MAGGIE'S PLAN

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

HANDS OF STONE

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

LO AND BEHOLD: REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD

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

MECHANIC: RESURRECTION

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

CZERWONY KAPITAN (THE RED CAPTAIN)

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

MR. RIGHT

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

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

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

JE ME TUE A LE DIRE (DEATH BY DEATH)

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

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE ULTIMATE EDITION

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

IL TRADUTTORE

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

L'AVENIR

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

WAR DOGS

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

 

BEN HUR 3D

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

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

SUICIDE SQUAD

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

THE DARK KNIGHT

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

BATMAN (1989)

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

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

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

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

MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES

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

HELL OR HIGH WATER

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

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

NINE LIVES

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

PETE'S DRAGON

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

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

BARBIE: STAR LIGHT ADVENTURE

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

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

TURK PASAPORTU (TURKISH PASSPORT)

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

NOKTA (DOT) (2008)

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

BAD MOMS

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

아가씨 (THE HANDMAIDEN)

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

ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE 3D

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

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

JASON BOURNE

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

JULIETA

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

FINDING DORY

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

STAR TREK BEYOND 3D

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


THE NEON DEMON

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

CAFE SOCIETY

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

TUMBLEDOWN

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

KOBIETY BEZ WSTYDU

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

JASON BOURNE

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

THE SHALLOWS

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

HEL

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

GENIUS

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

ODDBALL

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

YUMURTA (EGG) (2007)

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

LIGHTS OUT

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

GHOSTBUSTERS - IMAX 3D

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

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

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

KOLLEKTIVET (THE COMUNE)

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

UNDER THE SUN

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

VILLE-MARIE

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

MONEY MONSTER

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

GULE GULE (THE RAINDROP) (1999)

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

MANHATTAN NIGHT

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

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

THE NICE GUYS

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

MR. GAGA

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

KAMPER

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

TIME TO LOOK AT GIRLS: MIGRANTS IN BANGLADESH AND ETHIOPIA

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

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

AFRYKAMERA 2016

L'AFRIQUE VUE PAR RYSZARD KAPUSCINSKI

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

THE GHOST PEOPLE

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


DOBRA ZENA (A GOOD WIFE)

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


AFRYKAMERA 2016

FACTORY GIRL

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

UM GHAYEB: MOTHER OF THE UNBORN

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


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

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

KRIGEN (A WAR)

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

FUOCOAMMARE (FIRE AT SEA)

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


AFRYKAMERA 2016

LAMB

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

EXCUSE MY FRENCH

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


WALSER

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

PEACEABLE KINGDOM. A JOURNEY HOME

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR AT IMAX 3D

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

FAN

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

NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR

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

THE CANAL

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


ENTRE LA GLACE ET LE CIEL

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

DESDE ALLA (FROM AFAR)

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

LA VANITE (VANITY)

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

MOTHER'S DAY

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

NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING

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

COMOARA (THE TREASURE)

Watchable. Showcases human foibles and hopes.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE 4D

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


JEWISH MOTIFS FILM FESTIVAL

AKA NADIA

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


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

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

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

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

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

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

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


ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AT IMAX 3D

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

EIN LETZTER TANGO (OUR LAST TANGO)

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

BASTILLE DAY

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

MAANAM BYC PIEKNIE

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

THE IDOL

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

OJCIEC

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

THE GIRL KING

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

LOLO

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

ME BEFORE YOU

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

W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)

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

A WALK IN THE WOODS

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

CONJURING 2

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

ABLUKA (FRENZY)

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

PIPER

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

FINDING DORY 3D

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

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

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

W SPIRALI (INTO THE SPIRALE)

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

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

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

TOISET TYTOT (OTHER GIRLS)


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

NOUS TROIS OU RIEN (ALL THREE OF US)

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

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

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


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR

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

BEFORE I WAKE
THE BABADOOK

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


UN HOMME A LA HAUTEUR (UP FOR LOVE)

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

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN 3D

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

TINI: THE NEW LIFE OF VIOLETTA

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

THE BFG 3D

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

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

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

CHOCOLAT

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

Another portion of overdue reviews:

QUAND ON A 17 AN (BEING 17)

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

45 YEARS

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

EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE (EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT)

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

FAIR PLAY

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

A BIGGER SPLASH

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

VAN VALAMI FURCSA EN MEGMAGYARAZHATATLAN (FOR SOME INEXPLICABLE REASON)

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

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

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


AFRYKAMERA 2016

L'OEIL DU CYCLONE (EYE OF THE STORM)

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


THE MODEL

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


AFRYKAMERA 2016

SEMBENE!

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

A FORK, A SPOON AND A KNIGHT

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

LA BELLE AT THE MOVIES

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


THE BOSS

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

AFRYKAMERA 2016

OBURONI

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

MEMORY CARDS

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

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

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

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

BATMAN BEGINS

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

THE DARK KNIGHT

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


SZABADESES (FREEFALL)

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

ARGENTINA, ARGENTINA

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

CORKI DANCINGU (THE LURE)

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

EJDEHA VARED MISHAVAD (A DRAGON ARRIVES!)

