gudaulin

The 62-year-old Hollywood veteran immersed herself in her role with all her professionalism, even though the character of Frances presented her with mischievous obstacles. A lifelong non-smoker, Michelle was forced to smoke more cigarettes for the role than she had in her entire previous professional life. She deserves recognition for her performance, but the film itself is considerably more problematic. I miss having a strong producer's hand, who should be the first to recognize that the film is heading towards failure. It is not clear who the film wants to appeal to, and it doesn't even have a clear genre it wants to be part of. Some of the characters should have been more well-defined. At times, the film requires an uncompromising edit. The screenwriter's work should have been returned to the table for (probably multiple) revisions. In this form, the film is destined to be quickly forgotten. Overall impression: 40%.

My relationship with film is best illustrated by the fact that I managed to avoid it for almost 8 years after its premiere. Rodriguez has never been among my favorite directors, and even in moments of weakness, I only gave him a maximum of 3 stars, and with the passing years, I feel that I am moving further away from his work. Therefore, today I am much stricter when it comes to his films. Since the first trip to Sin City, Rodriguez has not advanced anywhere, and he hasn't understood anything or learned anything new. In this film, we can once again witness the failure of narrative techniques and the pitiful inability to work with characters. The film quickly becomes an unintentional parody of itself. Miller's exaggeratedly affected comic book vision needed cinematic cultivation and sensitive development of its world, not mechanical takeover and cramping literalness. Rodriguez did not become a visionary, but rather a discoverer and advocate of a typical dead-end in filmmaking. If it weren't for the fetishistically seductive visuals and the presence of Eva Green, who lends her deceptive femme fatale with confidence and wit like no other actress, I would rate it even lower. Overall impression: 35%.

A one-dimensional adoration documentary, which in its uncritically achieves the opposite effect and, with its enthusiasm for the cause, reminds us of the naivety of the building agitprops of the late 1940s. If you do want to dedicate your time to a documentary about Greta Thunberg, then a much better choice is I Am Greta by Nathan Grossman. Overall impression: 0%.

Restoration is definitely not to be considered as a "serious" historical drama. It is a romantic, period morality tale about a redeemed sinner, which has much in common with the costume French blockbusters of the 60s and 70s, such as Angelique. The film's strong aspect is its set design and star-studded cast, and the backing of a major American studio is undeniable. The film is made with ease, it presents itself as likable consumer goods that doesn't embarrass itself and approaches historical reality with a certain dignity. Moreover, it can skillfully work with emotions, moving and entertaining exactly where the authors intended. Even the clichés used here are not offensive. It is a cultured genre spectacle, somewhat more accommodating to a female audience. Overall impression: 75%.

A person is a social creature and as such is forced to play social roles practically throughout their entire life. Denying them brings misunderstanding, isolation, and contempt from others. We are simply much less free than we think in our pride. The protagonist of the film, Gawain, is not an exemplary knight - in fact, he doesn't even aspire to that position and knightly virtues are somewhat meaningless to him. However, when confronted with the royal court and the wishes of the royal majesty himself, he commits an act out of zeal that signifies the end of his previous life. David Lowery dismisses fans of commercial fantasy fairy tales and maliciously strips his film of all the usual genre elements that audiences enjoy in such productions. Instead, he serves a slow, visually embellished journey of his hero in pursuit of fulfilling his destiny. It's a journey where Lowery systematically tears down Gawain and deprives him of any nobility and heroism. In return, he makes him deeply human and, as shown in the final confrontation with the Green Knight, willing to accept his fate. I saw the film as part of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival late in the evening, which didn't do me any favors, as I struggled to stay awake. Due to the intimate nature of the work, I couldn't avoid a few micro-naps, which cost it a star. An afternoon screening might have propelled The Green Knight to the highest rating, as the director made a positive impression on me. I would reward it with 80% and recommend seeing the film, ideally on the big screen where its visuals shine.

I do not claim that this is Agnieszka Holland's best film, but I am still surprised by the lukewarm or even negative reviews, which I do not agree with. As a history fan, I went through the protagonist's bitter journey to the land of the Soviets with him and I did not find any major flaws or uninteresting passages. The film not only affected me in the horrifying moments of confrontation with the despair of weakened and dying people during the famine but also in depicting the suffocating atmosphere of Stalin's Moscow in the 1930s and the decadent life of the tolerated (because it was somehow necessary) Western community. The aristocratic environment of the British upper class did not bother me either, as it was a materialization of real personalities from that era for me, and I did not perceive the longer duration as a handicap, nor do I feel that the topic is outdated. The need not to succumb to the powerful, and not to be conformist and cowardly, applied to journalism in the past century as well as it does today. Overall impression: 80%.

