Reviews

Nolan plays with non-linear narrative, imagery and genres, yet his film remains easy to follow almost the entire time.

Every single element in Oppenheimer is great but together they form truly almost a cinematic masterpiece. The music, sound design, cinematography, direction, performances, non-linear narrative, ...

Although all actors did an incredible job, Cillian Murphy shines the most. Oppenheimer might the best performance in his career so far.

Sometimes it wouldn't hurt if Nolan would be more subtle. The plot rushes forward too abruptly in soem places, a more restrained use of music wouldn't have hurt, and I would have liked to see more physics instead of some pathetic phrases.

However, Oppenheimer is undoubtedly an impressive and timeless cinematic experience. I also appreciate that Nolan doesn't glorify J. R. Oppenheimer, instead he is portrayed as both a very intelligent and yet very fallible man.

The "I think we did." ending, especially in the context of current global tensions, is haunting. An excellent ending to an excellent film.

A commercial stretched into a full-length feature film.

Barbieland, as an inversion of the real world with which it s mentally connected had a lot of potential. However, Barbie (both the doll and the film) is primarily a corporate product, and it's evident that the creators were not given freedom to explore the material in a more sophisticated way.

The film explores several social issues (feminism, patriarchy, sexism, ...) in a way that may seem too preachy, in-your-face or even off-putting. I'd say that these topics are intentionally depicted with a child-like mindset and it may take a while to wrap our adult heads around such approach.

Despite this, thanks to the vibrant cinematography, over-the-top social commentary, skillful direction, and great performances (Gosling as Ken rules), Barbie manages to entertain, albeit in a somewhat absurd way.

Nevertheless, I expected more from it.

It's impressive that Ford, even 80 years old, managed put on Indy's shoes one last time. Although the Dial of Destiny is (arguably) the weakest film in the series, it's definitely not a bad film, but not a great one either.

It's a decent, entertaining flick containing most of the elements typical for the series. The best parts are when Indiana is serious and contemplating, the opening on the train and emotional finale are also great.

However, Spielberg's lack of creative vision is noticeable, and fifth Indy thus feels more like an imitation rather than "real" Indiana Jones film.

Overall, the Dial of Destiny is a decent if somewhat "soulless" send-off to this iconic film character.

I liked the Nordic raw/realistic atmosphere and behaviour of main characters. It was as if we were indeed watching real teenagers from small-town 1990s Sweden.

It would've been good to extend the running time and flesh out the characters and story more, because the whole plot is told somehwat too fast, which degraded the overall impression a bit.

Regardless of that, I was impressed by Fucking Amal. It's impossible not to root for the likable pair of girls, with great performance from the main actresses. Humour is realistic and not forced, film radiates with 1990's atmosphere (btw, great soundtrack, i.e. "I'll Be Gone" by Broder Daniel). And on top of it all the film ends with a nice happy ending and doesn't come up with any unnecessary drama.

P. S. The talented Rebecca Liljeberg quit acting a few years later and became a doctor.

P. P. S. The poster with Dominik Hasek made me giggle.

"Demon 79" impresses with its retro atmosphere, a captivatingly charismatic demon, and a well-chosen soundtrack. It addresses timeless themes such as immigration, racism, and far-right extremism, albeit in a heavy-handed manner and without the customary technological focus of Black Mirror. Despite its departure from the show's typical formula, it manages to deliver an engaging storyline fueled by the chemistry between its central characters.

Overall, "Demon 79" offers a unique experience within the Black Mirror universe, however my main problem with it is, that it just simply isn't Black Mirror.

"Mazey Day" is controversial and problematic. On one hand, I appreciate the attempt at symbolism compared to the more straightforward approach of classic Black Mirror episodes. On the other hand, the entire episode feels like an ordinary B-horror flick taken from a completely different series, with uninteresting characters and a plot that barely fills 30 minutes... -------------------------------------------------- SPOILER Either way, my weakness for werewolf horrors and the straightforward gore ending elevates this episode a notch in my eyes. P. S. The Czech police officers were oddly amusing.

In the 6th season, this episode has the most old-school Black Mirror vibe, but in previous seasons, it would be considered just a below average episode.

The premise is okay, the actors are great (especially Aaron Paul), and there are a few standout moments (like the "Manson" cult and the marital argument). However, everything unfortunately unfolds exactly as expected, without a single surprising moment, and it's marred by a shock-value ending and excessive runtime.

If the episode was cut down a bit and the plot refined, then it could have been a decent episode. In its current stat it's just... ordinary.

As a true crime thriller, it is full of clichés, predictable and it's uninteresting, and it's far away from being a 'Black Mirror' episode. Also, there's no technology unlike in many other BM episodes.

