Looks like I've finally managed to sort the remaining posts so here comes the missing part from late April till last Thursday. A new post is coming tomorrow and then one the day after etc.

AFRYKAMERA 2016

L'AFRIQUE VUE PAR RYSZARD KAPUSCINSKI

Watchable. I had great respect for Ryszard Kapuscinski for several years. What struck me in the film was his claim that muslim terrorists are no real danger and it's not a war. Well, that was several years ago which led me to accepting the fact that, while his observations were often to the point, they have only historical value nowadays. You can't generalise on what he said. You can only get insight into what the world looked like at his time.

THE GHOST PEOPLE

Recommended. Harrowing stories of albino people being hunted down for the assumed magical properties of their body parts. A documentary.


DOBRA ZENA (A GOOD WIFE)

Watchable. The topic of a wife discovering her husband's war crimes deserves better: a better script, directing and acting. An interesting idea got diluted in ordinariness.


AFRYKAMERA 2016

FACTORY GIRL

Watchable. The actors are neither good-looking nor acting well. Yet, a story of unrequited love involves you in the way that you just want to see where it leads.

UM GHAYEB: MOTHER OF THE UNBORN

Watchable. Made by an Egyptian in a French way - the camera follows the woman whining about her infertility and about several superstitious cures that didn't work. The kind of documentaries I hate. I mostly watched in disbelief and sympathy how the poor in rural Egypt live.


DER STAAT GEGEN FRITZ BAUER (THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER)

Recommended. A great thriller. Keeps you on the edge of your seat.

KRIGEN (A WAR)

Recommended. Partly a realistic portrayal of every day peace-keeping forces' work in Afghanistan and moral decisions involved, partly a gripping courtroom drama.

FUOCOAMMARE (FIRE AT SEA)

Watchable. Told slowly. Still, the film highlights the contrast between the typically middle-class Italian lifestyle and the experiences of refugees arriving in Lampedusa. The Italians work 9 to 5, listening to the music on the radio at work, discuss how to prepare meals or how to treat a non-life-threatening eye problem. The refugees have suffered imprisonment, hunger, thirst, few of them got to the island alive.


AFRYKAMERA 2016

LAMB

Watchable. A sad story of an underdog kid - abandoned by his widowed father, bullied by his uncle and by better-off kids in the town. Slightly optimistic as he manages to protect his lamb from slaughter. Very colourful - cinematography is the biggest asset of the movie.

EXCUSE MY FRENCH

Watchable. Supposed to be a comedy but not really funny. Annoying commentary. Mildly interesting as it portrays multicultural Egypt in which the kid decides to convert from Christianity to Islam to better his social standing in a state school.


WALSER

Watchable. Luckily it's only about 70 minutes long. About a clash of cultures and communication modes. Unfortunately with no scientific grounds. Totally implausible.

PEACEABLE KINGDOM. A JOURNEY HOME

Recommended. A heart-breaking documentary about what normally happens to young farm animals and about how it's impossible to save them on a larger scale.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR AT IMAX 3D

Watchable. Great music and 3D, Tom Holland's heart-warmingly English accent. The film follows a fight-talk-fight-talk sequence. My favourite scenes are: Iron Man recruiting Spiderman and Iron Man's youth when his father finds him relaxing on the sofa and asks: "Who's the homeless on the couch?" Like all recent superhero movies it's half an hour too long. In fact it has like 15 endings in the film plus one after the first and one after the second credits.

FAN

Watchable. Shahrukh Khan is excellent in the double role, action takes you round the world, the fan's strife is perfectly accessible on the human level too. Music could be better though. No great hit here.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR

I skipped "The Other Side of the Door" and "Bone Tomahawk" - both seen before and I just saw:

THE CANAL

Watchable. Moderately scary. Good ending. Set partly in an abandoned loo. Nothing new.


ENTRE LA GLACE ET LE CIEL

Recommended. An astounding documentary on the history of work at Antarctic polar stations and the discovery of the global warming. The scientist's plight to warn the world is totally convincing.

DESDE ALLA (FROM AFAR)

Watchable. Very gay at times but with a twisted story thrown in. Neither of the protagonists is attractive so there's no erotic tension whatsoever. Just communication issues and cynicism.

LA VANITE (VANITY)

Watchable. About the right for making the most vital decision in life - the one about own death. Protracted but will make you laugh and cry a few times each.

MOTHER'S DAY

Watchable. Not very funny, even the comics doing stand-up within the film. More like an awfully politically correct drama about parenthood and how it is the worst thing in life. As if I didn't know already. Ugly toddlers abound. It's mostly the trope of being left for a younger woman that kept it all together. And all that cheese is remarkably well acted by Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, name it. In all it's a standard Hollywood fare which you just swallow without thinking much.

NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING

Watchable. The comedy is silly and a bit vulgar but it's quite an interesting take on the generation gap.

COMOARA (THE TREASURE)

Watchable. Showcases human foibles and hopes.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE 4D

Watchable. Very health and safety minded - Quicksilver protects the back of the neck of the people he transports and very PC - no Islam is mentioned, while Christianity, Orthodox Church and Buddhism are. Various actors' attempts at Polish range from incomprehensible to hilarious (Michael Fassbender's American accent). The sword-wielding woman from "Batman v Superman" appears here as well - cross-film character placement's rife. The whole film looks as if the makers couldn't make up their minds whether they're making "X-Men" or "Avengers".


JEWISH MOTIFS FILM FESTIVAL

AKA NADIA

Watchable. What attracted me to the film was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - that turned out boring. The woman's feelings for both her current husband and her rebel ex were enough not to walk out.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC X-MEN (THE NIGHT OF X-MEN)

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

Watchable. New fantastic body-morphing mutants, some history mixed in. A bit too long and much too superficial throughout. Doesn't evoke the same emotions as the earliest parts of the franchise. Great music during credits ("Love love" by Take That).

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Watchable. The "Inception" actress teaches about utopian architecter in Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters. Time travel. Unfortunately new mutant characters are lousy (visually), there are too many plots and virtually all characters are too stereotypical.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

Watchable. The initial rollercoaster ride through history is a good idea poorly enacted. Polish inadvertently sounds funny. A few jokes, e.g. "It's changed my life. I'm still living in my mother's basement. Everything else... is pretty much the same." Health and safety put to work by Quicksilver is remarkable. The first "X-Men" with a religious motif. While it lacks Islam portrayed, may it be that the evil born in Egypt epitomizes ISIS?


ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AT IMAX 3D

Recommended. No worse than the fabulous first instalment. Anne Hathaway has never been more beautiful. Again, full-colour amazing visuals, stunning costumes and make-up. Endearing animal characters. A must see. At least once.

EIN LETZTER TANGO (OUR LAST TANGO)

Watchable. Protracted yet quite an involving story of love, relationship-building, dancing and artistic development. Pleasing to watch dance scenes by internationally-recognized dancers.

BASTILLE DAY

Watchable. Mundane fights and shootings. Ingenious plot with a few good twists of action and tongue-in-cheek dialogues. Jose Garcia is brilliant as Victor Gamieux.

MAANAM BYC PIEKNIE

Watchable. Too much John Porter and his foul language. At the same time a history of Maanam with a number of their songs set against political history of the past decades. Too much voice given to musicians who are neither educated nor eloquent.

THE IDOL

Watchable. Child actor Qais Attallah is an upcoming star. The film is a story of an extraordinary effort put in becoming a singer and of how a humble boy from Gaza, Mohammed Assaf, became a pop idol. His best songs are not in the film. You get a peek behind the scene of the "Arab Idol" show.

OJCIEC

Watchable. The film is nonsense. Random scenes showing off a sickly dizzying variety of filming styles. A few parallel stories add to the confusion. Pathologies which grow building up tension but stay pathologies only: birthgiving, a crying newborn, a 16 y.o. hooker, a guy pimping his sister, a chap photographing dead bodies, an old fellow whose son wants to poison him tells stories about pervert sex orgies in a concentration camp, lots of drugs and cigarettes, a sex murder and a mass one.

THE GIRL KING

Watchable. Quite good but also quite gay as the queen is a lesbian. But the film gets better and better when her tragic love affair threatens the country. You follow both an emotional story of unrequited love and politics in the making. All in all it shows how a ruler's sexual orientation can change the course of history. I wonder if it was her who set the grounds for modern gender equality in Sweden.

LOLO

Watchable. It's French and about love meaning lots of talking about sex. In spite of that the situation humour is quite good, at some points I laughed aloud. Dany Boon in the lead role.

ME BEFORE YOU

Recommended. Very British, including the aversion to watching subtitled movies. While it has some funny moments (like the girl chasing her runner-boyfriend on a bike shouting: "I'm supporting you!") but in a large part it's deeply moving and tear-jerking. It's also studded with very clever lines and to-the-point puns. Fantastic cast too, including Sam Claflin ("The Hunger Games"), Joanna Lumley's ("The Wolf of Wall Street") cameo, Charles Dance ("Alien 3"). It's a fairy-tale love story which doesn't end well.

W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)

Watchable. Gripping but feels protracted and is poorly made (cinematography, make-up). The "solution" is predictable.

A WALK IN THE WOODS

Recommended. A brilliant satire on aging. Bill Bryson made into a full-length movie. Full of quotations and Bryson-style jokes.

CONJURING 2

Watchable. Set mostly in Enfield, North London this time. Based on actual events, shows the real people's pictures over the credits. Btw, no scares follow the payroll! While I've always considered James Wan the master of horror, here you feel more of Hollywood workshop than the hand of the master. Like in a standard American horror the scares start early, are of the startling variety and are evenly interspersed. It's a bit too long too. In the first installment tension was being built up till the audience shrieked together in sheer (sic!) horror. It also gave me sleepless nights. This time you get scared over the whole film but to a lesser degree. The bloke who reportedly died of a heart attack during the film must have not seen part one.
It's another of Warren's cases so my guess is the 3rd film is coming.

ABLUKA (FRENZY)

Watchable. Very heavy, especially for dog lovers. I'm not too sure what's it about and it's slow.

PIPER

Watchable. A short film preceding "Finding Dory". It's lovely but without words and I'm not sure what it's about - a hungry bird?

FINDING DORY 3D

Recommended. A lovely little fish with big eyes is desperate to find her parents. Deeply moving. About family, friends, animals, helping the handicapped ones. It also gently reproaches kids who touch everything. There's an after-credits scene.

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

Watchable. It took me long to get used to the oldfashioned language of Jane Austin. But it's a well-acted satire on posh people of her time. A good joke about 12 commandments.

W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)

Watchable again. I liked it better at the second screening. It's interesting how the road they drive back unwinds the spiral. Good music, sound and sound effects.

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

Recommended after seeing for the second time. Still funny, including the 12 commandments. Delightful classical music. Some historical insight (peas being a novelty). Brilliant lines, to the point and so-Englishly indirect.

TOISET TYTOT (OTHER GIRLS)


Watchable. Very Finnish culturally. About typical teenage girls' problems - easy to identify yourself with but nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, what hinders watching is the form: an ordinary film gets interspersed with animation or girls' off-screen philosophical comments.

