SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

I've seen it already but am not allowed to review before Thursday night. So the post is coming then.

THE LION KING

Recommended. A linguist's delight since the movie's rich in languages, accents and the dialogues contain lots of English puns. It's funny at times, e.g. Simba's first attempt at a roar. All positive characters are cute. The story's harrowing at some point and reduced me to tears which reminded me that was why I never became a fan of the original. Having mentioned that, Rafiki's name never gets a mention in the new one. I loved the African music bits more than the western ones but it's the power of the Shakespearian story that makes the impact. The inspirations are clear in the plot and also can be heard in the language and in the posh pronunciation of the royal parents and uncle.

FRESH DRESSED

Recommended. A story of black fashion, especially in the 90s, so comprehensive it appeals even to me - not a hip-hop fan. I learnt that gangsta style = streatwear = urban fashion - in order not to be associated with gangsters. And rap started off as a verbal war replacing earlier shootouts. It's poignant that everyone aspires to be rich and white in a way. Black labels have passed away. Long-running white fashion empires are the ghetto's ultimate dream to the point the lads can have no furniture at home but buy or steal expensive clothes. At the same time those high fashion houses have incorporated elements of hip hop into their clothing. A number of stars are presented in videos and photos like Tupac, Kool Moe Dee or Run DMC or in life like Kanye West. With a mid-credit.

It was fun to spot hip hop elements in people's outfits in Warsaw on my way home.

FAST AND FURIOUS: HOBBS AND SHAW

Watchable. The spin-off is for fans only. Well made, with top-notch sequences with an outside lift plummeting on Shaw's request or helicopter simulations with Kaua'i mocking Samoa in the background but nothing as spectacular as in the main series. Lots of smack-talk between the two lead actors who also produced the high-octane flick. No car-racing as such. Rather a black "Terminator"/"Superman" - depending who's talking and a nice gender-balance of super-agents fighting the cyborg. Rap and hard rock music. With a mid- and a post-credit. The mid-credit indicates a sequel coming. Stop it!

WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?

I've seen it already but I'm not allowed to publish any comment or review before 15th August so keep your eyes peeled then.

Волки и Овцы: Ход свиньей (SHEEP AND WOLVES: PIG DEAL)

Watchable. Only slight chaos detracts from this otherwise pleasant movie. The Polish translation adapts the dialogue to the current political situation in Poland. The story focuses on the warfare between the right and the left but the animals and their town are lovely which makes it suitable for both kids and adults.

THE DEAD DON'T DIE

Watchable. Tiring. Just another movie in the undead genre. Renowned director, Jim Jarmusch and a celebrity cast,e.g. Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Selena Gomez, Iggy Pop are the main attraction, together with movie references, e.g. Adam Driver, the star of "Paterson" here bears the name Peterson. Sara Driver, the director's wife is the zombie with coffee. Tilda Swinton, who I normally find annoying, here is at least cast as a weirdo which suits her perfectly. She also brilliantly imitates Scottish accent. But it's still yet another attempt at reanimating the zombie genre. They may have been zombies in life, craving material comforts, as the movie suggests, but it's still shallow. Reviving the dead just doesn't work. Enough!

STRIKE A POSE

Watchable. While the dancers are amazing, to my surprise it wasn't about dancing or working with Madonna. OK, you get to see them dance every now and then, briefly, and you hear that Madonna (then 32) smothered them (then about 21) with almost-motherly love and they all formed a family they missed living far from their countries. Well, it's the guys that call it motherly, I perceive it as a rather erotic fascination on Madonna's side. But the core of the documentary is homosexuality and living with AIDS. The guys are adorable and you wish them all the best but the film doesn't explain what happened to their lawsuit against the star (for forced coming out in "Truth or Dare") or when Gabriel died. A bit too confusing for a documentary. But it was great to see Madonna from 1990 and hear her talk about expressing yourself.

IRAN ON THE BIG SCREEN

LIR

Watchable. The documentary lets you see life of nomads in the mountains, their peculiar ways of crossing whitewater hanging in a loop from a wire strung across the river, children soaking wet while studying at school and extremely hard transport of iron panels to set up a school building. The topic is quite niche so the 25 minutes feel tedious. Makes you appreciate your effortless urban life.

ROUYIDAN DAR BAD (GROWING IN THE WIND) (2012)

Watchable. Technically it looks like a movie from a few decades ago, not years. Plot-wise about nomads too. But the drama about a school pupil and a young couple in love hides a criminal intrigue. Not bad.

GASTON LAGAFFE

Watchable. Too crazy to be genuinely funny but perfectly suitable for kids of all ages and adults too. I did laugh a few times e.g. at "Cows end up in abbatoirs. This is life." "Life in an abbatoir?!" or when a cat flew across the table and hung down on the edge clutching the contract. But the banter was generally better than the physical gags. The nerdy kid at the same time matched the mad inventor character and was utterly annoying. I just felt like kicking him out of the company myself.

A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK

Watchable. The main protagonist is called Gatsby, clearly after the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. Obviously he's just as romantic, idealistic and rich. His girlfriend is a debutante. Gatsby's chivalry combines with the decadence of the wealthy. The Roaring Twenties of a century ago get a new face at the dawn of the 2020s. Economic properity with a cultural edge are present. War is not. And the characters get Allen-style neurotic features. The second bottom is that no money can buy love and that the upper class hides very nasty origins and the front of appropriateness is their group therapy. Sappy ending detracts from this insightful story.

