gudaulin

Emotional porn of the breakdown of a romantic relationship directed against the backdrop of the Syrian civil war. It could be considered impressive, but at the same time, it raises numerous questions. Syrian society is, after all, significantly more conservative than the Euro-American space, and it is subject to numerous social taboos. Behind the walls of homes and apartments, many things may take place, but outwardly it is necessary to maintain a decorum that, from our Western perspective, goes into absurdity. The level of openness of the testimonies of the actors that Sean McAllister follows is remarkable even from the perspective of our culture, and downright shocking from the perspective of the strict religious morality of the Middle East. One is then led to think that the director manipulates either the viewer when he directs a scripted story, or the unhappy spouses, who seem to have forgotten about the omnipresent camera. This is the second McAllister film that I consider worth interest, but at the same time, it is disruptive and unsettling in some aspects. Overall impression: 70%.

Everyone should get a second chance, and even though Abbas Kiarostami's film And Life Goes On definitely didn't do it for me, and I also clearly defined the risks that his work entails, I still decided to take a risk given the cycle of Iranian movies that were running on TV. I didn't expect much, but Kiarostami surprised me with his minimalism. To trim cinematography like this requires a special kind of artist. For me, as a fan of genre films, Kiarostami is inedible. I won't send his movie, which is intended for a completely different category of viewers, to the fiery hells, but giving it only one star and an overall impression of 25% clearly indicates my maximum distance away from it.

The strength of A Very English Scandal does not lie in its authenticity or its subject matter, but rather in the complexity, precision, and convincing performances of the actors. The miniseries is strong both in its screenwriting and in its direction and casting. It can masterfully balance on the edge of several genres and will be appreciated by fans of British television production because A Very English Scandal is as British as it gets. The essentially serious theme is mixed with black humor and irony, perhaps with the exception of the last episode, which is more of a courtroom drama and does not avoid a touch of pathos in some scenes. In terms of the acting, the series has no weaknesses, and Hugh Grant deserves absolute recognition for his portrayal of a member of the upper class and a representative of political power. It is one of the best performances of his long acting career, and those who know him from stereotypical romantic comedies might be shocked by the range of roles he can choose and how he can sell such a repellent mixture of cowardice, snobbery, and arrogance. His counterpart is Ben Whishaw in the role of an effeminate homosexual who, despite his seemingly fragile exterior, does not exhibit cowardice and can surprise. A Very English Scandal is a story about a society coming to terms with homosexuality and about the transformations of British politics in the second half of the 20th century. It is highly professional and entertaining. Overall impression: 90%.

A War is not so much a movie about war, but rather about the collision of different cultures and the state of European society, which has become too comfortable, self-centered, and repeatedly fails in conflicts with other worlds because it stubbornly tries to give events in distant countries different meanings corresponding to our customs and ideals of morality nurtured in the safe ideological bubbles of European elites, which have not experienced a real crisis and uncertainty for a few decades and have permanently lost touch with reality. European society has lost in many ways the ability to improvise, relying on bureaucratic rules instead of faith and ideas. It is aging and weakening. It is no wonder that military missions have been showing at best minimal effectiveness for some time now and at worst a real disaster. The protagonist of the movie should not have stood before the court, but rather those who sent him on a senseless mission and tied the unit's hands with stupid rules. The director may have revealed more about the functioning of European society than he originally intended. Overall impression: 75%.

Down with Love parodies both the golden 60s and the film production of major American studios from that era. Additionally, it mocks fashionable feminism and the gender movement. There was certainly more potential in this material, but the film doesn't rank among the top, yet its pleasant and functional cast makes it an attractive spectacle. Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor simply belong to the top, and it shows. Overall impression: 70%.

ABBA's music was a big part of my childhood, and I associated this film with their best songs. However, to be honest, the film offers nothing beyond those songs. The script is weak, and the story is almost non-existent, serving only as a flimsy bridge between musical numbers. For a documentary, it is too staged. Overall impression: 40%.

From Dusk Till Dawn is a very controversial film, where it is possible to understand a wide range of ratings from movie fans. On one hand, there is the traditional Quentin Tarantino style combining elements of extreme violence, eroticism, and classic horror with a strongly comedic exaggeration and necessary catchphrases, additionally supported by the participation of well-known and top actors. On the other hand, the screenplay is openly not among the best that have been written in this genre. Moreover, the pace of the story is quite uneven. Overall impression: 60%. In some moments, Robert Rodriguez explicitly wastes traditional horror props and begins to bore.

This film simply got to me with its camera work and atmosphere that resonated with me for a long time. It's a very slow film with minimal dialogue, where the story speaks through images of a landscape scorched by the sun, details capturing sweat on human faces, or emotions emanating from the characters' eyes. This is my second encounter with Walter Salles after his famous Central Station. This guy really knows how to craft a film. Overall impression: 95%. A tragic film about the inability to break free from senseless traditions and blind obedience to the patriarch of one's family.

I objectively give April and the Twisted World five stars. I really enjoyed it and even though it is intended for a younger audience, it worked almost perfectly for me and allowed me to go back to my childhood for a while. It is the essence of the French comic book school with perfect artistic interpretation, with a touch of Miyazaki, Jules Verne, and a lot of steampunk, and artistically it reminds me of the style of the Tintin comic book adventures. It is a funny and stylish affair with a pleasantly reasonable duration. You don't often see a similar game on what would happen "if". Overall impression: 90%.

I didn't see the film during its release in movie theaters and I only watched it now as part of filling gaps in the world of cinema. Therefore, I cannot be influenced by any nostalgia and I can easily compare Cameron's famous film with the current offerings in the respective genre. The main advantage of The Abyss was undoubtedly its cutting-edge special effects, which, understandably, lose their shine with the passing years, exposing the triviality of the plot and the hopelessness of the screenplay. Moreover, the concept of the cute aliens who wave at you in a friendly manner and are so kind that you would immediately move them into your living room really bothers me, and I am only open to it in the case of E.T. The remaining aspect is Cameron's precise direction, which earns The Abyss a three-star rating, although just barely due to its overlong duration. In the last third, the film dragged on so much that I longed for Cameron's finances to run out and for him to quickly stop the film... Overall impression: 50%. I can't help but also point out the absence of any deeper thoughts in the film. This really isn't 2001: A Space Odyssey.