gudaulin

Many animated films can make you laugh, and many others can successfully move you. On the other hand, animated films that can scare you are extremely rare. Laokoon certainly belongs to this minority. Firstly, thanks to its unique, oppressive visual aspect, and secondly, thanks to the captivating voice of Jan Kačer as the representative of an aggressive extraterrestrial life form. Animation was not at its peak when the film was created, but that did not affect the functionality of the film, sd it is powerful in its atmosphere. It's just a pity that such an interesting subject could not be developed in a longer length and that, in its brevity, it is actually just a simple moral about human greed. I can imagine that this potential could have been transformed into something much bigger and more attractive. Overall impression: 75%.

An interrogation of a witness, who possesses the gift of artistic talent, gradually transforms into a comic journey into French history. Under the strokes of the illustrator, not only the spirit of the 1968 revolt comes to life, but also memories of long-lost crimes, attacks, adrenaline-charged chases with the police, memories of lost love, and the botched life of a man who once made a wrong choice and paid a high price. In any case, it is an interesting combination of live-action film and comic media. Overall impression: 75%. This is a film that counts on attentive viewers.

The first part, edited and made by Pier Pasolini, gives off, as the director himself acknowledges at the beginning, a considerably chaotic impression, and indeed getting to the essence of the documentary is truly a tough nut to crack. Furthermore, his testimony is strongly influenced by a radically leftist perspective on the world and, in particular, his assessment of the Soviet Union, and the "liberation" of Soviet workers unintentionally seems ridiculous today. With even minimal critical source selection, his testimony would necessarily be different. The second part by Giovanni Guareschi is politically tendentious from the opposite positions, but as a documentary, it is much more cohesive and does not suffer from such lyrical commentary. Unfortunately, the documentary is characterized by a low quality of material, which undoubtedly relates to the processing of older film materials. Overall impression: 50%.

The life themes of Forman's films are the position of defined personalities within the system and especially the search for personal freedom within a liberal society. Where are the limits of acceptable human behavior, where does freedom of speech end, and whether it should be set at all? In The People vs. Larry Flynt, he continued what he started in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and continued in the musical Hair. While his previous films received enthusiastic applause from critics and audiences, The People vs. Larry Flynt faced harsh criticism from multiple sides. It came from both the influential Christian right and the equally influential feminist movement, as both groups organized furious demonstrations and disrupted the distribution of the film. The film sparked great controversy and Forman was left significantly isolated this time. Honestly, the real Larry Flynt is an extremely repulsive character, whom Forman, despite all efforts to capture from many angles in the most diverse perspective, humanized inappropriately. This was also aided by the fact of personal friendship between the director and Larry Flynt. Woody Harrelson's outstanding performance in the lead role also contributed to this humanization. The real Flynt was not so much a victim of his passions as he was an excellent unscrupulous businessman. From a directorial standpoint, it is an extraordinary film with a great cast, and even Courtney Love as an uncontrollable bullet of American pop culture performs very well. And why not, when she essentially plays herself? Edward Norton is perfectly cast and the supporting actors around the main stars deliver reliable performances. Only the pathos at the end of the film is unnecessary. But that is related to what I suggested above. It is not a bad film at all, but for its content, I have a considerably colder attitude toward it compared to Forman's other films. Overall impression: +- 80%.

Shy and introverted people have a hard time in life and often encounter a barrier of human misunderstanding and indifference. However, director Craig Gillespie is not as interested in his introverted and eccentric protagonist as he is interested in the community that surrounds Lars and must deal with his absurd idea. It is essentially a very relaxed film that highlights the ability of the community to come together and help where in real life dramatic conflicts, intolerance, cruelty, and mockery would prevail instead. Lars essentially has within reach the love of a charming and likable girl, friends, and understanding relatives, he just misses them in a certain moment. This is seldom how things work in real life. In terms of its content, the film reminds me of the comedy Bark! by director Kasia Adamik, except that Lars and the Real Girl is more professional and visually expressive from a film perspective. Essentially, a pleasant comedy for a one-time watch. Overall impression: 60%.

A Latin American soap opera... So just to be clear, I'm not equating the Mexican cartel with any random bit of Latin American soap opera, both in terms of content and quality. Walking Vengeance aims to be a crime drama, and objectively speaking, it is. It looks more like the film crew, from the screenwriter to the director to the last actor, used to make soap operas in the past and whether they like it or not, it now influences their current work. Walking Vengeance is like a soap opera in terms of the fatefulness, agonizing suffering linked to cunning revenge, exoticism, a focus on the female element, the outward appearance of its characters ranging from the charm of desperate women to the captivating gaze of the main male character, and so on. It takes itself very seriously, just like a telenovela (am I supposed to take a female pickpocket gang seriously?) where humorous exaggeration would instead be appropriate... Overall impression: 40%.