NOUS TROIS OU RIEN (ALL THREE OF US)

Recommended. Laugh-out-loud funny, with plenty of situation humour in spite of the serious subjects of dictatorships, tortures and community work in a crime-ridden neighbourhood.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

Watchable. I needed de-braining after a tough day and I got just that. In all other situations it would have been too annoying: poor acting, lame jokes and lines like "I don't normally hold grudge but you killed my parents." CGIs are class B too.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR

I skipped both "Conjuring" films as I had seen them earlier and I saw:

BEFORE I WAKE
THE BABADOOK

Watchable. Neither of the movies is very scary, in fact the horror part is quite stupid. The realistic - psychological layer is much better in both.


UN HOMME A LA HAUTEUR (UP FOR LOVE)

Watchable. First of all, Jean Dujardin is not a real dwarf. Secondly, even though it's a drama about how small we are in our superficiality, the dwarf is rich and a true gentleman so the main message seems to be: if you're unattractive, be rich and superpolite. The dog scenes are still demeaning but laugh-out-loud funny.

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN 3D

Watchable. Full of cliches. But at the same time with a handful of africanist flavours ("Chief Mbongo, I presume?", warriors whose faces and bodies are whitened, a fictional Bantu-like language, George Washington's letter to King Leopold II politically correctly altered to convey a strictly and strongly anti-slavery message, African customs and music). Christopher Waltz brilliant as ever. I have some objections to the cinematography though - while the jungle is dark due to the lack of sunlight, here open space is brownish-dark too. Equatorial Africa is colourful in reality and in the film it got darkened and browned for no reason. Poor 3D. One endearing scene is the lions' greeting - incredible what current CGI technology is capable of.

TINI: THE NEW LIFE OF VIOLETTA

Watchable. Shot in Almeria, Spain as well as Taormina and Catania on the eastern coast of Sicilly, Italy, it's a perfect holiday movie. The plot and events are silly. The characters are cute. Long-legged Martina Stoessel is lovely in the leading role. Everyone around her is charming and the holiday spots picturesque. Unfortunately in Poland it's shown in the dubbed version only. The music is just something light holiday-style but it stays with you.

THE BFG 3D

Walked out. For children only and for slow ones in that. Dubbed.

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

Watchable. Appears to be a remake of "Marguerite". This one made me uneasy too - it's like being forced to laugh at somebody's misfortuene. Still, this one is more humane than the French one and with less sex of course. Hugh Grant looking old and Meryl Streep act just fine but the greatest role is the one of little known Simon Helberg as the pianist Cosme McMoon.

CHOCOLAT

Watchable. It's similar to the Polish TV series "Bodo" - from rags to riches and to rags again, with a stint in prison. Omar Sy is great both as a clown, when he resembles young Eddie Murphy, and in the more dramatic part, when he fights for racial equality. It shows how you can make an interesting film about any obscure character because every human being can be a subject. Still, the story is quite grim and about some circus and theatre actor so basically not my cup of tea.

Another portion of overdue reviews:

QUAND ON A 17 AN (BEING 17)

Watchable. A gay film. It's not about adolescence as such. It's about young homosexuals. The school and family motifs are fine, convincingly shot and acted but the core topic is very niche.

45 YEARS

Walked out. About a couple who have been with each other forever, know each other inside out and keep talking about the obvious. The most boring family ever.

EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE (EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT)

Watchable. Black and white. Slow and drowsy yet about secluded settlements in the Amazon and about how such little societies develop (in the most distorted ways). About individual people's moral ambivalence too.

FAIR PLAY

Recommended. About a sportsgirl whose closest family and social circle is so keen on success they don't mind taking themselves or giving to her harmful performance-enhancing drugs. Quite chilling.

A BIGGER SPLASH

Watchable. Dakota Johnson is even hotter here than in the "Fifty Shades of Grey". The island is beautiful. The drama between the people isn't, part of it is plain weird. The immigrant invasion on the island forms the background for no apparent reason.

VAN VALAMI FURCSA EN MEGMAGYARAZHATATLAN (FOR SOME INEXPLICABLE REASON)

Walked out. For some inexplicable reason someone made this movie about a lazy loser. I saw no reason to continue watching it.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

Watchable. The thriller part about being locked up in a cellar by a psycho is great. The SF ending with alien's mechanical-looking tentacles is lousy. Just the very final scene of choosing the direction at a road fork is tongue-in-cheek.


AFRYKAMERA 2016

L'OEIL DU CYCLONE (EYE OF THE STORM)

Recommended. A powerful courtroom drama tackling the issue of child soldiers. Makes you understand the criminal in charge which doesn't mean you get anywhere near being fond of him.


THE MODEL

Recommended. It's so true about every young girl's life (love, friendship, intrigue, sex abuse, awe at glamour) - this one is just more glamorous than average as the girl is a 16 y.o. model in Paris.


AFRYKAMERA 2016

SEMBENE!

Watchable. Funny to discover that Ousmane Sembene, who I knew as a writer, was predominantly a film-maker. He even tackled the female circumcision problem. While you learn such trivia, the film overall is quite dull.

A FORK, A SPOON AND A KNIGHT

Watchable. Nothing special or important but it's quite uplifting to see a community of teenage boys from disadvantaged backgrounds meeting to play chess.

LA BELLE AT THE MOVIES

Watchable. Dull yet heart-warming - about the history of cinema in the Congo. Kinshasa doesn't have any cinema venue now, yet several people remember their exact locations.


THE BOSS

Watchable. A standard American comedy about a vicious boss. Some glamour in the beginning. Very American about being tough in business. Acted well, involving but not very funny.

AFRYKAMERA 2016

OBURONI

Recommended. Hilarious (an infectiously giggling relative, a guy carrying a wiggling armadillo etc.) about a Polish Ghanaian looking for his father back in Africa. Ghana looks the same as 20 years ago. His journey, somewhere between ourbursts of laughter, truly touches your heart. A sad ending is made up for with some amusing comments at the very end.

MEMORY CARDS

Watchable. Zanzibar is pure beauty but the film doesn't answer the question of how and why the writer disappeared and doesn't even formulate it clearly.

I'm still copying and putting in order my notes to finally post about the long overdue movies. Some chronology problems.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - (NOC BATMANA) THE NIGHT OF BATMAN

After so many years, including some before I started blogging, I couldn't remember which of several Batman movies I had seen and which I hadn't so, to make sure I miss nothing, I skipped only the two I had seen and blogged about before: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "The Dark Knight Rises" and saw the two I wasn't sure about:

BATMAN BEGINS

Watchable. Great music. Too long and feels protracted. Michael Caine is fantastic as a butler.

THE DARK KNIGHT

Watchable. Great music. Doesn't feel protracted thanks to a better storyline but still too long. Joker is superb - both Heath Ledgers acting and the script. His genius yet psychopathic thinking makes the movie.


SZABADESES (FREEFALL)

Recommended. These stories are so extraordinary you can see them again with interest and pleasure. Brazilian DJ Amon Tobin made the accompanying music which is both intrinsically brilliant and a perfect match for the very film.

ARGENTINA, ARGENTINA

Recommended. Beautiful, superbly composed music-wise and background-wise. I'd love to get immersed in the show again.

CORKI DANCINGU (THE LURE)

Watchable. The first Polish mermaid movie. The mermaids are predatory creatures, surgery doesn't exclude magic, they're very down-to-earth. I loved the joke about their language skills: "Where did you learn Polish so well?" "On the beach in Bulgaria." At the same time I hated the filth and vulgarity of the dialogues. It's a musical with stupid songs with obscene lyrics. The costumes are good though.

EJDEHA VARED MISHAVAD (A DRAGON ARRIVES!)

Watchable. Great music and acting. Mystery but unfortunately also some drowsiness.

L'HERMINE (COURTED)

Watchable. It's watchable only as long as you believe it's a courtroom drama. In fact it's bitterly disappointing as the case never gets solved. Instead it'a a story of the judge's love affair. Slow-paced too.

LES BEAUX JOURS

Recommended. It goes in smoothly and you stay in the film atmosphere even after leaving the cinema. While it is about an illicit affair and lover's unfaithfulness, it's toned down. Each character appears to accepts the unwelcome love. Good dialogues, lots of subtleties.

SA OCK PA JORDEN (HEAVEN ON EARTH)

Watchable. A pleasant though insipid story. Likeable characters. Too long.

BONE TOMAHAWK

Watchable. A mixture of a western with a slasher which, though slightly protracted and over the top at times, has very good dialogues, atmosphere and is extremely well-acted.

THE 5TH WAVE

Recommended. The class B trailer was so bad I didn't even notice the film was by J.J. Abrams. Luckily the trailer just doesn't do justice to the actual film. The scenes of the first four waves are extensive enough, perfectlt plausible and visually impressive, they just throw you in the presented world entirely. Later the story sets into familiar tracks: a love story, an army boot camp for children and worm-like aliens like in "Ender's Game", an actress from "Hunger Games", human-alien host dilemmas like in "The Host" and just as you become complacent, surprises start popping up one after another. Finally a film of a perfect length too. I'm looking forward to the 6th wave implied in the ending.

A ESMORGA

Walked out. It's slow and at some point they just sit and drink and stumble and laugh at it. I'm curious what happened next and I'd still consider watching it but either with a fast forward key or on telly doing something else to... kill the time till the end of the film.

LETNIE PRZESILENIE (SUMMER SOLSTICE)

Recommended. Two hot young blond actors: Filip Piotrowicz (17, Polish, living in Oxford) and Jonas Nay (26, German, living in Lübeck) are enough to watch it already. The plot is peculiar too. It's different from other Second World War films - it's more multi-dimensional and what I see as the main meaning of war is its uncertainty.

QUEEN OF THE DESERT

Recommended. Mostly for the stunning cinematography. But also for the 2 hours 8 minutes of deep thoughts on how to deal with sadness.

TRUTH

Recommended. A film on journalism and politics with a powerful ending about what it's for. About the US but will ring bells in Poland too. Great music, especially during final credits.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR

Recommended. While it follows all the standards of an American supernatural horror, it does so masterfully, keeping you in the grip of fear from the beginning to the end. The exotic Indian setting adds a flavour without being gaudy. Try to look at the person next to you during the film - they'll have a phantom aura in the darkness of the cinema. The dog in the film is cute warming the movie. It's funny its Polish release coincides with the same day release of "The Jungle Book". The final credits score is horrifying as well. I was wondering whether I should stay till the end for a potential after-the-credits scene but I noticed the ex-friend-turned-psychopath in the audience and got double scared. What if he had got inspired by the film? I got home wonderfully scared.

BOMBAY (1995)

Watchable. Terribly protracted scenes, lots of sad music. There were some nice touches though like some pranks they play on each other and one good song. Poor acting. Tamil.

