THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER 2D

Watchable. Half-written and fully directed by Taika Waititi, it's a low-brow comedy. The opening builds on the climate change and growing secularity - startling, spot on and evocative. The rest of the plot, with tween-like dialogue, pauperises the strong point from the commencing sequence and follows the pattern: a silly verbal exchange and a fight interchangeably. The "Event Horizon" and "Interstellar" references are great but the convergence doesn't seem to work for the disease-stricken doctor. "The Guardians of the Galaxy" characters make a cameo and are their usual selves but non-intrusive. Taika Waititi appears as Korg. And while part of the movie is raunchy, children in their early teens or below seem to be the target audience, especially in the finale. Wonderful worlds dazzle you visually, Atmos sound is perfectly clear, dialogue and music also have the spatial quality. The soundtrack is heavy on Guns N' Roses. The movie's entertaining but beside the point on a few levels. I Ioved the fact it was a comedy. Unfortunately the cancer trope and the lack of more sophisticated cultural references or Easter eggs detract from the fun. The mid-credit introduces Hercules with a weird nose shape and the post-credit entices you with the splendor of Valhalla.Yet the middle part makes a cancer death more likely. 

LATTE IGEL UND DER MAGISCHE WASSERSTEIN (LATTE AND THE MAGIC WATERSTONE)

Recommended. All the animals are cute: the squirrel is the cutest but all others, even the evil ones, look cuddly. The story's rooted in environmental damages caused by redirecting water flow for one's own use. The plot is full of adventure.

OUISTREHAM (BETWEEN TWO WORLDS)

Watchable. My current job search has put me in the mood quickly. The plot, however, disappoints. Nothing revelatory in the insider look at low end jobs. Been there done that. OK, I never had to clean toilets for a living. But I had a series of jobs which paid by the hour and were physically demanding. Funny that in France a book author is a higher class. The reading culture must be rife. Still, the film's engaging, the characters simple but amiable. Realistic and truly based on facts. Sadly the story doesn't explore the reasons behind these people's predicament.

WEREWOLVES WITHIN

Recommended. A whodunit comedy with a little horror twist. But most of all a crime puzzle and social satire on Americans. Smart and damn hard to work out the culprit since everyone's a suspect.

MOODY

Watchable. A short documentary with no lead story. Gamelan and modern western music make the film sound pleasant. Moody is a great dancer. Milky blue ocean looks alluring.

The two directors went to study Indonesian music and dance, Karolina Karwan had played in Warsaw Gamelan Group, they ended up in a school with no English spoken. The directors spent 1.5 years in Indonesia, a country of 17 000 islands. The film is not shot on Bali but on an island not far from Java. Ghosts are believed in daily life. Animism and islam are present. People told them not to sail to that island. So they went there. What you can't see in the film is the potable water problem: the well water is half-salty half-sweet, so e.g. tea is salty. Indonesian people hide negative emotions, while in Poland you witness eruptions of those.

Tomasz Ratter gave no explanation of his work. The female director wanted to transmit spirituality and isolation. 

KOT (THE CAT)

Watchable. A short film with no lead story. It's basically an adult hip-hop cartoon with decent animation. Kot (Cat) leaves jail after 20 years in a post-apocalyptic reality of climate disaster. Rap music matches images. They're all graphic. The form is attractive but the content lacks lucidity. 

GRANICA (THE LIMIT)

Watchable. A short documentary with no lead story. What strikes you is a woman who "won't go back to jail, ever". Still, I couldn't make out the subject matter.

It turns out it tells about director Michał Kawecki's family. To him it's about a brother-sister relationship.

FOLLOWERS. ODPALAJ LAJWA (FOLLOWERS. LIVE SHOOTING)

Recommended. A short actors' film with a consistent storyline. The boys' meeting and relationship are astonishing. Hot Adam Borysowicz as Przemek and Ignacy Liss as Adam are fully convincing in the leading roles. A great end-credit song by Vabang means it's all fun till the very end. 

No reason is given for the shooting massacres in order not to trivialize the issue. 

IL MATERIALE EMOTIVO (A BOOKSHOP IN PARIS)

Watchable. Sergio Castellitto's performance drives the movie. Interestingly, his direction ruins it. It's overacted, exalted, theatrical at times. Occasional glimpses of his two female co-actors' naked breasts and one lovers' meeting on a bridge with the Eiffel Tower glittering in the background are clearly meant to lure the viewer but both are cheap tactics, the plot isn't plausible psychologically and I found no sense in it. 

SAMIEC ALFA (ALPHA MALE)

Watchable again. The first time round only Konrad Eleryk kept me watching so I was skeptical about another viewing. But it's actually better after the re-cut and with skillfully added music. The message became clear: how men are concerned with material possessions more than with meaningful relationships and how personal coaches may well be nuts. Lines are comedy ones but acting serious, especially by Mirosław Haniszewski as the Leader, i.e. the main role. Basically. it's written as a comedy, acted like a tragedy. Only dance scenes are comical enough. The whole thing looks awfully cheap.

Konrad Eleryk got to the June premiere straight from a set of an episode shot for Netflix, after which he had had to clean off mud and blood. I asked him whether his muscles came from any particular sports discipline. He used to do Thai boxing before and now is training again just for himself.

