Stanislaus

As a lover of dinosaurs and a die-hard fan of Jurassic Park, I'm always happy with the release of a film with these overgrown lizards that doesn't fall under the aforementioned "universe" – and there are very few such films. The final product, although it brings down the initial expectations a bit, still stays within the average and thanks to the reasonable running time it hardly gets boring. The purpose of the space mission is admittedly stripped down, and the family storyline felt futile, but thankfully the film primarily concentrates on the struggle to survive on Earth 65 million years ago. (Spoiler alert!) The scenes with the dinosaurs were satisfactory, especially the cave sequence, which makes imaginative use of a motion sensor, and the final confrontation between Mills and a sort of hybrid of a T-Rex and a dog. Although it is predictable, you already know from the title and at the latest with the first shot of the sky what moment the Earth is in, I had fun watching it in the cinema and the ninety minutes were perfectly adequate.

Autumn Spring is all the sadder when you consider that Vlastimil Brodsky killed himself less than a year after the film was released. It is as if Vladimír Michálek's film was a harbinger of the inevitable future. Autumn Spring benefits especially from the leading trio of Brodský, Stella Zázvorková and Stanislav Zindulka, who really put their hearts into their characters and offered believable and sober performances. The film depicts in a sad but endearing way the ways in which one can deal with ageing and the approaching end - one can give up before death, or slowly prepare for it, or pretend as if ending is out of the question. A touching and human film!

Martin Pohl elevated his Party from a positive to a comparative and moved the plot of the equally crazy sequel to cinemas and the famous Máchovo Jezero. As far as the technical execution goes, Party Hard was definitely much better to watch. But thanks to its humour, I enjoyed the appealed to me a bit more, but it’s still not my cup of tea – though I must say I liked the scene at the surgery and the end credits scene. I praise the animated insert, it was very bizarre, but quite effective in the end. I wonder if Pohl and co. will come up with a superlative as well.

I can understand any rating for Party Hard, because it is a truly unconventional film that is sure to captivate some viewers and disgust others. In my case, I will be somewhat stingy with my assessment. Although it is a rather unique piece in the field of Czech comedy, unfortunately (or is it rather fortunately?) it didn't really hit me with its humour. The scenes with Marek Milko amused me quite a bit, otherwise it was too bizarre with sometimes rather tasteless fecal humour. The film didn't benefit from its amateurish execution, whether it was the (non)actors or the camera. But, as I said. some people will like the explicit explosions of Jebi's craters, the brown-skinned revenge, or the union of Czech perverts ... and others may not.

It's been a while since I've heard of Schwizerdütsch - most recently in the film Mario, in which one of the smaller roles was played by Julian Koechlin, who plays Michi here. New Heights is, on the surface, a fairly ordinary relationship-family drama, yet I enjoyed watching the series as it played out several issues at once (suicide, acceptance of minority sexual orientation, developers vs farmers, family secrets, rape, drug addiction, competition in the workplace) without the plot feeling over-saturated and muddled, with the creators leaving quite a promising open door for a new season at the end of the first. I'll admit that some of the characters were really hard to sympathize with (especially Sarah and Lorenzo), though their behavior was somewhat understandable given their storyline. The Wyss family is certainly not ideal or exemplary, but I'm curious about the future fates of its members.

After not very well received film Mother! and five long years, the master of depressing and oppressive dramas is back, and he's still on form thanks to (his thematic favourite) God. Within Darren Aronofsky's filmography, The Whale is probably closest to The Wrestler in its somewhat restrained approach by the director's standards, as it also tells the story of the bitter life of a man at the end of his rope who has a problematic relationship with his daughter. In terms of premise, The Whale is not an inherently complex film, but it mixes in some interesting themes and moments that leave the viewer engaged with the action on screen. The lion's share of all this is of course (literally, given the fat-suit) the breathtaking performance of Brendan Fraser. I always had reservations about him, but here he proved his acting qualities to perfection as Charlie. He was ably seconded by all the supporting characters played by Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, as well as Ty Simpkins and Samantha Morton. While the film kept pretty much to the ground (or was it Earth?) (thanks to Charlie's mass, and not just Charlie), there were more than a few places where Aranofsky poked fun at his favorite Creator, but not in an underhanded or purposeless way. The Whale, like Charlie, may be naive and overly positive in places, but it also manages to convey the message that people can be amazing if they have support and are honest with themselves in an authentic and not aggressively weepy way.

Paul Berry's The Sandman is miles away from Sandy from the Rise of the Guardians and other similarly-themed fairytales. The Sandman combines the eeriness of Hoffmann's original tale with the artistic prowess of Berry's team, resulting in a densely atmospheric short with a macabre conclusion. In addition to the nice animation that plays with depth of image, I commend the visuals and the film's soundtrack.

We Have a Ghost mixes several genres at once – family film, fantasy, mystery "crime-horror" and (allegedly) comedy – but none of these genre levels could satisfy me in an acceptable way. Unfortunately, I didn't find Christopher Landon's film quite as entertaining or scary; perhaps that "crime" plot had a bit of potential. Jennifer Coolidge's cameo was pretty much pointless, on the other hand I commend the early portrayal of "Ernest" on social media. The ending was like tingles on the senses, but didn't offend, it's just a shame you have to wade through nearly two hours of filler to get to it.

Dark Skies has a somewhat slower start, during which I developed quite a dislike for the father figure (which persisted throughout the rest of the film). But from the first appearance of the unwelcome visitor the plot picks up a nice pace and does not stop even by the wilder (and perhaps too overcomplicated) ending. There are a couple of scares that work thanks to the good sound design and edition, but it's still a rather more restrained sci-fi horror film that also feels low-budget ($3,500,000) considering. It was nice to see J.K. Simmons in a smaller role, but could have easily been given more space.

Cocaine Bear could have turned out any way, given the premise and the director, and I'm quite happy it turned out to be an average black-humour slasher starring a murderous bear with a cube of cocaine for a brain. The film has a lot of humour, but it’s very uneven in places, but I had a decent time in the cinema, especially in the scenes with Margo Martindale and during the gazebo sequence. They certainly could have pushed the black-humour envelope more and didn't have to put so much family ballast into the script, but what the hell, I left the cinema feeling satisfied.