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

L'HERMINE (COURTED)

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

LES BEAUX JOURS

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

SA OCK PA JORDEN (HEAVEN ON EARTH)

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

BONE TOMAHAWK

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

THE 5TH WAVE

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

A ESMORGA

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

LETNIE PRZESILENIE (SUMMER SOLSTICE)

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

QUEEN OF THE DESERT

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

TRUTH

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

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR

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

BOMBAY (1995)

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

ULTIMA THULE (ICELANDIC FILM FESTIVAL)

BRIM (UNDERCURRENT)

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

FORELDRAR (PARENTS)

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

BOERN (CHILDREN)

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

VEDRAMOT

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

SODOMA REYKJAVIK

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


UMIMACHI DIARY

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


IX PRASKI FESTIWAL FILMOW MLODZIEZOWYCH

WIECEJ NIZ MURY

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

MUZYCZNY SPARING

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

DRZEWO OGNIA

Watchable. Great music, a bit too long.

BROTHERS

Watchable. Well-acted but what is it about?

PIJACY

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

TAKIE PRZEZYCIE MIALAM

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

FERAJNA Z HOOVERA -WARSZAWO MA

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

PROSTA RZECZ

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

NAD JEZIOREM

Watchable. Beautiful pictures but poor cinematography and editing.

Z GLOWA W CHMURACH

Watchable. Nice music, about nothing.

KON

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

KLOPOTY Z PIANA

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

OBOK

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

EVANESCENCE/ULOTNOSC

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

ODWAZNA

Watchable. Nice music and video, silly story.

DOBRY CZLOWIEK

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

KROLEWNA

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


BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE AT IMAX

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

LA OBRA DEL SIGLO (THE PROJECT OF THE CENTURY)

Walked out. Terribly socrealistic and quite slow.

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2

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

KI & KA

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

HIGH RISE

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

GOD'S NOT DEAD 2

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

GEJSZA

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

MUSTANG

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

HARDCORE HENRY

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

THE JUNGLE BOOK 3D AT IMAX

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

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

MARGUERITE

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

CHRONIC

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

INREALLIFE

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

THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT 

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

SPOTLIGHT

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

LES INNOCENTES (THE INNOCENTS)

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

RISTTUULES (IN THE CROSSWIND)

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

PASOLINI

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

ZAPORA

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

ZOOLANDER 2

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

LONDON HAS FALLEN

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

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

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

OSCARS 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EL CLAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DEADPOOL

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


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - ANTYWALENTYNKI (ANTIVALENTINE'S)

THE BOY

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

THE GIFT

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

PRISONERS

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


SPRAWIEDLIWY

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

NA GRANICY

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

THAT SUGAR FILM

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

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

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

ZOOTROPOLIS IN 3D

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

UMBRA

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

GODS OF EGYPT IN 3D

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

JUTRO BEDZIE FUTRO

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

GOOSEBUMPS

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

RENTANEKO (RENT-A-CAT)

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

0.5 MM

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

HAIL, CAESAR!

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

BROOKLYN

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

MUSTANG

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

A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS

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

UMBRA

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

MOW MI MARIANNA (CALL ME MARIANNA)

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

THE ASSASSIN

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

D'ARDENNEN (THE ARDENNES)

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

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

PITBULL

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

PITBULL. NOWE PORZADKI (NEW ORDERS)

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

FOTOGRAF

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

PSY (PIGS)

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


PLANETA SINGLI (PLANET SINGLE)

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

CAROL

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

THE FINEST HOURS 3D AT IMAX

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

LUCIFER

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

ICH SEH, ICH SEH (GOODNIGHT MOMMY)

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


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - TARANTINOC (TARANTINIGHT)

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

PULP FICTION

Recommended. The dialogues and situational surprises are a gem.

JACKIE BROWN

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


ALVIN AND THE CHIMPUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP

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

LA LOI DU MARCHE (THE MEASURE OF A MAN)

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

JANIS

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

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

PROPHET'S PREY

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

BURDEN OF PEACE

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


RAMS

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


15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

AILEEN WUORNOS. THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER

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


EXCENTRYCY, CZYLI PO SLONECZNEJ STRONIE ULICY

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


15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

ATTACKING THE DEVIL

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

JUVENILE LIAISON I

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


LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG

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

DEMAIN (TOMORROW)

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

CREED

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

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS 3D

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

THE PEANUTS MOVIE

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

MOJE CORKI KROWY (MY SISTER)

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

JOY

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

THE HATEFUL EIGHT

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

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

THE LEADER, HIS DRIVER AND THE DRIVER'S WIFE

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

HYVASTI AFRIKKA (LEAVING AFRICA)

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

MY JIHAD

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


MON ROI

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

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

CITIZEN KHODORKOVSKY

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

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

THE FEAR OF 13

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

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

A SYRIAN LOVE STORY

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

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

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

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

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

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

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

Another backlog to clear (partially):

LOVE THE COOPERS

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


WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL (2015)

SNOWPIERCER

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

CAT FUNERAL

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


15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

NO PLACE TO HIDE: THE REHTAEH PARSONS STORY

THE HUNTING GROUND

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

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

AKTORKA

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

IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI (THE TALE OF TALES)

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

LA MONTAGNE MAGIQUE (THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN)

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

SZABADESES (FREE FALL)

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

MA MA

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

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

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

ROOM

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

BRIDGE OF SPIES

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

KAMA SUTRA: A TALE OF LOVE (1996)

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

CZERWONY PAJAK

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

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

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

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