ULTIMA THULE (ICELANDIC FILM FESTIVAL)

BRIM (UNDERCURRENT)

Watchable. Mostly out of curiosity what life on a boat looks like. Other than that it's like watching ordinary people, nothing enticing in the cinematography either.

FORELDRAR (PARENTS)

Watchable. Peculiar characters struggling with common dilemmas regarding conception or child raising are involving. They're over the top at times though.

BOERN (CHILDREN)

Watchable. Hot criminal dyed blond - deep in heart a good guy, just with a short fuse and a schizophreniac make for a lively film. Not much of a plot, other than a father saving his son from bullies.

VEDRAMOT

Watchable. Tackles the uneasy issue of child sex abuse at home but is mostly about hippies.

SODOMA REYKJAVIK

Watchable. Refreshing as its punk. But it's just too crazy ro evoke any emotions, even amusement.


UMIMACHI DIARY

Watchable. Very warm, family film about adults. Everyone is invariably polite and calm so you can just sit and enjoy. No real action though, everything is so mundane and correct.


IX PRASKI FESTIWAL FILMOW MLODZIEZOWYCH

WIECEJ NIZ MURY

Recommended. The only full-length movie in the festival. It's just great fun: realistic + fantasy script, fun, natural dialogues, mature acting of young actors, good music and great camerawork and editing. No preaching included.

MUZYCZNY SPARING

Too short to walk out. Resembles "Polskie gowno".

DRZEWO OGNIA

Watchable. Great music, a bit too long.

BROTHERS

Watchable. Well-acted but what is it about?

PIJACY

Watchable. Good ending, but what is it before that?

TAKIE PRZEZYCIE MIALAM

Watchable. Well shot in black and white, gives you a glimpse into what you'd consider a ruined life but which it isn't from the person's point of view. About taking care of a severely handicapped boy.

FERAJNA Z HOOVERA -WARSZAWO MA

Recommended. Beautiful cinematography and mood-setting slow motion pictures.

PROSTA RZECZ

Watchable. The shoe-repairer joke is hilarious. Other than that it's just a reasonable world view of the shoe-repairer.

NAD JEZIOREM

Watchable. Beautiful pictures but poor cinematography and editing.

Z GLOWA W CHMURACH

Watchable. Nice music, about nothing.

KON

Too short to walk out. Boring, what's the point?

KLOPOTY Z PIANA

Too short to walk out. Rubber duck, weird non-duck noises, the kind of film I didn't like even as a child.

OBOK

Watchable. Interesting form, the subject just in the beginning. It puts you right in the dumb people's world.

EVANESCENCE/ULOTNOSC

Watchable. Bad music, poor recording, voice strangely extended. The plus is the final credits explaining it's about a kidnapped daughter which makes you put all the weird disconnected scenes into perspective.

ODWAZNA

Watchable. Nice music and video, silly story.

DOBRY CZLOWIEK

Watchable. Refers indirectly to "Bogowie", interesting psychologically. Still, somehow lacks the teeth.

KROLEWNA

Watchable. You have to put up with a baby on the screen but the topic of adolescent parents is important.


BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE AT IMAX

Watchable. Very good. The only downsides are: editing which lets in protracted fight scenes but eliminates ones which would explain little details e.g. how Lex Luthor gets to the spaceship and the like and stereotypical female characters: either a skimply clad warrior or a nurse-like love object in a more decent, though tight, knee-length long-sleeve dress. That aside, it combines two stories to fill the gaps in them as well as to form a cohesive multi-superhero story, brings in intriguing new characters, has a great "X-Men"-like ending and is just big fun to watch for 151 minutes. Very good music by Hans Zimmer. A cameo by Vikram Ghandi as himself. The African bit takes place among Tuaregs in West Africa in a place called... Nairomi. Great actors: Ben Affleck is superb as Batman but it's Jesse Eisenberg who absolutely steals the show. Action is fast - Zack Snyder taking over from Chris Nolan has made the best "Batman" movie so far. Unfortunately it seems to be going towards something similar to "Avengers" - lots of superheroes and lots of fighting is to be expected.

LA OBRA DEL SIGLO (THE PROJECT OF THE CENTURY)

Walked out. Terribly socrealistic and quite slow.

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2

Recommended. While there are just a few real laughs, it's a hugely uplifting family movie, very positive, great entertainment. Makes you forget your own troubles.

KI & KA

Recommended. Great music, an uplifting film. A drama but with events coming smoothly one after another. Makes you forget all problems and ready to act.

HIGH RISE

Watchable. It's like "Lord of the Flies" adult cut. The film is set just like the book - in the 70s: the dark ages of smoking, hippie sex lives, where leather and furs are synonyms of luxury. The only SF here is the eponymous high rise - SF to the English, I mean. I spent the whole film searching for SF in it and analyzing its inspirations. A nice touch is punk rock during the credits - very appropriate for the movie subject.

GOD'S NOT DEAD 2

Recommended. Great courtroom drama. There's something which looks like the beginning of part 3 after the credits. The credits are interesting as well as they list dozens of cases where religion was or was attempted to be banned in different situations across the US.

GEJSZA

Walked out. Painfully slow, boring, about criminals, actors often murmur something hard to understand, it seems to lack purpose. I asked the director why he made it. He appeared to struggle to find an explanation and said he had just felt like telling this story. There's a scene where you see a woman stop, then you hear high heels, and then you see a man who got out of the car in the meantime.

MUSTANG

Recommended. Just as hard-hitting when seen for the second time. And action doesn't relent for a minute.

HARDCORE HENRY

Watchable. The plot is just a pretext to show off the camerawork. There's only one take towards the end which shows the main protagonist, all the rest is shown with his eyes. Jerky camera movements together with first-person vision as well as the shoddy plot and distinct stereotypical characters resemble a computer game. Great music by Clint Mansell.

THE JUNGLE BOOK 3D AT IMAX

Watchable. The animals are cute, CGIs impressive, very good 3D visuals - finally a "Jungle Book" film which isn't cartoon. Sadly it's all too long, several scenes should be shortened, lengthy speeches and conversations are too much even for an adult.

The movie was preceded by trailers of "Captain America: Civil War" - with dreadful dubbing and lousy translation, seems like no 3D needed for the film either, and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" which looks equally impressive as the previous part.

MARGUERITE

Watchable. Supposedly a comedy, in fact it's a sad story of a woman who'd do anything to be loved and of people's hypocrisy. I just felt sorry for her. Apart from her dreadful singing, the music in the film is beautiful.

CHRONIC

Watchable. You know from scene one it's going to be a good film: beautiful cinematography and some tension from the onset (pun intended). Very good acting. Lots of field for interpretation. The only unpleasant thing about it is the very subject - terminal illnesses and body disfigurements.

INREALLIFE

Recommended. Shocking facts of how Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. serve the CIA, how teenagers are manipulated by world-class psychologists working for corporations into porn, tweeting or gaming addiction, how porn ruins both sexes' lives.

THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT 

Watchable. Surprisingly very good, nothing felt too long, unlike in the previous two instalments, excellent visual and sound effects, very good music, the plot, even though derivative (you can find strong "The Maze Runner" and "Harry Potter" and obviously "The Hunger Games" inspirations among others), is quite crafty too. Miles Teller and Bill Skarsgard steal the show.

SPOTLIGHT

Recommended. Now I understand why it smashed all other Oscar hopees. The story unfolds and then builds up piece by piece. The best is the final written information on the screen when the film ends.

LES INNOCENTES (THE INNOCENTS)

Recommended. Touching, about un unusual story, or at least unheard of as there have been several but never talked about. Carefully structured and shot.

RISTTUULES (IN THE CROSSWIND)

Walked out. The film is built (and shot) as a sequence of panoramic pictures in black and white with the camera moving painfully slowly between them.

PASOLINI

Watchable. I enjoyed watching Italiani veri and some scenes which were beautiful visually, I loved the music (both opera and ethnic). I disliked the chaotic overly intellectual plot enhanced with attempts at shocking (gay sex).

ZAPORA

Recommended. An excellent documentary with lively stories told by veterans and plentiful explanatory commentary. Beautiful graphics.

ZOOLANDER 2

Watchable. As all jokes are based on Derek Zoolander's stupidity, it's not funny. Still, about 40 superstar cameos (Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle, Alexander Skarsgard etc. - not that I recognised him or Ms. Moss) and clever references to our culture of environmental awareness and political correctness make it well worth seeing.

LONDON HAS FALLEN

Watchable. While you hear French and Japanese in this film, nearly all English spoken is American - even if the character is the Canadian president or London inhabitants. There's only one short bit of British accent towards the end. CGIs look like CGIs. What's innovatory is the plot - terrorists disgused as the police and the funeral organized in result of poisong the PM. You get thrown in the middle of the action so it's best to see it on the big screen.

HISTORIA ROJA (THE STORY OF SWARM (ROJ) OR YOU HEAR BETTER UNDERGROUND)

Watchable. Lively action, brutality, good editing, great music. Unfortunately the film is so dark it's hard to distinguish between protagonists and  it's chaotic. It also shows people in different uniforms, uses acronyms of organizations without explaining who is who or how many sides are in the conflict. First it says that cursed soldiers fought the Soviet occupants. Later you see Poles slaughtering other Poles. I just couldn't make out who was shooting who and why. Whatever the film is about, it clearly glorifies violence.

OSCARS 2016

I love Chris Rock! I feared he would make racist anti-white jokes. Instead he's against political correctness and clearly states that what black actors need are opportunities. He rightly points out Leonardo di Caprio gets a great opportunity every year while Jamie Foxx who "was so great that when he was Ray they unplugged the real Ray" doesn't. Or about women who are no longer asked what they are wearing: "Men aren't asked because they all wear the same!"

No wins for my favourites so far. But I admit I haven't seen "Spotlight", "The Big Short" or "The Danish Girl".

Oh, no! That awful "Mad Max: Fury Road" gets 6 Oscars.

Visual Effects for "Ex Machina" is not too bad. At least not for "Mad Max".

Star Wars robots (all 3 of them) on the stage!

Scout cookies replace the pizza order gimmick. Barely funny. But at least I learnt Leonardo di Caprio had made 30 million.

Mark Rylance winning the Best Supporting Actor award for being the Soviet spy in "Bridge of Spies" is fine with me. He was brilliant. His speech made an impression as he said "I don't know how they separate my supporting acting from your glorious supporting acting" to his awarhttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6904490964741603406#editor/target=post;postID=7083504047651953856d rivals.

Best Documentary Feature "Amy". Exactly what I rooted for.

Hungarian "Son of Saul" deservedly wins the foreign category.

I hated the "Till It Happens To You" being nominated as the best song because the film - "The Hunting Ground" wasn't. To my amazement the vice president came to the Oscar gala, where he called himself "the least qualified man here" but came to urge everyone to take "a pledge to intervene when a consent has not or cannot be given". Lady Gaga also made a statement with her powerful rendition of the song.

Brie Larson won Best Actress In A Leading Role for "Room" just liked I hoped and she even thanked the movie goers for seeing her film.

