Lima

A convincing demonstration that it is possible to live a full life with a serious physical disability, even at a professional sports level. In this case it is a kind of wheelchair rugby, a contact sport in which there is no shortage of hard tackles and falls. The documentary does not try to wring emotions out of the viewer, to make them feel sorry for its physically disabled characters by saying, "Gee, poor bastards!" On the contrary, it tries to captivate the viewer with the story of two top athletes, each on a different side of the fence (namely, the rival teams of the USA and Canada), and its concept tries to create the impression that the wheelchair under is not the slightest handicap. In the end, a sober, factual, emotionally affair that avoids being manipulative. And with great music as a cherry on top.

Although the film was made in a very bad social atmosphere and Kádár distanced himself from it, the result is not that bad. The poetic narrative about the suddenly born passion for a young woman, jealousy and its tragic outcome is mainly based on the natural beauty of the Danube region, the convincing performance of Rade Markovic, unknown to me until now, and Liš's flawless music, which adds a greater emotional dimension to the story. However, compared to the masterpieces of Kádár and Klose from the previous decade, it doesn't hold up, it lacks a deeper idea, and the prevailing feeling is as if recent distressing events and creative disagreements had taken their toll on the directorial virtuosity of both men. Creative fatigue, you might say.

Smash the icons to the ground! I find it amusing that according to some critics Laura is one of the best noir films ever. Yes, the atmosphere is great, with lots of tobacco smoke, dark tuning, shadows, incessant rain. Unfortunately, the plot of Preminger's film doesn't even stand as an average detective story, the dialogues are banal and the final resolution is so incredibly trivial that you can see it coming from the very beginning. One of this year’s biggest disappointments at SFS.

Are you being bullied by a neighbour, nagged by your boss, or do you feel that nobody likes you and decency among people has disappeared? Go see Donaldson's latest film. It’s a hugely positive film that not only beautifully tells the story of following your dreams, but all the characters Munro meets on his journey to Utah's racetrack are kind and welcoming – the tough bikers, the drag queens, the farmer, the boss of the car dealership, the track judges. Helping your fellow man is still a thing, that's what this film is about. And Hopkins, with his beautifully delivered sincere laughter when he finds out that he is enrolled among the contestants, once again proves what a great actor he still is, even after years of "fasting".

Alice in Wonderland on acid. It might get a bit monotonous after a while, but I can't help it, I enjoyed this conception of the world around me through the imaginative fantasies of a little girl, I enjoyed going out with her doll "friends" (or rather their heads) to explore the countryside, with the mentally handicapped Luke I enjoyed swimming in the sea of tall blades of grass and falling down the rabbit hole. And I can see why Terry chose Cullin's novel, it was the perfect material for his unbridled imagination and playfulness. Gilliam is back on form after a bit of a break isn’t he?

Another proof that the world of PC games and the world of film are not yet very compatible. Gans brilliantly portrays the oppressive atmosphere of the game, but you can sense the leaning towards the mainstream and the resulting somewhat sterile portrayal of the horrors of darkness. The few digital boogeymen and the very decent gore didn't save it (but Pyramid Head was impressive despite the small space). They should have pushed the envelope more, throw out the boring storyline with the completely useless Sean Bean, which diluted the dense atmosphere of the film unnecessarily and did not solve anything, and above all to make the unraveling of the mystery more clear. It was too overcomplicated and chatty at the end. But Radha Mitchell was great.

Cute, that's for sure. But the 4* are reluctant. Considering the large team of writers, I expected much more sophisticated humour, with better punchlines and not so infantile. It is definitely not a "Shrek-like" explosion of references, quotes and double entendres. The really funny situations (a hippie pacifist Hendrix fan vs. a military vehicle) won't be picked up by small children, who will be happy that the animation is perfect. The moral by the end was alright.

If the filmmakers had paid as much attention to the script as they did to the excellent technical aspects, it would have been a genre banger, but the film suffers from a short runtime. To enjoy this eternal crawling, climbing, cutting through corridors and obstacles, you need to have built some deeper emotional relationship with the characters, which the viewer is not afforded thanks to the overly hurried exposition. As a result, it's a consumerist quickie of the hamburger type, served up with a sumptuous garnish in the form of an amazing production design, and with some unintentionally ridiculous Monty Python-like dialogue. And sorry, Wolfie, Josh Lucas doesn’t have the chops to be an A-list star.

Come on, you guys are taking this way too seriously! You know how cool it is to put on Wynorski's magnum opus, crack open a beer, enjoy the genre clichés, laugh at the bad visual effects and the tragic actors, and guess with a friend which of the characters will be the next to die? The first one had to be the smoker, that's for sure, it's a pest today and we had a 100% guessing success rate until the very end, shame the ending spoiled it for us.

A Blockbuster with a soul. It captivates in several action moments (even a train accident on the big screen can be a blast), and the intimate scenes are very pleasant, mainly thanks to the main cast and the chemistry between them, which works flawlessly. Brandon Routh was born for the role of Superman and Kate Bosworth, who is not a bland Jessica Alba-type Barbie doll, exudes soulful beauty and fragile femininity. I don't accept the criticism that Singer is too reverential towards the source material and doesn't try to make it realistic and humanized. It’s Superman! A legendary comic book icon whose existence doesn't need to be subject to fashion trends and it simply doesn’t matter how he can hide his cape under his shirt or what kind of miraculous hairspray he uses. I just hope that some of the themes (fatherhood) will be developed in the sequel. With a margin of about 50% for cinema operators, it is now clear that Singer's film will not pay for itself due to the absurdly high budget (which is not visible in the result) and it would be a great pity to postpone further filming. It’s one of the best comic book adaptations in recent years and it does deserve a sequel. PS: You have to watch it in a cinema with perfect sound!