CROC-BLANC (WHITE FANG)

Recommended. Based on Jack London's novel so it's, expectedly, sad. At least I wasn't the only person crying. The animation is delightful. Surprisingly, without details like fur, with just roughly sketched silhouettes, it gives awy all the face and body language and voices of the dogs like of real ones. Matching sounds, including noticeable and simultaneously seemlessly blending in music score complete the very emotional picture. Most importantly it teaches children the love of dogs.

BLACKKKLANSMAN

Recommended. A feature with numerous connections to the real world. Names matter. John David Washington is cast as Ron Stallworth on whose book the movie's based. Some songs are by Terence Blanchard or Dan Whitener or James Brown. There are references to a potential future black president (in the 70s - long before Obama). It ends in real life footage from the 2017 Charlottesville riots. The movie masterfully puts you face to face with your predjudices. The way the black cop pulls KKK members' legs is just brilliant. The Polish translation is off the original at times so all the more it's better to focus on the original and spot the dialect nuances. The movie's gripping, hilarious and heart-wrenching. Though-provoking too in how a history lesson not learnt repeats itself.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE MARATHON OF OF SUPERPOWERS

I needed to charge up my superpowers. I just skipped "X-Men: First Class" and "Logan" which I had seen before and saw the other two:

THE DARKEST MINDS

Watchable. Really good fun. Like a copy of the first "Divergent" movie but with the actors younger and cuter. The action's well-paced and the idea, based on Alexandra Bracken's book, of all children either dying, decimated by a disease, or mutating, is new. The notion of mutants deemed dangerous by "normals" is like from "X-Men". Yet, the movie watches very well, mostly due to convincing performances of the young leads: Amandla Stenberg (Rue in "Hunger Games" and the lead in "Everything, everything") as Ruby Daly and Harris Dickinson as Liam. And all pieces of the puzzle fall into place in the end.

CHRONICLE (2012)

Watchable. I'm not into found footage mockumentaries so initially I found it annoying, especially that the guys used their superpowers for moronic pranks. But, as they gain more forces and hone the existing ones, the movie becomes little short of spectacular. It's actually in a way more impressive than the standard superhero fare since, if it occurred in real life, the outcome would be most likely something along these lines. 


BEYNELMILEL (THE INTERNATIONAL) (2006)

Watchable. Endearing characters. A girl is trying to get mentally closer to the guy she's infatuated with and reads "Kadin ve sosyalizm" ("Woman and socialism") quite in vain since the aloof type hardly notices her advances. Her grandpa's amorous attempts with a dancer in her 50s are charming. All in all, it's a gentle comedy: partly political, partly romantic which after 1.5 hours turns into a tragedy with deaths of two of the main characters. The score comprises, apart from the title piece, of traditional Turkish music and a piece by... Chopin.

THE BOOKSHOP

Watchable. Starts with an annoying off-screen commentary it could really do without. What follows is wooden acting and a series of static scenes. No music. The lady entrepreneur's passion no one cares about and her problems with the powerful woman hellbent on destroying her business - in white gloves - are something many contemporary start-up owners can identify with. Yet, period details are painstakingly recreated and the film has a quaint old-time charm of unhasty life in a seaside village. It also conveys the love of literature.

ZAMA

Walked out. No plot, just a series of meaningless events. Slow, with virtually no music score.

UNDER THE SILVER LAKE

Recommended. The scriptwriter is playing a game with the viewers who become just like the main protagonist: seeking concealed meanings in pop culture where there are none. Or... maybe... there are some? Multiple pieces of the puzzle make you wonder. The writer has taken odd bits and pieces from salient cultural notions ranging from Jezus and the Holy Trinity, through plentiful movie references - the action's even set within a walking distance from Hollywood, to music. Andrew Garfield, associated with his deeply religious image from "Hacksaw Ridge", is cast in a totally unholy role. Yet he's the one who's looking for deeper meanings, who asks people to help him find Jesus and his disciples while... looking for Satanic verses coded in songs. Sinister make-up, lavish costumes, memorable cinematography. In spite of some dark fantasy elements, it's quite cheerful summer fun with some pool scenes, sex and quite a lot of nudity. Feels like the 80s including the sexual objectification of women.

ELIZABETH HARVEST

Recommended. Awe-inspiring sci-fi with gorgeous Abbey Lee Kershaw as Elizabeth. It's basically the tale of Bluebeard with a futuristic twist. One house on a hill and occasionally the road leading to it. Four actors. Excellent cinematography - Elizabeth sometimes captured (pun intended) in red light.

SLENDER MAN

Watchable. Quite an engaging supernatural horror for teenagers. Not really scary but startles you a couple of times. Predictable plot. Decent electro music. One of the girls has a poster saying: "Make America weird again". Some mock archive footage runs along with early final credits.

A tall slender man was queuing for the ticket right behind me. He went to a different movie.

