Movie reviews

FAHRENHEIT 11/9

Recommended. Hard-hitting, meant to be - a phone call to the police: "We have protesters..." "Do you see any weapons?" "Michael Moore is here." On the one hand a requiem to American democracy, on the other hope in the young, females and people of colour. Trump gropes his own daughter and gives interviews to sexual predators working for TV. Governor of Michigan carries out an ethnic cleansing poisoning drinking water and conducting army manoevres in Flint. Democrats' internal elections are rigged (Bernie Sanders won in all 55 counties) to keep the establishment in power. All these disturbing facts are served with Michael Moore's usual wit. Includes music from "Omen" and Mozart's "Requiem".


WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

HRANICE PRACE (THE LIMITS OF WORK)

Recommended. Of all the presented low-end jobs I would have considered only a supermarket checkout one. Yet, after the film, I'm aware it's exhausting too. Other jobs involved such putrid smells and revolting pictures as decomposing rats with maggots or decaying meat. Put labour code violations on top. The workers are so knackered and often ill, apart from being scared they'll lose the jobs, they don't protest. Gripping like a thriller. And an eye-opener too.

REASON

Watchable. Too much information creates chaos, it needn't last 4 hours. But with colourful Indian festivities and beautiful songs, on top of an ordinary documentary, it explains all religions create inequalities. Inequality is their sense, they couldn't exist without it. More people were killed by religious fanatics than died in two world wars. Another interesting fact is how the Mumbai terror attack was conducted: terrorists' accomplices watched the action on TV and directed the criminals inside the building. 


LUX FILM PRIZE DAYS

STYX

Recommended. A very emotional tug-of-war between a doctor who wants to save refugees and the people who are supposed to help them and simultaneously between her and the one boy she's rescued. 

DRUGA STRANA SVEGA (THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING)

Walked out. The documentary is about nothing in particular.


FRAGMENTS OF ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL AT IMAX 3D

Watchable. "Jim" Cameron, as he introduced himself, greeted viewers from the screen apologizing he couldn't be there in person because of his work on "Avatar 2". The trailer and movie excerpts disappointed me with a run-of-the-mill plot. On the other hand, what impressed me the most was the close-up on Alita waking-up: her eye irises exhibited a human range of colours, her lips, skin and hair all had proper texture. Even emotions on her face looked human, consisting of microexpressions. Only the unnaturally big eyes indicated she was an anime character. I also liked acrobatic combat scenes - inspiring for martial arts trainees. The rest doesn't stand out: neither the city nor its surroundings. The 3D is hardly noticeable and for many scenes Imax was just too big. Backgrounds are barely drawn up.

SNEZHNAYA KOROLEVA: ZAZERKALE (THE SNOW QUEEN: MIRRORLANDS)

Watchable. Better than part 3, though a bit of fire and ice still appears. Strong females. Chaos in the plot. Russian inspirations in clothing and characters e.g. a shaman. Trolls look like toys. Truly surround sound with quality sound effects.

BUMBLEBEE

Watchable. Derivative but meant for teenagers who haven't seen it all before. The 80s didn't quite look like in the movie for what I remember but people did watch "Alf" on telly and did do karate. The score is modern, very 21st century at times which clashes with the 80s hits more appropriately selected for the soundtrack. Both are good in their own right but not combined. I enjoyed the communication through song lyrics. The modern approach which pleased me was that the most decisive characters are female. And I don't mean only humans. The best thing about this production though is John Cena as the trigger-happy military snapping out his lines. Shame the film doesn't make much use of the stunning landscapes presented in the beginning. I'm fed up with all the Transformers' fights. 

AQUAMAN AT IMAX 3D

Recommended. A rich plot, marvellous CGIs, locations, costumes, splendid music, especially the electro theme. There's Aquaman of 4 different ages each played spotlessly by different actors. His arch enemy's quite pleasing to the eye. The plot draws on tropes from "Harry Potter", "Avatar", "Star Wars", "Jurassic World" but does so gently, creating a brand new story which refers the viewer to the legend of Atlantis, which is depicted the way ancients described it, and to the environmental disasters of our time. It's touching when it needs to and playful at other times. I laughed out loud at: "So there's a book?! (...) I took it from the movie."The visuals make full use of the water environment presenting Atlantians riding on seahorses, sharks, killer whales and an underwater world inhabited by a variety of creatures. When you think they can't have created another fantastic realm, the action brings you to the next one. There's a mid-credit scene, possibly a trailer of an upcoming picture, but no post-credit. Best admired on the huge Imax screen or in Dolby Atmos for enhanced sound.

