2 NIGHTS TILL MORNING
Watchable. Very pleasant, totally plausible and involving. Reminded me of one friend I made at the airport and of several other chance encounters in travel. Both protagonists are well off which makes the story less versatile it could be.
Wednesday, 20 September 2017
ANG BABAENG HUMAYO (THE WOMAN WHO LEFT)
Watchable. In spite of the nearly 4-hour duration. It's low budget: black and white, with few actors and locations, no music score. It has a story though a predictable one. You know what's going to happen, you just don't know how and which of the characters will play what role. What makes it so easy to follow for so long is its calm, steady rhythm.
AURORE
Watchable. A simple, quite pleasant life story about a perimenopausal woman, other men and women of her age (50), her 2 pregnant daughters (with a pointless nude scene of one in a bath) and a few elderly ones. Cheerful.
Watchable. In spite of the nearly 4-hour duration. It's low budget: black and white, with few actors and locations, no music score. It has a story though a predictable one. You know what's going to happen, you just don't know how and which of the characters will play what role. What makes it so easy to follow for so long is its calm, steady rhythm.
AURORE
Watchable. A simple, quite pleasant life story about a perimenopausal woman, other men and women of her age (50), her 2 pregnant daughters (with a pointless nude scene of one in a bath) and a few elderly ones. Cheerful.
Sunday, 17 September 2017
HOME AGAIN
Watchable. Two hotties: Reese Witherspoon and Pico Alexander in the main roles, Candice Bergen as her mother, lots of wit, beautiful cinematography, an involving story full of endearing characters and just one thing wrong. It starts funny when the 27-year-old realises his sleepover was with a 40 who's a mum of two. The difference in lifestyles cleverly shows the generation gap. The gap quickly closes through the two parties being supportive to each other. What rings wrong in the film is that she gives up on the blooming relationship with the younger guy and blames his age on letting her down while in fact it was her ex of her age who was the disappointment. The movie portrays the new generation as much warmer and more reliable than the older one. In spite of that she decides to stay alone. Hard to believe a woman created such a sexist ending.
SHUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN
Watchable. Plenty of funny exchanges, e.g. parents finding porn in their 12-year-old son's belongings: "Do you want to go off the rails?" "Not yet." Decent Bollywood music. But really, devoting a whole movie to the fiance's soft problem?! India clearly lacks elementary sexual education. At least now I know why Indians don't know foreplay. The culture which doesn't care about women's satisfaction has produced the movie because men happen not to get satisfaction either.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
TO STAY ALIVE: A METHOD
Watchable. Do you really want the old wreck of a man, drug addict and bum Iggy Pop to tell you how to live? According to him suffering enobles and you should find a structure through which you can express your suffering. I understand the latter can prevent getting sectioned but the need to dwell on suffering hasn't done him or other protagonists of the documentary any good as all off them struggle with mental issues. Another of his lines: "The question where to lead your life will never present itself. You will live where you can." is also questionable and shows only that he doesn't feel the master of his fate. The notion that on a rainy day you can slip into the exit lane of a mental illness sounds true in the context. So does the girl protagonist's statement that no revolution is possible since once people secure themselves a steady job they prefer to maintain the status quo.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR BY KING
I skipped "It" as I had never seen a horror at Imax so I decided to see it there.
DREAMCATCHER
Partly watchable. I started watching it in one screen and then I took advantage of different start times to skip part of the nonsense and just catch the ending in another screen. "Jackass" meets "Aliens" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".
THE SHINING
Watchable. I once couldn't stand it on TV but on the big screen it was surprisingly good. Jack Nicholson's best role ever as he transforms from a friendly, chatty guy into a deranged psycho. The main frame of the horror storyline is pretty standard but with the addition of mysteries: Is he insane or haunted? What do the pig nursery rhyme and a man dressed up as a pig at the 20s costume ball mean? What is the caretaker's identity? Very well shot too. It's the masterful enactment of the script that makes the movie unforgettable.
Updating on 15th Oct.: Having just read about Manson's murders, now I think that was a major inspiration for Stephen King and the movie makers a few years later - his gang would leave "pigs" notes on the walls in the houses they raided.
Alexander Doba, the protagonist of "Happy Olo" visited Warsaw to promote the movie and the book. I asked some questions at the meeting and in return I heard fascinating stories about how he got robbed of all his valuables on the Amazon or his encounters with sharks. First a shark would bang the bottom of his kayak so he would hit it on the head but at the second encounter when the traveller saw a shark he recognised "upon the big black eyes" it was a she so he caressed her on the tail! The book, "Doba na oceanie", has been written for children but the contents are so informative an adult can read it with interest too.
AMERICAN ASSASSIN
Watchable. An American secret agent who's skilled at combat and doesn't take orders. Predictable and full of nonsense but you can't stop watching. Fight scenes make sense at times, they're a notch higher than in most movies. The Varsovian bit about the Cardinal's visit caught the essence of living in Poland.
BORG MCENROE
Watchable. Luckily I don't watch tennis so I had no clue of the score of the famous 1980 match which let me feel some tension in spite of a retrospection put right in the middle of the scene. The whole movie is like that: it jumps to and fro in time and appears to reflect on the two players' psychology though with no depth. One thing I liked was that the actors were made look the spitting images of the originals.
IT AT IMAX VS. DOLBY ATMOS
Watchable. Horror for children. Clowns with spiky teeth, the walking dead, a paedophile father, a possessive mother, a deformed woman and school bullies, of which only the adolescent thugs were a little bit scary. The realistic layer composed of different sorts of abuse and the conquer-your-fears subtexts were OK. However, the most frightening moment is at the end when you read all this nonsense "was chapter one". Visually rubbish, in the Dolby Atmos version the sound makes it scary at times. No mid- or post-credit scenes.
The Dolby Atmos sound is crystal clear and after that ordinary Dolby Stereo seems like mono. Imax was louder but Dolby Atmos clearer - in fact I heard several sounds I hadn't caught at Imax.
The breakthrough sound system requires movies to be recorded in it. Two new productions coming out in Atmos are: "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" - here, too, the sound of the trailer is much more spacious and clearer than at Imax - and "Blade Runner 2049"- here neither the visuals nor the sound made impression on me but I'm still curious of the whole movie.
KURACJUSZ JESTEM
Watchable. Fat old people trying to hook up in a sanatorium are revolting but funny. A bit pathetic that such people are real. It's a documentary.
MARIE-FRANCINE
Watchable. Another French satire this year. This time a woman betrayed by her husband with a younger one moves into her parents'. She loses her scientist job too and sets up an e-cigarette shop. Her ineptitude at selling is amusing, she gets so wound up she has to relax lighting up a traditional one. The whole thing is warmhearted and typically French, e.g. parents barging in when she's having a tete-a-tete with her boyfriend - both in their forties.
NIEZWYCIĘŻENI (THE UNCONQUERED)
Watchable. A short animation propaganda of the prowess of Poles in combat. Good music. May be pretty fine on a bigger, real cinema screen, as each frame is hand-painted, or in an interactive form since further explanations are required.
Watchable. Two hotties: Reese Witherspoon and Pico Alexander in the main roles, Candice Bergen as her mother, lots of wit, beautiful cinematography, an involving story full of endearing characters and just one thing wrong. It starts funny when the 27-year-old realises his sleepover was with a 40 who's a mum of two. The difference in lifestyles cleverly shows the generation gap. The gap quickly closes through the two parties being supportive to each other. What rings wrong in the film is that she gives up on the blooming relationship with the younger guy and blames his age on letting her down while in fact it was her ex of her age who was the disappointment. The movie portrays the new generation as much warmer and more reliable than the older one. In spite of that she decides to stay alone. Hard to believe a woman created such a sexist ending.
SHUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN
Watchable. Plenty of funny exchanges, e.g. parents finding porn in their 12-year-old son's belongings: "Do you want to go off the rails?" "Not yet." Decent Bollywood music. But really, devoting a whole movie to the fiance's soft problem?! India clearly lacks elementary sexual education. At least now I know why Indians don't know foreplay. The culture which doesn't care about women's satisfaction has produced the movie because men happen not to get satisfaction either.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
TO STAY ALIVE: A METHOD
Watchable. Do you really want the old wreck of a man, drug addict and bum Iggy Pop to tell you how to live? According to him suffering enobles and you should find a structure through which you can express your suffering. I understand the latter can prevent getting sectioned but the need to dwell on suffering hasn't done him or other protagonists of the documentary any good as all off them struggle with mental issues. Another of his lines: "The question where to lead your life will never present itself. You will live where you can." is also questionable and shows only that he doesn't feel the master of his fate. The notion that on a rainy day you can slip into the exit lane of a mental illness sounds true in the context. So does the girl protagonist's statement that no revolution is possible since once people secure themselves a steady job they prefer to maintain the status quo.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR BY KING
I skipped "It" as I had never seen a horror at Imax so I decided to see it there.
DREAMCATCHER
Partly watchable. I started watching it in one screen and then I took advantage of different start times to skip part of the nonsense and just catch the ending in another screen. "Jackass" meets "Aliens" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".
THE SHINING
Watchable. I once couldn't stand it on TV but on the big screen it was surprisingly good. Jack Nicholson's best role ever as he transforms from a friendly, chatty guy into a deranged psycho. The main frame of the horror storyline is pretty standard but with the addition of mysteries: Is he insane or haunted? What do the pig nursery rhyme and a man dressed up as a pig at the 20s costume ball mean? What is the caretaker's identity? Very well shot too. It's the masterful enactment of the script that makes the movie unforgettable.
Updating on 15th Oct.: Having just read about Manson's murders, now I think that was a major inspiration for Stephen King and the movie makers a few years later - his gang would leave "pigs" notes on the walls in the houses they raided.
Alexander Doba, the protagonist of "Happy Olo" visited Warsaw to promote the movie and the book. I asked some questions at the meeting and in return I heard fascinating stories about how he got robbed of all his valuables on the Amazon or his encounters with sharks. First a shark would bang the bottom of his kayak so he would hit it on the head but at the second encounter when the traveller saw a shark he recognised "upon the big black eyes" it was a she so he caressed her on the tail! The book, "Doba na oceanie", has been written for children but the contents are so informative an adult can read it with interest too.
AMERICAN ASSASSIN
Watchable. An American secret agent who's skilled at combat and doesn't take orders. Predictable and full of nonsense but you can't stop watching. Fight scenes make sense at times, they're a notch higher than in most movies. The Varsovian bit about the Cardinal's visit caught the essence of living in Poland.
BORG MCENROE
Watchable. Luckily I don't watch tennis so I had no clue of the score of the famous 1980 match which let me feel some tension in spite of a retrospection put right in the middle of the scene. The whole movie is like that: it jumps to and fro in time and appears to reflect on the two players' psychology though with no depth. One thing I liked was that the actors were made look the spitting images of the originals.
IT AT IMAX VS. DOLBY ATMOS
Watchable. Horror for children. Clowns with spiky teeth, the walking dead, a paedophile father, a possessive mother, a deformed woman and school bullies, of which only the adolescent thugs were a little bit scary. The realistic layer composed of different sorts of abuse and the conquer-your-fears subtexts were OK. However, the most frightening moment is at the end when you read all this nonsense "was chapter one". Visually rubbish, in the Dolby Atmos version the sound makes it scary at times. No mid- or post-credit scenes.
The Dolby Atmos sound is crystal clear and after that ordinary Dolby Stereo seems like mono. Imax was louder but Dolby Atmos clearer - in fact I heard several sounds I hadn't caught at Imax.
The breakthrough sound system requires movies to be recorded in it. Two new productions coming out in Atmos are: "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" - here, too, the sound of the trailer is much more spacious and clearer than at Imax - and "Blade Runner 2049"- here neither the visuals nor the sound made impression on me but I'm still curious of the whole movie.
KURACJUSZ JESTEM
Watchable. Fat old people trying to hook up in a sanatorium are revolting but funny. A bit pathetic that such people are real. It's a documentary.
MARIE-FRANCINE
Watchable. Another French satire this year. This time a woman betrayed by her husband with a younger one moves into her parents'. She loses her scientist job too and sets up an e-cigarette shop. Her ineptitude at selling is amusing, she gets so wound up she has to relax lighting up a traditional one. The whole thing is warmhearted and typically French, e.g. parents barging in when she's having a tete-a-tete with her boyfriend - both in their forties.
NIEZWYCIĘŻENI (THE UNCONQUERED)
Watchable. A short animation propaganda of the prowess of Poles in combat. Good music. May be pretty fine on a bigger, real cinema screen, as each frame is hand-painted, or in an interactive form since further explanations are required.
Wednesday, 6 September 2017
PTAKI ŚPIEWAJĄ W KIGALI (BIRDS ARE SINGING IN KIGALI)
Watchable. Wooden acting ruins the fascinating premise of Rwandan genocide. In a bigger part the movie's about dealing with a trauma and laws on refugee status. Not much about the conflict. The limited colour palette and the choice of the range of shades make it look dull.
DYRENE I HAKKEBAKKESKOGEN (IN THE FOREST OF HUCKYBUCKY)
Watchable. As a child I never liked songs in films and I didn't quite fancy muppets. The first half an hour follows the song-scene-song-scene pattern which only later develop into a story with fewer songs and said singing, at least in the Polish dubbing, sounds just awful. However, when you turn a deaf ear to it, you notice bright, cheerful colours and later get hooked on the story of true friendship. I wonder if the tale was created by a vegetarian because in this forest even carnivores go veggie.
Seen at my local Cinema City. I was the only viewer - not sure whether due to the school year or the virtual lack of advertisment preceding the release of the movie.
TARAPATY (DOUBLE TROUBLE)
Recommended. A movie like the ones I loved watching in childhood. And I still enjoyed it a lot as an adult. No, there are no serious subtexts. While it's psychologically true, with children often seen as a nuisance, their opinions and needs ignored, the director doesn't dig into it. It's purely entertaining. Very well scripted and acted by adults and children alike. Intriguing storyline, funny dialogues, e.g. an aunt asking her niece for a photo ID before opening the door for her. The gang was brilliant too - who they were and what they were like. I had fun and would love to see a sequel with the same kids, aunt, gang and police. I only found the music annoyingly Polish. The rest is top notch amusement.
The book, of the same title, is based on the script and contains a number of original dialogues.
Watchable. Wooden acting ruins the fascinating premise of Rwandan genocide. In a bigger part the movie's about dealing with a trauma and laws on refugee status. Not much about the conflict. The limited colour palette and the choice of the range of shades make it look dull.
DYRENE I HAKKEBAKKESKOGEN (IN THE FOREST OF HUCKYBUCKY)
Watchable. As a child I never liked songs in films and I didn't quite fancy muppets. The first half an hour follows the song-scene-song-scene pattern which only later develop into a story with fewer songs and said singing, at least in the Polish dubbing, sounds just awful. However, when you turn a deaf ear to it, you notice bright, cheerful colours and later get hooked on the story of true friendship. I wonder if the tale was created by a vegetarian because in this forest even carnivores go veggie.
Seen at my local Cinema City. I was the only viewer - not sure whether due to the school year or the virtual lack of advertisment preceding the release of the movie.
TARAPATY (DOUBLE TROUBLE)
Recommended. A movie like the ones I loved watching in childhood. And I still enjoyed it a lot as an adult. No, there are no serious subtexts. While it's psychologically true, with children often seen as a nuisance, their opinions and needs ignored, the director doesn't dig into it. It's purely entertaining. Very well scripted and acted by adults and children alike. Intriguing storyline, funny dialogues, e.g. an aunt asking her niece for a photo ID before opening the door for her. The gang was brilliant too - who they were and what they were like. I had fun and would love to see a sequel with the same kids, aunt, gang and police. I only found the music annoyingly Polish. The rest is top notch amusement.
The book, of the same title, is based on the script and contains a number of original dialogues.
Monday, 4 September 2017
VICTORIA AND ABDUL
Recommended. Delightfully British from the sophisticated self-deprecating humour, e.g. "the Indian drawings weren't Indian enough", through meticulous enactment with details like the head of the Royal Households speaking with different accents to servants and to the kitchen staff, to the sad finale. The second half is increasingly weighty and heart-rending.
Recommended. Delightfully British from the sophisticated self-deprecating humour, e.g. "the Indian drawings weren't Indian enough", through meticulous enactment with details like the head of the Royal Households speaking with different accents to servants and to the kitchen staff, to the sad finale. The second half is increasingly weighty and heart-rending.
Saturday, 2 September 2017
MAUDIE
Watchable. Not very promising at first, develops slowly, but the moment the cripple villager starts painting the action becomes truly involving. It's a thorough observation of a several-year-long relationship which started as a marriage of convenience. It's constant adjusting to each other and reluctant acceptance of what life brings and what people are. A few various life outlooks are presented in-depth. I just left the cinema with a feeling that I had just seen something beautiful. The beauty of taking life as it is, however little you have and transforming your surroundings impressively while changing the other person proves impossible yet results in mutual love.
INHUMANS - EPISODES 1&2 AT IMAX
Recommended. Wow! That was my primary reaction. I just can't wait to see the continuation. It's full of suspense and mystery but the story and characters are clear-cut. Medusa's ginger hair is contrasted with the grey Moon settlement in the first part, in the second the lush greenery of Hawaii becomes the colour focus. I loved the costumes, it's a complete futuristic yet realistic fashion style. The world portrayed is complete too, with the protagonists' superpowers, personalities, a sketch of the society and politics, technology available to them. The powers are revealed gradually which results in great twists of action. Teleportation can be conducted in two different ways, both quite ingenious. "Game of Thrones" meets "X-Men" but in an improved way: superpowers, of other kinds than in the X population, replace the "GoT" magic and there's more story than battles and brawls in which it surpasses more recent Marvel productions. More special effects than in the "GoT" too. I definitely favour SF over fantasy in general and in this case in particular. Anson Mount is superb as kind-of-mute Black Bolt. I loved the plot, it's so full of surprises (though I haven't read the comics). It wonderfully shows the clash of attitudes of the royals and the commoners, they just react differently. There's a post-credit but I couldn't wait for next episodes even without it as suspense grows with every minute.
Watchable. Not very promising at first, develops slowly, but the moment the cripple villager starts painting the action becomes truly involving. It's a thorough observation of a several-year-long relationship which started as a marriage of convenience. It's constant adjusting to each other and reluctant acceptance of what life brings and what people are. A few various life outlooks are presented in-depth. I just left the cinema with a feeling that I had just seen something beautiful. The beauty of taking life as it is, however little you have and transforming your surroundings impressively while changing the other person proves impossible yet results in mutual love.
INHUMANS - EPISODES 1&2 AT IMAX
Recommended. Wow! That was my primary reaction. I just can't wait to see the continuation. It's full of suspense and mystery but the story and characters are clear-cut. Medusa's ginger hair is contrasted with the grey Moon settlement in the first part, in the second the lush greenery of Hawaii becomes the colour focus. I loved the costumes, it's a complete futuristic yet realistic fashion style. The world portrayed is complete too, with the protagonists' superpowers, personalities, a sketch of the society and politics, technology available to them. The powers are revealed gradually which results in great twists of action. Teleportation can be conducted in two different ways, both quite ingenious. "Game of Thrones" meets "X-Men" but in an improved way: superpowers, of other kinds than in the X population, replace the "GoT" magic and there's more story than battles and brawls in which it surpasses more recent Marvel productions. More special effects than in the "GoT" too. I definitely favour SF over fantasy in general and in this case in particular. Anson Mount is superb as kind-of-mute Black Bolt. I loved the plot, it's so full of surprises (though I haven't read the comics). It wonderfully shows the clash of attitudes of the royals and the commoners, they just react differently. There's a post-credit but I couldn't wait for next episodes even without it as suspense grows with every minute.
