POMO

An intimate theater play in a colorful setting, interspersed with mass combat scenes. The theater part doesn’t work because of the excessive distance from the characters and emotional emptiness, while the combat scenes too obviously look like they were shot in a studio. Despite the obvious ambition to be a grand dramatic epic in Kurosawa’s style, Curse of the Golden Flower is simply formulaic and dysfunctional.

Bug is not an audience-friendly or pleasant film. It is, however, remarkable and admirable in how believable and psychologically precise it is in portraying a weak individual’s descent into a highly paranoid hell. And also thanks to the interesting idea that when we enter into romantic relationships, we not only gain but also lose something. Bug is actually a different kind of romance about a fated encounter of two losers. A romance according to William Friedkin.

I want this film to last two more hours. I can easily imagine it as a great TV series. This time, George A. Romero admirably freshens up his old formulas. While in his previous Land of the Dead, he just comfortably stayed in the eighties, here he successfully adapted to current trends and took the concept further than the guys who made Cloverfield. The only fly in the ointment is the occasionally dumb dialogue (the character of the professor). Otherwise it’s a great horror flick based on unpredictability and intelligent editing. However, it is more enjoyable for dedicated film buffs than for fans of popcorn entertainment.

The plot of The Eiger Sanction is not that engaging. The most important thing here is the real Clint Eastwood in the challenging climbing scenes in Utah, USA, and on the actual Eiger. It’s a pity that the film only reaches this part after the protracted and uninteresting first half, which is reminiscent of an average old Bond movie without Sean Connery... But Utah and Switzerland are very nicely and captivatingly filmed. Simultaneously directing and being in front of the camera in such locations (and not using a stunt double!) deserves admiration.

Blood Work is and old-school and somewhat predictable mystery with a more or less satisfying point. The film is kept afloat by Clint Eastwood’s charisma, but it would have been a better fit for Jack Nicholson guided by Sean Penn as a director.

Jack Black’s comedic potential is completely unused here; his character could have been played by any unknown comedian and the film would not have suffered for it. Ben Stiller is funny only when he plays “the guy he played in another movie”. Robert Downey is cool only thanks to his black accent. For every one good joke in 20 minutes, there are ten forced or downright unfunny ones. The only thing that stands out and hits the bull’s eye here is Tom Cruise. I like crazy comedies, parodies, war movies and criticisms of Hollywood, but sorry, I like my steaks done right.

Hellboy II is the most fantastic and beautiful fantasy movie since The Return of the King. Guillermo del Toro loves these monsters and you can feel it from this movie’s every pore. The Forest Elemental made me fall on my knees. There is not one but two love motifs, a ton of cool humor and colorful visuals tastefully blended with the fantasy world without a single tacky shot. And the film is NOT overstuffed or chaotic as some accuse it of being. Del Toro is a true magician with a clear vision, who is able to execute it with perfectionism.

This film has some intentional B-movie elements and, at the same time, deals with religious themes, reaching a mystical dimension beyond that of a traditionally conceived fantasy. Frank Darabont combines serious existential topics and Greengrass-like image authenticity with digital tentacles and attacking spiders. And with a budget of just 26 million, it beats Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. The Mist is a remarkable, impressive, somewhat intellectual and non-mainstream film with a reverse version of The Shawshank Redemption’s message about hope. In short, it is a small work that deserves great praise.

Four amazing actors sold themselves out to a naïve script, a talentless director and a colorblind Greek director of photography. Even the slugs in Microcosmos were filmed in a more dynamic, interesting and original fashion than the dance numbers in this movie, which is just cheap, TV-like entertainment for non-discerning audiences. It is an embarrassment for the first-league Hollywood musical genre.

Masterfully arranged psychological terror without music, with a static camera and a minimum of editing. Disturbing, cheeky, ruthless, haughty, scary, unpleasant. Michael Haneke is a directing genius and maybe a bit of a devil. I was glued to my seat from the first minute to the last. The only things that somewhat spoiled my overall impression of the film were the “remote control” scene and winking at the camera, as the director too ostentatiously and, above all unnecessarily, emphasizes the know-how on which he based his work. Why disrupt an intense and original thriller with the “film experiment” label? Nevertheless, Funny Games remains a rebellious, brilliantly cast masterpiece, which, after composing my thoughts, I’m giving a full five-star rating.