THE WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL

According to the brochure, the festival focused on the Korean new wave.

상의원 (THE ROYAL TAILOR)

Watchable. The director, Lee Won-suk, has a great sense of humour. He announced his work saying: "The film may seem boring but please bear with it as I'll be counting you and watching who's leaving." The first part of the film is also witty but in a silly way. The more dramatic second part is much better. Apparently the casting was very quick which is remarkable hence all the roles were cast and acted with virtuosity. As it was a historical movie, movements were minimal but emotions were expressed clearly. So-yi and the queen's dresses were strikingly beautiful and the scenes of each of them entering the courtyard are well worth seeing. The film director "got the royal robe after the shooting and wears it after a shower". Having said that, I have to add I don't like crowds, they're confusing to me and this film was just packed with characters I couldn't identify.

Lee Won-suk is a fan of Sorrentino, Wes Anderson and old Polish films by Polanski. And it wasn't me who asked him this question. Others were curious of it too.

The lecture on new Korean cinema by Andrzej Pitrus was skippable. The professor said only obvious things, like that you won't recognize landmarks in movies shot in Korea.

THE YOUNG POPE - EPISODES 1 AND 2

Recommended. Paolo Sorrentino seems to associate Venice with young age - it featured in "Youth" and now in the upcoming HBO GO series. His pope is young, telegenic, has a flair for marketing, happens to fantasise about sex (would you expect nudity in something titled "The Young Pope"?), wears red shoes, smokes and wants Rome to become a suburb of Vatican City. He grins constantly, says outrageous things, is totally unpredictable which all give the film strong suspense. The dialogues are absolutely brilliant. The pope's first homily is formidable. I felt as taken aback as the crowd in the second episode final scene.

HACKSAW BRIDGE

Watchable. The first half is annoyingly sententious and religious, the second (the battle) extremely brutal. On the other hand it's uplifting to anyone whose values have ever been confronted - if you have ever wondered whether to defend your convictions, this film clearly shows it's worth it.

MASTERMINDS

Watchable. I wasn't laughing but quite enjoyed this silly comedy. It avoided "Hangover"-style vulgarity. Jason Sudeikis is as good as usual. Zach Galifaniakis has exceeded all his previous enactments. He's so convincingly happy-go-lucky and clumsy that the movie's worth seeing just for his sake.

THE ACCOUNTANT

Watchable. The accountant Chris Wolff says he likes incongruencies. I don't. And while I loved a bigger part of the film: Ben Affleck, still looking hot, his characted gifted wih Asperger syndrome, the financial conundrum, the shaping of the boy's character, swift combat scenes, Chris's blunt interactions, at some point the plot becomes so over the top it goes towards usual American cheese. The final: "How do I find you?" "I'll find you." exchange was so cliche I just knew I was going to hear it.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN 4DX

Watchable. A car crush and getting punches in 4DX - makes it terrifyingly real. Not a life I'd like. The city structure bending CGIs just bend your mind. I guess it would look even better at IMAX. The plot however is plain silly. As usual with Marvel, there is a Stan Lee's cameo and 2 after-the-credits scenes.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL

BRATY. OSTANNYA SPOVID (BROTHERS: THE FINAL CONFESSION) (2013)

Watchable. Grim and tragic - not surprisingly based on a Swedish novel. But it's Ukrainian so so it's terribly religious in addition. Not that the story is any less moving or hard-hitting - the film is made very well. It's just dark and heavy.

THE RUSSIAN WOODPECKER (2015)

Watchable. Just like in the case of Andrzej Fidyk's "Yodok Stories", when overt expression of political opinions is a threat to your freedom or even life, artistic performance is a way round. Fedor Alxeandrovich  is a thorough documentalist, not shy of obtaining data surreptitiously. He's got radioactive strontium in his bones and a history of political opposition in his family (his grandfather). While many see him as an oddball, in this crazy world of public lies, he's the most normal. Step by step, he discovers a disturbing possibility - that the Chernobyl tests resulting in the 1986 catastrophe, were a front to hide a communist careerist's mistake which otherwise might have cost him life. Soon it turns out Soviets never disappeared. The only minus of the film is that, as the result of being so artistic, it lacks suspense.


PODZIEMNE PANSTWO KOBIET (2009)

Recommended. A shocking documentary about the horrible conditions of terminating pregnancies in Poland. That means 80-200 thousand women a year suffering humiliation and additional distress just as a result of the ban. It also makes some gynaecologists rich like warlords - shall I dub them banlords?


UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL

MAIDAN.

Watchable. It follows the development of the protest. It's like a chronicle without taking sides or giving a deeper insights. Watching the winter protest reminded me of ACTA protests in Poland a few years ago. I wonder if Polish women will be protesting in snow and frost shortly.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL

TINI ZBUTYKH PREDKIV (SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS) (1965)

Walked out. Sort of folk musical with very bad music, shaky and rushed camerawork and no obvious plot. Looks archaic too.

UKRAINIAN SHERIFFS (2015)

Watchable. Oscar candidate?! Really? A documentary about a poor village where nearly everyone is an alcoholic and has served a term in prison. Culture-wise Ukraine is certainly close to Russia, taken the amount of alcohol consumed and taking ice dips in winter.

GNIZDO GORLYTSI (THE NEST OF THE TURTLEDOVE) (2016)

Watchable. Clear and thorough portrayal of Ukrainina immigration to Italy: its causes, effects on the emigrating women, their spouses and offspring. The film's very well made, it truly brings it all home. A minor weakness of the film is its not closing some subplots.

JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK

Watchable. Intelligent entertainment without depth. The scene from the trailer in which Jack Reacher says what "two things are going to happen in the next 90 seconds" is actually the first one. From then on a riddle follows a riddle and Reacher is always one step ahead. Or if he isn't, his presumed daughter is. The action doesn't relent for a minute so it's all good fun to watch. Apart from that it's a common recently mixture of sexism and feminism: (fighting) fit Cobie Smulders is shown partly undressed, in her push-up bra, for no reason and a bit later she has a rant about how guys tried to grope her in the army or how she's been constatnly asked to look after children and the like. Danika Yarosh is excellent as a streetwise 15 year old. Tom Cruise is visibly aged on his face and neck but in great shape - really pleasing to watch minus the close-ups.

CREATIVE CONTROL

Watchable. Why's a movie about the future black and white? Is it meant to be bleak?! Well, according to the film it's going to be all about sex and addictions: to drugs and to VR. "It's not what you think" takes on a new meaning. In augmented reality everyone becomes a product, you can cut up a voice record to have your private avatar say whatever you fancy hearing and you have virtual sex with the face of a real person combined with a porn star body. All screens are transparent and men's hairstyles and facial hair fashion resembles 70s porn actors. While I'm not fond of such a vision of the future, it's very likely to happen. In that sense it's quite realistic, not SF. The incurable characteristic of our civilization, present and future, is loneliness and search of love.

