DARKEST HOUR

Recommended. There's a saying that people come to your life for a reason, for a season or for a lifetime. Winston Churchill was such a one-season man. He played his role in forming resistance against Hitler's invasion but got ousted from his post one year after the war ended. The movie shows how reluctantly he was accepted as Prime Minister, how his inflamed speeches turned the course of history and how, incapable of decing whether to negotiate with the enemy or not, he follows the king's advice, mingles with common citizens on the Tube, since "people normally say what they think", and gets a clear-cut answer. An uplifting movie, showing Churchill's foibles but imposing enough gravitas to render him as a responsible and reasonable politician. Big Ben chimes after the credits.

PENGABDI SETAN (SATAN'S SLAVE)

Watchable. Scary at times but with ghosts, poltergeists, dead bodies and zombies all thrown in one movie. Yet the family is fun, e.g. when a seven year old dismisses his brother's walking dead theory: "This zombie's smart, carrying a torch." The finale implies a sequel and that's looking up. The red berries and the neighbour couple who just can't let the family go got me intrigued.

Just the night I came back from the movie I saw a note in my block of flats saying someone had died here that day. Creepy.

I, TONYA

Recommended. Totally not what I expected. Not just a sports movie but a crazy criminal mockumentary comedy.  The story spun by the media 24 years ago was that figure ice-skater Tonya Harding hired someone to break her friend-competitor Nancy Kerrigan's kneecap before championships. It turns out they weren't really friends, the incident was a prank played by morons and she wasn't so sporty either - she smoked. The movie is her perspective. Looks like she got a raw deal in life. She didn't fit in with the high-brow crowd of other figure skaters and jurors. Years of training and extraordinary skating prowess never brought her as many victories as they should. Direct as she was, she confronted a juror about it only to hear it was in fact about a "wholesome American family". "I don't have a wholesome American family" was her reaction and her predicament. Battered first by her own mum, then by her love partner, never getting any help, even a policeman once ignored blood on her face, she doesn't get the injustice of the Nancy Kerrigan incident: "She got hit once and all that shitshow?!" Unlike some other people involved, whose memory of the incident got distorted, Tonya has no illusions in life. She calls herself a redneck who she certainly is, using vocab like "the awesomest". The brilliant skater won her first championships when she was... 4. Her mum is adamant that "Tonya was American" and rightly so: she made herself. Well, first her mother brought her to trainings, later claimed to have made Tonya a champion and finally betrayed her. Both are quite mouthfulls ("I don't swear, you cunt!"). Apart from the abusive mother-daughter relationship, we have the morons in the skater's circle: her husband and his best mate as well as the dumb criminals hired by them to scare Nancy. First the attacker moved his car every 15 minutes meaning to... avoid suspicion and it took him 2 days to realize his victim was in a different city. Allison Janney kills in the supporting role of the mother. Deserves the Oscar she's been nominated for even more than Margot Robbie does. Real interview and skating shots are shown during early credits.

光 (HIKARI aka RADIANCE)

Watchable. A quiet movie with plentiful close-ups of the main actress's (水崎 綾女 or Ayame Misaki) beautiful, expressive face. Unfortunately the subtle story of striving not to forget and of how each person perceives the same things differently is shambolic, tedious and the love far-fetched. You can see what it's like to create audiodescription and how hard it is to please the focus group. One of protagonists remarks she likes interpreting people's motivations in movies. This one is hard in this matter: it simply doesn't ring true.

KOTONOHA NO NIWA (THE GARDEN OF WORDS, 2013)

Recommended. Delicate animation. A heart-wrenching story of love filled with longing, barriers imposed by other people's rules but not the couple's (her being a 27 year old teacher and him a high school student). Psychologically true: the love develops imperceptibly and when the boy feels rejected he reacts with anger and denial. At the same time both are trying to find their feet in life. There's a post-credit at the end of the beautiful song ending the film.

THE DISASTER ARTIST

Watchable. Several big names dressed up and made up beyond recognition. A movie based on a film about a film: a tragicomedy based on a making-of documentary on "The Room". Tommy Wiseau, the main protagonist, is an idiot but what permeats through the story is the love of the cinema and a proof that where there's a will there's a way. Tommy's attempt at building up the hype around the premiere as well as footage from "The Room" made me laugh out loud. There's a post-credit.

TESNOTA (CLOSENESS)

Walked out. Slow, boring, in dull, mostly dark colours. Even a kidnapping doesn't enliven things up. It only emphasises problems within the working class community.

ALTERED CARBON EPISODES 1&2

Watchable. SF based on sex and violence. Hot Joel Kinnaman and beautiful, slender Kristin Lehman in some of the leading roles. Old science fiction motifs return, like from "Elysium" where the poor live on the ground in a derelict city while the rich occupy an edifice in the sky. Regular people are juxtaposed with Mats (short from Matusalem) - consciences inhabiting human-like sleeves for hundreds of years - and with AIs with minds quite of their own and even thinking of taking over power. Messages are passed via a cornea transfer so that you see the event with your eyes directly. A hotel is armed to protect its clients. The murder serves as a cliffhanger ending episode 1 but not in episode 2 since it ends in philosophical deliberations. The music over the final credits differs too and the score after ep. 2 is better than the tune after ep. 1.

NARZECZONY NA NIBY

Watchable. Just a few funny bits, e.g. the confusion when 2 passengers get into a taxi at the same time or when the policewomen let the heartbroken woman go after hearing her story or the children's audition - how they scream pretending adults! The whole thing is nice and just one notch higher than "Podatek od milosci", similarly built on the 3-act rom-com principle where the relationship/person in love undergoes a crisis in the middle of the film. Very good acting trio: Julia Kaminska, Piotr Stramowski, Piotr Adamczyk. Tomasz Karolak's character choosing a DVD to watch dismisses "Listy do M." ("Letters to Santa"), in which he has acted in real life, because "he doesn't like that fat actor". I don't know why the bingo club scene shows... smoking inside the venue. A few early mid-credits.

MAYA THE BEE: THE HONEY GAMES

Recommended. In the very first scene an insect is humming the famous "Pszczolka Maja" ("Maya the Bee") song by Zbigniew Wodecki! At least in the Polish version. The rest of the music is nice, even if not that catchy. Still, everone's favourites: Maya, Willie, Thekla the spider etc. are back. Maya and Violet have beautiful sparkling eyes. The story of friendship, team spirit, sport values and compassion is a winner. Maya is the first to believe in the downtrodden creatures and proves that where there's a will there's a way.

CITY OF GHOSTS

Recommended. I'm a follower of news on ISIS, have seen a number of documentaries on the subject on the big screen and on the small one. Yet this film shows things even I didn't know about, e.g. the way little children are recruited and trained - practising slitting a throat on a teddy bear - or how the ISIS media marketing works: not only have they gone a long way since primitive home-style videos,  currently incorporating Hollywood-level CGIs but also are made game-like to convey the message that it's like Grand Theft Auto but for real. Some of those who broadcast the Raqqa footage had to run to Germany - a country where "people are constantly drunk" and where... they continue getting death threats.

WINCHESTER

Watchable. Based on true events surrounding the Winchester family. Yes, the ones of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. With a brilliant twist of action where one of characters turns out to be a ghost. Yet the rest is full of cheap horror gimmicks, mostly sudden apparitions meant to startle you. A Melbourne studio imitates San Jose in the movie.

I found a strange black pen in my coat pocket after the screening. Ghosts?

HAPPY END

I watched the beginning again and now I'm not sure if it's really essential to focus on the opening scenes. I think the later shock is bigger when you didn't read the very early phone-filmed sequence text carefully.

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE IN DOLBY ATMOS 3D

Watchable. A satisfactory conclusion to the series. Comprehensible only to those who've seen the previous two parts. Decent 3D, sound as comprehensive as it gets. Nothing pleasant to look at so I'll give Imax a miss. This part is totally action-based with so many fights I had enough and a cliffhanger that made my palms wet.

PODATEK OD MILOSCI

Watchable. A standard romantic comedy providing occasional loud laughs, e.g. when the guy enters the Inland Revenue office and immediately turns back attempting to leave while a lady working there presses on the door to shut it from the other side or when a coach's client notices his bunny tail pants when his trousers slip down as he's bending over something in the kitchen. Other than that he throws darts to pick a book to read next and he's quite an ordinary decent guy. She's a bitch hell-bent on promotion who "starts feeling pangs of conscience and can't cope with it". A priest charging an exorbitant sum for a baptism gets dubbed "Jezusa przedstawiciel... handlowy" ("Jezus's... sales rep"). The movie's really pleasant but sad at times (those "pangs of conscience").

"Peter Rabbit" is coming out this year and the trailer is promising. Looks like rabbits will wreak havoc all over England. And brilliant Domhnall Gleeson is in it.