CANAL+

The new and upcoming series and movies cover:

"Maria Antonina" - high budget, shot in Paris, in the beginning of 2023 online. She drank no alcohol but gambled, played till the morning, was supposedly bisexual. Among the scriptwriters is Yorgos Lanthimos known for "The Favourite".

A serial based on "Django". The first version, of 1966, was the most brutal western of the time. 

"Quo Vadis, Aida" - the events of when Ratko Mladić's troops encroached the Safety Zone. As the movie director said, "when Srebrenica was happening, the world went on holiday". I've reviewed it before.

"Stillwater" - Matt Damon received a 5-minute standing ovation in Cannes last year. I've reviewed it before.

"Last Night in Soho" - I've reviewed it before.

"The Last Duel" about one of the last knight duels in France. I've reviewed it before.

The protagonist of "Amy", which I've reviewed before, died 10 years ago. "Reclaiming Amy" is a documentary in which her mother tells about her last conversation with Amy and allegations about her father contributing to her death. 

"Yellowjackets" - a series about man balancing on the verge of humanity, horror.

"This Is Going To Hurt" is already on. Based on a book by a doctor-turned-comedian.

BBC Player has been available to Canal+ subscribers since 1 June. 

"Lokatorka" ("The Tenant. You Can't Burn Us All") since the summer too. I've reviewed it before.

And:

MINUTA CISZY (A MINUTE OF SILENCE) Q&A

The first Polish serial about the funeral industry. Two undertakers compete for bodies. Not even one character is unambiguous. Many scenes shock. The producer "crosses the boundaries of taboo, not bad taste." The serial was consulted with many undertakers. It's been created by Aurum Film, the producers of "Żeby nie było śladów" ("Leave No Traces"), and "Gotowi na wszystko. Exterminator" ("Exterminator"), the director of "Carte Blanche" - the producers' first film, theirs was also "Ostatnia rodzina" ("The Last Family"). Actors Robert Więckiewicz and Ola Konieczna typically yell at each other. Jacek Lusiński wrote it because we don't mourn any more. His mother died during creating the serial. All the events are pre-Covid.

MINUTA CISZY (A MINUTE OF SILENCE) EP. 1

Recommened. A story unusual but set so firmly in the Polish small town reality it's perfectly plausible, including the mafia-like social structure. Brilliant, witty dialogues, full of puns, shocking situations, engaging action, a cliffhanger in the last scene. 

YAKARI, LE FILM (YAKARI, A SPECTACULAR JOURNEY)

Recommended. The dog's delightfully cute and adorable. Other animals are also cute and fun, e.g. beavers when they talk: "Humans have parents too?" and the little beaver named Linden is just brilliantly playful, as is raccoon called Ringtail. Yakari, the human boy is large-eyed and gentle. 

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.

ENNIO

Recommended. The movie was released on the second anniversary of Ennio Morricone's death. I've never been particularly into his music and now I know why: it's the trumpet he was forced to play since 11 and later used in his compositions a lot. But the documentary is amazing. He was a prolific composer: 500 movies, sometimes 18-21 in 1 year. Apart from himself, Hans Zimmer, Bernardo Bertolucci, Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Springsteen and even some Chinese chap tell anecdotes. You learn how Sergio Leone used his work for him as a ruse not to lend the genius to Kubrick - "A Clockwork Orange" might have had his music - or how directors would bend to his ideas. It's witty, e.g. his several attempts to bid farewell to cinema. His work is multi-instrumental - would sound flat otherwise. Coyotes, ancient texts, experimental scenes and ample imagination - his genius is undeniable.

ENTRE LES VAGUES (THE BRAVES)

Watchable. A teenager dying of breast cancer - hardly plausible and a vexing deja vu of the child-with-cancer topic. Theatre in a movie isn't my cup of tea either. But the two girls are so vivacious it's not particularly repelling.  

MADELEINE COLLINS - WRITER/DIRECTOR Q&A

Here comes what he said: Topics find him. This time the inspiration was a woman on a train. He analyses the picture, the mood and then invents scenes. When he's got about 20, he puts them in order and fills the gaps. His first 2 films had fantastical elements, this is the first realistic one. There were no films about women having double lives. His first scene here was cut out in editing: she goes to a village bar, meets a local playboy to who she first introduces herself as Madeleine Collins - like a seed which falls out when the plant is grown. She tries out various identities like a child. Antoine Barraud is not a type who'd be suspicious of women. Fellini-like, curiosity wakes him every day. Virginie Efira was his first choice because she's beautiful, has inner glow, no other actress would be likeable. Mourning wasn't central to him in the story but now is often discussed with viewers. A brief sexual relation in mourning is something not talked about. "Kramer vs. Kramer" is a masterpiece, not mentioned in lists of great movies of all time - Meryl Streep also has inner glow, we follow her no matter what she does, the film starts with an earthquake and is followed by rising tension. His attitude is that he loved her first only but loves her in all her imperfection. In the 3/4 of the film she is revealed not to be Ninon's mother, next we discover it was Abdel's idea. We also discover her son's attitude. It's his own female perspective - if you suspend your own identity, you can discover others. 

DAISY QUOKKA: WORLD'S SCARIEST ANIMAL

Watchable. A run-of-the-mill story, shallow and naive: you can be whoever you want to be, regardless of how others see you. Instrumental 80s music and sound effects coming from the side make it not too bad though.

