DaViD´82

We have to help each other in a Czechoslovakian way. Although I can't shake the feeling that it would work better on the stage, I don't regret the time invested. And I wouldn't regret even more if the Jarchovský/Hřebejk duo once had been backed by a clear storyline. It is not directed as a story from beginning to end, but there are rather individual separate "bachelor's" segments, where every twenty minutes are devoted to one family and then the focus is on another one, without ever returning to the previous ones. It is also a pity that the children are sidelined after a while. The reason why it works so well in spite of the above is that the situation and its solution from the point of view of individual families is played out interestingly, that what Jarchovský spoils in terms of plot, is made up with dialogs and the fact that the performances of unknown cast is amazing. In other words, that is the most sad is the opportunity of the final part was completely wasted.

The spiritual successor to the original MythBusters. The same narrators, the same production team, the same focus on popular science, the same cast, the same scheme and style... Well, just the same thing, but with a different name and under the auspices of Netflix.

Everything that is wrong about it is best proved by a long part in the middle of the performance (before the break), when during the sounds of Ryba music more than a dozen characters slowly roam the stage with candles in their hands, where they pretend to have a non-existent activity, and gradually step up to the apron to recite some completely empty phrases "like a Christmas touching memory of childhood" from the department "childhood and Christmas". Which is supposed to symbolize how Ryba´s work affects them. The teacher Ryba, performed by Lněnička, walks around them in a "serious manner" and he has nothing to do all the time, so he casts overwhelmingly understanding glances. All of this is topped by the character of Ryba´s father who briefly summarizes this torture (for sure the worst ever staging of theaters in Pardubice, complete waste of time) to the already mostly asleep audience. We must admit that the whole performance is not like that. But there are more such stating "great wisdom" scenes, or that mosaic of scenes from the undeniably interesting and contradictory life of Ryba built around them does not balance them. It is even more obvious when even these scenes are too (and unnecessarily) literal. What is over the edge is when the recording of the performance directed in a way that completely ignores the good old rule "if you direct the broadcast of the performance on a large stage, then, unlike a small stage, do not take focus on the details of actors", because it requires a different kind of acting and it looks amateur.

Facing the captivating depths of madness through the thunder in Ohio… Hard to say what to praise more. Whether an unprecedentedly magnificent tangible subliminal tension, Shannon's performance as a true family-based hard worker who realizes that he's almost certainly succumbing to schizophrenia, but "what if he doesn't". The result is the most disturbing, most realistic and, last but not least, by far the best film version of the biblical story of Noah. I have perhaps the only minor complaint related to the conclusion. This is a type of movie that can only end in two ways. And Nichols went the way of being more cinematic and stylish. However, I cannot shake the feeling that the latter would get even more under the skin and would be richer in terms of interpretation.

The more imperfect, the more urgent the movie is, which manages to get under your skin with its uncompromising rawness like few others. Together with Margin Call and Big Short, they form a free trilogy "Everything you ever wanted to know about the financial crisis, but were too afraid to ask." The former approaches events from the point of view of the chamber drama of one night in bank management, the approach of the second one is broad and based on economic perspective but in entertaining way and at the same time with a naturalistic "bottom-top" view of (future) Trump voters. Although it is clear who the creators are messing with, neither side is demonized (until the ending, but more on that later). It was a vicious circle, where the irresponsible people are to blame, people who naively (often for the sake of buying stupid things) pledged their houses in times of apparent prosperity, but financial institutions that lent irresponsibly beyond their / clients' possibilities having in mind only quick profit are to blame equally. One led to another and vice versa. So Shannon is not playing a black-and-white villain, but a pragmatic tempter (he will not strangle you, he will only offer you a noose and you will be able to strangle yourself), who did not hesitate to act. What spoils the movie to some extent is the already mentioned message of the whole movie. I mean, the final quarter hour, when the movie starts to moralize and denies everything before. Even in this engaged form about Sophia's choice the movie is good, that´s true, it just goes against the original message, which does not offer (and, after all, does not allow in principle) easy solutions. Shannon is excellent, Laura Dern is a makeweight and Garfield is much better than you would expect, although his character has so many layers that he doesn’t manage all of them equally good. So, in one role, he surprisingly proves that is a really good actor while with another role he is clearly struggling.

