POMO

Not even Edgar Wright would have the balls to make this! An anarchistic, anti-family black comedy along the lines of Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead where it’s not zombies doing the massacring, but parents – of their own children. And the kids must save themselves from their crazy moms and dads while we root for them! Mom and Dad is an American suburban satire serving as a kind of wish-fulfilment for exhausted parents (sorry, kids!). The highly effective soundtrack mostly consist of modern ambient electronic music, but occasionally comes across as a parody of Spielbergian family musical motifs. Plus there are some wonderful editing tricks. A silly, but perfectly executed and courageous movie! [Sitges FF]

Most Beautiful Island is a take on the American dream in an intimate, low-budget thriller that does not fulfil the expectations of a perverted viewer, but reaches a level of suspense that even the most discerning genre enthusiast will find satisfying. Not bad for an actress’s debut as a director and screenwriter, while also being in front of the camera the whole time. [Sitges FF]

An admirable creative intention to express a powerful message, carried out in an overly abstract way. But why not? The focus on the main character’s feelings in the first half of the film is so formally precise and psychologically engaging that few living directors would be able to pull it off. Darren Aronofsky knows that and therefore has the courage to go so wild in the second half, like a painter who spontaneously moves his brush, forming a line that is disturbing at first glance but then becomes a unique, valuable feature of the work as a whole. I accept and acknowledge this, and I am delightfully intoxicated with the final impression of the film.

The final shot of Ama Dablam, the most beautiful mountain in the Himalayas, which is used several times in the movie, confirms that the filmmakers wanted above all to pay homage to mountains, the majestic works of our planet’s greatest artist – Mother Nature. It is therefore a pity that they borrow well-known footage from hit sports movies (The Art of Flight) and other documentary series and attempt to make the movie a retrospective “best of” (including pointing out every possible use of the mountains by civilization) rather than contenting themselves with piano music and the thoughts spoken by Dafoe. While some of those could have been written by any of us viewers, others lift the film to the philosophical heights that are its ambitious aim.

A fantasy flick akin to Equilibrium and Dark City, which have the stench of B-movies, but benefit from good casting, an effective fantasy atmosphere and, above all, deal with a really intriguing idea. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are well-suited to their roles and the little boy is also good. In other words, The Dark Tower is an okay movie in my opinion.

Black Snow is a forgettable drama about the unveiling of an ugly family secret. The attractive environment in which the characters’ conflict escalates and the stellar Argentinian-Spanish cast keep the film afloat, but only while you’re watching. You won’t remember it the next day.

I didn’t expect a film with such believable characters and a powerful dramatic arc from Kosinski, even though I knew that this particular story was based on real-life events. Only the Brave is really moving, but without cheap sentiment, pathetic heroism or a funeral with fluttering US flags. Its narrative sometimes uses shortcuts to be able to fully focus only on what is essential, which is a carefully assembled character puzzle leading into the final emotional blast. Every character conflict, whether internal (Teller) or in relationships (Brolin + Connelly), is vivid, authentic and well acted. I also appreciate the explanation of the firefighting practices of “monster” extinguishing in the last third, as an element used for escalation, both answering the questions of the curious viewer and depicting the professional advancement of the team of protagonists. A calm and visually clever film with heart.

The villains are alright, the winding roads of Côte D’Azur are spectacular and the two main female characters are much more pleasant to look at (starting with their faces) than the entire swimsuit-clad cast of Baywatch (which I had watched right before this movie, God help me). But in trying to deliver one plot twist after another with an increasing cast of characters on both sides, the screenplay turns it into a cheap failure of a B-movie. Especially when you compare it, for example, to The Italian Job, which had much more remarkable actors in its cast. Eastwood Jr. and Freddie Thorp are suited to the roles of the seventh and eighth fallen soldiers in the second action sequence of the sixth installment of Transformers.

Are you really all fine with the ending that almost made me knock a star off my rating? Such a detailed and focused, professionally cold and intelligent study of the relationship between two people – one from the farthest corner of Mars and the other from the farthest part of Venus – with such brilliantly escalating tension and a creeping threat of tragedy... coming to such inadequately banal nothingness that, in terms of the script, does not resolve anything? Yes, that’s what would probably happen in real life, but I expect something more from P.T. Anderson’s movie. All three actors are wonderful and the constant use of Greenwood’s music with a touch of classicism is interesting, helping to set the movie in its period and harmonizing with the distinguished character of Woodcock’s robes.

A Latvian psychological thriller about a relationship complicated by an unpleasant mishap with a violent psycho, Firstborn gets off to a promising start firmly anchored in the perception of a relationship at a certain stage. The plot development, however, brings a deluge of symbols at the expense of logic and a distinctive genre film becomes a bizarre affair for festival audiences only. Not everyone’s cup of tea. [Sitges FF]