In a way, this is a typical festival film, that is, a film intended for travel to film festivals and possible late-night broadcast on a television station pretending to be artistic. There is a lot of dialogue, interesting characters, and a hint of a story, but it's not sufficient for a genre-oriented regular viewer, and most importantly, it lacks a developed conclusion. In the end, one thinks that so much potential has actually gone to waste... It is actually a film about the conflict between two approaches to life and partially two civilizational cultures. One is a skeptical approach and the other is motivated by the desire to help the world without considering possible consequences for one's surroundings. Overall impression: 60%.

The Last Boy Scout is one of those movies that I would have enjoyed immensely, let's say, at the age of 18. I've been 18 twice already, and evidently, I'm not the target audience. I'm not a fan of action movies and I expect more from a film than just a barrage of one-liners and an invincible hero. On the other hand, a fan of the genre can give it five stars without a second thought, and there is no reason to be surprised by the film's popularity. It has two notable assets, namely Bruce Willis in the lead role, with a script tailor-made for him, and he was also at the ideal age to handle such a character. He's exactly that casual, phlegmatic guy who, despite his wilted appearance, crazy lifestyle, and family problems, can take care of an entire army of criminals without unnecessary emotions and even comment on the situation with a sense of detachment. In my opinion, the character is too cool, but as I said, I'm not the target audience. The Last Boy Scout is also a film where every shot exudes lightness and exaggeration, with which the director and screenwriter approached the project. It's not a smart film in the true sense of the word, like the famous Die Hard, because it has a very average script that doesn't exceed the usual genre clichés. Moreover, for the same reason, it is highly predictable, so whether the heroes are plummeting off a cliff in a car, crashing into a tree at full speed, or being targeted by concentrated gunfire, the viewer has absolutely no worries about their favorite characters. On top of that, it's a clichéd film full of notoriously familiar situations, where the villain describes for two minutes with a tough grin how he's going to shoot the hero, instead of calmly pulling the trigger, and where the hero approvingly compliments the top-level professionalism of the gangsters he had just gunned down when the viewer sees their incredible stupidity. Overall impression: 65%.

The film begins with a shot of corpses floating in the water in the middle of a swimming pool. Everything indicates that we will witness a dark thriller, probably spiced up with horror elements. But soon there is a cut, and you find yourself in the middle of a community of upper middle-class residents from a closed residential complex. They clearly belong to the happier and more successful people who can provide their families with a very decent life. However, they do not have the kind of wealth that would secure them a safe cushion in case of job loss and status. Their prosperity is built on mortgages and other loans and on the precarious assumption of continuing current income. But with signs of an approaching crisis also come worries, which turn into an oppressive nightmare. What will tomorrow bring, how will I defend my social status, what am I without it? The film's title could also be different: The Anatomy of One Fear. Although not as stylish and thematically sophisticated as The Method, The Widows of Thursdays is still decently above average in the psychological drama genre, and Marcelo Pineyro once again confirms his left-leaning sensibilities. Overall impression: 75%.

The runtime of The Terrace is seemingly frightening for a film. The two and a half hours appear menacing considering the conversational nature of the film, but I was not bored for even a second. The Terrace can be likened to Fellini's La Dolce Vita, with the difference being that Fellini aimed at the lifestyle of modern Italian nouveau riche, whereas Scola targets left-wing intellectuals from the well-off Italian middle class of the 70s. It is characteristic that the story begins at a party where well-dressed gentlemen and ladies gather, savoring a table full of exquisite delicacies and engaging in idle gossip. The film has three levels - firstly, it maps the midlife crisis of several participants in the story, when the weight of age, the risks of illness, societal and professional failures, relationship breakdown, alienation, and loneliness start to weigh heavily on the men in their early fifties. Secondly, the film outlines the emptiness of left-wing beliefs, its erosion in light of dynamic social changes, the enrichment of the middle class, and the expansion of the consumerist lifestyle. Thirdly, the film touches upon the emancipation of women, as the present gentlemen, despite their pseudo-progressive attitudes, struggle to come to terms with the fact that their wives are independent, sometimes even more successful than their exhausted partners. The film is interesting with its subtle psychological portrayal; it has several charming moments and well-crafted dialogues. It presents many excellent observations on life that transcend their time and setting. It is also excellently cast and acted. I liked Jean-Louis Trintignant, who portrays a screenwriter going through a creative crisis, trying to mask his creative impotence through lies. The character of a successful producer without broader intellectual knowledge, who is in a relationship with a typical intellectual, and naturally, his handicap is evident in their life together, is comedically intriguing. Overall impression: 85%.