DaViD´82

Munich definitely isn’t controversial (if you’re not a fanatical supporter of either side), it doesn’t say anything new, nor does it dive into the depths of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It just scratches the surface and the characters talk about home. But that doesn’t mean that it is a bad movie. Quite the contrary, and because Spielberg chose (for him) an unusual method of expression (it actually seems that the movie is “controlled" Kaminski’s camera), it’s pretty fascinating. The authors also expect at least some basic knowledge about the topic from the viewer, therefore they don’t explain a lot of the names or acronyms, which is good, since the movie doesn’t treat you like a toddler.

Amazing in the first hour, with lots of powerful scenes (like the one on the roof of the school) and bordering on genius at times. But then, as if a switch was flipped, the direction and atmosphere change and suddenly it falls "only" into the realms of an above-average and unconventional film. Which is also good.

The extremely successful climax to Park’s trilogy (or tetralogy, if we include his short in Three... Extremes) about revenge. As in the preceding movies, we look at revenge from various points of view and completely differently. But what stays the same are the brilliant actors, the great technical aspects, especially the camerawork and the music, and more than one scene that remains ingrained in your memory for long after. But why sing the praises of Park Chan-wook over and over if it is absolutely redundant to do so? Because this “episode" is no better or worse than those that came before it. With such constant quality, it is up to you which episode you think is the best. This one doesn’t happen to be my favorite, but so what?

An originally approached topic which is intriguing and, most importantly, cleverly and successfully combines chilling scenes with an ironic, jet-black-noir satirical detachedness. Of course, here and there, faults are to be found, but the positives easily outweigh them and mainly this is the type of picture which, in addition to entertaining, force you to think and it remains with you long after - which means a lot.

Average in every respect. The beginning is quite promising, but unfortunately it quickly gets into a very sleepy rhythm from which it never gets out. It's not downright bad or boring, but it doesn't grab you, it just flows. If a wanted a proper thriller of a seemingly similar nature, I'd go for The Negotiator.

The first story in the series about Wallace and Gromit, and the genius of Nick Park is already clearly evident. That said, this episode is one step lower in quality (not only animation) than the later ones.

It’s a shame that when a TV production at last looks at least passable in technical terms, it is killed by an absolute lack of any story. There is no obvious introduction here and, where elsewhere all that is needed are three sentences at the very beginning (“Once upon a time there was a kingdom where evil reigned and a kingdom where good reigned..."), here the same takes up almost a third of the entire running time. The trouble is that even after that, nothing at all happens and the entire screenplay acts like a surefire cure for insomnia.

For most of its running time it floats in the calm waters of sheer mediocrity, and the only thing that occasionally snaps it out of its lethargy are a couple of incredibly lame jokes and a few (literally) quite brilliant gags.

Looking back, maybe this wasn’t such a ground-breaking movie as it seemed when it was first released. The truth is that neither Buffalo Bill nor the screenplay are at all original - on the other hand, in technical terms this is excellent and has a brilliant and believably urgent atmosphere, excellent music by Howard Shore and a well-adapted screenplay. So this is a good above-average affair. But what gives The Silence of the Lambs its place in cinema history is the relationship, dialogs and quality of acting (or almost living the parts) of Agent Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Even today this is the absolute zenith of cinema, not just in this genre.

Julie, or rather Annette Bening, is just divine here, giving a great performance as an ageing theatre actress at the peak of her career. This adaptation of the play titled “Theatre" is really worth seeing, mainly due to the actors, because nothing special really happens story-wise, although the ending certainly works well. Even the directing by István Szabó seems like a record of a sumptuous theatre performance, which in this case is positive.