gudaulin

Devil certainly isn't a catastrophe and can even be considered decently above-average within its genre. However, it is important to emphasize that horror has long been a genre of popular entertainment, which is largely composed of ultra-low quality video productions and semi-amateur attempts by various hopefuls, so the average is somewhere else in terms of filmmaking quality compared to other genres. The basic plot works reasonably well - if, of course, we generously overlook the crucial error in logic on which the story is built, as well as a few smaller logical leaps. But if we were so narrow-minded about every horror film, what would be left of the genre in the end? Thanks to the sounds and editing, the film occasionally achieves a decent atmosphere. However, it suffers from the fact that it takes a different direction than the viewer expects. It creates the idea of an intimate psycho-horror, where in the claustrophobic atmosphere of an elevator cabin with no escape, passengers gradually realize that one of them is not who they claim to be, leading to paranoid mutual accusations and increasingly ominous signs of an inevitable end. However, the film develops differently and sets up a different, less effective, game. If the devil came into the world because of this kind of event, then it is a disgraceful waste of his talent, because a similar effect could be achieved by a demon of the third category somewhere from the depths of hell's basement. Overall, it is a B-movie with average acting performances and unused potential. Nevertheless, I have no problem giving it three stars. Overall impression: 55%.

A short satire on the deformed life and work in corporations. A young specialist is hired by the company and temporarily placed in an uninhabited office, where he is practically forgotten and the young man realizes that he is invisible and unnecessary to his surroundings. He becomes a witness to the automatic operation of the entire machinery and the story plays out in a Kafkaesque spirit - unfortunately, at a too-sluggish pace and without a striking point. Overall impression: 50%

The Entity tempted me with its high percentage for a horror film, but then sobriety arrived. I think this is one of those cases where the reviews are influenced by nostalgia. The processing and performances are on the level of a television production and it is only average. Moreover, in my eyes, The Entity also harms itself by trying to sell the plot as a real-life story, and unfortunately, the lustful spirit does not evoke horror in me but rather annoys me. For me to take this film seriously, it would have to take itself much less seriously. Horror is a game with human imagination, and the moment someone tries to present parapsychology as a serious science, it's over for me. Overall impression: 25%.

I definitely don't claim that this is a bad movie, but the expectations were too high in this case, and during the final scene, I was thinking, is this really the end? Is there nothing else coming? Are you telling me this film won at a category A festival and is considered by film fans and critics alike as the European film event of the year? The thing is, this film somehow deceives in its substance and offers substitute emotions, or rather, in my opinion, it fails precisely in what it is most adored for, i.e., a statement about a certain country and political system. Many reviews enthusiastically admire its amazing authenticity, but how many of those viewers experienced communist Romania first-hand? I haven't been there, but from the testimonies of eyewitnesses, I know that even ten years after the revolution, some places in the countryside had no electricity, many remote areas are today economically worse off than during Ceausescu's regime, and the mountainous regions are depopulating. Comparing the former Romania to Czechoslovakia is misguided, as the situation there was disproportionately worse and, above all, systemically different. The abortion that is at the core of Mungiu's film, is presented as purely a technical problem. Those girls, just like the other film characters, are not victims of the system, but part of it. Polish films of moral unrest were able to address moral conflict issues in the behavior of their characters during the deep communism of the 70s and 80s, whereas here, a college student undergoes an abortion of a fetus that is merely an obstacle to her career. We learn very little about the system itself, and it is necessary to realize that abortions were also prohibited in a number of European countries in the recent past, and a similar film could be made in present-day Poland, in a democratic system. Since 1993, abortion there has been limited to the absolute minimum of possibilities. That pre-revolutionary Romania was an inhospitable and freedom-restricted place to live in is quite evident in some places, but that is just a secondary motive. If the main problem for Romanian college students in dormitories was obtaining a certain brand of Western cigarettes, then those girls really didn't have a bad life. In short, it is watchable but, from my perspective, also an overrated film with an unclear concept. Overall impression: 60%.

In life, everyone from time to time, and some quite regularly, puts on a mask and plays their roles. This film is about the encounter of two players, a journalist and a young actress, who try to play their roles and achieve the best outcome. Interview is a film that probably has a theatrical counterpart, as the whole plot is ideally set up for the stage. If Interview is worth seeing, it is thanks to the cast, because Sienna Miller and Steve Buscemi suit their roles both in terms of appearance and performance, lending the entire plot relative credibility, as the screenplay itself doesn't offer much of it. It is too contrived and the actions of both actors are affected and their strategies are overcomplicated. Even just the way the journalist gets into the unattainable star's apartment relies too much on the script's construct, as in real life, she wouldn't offer that opportunity. It is simply a game with elaborate dialogues, built for the visual and auditory effect on the audience, rather than a story from real life. Overall impression: 60%.