ADWOKAT W ROLI GLOWNEJ (ADVOCATE IN THE LEADING ROLE)

KOBIETY ADWOKATURY

Watchable. A documentary made, as far as I'm aware, by a lawyer. Very neat and organised. The presented female advocats just sit and talk. They stress the importance of their lawyer parents, their own devotion to the profession and their involvement in human rights cases.

BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015)

Recommended again. "Aren't you worried?" "Would it help?" is one of my fave lines, appearing three times in this film (I counted this time), it's also one of the most clever life lessons ever. Lots of other jokes, e.g.: "I wonder who they'll send to identify me." "Not your East German family I hope. I doubt they could identify each other." Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance in their top roles. And a very, very clever plot. I guess I could see it a couple more times still enjoying it.

I skipped "Chicago" which I had walked out from years ago as well as "A Few Good Men" and "Eric Brockovich" which I had seen a number of times and remembered all too well.

RUNAWAY JURY (2004)

Watchable. Chaotic at first but full of ingenious court tricks which look quite realistic, who knows, might come in handy. Kept me on the edge of my seat nevertheless. Simply the tension of which way the verdict would sway was enough. And there's a surprise towards the end. Likeable characters, some anyway.

AMISTAD (1998)

Watchable. One of the best closing statements ever tells about freedom being our natural state because it's when we lose it that we fight to get it back. Anthony Hopkins is marvellous: first a nebbish ex-president only to turn into a prominent barrister. Sadly no other actor is. It shows some interesting ways of finding an interpreter (counting to ten in the language going through a market) and of misperceiving certain behaviours across cultures. It's just that the actors seems to be random people with no skills and the story jumps to and fro. But if you sit through all the disarray, you get rewarded with a memorable speech by Anthony Hopkins as an attorney.

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957)

Watchable. Agatha Christie, on whose book it's based, liked dressing up her baddies and so is the case here. It is standard Agatha Christie: involving yet predictable. The true gem are the dialogues between the mischevious drunk/smart barrister and his maid, just like the ones between Miss Marple and hers and just to what lenghts he goes to hide his smoking and drinking - truly amusing.

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

Watchable. While I didn't laugh even once, I felt entertained throughout. Really light, colourful and de-braining. Let's hope DJ deadmau5 doesn't sue them over "DJ Dead Mice". Kate Moss looks like a mermaid in her glimmering green dress. The ending is great as it's a direct play on the final scene from "Some Like It Hot".

A MONSTER CALLS

Watchable. Tragic, sad and depressing, about a schoolboy's mum dying of cancer. And so slow-paced I slept through the middle. Says some sad truths about people.

PUTIN FOREVER?

Watchable. I'm not sure if it had to be 93 minutes long. The whole film is just home-based interviews with Russian opposition activists. You see how determined they are to end Putin's rule and how aware they are it's going to take years of demonstrations. Boris Nemtsov appears disarmingly gentle and kind. So the ending listing all of the portrayed activists either in voluntary exile or, Nemtsov, dead, is striking. Is Putin immovable? Good, jumpy Russian music. I couldn't resist the impression Poland may reach the stage at which Russia is now.

WSZYSTKIE NIEPRZESPANE NOCE (ALL THESE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS)

Watchable. Lots of techno and electro music (mostly Das Komplex and Lutto Lent). Partly filmed in 1500m2 and Bar Studio. Two guys: one hot, one not. On of them dances very well and a lot. Frustration shown in their constant smoking. All about music, drugs, looking for happiness and the fear of loneliness.

INFERNO

Watchable. A blockbuster following Hitchcock's rule that "A good film should start with an earthquake and be followed by rising tension." The beginning is confusing only to reflect Professor Langdon's muddled state of mind. Then regular action takes over with all the mandatory twists and turns, red herrings and solving the ideogramic puzzle. Florence, Venice, Istanbul feature with the accompaniment of Hans Zimmer's music giving the film a monumental feel. A good action movie following the genre rules.

AMERICAN HONEY

Watchable. According to Roman Gutek, what distinguishes American cinema is: the genre of western, the development of musical, science fiction and myths, not being a national cinema. This one tackles myths. 162 minutes you don't feel at all. While it re-works well-known motifs, it does so interestingly. I felt touched by the story from the scene indicating sexual abuse going on in Star's home. That was the moment I really took to her. She's very young, 18, and poor. The first city on her way is "Superman's City" (Kansas). The whole film is full of American symbols. The youngsters identify themselves with Darth Vader as the epitome of lost love and hopes. US stars and stripes are everywhere: in the girl's name, on a train passing by their road van, the company owner's swimsuit, make-up and nail polish colors. The motley crew from all over the US listen to rap and travel through the country "rhymin' & stealin'". The film also features a number of American ballads, all in some way referring to the American dream, just like what the sales team try to live. It's also about others trying to achieve it, like the abbatoir truck driver dreaming of his own yacht. But mostly it's about selling a dream - the team, often high on drugs or alcohol, try to push needless goods doing just that. The quintessence of America.

I went to the presentation of an upcoming Polish movie titled "Po prostu przyjazn" and it looked dull, with nothing funny in the trailer and, worst of all, it got compared to "Listy do M." ("Letters to Santa"), the first part of which I had walked out from. I'm still curious of the film as the subject of friendship is obviously something anyone can relate to. It's just that my hopes are low.

I thought that instead I could have fun asking actors about their taste in films as well as to get some lateral info I was curious of. My overall impression was that most actors found it difficult to speak without a script. Some got literally taken aback by the question. Magdalena Rozczka dubbed it "cruel" as, apart from work, house chores left her no time to watch anything. She'd love to see everything that's on at the cinema. Piotr Stramowski, looking even more of a hipster and arrogant than in the upcoming film, said "it wasn't like he felt he had to go to the cinema". He watches stuff but clearly it's not his passion. Agnieszka Wiedlocha's taste was the most eclectic ranging from Kusturica to the "Sex and the City" series which she could watch over and over as well as anything with Meryl Streep. Generally they seemed to fancy Polish full-length works, especially the latest two loud productions: "Ostatnia rodzina" and "Wolyn", both usually seen at the Gdynia Film Festival and American series, obviously including "Breaking Bad", in one case even "Stranger Things" (Aleksandra Domanska), but never anything as extreme as "The Walking Dead" or even megapopular "The Game of Thrones" . Aleksandra Domanska was the chattiest and provided me with a long list of her faves from classics like late Wajda's "Ziemia obiecana", "Czlowiek z marmuru" or "Czlowiek z zelaza", non-late-Wajda's "Przesluchanie" and "Casablanca", through anything with Meryl Streep to "masculine" movies by Tarantino, rather older plus "Inglourious Basterds" as well as lots of series, including: "you certainly won't know this one - "Gilmore Girls". Kamil Kula, who only doesn't like watching himself, hasn't yet found the time to see "Ostatnia rodzina" and "Wolyn" but was going to. As Maciej Zakoscielny, the most non-verbally expressive of the crowd, had just recommended both to me, especially "Wolyn" which had "shaken" him, I enquired if Kamil Kula followed his colleagues recommendation. Certainly not, he looked at me astonished. Maciej Zakoscielny's taste was the closest to mine - he was the only one to have enjoyed " The Neon Demon" and, as he was dubbing Eddie Redmayne, he's got the chance to see "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". The youngest of the actors, 10-year-old Adam Tomaszewski, has always had dramatic parts but when watching prefers comedy shows, especially "Mr. Bean". While the oldest one - Bartlomiej Topa, who rarely finds time to watch anything but would love to see more - liked "The House of Cards". No one else did.

