Malarkey

I’m going to tell you something, but it’s going to be our little secret. If this series didn’t have Baby Yoda, I’d never give it five stars. It’s basically impossible to connect to the main character Mando played by Pedro Pascal; you don’t see his face, know nothing about him except that he can fight. Fortunately there’s Baby Yoda who made my heart melt every time he appeared on the screen. And the creators sort of relied on that, putting him in every other scene. The story is quite simple and doesn’t really develop into anything. I appreciate the Star Wars environment, which is very rich, and especially the supporting characters, where the most interesting are clearly the ones played by Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. Moreover, it is obvious that the episodes were filmed by different directors. Some of them did a routine, if solid work, and some created original and unique pieces of work, which is the case of Jon Favreau and Taika Waititi. Moreover, Taika Waititi also didn’t hesitate to put a piece of himself into the last episode, so its opening scene featuring the debate of two Stormtroopers is the funniest of the entire series. I knew from the beginning that I would give it full five stars and I kept that enthusiasm to the very end. I hope I will keep it in the following seasons as well.

For a long time, Czech television has been luring me with a promise of a European collaboration between the Czech, Polish and Ukrainian filmmakers, which seemed rather epic to me. This was further enhanced by the Czech cast, which included some of our best actors. However, the result is remarkably unsatisfactory in this case. I had a huge problem with the Czech dubbing. The problem was mainly because everything and everyone is dubbed, which makes the whole film seem terribly stupid, illogical and artificial. Someone had the bright idea that if it was all in Czech, then it will be watched even by the patriots from remote villages where the digital signal has not yet arrived. But that’s not really how it works. After the second episode, I couldn’t stand it anymore. So when I discovered by accident that the Czech television also offers a second variant with original sound, I didn’t hesitate. The series became a lot better after that. I even became used to the annoying Polish girl, liking her a bit more with every episode. But the interesting collaboration of three countries failed at the premise. It simply wasn’t powerful and interesting enough to merit a whole series. A pity; it could have been interesting, but ended up being totally mediocre.

The Russians are depicted just as naïve here as in every war movie about the Soviet Union (even though it’s drawing its last breaths here). I don’t know whether they really are like this or the creators want to show them in this way – as naïve figures who have undergone a matchless military drill. Tikhaya zastava, however, is lucky enough to have a good premise, interesting environment and developments you’d want to see, especially if you like war films. Because once the tension escalates into a war, all the naïve figures blend together into a single squad and there is an absolute struggle for survival packed with raw emotions. Finally an honest war movie from Russia after a while. A good film!

This was Renée Zellweger? I bow down before her. I only knew Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz, so I was quite interested in her story. Too bad that the creators portrayed her character in a rather negative light. It’s actually not a biopic where you root for someone, but more of a film where the lead actress delivers a performance beyond belief. And the ending? Simply brutal. A victim of her times, who has left behind a few songs that will probably never grow old.

Adam Sandler in a serious role? Let’s see this! Uncut Gems is the next film from his Netflix series, the first with a non-comedy theme. However, his character here is unpleasant and noisy, just like the film itself. Moreover, it contains an unusual soundtrack, which is also not exactly melodious, adding to the overall gloominess of the film. The first hour, I didn’t really know what to think, but the tension was so high I thought I was going to explode like a pressure pot. Although I didn’t like Sandler’s character, I have to respect his performance. It was an acting feast, albeit one with a psychedelic musical background.

To make a TV film not difficult to understand while everything in it makes sense and is arranged in some sort of logical order seems to be a supernatural feat. The two-part Vysoká hra already spoiled everything by the content of its first part. Richard Krajčo plays a disagreeable inspector who goes through women like candy, which I only realized after an hour, after finally making sense of what I’ve just seen. I had to force myself to watch the second part, but it was actually more action-packed and a lot better. The premise is still rather vague, not addressing anything in particular or offering anything new.

Another of those pleasant German comedies from recent years, which are funny just enough to receive average rating. They neither offend you nor take your breath away; you have fun but don’t need to see them again. This particular one, however, has a bonus in the form of an unorthodox view of the consumerist society, which made me add one star to my rating.

In Parasite, the South Koreans twist human emotions and create a premise just as absurd and obscure as when Rammstein were singing about that Austrian guy who kidnapped Natascha Kampusch and held her in his cellar for more than ten years. Moreover, they do it with dangerously dark humor, which I don’t even know whether it’s funny at all, because it makes me gape at the screen rather than laugh. In the context of South Korean cinematography, however, this is a unique gem that has no match.

A solid gloomy Irish affair, which is however rather over-contrived. I can’t imagine this situation happening in real life, but the world is a strange place, so maybe if the stars were really not in favor of the pair of main characters, ending in the two of them being as unlucky as humanly possible, a problem like this could occur in theory. In the beginning, I was wondering whether the film was addressing some specific issue of the inhabitants of Dublin and the surrounding area, which would make sense, but I still find the story hard to belief. The filmmaking aspect, however, turns this film into a solid European drama, Gloomy, heavy, but with a flicker a hope. And I can appreciate that.

The start of this episode is very special, because it deals with a murder of a man who looks incredibly like Benno. Everyone is so shocked by this that they don’t even check his identity. Then, however, the true Benno appears and the case starts to stir new emotions. Then there is a standard investigation, but with some really good lines. Especially when Resi starts to talk about her uncle who used to be in charge of SS groups. Sergeant Pfeiffer also has a nice moment when he shoots himself in the knee. I just can’t help liking this series…