DaViD´82

The slow-flowing mix of pulsation à la Jim Thompson with the existential drama about the Vietnamese southern (non) being of a returned marine. And it is the specific pace of storytelling that is its strongest point... And the weakest too. It's not boring nor lengthy, it has an impressive atmosphere thanks to the pace, but it's true that a similar style of storytelling in eight episodes, which rather than working independently work better as an eight-hour movie, is not entirely appropriate. Because of that it´s inadvertently tiring, however more than properly constructed, written and performed.

Lonergan is a slightly better screenwriter than a director and a way better director than a man with a feeling for choosing music. One of the best written and performed "classic American small - town dramas about unsolvable skeletons in closets" in recent years scores an own goal good with cheap targeted selection of classical string music. It is overused here and the most overplayed songs were chosen. It´s fishing for emotions, full of pathos, ingratiating and cheap solution. Which is in stark contrast to everything else, because Manchester does not offer anything that even remotely associated with pathos (let alone fishing for emotions) (and there are sequences that would clearly call for it) and there are not cheap ways out. As if the author did not believe that his own theme, actors he chose and dialogues he wrote, which phenomenally work with the unspoken "between the lines", will be enough for an emotionally overwhelming subtle drama, so he decided to make 100 % sure it happens but in a cheapest possible way. And it unnecessarily devalues an otherwise impressive experience.

A year later, Yates will make the most memorable car chase of the movie industry. With that being said, the car chase from the beginning of this movie can keep up with it in every respect: same style, only with a different iconic ride. And everything what makes Bullitt's case great, makes Robbery case great too. It´s just in a form of team heist genre movie and not a rough police crime movie. In other words, even here, the camera is intoxicated for long minutes by stubbornly silent professionals, who carefully perform their work step by step with icy calm and are damn good at it. Which results in one of the best (and definitely the most stylish) genre movies ever, which, however, is partially spoilt by too long footage. The opening diamond robbery and the iconic action on the railway are absolutely stunning. Even so stunning so that the local procedurally and even realistically documented "Greengrass event", for its intense subliminal nerve-racking tension and dynamics, could serve as a model for all genre movies of a similar kind. Unfortunately, there are also sequences "between the actions and after them", which are, after all, a bit more standard and lengthy than would be appropriate for a similarly exceptional film. In any case, (not only) a genre must watch. That´s for sure.

Almost everyone mentions it and it comes to everyone´s mind while watching, but it does not change the simple fact that this is simply a "renewal" of concept of Täter unbekannt made by Brits. Simm and Threlfall are excellent, as always, the atmosphere is gloomy, the course of events is exciting and personal in a nice way, so the only downside is that if both episodes had been shortened by about ten minutes, no one would have even noticed.

Gibson probably didn't quite understand the meaning of the phrase "war is hell/horror" and took it literally, word for word. He thus stylizes war scenes as a pure horror genre movie from hell with everything from the fear of the unseen through spooky scenes to the ultimate gorefest that cinema has never experienced before. Which is basically (without irony or exaggeration) a brilliant idea. On paper. In this interpretation, however, it is only a monotonously stultifying patchwork of slow-motion shots of Japanese Palachas melancholy flare accompanied by raining limbs. And all this improved with WTF moments that are like from the Army of Darkness (yes, a congenial assault with a rotting body, football-grenade scissors or "I´ll move forward you have my back"). And I haven't even yet mentioned the excessive agitation "overlap" that the viewer is forced to watch, which is packed with undisguised pathos (no, it's not a scene "please, one more"), that it has absolutely nothing in common with serious (anti) war drama. This is a regular B-rate guild "holy gore" pleasure not a serious movie. Which is a pity, because the fate and the themes (and the resulting conflicts) are so stimulating that they deserved a better and, above all, more dignified adaptation. But it wouldn't be so much fun, although unintentional, but damn it. At the end of the day, the main drawback is not the silly script, ridiculous performances or disrespecting the memory of the victims on both sides, but the first forty minutes, which ... Well, it´s just as bad (if not worse) than the rest of the movie, but there are no scenes from the Army of Darkness. Which is an unforgivable sin that not a dozen prayers will undo.

