Malarkey

Within the road movie genre, this movie is totally brilliant. It fulfills all the requirements for pieces with similar themes where the main characters are an incongruous duo approximately 15 years old give or take 2 years and they are unbelievably authentic and make you interested in where they are going, why they are they going there and what happens during their trip. However the beginning and the end of this movie is not so great. For its running time of 85 minutes, this movie is quite fast paced; I would even say a bit too much. The introduction to the story is absent – you fall into the story and immediately get to like these boys even though you will quite often disagree with them. The story also lacks a proper ending, which means that for example the story line at the police station loses all meaning. Everything just ends with the movie title all over the screen...

A crazy theme filmed by the Italians in their own way with that kind of secretive humor which takes you a minute to get used to, accept it and start to laugh out loud. Moreover, situating the movie into Sardinia is brilliant. The Italians make fun of the Sardinians which was the intention, but they also have no problem to make fun of classical Italian stereotypes known all over the world. And I do like this kind of local jokes. The movie is politically incorrect, crazy, not for everyone, but enjoyable. And that is important.

A great Korean spy detective movie that starts as a crime movie and ends up as a quite good thriller. I liked the originality of the long fingers of espionage forces which reach not only to their northern neighbors but over the Indian Ocean to America. To watch a story of a serial killer while wondering about which organization would benefit the most from getting their hands on him – that hasn’t happened to me in a long time. The Koreans made up their story perfectly and the ending was absolutely thrilling. Of course there are a few moments that are a bit more emotional than they should be – that is typical for the Koreans. Nevertheless, while watching the ending scenes I felt like I was watching an old Asian thriller like Infernal Affairs. It was a great movie which saves the action till the end to knock you off your feet. I even enjoyed the cast including the psycho who enjoyed his role probably more than he should have. But even that eventually helped this movie’s atmosphere. In my opinion, it was a great movie experience and another successful attempt of South Korea at western film making.

A weird drama that attempts to be so alternative that it ends up totally boring. Paradoxically, the best scenes are from the silent movie which features some interesting imagery. The story of a boy from the 1970s was pathetic and boring, not helped by the music which was terrible at places. The movie makes sense and follows logic only under one condition – if you lobotomize yourself and are able to follow the plot. Under another conditions Doctor Sleep enters the scene and no one can help you with that.

A European drama about supra-multinational theme. It is true that if it was filmed by the Russians or if the actors were speaking Russian the movie would get a new dimension and it would definitely add some authenticity. On the other hand, I would be afraid that the story might end up as one big demagogy so eventually Thomas Vinterberg is for me the ideal choice. Not only he filmed the movie in a quite good way, the movie even featured some of the best European actors and therefore it was worth watching. That’s good enough for me. It doesn’t make you feel as suffocated as Das boot might and the number of explosions and special effects is lesser than if this film had been filmed by the Americans. On the other hand, there is a greater emphasis on relationships and the story line of Léa Seydoux is literally amazing. Not to mention what happened in the submarine.

Léa Seydoux is the best part of this movie which is otherwise just an average drama. She plays a role of a world-weary, listless girl without her own opinions that accidentally enters the world of bikers who from time to time go through the story without evoking any emotions in the viewer. A bit of a rebellion but not of that kind that will make you remember this movie.

If Adam Sandler didn’t play such a grouch in this movie, which doesn’t fit him at all, I might even say that it is a standard chill out Sandler-type of a movie where Adam behaves normally and is not a moron. Apart from this, I liked how the creators were able to make a comedy with a criminal plot in Agatha Christie style. Also it has more action and is more thrilling than average Sandler movies. Fortunately, in spite of the long-faced Adam, other actors are able to make great jokes and Jennifer Aniston looks ravishing as usual. So the result is good.

The Polish reaction to the resistance groups in Poland during WWII that from the cinematic point of view makes most of the series of scenes where the Gestapo quite brutally tortures one of the local scouts. Of course the movie is not just about that. The movie is filmed in a fast-paced way, it is dynamic and its content is really interesting. I’m sure that this piece will not get lost among other WWII dramas or Polish films in general.

The Finnish view of life filmed to perfection which is actually a standard for this director. The humor in this movie might be too dry but despite this it is a true Finnish gem.

I thought that this action movie will be amazing. Everything suggested it including the recommendation from my colleague’s husband. Already after first 10 minutes it was clear that it wouldn’t. The visual aspect of this movie is amazing until the moment when you realize how unnatural it is. At that precise moment the movie loses the story. The story of the movie gets lost in that never ending fighting. The story wasn’t thrilling and didn’t make any sense anyway. The Russians showed their megalomania and made this movie into a never ending bloodbath. What I felt was lacking was some sense of emotions or at least some kind of story development. A war movie from The Balkans with a great visual aspect but without a soul.