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A derivation of the Scandinavian project The Bridge. An intelligent, brutal, psychopathic serial killer, a mismatched pair of investigators of the opposite sex, cross-border cooperation of two neighboring state's criminal cases, and an attempt to create a dark and mysterious atmosphere. In contrast to The Bridge, Pagan Peak holds back, is more sober, and less flashy and the initial atmosphere also partially disappears with each subsequent episode. However, it easily maintains three stars. Overall impression: 60%.

I have a problem with many Italian neorealism films in that they are simply hard to digest for me. But Paisan is not one of them. It is an excellent war film in every aspect that speaks volumes about what war means to its participants and the civilian population. It is an anthology film with six separate stories that, understandably, do not have the same level, as is typical for anthology films, but all of them have a decent and meaningful point. Indeed, Roberto Rossellini is not skilled when it comes to war scenes, but that does not significantly harm the film because there is only one battle scene in the final story. It is chaotically edited and poorly shot, but in Paisan, the micro-stories that have nothing to do directly with the war turmoil are much more important. The individual episodes may seem random, but together they form an impressive whole that is authentic and tells of the atmosphere of a country permeated by the front line. The story set in the ancient monastery, which is visited by a trio of American field priests, and where a confrontation between Catholic thinking and American openness occurs, was impressive to me. For Italian monks, it is absolutely impossible to understand that a Catholic priest gets along well with a Protestant priest and a Jewish rabbi, and together they console soldiers. For all the stories, it is typical that concepts such as truth, love, justice, and bravery can be quite relative in heated situations. Rossellini does not moralize; he simply shows what he witnessed during the war. Overall impression: 90%.

On one hand, the film is firmly rooted in B-movie territory, not so much in terms of budget, but more in overall execution and cliché motifs, whether in the script or the directorial approach. On the other hand, it features decent performances, at least from the central duo of actors, has a respectable visual design that creates a properly claustrophobic atmosphere of mystery and horror in some scenes, and most importantly, it has a premise with immense potential that could lead to outstanding results under certain circumstances. These circumstances would require refining the script and particularly the film's dialogues, which at times made me bite my lip to hold back laughter, introducing the monsters much later and changing their appearance so as not to resemble something out of a generic horror film like Hellraiser, and most importantly, putting effort into developing the characters and eliminating a lot of cliched nonsense. I do not deny that Pandorum has its entertaining moments, its ability to be frightening in some moments and create tension in others, but with this execution, it's something I would enjoy at the age of 14 and nowadays I have to either switch off my brain or take a detached view of what's happening on the screen. Overall impression: 50%.

Ageing Alex is experiencing the typical crisis of a middle-aged man. He is bored with his wife, feels burned out, and has a dislike for his job. He tries to deal with his frustration in a way that is popular in America - by visiting a psychotherapist. There he meets a woman who attracts him from the very first moment. Up until this point, we would be in the realm of traditional family films and their usual resolutions, except that Alex is a hired killer and both of his parents have been in the same business for many years. Without this twist, which is only used sparingly, it would be an endlessly used theme and execution. It's an unassuming film with unoriginal directing and a very average screenplay that is saved only by the cast and performances, led by William H. Macy. Overall impression: 50%.

A decent crime thriller that is intriguing in terms of direction. While David Fincher is capable of even better films, here he works his magic with the camera, choosing unusual angles, playing with silhouettes behind doors, utilizing shadows to emphasize the atmosphere of the abandoned house. A weaker aspect is the screenplay, which occasionally stumbles (such as the late arrival of the police considering it's a luxurious prominent neighborhood) and above all, spoils the ending of the film. It could have been more imaginative; a similar ending is already familiar to audiences from many other films. As expected, Jodie Foster and Forest Whitaker dominate the cast. Overall impression: 75%.

Faun's Labyrinth meets all the requirements of a quality film - a strong story, the appropriate budget, an experienced director, and a solid cast. It is exactly the kind of fantasy that I like because it doesn't trample on the most cheaply stolen motifs from Tolkien in a thousand ways, but goes its own way and combines a classic fairy tale story with a realistically conceived war drama. It is original, emotional, tense, and artistically elaborate with excellent cinematography, and the director is not afraid of even naturalistic bloody scenes and ventures into the realm of pure horror. Overall impression: 90%. The pinnacle of Guillermo del Toro's work so far, which will be difficult for the director to surpass...

Paper Moon is reminiscent of classical Hollywood, which was very skilled at working with predictable human emotions and excelled at the craft of filmmaking in its melodramas. However, it had two fundamental flaws, namely sentimentality and the associated naivety in its approach to characters and social reality. Peter Bogdanovich avoided these two flaws in his comedy-drama set in interwar America, creating a charming film about the relationship between a small-time swindler and a sharp-witted orphan, who clearly inherits the influence of her mother, who earns a living through the oldest profession. The itinerant bible salesman and trader of human naivety may think he can quickly get rid of the feisty girl and make a profit, but she has a different idea and the skills to achieve it. It is true that little Tatum O'Neal mostly relies on her defiant expression throughout the film, and I can recall many more convincing child actors, as well as the fact that more could have been done with a similar storyline. Nevertheless, the film is of high quality due to its elegance and lack of pandering. Overall impression: 85%.

When examining the reactions to the new version of Papillon, you often come across a feeling of desecration. It's as if it were blasphemy to make a second version of the legendary prison escape at the same time when you can watch yet another adaptation of "Les Misérables," where no one questions the constant recycling. I saw the original adaptation of Charrière's book 25 years ago, and that is one of the reasons why I don't want to compare both films. Steve McQueen was undoubtedly extraordinarily charismatic on screen, and Hoffman was one of the stars of character acting. However, the success of the film did not lie in them. It lay in the exceptional story of human will and tenacity. Rami Malek may not be the typical representative of the Parisian elite of the 1920s, but take it as it is. Neither he nor Charlie Hunnam bring disgrace to the craft of acting. The production is impressive, the excellent camera effectively captures the atmosphere of both fashionable Paris and the South American colony, as well as the suffering of the prisoners. Papillon is a worthy return to the adventure film genre in a time dominated by silly comic book movies and cheap horror films. I have no reason to criticize anything about this film and I had a good time with it. Overall impression: 90%.

A bit of an animated version of Inception, slightly mixed with Cronenberg's eXistenZ. While both of the mentioned titles thrilled me equally despite their different style and content, I remained indifferent to Paprika. Only a few East Asian films appeal to me and tune into me correctly emotionally. I simply come from a different cultural circle and I feel things differently. Paprika has a fairly simple theme - the plot revolves around a stolen device for researching human dreams, but it has heavy and confused processing, which emphasizes the visually overloaded abundance of glaring colors. This one star is only for the film's potential, which in my opinion could be used much more effectively and with incomparably greater impact. Overall impression: 25%.

Paradise Now is a distinctly political film where artistic form lags behind the social message, i.e., the depiction of the situation in the occupied areas of the West Bank from the perspective of the Palestinian side. I would say that even the audience's evaluation will heavily mirror their political attitudes toward Palestine and Israel. It would be worth comparing the Palestinian problem to the Irish one because Palestinians could have had a disproportionately larger state than the currently occupied territories in the past. By their own stupidity, nationalist radicalism, and systematic failures of their elites, they lost a great deal, which understandably couldn't fit into this film. After several defeats, the Irish chose the path of painful compromise and long-term division of the country so that they could enjoy statehood and independent development. Not long ago, there was a real possibility of the establishment of an independent Palestine, which, although not reaching the territorial extent envisioned by Palestinians and their leaders, would have been a solid foundation for further development. Overall impression: 60%.