Shame Lady Gaga's song didn't win. The worst song performed by Sam Smith did. I just could't stand his voice.
 
Ennio Morricone deservedly won the Best Original Score for "The Hateful Eight" and paid a tribute to his rival John Williams. I really appreciated it. Two greats had been nominated at the same time.

At his 6th nomination Leonardo di Caprio finally wins! He gets a standing applause and gives a beautiful speech on climate change and on how we should take our planet for granted just like he's not taking his Oscar for granted.

High time for me to see "Spotlight". Quite a lot of movie clampdown on sex criminals this year by the way.

I followed http://schoener-fernsehen.com/live/stream/de/PRO7/PRO%20SIEBEN/ without significant technical disruptions this year.

EL CLAN

Watchable. Based on true events it portrays a psychopathic kidnapper and his accomplice family so the story is interesting in itself. However, it's a tad chaotic, poorly scripted, directed, shot. The most interesting bit is a guy throwing himself from the fifth floor and... surviving.

BEFORE THE OSCAR GALA
 
Who would I like to win?
 
Leonardo di Caprio because he did more than any other actor in history.  I'm not even talking about his eating sushi (raw fish) and steak tartare (raw meat) on the screen but that he entered the horse carcass! I wouldn't ever do it and I suppose most people, even actors, wouldn't either. Respect for commitment and authenticity. If he didn't get it even this year, it would be outrageous.

Among the others who absolutely should get an Oscar is Roger Deakins for cinematography in "Sicario" - he elevated cinema to a whole new level of brutality, just like "Oldboy" years ago marked a new level of showing cruelty, now did "Sicario" and that's mostly due to the cinematography - so naturalistically nightmareous it's weird that actors didn't run from the filmset. Alan Robert Murray should by the way get an Oscar for sound editing as it completet the horror in the movie. 

Also Lenny Abrahamson for directing and Emma Donoghue for the adapted screenplay of "Room" - an exceptional storyline, where after, like I had thought, the climax, long continuation follows and it's no less hard-hitting than the first part of the film (who's seen it, knows where the division line goes). On the whole, that second part is the most meaningful because the events which inspired the first half were reported all over the world, while what happens to such persons afterwards disappears from the media even thought it's no less frightening.  

In the foreign language category Laszlo Nemes for "Son of Saul" which is impossible to forget. 

In the visual effects category Richard McBride for the bear scene in "The Revenant" - the computer-generated bear looks like a real one.

JAB TAK HAI JAAN (AS LONG AS I LIVE) (2012)

Watchable. Painfully slow for the first hour, with slow music, nothing much happening and all the modern Bollywood cliches (he's poor, she's filthy rich, they fall in unfortunate love). Still, it's heart-warming and quite moving for the next two hours. With Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif.

DEADPOOL

Watchable. I didn't like the mostly vulgar jokes but enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek comment on Ryan Reynolds (by himself in Deadpool's costume) and opening credits listing e.g. Hot Chick as one of protagonists. Stiil, it's vulgar language plus lots of hip hop and the trailer slogan of "With great power comes great irresponsibility" should refer to the movie makers exploiting the X-Men's fame.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - ANTYWALENTYNKI (ANTIVALENTINE'S)

THE BOY

Watchable. Never truly scary, it's however full of mystery but subsequently gets ruined when the secret is revealed and the film ends like a classic slasher. The drowning scene is impressive.

THE GIFT

Watchable. The stalker isn't very annoying and the whole plot looks like an artificial set-up. But of course stalking involves so it's easy to follow till the end.

PRISONERS

Watchable when seen again. What makes the biggest impression at the second time is how nerve-racking the whole situation is for the families of the kidnapped girls. When you know who-done-it, you no longer sit on the edge of the seat so it's not that thrilling watched again.


SPRAWIEDLIWY

Recommended. It's not just a film about a Pole helping Jews under the patronage of the President of Poland (which is likely to put several people off). It's a moving film about universal moral dilemmas.

NA GRANICY

Watchable. Within this run-down genre, it's quite good, enough tension. One rubbish scene where a hypothermia victim's body is... rubbed instead of warmed gradually. The scriptwriter got duly reproached by me at the conference after the press screening.

THAT SUGAR FILM

Recommended. Before this documentary about the dangers of excessive sugar consumption I was going to buy chocolates. After the screening I didn't. So it worked.

AS MIL E UMA NOITES - VOL. 1 O INQUIETO (ARABIAN NIGHTS - VOL. 1 THE RESTLESS ONE)

Walked out. Slow-paced nonsense full of cursing and vulgarity.

ZOOTROPOLIS IN 3D

Recommended. Good 3D. Great fun, including a great translation by Bartosz Wierzbieta in Polish "Zwierzogrod", e.g. calling Rodentia Chomiczowka (hamster-related and a real suburb of Warsaw at the same time). It's also a captivating (pun intended) thriller with, clear to adults, references to immigrants and ISIS - an amazing achievement in a children's cartoon.

UMBRA

Recommended again. You know it's a masterpiece when you see it again and interpret differently, even more when you talk to others and realise that everyone, including the film director perceives it differently. And the music, acting, make-up enthrall no less than the mysterious story/stories.

GODS OF EGYPT IN 3D

Recommended. Spectacular. Visually absolutely stunning, worth seeing at IMAX (for me the screen seemed too small). The plot is a perfect Hollywood make. Ladies' costumes look strongly inspired by belly dancers'.

JUTRO BEDZIE FUTRO

Recommended. A great documentary without moral preaching. Fur industry is rife in Poland even though Poles don't wear fur coats. Foxes are bred for fur export. The appalling conditions in which they are kept haven't moved hearts. What causes outrage of people living in the vicinity of such farms is environmental damage, escaping animals attacking their hens and the lack of promised jobs. A gripping film avoiding graphic images and showing why the fur industry, while unwelcome, is so hard to fight. The fashion designer saying he's "only icing the cake" is a gem.

GOOSEBUMPS

Watchable. The highschool, the police and the family layer of the film are pleasant to watch. The fantasy layer is not: silly, simplistic and using all the rundown monsters like carnivorous plants, a ventriloquist dummy, an invisible boy, zombies, a gigantic mantis, a werewolf etc. Very predictable.

RENTANEKO (RENT-A-CAT)

Recommended. The cats are cute and the people endearing - each in their own way. A comedy drama about contemporary life where everyone is lonely with little prospects to break this predicament.

0.5 MM

Watchable. At 3 hours 18 minutes and several overlong scenes it's just too long. The story itself is peculiar, involving and very humane.

HAIL, CAESAR!

Watchable. Satire on Hollywood and religions full of movie stars. It's all fun but just mildly amusing, not a laugh-out-loud comedy.

BROOKLYN

Watchable. A very righteous film about a decent girl surrounded by friendly people on emigration. Domhnall Gleeson looks hot. Lame story, some interesting characters. Doesn't deserve any Oscar.

MUSTANG

Recommended. A depiction of teenage girls' lives in rural Turkey where sexual abuse, virginity tests conducted by a male gyn, hypocrisy and forced marriage rule.

A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS

Watchable. An inside view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Natalie Portman speaking Hebrew. Other than that nothing to attract a viewer.

UMBRA

Recommended. Poetic with fantastic music. Reminiscent of Bill Viola as well as Baginski's "Cathedral" while it tackles rape and pedophilia. Perfectly enacted too.

MOW MI MARIANNA (CALL ME MARIANNA)

Watchable. Transsexualism isn't exactly my thing but this film has taught me something new - apparently huge doses of female hormones can lead to a stroke. I found the two parallel stories annoying at first, especially that one is in the form of a play seemingly being prepared. But altogether it tells a full story of turning male to female with its physical, social and psychological consequences.

THE ASSASSIN

Watchable. Silly, typical Chinese kung fu plot. Beautiful visually: the landscapes, the costumes, the scenography make for a pleasant watching.

D'ARDENNEN (THE ARDENNES)

Walked out. About lowlifes. I hate seeing them in real life and can't see a point in watching them at the cinema. If only they were as intelligent as in Tarantino's films. But no. They aren't. Just lowlifes they are.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC POLSKIEGO KRYMINALU (THE NIGHT OF POLISH CRIME FILMS)

PITBULL

Watchable. Chaotic, loose scenes with no comprehensible storyline, yet lively, showing all sorts of pathologies within the police force.

PITBULL. NOWE PORZADKI (NEW ORDERS)

Recommended. Comprehensible, twisted and contorted story line, beautifully shot, with fascinating characters. It comprises entirely of authentic dialogues and features real police and real criminals. Great action movie.

FOTOGRAF

Recommended. Seen for the second time it's still fascinating and definitely the best film of the marathon. Full of mystery and insight into Russian mentality (the film's banned in Russia) together with the criminal intrigue.

PSY (PIGS)

Walked out. Cliche lines, lousy plot, no fascinating crime either.


PLANETA SINGLI (PLANET SINGLE)

Watchable. Sometimes funny, e.g. to a little boy previously scorned by a teacher, now called over by him: "Nie boj sie, badz mezczyzna!" ("Don't be afraid, be a man!"), sometimes tear-jerking, never hilarious. A Polish film scripted in one half by Americans, in one fourth by a Canadian and one fourth by a Pole. In result it looks like a frame-by-frame remake of a concoction of American rom-coms. It's also fairy-tale-like, very light entertainment. Far from real life online dating experiences.

CAROL

Watchable. It's boring, slow, phoney. None of the Oscar nominations justified apart from the score which creates old time Christmas charm.

THE FINEST HOURS 3D AT IMAX

Recommended. Chris Pine - handsome and acting superbly is the film's main asset. Combined with great visual effects and a clear storyline it makes for a pleasing watching. The final song is beautiful too.

LUCIFER

Watchable. Mexican village folklore is about the only asset of the otherwise slow film about nothing with ugly actors. A colourful bore.

ICH SEH, ICH SEH (GOODNIGHT MOMMY)

Watchable. Similar to "Funny Games" but here the two boys are children. With a horror twist. The storyline is good but poor acting and some pointless psychological/nudity scenes ruin the effect.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - TARANTINOC (TARANTINIGHT)

I skipped "The Hateful Eight" having seen it just 4 days earlier.

PULP FICTION

Recommended. The dialogues and situational surprises are a gem.

JACKIE BROWN

Recommended. A perfect heist movie. Keeps you trying to figure out who'll get the upper hand.


ALVIN AND THE CHIMPUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP

Recommended. Never mind the child-like voices of the chipmunks, especially in the Polish dubbing.  The pets are cute, the film hilarious (e.g. "I can't run so fast!" "Think about donuts!") and heart-gripping, the locations glamorous. A perfect family movie.

LA LOI DU MARCHE (THE MEASURE OF A MAN)

Watchable. Very realistic, like watching the protagonist minute by minute so it's quite slow, its aim is to help you relive some distressing life issues when it shows the eponymous law of market. Also, you can learn some trivia of supermarket security work.

