Stanislaus

An amazing documentary offering a lot of breathtaking footage of the life of impressive creatures, which whales are without a doubt. During the screening I learned a lot of new and extremely interesting information about the sophisticated way of hunting, taking care of the young or typical habits of these huge animals. Whether it was the astute humpback whale, the caring sperm whale or the savvy killer whale, this gang really won me over with their wisdom, cleverness, sensitivity and sophistication.

The Other Side of Mars offers a very interesting perspective on the issue of depicting reality through photographs, while alluding to the degree of objectivity in the subjective assessment of visual perceptions. Accompanied by distinctive, almost metallic sounding music, the viewer travels to the surface of our neighbouring planet to learn how scientists are trying to map and explore this environment, which is very distant to most of us. However, despite the obvious narrative value of the documentary, I had quite a hard time empathizing with the issues at hand – even on a layman's level – and by the end I didn't even find myself much more informationally rich than before the screening.

I am ashamed to admit that until now I had no idea about the Great Bear Rainforest, which made this documentary extremely useful for me in terms of information. Accompanied by Ryan Reynolds' light-hearted commentary, with a witty remark here and there, the viewer is transported for forty minutes into an unspoiled and almost untouched by man landscape that is home to a variety of animal species. I was very surprised by the existence of the Kermode bear (pr “spirit bear”), whose survival is ensured by the descendants of the local indigenous population. But I also found the snippets from the lives of other representatives of the animal kingdom interesting, like sea otters or American black bears and grizzly bears.

Burning Blue offers a solid premise: a love story between two men in a naval air force setting under President Bill Clinton (the "Don't ask, don't tell!" policy), but the execution is nothing but average, which is a real shame. The film could have benefited from a shorter running time, better direction of the actors, and more emphasis on drama. It was interesting to see the different approaches of each character towards a taboo subject in a setting that looks at the issue through closed eyes. I also appreciated the restrained approach to the relationship between Dan and Matt, where physical action was replaced with more innuendo and sexual tension. However, like I said, there was definitely more to be made of it.

At Home with Olaf is a series of short sketches, some of which resemble everyday scenes rather than having any kind of plot, it will surely entertain the youngest audience, especially thanks to the infectiously positive Olaf, who seems to be on something (in a good way) the whole time. The quality of the stories varies, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained. I didn't roll with laughter, but a rueful smile did appear on my face a few times.

Death in Buenos Aires combines elements of (slightly romantic) drama and crime, but neither genre left a strong impression on me. While I liked the fact that you don’t know who is actually bad and who is evil until almost the very end, I still found the final twist somewhat weak and unfinished. On the other hand, I was intrigued by the line with the horses and their running through the city streets.

Watching Tale of Tales, I couldn't help but think of German Romanticism, the tales of the Brothers Grimm's or the texts of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Matteo Garrone's film is an evocative audio-visual spectacle with many wonderful locations and costumes that take the viewer back to a time long past, to a fairy tale world of kings, servants and various creatures. Each of the three stories appealed to me for its fantastical rawness and unpredictability. Despite its innocent title, this is definitely not a film for the youngest of audiences, children would quite possibly struggle with nightmares after the screening. A truly noteworthy film that, despite its "adult" treatment, retains its fairytale wisdom and lessons, like the struggle between good and evil, boundless selflessness, (un)safe love or the superficial judgement of "a book by its cover".

A slightly funnier continuation of Dji the Grim Reaper's travails, who is not doing so well in his "work" again. Compared to the first one at the hospital, the sequel at sea has more humorous moments, it was brisker and more balanced.

Dji. Death Fails was not (black) humorous enough for my taste, which is a shame considering the premise. Being a grim reaper has its advantages and disadvantages, and this animated flick, in my opinion, fell well short of the potential that offered.

A long-haired Eleven, a safe(?) Bellatrix and a no-nonsense Geralt in a film about the Holmes family, which neglects the figure of the famous detective and puts to the fore his "lonely" sister Enola, who is as fluent in the art of deduction as her big brother. In addition to the excellent cast, I was impressed by the unconventional way of narration, in which the main character directly addressed the audience, which gave the story a humorous edge. On the other hand, though, I have to say that I was probably expecting something more. I felt that its potential was not fully exploited. At times the film was perhaps a little too overtly feminist, but it was still an enjoyable two hours.