DaViD´82

August 1997, Virginia Beach. Dead young killer whales beached. Without any apparent external injuries, but inside their bodies were completely minced up and broken. How did they die and who killed them and could this be avoided next time? Is this the work of men or does the solution to the mystery lie elsewhere? Time is of the essence, because dead whales are piling up. The excellent idea to make a documentary about this case is made even better by the fact that it is filmed like an episode of CSI. The build up in tension is better than in the vast majority of thrillers. Yes, Dolphin Murders is an original piece, but primarily a quality, unusual documentary.

A foursome of mutated, phosphorous green turtles named after artists, who are great at kung fu. Along with them we get a rat (also mutated), a sexy reporter (unmutated), tons of pizza (mostly unmutated) and against them masses of mutants (mutated) and evil creatures (mostly mutated). It all takes place in and under New York. Unbelievable trash that however was a cult for a generation and a reason for being in front of the TV every early evening on Tuesdays, “whatever happens". Nostalgia is very strong in this case, but I have to admit it still has guilty pleasure qualities and even years later, I still find these turtles entertaining.

The renowned passing of the hat from the left hand to right. Unforgettable? Well, no, but in historical terms a very valuable second of film material that contains a deeper message than most feature movies. Perhaps it’s enough just to notice that the hat is thrown from the right hand to the left. What did the author want to say by that? Is it something about his political allegiance or something completely different?

This slant on Lewis Carrol’s classic work, deformed by Švankmajer’s surrealism, proved to be the best possible. Its all-round flawless genius that will probably remain sorely unappreciated in the Czech Republic, while abroad, especially in Japan, it is praised to the heavens. And they are quite right because this is Švankmajer’s best work of all. Five * for the unforgettable rabbit alone.

"Shoe Issue! “ A magically playful narrative piece that is full of surprises at every turn. And I should add that the surprises are highly pleasant and original, although sometimes they are “at all costs". From the very first shots after the opening credits when the scene quoted above like something out of The Draughtsman’s Contract happens, it is obvious that Tristram Shandy and the story of his conception is not going to be too serious. However, the shower of intelligent make-believe fun afterward in places borders on genius. Especially the author of the screenplay, Frank C. Boyle, and the director, Michael Winterbottom, absolutely excel. A prime example of how to adapt an un-filmable book... In its own special way, mind you.

James Wan is one neat filmmaker. After his feature-film debut which kicked off an endless tidal wave of R-rated horrors filmed like music videos, he decided to take a break and now he’s back with another horror. Surprisingly, this time he chose to build the atmosphere like in the old days. And he does well at it too. Dead Silence is inventive, a quality production, gorgeous music and everything a good horror should have. But still it is some way short of perfection. Mainly because Wan as a director failed to learn a lesson from his last movie and again cast actors who lack the slightest hint of charisma or acting talent. But in Dead Silence this matters much more than in Saw, where it was still just about bearable. On the other hand, Wan learned a lesson as a screenwriter. Again he didn’t refrain from giving us a moral, but at least it’s not so superficial as Saw’s moral. It true that it isn’t the most shocking of revelations, but in the context of the entire movie it makes sort of sense. And that’s worth something too.

When a screenplay for an action movie is written by Besson, you don’t expect to be drawn into the story at all. Usually his scripts are concerned with guys beating up on each other or shooting each other to bits in various stylish ways... This makes it even more surprising that various talking and wannabe story-making interludes take up a good two-thirds of the running time. The action sequences are pretty well done and, thanks to the parkour antics, gobsmacking, but they lack originality and are rather forgettable. Simply a solid, cheap B-movie that tries to be cool in all respects, but doesn’t manage even for an instant. On the other hand, it is neither lame nor ridiculous, so it’s quite a success.

A cult classic of the exploitation genre. Considering the reputation of this picture I would expect loads of scenes where a sadistic doctor played by Pam Grier is torturing everybody, loads of naked beauties behind bars and maybe elsewhere... Instead of that, this is chaste through and through and a sort of regular B-movie. It even has a story. Women in Cages is entertaining and surprisingly it isn’t ridiculous even at the moments when maidens in miniskirts are running around the jungle with machine guns. It’s not at all bad, not relying on just a couple of good scenes, but overall its shamefully mediocre. We’ve seen so many B-movies like it and more are bound to follow.

If this is meant seriously, it is a very bad joke. Sanctuary is such an unimaginative, boring and amateurish mess that the opening episode already gives you a hard time. And if it was a deliberate joke by the creators, then they should have invited someone with at least a sense of humour to join the team.

A B-movie with all the trimmings. I have to give Anderson credit for being entertaining, though. Basically, for a long time, the only, within reason, successful adaptation of a computer game.