lamps

The W&W duo, that is Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken, against each other in one movie. I couldn't miss it, and in the end I was quite satisfied. Willis performs to his standard and watching his skilled work in taking down his mafia adversaries is a treat as always. And Walken once again proved that when Hollywood needs a truly cool bad guy, he’s simply the best and surest choice, even if he was given too little space for my taste. Last Man Standing is a very unconventional gangster flick in its conception, but it deserves more attention if only because this kind of tributes to Leone, Coppola and other legends are unfortunately no longer made these days, and it is unlikely that we will ever see them again. Bruce has us used to much better stuff, but comparing this rather intimate crime drama to The Last Boy Scout or Die Hard would be as silly as expecting Uwe Boll to ever make a good film... 75%

Sometimes there is great power in simplicity. Arnold the is simplest famous actor ever, but we eat his every fist and grin, and there’s also Jamie Lee Curtis, who looks simply divine in a bathing suit, sidekick Bill Paxton, who is intellectually simple and wryly funny, and James Cameron, who can make a simple action comedy almost as surely and imaginatively as he can make his visual spectacles. It's unnecessarily long and the ending evokes the overblown Commando from the 80s (especially in terms of body count), but it’s still great fun and one of the best representatives of Hollywood action of the 90s. 85%

The phrase "much ado about nothing" can hardly be more fitting than here. I would still be willing to forgive The A-Team for not coming up with a proper and original story, but I won't forgive the fact that all the expected and praised action seemed dull and overstuffed clutter with zero build-up and a desperate lack of catchphrases and insight. The 3 stars are more or less because I really like Neeson and Cooper and because, despite the bland result, the A-Team at least made a good effort to pay homage to and build on the classic action films that were taken for granted in Hollywood twenty years ago...))) I recently read that if Chuck Norris eats a whole box of sleeping pills, it will show up in one blink..., I watched the supposedly most stylish and over-the-top action movie of recent years, and by the end I was sleeping like a baby... 55%

Robert Rodriquez is a big question mark to me. I have no doubt that he can make properly entertaining genre films that fully display his enormous passion for cinema and his talent, but then he comes with stuff like From Dusk Till Dawn, Machete or, heaven forbid, Planet Terror, and my sympathies for him slowly turn 180 degrees. Fortunately, Desperado belongs to the first group, boasting a well-written script, brilliant editing of the action scenes and above all, from top to bottom, an impeccably chosen cast, which also helps a lot. Not only the charismatic Banderas and the gorgeous Hayek, but especially the narratively underrated Buscemi, Trejo or the great Quentin Tarantino himself (his scene is one of the best ever) are the driving force that gives the story unprecedented brilliance and pace. And the playful Rodriquez just underlines everything with his amazingly specific signature, which is not and probably never will be completely free of flaws, but without it this time it just wouldn't be the same... 80%

I wasn't expecting anything, but surprisingly it turned out to be a rather likeable and entertaining homage to classic survival thrillers, led by Boorman's Deliverance. It’s true that the film copies all the usual horror clichés and the story can't really surprise with anything, but on the other hand, Wrong Turn boasts quite a decent atmosphere of vast forests, two really beautifully handled horror scenes and a trio of quite likeable main characters, whose actions didn't seem nearly as stupid as they usually do in these films. I liked The Hills Have Eyes a bit more, but I certainly don't find this cannibalistic contribution reprehensible either. 65%

Wes, Wes, do you know why the first one was so successful and opened the door for this brilliant and amazing sequel? Because it had a thick atmosphere, a moment of surprise, a breathtaking finale and a lot of horror scenes that really gave me chills at times. But this piece of crap is nothing, one big pompous nothing, which is at best ugly and disgusting, but narratively completely futile, gratuitous and desperately uninteresting, trying to hide the impotence of the director and the actors behind a bunch of horny and brutal creeps. Moreover, I didn't care about any of the main characters from the beginning, and the only thing I can say is that I didn't wish death on the two pretty "actresses". If you're looking for a dumb slasher with streams of blood and gushing guts, YES. But if, like me, you prefer a horror film with a meaningful story and a decent atmosphere, then NO, NO, NO. 30%

I don't quite know what to make of this movie. It’s evident that the Chinese, not only in their films but also in their overall lifestyle, care a lot about their history and traditions, so different and separate from everyone else’s. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a wonderfully refined spectacle, in which that particular historical flavour is perfectly reflected, and together with a great cast, a beautiful setting and an engaging soundtrack, we are presented with an absolutely hypnotic saga into the souls of determined and wise warriors, the impact of which, despite some reservations, I cannot deny. And as for the reservations, it was the rather slower orientation towards the sublime and for me quite unusual Asian style that prevents me from giving it a full rating. But I will gladly watch it again and who knows what will happen then, but at the moment the 80% seems a perfectly appropriate and deserved number...

A great premise with an even better execution. I'm sure it wouldn't be a big deal nowadays, but back then such a high quality combination of live-action and animated film must have caused a lot of hype, and not just among small kids. Roger Rabbit and the other cartoon characters, too, are more than fine, but not as fine as Zemeckis's enjoyable direction, which gives room for a great variety of characters and tons of jokes, or Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd in particular, who as the ruthless judge is simply not to be missed. Almost 25 years have passed, but this magical film remains unbeaten in its genre, and just for that, it clearly deserves a full rating.

A very suggestive and unpleasant film, which probably cannot be faulted too much within the director's vision. There were moments when I was bored, and overall, 127 Hours didn't blow me away, but at least for the final act, for James Franco and for the very original and bold execution I can't go below 4*...

Fantomas is a legend in the best sense of the word. Whether I'm referring to the entire three-part series, which is wonderfully entertaining, imaginative and superbly acted, or the elusive villain character himself, whom I always admired boundlessly in my youth for all the cool disguises, schemes and inventions. But I always feel sorry for poor Commissioner Juve, who can break down and get angry, but he’s always one step behind Fantomas.)) P.S. Thanks a lot, Mr. Filipovsky...