The lateral info I got was:

• The current season of "Singielka" was shot in spring and, to Kamil Kula's knowledge, is the last one. The serial won't be continued.
• Adam Tomaszewski has been acting since he was 3 and his parents had brought him to an agency just because they had been repeatedly told their son had been "lovely like in a commercial". He's appeared in commercials, films, a serial and theatre. He was the blind man's partner's son in "Carte Blanche" as well as a drug dealer in "Skazane". He finds theatre the hardest as he can't make any mistake. His the oldest child and he's got two younger sisters. The middle one - Oliwia - has had a small role once too but felt shy, got stressed out and refused to do it ever again. The youngest one, now 3, is in the agency too but so far has been deemed either too young or too old for the offered parts.
• I asked Bartlomiej Topa about his role I hadn't liked in "Karbala". I had found a clash between his commander's position and his giving orders with a trembling voice. The actor explained to me his perception of the character: "he went there to build water pipelines and give away sweets", he didn't need to be tough, "where he was he could have whispered orders and would have been obeyed".

Between 20-23 October the Iluzjon cinema in Warsaw will be hosting UKRAINA! - a Ukrainian Film  Festival which I'm going to.

Shortly afterwards the 7th American Film Festival takes place in Wroclaw. While I'm not going there, I just have to remark on its logotype which looks blurred like a 3D picture seen without 3D glasses. Poor print or poor graphics?

After both festivals, in early November the Muranow cinema will finally open the 2 new screens. They're going to have 40 seats each and show niche movies which normally disappear from cinemas too soon.

JESTEM MORDERCA

Watchable. Perfectly recreated 70s in communist Poland: pervasive smoking, drinking, 70s fashion, interiors. Lots of humour, e.g. the first computer. Agata Kulesza unrecognizable in her fat costume. The action takes place in Silesia and several actors speak with Silesian accent - just enough to demonstrate where it's based but soft enough to be comprehensible to the rest of Poles (I can't fully understand my original Silesian friend and I had no problems with the film). The movie's very well scripted psychologically, extremely well acted, costumed, made up and set up. I only found it frustrating not to find out the truth. In that manner the film is too true to real life - no one knows. It would have hit harder if it had taken sides.

I, DANIEL BLAKE

Watchable. Austere, at a steady pace, yet deeply moving. Sad and depressing but so hard-hitting it's hard to shake off. Showing the very bottom of British society - decent, honest people struggling to survive on benefits. Set in Newcastle so spoken mostly in geordie, partly in London accent too, due to one of protagonists. Very realistic. It's just that if you've ever been through the catch 22 of British red tape in any manner, it's a bit frustrating to watch it on the screen.

WOLYN (HATRED)

Watchable. 149 minute long with lots of sidetracking which means I dozed off a few times and, while some sense eventually emerged from the chaos, it's not easy to follow. Story-wise, I mean. Because there are also a number of truly gruesome scenes, due to the subject matter. Like the director and the distributor rightly noticed, the film may be incomprehensible to Westerners. It wasn't 100% understandable to me, either. Part of it lies in the confusion between two languages: both Polish and Ukrainian sound similar. Another thing is that British or American films have one storyline, while Polish ones, annoyingly, stray from the main plot every now and then, trying to put all different vaguely associated bits and pieces into one movie. While both reasons sound true, for me it's also my poor knowledge of Polish history.

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN

Watchable. The story's nothing like what I've seen before. It contains my perennial favourites: time loops, fantastic geography overlapping the real world map, mutants. Miss Peregrine is brilliant: beautiful, sassy, very smart, a perfectionist. It's very well acted by everyone. The created world is peculiar indeed and doesn't steal other authors' ideas. However, it sounds childish, at least in the Polish dubbing and lacks humour. Decent 3D.

I also went to a meeting with one of my fave directors, Jan Jakub Kolski, today and have to say that a person's film-making skills don't have to match their speaking skills. The creator of fascinating films sounded boring.

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

Watchable. I haven't read the book but have seen the movie trailer so many times I probably know it by heart now. The film itself is not a thriller but a psychological drama so that was a slight disappointment. That plus pervasive obsession with having a baby as if all three women had their lives centred about the issue. Strange a woman (Paula Hawkins) wrote a book so sexist. The finale is quite predictable too. But no worries, you don't pay so much attention to it while watching. The structure is clear yet involving, with enough mystery to keep you on the edge of the seat throughout. It's very convincingly enacted, with Haley Bennett (the beauty from "Hardcore Henry") in one of the leading roles. 3 women, 3 men (plus 1 woman and 1 man from the train) form a twisted story of crime, obsession, addiction, seduction, deceit and psychological violence.

NIE PLACZ KIEDY ODJADE (DON'T CRY WHEN I'M GONE)

Watchable. Made me cry and made me laugh a good few times. A documentary about a woman who survived the Holocaust only to find her whole family annihilated and about the rest of her life being full of joy. She wrote some popular songs, including the eponymous one and was greatly skilled in flirting with men. Both form the basis of the jokes told in the film: e.g. once a friend told her he had seen her song on the back of a bus ("Don't cry when I'm gone"), another time she was lying in hospital bed and when her visiting friends were leaving, one said: "Hang in there." to which she responded: "I'd rather let myself loose." The structure of the movie has some room for improvement. It's a bit chaotic and ends all of a sudden. But these are minor detractions from a very enjoyable film.

BACALAUREAT (GRADUATION)

Watchable. About pervasive corruption rooted in Romanian culture and difficult relationships. Its complicated story is very involving in spite of mediocre acting. The policemen are particularly poorly portrayed.


DOMACI PECE (HOME CARE)

Watchable. A comedy about being terminally ill with some truly funny bits, e.g.: "It's skin tuberculosis. Looks just like on the internet." or one with a phone falling into an open grave. So it gets sad at times but makes you laugh every now and then. Good actors in the leading roles, worse support roles and extras.