An attempt at a black comedy from the British film world that is peculiar in that it lacks positive characters and types with which the viewer can somehow identify. That is, unless they are mentally disturbed, because so many scoundrels and, dare I say, creatures really do come together in the film... Overall impression: 45%.

In terms of the genre, it is definitely an above-average film, and I can imagine that a similar story could be made in a much worse way. However, this film doesn't completely sit well with me. Nevertheless, my reservations will not be felt by most film fans. Essentially, they are aimed at whether you like the literary works of Dan Brown or Umberto Eco. Both write seemingly the same thing, but upon closer inspection, there is a fundamental difference between them. Umberto Eco writes with top-notch knowledge of history, aesthetics, and contemporary philosophy, so he places his characters and their destinies in a flawlessly historically accurate environment. On the other hand, Dan Brown writes his adventure stories with the knowledge that the historical reality is unimportant to the overwhelming majority of readers, so he throws it together somewhat haphazardly, and his books do not hold up under closer analysis. Of course, this doesn't matter to him in terms of achieving greater commercial success. Black Death functions as an adventurous and mysterious story, where the viewer can admire the dark atmosphere of a country ravaged by a devastating epidemic and the clash of religious values. Deep forests, bandits, and their bloody clash with an expedition, marshes engulfed in mist, and a mysterious village where witches rampage - all of these are genre props skillfully utilized, and together with solid casting, create a solid impression on the viewer. However, as a historical story, it does not hold up, because the conflict between Christianity and paganism was fought out centuries before, and Christianity successfully assimilated popular superstition and various cults. Individual religious heresies and conflicts occurred at a different level, but that is not essential for the average film fan. Rather, I am referring to those screenplay somersaults, such as when in a hopeless situation, two exhausted captive mercenaries, weakened by torture, suddenly free themselves from bondage and within a moment break the resistance of an entire rebellious village. Nevertheless, Black Death earns a solid overall impression of 60% from me.

An unconventional view of war and the army through the perspective of cooks and their field kitchens. Co-production and a decent budget allowed for a journey through various countries and historical periods, so the audience has the opportunity to confront the views of World War II veterans, through the Algerian war, and up to the present day. This way, we can understand certain contexts that escape us during a casual glance at news about the conflict in Chechnya or the Balkans. The Serbian cook brings a smile with the remark "We cooked against the Croats," while during the confession of the Croatian cook, I understood why I passed burnt Serbian villages during my journey through Croatia. During the confession of the Russian cook, we will understand how supply in the Russian Federal Army works - or rather doesn't work - and why units of the Russian army have to resort to looting. The German cook on the submarine, in addition to describing how he cooks for his colleagues in a miniature kitchen, manages to depict how he was the only one able to save himself when his ship sank. It is all presented with a certain ironic exaggeration, and the interviews are complemented by military recipes such as shashlik for one hundred thousand Soviet occupiers or bread for eighteen million German soldiers on the front lines of World War II. We also get a glimpse into the kitchen of Yugoslav leader Tito and can admire a charming female body adorned with cheeses and cured meats as a feast for the international elite. Overall impression: 70%. Do you know what would happen if all army cooks refused to cook? How does one of them respond to this question? Nothing, they would just have to leave the safety of their kitchen and go to the front lines...

Saint-Louis Blues is the story of seven passengers in a taxi in Dakar, who are trying to get to the town of Saint-Louis Blues, and their random encounter is at least marked in some cases. The overall banal story is enhanced by the form of a musical and the interesting, vividly exotic environment of the West African metropolis. I cannot appreciate or rather correctly evaluate the singing aspect, but the actors are likable and the young black girls are very attractive. I had a good time with it. Overall impression: 75%.

A sympathetic short that mocks the diametrically different civilizational attitudes of a French farmer in the remote countryside and a Parisian who may excel in computers and mobile phones, but appears as a revelation in the countryside. The farmer's life in a globalized world exposed to competition from agricultural products of the third world is difficult, so the farmer decides he could start crossbreeding those strange creatures from the city with chickens and export the products. It is, of course, a comically sarcastic exaggeration - actually, a filmed anecdote. Overall impression: 90%.