DaViD´82

A solid comedy with very good pacing, decent slapstick and Douglas clearly enjoying himself. It's from the genus of comedies like Analyze This or The Whole Nine Yards – here, too, a settled conservative doctor is drawn into a world where he sticks out like a sore thumb.

But He remains silent... The Seventh Seal is a film that will leave you with a lot of questions about the meaning of existence. You can ask yourself the same questions as the wandering crusader knight Antonius Block, but "I call out to Him in the darkness. But it’s as if no one was there". Don't expect anything more or less from it. However, it raises these questions in tremendously powerful scenes, so that even after multiple viewings, you will still be on the edge of your seat while watching Block's futile battle for life. A completely exceptional film that is rightly a classic and, together with Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, the best "question asking" work.

I really like Hitchcock, but I never understood the enthusiasm around this film by the Master of Suspense. It's not one of his worst, but there are plenty (read dozens) of much better films in his oeuvre. The big problem is that technically it has become somewhat outdated - which wouldn't matter if it had an atmosphere to disguise it. Unfortunately, there is not a shred of it in The Birds; and in its essence, it is almost offensive to the ingenious chamber atmospheric original story (yes, I adore Daphne). And thus even the infinitely charming Tippi Hedren cannot save it.

Crank has a huge advantage in its frantic pace, thanks to which many flaws will whizz past you. It's a movie obviously tailored to Jason Statham, and although it's a debut, even for a small budget, the filmmakers really do amazing things within the ninety-minute running time. Everything is supposed to be terribly "cool"; but while sometimes it is really cool, it's often trying to be so "cool" that it's ridiculous. The creators definitely have great ideas (they probably (used to) play GTA quite a lot) and it’s clear that even within the B-movie category, there can still be originality.

A slightly different Scorsese picture with an as ever unforgettable (and again absolutely different) De Niro in the role of an unsuccessful, middle-aged stand-up comedian. Scorsese skillfully combines the fruits of Pumpkin psychosis with reality, so you quite understand why Robert is so firmly convinced that he is a great friend of the TV celebrity. I’d better not give away much about the story, but this isn’t just a regular glance behind the scenes of TV showbusiness, as it might seem to be at the beginning. If you find a way to the heart of the picture during the rather confusing beginning, you won’t be disappointed with the end result. And the wonderful “happy ending" will stay in the forefront of your mind for some time after.

It is obvious from the first couple of scenes what TV station is responsible for this series. It carries almost all of the “trademarks" of an HBO series. Unfortunately this series had the bad luck that it was made to replace the phenomenal Six Feet Under after a five-season run. There is great potential hidden in Big Love. It’s excellently cast and acted - no question about that. But it is missing what is always HBO’s greatest asset: the polished dialogs. This isn’t a bad series, but it tries too obviously to be on the same wave as the Fishers and it doesn’t work. A solid average, but for an HBO series that’s too darn little.

A story about how a boy from Thailand moved from neediness to happiness thanks to sport. And, surprise, surprise, it’s based on real events. However, this picture differs from others and is more interesting by the fact that the main protagonist has had a sex-change operation. Unfortunately, the relatively good potential here is lost due to uninventive directing and mainly by the actors, every one of which is simply mediocre.

The combination of a Shakespeare work (this time “King Lear") with the Kurosawa slant worked out well again - although the older Throne of Blood is much better in my opinion. The biggest problem in this picture is the camerawork. Some scenes are visually fantastic, thought out to the final detail and with an almost incredible composition. However, these scenes are immediately followed by a scene that is the precise opposite of the above. I don’t know if it’s just the impression I got or if it was the intention, but this keeps on constantly wrecking the atmosphere of an otherwise excellent picture. Also, some of the supporting roles are not acted particularly convincingly, although the main characters without exception are played more than decently. The only thing this is missing to make it perfect is Toshiro Mifune.

One thing will stay with you after watching this... An unpleasantly chilling feeling of “what if, after all". The Medusa wall sculpture in the opening credits came into my childhood dreams to terrify me more than anything else. And the tension built-up in the story (the tension, WOW the tension!), the superb acting performances by all of the actors (even Burton lying in the hospital bed; that stare, THAT stare!), an interestingly approached original topic, absolutely outstanding music (the main theme, THAT theme!) and then, primarily, THAT unforgettable ending. To this day I regret that I can’t get my hands on the book that this British gem is based on. An unforgettable movie and the movie that sparked my love of cinema. Even if in quite a chilling way. P.S.: Although the dubbing is incredibly well-done, you really should watch the original English version which, with Ventura’s French accent and Burton’s somber diction, is a completely different movie.

Not that this isn’t a quality adaptation, but it’s precisely the type that I just can’t stand - word for word, without even a hint of invention. The result is a strange affair which is unclear who it’s aimed at. For those who haven’t read the book, this is full of superfluous and word for word scenes, while for a connoisseur this is nothing more than a set of illustrations for the book. It’s the same problem that I find in the Harry Potter adaptations made by Columbus, which were nothing more than accessories to the books, and this only changed when Cuarón came along. The creators made this from the foundations up and we get everything here, for instance we even get the ins and outs involving Stupid Idiot Johnson’s bathroom (this is just one of many such examples). These passages have a purpose in the book, but they are completely irrelevant to the story and make the movie needlessly long and terribly slow. However, the indisputable plus points include the casting of the central characters, all of whom are exactly right and Death just radiates charisma on all sides. Considering that this is a TV production with a fairly meager budget, the visuals, the effects, the costumes and even the production design aren’t all that bad. It’s certainly worth watching, especially thanks to the really well-made second half. The first half is just too scatterbrained and inconsistent. It’s nice to see Pratchett’s cameo as the toymaker. If the makers of this want to make an adaptation of other Discworld books, I would most like to see one of “Guards! Guards!", “Small Gods" or “The Wyrd Sisters", especially if they weren’t afraid of at least amending the story a little.