NinadeL

My least favorite film by Miloš Forman. This is probably because it is too raw and the typical Forman viewer will not appreciate James Cagney or the side storyline about the pioneers of optical toys who succeeded as filmmakers. Forman's audience understands the struggle for freedom and there are too many layers here.

Empty of content, shallow in character modeling, yet pleasing to the eye. That's what happens when it’s a film from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts. Not to mention that Karin Babinská is still one of the most talented filmmakers of the last few years.

Vejdělek's contribution to the topic of "how I lost my virginity during the Velvet Revolution." Fortunately, a good half of the film is quite gentle and tells the story of a classic Czech family in which mom (Pauhofová) is the sweet one and dad is the hothead (Čermák). And of course, their son's chosen one is a redhead...

Ten years ago, Pavlásková tried to make a similar women’s film based on Nesvadbová, and today we get Ferencová adapting Urbaníková. In the film, certain transpositions are rather interesting. While the book protagonist runs an antiquarian bookstore in Bratislava, the film protagonist runs a bookstore in Prague. While Pavlásková made do with local actors, Ferencová got two Poles (with very bad dubbing) to play alongside the main character. She had the dolls Pauhofová and Issová dress up at least five times for each scene, and to make sure no one missed anything, she gave them a couple of gay men as friends. Is this still a Czech film?

A romantic comedy from the estate of Jaroslav Papoušek? Czech cinema has seen many things, but this is perhaps the first time. However, it is not exactly a loss. We have not had a romcom from the National Gallery environment before.

Up until now, I've only associated Thackeray in cinema with Barry Lyndon, who is too Kubrick to be Thackeray. But thankfully "Vanity Fair" is a novel that is adapted very often, and this latest version so far is very charming and inspiring. While there was a brilliant 1930s short in the beginning (1911), one sexy modern version with Myrna Loy, and another traditional one in Technicolor with Miriam Hopkins, this one with the charming Reese Witherspoon puts the whole story in an Indian context and tells of all the nice and unpleasant things that befell poor Becky Sharp. Although Becky would never call herself poor, would she? These lavish novels in Empire splendor can really only gain when directed by someone as cosmopolitan as Mira Nair. Yes, the Mira Nair whose Monsoon Wedding meant so much to the revival of interest in Indian film and Indian culture in the West. Basically, I have to recommend it. And if you're still not sure, take your time. I waited a decade for my Vanity Fair encounter and it was worth it.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to enjoy Garden Store: A Family Friend. I missed the early premiere, and I missed the book trilogy signing in Prague, so I thought there was no point in rushing anything. I was more focused on the recent Aňa Geislerová films because of the long break between them, but fortunately, the last two followed each other quickly. We are going to be spending the whole year with Garden Store, that's for sure. The melancholic war melodrama presents a sequence of familiar scenes, but that's only because the collective memory retains similar family stories in each of us. The beautiful, reserved romance belongs to Aňa Geislerová, who greatly surpasses her partner Sokol in acting. It's a joy to watch Aňa in yet another war story, which has brought her protagonist gracefully going through a series of emotional upheavals. In terms of the other acting creations, I would overlook the traditionally weak and repetitive performances of Míčová and Melíšková, which are fortunately offset by the intuitive miniatures Krobotová and Remundová. The child roles are of course cute. Overall, I'm very happy with the concept of Garden Store. Even the genre distinction makes sense - The Protectorate is told as a melodrama (Hřebejk is well aware of its nostalgic value, as well as the quality cinematography of the time in the style of J. A. Holman), the post-February break as a chilling drama (no commentary needed), and the thaw will be a comedy. And that's just the way it was - or mirroring the pulse of history with genre - and I can only welcome that. And I do welcome it.

A young Brando is not something I enjoy. I also don’t enjoy a mature Magnani, given that she was one of those Italian actresses of whom Loren was the calmest and most serene. I prefer Williams in a more modern adaptation (The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond) and Brando older (even On the Waterfront was too much).

It's not a bad film. Of recent attempts at family comedy, for example, it’s better than Taming Crocodiles. The problem with Watchdog is also the debuting director and the unimaginative promo, strangely edited trailers, and weak posters. Yet the film has a lot to offer in terms of acting. Javorský, Stašová, and Nový act well even without any significant guidance, and Pazderková and Kočičková are among the popular faces who do their best despite what it is, and it works. So where's the problem? Perhaps a more malleable Jandová would have been better in the lead role instead of the passive Ježková, who is fine in dubbing but doesn't do much when she’s actually on screen. And, of course, the fact that the ending missed the mark. It’s too bad, but there's really no need for this particular little film to be buried in the depths of the 2012 production lists without any TV reruns.

If we disregard Soukup as the father of teenage normalization cinema, we can find a number of interesting works in his filmography. Soukup was able to grapple tastefully with Arbes, Pushkin, and Casanova. And that's really not a small thing. I would have liked the original idea of doing a loose series of historical duels, but even just two stories combined in this film is very good. For a viewer who doesn't regularly read Pushkin, it may be surprising to learn how different the original story is and how it was able to elicit some of the best performances from actors of a weaker caliber today (Adamovská, Kuklová, Vaculík, Bartoška, Vašut). In the second half, the subtly indulgent Boris Rösner reigns supreme as Casanova, and I enjoy it. People are amazed and experts wonder, but the spicy girls also include Bílá, Chytrová, Kretschmerová and Sajfertová, and it works perfectly. The late era of cooperation between the Federal Security Service and Wiesbaden is simply too good.