Goldbeater

An interestingly filmed story about the monumental fraud that was James Addison Reavis aka the Baron of Arizona. The enthralling performance of the charismatic Vincent Price in the main role is, of course, the peak of this flick. Screenwriter Sam Fuller embellishes the character of Reavis to some extent, turning him into a romantic antihero, but who cares, in the context of the story? What really matters is that he created a truly entertaining biographical piece depicting events about which I didn’t have the slightest clue. And Price shows his chameleon acting skills, even within one single role.

Miroslav Krobot and Lubomír Smékal use some kind of deformed filmic language which either I simply don’t understand, or doesn’t offer anything interesting at all. The attempt at black humour ends up as plain awkward. The Quartette feels like it is supposed to turn the viewers into the same soulless zombies as its main characters. Personally, I’m not willing to take part in this ‘game’ and I really don’t see the slightest reason why anyone would make, watch or promote this dumb film.

David Ayer’s promise to blow a wind of change into comic-based DC films didn’t materialise, and using the phrase ‘wasted potential’ in this case would be an understatement. After the commercial success of the R-rated Deadpool, one can reasonably wonder why Suicide Squad ended up with PG-13. Its artificial grafting onto Justice League was very annoying. An entire book could be written about the dumbness of the script, but my biggest complaint is the failed character design. Instead of the promised bad guys, we get the standard pack of kindhearted heroes; no one is a paragon of virtue, yet they’re definitely not antiheroes either. There’s this very awkward screenwriting attempt to hide that fact by reminding the viewer once in a while what they’re supposed to think, with the characters uttering lines like “We're bad guys, it's what we do.” Last but not least, some thoughts about the cast: Cara Delevingne is terrible at playing the Enchantress (in her defence, the whole conception behind the Enchantress character is a disaster – Cara just finished her off with her creations). The biggest casting fail, however, is Jared Leto in the Joker role – watching him is almost unbearable. Ayer had better go back to crime drama; this piece totally upset me!

On the technical side, it’s a pretty solid film given the time and circumstances of its birth. Aside from that, it’s a disaster film badly ruined by the Nazi propaganda, picturing the British as corrupt greedy blackguards ready to kill for a penny. Needless to say, the only goody is a steadfast and honourable German officer with a face of stone and a mouth full of propaganda. But even when you try to ignore the brainwashing and simply enjoy the story, your interest quickly goes away as half of the plot is concerned only with stocks, bonds, cash and jewellery, while the disaster seems to be happening only in the background of the financial drama. To conclude, this Nazi Titanic is more of a filmic curiosity than an enjoyable flick.

Sci-fi combined with British crime drama. A monstrous visitor from outer space (with a charming voice) is using ads to attract female models for a fashion magazine photo shooting. His real goal, however, is to use them for reproduction purposes in order to perpetuate his race, which is on the verge of extinction. To me, it looks a bit like a British take on Not of This Earth. Unfortunately, it’s not as much fun as one would imagine, and, sure enough, that pure B story infused with British style ends up being slightly constrained. Luckily, Stephen Dade saves the day with his imaginative camera work and elevates the whole thing slightly above the average of the period.

Granted, Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Fall of the House of Usher" leaves plenty of room for loose filmic interpretation. Ivan Barnett, however, chose a rather questionable direction with a relatively dumb take on the story. There is a decent atmosphere and a few auspicious horror moments, but the framing scene depicting a group of British gentlemen who listen to the story and comment on it spoils even that somehow promising horror mood. It all looks more like a television play with amateur comedians, and this overplaying and theatricality significantly weaken the film. It doesn’t even come close to its ten-year-younger version by Roger Corman.

Roy Ward Baker shot, in a modest and humble manner, a factual and accurate account of what happened on the 14th of April 1912, based on Walter Lord’s book and survivor testimonies. It’s a quality historical reconstruction, a good part of which is depicted more or less in real time. And even though we know how the whole thing ends, it’s hard not to hold our breath with each passing minute. The plot follows a broad variety of secondary characters (the central one being Officer Lightoller, even if he’s not considered the main character), showing a series of smaller plot twists and motifs, some of which were later borrowed by James Cameron for his 40 years younger version. There are some inaccuracies – for instance, Titanic does not break in half in this film (the wreck was discovered and explored 27 years after the film was made, so it’s understandable), and I would do without the somewhat patronising lecturing towards the end, but given the technical and creative possibilities of Great Britain in 1958, I believe the film could not have been made in a better way. That’s why, despite some reservations, I’m giving the highest rating for the very impressive and dignified spectacle, in many regards comparable to James Cameron’s version, in some aspects even better.

A Western anthology film by the Coen brothers that features six unrelated vignettes, each worth mentioning, but the combination of which can be slightly unnerving due to the mood jumps it involves (in addition to the digital camera which takes some time to get used to). So let’s review them from the beginning. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: A crazy and surprisingly bloody comedy with a singing gunman (Tim Blake Nelson) that entertains by its brutal humour as well as the main character’s nicely written catchphrases and songs. I wouldn’t mind a longer version. 70%. Near Algodones: James Franco as a loser gangster whose funny attempts to escape the noose would be great for a feature-length version with a more sophisticated plot. The bank clerk with pans hung all over himself is the highlight. 70%. Meal Ticket: It’s a pity and also a bit shocking that, after the first two parts of the Coen anthology that please with humour, the unsuspecting viewer is then thrown into a relatively dark and depressive drama which can be seen as a parable about the death of true art and its substitution by cheap charlatanism that sells better. Interesting, but quite repetitive at times and incongruous with the general atmosphere. 50%. All Golden Canyon: A simple, yet heartfelt story about a gold digger, wholly based on the performance of a beardy Tom Waits and a breathtaking scenery. Heavily inspired by Jack London. 65%. The Gal Who Got Rattled: I dare to say this is the most interesting and Coenesque segment of all in terms of storyline. It builds up slowly and lets the characters unveil lengthily, but the unexpected ending makes it the most impressive of all the tales. 75%. The Mortal Remains: A philosophical conversation for the end. On paper, this might have looked like the best possible ending, but in reality, it’s rather tiring for the viewer. Too bad Brendan Gleeson was not used to the fullest. 55%. All in all, those two hours were enjoyable and the film was definitely not disappointing (unlike Ave, Caesar!, Coen brothers’ previous flick). It could have been much better, however, if only the fun from the first two parts had lasted the entire time.

A splendid action war film with a stellar cast and a truly impressive performance by Malcolm McDowell in the role of an eccentric SS agent whose infinite love for the Third Reich goes so far that he has a swastika embroidered on his briefs. A forgotten cult flick which has its share of flaws (like the foggy camera that’s slightly disturbing at the end) and a good amount of exaggeration, yet is highly enjoyable, captivating, sometimes shockingly brutal, and makes for a solid adventurous guilty pleasure.

In the making-of genre, Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner is a marvellous example of a perfectly structured, information-packed documentary with a complex approach to the subject, so I can’t not give it the highest rating. It’s a must-see for all fans of Blade Runner (or at least of one of its cuts). And for those who haven’t come to like Blade Runner to this day, it’s still a valuable insight into the process of making a great film and it also shows the critical role of money and money people. These three hours and a half fly by in the blink of an eye and I could have enjoyed watching it a bit longer.