Wednesday, 30 August 2017
1:54
Watchable. It's funny to watch a French Canadian movie. It's so clear it's not French: a teacher says "Go, go, go!" and the rest in French and the francophone students have English names. Very good music by Cult Nation which consists of French names. Well, the story of school bullying, youth suicides and discovering being gay is pretty standard but very well enacted, keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Watchable. It's funny to watch a French Canadian movie. It's so clear it's not French: a teacher says "Go, go, go!" and the rest in French and the francophone students have English names. Very good music by Cult Nation which consists of French names. Well, the story of school bullying, youth suicides and discovering being gay is pretty standard but very well enacted, keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Tuesday, 29 August 2017
RENEGADES
Watchable. Filmed on rarely seen locations in Croatia, Belgium and Malta all pretending Bosnia and Herzegovina. Good, uplifting music by Eric Serra. At times, mostly in the first half, it feels like made for half-wits, at other times, mostly in the second part, the commandant (fantastic J. K. Simmons) comes to the fore with sharp, hilarious lines and exchanges with his subordinates. I was laughing out loud like hardly ever. The plot is standard action fare about a heist. At the end of the movie $152 million remain unaccounted for.
Watchable. Filmed on rarely seen locations in Croatia, Belgium and Malta all pretending Bosnia and Herzegovina. Good, uplifting music by Eric Serra. At times, mostly in the first half, it feels like made for half-wits, at other times, mostly in the second part, the commandant (fantastic J. K. Simmons) comes to the fore with sharp, hilarious lines and exchanges with his subordinates. I was laughing out loud like hardly ever. The plot is standard action fare about a heist. At the end of the movie $152 million remain unaccounted for.
Sunday, 27 August 2017
TOIVON TUOLLA PUOLEN (THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE)
Recommended. Atmospheric and scintillating, with irony permeating the whole film. "Foodie's Mecca" was just hilarious. Retro scenography and costumes are combined with high-tech elements of our contemporary world creating a town lost in time.
TANNA
Watchable. Fantastic cinematography shows beautiful landscapes of Vanuatu at all times of day and night as well as muscles on nearly naked bodies of people living traditionally off manual work and running long-distances on a daily basis. Everything appears to be happening according to the laws of nature. The thing is - it isn't. The tradition of arranged marriages ruins the paradise. The love story is shown quite unemotionally.
Recommended. Atmospheric and scintillating, with irony permeating the whole film. "Foodie's Mecca" was just hilarious. Retro scenography and costumes are combined with high-tech elements of our contemporary world creating a town lost in time.
TANNA
Watchable. Fantastic cinematography shows beautiful landscapes of Vanuatu at all times of day and night as well as muscles on nearly naked bodies of people living traditionally off manual work and running long-distances on a daily basis. Everything appears to be happening according to the laws of nature. The thing is - it isn't. The tradition of arranged marriages ruins the paradise. The love story is shown quite unemotionally.
Thursday, 24 August 2017
THE DARK TOWER
Watchable. A standard dark fantasy about evil forces trying to destroy the world. I liked the fake skins and the monsters adjusting them like clothes, also the portals between the worlds were fun to watch. But when you add the boy having to block his Shine so he can't be tracked or Seers, you realise the story's compiled of stolen motifs. Idris Elba is perfect for his Gunslinger role, Matthew McConaughey as a dark lord less so. The boy (Tom Taylor) is cute and a future hottie, his mum (Katheryn Winnick) lovely.
VICTORIA AND ABDUL
I've seen it already but, due to a publication ban, will be able to post a review no earlier than on 5th Sept.
CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE
Watchable. Not as stupid as the title implies. Superheroes look like they're wearing underpants so it only makes sense to create one like Captain Underpants. Primary school gets a make-over when two brats change the principal into a childish superhero. No more boring for children Invention Conventions at 8 a.m. on Saturday. "Weird Al" Yankovic performs the theme song. There's a good mid-credit. For viewers of the same age as the pranksters in the film.
LICHOZROUTI (THE ODDSOCKEATERS)
Watchable. The sock-like creatures evoke many warm feelings even if they are all mafia. The movie feels like one for nursery/early primary school children but contains foreign language bits: Italian "padre" and several more in Russian, Einstein's theory of relativity is mentioned and Munch's "Scream" gets mocked in one scene. The pace is a bit too slow for me.
HAMPSTEAD
Watchable. I expected a sad love story for elderly people. Luckily it's much more optimistic and versatile. The age of the protagonists has the effect that this love story is not as tacky as it would be with a younger couple in. It'a a surprisingly pleasant tale. In one of early scenes there's a kid on a leash wreaking havoc in a clothes shop, when the shop assistant ties the brat to a desk, the mum gets upset calling it barbaric. An even funnier scene is when the lead lady says: "What could I be possibly hiding?" and that guy comes out of the bathroom humming a tune.
I'm still a great fan of my local Cinema City, where I saw all the movies reviewed above, but at more popular movies I realised the row and seat numbering was a bit unclear. A number of people, me included, has problems identifying the right row or finding the seat number. A map at each entrance would help.
Watchable. A standard dark fantasy about evil forces trying to destroy the world. I liked the fake skins and the monsters adjusting them like clothes, also the portals between the worlds were fun to watch. But when you add the boy having to block his Shine so he can't be tracked or Seers, you realise the story's compiled of stolen motifs. Idris Elba is perfect for his Gunslinger role, Matthew McConaughey as a dark lord less so. The boy (Tom Taylor) is cute and a future hottie, his mum (Katheryn Winnick) lovely.
VICTORIA AND ABDUL
I've seen it already but, due to a publication ban, will be able to post a review no earlier than on 5th Sept.
CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE
Watchable. Not as stupid as the title implies. Superheroes look like they're wearing underpants so it only makes sense to create one like Captain Underpants. Primary school gets a make-over when two brats change the principal into a childish superhero. No more boring for children Invention Conventions at 8 a.m. on Saturday. "Weird Al" Yankovic performs the theme song. There's a good mid-credit. For viewers of the same age as the pranksters in the film.
LICHOZROUTI (THE ODDSOCKEATERS)
Watchable. The sock-like creatures evoke many warm feelings even if they are all mafia. The movie feels like one for nursery/early primary school children but contains foreign language bits: Italian "padre" and several more in Russian, Einstein's theory of relativity is mentioned and Munch's "Scream" gets mocked in one scene. The pace is a bit too slow for me.
HAMPSTEAD
Watchable. I expected a sad love story for elderly people. Luckily it's much more optimistic and versatile. The age of the protagonists has the effect that this love story is not as tacky as it would be with a younger couple in. It'a a surprisingly pleasant tale. In one of early scenes there's a kid on a leash wreaking havoc in a clothes shop, when the shop assistant ties the brat to a desk, the mum gets upset calling it barbaric. An even funnier scene is when the lead lady says: "What could I be possibly hiding?" and that guy comes out of the bathroom humming a tune.
I'm still a great fan of my local Cinema City, where I saw all the movies reviewed above, but at more popular movies I realised the row and seat numbering was a bit unclear. A number of people, me included, has problems identifying the right row or finding the seat number. A map at each entrance would help.
Tuesday, 22 August 2017
THE HOUSE
Watchable. A movie by and with Will Ferrell. It goes from silly to ridiculous and then to silly back again and it's disastrously unfunny. It's just involving because the losers are so likeable you just want them to succeed in gathering the money for their daughter's college. And it's fast-paced so you don't get bored.
Seen at my ever-friendly local Cinema City.
Watchable. A movie by and with Will Ferrell. It goes from silly to ridiculous and then to silly back again and it's disastrously unfunny. It's just involving because the losers are so likeable you just want them to succeed in gathering the money for their daughter's college. And it's fast-paced so you don't get bored.
Seen at my ever-friendly local Cinema City.
THE BEGUILED
Watchable. Civil War movies aren't my thing so when a girl found a wounded Yankee soldier I feared... boredom. But it was nothing like it. The historic setting was just a set-up allowing enclosing 7 women and 1 man to create a psychologic trap. Clear structure, tension and psychologic truthfulness. Bitter, with a sad ending.
Watchable. Civil War movies aren't my thing so when a girl found a wounded Yankee soldier I feared... boredom. But it was nothing like it. The historic setting was just a set-up allowing enclosing 7 women and 1 man to create a psychologic trap. Clear structure, tension and psychologic truthfulness. Bitter, with a sad ending.
Monday, 21 August 2017
THE SQUARE
Watchable. Long, with a human acting like an ape, issues of power, instrumental sex, a person acting inappropriately in a public space - much like "Toni Erdmann" but less weird. Additionally it tackles the issues of financing art, social trust, alienation, impact we have on others, miscommunications, boundaries of art, advertising and freedom of speech. The square can be interpreted in a number of geometic and linguistic contexts.
Watchable. Long, with a human acting like an ape, issues of power, instrumental sex, a person acting inappropriately in a public space - much like "Toni Erdmann" but less weird. Additionally it tackles the issues of financing art, social trust, alienation, impact we have on others, miscommunications, boundaries of art, advertising and freedom of speech. The square can be interpreted in a number of geometic and linguistic contexts.
Sunday, 20 August 2017
AMERICAN MADE
Recommended. It joins the league of "Lord of War" and "War Dogs": based on true events, about big-time international gun and drug smuggling and a hell of a ride for the viewer. This one is not only great fun but also a presentation of the less known backstage to the rise of the Medellín Cartel, the Iran-Contras and dealings of US government agencies. Authorities of Medellín supported the production. While Tom Cruise plays the leading part, Domhnall Gleeson in the supporting role looks hot and acts disarmingly tongue-in-cheek. Some lines are brilliant e.g."Thank you for coming to see me" when a guy has been kind-of-kidnapped. Very well shot. Barry Seal's demise is accompanied by rapidly fading video footage.
VALERIAN ET LA CITE DES MILLE PLANETES (VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS) AT IMAX 3D
Recommended again. Necessarilly at Imax. Absolutely amazing. I was sitting quite low - in the 5th row and it let me immerse in the universe even better. How on Earth is Luc Besson ever going to beat that? I don't share the director's view that you notice more details every time you see the movie. I did pay better attention to Rutger Hauer, appearing only in one of the initial scenes, and Herbie Hancock, once I learnt it was him. I keep wondering what music genres like bio or nano would be like. I was right expecting the visual layer to gain on a larger screen. Luckily the action kept me on the edge of my seat for quite a while too.
Recommended. It joins the league of "Lord of War" and "War Dogs": based on true events, about big-time international gun and drug smuggling and a hell of a ride for the viewer. This one is not only great fun but also a presentation of the less known backstage to the rise of the Medellín Cartel, the Iran-Contras and dealings of US government agencies. Authorities of Medellín supported the production. While Tom Cruise plays the leading part, Domhnall Gleeson in the supporting role looks hot and acts disarmingly tongue-in-cheek. Some lines are brilliant e.g."Thank you for coming to see me" when a guy has been kind-of-kidnapped. Very well shot. Barry Seal's demise is accompanied by rapidly fading video footage.
VALERIAN ET LA CITE DES MILLE PLANETES (VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS) AT IMAX 3D
Recommended again. Necessarilly at Imax. Absolutely amazing. I was sitting quite low - in the 5th row and it let me immerse in the universe even better. How on Earth is Luc Besson ever going to beat that? I don't share the director's view that you notice more details every time you see the movie. I did pay better attention to Rutger Hauer, appearing only in one of the initial scenes, and Herbie Hancock, once I learnt it was him. I keep wondering what music genres like bio or nano would be like. I was right expecting the visual layer to gain on a larger screen. Luckily the action kept me on the edge of my seat for quite a while too.
Saturday, 19 August 2017
밀정 (THE AGE OF SHADOWS)
Watchable. One to watch carefully from the beginning in order to get a full grasp of the story which may be additionally difficult for Westerners to who all Asian faces tend to look alike and some appear in disguises too. It's also not clearly indicated which language is spoken when and in practical terms when I focused on distingusihing Japanese from Korean I would lose the contents of the exchange. The music, with truly spatial sounds, forms a gripping background to the otherwise dull-coloured movie. Acted in style - watching the relationships develop is as involving as the historical double agents storyline. The last hour contains two heavily brutal scenes. I loved the music over the credits. Best to wait for a DVD - technically it'll be still excellent and additionally will let you fast reverse to recatch details.
SPARK: A SPACE TALE
Watchable. Dubbed by stars in the original, in Polish by nobodies. Heavily drawing on "Star Wars", "The Lion King", "Robin Hood", "King Arthur", "Kung Fu Panda" and Chinese mythology it lacks originality. Can be enjoyed for cute bugs. One human character speaks with a brilliant Russian accent (at least in the Polish dubbing).
THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE
Recommended. The best cartoon since "Sing" - for children and adults alike. This time I enjoyed the Polish dubbing like hardly ever as the excellent dialogues got a brilliant translation, probably even better than the original, e.g. Mr. Feng becomes Myszu. Lots of cuteness and gags as well as hilarious lines, e.g.: "Use your female charm!" "I've used it up already." or "But they stock eco whew!" (I'm translating from Polish.) With adult undertones such as corruption, child obesity, cruelty to animals and, last but not least, developers threatening urban green areas. It ends with a mid-credit with Jackie Chan dubbing Mr. Feng in the original.
KRÓLEWICZ OLCH (THE ERLPRINCE)
Watchable. I didn't take to it at first but I shortly realised it was more of an art project than a movie and stopped analysing. I just revelled in the pictures and sounds and these are quite special. Towards the end there's a special effect of a video breaking up which was like nothing I had seen before. Annoyingly, in spite of language consultants listed in the credits, English was incorrect at times and mostly unnatural and even Polish contained one mistake. All the more, it's best not to analyse.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
GIFTED
Watchable. A simple moral tale saying that mathematically gifted people need love too. Good courtroom parts and the aftermath.
HAPPY OLO
Watchable. A crowdfunded documentary looking amateurish. Lame beginning and ending from a child's viewpoint and awful folk/disco polo-like songs. But Aleksander Doba is so funny and genuine it's worth seeing for him. He tells about practicalities like the toilet when you're kayaking for more than 3 months across the Atlantic or ocean salt (5 times as much as in the Baltic Sea) giving him all-body rash, but also how he couldn't send a text message and his position signals got mistaken for a rescue call and how he got repeatedly hit by fish flying at 90 kph. You get to see the specially constructed kayak too.
TULIP FEVER
Watchable. Very involving although quite far-fetched. Lots of famous actors: Dane DeHaan - looking like young DiCaprio in the role of a painter just like Leo in "Titanic", Cara Delevingne, Christoph Waltz, Zach Galifianiakis, Judi Dench, Alicia Vikander - getting naked again, seems her type of roles.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON
As I had seen "Annabelle", "The Conjuring" and "The Conjuring 2" before, this time I saw only:
ANNABELLE: CREATION
Recommended. Scary as hell. In many tried and tested Hollywood ways. Fits neatly into the whole series. The post-credit implies the next movie will explain the demonic nun from a Romanian Abbey.
Just as one of the characters uttered: "We shouldn't be in here", one viewer quickly ran out. A hilarious experience only a cinema can provide.
THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD
Watchable. Really entertaining. Of course the plot is totally implausible and the dialogues full of vulgar language but when you've got two characters grudging each other and having to work together you're bound to enjoy the banter. Great airviews of London, Manchester, Amsterdam, The Hague and Dutch landscape. Bulgaria appears to stockpile baddies for co-productions. The black guy is to go to prison but has planned his walking free already. The white guy has hooked up with his sweetheart and is getting his AAA status back. A sequel seems likely. A deleted scene makes a post-credit.
RAID DINGUE (R.A.I.D. SPECIAL UNIT)
Watchable. A comedy about a clumsy cop who wants to join elite special forces makes for plenty of gags some of which made me burst into laughter. The plot's predictable but entertaining.
SNATCHED
Watchable. An adventure comedy with Amy Schumer so it's occasionally funny, e.g.: "They want young beautiful females. So you two are safe." or when they want to jump off a truck top and it drives away, but mostly silly and sometimes gross. Predictable. The music's fine. The movie's full of action. Oahu imitates Ecuador and Columbia.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Watchable. For the first hour or so it's a regular war picture with apes and humans fighting one another to martial music. It develops into a cliche of an orphaned child. It's only when they reach the labour camp that the story becomes moving, gripping and a new science fiction idea is introduced when the sadistic commander explains his motives. The idyllic ending looks like from a Bible movie. As Caesar leaves a son and there's a little girl with a name bestowed on her by an ape I'm expecting yet another sequel.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
FUN MOM DINNER
Watchable. Not funny. A "Bad Moms" copycat without the flair. With significant contents of kids and their physiology. Makes you totally happy you're single and childless. You just get to see how both parenting and relationships suck. The music's quite good.
Watchable. One to watch carefully from the beginning in order to get a full grasp of the story which may be additionally difficult for Westerners to who all Asian faces tend to look alike and some appear in disguises too. It's also not clearly indicated which language is spoken when and in practical terms when I focused on distingusihing Japanese from Korean I would lose the contents of the exchange. The music, with truly spatial sounds, forms a gripping background to the otherwise dull-coloured movie. Acted in style - watching the relationships develop is as involving as the historical double agents storyline. The last hour contains two heavily brutal scenes. I loved the music over the credits. Best to wait for a DVD - technically it'll be still excellent and additionally will let you fast reverse to recatch details.
SPARK: A SPACE TALE
Watchable. Dubbed by stars in the original, in Polish by nobodies. Heavily drawing on "Star Wars", "The Lion King", "Robin Hood", "King Arthur", "Kung Fu Panda" and Chinese mythology it lacks originality. Can be enjoyed for cute bugs. One human character speaks with a brilliant Russian accent (at least in the Polish dubbing).
THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE
Recommended. The best cartoon since "Sing" - for children and adults alike. This time I enjoyed the Polish dubbing like hardly ever as the excellent dialogues got a brilliant translation, probably even better than the original, e.g. Mr. Feng becomes Myszu. Lots of cuteness and gags as well as hilarious lines, e.g.: "Use your female charm!" "I've used it up already." or "But they stock eco whew!" (I'm translating from Polish.) With adult undertones such as corruption, child obesity, cruelty to animals and, last but not least, developers threatening urban green areas. It ends with a mid-credit with Jackie Chan dubbing Mr. Feng in the original.
KRÓLEWICZ OLCH (THE ERLPRINCE)
Watchable. I didn't take to it at first but I shortly realised it was more of an art project than a movie and stopped analysing. I just revelled in the pictures and sounds and these are quite special. Towards the end there's a special effect of a video breaking up which was like nothing I had seen before. Annoyingly, in spite of language consultants listed in the credits, English was incorrect at times and mostly unnatural and even Polish contained one mistake. All the more, it's best not to analyse.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
GIFTED
Watchable. A simple moral tale saying that mathematically gifted people need love too. Good courtroom parts and the aftermath.
HAPPY OLO
Watchable. A crowdfunded documentary looking amateurish. Lame beginning and ending from a child's viewpoint and awful folk/disco polo-like songs. But Aleksander Doba is so funny and genuine it's worth seeing for him. He tells about practicalities like the toilet when you're kayaking for more than 3 months across the Atlantic or ocean salt (5 times as much as in the Baltic Sea) giving him all-body rash, but also how he couldn't send a text message and his position signals got mistaken for a rescue call and how he got repeatedly hit by fish flying at 90 kph. You get to see the specially constructed kayak too.
TULIP FEVER
Watchable. Very involving although quite far-fetched. Lots of famous actors: Dane DeHaan - looking like young DiCaprio in the role of a painter just like Leo in "Titanic", Cara Delevingne, Christoph Waltz, Zach Galifianiakis, Judi Dench, Alicia Vikander - getting naked again, seems her type of roles.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON
As I had seen "Annabelle", "The Conjuring" and "The Conjuring 2" before, this time I saw only:
ANNABELLE: CREATION
Recommended. Scary as hell. In many tried and tested Hollywood ways. Fits neatly into the whole series. The post-credit implies the next movie will explain the demonic nun from a Romanian Abbey.
