserves an Oscar nomination for make-up and hairstyling: inspired by the black continent traditions, like scarifications, or creative, e.g. a snake-like hair-do. Hottie Michael B. Jordan with his stylie hair excels also in his acting as a villain. Stan Lee, in his obligatory cameo, nicks tokens in the Korean casino "for safekeeping". My fave character is the king's sister who's a scientist making the world a better place. Wakanda is high-tech, even hospital stretchers hover along corridors. Having said that, the movie's high-tech too: very good 3D, the sound certainly worth Dolby Atmos. There's one mid-credit and one post-credit - both announce a sequel, probably the next upcoming superhero flick "Avengers: Infinity War". This film serves mostly as the introduction of characters.

EVERY DAY

Watchable. The book must be cheesy. The author, David Levithan, consulted on the movie and it's sleazy. The concept is similar to 뷰티 인사이드 ("The Beauty Inside") with the main difference that in the Korean one the protagonist had a different body every day but it was his/her own. In the American one the person inhabits other people's physical selves. The US teen melodrama is no match for the Korean masterpiece. It was interesting to compare though: here the soul is only 15, gets once accused of being Satan - no religious motif in the Asian movie, saves somebody's life and the lovers get separated in the end. It's all sappy so even the deeper thoughts here and there get flattened.

DADDY COOL

Watchable. It's light-hearted but I didn't laugh, mostly because it's totally predictable: an irresponsible kidult guy wants to win his wife's heart back when a rival appears and sets up a day care. The creche is open till 9 p.m. and the interest in it shows how much parents want to get rid of their kids for as long as possible. Cartoons in line with the story about a cartoonist (the wife) are shown over early credits. Next comes a feature scene with a baby which is the last one.

2018 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS - LIVE ACTION

Most of the nominations seem to be on social and moral basis since they tackle shooting massacres, disabled integration, racism, Muslim terrorism and are inspired by real events. Only the Australian one is just a comedy.

DEKALB ELEMENTARY

Recommended. Almost a tutorial of how to handle mass shooters. At the same time you just can't help but sympathise with the hapless attacker seeing how he gets qualms and dithers. You wonder what made this nice, chubby boy want to kill. Heart-wrenching.

THE SILENT CHILD

Recommended.  Made to convey the message that a different approach and a consistent policy needs to govern the school curriculum for deaf children. Yet it comes across more as a drama about a lack of love in a family where all the tangible needs of a child get taken care of. Only a close bond is missing.

MY NEPHEW EMMETT

Watchable. Just an account of events preceding the crime of the night when a black teenager was murdered by white racists. The information comes as a shock as you don't see it coming.

THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK

Watchable. A comedy of errors. Cleverly written but not funny. Looks amateurish.

WATU WOTE (ALL OF US)

Recommended. There was a case in East Africa where Muslims protected Christians during a terrorist attack. Quite comforting as in Europe you usually hear that more than a half of Muslims wouldn't even notify the police knowing their neighbours were involved in plotting attacks. The film presents the case where both religions truly united against terror. "Upepo unavuma, fungua derecha, darua inakuja" is a beautiful song over the credits.