NOTTI MAGICHE (MAGICAL NIGHTS)

Watchable. Another film about the movie industry - Italian and in a different genre than the American. Here the film production is so corrupt you begin to wonder how any movie can emerge from this chaos. Starts as a crime story but the three main characters are so distinct they capture your attention so strongly it's easy to forget the crime frame. The downside is it's frustrating to see how the young are doomed, constantly being taken advantage of the old society of the demented folks who are in, who have been in, like for ages. 

YESTERDAY

Recommended. Imagine... a world where some of pop culture phenomena haven't taken place. It's presented as if everyone suffered a memory loss but towards the end a very emotional meeting proves it's not collective amnesia but an alternative reality. 3 people in the world have been moved to the new one. This brilliant idea results in numerous hilarious info gap clashes e.g. "I feel like Harry Potter after beating Voldemort" "Who? Harry what?" but brings some tear-jerking moments as well. Ed Sheeran acts as himself. Kate McKinnon proves her flair for comedy yet again. It has a second bottom too since it deals with the issue of one's creativity encumbered by the marketing team who applaud the author but "know better", with sudden fame felt preposterous and with the lack of understanding of the genius from the ordinary folks. Recorded in Dolby Atmos but unavailable in this format in Poland.

DIEGO MARADONA

Recommended. Being in your master's good graces doesn't last forever as the documentary shows. First deified to the point where his blood sample was taken to a church, then hated beyond limits. It's a comprehensive depiction of the famous footballer and his life. All the film you can admire his incredibly developed thigh muscles. But the action is engrossing too and the ending makes you feel for him. Additional tension is provided by Antonio Pinto's music.

ANNABELLE COMES HOME

Watchable. For a bigger part it's like a night in the house of horrors in an amusement park since there are a number of separate scares of many sorts: videos, a mirror not reflecting precisely, recordings, a werewolf and several apparitions. Towards the end the spooks accumulate to the point of becoming tedious. Teenagers enliven the series and Bob playing a serenade and realising that the window has got empty even brings in some humour. But generally it's quite scary. Even the end credits are.

THE BIG TRIP

Watchable again. I caught more one-liners this time. It's so rich in top-notch dialogue it merits seeing at least twice. Excellent cultural translation into Polish. And the music including Bach, Strauss, Bobby McFerrin and some less known names is perfectly matched too. It's just a bit less engaging seen the next day again.

STUBER

Watchable. An obnoxious advertisement of Uber extended to 105 minutes to make you pay for watching. Really good music, in the style of 80s cop movies, accompanies this totally ludicrous story with lame dialogues. Only the music keeps this pile of rubbish together.

FESTIWAL NOWE HORYZONTY (NEW HORIZONS FESTIVAL)

Here's what to expect, in the order it was presented by the organizers: This year's festival is going to last 11 days and encompass more than 600 movies, including 224 full-length, 124 will be premieres, from 54 countries. Free screenings will take place in the Wrocław market square. Xavery Żuławski will present his latest film "Mowa ptaków" ("Bird Talk"), written by his father just before his death 3 years ago but very up-to-date, "for now". Olivier Assayas's - "Clouds of Sils Maria", "Personal Shopper", "Doubles vies" ("Non-fiction") - retrospective is hardly enticing, I've seen three of his movies, each was dull and about nothing. Albert Serra, known for "Roi Soleil", just like Godard, started as a critic. Serra's retrospective is planned as well. "Liberté" ("Freedom"), which will be on general release, is going to divide the audience, it's kind of "Sade". Albertina Carri's, from Argentina, film includes incest, BDSM etc. "La flor" ("The Flower") is a film in 3 4-hour parts divided into segments, each in a different genre, it's like a serial but it's not necessary to see all of it. There'll be the 2nd part of the "Oslo/Reykjavik" section. The 70s are the leitmotif of this year's festival so there'll be a section on erotic cinema which used to be parallel to ordinary cinema but has virtually disappeared by now, even in Paris and London - it was popular in the 70s, before the video revolution. Apart from that, the "Body" section is going to treat the body as the battlefield of culture and politics, e.g. in a story about a teenager from Mauritania who has to gain weight before her marriage or about a girl whose face gets damaged by acid and she wants her life not to change but that's impossible nowadays. The "Third Eye" small section is all about spirituality, witches, e.g. about Luster Fuego from Brazil who danced with snakes and was murdered for "talking to Satan" for this. Also a witch debate will take place. A film about the world from fungi perspective has been scheduled as well, just as an exhibition on pregnancy and an installation where "Roi Soleil" will be played on a loop. The 4-hour-long director's cut of "Loro" will be shown, in two parts, only in Italy and Poland. "Polish Days" will be an event where representatives of the biggest festivals, e.g. Toronto, Sundance etc. and sales agents will be presented with films in different stages of development right from pitching. The program of the festival includes this movie:

LE DAIM (DEERSKIN)

Watchable. It's weird. A budget film which tells a cohesive story. The murder spree is predictable and the 79 minutes feel lengthy but the simplicity of means results in a clear storyline. Is Georges a western-genre hero? Or is it a fallow deer revenge? Is he plain mad? Or is there a method in this madness? With a mid-credit.