Нелюбовь (LOVELESS)

Recommended. Powerful. The disappearance of the child reveals how little his parents care or know about their son. He'd been missing for two days before they found out. No dogs are used in the subsequent search, as it would normally happen in real life, so it takes several days. Other issues tackled include the top-down corporate culture where the CEO's taste determines the way of spending team-building time. One organises pilgrimages to holy shrines, another one extreme sports events and the subordinates unwillingly try to fit in. In the penultimate scene the woman's wearing a tracksuit with "Russia" on it. But if it's meant to be an allegory of the country, "Krotkaya" ("A Gentle Creature" aka "Una femme douce") did it much better and without such an overt display of the name. And while the film hit me hard, in the Oscar race I still root for Hungarian "Testről és lélekről" ("On Body and Soul") which is more subtle and original. As for the Russian candidate, the music over the credits is a masterpiece. And if the movie doesn't give you creeps, the final score will.

TADEO JONES 2: EL SECRETO DEL REY MIDAS (TAD JONES: THE HERO RETURNS aka TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER AND THE SECRET OF KING MIDAS)

Watchable. Excellent animation with rocks, falling water, windscreen reflections, hair, skin, unshaven skin, a lacy dress, jumpers made of different fabrics having distinguishing, proper texture. Story-wise pretty standard: a bunch of contemporaries, including a museum worker, hunt an ancient treasure with greedy gangsters in their wake. There's also a living mummy looking similar to the dead in "Coco". Starts with the only funny scene where Tad talks to Sarah thinking about the ring he wants to give her, dropping it and chasing it on the construction site which results in him talking both to her and to his thoughts to a comic effect.

LES FANTÔMES D'ISMAËL (ISMAEL'S GHOSTS)

Watchable. Slow, with a bad lead actor (Mathieu Amalric) accompanied by two actresses. Two parallel plots: the one of a film director whose wife returns after 21 years becomes clear after a while but remains protracted, the one of a diplomat is more interesting, with conspiracies but I've got no clue what it was about, let alone how it relates to the director's story. Marion Cotillard gets startk naked for a while and looks beautiful, not in a fake American way but naturally, without depilation or surgical enhancements. The music score encompasses a few styles and is very uneven, seems random.

DJ

Recommended. The rags-to-riches DJ story takes you from Poland via London to Ibiza. The initial shot of naked female bodies lined up face down in red light is explained later in the Balearic part. Both London and Ibiza look just like I remember them with the added glamour of some parties I did not attend. The shots enthrall more and more with each change of scenery. The music shows the DJ's humble beginnings - and talent, after her conductor-father - playing regular, decent techno and gets increasingly better ending absolutely amazing. Can I have some more, please?

GNOME ALONE

Watchable. For teenagers and school-age children: bright colours, pop tunes and fighting monsters. A clear-cut story, good translation into Polish making even the dubbing sound OK. The story's about a single mum, school "mean trio", funny ravenous monsters and true friends. Nothing new but lots of fun.

LOVING VINCENT

Recommended when seen again. First I heard one language, was reading the other, listening to Clint Mansell's score and focusing on the paintings. That was too much. A single-language version of this complex movie is much more viewer-friendly. Even tree leaves moving in the wind caught my attention. All the toil put into copying Vincent Van Gogh's paintings for a full-length production is a breakthrough which deserves an Oscar. Clint Mansell's music blends in smoothly rendering Van Gogh's tragedy so emotional it touches to the core. The composer remasters his most famous "Lux Aeterna" in the film and over the credits. The credits additionally feature the catchy song: "Starry, Starry Night".

In the near future Polish people may start having transitional disruptions when the Audio Movie application will get widespread. 6 m elderly, 0.5 m hard-of-hearing and some other people, for example those who will want to listen to the dialogues in another language, are said to be interested in the app. For others it means a risk of loud conversations when they will be learning how to use it as the movie starts.

INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY

Watchable. When I hear of the cases of chained women kept in cellars I wonder how human beings can do it to others. The movie swiftly provides an explanation: supernatural evil takes residence in those people's minds. The film says monsters feed on fear and hatred which sounds very uplifting as if we can change things. You get laughs, tears, scares all in one movie. The psychic and the sidekicks fight monsters ghostbusters style. The psychic is the same elderly lady as before. The character creator and scriptwriter Leigh Whannel appears as Specs - one of the sidekicks who feature prominently in this part adding lots of humour, e.g. hitting on the psychic's nieces. Though the lady having one of her visions at the police station is hilarious as well. Only the fake-looking demon with sparks flying of its metallic fingers detracts from the fun. The clown face appears in the woman's vision in the ending announcing a sequel. I hope Leigh Whannel is going to retain his comic strain.

ESCAPE ROOM

Watchable. Starts really bad: a guy trapped in a locked room, then someone else driving while you hear moans in the background and, finally, typical for a slasher movie ominous signs like a weird guy crossing the street in front of the car or a road sign "caution" warning. Silly birthday conversations in a restaurant get enlivened with an interesting method of picking up the bill: drawing the banking card at random. Relinquishing phones starts the game. The rest is uneven. Ridiculous mixes with inventive: smart clues and room layout but also killings for no reason at all, a beautiful female vic running naked, ludicrous conversations. Lack of ending. If it means a sequel is coming, it may be actually better.

HONEYGIVER AMONG THE DOGS

Recommended. Bhutan is a country where no foreign productions are released due to a lack of interest. If "Honeygiver Among the Dogs" is representative of the country, they don't need any imported rubbish. The movie is an enchanting, full of Buddhist values... detective story. Masterfully scripted, perfectly enacted, filled with the beauty of Bhutanese nature. Very atmospheric due to local music and awe-inspiring cinematography. Gripping and captivating.

למלא את החלל (FILL THE VOID) (2012)

Watchable. A very heart-warming tale of a small Hassidic community where marriage is every person's religious duty and a way of living. The world's a bit hermetic and questions of why and how kept popping up in my head but its obscurity doesn't impair understanding the whole. It's just delightful to see how subtly the love develops and how the community members support each other. The music's pleasant to the ear too.

SYN KROLOWEJ SNIEGU (THE SON OF SNOW QUEEN)

Recommended. Apparently more than 215 children were killed in Poland over the last 10 years. The movie's inspired by one of the murders with bits based on other typical cases. Michalina Olszanska, who previously impersonated mass murderer Olga Hepnarova, is the title mother. She's amazing, expressing a great deal with her eyes. Anna Seniuk looks unrecognizable. The nasty photographer (Robert Czebotar) is very convincing. The young actor, Maciej Brozek, is very natural even though in reality his school and life position is totally positive. The title refers to the original versions of Andersen's fairy tales which were much more brutal. According to the psychotraumatologist invited to the screening as an expert the movie's psychologically true in all its complexity. A person with antisocial personality disorder surrounds herself with people who only adore her, she's oriented at her own goals. We don't know whether she was raped and had the rapist's child or whether she's a pathological liar. People growing up in a threatening house repeat the experience as adults - the man in the film does: his mother's strong and abusive so he seeks such a partner for himself, we don't know the woman's past but she's got no parental support, she's abandoned. The woman certainly experienced something difficult and tries to live a normal life which implies she's got a personality disorder, but is not a psychopathic killer. Such a person lacks self-reflection like "something's wrong with me". A person with a disorder finds it easier to move towards pathology when she needs a break, time for herself and that's what happens here. She's envious about her son's adult friend Kazimierz, she owns the child. If a child is brought up in a non-secure style, one mentor is needed - here Zofia's such a person. According to the other expert - a psychologist working as the spokesperson for children's rights whose office conducts about 50 thousand interventions yearly - kids love their oppressors, they just become sad and resigned, accepting. The film's powerful in its own right. With the expert commentary it's just easier to notice and to understand how it works.

DOWNSIZING

Watchable. The trailer suggests science fiction or a science fiction comedy. Instead you get a cheesy and moralistic drama about human extinction. The pain of being a minority features too. The downsizing is thought through: shaving all your hair, exchanging dental fillings, the decreased cost of living, sustainability as well as downsized espionage, terrorism, people trafficking, punishment of dissidents. Matt Damon convincingly impersonates an average chubby middle-aged married man. But the tone is predominantly serious and condescending for the newly rich who only want to have fun. You don't get bored for a minute. It's just that it's weighed down with responsibility for humanity.

ATAK PANIKI (PANIC ATTACK)

Watchable. Even engaging but... about nothing. Worst of all, each story has an unfulfilled comic potential.

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

Recommended. How to become rich beyond belief? First strike oil. Then make a deal with the Bedouin tribes, build a special tanker.... In summer 1973 John Paul Getty was the world's richest person and the first billionaire. The kidnapping of his grandson results in a duel of ruthlessness between the gangsters and the filthy rich entrepreneur who believes everything can be bought cheaper and insists if he paid the ransom he'd have 14 kidnapped grandchildren. A gripping crime drama with a psychologic subtext. As the chief of security remarks, something else always lies behind money. It's not the wealth the rich obsess with. Each of them fills a different void.

