POMO

Naughty nineties cool, or Pretty Woman for romantic perverts. The vulnerable, searching and devoted Maggie Gyllenhaal in a story of an unusually powerful intimate pairing that may end in a separation with emotional devastation or in a partnered relationship with complete fulfilment. James Spader offers up his usual vocal precision both when he is holding back and in explosive moments. The erotic scenes are psychologically probing and exciting, the detached humour brings pleasant relief, and the emotional drama has impact. A bold and surprisingly appealing, one-of-a-kind relationship movie.

Set in a time in America that now seems the most appealing of all, Air is a fresh entrepreneurial adventure with a maximally feel-good happy ending. It's not as funny or seductively amoral as The Wolf of Wall Street, nor does it reveal such an interesting curiosity as Moneyball did, but it’s still a skilfully directed and well acted true story of the American Dream. “Booorn in the USA!”

The Pope’s Exorcist starts out entertainingly with the character of an unconventional, rebellious priest interestingly portrayed by the great Russell Crow. And then it is all the more unentertaining due to its impetuous piling up of genre clichés in the final third, which is more ridiculous than scary or in any way impressive. The film’s best scene, with which the still watchable and still developing part of the storyline culminates, is somewhere around the midpoint. A mainstream movie powered by a stellar cast, but in the context of the genre, it’s a total fiasco in comparison with some cinematic delights that don’t even make it into local theaters (X, Pearl).

Despite a bit of recycling, Chapter 4 is still an entertaining action blockbuster without a single dull moment in its nearly three-hour runtime. And it has the best ending of all the films in the franchise. Bill Skarsgård is an exemplary bourgeois bad guy and Donnie Yen plays the franchise’s first supporting character who is a match for Wick and is more than just a one-dimensional villain. The overhead shots in the rooms are fantastic, but I wouldn’t have borrowed the wrong-way ride on the traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris from Mission: Impossible – Fallout, because this equally highly rated franchise has no need for that. The higher degree of detached humor (radio hits from the Eiffel Tower, the long fall down the stairs) together with the outsized nature of everything was more than pleasing. Of course, the production design is again outstanding. I hope we will see the young Japanese actress Rina Sawayama in the fifth John Wick.

Daniel Craig does a credible job, his detective character fits him like a tailored suit, and he enjoys playing that character to the maximum delight of the viewer. The costumes and the interiors and exteriors in the second Knives Out adventure are also great. The other characters arouse the viewers’ interest in unravelling the mystery and, mainly, revealing their true relationship with their host, a billionaire played by Edward Norton. However, the denouement is in no way surprising or clever, which makes the film merely a pleasant, colorful diversion with a refined style.

Chucky wouldn’t stand a chance against this girl. The little Terminatorette could shut him down with just a stare. But she’s more powerful than scary. And though M3GAN is classified as a horror movie, it’s not frightening. Nor does it build suspense or offer up a single scare. In terms of the dialogue and logic, however, it’s not ridiculous. And it’s technically well made. M3GAN is actually pretty, something like a criminally insane Barbie made by Tesla. Fans of robots will be pleased.

Ghostface takes Manhattan. The final revelation is again pulled out of the filmmaker’s ass and this time it’s also a bit ridiculous. But the setting in New York City is nicely refreshing. There are a few surprising scenes, e.g. the store (the killer brazenly carries out his attacks in the public space), scenes with great but insufficiently exploited potential (the subway) and more multiple stabs to the gut after which the characters continue to function as if nothing had happened. The successfully revitalized franchise is becoming a strong but not very clever ditto machine for teenage audiences that could run forever. Scream VI is half a star weaker than the preceding instalment. The coolest scene is after the closing credits.

The resurrection of Halloween made a fortune, so let’s try to resurrect Scream. This franchise is handicapped by the fact that it can make a killer out of anyone without any sophisticated motive, and that it is thus only a matter of a hiding place with would-be cool references to other horror movies and would-be sophisticated plays on genre clichés. The first one from 1996 was innovative in this respect. But the resurrection after 26 years without any progress in imagination is able to satisfy only with a decent number of slayings and the nostalgic return of the trio of original stars. Don’t expect effective scares and don’t be surprised if the characters continue to function relatively well after being stabbed in the gut with a big knife. Was there such silliness, delivered with a straight face, in the previous instalments?

The Volcano is a nice documentary, but unfortunately with few authentic shots from the scene of the event. It is therefore more powerful in the survivors’ accounts than in the horror felt as the was unfolding. To put things in perspective, the tragedy claimed 22 victims; the recent earthquake in Turkey claimed 49,580 victims.

Alex Garland is a master of horror suspense. The first scene with the naked man behind the window is an absolute treat. But Garland wouldn’t put himself in a genre pigeonhole even for the world. His Men is a fascinating hallucinogenic trip packed with contextual question marks emerging from a harmonious series of disturbing and even frightening scenes. The film is an acid trip in which the protagonist in unable to find her way, as she is convulsed by devastating remorse. She is shaken by a tragic event caused by an intimate conflict between a being from Venus and a being from Mars. And she suffers the mental anguish of not being able to understand something that cannot be understood. I would not have expected a guy to make a heavy psychological film on this subject, but as a lover of atmospheric, cinematically polished nightmares that don’t make it easy for the viewer, I’m damn glad that he did. Garland is from another planet.