Just as one of the characters uttered: "We shouldn't be in here", one viewer quickly ran out. A hilarious experience only a cinema can provide.
THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD
Watchable. Really entertaining. Of course the plot is totally implausible and the dialogues full of vulgar language but when you've got two characters grudging each other and having to work together you're bound to enjoy the banter. Great airviews of London, Manchester, Amsterdam, The Hague and Dutch landscape. Bulgaria appears to stockpile baddies for co-productions. The black guy is to go to prison but has planned his walking free already. The white guy has hooked up with his sweetheart and is getting his AAA status back. A sequel seems likely. A deleted scene makes a post-credit.
RAID DINGUE (R.A.I.D. SPECIAL UNIT)
Watchable. A comedy about a clumsy cop who wants to join elite special forces makes for plenty of gags some of which made me burst into laughter. The plot's predictable but entertaining.
SNATCHED
Watchable. An adventure comedy with Amy Schumer so it's occasionally funny, e.g.: "They want young beautiful females. So you two are safe." or when they want to jump off a truck top and it drives away, but mostly silly and sometimes gross. Predictable. The music's fine. The movie's full of action. Oahu imitates Ecuador and Columbia.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Watchable. For the first hour or so it's a regular war picture with apes and humans fighting one another to martial music. It develops into a cliche of an orphaned child. It's only when they reach the labour camp that the story becomes moving, gripping and a new science fiction idea is introduced when the sadistic commander explains his motives. The idyllic ending looks like from a Bible movie. As Caesar leaves a son and there's a little girl with a name bestowed on her by an ape I'm expecting yet another sequel.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
FUN MOM DINNER
Watchable. Not funny. A "Bad Moms" copycat without the flair. With significant contents of kids and their physiology. Makes you totally happy you're single and childless. You just get to see how both parenting and relationships suck. The music's quite good.
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
I was one of interviewees for a Korean documentary on Poland today which was a fascinating experience but long and, which I didn't feel at first, ultimately exhausting. Re-thinking all of it just deprived me of all my energy. Well, of course my concerns are about my own performance while the crew seemed to care more about our reception of Korea than theirs of Poland. Still, they were totally nice and I'm happy I took part in it, whatever the outcome may be.
RED DOG: TRUE BLUE
Watchable. A typical family movie about a dog. The beginning is sad - the situation is like mine: dogless and only watching them at the cinema. The middle is more cheerful, with some hilarious bits, like the fragment when the boy tries to train the dog - I've just chuckled again remembering it. The ending is sad again. I wish movies about pets had more optimistic endings.
RED DOG: TRUE BLUE
Watchable. A typical family movie about a dog. The beginning is sad - the situation is like mine: dogless and only watching them at the cinema. The middle is more cheerful, with some hilarious bits, like the fragment when the boy tries to train the dog - I've just chuckled again remembering it. The ending is sad again. I wish movies about pets had more optimistic endings.
Tuesday, 8 August 2017
PARIS PIEDS NUS (LOST IN PARIS)
Watchable. A charming, old-style slapstick comedy. Contemporary, brand new but resembling the best of Charlie Chaplin and the like. A few hilarious scenes, like a foreign visitor to the city being led by a blind man, falling into water or off the Eiffel Tower. The rest is just cute. Extremely well acted. Simple, yet smart plot. I only don't understand the French obsession with the homeless. Can't they make a comedy without any?
Watchable. A charming, old-style slapstick comedy. Contemporary, brand new but resembling the best of Charlie Chaplin and the like. A few hilarious scenes, like a foreign visitor to the city being led by a blind man, falling into water or off the Eiffel Tower. The rest is just cute. Extremely well acted. Simple, yet smart plot. I only don't understand the French obsession with the homeless. Can't they make a comedy without any?
Saturday, 5 August 2017
SIERPNIOWE NIEBO. 63 DNI CHWAŁY (AUGUST SKY. 63 DAYS OF GLORY) (2013)
Walked out. 75 minutes of rubbish. The action develops in a few different times parallelly, with music ranging from something like moaning, through rap to war-time songs. Dialogues are either spoken with theatrical exaggeration or muttured incomprehensibly. Genre? Junk movie.
Walked out. 75 minutes of rubbish. The action develops in a few different times parallelly, with music ranging from something like moaning, through rap to war-time songs. Dialogues are either spoken with theatrical exaggeration or muttured incomprehensibly. Genre? Junk movie.
Friday, 4 August 2017
PUNKT KRYTYCZNY. ENERGIA ODNOWA (THE TIPPING POINT. ENERGY ANEW)
Watchable. One of several now movies on climate change. So it is important and interesting but the only new thing it brings is the Polish perspective: we've got the technology, with brand new solutions being developed, it's feasible economically, only the political will is missing because "coal is our tradition".
The debate afterwards was even better than the film. Director Łukasz Bluszcz couldn't make it but Aleksandra Kardaś, Marcin Popkiewicz and Tobiasz Adamczewski were great talkers with immense knowledge. The documentary is available on WWF's channel on youtube.
Watchable. One of several now movies on climate change. So it is important and interesting but the only new thing it brings is the Polish perspective: we've got the technology, with brand new solutions being developed, it's feasible economically, only the political will is missing because "coal is our tradition".
The debate afterwards was even better than the film. Director Łukasz Bluszcz couldn't make it but Aleksandra Kardaś, Marcin Popkiewicz and Tobiasz Adamczewski were great talkers with immense knowledge. The documentary is available on WWF's channel on youtube.
Wednesday, 2 August 2017
VALERIAN ET LA CITE DES MILLE PLANETES (VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS)
Recommended. The times have come when, as Luc Besson says, "the only limitation to work on a movie is our own imagination." It's the most expensive European production in history. "Star Wars" were "Valerian et la Cite des Milles Planetes" ("Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets") on a small scale. Apparently George Lucas got his inspiration from the comic book series. Now his company Industrial Light & Magic, together with Weta Digital, Rodeo FX and Ubisoft's Hybride division (the 4 companies combined have won 21 Oscars) is responsible for the mind-blowing animation. While the visuals are amazing, the 3D is just OK, so it should be perfectly fine in 2D as well. Best to watch on as big a screen as possible. I'll try to check it out at Imax - an ordinary size cinema screen felt too small for the 100 alien species. As Luc Besson said, "Doghan Daguis are French. They look French." The rest of the cast is not alien but also international. Cara Delevingne looks very beautiful. Baby-faced Dane Dehaan resembles young Leonardo di Caprio. Musician Herbie Hancock is the Defence Minister. Rutger Hauer appears as the President of the World State Federation but he's so wrinkly I failed to recognize him! The movie's beautiful from the start: In 1975 Russian and American astronauts shook hands. And smiled. Then we see subsequent astronaut handshakes past and future and that's when the first alien contacts take place. To the director first comes a story, whether it's a play, a book, a movie or a painting, the rest is just a tool. Great music doesn't come to the forefront, remaining a perfect background. The movie features an alien performance, just like in "The Fifth Element", but what strikes the most when you compare the two is the technological progress. The same progress which made this production possible. According to Luc Besson the movie will resonate better with Asian and European audiences rather than American since in the US the superhero has to be American and be a leader. While the director is not going to continue any of his previous stories, this one is just a warm-up for upcoming ones - "some movies have sequels in the DNA" and 29 albums of the comic books have been created. Luc Besson assures he's "always working". The two leads both look so young I hope for many sequels without digital de-aging. What's rare in contemporary SF cinema there are no mid- or post-credits.
THE SON OF BIGFOOT
Watchable. The story of an evil corporation experimenting on a yeti is prolonged and stereotypical, the bullying plot is better but the cutest are the animals, especially the squirrel. Sadly they occupy relatively little of the movie time.
KEDI (CAT)
Watchable. A thought-provoking documentary about people's attitude to cats. In Istanbul (kedi is Turkish for a cat) they are allowed to roam freely and reproduce at will. The feline inhabitants of the city are taken care of, fed, caressed, taken to vets. They're free, not stray. Feels disturbing when you compare it to how they are treated in Western culture. Lots of traditional tunes: bellydance drum solo music as well as "Üsküdar'a Gider İken" accompany the slow-paced film portrait.
UNA MUJER FANTASTICA (A FANTASTIC WOMAN)
Recommended. Una pelicula fantastica. Very clear structure and a mystery at the same time. Quite disturbing at times but totally engulfing. The protagonist is not an average Jane but is so convincingly portrayed, it's easy to relate to her. Some shots are so thought through they stand out.
SONITA (2015)
Recommended. Luckily there's little rap and its Afghan version is quite mild. I felt touched by the stories of girls sold to future husbands, sometimes very old, without being asked. In Iran they could say no to the sale, in Afghanistan they have no voice. Literally, as I was also sad to learn that in neither of the countries can a woman sing. Seems such a little thing in the West.
ASK TESADUFLERI SEVER (LOVE LOVES COINCIDENCES) (2011)
Watchable. A naive love story made to all the rules of the genre. A bit too slow for my taste. The subplot of how to live with a terminal illness is more realistic: the opposition of going from a doctor to a doctor set against living to the full and dying young.
AMERICAN MADE
Removed due to a publication ban I wasn't aware of. Will repost it asap.
DUNKIRK AT IMAX
Watchable. Boring - typical Nolan, with dreadful, tiring, jarring music - surprisingly by Hans Zimmer. The initial note on the screen is just some bla bla bla instead of historical info. So you're thrown into the middle of something you don't understand. At the same time technically it's excellent, especially the sweeping views of the sea and the beach from the air giving the impression you're flying right above. War effects sound realistically close. Air-con chills the air similarly to the wind blowing on the stretch of sand. War technicalities include the incoming tide bringing in corpses. With time it dawned on me the stranded soldiers must have felt the same not knowing what's going on. Major actors got minor roles, with the bigger ones given to no-names, just like the movie is devoted to the thousands of no-name soldiers. Still, I was happy it was shorter than usual Nolan's films.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
There's a special screening of "Punkt krytyczny. Energia odNowa" ("The Tipping Point. Energy aNew") at Muranow cinema in Warsaw. Finally, having missed that at the Docs Against Gravity festival I'll see the film I have been curious of ever since I heard the director talking about the first documentary on renewable energy and the current state of energetics and environmental changes in Poland.
Recommended. The times have come when, as Luc Besson says, "the only limitation to work on a movie is our own imagination." It's the most expensive European production in history. "Star Wars" were "Valerian et la Cite des Milles Planetes" ("Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets") on a small scale. Apparently George Lucas got his inspiration from the comic book series. Now his company Industrial Light & Magic, together with Weta Digital, Rodeo FX and Ubisoft's Hybride division (the 4 companies combined have won 21 Oscars) is responsible for the mind-blowing animation. While the visuals are amazing, the 3D is just OK, so it should be perfectly fine in 2D as well. Best to watch on as big a screen as possible. I'll try to check it out at Imax - an ordinary size cinema screen felt too small for the 100 alien species. As Luc Besson said, "Doghan Daguis are French. They look French." The rest of the cast is not alien but also international. Cara Delevingne looks very beautiful. Baby-faced Dane Dehaan resembles young Leonardo di Caprio. Musician Herbie Hancock is the Defence Minister. Rutger Hauer appears as the President of the World State Federation but he's so wrinkly I failed to recognize him! The movie's beautiful from the start: In 1975 Russian and American astronauts shook hands. And smiled. Then we see subsequent astronaut handshakes past and future and that's when the first alien contacts take place. To the director first comes a story, whether it's a play, a book, a movie or a painting, the rest is just a tool. Great music doesn't come to the forefront, remaining a perfect background. The movie features an alien performance, just like in "The Fifth Element", but what strikes the most when you compare the two is the technological progress. The same progress which made this production possible. According to Luc Besson the movie will resonate better with Asian and European audiences rather than American since in the US the superhero has to be American and be a leader. While the director is not going to continue any of his previous stories, this one is just a warm-up for upcoming ones - "some movies have sequels in the DNA" and 29 albums of the comic books have been created. Luc Besson assures he's "always working". The two leads both look so young I hope for many sequels without digital de-aging. What's rare in contemporary SF cinema there are no mid- or post-credits.
THE SON OF BIGFOOT
Watchable. The story of an evil corporation experimenting on a yeti is prolonged and stereotypical, the bullying plot is better but the cutest are the animals, especially the squirrel. Sadly they occupy relatively little of the movie time.
KEDI (CAT)
Watchable. A thought-provoking documentary about people's attitude to cats. In Istanbul (kedi is Turkish for a cat) they are allowed to roam freely and reproduce at will. The feline inhabitants of the city are taken care of, fed, caressed, taken to vets. They're free, not stray. Feels disturbing when you compare it to how they are treated in Western culture. Lots of traditional tunes: bellydance drum solo music as well as "Üsküdar'a Gider İken" accompany the slow-paced film portrait.
UNA MUJER FANTASTICA (A FANTASTIC WOMAN)
Recommended. Una pelicula fantastica. Very clear structure and a mystery at the same time. Quite disturbing at times but totally engulfing. The protagonist is not an average Jane but is so convincingly portrayed, it's easy to relate to her. Some shots are so thought through they stand out.
SONITA (2015)
Recommended. Luckily there's little rap and its Afghan version is quite mild. I felt touched by the stories of girls sold to future husbands, sometimes very old, without being asked. In Iran they could say no to the sale, in Afghanistan they have no voice. Literally, as I was also sad to learn that in neither of the countries can a woman sing. Seems such a little thing in the West.
ASK TESADUFLERI SEVER (LOVE LOVES COINCIDENCES) (2011)
Watchable. A naive love story made to all the rules of the genre. A bit too slow for my taste. The subplot of how to live with a terminal illness is more realistic: the opposition of going from a doctor to a doctor set against living to the full and dying young.
AMERICAN MADE
Removed due to a publication ban I wasn't aware of. Will repost it asap.
DUNKIRK AT IMAX
Watchable. Boring - typical Nolan, with dreadful, tiring, jarring music - surprisingly by Hans Zimmer. The initial note on the screen is just some bla bla bla instead of historical info. So you're thrown into the middle of something you don't understand. At the same time technically it's excellent, especially the sweeping views of the sea and the beach from the air giving the impression you're flying right above. War effects sound realistically close. Air-con chills the air similarly to the wind blowing on the stretch of sand. War technicalities include the incoming tide bringing in corpses. With time it dawned on me the stranded soldiers must have felt the same not knowing what's going on. Major actors got minor roles, with the bigger ones given to no-names, just like the movie is devoted to the thousands of no-name soldiers. Still, I was happy it was shorter than usual Nolan's films.
Seen courtesy of Cinema City.
There's a special screening of "Punkt krytyczny. Energia odNowa" ("The Tipping Point. Energy aNew") at Muranow cinema in Warsaw. Finally, having missed that at the Docs Against Gravity festival I'll see the film I have been curious of ever since I heard the director talking about the first documentary on renewable energy and the current state of energetics and environmental changes in Poland.
Thursday, 27 July 2017
ROUGH NIGHT
Watchable. Lots of product placement, including even diapers for adults, and PC stuff: gays, fat people, colour - everyone. Hard drugs get a green light which I find disturbingly common in American productions. Is it really OK to market them in movies? But the rest is really good. Kate McKinnon, Scarlett Johansson, Demi Moore appear in a comedy of errors with great music. Some hilarious scenes like the one with "How many strippers did you order?" or "I think it's the stress of killing the guy and trying to dispose of his body." "Like what?!" The mid-credit is essential as the presented event is the continuation of the story and features a hilarious song. The post-credit is less important.
Seen in the comfort of my regular Cinema City.
GAME OF THRONES - SEASON 7 EPISODE 1
Watchable. Made for telly so the big cinema screen didn't make it look any better. The blurred contours of the background looked fake while on TV they must be just fine. No cruelty, one multiple death, no nudity in the episode. Looks like women will have a lot to say this season. A number of jokes I didn't find funny. Only one was so-so: a rider overhears a group of men singing: "I don't know this song. Is it a new one?" and Ed Sheeran replies: "Yes, a new one." All in all, I'm not very curious what's going to happen next. Can live without it.
ALIBI.COM
Watchable. The idea of and the working procedures of the company are ingenious and some gags are good fun but most are silly. Over the credits there's a stupid song, nothing more.
21 X NOWY JORK
Watchable. In spite of good music this docu-drama is tiring, often feels protracted. It presents plenty of average people preoccupied with trying to build relationships. New York, which is the background to the people stories, appears as multiethnic and multicultural as London with the difference that London is less deranged and far more prudish. I mean my London, couldn't help comparing, the city doesn't appear here.
NOMA, MY PERFECT STORM
Watchable. Good to watch for the behind-the-stage look at the world's No. 1 restaurant, purely for the informative value. You also hear of the racism the Macedonian owner experiences in Denmark. Still, no tension or emotion accompanies this documentary so as a film it's just OK.
Watchable. Lots of product placement, including even diapers for adults, and PC stuff: gays, fat people, colour - everyone. Hard drugs get a green light which I find disturbingly common in American productions. Is it really OK to market them in movies? But the rest is really good. Kate McKinnon, Scarlett Johansson, Demi Moore appear in a comedy of errors with great music. Some hilarious scenes like the one with "How many strippers did you order?" or "I think it's the stress of killing the guy and trying to dispose of his body." "Like what?!" The mid-credit is essential as the presented event is the continuation of the story and features a hilarious song. The post-credit is less important.
Seen in the comfort of my regular Cinema City.
GAME OF THRONES - SEASON 7 EPISODE 1
Watchable. Made for telly so the big cinema screen didn't make it look any better. The blurred contours of the background looked fake while on TV they must be just fine. No cruelty, one multiple death, no nudity in the episode. Looks like women will have a lot to say this season. A number of jokes I didn't find funny. Only one was so-so: a rider overhears a group of men singing: "I don't know this song. Is it a new one?" and Ed Sheeran replies: "Yes, a new one." All in all, I'm not very curious what's going to happen next. Can live without it.
ALIBI.COM
Watchable. The idea of and the working procedures of the company are ingenious and some gags are good fun but most are silly. Over the credits there's a stupid song, nothing more.
21 X NOWY JORK
Watchable. In spite of good music this docu-drama is tiring, often feels protracted. It presents plenty of average people preoccupied with trying to build relationships. New York, which is the background to the people stories, appears as multiethnic and multicultural as London with the difference that London is less deranged and far more prudish. I mean my London, couldn't help comparing, the city doesn't appear here.
NOMA, MY PERFECT STORM
Watchable. Good to watch for the behind-the-stage look at the world's No. 1 restaurant, purely for the informative value. You also hear of the racism the Macedonian owner experiences in Denmark. Still, no tension or emotion accompanies this documentary so as a film it's just OK.
Saturday, 22 July 2017
ATOMIC BLONDE
Recommended. If you've ever thought true espionage ended together with the Cold War, you're in for a treat. The story harks back to the last days before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The intrigue has been thought throughout. What rings wrong in the beginning, makes full sense in the ending. The soundtrack spans 43 years (from 1974 to 2017). Only one song comes from 1989 but all sound like they do.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENICE
Watchable. Neither Tarantinoesque nor a comedy. The Polish translation of Lewdy Jew has little to do with the original. But the characters are likeable, even the gangster and I'm waiting for a sequel, just like the final scene implies as there's still one bunch of bad guys after our detective. There's a little mid-credit.
DESPICABLE ME 3
Watchable. Nena, A-ha, Madonna, Van Halen, Dire Straits, name it - great music forms the background for the baddie. I don't know why the villain is a frustrated ex-celebrity from the 80s but at least it sounds good. Decent 3D but not a must. In the Polish dubbing popular comedians: Mikolaj Cieslak as Dru i Robert Gorski as Bratt are a special attraction. One character sports Star Trek's Captain Kirk's hairstyle and a "Finding Nemo"-like clownfish makes a cameo, there's a mum of three who's "still learning the ropes" of motherhood. No more attractions than these.