Take "Postbrody's" Homeland series, adapt them in the spirit of John le Carré's newer novels and shoot it as a slow reserved documentary in the style of Tobias Lindholm. This is the impression this series would like to make and surprisingly, it really works to a large extent. It addresses current issues (oil, Chinese investment business, the Middle East conflict, a pragmatic approach to the Taliban's role and traumatized soldiers during and after the mission, political plots, playing with fire and much more), but not black and white or cheap (not surprisingly, this is completely the same team that was behind The Saboteurs). Which will please you even more because at the core it is still primarily a thrilling thriller, which could take even a lot less complex breeding ground and focus on authenticity. However, there´s one problem arising from this, it´s when here and there something is captured in a non-complex way (or it resorts to genre cliché), then it´s even much more obvious. Undoubtedly, it has more than just one issue, it could be told in fewer episodes (especially it could be edited at first, it really starts only from the third episode on) and some story lines could be omitted or, on the contrary, more space should be devoted to them. But still, it's all the acting is brilliant and it is sometimes damn exciting. The risky step with including current topics has paid off, they are not funny, and moreover it is rather nice and can do without strong words and gestures, which is the result of a non dull military-political drama-thriller, which relies as much on the main characters as on its course. PS: It was also filmed in the Czech Republic, so domestic locations here pretend to be Norwegian; especially in the first episode, the Prague Congress Centre disguised as the opera house and the ministry in Oslo make Czech viewers slightly smile.

Less reserved and procedural than one would expect. The procedural part is sidelined in favor of a great American engaged drama based on characters, stories, emotions, prejudice and social overlaps (racism, sexism, you know what I mean). Of course, it's not entirely bad, but it´s a let-down (at least for me). On the other hand, it goes hand in hand with the fact that this is exactly what completely controlled the process at the expense of evidence and similar "redundancies". But where else would this approach fit more than in the trial of the most famous overseas celebrity that was accused of murder. The media were overexcited and quickly covered every possible aspect of soap opera taking place in court room. And then the case of clear murder turned into a several months lasting "Process of the Century" that polarized the society on the racial issue. This is exactly the aspect the creators pay special attention to and they work with it not in a cheap way, reasonable, comprehensively and interestingly. Sadly, the opening is rather week and some of the performances too. There are absolutely excellent performances seen (Brown, Vance, Lane and of course Sarah Paulson) along with those that look almost like parodies. There are only a few of them, but they are even more striking. However, it is clearly worth watching, if not for the fact it´s astonishing up-to-date or for the captivating course (it is a series that can be binged in one go, especially from the fifth episode onwards), then for an great example of everything rotten in the US legal system. The prosecution has to deal with one procedural error after another (however unwanted they are, but it is something you would not expect for such a closely watched case, what is even more surprising is that these errors are not exceptional). The defense, on the other hand, largely "ignores" the case of double violent murder and proclaims the racial story line which the media (and gladly) agree with, along with the public and eventually even the prosecution with the jury. And this is what is the far most fascinating/disturbing in this respect.

Late spaghetti western, which is probably the reason why it is not so much a spaghetti movie. The opening 40 minutes are completely different from the rest of the movie in terms of tone, course and style. And the difference is so big than even story line is unable to connect both parts. The only two connecting elements (main character/villain) are profiled significantly differently in the second part. The result are two separate (and excellent!) Westerns that have nothing in common. One is a post-war drama that thrives on fog, rain, mud, low spirits and hopelessness. This part ends with life on a farm. The second part lasts about an hour and begins with a trip to the city and it is a traditional genre movie revolving around revenge/rescue. It takes place in the scorching heat of the sun on dusty roads between stagecoach stations and settlements in the middle of nowhere. This peculiar contradiction can be seen in everything. The opening part has a completely different conception of music than the other one, or the fact that the main character is a dreaded gunslinger turns out only twenty minutes before the movie ends. And none of it is really important since blood fights prevail. After all, he shoots only a single character during the whole film and this character was already dying at that moment. Nevertheless, this cannot be not recommended, because more than one separate western is not even half as good as both these films, where the first is unusual and more stylish, and the second is cleaner in terms of genre.

McAvoy's captivating showreel, which is very good for a long time, then sometimes it gets quite bad (because it is unreasonably long) and boldly sophisticated during the meta-closing... Or desperate that already missed the bus. I do not (yet) know, since neither I don´t have a clear opinion on this. It will depend a lot on whether or not it's over, because it's not finished.

An (audio) pulp version of Blow Up that starts as a typical seventies conspiracy film and ends as a typical eighties chilling thriller with an uncompromising conclusion. But it is the symbiosis of the trio De Palma/Zsigmond/Donaggio that puts the crown on it.