WESTWORLD - EPISODE 1

Watchable. My first impressions: needless nudity, pointless violence, a run-of-the-mill film gave way to a bewilderment at the science fiction layer soon revealed yet didn't disappear completely. The SF layer is intriguing indeed: the androids through reveries tap into long lost memories and, as their creator says, long lost memories alter us, evolution is a result of mistakes and we come to this world as an effect of an illusion. Great music, views of Wild West landscapes, the hosts are remarkably well acted and I guess it's not easy to enact numerous personality changes over less than a minute. Calling the Westworld androids hosts reminds me of "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer - here they're benevolent as well, however it's them being used by humans, not the other way round. Poor translation into Polish (e.g. reveries, core to the plot, don't get translated at all).


DEEPWATER HORIZON

Watchable. Based on facts which I generally like. Starts in a horror style where the protagonists' day-to-day lives are marred by ominous signs. Later, however, the film goes along glory-to-the-heroes lines. Lots of wooden dialogues.

ZTRACENI V MNICHOVE

Walked out. First it's a peculiar story based around an incident from Czech history, made in a comic way which fails to be funny. Later suddenly you're informed it's happening in a movie and then you get plenty of interviews with the makers on shooting the film. The actual creators of this film clearly had no clue how to make it.

DON'T BREATHE

Watchable. It's a slasher movie where a worn-out scenario gets a new twist: the slasher is blind and the vics are burglers. Seems like girls kept in the basement have become a norm in Hollywood, probably following the Cleveland capture case, here the new capture scene is a bit of novelty in terms of what and how is done to the vic. In spite of the cat and mouse game becoming boring at times, it's a real nail-biter of a film, well acted, with an exquisite initial scene and a good ending leaving the door open for a sequel.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN 4D

Watchable. 4D here means 2D visuals + all sorts of shakes and blasts of cold air. No scents this time. The movements put you in a horse saddle, in the middle of a brawl or a shootout which is extra fun. The film itself is just fine. The makers seem to have had a problem deciding whether it should mimick the old version or be modern so they have mixed old-fashioned language and chauvinism with present-style multiculturalism and multilinguism and the eponymous seven are all macho men each of a different ethnic background. The seven get such a long exposure each that you get to like them all. Faraday's (Chris Pratt) smirk pervades the movie. However their conversations aren't particularly involving, their heroism is far-fetched and the story's typical for a western (apart from the fact it's a multiple remake).

Careful with popcorn or Coke in a 4D screen! Easier to spill than anywhere else.

Warsaw's Cinema City in Arkadia is harder to access now. You have to go round the shopping center to get the escalator to the first floor. So it's 5 minutes extra that you need before the movie.

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

I've seen it already and will draft a review in a minute. Due to a publishing ban however I will post it as late as on 4th October. Keep your eyes peeled!

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC HORROROW (THE NIGHT OF HORRORS)

I skipped "Blair Witch" and "Sinister 2" which I had seen already and chose to see only:

THE HALLOW

Walked out. Black slime, scratches on a window and the car and corpse-like monsters amid baby screaming. All of that shown early on. And with an environmental/political message (in a horror!). Rubbish.

MY SOUL TO TAKE

Walked out. A slasher movie about a bunch of teenagers who are so stupid you just want them all to be killed.

BLAIR WITCH

Watchable. I never managed to see "The Blair Witch Project" in one piece. It was so boring I walked out from the screening at first and caught up with the very ending on TV years later. The new version faster-paced and hosts attractive James Allen McCune in the leading role which makes the wait for the ending more bearable. Scary it isn't. More of an adventure film where high tech devices cause more problems than they solve.

SLUGI BOZE

Watchable. Very good crime mystery with some brilliant lines, e.g. "Nie jestes feministka?" "Jesli pytasz o to, czy sypiam z komisarzem, to juz nie." ("You're not a feminist, are you?" "If you're asking if I sleep with the officer - not any more.") and lots of twists and turns of action. A bit too many set-ups but played interestingly. Each character is a fascinating distinct personality. Some loops don't close though, e.g. what about Ana's father? What with the property case? The "Silesian" doesn't speak with Silesian accent and her family roots are too twisted to stand. I must add I loved the plane scene at the ending.

ALOYS

Watchable. In a dream-like world times mix. Aloys lives like a few decades ago but has got a modern smartphone. The story however is on the margin of SF. It's rather trying to face the discrepancy between your real partner and an imagined one. The film's dull yet atmospheric in an old-fashioned way.

OTOTO (ABOUT HER BROTHER)

Watchable. A warm tale about family and friends. Lots of real life issues so it works like catharsis. Slow pace. Nothing deep.

HEART OF A DOG

Watchable. The film's weird and structure chaotic. It's also more of a slide show with a commentary than a movie. Some fragments are disturbingly odd, e.g. director Laurie Anderson's enaction of giving birth to a dog. Other are touching like her, even if peculiar, love for dogs. There's also a deeply emotional notion of how "you really don't want to lie to somebody who's dying" and of how she had no time to tell her mum she cared for for. It's also partly about how people try to preserve their acts and memories. So the film's a complete mess with some importaint issues acknowledged. The topic makes the film more suitable for All Saints' Day rather.

The refurbishment in progress at Warsaw's Muranow cinema has taken a funny turn: the cinema is totally gender-equall at present - with urinals in the ladies' loo.

PROSTA HISTORIA O MORDERSTWIE

Watchable. Barely. Camerawork incongruent with the pace of the story. Chaotic editing. Filip Plawiak i Mateusz Wieclawek are very good, shame their acting skills get wasted on such a film.

THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER

Watchable. Starts and ends with thunderous music adding meaning to otherwise innocent scenes, especially to the initial one. That somehow fierce music stands out. Robert Pattinson is not-so-readily recognisable in one of roles - not just his looks but his accent and manner of speaking. The film develops slowly and feels  drowsy at times. I only don't understand how the depicted child - future leader - is different from all other children: throwing tantrums, obstinate, incontrolable.

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

Watchable. It starts cheesy and flat - the relationship develops without evoking any emotions in the viewer (or me at least). Later it becomes so deeply moving that you forget all the cheese. Tissues should be sold together with tickets - can't do without them. Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender act up to the scratch as usual.

MORGAN

Watchable. Yet another female assassin movie, this one by Ridley Scott's son Luke. And with run-of-the-mill motifs: a superhuman girl living  closed in a room with a glass wall, developing mentally and physically at a speedy rate etc. While the general storyline is predictable, who kills who and when is less so which results in some tension efficiently gluing you to the screen. With some superficial questions about what makes a creature human. More emotions equals less control. Too much gets revealed too early in the movie hence there's little mystery left. The final scene implies a sequel. However lousy it sounds, it's well made. Typically skilled Hollywood artisanship. The psychological assessment scene in the Luke Scott's film is a clear reference to a similar evaluation in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" but that one was much more subtle and ambiguous. Luke needs to find his own way, following his father's steps hasn't worked.