JANIS

Watchable. Clearly made at the wake of the "Amy" success. But it lacks its drama. The film just consists of: people talking, Janis Joplin singing, people talking about her, Janis singing again etc. All in all it tells a sad story of a sensitive girl drugging herself to death.

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

PROPHET'S PREY

Watchable. While it tells the story of what happened, it doesn't explain how he managed to persuade all those people to give him all their money and their young daughters.

BURDEN OF PEACE

Watchable. Claudia Paz y Paz may look like a housewife but she's been the most effective General Attorney in Guatemalan history fighting corruption and getting drug gangs and war criminals prosecuted. The film lacks shocks or twists and turns. It's a well told story but taken the subject it could have more teeth and suspense.


RAMS

Watchable. A beautiful film about the love of animals and family. Sadly Iceland doesn't look as beautiful here as it does in real life.


15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

AILEEN WUORNOS. THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER

Watchable. Nick Broomfield at his usual mediocre. The hot subject deserves better. Still, it brings you face to face with the insane serial killer or maybe a serial rape attempts survivor (?) as the director managed to get her speak to the camera.


EXCENTRYCY, CZYLI PO SLONECZNEJ STRONIE ULICY

Walked out. Too fake. Everything seems forced. The protagonist's love interest is the worst actor/actress of the film - just totally implausible and theatrical.


15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

ATTACKING THE DEVIL

Watchable. It chronicles the struggle for compensation for thalidomide victims, highlighting how a stubborn journalist made it happen. Lacks suspense though.

JUVENILE LIAISON I

Watchable. Britain of the 70s is what all of Europe should be now - discipline in upbringing. Sadly it just follows one case after another without delving any deeper into short- and long-term effects.


LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG

Recommended. A beautiful, modern-world story about love and family. Moving at times, well-paced.

DEMAIN (TOMORROW)

Recommended. It tackles all future issues: food (growing edible plants in urban gardens), (green) energy, economy (zero growth), politics (power back to the people through power-sharing or drawing representatives at random rather than electing), education (hands-on, discovery approach). It says a disastrous future with scarce food, water and energy supplies is coming in 30-40 years but there's a way round it too. Even if the temperature is rising faster than ever before, we can survive changing the world as we know it.

CREED

Watchable. More interaction than action which means even a woman can stand a film about boxing. It's moving, a bit funny at times (Sylvester Stallone as old Rocky Balboa trains a rookie) but a little too long and that cancer is needless.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS 3D

Watchable. I loved the return of the original trilogy characters and the slower version of "Imperial March" over Darth Vader's remnants but why does Snoke look like Lord Voldemort?! An interesting take on "I'm your father" and the slow version of "Emperor's March". Rather poor 3D - not entirely bad but I expected more off such a blockbuster.

THE PEANUTS MOVIE

Watchable. Cute, endearing story, decent 3D but too many stories in one film which makes it too long as well.

MOJE CORKI KROWY (MY SISTER)

Recommended. Mostly sad due to the hospital subject but showing such realistically absurd people's reactions that you can't help but burst out laughing.

JOY

Watchable. Best to skip the first 45 minutes about nothing. But after that silly prelude it becomes a truly involving drama of fighting for one's business, freedom of choice and law.

THE HATEFUL EIGHT

Recommended. Tarantino is like wine - better and better from one movie to the next. I worried how I would stand 3 hours at the cinema but there was no dispensable second in the film and suspense was, slowly, minute but minute, growing. From the characteristic music and picture at the interlude up to the final brutality beating recent "Sicario" the script, acting, picture and sound have been masterfully put together.

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

THE LEADER, HIS DRIVER AND THE DRIVER'S WIFE

Walked out. The camera just follows the crew as they try to get an interview with someone not well known anyway. He doesn't have time for them. I decided not to waste mine either.

HYVASTI AFRIKKA (LEAVING AFRICA)

Watchable. Two close women friends: one Finnish and one Tanzanian have been providing sexual education and fighting stereotypes in Africa for decades. Now they're facing a smear campaign. While the film lacks clear-cut conclusion, it's just endearing to watch their friendship and entertaining classes.

MY JIHAD

Recommended. It shows the jihadists' recruitment process and gives hope presenting Muslim counsellors working with youngsters to keep them on the right pious path of Islam.


MON ROI

Walked out. A protracted film about weirdos, including a drug addict, who, halfway through the film, have a baby.  No way of identifying myself with any of the protagonists.

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

CITIZEN KHODORKOVSKY

Watchable. Slow, brings nothing new and is far from the point. It mentions speculations about him planning to run for president but lacks any more than evasive comments. The only thing worth noting is that Putin let him free on mercy grounds and Khodorkovsky doesn't contest that.

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

THE FEAR OF 13

Watchable. It's a monologue full of theatrical expression by a sentenced criminal which highlights how inefficient the American legal system is. So while the form is not exactly to my taste, the legal battle is unsettling.

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

A SYRIAN LOVE STORY

Watchable. I expected to learn more about Syrian politics. Instead that part of the film is terribly obscure. What makes viewing bearable is just the story of how the protagonists' relationship developed.

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

PROUD TO BE BRITISH (1973)
BEHIND THE RENT STRIKE (1979)

Watchable. Both are moderately interesting historically - portraying the times when Britain was white. Other than that they're quite skippable.

L'HOMME QUI REPARE LES FEMMES (THE MAN WHO MENDS WOMEN: THE WRATH OF HIPPOCRATES)

Recommended. An insightful film about the plague of rapes in the eastern Congo.

Trivia: Ben Affleck is one of Eastern Congo Initiative donors.

Another backlog to clear (partially):

LOVE THE COOPERS

Watchable.  Supposedly a comedy but hardly funny, sad rather. Another conflicted family full of people with weird habits. It didn't make me laugh even once.


WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL (2015)

SNOWPIERCER

Watchable. It's like "Soylent Green" on Trans-Siberian. Full of class struggle. I was curious of the vision of the future but it's just a class B movie.

CAT FUNERAL

Recommended. A very pleasant drama/rom-com with a cat (dead or alive) in the background. Several funny scenes e.g. the cat's reaction to people eating his food or parents arguing above their baby's pram: "Of course it's all daddy's fault!" "No, it's mummy's fault!" At the meeting after the screening I suggested to the director he should make a sequel about dogs which are easier to film.


15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

NO PLACE TO HIDE: THE REHTAEH PARSONS STORY

THE HUNTING GROUND

Recommended. Both films convey the same message: 95% rape claims are genuine which means 95% presumed victims tell the truth and only 5% rapists do. The thing is it's perpetrators who get authorities' trust! Statistics of false claims are just like for any other crime but no other crime victims are treated that appallingly. 1 out of 4 or 5 women gets raped. They are severely victimized later while the perpetrators are genuinely cared about. No one worries about the impact of the crime on victims' lives but authorities worry about the outcome for the criminal! The same situation in Canada and the US as elsewhere in the world.

"The Hunting Ground" has been nominated for an Oscar for... a song.

AKTORKA

Recommended. A documentary featuring celebrities like Meryl Streep as well as lesser known persons from Elzbieta Czyzewska's life. A story full of controversy: Did she get married to an American out of love or for an American passport? Was she overlooked for roles because she was Polish? Why did she fail in the US?

IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI (THE TALE OF TALES)

Watchable when seen for the second time. Didn't evoke emotions this time. But it's remarkably well-acted and there are details to the stories I forgot after the first viewing. Truly original.

LA MONTAGNE MAGIQUE (THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN)

Walked out. Prolonged sequences of animation in an unnerving jerky style with infrequent, slowly spoken commentary.

SZABADESES (FREE FALL)

Watchable. Great music: both vocal and instrumental. A few stories, all of which are interesting, some are fascinating, one superb (the reversed childbirth).

MA MA

Watchable. The film's very Spanish - it's a declaration of enjoying your life regardless of circumstances. About living. Here everyone has fun. Watching this I was also full of awe of how good Spanish healthcare must be - everyone is so nice, caring and you get all appointments and treatments in no time. Unfortunately it's one of those mainstream movies which praise radio- and chemotherapy. And the subject dies all the same.

BELLE ET SEBASTIEN: L'AVENTURE CONTINUE (BELLE & SEBASTIAN: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES)

Watchable. Not as beautiful as the first part. It's very pleasing to watch, ends well, offers some Alpine landscapes. But the story lacks depth and even the mountain views are quite monotonous.

ROOM

Recommended. An Irish film set in the US and spoken in American accent. I can't make out why. Nevertheless it's an amazing thriller which seems to be based on the Cleveland case. Half the film is about living as a captive and the escape plot. The second half is trying to rebuild your life after the unimaginable horror you lived for a number of years. In-depth, up close. Brilliant.

BRIDGE OF SPIES

Recommended. An excellent thriller: based on facts, superbly scripted and acted, with lots of tension from the beginning to the end, with a pinch of humour (e.g. after the counsel got mugged and had his coat stolen the other side's spy says: "What would you expect when it was 5th Avenue's Burberry?"), courtroom drama and moral dilemmas. Also an excellent scene repetition where jumping over a fence means something different in cold war Berlin and in the US.

KAMA SUTRA: A TALE OF LOVE (1996)

Watchable. Beautiful visually, full of elaborate costumes and scenography, with obligatory Indian music, at the same time quite sad - 5 people suffering from unrequitted or forbidden love in one movie!

CZERWONY PAJAK

Watchable. The whole film is built on understatements, really - the whole film. Lots of protracted silent scenes so it's easy to switch off your focus and miss the essential. The only plus of it is that when after long silence you suddenly get the killing, it makes impression. There's also a good effect where first you hear the killer's hammer and later the same sound when his coffin is put together. The story is fictitious but based on the knowledge of criminal profiling and forensics. The topic of a serial killer is certainly sensational but here the execution of the movie is just annoying.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - (NOC IGRZYSK SMIERCI) THE NIGHT OF THE HUNGER GAMES

THE HUNGER GAMES (2012)
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (2013)
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 (2014)
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 2 (2015)

Recommended/watchable/watchable/watchable respectively when re-seen. The first instalment, even though I had seen it the most times, still bewitches not only with the visuals but also with the plot. There are always details you won't remember. Other parts are still fun but without the 'wow!' effect when seen again.

AFERIM!

Watchable. A black and white film presenting a world old gone: full of overt and widely accepted racial predjudice, sexual abuse and slavery. Original but disturbing at times. Clearly power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Part of unknown history of Gypsy slavery in Romania. It's the Romanian Oscar candidate.

WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL

I went to a meeting with two film editors: Agnieszka Glinska and Marcin Kot Bastkowski. Here are some funny quotes:
"Czasem film wygral festiwal, a jakby jury to zobaczylo, to by sie zdziwilo." ("Sometimes a film has won a festival but if the jury saw it, they'd be surprised.")
"Kiedys mialam sytuacje, ze rezyser nie chcial przyjsc do montazowni, bo nie chcial patrzec na to, co zrobil." ("I once had a situation where the film director didn't want to come to the editing room because he didn't want to look at what he had done.")
"Teoretycznie moglam tu dorysowac lub dopisac, ze mialo byc to, tylko nie mialam tego nakreconego." ("Theoretically I could draw or write something extra here to show it was to be there. The thing was I didn't have it shot.")
"Ktos kiedys stwierdzil, ze film to aktor i operator. I siedz tu w kinie 20 godzin." ("Someone once said that a film was an actor and a cameraman. So go and sit 20 hours at the cinema.")
 "Co pani robi, kiedy pani chce cos zrobic w jedna strone, a rezyser cisnie w druga?" "No, to musi byc, jak ja chce." ("What do you do when you want to do it one way and the director pressurizes you the other way?" "Well, then it has to be the way I want.")
"Kto z panstwa widzial ten film?" "Aha, 1 osoba. I to jest moj syn." ("Which of you have seen the film?" "Right, one person. And it's my son.")


LEGEND

Recommended. Tom Hardy speaking Cockney in a double role - well, I had never liked the actor before but here he's unbelievable and the role(s) is Oscar-worthy. Very London-oriented. I guess not everyone will understand it. But Londoners will. It builds the legend of East End and tells a bit of history of what London was like in the famous 60s. It's also about emotions, family, love. A beautiful and moving story. With some tasty bits like all the cuppa scenes.

WOMAN IN GOLD

Recommended. Seen again. Loved it all the same. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, is brilliantly acted, has sharp dialogues and a moving, based on facts, story.


ADWOKAT W ROLI GLOWNEJ (ADVOCATE IN THE LEADING ROLE)

INHERIT THE WIND (1960)

Recommended. Brilliant, often humorous dialogues, like between a darwinist and a biblist: "Your views have evolved". A great, clever courtroom drama.

...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1979)

Recommended. A great courtroom and outside-courtroom drama about law and ethics.


11 MINUTES

Recommended. Never mind the plot. The cinematography itself deserves an Oscar. Nothing I have seen before. Just like years ago in Aronofsky's "Pi" the world was a system of interconnected characters and events, here the same effect is achieved in the most film way - visually through cinematography and editing.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY

Watchable. I'm not into sadism or masochism, not lesbian, not fond of aging people and hardly interested in entomology. Yet, this film sustains a lot of erotic tension. With no nudity! That's an achievement. Well-structured with clever subtle twist of action.

AGNIESZKA

Watchable. The first part is very much like drab Polish movies of the 80s. The second part is more modern and a bit of a psychological thriller. Unfortunately terribly stereotypical - the main character is a strong woman indeed but working in sex business and specialising in ball busting.

CRACHE COEUR (RAGING ROSE)

Watchable. No taboos in this film about adolescents (e.g. the girl masturbates). Quite refreshing, very life-like. Great music by the director Julia Kowalska's younger brother Daniel Kowalski. If I didn't quite like it, it's because of shabbiness and the closeness to real life which is both a plus and a minus.

BESTIA (1916)

Watchable. Simplistic plot even if the story is relatively involving. Expressionistic acting for the silent movie looked quite funny.

LE TOUT NOUVEAU TESTAMENT (THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT)

Watchable. The Polish Oscar candidate ("11 Minutes") is much better. The trailer implied a comedy but there was only one funny scene in the film ("Is this God? I imagined him differently"). The film is very sad and depressing, about child abuse. Full of stereotypes, e.g. Icelandic Jokularsson plus an Eskimo. The last few minutes are the best - a completely new, cheerful even if tacky vision of the world, including e.g. pink sky with flowers scattered on it and gravity switched off. The world is created on a computer.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC DEPPA (THE NIGHT OF DEPP)

I skipped "Dark Shadows" which I had seen before.

Depp is quite an actor, capable of pulling off a few distinctly different roles. Each of them convincingly.

BLACK MASS

Watchable. The first half an hour was so dull and boring I considered walking out. But James "Whitey" Bulger was clearly a dangerous psychopath (20 on Hare's scale is a likely guess) which made the remaing 1,5 hours more and more interesting. At some point you just find yourself glued to the seat.

THE LONE RANGER

Watchable. Beautiful views of New Mecixo fantastical rock formations, characters resembling those of the "Pirates of the Carribean", handsome Armie Hammer and action make it fun to watch. Could be a bit shorter though.

THE RUM DIARY

Watchable. The best of the three films of the night. Involving from scene one in which Johnny Depp is the most realistic drunk ever. Then he meets a beautiful lady (stunning dyed blonde Amber Heard ) and her manipulative husband. The story itself could be clearer and the drug-taking scenes were less interesting to me. Seems like one lowlife got extremely lucky.


BURNT

Watchable. Standard American artisanship - accents don't matter to them, acting is good and the plot good. Dialogues could be more humorous. On the whole, it's one of several movies-about-restaurants.

LARJUNGEN (THE DISCIPLE)

Watchable. Finnish Oscar candidate? Is the 2016 Oscar race for the best dog abuse award?! In this film one disturbing dog scene only. The whole film is Strindberg-like: set in the Åland Islands hence the characters speak Swedish, a family in which the relations turn more and more perverted, slow development, increasing brutality. But I've read and seen it several times before.

IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI (TALE OF TALES)

Recommended. In my opinion the year's best movie. Finally in the 21st century these unusual tales from the 17th century could be filmed. Modern day make-up, casting, costumes, access to locations in Italy, acting, special visual effects made it happen. Visually stunning, with powerful stories.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORRORS

None of the presented four movies was scary. In other terms the quality varied.

THE LAST WITCH HUNTER

Watchable in parts. Best to wait for a DVD so that you can fast forward from time to time. A mixture of interesting scenes and good CGIs with lousy ones and ridiculous visuals. The human part of the plot was more comprehensible to me than the magical part.

DEMON

Watchable. I couldn't fully grasp the story. The film is very chaotic. At the same time it's well acted, with some witty lines, e.g. to a son: "Uzyj swojego mozgu choc raz. Po 30 latach." ("Use your brain at least once. After 30 years."). All shot in almost black and white.

THE GALLOWS

Watchable in parts. Some scenes are fun, predictable but fun. Most of it, though, is a camcorder record which is just completely overused by movie-makers.

THE VATICAN TAPES

Watchable. The best of the four. It has an interesting story, made look plausible by the opening Church officials' statements. Good acting helps enjoyment. The whole Antichrist motif is nothing new though.


ASIAN HORROR NIGHT

None of the presented three movies was really scary. But all of them were innovative, at least to a European viewer.

FAK WAI NAI GAI THOE (THE SWIMMERS)

Watchable. Beautiful cinematography. Intriguing story being part-horror part-crime. Unpredictable too.
Chutavuth Pattarakampol as Perth is a true hottie. The ending is protracted.

DEO WEB-TOON: YE-GO SAL-IN (KILLER TOON)

Watchable. Too many twists in the protracted ending. Other than that it's an involving detective story.

YIEUTJIB JOMBI

Watchable. Here zombies are a containable and curable disease. The five short films vary in quality: from downright ridiculous, like the zombie/human couple in love, to quite good like the one about finding your way back to the society after you've eaten people when ill.


THE PROGRAM

Recommended. Not just another gripping headline story of a journalist investigation. It changes your view on doping in sport. As the doc in the film put it, now we're able to bypass physiology. The point is, not everyone is born strong but winning is in your will, not body. Besides, Lance Armstrong donated lots of money to a cancer foundation which wouldn't have been possible without his doping-based victories. A clever film showing there are two sides to each question.

I AM MICHAEL

Watchable. A dull film about a controversial issue - a gay activist turning Catholic and straight. Too many protracted scenes.

SPECTRE

Recommended. Nothing short of perfection and cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema deserves an Oscar. Unmissable first scenes. The whole thing is just killing in opulence. The plot is smart and some, even if few, lines are hilarious e.g. Bond asks Q to make him disappear and says: "I'll send you a postcard" to which he responds: "Please, don't". Ah, and another brilliant, multi-layer title.

DHEEPAN

Watchable. There is a story so it's quite easy to follow but it's just about immigrants trying to build a new home while troubled by their war past which gets reignited by French gangs' shootings.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT WITH LISTY DO M.

I skipped "Listy do M." which I had walked out from a couple of years ago. So I ended up watching:

LISTY DO M. 2

Watchable. A few funny scenes like with the sheep in a shopping centre: "Wiec to jednak pana owca." "Przepraszam, nie rozpoznalem na poczatku." ("So it's your sheep after all." "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize her at first.") make it better than part one. It's touching at times too. But the plot is far from perfect. The cast also doesn't always act out the humour of dialogue lines.

SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE

Watchable again. "No one wonders how is crack doing or is cocaine mad at me" and the accompanying changing room scene are the highlight of the film. Together with the beating up of the gyn. The rest is well-paced and easy to follow but not entirely funny.

LOVE, ROSIE

Recommended again. Rosie's best friend and her lines like "It's great being your best friend. You think your life is fucked up but look at you and it puts it in a perspective." are my favourite. Sam Claflin and Christian Cooke as well as Suki Waterhouse and Tamsin Egerton are hot. The plot is contrived and heart-touching.


FIVE FLAVOURS FILM FESTIVAL

BIG FATHER, SMALL FATHER AND OTHER STORIES

Watchable. The story is dull. It's mostly loose scenes from the countryside and from the city plus a few disturbing facts, like a rape, dullified too. I watched mostly for the exotics of Vietnam: both nature and culture.

BAAHUBALI: THE BEGINNING

Recommended. Tollywood which is very much like Bollywood minus the change of language from Hindi to Telugu. The most costly Indian production ever - 40 m $, it earned 9 m $ worldwide on its opening day. 90% of the film are CGIs. And it's all top-notch: the fairytale-like story, the music, the opulence, the visuals, the clear-cut characters. I'm looking forward to part 2 to be released in autumn 2016.


SLOW WEST

Watchable. Typical western motifs, brutality but also a lot of humour resulting from a clash of cultures.

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 3D

Watchable. Brilliant twists of action, CGIs, music, scenography (shot in Paris, Berlin and Atlanta - I wonder where). Unfortunately mutants look like pale Giger's aliens and act like zombies. It also gets annoyably politically correct at times.

MACBETH

Slept through. Lullaby-style music from the beginning to the end. Monotonous recitation. Dull darkish colours.


FIVE FLAVOURS FILM FESTIVAL

ANINO SA LIKOD NG BUWAN (SHADOW BEHIND THE MOON)

Watchable. It's all talking - 3 people, 1 place. It should be a short story or a theatrical play, not a film. But the dialogues are full of twists and turns.

DIE XUE JIE TOU (BULLET IN THE HEAD)

Watchable. A light take on "Deer Hunter" - this time by John Woo. Violence here looks like in "Miami Vice", one of the characters even wears a white suit, so even pastels have been derived.

L'OMBRE DES FEMMES (IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN)

Watchable. Contrary to the title it's awfully chauvinist. It's watchable just because stories of betrayal normally are.


PERFORMER

Watchable. I'm not sure what the whole is about but it's a string of top-notch avantgarde artworks. Great visuals and music.