Виктория (VIKTORIA)

Watchable. Some people believe vaginal irrigations and jumping after an intercourse prevents conception. It doesn't work. Not even in the movie in which a life ruined by a sequence of events set off by an unwanted pregnancy is marginal to the impressive music - pompous communist-way or ordinary - and picture with atmospheric prolonged takes. It saves the plot bordering on the ridiculous. The baby girl is a born actress.

ŠERKŠNAS (FROST)

Watchable. A quiet, slow road movie in Russian, bits of Lithuanian and some Ukrainian. Little music apart from a beautiful, sad Ukrainian tune. The boy (Mantas Janciauskas) is cute and the story shown gently. The ending is picturesque but cheesy. The whole thing is too superficial.

JUSQU'A LA GARDE (CUSTODY)

Recommended. Heavy and unpleasant but excellent in its genre. Domestic violence shown so strongly it hurts. It feels as if you were the boy. Should be compulsory for all the police and judges who treat it lightly.

THE POST

Watchable. Steven Spielberg's in good form. The movie packs a punch even if the story's very feminist. It explains how women's indoctrination through history became a self-fulfilling prophecy which may serve the majority who don't understand the complex psychology of prejudice but it's so straight in your face I just found it vexing. Nevertheless the story is masterfully structured, maintaining suspense and bringing to mind several events from the most recent times, at least in Poland where the Parliament tried to restrict journalists' access and recently has been attempting to silence inconvenient media suing them on whatever feeble grounds they find. The movie's just about that but in a different place and time: the early 70s in the US, during the Vietnam War. First Nixon takes "The New York Times" to court which is the core of the story, then the penultimate scene is his call in which he denies "The Washing Post" journalists entry to the Congress. The very final one is about Watergate which looks as if a sequel was likely. Sasha Spielberg, the director's daughter, makes a cameo as "Woman with package". John Williams' music adds gravitas, as it always does. Bruce Greenwood's unrecognizable as a nearly bald, bespectacled, shrewedly lying politician.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Recommended. As subtle as "Moonlight" but also much more than a gay movie as it tackles the thorny issue of love which we all experience regardless of our gender or preference. With sad truths of how love makes the heart emotionally bankrupt by the age of 30 and how the body, with age, stops being looked at, let alone desired - it gets mentioned in one conversation only but immediately adds gravitas and becomes indelible. Unlike "Moonlight" the film's about the upper class. "Apricot" harks back to ancient times and occurs in each civilization as we know from the history of vocabulary in various languages and, more literally as homosexuality, from the presentation of ancient sculptures. The fruit reoccurs when the teenager makes a hole in it and uses for physical satisfaction and again when he pukes something orange seeing his beloved dancing with a woman. One guy is hot and the other not too bad-looking either so you feel sex in the air. The final call the boy receives is heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time. The movie manages to be explicit and finely drawn at the same time.

假孔子之名 (IN THE NAME OF CONFUCIUS)

Watchable. A documentary revealing the secret policy behind China funding Confucius Institutes worldwide: they serve as espionage cells both procuring information and moulding the minds and hearts of the future generations of students of Chinese as the second language. As the communist party supporters clash with dissidents, especially Falun Gong practitioners, the existence of the Confucian Institutes is debated by the Canadian education board. Is China just assuring the offspring of Chinese diaspora won't forget the language or is the country spending far more on foreign education than domestic for a more sinister reason? A bit bureaucratic but on a vital issue.

HARD TO BELIEVE

Recommended. "Organ harvesting" is the term used in the documentary about the practice of obtaining human "spare parts" from still living prisoners. Not any serial murderers but Falun Gong members 65 thousand of whom died for the sake of their organs over 8 years. They don't drink or smoke so their bodies are sought after, e.g. by - mind it - people with ill children. Tortured prisoners  overlook the physical they get in the middle of their ordeal but each account is the same: a cornea examination, a chest X-ray, kidney and liver tests etc. Chilling. Provides details on how the system works without scaring the viewer with anything graphic. So if your heart transplant is scheduled in two weeks' time, on a specific date, blood is on your hands.

HBO PLANS FOR 2018

Polish "Wataha" beat the "Game of Thrones" last year far surpassing the number of viewers. That much for Polish nationalism. 2018 is a year without "Game of Thrones" (worldwide). But there'll be such a plethora of series you just won't be able to see them all, even all of the selected ones. The ones for children, teenagers and young adults tend to be on the superhero side. The most distinctive - in the good sense or bad - productions for adults planned for broadcast in the current year are:

• "Beyond" season 2 - an intriguing SF flick
• "Mosaic" - with an interactive app for the US market only which will allow the viewer decide the fate of the characters
• "Counterpart" - announced as an SF story built around a secret passage between our world and an alternative one set up during the Cold War, the trailer however implies more crime than science fiction
• "Trust" - about the billionaire Getty family, directed by Danny Boyle
• "Silicon Valley" - with Kumail Nanjiani of "The Big Sick" fame who I don't find even remotely comic
• "Westworld" - season 2 maintaining the style of the first one, coming up in spring
• "The Handmaid's Tale" - season 1 in spring finally on HBO, announced yesterday just a few hours before the Polish Parliament sealed women's fate as similar to the reality presented in the no-longer-so-science-fiction series
• Polish Jakub Zulczyk's adaptation of his own novel "Slepnac od swiatel" 

BRITANNIA EPISODE 1

Watchable. I expected history. Of that you get the 90 years' span between Julius Caesar's first foyer into the isles and the mass invasion mentioned on the screen. The rest is magic, druids, scarifications, hypnosis, rituals, prophecies. Also power struggle, strong women, sex and lots of violence. I'm afraid the series may attempt to be the new "Game of Thrones" which it will never become since the original is only one. At least it has amazing scenery: unusually shaped verdant craggy peaks, cliffs, mysterious gorges, underwater ragged rocks - shot on locations in the Czech Republic, England and Wales. The music accompanying the credits raised some controversy but I enjoyed the tune both on its own and as a mild ending to the brutal film.

PLAN B

Watchable. The new Polish production is uneven. Hilarious ex-convict with a stray dog (outstanding Marcin Dorocinski who, as he says, fell in love at first sight with dog Kotlet) is the only bright point in this sad and implausible movie. Slim and beutiful middle-aged woman (Edyta Olszowka) is in love with a disgusting old, grey, fat chap and their sex scene looks pretty revolting. The actress told me in such scenes they always had underwear and it's only made appear more erotic than it was, yet it looks pretty gross and unrealistc. Most of the stories are about dealing with a loss. Humour lies in all of the ex-jailbird plot, e.x. when he communicates with an Irisman the way chavs talk: in Polish and with lots of vulgar language, ending the exchange with: "Kurwa, prosze." ("You're fucking welcome"). The only other amusing scene is the deeply depressed string bass teacher opening the door to a girl and informing her morosely: "Nie bedzie lekcji. Wyjechalismy z mezem na Riwiere Francuska." ("There'll be no lesson. Me and my husband have gone to the French Riviera.")

AUS DEM NICHTS (IN THE FADE)

Recommended. Directed by Fatih Akin - a German of Turkish descent, with Diane Kruger - an American citizen born in Germany and living on and off in Paris, 1 of 3 producers is Nurhan Şekerci-Porst - Şekerci coincidentally is the main protagonist's surname. Those dual nationality people have created an intimate story of losing your loved ones in a terror blast. The burnt wall structure creates a map of Europe with a smudge of blood smeared across which puts the individual situation in a wider context. Very realistic shots throughout the film. The ending shows all the woman's doubts and hesitations. While it was all gripping when I was watching, I only felt the full impact after leaving the cinema. It just reduced me to tears.

22年目の告白―私が殺人犯です (MEMOIRS OF A MURDERER)

Watchable. While based on the 2012 "내가 살인범이다" ("Confession of Murder"), it gets a more modern twist. In August 2017 Chinese crime writer Liu Yongbiao was arrested as a suspect of a quadruple murder committed in 1995. Hence the 2017 Japanese remake places the series of murders in 1995 and the book release 22 years later. Unfortunately no other details from the real case are used and the remake is full of quick takes and chaos. Like many Japanese productions, it's far-fetched, over the top, with exaggerated acting. The twists of action retained from the Korean original fail to impress even if you haven't seen the first version. A number of situations are hilarious, e.g. when the captured murderer hears of the statute of limitations discussed by the guys who had stalked him the captive asks "Sore wa doshita?" ("So what?"). I'm not sure though if that was always the director's intention. Hot act Tatsuya Fujiwara as Sonezaki is the main attraction.

HAPPY END

Watchable. After "Amour" of 2012 I became apprehensive about Michael Haneke's films. It looked like he got slower with age. Well, "Happy End" is slightly faster fortunately, a little bit. It's composed of a few separate storylines which converge in the second half so for the first hour I was trying to get my head round the scattered events. It touches on contemporary issues as diverse as: recording everything with mobile phones, sick erotic needs forcing a person to lead a double life, refugees where their strength and determination is juxtaposed with their position in the society or dilapidation of the upper class where the son is unable to take over the family business. It's essential to watch it from the opening titles till the end. Only then does the story make full sinister sense.

