DaViD´82

It's got sets like a Xena episode, the CGI seems straight out of a Xena episode, there's a variation of both Gabrielle and the Warrior Princess like a Xena episode, but it's not a Xena episode, it's a straightforward swashbuckling B-movie that relies on stunts and action (there's no plot, and the little dialogue there is it’s quite toe curling), but it runs out of breath faster than the running time of an episode of Xena. At first it works well with the concept of "an unarmed, albeit trained, princess in a dress versus barbarian colonists in cloaks or versus an ambush in a narrow corridor". What she lacks in strength, she makes up for by using "what is at hand" and paying attention to the difference in strength, etc. But as they descend the staircase (or want to descend the same part of the staircase), this gradually ceases to be the case, and sooner than later, the young Red Sonja is already kicking everybody's ass. Paradoxically also, as long as the opponents are "Bulgarian stuntmen", the action is done in long clear shots, but once we get to the "final bosses", who are actors and not stuntmen, it's full of cuts and clutter. Too bad, at least a hint of plot or characterisation, better work with pacing and "Wick" playfulness with varied action wouldn't have hurt it at all. That said, it’s a watchable B-movie.

The investigation of the JFK assassination without JFK. The apparent similarity, or what Vian says in the opening of the film, that just because it apparently didn’t happen doesn’t mean that it could not have happened that way, is not coincidental. Leaving aside that conspiracy angle on the JFK realities, even purely on its own it's a disturbing, detached procedural thriller par excellence. The most famous passage is the chilling performance of the Milgram experiment; and rightly so. A proven "Verneuil" genre quality that has lost none of its relevance.

Around the world with the maestro’s career. It's hard to fault a recapitulation of Morricone's work for bowing to genius without any criticism (and at least in the area of conflicted willfulness there would be plenty of themes). And yes, it's a mix of talking heads (fortunately mostly Morricone) and archive footage, with the honourable exception of the perfectly staged prologue. But it's perfectly edited to the music as it flies through the world, so that one fascinating theme/detail/look behind the curtain follows another. This, ironically, it’s the biggest problem. It's engrossing for two and a half hours, but by the end you have the insistent feeling that it should have been a multi-part documentary series, because to skim the surface of a ninety-year life, a career spanning over five hundred films, not to mention concert tours, the impact on pop culture or classical and popular work outside of film, is too damn little (the personal life is summed up in two minutes and the "daily routine" is barely covered in two sentences). It is a collection of key moments and interesting facts, not a complex and comprehensive documentary about the life and work of a classic. Aside from the constant tributes to genius, and Ennio's quiet reminiscence, the only unifying themes are his lifelong inferiority complex, dissatisfaction with his work, and his constant search for recognition in "serious" circles. It's delicious, but it's an appetizer, not a main course.

Much more likeable for what it's trying to do than for what it is. While they went for a black-and-white stylisation and a "sort of old filmstrip" full of artifacts, lighting, and shots, it still overuses CGI instead of practical effects and make-up (they are used, but they don’t look very good), and there’s also this ragged unstymied inconsistency in concept. Incidentally, Bernal's casting follows in the footsteps of the Hull/Chaney/Del Toro legacy, but it's way off, he takes it too seriously. What a difference from the perfectly trashy and overdone Harris, who is true to his predecessors. Moreover, it's considerably uneven; the stylish opening, where it feels like a homage to Universal, and the conclusion are both effective, but the middle passage is classic Marvel fluff, tripping over its own feet with light-hearted jokes and opening the door to a new branch of the MCU.