THE SALT OF THE EARTH

Recommended. It's engaging even in the beginning when you learn how Sebastiao Salgado became a photographer and what's it like to do this job. His ability to compose a picture impresses. But the power of the documentary lies in what is shown and even more in what you hear: on the one hand human brutality, atrocities of war, the genocide in Rwanda where corpses covered 150 km and on the other the beauty of the natural world. Most astonishingly, it proves a forest can be replanted the way the Salgados did in Brazil reforesting 600 ha with 2,5 million trees. So there is hope for the planet.


PRZEGLĄD KINA SZWAJCARSKIEGO (SWISS CINEMA SCREENING)

PAUSE

Watchable. Hardly a comedy. I chuckled about twice but most is on the sad side. Mediocre western-style music. "The Future Is Now" spectacle in the film looks more impressive than the actual movie. Engaging enough due to a relationship story but skippable.


FIGHTER

Watchable. The new Polish production about MMA and boxing is swiftly directed, easy to follow. The script is pretty standard for the genre, with reasonably good dialogues. The two main protagonists act well, especially taking into account that the actors have no idea how to fight. Editing creates fight dynamics, Piotr Stramowski and Mikołaj Roznerski provide muscled silhouettes.

Большое Путешествие (THE BIG TRIP)

Recommended. This tale enthrals. Not only is the animation delightful, with detailed and varied textures, rocks along the river looking like real and the animals resembling big cuddly toys, the story's adorable too. The hare is totally lovable and cute even when he's reckless and irresponsible. The dialogues are the highlight, e.g. the pelican says he played a part in "Pelican America" but turned down an invitation to the premiere because there was a Falcon Millennium. References to cultural and social life abound. Some situations are hilarious, e.g. when the bear has woken from a nightmare where all other animals tell him he's their dad and he sees the hare sleepwalking calling him "daddy". The music includes widely recognizable folk song "La cucaracha", pop hits and classical pieces perfectly matching the action.

DRUNK PARENTS

Watchable. The hapless upper middle-class parents in financial troubles, who, trying to resolve the situation, find themselves in dire straits makes you root for them. But the film's moronic rather than funny. Decent music.

CHILD'S PLAY

Watchable. The remake of the 1988 horror gets a modern on the verge of futuristic twist: smart homes, self-driving cars. No voodoo, just a malicious Vietnamese factory worker installing malware. The doll's decisions come from learning software. It all makes the story realistic. Psychological motivations sound true as well. The plot's based on three kinds of fears combined: of a stalker, of robots killing people and of creepy masks. The tale is adrenaline-driven so it soon becomes tediously action-packed. A curious fact is that Mark Hamill sheds his lovable image of Luke Skywalker and gives the murderous doll his voice. 


PRZEGLĄD KINA SZWAJCARSKIEGO (SWISS CINEMA SCREENING)

WIN WIN

Watchable. I did not laugh out loud but was smiling throughout this cheerful silly comedy. It's well acted, especially by the lead Jean-Luc Couchard as the small town mayor and by Yin Bing and his supporting actresses as Chang and his staff. It's a pleasant story where all ends well.


SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME 3D

Recommended. It has really good 3D, coming out of the screen towards the viewer at times and closing the gap, e.g. when the Venice flood commences. References to contemporary social obsessions abound, e.g. photographing everything, posting silly videos, cyberbullying and sexual harassment and, foremost, the lack of faith in science. Even the science teacher facing an unknown phenomenon declares: "It's witches." This and other comic situations made me laugh better than at some comedies. The film is in fact a lighthearted comedy about a school trip to Europe. Ah, and there's that delightful (to the British side of the globe anyway) joke about saying "London Bridge" meaning "Tower Bridge" on purpose. Jake Gyllenhall is in. And acts convincingly as Mysterio. The world with superheroes in it is complete, e.g. Spider-Man's movie choice on the plane includes a film on Iron Man's life. Best of all, the mid-credit turns the whole story around for the second time and the post-credit for the third time.

PAVAROTTI

Watchable. No Atmos sound in Poland even though it's a music documentary. Still, my greatest problem with it is that I've never been such a fun of operatic singers. And the film is also a bit too long. Still, it's an engaging story about a cheerful, chubby, always joyful tenor with a penchant for home food, Italian of course. You learn about all the good he did in his life, e.g. aiding children afflicted by wars in 6 different countries as well as about his shadow side, like having a  mistress while he was married. Most importantly, the documentary presents him fully, letting you feel what kind of person he was as well as teaching you it's the ability to sing the high C that makes one great. As expected, there are excerpts of his performances aplenty.

MIDSOMMAR

Recommended. After Ari Aster's "Hereditary", I was sceptical about "Midsommar" but it enthralls. It's a higher category of horror. I guess "Hereditary" was just a not-too-successful warm-up. The movie again starts as a psychologic drama but ends in a horror. And it's very consistent and psychologically true. Paweł Pogorzelski's cinematography whitens the light, creates an eerie climate, uses an upside down shot or air views at a close distance. Pageantry, as the celebration is aptly described in the film, is impressive. Floral patterns and warm bright light are imbued with suspense and menace. The whole film seems quiet and toned down. Even screams are muted. Yet every minute feels sinister. Christian's collar pattern before the sacrifice resembles drops of blood. Even the end credits are - flowers open like in the May Queen's crown. Some scenes are utterly brutal but it's the suspense that creates the horror here. The immediate after effect on me was feeling frightened at the sight of floral patterns on clothes on the bus back home - unavoidable nowadays. I guess I won't be going to Sweden at this time of year. The movie will make you doublethink before making friends with a nice Swede.