D'ARTACAN Y LOS TRES MOSQUEPERROS (DOGTANIAN AND THE THREE MUSKEHOUNDS)

Recommended. The Polish dubbing - the only version available in Polish cinemas -  appears to be better than the English translation. Bartek Fukiet excels again, this time his translation includes rhymes and puns aplenty. The animation is detailed, whether the royal palace interiors or the muskehounds' pin-striped uniforms. It's all colourful, pleasant, the story engaging and the whole idea a great angle on Alexandre Dumas' adaptation. And unlike many other, this one is clear-cut. There's a mid-credit announcing a sequel. I do hope for one.

.

TERMESZETES FENY (NATURAL LIGHT)

Walked out. The soldiers humiliate others and each other, play bottom-level pranks. It's all shot dark and heads nowhere.

KINO W TRAMPKACH (CINEMA IN SNEAKERS)

JAN KOMASA MASTERCLASS

What does he say about his profession, his body of work and himself?

Persuasion is vital: first to get funding, next 60 people on set. So believing in your mission is essential. Otherwise people sense your hesitation. He has a recurring nightmare in which he is woken by someone in a tent: "everyone's waiting." He leaves and sees hundreds of extras in knights' armour and he's got no idea. 8 assistants wait for him to obey. So he comes up to a horse: "No, it was going to be white" and looks for excuses. What if he inspires all to believe in it more than he does? 

"Cast Away" had one protagonist growing attached to a ball which was cheap to shoot. Hence the idea for "Sala samobójców" ("Suicide Room") - about someone who's been closed for a year and must be dragged out by force. Now he notices that 15 years ago he saw something, forgot and shot as his. No games appear in dramas - it's a cheap genre. Historical movies are 2-3 times more costly. He listened to K-pop and that's why a Japanese band sings in "Sala samobójców" ("Suicide Room"). In 2009 ripped-off the idea of Facebook for the film, which was a novelty, he foresaw it, Nasza Klasa was en vogue back then.

19-20 years ago he took criticism personally, he had to learn not to.

Sometimes directors play with the audience and suddenly change the genre. He enjoys creating characters. He likes watching a person from top to toe, e.g. on a bus and analysing where they are from. "All people are actors, everyone enacts something." Wajda used to say casting is half a success. Next he analyses the character: what would happen if, e.g. he has 6 toes and no one knows. You must create the overt and the concealed. You can create more than 10 characters from 1 person. Casting: someone nice and smiley is evil to surprise the viewer. Mind who comes with who to have a good party. He's into contrast in characters. He likes kitsch as an artistic expression, like Andy Warhol's pop art. In "Miasto 44" ("Warsaw 44"), he decided to break the decorum every 10 minutes. 

He became a parent early, at 20, so had to turn adult too soon. He turned 40 last year, used to think 40 was old. Can't imagine himself at 70. 

Experienced actors help him at times. He admires Agata Kulesza, who he has worked with 4 times, on various roles. 

An ancient Greek actor asked one to watch and monitor - he became a didaskalos.  

He did philosophy at university for a year. He'd dream of shooting "Socrates" in ancient Greek. Now he's working in a foreign language on a science fiction movie where one element is changed: people can teleport themselves. The action takes place in a few countries. A family is on holidays in Italy but soon their son goes missing and there's some secret space no one wants to let them in. 

Leaving your comfort zone is important, especially travels. 

Photography - the cinematographers usually see through you. 

Be original, be yourself. 

His foundation helps homeless people get a pass for all of the Gdynia festival. 

Discipline is important: finish, not just start. Latin 'decidere' means 'cut off (all other stuff)'. "Done is better than perfect". That leads to a type of stutter all the time. 

Toronto festival is specific: no awards or jury but a few hundred movies. 

Polish people and foreigners perceive things differently. E.g. "Boże ciało" ("Corpus Christi") - many say it's about faith, someone else that about the corruption of the Church, in the East people found spirituality - Arab journalists, because about the need of the world with religion that's missing out there. In France, it was seen as reckoning with the Church. Europe deemed the Catholic Church political. Korea noticed that a country destroyed by WW2 was looking for values. "Sala samobójców. Hejter" ("The Hater") was No. 1 in South America where disinformation was rife but didn't make waves in the UK, while "Boże Ciało" ("Corpus Christi") was well-received. "Sala samobójców" ("Suicide Room") is popular in the US since Goths are still going strong over there. France and Italy are interested in WW2 so "Miasto 44" ("Warsaw 44") has been popular. Also China is into war, has the mentality of being at war. That way the film had millions of entries from Russia though it has never been released there. 

Mateusz Pacewicz, who wrote "Boże Ciało" ("Corpus Christi") tried an optimistic closing: they go and he pretends in a different parochy. But the director preferred to sell, not talk in the ending, he wanted a bomb to explode. "The protagonist is ashamed all the time" so he wanted a demon to come out of him. And a brutal correctional facility opening and ending = coda was used but the protagonist was first passive, next active. He sees that as "finished".

FELIX ET LE TRESOR DE MORGAA (FELIX AND THE TREASURE OF MORGAA)

Recommended. I was 15 minutes late but the tale has such distinct characters, of vivid personalities, which illustrate greed, craving for youth or fighting for peace with a domineering disregard for others in each case, it's fun and you just wish you could stay with them longer. Sadly, the story's complete. 

