Malarkey

A weird drama that attempts to be so alternative that it ends up totally boring. Paradoxically, the best scenes are from the silent movie which features some interesting imagery. The story of a boy from the 1970s was pathetic and boring, not helped by the music which was terrible at places. The movie makes sense and follows logic only under one condition – if you lobotomize yourself and are able to follow the plot. Under another conditions Doctor Sleep enters the scene and no one can help you with that.

A European drama about supra-multinational theme. It is true that if it was filmed by the Russians or if the actors were speaking Russian the movie would get a new dimension and it would definitely add some authenticity. On the other hand, I would be afraid that the story might end up as one big demagogy so eventually Thomas Vinterberg is for me the ideal choice. Not only he filmed the movie in a quite good way, the movie even featured some of the best European actors and therefore it was worth watching. That’s good enough for me. It doesn’t make you feel as suffocated as Das boot might and the number of explosions and special effects is lesser than if this film had been filmed by the Americans. On the other hand, there is a greater emphasis on relationships and the story line of Léa Seydoux is literally amazing. Not to mention what happened in the submarine.

Léa Seydoux is the best part of this movie which is otherwise just an average drama. She plays a role of a world-weary, listless girl without her own opinions that accidentally enters the world of bikers who from time to time go through the story without evoking any emotions in the viewer. A bit of a rebellion but not of that kind that will make you remember this movie.

If Adam Sandler didn’t play such a grouch in this movie, which doesn’t fit him at all, I might even say that it is a standard chill out Sandler-type of a movie where Adam behaves normally and is not a moron. Apart from this, I liked how the creators were able to make a comedy with a criminal plot in Agatha Christie style. Also it has more action and is more thrilling than average Sandler movies. Fortunately, in spite of the long-faced Adam, other actors are able to make great jokes and Jennifer Aniston looks ravishing as usual. So the result is good.

The Polish reaction to the resistance groups in Poland during WWII that from the cinematic point of view makes most of the series of scenes where the Gestapo quite brutally tortures one of the local scouts. Of course the movie is not just about that. The movie is filmed in a fast-paced way, it is dynamic and its content is really interesting. I’m sure that this piece will not get lost among other WWII dramas or Polish films in general.

The Finnish view of life filmed to perfection which is actually a standard for this director. The humor in this movie might be too dry but despite this it is a true Finnish gem.

I thought that this action movie will be amazing. Everything suggested it including the recommendation from my colleague’s husband. Already after first 10 minutes it was clear that it wouldn’t. The visual aspect of this movie is amazing until the moment when you realize how unnatural it is. At that precise moment the movie loses the story. The story of the movie gets lost in that never ending fighting. The story wasn’t thrilling and didn’t make any sense anyway. The Russians showed their megalomania and made this movie into a never ending bloodbath. What I felt was lacking was some sense of emotions or at least some kind of story development. A war movie from The Balkans with a great visual aspect but without a soul.

Paul Dano stepped on a path to be a director and as his debut he presented a small, intimate movie that emanates family tragedy and personal confession. It wasn’t bad but I was more interested in the Montana visuals which looked epic in some shots including the moments when the son watches the forest burn. That was also the most powerful scene in the whole movie. I pitied the nature more that the relationship between Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal itself. Sadly the movie was about a family falling apart and not about the nature. Nevertheless Carey and Jake weren’t bad therefore the movie deserves the 3 stars rating. An interesting independent American movie that however doesn’t stand out from other movies of this kind.

Ocean’s 8 is not that different from Ocean’s Eleven. Same number of famous actresses, I had the same neutral feeling about each of them, only Cate Blanchett looked at least a bit like a femme fatale and Helena Bonham Carter didn’t disappoint with her standard avant-garde style. Otherwise the movie was full of characters without emotions. And there was a plan whose probability to succeed was 1 to a billion. Moreover, same things keep happening over and over again so the ending is full of “shocking” moments which prove how Sandra Bullock had this genius robbery of the millennium all thought out. Same old, same old over and over again. The interesting thing is that I do like the individual actresses but I had quite a hard time to get to like any one of them in this movie. I don’t know if it is a trademark of this type of movies but it was the same with Ocean’s Eleven.

Romania, routine action scenes and Dolph Lundgren. What else is new. The interesting thing is that in this movie he looks like he’s about to die and a just few years later he plays a macho in The Expendables. The Defender is nevertheless quite a failure. An exemplary B rated action movie with nothing good to offer. Besides Dolph, the cast consist of approximately 3 black actors and a lot of Romanians. The whole movie is set in a single hotel and there is shooting all the time. The action scenes however come across as kind of ridiculous which only makes you sad. Dolph is just shooting all the time without any thought or aim. It lacks any logic. If all of the latest JCVD movies were B rated movies they were at least good B rated movies. This, if it even is a B rated movie, is the worst of the worst.  It is a good thing that Dolph was able to pull himself together afterwards.