Remedy

From the very beginning, Jerry Bruckheimer's handwriting is very identifiable – whether it's the colossally impressive camera filters, or Michael Bay-esque camera movements (the kind of cosmic/aerial ones that take in the characters from every possible angle), or the punchy piano tones in "escalated" situations, or the overall impression of pomposity. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, rather it's a kind of constant for which Jerry Bruckheimer's productions are fairly easily recognizable. You can't deny the technical precision, the brilliant editing, the awesome sound, and as I mentioned, the overall visuals are really polished to the last detail. Denzel Washington is great as always, Tony Scott adheres to his standard. It's far from being a classic, but shines as not completely stupid entertainment.

An average investigative action spectacle, the highlight of which is a cool shootout in a museum. Unfortunately, I found Clive Owen's "satisfaction" at the end unconvincing, which ties into the biggest problem I’ve had with this Tykwer work – the unclear or implausible motivations of the characters (and that's largely Tykwer's fault, because as we all know, action scenes are usually handled by professionals interested in punchiness and action, in such cases it is up to the director to work with the characters and try to give some credibility to their characters). Technically there's nothing to fault here, but I don't really see any transcendence, so for me it’s a slightly better average. Run, Clive, run.

The superlatives related to how authentic, evocative, unprecedentedly explicit, or urgent it is in parallel with today's online world are justified, Clip offers a very biting insight into the world of teenagers that is in no way unrealistic or over the top. If the goal was to be provocative, I think it succeeded – perhaps some filmmakers will rethink the way they think about their 15-year-olds (and 14- and 13-year-olds) after watching this strictly family film, but that won't be the only message of this Serbian rawness. Clip is an alarming statement about a world in which "little kids" are searching for themselves, and because they rarely feel true love and support in their families, they naturally find support and a kind of spiritual fulfilment in drugs, alcohol, loveless sex, and a world of never-ending parties. I'm not saying it's a perfect film, but it serves its purpose more than respectably.

A chamber film, unconventionally presented and surprisingly low in action, about a hitman who (in classic fashion) hides out in a quiet, backwater European town after a bad deal or because of a potential threat. It's hard to say what the main charm of this film is – maybe it's the confinement to the genre as such, or the poetry of that Italian landscape, which gives a calming and wholesome impression while hiding the murderous bastard, but for your part you kind of wish him that calm because he's a tremendous likable guy. Artful, hypnotic, refined. And the romantic storyline was nice.

The Picture of Dorian Gray goes without saying, but apart from this one novel I've read virtually all of Oscar Wilde's prose including unconventional short stories and fairy tales. The classic elements of Wilde's work can be found in this film adaptation of the play – the desire for freedom of behavior and expression, the clear (though of course humorously rendered) demarcation against petty bourgeoisie, and the clear contradiction between what Wilde's characters considered important and what society of the time considered "important". Helen Hunt gives an excellent portrayal of a woman of looser mores who is practically a pariah in that society, and a competition and danger to all taken women, as she attracts a considerable number of men of all ages with her Bohemian manner. And what I liked very much was the demonstration that such people (seemingly on the fringes of "polite" society) can (one would almost like to write that they often really should) have more tact, morality, and genuine decency in the end than those who merely preach demonstratively about these things. A very pleasant and elegant affair.

Insanity, and total insanity at that. I absolutely wouldn't dare predict how the whole thing might turn out. It's not a consequence of the "subtlety" and "thoughtfulness" of the story, it's more a consequence of the fact that the behavior of the characters in this film is completely unpredictable, and what may appear to be an overly bizarre solution to the "problem" here (either in physical terms or some kind of reasoning) may be considered one of the alternatives – and even the most "acceptable" alternative. Friedkin bets on the bizarreness of the story right from the beginning – the opening dialogue in the rain lures you in such a way that afterwards you simply devour the whole film like a cherry (though it’s not impossible to vomit some of it up). The ensemble of actors is really great, but Matthew McConaughey towers slightly above the rest.