WHY ARE WE CREATIVE? THE CENTIPEDE'S DILEMMA 

Watchable. Nobuyoshi Araki and Russ Meyer are driven by sex. The Japanese photographer of erotic pictures does it for an erection, he says he always gets it taking one. Others because they feel an unstoppable desire to create, are afraid to die therefore leave a legacy or simply feel exceptionally gifted. Plenty of opinions are expressed but they bring no conclusion so the film never ends. What's more interesting is how all those dozens of famous people come across in a conversation.

PAJAROS DE VERANO (BIRDS OF PASSAGE)

Watchable. Heavy. Drug business from the point of view of traditional Indian communities in Northern Columbia. The film's full of references to local customs, songs and traditions. It claims to condemn greed, yet what I see in it is the culture of violence. The violence grows  with the number and size of guns. The picture perfectly presents the increase in wealth of the drug dealing clans: from a rented donkey ride to own lorries and planes. On another level it depicts the hardships of living in such a traditional, formal community where all norms must be met. The elaborative, traditional way of telling the story makes it a bit too distant emotionally to the viewer. Just a dry, dispassionate chronicle.

OVERLORD

Watchable. An extremely brutal horror inspired by Nazi experiments on people. Pumps your adrenaline. Zombies aren't my thing but this picture has a plot. Shot on the Hatfield House Estate. Very good music and sound effects.

ZABAWA ZABAWA (PLAYING HARD)

Recommended. Shocking at times, especially the car accident, which is like none before, or the rape, but with dry humour in all police scenes. The main topic is one not tackled elsewhere: alcoholism of women from the higher levels of the society. The plot keeps you in suspense and the characters evoke sympathy, not contempt. Kinga Dębska has created another great.

TODOS LO SABEN (EVERYBODY KNOWS)

Watchable. Asghar Farhadi is getting more and more boring with each movie. This one, additionally, looks like a remake of Russian "Tesnota" ("Closeness"). Here at least the Spanish atmosphere of fun works well for the first part, till the wedding, but the kidnapping only serves revealing a secret and dismantling the family and that part drags and lacks any potential tension. Even the secret is a fake since "todos lo saben" ("everybody knows"). Very realistically made.

SECOND ACT

Watchable. A cheerful comedy drama meant for the lower class to feel better about themselves. With a few hilarious gags like an inept translation into Chinese or doves released in the air for a wow factor which get killed by a truck evoking: "wow!". At the same time gets you thinking how much people can achieve if only given a chance. The drama bits are tear-jerkers but with a happy ending convincing you everyone has got a second act in life. Stylistically it's a typical corporate world.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: A MONSTER VACATION

Recommended in English/watchable in Polish. Werewolves play fetch with each other, a dragon's numerous heads play ball in water, witches hit on a vampire, an octopus dances the Macarena, in other words: "scary" monsters are on holiday - by Gremlin Air to the Bermuda Triangle. The tale is straightforward but rich in details of the characters, costumes, scenography (if I can say so in relation to animation). It's playful so you can hear a lot of fun music: from classical like Wagner and old school like Wayne Newton, through techno by DJ Tiësto to pop songs by Los del Rio, Enya, Beach Boys etc. In the Polish version 2 songs are in this language which detracts from the pleasure since Polish sounds really bad in music.

SERGIO & SERGUEI

Watchable. Excellent cinematography, including mesmerising views of space but also making use of varying light in all the urban, home and office shots. The story's fictitious, pleasant, ironic but quite ordinary even taken the unusual setting of communication between a radio amateur and an astronaut.

ZERO

Recommended. A true Bollywood blockbuster. I've heard money's no object in Bollywood production and this movie proves it with its splendour, colour, great music, a full-blown scale - shot in Dubai and Orlando among others. Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif act and dance. Salman Khan appears as a dance competition juror, the role he really had on the Dance India Dance show a couple of years ago. A few female stars make cameos too. The movie starts fun, is gripping throughout and the last half an hour just blows you away. Initially it resembles recent French comedies: "Un homme à la hauteur" ("Up for Love") and "Tout le monde debout" ("Rolling to You") since one of the lovebirds is a dwarf with a fortune and the other quadriplegic - the one bound to the wheelchair is an astrophysicist. But with dancing, changes of sets several times in one film, rich costumes and decorations it soon diverts from any Western associations. Later it becomes quite moving. The serious undertones cover: our attitudes to the handicapped, their ideas of themselves, celebrities playing the media to their advantage, using someone for sex, unfaithfulness, education gap and, last but not least, life's changing fortunes and making yourself. But most importantly the twists in the plot are like only Indians do them: genre boundaries are blurred, the plot far-fetched but utterly convincing. Nails you to the seat. With a few catchy songs also over end credits.