lamps

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such authentic dialogues and realistic characters in an easygoing teen drama. It’s a pity that all those smart subplots and the original highlighting of key moments in life through the video recordings of the protagonist that separate each of the stages of adolescence are part of a terribly unoriginal story with an emotional climax that won’t leave much of an impression. But it still deserves my admiration, especially Burmham, for working with this playful theme in such a good an entertaining way, and not falling into impersonal creator’s onanism, which requires a considerable dose of talent. 80%

If Karel Steklý taught at film schools, his field would be filmmaking for lobotomised people, or how to perform lobotomies through agitprop crap. This film is rubbish, a massive heap of incomprehensible, ideologically demented rubbish.

Now, this is the kind of fun I like. A straightforward story that relies heavily on parodying the tropes of prison films and quoting famous movies across several genres (I don’t think anyone has spoofed so well those two scenes from the second Indiana Jones), but that it’s also original and lively on its own, packed with punching jokes and brilliant narrative energy, only from the fact that the humanised heroes are actually silly hens. Also brilliant are the editing, the camera rides over and through the “death” camp, and the sophisticated visual presentation of the villains, focused on the light and accompanying their entrances with dramatic elements like lightning strikes. It’s not as entertaining, creative and solid as the best Pixar (especially Toy Story 3, also set in a prison), but it’s a beautiful plasticine homage to film adventure from creators who understand it and know how to fly it. 90%

Widows has the parameters of a great film, but in order to fulfil them, it should build psychological depth with something more sophisticated than long shots of the faces of the suffering heroines. And Steve McQueen, a guy with impressive talent who knows how to stage scenes that don’t fall into sterility and abounds in interesting style ideas, should make up his mind about what story he wants to tell. The film follows the structure of a heist movie that expands the knowledge of the audience about the actions of the characters, but it’s more interested in a closed psychological arc that is quite superficial and pushes aside many promising motifs (the weirdly (un)closed line of Colin Farrell, the black guy from the barbershop, and even the potential highlight of Liam Neeson). I loved the realistic nature of the action scenes that reminded me of Heat, I enjoyed the smoothly incorporated humour, and there’s hardly anything to complain about the performances, and yet Widows left me with the feeling of the squandered potential to be the strongest emancipation drama of the decade – it ends up as nothing but a poorly edited and too telegraphic showcase of technical sophistication and impressive directorial vision that will unfortunately be soon forgotten. 65%

The first three quarters are chilling, carefully escalated sci-fi with effective psychological insight and a wonderfully disturbing setting that was a lot of fun to discover. The last 20 minutes or so are a philosophical mindfuck that did not satisfy me at all. Garland is a smart filmmaker who keeps a firm grip on the viewer’s attention and knows how to tighten it with the patient development of each motif or with unsettling violence. It’s a pity that in the end I don’t really know what I should take from this film. Perhaps that it certainly belongs in cinemas, just like the excellent Natalie. Weak 4*.

Lots of ideas and jokes with great potential to be a first-rate family animation flick, and surprisingly, I didn’t even mind the songs. What I did mind, unfortunately, is the way the characters repeatedly harm themselves, and I came to the conclusion that I don’t much fancy humour that relies on the heroes being fools. In terms of the story, though, it’s a likeable project in an interesting setting that doesn’t bore and delivers a nice message in the end.

A solid sequel that has everything: old-school adventure nostalgia, great humour, superb animation and fun genre references, and also gives new perspective to the coexistence of the toys and their fate in human lives. The storyline with the rescuers and the brilliant secondary characters is a lot funnier perhaps, but the new faces around Woody fit well and their story not only looks good (the beautiful scene with the toy repairman), but also merge perfectly into the original action-packed climax. This series has an upwards trend, something I believe the amazing third part confirmed. 90%

This film is terribly half-assed. It has lots of original ideas and a great Santa played by an energetic Kurt Russell, but also uninteresting direction and an uneven pace, so it becomes boring whenever the story deviates a bit longer from the jolly bearded fellow. For a new Christmas movie is good, but it was set for a far more entertaining ride that would not shift so often from a nice action speed down to an ordinary family neutral. 60%

Basically, I agree with most of the negative reviews of this series. After the visually and narratively perfect LoTR, The Hobbit looks like a massive sand castle that crumbles under its own weight. I’m speaking about the second one now, which lacks a tangible cliffhanger and dilutes the pace with elements that are either forced (the romance with Tauriel) or nostalgic (the excessively serious Legolas). Mostly, though, it wants to deliver too many epic scenes, which makes it feel contrived at times – something I can forgive only because Jackson is still fun, can pump addictive energy even in the most excessively stretched story and knows how to stage the climactic scenes in such a bombastic way that you can watch them over and over again until you go mental. I writhed impatiently during the visit to Laketwon, but I was richly rewarded with the entrance of the charismatic Smaug, whose company can unleash popcorn orgies. The second Hobbit is still great as a hero’s ballad about a pilgrimage to a huge treasure guarded by a majestic creature, but it’s considerably worse as a story of the legendary Middle-Earth that also maps the rise of the greatest villain in film history. Less is more, period.

Phenomenal! A relentlessly entertaining game with genre traditions and the almost inexhaustible possibilities of its world, which in this case the creators milk to the last drop. After the reveal of the villains, the film picks up a glorious pace and I was several times fascinated over how it manages to integrate the changing moods and genres into a coherent adventure story for both kids and adults. The highlights are the horror doll and the Spanish speaking Buzz. The first two parts are among the best animated movies of their time, the third one is one of the best movies of the century. There, I said it.