TEEN SPIRIT

Watchable. Predictable but well-made by 34-year-old actor Max Minghella. Elle Fanning looks and acts plausibly Polish, her Polish language is sometimes incomprehensible at all, sometimes astoundingly apt and sometimes has a strong English accent. In fact her lines had to be rewritten by the Polish staff on set because what she had been taught in the US before flying into the UK sounded so unnatural no Pole would say it. Also her name: Violet Valenski sounds like an umpteenth generation American, not a Polish-born Brit. Witty dialogues do a good job. Music, as expected, gets better and better. Still, it's no quality onto itself. The pictures look too dark at times. The ending implies a sequel. I'd rather they stopped at part one.

POLAROID

Watchable. Boring - and it's a horror! Very run-of-the mill plot. Cheap-looking spooks. I barely sat through it till the end. It gave me an after-effect in the form of getting scared at the sight of mirrors and window panes though. 

FIVE FEET APART

Watchable. Two terminally ill teenagers in love - can anything be tackier than this? Fortunately the nurses are sweethearts and Cole Sprouse who impersonates Will is remarkably good-looking. Cynthia Evans who acts as the girl's mum looks so young at first I thought she was a school friend.

TRANSLATLANTYK FESTIVAL 2019

The festival, taking place in Łódź, Poland from 12th to 19th July, sounds intriguing. Paweł Borowski, the director of recent "Ja teraz kłamię" ("I Am Lying Now"), together with two foreign film critics, will be in the short films jury. VOX bed cinema offers 50 beds for special in-bed screenings with individual screens showing the same movie, with the option of pulling curtains. One bed accommodates 2-6 viewers. SWPS (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) will hold lectures for listeners in the beds at 6 p.m. every day. Rafał Woś will moderate debates on unconditional basic income, on robots working for us rather than instead of us and on Europe as a community it no longer is. A Kamera Akcja debate will try to answer whether movie makers and critics speak the same language. Instant Composition Contest will have composers playing to the picture straightaway. There's free entry to the contest and viewers are encouraged to bring children, especially babies, in order to test how much the composers can bear. Meetings for the film industry will feature a new one - on "Women in cinema" and their problems. The main cinema at the festival will be Cinema City Manufaktura where most of the movie screenings and all masterclasses will take place. Cinema City is also a sponsor. The fantastic "space" poster was created by a Polish artist living in Ibiza. There are versions of the poster with an alien. The artist's exhibition of sculptures will be hosted at EC1. The festival spot is superb too. Free screenings will be held in Łódź libraries. A movie which will have its Polish premiere at the festival is:

SYSTEMSPRENGER (SYSTEM CRASHER)

Recommended. Heavy stuff. Heart-wrenching and tear-jerking. Good psychology. The unruly kid is shown from both perspectives: of the child and of adults. The story explains how sometimes nothing can be done. The end credits look funny and include "war lecker" ("was tasty") at the catering data.

PRZEGLĄD KINA SZWAJCARSKIEGO (SWISS CINEMA SCREENING)

HIVER NOMADE (WINTER NOMADS)

Watchable. It's tranquil: snow-clad pastures, cute dogs, beautiful donkeys and lots of sheep. The mixed-age couple is agreeable. The season presented in the documentary tells you what it's like to be a shepherd. Unbelievable even nowadays some people sleep in tents or even without all winter when walking through the countryside with their herds. The only disturbing bits are the mentions of the sheep going to be slaughtered for meat.

ROCKETMAN

Watchable. An old-school musical. Awfully shallow for the first half. From the 69th minute, it gains depth and you soon find yourself fully immersed in the tragic loneliness of yet another celebrity. The songs, performed not by Elton John but by Giles Martin, all sound the same and only the final (before the credits) "I'm Still Standing" is joyful. The story ends well too.

MY GENERATION

Recommended. An excellent documentary about social changes in the UK. I would have never thought Michael Caine is Cockney. But he is and he explains how in the early 60s movies didn't have any protagonists they could relate to and how music was a pass to riches for the uneducated and how grammar schools offering free education empowered the working class. Excellent editing, lots of the 60s music and stories about how they became the first generation which was shaped by the young. Shows history when it was being made.

JA TERAZ KLAMIE (I AM LYING NOW)

Recommended. Genius! Resembles Bodo Kox - at first, I thought it was his movie, especially since there's a bar called "Box". But no, it's scripted and directed by Pawel Borowski whose earlier films I haven't even seen. It's foremost amazing architecture, scenography, costumes, make-up and hairstyling stylised for futuristic 1960s, with extra bits of creative design e.g. when the door-bell is shaped like an ear and the spyhole like an eye. Even the clock face on telly resembles one from a few decades ago. But the presented celebrity world lacks no comfort. Even the drug they inhale comes in the form of gold powder. The plot is equally intriguing but not SF, more of a psychologic game. Most importantly, the film doesn't look Polish.

PUTIN'S WITNESSES

Watchable. FSB tried to plant explosives at a block of flats in Ryazan before the famous Chechen terrorist attacks where blocks of flats were blown up at night killing innocent people. Then Putin's ratings rose from 2% to 50% within 6 months. He gave a cold shoulder to Yeltsin after he had nominated him. And he's ruthless to the opposition. He brought Soviet-style dictatorship back. That's all you learn. The documentary extends for nearly 2 hours, most of it is unnecessary.