Guy Ritchie at his peak again (albeit a slightly different peak than in the late 90s). Everything that worked in the first one (i.e. excellent conversational duels between the central duo, great slow-motion sequences, excellent period atmosphere, and overall dynamism and looseness) is enhanced here by a more pronounced Ritchie imprint and, of course, a near-perfect Downey and Law + the naked Fry cameo was absolutely unbeatable. It's important to note that while such mainstream entertainment may look like mere sequence of clips in terms of craft (from a certain perspective, a sequence of several consecutive but technically proficient clips), the artistic value inherent in its execution (in short, the formal polish) is so brilliant that it hides the various imperfections related to ambiguous or underdeveloped character motivations and so on... I like to mention this fact from time to time, but in the case of the second Sherlock Holmes, I find the script a very worthy and the motivations of the characters completely sufficient and ultimately convincing. And if anyone claims that the second film is for those "who want to ride the wave of Ritchie's slow-motion and explosions, not caring what actually happens on screen", they should also realize that the story is very well thought out – given its genre, budget, location, and the necessary prerequisite of commercial success, the script is even excellent. And in my opinion, A. C. Doyle would have liked it, at the very least because of Downey's British accent. :)

An elegant, human, hypnotic, and very well crafted drama about interpersonal relationships. Ben Kingsley honorably handles his role of the mentally still spry professor who is nevertheless fully and painfully aware of his age and I rank his performance in this film among his best. Penelope Cruz proves that, apart from her visual appeal, she is also a reasonably good actress. The fact that the script isn't very "deep" and doesn't go to the bottom of the emotions of certain situations (which is usually desirable in deep and harsh dramas) is paradoxically rather an advantage in this case, as the entire film is more likely to stand out as an elegant chamber drama with credibility achieved precisely by Kingsley's focused acting or by the overall sheen of slickness by carefully working with the visuals using the graceful tones of a piano. A genre film treat – not formulaic, and though at the same time not particularly groundbreaking, yet very good and appealingly and distinctively rendered.

Honestly, I was never much into action movies as a kid, so it's hard to talk about any nostalgia or the essence of "natural heroism and the pure pleasure of decent action". Still, I have to say that I quite enjoyed the "(un)manliness" and the rather strong moral message. My rating doesn't take into account the many references (of which there are supposedly a bunch) to other action movies (to the original series in general), I'm basing it on sheer enjoyment of the cast and appreciation of the film's formal elements and overall briskness.

Along with Christopher Young, Scott Derrickson manages just as with The Exorcism of Emily Rose to create an impressive atmosphere – this time in a very distinctive way with the help of "music" (or rather, a cluster of sounds that are supposed to be some kind of soundtrack), the effects of which are hellishly depressing and not only fit the film as such, but even surpass its purpose in the end – and for a very simple reason: aside from the fact that it fashions the atmosphere (and at times even creates it from scratch), which is more than half the experience here, it really works as a stand-alone means of creating an uncomfortably vague tension (which with music alone is very impressive). The other aspects of the film are probably worth mentioning as well – Sinister is obviously a horror film, but a certain whodunit plot and a little family drama have a firm place in it. I'm not a horror fan or anything like that, so I won't analyze the scariness or believability of the story here, but a wise friend once told me that a good horror movie (depending on how we imagine or define good horror for ourselves, of course) is all about the characters. Ethan Hawke is quite believable in his performance as a father who internally struggles with his own selfishness and strong recklessness in his own desire for recognition (fame), while on the other hand trying to love and provide for his family as much as he can (I would add that I don't consider this to be the film's fulcrum, of course, but rather an integral part of the whole). While I'm not really a fan of the horror genre, what I do appreciate about this film is that it's suspenseful, scary, atmospheric, and has an interesting occult feel to it and an impressive ending (not unexpected or shocking, but impressive for sure) in which you also get to see a demonstration of the painter's distinctive artistry. A very pleasant surprise and proof that Scott Derrickson is simply a whiz at atmospheric scares.