POMO

Confusingly edited in the dramatic scenes and needlessly baffling in the climax, The Dark is a self-negating thriller that would like to work sophisticatedly on multiple plot levels. However, it is kept afloat by the presence of Maria Bello and Sean Bean and the atmosphere of the setting. If you like mysterious horror dramas, harsh wind, wave-ravaged Nordic islands and their dark folk legends, and if you have a weakness for one of the protagonists, like I do for Maria, you won’t be bored and you’ll turn a blind eye to the film’s missteps.

The energy of this slow-moving film is given by the nuances of the central couple’s relationship. The seemingly dull plot consisting in their simply spending time together on a trip to the Californian outback is loaded with spontaneity and authenticity, open and even graphic intimacy and tense quarrels, abounding with love and hate, shot live as if we were there with them. In an epic widescreen picture, but emotionally barren with no supporting music. Throughout the film, we wait to see if there will be some kind of twist, dramatization, a point. And Bruno Dumont duly defies us and our expectations. A hell of a festival flick.

Though it is beautifully filmed in formalistic terms and Bradley Cooper devotes himself to his acting performance, Maestro is a lifeless biopic. It’s as if there were no motifs in Leonard Bernstein’s life that would be sufficient for a dramatic and emotional telling of his story on film. Nevertheless, the film itself shows that there were such motifs, but it would have been necessary to work with them in a different way and build the screenplay on a foundation other than Bernstein’s homosexuality versus his marriage. The aspects of the complexity of his relationship with his wife are not tangible here. If not for a few dialogue scenes, we wouldn’t understand them at all, because we have no way or time to feel them. Produced by both Scorsese and Spielberg? Seriously?

With its setting and weather, The Slayer is an atmospheric slasher flick with the well-chosen Sarah Kendall doing a fine job in the lead role. You won’t exactly be scared by it, but the identity of the murderer is well concealed, the killings are satisfying with decent execution and the climax is properly intense. But it’s a shame that it isn’t sufficiently explained. That is, if we don’t take into account the inorganically tacked-on epilogue. We have to be satisfied with the ambiguity of the connection between the main character’s dreams and the events that take place in the film.

An irresistibly sexy flick during which I felt extreme anticipation for a carefully concealed and emotional point that would further confirm its cleverness. Instead, however, it becomes an endless loop in which everything possible is overwrought and it thus remains “only” a sexy flick that’s nicely paced and spectacularly shot with an interesting story.

Well cast, but with the wrong kind of directing for a satire. The duo of villains is rather more laughable than menacing, and if that was the intention, it doesn’t add anything to the film, but hinders it instead. The balance of suspense and dark humor is generally uneven. However, the romantic “car wash” with Maiki Monroe’s hair is unforgettable; I’m already practicing it at home.

When Evil Lurks is the most original and most well-rendered manifestation of the devil on earth in many years. Though we follow only a handful of characters fleeing the devil in the vicinity of a small town, the film is of almost apocalyptic proportions; the plot is packed with twists and changing locations; a desperate feeling of constant danger from an unpredictably hidden evil; superbly executed gore scenes that Hollywood wouldn’t dare to shoot; solid directing like that seen in a high-quality family survival drama. Not everything in the film makes sense, but its urgent sense of drive in combination with the believability of the supernatural threat is excellent.

An ideal movie for a post-New Year’s Eve hangover. There is no dialogue, just John Woo’s typically spectacular visual storytelling like that seen in a Van Damme flick from the ’90s. With decent action scenes and Joel Kinnaman doing an acceptable job as an “action hero of the people”. In screenwriting terms, Silent Night is kind of a lazier Nobody, without the humor, but with a bit of kitsch, e.g. when a grieving father sees his dead son’s face in a Christmas ornament. And there were no white doves in the film, or did I just not notice them?

A great ghost-horror movie in a new interpretation, with the fine idea of connecting with the “other side” and realistic teenage characters whose relationship drama is equally as strong and important as the mystery dimension. Unfamiliar faces, an increasingly gloomy mood and a bad-ass conclusion to the story. An Australian debut feature with the qualitative parameters of producer Jason Blum’s best pieces.

The cadence of unexpected twists, constantly intensifying the tension of the situation, might have looked good on paper. In terms of probability and believability, however, the result is as leaky as a sieve. And the blonde mother who was supposed to be the driving force of the film is almost laughable. An unsuccessful attempt to spice up the traditional home-invasion theme. I choose to remember A-list actress Joely Richardson only from better films.