Malarkey

The Slovaks offered a movie which is an absolute, modern European drama with everything that it should have. It had a good family premise, took place in just the right kind of gloomy snow-covered countryside, and featured dense atmosphere and a camera which from time to time is at the top level. And it is not just a coincidence, Marko Škop already showed his capabilities in his debut Eva Nová. Moreover I have to say that Milan Ondrík is one of the top Slovakian actors and the others are almost at the same level as him. Let There Be Light was a great experience for me, as a high-quality drama, if perhaps a little unnecessarily cold. But still it was good enough to get under my skin.

If the movie consisted only of the shots of the Universe and those from outside the Earth with the grandiose music, it would make the most beautiful documentary about the Universe that has ever been made with that unbelievably beautifully filmed moon-action which was at the top level. But as it is now, the movie has a story with Brad Pitt in it and neither of those things add to its quality. It might captivate you with its visual, for example, in iMax but from the screenplay point of view you can’t wait for it to end.

I can’t say if I minded more that the movie comes across as totally old school or the unremarkable actors. I just couldn’t get into the investigation even though it was quite brutal as it should be for Scandinavia. The result deserves no more than 3 stars rating.

I couldn’t imagine I would laugh so much while watching a Britcom about two gays who are Sirs in reality and are among the top British actors. Their lines were brilliant. It was really funny. Making fun of people both old and young. It is a pity that it only had 14 episodes. And in the last episode it was really evident that they don’t want this series to end. After a long time something from British production that is exactly what you love about Britcoms.

The premise gave me a feeling that this would be one of the best Hollywood experiences. And it really was. It has exactly everything is should and nothing more, nothing less. Christian Bale and Wes Studi greatly portray the best warriors of their respective sides and as destiny has planned, at the end of their lives they meet again just so one of them can carry the other home. And it is done on the President’s order. Brutal bloody scenes, unbelievably strong emotions, characters you pity, the darkness in their minds you can’t understand and the scenes you won’t forget. Undoubtedly a great experience and the last scene is probably the most beautiful and poetic movie ending I have seen in years.

A classical Russian mind set. The panel block of houses is falling apart and no one cares. And the ones who ignore it the most are the ones who actually live in it. But in the middle of Siberia one of the Russians comes to his senses. He probably has a feeling that his life, which he has so far spent drinking Vodka, doesn’t have any meaning so he decides to do at least something about it. He stood up to the Russian way of thinking and thought that it would be fine. It wasn’t. The premise totally hooked me. The location not so much. Indifference is exactly the attribute that is typical for Russia. Maybe a little too much.

The Koreans once again reached to the world cinematography and all those movies that record the stigmata of the nation and once again moved it to another, yet unexplored direction. Everyone should agree with me that it is so considering just the premise. During watching it I was feeling very unwell. Moreover I had a feeling that justice and judicial system in South Korea don’t exist at all. That’s the only way to explain what was happening in this movie. Indifference, anger, hatred – all of those are present in this movie. If you ever complain about the judicial system of your country, having a feeling that you have been wronged, you should watch this movie. You have never seen such an injustice.

Why shouldn’t the Hungarians be able to film a large-budget period drama and do it in a commercially successful way? Kincsem – Bet on Revenge comes across as a nice movie at a first glance. It has a nice story about a horse which, I think, is well-known to every Hungarian everywhere. The movie looks modern, the main character looks like a spitting image of some steampunk comic-book hero and the historical atmosphere is priceless. From the screenplay point of view it goes from drama through comedy to romantic movie and that is why the whole quality of the movie declines. And mostly during the romantic moments I had a feeling that I was watching some kind of male version of Hungarian Angelique. But if you don’t mind that kind of movies and you do like European history, you would be satisfied.

Paul Greengrass filmed Captain Phillips quite authentically but still the Hollywood influence is evident here. A Hijacking’s authenticity is quite different and that’s mainly thanks to the Scandinavian approach to serious topics. The movie doesn’t do much to build either the atmosphere or the plot. Everything is set within first few minutes and then it just counts the days while the big fishing boat is being kidnapped by Somalian pirates and you as an independent viewer are just watching what is happening on the boat or at the round table where the owners of the company are wondering how much they could afford to pay for releasing the captive fishermen. And I don’t know what was worse for me. Both of those situations stressed me out. In the end I was wondering a lot why I shouldn’t rate it with 5 stars and finally resolved that the possible reason was that the movie lacked emotions. Everything is so cold, including the company owners and especially the ending. But the movie nicely portrays the difference between the oligarchs and us mere mortals. Try to watch it and then tell me that there is nothing wrong with this world...

The Hollywood has screenwriters that are able to create a perfect story but it also has screenwriters who wouldn’t be able to break through, not even in Belize. Lucy in the Sky has the same boring premise as Away produced by Netflix. At the same time both of those are about a journey to Space, which should be interesting in itself.