GOTOWI NA WSZYSTKO. EXTERMINATOR

Watchable. One of better comedies recently but still not entirely hilarious. A myriad of great comedians with amusing facial expressions and funny looks: Pawel Domagala, Krzysztof Czeczot, Piotr Zurawski, Piotr Rogucki, Dominika Kluzniak, Eryk Lubos, Dorota Pomykala and some actors who don't blend in at all, especially Agnieszka Wiedlocha in one of leading roles who doesn't fit in the comedy genre. Cry, baby, cry, just do it in a different movie. With her and some lesser parts the film's a bit too serious at times. Scripted by Przemyslaw Jurek, known for the great "Singielka" serial and other comedies, together with Przemyslaw Rogalski, who had never written any jokes before. The plot is generally up for scratch. "Spotykacie sie jeszcze?" "Tak, widujemy sie okazjonalnie na stypach roznych." ("Do you still meet?" "Yeah, we see each other occasionally at different funeral receptions.") The band tour obscure villages like Psitki or Rzewnie and the drummer gets kicked out of... a mental institution. A number of catchy 80s tunes whose spoofs are masterpieces.

STUDNIOWK@

Watchable. Where's the comedy? Exaggerated acting makes it weird rather than funny. Teenagers aren't like this. At least the story's clear-cut and an English actor plays the English teacher.

Much more entertaining was the introduction to the movie premiere. The delay of about half an hour made some viewers suspect the movie may be still in post-production. Then, with a huge applause, a lady came onto the stage and announced that... after waiting for so many years we can wait another 10 minutes. Finally, 10 minutes later, a comedian got the mike. He said he had first considered listing what he hadn't liked about the movie but then he had noticed the Italian co-producers and decided not to fearing a Neapoletan co-producer might say to him: "U nas tez kiedys byl taki smieszek. I Neapol jest. Film tez jest. Smieszka juz nie ma." ("We also had a joker like this. And Naples is still there. The movie's still there. The joker is not.") He remembered to thank the media partners of the production, including Polish Television, recently infamous for the much advertised flop - the "Korona krolow" serial. The comedian said: "Pozdrawiamy i dziekujemy za Korone krolow". ("Our best regards and thank you for Korona krolow") Finally the director himself wished film critics wouldn't write the critic during the film and stayed till the end.

THE COMMUTER

Watchable. Keeps you on the edge of the seat. A puzzle to solve with new elements added gradually. A bit too American: a huge crash with an explosion, brawls, guns and a few deaths within 105 minutes. Neatly structured though. With a scene probably inspired by "Murder on the Orient Express". Good dialogues and one-liners, e.g. "Next time I'm taking the bus." I'm not. The train ride was quite enjoyable.

FERNANDO 3D

Recommended. Little 3D effect so 2D should do just fine. Recorded in Dolby Atmos so worth choosing this sound format where possible especially that the music is good. The best anti-bullfighting cartoon ever. It's impossible not to love the bull romantic smelling flowers. The sad truth about the animals having to be prodded to charge in the arena and of what happens to them when they win and when they lose wrings tears. But the cute animals are mostly amusing, there are gags aplenty, e.g. a hamster gets watered together with flowers and a bull asks a dog: "So why do you wag your tail when I call you 'Bro'?", the dog turns back: "Hey, tail, stop it!" The Polish dubbing leaves the songs in English and Spanish as well as names and background conversations in Spanish. The animation presents both the picturesque countryside and the landmarks of Madrid pretty accurately. Suitable for children of all ages and adults alike.

HANGMAN

Watchable. A serial killer leaving clues to the policemen and killing a person every 24 hours. Exciting? Not in this case. The film's protracted, kind of sentimental. The cops bring up hints only they know about so there's no riddle-solving for the viewer. Worn out motifs like a slaughterhouse or a pig's head abound. And, obviously, two vics are rescued when already hanging. It's a detective story so you're curious how it ends even when you know how stupid it is. The final scene implies a sequel coming. I hope not.

Due to some glitch the trailer of "Atak paniki" ("Panic Attack") was screened 3 times in a row. Looks bad. I had enough after the first time.

PADDINGTON 2

Recommended. An example of how to make movies for children. Top-notch animation where you can see every single hair of the bear's fur. A story which is funny at most times and heart-wrenchingly sad when the cuddly creature gets locked up. Prisoners' newspaper is "Hard Times" with article titles like "Freedom Overrated says poll". Hugh Grant's past pictures are ingeniously used as his protagonist's house decoration. Great cultural translation. There are some scenes over the credits and once they end, they end. The 'payroll' still looks nice since traces of paws are put beside the list of names.

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Recommended. For teenagers. Great fun in spite of being dubbed in Polish. The dubbing means e.g. that when a protagonist reads something you see English and hear Polish at the same time but here it's easy to treat it as an additional entertainment. One big adventure game-style: with props, a few lives per gamer, incommunicable programmed characters.. Shot on the Island of O'ahu in Hawai'i which makes for a vivid scenery. With several gags and one-liners, e.g. "When I take off, I'll get my head around piloting it". No mid- or post-credit scenes but the credits end cheekily with the same drum music which announces a new danger each time in the movie.

THE FLORIDA PROJECT

Watchable. Oscar contender?! OK, the pace is good. I wouldn't normally get interested in poor young mums' lives, especially if one has criminal past and a number of issues she struggles with but gets no institutional help. That criticism of the social system is the biggest attraction as the movie follows in the footsteps of "American Beauty", "American Pastoral", "Suburbicon" etc. sharing the disillusionment with the American dream. Set in a tourist area in Florida, shot in pinkish and turquoisish hues and highlighting all the shortcomings of the existing social support for the poorest, for single mums - no mention of the girl's father in the film - and for ex-convicts in the US. Presented mostly from children's point of view which is kind of new for such an adult topic. Becomes predictable towards the end although you don't know what outcome exactly it will be. There's not much of a finale though. It ends abruptly.

PITCH PERFECT 3

Watchable. Shot in the Acquarium in Atlanta with an additional use of Nice backdrop. With my favourite Anna Kendricks and Elizabeth Banks. A standard music band competition plot. Elements of satire on recording everything with cellphones. Jokes on the gross side and not funny. Lots of easy cheesy music. All in all much better than part one (I skipped part 2), just light entertainment.

LISTY DO M. 3 (LETTERS TO SANTA 3)

Watchable. Few jokes, e.g. "Jak masz na imie, Jolu" ("What's your name, Jola?") or "Moze ja mam guza mozgu?" "Gdzie ty masz tego guza mozgu?" "W dupie!" ("What if I have a brain tumour?" "Where do you have that brain tumour?" "Down my ass!"). Rather sombre. Brings to the surface all issues you can have in life. Not much of Christmas atmosphere. Or if that's somebody's Christmas, I can only feel sorry for them.

THE STAR

Recommended. Finally a dubbed cartoon with songs kept in English. Nativity from the point of view of cute animals. Just endearing. With a number of gags, e.g. a donkey falling on a dove. Lots of fun without hurting anyone's religious feelings and enjoyable for atheists too.

SANTA & CIE (CHRISTMAS & CO.)

Watchable. "After all they won't hit you with a baguette" is a clear reference to another French comedy - "A bras ouverts" ("With Open Arms"). Yet the translation is cultural which works for   
Christmas dishes but a comparison to Majami and Despero?! "Pitbull" is definitely an adults' movie. For some reason the translation in the film is different than in the trailer. Alain Chabat's voice in the Polish dubbing is replaced with someone completely unlike him. A fragment is scary so it's not for the youngest children. Not much of Christmas charm even though I loved the completely created world of Santa's town and his magic. Santa snowboards down a slope in a coat studded with neon stars. His sleigh pulled by reindeer flies in front of the Moon - reworking the iconic shot from "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". It's all very ingenious but lacks the Christmas aura. Best to skip the credits, otherwise you'll watch scantily clad fat elves dancing.

FATHER FIGURES

Watchable. Not funny at all. More of a road movie than a comedy. Silly. I wanted to find out who their father was so I sat through all the lengthy stages of their search. There are only photos during initial credits, no further scenes.

LE FIDELE (RACER AND THE JAILBIRD)

Watchable. Crime love story - was it meant to be "Drive" without music? The picture is often not very clear. Engaging but lacking ambience. The terminal illness is over the top. And what was the ending supposed to mean?

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI 3D IN DOLBY ATMOS

Recommended again. I noticed different details than previously, e.g. Lily Cole was among the party crowd. I even had forgotten parts of the rich storyline so it was worth seeing one more time. The regular size screen made the CGIs, scenery, shapes of starships and 3D look even better. John Williams in Dolby Atmos blew me away from note one. If I were to choose Imax or Dolby Atmos, Dolby Atmos would win hands down.

