Goldbeater

Alexandre O. Philippe delivers an enjoyable and star-studded probe into the zombie phenomenon and the community of people who have completely fallen for it. Apart from showing the enthusiasm of some individuals, you won't find anything particularly revelatory, although the zombie ants were something I had no idea about (such an interesting little biological interlude). Doc of the Dead is an entertaining documentary that won't hurt anyone, but if you have watched all sorts of featurettes about Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, etc., it won't bring you that much new.

Unhinged is a very, very, very simple, lean and low-budget modern variation on gothic horror with a dash of Psycho inspiration. In principle it probably won't impress anyone, but it won't offend anyone either – pure average.

The Australian thriller Snapshot approaches the Italian Giallo genre in style at times and generally intoxicates the viewer with inventive camera shots and very distinctive music, but for God's sake nobody needed such a plotless and drawn-out film. Visually it's beautiful, but be armed with an extra dose of patience before the screening.

I appreciate the attempt at a distinctive old-school neo-noir set against a specific futuristic backdrop, but unfortunately Reminiscence doesn't work as a satisfying cinematic spectacle and drags tremendously. I myself barely finished it for the third time, and this genre is practically "for me". You could see the effort, but it didn't work.

I walked out of the cinema angry after Fallen Kingdom, but after this piece of crap I just left feeling resigned. They basically failed to keep the promise promise of a dinosaur rampage in civilization, because the film, except for a few scenes, again takes place in a closed reservation where something goes wrong, and the dinosaurs practically do not interfere with the plot. The entirety of Jurassic World: Dominion is made up of uninteresting subplots that mostly rely on utter randomness, completely haphazard character motivations, constant disregard for the laws of physics, annoyingly cheesy fanservice, and last but not least, weird editing that gives the characters an artificial edge over the ultra-fast lizards, and most importantly, Chris Pratt's magical hands that can stop any attack at any time. Magic! The actors all look bored and annoyed, so how can I not be bored and annoyed? Objectively it's about 1*, subjectively I was slightly lulled by the return of old friends, of which Jeff Goldblum especially excels at glossing over the idiocies that take place in the film, so maybe I'll grind my way up to 2*. But let's face it, this once magical and majestic dinosaur franchise has hit rock bottom and now is a cheap box office cashgrab. If there was ever going to be a reunion of the original Jurassic Park cast, it should have been in a better film.

The magic of adventure escapism. The story arc is very simple and very melodramatic, as befits the early beginnings of cinema, but it still works very well and its archetype foreshadows legendary works such as the original King Kong and the relatively young Jurassic Park. What's more, the miniatures and special effects are really superb, which (especially in the bombastic last half-hour) would have been almost entirely at home in a film three decades younger – yes, Lost World surpasses in many ways even many American sci-fi films made in the 1950s and 60s. A genre milestone.

The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a terrific disaster film told sparingly but effectively through a group of journalists trying to get to the bottom of the dramatic climate changes that suddenly hit the earth with great intensity. It must have been a chilling film back then and it’s nonetheless chilling even today. It's very impressive cautionary science fiction from the UK, and its depiction of the frightening changes seems almost more relevant in today's realities than it did 60 years ago – only the originator of the problem has morphed into something else over the years.

Ruggero Deodato delivers an absolute masterclass in entertaining cinematic nonsense. Raiders of Atlantis has pretty much everything you'd want from a post-apocalyptic B-movie, and then some. Does it make any sense? Not at all. Is it worth watching? If you are able to appreciate a good-bad movie with a proper heart, guaranteed! And that miniature of Atlantis under a glass dome was awesome!

Late at night and rather tired, you're browsing through the Netflix library, looking for a low-key piece of crap that you won't mind falling asleep to. You find Prisoners of the Lost Universe, press play, and you're suddenly riveted to the screen in such a way that you immediately forget all about sleeping. I haven't come across such an engaging and entertaining ultra-cheap flick in a long time. Instant guilty pleasure!

It may not be the most surprising, innovative, or flawless piece of filmmaking, yet everything in Top Gun: Maverick is done so effectively, engagingly, and simply "right" that I had probably the most perfect viewing experience I've had in months. This is how you make a sequel years later, this is how you make a Hollywood blockbuster, this is simply how you make a FILM. And coming back from the cinema during the magic hour with the orange aura of the setting sun was just the icing on the cake.