Malarkey

Biopics about famous people I haven’t heard about before always have a hard job to win me over. I quite liked Nicholas Hoult’s Salinger, however, as well as Kevin Spacey in a typical mentor role. All in all, the film met my requirements, to the extent that now I really want to read Catcher in the Rye and think about how such a story was written by a person whom everybody predicted to never amount to anything…

I have stumbled upon this film by accident, thanks to the book it’s based on. The book is, given it was written by a Soviet author, very pro-Western and undoubtedly high quality. And the film is the same. Of course it’s a bit dated, as it was made in 1984, but it was able to capture the essence of the book, especially its ending. So I wasn’t paying as much attention to the filmmaking qualities and rather focused on the idea behind the story. And that idea is excellent as far as the sci-fi genre is concerned. Such a deep sci-fi story written by a Soviet author? We can see that quality can be born everywhere and that a Soviet movie doesn’t necessarily mean communist propaganda.

Given that Ethan Hawke is one of my favorite Hollywood’s alternative artists, this movie about a country musician is not much. The music is average, the story boring… maybe a fan of Blaze Foley would appreciate this, but my country is not exactly overflowing with those.

I admit that Volcano is quite an experience. Unusual, yet definitely an experience. The comments on this site comparing it to a post-apocalyptic film have a point. I could not understand that something like this was possible in Ukraine. Is it really? I still can’t believe it. As if anyone who could do something about it had forgotten about that piece of land, just as if people here had forgotten what humanity is or what emotions are. There are things and situations in this film that made me shake my head in bewilderment. This wasn’t helped by the main character Lucas, who didn’t show much common sense. He brought a lot what happened to him upon himself and at some moments it looked that he even voluntarily chose this. Not that I wished him ill, but still. Anyhow, it works as a poetic film, which moreover shows us something of the current Ukraine.

I was sorry that the director could not reconcile the absurdities like from The Big Fish with a typical family drama from a small Australian town. The film just didn’t know which way to go, and the same was true for its humor. It’s very unsure of itself for a long time and then serves you a scene that makes you laugh like crazy. And then there’s nothing for a long time again. Even though dramatically, I daresay it is a family drama so tragic and epic that you’d hardly find its match in cinema. When such a drama turns out well, it is an unforgettable experience. I won’t forget The Dressmaker either, but I’ll keep my rating at solid three stars.

I wonder what I was expecting. A group of financiers portrayed by great actors show humanity at its worst, unfortunately in a somehow boring story, which is not salvaged even by the best monologue of the film, which Jeremy Irons delivers in the end. And they say that recession is a natural part of the economy… :-)

The Turks are for me quality filmmakers who can make films that are both culturally very different from Europe but also films that are very relatable to European audiences. In this film, the main character is a young boy who avoids people and lives on the roof with pigeons he takes care of. Of course he is misunderstood, but he doesn’t mind. He lives in his pigeon world where no one disturbs him, and such a life is more than enough for them. He definitely doesn’t need any other people in it. But because people are generally afraid of everything different, they will make turn his life into hell. The liberating ending, however, impressed me so much that I have to add one more star to my rating. A very successful debut.

Nothing new under the Sun. A well-done routine. If you are looking forward to this, you won’t be disappointed. The only thing that might make you do a double-take is the Hispanic way of doing exorcism, which is sometimes very different from what we usually see.

I admit that the original film from 1970 didn’t impress me as much as this mini-series. I must say that the boys starting with Clooney did a really good job here. The absurdity of war is portrayed in a rather sarcastic fashion, there is something hilarious going on every other moment, and just when you get used to the light-hearted atmosphere, you get punched right in the gut and all laughter will leave you. It hasn’t happened to me in a long while to laugh so much at something only to be gaping at the screen a moment later, trying to accept the events that happened in the story. I bow down before the creators. That’s how you induce films with emotions, and this series really got to me in this respect. Moreover, Christopher Abbott is absolutely wonderful, and he’s perfectly complemented by the rest of the cast, including the locals, who will make you laugh despite the language barrier. One of my best cinematic experiences of 2019.

The Germans made some very good casting choices here. Frederick Lau and Oliver Masucci are for me the two most interesting German actors of today, and here they are pitted against each other. It’s a pity, however, that the film didn’t make much sense. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the ending seemed very primitive to me. But whatever. As everything else was alright, I won’t dwell on that much and award the film with a solid three-star rating.