Lima

Just as the glam-rock era of 1970s Britpop, ushered in after sobering up from the flower power ideals, was a road to nowhere, so this film thrashes from nothing to nothing. It’s only the musical numbers that keep it afloat; you can soak up the atmosphere of glam rock, with all its glitter and pervading decadence, with its high boots, tight-fitting costumes and colourful hairstyles; the musical era from whose visuals Freddie Mercury drew in his early days, or David Bowie. The latter and his fictional alter-ego Ziggy Stardust have a point of contact with the film’s main character – Brian Slade – in a quite convincing performance by Rhys-Meyers, while McGregor, sticking his privates out at the audience during a performance, is strikingly reminiscent of Iggy Pop, the enfant terrible of the rock scene, with his excess and wildness, and although he surprisingly doesn't have much space in the film, he makes the most of those few minutes. But in the main storyline, the film doesn't work. The journalistic investigations of Christian Bale, whose surprisingly bland delivery consists only of staring fascinatedly at his idols, are tedious, along with the almost dreamlike scenes that don't hold together, and the filmmaker goes to great lengths to communicate dubious ideas ("A man's image is his life."). It's like glam rock with this film – interesting, but it gets boring very soon.

A laid-back film about things each of us experiences, whether it's in Seattle or Brno. People fall in love, then break up, forming love relationships that later either go the way of let's at least be friends or, at best, embark on a journey through life together, full of mutual understanding. Crowe talks about all this with great insight in a film full of unlearned life situations and clever dialogue, the main idea of which is the very obvious fact that everyone needs someone and the heart always tells you. And with the grunge scene at its peak, with the likes of Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, then there’s no need to worry. It was nice to soak up the atmosphere of Seattle, a city whose influence on the music scene was becoming global at the time. It was filmed at the same time that Nirvana kicked open the "doors of perception" and helped bring rock music to public radio with Nevermind. Who knows, maybe Crowe's film helped a bit with that. PS: I was amused by Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder's tiny role as the drummer of Dillon's band :)

The film initially looks like a thriller from the time of the oppressive Pétain regime in World War II France, but in the second half, with the continuous escape of the leading duo, it turns into a kind of adventure story, with no shortage of suspense and unexpected plot twists. And above all looms the performance of the extremely charismatic Simone Signoret and her unmissable big almond eyes.

Although we may never know the truth about the Kursk (and this documentary is no exception), remembering how things work in Russia is very necessary these days. On the one hand, Russia would like to be classified as a developed country in the eyes of the West; on the other hand, no one can overlook the systematic violation of human rights, the consolidation of the regime under the leadership of former KGB agent Putin and the absolutely elementary lack of respect for human life. To trade a few dozen young lives for the secrecy of some bogus military secret – how can that be even possible? No problem at all in Russia.

A charming adventure story from a sparingly filmmaking country like Norway, which captivates not so much with its simple tale of revenge as with its authenticity and locations, led by the chillingly beautiful Norwegian countryside, which makes even a viewer huddled under a blanket in the warmth of the family fireplace shiver. And kudos also to the casting people who found really perfect wild faces to represent the enemy tribe.

The typical boring shit that proliferated like mushrooms in the Normalization era. This is not to say that this attempt at comedy by Fuk is somehow politically "slick", it just suffers from the pain of the vast majority of films of the time: a lame and horribly boring script, in this case with a confusing jumble of unnecessary side-plots. God, what did I laugh at back them?

The typical boring shit that proliferated like mushrooms in the Normalization era. This is not to say that this attempt at comedy by Fuk is somehow politically "slick", it just suffers from the pain of the vast majority of films of the time: a lame and horribly boring script, in this case with a confusing jumble of unnecessary side-plots. God, what did I laugh at back them?

Steve Irwin is the perfect essence of craziness and sheer work enthusiasm. Watching him talk about animals with complete enthusiasm, or pick up all sorts of venomous vermin, and gesticulate or chant expressively, is a truly unique experience. Very entertaining and you learn something interesting.

Entertaining guilty-pleasure that, except for the boring opening twenty minutes, put an amused smile on my face that lasted until the closing credits. The prerequisite for enjoying something like this is not to compare it with similar genre films, not to analyze every plot flaw (and there are plenty), not to be annoyed by the overuse of bullet time effects and lousy actors, but rather to have fun with the awfulness of the project as a whole. Filmmaking-wise, of course, it's somewhere near the bottom, but it has a decent momentum and deserves that one star. I certainly wasn't bored most of the time.

A film that flows too leisurely, with hardly any plot or major twists, flattened in terms of story and especially emotions when compared to the book (thanks Lenička), which is quite surprising given that the screenplay was written by the author of the novel himself. But the actors are all excellent, from the kids to Farrell and especially Sissy Spacek (damn, why isn't such an excellent actress in more films?).