Update: on 12 September 2021 the director said the film had never been screened in Russia, not even once.

OFFLINE - DAS LEBEN IST KEIN BONUSLEVEL (OFFLINE: ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL?)

Watchable. For and about teenage gamers. Very light entertainment which doesn't require thinking. Fully professional visuals and audio. The game features a tournament called Ragnarok and a character named Loki so it's a clear reference to the cinematic series "Thor".

DZIEN CZEKOLADY

Walked out. Totally amateurish, often looks like filmed theatre rather than a movie. Only the kids act naturally. It's a slow-paced series of disconnected events, with funeral music, for parents of children with problems, not for children.

MA

Watchable. A typical, predictable slasher movie. Some bits are more brutal than I expected but it's a high school flick regardless. Well scripted, with a clear structure and good music. Director Tate Taylor also acts as Office Grainger. 

ANNA

Watchable. Well re-heated "La Femme Nikita". The bathroom scene with a gun gets a makeover. Eric Serra wrote the score again and Thierry Arbogast was responsible for cinematography here as well. I watched with great pleasure, it just lacked the novelty of its predecessor.

PRZEGLAD FILMOW WIETNAMSKICH (VIETNAM FILM WEEK IN POLAND)

DAO CUA DAN NGU CU (THE WAY STATION)

Watchable. All this domestic violence, including sex, drunkenness, animal slaughter and betrayed feelings are tolerable only because of attractive cinematography. The movie's chaotic and it takes long to start to understand the story.

Just to put the scale of Vietnamese cinematography in context - 40 films were shot in Vietnam in 2018.


POKEMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU 3D

Watchable. Decent 3D but not a must, I've seen better. Opening credit typography is stylised for katakana. Polish dubbing in dialogues sounds superb. Top-notch CGIs: Pokémons have a wide array of facial expressions and the dragon changes eye colour. The whole thing is cute and enjoyable. Outstanding music by Henry Jackman extends till the end of the credits. Available in Atmos too.


PRZEGLAD FILMOW WIETNAMSKICH (VIETNAM FILM WEEK IN POLAND)

TOI THAY HOA VANG TREN CO XANH (YELLOW FLOWERS ON THE GREEN GRASS)

Recommended. Beautiful cinematography matches the enchanting story where the world's seen from children perspective. Set in an obscure Vietnamese village. Ends in mesmerising music over end credits.

TRUNG SO (JACKPOT)

Watchable. A silly but cheerful comedy at which I didn't laugh. Vivid characters and an implausible plot.

There was one more movie but the air-con at Kultura cinema wasn't working properly and I got up with the Vietnamese who would talk during the movies or bring little noisy kids to adult screenings. It's a shame because the films had really good cinematography and interesting plots.


BIG BOOK FESTIVAL

ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH

Recommended. Stunning imagery of gigantic mines, landfills, multimillion metropolises, a church built for one million people, bleached coral reefs all serve one purpose - they show the scale of man-made devastation of the earth.

MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL

Watchable. Fun. People are a bit worse but aliens better than before. There are plenty of fantastic aliens - some are cuter, all more colourful and none as revolting as in previous parts. Tessa Thompson passes the exam, Chris Hemsworth is so-so, acts a bit over the top. And there's no real banter between them, they act parallel to each other, not together. Other than that, the plot's much in line with the rest of the series, with the addition of mind-blowing inventions like intercontinental trains. No mid- or post-credit. 

KREW BOGA (THE MUTE)

Walked out. I've heard from somebody deciding about movie financing in the Polish Film Insititute that what determines if a movie is bankrolled is how cheap it is. This one looks like such a movie. Amateurs with dreadlocks perform experimental theatre, probably not knowing what they act, and with bad lighting. The light is always too something: overlit, underlit, too blue etc. Nerve-wracking music and shrieks were just other unbearable elements of this work. No script or directing to speak of. It's all pathetically unprofessional. And odd. Ah, and bad sound: the shrieks are too loud, dialogues unintelligible, just some mumbling.

X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX IN DOLBY ATMOS

Watchable when seen for the 3rd time. I noticed further details, e.g. that she's resurrected and goes to heaven, but felt overwhelmed with psychology this time. Atmos is audible mostly in sound effects but, of course, the music and dialogue are much clearer too. 

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS 2D VS. 3D

Watchable. I enjoyed only the end credits. They looked good, had great music and made sense. Unlike all the rest before and after (the post-credit). It's a class B movie about gigantic monsters, some of them looking like insects, with amateurish acting, wooden dialogues and, worst of all, poor CGIs: for a larger part you see just the silhouettes of the monsters, with no detail. And all this nonsense lasts long. Barely managed to sit through it. I did only because the predictable plot indicated there would be several monsters. There were 4 shown. And then I waited till the very end to see what might happen in a sequel. Unfortunately, I was right - it looks set for another rubbish film. Shame, after an exquisite part one. Blurred in 2D so 3D is better just for clarity of the picture.

The trailers of "Joker" and "Annabelle Comes Home" looked uninviting too. 

MARNIES WELT (MARNIE'S WORLD)

Watchable. Still fun even though the part of the plot in the air doesn't make much sense. But it's such a crazy story that who cares. Looks very pleasant too.