GOING IN STYLE
Watchable. Gone are the days when robbing banks was a way to get rich quick. Nowadays it's a means to beat the system. Three elderly chaps are fighting for their pensions. In style. What's the worst thing that could happen? If they fail, at least they'll get 3 meals a day and better healthcare than they get at large. The heist story comes a full circle. There's decent humour, e.g. "He's thinking. Looks painful." Alan Arkin, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman with the addition of Christopher Lloyd in a minor part ensure quality. Still, I think it's not exactly for ny audience below 60.
The last 3 movies seen in the comfort of Cinema City.
Recommended. If you've ever thought true espionage ended together with the Cold War, you're in for a treat. The story harks back to the last days before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The intrigue has been thought throughout. What rings wrong in the beginning, makes full sense in the ending. The soundtrack spans 43 years (from 1974 to 2017). Only one song comes from 1989 but all sound like they do.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENICE
Watchable. Neither Tarantinoesque nor a comedy. The Polish translation of Lewdy Jew has little to do with the original. But the characters are likeable, even the gangster and I'm waiting for a sequel, just like the final scene implies as there's still one bunch of bad guys after our detective. There's a little mid-credit.
DESPICABLE ME 3
Watchable. Nena, A-ha, Madonna, Van Halen, Dire Straits, name it - great music forms the background for the baddie. I don't know why the villain is a frustrated ex-celebrity from the 80s but at least it sounds good. Decent 3D but not a must. In the Polish dubbing popular comedians: Mikolaj Cieslak as Dru i Robert Gorski as Bratt are a special attraction. One character sports Star Trek's Captain Kirk's hairstyle and a "Finding Nemo"-like clownfish makes a cameo, there's a mum of three who's "still learning the ropes" of motherhood. No more attractions than these.
GOING IN STYLE
Watchable. Gone are the days when robbing banks was a way to get rich quick. Nowadays it's a means to beat the system. Three elderly chaps are fighting for their pensions. In style. What's the worst thing that could happen? If they fail, at least they'll get 3 meals a day and better healthcare than they get at large. The heist story comes a full circle. There's decent humour, e.g. "He's thinking. Looks painful." Alan Arkin, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman with the addition of Christopher Lloyd in a minor part ensure quality. Still, I think it's not exactly for ny audience below 60.
The last 3 movies seen in the comfort of Cinema City.
Thursday, 13 July 2017
L'AMANT DOUBLE (THE DOUBLE LOVER)
Recommended. The first few minutes are absurd. The very first scene exceeds the limits of intimacy and nudity showing... the inside of a vagina. Just after that the woman hears she's got a mild infection but instead of treating the condition medically she goes to a shrink. From the first psychiatrist appointment it makes more sense. The surreal is much better than the real. You never know if what she sees and feels are figments of her imagination or authentic. Some scenes are SF-inspired: "Alien" or as carnal as in Cronenberg's movies, one fragment reminded me of the corporeal pistol in "eXistenZ". The final scene makes a bang.
MON POUSSIN (HONEY BUNNY)
Watchable. In spite of it being gross and vulgar (it's French, you know), it's very funny. The broken-hearted teenager wails, another couple warns the parents of a similar case when a boy ran away and "Interpol found him in Belgium", the parents go to extreme lengths to relieve him of his agony, the teenager's sister wants to move to an orphanage so that a normal family can adopt her and there's a blender scene with brilliant music.
Recommended. The first few minutes are absurd. The very first scene exceeds the limits of intimacy and nudity showing... the inside of a vagina. Just after that the woman hears she's got a mild infection but instead of treating the condition medically she goes to a shrink. From the first psychiatrist appointment it makes more sense. The surreal is much better than the real. You never know if what she sees and feels are figments of her imagination or authentic. Some scenes are SF-inspired: "Alien" or as carnal as in Cronenberg's movies, one fragment reminded me of the corporeal pistol in "eXistenZ". The final scene makes a bang.
MON POUSSIN (HONEY BUNNY)
Watchable. In spite of it being gross and vulgar (it's French, you know), it's very funny. The broken-hearted teenager wails, another couple warns the parents of a similar case when a boy ran away and "Interpol found him in Belgium", the parents go to extreme lengths to relieve him of his agony, the teenager's sister wants to move to an orphanage so that a normal family can adopt her and there's a blender scene with brilliant music.
Thursday, 6 July 2017
MUMMY
Walked out. All elements of a class B horror: plenty of zombies (out of one mummy) crawling on all fours or jumping at a running car, a curse victim having visions and all scares starting early on. They startle rather than frighten. Only for die hard (pun intended) zombie fans.
Service at Cinema City doesn't stop to amaze me. The cleaning lady in the toilet was concerned she might cause me nuisance refilling soap containers when I was trying to get the clearest reflection of myself in the mirror.
ENKLAVA (ENCLAVE)
Watchable. Sad and depressing. Questions the boundaries between good and evil along with the boundaries between childhood and adulthood. In the beginning nothing much happens, later there's some local folklore - a Muslim wedding and an Orthodox Christian funeral and only after the lengthy intro something actually happens. This and the aftermath of the deed are truly chilling.
Walked out. All elements of a class B horror: plenty of zombies (out of one mummy) crawling on all fours or jumping at a running car, a curse victim having visions and all scares starting early on. They startle rather than frighten. Only for die hard (pun intended) zombie fans.
Service at Cinema City doesn't stop to amaze me. The cleaning lady in the toilet was concerned she might cause me nuisance refilling soap containers when I was trying to get the clearest reflection of myself in the mirror.
ENKLAVA (ENCLAVE)
Watchable. Sad and depressing. Questions the boundaries between good and evil along with the boundaries between childhood and adulthood. In the beginning nothing much happens, later there's some local folklore - a Muslim wedding and an Orthodox Christian funeral and only after the lengthy intro something actually happens. This and the aftermath of the deed are truly chilling.
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
The screen adaptation of the graphic novel "The Coldest City" is coming out soon. I've just drafted my review which will appear here on the 22nd of July.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING AT IMAX 3D
Recommended. The very beginning was so lousy I was seriously worried whether I'd tolerate the whole: Captain America reduced to lecturing schoolkids on how they should behave, Spider-Man having a crush on an, undoubtedly PC, mixed-race girl (half-black) and running a video diary of shaky quality made me want to run. But it was just the first few minutes. Later it gets better and better and the tension keeps growing. The result of the whole is fantastic. There are some funny lines, e.g. a teacher talking right after a life-threatening situation about how he'd hate to lose a student on a school trip, as well as references to earlier Spider-Man movies and to the infamous beginnings of Iron Man. They're straightforward so it's enough to have seen the films, no need to remember them in detail. Michael Keaton is superb. He has clearly benefited from his Birdman image now impersonating Vulture and having a black bird-like costume. There's an obligatory Stan Lee cameo, a mid-credit announcing a sequel and a post-credit joke. I think the movie will be still OK in 2D on a regular size screen.
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT AT IMAX 3D
Watchable. This one is worth seeing in 3D as these effects are pretty good throughout the movie. The amazing landscapes in the beginning will certainly gain in IMAX. The location is probably Scotland and it much resembles takes from "Prometheus". In the plot, however, geography gets mixed up, placing Trinity Library in Oxford. In reality Oxford has Trinity College with the Old Library while the Trinity Library is located in Dublin, Ireland. Usually peaceful and often pedestrianized Pall Mall in London is a scene of a car/transformer chase. The rest of the film takes the viewer all over the world as the globe is facing destruction. History-wise it starts in legendary Merlin times and ends "today". I still find machines tiring and... heavy but at least in this installment they come in various shapes, including dragons, men with beards like those belonging to Caribbean dead pirates or a fairy-like flying robot in a wiry dress. They are kept as pets like one in "Chappie" with the difference that here one looks like Wall-E and several are mechanic dinos (dinobots). A male scientist fights superstition: "I'm relying on physics and mathematics, not mysteries, fairies or some Hobgoblins." At the same time a female Oxford professor fights sexism in the form of her aunts persuading her to find a man and ignoring her meteoric career as well as hearing from a guy she's wearing "a stripper dress". Butler Cogman and the Lord (by brilliant Anthony Hopkins) are a delight, especially the Lord silencing the Prime Minister who, in turn, has David Cameron's hairstyle.
Cinema City had excellent service again, very nice people work there.
DARKLAND
Watchable. A standard brother revenge plot is well enacted and gets a social-cultural twist as it's set in the second generation (people around 20 and 30, with their parents living) of Iraqi refugees in Denmark. They have penetrated the white world. White Danes, including one "white" Iraqi - working as a surgeon and living with his Danish wife, can't penetrate theirs. Subtly, the finger of blame is pointed at immigrant families sitting on the couch instead of preventing their children becoming criminals.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING AT IMAX 3D
Recommended. The very beginning was so lousy I was seriously worried whether I'd tolerate the whole: Captain America reduced to lecturing schoolkids on how they should behave, Spider-Man having a crush on an, undoubtedly PC, mixed-race girl (half-black) and running a video diary of shaky quality made me want to run. But it was just the first few minutes. Later it gets better and better and the tension keeps growing. The result of the whole is fantastic. There are some funny lines, e.g. a teacher talking right after a life-threatening situation about how he'd hate to lose a student on a school trip, as well as references to earlier Spider-Man movies and to the infamous beginnings of Iron Man. They're straightforward so it's enough to have seen the films, no need to remember them in detail. Michael Keaton is superb. He has clearly benefited from his Birdman image now impersonating Vulture and having a black bird-like costume. There's an obligatory Stan Lee cameo, a mid-credit announcing a sequel and a post-credit joke. I think the movie will be still OK in 2D on a regular size screen.
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT AT IMAX 3D
Watchable. This one is worth seeing in 3D as these effects are pretty good throughout the movie. The amazing landscapes in the beginning will certainly gain in IMAX. The location is probably Scotland and it much resembles takes from "Prometheus". In the plot, however, geography gets mixed up, placing Trinity Library in Oxford. In reality Oxford has Trinity College with the Old Library while the Trinity Library is located in Dublin, Ireland. Usually peaceful and often pedestrianized Pall Mall in London is a scene of a car/transformer chase. The rest of the film takes the viewer all over the world as the globe is facing destruction. History-wise it starts in legendary Merlin times and ends "today". I still find machines tiring and... heavy but at least in this installment they come in various shapes, including dragons, men with beards like those belonging to Caribbean dead pirates or a fairy-like flying robot in a wiry dress. They are kept as pets like one in "Chappie" with the difference that here one looks like Wall-E and several are mechanic dinos (dinobots). A male scientist fights superstition: "I'm relying on physics and mathematics, not mysteries, fairies or some Hobgoblins." At the same time a female Oxford professor fights sexism in the form of her aunts persuading her to find a man and ignoring her meteoric career as well as hearing from a guy she's wearing "a stripper dress". Butler Cogman and the Lord (by brilliant Anthony Hopkins) are a delight, especially the Lord silencing the Prime Minister who, in turn, has David Cameron's hairstyle.
Cinema City had excellent service again, very nice people work there.
DARKLAND
Watchable. A standard brother revenge plot is well enacted and gets a social-cultural twist as it's set in the second generation (people around 20 and 30, with their parents living) of Iraqi refugees in Denmark. They have penetrated the white world. White Danes, including one "white" Iraqi - working as a surgeon and living with his Danish wife, can't penetrate theirs. Subtly, the finger of blame is pointed at immigrant families sitting on the couch instead of preventing their children becoming criminals.
Tuesday, 4 July 2017
HYMYILEVA MIES (THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MAKI)
Watchable. Painfully slow. You just see them pouring each cup of coffee. The whole thing is about how distracting love is when you're supposed to be doing something important and instead you keep thinking about that person. Nothing unusual. Can serve only as a wake-up call for people experiencing the same.
SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE
Watchable. Latest Smurfs are up-to-date with tech gadgets so they snap pictures with a mobile... ladybird and use firefly torches. Some ideas are taken from other films and tales, e.g. slow mo in the air like in "Inception", a bluish forest with flowers glowing in the dark reminiscent of "Avatar", lines from "Little Red Riding Hood" and they look and sound tacky. A delightful original concept is a colourful, translucent river reflecting the rich and vivid vegetation and changing hues with the current. A number of pop songs are featured, including famous "I'm Blue" by Eiffel 69, here gaining a new cute meaning. There's a mid-credit scene with Gargamel. Earlier on I heard a child imitating Azrael's meowing so the movie's fun for kids too.
Seen courtesy of my favourite Cinema City.
IT COMES AT NIGHT
Walked out. Chit-chat in a cabin and a deadly epidemic in a forest.
I heard from my movie companion that in Pakistan there was just one one-screen cinema in a one-million city. The country's deprived of entertainment. I clearly wouldn't survive there.
Watchable. Painfully slow. You just see them pouring each cup of coffee. The whole thing is about how distracting love is when you're supposed to be doing something important and instead you keep thinking about that person. Nothing unusual. Can serve only as a wake-up call for people experiencing the same.
SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE
Watchable. Latest Smurfs are up-to-date with tech gadgets so they snap pictures with a mobile... ladybird and use firefly torches. Some ideas are taken from other films and tales, e.g. slow mo in the air like in "Inception", a bluish forest with flowers glowing in the dark reminiscent of "Avatar", lines from "Little Red Riding Hood" and they look and sound tacky. A delightful original concept is a colourful, translucent river reflecting the rich and vivid vegetation and changing hues with the current. A number of pop songs are featured, including famous "I'm Blue" by Eiffel 69, here gaining a new cute meaning. There's a mid-credit scene with Gargamel. Earlier on I heard a child imitating Azrael's meowing so the movie's fun for kids too.
Seen courtesy of my favourite Cinema City.
IT COMES AT NIGHT
Walked out. Chit-chat in a cabin and a deadly epidemic in a forest.
I heard from my movie companion that in Pakistan there was just one one-screen cinema in a one-million city. The country's deprived of entertainment. I clearly wouldn't survive there.
Monday, 3 July 2017
KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
Watchable. Guy Ritchie should stick to the gangster genre. His King Arthur is a bandit, a liar and probably a pimp too, with an ultra-modern hair-cut and a beard giving him a hipster look. The film has got great music but so modern that, apart from the main song, it's completely incongruous with the story located in Londinium of the 4th or 5th century AD. Curiously, the term graffiti is used and while it gives a present-day feel, it's in fact ancient. Also, a Chinese teaching kung fu may seem out of place, yet it has some grounds in facts. As recently as in 2016, Chinese skeletons from Roman times were discovered on the site of Londinium. While no one knows what the Chinese were doing there, it gives a wide field for interpretation and triggers imagination. The movie got its release in 2017 so the discovery must have come up during research for the production.
BAYWATCH
Watchable. Good fun for this time of year, beautifully shot. Plenty of summer and enough entertainment to forgive its flaws. I love Priyanka Chopra and I've stated many times she's the most beautiful Bollywood actress. However, now at the age of 34 and starring in Hollywood, she's had botox injected in her face - you just can't mistake this disfigurement with anything else. Most of humour is of primitive variety, like somebody's balls getting stuck in a deck-chair or someone else throwing up. Well, I know vomiting in water is realistic as I've heard it from a professional diver who had done it. Still, it doesn't amuse me. Luckily, a number of jokes are based on references to the previous "Baywatch" series as well as to other movies. So there are David Hasselhoff' and Pamela Anderson's cameos, busty girls run in slow motion and the bustier the girl, the slower mo it is and Mitch calls a new recruit, by Zach Effron, "Hey, High School Musical!" Matt Brady is pretty and as daft as a brush. Great summer music by the Americanoes, With the Quickness and plenty of others.
The "Blade Runner 2049" trailer looks superb - I can't wait to see the movie.
TUBELIGHT
Recommended. Looks like the version shown in Poland is half an hour shorter than the original. Anyway, it was just over two hours, nothing close to three. From the credits I can see that digital de-aging has inevitably reached Bollywood too. Better this than botox. The movie is family type but with lots of action, you just never get bored. Salman Khan in a comedy role playing also with his image - you never know if he has a superpower or just believes to have: "Is he going to stir up another earthquake? Hold on to the railing!" Very uplifting, full of warmth but touches your heart as well. True, first-class Bollywood.
The last two movies in super-comfy seats of Cinema City. Luckily, apart from one screen in Arkadia, other Warsaw cinemas of the chain have retained their comfort I like so much.
개를 훔치는 완벽한 방법 (HOW TO STEAL A DOG)
Recommended. The children are disarmingly silly. There's a crime plot, dogs, obviously, plenty of family warmth, serious undertones about families falling apart for different reasons and on various lines, seeking fulfillment in life, personal freedom, whether money brings happiness or just fills a void, funny police pursuit scenes and scheming to steal a living animal. Both funny and sad. I just wished it lasted longer. The one mid-credit completing the story didn't quench my thirst for more.
Watchable. Guy Ritchie should stick to the gangster genre. His King Arthur is a bandit, a liar and probably a pimp too, with an ultra-modern hair-cut and a beard giving him a hipster look. The film has got great music but so modern that, apart from the main song, it's completely incongruous with the story located in Londinium of the 4th or 5th century AD. Curiously, the term graffiti is used and while it gives a present-day feel, it's in fact ancient. Also, a Chinese teaching kung fu may seem out of place, yet it has some grounds in facts. As recently as in 2016, Chinese skeletons from Roman times were discovered on the site of Londinium. While no one knows what the Chinese were doing there, it gives a wide field for interpretation and triggers imagination. The movie got its release in 2017 so the discovery must have come up during research for the production.
BAYWATCH
Watchable. Good fun for this time of year, beautifully shot. Plenty of summer and enough entertainment to forgive its flaws. I love Priyanka Chopra and I've stated many times she's the most beautiful Bollywood actress. However, now at the age of 34 and starring in Hollywood, she's had botox injected in her face - you just can't mistake this disfigurement with anything else. Most of humour is of primitive variety, like somebody's balls getting stuck in a deck-chair or someone else throwing up. Well, I know vomiting in water is realistic as I've heard it from a professional diver who had done it. Still, it doesn't amuse me. Luckily, a number of jokes are based on references to the previous "Baywatch" series as well as to other movies. So there are David Hasselhoff' and Pamela Anderson's cameos, busty girls run in slow motion and the bustier the girl, the slower mo it is and Mitch calls a new recruit, by Zach Effron, "Hey, High School Musical!" Matt Brady is pretty and as daft as a brush. Great summer music by the Americanoes, With the Quickness and plenty of others.
The "Blade Runner 2049" trailer looks superb - I can't wait to see the movie.
TUBELIGHT
Recommended. Looks like the version shown in Poland is half an hour shorter than the original. Anyway, it was just over two hours, nothing close to three. From the credits I can see that digital de-aging has inevitably reached Bollywood too. Better this than botox. The movie is family type but with lots of action, you just never get bored. Salman Khan in a comedy role playing also with his image - you never know if he has a superpower or just believes to have: "Is he going to stir up another earthquake? Hold on to the railing!" Very uplifting, full of warmth but touches your heart as well. True, first-class Bollywood.
The last two movies in super-comfy seats of Cinema City. Luckily, apart from one screen in Arkadia, other Warsaw cinemas of the chain have retained their comfort I like so much.
개를 훔치는 완벽한 방법 (HOW TO STEAL A DOG)
Recommended. The children are disarmingly silly. There's a crime plot, dogs, obviously, plenty of family warmth, serious undertones about families falling apart for different reasons and on various lines, seeking fulfillment in life, personal freedom, whether money brings happiness or just fills a void, funny police pursuit scenes and scheming to steal a living animal. Both funny and sad. I just wished it lasted longer. The one mid-credit completing the story didn't quench my thirst for more.