While the first episodes (and especially the opening one) go in depth, are about professionals dealing with practical details, developments, splits, pitfalls, the second half slides on the surface because it oscillates between many directions. It tries to do the same through milestones by flying through the world, but there is no longer enough space. And so it's not even really about the technology, the people, the painful transition to digitalisation of processes, the evolution of ILM from a garage company to a corporate juggernaut – it bites into everything, but nothing gets a good chomp. The first episodes are interesting even for the very well-informed, the later ones don't bring anything beyond the well-known information from the DVD bonuses. The dramaturgical incongruity is best illustrated by the last episode, the half is about the milestone and the split of CGI and practical effects during the making of Jurassic Park versus the smiling back-patting and marketing video for the "virtual on-set pre-production." This is of course a fascinating advancement and technology, but on the one hand it's not there yet, and it's not about the technology, but it’s ranting about itself, the people, the world, the corporation; it doesn’t fit at all into the concept. So, if you are interested in how people "back then" created those breathtaking scenes that are still breathtaking today, through the use of cogs, skillful hands, forced perspective, etc., you have come to the right place. But count on the fact that after the initial episodes, those moments are few and far between. Likewise if you are interested in ILM as a company. The first episodes tell you about a bunch of people who did the impossible on a shoestring and casually grew a company around them that became a household name, but the later episodes no longer address ILM as an institution at all. And so it is with everything else. Something in depth and at a distance, something barely mentioned and at the level of promotional videos for the company website in the "references" section. Anyway, at least the opening episode is a definite "must see" for any fans of behind the scenes cinema, no question about it.

A sociological, sort of documentary experiment that runs on several levels and looks at everything through a veil of precisely hit funny cringe awkwardness. The ideas are without exaggeration ingenious, so is the execution, undeniably deadpan, but it gives you the impression that you would actually rather chat about it over a beer than necessarily watch it. | S1: 4/5 |

A sweeping natural history series that is certainly not short of breathtaking shots often never seen before, but the kind there is a dime a dozen. This one won’t get lost among them, but won’t stand out either. Simply first class documentary filmmaking, as one would expect from a National Geographic production. What sets it apart is that it also functions as a kind of "making of". The technology, the logistics, the roles of the people involved, the waiting, the problems "when animals don't do what they should or don't show up at all", etc. are given just as much space as the nature in the background. It's like a "video hunt" for unique footage, guided by a guy who can draw you into the centre of the action. It's nothing unique, but it is perfect and exquisite in what it wants to be. | S1: 4/5 |

Everything you didn't want to know about the once mysteriously shrouded most cool character of the original trilogy, or the equivalent of an annoying senile uncle's blathering about his uninteresting life, woes and back pain. This is reinforced by the mismanaged playwriting, where the "contemporary" line could offer something interesting, but it doesn't have enough space. And Temuera Morrison is hopeless without the helmet. The "what it was like back then" line is out of order, for God's sake nobody in their right mind cares, it would be enough to sum it up in ten minutes, not tens of minutes in a span of several episodes. The fact that it's like a teenager's first attempt at fan-fiction is really beside the point, as is the fact that it retroactively takes all the appeal away from the character in the original trilogy. It also flips into a regular third season of The Mandalorian for two episodes in the second half. It may be unrelated to the plot of the show, it's forcibly grafted on, but it's also the only episodes where it's entertaining and not annoyingly tiresome, and Boba has barely a cameo in them. At the same time, with respect to continuity, you have to see it before the third series of Mando. Absolutely unnecessary beating of a long ago thoroughly dead horse, when every character must have its own "story", even if there is nothing to say.

Yes, the real world coexistence of cartoons and humans could have been more sophisticated and polished. Yes, the detective plot is like a regular episode of the original series rather than supporting material for a feature film. Yes, there are so many one-off ideas and cameo roles that it gets old as the film progresses. But at the same time it moves along, there's a good joke every now and then, the chemistry of the old gang is there, and it works just as well for adults who remember Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers as it does for the kids who don't know the original. It’s hard to say who liked it more, me or my son, but we both had fun. It's not going to be a timeless classic like the series (or Roger Rabbit, which they reference a lot), but that doesn't mean it's not good, because it is.

In its day, Figo's tumultuous transfer, where much bad blood was incurred, was a certain imaginary milestone (not only) for Spanish club football and the beginning of the Perez galácticos era. In that respect, this is a solid documentary about why that was the case. It's purely for football fans interested in the behind the scenes, but there is nothing there that those who followed it at the time won’t already know. But they managed to get everyone involved in front of the camera. The most interesting thing is that even after more than two decades, some still have the need to obfuscate, lie, embellish and play into the hands of their mistakes and broken promises. And so it's a kind of concoction of versions in the form of a tutorial video "how body language reveals more about you than words".