-------------------------------------------------------- The theme of profiting from murderous stories is intriguing, but it falls flat when the execution is overall dull and unispiring. There's no connection to the characters, the social commentary is too shallow.

-------------------------------------------------------- Moreover, a similar theme was already explored long time ago, and in a much better way, in the episode "White Bear".

After San Junipero, Hang the DJ, and Ashley, there's Joan as another light Black Mirror episode. The episode touches on current topics such as AI, deepfakes, and the ubiquitousness of streaming services. I liked the colorfoul visual style, the performances of the protagonists (especially eccentric Salma Hayek), and the over-the-top humor.

Joan starts promisingly, but unfortunately, the creators gradually run out of steam, and the episode turns into a farce with a too convoluted ending with no catharsis. It's a shame because, paradoxically, I consider Joan Is Awful to be the best episode of season 6.

I expected Bird of Prey to be "just" a straightforward intentionally over-the-top action B-movie with an eccentric colorful cinematography and a kick-ass soundtrack. And the movie delivered precisely that. It's true that without Margot Robbie, the film would be only half as good, as the other characters are weak both in terms of acting and writing, except for McGregor, who does a great job as the over-the-top Roman Sionis.

Also, I don't get the whining of some people that the movie is "too feminst" etc. Yeah, Birds of Prey is an unhinged, slapstick film with a girl power element. But it definitely isn't mindless feminist agenda or anything like that. On the contrary, let's be happy that there're finally being made comic book movies where women aren't reduced to a role of pretty trophies for male heroes. Overall, Birds of Prey is a wild, funny if somewhat bland flick.

The dark mysterious atmosphere with a touch of folk horror, the cinematography and audiovisual direction are truly captivating. The acting performances are good and especially the main female duo is great, they carry the entire film.

However, Nightsiren also has several flaws. The writing is messy at times, character behaviour is weird sometimes and the biggest problem is that almost everything is one-dimensional, there's no nuance. For example, the villagers are portrayed as mean, superstitious, prejudicial assholes. And although I understand and support that the film attempts to point out/criticise many relevant problems, I must also acknowledge that the way in which it is done is itself problematic

In terms of (Czecho)Slovakian cinema, the Nightsiren is a bold, unique and high-quality work, so despite its flaws I give it a high rating.

Nachtmahr is an intense coming-of-age story with a weird creature and a "hardcore" music. The film has an interesting atmosphere juxtaposing ordinary life with an eerie psycho moments. The party scenes accompanied by raw electro-music are mesmerizing, but they also feel a bit formulaic. The story tackles a multitude of themes (death, drugs, mental health, relationships with peers and with family, ...) but it feels disjointed, lacks coherence, and the open ending ultimately left me with more questions than answers. The acting performances are also quite weak. Despite its shortcomings, Nachtmahr is an enjoyable film mainly thanks to its bizarre vibe. Too bad that the plot is so... unfinished.

Together with Shrek 2, The Last Wish is probably the best film from the Shrek universe, an impressive feat 11 years after the first Puss in Boots.

The story is surprisingly mature, at times a bit darker but also touching, with a brisk pace that culminates in an action-packed finale. The characters are all well-written and well-acted, especially the demonical Wolf steals the show as one of the most captivating antagonists in the history of animated films.

The "SpiderVerse"-like visuals and action sequences are stunning and stylish. The humour is witty, natural and there are some top-notch jokes.

Overall The Last Wish is a great film that is radiating with love for the franchise. Also, the final scene got me feeling really nostalgic :)

While Avatar 2 expands upon the interesting world of Pandora, the film fails to deliver a coherent and engaging story. With too many characters and subplots to manage, the film often resorts to contrived plot devices and lazy writing to advance its narrative, despite its 3 hours runtime. And there are many purely illogical moments.

While the visuals and CGI are breathtaking, the weak writing undermines the potential of this sequel. Nonetheless, Avatar 2 manages to offer enough entertainment value and to further develop the franchise, even though the "Wow" effect of the original Avatar is gone.

I decided to watch it just to kill time. My expectations were really low and I thought that I'd be bored all the way through to end credits. To my surprise, I quite enjoyed this sweet, formulaic, romantic and mildly humorous film. And it also has a sort of British "feel" which I also liked.

I must give a special praise to Perabo and Headey, who have a great chemistry together. I also liked that writers made husband a nice character and didn't choose an easy way out via making him unlikeable.