In the opening hour and a half, a lengthy pell-mell like a commedia dell'arte and a spy drama, where each of the many characters trying to play everyone. In order to turn it from a (graded) train journey to the final hour (abruptly, not gradually) into a serious and properly dense fateful resistance movie with everything, which tries (and with closing both eyes actually well) to be the "South Korean Black Book". From technical point of view, the camera and music the movie is simply top. In this regard, hardly anything else can be expected from director with Jee-woon Kim's reputation. The highlight of the "Tarantino scene" of settling account on the train and the party at the police embassy (which, of course, makes the ending of the Inglorious Bastards almost impossible to forget). As a result, an unnecessarily long movie, which was to some extent clearly spoiled by the South Korean trademark's mixing of incompatible genres. And as much as it contains many scenes that cannot be forgotten, the movie that centers about them, on the contrary, will be forgotten faster than would be appropriate.

Six-episode photo documentary mini-series a behind-the-scenes look at the origin of "National Geography like photos" that doesn’t have clear objective, in other words doesn’t now what to focus on. Within the time frame of twenty five minutes, each episode tries to cover to many aspects, so as a result most of them are not covered. Even though each of the episode is focused on a different top photographer (it is exclusively about natural history, travel and outdoor photography, not art), it is not so much about photographers themselves, nor about what shaped them or about their work. Maybe only a little bit. Although each of the episodes is filmed while they were working (swimming with cetaceans, photographing a fire festival in Bhutan, mountain gorillas, etc.), they try to squeeze in a bit about them, a bit about how to photograph that particular situation what photo techniques they apply (and technology), a bit about the particular place and their motivation "why are you taking photo of this", bit about the global ideas of the given photographer, a bit about the pitfalls of the given location and... A bit about this and about that. As a result, not many specific details mentioned, it's too hasty for that (three photoshoots in each episode, i.e. about eight minutes per segment), but we must admit that it´s really nice, even if the pompous soundtrack doesn’t match. The concept is unquestionably excellent, but what would be reasonable to do for the seasons to come would be to determine, whether it will focus on photographers as such and their work or on how the most breathtaking photos of nature are created, how much hard work is hidden behind all this and how the best photos are simply results of good luck and coincidence.

So far the weakest movie of the Black Mirror and not only of the third season. However, the weakest does not necessarily mean bad. Not that it lags behind in terms of ideas or impressiveness in any way. There is no problem with that. The movie just beats around the bush for too long. And even at the point when it is long clear what direction it will take, how it ends up and what it is trying to convey (especially if you saw its Wipe 2015). The hour-long footage is way too long this time. The original three-quarter-hour of the opening seasons would be more appropriate. However, a bigger problem is that the ending takes everything word for word and the creators have the need to explain everything in a sloppy way (surprisingly, in such a straightforward episode, where it is not necessary, not at all). That is, exactly what all the previous movie successfully avoided at all costs.

Each episode itself is playful and imaginative and refers to legacy of classic silent animated grotesques. The problem is that all those five-minute episodes are to similar to each other. Thieves escape from prison in a particularly surprising way, commit bad things, have a "brilliant" plan for the bank robbery, but eventually they get outsmarted by the police which chase them down. You can't tell one episode from another. You can object that many animated movie (especially Coyote and the ground "mig mig" cuckoo) were based on the fact and work with the expectation that it is still the same. Here, however, it is rather to the detriment. However, if the viewer is a small child, who has a weakness for Lego and cops, thieves, firefighters, divers, etc., then it´s completely fine, because you will not find a better and more fun combination of above mentioned.

A fragmented Christmas special, which, despite all the considerable strong points, looks like these two (or three if you like) current, apt and (not only) morally very disturbing themes were originally intended rather as independent short stories. And each one would handle their own story even better than if they were so forcibly connected (read glued) together. In any case, the strong points of this movie clearly outshine this, let´s say snag, not a problem, so... Merry Christmas to everyone.