OSTATNIA RODZINA (THE LAST FAMILY)

Watchable. It's very Polish and about quite particular personalities: the Beksinskis. So if you're not familiar with the topics, it may be quite hard. The realities of those times (from 1983 to 2000) are painstakingly rebuilt through scenography although... I remember the 80s as very colourful, not dark in hues of brown like in the film. Dawid Ogrodnik looks and speaks just like Tomek Beksinski. There's a brief footage of "vampire" Wojciech Jagielski interviewing Tomek. The dialogues are filled with absurd humour which somehow isn't amusing in the depressing movie. The whole thing is grim but enlivened with brilliant music: "Don't Go" by Yazoo and "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" by Ultravox.

BRIDGET JONES'S BABY

Watchable. Funny to see it shortly after my 43rd birthday. I can only hope I won't get knocked up! It's very funny, e.g. a guy trying to unfasten Bridget's dress: "How, the hell, am I going to get into this?!" or about two men who where telling her to "think the pain" away during labour: "You have an entire human being to push out of your vagina. I'd love to see them think that away." At the same time the film's very PC and with a tacky ending.

LES SAISONS (SEASONS)

Watchable. A nature quasi-documentary (with some history features here and there which detracts from the pleasure of watching a nature film). Some shots are beautiful, yet the whole thing is chaotic, looks like edited at random. The last half an hour is very sad. I was crying like a baby.

NERVE

Recommended. A fantastic adrenaline ride. My palms got really sweaty at the hanging scene. Very good, matching music and creative credits. Dave Franco looks/acts really hot in this film.

MAGGIE'S PLAN

Watchable. The story of an adult triangle plus 3 kids is involving by its nature but is neither innovative nor funny. One interesting statement comes from a TV interview with one of the characters: "No one has ever foreseen a revolution until its third day."

HANDS OF STONE

Watchable. Very good in whole but flawed. The director of  superb "Secuestro Express" says that "90% of movies are too long and too slow." Unfortunately his latest feels a bit protracted at times too. It's quite a schematic boxing movie yet involving, well acted, with a story and some political (Panama-US relations) subplot. Robert de Niro as Ray Arcel, who he had actually worked with on "Raging Bull", R&B musician Usher as Sugar Ray Leonard, who partially trained him, a cameo of Felicidad Duran as a nurse, Ana de Armas as Felicidad Duran acting a rich guy's girlfriend/wife again (after "War Dogs"). Based on facts.

LO AND BEHOLD: REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD

Recommended. Some little known facts: If you created a paper directory of email account holders, the list would be 73 miles/120 km thick. The 2050 FIFA World Championships are likely to be won by a robot team, with one of the robots being actually better than others, just like it is with human players. Stanford University results show that its Open University had 412 best students, only the 413rd was actually studying there. It was possible, luckily never enacted, for a hacker to whistle a signal on the phone to fire missiles in the 90s. Mitnick was able to follow calls (without actual conversations but who called who and from where) of FBI agents who followed him ad stacked his fridge with "donuts for the FBI". These and several other contemporary stories about the internet. Informative and fun.

MECHANIC: RESURRECTION

Watchable. The action takes you from Brazil (Rio) to Thailand , Australia (Sydney), Bulgaria (Varna) and Cambodia. Jason Statham, Jessica Alba nd Tommy Lee Jones ensure it's all good fun. However, the action goes from point A to point B (C etc.) with no surprises and the dialogues are all like: "Let's go! We have 3 minutes before it blows."

CZERWONY KAPITAN (THE RED CAPTAIN)

Recommended. It's quite dark and heavy but consistent with the grim story. It is quite brutal too but with very good dialogues lightening up the atmosphere, e.g. the police to a priest: "Wiedzielibysmy wiecej, gdyby sie Pan wyspowiadal." ("We'd know more if you confessed.") or "Bog nas stworzyl ateistami." ("God created us as atheists."). Very good music. Gripping. Kept me on the edge of my seat.

MR. RIGHT

Watchable. Exquisite Anna Kendrick as Martha. Sam Rockwell as Mr. Right isn't sexy but is fun and fit for a killer. Tim Roth is a poor killer here, rather an old prick. The whole thing is silly but good fun.

DOM (a short animation shown together with "Je Me Tue A Le Dire")

Watchable. About a dysfunctional family. The eponymous home is bereft of meaning. All the family members talk about is food, drink and cleaning. You just feel how relieved the girl must to leave. It's all very realistic in several shades of grey and a bit of brown (for the tea and the dog).

JE ME TUE A LE DIRE (DEATH BY DEATH)

Watchable. Have all Belgians decided to specialise in weird comedies, black and white in that? The main protagonist is fat, hairy, ugly. His mother looks little better. So not much of a visual pleasure here. Good music, matching the weirdness of the movie which is predominantly about breasts. Breasts here can either feed or fall ill and it's the guy's main obsession. I found one scene funny: the guy is pissing against a gate when it starts sliding open.

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE ULTIMATE EDITION

Watchable. 181 minutes pass hardly noticeably. To my astonishment I liked the extended version better. The extra scenes blend smoothly into the storyline, assisted by superb film music. I watched it at a regular cinema this time and I found it much easier to focus on the plot than at Imax. There's no action overload. Tension, gentle wit, nostalgy, sorrow and solemnity mix at an uneven pace which prevents boredom. Ben Affleck is my favourite Batman ever. There are tongue-in-cheek references to the series of Jokers from previous movies and to the Arkham Asylum and intriguing ones to X-Men (the final scene) and Avengers as well as a sequel promise. No after-the-credits scene however. The few things I found a bit annoying are: murmuring Jeremy Irons replacing superb Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne's butler and Holly Hunter mumbling as if she couldn't move her face muscles properly.

IL TRADUTTORE

Watchable. Experiences most viewers can refer to make for involving watching, acting could be better though and pace a bit faster. Meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani (literally translated: better an egg today than a hen tomorrow) or so at least do the men in the film think having their foreign love affairs. Yet emotions get involved. Is Andrei unfaithful only to his girlfriend or to himself as well? This part is quite straightforward. However, there's another set of stories in the film as well. A young student is gaining professional experience and the first assignments are full of traps. Whether out of sympathy or for his own advantage he veers off professionalism. People get hurt. So does he.

L'AVENIR

Watchable. A fictitious story very true to life. Nathalie has a life filled with little joys (mildly amusing to the viewer) and little problems. She's constantly busy with her work and family. Then, within a short period of time, she loses most of it. What will she do about it? Well, the example of her inherited cat shows that when suddenly let free you follow your natural instincts. An ordinary, yet thought-provoking story. The woman is a philosophy teacher so you'll find philosophers mentioned or quoted here and there throughout the film, luckily for down-to-earth me those abstract statements are just zest, not the essence. The music is annoying at times.

