lamps

The typically adorable 80s, very violent, with a pinch of black humour and drowning in references to classic slashers; in this case, mostly The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The protagonists are a father-son duo who are closer to pigs than people (especially the grunting and sweaty kid, a redneck par excellence), and a group of teenagers whose intelligence is at the level of a ten year-old child who was dropped on his head as a baby. What I enjoy about films like this is mostly the cruel exaggeration and the creative setting of otherwise trite scenes, but there’s very little that can be called juicy in this one (the guilty-pleasure quality holds only in the final 15 minutes, a couple of effective references and one brilliant piece of editing while slashing a neck that brings a lump to my throat every time I cut a tomato).

Although the previous episodes couldn’t be called peak entertainment, they were fun (though often quite childish), but the third one is a dud with a dozen characters running around screaming and saying something here and there. The story had a promising idea, but it feels lousy, just like the secondary characters, who are clearly out of funny ammo. At least, in a grotesque and original way, it wants to deliver an important message and presents evidence that modern music is evil both for the ears and the soul.

It’s not as bad as they say. It has loads of ideas, the actors are great and the brothers in the director’s chair know how move the camera around the action in such that your eyes get an erotic massage at times, which makes the narrative weakness and author’s aimlessness all the more painful. The plot moves mechanically on a previously marked path, without ever developing the nature of a potentially interesting world, whose filth is lost in style, while the climax can’t deliver the punch that the mystery built around Denzel’s character would deserve. It’s watchable, but gratuitous AF. 60%

A terribly messy look at the lives of several people whose destinies intersect in a block of flats by the final tram station. It lacks neorealist naturalism and the story does not offer ideas big enough to prevent the viewer from getting bored despite the short runtime. The climax is more for the female audience, men today won’t find anything stimulating.

A typically painful sequel or the expected flush down the toilet. The new Halloween may be good in terms of craftsmanship, but by the most part is a characterless homage to the original that coldly copies Carpenter’s style, and every attempt at a signature of its own and to subjectivise the titular evil in potentially climactic scenes is paradoxically buried by Michael Myers’s legendary ghostly aura. The intro is a modern spasm that has nothing to do with the darkness of the first one, there’s one key twist that suddenly develops dementia and there are moments when it feels like a Wes Craven flick (the wisecracking black kid). At least the rest is an above-average, lively and at times inventive slasher, the kind we get in cinemas every now and again, but as a direct sequel to a horror legend, unfortunately, it’s not worth much. 55%

I’m not saying I’m jumping in joy, but this retro stuff hit the spot of my mood and my tastes. If I had the skills to write and direct in Hollywood, stories with unpredictable characters and set in a small, often symbolic places like this would probably be the kind I’d be interested in the most; also thanks to the soundtrack, with which in this case Goddard checks all the boxes to build a period backdrop that is impossible not to love. It’s true that the script relies mostly on effect, that it lays down the cards too early and that you won’t find many memorable lines, but it’s still an adorably extravagant piece of filmmaking that, thanks to well timed explanatory flashbacks, has no trouble holding the attention of the viewer and keeping the tension about which of the interestingly written characters will come out with their head still on its place. The hotel itself is great, the actors are precise and it’s amazing how Goddard manages to defame the morals of America with only a handful of characters, a mysterious place and an even more mysterious filmstrip (though it’s not too hard to figure out which overseas idol committed the atrocities captured in it). It could certainly be more genre subversive and the escalation in the first half could be better, but I’m satisfied regardless. 75%

Despite the violence, this is one of Trier’s most approachable films, one where the symbolism and the controversy are replaced by pragmatism and black humour, and yet I really don’t know what I’m supposed to get from it. The arthouse approach results in a stylisation of the violence, which is still quite brutally carried out, even on children, and following only the mind and thought processes of a murderous freak turns The House That Jack Built into nothing but an irritating, wannabe intellectual pose. At times it’s entertaining and the narrative concept is effective in the end, but what can I do with that when I there’s nothing that would make me enjoy the story subjectively. Maybe it’s a brilliant testimony of modern society, time will tell, but I don’t believe things are that bad in the world. Overall, I didn’t get bored, thanks to the brilliant Dillon and the many amazing ideas, but it missed me by a long shot.

Musings about life values in a captivating narrative, and it’s clear why Martin Scorsese admires this film so much – the work with the narrator who acquaints the viewer with the characters, the setting and its mythological nature, are all exemplary and refreshing. The message of the film, which is basically a simple moral fairytale, is pretty one-dimensional and limited, but the joy of watching it and peeking into Indian traditions prevails.

The first story is average, the second, slightly above-par, and the third is very good. Lubomír Lipsky’s character is very likeable and I loved how he tightens the detective narrative, but unfortunately, all the promising bits weren’t used until the third episode – that one has great direction, an impressive setting with an interesting gang of young rebel girls and a funny twist. But the first two can’t hold up to it, and even though you don’t get bored and even laugh at times, the impression is not there.

22 July is a smart and suggestive portrayal of an awful human act that attacks the roots of democracy, but that also shows the madness of those who violently try to undermine it. Though it pushes the viewer to only one correct interpretation, its complex approach forces you to think about where humankind is heading and all of what we are capable of. Despite being impossible to get into the minds of the characters, this is an intense experience that, through the traumatising initial disaster, shows an unflattering face of a Europe that today is divided and living in fear. This is despite the fact that it has an inevitable tendency to generalize problems.