KINO W TRAMPKACH (CINEMA IN SNEAKERS)

LAST FILM SHOW

Recommended. A deeply moving Indian feature about the love of cinema. Predominantly. But also about a country where "there are 2 casts now: those who speak English and those who don't" and where everything is recycled to the tiniest bit. Bollywood hotshots appear only in the footage of what the boy watches but the little known actors are top-notch. You can't help but sympathise with the boy, his both parents, the cinema worker but also the boss. A deeply humane story. 

13. PRZEGLAD NOWEGO KINA FRANCUSKIEGO 

LES 2 ALFRED (FRENCH TECH)

Watchable. While you don't doubt for a minute it's a comedy, it's hardly funny. It's a sharp satire on modern devices and business jargon, as well as time-share or skill-swap jobs. I guess the reality is just too painful at times and the movie too realistic to be amusing.

哭悲 (THE SADNESS)

Recommended. Brand new solutions in the zombie genre - in fact, are they still zombies? They're infected but smart. No more mindless bloodthirsty monsters. That offers a number of shocks in the plot. And it makes sense medically. Which means it's frighteningly realistic. You feel grateful our pandemic has been just Covid. It contains subtle references to cult horror movies like "부산행" ("Train to Busan") or "The Shining" and clear ones to human behaviours during the recent Sars-Cov 2 pandemic, inadvertently also to the horrors of Ukrainian war - yes, the most cruel that comes to their minds. It's also realistic psychologically, especially the sexual harassment scene.

LIGHTYEAR

Watchable. Hyperspeed looks great only on the big screen, the robo-cat offers humour and some aces up the sleeve but the whole plot is quite standard space opera in an animated version. Robotic and navigation system gags are better than the elderly lady on parole ones. Some characters are obligatorily non-white and non-straight. The science fiction part is certainly more engaging than the social one. Yet there's nothing truly new in the story, in the visuals or in the Atmos quality sound. Too little attention is given to the main time-passing issue and too much to silly bumping in cones adventures. Trivialised. There's a funny short mid- and post-credit and 1 image at the very end, after Pixar switches off the light. 

AKADEMIA PANA KLEKSA (MR. BLOT'S ACADEMY)

There hasn't been a chance for any sneak preview yet and I hated the 80s versions, at the same time the producer of the remake has already got a deal for Lego merchandise. The movie's going to be ready in November 2023. There'll be dozens of CGIs in one sequence - hundreds of people will work on them in total. Brzechwa wrote the book before Rowling wrote hers so there are aspirations for worldwide distribution. The creators dream also of a film city in Katowice so that one can touch the movie. The new film is to be based on the book, published in 1946-47, which is still a set book at school, not on the first adaptation. The scriptwriter discussed the script with Heman - the CGI-makers and "tested on children", e.g. their language. This time there'll be no child nudity or the march of werewolves with metal music. The creative group has finished, they were at the end of pre-production in late May. The shooting takes place: in Norway briefly, Poland for a few months, next in Bulgaria. It won't be an old school musical where music would appear all of a sudden. Nowadays a pretext for music is needed. Music is going to play a role again but now it'll be custom-made illustrative music. Some rhythms of the 1983 version are alien to children nowadays but they're going to refer to Korzyński's too. The makers are planning to offer a range of interaction before and after the movie. The protagonist will be Ada, not Adaś Niezgódka, Tomasz Kot will embody Prof. Ambroży Kleks. Even Tomasz Kot had stage fright before this role.

THE NORTHMAN

Recommended. About 7 historians consulted the movie so the reality depicted may well be accurate. On top of the headings scripted in runes. While based on Nordic tales and making use of the splendid landscapes of Iceland, it's archetypal, taken the family ties and desires, Shakespearean, as a story of vengeance, power, with witches and prophecies, and reaching out as far as Greek mythology in the finale, where two muscled naked men, armed in swords and shields, fight on a black and orange backdrop reminiscent of ancient vases. A sword, carrying a name, is both Arthurian and Tolkienesque in the way its forging is presented. Atmos sound gives it clarity and spaciousness. The cinematography is a masterpiece in its own right. You feel powerful upon leaving the cinema.

JUJUTSU KAISEN 0: THE MOVIE AT IMAX

Watchable. For the first half I seriously considered walking out. Not much effort was put into the theatrical animation (blurred backgrounds may work on a small screen). Suspended movement means images look more like manga pages displayed on the screen rather than a movie, fluidity is missing. The plot also consists of separate events loosely assembled together. The second half, where suspended motion pictures are displayed rapidly, colours are nicer to the eye and sudden drawing styles don't annoy that much, makes up for the first, though the serial looks better. There's also a twist of action so it's more of one consistent movie. Still, the whole thing is shoddily constructed, with accidental music. The characters are clearly modelled after "Guardians of the Galaxy", especially Groot and Rocket Raccoon, e.g. one protagonist communicates uttering food ingredients only and another one is a panda. The movie's too loud half the time, fine for the other half only to go deafening at the end credits. Imax is not essential, a regular size screen will be just fine. The post-credit, set in Kenya, is promising.

WODA W KOSMOSIE - PLANETARIUM CNK

Recommended. This amazing show takes you on a space trip across the universe - all on the inside of the planetarium dome. State-or-art visuals which feel like Imax but closer, wonderful music. Entertaining and scientific. The seats reclining to an almost lying position are a delight.

