Remedy

A pretty harsh Spanish genre film that doesn't pull any punches. An inherently evil and cynical film in which it's hard to determine who the real bad guy is. From a purely moral point of view, the whole thing is twisted and turned on its head. [85%]

I expected a redneck show, I got a redneck show. There's no disputing that the "race issue" is accentuated here to the point where it overshadows the investigation itself and it’s really only half a police procedural. That's not a criticism at all, on the contrary the whole narrative ultimately feels quite authentic and combines genre crime fiction with period social drama/thriller in an interesting way. [80%]

The best thing about the whole Dirty Dancing thing is the awkwardly endearing contrast of worldliness and naivety. When Baby says to Johnny "You are everything!" with crystalline sincerity, it’s impossible not to laugh yet experience perverse pleasure at the same time. The ultimate guilty pleasure with an ace soundtrack (and Oscar-winning song!) and an unquestionable place among 80s gems. Plus, it's basically a beautiful fairy tale about a mousy girl who needs a bombastic prince to awaken the right hormones in her. [85%]

The original Hellraiser undoubtedly has a very interesting mythology and actually quite a powerful atmosphere. It has a solid place among 80s cult films, and it's certainly worth pointing out that for that one million dollars, Clive Barker managed to make a decent (for its time) gore horror film with two-dimensional performances (that actually fit the hell out of it) and iconically nasty villains. As a trip to the late 80s, it still works beautifully today. [65%]

Unusually personal considering the character of Poirot, however the pre-title sequence in the trenches is one of the most powerful. It's actually takes a while to get going, it's just that Kenneth Branagh has the whole thing so beautifully shot and voiced that there’s not so much as a though of boredom. The seemingly drawn-out exposition in particular starts to make very good sense later on, and once the anticipated "whodunit" kicks in, it picks up in a big way. All in all, this is a really well done mainstream piece that respectably draws on its classic source material while being utterly professional and ultra-modern in its portrayal. If Branagh delivers another Poirot case in a similar style a few years from now, I’m definitely on it. [75%]

Essentially a brutal romp dominated by two giant megabadasses played by Scott Adkins and Michael J. White. The story is exactly as deep as the script requires, and there are virtually no weak spots. Its straightforwardness and honesty is absolutely fascinating. [80%]

A compelling and disturbing vision of a global pandemic as uncompromisingly portrayed by Wolfgang Petersen, where the greatest danger by far appears to be not the epidemic itself, but its political aspects. The atmosphere of chaos and despair here is frighteningly palpable, with the only proper bright spot being Dustin Hoffman’s character of the dogged virologist, who is (one of the few) relatively clear about his values throughout. [80%]

While this damn honest and extremely well-scripted Scott Cooper masterpiece has very modest production design, it is spectacular in the truest sense of the word. Christian Bale is perhaps the greatest actor of his generation, and he delivers an utterly crushing yet endearing performance here. The fact that much of the story is largely shaped by the post-traumatic stress of the character played by Rosamund Pike is used to absolutely bravura effect, and even though Rosamund Pike barely speaks here, most of her scenes are powerful as hell, thanks to a terrific and extremely sensitive script. It's incredible how much Scott Cooper manages to "cover" in those 134 minutes of screenwriting, but not a single second here feels superfluous. It's the kind of small big film that can't, by definition, succeed in the mainstream, but which is a huge treat for the properly attuned viewer. [90%]

Something like this has been missing from my current viewing repertoire for a long time. A pleasant intimate story set between the 1970s and 1990s, this is another appealing contribution to the coming-of-age genre. The narrative itself can feel somewhat sterile at times, as we've seen all the motifs done better or worse many times before, but that in itself is no barrier to a good experience. Moreover, Ben Affleck gives a civil performance, in the best sense of the word, and I definitely won't mind if he sticks to similar roles in the future. [60%]

Russell Crowe as the true believing leader of a group of Aussie skinheads who, in addition to beating up Asians and robbing shops, also manage to get festively trashed and always find a nice squat to hole up in. It has an extremely simple script and the camera is mediocre at best, but it has such a "fan(t)a(s)tically anarchic" atmosphere the whole time that it's simply impossible to tear yourself away from it. [70%]