NinadeL

Dangerous Game is a classic example of a film about which Madonna fans will tell you: "The entire film was edited so much in the final scene that it completely changed the original look, and Madonna cried when she saw it and regretted that she didn't have the same power in the film industry as she did in the music industry because she said she would never have let that happen. In her own words, the film is bad, but she's good in it." This has resulted in the divided attitude toward her career as an actress and singer. Personally, I agree that this whole experiment stands and falls on the symbiosis of the performances of Madonna and Harvey Keitel, who have nothing to be ashamed of, but at the same time, the nature of their acting is revealed here, which in its naked version is not as bulletproof as at other times. They are still working together to this day, and the natures of the projects are diametrically opposed to each other, from Blue in the Face to Arthur and the Invisibles. However, I'll give Madonna more credit when she stars in classic wacky comedies and Harvey for anything with a traditional narrative. Unfortunately, the rest of the ensemble in this film is almost awkward and the original title Snake Eyes was more apt.

The first version of the adaptation by Majerová was accused of being too lyrical, particularly by the trio of screenwriters Otto Hofman, Jiří Weiss and Jaromír Pleskot, who also directed The Girl Robinson Crusoe. Ota Hofman completely abandoned this approach when he and Karel Kachyňa wrote a new script, which Kachyňa also created in 1974. This later version is, in my opinion, much more successful, although it did not learn from the basic mistakes that lay in the imperfections of the set design, which was set around 1936. Making do with one old car never made for a good retro film. If the main protagonist played by Tvrzníková seems to have fallen out of the most modern youth magazines of 1956, then it is literally flagrant. A proper acceptance of the time period of the plot is of major importance in understanding the main storyline, wherein the father is completely passive in taking care of the household and no one finds it strange that his immature daughter should literally sacrifice herself for him in this respect. She also flirts with the role of a surrogate mother to her newly born baby brother at the expense of her own emotional life. Fortunately, however, the story is based more on the girl's inner world, which will charm any admirer of Crusoe's adventures. There’s also no need to have it spoiled by the poor handling of the dialogue of the main protagonist, much less by the toothy model Rudolf Jelínek and the not- particularly-expressive Libuše Havelková, who made her screen debut as the maid Tonička.

Another hysterical comedy with Les Charlots and Michel Galabru. Even after years of seeing some of their films on TV, the current DVD re-release provides the same experience. It's crazy, very much so. It was only today that I first noticed the social motif that justified the film being shown in Czech movie theaters before 1989.

A teen series that was different because the main character loved classic Hollywood movies and passed that love on to others. There was also an episode set at a No Doubt concert in Season 6.

A meaningful series of half-hour documentaries on the main features of its genre. It is hosted by Christopher Lee, who is all the more likable to me because he himself had to admit that his Dracula (whichever version) was not the best and pales next to Bela Lugosi's version and those of many other successors. However, some of the themes are duplicated (Dracula and His Disciples, Blood-Drinking Beings and Bela Lugosi / Frankenstein's Friends, Baron Frankenstein and Boris Karloff) and I’m not a fan of some of the episodes (especially from the second half, such as Scream Queens, Gory Gimmicks or Man-Made Monsters).

Approximately 15 minutes of missing material is not so much that we cannot appreciate Marika Rökk’s return to film after the war. 4 years after the colorful The Woman of My Dreams, she appears in a logically smaller B&W production, which reveals that nothing has changed at all. War or no war, new regime or old, the genre of her films is immortal and still works. If you want to enter the perfect revue world with Marika, Fregola has the key to this dream. The plot is a superfluous component in this case.

An excellent original, which after 25 years Magda, unfortunately, covered up with the idea of making a color remake with her own daughter in the lead role. The only one who had any sense was Max Ophüls and he said he wouldn't do it again. Why would he? Having it perfect once is enough.

Miloš Kopecký, a retailer, is the deceiver in the film, offering an outdated film "featuring Conrad Veidt" and is countered by Svatopluk Beneš, a wholesaler, with the latest film Metropolis. In the end, it turns out that a hot new thing can lose out simply through plain bad luck. The general narrative from the present ends with the revelation that Conrad Veidt is not really in the title film because his name was a mere business decoy.

A simpler, more naive, cheaper and overall worse version of the Bathory story that exists only to finally get Jakubisko's project appreciated. The only interesting thing about this version is the concerted effort to tell the story not of a bloodthirsty beast, but of a powerful woman who was an extraordinary figure in her time. Yet all the components of the film, starting with the actors and ending with the set design, completely fail. The main storyline begins after Nádasdy's death, and the Countess very quickly becomes the prodigal aging lover of a 21-year-old man. There have been more than enough fictional lovers alongside prominent female characters past and present! Such a screenwriting crutch is more likely to point to cluelessness than anything else. Moreover, the dialogue is reminiscent of old TV gossip, not of life at court. I also find it hard to believe Erzsébet's affluence as she moves through completely empty interiors and exteriors in her sober costumes evoking Western Europe (where is the fine line between the Hungarians fighting the Turks and the Viennese elite so convincingly personified by Anna Friel?). If you take the trouble to watch it, you will find that a lot of burdens have been made about Bathory in the last 50 years, but only now is it possible to make such films on a more realistic basis. So thank you to Julie Delpy for her efforts.

Hřebejk, Jarchovský, and Šabach continue their narrative about the past decades to "document" a similar phenomenon of the 1990s to Holiday Makers. So now it’s about Shells. The film does feature some nice moments with the traditional cast, led by Polívka. Lenka Vlasáková has a nice etude on the topic of ecological cosmetics and Oriflame-style sales. There is probably some value in remembering this feature of post-revolutionary euphoria, but I dread what’s going to come next time. What other useless trifles will be promoted...