PRZEGLAD FILMOW WIETNAMSKICH (VIETNAM FILM WEEK IN POLAND)

CO BA SAI GON (THE TAILOR) (2017)

Recommended. Uplifting music and lots of fabulous colourful outfits from the start. A Western-style family comedy about fashion with fantasy elements. Moving at times. Ah, and with the best: time travel. Wonderfully acted too. There's a funny post-credit.

QU'EST-CE QU'ON FAIT A ENCORE FAIT AU BON DIEU? (SERIAL (BAD) WEDDINGS 2)

Recommended. I laughed quite a few times. Further predjudices are added to the ones from part 1. But the well-known protagonists still have their adorable foibles. The scene of meeting a daughter's fiance in a restaurant is recreated with different protagonists. Great music till the end of the credits. Now I feel like seeing the first part again.

X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX IMAX 3D

Recommended. I much prefer 4DX. 3D at Imax is just satisfactory and the huge screen lets you spot more wrinkles on Magneto's face or a hand sticking out of a shield in one of the combat scenes but the crash and flares of light made a bigger impression in 4DX. Still, the movie's worth seeing again. It was only at the second time that I noticed Christian inspirations in the picture. Jean is coaxed by the alien woman on the high floor of a building the way the Christ was tempted on a mountain, next she makes a cripple walk and then she gets crucified (with safety belts). The movie's deeper than it seems. 

The "Men in Black: International" trailer at Imax looked little short of spectacular.

ALADDIN

Recommended. The old oriental tale (shot in Jordan) gets a modern social twist but retains the opulence associated with the Orient, lavish costumes, naturally looking CGIs, dancing and singing incl. songs by Will Smith and the actor in the leading role Mena Massoud - looking hot and dashing in the movie. Beautiful and magical. You can even forgive them for making it into a musical. The story alterations mean everyone has a mind of their own: the princess, the genie and even the magic carpet. 

ALADDIN 3D

Recommended. This version is only dubbed in Polish but the songs in Polish are even better than in the original. It's still witty at times, especially the dating bits, even with changed dialogues. And I discovered further items in this detail-rich movie.

HBO PLANS FOR SUMMER AND AUTUMN 2019

What after "Game of Thrones" and "Chernobyl"? An HBO representative who's been a fan of both recommends "Years and Years". What else is coming up this summer? I've noted down the potentially interesting titles:

•  "Big Little Lies" season 2 with a different director than season 1.
• "Krypton" season 2 - about Superman's grandfather, has superb music.
• Spanish "Los Espookys" - about horror fans who've turned their passion into a business, the trailer implies black humour.
• "The Loudest Voice" - about the Fox News founder.
• "Divorce" season 3 with Sarah Jessica Parker.
• "The Magicians" - about people who discover magic exists and is addictive, the trailer didn't convince me but the concept is intriguing.
• Spanish documentary series "El Pionero" - about Jesús Gil, a populist politician.
• "Pico da Neblina" - by the director of "Cidade de Deus" ("City of God"), about a drug dealer at the time when marijuana becomes legal.
• "Beforeigners" - people from the past, e.g. Stone Age, 19th century, Viking times turn up on the coast of Oslo and no one knows why.
• "Succession 2" - media, power, politics.
• "The Handmaid's Tale".
• "The Righteous Gemstones" - about deviant televangelists.

Some serials are still in production with a release planned for the autumn:

• "Catherine the Great".
• "Discovery of Witches" season 2.
• "Watchmen" - based on the graphic novel, by the director of "Leftovers".
• "His Dark Materials" - based on the novel by Philip Pullman, with James McAvoy, 6 episodes.
• "The "New Pope" with Jude Law, John Malkovich, Sharon Stone, Marilyn Manson.
• Czech "Bez vedomi" aka "The Sleepers" - late communism, a woman's dissident fugitive husband disappears when she's in hospital after a car crash they both were in.
• Romanian "Umbre" - about a taxi driver's double life, with dark humour.
• Polish "Wataha" season 3, 6 episodes - season 1 was autumn, season 2 winter and this one is spring, probably early judging from the snow in the trailer, this time the action includes Lviv and Odessa.

I'm mostly looking forward to "Beforeigners", "The Righteous Gemstones" and "The New Pope". In the meantime "Euphoria" starts today:

EUPHORIA EPISODE 1

Watchable. By Sam Levinson and similar to "Assassination Nation" in the way he sexualizes teenage girls. I repeat, this guy is disgustingly pervy. It's just ridiculous how the girl protagonists act exactly like guys do. The serial also glamorizes drug use. It doesn't change the fact the story's engaging. I wonder what's going to happen next to the drug-abusing narrator and her sex-crazed peers. 

POKEMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU

Watchable. A pleasant tale for teenagers and older kids with cute Pokémons and top-notch CGIs. Starts with a teenager trying to catch a Pokémon and with several mentions of Pokémon training. Apart from the popular mobile game, there are numerous references to movies, e.g. the old detective movie footage in Tim's room is the same Kevin used in "Home Alone", Pikachu wears a Sherlock Holmes hat, some Pokémons have faces like the dragons in "How to Train Your Dragon" and they take Pikachu to a sacred place to heal with shiny jellyfish hovering in dark blue air reminiscent of "Avatar". The whole plot is predictable and fights protracted. Early end credits are comic book style and fun to watch, the second part of credits is accompanied by nice and light pop songs in English and Japanese. 