WAR DOGS

Recommended. It's like "The Wolf of Wall Street" but funnier ("How was the funeral?" "It was amazing!" is one example). First class actors including Jonah Hill known from the above mentioned movie. The story's based on true events, superbly scripted and directed by Todd Phillips (who would expect after his earlier class B "Hangover" or "Borat?), with great locations shots and music going in smoothly. The film, contrary to the book ("Arms and the Dudes" by Guy Lawson) is set chronologically so it's easy to follow the tensions between the people, their way of doing business and the changes, or the lack of thereof, in their company and lifestyles. Only two of the original three gunrunners are portrayed with no detraction from the fun or the story itself.

 

BEN HUR 3D

Watchable. Decent 3D. The story's all predictable and playing on cheap sentiments. Only the chariot race scene kept me on the edge of my seat and it's best to leave right after. The ending is so much cheese you're going to choke on it.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - NOC JOKEROW (THE NIGHT OF JOKERS)

SUICIDE SQUAD

Recommended. The rubbish trailer wasn't quite inviting but the movie's quite a ride. Marvelous CGIs (pun intended), fun soundtrack of a wide scope of artists (Kanye West, Rolling Stones, Eminem, Black Sabbath etc.). Punk-like Joker by Jared Leto who perfected tormented heroes already in his debut "Requiem for a Dream". The Joker's girlfriend Harley Quinn, by smoking hot Margot Robbie, is a sassy acrobat reminiscent of Pris from "Blade Runner". She also utters the best lines, like the one about metahumans being unable to live regular lives. Enchantress resembles the phantom from "Grudge", at least before her two metamorphoses. Amanda Waller must have been inspired by Condoleezza Rice in her looks, position and stance. The Joker and Harley Quinn steal the show. Their love affair made me remember all the real life women falling for death row convicts. Don't miss the much revealing sequel-announcing scene after the first end credits!

THE DARK KNIGHT

Watchable. A smart script but some scenes protracted or needless. On the other hand a handful shocked me. Here we get a scruffy Joker by memorable superb Heath Ledger: a combination of madman gestures with a psychopath mind. The main topic of the film is chaos versus plan: how you see the world and how you perceive people's reactions to unusual events determines how you act - so, do you plan?

BATMAN (1989)

Watchable. The worst film of the night. Only interesting for comparison reasons. The Joker here is grotesque in his old-fashioned-cut purple suit. The film looks like SF from the 60s - artificial, forced and conventional.

Uncomfortable seats in the Zlote Tarasy Multikino screen 1, especially the new ones in the middle. And annother delay from the beginning of the marathon. They should have been letting people in through both entrances right away.

LES NOUVELLES AVENTURES D'ALADIN (THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ALADDIN)

Watchable. No doubt meant to repeat the success of "Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre" ("Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra") but less funny, hard to say if it's because of Polish dubbing sounding artificial or because it's too obscene at times. One thing's sure: it's not for young children - they won't get it - from teenagers upwards. Some scenes are funny, like the one when Aladin lands on top of a roof just next to the spire, several are meant to be. The dialogues contain plenty of references to country (Poland in the version I saw but certainly individualised in each country) politics, music, comedy shows, literature, world politics, blockbusters, commercials, Internet, even Warsaw (in this case) topography. It's all full of colours, the princess' costumes based on bellydance. The music's just fine - I don't like rap. The main protagonists are shopping centre Santas so it may be better to watch the film around Christmas.

MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES

Watchable. As one of the girls in the movie says: "girls can do shit, too" and this is what the film's about. The humour is of "you may experience after-shock orgasms" sort. Not as gross as "American Pie" but just as dumb. One scene of interest is the quad ride through the "Jurassic Park" location.

HELL OR HIGH WATER

My No. 1 readers (number-wise) are American so I was happy to hear of the US release in just two days' time (it's coming out as late as September in Poland). So you're getting my review just in time, in spite of being a continent apart.

Recommended. In a quiet, dusty Texan town a woman in a floral dress is going to work. The clean white of the fabric with blue flowers contrasts with the drabness of her surroundings. What looks like a lazy summer afternoon somewhere, is the start of an unusually busy morning in the middle of nowhere. The script is little short of perfection. The criminal scheme, the policemen's banter, the landscapes and the tough folk who inhabit them create a contemporary western. Everyone's seriously tough here, including women, e.g. a waitress: "Steaks cooked medium-rare" "Can I just have...?" "It wasn't a question." Great acting too. My fave Chris Pine's best role ever: from subtle facial expressions to a shaking hand covering a wound. If it were up to me, he'd get an Oscar. In fact he just acts so well you nearly forget about his blue eyes.

NINE LIVES

Recommended. What will send a cat flying across the room? And what will send the owner? When you see a guy in a stylish suit in a flash car in a film you know he's no family guy. The reality is often different from what I can tell about the richest people I've met. Yet here he's a ruthless businessman. This is also where your perfect family film begins. Gentle humour and bright remarks like: "So what? Will he divorce you more?" turn into a hilarious comedy once the guy changes into a... cat.  The cat "could do with a (computer) mouse" to send a message and doesn't like tinned cat food: "I think somebody's eaten it once already." And that's just a small portion of lines and gags that still make me giggle hours later. Very good Polish dubbing this time, too.

PETE'S DRAGON

Watchable. An awfully sad beginning - it needn't have started so miserable, the boy could have just got lost - and very dark cinematography get compensated for with the dragon acting like a dog, some humour, e.g. "Mom, there's a monster behind the window" and the subsequent mum's reaction or "We're chasing a dragon" "Man, don't ridicule us on the radio!" as well as impressive vistas of the vast Tokoroa Forest, Northern Island, New Zealand. Robert Redford and Karl Urban have created the most distinct parts, Wes Bentley looks like a bad guy while not being the worst villain, Bryce Dallas Howard is sugary sweet to the point of nausea.

Judging from the trailer, DOCTOR STRANGE is going to have good 3D but awful voices cast for the Polish dubbing, sounding like in children's movies.

BARBIE: STAR LIGHT ADVENTURE

Watchable. A colourful, yet silly story. Clearly inspired by: "Star Wars", "Jupiter Ascending", Pokemons, "Back to the Future", "Avatar", "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Hunger Games" and some lesser known productions. Lovely with the rings of Saturn in the skyline of Barbie's home planet.

Cinemas should start offering child-free screenings of "children's movies" to the adults who want to see cartoons and the like in peace. It's just talking or screams audible from each direction. Plus some kids get brought in prams - will they understand a film? Really?! Selfish adults who don't know how to entertain their own kids just ruin the cinema experience for others.

TURK PASAPORTU (TURKISH PASSPORT)

Recommended. A little known story of how diplomats' professional and moral duty combined with Turkish efficiency led to saving lives of a few hundred Jews during the Nazi occupation of France. Moving and thought-provoking in the part about how stigmatisation and gradual limitation of rights prepared groud for extermination camps.

NOKTA (DOT) (2008)

Watchable. Chaotic so badly it took me half a film to get a grasp on who's who and who's done what. At the same time remarkably well acted. A simple story showing the ambivalence of human nature.