BHOOL BHULAIYAA 2

Watchable. This horror comedy is no sequel to the 2007 Bollywood hit. It's a standalone movie with a similar setting of a manor with a phantom locked on the third floor but an independent, brand new story and protagonists, although one lesser character has been kept together with the actor. The film opens with a horror sequence and next transports you 18 years later. The leads are Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani as a young, rich and beautiful would-be couple. The horror part is truly spooky, but most of the movie is a comedy of errors. The movie's subtitled both in Polish and English, I followed the English version. Some of the humour is based on Hindi language and its local variations but the top-notch English translation catches the numerous puns. The dialogues abound in funny lines, written by Aakash Kaushik, e.g. "We, the Thakurs, never run form trouble". "We, the Randhawas, run at the first sign of trouble." The film is well-paced, though, if you don't speak Hindi, that means it's hard to read the subtitles quickly enough. The plot, altering between horror and comedy, nails you to the screen. And a great twist of action comes in the finale. While I'm not sure if horror and comedy are a good combination in the first place, both genres are professionally enacted in the production. There's also decent music, fantastic dancing and the catchy title song is played as the end credits start and stays in your head long after leaving the cinema. The whole thing is fun. As horror comedies go, anyway.

DETEKTYW BRUNO (DETECTIVE BRUNO)

Watchable. Hard to believe it won Script Wars. The main protagonist is an orphaned boy - do all Polish movies have to be sad, especially the ones for kids? Instead of an adventure flick, you get a regular depressing drama. The story mixes the mundane and annoying with the far-fetched. The adult supporting roles are redundant. On the other hand, I stayed till the end so it's not the script that's the worst. It's poorly directed by Magdalena Nieć, e.g. close-ups in action scenes only obscure the action - or were those scenes so bad they needed to be concealed? They're poorly lit, shot from unfavourable angles and whatever parts of the script must have been fun, they're ridiculous in the outcome. The whole thing looks awfully amateurish. Costumes, by Dzvinka Kukul, are totally unnatural for who the characters are and what they do. Inadequate music and the look as if there was no colour correction are the straw that breaks the camel's back.

علي صوتك (CASABLANCA BEATS)

Watchable. The music is fine, even if you aren't into rap, my favourite is "Drahem" - a song about money with brilliant lyrics and tune. Arabic influences in the melodies and dance make this layer pleasant. The characters aren't very rebellious either. I guess the actors play themselves - the characters' first names are the same. But the tale about youth in a deprived district of Casablanca is so run of the mill, it's just worth watching for the superficial pleasure of the sounds and some pictures.

A CHIARA

Watchable. It's acted mostly by a few families. The film opens and closes with a big clan celebration. The long first act, with Chiara's relatives, features a lot of great music. The middle act, when the 15 year old discovers what her father does, is not as exciting as it sounds, the movie regains the tempo only once she takes her life into her hands and glues you to the screen when social services decide the girl's fate. She's strong physically and mentally. The finale tells you when Chiara decided about her future. The realisation is quite powerful.

MADELEINE COLLINS

Recommended. An intriguing opening, next Virginie Efira (still maintaining her hottie image) in the leading role, the title Madeleine appears only in the finale. Who is she? Why is she living this way? Gripping. The mystery unfolds gradually.

MARE 1. FESTIWAL KINA KRAJOW PROTUGALSKOJEZYCZNYCH 

CHUVA E CANTORIA NA ALDEIA DOS MORTOS (THE DEAD AND THE OTHERS)

Watchable. Idyllic life in a Brazilian jungle. The protagonists play themselves, at their own names. A serene picture, where the problems are only in the head. The lead actor is handsome. So it watches with pleasure. I'm not sure of the meaning of some scenes though. The indigenous culture isn't perfectly comprehensible.

KINO W TRAMPKACH (CINEMA IN SNEAKERS)

APSTJARNAN (THE APE STAR)

Recommended. A tale so warm and with the Ape Star's such astonishing ideas I wished it would last longer. The adult undertones about good parenting, greedy authorities and justice mean adults are going to love it too.

19TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FILM FESTIVAL

REMAKE REMIX RIPOFF

Recommended. Apart from it being the history of Turkish cinema, it's a fascinating look at script-writing, claiming there are 30+ storylines to mix and match. And staggering numbers, sometimes even more than 1000, of movies one person made. 

KINO W TRAMPKACH (CINEMA IN SNEAKERS)

JUUNT PASTAZA ENTSARI (WATERS OF PASTAZA)

Watchable. On the Pastaza river, children's lives are just like any other in the countryside: they fish, learn how to kill the fish, walk through the forest, help their parents, play. The difference is nature: the fish is different, so are insects, snakes are a regular sight and they sometimes play footie in torrential rain. The opening quote, referring to preserving child qualities in adult life, doesn't seem to bear much relevance to the wordless film which follows children's activities. The image of their thatched-roof hamlet in violent torrents of a rain is breath-taking. The rest of the picture is interesting enough. The exotics and the differences of the nature are the main attraction.

NAJNUDNIEJSZA BABCIA NA CALYM SWIECIE I INNE HISTORIE

The set comprised of 7 short films:

DIA ALLERLANGWEILIGSTE OMA AUF DER GANZEN WELT (THE MOST BORING GRANNY IN THE WHOLE WORLD)

Watchable. a bizarre game where the grandma is dead and stuffed animals are at her funeral.