I either haven't seen Deray's film or I have completely blocked it out after a few decades, so I don't have the ability to compare the approaches of both directors and decide which one is more effective. Guadagnino's film seems somewhat dull, muted, and unremarkable to me. A Bigger Splash was supposed to be a combination of thriller and psychological drama, but the director would have had to work much more with the characters, play a sophisticated game full of hints, dose information, and veiled conflicts, which gradually and inevitably bubble to the surface only to explosively erupt in an emotional outburst, instead of using lengthy shots of the sunny Italian nature. Only the character of the not inherently evil, but self-centered, possessive, and hedonistic producer works as it should (I'm afraid mostly thanks to the performance of the acting chameleon Ralph Fiennes rather than the director's guidance). Dakota Johnson's Lolita only gets enough space to show off her naked body and send provocative looks, which is questionable considering the immodest duration. Tilda Swinton is a casting mistake. I consider her an interesting actress destined for special categories of roles such as androgynous or asexual beings and broken women whirled through life, but with the knowledge that a) she won't read this and b) I am at a sufficient distance away. I have to say that I cannot imagine Tilda as a sexual object arousing desire and jealousy. Matthias Schoenaerts fails to act as a counterpart to Ralph Fiennes on the same level, and this lack significantly sinks the dramatic conflict. It also wouldn't hurt to cut out about 12 minutes of runtime. A Bigger Splash is watchable, but apart from Fiennes and the soundtrack, it quickly evaporates from the mind. Overall impression: 55%.

Clergy does not hold back on the Catholic Church in Poland and takes care to portray the social forces associated with Catholicism as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and predatory to the maximum extent possible, to the point that some of the audience might perceive it as biased and unfair. While all the described phenomena do occur in the church, they are not as prevalent and neatly arranged next to each other. There are no idealists and reformists, and a more plastic and credible image of this ancient institution is absent. Smarzowski's film is a slur, a film with an undeniable ideological and political intention to shake the strong position and influence of the church among the Poles - a church that routinely interferes in political processes and appeals to a higher, unquestionable authority. I cannot say that Smarzowski got under my skin this time, as it happened with the case of Hatred, but the craftsmanship is definitely above average. Overall impression: 70%.

Dune came to the film industry at the right time to support struggling movie theaters and generate interest in grand epic spectacles primarily designed for the big screen. For this category, the choice of the Canadian visionary as director is ideal, and it must be noted that Denis (not only) fulfilled expectations to a T. The film looks and does not function exactly as I anticipated. My relationship with the source material was shaped by my encounter with Lynch's Dune, which was very problematic even during filming and now, years later, looks painfully tacky and ridiculous. The motif of almost half-kilometer-long worms traversing the sand dunes and devouring giant mining machines is unbearable to me in any refined presentation, and above all, I generally do not have a liking for fantasy combined with caricature of the sci-fi genre. Spaceships and intricate machines combined with mysticism and magic, which infected and devalued a significant part of the sci-fi genre, irritate me, and I see the origin of this degeneration precisely in Dune. Unfortunately, I cannot praise Herbert for that. It is true that Dune is not Star Wars, at least not in the sense that the SW world is intended for a childlike and childish audience, whereas Dune aims to appeal primarily to more mature teenagers. But thanks to Villeneuve's top craftsmanship, it is possible to consider it the ideal family entertainment of the present. As I mentioned before, when a screenwriter presents me with a "voice" or "power," I turn the other way. I do not like the use of religious motifs such as the coming of the Savior. Additionally, Dune is clearly influenced by Islamic apocalypticism. My last complaint is that I do not like the cinematic world where elite super-fighters are attacked only to be subsequently massacred in personal combat by a hero who, mind you, is an ultra-super-cool fighter. So why the weak 4-star rating? Because I appreciate Villeneuve's ability to create monumental images and an equally monumental soundtrack, and I am a big fan of Villeneuve. Because I understand that world cinema needed Dune. Because going to the cinema this time was a social event for me in the form of having my daughter with me, whose enchantment with the film has somewhat transferred onto me. Overall impression: 70%, with the understanding that I will not be present for the sequel to Dune. It has nothing more to offer me, nor does it have anything to surprise me with.

Mr. Robot stirred up the waters of TV production and became a term or even a revelation for many. It's no wonder - the production team knew the potential of the project and who its target audience was. The game the creators played had its inspiration in Palahniuk's cult classic "Fight Club." Those viewers who watched the German movie Who Am I at the time will find that Mr. Robot feels like its extended version. Fight Club worked great in a small space, but Mr. Robot, expanded into several TV series, can't avoid occasional stumbling and by extending some of the motifs, it reveals their fragility and overall artificiality. The effort to be fresh and cool under all circumstances and repeatedly play on the audience's gratitude effect sometimes disturbs me. After all, the creators obviously aimed at a younger audience; I'm simply not the target. The series presents itself as an anti-system piece with a socio-critical shade, but its cyber-anarchistic premises are shallow and obscure the fact that a similar kind of revolt would have devastating effects on ordinary people and certainly wouldn't lead to any "liberation." Corporations would withstand such an attack in a much better condition. Malek is the ideal choice for the lead role; I had no problem with him at all, and his presence ultimately determined my rating of 4 stars and an overall impression of 70%.