EL CLUB

Watchable. Partly uninspiring, partly brutal (especially for animal lovers). The subject is interesting because it's about priests' sins, mostly paedophilia.

I'm clearing part of the backlog reaching... summer. I've finally put my notes together.

TERMINATOR: GENISYS 3D

Watchable. Actors are getting fatter and fatter - the fattest Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese ever. Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn were slender! The film plays with the famous scene of landing in 1984 and with the "I'll be back" line. The highlight is 2 Arnies: the young one and the old one fighting against each other. A contemporary twist is Skynet which, in this installment, is due to be released as a new operating system, widely awaited as it's to connect and master all.

PIXELS 3D

Recommended. Very funny, e.g. the power struggle between the gamer and the smart lady on entering the White House and perfectly 80s. Great light entertainment.

TRAINWRECK

Watchable. Not very funny. The whole film is based on a gender swap: women act like men ("It was only sex. Why is he calling me now?" and her girlfriend: "I'll call the police.") and men act like women ("I have to watch 'Downtown Abbey', all my mates will be talking about it tomorrow.") which is interesting but not very amusing.

AMY

Recommended. A great film even if you're not a great fan of Amy Winehouse's voice. It clearly shows how love killed her. A beautiful tragic story of her love for a wrong guy.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF BOOKS

There was only one film I hadn's seen before:

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

Watchable. Old English literature has its charm even if the story is hardy plausible, at least nowadays, and the acting is second rate.


A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT

Watchable. Too western. Promoted as an Iranian horror, it's neither Iranian nor a horror. Arash Marandi looks good playing Arash and I liked the vengeance for abused women ideology. Other than that, it's slow, weird and how westerners imagine Iran. With needless nudity.

DANNY COLLINS

Recommended. Having read the synopsis I thought the story might be sombre. Luckily it's all told in jest. Dialogues are a delight, e.g. "You were married to Mary-Ann? Really? What was she like?" "I don't remember." or "I'm here as your friend, not your manager." "I want to cancel the whole tour." "Sorry?!". It's all so cheerful, optimistic and funny. Great acting too.

EFTERSKALV (THE HERE AFTER)

Recommended. A quiet film with no music and few words. It shows how one crime leads to a series of other crimes - this time aimed at the perpetrator. A powerful yet sad story of harassment.

EN DUVA SATT PA EN GREN OCH FUNDERADE PA TILLVARON (A PIDGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE)

Watchable. More like a theatre of absurd than a film. Consists of separate scenes and you never know how each of them will develop. Well acted.

KRAFTIDIOTEN (IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE)

Watchable. A gangster comedy which is not very funny but has some amusing bits, e.g. "You'll go to hell!" "See you then.", in a wintry Norwegian scenery


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF MUSIC

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

Watchable. Not a worldwide phenomenon, nevertheless a fascinating story of an investigation - looking for a musician who changed South Africa without ever being there and without knowing it. A curious local thing.

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Watchable. You can feel the Coen brothers' work here - the action forms a loop. Other than that you just follow a musician's miserable life. The lead actor could look better too.

I skipped "Amy" and "Begin Again" which I had seen before.


MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION

Watchable. The ending is funny - combined with the beginning ot the film. Unfortunately Simon Pegg is not in the only comic scene. Actually his part, however significant, is not comic. A great talent wasted. In addition the whole movie plot is rubbish. I spent most of the film considering walking out.

MIA MADRE (MY MOTHER)

Watchable. The strength of the film is its weakness at the same time. It's very down to earth in how it shows our daily problems.

FANTASTIC FOUR

Watchable. It's never completely lousy due to the superpowers the characters manifest but never fascinating either as the powers are weird rather than useful: extendable body, body armour, invisibility (better, but not used in any eye-catching or surprising way) and self-inflammable body. X-men they aren't.

LOVE 3D

Watchable. Finally someone says the truth - that no one likes children, including their parents. The film isn't shocking, taken the amount of porn on the internet. I'd rather say cinema has reached the level of the internet. It's about a guy who's fallen in love in his own way. None of the threesome looks hot enough to deserve 3D nudity. But, like all Gaspar Noe's films, it's got its rhythm. You just enter his disturbed world and sit there till the final credits.

SINISTER 2

Watchable. Scary from scene one but in fleeting moments. Interesting casual family story background. Chaotic, especially in the beginning. Maintains suspense. Full of atrocities which one of the kids is forced to watch.

LA GIOVINEZZA (YOUTH)

Recommended. Smart, tongue-in-cheek, beautiful visually and musically. I'll happily see it again.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR WITH SINISTER 2

I have seen all the films already but as I quite enjoyed "Sinister 2" and I had walked out from "Sinister" I decided to give the first part another chance.

SINISTER

Watchable. Silly and boring. But when you have learnt the story from part 2 and have taken to the Deputy So And So's character it's bearable. Only the final sudden Bughuul's appearance was scary.


THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

Watchable. The American, Russian (acted by hottie Armie Hammer) and British spies are endearing and so is the ending of the main plot (the warhead) and of the whole film. The rest is just fine. David Beckham has a cameo as a projectionist and is unrecognisable and quite good.

ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING

Watchable. It's really funny but the humour is often of more vulgar quality e.g. "I want a penis all women admire. Make it white." or based on the 'be careful what you wish for' rule. Simon Pegg as good as ever. The film's very British too.

THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED

Recommended. Really good entertainment: great views of the St. Raphael area, especially the road along the coast, club music, action is fun, good looking actors of both sexes. The transporter shows his more human face too. Simply a well made film.

OBCE NIEBO (STRANGE HEAVEN)

Recommended. A great film: based on true events, full of suspense, very well acted, showing cultural differences as well as surreptitious racism, a deeply moving story. Swedes should see it.

ZYC NIE UMIERAC  (LIFE MUST GO ON)

Watchable. A story of a terminally ill sober alcoholic won't exactly glue you to the screen unless it's enacted by Tomasz Kot. He's the biggest asset of the film.

KARBALA

Watchable. A fascinating story, great music, incredible scenography (I just couldn't believe that Iraq was recreated in Zeran, Warsaw, Poland). Unfortunately the main actor is barely plausible acting like an undecided army commander - when he says "Zachowac spokoj" ("Remain calm") looking nervous himself it's hardly convincing, also some of the Polish utterances are so muddled I couldn't make out a word.


BOLLYWOOD FILM FESTIVAL

ENGLISH VINGLISH

Recommended. A pleasing to watch family movie with language issues. I obviously loved the English class subplot as much as the romantic and family side of the film.

ROCKSTAR

Watchable. The story is not too clever and is partly set in Prague but it's typically Bollywood meaning it evokes emotions and has lots of music. Gets better and better as the film develops.


MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS

Watchable. Being a great fan after part one I managed to see the disappointing part two full of annoying zombies. A plus is that now the mystery of what's going on is finally resolved. Now the viewer knows what the factions are and what they're fighting for.

GIOVINEZZA (YOUTH)

Recommended. Visually impressive. Some scenes, like the one with the Venetian St. Mark's Basilica or with Miss World, are breathtaking. It's funny at times and full of peculiar characters.

SICARIO

Recommended. It raises brutality to a whole new level, like "Old Boy" did years ago. The open ending implies a sequel. But how will they beat the brutality of part one?

SAUL FIA (SON OF SAUL)

Recommended. Harrowing, brutal reality of concentration camps.

MISS JULIE

Walked out. A far-fetched story, pretentious, theatrical acting, slow pace, an ugly head star.

THE INTERN

Recommended. The digital generation gap is shown in a humorous way by great actors. The story is moderately funny, e.g. snoring scenes, very heart-warming and deeply involving. Great light entertainment. There's a fantastic scene mocking "The Taxi Driver" too.

CHEMIA (CHEMO)

Watchable. Starts with two infantile adults doing silly things and talking jibberish like 5-year-olds. Then you get sarcastic doctors and are able to follow the hero's journey through breast cancer which are the only reasons not to walk out. Most ridiculously, it's a musical about a deadly disease. Just add the ghastly costumes and scenography.

RICKI AND THE FLASH

Watchable. "Danny Collins" it isn't but it's an interesting broken family story and well acted too. Shame it wasn't funnier. Very American-rock.

SOUTHPAW

Watchable. Very good and involving. Predictable at the same time. Good music by Eminem but just twice.

VACATION

Recommended. Laugh-out-loud funny throughout. Chris Hemsworth showing off his six-pack, car adventures, the rollercoaster - all are gems of comedy.

THE MARTIAN IN 3D

Recommended. "Gravity" was nothing. Here the views of space and the survival struggle are breathtaking. Humorous comments on the situation enliven the film.

SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE

Watchable. Well acted by beautiful main acts. Sometimes funny like the mother holding her kid and telling the couple not to get themselves a baby, sometimes clever like the lines about commitment: "Then I get all that 'you're scared of commitment!' No, I don't want to commit to you!" and cheating on a girl in order not to tell her that in her face or on a casual, sex-based relationship: "To him you're like cocaine or crack. Nobody wonders 'how is my crack feeling'."

PAPER TOWNS

Watchable. A story about adolescence which is part sad, part life-smart, part intriguing, part fun.

IRRATIONAL MAN

Watchable. It's Woody Allen so it's clever and full of introvert ponderings but it's not funny. A specific allenesque crime story.
 

PANDORA'NIN KUTUSU (PANDORA'S BOX)

Watchable. A realistic story about a lower end family where the granny gets Alzheimer's. It's dull but in a calm way with some charming family moments.

SELF/LESS

Watchable. Lots of chases and shootouts. Little science fiction. The beginning is very promising. Later it's just a regular action movie, a decent one, with a happy ending.

LA FRENCH (THE CONNECTION)

Watchable. Very well enacted 70s. More suspense would have made it more involving but it was still fun to follow the game between the drug mafia and the prosecutor.

MAGICAL GIRL

Watchable. A mysterious story but too long - each scene should be twice shorter. And the action only really takes off after nearly an hour. At the same time I'd welcome a sequel.

SPY

Recommended. A brilliant action comedy, very well acted. A series of surprises. I'd welcome a whole series of the fat lady spy's adventures.

POLTERGEIST

Watchable. Reasonably scary. Cleverly plays with the original "It's not like it's build on an old Indian cemetary"). Avoids the protracted muddy bath full of corpses final of the original but has a black mud flowing from under the floor fragment. Fully updated in the script and the CGIs. Quite fun, especially the ending.

THE LONGEST RIDE

Watchable. A far-fetched fairy tale but very involving (both parallel stories), with great and good-looking actors and lots of American lifestyle. The clash of two very American ways of living together with another very American story from the past were particularly alluring.

TIMBUKTU

Recommended. Islamic State encroaches a moderate muslim territory and cruelly enacts its own laws. Chilling at times. Intriguing African background and landscapes.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR

Skipping the already seen "Poltergeist" and "What We Do In The Shadows" I decided to see only two of the marathon films:

OCULUS

Watchable. The past and the present mix and you never know what was/is real and what was/is imagined. The trap system didn't make much sense to me but the film keeps you glued to the screen. It's not a run-of-the-mill horror.