CINEMA REX

Watchable. An overly simple but warm tale.

MEU NOME E MAALUM (MY NAME IS MAALUM)

Recommended. Teaches children how to react to being sniggered at. And the vision of Africa is so uplifting and heart-warming.

LUCE ET LE ROCHER (LUCE AND THE ROCK)

Watchable. The rock is intriguing, the exhausted faces dropping down constitute a visually creative idea. The rest is rudimentary drawing.

LE PRINCE AU BOIS DORMANT

Recommended. A humorous and creative tale, quite feminist.

SI VIENE DE LA TIERRA (WHEN IT COMES FROM EARTH)

Watchable. Wonderfully colourful. A simple film with no story as such.

桃源

Watchable. A childhood memory. Slow-paced. A lovely Chinese song completes the film.

And here comes a full-length movie from the same festival:

ISLAND OF LOST GIRLS

Recommended. Shot on location in Baja California and Alta California, it features the wildlife of the region. The action has a few cliffhangers, literally, and they're nothing like I've seen before, especially the one with a starfish. Most of the action takes place in the sea and lets you see plenty of nature up close. And quite simply it's a gripping story

FIRESTARTER

Watchable. An entertaining revenge flick. Based on Stephen King's novel, it's an obvious remake of the 1984 movie, even the poster is mimicked, yet just the basic outline of the story is kept. Accents are placed differently within the plot. Little background to the characters is given. The film, about half an hour shorter than the original, is a superficial actioner. Engaging, often unpredictable even if you know the content of the first picture, it's kind of re-cut, the events are on a shorter timeline than before. Fantastic 80s-style electronic music, though with a better tempo than the Tangerine Dream tunes of 1984. Fun, in spite of the plot being quite simple.

KINO W TRAMPKACH (CINEMA IN SNEAKERS)

RAINBOW

Recommended. On what people have become 19 years after college: professionally, attitudes to life and their own lifestyle, including having children or not. Refreshing to see most people don't want to have kids. Original, touching.

THE DUKE

Watchable. Opens with a court scene which is enough to persuade you to watch this lukewarm comedy drama loaded down with mundane details. A trivial problem is presented, though removing the BBC coil and having to pay the TV licence does seem unfair. The painting must have made the news in 1961, little effect now. Shot on Bradford, Leeds, London locations - no Newcastle, only the accent. Lots of my favourite British sarcasm but the plot mixes important stuff with superfluous content.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.

MEN

Watchable. Slower-paced than the superb trailer implied but gripping. Puzzling at face value and mysterious on the more symbolic level. It maintains an ordinary horror structure but does so in a sophisticated way. The echo, impressive in the Atmos sound system, suspends you. Some images mirror previous ones. The jolly landlord, superbly acted by Rory Kinnear, is a memorable character on his own. Mentions of Agamemnon and Leda imply a possible betrayal on the woman's part. On the other hand, William Butler Yeats' poem is quoted, with a depiction of the rape on Leda and all men look hostile to the woman protagonist - she's surrounded by the menace of rape. Birthgiving presented almost on a loop makes you ponder. Women give birth to those men. Men bring them to life too. Though, when a man, however weird, suddenly gives birth and it repeats a few times, it ruins the movie. Elaborate images and sounds of the film stay with you long after.

DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA

Recommended. Immaculate again. Accents, costumes, charleston, going on holidays south in winter, not summer, voice cinema coming in. Lots of British sarcasm, top-notch dialogues, e.g.: "They are very French, the French, aren't they?" "They are meant to be." "Yes, they are. Poor things." As it's truly British, accents determine who belongs to which circle. The sound's recorded in Atmos and the picture's shot on locations in England, Scotland and France.

The finale is touching as each sub-story concludes.

PETITE MAMAN

Switched off. You must be really into watching child development to want to sit through this. To me it was just tedious. It may be liked by children actually, should be targeted at that audience.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.

19TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FILM FESTIVAL

БАБИЙ ЯР. КОНТЕКСТ (BABI YAR.CONTEXT) - Q&A WITH DIRECTOR/EDITOR SERGEI LOZNITSA 

Sergei Loznitsa was making three films at the same time so used some help with editing. He would send him episodes - he had the beginning, the ending and the structure to fill in. The director was wearing a suit at the Q&A, was very collected and well-organized.

WARSZTAT KULINARNY Z PIOTREM BRUSIEM-KLEPACKIM (CULINARY WORKSHOP WITH PIOTR BRUS-KLEPACKI)

He told us about and prepared two Asian-style vegan dishes. Delicious, abundant, generous and informative. Great fun.

KONKURS FILMOW KROTKOMETRAZOWCH. BLOK 2 (SHORTS COMPETITION. BLOCK 2)

The set consisted of 5 short films:

NUISANCE BEAR

Recommended. Churchill in Manitoba, Canada. An annual polar bear migration from the point of view of the animal. The town's in the way, not the other way round. The bear is beautiful and grabs your heart with its frustration at navigating the maze of road blocks.

ANIMAL SALVATGE (WILD ANIMAL)

Watchable. It drags but still it manifests people's attitude to farm animals - heart-wrenching at times.

HANGING ON

Watchable. Suspended, up in the air, waiting to be evicted, as soulless law puts tenants at disadvantage. A sad look at the house market. 

