EvilPhoEniX

Overhyped. I haven't played “The Last of Us”, but I've seen the gameplay, so I'm not that enamored with the premise, but the result is embarrassing for me anyway. Craig Mazin, the creator of the brilliant Chernobyl, had a very good chance, unfortunately he chose the less attractive option for me. Instead of horror, he delivers us a post-apocalyptic drawn-out drama, where nothing much interesting happens most of the time, until you think that you definitely wouldn't want to play such a game. Fortunately, he had a lucky hand in the casting. Pedro Pascal is a great choice, but we don't see him much in action, so he's not used to his full potential. Bella Ramsey is not likeable, but she's a great actress, so I was less bothered by her in the end than I would have expected. Visually, the series is good, but that's to be expected, so I won't give plus points for that. Story-wise, it's not bad, but I can't say for myself that you will get any significant twists or emotions here, unfortunately. The best episodes are 1, 2 and 5, which were also the only episodes to feature the Runners and Clickers – the look is great, but the creators skimp on them. On the other hand, episodes 3 and 7, purely flashbacks that don't move the plot anywhere, seemed completely unnecessary to me (the fact that they are about gays and lesbians is another thing I won't comment on). The finale could have kicked it up a notch, but it's barely 40 minutes long and again we don't get anything worth paying attention to. There is zero gore, minimal action and zombies, little atmosphere, the pacing is slow – in short it’s lacking all my favorite attributes. That the relationship between the two protagonists develops brilliantly? Fine, that didn't have to take place in the post-apocalyptic world, but in the present day without zombies and ideally in some idyllic LA neighborhood. The creators have made it clear that they are fans of drama, so anyone hoping for something to change in the second season is naive. We'll get shit again. For me, the biggest disappointment of the year so far. The best video game adaptation is still Warcraft. Hopefully Apple will fix my taste with their Silo. 6/10.

A decent and entertaining crime drama based on the famous TV series Luther. I don't know the series, so I can't compare, but the film holds up even without knowing it. I enjoyed the plot, where Luther goes to prison and has to escape to catch a maniacal killer who is terrorizing London, and the police are all over him. It is a cool and fun storyline that I liked from the start. Idris Elba's performance is deft and you can root for him. Cynthia Erivo evoked The Outsider for me and I'm glad to see her in a detective role as well. But the absolute best thing about the whole film is Andy Serkis, who plays the villain with grace. He's nasty, he's got crazy plans, he's intelligent, in short a great killer as it should be; he pulls the whole film off without a hitch. Visually it's passable, but it's not the strongest point of the film, in short a better Netflix Look. The action is average, but it's not an action film, so I take it here more as a bonus (in how many crime dramas we get to see a prison riot, right?). The music is good though, it adds to the atmosphere and I liked the pace of the narrative, where something is constantly happening and not standing still at all, which is rather rare in this genre, so I give Luther plus points for that. I also liked the actual ideas of the murders (the hangings are properly chilling). The script occasionally hiccups and a few things don't quite make sense, but as an entertaining, well acted crime flick it worked reliably for me.

A strong addition to an already pretty consistent franchise. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have already shown in Ready or Not that they're a great choice to formulate the horror genre and they're making very audience-friendly genre films, I'm curious to see what's next. For the first time in the franchise, we leave Woodsboro and move to the big city of New York with a group of survivors who want to forget. But Ghostface returns more brutal than ever, this time, he doesn’t mind killing in public. The opening cameo with Samara Weaving is fine, and the unexpected twist right at the beginning is intriguing. It would be interesting to watch Scream from Ghostface's point of view, so hopefully we'll see it sometime. All of Ghostface's attacks are properly ferocious and intense, even quite brutal (although not much blood spurts when he's slicing with the knife, which bothered me slightly). The attack in the apartment is nasty, the attack in the shop is uncompromising, and the subway is nicely suspenseful and atmospheric with a wink to other horror icons. The reveal of the killer works in the finale, which again isn’t predictable. This is something the whole franchise has done very well. I also enjoyed all the familiar horror clichés and poking fun at franchises - I found that very entertaining. On the other hand, the fact that most of it is surviving the impossible is a bit of a bummer; that's about the only criticism I'd have. Otherwise, this is the best mainstream horror film of the year so far. 7.5/10.

An epic Masterpiece by Damien Chazelle and a future cult classic! I'm sorry I missed the film at the cinema and I deserve a bullet in the head, this one of the best films I've ever seen. Movies, jazz and cocaine clearly define Babylon, a film divided into three acts and they all have their own angle. The first act is one crazy sick and epic party, where my only regret is that I didn't attend it. The 1920's and depravity of the highest caliber, drugs and sex at every turn, that’s the first 30 minutes. Thanks to the daring, crazy dance creations and the incredibly dynamic music, it draws the viewer fully into the plot and keeps them there until the end. (I'll be watching this act a lot, it’s properly wild!!). Act Two – The Birth of Hollywood – is a wonderful peek behind the curtain as it was and is still going on with all the bad and the good. The journey to fame for ordinary people, the making of movies – incredibly chaotic and people are getting hurt at every moment – the battle of the big companies (Warner, MGM), the transition to talkies, in short, it was incredibly engaging for me and it was great to have been able to experience from the beginning the film industry I could not imagine life without today. Chazelle's strong ambition made my dream come true. The third act takes an unexpected turn into a twisted underground exploitation hell. The underworld of early Hollywood is reminiscent of the world's greatest evil and my mouth was wide open with all that was happening on screen again. The whole film is uniquely shot, 3 hours passes like water thanks to the incredibly fast pace, the dynamics ( the pace here is better and faster than in Avatar 2, and that's saying something). Thanks to the great jazz music, even an ordinary scene can get incredibly dramatic, and I felt like the whole movie was one crazy action ride, pumping me up with one awesome remarkable scene after another. Margot Robbie gives the best performance of her career, she steals the show and outdoes even the excellent Brad Pitt, while the likeable Diego Calva is brilliant. The film isn't afraid to be twisted, bizarre, sick and even brutal (I really didn't expect to see gore here!!), and if that crocodile had eaten someone at the end, I would have been over the moon. A film that has heart, incredibly explosive energy, a compelling script, top actors, top direction and top ideas. I have nothing to complain about. 10/10.

