Stanislaus

Not having seen the original yet – shame on me – I approached Steven Spielberg's film with a clean slate, but at the same time I had certain expectations given the director's name and the load of Oscars the 1961 film won. At first, second, and indeed any other glance, it's a modern adaptation of the Romeo and Juliet love story, where instead of aristocratic families we have street gangs of rival nationalities who are momentarily at odds, with fatal consequences. Spielberg's artful direction, catchy musical and dance numbers and an all-around likeable cast make West Side Story an enjoyable film that's well suited to cinema screens. PS: Rita Moreno, hats off!

(Spoiler alert!) After the success of the animated and Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the intertwining realities and different versions of "Spidey" make their way into live-action form, which is actually the biggest attraction for going to see the latest Marvel movie. With a plethora of spoilers and set photos floating around the internet, there's basically no major plot twist in the third Spider-Man - save for one rather unexpected death. Still, it was amazing, even pleasantly nostalgic, to watch the characters from the previous "spider movies" without it ending up feeling like one giant scripted mess. My only criticisms would perhaps be the occasionally jarringly rendered interaction between the Spider-Men and the blatant play on emotions - though in the scene referring to Gwen, I ate it up hook, line and sinker. Acting-wise, it was the seasoned Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe are the ones who do the best job. The end-credits scene was a bit weaker this time.

Love Hard is a heavily predictable Christmas romance with a likeable cast and a nice, albeit clumsily delivered message about how lies have short legs and that honesty and trust are not just empty words. Some of the character development was a little less well grasped (Natalie and Owen), but that's not really surprising within the genre. More than once while watching, I thought of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Last but not least, I liked the interesting marketing idea with the candles.

Ridley Scott's second biopic this year, this time from a more recent history than The Last Duel, had to compensate for the foregone conclusion through the acting and technical execution, which he thankfully managed to do quite well in most cases. The screen brings together acting aces of both the older and younger generations, and although their English-Italian comes across as a little dodgy at times, they give quality performances. The audio-visual execution is good, which is not surprising in a film by Scott. Although I’ve rated both films with four stars, I found The Last Duel more impressive. House of Gucci gets minus points for an unnecessarily long running time and the death of Maurizio, which was a bit too much for my taste, but it's still a solid biographical drama.

While watching this film, the recently released Encanto came to my mind more than once while listening to the songs, and no wonder, since Lin-Manuel Miranda had a hand in the soundtrack in this case as well. Vivo, like Encanto, problematizes family relationships and relies on friendship and love in various forms rather than different forms of magic. For my taste, the film had a few too many musical numbers (yes, I know it's a musical) and I had a bit of trouble tuning in to the style of music used – I did, however, enjoy the final number. Plot-wise, it's a prosaic and predictable story that, while it has a heart-warming message, doesn't set any high ambitions to surprise the viewer in any way, but it does entertain (especially during the escape to Miami) and moves along quickly. Better three stars!

After last year's Dashing in December and The Christmas Setup, things got "warm" again before the festive season, and this time it was Netflix that came out with a four percent winter romance. Single All the Way is predictable from start to finish, with some of the actors and actresses overacting incredibly – Except Jennifer Coolidge, who solidly nailed her hilariously goofy role – yet it was quite watchable, the plot moved along nicely and it was just the sort of (overly-)cute, if ostentatiously underwhelming, romance with an expected but still satisfying ending.

She’s All That, the original is a rather (below-)average American romantic comedy with an interesting but shallowly developed theme. This is also true of the "gender-swapping" remake He’s All That, which is in the spirit of the (digital) age of Tik-Tok and followers, but at the same time does not try to add any value. The characters and their performers are universally bland, but I was glad for the smaller but distinctive roles for the actors from the original film. Since you know how the film will turn out – without even actually knowing the original – you can at least let yourself ride the wave of nostalgia.

I came across A Writer's Odyssey by sheer chance on YouTube, and since I like fantasy films and haven't seen a purely Chinese film in a while, I decided to give this one a go. Throughout the running time, the film reminded me of The Neverending Story (but an R-rating), together with Mortal Kombat and a fantasy version of 96 hours (well, actually only 72 hours). I've always had a bit of a problem with Asian acting, but here it seemed tolerable to the point of being almost sober, which I'll take as a plus point. I also praise the appearance of Lord Redman, even if he was slightly over-digitized, and besides that I was intrigued by the storyline with the red guards, who reminded me of the soldiers of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. The film could have done with twenty minutes less running time, but it is still a noteworthy affair in terms of story, which thematises the intertwining of two worlds against the backdrop of interpersonal relationships and family dramas.

Encanto mixes a fairy-tale Disney atmosphere with current themes and a look at (not only) the world of movies, in which the creators focus on the political correctness and multi-cultural character of their products, which may not be to everyone's liking. After watching the latest Disney film, I was a little embarrassed about the final rating. On the one hand, Encanto could have been funnier, more playful and deeper (Inside Out and the culturally close Coco set the bar far too high, alas), but on the other hand, the film cannot be denied a sincere (if slightly moralistic and elemental) story about the importance of family and deciding one's own destiny by oneself, and in this case the film focused particularly on the female characters. From an audiovisual point of view, it was a feast for the eyes - whether it was the colourful animation or the pleasant soundtrack with nice dance numbers. Three and a quarter stars!

The basic idea behind pf this extra feature of Encanto is simple, but from life – whether human or raccoon. Parents will never stop worrying about their children, but they should nevertheless find a reasonable compromise between healthy and unhealthy protection for their offspring.