Sunday, 2 July 2017
OLD FASHIONED
Watchable. It's not so much about chastity as it is about disillusionment with earlier relationships with sex which ended badly. Well, which ended. And while Clay "doesn't want dating", this is exactly what they both end up doing. Boring and predictable. Not very religious. About paralysis by analysis and fear of failure.
摇滚藏獒 (ROCK DOG)
Watchable. Made in Hong Kong. Based on the graphic novel "Tibetan Rock Dog" created by Chinese rock star Zheng Jun from Xi'an on the mainland. With music by Foo Fighters and several others. So predictable only children will buy it. And they will - some were dancing after the movie. To adults the Chinese wolves controlling the mountainous village will be a clear reference to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. And that's all there is on the serious part. The only part I liked was the rock star's house and garden with a hedge that could be moved underground or a doormat litterally throwing unwanted visitors out of the residence.
VOLTA
Watchable. Intelligent, based on Polish politics, language and craze for historical treasures. Plenty of references to the Polish currently ruling party will be adorable to the left of the political scene. The heist is smart as well so this part will be comprehensible even to foreigners. I didn't laugh at this crime comedy though. Lack of comedians in the cast.
In the trailer Luc Besson's new SF flick "Valerian" looks like it's going to be another "Fifth Element" - good visuals, a standard (alien invasion here) plot.
CHOPIN - THE SPACE CONCERT
Recommended. "From space I saw no borders" comes at the beginning of an astronaut's commentary. Chopin's music forming the soundtrack will be probably handed in to Donald Trump during a visit. Views from space and the cabin like I've never seen before. It's these views that merit watching it, on a big screen if possible.
JOUR J (WEDDING UNPLANNED)
Watchable. "Thanks for hosting me, guys" - to the police when leaving a custody is one of few instances when the (Polish at least) translation is better than the original. Some gags are hilarious. The rom-com plot is standard. Deleted scenes are shown over the credits, a group photograph is shown at the very end.
THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
Recommended this time. Watching it for the second time I found it so delightfully witty at first and gripping in the second half, I managed to stand the nightmarish Polish voiceover it was screened with. Hitchcock was truly the master of suspense.
STAGE FRIGHT (1950)
Watchable. All of the above applies. With even more dress-ups. Very Agatha Christie-like. So fails to make the same impact.
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO
Recommended. Assad's regime's and Russian bombings are everyday, literally everyday reality for the 250 000 people still living in Aleppo and 1 million living in other places of the ongoing war. You see them up close excavating people, living or dead, from the ruins. The bodies and body parts are not shown which doesn't lessen the impact in the least. For survivors there are 3 ways to live: right there, safe but still far from normal life in Turkey or in Germany (other countries don't even come up in the film - only a regret that other muslim states have abandoned them). Several of the men who appeared in the film are already dead. It's almost post-apocalyptic there.
50% of the children living in the war-torn territories were born during the armed conflict. They don't know life other than the war. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs finances only aid in Ukraine. The UN is the greatest funder of humanitarian aid organizations working on reconstruction, providing water and electricity supply.
GOSFORD PARK (2001)
Walked out. So many characters that half-way through the movie I still hardly understood who was who. A murder didn't help understand the plot.
Watchable. It's not so much about chastity as it is about disillusionment with earlier relationships with sex which ended badly. Well, which ended. And while Clay "doesn't want dating", this is exactly what they both end up doing. Boring and predictable. Not very religious. About paralysis by analysis and fear of failure.
摇滚藏獒 (ROCK DOG)
Watchable. Made in Hong Kong. Based on the graphic novel "Tibetan Rock Dog" created by Chinese rock star Zheng Jun from Xi'an on the mainland. With music by Foo Fighters and several others. So predictable only children will buy it. And they will - some were dancing after the movie. To adults the Chinese wolves controlling the mountainous village will be a clear reference to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. And that's all there is on the serious part. The only part I liked was the rock star's house and garden with a hedge that could be moved underground or a doormat litterally throwing unwanted visitors out of the residence.
VOLTA
Watchable. Intelligent, based on Polish politics, language and craze for historical treasures. Plenty of references to the Polish currently ruling party will be adorable to the left of the political scene. The heist is smart as well so this part will be comprehensible even to foreigners. I didn't laugh at this crime comedy though. Lack of comedians in the cast.
In the trailer Luc Besson's new SF flick "Valerian" looks like it's going to be another "Fifth Element" - good visuals, a standard (alien invasion here) plot.
CHOPIN - THE SPACE CONCERT
Recommended. "From space I saw no borders" comes at the beginning of an astronaut's commentary. Chopin's music forming the soundtrack will be probably handed in to Donald Trump during a visit. Views from space and the cabin like I've never seen before. It's these views that merit watching it, on a big screen if possible.
JOUR J (WEDDING UNPLANNED)
Watchable. "Thanks for hosting me, guys" - to the police when leaving a custody is one of few instances when the (Polish at least) translation is better than the original. Some gags are hilarious. The rom-com plot is standard. Deleted scenes are shown over the credits, a group photograph is shown at the very end.
THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
Recommended this time. Watching it for the second time I found it so delightfully witty at first and gripping in the second half, I managed to stand the nightmarish Polish voiceover it was screened with. Hitchcock was truly the master of suspense.
STAGE FRIGHT (1950)
Watchable. All of the above applies. With even more dress-ups. Very Agatha Christie-like. So fails to make the same impact.
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO
Recommended. Assad's regime's and Russian bombings are everyday, literally everyday reality for the 250 000 people still living in Aleppo and 1 million living in other places of the ongoing war. You see them up close excavating people, living or dead, from the ruins. The bodies and body parts are not shown which doesn't lessen the impact in the least. For survivors there are 3 ways to live: right there, safe but still far from normal life in Turkey or in Germany (other countries don't even come up in the film - only a regret that other muslim states have abandoned them). Several of the men who appeared in the film are already dead. It's almost post-apocalyptic there.
50% of the children living in the war-torn territories were born during the armed conflict. They don't know life other than the war. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs finances only aid in Ukraine. The UN is the greatest funder of humanitarian aid organizations working on reconstruction, providing water and electricity supply.
GOSFORD PARK (2001)
Walked out. So many characters that half-way through the movie I still hardly understood who was who. A murder didn't help understand the plot.
Monday, 26 June 2017
A BRAS OUVERTS (WITH OPEN ARMS)
Watchable again. The second time I actually liked it better. I picked out some nuances, e.g.first Babik kicks his cousin, then, when he has "assimilated", he swats another cousin with... a baguette. The dress-up party is no coincidence: while the Romani teenage girl is trying to get some personal freedom, her father drags her out of a club in which she's wearing a... Wonder Woman costume. The movie hits upon not only international differences but also the clash between the higher middle class and the lowest class lifestyles and values: "I'm an intellectual. I don't fight, unless with a pen." "So you take a pen, I take a hammer." Ary Abittan, even in a suit, looks nothing like his earlier impersonation in "Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?" ("Serial (Bad) Weddings"). Christian Clavier, for a change, is suited and booted in the role opposite to the one from "Les Visiteurs" ("The Visitors"). Both of them in the main roles as well as Armen Georgian as the Indian servant Ravi act suitably exaggeratedly. The movie still isn't hilarious, most of humour unfortunately stays lower-class.
UNLOCKED
Watchable. The script is trite but fun: an action movie made by the book, with a few red herrings and and an obligatory cliff-hanger towards the end. I didn't get the logic behind mistaking flats, found the burgler being a war veteran implausible and the final explanation of motives of the terrorist attacks too far-fetched. Still, the suspense and twists of action worked the trick. Noomi Rapace was unrecognizable from her earlier part of Lisbeth Salander in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".
ROCK'N ROLL
Watchable. The film's about dealing with aging but the few scenes that made me laugh were rather standard situation humour: "Have you taken anything else?" "Yes, cocaine." or gags like falling over a fence. I have an impression it just went too far. The caricature got distorted out of proportion. The soundtrack is a mix of French and English-language songs with significant titles including: "Enola Gay", "Lady Wacko", "Don't Dream It's Over", "You Can Do It", "Ma gueule" ("My mouth"), "Pour qua tu m'aimes encore" ("So that you still love me"), "That's Not My Name", "Take Me Out", "Promesse" ("Promise"), "Forever Young", "Ca Plane Pour Moi" ("It's plain sailing for me") or "Go On Forever". Apparently there's also my beloved "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive but... I only saw it in the credits having missed the bit in the movie.
PRÓBA (THE TEST)
Watchable. Three would-be monks walk for one and a half weeks having to beg for food and shelter. The film has less direction than the pilgrimage but their utterances "Jakie to szczęście mieć żonę i dzieci. Ja nie dam rady." ("What happiness it is to have a wife and children. I won't manage.") or about living in celibate: "Przecież to normalni mężczyźni są." ("They're normal men after all") inadvertently reveal that nature will always imbue actions contradictory to its laws.
In the meeting after the screening it struck me that two of the monks were totally hot! How is that possible that so many women in the world are single and the hottest guys are... in the Jesuit order?!
Watchable again. The second time I actually liked it better. I picked out some nuances, e.g.first Babik kicks his cousin, then, when he has "assimilated", he swats another cousin with... a baguette. The dress-up party is no coincidence: while the Romani teenage girl is trying to get some personal freedom, her father drags her out of a club in which she's wearing a... Wonder Woman costume. The movie hits upon not only international differences but also the clash between the higher middle class and the lowest class lifestyles and values: "I'm an intellectual. I don't fight, unless with a pen." "So you take a pen, I take a hammer." Ary Abittan, even in a suit, looks nothing like his earlier impersonation in "Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?" ("Serial (Bad) Weddings"). Christian Clavier, for a change, is suited and booted in the role opposite to the one from "Les Visiteurs" ("The Visitors"). Both of them in the main roles as well as Armen Georgian as the Indian servant Ravi act suitably exaggeratedly. The movie still isn't hilarious, most of humour unfortunately stays lower-class.
UNLOCKED
Watchable. The script is trite but fun: an action movie made by the book, with a few red herrings and and an obligatory cliff-hanger towards the end. I didn't get the logic behind mistaking flats, found the burgler being a war veteran implausible and the final explanation of motives of the terrorist attacks too far-fetched. Still, the suspense and twists of action worked the trick. Noomi Rapace was unrecognizable from her earlier part of Lisbeth Salander in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".
ROCK'N ROLL
Watchable. The film's about dealing with aging but the few scenes that made me laugh were rather standard situation humour: "Have you taken anything else?" "Yes, cocaine." or gags like falling over a fence. I have an impression it just went too far. The caricature got distorted out of proportion. The soundtrack is a mix of French and English-language songs with significant titles including: "Enola Gay", "Lady Wacko", "Don't Dream It's Over", "You Can Do It", "Ma gueule" ("My mouth"), "Pour qua tu m'aimes encore" ("So that you still love me"), "That's Not My Name", "Take Me Out", "Promesse" ("Promise"), "Forever Young", "Ca Plane Pour Moi" ("It's plain sailing for me") or "Go On Forever". Apparently there's also my beloved "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive but... I only saw it in the credits having missed the bit in the movie.
PRÓBA (THE TEST)
Watchable. Three would-be monks walk for one and a half weeks having to beg for food and shelter. The film has less direction than the pilgrimage but their utterances "Jakie to szczęście mieć żonę i dzieci. Ja nie dam rady." ("What happiness it is to have a wife and children. I won't manage.") or about living in celibate: "Przecież to normalni mężczyźni są." ("They're normal men after all") inadvertently reveal that nature will always imbue actions contradictory to its laws.
In the meeting after the screening it struck me that two of the monks were totally hot! How is that possible that so many women in the world are single and the hottest guys are... in the Jesuit order?!
Friday, 23 June 2017
Sunday, 18 June 2017
CHINESE CIRCLES OF ART IN POLAND
XIZAO (SHOWER) (1999)
Recommended. A beautiful, often moving and sometimes cheerful story about moral duties towards your closest relatives, about community and facing irreversible life changes. Funny, endearing characters, e.g. playing with their crickets in a public bath, singing only in the shower or working fastidiously in spite of a disability. Very well acted.
HEI PAO SHI JIAN (THE BLACK CANNON INCIDENT) (1985)
Watchable. A comedy? Far from that: a bureaucratic drama on the one hand, on the other it presents the inefficiency of group decision-making where everyone means well but is tied up in the problem resolution where just one piece is missing. Lost in German-Chinese translation in the depth of communism. I felt like pressing fast forward several times.
BEI JING YU SHANG XI YA TU (FINDING MR. RIGHT) (2013)
Recommended. Sometimes babies are illegal. This love story could be made by the Chinese only. It's a tear-jerking tale full of twists and turns. Beautifully shot. Money compensates for the lack of love but the emptiness of frivolity catches up with Jiajia and she's swayed.
BABY DRIVER
Watchable. "Drive" for a younger generation. Lots of music and driving guaranteed, as well as crime action. Just with a younger protagonist and clearly aimed at a younger audience.
XIZAO (SHOWER) (1999)
Recommended. A beautiful, often moving and sometimes cheerful story about moral duties towards your closest relatives, about community and facing irreversible life changes. Funny, endearing characters, e.g. playing with their crickets in a public bath, singing only in the shower or working fastidiously in spite of a disability. Very well acted.
HEI PAO SHI JIAN (THE BLACK CANNON INCIDENT) (1985)
Watchable. A comedy? Far from that: a bureaucratic drama on the one hand, on the other it presents the inefficiency of group decision-making where everyone means well but is tied up in the problem resolution where just one piece is missing. Lost in German-Chinese translation in the depth of communism. I felt like pressing fast forward several times.
BEI JING YU SHANG XI YA TU (FINDING MR. RIGHT) (2013)
Recommended. Sometimes babies are illegal. This love story could be made by the Chinese only. It's a tear-jerking tale full of twists and turns. Beautifully shot. Money compensates for the lack of love but the emptiness of frivolity catches up with Jiajia and she's swayed.
BABY DRIVER
Watchable. "Drive" for a younger generation. Lots of music and driving guaranteed, as well as crime action. Just with a younger protagonist and clearly aimed at a younger audience.
Saturday, 17 June 2017
EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING
Watchable. Really cheesy. A beautiful girl suffering from SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency) is bound to make you sob. Lines sound hackneyed. There are some inaccuracies in the plot, e.g.: how does she breathe in an air-tight house with no plants, how can her mum first sit next to her and then go to open the door without a risk of getting her robe contaminated, why does the girl swim if she doesn't know how? Luckily everything and everyone is pleasing to the eye. Most of the plot is predictable, with one twist towards the end but it's tacky as well.
PARIS CAN WAIT
Recommended. A real feel-good movie about getting the most out of your life. Leaves you loving everyone and enjoying life even more. After all, a problem will be always where you left it, so you can step aside and have a good time.
LADY MACBETH
Recommended. Shockingly brutal: there's physical violence, sexual violence, emotional violence. In all directions and it's all psychologically justified: exposure to violence and being held against the wall generating it further. The movie's tense and intense. It's as brutal as if it were Korean.
LA REINA DE ESPANA (THE QUEEN OF SPAIN)
Watchable. Movies about making movies have never tickled my fancy. Too chaotic. This one is like a cross between "Their Finest" and "Ocho apellidos vascos" ("Spanish Affair"). A few vivid characters and just a few scenes that made me laugh, e.g. a drowsy director saying "Action!" through his sleep, are not enough for a comedy.
LOU
Watchable. A short film preceding "Cars 3". About school bullying. Stereotypical but it all ends well.
CARS 3
Watchable. I hadn't followed the series and the beginning seemed to me to be something for car crazy Americans: lots of roaring and car talk. Then I saw beautiful landscapes of different terrain with the cartoon cars superimposed on them. Alongside that action started making sense. It tackles age discrimination and the glass ceiling for women racers. Psychological put-downs are shown competently. The Polish translation is very good.
At that movie I discovered that not all Cinema City has comfy seats any more. At least one of the screens in Warsaw's Arkadia doesn't have them any longer.
CHINESE CIRCLES OF ART IN POLAND
PASSING ON BUDDHA KASAYA (2017)
Walked out. I don't like theatre and Chinese musical theatre is no exception, especially a play about a Buddhist monk, even if shot in real life locations.
Watchable. Really cheesy. A beautiful girl suffering from SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency) is bound to make you sob. Lines sound hackneyed. There are some inaccuracies in the plot, e.g.: how does she breathe in an air-tight house with no plants, how can her mum first sit next to her and then go to open the door without a risk of getting her robe contaminated, why does the girl swim if she doesn't know how? Luckily everything and everyone is pleasing to the eye. Most of the plot is predictable, with one twist towards the end but it's tacky as well.
PARIS CAN WAIT
Recommended. A real feel-good movie about getting the most out of your life. Leaves you loving everyone and enjoying life even more. After all, a problem will be always where you left it, so you can step aside and have a good time.
LADY MACBETH
Recommended. Shockingly brutal: there's physical violence, sexual violence, emotional violence. In all directions and it's all psychologically justified: exposure to violence and being held against the wall generating it further. The movie's tense and intense. It's as brutal as if it were Korean.
LA REINA DE ESPANA (THE QUEEN OF SPAIN)
Watchable. Movies about making movies have never tickled my fancy. Too chaotic. This one is like a cross between "Their Finest" and "Ocho apellidos vascos" ("Spanish Affair"). A few vivid characters and just a few scenes that made me laugh, e.g. a drowsy director saying "Action!" through his sleep, are not enough for a comedy.
LOU
Watchable. A short film preceding "Cars 3". About school bullying. Stereotypical but it all ends well.
CARS 3
Watchable. I hadn't followed the series and the beginning seemed to me to be something for car crazy Americans: lots of roaring and car talk. Then I saw beautiful landscapes of different terrain with the cartoon cars superimposed on them. Alongside that action started making sense. It tackles age discrimination and the glass ceiling for women racers. Psychological put-downs are shown competently. The Polish translation is very good.
At that movie I discovered that not all Cinema City has comfy seats any more. At least one of the screens in Warsaw's Arkadia doesn't have them any longer.
CHINESE CIRCLES OF ART IN POLAND
PASSING ON BUDDHA KASAYA (2017)
Walked out. I don't like theatre and Chinese musical theatre is no exception, especially a play about a Buddhist monk, even if shot in real life locations.
A BRAS OUVERTS (WITH OPEN ARMS)
Watchable. Interesting but not funny. If the creators wanted to ridicule stereotyping immigrants, they didn't succeed - the Romani here are primitives, thieves, beggars and parasites. The whole film resembles "Borat" without the vulgarity. The movie shows that sharing is an empty slogan - we don't want to resign from our standard of living to raise theirs.
I left the cinema with some free food samples, a gratuitous cup of tea, collected a free magazine on the way and generally feeling happy to live in the better part of the world.
MA VIE DE COURGETTE (MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE)
Watchable. Deeply sad. While it seems to be an accurate depiction of life of children from troubled families who end up in orphanages or foster care, it's so doleful, sombre and heavy, it just feels like a social commercial imposing a guilt trip to collect money for a noble cause. The movie will be comprehensible to adults and children alike, even if on different levels.
Children from such families were present at the screening with their foster parents were surprisingly quiet and well-behaved. How come they are better-behaved than kids from regular families?
Watchable. Interesting but not funny. If the creators wanted to ridicule stereotyping immigrants, they didn't succeed - the Romani here are primitives, thieves, beggars and parasites. The whole film resembles "Borat" without the vulgarity. The movie shows that sharing is an empty slogan - we don't want to resign from our standard of living to raise theirs.
I left the cinema with some free food samples, a gratuitous cup of tea, collected a free magazine on the way and generally feeling happy to live in the better part of the world.