LE FRERE (THE BROTHER)

Recommended. Touching how loving the family is and how they feel about one another. Their daily routine, backstory and anime mix, putting you in the shoes of a carer of a disabled family member. 

TEMPO HOME

Watchable. Stephen King's quote "Home is where they want you to stay longer" opens the documentary. It's a thorough depiction of refugees' lives in the Tempelhof temporary settlement and of the rules and instructions facilitating their adaptation, which is impossible in a temporary dwelling anyway.

TEMPO HOME - Q&A WITH THE DIRECTOR AND THE EDITOR

Women refused to be protagonists, offering that their husbands talk to the film crew. The filmmakers informed the audience that after Tempelhof the refugees are moved to a new temp housing, then a viewer asked: "Czy to też lotnisko?" ("Is that also an airport?") - "Dworzec" ("A station"). The airport has been out of operation for 20 years so the sound of its creation was used in the film to show it was also temporary and is temporary for travellers too. The editor explained the throwing out rubbish rule was Mittags Ruhe, of which he learnt having stayed in Berlin for over a year. The director has spent all his life there. Director Kamil Bembnista considers it a mistake that people are kept suspended like this. 

LE SENS DE LA FAMILLE (FAMILY SWAP)

Watchable. Too many gags are about private parts. Only two jokes are hilarious: when the teenager in an adult body is driving and is rebuked: "It's not England" or when a girl has a lama and thinks it's a pony. The characters, changing bodies, are convincingly acted. 

X

Watchable. You expect a bloodbath from the opening. There's gore everywhere. What comes next is about the first film about movie-making I enjoyed. That is till it turned thrashy. Omens like a dead animal, eerie music, a face in an attic window are pretty standard - though the music theme here is exceptional and returns in a longer piece at the end of final credits. It's Atmos-recorded and quality even in an ordinary screening room. The set-up is exciting: a bunch of wannabe stars in hippie times are shooting a blue film in midst of the Bible Belt. And you know the slasher genre rule about having sex, don't you? Yet it's not that simple. There is gore galore but you never quite know who's going to die how and who's to survive. Still, what ruins the fun are the antagonists. By the look they might be dead already just as well. From the back story the old woman tells the girl you can calculate they're both about 70 years old. So when their sex desires come to play it ain't pretty. I don't even mind a few simplistic jump scares since those had impact. But sex-crazed septuagenarians, probably necrophiliac, are over the top and just revolting. The film plays with the genre, e.g. "Psycho" is mentioned and re-enacted in a way or a guy drinks milk with "missing persons" on the packaging when some of the protagonists are searched for already. All props return to be used. Aerial images are impressive. It plays a lot with double screens and parallel action. A surprise comes at the finale. And the religious community is portrayed irreverently like hell. Thoroughly engaging but, however original the elderlys' sex is in film, this is what deprives you of all the pleasure recurringly.

SPREE

Recommended. This slasher is pure fun. A serial killer takes you on a ride. Fast-paced, with great music. A satire on influencers, stand-uppers, Uber type services but that doesn't matter. The formula is pretty simple but Joe Keery in the role of a wannabe influencer streaming his killer spree ride, plenty of comments displayed on the screen, however tacky they sound, glue you to the screen. Top-notch cinematography makes the kills all attractive.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, cinematic reception might differ.

19TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FILM FESTIVAL

This year the festival adopted the magenta colour, like in the logo of its long-time sponsor Millennium Bank. There were pitchings of East European and Ukrainian films with their own prize. Polish documentaries vied to win 3 prizes: for the best film, for the best production and one funded by the Polish Association of Studio Cinemas for the best distribution potential. Guests from abroad included the long announced Sergei Loznitsa and Bill Morrison but Darren Aronofsky couldn't make it. Below comes a list of what directors of Polish films said about their offerings:

"Anioły z Sindżaru" ("Angels of Sinjar") - the director needed an interpreter since the protagonists spoke a language used only on the southern slope of Mt. Sinjar. 

"Najgłośniej słychać milczenie" ("Silence Heard Loud") - about asylum seekers from Ghana, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia in London. About the indifference of Europe in their own words. One of the protagonists obtained his residence permit after 21 years.

"Silent Love" - about lesbians living in the Polish countryside.

"Bestie ze Złego" ("Beasts") - the film's about a special football club: for men and women. 464 tickets sold for the premiere, which took place on 4 screens, because they all wanted to come. 

"Pisklaki" ("The Fledglings") - black and white about 6-7-year-old blind children. 

"Simona" - on a woman who took care of wild animals, was a book author and on her shocking family story.

"Lot" ("Flight") - about artist Roman Stańczak. The film is by Łukasz Ronduda who had made 3 actors' movies on artists and performers before, including "Wszystkie nasze strachy" ("All Our Fears") - I had written about that film before, now he presented his first documentary. This one is about an alcoholic sculptor. Funding was easy to obtain owing to the artwork being an important exhibition in Zachęta. Robert Stańczak creates through destruction. The sculpture won the Venice Biennale. The destroyed plane joined liberals - familiar with the language of art and the Smoleńsk crowd.

"Lombard" ("The Pawnshop") - at the fair, coffins served as benches. Before the camera was switched on, it had taken a few months chatting with the protagonists. The community is supportive of one another. The hardest bits were cut out and left to be ambiguous. Wiesław wants to start up a disco in the new place. 