IT FOLLOWS

Watchable. Another truly involving film that night. Keeps you at the edge of your seat. Even if the idea of a deadly phantom curse transmitted sexually is silly just like the "it" crawling into a building (seen it a hundred times before). Enigmatic ending.


STREFA NAGOSCI (NUDE AREA)

Walked out. They only stand and one looks at the other on the street, they stand and one looks at the other in a shower, they stand and one looks at the other at home.

MANGLEHORN

Walked out. An elderly man murmurs something dwelling in the past. The protagonist's life is going nowhere and so is the movie so if your life is going somewhere, this film is not on your way.

DZIEWCZYNA SZUKA MILOSCI (1937/1938)

Watchable. The story is shallow but delightfully acted in that old pre-war style.

It shocked me that the audience laughed at the old-fashioned manners. I found that charming.

TOMORROWLAND

Recommended. Rightly filmed at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias in Valencia, Spain as well as in British Columbia, Florida, LA and Paris the creation of the future is breathtaking. Story-wise it's close to "Neverending story" (a world nearing an end because of people giving up their dreams) but in a SF way. Never mind the first 25 minutes of a shoddy plot, the whole film still blew me away.

INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 3

Recommended. 1,5 hours that scared the shit out of me.

HEMLOCK SOCIETY

Watchable. A "dark comedy" which isn't funny, is quite slow but is quite a clever film about why we shouldn't give into depression and suicidal thoughts.

PRINS (PRINCE)

Recommended. Middle class teenagers, judging by their places to live, in a rough neighbourhood. First it's just great acting and fantastic music, including "Ibiza" by Amnesia and lots of other techno (director Sam de Jong used to make video clips), then, just when it appears Ayoub will do something which will land him in jail, he does something which makes him a hero. The film made me very emotional.

JURASSIC WORLD 3D

Recommended. I had never taken to "Jurassic Park" but this one is so much more pleasing to watch. Filmed on two Hawaiian islands, with Chris Pratt looking his life's best, with music by John Williams it's a delight. The plot is great: you get references to the previous park, corporate culture conflicting with army culture and with animal behaviour, interesting twists of action and most of all a fantastic vision of a dinosaur amusement park together with accompanying technological advancements. The 3D is OK but not outstanding so you can save your money and see it in 2D just as well.

The trailer of "Terminator: Genisys" is flattish as well so while it promises great plot with top notch CGIs, 2D should suffice.


THE NIGHT OF CINEMA

As I had seen 8 out of the 10 films, I only saw the following:

RUN ALL NIGHT

Watchable. Surprisingly well acted. Liam Neeson is quite good for action. The chase is involving obviously. But still it's standard action fare.

TU VEUX OU TU VEUX PAS (THE MISSIONARIES or SEX, LOVE & THERAPY)

Watchable. Charming but hardly funny. A typical French movie full of sex and seduction obsession.


SPY

Watchable. No more surprises this time round but still thoroughly entertaining.

LOST RIVER

Recommended. Strongly and overtly inspired by David Lynch. A dark fairy-tale with its own world and climate. The "shells" are memorable. An intriguing idea that a rundown town needs naff bloody entertainment.

UNE NOUVELLE AMIE

Watchable. I hoped for something enigmatic and it isn't. The marketing description was more intriguing than the very film. It's a typical French film - full of obsession with sex and relationships. It still deserves credit, though, for the gentleness with which transvestism is shown.

REALITE (REALITY!)
 
Watchable. The first hour is protracted and full of silliness and ridiculousness. I was seriously considering walking out but I was curious of the announced fantasy in the film. And the second part is intriguing indeed. Cronenberg-style so not fully to my taste but full of mystery.

CHASSEURS DE DRAGONS (DRAGON HUNTERS)

Watchable. The interaction scenes were cute, the fight ones were less appealing.

PASSION

Recommended. A 2012 movie by Brian de Palma structured in the way reminiscent of old classics. A multi-layer unpredictable ending.

MAGIC MIKE XXL

Watchable. They do know how to sing or dance, with Channing Tatum doing a routine somewhat akin to "Step Up", but the chit-chat in between the scarce dance scenes is rubbish.

SIGHTSEERS

Watchable. A dark comedy which isn't funny. A sharp satire on the British which kept me interested. At the same time it shows how miserable a caravan holiday is.

LIBANKY (HONEYMOON)

Recommended. Not easy to watch, quite disturbing. the images stay with you. Every bully should see it.

SERCE, SERDUSZKO

Watchable. Not your typical Jan Jakub Kolski film. We're leaving the fairy-tale countryside universe. The main protagonists are a punk and a little girl ballet dancer and it's a film of the road. There's a fantastic character of a priest rapping in religious fervour. The film fortunately retains much of Kolski's characteristic style.

The screening I went to was followed by a meeting with Borys Szyc who only truly proved his acting skills mocking movie directors. No film has given him the chance to show off the way he did then. He was brilliant.


LA ISLA MINIMA (MARSHLAND)

Watchable. Protracted and ambiguous to the point where I barely understood the film. Shot imitating the 1980s in a bad way (the picture looked old technically). There's a mystery which never gets fully explained.


QUE HORAS ELA VOLTA? (THE SECOND MOTHER)

Watchable. A social drama, well acted and involving but with an ending which offers neither a hope nor an explanation of the girl's motives.


IM LABYRINTH DES SCHWEIGENS (LABYRINTH OF LIES)

Recommended. Another great German film dealing with the country's Nazi past. Very much a courtroom drama but also subtly revealing both the concentration camps horror and the scale of ignorance in the happy-go-lucky post-war society.


FASANDRAEBERNE (THE PHEASANT KILLERS)

Watchable. A typical Scandinavian (even if geographically Danish) crime story: brutal, with the culprits being rich and being hunters fond of torturing humans as well. While it's all executed perfectly, the plot is standard in this manner.


SONG OF THE SEA

Watchable. Slow and stylish. Not to every taste. Disney it isn't. It's based on the touching Nordic or Celtic tale of a seal living as a woman and hence longing for the see.


AFRYKAMERA 2015

VIRUNGA

Recommended. A very well shot (especially the initial part in which the camera follows running shooters), planned and eye-opening documentary about national park rangers defending the world's only mountain gorillas habitat not only against poachers but even more so against a British oil company which is doing its utmost to drill in a section of the park. The film's so good it only makes me wonder what "Citizenfour" must be like as "Virunga" lost the Oscar race to the film about Edward Snowden.



THE BOY NEXT DOOR

Watchable. For a bigger part pleasing to watch - J-Lo plus a hot guy twice younger than her in steamy situations plus the tension in between. Ruined by a standard Hollywood ending in which the hot guy suddenly turns out to be a psychopatic killer and the whole thing ends in flames. Much over the top. "The Guest" it isn't.


MARY KOM

Walked out but would have stayed if I hadn't had a more promising cinema offer for the evening. Slow and ramshackle with mediocre music and even Priyanka Chopra looks so masculine she's hardly appealing to the eye. Still, my guess is it may be worth seeing for motivational purposes as it tells the story of a humble background female boxing champion who has everything going against her. All she's got is her inner strength and it suffices to succeed.


THE RIOT CLUB
Watchable. A very British film dealing with the class system. An Oxford University-based secret society consisting of upper class guys is capable of every atrocity committed out of the need to fill superior to lower classes while being sure of excellent connections to the legal and political circles letting them act in total impunity. Nothing new but very well acted by a few good-looking guys. New acting prodigies in the making.


PK

Watchable. Silly and intelligent at the same time. A warm comedy about an idiot alien deals with the notion of God/gods and the issue of charlatans. It's not very funny though. Nor is it high-tech.


YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI

Watchable. A simple love story where the travel-hungry protagonist got me intrigued. It's about the clash of domestic and nomadic lifestyles. But it's mediocre in all possible ways.


THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

Watchable. Great, if sparse, music throughout, with a Bollywood-style dance at the end. The dialogues should be amusing but somehow aren't. The pace is a bit too slow and the stories too far-fetched. A nice mix of English accents.


WOMAN IN GOLD

Recommended. First you just notice the great actors at their best. Then it becomes an involving courtroom drama. Finally, while mixed with the court case, a moving story of coming to terms with exceptionally traumatic past. And it's based on true stories surrounding a famous painting by Klimt.

Have you seen the hologram advertising the new Terminator in cinemas? It changes top to bottom revealing the machine and Schwarzie interchangeably. I love it!


JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

RADICAL EVIL

Recommended. The film dissects, through the Einsatzgruppen quotes, psychological experiment cases and expert opinions, how ordinary people in groups can become ruthless murderers.

LE PROCES DE VIVIANE AMSALEM (GETT: THE TRAIL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM)

Recommended. Both a courtroom drama gripping from the first scene and a psychological film, the latter even more, about a difficult unrequitted love.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF AVENGERS

I skipped "Avengers 3D" as I had seen it before and had found it just watchable then. So I saw

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

Watchable. Both films have rubbish plots and the hot Chris Evans for a girl viewer to survive the movies. Plot-wise the first "Captain America" movie was much better.


CHILD 44

Watchable. Loosely based on Chikatilo's murders but as unexciting as a serial killer story can possibly get. What ruins the film is: Tom Hardy - it was hard to watch his ugly, fat, boar-like face for 2 hours 17 minutes, Tom Hardy again - his fake Russian accent sounded just weird and, finally, a protracted plot.


PIKU

Watchable. A nice light comedy about... family and constipation issues. Situationally amusing at times but not hilarious. No singing and dancing.


JOURNAL D'UNE FEMME DE CHAMBRE (THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID)

Watchable. Don't expect hot action or eroticism. It's a story of violence and of a psychopathic relationship between masters and servants - psychopathic from both sides. It's just sick.


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE MARATHON OF MAD MAX

MAD MAX
MAD MAX 2
Watchable. Both 80s films get you interested from scene one and maintain a steady pace. Silly and full of violence for the sake of violence yet quite involving (in the action and its developments, not the twisted psychology of the characters). A nice 80s-style set of weirdos.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Watchable. Tom Hardy's revolting face doesn't hinder much here. His deep, low voice is a perfect match for the burnt-out, cynical rebel. The female beautiful breeders characters and zombie-like bald swarms of workers are very naff. It's all too fantastical. The weakest of the three films of the night.


SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAY

Watchable. Again: well-acted but hardly hilarious. Some situation humour makes you laugh out loud at times. Lots of famous actors and one director (Quentin Tarantino) cameo, a ridiculously inept detective as well as amusing connections between the characters make for a good watch.


EDEN
Watchable. The director's name may appear somewhat Scandinavian but don't get mistaken - she's French and it's a typical French film following the hero seemingly all the time which is just plain boring. It's bearable just because of occasionally good music (the best bit is at the very beginning however, feel free to leave afterwards) and club atmosphere.