MA VIE DE COURGETTE (MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE)
Watchable. Deeply sad. While it seems to be an accurate depiction of life of children from troubled families who end up in orphanages or foster care, it's so doleful, sombre and heavy, it just feels like a social commercial imposing a guilt trip to collect money for a noble cause. The movie will be comprehensible to adults and children alike, even if on different levels.
Children from such families were present at the screening with their foster parents were surprisingly quiet and well-behaved. How come they are better-behaved than kids from regular families?
Thursday, 15 June 2017
WONDER WOMAN
Recommended. Great fun for all superhero fans, pure entertainment made according to all blockbuster rules: I laughed a lot and nearly cried a few times too: "You let this little thing rule your life?!" (about a watch, obviously) Most of the humour is based on gender stereotypes but they cheerfully re-work all the usual hero gimmicks as well: "Is he likely to follow my instructions?" "No, I honestly don't think so, no." Fantastical landscapes filmed in Camerota, Salerno and Campania in Italy, additionally inspired by Chinese mountains and enhanced with a plethora of CGI waterfalls. London at war time all covered in soot. Chris Pine looks fattish but the best scenes are where he acts with his face and makes all viewers burst out laughing. I loved Wonder Woman speaking all languages, especially the scene with the Turkish polyglot. Most of the Amazons are wrinkly but beautiful and inspiring at the same time. Ah, Wonder Woman here is, like in about the oldest of the comic books, of Greek gods' descent but takes on the disguise of Diana Prince, like in the ones from the 60s. During the battle the mythical characters hover in the air or cast strikes like Storm and Magneto in the X-Men series. There's no mid- or post-credit scene!
Recommended. Great fun for all superhero fans, pure entertainment made according to all blockbuster rules: I laughed a lot and nearly cried a few times too: "You let this little thing rule your life?!" (about a watch, obviously) Most of the humour is based on gender stereotypes but they cheerfully re-work all the usual hero gimmicks as well: "Is he likely to follow my instructions?" "No, I honestly don't think so, no." Fantastical landscapes filmed in Camerota, Salerno and Campania in Italy, additionally inspired by Chinese mountains and enhanced with a plethora of CGI waterfalls. London at war time all covered in soot. Chris Pine looks fattish but the best scenes are where he acts with his face and makes all viewers burst out laughing. I loved Wonder Woman speaking all languages, especially the scene with the Turkish polyglot. Most of the Amazons are wrinkly but beautiful and inspiring at the same time. Ah, Wonder Woman here is, like in about the oldest of the comic books, of Greek gods' descent but takes on the disguise of Diana Prince, like in the ones from the 60s. During the battle the mythical characters hover in the air or cast strikes like Storm and Magneto in the X-Men series. There's no mid- or post-credit scene!
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
12TH AFRYKAMERA FESTIVAL
SEARCHING - SHORTS
THE BIRTHMARK MAN
Watchable. About the trauma of having a discoloured face. Well acted which makes it bearable to watch even if you're lucky not to have this problem.
LAND OF MEN
Recommended. An insightful shortie showcasing Libya in ruin and torn in conflicts while loudly denying women their rights. On the one hand you witness women's frustration with the status quo imposed on them in spite of the revolution. On the other you see how this social order has devastated the country and how men, remaining blind to the fact, are reasserting their power where they still can, i.e. over women. All that in just 4 minutes. Made by a man (Kelly Ali).
LOVE, HATE & KETCHUP
Watchable. Supposed to be comical, John Ukpe and Omobola Akinde's acting looks silly rather. It's tongue-in-cheek movie-wise as ketchup is used as blood.
IN MY FATHER'S VILLAGE
Watchable. Enigmatic and about a local feud but the ostracism creates mystery.
UN COUP DE BALAI SUR LE PONT (UPRISING ON A BRIDGE)
Would have walked out if it hadn't been so short. Shoddy animation about an obscure (for Europeans) event in Burkina Faso.
COLOURISM
Watchable. About albinism as if it was a fad of fashion. Quite an issue in African culture but the doc is full of talking heads.
EDEM (SAVED ME)
Watchable. Beautiful, colourful animation with very good music. The story is barely sketched.
HYMENEE
Watchable. Exaggerated acting suggests a comedy yet the topic of an arranged marriage and losing virginity with a stranger is barely funny. At the same time it's a rare occasion for a glimpse behind the veil of that Moroccan tradition.
DEM DEM!
Watchable. Attractive views of a white sandy beach and blue skies don't really compensate for a lack of a plot. It's a short film made by 3 or 4 directors from 2 countries: Senegal and Belgium. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
KEMTIYU, CHEIKH ANTA
Watchable. Senegalese Cheikh Anta Diop, who died 30 years ago, in his lifetime conducted research which led him to two history-shattering conclusions: ancient Egyptians were black and the Sphinx had an African nose, the white man only appeared 20 thousand years ago. However fascinating his revelations were, the documentary goes through his biography step by step tediously. Well, it's partly French and certainly French in style. At least the presented scientists wear beautiful African outfits.
THE CURSED ONES
Watchable. Very African in climate and subject - about witchcraft accusations. Could be acted better so as to evoke some emotions, other than that it's very good. I liked the plot.
Sadly its reception in the part of rural Ghana where it was shot showed a lack of understanding, in cities the belief in magic is less prevalent apparently as it was received better.
KATI KATI
Recommended. Very mysterious and puzzling - about the afterlife. With good suspense: Is it the final stage? Who will disappear when? Are they dying... more? Great cinematography.
A UNITED KINGDOM
Recommended. A piece of the history of Botswana and its arduous struggle for independence from Britain. An excellent political thriller written by life. Top-notch lines, twists of action defying belief.
SEARCHING - SHORTS
THE BIRTHMARK MAN
Watchable. About the trauma of having a discoloured face. Well acted which makes it bearable to watch even if you're lucky not to have this problem.
LAND OF MEN
Recommended. An insightful shortie showcasing Libya in ruin and torn in conflicts while loudly denying women their rights. On the one hand you witness women's frustration with the status quo imposed on them in spite of the revolution. On the other you see how this social order has devastated the country and how men, remaining blind to the fact, are reasserting their power where they still can, i.e. over women. All that in just 4 minutes. Made by a man (Kelly Ali).
LOVE, HATE & KETCHUP
Watchable. Supposed to be comical, John Ukpe and Omobola Akinde's acting looks silly rather. It's tongue-in-cheek movie-wise as ketchup is used as blood.
IN MY FATHER'S VILLAGE
Watchable. Enigmatic and about a local feud but the ostracism creates mystery.
UN COUP DE BALAI SUR LE PONT (UPRISING ON A BRIDGE)
Would have walked out if it hadn't been so short. Shoddy animation about an obscure (for Europeans) event in Burkina Faso.
COLOURISM
Watchable. About albinism as if it was a fad of fashion. Quite an issue in African culture but the doc is full of talking heads.
EDEM (SAVED ME)
Watchable. Beautiful, colourful animation with very good music. The story is barely sketched.
HYMENEE
Watchable. Exaggerated acting suggests a comedy yet the topic of an arranged marriage and losing virginity with a stranger is barely funny. At the same time it's a rare occasion for a glimpse behind the veil of that Moroccan tradition.
DEM DEM!
Watchable. Attractive views of a white sandy beach and blue skies don't really compensate for a lack of a plot. It's a short film made by 3 or 4 directors from 2 countries: Senegal and Belgium. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
KEMTIYU, CHEIKH ANTA
Watchable. Senegalese Cheikh Anta Diop, who died 30 years ago, in his lifetime conducted research which led him to two history-shattering conclusions: ancient Egyptians were black and the Sphinx had an African nose, the white man only appeared 20 thousand years ago. However fascinating his revelations were, the documentary goes through his biography step by step tediously. Well, it's partly French and certainly French in style. At least the presented scientists wear beautiful African outfits.
THE CURSED ONES
Watchable. Very African in climate and subject - about witchcraft accusations. Could be acted better so as to evoke some emotions, other than that it's very good. I liked the plot.
Sadly its reception in the part of rural Ghana where it was shot showed a lack of understanding, in cities the belief in magic is less prevalent apparently as it was received better.
KATI KATI
Recommended. Very mysterious and puzzling - about the afterlife. With good suspense: Is it the final stage? Who will disappear when? Are they dying... more? Great cinematography.
A UNITED KINGDOM
Recommended. A piece of the history of Botswana and its arduous struggle for independence from Britain. An excellent political thriller written by life. Top-notch lines, twists of action defying belief.
Monday, 12 June 2017
12TH AFRYKAMERA FESTIVAL
CHILDREN OF AFRICA - SHORTS
SAMEDI CINEMA
Watchable. Interesting civilization-wise - little boys in Senegal earn money writing letters for adults. The story, however, leads to nowhere.
THE SENTINEL
Recommended. A hard-hitting animated tale of child soldiers and the circle of violence.
KHALLINA HAKKA KHIR (WE ARE JUST FINE LIKE THIS)
Recommended. An endearing short film about family ties.
TALES OF NAZIR
Watchable. An educational video where an animated virus teaches what it doesn't like. Well made but about a local problem the notion of which, in addition, is salient in Europe.
BEHIND THE WALL
Watchable. I couldn't really make out what it was about but it was well shot and I hoped I would finally see what was behind the wall.
MARABOUT
Watchable. Shows the mechanism: a marabout has child slave-disciples who steal for him. The policeman could be less stereotypical: he moves and dresses like in film noir which is just over the top.
ዕቅድ ሐ (PLAN C)
Watchable. A heart-warming tale of a girl fighting a bully with her knowledge and making friends with him. Straight in your face but pleasant.
AYA WAL BAHR (AYA GOES TO THE BEACH)
Recommended. A 10-year-old girl working as a servant is shocking enough. It's just heart-wrenching when she's not allowed to go and visit her mum.
MAMAN(S)
Recommended. Legal bigamy through the eyes of a child. An intimate portrayal of a family pattern unknown in Europe.
KIMPA VITA: THE MOTHER OF THE AFRICAN REVOLUTION
Watchable. A history of the Congo in which too many detailed facts mix with the legend. Also a bleak picture of the Catholic Church.
CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAIN
Recommended. Many times the film selection felt like a festival of sexual violence. It's one of several movies of Afrykamera in which it's eminently present. It's like the reversal of recent German "24 Wochen" ("24 Weeks"). In the Ghanaian film the woman gives birth and there's more superstition than knowledge around its disability. The story's powerful all the same. Picturesque landscapes and many beautiful dresses make the story vivid rather than bleak.
COMBOIO DE SAL E ACUCAR (THE TRAIN OF SALT AND SUGAR)
Watchable. I didn't quite get the ins and outs of the political and economic situation background. The people story is straightforward, grim with a light of hope but with a tacky ending, very African however so their audience should like it.
NOEM MY SKOLLIE (CALL ME THIEF)
Watchable. A gangster and prison story so not my favourite. Awfully brutal but, supposedly, inspired by a true story - John W. Fredericks's autobiography. For a bigger part I waited for him to get his back on the guy who'd raped him. That didn't happen. Instead more brutality, with and without rapes, followed.
CHILDREN OF AFRICA - SHORTS
SAMEDI CINEMA
Watchable. Interesting civilization-wise - little boys in Senegal earn money writing letters for adults. The story, however, leads to nowhere.
THE SENTINEL
Recommended. A hard-hitting animated tale of child soldiers and the circle of violence.
KHALLINA HAKKA KHIR (WE ARE JUST FINE LIKE THIS)
Recommended. An endearing short film about family ties.
TALES OF NAZIR
Watchable. An educational video where an animated virus teaches what it doesn't like. Well made but about a local problem the notion of which, in addition, is salient in Europe.
BEHIND THE WALL
Watchable. I couldn't really make out what it was about but it was well shot and I hoped I would finally see what was behind the wall.
MARABOUT
Watchable. Shows the mechanism: a marabout has child slave-disciples who steal for him. The policeman could be less stereotypical: he moves and dresses like in film noir which is just over the top.
ዕቅድ ሐ (PLAN C)
Watchable. A heart-warming tale of a girl fighting a bully with her knowledge and making friends with him. Straight in your face but pleasant.
AYA WAL BAHR (AYA GOES TO THE BEACH)
Recommended. A 10-year-old girl working as a servant is shocking enough. It's just heart-wrenching when she's not allowed to go and visit her mum.
MAMAN(S)
Recommended. Legal bigamy through the eyes of a child. An intimate portrayal of a family pattern unknown in Europe.
KIMPA VITA: THE MOTHER OF THE AFRICAN REVOLUTION
Watchable. A history of the Congo in which too many detailed facts mix with the legend. Also a bleak picture of the Catholic Church.
CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAIN
Recommended. Many times the film selection felt like a festival of sexual violence. It's one of several movies of Afrykamera in which it's eminently present. It's like the reversal of recent German "24 Wochen" ("24 Weeks"). In the Ghanaian film the woman gives birth and there's more superstition than knowledge around its disability. The story's powerful all the same. Picturesque landscapes and many beautiful dresses make the story vivid rather than bleak.
COMBOIO DE SAL E ACUCAR (THE TRAIN OF SALT AND SUGAR)
Watchable. I didn't quite get the ins and outs of the political and economic situation background. The people story is straightforward, grim with a light of hope but with a tacky ending, very African however so their audience should like it.
NOEM MY SKOLLIE (CALL ME THIEF)
Watchable. A gangster and prison story so not my favourite. Awfully brutal but, supposedly, inspired by a true story - John W. Fredericks's autobiography. For a bigger part I waited for him to get his back on the guy who'd raped him. That didn't happen. Instead more brutality, with and without rapes, followed.
Sunday, 11 June 2017
12TH AFRYKAMERA FESTIVAL
LES DEUX VISAGES D'UNE FEMME BAMILEKE (THE TWO FACES OF A BAMILEKE WOMAN)
Watchable. It reminded me a lot of what I learnt in the course of African studies. Now it's just disturbing to me to hear how women are treated in that part of the world. From the film you get the impression the only thing African men do is fertilize women. The documentary would be harder-hitting without the philosphical intrusions.
LES DEUX VISAGES D'UNE FEMME BAMILEKE (THE TWO FACES OF A BAMILEKE WOMAN)
Watchable. It reminded me a lot of what I learnt in the course of African studies. Now it's just disturbing to me to hear how women are treated in that part of the world. From the film you get the impression the only thing African men do is fertilize women. The documentary would be harder-hitting without the philosphical intrusions.
Thursday, 8 June 2017
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
12TH AFRYKAMERA FESTIVAL
AKOUNAK TEDALAT TAHA TAZOUGHAI (RAIN THE COLOUR OF BLUE WITH A LITTLE RED IN IT)
Walked out. Nothing much happens, the music is the same all the time and I'm not a fan of the guitar in the first place.
MALOYA
Watchable. Another film with monotonous music but with a warmer rhythm. Gives some info about cultural changes in Reunion.
I SHOT BI KIDUDE
Walked out. About a singer but with hardly any music. Investigating what's happened to the money of somebody I've never heard of was no fun.
TO CATCH A DREAM
Watchable. A short film preceding "The Traveller". Imperfect technologically yet very mystical and very African - a short film about ghosts.
THE TRAVELLER
Watchable. A fun film with good music, inspiring dancing and bewitching festive outfits - at the Blues Du Fleuve Festival in Senegal. I should go one day. Nothing particularly insightful in the film
though, more like a reportage.
LE GANG DES ANTILLAIS (THE GANG OF FRENCH CARIBBEAN - IN THE UK, GANG OF THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN - IN THE US, THE GANG OF THE CARIBBEAN - IN SA)
Watchable. Quite fun. Inspired by a true story. Evokes memories of living as an immigrant. A bit chaotic.
SUDANESE NIGHT
SUDANIA
Watchable. A brief (5'), nice yet forgettable, impression of Sudan.
NYERKUK
Would have walked out if it hadn't been a short film. About a small boy in the realm of a mafia. Depressing, unclear, with no storyline.
ONE WEEK, TWO DAYS
Would have walked out if it hadn't been a short film. Checking one's own pregnancy test makes more sense than the film.
YALLA KHARTOUM
Walked out. About a local meeting place for artists, showing random people talking about nothing in particular. Boring for anyone who's not an artist based in Khartoum.
AKOUNAK TEDALAT TAHA TAZOUGHAI (RAIN THE COLOUR OF BLUE WITH A LITTLE RED IN IT)
Walked out. Nothing much happens, the music is the same all the time and I'm not a fan of the guitar in the first place.
MALOYA
Watchable. Another film with monotonous music but with a warmer rhythm. Gives some info about cultural changes in Reunion.
I SHOT BI KIDUDE
Walked out. About a singer but with hardly any music. Investigating what's happened to the money of somebody I've never heard of was no fun.
TO CATCH A DREAM
Watchable. A short film preceding "The Traveller". Imperfect technologically yet very mystical and very African - a short film about ghosts.
THE TRAVELLER
Watchable. A fun film with good music, inspiring dancing and bewitching festive outfits - at the Blues Du Fleuve Festival in Senegal. I should go one day. Nothing particularly insightful in the film
though, more like a reportage.
LE GANG DES ANTILLAIS (THE GANG OF FRENCH CARIBBEAN - IN THE UK, GANG OF THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN - IN THE US, THE GANG OF THE CARIBBEAN - IN SA)
Watchable. Quite fun. Inspired by a true story. Evokes memories of living as an immigrant. A bit chaotic.
SUDANESE NIGHT
SUDANIA
Watchable. A brief (5'), nice yet forgettable, impression of Sudan.
NYERKUK
Would have walked out if it hadn't been a short film. About a small boy in the realm of a mafia. Depressing, unclear, with no storyline.
ONE WEEK, TWO DAYS
Would have walked out if it hadn't been a short film. Checking one's own pregnancy test makes more sense than the film.
YALLA KHARTOUM
Walked out. About a local meeting place for artists, showing random people talking about nothing in particular. Boring for anyone who's not an artist based in Khartoum.
Tuesday, 6 June 2017
Finally posting, got a bit behind, no time even to copy my notes...
DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY
VIRTUAL REALITY 7 SHORT FILMS
INSIDE AUSCHWITZ
Watchable. Shot from the air a bit above the ground which makes it less realistic, but presenting the camp throughout. You enter through the gate, listen to survivors' tales and get to see how enormous the area was - the expanse of the camp was something I hadn't realised before.
ENFANT PREMATURE (PRETERM BABYor whatever the title was since they showed a different film than they were supposed to)
Watchable. The only one shot from below. You see parents and doctors from a baby's hospital bed. Being an infant isn't fascinating, especially a premature one, in hospital but good-looking parents and VR soften the watching.
CLOUDS OVER SIDRA
Watchable. Life in a refugee camp looks like in ordinary documentaries but is shown from the point of view of a girl living and going to school in such a place.
PIERWSZY DZIEN W PRACY
Watchable. A unique chance to get inside a mind of a person with Asperger's syndrome, the story ends well and contains an interesting mathematical task but is just a day in the office.
NOTES TO MY FATHER
Watchable. Shown from above which detracts from realism. Contains one terrifying scene when you're surrounded by men leering at you, all that right after you've heard the teenage sex slave's harrowing story.
AFRIPEDIA
Watchable. Contrary to a popular belief Africans aren't good dancers. They just tend to slack. The film is shown from a bit above so you don't really face the dancers either. But it's short and musical.
NOTES ON BLINDNESS - INTO DARKNESS
Recommended. The only interactive one. With beautiful bluish shades on black background. A fascinating focus on sounds and recognising your surroundings with them.
BLACK CODE
Recommended. Subveillance (citizens filming riots) and hacktivism are the most efficient weapons against regimes. When all your phone calls can be tapped, emails read, online chats intercepted, the safest thing to do is to stay high-profile. When invisibility is no longer feasible, visibility becomes a weapon.