LOMBARD (THE PAWNSHOP)

Recommended. A poverty-stricken district of Bytom in Silesia, Poland. Through both financial and personal problems of the shop staff and customers alike a portrait of the poor is painted: how hard they work for their daily bread and how simple little pleasures bring them joy. Touching and eye-opening. 

PANI BASIA

Watchable. An actors' short film - 30-minute long - made to educate the society which in turn  is meant to pressure politicians to fight smog. Engaging, with interesting pictures. But nothing you wouldn't have known about smog already. Cancer is in every other Polish drama too. And the idea behind it is like promoting taking a scenic route when running from fire. The final monologue sounds like some self-life-coaching gibberish.

THE BATMAN

Watchable. Gotham suits the noir genre and a making it into a political thriller is a sensible solution. Yet the first half is slow, only as it develops does it start to puzzle. Chicago stands in for Gotham. Liverpool, Glasgow, London locations are used too. Music is wonderful: Nirvana, Jeff Kryka and a few others set the mood superbly. The music theme stays with you. Robert Pattinson keeps the same face all the time, little acting on his part. Zoë Kravitz is Cat Woman, Penguin appears too. Zoë Kravitz's stunt double Tara Macken performs an enviable double 돌려차기 (dollyo chagi). There's a post-credit.

COMPETENCIA OFICIAL (OFFICIAL COMPETITION)

Watchable. While the film deals with vital issues of how competences are recognised, of actors' rivalry, of varying motivations, the whole cast is spot on, as are the props, it's a film about making one - whoever fancies the genre?! - and overtalked at times, it feels wooden and protracted. The two guys' transformation, visible when one acquires a beard and the other loses it, is simplistic. One thing that left me pondering is when Lola says she hasn't envisaged the film with the original duo - has she set it up or is she acting this time for the media and the public?

MORBIUS

Watchable. Jared Leto and Matt Smith gave masterful performances. Top-notch CGIs, including body-morphing and falling from skyscrapers - shot in Los Angeles, make-up, comics blended with film, adrenaline-pumping sequences, great music in Atmos clarity make it elaborate but nearly a horror. I mean well executed though unpleasant. Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is a clear inspiration as is the "Twilight" scene in which she cut herself. There are 2 mid-credits, no post-credit.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS AT IMAX 3D

Watchable. Sam Raimi directed it so splendid Marvel universes mix with horror. Scarlet Witch crosses a universe through a screen in a "Ring"-like manner and Strange's corpse looks older and creepier than it needs to. Souls of the Damned and other monsters wreak havoc. A giant octopus is at least on the cute side. A Minotaur-like creature appears in a Chinese temple modelled on Shaolin. Scarlet Witch startles the protagonists in a tunnel like a group of teenagers in a horror flick, people are grabbed from the back - scary movies gimmicks. An actress called America Chavez lands a significant role, her character has lesbian mothers and they're black, Wong gets a bigger part, Strange dwells in a decrepit house on a high rock and the edifice resembles the Eye of Sauron. The trip through numerous worlds and the alternative NYC are wonderful - visually and creatively. But spectacular bits - all worth Imax 3D - are intertwined with ordinary superhero fights, full of hovering in the air. All that conceals a simplistic plot and wooden lines. Hence the movie's uneven: from superb scenes to horrible ones and superb again, for 2 hours. And the 2 hours felt like 3. Atmos-recorded monumental score consists of Danny Elfman's music with pieces by Beethoven, Wagner, Silvestri. The mid-credit announces further mayhem, the post-credit is a humorous closure. 

THE LOST CITY

Watchable. Starts with a promotional event for a book called 

"Romancing the Page" which is a satire on marketing and a contemporary version of "Romancing the Stone" follows, with modern femininity and masculinity patterns and undertones of career. Channing Tatum shows off his acting chops as "Fabio". Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock are cast too. Sadly, dialogue perpetuates the fake notion of people using only "10% of the brain" and low-brow humour mars the fun. Atmos quality sound is a saving grace. There's a mid-credit.

13. LGBT+ FILM FESTIVAL

WILDHOOD

Watchable. Shot in Nova Scotia, with a half-Ukrainian-half-Mohawk in the leading role - a hot combination. This road movie doesn't bring anything new to cinema. Some translations are wrong. But I loved the dance with soft moves and the accompanying music.

The whole festival was planned out conveniently without film endings and beginnings overlapping - you could make it to all screenings. Shorts were screened early during the day so if you got to the cinema late, which was likely with roadworks in central Warsaw, you would still see some of the films. Variety of genres, topics and geographical origins meant not everything was to my liking but anyone would find something that tickled their fancy. 

OSS 117: ALERTE ROUGE EN AFRIQUE NOIRE (FROM AFRICA WITH LOVE)

Recommended. Sharp satire on old Bond films with their sexism, on IT problems, the technological generation gap, colonial and post-colonial politics, internal conflicts in Africa, depleting natural resources, it mocks also all the films where a lone wolf has to team up with a rookie and 80s adventure movies. The protagonist's series of racist blunders is a delight. The film's really smart, observational. Kenyan vistas add to the pleasure. There's an early mid-credit.

Reviewed from the distributor's screener, a quality one, still the cinematic reception might differ.