Isherwood

Technically, it’s a slightly imperfect mix of Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it fully radiates the author's desire to explore the possibilities of filmmaking techniques and to fully develop his own imagination in futuro-design. Already in his directorial infancy, Cameron proves that the cool, industrial-looking set design would be his greatest domain for the future - and six years later, he began writing one of the most important chapters of science fiction...

Spielberg clearly has it under control for the entire 90 minutes. The atmosphere of the car chase in some moments crosses the boundaries of a standard thriller and flirts with an almost horror feeling. It’s helped by the master's simple camera work, good editing of both the image and sound effects, and last but not least by the minimalistic set design in the form of a remote highway in endless desert scenery and a demonic truck chasing the protagonist. Unfortunately, Dennis Weaver in the lead role lacks charisma, so he can't even earn a drop of audience empathy, which is furthermore destroyed by his terribly whiny inner monologues. This shortcoming, along with the questionable lack of plot (which Spielberg skillfully masks with form), keeps me from giving it the best possible rating.

Brian De Palma left the waters of Hitchcock variations to try to make a musical. True, this film version has little in common with Gaston Leroux's classic book "The Phantom of the Opera," but it's all the more typically De Palma-esque, with its plethora of bizarre directorial ideas, overacting actors, and awful 1970s pop. Yet it ultimately makes for an utterly unique viewing experience, which the director drives mainly from the haunting musical numbers, a few successful murders, and one aptly black-humored reference to the famous shower murder from Psycho that knocked me off my feet. Bravo, Brian. I wonder how high you must have gotten during this sweet period!

Typical megalomania from Bruckheimer's workshop that stands and falls with the directorial skill of Mr. Verbinski, who managed to give the entire colossus the right stamp of a classic pirate adventure. It’s also cut with a solid dose of perspective because, without his steady guidance, Depp's antics, the thrilling special effects work, or the potential of the top-notch cast (the demonic Bill Nighy, the charismatic Stellan Skarsgård) might have fizzled out. The whole never loses its dynamism and the plot - although very simple - moves forward at a furious speed, meaning that even the 150-minute runtime is ultimately a pleasantly watchable experience. It’s no-brain popcorn entertainment that fulfills its goal (to entertain everyone) one hundred percent if you are not a die-hard intellectual who lacks a sense of fun.

The absurdity across the board applied directly and only to Dude Lebowski himself keeps me quite grounded for once instead of cheering. It's not that Jeff Bridges isn't cool, or that I don't want to go bowling or taste White Russian, but this time I didn't have as much fun as I expected, even though it is filmed in the way in which only the Coen brothers can do it. And maybe that's the problem... my problem.

It’s a routine videotape that can happily sit on the shelves of video stores because this little film lacks quite a lot in all respects when it comes to originality. The thick rain with the blue sky in the background is tolerable, but it’s hard not to notice the boring story, cheaply based on religious fanaticism without a stronger dramatic arc, with the sloppily cast characters (and with an awkwardly made flashback for the central character) and without any aura of mystery around the killer. It's not boring (Mulcahy is more than a solid craftsman), but it's all been done before and better.

Smith has elegantly avoided all the ills of his first film, turned up the humor (the donkey party), leaned neatly into The Lord of the Rings phenomenon, let the protagonists spout the truest of life's wisdom in brilliant dialogue, and cast Rosario Dawson. In general, what makes his films brilliant has once again come together in the fanciest guise imaginable. Thanks, Kevin. We'll see what the rest of the life that began at the end of this film turns into.

An incredibly shot thriller that intelligently grafts an uncompromising indictment of big pharmaceutical companies making millions off of disease-ridden Africa in a basic conspiracy shell. Director Meirelles manages to bring this optic of social issues into focus in such a way that even viewers least familiar with the topic will feel that they just untied the Gordian Knot, and the intelligence officer does not have to have a heart attack even with the (inevitable) simplification of the whole intricate machination. It’s a perfectly balanced blend of compelling content, well-managed form (authentic handheld camerawork), and, as a bonus, the excellent acting tandem of Fiennes and Weisz. After Hotel Rwanda, the developed world received another unflattering postcard signed with "Africa."

The aesthetics of the 1980s B-movies were really strange - a moronic story, annoying disco, but also a sympathetic hero, plenty of busty blondes, a whirlwind of bloody violence, retarded humor, and a fairly sympathetic gradation, enough to flush your brain to the brink of lobotomy. The Toxic Avenger fulfills all of these aspects to a T. There’s not a drop of seriousness, lots of immortal catchphrases, and I give it four stars! PS: Toxie on the movie poster is the best.

Sebastien Japrisot’s book is quite bad to begin with. It’s a detective story told in terribly clumsy language, which presents a primitive theme in a wannabe sophisticated way of purposeful confusion, and it is therefore not surprising that the film has a similar effect. It remains relatively faithful to the source material, so hats off to those who don’t get lost in the plot chaos. The formal aspects are typical Jeunet without feeling or moderation, as his rampage (the turmoil of trench warfare is as authentic as ever) and picturesqueness (yellow-painted beauty with signs saying "kitsch!" not visible doesn't just catch the eye of the blind) meet again in an uneven whole and battle against each other throughout the runtime. The futility culminates in the moronic casting, which puts Audrey Tautou (76) and Gaspard Ulliel (84) next to each other, with the difference between them being obvious from the poster. This is a heavy misstep that, when repeated again, will in my eyes remove Jeunet from the list of the best original filmmakers.