JULIUSZ

Watchable. Too many sentimental notes for it to be hilarious. Nevertheless I did laugh out loud a few times, the longest at the birth-giving scene. Catchy comic music theme. Plenty of situation humour, few one-liners. Wojciech Mecwaldowski is fantastic in the main role and sports a unique hair-cut. "W trakcie realizacji filmu nie ucierpiały żadne zwierzęta. Wyłącznie ludzie." ("No animals were were harmed in the making of this film. People only.") The post credit is skippable. 

BEAST

Watchable. It's a craftily constructed thriller but at the end it just doesn't add up. And it's all perverse sado-maso way. Convincingly acted so you sense their longing and feel sympathy to the protagonists. Atmospheric. Yet a pile of well-arranged rubbish.

JULIET, NAKED

Watchable. Not much of a comedy. The musician's fan makes a funny face realizing who he's been talking to and when he asks his idol what he got wrong about the rockman's life he responds: "I wouldn't know where to get started." Other than that it's a mawkish drama about planning a family versus having one by accident. Ethan Hawke sings and plays music. There's an early mid-credit.

DC SUPERHERO GIRLS

Watchable. A short film preceding "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies". The superhero girls are like any other teenage girls but additionally fight baddies. Nice but forgettable.

TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES

Watchable. Colourful but cheaply drawn, schematic animation. A silly storyline. Jokes of two varieties: either scatological or related to the wide scope of the superhero universe, e.g. "Welcome to Jump City - safer than Gotham". A nice touch is a cameo of animated Stan Lee appearing twice: first using an "Excelsio" spell to summon all the superheroes the way Harry Potter used to summon objects with "Accio" and next: realizing he's made a cameo in a wrong production as he's got a competition ban. Plenty of poor songs. In the original language version - unavailable in Polish cinemas! - Nicolas Cage is Superman and Stan Lee is himself. There's no Atmos sound version. Themes from "Batman", "Superman" or Alan Silvestri's from "Back to the Future" are used but hardly noticeable among all the lame scores and songs. There's a mid-credit and a post-credit. Dreadful dubbing in Polish, even the songs.

HURRICANE (SQUADRON 303)

Recommended. Based on facts and truly moving. With enough suspense and a dash of British sarcasm. Shows the differences as well as the similarities, especially the fondness of a drink, between the two nations. The ending stresses the injustice the Polish pilots suffered when the war ended.

LA CH'TITE FAMILLE (FAMILY IS FAMILY)

Recommended. Hilarious, especially the furniture designs so impractical all users need chiropractors. The comedy ridicules also regionalisms and discrimination against people speaking with accents, posh manners as well as simpletons. The faces the lover makes explaining her sexual past to her partner are brilliant.

L'APPARITION (THE APPARITION)

Recommended. The mystery spans the whole 2 hours 17 minutes of the movie. The investigation keeps you in suspense regardless of your religious affiliation or the lack of thereof. I still don't fully understand the case with Mériem but the gradual unfolding of the secrets kept me glued to the screen.

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

Watchable. Well-made but terribly sorrowful. It's like one long farewell. Mostly to childhood. I was sobbing all the time. The animal protagonists look like toys apart from the rabbit with fur (but not face) looking real-life-like. The story's about childhood imaginary monsters being replaced by horrible teachers and bosses as we grow older. Acted convincingly, with Ewan McGregor as grown-up Chris. The cinematography is on the dark side and music nostalgic, making you even more despondent. The film will suit only young children, who even laughed at one scene, or adults missing the lost frivolity of their young age. There's a mid-credit.

HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES

Watchable. Based on a short story by Neil Gaiman who produced the movie too, with Elle Fanning as an alien - she looks like one, doesn't she - and Nicole Kidman as an Earthy woman this time. A sci-fi-cum-Brexit allegory. The humour is of the low end type but even I laughed at the final scene. "No aliens were harmed in the making of this film."

PLOEY - YOU NEVER FLY ALONE

Recommended. At least one cartoon which isn't crazy. Animation with plenty of varied textures taking into account different types of water and ice, each animal has different feathers or fur. The tale is filled with values of family, love, friendship and helping others. The plovers have beautiful big eyes. The storyline's clear-cut. There's a little post-credit.

LETO (SUMMER)

Walked out. A black and white musical set in the Soviet Union of the early 80s comprising of lame covers of Western rock in Russian interspersed with drinking and smoking.

DIKKERTJE DAP (MY GIRAFFE)

Recommended. Most suitable for nursery age children, even the joke with Margot - an animal whose name leads the woman to believe she's the chap's wife - will be understood by them. Extremely well shot and acted. The kids and the zoo animals are all cute, every adult looks pleasing to the eye and is well-meaning. The houses and gardens are neat and the streets are clean. The film's filled with love of people and animals. Ends in a catchy tune over the credits highlighted karaoke-style - in Dutch.

