Zíza

It's stumbles at times, but it cracks you up and can make you cry. Surprisingly, it wasn't as superficial as I thought it would be. Absolutely all of the characters in the film tried to live as best they could as best they could (even if it might have meant death in one case). It was good to watch, it moved along quite nicely, and I liked the music because it was so familiar. No one was exaggerated into caricature. A simple story about love and how it's good to live if you can live. 75%.

I remember that I was just getting into the anime world when I saw the previous series, and I wasn't particularly into this one; although according to the comments I apparently enjoyed the teenage scenes and a certain crush on some of the characters, apparently, but that had passed, so there wasn’t really anything interesting left. Maybe the manga is better, but the anime doesn't entertain. There are an exorbitant amount of characters, some dying or disappearing only to come back later or at least to be constantly remembered. Basically, in the end, you don't even know what's going on anymore, because the story keeps splintering and adding more things to it without the previous ones being brought to a satisfying conclusion. Basically, nothing about the new series impressed me at all. If, for example, the story had focused primarily on Allen and the rest of them just weren't "shown" so much with their backstories, hurts, and pickles, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more. This way the focus gets incredibly broad, and while it is trying so hard to seem terribly complex, it's not very well put together. A sequel that didn't impress (just like the Berserk one...).

Again something a bit different. It doesn't have a proper plot, it just shows us a few episodes from the life of a manga author. It doesn't flow briskly, it just goes at its own pace and that's it. Despite all that, it has a lot of charm and manages in just four episodes to show many sides of people and their development and how it affects their relationships with others. On the other hand, it's stripped down, and certainly would have deserved more space (which is probably why it got a second season). It's really like life – not particularly exciting, sad, lonely, but with its funny and heartwarming moments. A short series about a cat lover. A weaker 4 stars.

Oh, how I wish they hadn't made this movie, but aired the entire thing as part of the series, as the 12th episode. That would have been so much better! The whole thing still has rather a soap opera look about it, which makes the movie that much more pathetic. The fight scenes weren't interesting at all, and while the filmmakers did their best and you can tell, it still wasn't very interesting – it didn't surpass the production values of the series. When it comes to cinema, I expect added value; and yet there was nothing extra here but a prolongation of the length of the film. Unnecessarily long, the ending was without any real impact – it basically fizzled out into nothing. Although the relationship between Nobunaga and Mitsuhide was very interestingly done, their ending was properly historical yet unhistorical, and the appearance of William Adams almost brought me to my knees, it's still a pretty average film that has only a few interesting nuggets. The series is better, the movie is weaker. As a conclusion to the whole story, it's weak, mediocre, despite the great cast.

To be honest, it never really managed to draw me into the plot. Apparently I need a sympathetic character to enjoy the movie with, and yet somehow there aren't many sympathetic characters here. Maybe the curly-haired son could be considered sort of a likeable character, but I still couldn't find a way in. And since the film just swaps out scenes that don't really move me, it's still just boring even when something disturbing is going on. The film certainly has a story to tell, and it doesn't tell it badly, but it just doesn't impress. I thought I'd go a little lower with my rating, but the ending was so brilliant that the film finally woke me up and left some impact. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in kidnappings in Venezuela during the 80's or feels they have to see something from Argentina.

I just don't have any luck with Korean historical films (not to mention TV shows, which after a certain point I just had to avoid), I have the same problem here as I did with The Handmaiden. Most of these movies just aren't bad at all. That's true of Sado as well. It was a nice spectacle, beautiful soundtrack – the music was the best thing about the whole film! As usual, the Koreans just nailed the costumes and sets: by now they're simply flawless at it. But I just... didn't enjoy the rest of it. I wasn't particularly interested in the film, the story didn't appeal to me (I was much more impressed by the memoirs of Sado's wife, which were translated into Czech by Miriam Löwenstein). Again, a beautiful trinket, which is more difficult to get into.

A series with a mediocre story that follows a well-trodden formula. Yet this formula is enhanced by reasonably well-drawn characters. Unfortunately, the actors in the lead roles, i.e. Fukuyama and Fujiwara, were not very captivating. Their acting was mediocre: at times bland, at times they seemed to be slacking off. With Fujiwara, I can pretty much understand this impression, since it's her first role; but with Fukuyama? It somewhat gave the impression that he literally was not enjoying playing some of the scenes. Fortunately it was all balanced out by the actors in the supporting roles, whether Suda Masaki or Kaho (the latter was really excellent, I'd love to see her in something else). It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't look for any greatness in it either. Just an ordinary story about a young girl finding herself and discovering passions in life she hasn't known before. Not to mention that the ending was very satisfying – the writers made Sakura a girl who makes rational decisions, which was very nice. Such a nice 3 stars.

It's not quite as much of a comedy as it might seem. In fact, it's a rather bitter affair with the occasional bright spot. If you already have some experience with road movies, it's pretty clear how it's going to turn out and it doesn't bring anything new, even though the main characters are handicapped – that does bring some funny situations, but also all the bitterness that we hear most throughout the film with Philip, but in the end it's Lars who feels it the hardest. It's not a bad movie, but it doesn't have anything going for it either. A weaker 3 stars.

It's odd that even though it was this short and didn't really have enough space to introduce everyone involved, it wasn't as superficial as it might seem. In the end, it turned out to be a very enjoyable high school summer series spiced up with the mystery of one student's disappearance. It doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises, but it's not so trite that the viewer should feel disappointed either. The performances are standard; they're high school kids, you can't ask for much more from them. A weaker 4 stars.

The film is divided into two parts, the first of which focuses on the naive thief and con artist Sook-hee, which is definitely not the most interesting introduction to the film. The second part, on the other hand, focuses on the noblewoman Hideko, revealing her side of the story; and it is this part that managed to engage me much more. Although the story of the film, directed by Chan-wook Park, is nothing surprising or particularly interesting or rewarding for the more experienced viewer, The Handmaiden manages to captivate with its costume design, sets, and interesting cinematography. At times, it doesn't matter what the film is about or who is trying to trick or take over whom, the layout and framing of the scenes manages to captivate and enthrall so much more. Park also doesn’t hold back on showing the sex scenes between Sook-hee and Hideko, to the point that it's hard to tell if they're beautifully erotically liberating or just a man's wet dream. But the actresses feared no boundaries in these scenes, and with their immaculate nudity they set themselves up as if on a platter for the viewer. Female sexuality and eroticism are expressed here as a warm safe haven compared to the male one, which is portrayed almost grotesquely, as something negative and violent. In its 145 minutes, the film has both its stronger moments and weaker moments that can't quite hold the viewer's attention. In the first half, The Handmaiden pretends to be an erotic thriller, but then it slips into a lethargy from which director Park tries to wake the viewer, either with a twist at the end of the first half of the film, with erotic scenes or violence that weaker stomachs won't appreciate, or a flashback narrative. The ending is too easy for the cage Hideko is escaping from and all the girls have gotten themselves into. A mediocre film, nothing at all revelatory, too long.