A bit of a disappointment for me. The overall look of the film is quite amateurish, but that's forgivable. The acting is okay. Adam Mišík's performance is authentic and Marsell Bendig is the best thing about the film, even if he was hard to understand at times. Story-wise, it's simple and I was hoping the film would both be about more characters and go more to the extreme. I was expecting a proper rave party and even in terms of drugs it's not as intense as European or American films. This progressive form is welcome Czech cinema, but a film like Vyšehrad was completely different in every way. 6/10.

An unbelievable borefest and this year's biggest torment. Sibling of Focus and the Now You See Me? Hardly. Instead of heists and scams, it's about interpersonal relationships and drama, where nothing interesting really happens for two hours. The characters didn't entertain me at all, the dialogues made me yawn, the pace is slow, there no suspense or entertainment, and the whole thing is so cold, detached and aloof. I didn't find the twists interesting or shocking at all. For me, a waste of time, I was not entertained by anything. 3/10.

South Korea vs the Taliban! A relatively unknown Korean director has made a Korean variation on the American film Zero Dark Thirty (I would much rather see a variation on 13 Hours or Black Hawk Down). It's an unusual premise for the Koreans. The story is about Korean missionaries who are captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and it has a Korean diplomat and big star, Hwang Jung Min, trying to negotiate with the Taliban for the release of the hostages. He is seconded by Hyun Bin, so there is no shortage of stars and the production values are as usual very high, but is that enough ? Not for me. There's only one action scene, a well shot car chase with a fight in the car, but that's really not enough. The whole film focuses only on the investigation and the negotiation. It’s too much "step by step", and at times it is a bit boring, but some people will enjoy it. I would have preferred a shootout with the terrorists or torture. Though I do appreciate something a bit different than a hitman or gangster story, I wasn't too impressed. 6/10.

Adrenaline and testosterone pumping boxing romp! Michael B. Jordan makes his debut and excels both in front of and behind the camera, making for me the best boxing drama I have ever seen. It has everything, included heart, rage and power. Creed is now retired and enjoying his family life. He has a great wife, a lovely daughter, a luxury villa, money, respect – everything he ever wanted. But his idyllic life is disrupted by an old friend who returns from prison after 18 years and longs to become a champion. Jonathan Majors, a vicious beast and spineless bastard, the best bad guy in boxing movies ever, takes the whole franchise and the film to a whole new level. The rivalry, the uncomfortable stuffy atmosphere between him and Creed is almost chilling, and all these confrontations in the dramatic line are more than great, intense, well acted, it leaves the viewer breathless. The fight in the middle of the film between Chavez and Mayors is the greatest in-ring carnage I've ever seen, the blood almost flowed out of my nose and onto my nachos. The fights feel very dynamic, gritty and authentic thanks to modern technology and camera work. You feel all the punches are felt and all the fights have an amazing atmosphere (the entrances are legendary), and during the finale, where Jordan very originally removes the audience and focuses only on the two rivals, it was a visual boxing extravaganza the world of movies has never seen. I was sweating, I was cheering, I was screaming, I was freaking out. I was more pumped up with adrenaline and testosterone than both of them combined, and the hyped up soundtrack gave me chills like nothing I've heard in a long time. I am happy! 9/10.

Shyamalan's best years are behind him and his latest release is a mediocre film. Knock at the Cabin is more of a psychological drama-thriller than a horror film, but one that lacks drive, doesn't make much sense, lacks a proper twist and holds up the violence. The first half hour is pretty good, it has a home-invasion feel to it, with four armed people trying to ambush two men and a little girl and coming up with an unpleasant proposition like Sophie's Choice. Dave Bautista is decent in the role and is probably the most interesting thing about the film. The disasters on TV are also interesting, the only more action packed and interesting insert. However, the progression of the film is very tepid and slow, and wheen there is a murder, it's out of frame. The psychology of the characters isn't portrayed consistently enough to sway the viewer and the whole thing unfortunately doesn't make much sense without a proper Shyamalan Twist. The atmosphere didn't impress me much either, the suspense is lacking as well, I don't find much praise to recommend Knock at the Cabin to anyone. 5/10.

Conspiracy-hunt-escape. An excellent spy thriller based on true events from France, like a French version of The Fugitive, from the director of the awesome Zulu. Gilles Lellouche finds himself in a very uncomfortable situation. He has been falsely accused of sexually abusing his daughter and the powerful KGB organization is involved. A transfer to a Russian prison with a Section 42 it’s something you don't want. (Too bad most of the film doesn't take place in the prison, it would be properly raw there). There’s no right to a defense, the French authorities are helpless, his only recourse is to escape and pray. I enjoyed this. Lellouche gives his standard quality performance (he reminds me of Liam Neeson), the music is excellent and the tension is palpable in a couple of scenes. A situation no one wants to find themselves in. If you like European conspiracy thrillers, I definitely recommend it. 8/10.