DaViD´82

The screenwriter of Phone Booth somewhat recycled his previous idea and routineer Ellis directed it. Loads of horrendous clichés, unimpressive acting performances and an unlikeable main protagonist make this picture really boring. Unfortunately not even the typically outstanding Macy or the usually cool Statham don’t have the change to rescue the picture from drowning in waters of mediocrity. An uninteresting picture that comes up with nothing new and even what we have seen a hundred times over is delivered in a form that is even worse than the competition.

When things with the yellow family were going downhill fast, this series from the very same creative team came to life. And its quality has (at the moment rather had) a rising tendency. The main difference from The Simpsons is the fact that there the authors were limited by the rules of the Earth of 20th century while here they could unleash their fantasies… And they made most of it.

Carlyle is a great actor, but his “Hitler-like" roaring (which he is paradoxically good at unlike in the non-rhetorical scenes where he’s tragic) together with his English spiced by his wannabe German accent resulted in me not being able to believe his character even for a second. Which, given the fact that he doesn’t leave the screen for the whole of the three hours, is a bit of a problem. The screenplay and its really, really very simplified take on Hitler, doesn’t do much to improve the overall impression. Something like this might have been expected immediately after the war, but not sixty years later. There are so many far better films about Hitler (so much more impressive and more chilling due to their non black-and-white perspectives) and documentaries that there is no real point in dealing with it yet again. But it’s not all that bad and as a movie mapping the ups and downs of a fictive dictator in a fictive land it might even have worked.

You’ve seen the plot of the Chorus hundred times somewhere else, but you’ve never heard it before. As the “chorus’" chorals begin to resound in the twilight of the movie theater it gives you goose bumps… The Chorus will lift your emotions and move you even though it doesn’t offer more than just awesome music upheld by a trivial visual side and predictable, but cute plot. But The Chorus is what it promises to be and does it more than well.

The stylized visuals are complemented by excellent sound and a great orchestral soundtrack. However, the story lags a long way behind the quality of the technical aspects. Although it is completely obvious that this is intentionally naive as a dime novel, but perhaps they go too far. It’s nice that it was basically made by one person in his garage, but that is no excuse for all of the shortcomings. Another disappointment is Jude Law: he simply isn’t the heroic adventurer type. Conversely, the lately rather back-seated Paltrow seems to really enjoy her role as the journalist. Another plus point is the goading humor between the central duo which, luckily, works, saving a lot.

Although I found Bloody Sunday absolutely gripping, knowing his style I couldn’t imagine how Greengrass intended to approach this commercial spy thriller. He approached Bourne in his very own way and the result is a realistic glimpse of the tricky life led by a former elite agent. From the first seconds, the pace of this picture is incredible and the way he steady increases the tension is completely exceptional. Add to this the solid plot involving nothing big, “just" a personal vendetta, and in the end the vendetta isn’t really so important. Splendid camerawork and Powell’s soundtrack suck you whole into the story. The acting is splendid too, even from the taciturn Matt Damon. As a whole this is a hugely quality picture, with added flavor in the form of nice little details that you appreciate fully only when watching it again (the poster about the demonstration and subsequent use of this information, the jump that went wrong and the limping and the fact that apart from the flashback and two shots in the tunnel, Jason doesn’t use a gun, and many more). Unforgettable, gripping, and nicely innovative (trans)genre picture. Bourne has set the bar so high for Ethan and Bond that it is almost unbeatable in its genre... ♫ OST score: 5/5

Quite a successful TV adaptation of Napoleon’s life that is spoiled terribly by the casting of the central character. Clavier is unarguably a character actor, but here his performance completely misses the target. Given that he appears in almost every scene in the course of the nigh-on 360-minute running time, not even the other high quality elements can do much to cure the overall rather shaky impression this gives.

A splendid study into the life of a strange, closed community. Nothing special in acting terms and, from Adrien Brody, a perfect parody on acting performances. As usual, Shyamalan has everything firmly in his grasp in terms of directing, but the screenplay slipped through his fingers this time round. Because he was trying too hard to live up to viewer expectations and forcibly grafted on his traditional tension-rising-toward-a-climax element. If he had revealed this “shocking" event right at the beginning, the end result could have been much better. This is a great shame, because some moments suggest that The Village held great potential that unfortunately was exploited terribly little.

If you're expecting a dull, albeit smart, art film wrapped in an appealing jacket rather than something in the vein of Minority Report, you've come to the right place.

It certainly isn’t the best, but it is the most likeable picture from the Hřebejk - Jarchovský duo. Incoherent in terms of story, but individual scenes have something to say about the typical “small-minded Czech" chip on the shoulder, although they say it rather childishly and naively. Good work in acting and technical terms, incomparably far ahead of other Czech productions.