POMO

Such an interesting idea and kickoff from a great duo of English filmmakers that resulted in trivial moralizing about life values and love as the most important thing. What, in my opinion, was most astonishing was the completely unused potential of the Beatles’ hits and music in general. This is not a musical film, even though each and every viewer expects it to be. And the key drawback is the unimpressive lead actor, who is outshined by his character’s girlfriend. Is the overall outcome attributable to the film being a quick attempt to ride on the back of the success of Bohemian Rhapsody? That seems so, as it even panders to the viewer in a similar manner as BR. But in this case, a similar recipe produced the almost opposite result.

Long Shot is a textbook romantic comedy centred around a non-conventional couple whose chemistry is nevertheless believable, though just barely. Adult sexual jokes, drugs, occasional straightforward human sincerity and one more thing help to prevent the movie from slipping into the blandness of the genre. That one more thing is Charlize, because looking at her at times makes you stop registering what her character says (and you don’t mind that at all).

The Loft is an entertaining movie with a nice formal side, an interesting cast and a surprising finale full of questions. However, it focuses more on conforming to genre formulas than on creating a distinctive, refined work that would be equally (or even more) interesting when watched again. Alas, it’s a mainstream remake with an almost stellar cast, and such films are only rarely capable of that.

The opening scene with the Warrens gives a good start to the third Annabelle, lending it the true Conjuring drive. The rest of the film is a masterfully crafted ghost story with child characters, which works well with the environment, especially the Warrens’ basement containing a collection of haunted artefacts. However, the ghosts are overly harmless - even the werewolf turns into smoke when slapped with a guitar and the threat has passed. This “safe” haunting makes the movie accessible to a larger audience, which is nice, but it may be a drawback for some.

An excellent start and a spectacular demonstration of different monsters, buried under a faint yet convoluted plot and underestimation of the viewer’s intelligence. Thanks to Gareth Edwards, with the previous movie Warner Brothers has managed to pull off a respectable relaunch of the Godzilla cult by successfully blending the motifs and the atmosphere of the original Japanese myth with the pomp of Hollywood blockbusters. But instead of meeting the audience’s expectations, they entrusted the next two sequels to creators of mediocre horror movies. Sure, pouring the high budget into first-class CGI should be good enough for the stupid target audience craving cool-looking monsters, but let’s see if this approach changes with the new CEO.

The best two scenes open the third instalment of the John Wick series and are rather actually the ending of the second one. Then a new, slightly different movie begins. The outlined movie universe is developed and we encounter its power brokers. The journey to them, however, does not reach the dramatic epic nature or visual magnificence of Rome from the second part, with its disco, catacombs and the Camorra boss. And the stylish elegance of the previous sequel with its 100% focus on Wick turns into an unpredictable bit of surrealism with apparent errors of logic and multiple characters who influence Wick’s destiny in a manner other than with a lethal handgun. However, it is still a very enjoyable representative of the series within its genre.

A separation that did not have to happen. For me, this is Cannes 2019’ most powerful film. It is a film I would not bother watching after only reading the synopsis, but after it won in the Un Certain Regard section, I could not contain my curiosity. It does not work straightforwardly with emotions in the Hollywood style. The pain and sorrow you feel for the characters do not cause you to shed tears, but they weigh on your chest, even suffocating you. And you cannot help it, because you cannot help the characters. A beautiful film. [Cannes]

Beware of trolls. It’s a nice and fun wait for a wonderful climax that you don’t want to spoil for yourself. It is fun because of the duo of viewers’ favourites who delightfully enjoy every scene and gesture (ultimately, Brad has an even better role than Leo), and it’s nice thanks to the filming environment and nailing the cheerful colours of the carefree sixties in LA. Margot as Sharon Tate is the ultimate blonde angel, a balanced contrast to selected hippie girls from the Manson Family, who conversely are portrayed as the nastiest bunch and treated accordingly (bravo to Quentin for a courageous, fresh breeze of incorrectness in this fucked-up PC-obsessed era). However, in the dialogue and the meaning of individual scenes from the westerns of Rick Dalton (Leo’s character), as well as in the context of the movie as a whole, Tarantino’s creativity appears to be flagging. Like Franco Nero’s cameo in Django, it’s nice to have it there, but in terms of dialogue it was the weakest (or plainly just pointless) scene of the movie. Most of us consider either Basterds or (in my case) Django to be Tarantino’s masterpiece of the past decade. Do not expect Once Upon a Time to be on a par with those. Qualitatively, it is rather The Hateful Eight in an inverse, divinely lightened mood. And with a WONDERFUL climax. [Cannes]

A well-played, solid crime movie with murder and investigation, but without the added value of being connected to an interesting topic or a new creative style of storytelling. [Cannes]

For some, romance means Casablanca or Pretty Woman, and for others it’s this. A seemingly incompatible couple that bonded through S&M. It is interpreted openly, without reserve, but decently, civilly, with both seriousness and humour, and most importantly, it is believable, with a viable psychological background. This is almost unheard of in this rare kind of film. The director did not wish to make a controversial movie about S&M, but rather a humorous human drama about two outsiders coming together in an environment that is unknown or incomprehensible to most viewers. [Cannes]