BAD MOMS

Watchable. "Bad Moms" aren't bad. Great music (lots of songs including ones by DNCE, Foreigner, David Guetta, Flo Rida but also a piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart can be found at http://www.soundtrackmania.net/bad-moms-soundtrack.html), the whole film feels like a party (movied-move-it). Some of the songs are actually called "Shut Up and Dance", "Runnin' Wild", "City Rock" or "Let's Have a Party" and a few scenes are shot in a video clip mode. Humour, party-style, ranges from silly and vulgar ("dick" is probably the most often used noun here), "She threatened me she would bang my husband." being on the decent side, to quite funny like Amy's (Mila Kunis) kissing attempt. In fact the whole movie's in a jest - I was smiling throughout. That's a good thing as the story's about people who cannot quite cope with their parental responsibilities and whenever they mean good it turns out bad. The mum of two who watched the film together with me said being a mum was just like that minus getting drunk when you get fed up with your motherhood. I, in turn, left the cinema smug to be childless.

아가씨 (THE HANDMAIDEN)

Recommended. 145 minute long with no second redundant. The story's tense and intense and a few surprises await. Made by Park Chan-wook of "Oldboy" fame, it contains just one brutal scene, well, physically brutal anyway. Telling stories plays a bigger part and puts the viewer in the same position as the gentlemen seeking unwholesome excitement under the guise of high culture. Music, cinematography, masterfully rationed nudity attract the eye and the ear. Heavy ending. The soft song over the credits doesn't soften the film - just the opposite: the sharp contrast only strengthens it.

ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE 3D

Watchable. Great animation with very good 3D. Water glistens, meteorites shines and the animals have toy-like furs. What's annoying is the dialogues which sound like drunk teens' who are too cool for school. It's chaotic too.

1 minute past midnight Polish time. Here comes the promised review of

JASON BOURNE

Watchable. While it's far from poor, it's the weakest of the Bourne franchise. Not only does the film copy standard solutions from the series but also from other movies, e.g. Jason takes part in fights for a living like Wolverine. What's worse, he's clearly put on weight and his muscles are covered in fat. Two chase scenes are just too long. At the same time it's a sensible follow-up to the previous installments. Even Bourne's kills get summed up (32). The film refers to contemporary events, e.g. Syntagma Square protests in Athens, which brings the action home. Deep Dream is a swift reference to social media surveillance. Vincent Cassel is superb as a vicious agent, so is Alicia Vikander in the ambiguity of her character. Clear-cut structure lets you follow the film easily. Some major deaths change the scene. Intelligent and humorous ending promises a sequel. Very good music by Moby extends over credits. Fun guaranteed.

JULIETA

Recommended. A simple but emotional story. About how you're unable to understand what you haven't been through yourself. The film is sad but it's a beautiful depiction of a wide variety of relationships between people.

FINDING DORY

Watchable when seen for the second time. I enjoyed the beautiful pictures, colours and jokes (excellent translation into Polish) again. I hope the after-the-credits scene announces the third installment. It's such a beautiful series and I'd love to find out more, e.g. about the octopus's unpleasant ocean experiences.

STAR TREK BEYOND 3D

Watchable. Great 3D scenography disguises a flat film. It's a compilation of elements from other space opera movies: rocky or wooded planets, a "Federation" and swooshing weapons like in "Star Wars", a female alien guide introducing a male hero to her planet and calling Scott "Montgomery Scotty" resembles Jake Sully's Na'vi guide in "Avatar", even the "save yourselves" line from "Event Horizon" gets recycled when an enemy tells the Enterprise crew he wants to save them from themselves. In the previous Star Trek film cultural differences were the pivot, here they're virtually non-existent while various language dialects are prominent. Even though comedian Simon Pegg co-wrote the script, he wrote no funny scene or line even for himself. Lousy costumes - aliens' heads looking like rubber. The whole thing is pure action with no depth just like in director Justin Lin's earlier "Fast & Furious" films. He should steer clear of SF.


THE NEON DEMON

Recommended. It's nothing like what I've seen before. A few taboos are broken - be warned! Graphic scenes accompany stunning visuals and hypnotic music in this dark tale full of surprises and pushing the limits. Calling it pure evil full of glam would be excessively superficial even if correct, too.

CAFE SOCIETY

Watchable. It's about how people delude themselves. I remember hearing from Piotr Tymochowicz that, when he talked to several murderer's mothers, they always believed their sons were "such good boys" deep in heart. Of course Woody Allen is about sharp observation and humour. So here we get a family believing their relative is a businessman, not a gangster. We've also got two people deluding themselves they're not in love. It's still Allen but long past his best productions and while it's full of wit, it's not laugh-out-loud funny. Just an ordinary rom-com.

TUMBLEDOWN

Watchable. The dog scenes, though far and few between, are the highlights. American smalltown lifestyle may be another attraction. Other than that it's a very morose (no rom-com here, in spite of Jason Sudeikis) story of love and mourning. And hardly plausible in that as nothing brings the two together for the whole movie and then suddenly they've fallen for each other?!The film's about a musician but the soundtrack is just so-so. It's inspirated by a true story but, sadly, not all true stories are worth a film. And certainly not when it's the scriptwriter's own story. The worst literature I've read always resulted from the writer's broken or mended heart. Film scripts are no exception here.

KOBIETY BEZ WSTYDU

Watchable. Advertised as a rom-com it's far from that. I laughed only twice. The women are beautiful but the story is silly and sexist, it's similar to "Och, Karol" but much less amusing. In the middle the story diverts towards crime. The gangster oil tycoon looks like Jan Kulczyk - Poland's late richest man. I wonder how his family is going to react.

JASON BOURNE

I've just seen it and would love to share my impressions. Unfortunately, due to a publishing ban, the review will appear on 27th July. I'll try to post it right after midnight though.

THE SHALLOWS

Watchable. A stunning beach off Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia imitates Mexico. Suitable, modern music - not the "Jaws" theme. I expected that "Jaws of the new generation", as the film's advertised, would be environmentally friendly or something, without killing the shark. The biggest change however is the lack of chauvinism. No sexist remarks towards the girl and she's educated, smart and tough. Modern CGIs make the shark look realistic, you can see even his gulls moving, and the whole ecosystem is shown. The carcass and crab-eating remind me of certain movie and make me wonder if the actress (Blake Lively) stands an Oscar chance. She well deserves it for sure. There's one movie-related pun - listen carefully! Spanish dialogues don't get translated which adds to the realism. The whole thing is the definition of suspense. What detracts from this perfection is excessive eye make-up (as for water conditions), the fact she always sees clearly even in salty sea water and just after emerging to the surface and a flare lighting up water surface. The rest could be justified. But these few details just ruin the impression of realism.

