3DD!3

Texas' revolt has done Civil War some fine advertising and A24 can celebrate. Alex Garland is keeping his head down with the script and direction. The artistic arrangement is there, but he still focuses on the rawness, underscored by black-and-white photography by up-and-comer Cailee Spaena (the kid from DEVS), and serves up a classic road movie through the disunited states of America. The scariest stop along the way is the one at Jesse Plemons, and it towers over the entire film like the top of the Everest. I understand why Garland doesn't explicitly state the reason for the conflict, though it is implied, but I missed that very conversation whose absence Wagner Moura laments. The excellent Wagner Moura, by the way, easily nudges the brooding Kirsten Dunst. The finale is predictable but formally breathtaking. Great soundtrack.

The good, the bad, the ugly... Fallout mode. It's got pace, it's got cynical humor, it's got bloody action, and it's got a very timely theme. Walton Goggins is impeccable in both timelines and he also has the most interesting role. The others act like morons at times, but you'll forgive them for the perfect atmosphere. Jonathan Nolan is a fan and has looked after every important aspect of the adaptation. The twist is downright delicious, even though it was perhaps foreshadowed well in advance. The finale is taut as a string and Kyle MacLachlan rocks it incredibly. Even though it looks like chaos reigns, that doesn't mean no one is at the helm.

Sly talks about surviving and life, even if it's really bad. That's nothing new, he already did it in Rocky and Rambo, but here it's given context by his friends, family and a few others. The documentary is not lacking in interesting facts that some people know and some don't. I didn't know that the final monologue from the first Rambo – "Where the fuck are my feet?" – was written by Stallone. It's stilted and avoids major controversial topics, but it packs a punch and moves along quickly. A documentary full of doubt, even philosophising. It even has minor plot arcs like forgiving his father and moving out of the house. It was very good to watch.

I used to think that I don't understand today's Czech humor, but it's partly a Romanian import! Strange caricatures trying to be satirical, wandering from nowhere to nowhere, spouting nonsense. Vojtěch Kotek is the only one with an interesting character and he revels in the position of a suicidal religious man. The chaotic ending about payoffs and finding happiness is shock made of plastic. The funniest thing in all the muck was the bunch from Brno.

MONKEY MAN! MONKEY MAN! MONKEY MAN! MONKEY MAN! A bloody action romp with a mystical intermezzo and a subtle political background. Dev Patel is the writer, director and star of this heartfelt revenge project. The cleansing of the indigenous population for the sake of building a factory (probably for biscuits) resonates nicely, but the audio-visual package takes this unconventionally told traditional story to a new level. Contact battles alternating points of view, a high-paced chase through crowded streets, sweat and blood, and a cut through social groups from the bottom to the top. All beautifully framed by the tale of Hanuman. A unexpectedly mature work.

A perfect crime drama set in Tokyo at the end of the last millennium. The brilliantly recreated realities make you forget that the writers sometimes make things up and you are unpleasantly taken out of focus when some of the characters behaves downright stupidly in order to heighten the tension. The actors are great and the character development is exemplary. Whether it's Ansel Elgort’s Adelstein (though the return to his family is strong, but lacks the resolution of his sister) or Shô Kasamatsu yakuza guy. Ken Watanabe has mellowed a bit over these two years, going from a tough detective to more of a grizzled mentor. I'm hoping for another season, but there they would have to go straight into government circles to raise the bar.

Of course, the book is in a different league altogether, and if Game of Thrones had stuck to it would been better. I was honestly worried that we'd miss out on the awesome scenes of the floating army or the slicing of the ship, but no, they just ruined the characters we love from the books, and worse still they made them all buddies, so the theme of outcasts and weirdos went out the window. Not only are they multinational, babbling about morality and always consoling themselves, they're multiple characters in one. I can see why it's easier to go in that direction, but then they all behave illogically when they're projecting several different perspectives on the problem at hand. The acting is weak. Some are almost fine (Benedict Wong), but it's still not the same. There's a lot of missing from Beijing, China in general, and how the problem is solved. P.S: I was surprised that there are already important pieces from the second and third books, and I'm afraid it dilutes the story arcs. Hopefully the next season will be more faithful and that the future will be worth it.

Doug Liman made an 80's B movie for fun and they wouldn't even let him put it in theaters! A smiling Jake Gyllenhaal hurting bad people and obviously having an incredible time doing it. Conor McGregor is perfect as the evil, disagreeable asshole. The romance line works, the cast is likeable. Definitely could have used a little trimming, though, the middle drags a bit. The action is decent, the fights are oddly shot in places, but fine for me. The music is great and there are beautiful shots of the Florida Keys. I'll have to go there sometime.

This detached, austere, almost documentary reconstruction of the life of the diver/cashier/porn star Andrea Absolonova surprises with its quality. Natálie Císařovská doesn’t give a toss about the audience's expectations of porn cinema and rather observes, doesn't comment, doesn't judge. There is no great dramatization, not much is said, and the disapproval of the profession is shown only through sarcasm and disdain. Natalia Germani's performance is fantastic. I don't know if she hit her mark (I'm not familiar with her work), but she handles the rise and fall with aplomb. The audiovisual aspect is first class, too.

Dracarys. An enjoyable and mainly imaginative TV fairy tale about a dragon, which turns into a survival thriller where everything is saved by glow worms. Millie Bobby Brown plays the princess in distress brilliantly and manages to convince you that she's a damsel in distress under all that makeup. The visual effects are pretty average, but it is saved by the awesome atmospheric music, which adds that extra star.