The "Black Panther" trailer had very good 3D and Dolby Atmos.

All the above seen courtesy of Cinema City. For the last time apparently. After months of my free advertising of their cinema chain they withdrew my accreditation. Hardly fair. I'm going to miss their soft seats and friendly staff. I genuinely enjoyed that. But at least I won't have to mention them under reviews. Btw, as Christmas passed pre-movie commercials got back shorter: they take about a quarter of an hour now.

TIGER ZINDA HAI (TIGER IS ALIVE)

Recommended. Salman Khan's latest movie has attracted crowds. Indian mostly yet nearly the whole screening room was full. In Warsaw, Poland. Was it worth it? Damn, yeah! Based on true events - Indian and Pakistani intelligence agents getting Indian, Pakistani and Western hostages out of ISIS-occupied Ikrit in North-Eastern Syria. As if the story wasn't exciting enough, it's souped-up by Bollywood. Fantastic music provides accompaniment to adrenaline-pumping action. It has some brilliant lines like about Tiger having accomplished what the governments of India and Pakistan couldn't, i.e. both countries working together to a common goal. You also get radicalization in a nuthshell: a Middle Easterner educated in poetry, a former teacher in the US, rounded up to Guantanamo after 9/11 purely for his skin colour, is bound to turn into a terrorist. OK, the film doesn't mention ISIS or its leaders, but ISC and people's names and appearances are straight in your face. You'll easily put the fictitious pictures and names to real faces. The characters are drawn superbly. My favourite is the Indian who "for profit would sell his parents" and his economically grounded pleading with the caliphate leader to stop a beheading. Katrina Kaif plays Tiger's wife/special agent from Pakistan. The movie doesn't shy away from serious topics but does so in truly Bollywood entertaining way.

Seen courtesy of Cinema City.

DADDY'S HOME TWO

Watchable. Dubbing sounded strange: firstly - famous American actors in Polish?! secondly - American children talk in Polish while watching telly in English and one of adults speaks to a child in Polish and then sings to it in English, thirdly - Brad sounds like 'brat'. Once you come to terms with having to listen to the dubbing, the film's pretty good. Hardly as gross as I expected: the father and son kissing on the mouth in the trailer are as bad as it gets. The whole thing, shot in picturesque wintry Massachusetts, has lots of Christmas family comedy charm. It is genuinely amusing, with a number of gags, e.g. a voice-activated shower, and some good lines, e.g. a retired astronaut diminishing inconveniences of the journey: "I've been to space with a chimp." Some serious undertones are included too, e.g. on how to bring up children so they become tough. With a mid- and a post-credit.

The movie upholds the Wild West hunting ethos. As I expected, Polish "Pokot" ("Spoor") had no chance for an Oscar. No fertile ground for hunters' opposition in America.

Seen at my fave Cinema City.

WONDER WHEEL

Watchable. Juno Temple has grown up to become a flirtatious curvy young lady in the 50s period drama. A clear-cut plot and lots of old charm moderate the story permeating with disillusionment and jealousy. Ginny is the nervous character typical for the director but Woody Allen's usual humour is missing. The woman in love with her much younger lover is the most tragic character but I didn't shed a tear.

24 HOURS TO LIVE

Watchable. An action flick about a mercenary/hitman/special agent with 24 hours left to live. Sounds familiar? Here he's even got a screen implanted in his underarm displaying the remaining time. But Ethan Hawke has decent acting skills and pulls it off. Superficial yet plausible psychology and great acting on all parts with good pictures make it much better than the synopsis would imply. The final scene suggests a sequel coming.

COCO

Watchable. Hispanic architecture, cenotes, mariachis and Dia de Muertos with a complete afterlife world including photograph control on the border and details like a Huesos Boutique signboard. The flimsy premise of a boy who wants to play the guitar - used in films over and over again as if teens had no other dreams - makes a base for quite a solid story. Cultural consultants were hired to help create a colourful family tale based in Mexico. It's just too sappy at times. Lovely animation employs varying techniques resulting in some faces looking smooth and other wrinkly, rocks differing from the pavement or the effect of translucent water.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

Watchable. Nothing in this hollow adaptation of Agatha Christie's famous novel rings true. Malta, where it was shot, doesn't resemble Istanbul in the slightest. Swiss and French Alps, including Gorge de Verdun concealed beyond recognition, fail to impress as they normally should. The wintry backdrop they form doesn't match the foreground actors. You can see they don't walk on real snow and aren't out in the cold. Kenneth Branagh's, as Hercule Poirot, Belgian French accent sounds phoney. His and Ratchett's moustaches look glued onto their faces. All the celebrities act with theatrical exaggeration. Sentimental music deprives the production of any potential even tension. I just stayed watching out of my respect and admiration for Agatha Christie. It was a great disappointment to see such a parody of her work. The ending implies "Death on the Nile" is going to be next. I hope not.

ON WINGS OF EAGLES

Watchable. So slow I considered walking out. In the brief moments of better music it transpired it was the morose western-style classical soundtrack that ruined the movie. The sad story of an American Olympic runner turned primary school teacher in China who dies in a POW camp during the WW2 Japanese invasion could have been livelier. Based on true events so I watched to get to know how it was at wartime.

Seen from the comfort of a Cinema City seat. In the run-up to Christmas an increased number of commercials are screened before movies but at least mostly new ones and the moronic Mirinda spot is gone.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Recommended. P. T. Barnum's credo was to make the audience happy and smiling. So I'm not sure if my being moved to tears (and smiling at the same time) counts. It commences with a sample of a  great show. With Hugh Jackman dancing and singing. Looking younger than in "Logan" too. Then the story becomes, as the theatre critic in the musical put it, "a celebration of humanity". Phinneas Barnum aassembles a team of extraordinary people: a woman with a beard and a voice of an angel, "the fattest man in the world", a giant, a chap tattooed from head to toe, acrobats to stage a riveting performance. In a truly American way the business owner goes from rags to riches and is a devoted family man at once. Zac Efron joins in an adult musical this time. Zendaya looks like a fairy-tale princess. The character of the theatre critic who doesn't find joy in entertainment pokes fun at people like... me. A class struggle mixes with fighting predjudice squeezing tears. The show enthralls. The theme song is a masterpiece and all tunes are catchy. The movie's magical, perfect for the festive season.

WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

MOBUTU, ROI DU ZAIRE (MOBUTU, KING OF ZAIRE)

Watchable. A documentary by Thierry Michel, a Belgian director who's dedicated a significant portion of his work to the former Belgian colony. This one covers the full history of Mobutu Sese Seko. The one who wore leopard skin which gave him the air of a traditional African chief. Beneath he was ruthless and sly. Slept with women to humiliate their husbands. The husbands who belonged to his closest circles. Perfidious, wasn't it? Politically he sided with the likes of Ceaușescu. And just like him the riches he accrued came from looting his subjects. The documentary shows how his corrupt rule led to the reign of bloody Laurent Kabila. Documentary-wise it's not clear who the talking heads in the film are.

EUROTRUMP

Watchable. The Netherlands are such a peaceful and orderly country that prison cells are rented out to other nations. In such a country Geert Wilders gained popularity scare mongering about a Muslim invasion. At the same time he's living under constant protection as a result of actual death threats from those he warns against. The director has attempted to balance right and left wing views on both sides of Wilders but the bias to the left in the number of commentators is visible. Obviously it reflects the director's own opinion.

While Dutch people take sides on the issue, they are not as polarised as in Poland, as I heard from a Dutch viewer.

THE WORK

Recommended. Perfect catharsis and a much comforting, even if very emotional, documentary with crying covicts. Honey on my wounds. The criminals feel relieved they don't have to act tough for 4 days. The group psychotherapy is 100% successful. None of them end up behind bars again.


JUNGLE

Recommended. I rememeber the story from a B2 level English coursebook so several teachers and students of the language will recognise it too. Shot in Bolivia and Columbia. With Dolby Atmos sound - I wonder if the only Dolby Atmos screen in Warsaw will play it. The jungle would sound marvellous. A must for every backpacker. Based on a true story. Gripping and totally realistic.

STORM: LETTERS VAN VUUR (STORM - LETTER OF FIRE)

Walked out. Drab and grey, sad and about Protestantism. Quite a peculiar movie for children.

OSCARS 2018

My first comment:
The Foreign Language Oscar Shortlist got announced. In my view the Chilean and Hungarian candidates are outstanding, the South African one is an audacious "Brokeback Mountain" copycat. I haven't seen the rest. I'm happy the Polish trash "Spoor" got eliminated - no surprise here, there's no reason for Americans to like it.