HEL

Watchable. Lynch it isn't. Actually for the whole movie I was wondering: "what the hell is it?!" A seaside reasort outside season has got its atmosphere and the three cameramen together with a handful of actors, especially superb Marcin Kowalczyk as Kail (pronounced: Kyle), make use of it. No fantasy elements here however and not all Playboy bunnies look good, ex ones anyway. Before you get into the slow rhythm it feels just protracted and boring. Marcin Kowalczyk said in an interview that "everything caused goosebumps" on the location. Sadly, no viewer felt any. In spite of a murder early on, it's not a crime story. Shoddily made.

GENIUS

Watchable. The first hour is as arduous and onerous as Thomas Wolfe's writing process. The whole film looks drabby. Only for the writer's true blue fans.

ODDBALL

Watchable. Australian family movie. Partly predictable but fun with a cute dog and little penguins. Fantastic landscapes, cinematography bringing out all the colour, upbeat music (by a Polish composer). Likeable characters. The Polish dubbing is quite bearable too.

YUMURTA (EGG) (2007)

Watchable. A few days in a lovely town where people are friendly to each other. The story set against this background is subtle and non-invasive as the reason and the outcome of the man's visit are ambiguous.

LIGHTS OUT

Watchable. Horror-wise there's not much to talk about. It starts scaring early on and scares every few minutes but in a jumpy way and actually I jumped only twice. Like with a number of recent horrors, here the realistic layer is more attractive. All the major characters, apart from the spook, obviously, are likeable, Teresa Palmer (Rebecca) is beautiful with fabulous long blonde hair and cool make-up so it's nice and easy to follow their story. The story, however, is a mix-up: logical and ideological. It lacks logic at times, e.g. when a protagonist gets a creased slip of paper saying: "I need help", they abandon the rescue attempt after a few minutes. At the same time ideologically it's incoherent as if the scriptwriters couldn't make up their minds whether to be sexist or not to be sexist. Rebecca is fiercely independent but in a manly manner - she's been having sex with a guy whom she'd kick out always in the morning. Luckily, in spite of the actress being hot, there's no nudity in the film. Still, her rationality is countered with two unstable women: her mother who's been on antidipressants for a few decades and a female psycho/monster/spook both of whom met... in a psychiatric hospital.

GHOSTBUSTERS - IMAX 3D

Watchable. To be watched in 3D only (top-notch, really), best at IMAX. The most 80s movie since the 80s. It's colourful, cheerful, makes you forget the world outside. Well, I admit, it's not all gold. A big part of the film is silly and the jokes popping up one a minute are often primitive and rarely funny which I blame on the script since the acting is superb. While there's not even one bad role in this movie, Kate McKinnon beats all. She well deserves an Oscar for her portrayal of a wacky engineer much akin to Doc Brown from "Back to the Future". A special flavour for those who watched the 1984 version of "Ghostbusters" are cameos of the original stars in new roles. Lots of 80s-style music will make you wiggle your feet till the end of the credits. Just make sure you shake off that green ectoplasm before you leave the cinema (after the after-the-credits scene)!

I'm watching a horror tomorrow. That's going to be tough... 'cause I ain't afraid of no ghosts.

Two new screens are coming at the Muranow cinema in Warsaw this autumn. The cinema's still operating over the summer while being refurbished and rebuilt.

KOLLEKTIVET (THE COMUNE)

Watchable. The 70s are not my favourite period - the fashion doesn't appeal to me and everyone smokes. At the same time it's when free love was attempted. And never again. It just didn't work. In the film a couple fears alienation in a large house and starts a commune which fails on so many levels: property-wise and in relationships. The story is moving. But it's just a manifestation of all the myths about human nature modern psychology has disproved already.

UNDER THE SUN

Watchable. Nothing revelatory in this documentary about North Korea. My movie companion was checking on me during the film but to his surprise I was wide awake all the time. I truly enjoyed it. The film's almost funny in the way it depicts how staged the whole documentary was. It's full of close-ups showing emotions (smugness or drowsiness or sadness) contrasting with the utterances scripted by the local authorities.

VILLE-MARIE

Watchable. While it doesn't lack in atmosphere, I watched it looking at my watch. Some plots don't close a full circle. Some scenes are stupid, e.g. the resuscitation by a paramedic looks amateurish and health care professionals don't wash blood off the face of the injured guy before putting stitches, or needless, like the one showing Monica Bellucci's breasts which made no other sense than to show them. Her make-up is more interesting - eyes and lips enlarged by expanding the contours. It didn't help the film however. I left the cinema with relief.

MONEY MONSTER

Watchable. Skillfully builds up tension. Better than the trailer would imply. George Clooney and Jack O'Connell act convincingly. Have you ever seen George Clooney looking scared? Here's your chance. Jack O'Connell is no worse in the large scope of emotions enacted and his working-class accent. The story is predictable though. It's just good film workmanship, not new quality.

GULE GULE (THE RAINDROP) (1999)

Recommended. A beautiful film about love and friendship. It starts with the sound of sea waves. Then there's idyllic life on an island. A group of elderly guys spend time enjoying each other's company, helping those worse-off. Then the action starts. The whole film is joyful, heart-warming and uplifting. Very good dialogues.

MANHATTAN NIGHT

Watchable. All exploited movie cliches: a seductive woman who's far from innocent, child abuse, a lone wolf reporter, a psycho imprisoning a woman and even a "Saw"-like scene, all of that in a slow but atmospheric modern noir style. Simon's proposal is quite weird. The film is dark and heavy, the last half an hour quite disturbing. A bit like "Sin City" for real and with worse cinematography.

It feels quite peculiar to see the film at Warsaw's Kinoteka and then go out towards the Central Station where you come across a Manhattan-like skyline. At night.

THE NICE GUYS

Watchable. The script is not bad so I guess it's poor comedy acting. Neither Ryan Gosling nor Russell Crowe have been made for comedy. There are just several scenes where you know it was meant to be funny but somehow it isn't. Other than that I found that entertaining. Clear-cut scenario, fast action, vivid characters. As I have a penchant for mermaids, I have to add that the ones at the party are beautiful! What tails!

MR. GAGA

Recommended. Occasionally I thought I could dance. How naive of me! You just have to see what these people do with their bodies! Breathtaking muscles, extreme strength and agility, incredible memory of moves. The softness of Ohad Naharin's movements defies belief. The film presents also interesting behind-the-stage stories. Watch the scenes during early credits!

KAMPER

Watchable. About relationships, career choices and how they change in time. Some bits are funny, like about a friend's pregnancy: "To nie rak. Gorsze rzeczy sie ludziom przytrafiaja." ("It's not cancer. Worse things happen to people."), badminton, the billboard or the "Killer Chef" show. Most is just too much life-like. It's sexist too - she kisses a guy, he, in turn, has an intense sexual affair and it's him who leaves her.

TIME TO LOOK AT GIRLS: MIGRANTS IN BANGLADESH AND ETHIOPIA

Watchable. This documentary is what I actually expected. Still, it's worth watching to remember that if you end up on the street, many bad things must have happened to you already.

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.