D.Moore

All right, I'll round those three and a half stars up. The Cloverfield Paradox is, in my opinion, a deliberate tribute to the B sci-fi films of the 1950s, when the spaceship failed to keep itself in space without strings or wire and where the worst paid member of the staff was sweating in every giant rubber monster. But the trashy plot didn't bother me at all, and the actors I think acted exactly how they were supposed to. It's too bad that the serious situation game didn't last all the time and that it had to be interrupted primarily by unfunny escapades around one amputated but still alive hand (“Will it grow back?" belongs more to Monty Python or the Simpsons, not here), because otherwise I was quite satisfied. I liked the ending (aside from the last shot) very much and would say I won't have a problem watching the film again.

The Rock acts (and is likeable) about as well as Sylvester Stallone in the 1990s, but back then, Stallone wouldn't have acted in a film this silly. One cliché after another, and it relies on amazing the viewer with effects, which are not overwhelming, and pretty soon they get old, and it takes itself almost deadly seriously. Perspective is desperately missing - the comedy string that Roland Emmerich can play so well (I was very entertained by 2012, and it’s not much more sophisticated in terms of the storyline) did not even tremble in San Andreas. Unlike me while watching Alexandra Daddario...

I liked it a little more than A Quiet Place, because this film started, continued and ended with a intimate-depressing atmosphere, and never drifted towards action scenes at all costs. Moreover, the evil that was causing all this was even more mysterious, unknown the entire time and thus more interesting. That's great. And the scene with the car ride to the supermarket was truly superb.

It's been a while since I read Levin's book, so I can't exactly compare how much the film follows it... But I recognized the most important moments and most importantly, I got exactly the same feeling from the film version of Rosemary as I did from the literary one. The oppressive paranoia is almost palpable thanks to Polanski and the perfect Mie Farrow, the atmosphere unusually thickening... And everything is enhanced by the very strange yet fitting music by Krzysztof Komeda. Along with The Exorcist and The Omenn, Rosemary's Baby forms the “unholy trinity" of unforgettable films that are more than just horror films.

An excellent film, but it's not amazing - in the end it completely pushes away Edward Norton’s character (I don't often like him, but he's really great here), his Mike doesn't get any real ending... I can't forgive Birdman for that. Otherwise, although it’s undisguised and simple, it is very impressive and a 100% perfectly filmed slap to the face of the film industry with the excellent Michael Keaton (who played Vulture in Spider-Man three years after filming) and others.

Some would say that it's occasionally nice to watch a film that you kind of suspect from the beginning will turn out well, and you'll get a nice feeling from it. I would say that this is necessary. And not just occasionally. Aloha is exactly that kind of film. The super sympathetic trio of Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams, sunny Hawaii, echoes of the past, local traditions and myths, the perfect soundtrack (from “aboriginal" music to The Who to Elvis, Bowie or Vedder)... And still the feeling that it’s not going to end bad, no matter how it ends. In a sense, Aloha reminded me of the combination of Sideways with a classic romantic film from, say, the 1950s (in which, of course, one woman would be deciding between two men).

The surreal power of this film, I think, stems from three things. The first is actually a very ordinary story of a completely awkward main protagonist, which is almost documentary-authentic, personal and 100% impressive thanks to the ordinariness and the awkwardness. The second thing is, without exaggeration, the masterful direction of Alfonso Cuarón. That really needs to be seen. You could create the perfect art photograph from perhaps every shot, it's all thought out to the smallest detail and the black and white camera with the hearty help of sound (something we can't see at all, just we hear it) makes it a feast for the eyes (for example the monumental forest fire scene). The third thing is how the story and presentation “work together" - everything is natural, long camera rides or still shots do not distract from what's happening right now, the scenes beautifully complement each other, form a single whole, etc. I was originally expecting something from Roma in the style of Tornatore’s Malena. It's a completely different film though, completely great in a different way. And the scenes in the maternity ward or on the beach... You simply do not forget them.

Good idea, great execution and moderate runtime that helps the atmosphere, thanks to which the viewer does not get bored. Ugly, a mystery, an autopsy, corpses, darkness, a thunderstorm... ask yourself who could resist such a horror invitation, right? Ummm.... Certainly, some of the jump scares were predictable to cheap, but there were also moments that, I think, no one expected, and the gradual unraveling of the whole mystery was very entertaining to me. Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch are great.

I was expecting a clever point during the ending, an unexpected revelation (for example that someone also woke Chris Pratt up)... Well, unfortunately, this is not a film for lovers of such things, because the finale is full of action, highly digital and very interesting. But I liked everything before that, and I kept asking, “What is he going to do now? What will she do when she finds out that he...?" and so on. I was extremely entertained by the robotic Michael Sheen and the romantic storyline of the main (only) protagonists, and I enjoyed the mystery which... which then screwed up the aforementioned ending. It’s too bad, but a lost two hours it was not.

I liked it more than the praised Arrival. Of course, it was different in many ways and a more modest film that did not deny its TV origins (unlike other Netflix films I've seen so far), but it had a great atmosphere, it was original, the characters interested me, and I got this pleasantly adventurous feeling of discovering the unknown.