Stanislaus

In terms of atmosphere and quality, Howl reminded me in many ways of the 2004 film Creep, only in this case the subway is replaced by a train. I like films with werewolves, whether they are horror or fantasy, and Howl is unfortunately one of the less accomplished ones. Half of the characters are downright unlikeable, making it impossible to root for them, you wish they’d be taken down by one of the voracious creatures roaming the woods around the train. The visuals of the werewolves weren't exactly a winner either, many earlier films had much better make-up effects. There are a couple of jump-scares, and there is some tension, too, but even then I just felt like they just half-assed it.

Jonathan is as much a story about the relationship between a dying father and his son as it is about forgiveness and love. Although it deals with a strong theme, I felt almost the entire time that it lacked the necessary emotion and depth that you would expect in a film like this. In terms of plot, Jonathan doesn't have much to surprise, but it does offer a great performance by Jannis Niewöhner and some nice locations.

Cats have nine lives, while Karen Settman has seven, and each of them is a complete original. What Happened to Monday relies on an original idea and is anchored by the performance of Noomi Rapace, who manages to breathe life into seven identical yet so different sisters. Overpopulation is a hot topic even today and the film manages to build a pretty solid plot around dealing with this issue. Thanks to the hunt for the seven sisters, the film doesn't lack suspense and entertains for most of the running time. In terms of the screenplay, it also has some decent twists, some of which were predictable, but some quite surprising. A bonus is the participation of Glenn Close and Willem Dafoe, who almost always guarantee god performances. Weaker, but still four stars.

Savage offers an authentic and raw look into the lives of prostitutes without embellishments and with plenty of explicit scenes, so it is definitely not a film for a mass audience. The character of Léo if there’s none so blind as those who will not see. Even though the film is only over an hour and a half long, it felt longer. Personally, I would have appreciated if they had, if only superficially, hinted at the background of the characters (How did they get into prostitution?), because the daily routine of the prostitutes' lives became boring towards the end. Despite a few emotionally powerful moments, Savage didn't get under my skin and in fact I had trouble sympathizing with the main character in any way. Bold and raw scenes don't always guarantee success.

An spatiotemporally intimate drama from the life of a seemingly dysfunctional family that is unable to communicate properly with each other without insults and harsh words. Xavier Dolan's family conversational drama impresses with its audiovisual treatment based on a multitude of close-ups and an unmistakable musical score. What bothered me most about the film were the empty and at times forced dialogues, which, although they tell about the nature of each character, were not strong enough to engage and convince me. Talking about impending death is not a common topic of conversation, but in this case, this uneasy matter was overshadowed by a hysterical rush of emotion that mercilessly obscured the initial idea.

How much do we really know about our loved ones? And how much do we even want to know about them? At first glance, Perfect Strangers is an ordinary conversational piece with an imaginative primary impulse that slowly but surely crystallizes from an initial childish game to a dense drama in which each successive message or phone call can turn the supposed reality one hundred and eighty degrees. Each new revelation tries to trump the last, and the hypocrite of the year contest is in full swing. The film offers some surprising and emotionally powerful moments (the old men on the balcony), but the biggest surprise comes at the end. Chillingly humorous to the point of being humorously chilling!

Isle of Dogs once again accumulates a distinctive and unique directorial signature, which may not necessarily be to everyone's taste, but I like the horizontal camera movements, the cleverly planned shots, the distinctive framing of the characters and their specifically bizarre speeches. For a hundred minutes we visit an island full of diverse dogs that sneeze, enjoy garbage and at the same time utter relatively meaningful dialogues. Of all the canine characters, I was definitely most impressed by the Boss and the omniscient Oracle. A truly unconventional animated film that addresses, among other things, mass brainwashing. It will more those enchanted by Wes Anderson's rules of the game.

If it wasn't for the supernatural world full of magic, Bright would be just a generic film about cops fighting criminal gangs that also deals with racial issues. It's a pity that they didn't make exploit more the magical potential that hovered over this project. In terms of action and suspense, the film works, but on the other hand there are a lot of flat jokes that fizzle out as soon as they are uttered. The visuals are nice, and the soundtrack perfectly underscored the dirty streets setting, but I still felt that more could have been made of it.

Wind River is a properly raw thriller set in bone-chilling Wyoming, tackling both cold-blooded crime and coping with the loss of loved ones. In the snow and ice-covered landscape, the rules are different from those in the (big) city, ruthless nature and human brutality reign supreme, as a young FBI agent learns firsthand. Together with the investigators, we gradually uncover a crime under a layer of ice, but its boundless and senseless cruelty seeps to the surface and turns the snow red. Jeremy Renner, as tracker Cory, confirms his marksmanship after Hawkeye and makes it abundantly clear that he is not to be walked at gunpoint. Wind River points out what humans are capable of, and that many of their actions exceed the natural behaviour of predators in their cruelty. In many ways, this film is similar to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with Frances McDormand, and I think that if it hadn’t been released almost at the same season in theaters, Wind River would have seen some well deserved Oscar nominations.

The raw story of a woman who wanted to achieve justice despite the many sticks that people threw under her feet is a showcase of breathtaking performances (the Oscars are well deserved in this case) and a strong theme that won't leave any viewer cold. The film succeeds in convincingly evoking the atmosphere of a gritty small town where it is perfectly normal to be racist and throw people out of the window without blinking, and where justice is a scarce commodity. I may have imagined the ending a little differently, but I still give it the better of four stars.