THEIR FINEST
Watchable. Not very appealing at first: set during the second world war among scriptwriters of a propaganda war movie, it gains in meaning and quality as you get to know and like the characters. It's British so sarcasm is quality stuff, e.g. to an actor training his voice singing about a kettle: "If I hear about that kettle one more time, I'll find one and shove it up your ass! Sideways!" The serious tones tackle defiance in the face of loved ones' death and the fragility of life, but also age and sex discrimination and how you must take an opportunity when given one. Constant script adjustments are one look behind the curtain of film-making, which looks exactly how Olivia Hetreed once described her work so that's certainly realistic.
12TH AFRYKAMERA FESTIVAL
BANGAOLOGIA - THE SCIENCE OF STYLE
Recommended. Rich in colour and music. Teaches you how much of contemporary western fashion comes from Africa. I wonder if patterned tights and leggins do. They look so. It's also about how Angolans take pride in their look. "African women don't run" so they wear very high heels to strut. African men have their own style too and take great pride in their appearance. Fun to watch.
(L'AFRICAIN QUI VOULAIT VOLER) THE AFRICAN WHO WANTED TO FLY
Recommended. The first picture you see is of a Chinese temple and as the camera lowers you see black men practising kung fu. A Luc Bendza, training them, is the first African wushu master. The movie tells his incredible story of teenage fascination with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan's movies which led to a sports championship and moving to China. It also tells you how to deal with racial abuse: Luc came up to such a guy and told him in Chinese he was a disgrace to his country. The African became so popular, Gabonese press made jokes about him, e.g. there was a comic strip showing the... Chinese-Gabonese border. With Luc placed on the Chinese side. And the border guard saying: "We can train our own karatekas without your help."
GILBERTE'S WORLD
Walked out. An extremeley talented artist's day-to-day and nearly minute-after-minute struggle with a disease?! Her paintings and her flower garden are beautiful. the rest of the film is boring and frustrating.
FAI BEI SOGNI (SWEET DREAMS)
Recommended. First comes a mystery, then a tragedy happens. And you have to deal with the burden for the rest of your life. The movie's deeply sad but it moved me to the core. It has a heavy, dark atmosphere about which you know it veils a secret. On a happier note, it's about "se" ("if") meaning a failure and a "nonostante" ("in spite of") propelling you in life.
DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY
VIRTUAL REALITY 7 SHORT FILMS
INSIDE AUSCHWITZ
Watchable. Shot from the air a bit above the ground which makes it less realistic, but presenting the camp throughout. You enter through the gate, listen to survivors' tales and get to see how enormous the area was - the expanse of the camp was something I hadn't realised before.
ENFANT PREMATURE (PRETERM BABYor whatever the title was since they showed a different film than they were supposed to)
Watchable. The only one shot from below. You see parents and doctors from a baby's hospital bed. Being an infant isn't fascinating, especially a premature one, in hospital but good-looking parents and VR soften the watching.
CLOUDS OVER SIDRA
Watchable. Life in a refugee camp looks like in ordinary documentaries but is shown from the point of view of a girl living and going to school in such a place.
PIERWSZY DZIEN W PRACY
Watchable. A unique chance to get inside a mind of a person with Asperger's syndrome, the story ends well and contains an interesting mathematical task but is just a day in the office.
NOTES TO MY FATHER
Watchable. Shown from above which detracts from realism. Contains one terrifying scene when you're surrounded by men leering at you, all that right after you've heard the teenage sex slave's harrowing story.
AFRIPEDIA
Watchable. Contrary to a popular belief Africans aren't good dancers. They just tend to slack. The film is shown from a bit above so you don't really face the dancers either. But it's short and musical.
NOTES ON BLINDNESS - INTO DARKNESS
Recommended. The only interactive one. With beautiful bluish shades on black background. A fascinating focus on sounds and recognising your surroundings with them.
BLACK CODE
Recommended. Subveillance (citizens filming riots) and hacktivism are the most efficient weapons against regimes. When all your phone calls can be tapped, emails read, online chats intercepted, the safest thing to do is to stay high-profile. When invisibility is no longer feasible, visibility becomes a weapon.
THEIR FINEST
Watchable. Not very appealing at first: set during the second world war among scriptwriters of a propaganda war movie, it gains in meaning and quality as you get to know and like the characters. It's British so sarcasm is quality stuff, e.g. to an actor training his voice singing about a kettle: "If I hear about that kettle one more time, I'll find one and shove it up your ass! Sideways!" The serious tones tackle defiance in the face of loved ones' death and the fragility of life, but also age and sex discrimination and how you must take an opportunity when given one. Constant script adjustments are one look behind the curtain of film-making, which looks exactly how Olivia Hetreed once described her work so that's certainly realistic.
12TH AFRYKAMERA FESTIVAL
BANGAOLOGIA - THE SCIENCE OF STYLE
Recommended. Rich in colour and music. Teaches you how much of contemporary western fashion comes from Africa. I wonder if patterned tights and leggins do. They look so. It's also about how Angolans take pride in their look. "African women don't run" so they wear very high heels to strut. African men have their own style too and take great pride in their appearance. Fun to watch.
(L'AFRICAIN QUI VOULAIT VOLER) THE AFRICAN WHO WANTED TO FLY
Recommended. The first picture you see is of a Chinese temple and as the camera lowers you see black men practising kung fu. A Luc Bendza, training them, is the first African wushu master. The movie tells his incredible story of teenage fascination with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan's movies which led to a sports championship and moving to China. It also tells you how to deal with racial abuse: Luc came up to such a guy and told him in Chinese he was a disgrace to his country. The African became so popular, Gabonese press made jokes about him, e.g. there was a comic strip showing the... Chinese-Gabonese border. With Luc placed on the Chinese side. And the border guard saying: "We can train our own karatekas without your help."
GILBERTE'S WORLD
Walked out. An extremeley talented artist's day-to-day and nearly minute-after-minute struggle with a disease?! Her paintings and her flower garden are beautiful. the rest of the film is boring and frustrating.
FAI BEI SOGNI (SWEET DREAMS)
Recommended. First comes a mystery, then a tragedy happens. And you have to deal with the burden for the rest of your life. The movie's deeply sad but it moved me to the core. It has a heavy, dark atmosphere about which you know it veils a secret. On a happier note, it's about "se" ("if") meaning a failure and a "nonostante" ("in spite of") propelling you in life.
Saturday, 27 May 2017
DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY
Other meetings and debates were less productive. Samira Elagoz, who looked normal, turned out to be weird. Her privacy border is set differently to most people. Showing herself having sex, with a stranger, in a film didn't cross her intimacy barrier, showing some conversations did. The "free lunch" was also peculiar - Polish economists didn't get what unconditional basic income was supposed to mean. They associated it with a social programme similar to the current 500+. Pathetic.
I'm about a week behind with posts but it's coming, after the weekend.
Other meetings and debates were less productive. Samira Elagoz, who looked normal, turned out to be weird. Her privacy border is set differently to most people. Showing herself having sex, with a stranger, in a film didn't cross her intimacy barrier, showing some conversations did. The "free lunch" was also peculiar - Polish economists didn't get what unconditional basic income was supposed to mean. They associated it with a social programme similar to the current 500+. Pathetic.
I'm about a week behind with posts but it's coming, after the weekend.
Friday, 26 May 2017
DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY
FALLEN FLOWERS THICK LEAVES
Watchable. About Chinese women discovering their sexuality. In more communist times in China all individualism was forbidden, including caring for one's own sexual pleasure. Now, whether young or old women, they have to learn it. There's little about their relationships here, though it strikes how rational the choices are for both parties each time. The camera just follows the ladies. Not much background is given.
TAHQIQ FEL DJENNA (INVESTIGATING PARADISE)
Watchable. With some humour it shows how the 72 houris awaiting men in paradise, which are mentioned neither in the Quran nor the Sunna, are used to dupe men into submission to tyranny. I personally most liked the male feminist who observed that there's no freedom without women's rights. If women are expected to be submissive, there's no freedom in the society as well. The overlong documentary leaves the viewer with a rumour that the Wahhabis got it wrong: "There are no 72 houris. There's one. She's 72."
FALLEN FLOWERS THICK LEAVES
Watchable. About Chinese women discovering their sexuality. In more communist times in China all individualism was forbidden, including caring for one's own sexual pleasure. Now, whether young or old women, they have to learn it. There's little about their relationships here, though it strikes how rational the choices are for both parties each time. The camera just follows the ladies. Not much background is given.
TAHQIQ FEL DJENNA (INVESTIGATING PARADISE)
Watchable. With some humour it shows how the 72 houris awaiting men in paradise, which are mentioned neither in the Quran nor the Sunna, are used to dupe men into submission to tyranny. I personally most liked the male feminist who observed that there's no freedom without women's rights. If women are expected to be submissive, there's no freedom in the society as well. The overlong documentary leaves the viewer with a rumour that the Wahhabis got it wrong: "There are no 72 houris. There's one. She's 72."
Thursday, 25 May 2017
DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY
Meeting with Cicciolina
Cicciolina came in a bright red fishtail dress with sequins, a wreath on her head and a teddy bear. The room was so packed she was answering questions standing. She talked about her plight for safe love-making in parks and for animal rights. She let a few guys from the audience kiss her. She was quite fat, with some minor lines on her face, heavily made up. When I asked about plastic surgeries, she only told me about her tits and about how proud of them she was. A girl studying at the Academy of Fine Arts and "shown tits all the time" asked Cicciolina to show hers. She replied it was prohibited, to which the girl exclaimed: "But it always was!" Then the star agreed to show them outside. We waited till she was leaving and... yes, she did! I admit her surgeon had done an amazing job creating large breasts with small, light-colour, delicate nipples. I have to say I expected the porn star to be more scandalizing. Instead, she turned out to be warm-hearted, open and cuddly.
Meeting with Cicciolina
Cicciolina came in a bright red fishtail dress with sequins, a wreath on her head and a teddy bear. The room was so packed she was answering questions standing. She talked about her plight for safe love-making in parks and for animal rights. She let a few guys from the audience kiss her. She was quite fat, with some minor lines on her face, heavily made up. When I asked about plastic surgeries, she only told me about her tits and about how proud of them she was. A girl studying at the Academy of Fine Arts and "shown tits all the time" asked Cicciolina to show hers. She replied it was prohibited, to which the girl exclaimed: "But it always was!" Then the star agreed to show them outside. We waited till she was leaving and... yes, she did! I admit her surgeon had done an amazing job creating large breasts with small, light-colour, delicate nipples. I have to say I expected the porn star to be more scandalizing. Instead, she turned out to be warm-hearted, open and cuddly.
Wednesday, 24 May 2017
DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY
PRE-CRIME
Watchable. The future of policing is prevention and faster, more effective investigation. The documentary involves like a thriller. The algorithms whose work it presents are imperfect (but are humans any better?) and seen as victimizing. The edge of the film lies not in questioning them but showing how it works and what is feasible. It's a proof that science fiction is becoming our reality. It shows our very likely future of 5-10 years to come.
TERAZ I W GODZINE SMIERCI
Recommended. About the power of prayer throughout recent history: from post-war Austria, overthrowing President Marcos in the Philippines, through the US war in Afghanistan, the Ukrainian revolution in Maidan, the Rwandan war, Boko Haram terror in Nigeria to a Brussels terrorist attack - not in such order or chronology but such a scope. The documentary is staunchly Catholic. The only explanation of some lucky escapes given here is the power of the Rosary. I see it in more secular terms, as the power of faith and religious experience. What struck me was a Rwandan war survivor's testimony in which she says how, in the moment of religious ecstasy, the tiny bathroom she and a few other women had been hiding in for 3 months suddently started smelling beautifully. It's very similar to what a Polish jihadist said in "Insha Allah. Krew meczennikow" ("Insha Allah. Blood of the Martyrs") about an ISIS martyr's blood. To me it's a proof that our imagination can overwhelm our senses. The Boko Haram terrorist who let a pious Catholic woman free was no miracle either. Christians and Muslims are both People of the Book and true, peaceful Muslims understand that. The notion that it's secularism that's the threat, not terrorism is some food for thought. The film has power, regardless of your interpretation.
PRE-CRIME
Watchable. The future of policing is prevention and faster, more effective investigation. The documentary involves like a thriller. The algorithms whose work it presents are imperfect (but are humans any better?) and seen as victimizing. The edge of the film lies not in questioning them but showing how it works and what is feasible. It's a proof that science fiction is becoming our reality. It shows our very likely future of 5-10 years to come.
TERAZ I W GODZINE SMIERCI
Recommended. About the power of prayer throughout recent history: from post-war Austria, overthrowing President Marcos in the Philippines, through the US war in Afghanistan, the Ukrainian revolution in Maidan, the Rwandan war, Boko Haram terror in Nigeria to a Brussels terrorist attack - not in such order or chronology but such a scope. The documentary is staunchly Catholic. The only explanation of some lucky escapes given here is the power of the Rosary. I see it in more secular terms, as the power of faith and religious experience. What struck me was a Rwandan war survivor's testimony in which she says how, in the moment of religious ecstasy, the tiny bathroom she and a few other women had been hiding in for 3 months suddently started smelling beautifully. It's very similar to what a Polish jihadist said in "Insha Allah. Krew meczennikow" ("Insha Allah. Blood of the Martyrs") about an ISIS martyr's blood. To me it's a proof that our imagination can overwhelm our senses. The Boko Haram terrorist who let a pious Catholic woman free was no miracle either. Christians and Muslims are both People of the Book and true, peaceful Muslims understand that. The notion that it's secularism that's the threat, not terrorism is some food for thought. The film has power, regardless of your interpretation.
Monday, 22 May 2017
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: SALAZAR'S REVENGE AKA DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES AT IMAX 3D
Recommended. 2 hours 33 minutes of pure fun. "I'm not looking for any trouble." "What a horrid life it is!" Two new charming actors: Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites and Paul McCartney as Uncle Jack accompany the old good ones. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow of course is the star here. He feels like an old buddy with his drunkenness, specific humour, advice on women and several lucky escapes. Fantastic 3D CGIs immerse you in the Caribbean Sea (Australian Gold Coast plays the part). Brilliant music, including the theme re-worked a number of times and sounding over the credits at the very end of which you get rewarded with one scene extra. All pirates, board this ship!
Recommended. 2 hours 33 minutes of pure fun. "I'm not looking for any trouble." "What a horrid life it is!" Two new charming actors: Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites and Paul McCartney as Uncle Jack accompany the old good ones. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow of course is the star here. He feels like an old buddy with his drunkenness, specific humour, advice on women and several lucky escapes. Fantastic 3D CGIs immerse you in the Caribbean Sea (Australian Gold Coast plays the part). Brilliant music, including the theme re-worked a number of times and sounding over the credits at the very end of which you get rewarded with one scene extra. All pirates, board this ship!
Thursday, 18 May 2017
ALIEN: COVENANT
Watchable. It's a sequel of a prequel. While I remember "Prometheus" as outstanding, "Alien: Covenant" is just a time gap filler, just like "Alien" was ground-breaking and "Aliens" were no match. When you see the title on the screen, there's no semi-colon so that implies an "alien covenant" - an agreement between non-humans and the subsequent plot is quite in line with this interpretation. It starts with "I am your father" and after the conversation comes the hard SF of the spacecraft. The middle is some mumbo jumbo on the planet where the escapees the Prometheus crash site (doctor Elisabeth Shaw and android David) landed in the Engineers' spaceship. Shot in New South Wales, Australia and totally deprived of the beautiful Icelandic landscapes and the atmosphere of "Prometheus". The highlight is the personality/software clash between the two androids. The movie reveals plot elements too fast, giving no time to feel any tension. The intrigue in the very ending is really good. All in all, it's just a filling, lacks the force of the real tooth.
MISS SLOANE
Recommended. An excellent political thriller. "Lobbying is a nice word for what?", as a character in the movie asks. The trailer announces a few surprises, including one after the trump card's been drawn. It fulfills the promise. A surpise follows another, the tension never releases and there are twists and turns you can't foresee. Jake Lacy memorably features as Forde.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - MARATHON WITH ALIEN WITH PREMIERE
PROMETHEUS
Watchable. While I no longer felt the admiration, the awe or the tension I did the first time, I'm still impressed with the completeness of the created world.
ALIEN: COVENANT
Watchable. In the ending of "Prometheus" doctor Shaw and the android take off to the planet the Engineers came from. This film leaves a gap again. The events take place 10 years after the escape, leaving the mystery of the missing time period. While David, the immortal android, recounts the landing or the crash, we know he's a lying beast so the puzzle remains. The film makes perfect sense filling the story but it's little more than a missing link.
Still, these two, recent instalments, are at least eventful and well-paced in comparison to the old ones:
ALIEN - DIRECTOR'S CUT
Watchable. Feels archaic and lacks the tension of the regular, theatrical release. While blood dripping onto Parker from the ventilation shaft is a nice addition, several scenes have been changed which somehow interferes with the dynamics of the movie. It may also be just me having seen so much more modern space opera since that now it makes no impression on me.
ALIENS - DIRECTOR'S CUT
Watchable. The hearing at the beginning of the film is an interesting dramatic edition. Ripley daughter's death is played too sentimentally. The colony view is run-of-the-mill with the children played too sentimentally again, completely needlessly added. The troopers' introduction is exaggeratedly rough. The conversation about having children, relaccing Ripley daughter's death is tacky.
The movie's mostly interesting in the term of technological advancements between the 1979 "Alien" and 21st century "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant". The fight part of the film is as boring as in the original.
No post-credits scenes in either of the two series.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: SALAZAR'S REVENGE
I've seen it already. But, due to the publication ban, my review will appear on 22nd May.
Watchable. It's a sequel of a prequel. While I remember "Prometheus" as outstanding, "Alien: Covenant" is just a time gap filler, just like "Alien" was ground-breaking and "Aliens" were no match. When you see the title on the screen, there's no semi-colon so that implies an "alien covenant" - an agreement between non-humans and the subsequent plot is quite in line with this interpretation. It starts with "I am your father" and after the conversation comes the hard SF of the spacecraft. The middle is some mumbo jumbo on the planet where the escapees the Prometheus crash site (doctor Elisabeth Shaw and android David) landed in the Engineers' spaceship. Shot in New South Wales, Australia and totally deprived of the beautiful Icelandic landscapes and the atmosphere of "Prometheus". The highlight is the personality/software clash between the two androids. The movie reveals plot elements too fast, giving no time to feel any tension. The intrigue in the very ending is really good. All in all, it's just a filling, lacks the force of the real tooth.
MISS SLOANE
Recommended. An excellent political thriller. "Lobbying is a nice word for what?", as a character in the movie asks. The trailer announces a few surprises, including one after the trump card's been drawn. It fulfills the promise. A surpise follows another, the tension never releases and there are twists and turns you can't foresee. Jake Lacy memorably features as Forde.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - MARATHON WITH ALIEN WITH PREMIERE
PROMETHEUS
Watchable. While I no longer felt the admiration, the awe or the tension I did the first time, I'm still impressed with the completeness of the created world.
ALIEN: COVENANT
Watchable. In the ending of "Prometheus" doctor Shaw and the android take off to the planet the Engineers came from. This film leaves a gap again. The events take place 10 years after the escape, leaving the mystery of the missing time period. While David, the immortal android, recounts the landing or the crash, we know he's a lying beast so the puzzle remains. The film makes perfect sense filling the story but it's little more than a missing link.
Still, these two, recent instalments, are at least eventful and well-paced in comparison to the old ones:
ALIEN - DIRECTOR'S CUT
Watchable. Feels archaic and lacks the tension of the regular, theatrical release. While blood dripping onto Parker from the ventilation shaft is a nice addition, several scenes have been changed which somehow interferes with the dynamics of the movie. It may also be just me having seen so much more modern space opera since that now it makes no impression on me.