BRIGHTBURN

Recommended. First comes a sex scene with Elizabeth Banks. It's not what you're thinking! You don't get to see anything up from her toned thigh. The genre quickly changes. What stays the same is Elizabeth Banks - perfect in each kind of film. Even in a science fiction horror. And bloodcurdling it is. Especially the extra info in the scenes along with early end credits. Maybe not that much during watching, when the gruesome murders are intertwined with a story like no other before only your adrenaline levels go up. But I was looking back over my shoulder constantly as I was leaving the cinema late at night.

The "Men In Black International" trailer looks totally enticing. I bet it'll look awesome at Imax.

X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX 3D 4DX

Recommended. While 3D enhances the movie to a point, it does not stand out. 4DX does. Out of all the films I've seen in this technology, this one applies it the best. Gusts of wind match the directions of blows received by the heroes. Flares of light take up not just the screen but the entire room. Both fragrances are released once each and water's sprayed twice in one scene. The shakes make full sense too and let you experience a crash more realistically. Other than that, Quicksilver looks a few years older and works at the school where he tells a kid to "slow down". An "X-Women" joke has made its way into the plot too. But most of the story's tear-jerking, a popular superhero dies. Hans Zimmer's score makes an impression, especially the partly vocal bit in the outer space. Having said that, the action starts before the opening credits and then gets hot right after again. No Stan Lee cameo even though he was one of the executive producers. No mid- or post-credit either. 

HEAVY WATER

Watchable. The first half of the documentary is overtalked and chaotic, I couldn't see where it was headed. But the second half is more focused, finally shows the waves, not just talking heads and the acid drop attempts are thrilling. The surfers, especially teenage, look like in "Breath".

CATALINA

Watchable. Don't let the director's Bosnian name fool you. It's very Polish. In a bad sense. Starts hard with a disturbing scene of a strip-search and then a series of other mistreatments Catalina experiences. You begin to wonder what mystery of her past has made her accept all the humiliation with humility. And then the story gets diluted. And diluted again till it becomes so watery you no longer know what it was supposed to be. The producer introduced the movie talking about identity issues and having it imposed on you and rejected and how it shows when you're threatened. But I found none of it in the film. To me, it's about people with no clear goal in life. None of them seems to know what they want for themselves, let alone how to achieve it. Does the director know?

MARNIES WELT (MARNIE'S WORLD)

Watchable. Very pleasant mostly due to good, witty dialogues. I laughed when the woman at the police saw her cat as a criminal. But Marnie has become Roxy in the Polish version for some reason, even though she gets a cake with letter M, not R. And some motivations of characters are inexplicable, e.g. the gangster's sudden confession.


FIVE FLAVOURS FILM FESTIVAL 

From the summing up of the 2018 edition I learnt about the typical viewer profile: mostly educated women attracted to Asian cinema. As for 2019, Fruit Chan, "Dumplings" director's retrospective is going to be one of the festival sections and chances are he'll come to Poland to meet viewers.


BIG LITTLE LIES SEASON 2 EPISODE 1

Watchable. It's still not my favourite. Although I like the actresses, I can't find a connection with any character since I'm not a mother, not a housewife and not rich. Also, my favourite Reese Witherspoon overacts, especially astonishment. On the other hand, Nicole Kidman is surprisingly convincing. The crime part of the plot is engaging and the episode ends with such a cliffhanger you immediately want to see episode 2.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE MARATHON OF JOHN WICK

JOHN WICK

Watchable when seen for the 2nd time. The bottle next to John Wick in Aurelio's garage says "peligroso" ("dangerous"). Air views of NYC add space. The casual remarks exchanged between the hitmen are highlights. Pounding techno and guitar riffs enrich the climate. And both pups are cute. As for "a man of focus" his missing targets a few times is annoying and his swerving the car stands in contradiction to the focus too. His tattoo says "Fortis fortuna adiuvat" ("Fortune favours the bold").

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2

Recommended this time. Visually stunning. The soundtrack and plot quality like in part 1. I was dying to see how it ends. Chapter 2 and 3 enjoy Atmos sound.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM

Watchable. This part is tongue-in-cheek. Music has got even better, there are also some spectacular visuals, e.g. combat accompanied by Vivaldi's "Winter". Judo and karate aplenty. Apart from martial arts, it's a bit more brutal than previous parts. My fave joke was: "He killed my dog!" "I get it." Though the irony and combat are overdone at times.


16TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FILM FESTIVAL

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

Recommended. About the position of women in Hollywood. Directed by a man but made by a team consisting of women in 75%. A female director of a high-grossing film with 2 Oscar nominations couldn't land a job for 9 years afterwards. The most terrifying though is the visualisation of movie funding. Normally 99,5% of movie funding goes to men. It's like having 100 cookies on a plate where men grab 99,5 cookies and women fight for the remaining half a cookie. No horror recently has scared me that badly.

The audience at the screening was over 90% female.

Letizia Battaglia's photography exhibition at Iluzjon was interesting though not as striking as what she said about living in Palermo when people were murdered daily and she received death threats and was spat on. Also, a curious fact is that heads of the mafia "were bossy at the time" meaning: they're not any more, "they acted like they ruled the court" and instigated great fear in her. 

