Malarkey

I was looking forward to Jojo Rabbit for a long time, especially since it’s made by a director whose every film in recent years I totally loved and I only wish him happiness. Moreover, he chose the Czech Republic as the filming location, and the resulting film was nominated with an Academy Award for the best feature film. I understand that the competition is tough so Jojo Rabbit will probably not win, but it’s still a nice promotion for our little country. A war satire is a very visible topic, and when it’s well-made it’s hard to forget. And Taika Waititi did a great job, even though I expected a bit more humor. In places I didn’t know whether it was satire or fantasies of the main character Jojo, perfectly portrayed by Roman Griffin Davis. Taika Waititi is very good in guiding actors in general. And him guiding himself as Hitler is the funniest part of the whole film. In the second half, however, you’ll meet with more serious scenes, which show that even though Jojo perceives the fascists the way he does, it is still war and it’s not exactly fun. A well-done satire, but it’d be even better with more humor. It still has one unique feature, though – the most likable Nazi everplayed by Sam Rockwell. I haven’t seen such a well-written character in a while.

A nice little Hungarian film, taking place in a congress hall somewhere in Prague, which Czech audience will appreciate. Moreover it has a great, if a bit predictable ending. And that’s enough for me. Even if it’s a little film that it’s enough to watch once, it should feature some well-executed idea.

Because I’m not American, I have never heard about that host who went against Trump in her show while the whole nation was watching. So the film barely aroused my interest. The thing I enjoyed was looking at Margot, Nicole a Charlize. And I’m not talking just about their beauty, but about how the make-up artist managed to make them look almost unrecognizable. But that’s about it.

The thing I liked about A Certain Kind of Silence is that even though it’s from a debuting director, it gives an impression of a modern, rather decent European drama, albeit without a usual feature of many similar films – emotions. However, in case of A Certain Kind of Silence it’s to the film’s advantage. It proves that we’ve got creators who are able to keep up with the times.

Lately, I’ve got a feeling that when I watch a new film by Pedro Almodóvar, I’ve already seen it before. I wonder if it’s a sign of creative recycling. Antonio Banderas is not bad here, but the whole film is rather average, not really about art but about Pedro’s extravaganza and his need to express himself by filmmaking once in a while so that he can let us alone for some time after that. And because he’s a national artist, Penélope and Antonio are still willing to help him out with that.

Who had the terrifying idea to turn Aladdin into a musical? It’s like watching a three-hour long Bollywood opus and enjoying how everyone is dancing and everything around is incredibly colorful. The only good thing about the movie is Will Smith, even though some people might protest that a genie shouldn’t be black. However, Will Smith is the only reason for which this film is even worth watching. All the rest (apart from the opening show jumping scene) is too horrible for words.

This film is hardly a surprise. It’s 2020, the Oscars are drawing near so we need to make another sad story about American slavery, with a lead role played by some new black actress or actor so that we fulfil Hollywood standards. And even though it sometimes doesn’t turn out so bad, usually it’s a fail. Just like in case of Harriet. It would’ve been okay as an average movie randomly watched on daytime TV, but the Oscar nomination puzzles me. It might be enough for Hollywood, but not for everybody else.

From the beginning it’s clear that the creators were trying to be original here. Already in the opening credits, they serve you a scene the tension of which will unsettle everyone who has begun to enjoy this movie. At this moment it’s clear that we’re in for some weird filmmaking. In the end, however, it wasn’t that weird; the movie just seemed kind of undecided about what exactly it was going to be. It did have a few interesting ideas, one of those being the music by Sia. Her touch is clear from the music and even though it’s not my usual cup of tea, within the pop genre it’s definitely not bad. The premise, however, is worse, and the worst part is Natalia Portman. She looked good on the poster, but her performance wasn’t much. She only appears in the second half of the movie, where she plays the adult version of the main character, but that’s enough for me to feel repulsion against her, or rather her character. I was also puzzled by the fact that the young girl first played the main character and then the sister of the adult version of her original character. Vox Lux is full of moments I don’t understand, and I don’t know whether it’s sloppiness or some kind of art out of the scope of my understanding. It’s, however, enough for three stars.

After watching the film, I was surprised at how badly this final episode of modern X-Men is rated. It didn’t seem so bad to me, but I have some comments on the film. The thing that intrigued me the most was the fact that the film was entrusted to an inexperienced director. This mostly shows in the action sequences. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s the most furious action I’ve ever seen. The strange thing, however, is that this weird action looks incredibly epic in the end. I really don’t know how to put in the words, but I guess these are the best furious action scenes I’ve ever seen. The camera is not shaky, it performs such maneuvers that it boggles your mind, and even though I was quite dubious the entire time, it turned out that it’s the best feature of the whole flick. Together with Hans Zimmer’s music, which is once again epic and memorable. The plot, however, is worse, as it’s often the case with X-Men movies. Sophie Turner makes the same puppy eyes as she did in Game of Thrones, but this time it doesn’t work. During the entire movie, which was supposed to be about her, I was incredibly annoyed by her character. The best parts were as usual James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, thanks to whom I enjoyed the ending. This instalment deserves definitely better rating then 59 out of 100. It is controversial, true, but it is also entertaining, which is exactly what I wanted from it.

La Dolce Vita is not a film for everyone. It is a three-hour long portrait of the era and life of the high society. And it is of course quite good at that. It features certain scenes and musical themes that influenced the entire film industry, and have not grown old in decades. Some moments are a real pleasure to watch. But it’s still not enough for me to give it more than three stars. I understand that the message lies in the atmosphere of the times, but the filmmaking craft is not enough when the film lacks a soul and a story that would draw me in. Here I just watch people I don’t care about wasting their lives. They are of course unaware of it, and that’s why the film is called the way it is.