ALIENS - DIRECTOR'S CUT
Watchable. The hearing at the beginning of the film is an interesting dramatic edition. Ripley daughter's death is played too sentimentally. The colony view is run-of-the-mill with the children played too sentimentally again, completely needlessly added. The troopers' introduction is exaggeratedly rough. The conversation about having children, relaccing Ripley daughter's death is tacky.
The movie's mostly interesting in the term of technological advancements between the 1979 "Alien" and 21st century "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant". The fight part of the film is as boring as in the original.
No post-credits scenes in either of the two series.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: SALAZAR'S REVENGE
I've seen it already. But, due to the publication ban, my review will appear on 22nd May.
Sunday, 14 May 2017
TELLE MERE, TELLE FILLE
Watchable for the second time. Remarkably well acted, not only by the leads but also by featured extras, e.g. the woman at a bus stop. Cheerful music, humour, e.g. the scene where the mother and the daughter sleep together in weird positions, light-hearted, smart and very pleasant. Maybe it would be funnier with more surprising situations but the way it is it's still a real feel-good movie.
Watchable for the second time. Remarkably well acted, not only by the leads but also by featured extras, e.g. the woman at a bus stop. Cheerful music, humour, e.g. the scene where the mother and the daughter sleep together in weird positions, light-hearted, smart and very pleasant. Maybe it would be funnier with more surprising situations but the way it is it's still a real feel-good movie.
Wednesday, 10 May 2017
GWIAZDY
Watchable. A letdown. Hiring a Playboy model (Karolina Szymczak) to show her tits doesn't make a movie. Neither does dyeing Sebastian Fabijanski blonde to make him hot. I loathe the recent Polish obsession with making everything historic on the verge of political. A commentary is usually annoying too. I only enjoyed the film being in Silesian accent. Well imitated by non-Silesians.
GET OUT
Recommended. Full of mystery. For a larger part you're not sure if it's just the black guy feeling out of place in a posh white house or whether something's wrong for real. Everything you hear takes on a new, sinister meaning once you learn what's going on. Are Oscar nominations possible for such a movie? Because Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel and Lakeith Lee Stanfield well deserve them. The title is shown again at the end - I just loved it.
After reading other critics' opinions I feel compelled to add that yes, the movie is about modern-day racism but this isn't why I recommend it. I just find it to be a superintelligent thriller. At the same time it's based on the separation of cultures. America has two histories, two cultures and two languages: black and white. A white person would abbreviate Andrew to Andy, not "Dre", like the black guy in the movie. Music listened to, clothing worn, accent spoken as well as the history, for some of dominance and for the others of slavery, set the two realities apart. Before the film it would have been to me inconceivable to see a china cup, for me cosy and homey, as a symbol of oppression. It's these parallel worlds of blacks and of whites that have made the script possible and so convincing.
"Get Out" seen courtesy of Cinema City - as I will state over and over again, the cinema with the comfiest seats in Warsaw.
Only after you've seen the movie, here's a thorough, sociological, full of spoilers explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gQP4ffowCY&feature=em-uploademail
Watchable. A letdown. Hiring a Playboy model (Karolina Szymczak) to show her tits doesn't make a movie. Neither does dyeing Sebastian Fabijanski blonde to make him hot. I loathe the recent Polish obsession with making everything historic on the verge of political. A commentary is usually annoying too. I only enjoyed the film being in Silesian accent. Well imitated by non-Silesians.
GET OUT
Recommended. Full of mystery. For a larger part you're not sure if it's just the black guy feeling out of place in a posh white house or whether something's wrong for real. Everything you hear takes on a new, sinister meaning once you learn what's going on. Are Oscar nominations possible for such a movie? Because Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel and Lakeith Lee Stanfield well deserve them. The title is shown again at the end - I just loved it.
After reading other critics' opinions I feel compelled to add that yes, the movie is about modern-day racism but this isn't why I recommend it. I just find it to be a superintelligent thriller. At the same time it's based on the separation of cultures. America has two histories, two cultures and two languages: black and white. A white person would abbreviate Andrew to Andy, not "Dre", like the black guy in the movie. Music listened to, clothing worn, accent spoken as well as the history, for some of dominance and for the others of slavery, set the two realities apart. Before the film it would have been to me inconceivable to see a china cup, for me cosy and homey, as a symbol of oppression. It's these parallel worlds of blacks and of whites that have made the script possible and so convincing.
"Get Out" seen courtesy of Cinema City - as I will state over and over again, the cinema with the comfiest seats in Warsaw.
Only after you've seen the movie, here's a thorough, sociological, full of spoilers explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gQP4ffowCY&feature=em-uploademail
Monday, 8 May 2017
THE CIRCLE
Recommended. Realistic SF if I can say so. Or more on the science part rather than fiction. It's a near future possibility grounded in our present: Facebook, connected service accounts, electoral registers, self-driving cars being developed and, above all, privacy concerns. "Privacy was a temporary thing and now it's over". Filmed entirely in California so it's mostly sun-drenched yet bleak. Even the initial credits have circular typography. No scenes during or after them.
DEEP
Watchable. It attempts to be "Finding Nemo" or "Finding Dory" but it fails badly. Action gets interrupted with bad music a few times. The whole film is a rubbish bin of motifs from other productions: Deep is an heir to the throne who needs to save his community, there are lots of sea creatures and "cool" dialogues, a vampire, zombie fish, evil scientists are trying to destroy the world, NYC is sunk like in "A. I. Artificial Intelligence". Deep in the Polish dubbing has an annoying child-like voice. I was mostly curious if the "white whale" would be as lovely as in "Finding Dory". It's not. It's grey and wrinkly but pleasantly not child-like at least.
Podlasie Slow Fest is an interesting upcoming film festival to take place in Supraśl over nearly 3 months from July to September. Apart from movies, there will be cooking workshops, e.g. making herb pickles and outings to see the rut of roe-deer and red deer.
Recommended. Realistic SF if I can say so. Or more on the science part rather than fiction. It's a near future possibility grounded in our present: Facebook, connected service accounts, electoral registers, self-driving cars being developed and, above all, privacy concerns. "Privacy was a temporary thing and now it's over". Filmed entirely in California so it's mostly sun-drenched yet bleak. Even the initial credits have circular typography. No scenes during or after them.
DEEP
Watchable. It attempts to be "Finding Nemo" or "Finding Dory" but it fails badly. Action gets interrupted with bad music a few times. The whole film is a rubbish bin of motifs from other productions: Deep is an heir to the throne who needs to save his community, there are lots of sea creatures and "cool" dialogues, a vampire, zombie fish, evil scientists are trying to destroy the world, NYC is sunk like in "A. I. Artificial Intelligence". Deep in the Polish dubbing has an annoying child-like voice. I was mostly curious if the "white whale" would be as lovely as in "Finding Dory". It's not. It's grey and wrinkly but pleasantly not child-like at least.
Podlasie Slow Fest is an interesting upcoming film festival to take place in Supraśl over nearly 3 months from July to September. Apart from movies, there will be cooking workshops, e.g. making herb pickles and outings to see the rut of roe-deer and red deer.
Sunday, 7 May 2017
OZZY
Recommended. Unimissable for all dog lovers, even adult like me. Caricature-like animation with all characters having the upper half of the body bigger than the legs or paws and clearly drawn edges makes it cute and perfect even for child audience. The story's heart-wrenching and complex - the smallest children in the audience didn't last till the end. Good jokes, e.g. advertising a dog: "He even knows Powerpoint", about a chatty owner and his quiet dog: "Now I understand why he doesn't talk" or "There's nothing like burnt toast" (I'm translating from the Polish dubbing back into English so please forgive me any inaccuracies), in the beginning and in the ending, lots of heartache and tension for the larger, middle, part. But it all ends well and the villains get punished.
I saw it at my local Cinema City - the cinema with the most comfy seats in Warsaw and perfect picture and sound.
Recommended. Unimissable for all dog lovers, even adult like me. Caricature-like animation with all characters having the upper half of the body bigger than the legs or paws and clearly drawn edges makes it cute and perfect even for child audience. The story's heart-wrenching and complex - the smallest children in the audience didn't last till the end. Good jokes, e.g. advertising a dog: "He even knows Powerpoint", about a chatty owner and his quiet dog: "Now I understand why he doesn't talk" or "There's nothing like burnt toast" (I'm translating from the Polish dubbing back into English so please forgive me any inaccuracies), in the beginning and in the ending, lots of heartache and tension for the larger, middle, part. But it all ends well and the villains get punished.
I saw it at my local Cinema City - the cinema with the most comfy seats in Warsaw and perfect picture and sound.
Saturday, 6 May 2017
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 - IMAX 3D
Watchable. Much better than part one. Mind-blowing 3D made me cringe a number of times. Ego's Planet looks amazing. Even the initial scene on Earth puts you right in the middle of action with top-notch picture and sound. Young Kurt Russell appears too. At some point you see a multispecies bar surrounded by a wintry landscape resembling "Star Wars" but as a whole it's tongue-in-cheek and aimed at teenagers. There's more of a plot in this part. Unfortunately the guardians' banter, jokes and most of other dialogues are as vulgar and primitive as in the first instalment. Chris Pratt looks awfully fat. With several films adding post-credits scenes nowadays, Marvel couldn't be worse so there are quite a few scenes during the credits, announcing a sequel, and one at the very end. Also, Stan Lee appears once in the movie and once afterwards.
The trailer of the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" looks extremely promising with its perfect 3D and ingenious plot. The trailer of "Thor: Ragnarok" is visually appealing too.
SONG TO SONG
Watchable. It's long, slow and about nothing but shot in a somehow melodious way. Interiors play a role here: a vast villa with a pool gets juxtaposed with a small flat with taps and tiles in the kitchen looking like gold. A hot actress (Bérénice Marlohe) in a minor role.
LITTLE MEN
Watchable. A superficial tale about different approaches (manipulative, straightforward, legal, a silent protest) to conflict resolution. The 13-year-olds' friendship makes you analyse how it's different among adults when money comes into play. One of the kids (Michael Barbieri) acts in an annoyingly exaggerated way.
Watchable. Much better than part one. Mind-blowing 3D made me cringe a number of times. Ego's Planet looks amazing. Even the initial scene on Earth puts you right in the middle of action with top-notch picture and sound. Young Kurt Russell appears too. At some point you see a multispecies bar surrounded by a wintry landscape resembling "Star Wars" but as a whole it's tongue-in-cheek and aimed at teenagers. There's more of a plot in this part. Unfortunately the guardians' banter, jokes and most of other dialogues are as vulgar and primitive as in the first instalment. Chris Pratt looks awfully fat. With several films adding post-credits scenes nowadays, Marvel couldn't be worse so there are quite a few scenes during the credits, announcing a sequel, and one at the very end. Also, Stan Lee appears once in the movie and once afterwards.
The trailer of the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" looks extremely promising with its perfect 3D and ingenious plot. The trailer of "Thor: Ragnarok" is visually appealing too.
SONG TO SONG
Watchable. It's long, slow and about nothing but shot in a somehow melodious way. Interiors play a role here: a vast villa with a pool gets juxtaposed with a small flat with taps and tiles in the kitchen looking like gold. A hot actress (Bérénice Marlohe) in a minor role.
LITTLE MEN
Watchable. A superficial tale about different approaches (manipulative, straightforward, legal, a silent protest) to conflict resolution. The 13-year-olds' friendship makes you analyse how it's different among adults when money comes into play. One of the kids (Michael Barbieri) acts in an annoyingly exaggerated way.
Thursday, 27 April 2017
BUTTERFLY KISSES
Watchable. Shot in black and white which reflects the dreariness of council estate teens' lives pretty well. Quite predictable. You know where one guy's craving for sex combined with bitter disillusionment will lead. Stereotypical portrayal of girls as well. Annoyingly it's not clear what he actually did. Reasonably true to life in the depiction of such an environment though.
Watchable. Shot in black and white which reflects the dreariness of council estate teens' lives pretty well. Quite predictable. You know where one guy's craving for sex combined with bitter disillusionment will lead. Stereotypical portrayal of girls as well. Annoyingly it's not clear what he actually did. Reasonably true to life in the depiction of such an environment though.
Wednesday, 26 April 2017
KIKI, EL AMOR SE HACE (KIKI, LOVE TO LOVE)
Watchable. Oh my gosh! What were they thinking remaking "The Little Death" where even the original was stupid and boring! Well, the Spanish version has at least two better looking actors and one actress sexier than in the American one and absolutely fantastic music at the very end (the final scene and the credits).
Watchable. Oh my gosh! What were they thinking remaking "The Little Death" where even the original was stupid and boring! Well, the Spanish version has at least two better looking actors and one actress sexier than in the American one and absolutely fantastic music at the very end (the final scene and the credits).
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Monday, 24 April 2017
SZATAN KAZAL TANCZYC (SATAN SAID DANCE)
Watchable. It's like an orgiastic party: pretty girls (Magdalena Berus, Hanna Koczewska, Marta Nieradkiewicz), cool guys, lots of nudity with or without sex, plenty of alcohol and drugs. I guess the director must be bisexual. A number of times the film appears to be a commercial of the no-longer-existent Nowa Jerozolima club in Warsaw but there's little techno in the film and in fact a great techno tune - energetic "Year Of The Dragon" by DJ Akme - features only in one, final scene. The story and the music start in the 80s. Oops, did I say 'final scene'? In the cinematic version it is. But the fun thing is it's composed of 54 two-minute pieces which can be arranged at random to create the same story. There are references to the director, Katarzyna Roslaniec's previous "Bejbi Blues" (the commentary that nowadays having a baby is in fashion is to the point) and to "Il racconto dei racconti" ("Tale of Tales") - no more depth. It also ridicules contemporary mothers who want to have a baby and maintain their earlier lifestyle at the same time. I wonder if the movie will ever get an interactive release enabling viewers to mix and match the 54 pieces.
BIKINI BLUE
Watchable. Amazing cinematography. Each frame looks like a painting. Lianne Harvey has something Scarlett Johanssonish about her look. Tomasz Kot imitates a British accent pretty well. The story's secondary to the picutres. I learnt the Martians, whose invasion scared people in the 50s, symbolised Soviets - the Red Planet was communism. But that's just on the margin of the film.
FLASKEPOST FRA P (DEPARTMENT Q: A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH)
Watchable. A very good thriller, with the right dose of tension, likeable police and a perfect balance between action and quiet moments. Just a couple of scenes don't make sense, e.g. a police office running with a gun in his hand and, even worse, dropping it. Luckily unique Danish landscapes play a large part in the story and compensate for those movie-intended inadequacies.
WEGIERSKA WIOSNA FILMOW 2017 (HUNGARIAN FILM SPRING 2017)
EGYMASRA NEZVE (ANOTHER WAY)
Watchable. Early on you hear that the shot woman wanted to murder the one in hospital so you expect a crime story. Then it gets political, in addition historical - Hungary in communist times, finally the two women, including the married one, have an affair. So that got me intrigued enough to continue watching. However, both the script and the acting are so toned down nothing reflects the supposedly violent emotions.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR
JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT'S LAST WORD
Watchable. Based on a documentary so, indirectly, on facts. Provides no scares. The court case is the highlight. Mike Doyle plays the best-looking guy on the jury, Andrew Redman so doesn't get killed too early. Intriguing, makes you wonder how they really died. It's just not scary enough for a horror and with too many scaring attempts for a fact-based drama.
DANS LA FORET (INTO THE FOREST)
Watchable. Psychological rather than a horror and very mysterious. A father takes his sons to a forest where he plays a weird game with them. The horror part works out the worst, they should have limited the story to the mystery which is truly gripping.
BODOM (LAKE BODOM)
Watchable. A slasher movie about teenagers in the woods? Yes, but with good twists and turns. It plays with the genre bringing a puzzle, tension and surprises. A few motifs are still worn out, though, and the ending, while not bad, is not as meticulously enacted as the preceding story.
FEBRUARY
Recommended. Mystery without scares. But the mystery stands out and the story is like nothing before.
WEGIERSKA WIOSNA FILMOW 2017 (HUNGARIAN FILM SPRING 2017)
A MARTFUI REM (STRANGLED)
Watchable. A very involving crime movie, about a serial killer, where the story of the investigation unfortunately gets diluted by the communist political background.
Watchable. It's like an orgiastic party: pretty girls (Magdalena Berus, Hanna Koczewska, Marta Nieradkiewicz), cool guys, lots of nudity with or without sex, plenty of alcohol and drugs. I guess the director must be bisexual. A number of times the film appears to be a commercial of the no-longer-existent Nowa Jerozolima club in Warsaw but there's little techno in the film and in fact a great techno tune - energetic "Year Of The Dragon" by DJ Akme - features only in one, final scene. The story and the music start in the 80s. Oops, did I say 'final scene'? In the cinematic version it is. But the fun thing is it's composed of 54 two-minute pieces which can be arranged at random to create the same story. There are references to the director, Katarzyna Roslaniec's previous "Bejbi Blues" (the commentary that nowadays having a baby is in fashion is to the point) and to "Il racconto dei racconti" ("Tale of Tales") - no more depth. It also ridicules contemporary mothers who want to have a baby and maintain their earlier lifestyle at the same time. I wonder if the movie will ever get an interactive release enabling viewers to mix and match the 54 pieces.
BIKINI BLUE
Watchable. Amazing cinematography. Each frame looks like a painting. Lianne Harvey has something Scarlett Johanssonish about her look. Tomasz Kot imitates a British accent pretty well. The story's secondary to the picutres. I learnt the Martians, whose invasion scared people in the 50s, symbolised Soviets - the Red Planet was communism. But that's just on the margin of the film.
FLASKEPOST FRA P (DEPARTMENT Q: A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH)
Watchable. A very good thriller, with the right dose of tension, likeable police and a perfect balance between action and quiet moments. Just a couple of scenes don't make sense, e.g. a police office running with a gun in his hand and, even worse, dropping it. Luckily unique Danish landscapes play a large part in the story and compensate for those movie-intended inadequacies.
WEGIERSKA WIOSNA FILMOW 2017 (HUNGARIAN FILM SPRING 2017)
EGYMASRA NEZVE (ANOTHER WAY)
Watchable. Early on you hear that the shot woman wanted to murder the one in hospital so you expect a crime story. Then it gets political, in addition historical - Hungary in communist times, finally the two women, including the married one, have an affair. So that got me intrigued enough to continue watching. However, both the script and the acting are so toned down nothing reflects the supposedly violent emotions.
NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE NIGHT OF HORROR
JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT'S LAST WORD
Watchable. Based on a documentary so, indirectly, on facts. Provides no scares. The court case is the highlight. Mike Doyle plays the best-looking guy on the jury, Andrew Redman so doesn't get killed too early. Intriguing, makes you wonder how they really died. It's just not scary enough for a horror and with too many scaring attempts for a fact-based drama.
DANS LA FORET (INTO THE FOREST)
Watchable. Psychological rather than a horror and very mysterious. A father takes his sons to a forest where he plays a weird game with them. The horror part works out the worst, they should have limited the story to the mystery which is truly gripping.
BODOM (LAKE BODOM)
Watchable. A slasher movie about teenagers in the woods? Yes, but with good twists and turns. It plays with the genre bringing a puzzle, tension and surprises. A few motifs are still worn out, though, and the ending, while not bad, is not as meticulously enacted as the preceding story.
FEBRUARY
Recommended. Mystery without scares. But the mystery stands out and the story is like nothing before.
WEGIERSKA WIOSNA FILMOW 2017 (HUNGARIAN FILM SPRING 2017)
A MARTFUI REM (STRANGLED)
Watchable. A very involving crime movie, about a serial killer, where the story of the investigation unfortunately gets diluted by the communist political background.
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