NinadeL

A short experiment returning Ester Geislerová to the filmmaking world. And it is, of course, based on life experience and a change of perspective. It is no coincidence that under the direction of her sister, Aňa Geislerová, mother and actress, declaims several professional theses.

After last year's Amnesty, we get the solo biography of Havel, tracing the period from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s with a short epilogue in 1989. Personally, I can't say that I adored Slávek Horák's previous film, but Havel is playful, very human, and with an artful dose of artistic license. It is literal in the emotions of one man's fate that defined his personal attitude toward morality. Viktor Dvořák already practiced his Havel at the Rokoko theater in the play "Čapek" and in the film The Prague Orgy, and now he has fine-tuned it to perfection. Adrian Jastraban, for a change, already knows his Dubček from his solo Slovak film Dubček and here he just continues to play it safe. Olga Havlová, played by Aňa Geislerová, is a brand new addition, as she has been proving regularly in recent years that she has matured to a great level and that she is able to play the great personalities of Czech history without hesitation (I am already looking forward to her Němcová). The big surprise is Martin Hofmann as Lanďák (he has those tacky mannerisms that almost got him eliminated as an actor after Most!). Weak to routine performances include Kohoutová played by Seidlová, Kohout played by Majer, and Patočka's Barťák. I'm glad that time has moved on and that this biography is now the subject of its own film. I would consider having a film about his entire life even better, but in an era when even one key event in the entire life of the person under scrutiny is considered a biography, Horák's film is pretty much ideal.

The Cat and the Fiddle is MacDonald's spectacular emergence as an MGM star. The operetta backstage theme is taken from a successful 1931 Broadway play, so it would seem that watching the romance between MacDonald and Mexican ideal Ramon Novarro would be endearing. But the partnership between the two does not indicate the same certainty as her collaboration with other proven partners. Finally, their romance is also written as a meeting of two emancipated people who don’t work well together the second or third time around. If it wasn't for the final musical number shot in color, the experience wouldn't have been worth it.

This was a classic mistake of the late Steklý, who fell all the way to the bottom during normalization. It's the same problem as his later films over and over again. The subject matter doesn't sound bad, and the cast is okay, but the final product classically makes no sense whatsoever and is physically unpleasant to sit through. The only minor plus is the attempt by Pavla Břínková to play a film role. Thanks to her we get excerpts from Hašler or Nedbal, but she needs to tame her stage manner in the dialogues.

It’s a nice old straightforward bit of nothing, and yet everything. Classic Lubitsch mannerism with all the trimmings. MacDonald is like porcelain and the classic "I am someone else" situations are played to the max. Look to Monsieur Beaucaire for an explanation.

The Love Parade is a film about which much can be said. For example, it was Lubitsch's first audio film, and Jeanette MacDonald's film debut. He was also one of the first to shoot up among the stars of Hollywood Frenchman Maurice Chevalier. He received 6 Oscar nominations and helped Paramount Studios overcome a crisis. And yet the film is just a cute bit of silliness based on an old European substance set in a fictional kingdom. Or better yet, the old French play "Le Prince Consort" (1903) by Jules Chancel and Léon Xanrof, which began playing on Broadway in 1905.

This is a standalone film that introduced the basic situation for the follow-up series Young Hercules. The idea for the teen adventures of the mythical Greek obviously pertains to the main series Hercules with Kevin Sorbo, in which his youth was often recalled. Disney also had their version of Hercules at the time and they created it as Hercules: Zero to Hero.

The short 6th season is more of a gift for fans that ran concurrently with the 5th season of Xena (in the time before the birth). There are a few more stories to wrap up, and a few more friends to say goodbye to. A little bit of a classic, amazons, ancient Egypt, opening the first bank, making peace with Dio, and that's it. THANK YOU.

Season 5 is the last full-length series of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and it should (and could) have been the last. It ran concurrently with Season 4 of Xena, which had a pretty substantial finale in its own right. This time around, much of the Hercules series is accompanied by his new partner Morrigan (Tamara Gorski), whom he picked up during his adventures in Ireland. Hercules traveled a lot this season, and in addition to Britain, he also managed to visit Sumeria and Scandinavia in a short time. Overall, this is one of the best series, though it's a long way from the original style and story of wandering through the ancient world... when the ancient gods were petty and cruel and plagued humanity with hardships, and Hercules no longer mourns his original family, and Hera isn't the main problem either. It's worthy of attention.

Season 4 ran concurrently with Season 3 of Xena. There are many memorable episodes in this series as well, the doppelganger episodes, the Widow Twanky storyline, the parody of Some Like It Hot with Autolycus and Salmoneus, Hercules in high school, and behind-the-scenes episodes from the making of the show. Every idea is a gem.