Movie reviews

20TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL 

THIS IS NOT A CEREMONY - VR

Recommended. The Canadian film contains shocking accounts of systemic abuse and  discrimination of native Americans in not so distant history. They're told by strikingly good looking representatives of the nation.

MYRIAD. WHERE WE CONNECT - VR

Recommended. This German film makes you fly with ibises as you follow a touching story of them first imprinting humans as their parents and then the humans flying with them as guides.

IN PURSUIT OF REPETITIVE BEATS - INTERACTIVE VR

Watchable. You learn the whole logistics of getting to an illegal party and what they actually were in Britain of the 1990s. It also makes you dance but each part and each utterance is too long.

BLISCY (DEAR ONES)

Watchable. It lasts 74 minutes but feels like 7 hours. Grieving is treated with a dose of levity so the drama is quite peculiar. At least there's an axis keeping you in suspense and a few slight as well as a handful of more decisive twists of action in the finale. 

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH

Watchable. The first act is haywire: the swashbuckling Gato is full of himself, fights a monster, embarks on a quest, re-encounters Jack Horner and some other fable characters and artefacts. Feels over the top. The Polish version has every other song in the original and every other dubbed in Polish, even mariachi bands, all dialogue's in Polish only. In countries with original voices you'll hear Antonio Banderas as Puss In Boots, Salma Hayek Pinault as Kitty Softpaws, Olivia Colman as the mama bear and Florence Pugh as Goldilocks. Luckily, the story is consistent and, on the margin of the adventures, there's the tale of Perrito (mispronounced in the Polish dubbing) which is far more serious than the rest and absolutely heart-wrenching. A peculiar movie about a fable cat where the most powerful subplot is the one of a dog. I was crying my eyes out. The rest was too crazy to care. There's a brief spoken post-credit.

20TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL

PILOT 9/11 - INTERACTIVE VR

Recommended. Even thought it's work in progress, it's wonderful. First you get a vertigo watching the NYC skyscrapers from above, then the cockpit and the frightening images of people in windows or on the ledge of a window hole of WTC. The interactive video is interrupted when you sit at a restaurant table one minute before it's hit by a plane. That's a cliffhanger for the complete work!

GOLIATH. PLAYING WITH REALITY - INTERACTIVE VR

Watchable. The interactive video shows the world in pieces as experienced by a schizophrenic. That's not disturbing. Going through it requires some silly arcade game playing though. It was also too quiet so hard to focus hearing external noises.

PLASTISAPIENS - INTERACTIVE VR

Recommended. The interactive video is fully immersive, letting you feel your hands are tentacles or see how your breathing changes the world. 

CONTROL NEGATIVE - INTERACTIVE VR

Watchable. The interactive video is Polish so it's Poles' favourite genre - a psychological drama. Protracted, often frustrating, even if creative. Black and white but graphically astonishing. 

MAFIA MAMMA

Recommended. This dark comedy is shockingly brutal and graphic from the opening but it's incredibly feminist and empowering. It promotes Krav Maga among women, ridicules drug companies, but most of all points out sexism in marketing, in corporations, families, virtually everywhere. And reverses the roles. To women's complete satisfaction. 

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES

Watchable. A Northern Ireland location provides evocative scenery. Chris Pine is a top actor, as is Hugh Grant  - neither looks hot in this picture. The movie is basically a string of adventures - it's evident it's game-based, with spotless CGIs, but predictable. At the same time you root for the bunch. There's a silly, though consistent with the content, mid-credit.

JOHN WICK 4

Recommended. Lots of flashy fight choreographies and locations, the hitmen world code of conduct - clearly my favourite hitman is back. The riveting dog subplot is John Wick's redemption. The Montmartre stairs scene will go down in history. The stairs, the duel, the vital post-credit are memorable.