BELLINGCAT: TRUTH IN A POST-TRUTH WORLD

Watchable. I didn't understand who or what certain people and some organisations were or what the cases were about but all the more I'm strongly impressed with those citizen journalists' skills. They often solve complex high profile cases faster than specialized agencies. The documentary proves Russians were the ones behind shooting down MH17 and shows how fake news is used by that same country, e.g. video game footage presented as real or when people lied down after a staged explosion. Social media, personal posts, Google Earth and other publicly available websites turn out to be more credible than what politicians spin.

SOYALISM

Watchable. A depressing documentary about international devastation brought on by offshore hog-growing and soybean plantations both resulting from the Chinese eating increasingly more meat. Also on how smelly it is to grow animals in large numbers. More detail than necessary, too long interviews. And the final message nearly goes missed since it's only said briefly that we can feed the world only if we go vegetarian.

I went to the meeting with the director and a protagonist of "Diagnosis". Making the film took 6 years from research till the end and was distressing till the last day of editing. The director only felt relieved when she passed it on to the sound technician. Then he got depressed. 


WIATR.THRILLER DOKUMENTALNY (THE WIND. A DOCUMENTARY THRILLER)

Watchable. Nothing special. Just everyday lives of a handful of people in Podhale (Zakopane and around). Meant to be limited to those who feel some connection to the halny wind so the topic is forced. Shot with small Sony Alpha - easy to carry around. But it has resulted in the pictures being dark. Feels lengthy so I don't really recommend it. 

ZLOGONYE (THE WITCH HUNTERS)

Watchable. It's not fantasy! It's slow and mundane in the first part. Later it gains some psychology. All in the movie world where all adults are kind and caring to all children. But even within this genre, I've seen better films.

GLORIA BELL

Watchable. Pleasant, cheerful, uplifting. Follows in the footsteps of "Roma" in the way it tells about a strong woman and an irresponsible man. With light 80s and 70s pop music and in colour. Set among people in their fifties burdened with families so the setting is like a different world to me. Julianne Moore often appears naked in it and she produced it so I guess she wanted to show off her young-looking body. And mostly for that reason, it feels a bit sad she needs a movie to feel better about herself. 

ALL IS TRUE

Watchable. More form than substance. Kenneth Branagh has slowed down recently. His previous film, "Murder on the Orient Express", was bland. Here, with the same pace and scarce contents, the first hour is terribly boring. On the other hand, the scenography and costumes render details of the period and a peculiar kind of cinematography makes each shot look like an old painting. The director impersonates Shakespeare. Amazing acting, also by the young: Kathryn Wilder and Lydia Wilson, attracts you to the screen and compensates for the directorial and plot shortcomings. The plot, in the second hour, when it becomes clear the movie's onto something, under the guise of Shakespeare times, tackles the widely discussed contemporaneously issue of women's value in the society and in the family. Or at least such was my first impression. The 58-year-old director and the 60-year-old scriptwriter claim to have made a film about one's creative heritage, the passage of time and the place of the family in an author's life. They probably don't realise themselves how feminist a message it conveys.

UGLY DOLLS

Watchable. A heartfelt tale about lovely monsters and loving ugly dolls and about the loneliness of the world of the pretty. It's cute when it needs to be and suitable for nursery and primary school children. Pitbull and Ice-T dub the English version, songs are by the likes of Nick Jonas in English and by nobodies in Polish. 


10. PRZEGLAD NOWEGO KINA FRANCUSKIEGO (10TH SCREENING OF NEW FRENCH CINEMA)

LA DOULEUR (MEMOIR OF WAR)

Watchable. The topics of a relationship with someone first incarcerated, then severely changed by a concentration camp and of psychologic consequences of the loss of loved ones in the result of an ideologic purge are fascinating but here get nearly ruined because the movie drags and the philosophic commentary, presumably taken from the book it's based on, dissipates the emotional part through overintellectualizing it.


THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR

Watchable. A sappy teenage love story set in picture-perfect New York and with excellent music. On a (slightly) deeper level it deals with destiny versus creating your life history, preserving traditions after emigration and making the most of a day. A tear-jerking flick.

HERETIKS (THE CONVENT)

Watching. First, due to an error, I arrived half an hour late. I thought the movie had just started and was surprised to see spooks straightaway. After finding out I missed 1/3, I went to see the beginning again. To my amusement, scary images appear already in between opening credits. Lisping whispers, gore, gouged eyeballs and colour lights in eye sockets, including in the post-credit. Nearly all nuns get slain one by one. Next, even their corpses are slain. It's an engaging story in spite of all. And set in England in 1619. The lead's name is Persephone - like the goddess of nature abducted to the underworld. 

RED JOAN

Recommended again. Gripping again all the same. Great attention is given to detail, e.g. Tom Hughes as Russian Leo pronounces "think" like "sink".

DE DE PYAAR DE

Watchable. A very pleasant romantic comedy mixed with a comedy of errors. I did not laugh but I was smiling all the time. Well-paced, you can't take your eyes off the screen. Pleasant music, lavish residences and beautiful garments typical for Western-targeted Bollywood which I enjoy the most. What detracted from the pleasure was the sexism of the script: a man's betrayal is forgiven.

CAVAD XAN (JAVAD KHAN) (2009)

Walked out. This Azerbaijan picture looks and sounds as if it had been shot 50 or more years ago. Poor cinematographic quality and official speeches.