THE FIRST PURGE

Recommended. Probably the best "Purge" installment so far. It maintains the well-paced action and the clear, plausible storyline but strengthens the social and political message. Y'lan Noel proves to be both good-looking and a great actor as Dmitri. Kevin Lax has composed a catchy music score. Kendrick Lamar's song and many others' are used too. I'm not a rap fan but it matched the picture, especially that most of the violence, realistically, is inter-racial. The beginning of the night is quite like I imagined it could look in real life. People celebrate at Purge parties so it feels like Halloween. Minor crimes do take place: sex, groping, thefts, one bigger burglary. But it's the authorities that kill off the poor so as not to pay them welfare. Deeds of the criminal gang pale in comparison. One early mid-credit connects the film to the rest of the series.

U - JULY 22

Recommended. If you've ever wondered what it's like to be in the middle of a terrorist attack, this one demonstrates it closely. Starts with the archive footage of the 2011 Oslo bomb explosion. The rest is a work of fiction but based on numerous accounts of the Utoya massacre survivors. The island shooting lasted 72 minutes and its full length is depicted through the eyes of one of the teens. It's striking (pun intended) how they had no clue who, how many people and why were shooting.  Shows survival tactics. I didn't realise the water in Norway in July had only 10 degrees which could kill you in 10 minutes. You only get one brief glimpse of the attacker from a distance which makes it all only more realistic. Heart-wrenching stuff.

SAMSON

Recommended. Religious cinema is often dull, with wooden acting and turgid lines. This one is as involving as modern superhero flicks. The movie keeps you on the edge of the seat even though you know the famous Bible story so you're familiar with the ending. Top-notch cast, especially Rutger Hauer as Manoah, Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Hale from the "Twilight" saga) as prince Rallah, Caitlin Leahy as Dalila and, the most important, Taylor James (Acquaman from "Justice League") as Samson. Atmospheric music composed by Will Musser. Attention to detail was given also in the costume area, e.g. shortly before the betrayal we see a serpent necklace on Dalia's neck. Cape Town as the shooting location has provided a variety of landscapes. Interestingly the loss of the beloved one, the loss of father and the loss of superpowers are motives we find in contemporary superhero cinema regularly. No wonder the same actors act in both (or just one same?) genres.

KARPUZ KABUGUNDAN GEMILER YAPMAK (BOATS OUT OF WATERMELON RINDS)

Watchable. An endearing, full of warmth, ironic tale about unfulfilled dreams set in rural Turkey probably in the late 1930s. With interesting music. A bit sad towards the final, protracted at times, with too many endings.

HERE COMES THE GRUMP

Watchable. No frills animation. A cheaply made cartoon where even Nena's most famous song - "99 Red Balloons" - gets a cover sung by some Mexicans. The plot's shambolic at first. Luckily, if you keep watching, you get interesting cultural clashes between the fairy-tale and the real world. New worlds are inventive too: drinks of oxygen, mood-changing arrows, a Christmas land. A few bits are tear-jerking. The film teaches children to support those in depression

FANNEY KHAN

Recommended. I still hear the music in my head. Amit Trivedi composed the songs and Pihu Sand sang most of them - always tremendously beautifully. Interestingly, such movie characters as Mary Kom or Bahubali are mentioned in one of the songs. On the whole it's just lots of great music and a comic story with a touching ending - true Bollywood. Not directly inspired by but similar to Susan Boyle's story.

DISOBEDIENCE

Recommended. The story unfolds slowly, revealing information piecemeal, to hit you hard towards the end. There is plenty of on-the-screen chemistry between the two women lovers. Alessandro Nivola is fantastic as the would-be-rabbi stricken by the fear of loss and fighting between his love and common sense.

TWO TAILS

Watchable. The animation meets all the criteria of correctness. The cat, the beaver and the bear look like huge cuddly toys. The plot doesn't make much sense though. Quite a lot of fragments of classical music: Wagner, Strauss II, Bach are used.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT AT IMAX

Recommended. I just love the scene where Hunt is running towards Tate Modern. When I worked there and was in a hurry in the morning I would run there too. But on the more serious note, what struck me first was poor cinematography. I expected it to be top-notch for Imax and for a bigger part of the film it's below average. It doesn't even attempt to impress with the beauty of otherwise spectacular cities of Paris and London. The only visuals which stand out are Rebecca Fergusson and Vanessa Kirby's eyes - glistening, with reflections and highlights. But the finale, set in Kashmir (New Zealand and Norway in reality), with aerial and mountain sequences, is mind-blowing and well merits the Imax screen. The music's great from start to finish. Simon Pegg has got full grasp of a dramatic role. In fact, he's as amazing as he used to be in comic ones. As for the humourous part, we get: "Hope is not a strategy." "Ah, you're new." Combat scenes use martial arts techniques, including judo - rarely used in movies. The plot gets better and better culminating in a spectacular finale. I left the cinema in awe.