THE PARTY

Watchable. 71 minutes only. Apart from the very first shot, the beginning is lousy, the middle mediocre and the ending terrific. Starts with lots of sentimental jazz, high contrast black and white matching the hostess' professional position as a Shadow Minister and theatrically acted upper class conversations. Then, gradually, the people reveal their shenanigans as well as relationships: both official and secret. The final line shoots you.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI AT IMAX 3D

Recommended. Ravishing. Dubrovnik is Canto Bight. The red iron soil covered in salt pretenting Crait is Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Skellig Michael in Ireland makes for Luke's island. Irish Donegal and the outlandish-landscape-stalwart Iceland feature too. Fantastic new animals, especially on Luke's island: land ones, flying ones and one in the ocean. Chewbacca becomes vegetarian.  Non-white and female heroes. As for the plot, it's good to remind yourself the previous part first. It reworks all the tried and tested motifs: John Williams's music, an attractive young hot-headed rebel, everyone's beloved old Luke, Leia and Master Yoda, in-jokes, heroes sneaking into the occupants' spacecraft, a thief working for whoever he finds fit, X-wings and a lot of the Force. Domhnall Gleeson is again so hot he'd easily lure you to the Dark Side. You never know who is and will be on which side. I cried about 3 times. The movie gets better and better to a spectacular finale. The last scene is the sweeper. No mid- or post-credit. Decent Imax 3D but I think that the plot makes such an impression that 2D on a regular size screen will suffice as well. May be worth hearing in Dolby Atmos if available.


EPIC DRAMA

On 14th December Viasat World introduced its Epic Drama TV Channel to Poland. It's going to consist of lavish costume serials only. I hope it has the original language version since the episode presented to us at the official opening had an annoying Polish voiceover and the English original was muted down completely. At least it's available online to watch at any time, with new episodes released weekly.

HARLOTS EPISODE 1

Watchable. Apparently 1 out of 5 women in 18th century London was a prostitute so the serial about competing two brothels grabs men's attention easily. You get some naked scenes, though short ones, in the initial part. The intrigue in the first episode is densely woven and engaging even for a woman. It ends so abruptly you crave for part two.

WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

CONGO RIVER, AU-DELA DES TENEBRES (CONGO RIVER, BEYOND DARKNESS)

Recommended. Areas of law and of lawlessness. A vast country connected only by the river since once contructed roads have disappeared in the jungle. The travel documentary renders the regional differences resoundingly and builds a picture of Africa just as I learnt at uni: with magic rituals and Christian masses, Mai-Mai warriors, unspeakable violence, corruption, vegetation covering former splendour and ordinary people making river transport their home (one scene showed them showering on the deck in their underwear - full domestication).

THE REAGAN SHOW

Watchable. Reagan told how certain woman insisted on asking Gorbatchev a question. He agreed so she asked: "Who invented communism? A politician or a scientist?". Gorbatchev answered that a politician. "That explains everything. A scientist would have tested it on mice first." The anecdote pretty much reflects the light tone of the found footage film. Ending the arms race didn't come easy. Reagan clearly felt superior to his Soviet counterpart, both were loved by the media and competing for their attention. Their charm let relax the tension surrounding the negotiations. A pleasant film about ending the Cold War with few hard historical facts. On the fun side there are brief fragments of footage showing Reagan hosting music celebrities, including Michael Jackson.

WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

TRUTH DETECTIVES

Recommended. Incredible how precisely technology can identify what and where. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International crime solving methods look like "CSI" but cleaner: panoramic photographs, compiling a story from thousands of photographs taken in different parts of the city at different times, drones, satellite imaging, ground probes, specially developed algorithms, electric current X-raying soil. For me it was also quite revelatory how many actions constitute war crimes. The film shows human rights violations 100% detected. The future looks bright and science fiction has come real.

ASK THE SEXPERT

Watchable. A cheerful film about a celebrity sexologist in India, where ignorance in these matters is striking at times and calls for education. Sharp-witted, much beloved by his readers and fought against by a lady promoting chastity among hormone-fuelled youngsters. Even his most ardent opponent is presented light-heartedly. Without the gravitas that most human rights films carry but refreshingly light.

STRONGER THAN A BULLET

Recommended. The film takes the propaganda out of the images of the Iran-Iraq war replacing smiling young soldiers with realistic shots of torn limbs and stories of an ocean of blood. Former soldiers describe how, amid the reek of gunpowder, corpses were fragrant to them so they even slept under dead bodies for warmth and bullet protection. Powerful stuff.

In the Q&A with the director she said the Iranian revolution was what they called "a stolen revolution" since first, after 2500 years of monarchy leftists and women fought for democracy. But the religious regime took over the rebellion manipulating people and destroying intelligence.

BENDING THE ARC

Recommended. "Rich people must have no sex lives because they are always trying to screw the poor" as one of the doctors jokes. Luckily not always. One of the protagonists after several years of volunteer work in Haiti, Peru and Romania got appointed, by President Obama, President of the World Bank. Another one became the Minister of Health in Rwanda. The 20 year struggle for treating the poor was emotionally charged and involved overcoming financial and bureaucratic obstacles week by week but has led to such an efficient health system in Rwanda that Ebola can be contained immediately. Leaves you deeply moved and optimistic like them. There are a few mid-credits.

12 JOURS (12 DAYS)

Watchable. Unnecessarilly prolonged beginning. The meetings with the judge checking whether the psychiatrists' opinion allowed to release the patients from involuntary hospitalization are much engaging. However a bit disturbing as well since most of those people appear to be perfectly sane. It also raises a difficult question of whether an individual can take their own life. In Poland a sane person can commit a suicide, it appears in France even healthy people can't. It was also dispiriting to see how the patients got those issues. Many were homeless, raped or bullied at work. What's missing in the film are the psychiatrists whose opinions the patients frequently contest.

SYRIE: LA GUERRE SILENCIEUSE (SILENT WAR)

Watchable. Assad's regime spares no one. Women are frequently imprisoned when the state forces can't find their husbands. And it's impossible to survive the detention unscathed. All victims talk about the same: beatings during the day, rapes at night. A Syrian Army defector says male soldiers have something put in their food after which they stay awake for 72 hours full of energy. I didn't like the way some of the violated women spoke - as if only Muslim women found rapes traumatic. Also, even survivors are never free again. What society is it that the victims' families kill the women instead of surrounding them with care and exacting revenge on the perpetrators?! No solution is given. You just leave feeling injustly blamed and helpless, though with the knowledge that Assad's regime is even more brutal than ISIS.

THE SHAPE OF WATER

Recommended. Soooo stylish. A modern SF story set in or after 1949, judging by Marilyn Monroe's song "How Wrong Can I Be" on a black and white telly in the movie recreating all details of the time meticulously, with all the Cold War classics and with overt sex and race discrimination treated naturally. With a subtext of the US destroying the environment overseas and disdaining what's sacred for other nations. Masterfully acted, including my favourite Octavia Spencer. Due to the plot you may develop a taste for eggs. I felt like having one immediately afterwards.

WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

SYRIA'S DISAPPEARED: THE CASE AGAINST ASSAD

Recommended. Absolutely harrowing. ISIS crimes fade in comparison. Pictures like from concentration camps and torture descriptions like from Guantanamo.

Sadly Polish TV stations prey on internal political animosities in result of which I only heard about the current Syrian peace talks in Geneva from the British film director.

PLAYING GOD

Recommended. About probably the world's most powerful lawyer. Earning 500$ an hour and settling mass scale compensation cases. The film was more engaging than I expected. The portrayed man is incredible. Brings back faith in justice and lawyers' integrity.

EL PACTO DE ADRANA (ADRIANA'S PACT)

Watchable. Quite long, with some irrelevant scenes but shows how psychological repression works and how manipulative the torturer was. Should be more scientific in my opinion. For a long time I thought the truth would never transpire in the film.

POMIEDZY SLOWAMI (BEYOND WORDS)

Recommended. Mesmerizing. Audiovisually outstanding. The black and white cinematography captivates, varied music and sound effects match the pictures and the story perfectly. The title can be read on many levels: made up translations of the conversations between the protagonist's father and his boss, the father's nationalist remarks, "Germans" born in Poland, a poor African poet who turns out to matter, the immigrants' circle Michal once can't get out of or at other times doesn't fit in and the German society which in turns either accepts him without batting an eyelid or points out his sticking out like a sore thumb, his loosening the tie or passing the Siegessäule listening to Turkish music. About acculturation, national identity and the right to choose how and where to live. Lifestyle emigration.

The Atlantic cinema in Warsaw is disastrous when you enter the screening hall after dark: only every other step is lit so it's all too easy to stumble and get hurt.

ON THE MILKY ROAD

Recommended. Apparently it's based on 3 real stories and countless fantasies. Geese bathing in blood, a viper fed on milk, a man with a peregrine falcon and a donkey, a hen jumping in front of a mirror, various styles of local folk music, debauchery and runaway lovers in the middle of the Balkan war form a colourful mosaic. A unique, bizarre world by Emir Kusturica who I had never appreciated before.

WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

OPENING OF DIGITAL STORIES LAB

Walked out. Announced as interactive films but were neither interactive nor films, just some amateurish presentations of stuff you normally find online. A waste of time.

JUSTICE LEAGUE IN DOLBY ATMOS

Watchable again. Dolby Atmos significantly improves the sound. The music is more spacious though still lame due to the composition. You can hear all sound effects much better so it's easier to distinguish voices or hear buzzing insects. With wooden dialogues like: "I think an attack is coming." "Not coming, Bruce. It's already here." or "We need you, Victor. And maybe you need us." and the fact the movie's quite monochromatic, Dolby Atmos is your best bet. Forget 3D, Imax. Ezra Miller still looks hot in ordinary size 2D. The movie itself is skippable but if you are to see it, make sure you hear it well. And wait for the post-credit!

Seen courtesy of Cinema City.

MUUMIEN JOULU (MOOMINS AND THE WINTER WONDERLAND)

Watchable. Most suitable for nursery-age children: there's lots of talking but the storyline is very simple. Looks like the animation is made of muppets on a painted background. The Polish narrator, Piotr Fronczewski, speaks in a fairy-tale-telling manner which is a bit distracting but adds Christmas charm to the cute story. Aimed at those who know the characters already but if you don't remember them it's still OK. Perfect for December as it's about all sorts of creatures making preserves for winter, cleaning, hosting friends and learning what winter is and how to celebrate Christmas Eve. Northern Lights provide extra magic in the lovely, peaceful tale.

Seen in the comfort of my local Cinema City.

KNIGHTFALL EPISODES 1 & 2

Watchable. They know how to end each episode. Each leaves you longing for more. And that ominous title. Rich, poweful and righteous rarely go hand in hand. Are they going to fall in episode 10? The serial treats history loosely successfully keeping the mystery of the Knights Templar alive. Though set in the Middle Ages, when modesty was a virtue, the production is quite opulent. It's not for history buffs, but I'm not one, it's rather revenge, betrayal and romance for everyone.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

Recommended. More gripping than Borg vs McEnroe. The stake's higher: a male chauvinist swine vs a feminist. He's male so he's got nothing to lose. She has to prove her equality, win it. Kept me on the edge of my seat from the sexist beginning to the very ending. Their banter and mockery are fun to watch too.

DZIKIE ROZE (WILD ROSES)

Watchable. Boring family and church life in a village. Lots of childcare and a baby so disgusting I had to divert my sight. Nearly an hour or so in you discover the mother has an affair with a schoolboy so things get kinky. Then the kid (the disgusting one) disappears and the combing of the woods is so touching even I cried. The title implies the illicit affair is the core but that takes only a few brief moments in the movie. There is more about her family falling apart. Her husband earns a decent living away from home and demands from her unconditional devotion to the family. She's just sick and tired of being without him. The situation takes its toll on the children.

ZNAKI

Watchable. A year of life of Miss Deaf International and her participation in "Dancing with the Stars": beautiful views of Poland, the US, Thailand, lots of eye-catching outfits, make-ups and hairdos, few dialogues, a lot of perky... music. Very pleasant. No clear point in it. A lovely post-credit.

SNEKKER ANDERSEN OG JULENISSEN

Watchable. A pleasant palette forms a truly warm family Christmas movie. Santa Claus's family lives in a large tree trunk and has a moss-padded sofa. Adults are all well-meaning. It's all heart-warming. Even the dubbing sounds nice. Too many beginnings and endings cause confusion in a child audience.

LES AS DE LA JUNGLE (THE JUNGLE BUNCH)

Watchable. I've seen it all before. A cartoon for older children/teenagers which applies all the gimmics of superhero movies, including the villain announcing a comeback and a mid- and a post-credit. You have to switch off your brain frequently. At least the animation has texture so the rhino's skin, hedgehog's needles, rocks and water look realistic. It's all in bright colours and the main protagonists, a patchwork family, are cute.

BARBIE: DOLPHIN MAGIC

Recommended. It transfers you right onto a tropical holiday on the sea. It's lovely, cheerful and just delightful. For girls of all ages. And for some boys. Cute ones because the cartoon features a lot of pink. The story's clear-cut and, gently, tackles exploitation of rare animals for profit. But the big blue and green eyes take away all the weight it could have had otherwise. When human girls have labrador puppies, mermaids have dolphins. I hardly noticed the dubbing, sounded so natural.

The above 3 films seen courtesy of Cinema City.

DIE VORLORENE EHRE DER KATHARINA BLUM (1975) (THE LOST HONOUR OF KATHARINA BLUM)

Walked out. Music archaic. Plenty of scenes disturbing: coerced undressing, sexist and intimate questions and remarks every few minutes in the first half an hour. The toilet covered in vomit truly sickening.

GOOD TIME

Watchable. Starts with a healthy young man defending his handicapped brother from a therapy. The movie takes a different route you'd think it will and quickly turns out to be a criminal comedy with lots of dark humour to the rhythm of really good electro music. Robert Pattinson doesn't resemble a suave vampire in the tiniest bit. He's streetwise, able to talk to everyone. There's a tongue-in-cheek scene of him watching his own bank robbery on the news while wearing a security jacket. It's totally crazy, a bit like in "Trainspotting" but without a narrator, very American in the way the police are shown. At one point perspective shifts superficially: first a criminal tells a criminal alcoholic off for being a bum, then the latter talks about the first as of someone unhinged. Fun, though dark and none of the protagonists have a good time with the troubles they get into and the unhinged individuals they encounter. 

ROMANS

Watchable. I'm in two minds: 91% of sexual violence cases are crimes on women and this one is yet another film about a man. But maybe it brings the problem home to them? Besides, even though here the abuser is a priest, the movie doesn't attack the church. In fact it feels terribly religious. Slow and tedious till the hard-hitting finale. 

WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

RISK

Watchable. What's the point in this documentary? Did director Laura Poitras have a purpose at all? OK, you can catch some random pieces of Julian Assange's personality. E.g. when he's preparing his defence against sexual violence allegations, you can hear how sexist he is deep inside. Also he claims to have no emotions because he's so preoccupied with politics. And that seems to be true when you watch him in action - always calm and steady. But nothing comes out of it all.

WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

MOOS

Watchable. Supposed to be a romantic comedy but not funny. The only amusing bit is when a mother says to a 12-year-old at his Bar Mitswa: "You touch this wine with your little fingers one more time and I'll circumcise you again with my own hands." The rest is a drama about trying to make it when you're young. Shown light-heartedly. So you can relive some of your past issues without an unnecessary burden.

BEN-GURION, EPILOGUE

Watchable. The founder of the state of Israel is very down to earth. He mucked in all the manual work necessary in the commune, building settlements from scratch. And had a clear, realistic and reasonable view on the shape of the country. E.g. taking into account the question of re-gaining the territory versus maintaining peace with all neighbours he would have chosen peace but got outvoted. When the general public didn't want German reparations "covered in blood", he put his foot down for the sake of future generations. Able to see past their trauma he demanded the payments.  The documentary is quite thorough but some parts are comprehensible only for those in the know. I'm quite ignorant in the history of Israel or its politics so some fragments weren't clear to me.

ETHIOPIQUES - MUZYKA DUSZY (ETHIOPIQUES - THE REVOLT OF SOUL)

Watchable. The only jazz I'm able to listen to is African, at least in its origins, anything westernized and its soul is lost. The director doesn't like a video clip as a documentary form so, in spite of 21 titles listed in the credits, little music made its way into the film. The maker is happy it leaves you craving more. I felt a little disappointed, my favourite music documentaries usually followed the music-talking-music-talking pattern. But the Polish documentalist, Maciej Bochniak, gave full voice to the Ethiopian band members and their producers which, complemented by African-art-like animation in bright colours with photos inserted in the place of faces, made it black to the core. While the film covers a span of a few decades, it's not very infomative, e.g. why did they stay in the US instead of returning from the tour? Also the process of recording music under Haile Selassie's regime is not fully explained and even the reason why it was banned is not given. The film claims the music style is pertinent to Ethiopia which I dare to disagree with, as it much resembles Nigerian music of the 60s and 70s and cultural motifs have always travelled across the continent in Africa. Why would that be any different? The director's focus was on life stories. Sadly the musicians never made it in the US where you need to be a hustler. It's mostly a tale of how hard it is to sell and to cross the cultural barrier. The little music that there is is fun. Listen to it loud!

Apparently more Ethiopiques music can be found on Spotify and Deezer. 

MOLLY'S GAME

Recommended. I know no poker rules so I didn't understand the tricks but Jessica Chastain hypnotised me and persuaded the tactics were cunning. Ironic that just 2 days after seeing a documentary about Freud being an influential fraudster I watched the one in which Molly Bloom's father ridicules psychotherapy analysing her subconscious in 3 minutes and commenting "how fast it goes when you don't charge by the hour". He's spot on noticing her desire to control powerful men and that he raised all his 3 kids to be world-class champions. Molly's wits and diligence combined with her unwaveringly high self-esteem brought her recognition over and over again. It appears that plenty of the rich and famous are gamblers. So is Molly. And just like them, she only bets high.

WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

KILLING THE FIDDLER

Watchable. A short film about the choice of a wife. With family photographs talking to the groom as if in "Harry Potter". They argue in a funny, cute way. It ends with "The Fiddler on the Roof" music. I guess the killing the fiddler (in "The Fiddler on the Roof" there's an exchange: "Do you love me?" "I'm your wife. You have me!") means getting married out of love instead of for the functionality of a marriage. The maker doesn't make it clear though.

MR. BERNSTEIN

Recommended. Incredible how many emotions such a short film can evoke. Deeply moving and beautiful - about how a shared memory and common tradition unite people whose worlds wouldn't meet otherwise.

KOSHER LOVE

Recommended. You have to make a list of what you want in your life partner and another one of what you can bring in and see if they match. Many people nowadays get "married" to their jobs and hobbies and find no place for another human being. At the same time, as the Hasidic rabbi explains, love takes time so you need to find the person, have your family check their background, get married and "hopefully after 10 years" you'll find love. He's so convincing you wish you were part of a Jewish community enabling that.

TERRA ITALIANA FILM FESTIVAL

No catalogue or even a separate leaflet was prepared for the festival but it quickly became apparent the movies were grouped thematically: each day showcased a different director or genre. Of those I was able to attend: Thursday was for Edoardo Winspeare's dramas dubbed "comedies" for some reason, Saturday night for animations for adults and all of Sunday was devoted to Gianni Amelio.

IL LADRO DI BAMBINI (THE STOLEN CHILDREN)

Recommended. Deeply moving, tear-jerking, heart-wrenching - name it. The director, Gianni Amelio, made a good job of presenting the children's predicament. The stigma of a prostitute sticks to the girl who's treated by others as a liar or as a ceaseless victim. The director also plays with connotations. After a careless trip to the beach at the police station the carabiniero is being reproached and sacked while in the corridor the boy is shaking sand out of his shoes. It's all so realistic you just can't imagine the story unfold differently. Antonio's a perfectly decent guy of which the viewer is reassured over and over again. And he's stuck with a conundrum. We know it from the title. Antonio's for a long time unaware that his attempt to better children's lives will come at a price. Worth watching for several reasons, one of them being Antonio himself - rarely do you get to see such a decent person whether in real life or in a movie.


WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

LE JEUNE KARL MARX (THE YOUNG KARL MARX)

Watchable. Just a biography. Nothing I wouldn't know from history lessons at school already. A limited period is covered. Apart from one Russian activist introduced to Marx and Engels in a minor scene nothing indicates their ideas will later instigate the October Revolution.


TERRA ITALIANA FILM FESTIVAL

LA TENEREZZA (HOLDING HANDS)

Recommended. Again something everyone can relate to. As the director put it: "it's about understanding the other". Several changes were made in the process of adaptation. In the book the daughter has an affair with someone her father's age, the son's homosexual, there's a cat lady ("gattara"), the man eavesdrops on his neighbours, an Eastern woman has a relationship with him only to rob him off. Gianni Amelio clearly left out all the junk. The story's quite plausible, the man helpful without being overly inquisitive. You just like him. Shown with great tenderness.

L'INTREPIDO (INTREPIDO: A LONELY HERO)

Watchable. The plot of the male protagonist having a younger female friend and her dying tragically resembles "La tenerezza" ("Holding Hands"). According to the director it was going to be about a father-son relationship again - it was but in both films these were just subplots. Here the lead character is quite peculiar as he does a different job every day which is fun. As is the amusing fragment when he realizes the shoe store he's employed in is a sham so he leaves it immediately locking the only customer in. He also has an inspiring way of asking questions giving a-b-c ready-made options as answers. Gianni Amelio put a lot of warmth into the film, just like he always does.

NAJLEPSZY (BREAKING THE LIMITS aka THE FASTEST)

Recommended. Łukasz Palkowski wins again. After „Bogowie” he's created another hit, also based on a true story. This time about Jerzy Górski, once a drug addict who quit and went on to win a Double Ironman triathlon. In the movie he makes a cameo as a sports juror. Such a life change translates to a multitude of changes in the appearance of the main protagonist: losing weight or gaining muscles, shaving his head and regrowing hair, cuts, bruises, abrasions - altogether 6 make ups, 4 wigs and a 6-month break in shooting to let the actor build muscles. You get to see all stages of the addiction and withdrawal, including cold turkey. Thanks do Piotr Sobocinski's cinematography vomiting is factual and not disgusting. The crack house is a masterpiece: dishevelled bums with cut hands injecting, a girl anaesthetised so badly she stubs out fags on her own hand. Jerzy's world is mismatched with reality to the point where he's talking to his friend's dead body, smoking simultaneously and brushing the ash off the shrouds with his fingers. His internal struggle is shown perfectly in the mirror plot. Great attention was put to the recreation of the 70s and 80s: bell-bottoms worn together with a sheepskin coat in 1978, calf's foot jelly and vodka on the table as well as naked pictures on the walls in the 80s, pervasive smoking, hairstyles and facial hair like in communist Poland of the time. Also getting a passport which required using connections and circumventing laws. Agatha Dominik, a Pole living in Los Angeles, americanized Maciej Karpinski's script to make the story more versatile. She also wrote the mirror plot invented by the director. Croatia stands in for Alabama in the movie. Famous Polish documentalist Andrzej Fidyk together with a great number of feature directors recommended the production for public funding.

Seen courtesy of Cinema City.

UNA ESPECIE DE FAMILIA (A SORT OF FAMILY)

Recommended. Set in Argentina. The harrowing process of a legally dubious adoption stays with you after leaving the cinema. Both the woman's determination to have a baby and the callousness of the agency extorting her money just shock.

HANS ZIMMER LIVE

Recommended. The show was mind-blowing. The more economic option of "attending" Hans Zimmer's Prague concert at the cinema (Muranow in Warsaw in my case) provided a riveting melomaniac experience in comfortable soft seats instead of plastic ones at the Prague venue. The gig started with close-ups of bows drawn across strings and the front row scantily clad violin players coming out together with the famous composer who looked so inconspicuous you'd easily overlook him on the street. Hans Zimmer turned out to be a social mixer at ease with his team and with speaking to the audience. His biggest problem with " The Dark Knight" was to juxtapose Batman with suave Bruce Wayne. He joked he had "a 9 to 5 job: from 9 pm to 5 am" and told a yarn of how Ridley Scott rang him at 9 am to ask if he'd write music for "Gladiator". Later, hearing of the topic, his wife remarked it was a men's film. Then he realized they needed a... muse - I wonder if he's still so sexist nowadays or if it was that 16 years ago a woman could be nothing more than a muse. He also played the guitar and the piano himself. Spotlights cast red, yellow or blue light on featured instrumentalists. No movie fragments were shown, the huge screen display highlighted the music instead. It showed a thin red line for the theme from the movie of the same title which turned into an all red screen. "The Lion King" was represented by the chorus in yellow. "The Dark Knight" by a pattern resembling pipe organs. All of that surpassed watching some of the movies for which he composed the score. Angelic voices, changing tempo and mood touched me deeply. I'm afraid to say it but... the concert proves cinema can't do without music while film music can exist in its own right.


WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

LON

Watchable. A synopsis of a life story terminated in a concentration camp. Depressing but its impact is weakened by animation.

MORE ALIVE THAN DEAD

Recommended. An entertaining documentary about Freud's legacy. It brings to light the fact that psychoanalysis is a scam but his ideas permeate the contemporary world. The notion of liberating oneself of social constraints brought upon: the sex revolution, feminism, anti-war demonstrations, all sorts of freedom movements, Gay Pride, consumerism, political and commercial manipulations of human groups, irreverent jokes, possibly selfies, since self-expression has led to narcissism, and even mems, e.g. two sumo wrestlers with a caption: "I need a hug." Defense mechanisms and the reptile brain belong to the few psychologic terms derived from Freud which last till this day.


TERRA ITALIANA FILM FESTIVAL

Organised according to the Italian attitude to time: each movie started late. But, on the other hand, Q&As lasted till the last question asked. To those not juggling two festivals at the same time it must have felt friendly.

L'ARTE DELLA FELICITA (THE ART OF HAPPINESS)

Walked out. Aren't Italians supposed to be vivacious? The philosphical animation in style noir wore me down completely.

SERCE MILOSCI (A HEART OF LOVE)

Watchable. I didn't like the experimental music, the artists' shaved heads and the fact the main character has a chronic disease - such a cheap tactic - yet I felt hypnotised at times with the two protagonists' ability and penchant for turning everything into art. In their created world only feelings are real. Still, can't a Polish film do without vulgar language?! Hard to feel sympathy for such primitives.