Imagine Me & You doesn't come up with anything new in its genre. But that's okay, they didn't try to reinvent the wheel. This film is a sweet romantic flick that I, to my surprise, enjoyed far more than I initially expected. My rating is purely subjective :)

In the hands of a less skilled director, this movie would have been just a CGI nerd fest. But Spielberg has cut all overblown geeky stuff from the book and transformed it into an excellent film, pleasantly formulaic story, great visuals and CGI, tons of pop-culture references, and accompanied it by 80s nostalgia and Silvestri's great music.

The actors are all fine, esp. Mark Rylance steals every scene for himself. When I was watching Ready Player One, for once I again felt like a little kid looking with wonder at fictional (not just) virtual worlds.

Overall I enjoyed Ready Player One much more than I initially thought. Spielberg did a great job, once again.

I don't watch romantic comedies all that much but I think that Planet Single is on point. The romance is nice, humour okay and sometimes quite goofy, some sad moments here and there and fairy tale-like ending is great. All characters are fine, seem natural and the main duo is very likeable. And all that is supported by good soundtrack and directing. This film is one of reasons to like Polish cinematography.

I like how this film balances humour, romance, goofiness and serious moments, without putting anything too much to the front. And allthough the film is pretty formulaic, I also like that it has more central-European feeling.

I expected this to be better. The film comes across as cheesy, main character lacks depth, story is a full of clichés - which is fine - but the problem is that it fails to engage and captivate in any way. The best thing - both in terms of character development and acting-wise - was the character of lady Katerina. Her final decision was emotionally moving. The action scenes are often hard to look at due to frantic cuts and editing. Brutalities are just for shock-effect which is pretty lame.

Over all, though, I'm not angry at Mr. Jakl. He managed to get the money, hire good actors and make a movie that is, the last decades, unparalleled in Czech cinema. I wish him and his film success. Medieval is not downright bad, it "only" lacks to impress in any way.

Hate crimes unfortunately always have been, are and will be. This docu-drama goes straight to the point - it depicts one painfully tragic case without any unnecessary pathos or moralising. Actors were great, especially the main couple and that boy. And to those sadistic - and thankfully properly punished - teenage @!#$%& (I don't know a word that expresses the level of contempt and disgust I feel for them), let me quote the judge's final words: 'At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason for so doing, to obtain food. You have none and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself".

I was mesmerized by The Tenth Kingdom as a kid. And while this miniseries has some flaws (slow pace; repetitive humour; lame villain; a weak finale with a weird twist; bizarre development of Virginia and Wolf's relationship), there is also plenty of positives (mythology of the fairy tale world; Cohen's Wolf; a few original jokes; a cool pilot episode with magical urban-fantasy vibe). All in all, I enjoyed this series.

I would say that the show definitely looks and feels different if you're watching is it as a kid and as an adult. Many jokes and hints were lost on me when I watched the show as 6-7 years old.

I expected Glee to be 1) an easy to watch series that I can fill my time with while commuting, etc., and 2) music. There was a lot of music, plotlines, twists, social commentaries, jokes, serious moments, etc. In those six seasons - some horrible, some great, some in between. I want to especially praise Sue (played masterfully by Jane Lynch). Although ther's a lot to critize with Glee, for me it's a guilty-pleasure show that added almost 200 songs to my playlist and that I will mostly remember fondly.

Season 1: Glee has a slow start. Getting to know the characters, wonderfully silly plots (pregnant Terri), and kind of stumbling in place. But it also offers strong themes (Kurt's sexuality, pregnant Quinn) and there's always room for a bit of humor. I grew to like all the characters sooner or later. Plus, it starts to take itself seriously in the second half of the season and builds up nicely to an effective finale.

Favorite episodes: 01 Pilot, 04 Peggers, 08 Mash-Up, 09 Wheels, 13 Sectionals, 15 The Power of Madonna, 19 Dream On, 20 Theatricality, 21 Journey to Regionals.

Favorite songs:Don't Stop Believin', Alone, Keep Holding On, True Colors, My Life Would Suck Without You, Like A Prayer, Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Bad Romance, Bohemian Rhapsody, (+ 35 more).

Season 2: Better than previous season. The new characters fit in nicely with the others and we get to know a bit more about the original ones. The relationship twists and turns sometimes make your head spin, but Puck + Lauren, for example, show that even seemingly WTF plotline can work well. The strongest plotline is once again about Kurt, but the rest is definitely not to be dismissed. Holly played by Gwyneth Paltrow, Sue and her sister or Emma's subplot are very good. The bittersweet finale is even better and more emotionally touching than last time.

Favorite episodes: 03 Grilled Cheesus, 05 The Rocky Horror Glee Show, 06 Never Been Kissed, 07 The Substitute, 08 Furt, 10 A Very Glee Christmas, 14 Blame It On the Alcohol, 16 Original Song, 20 Prom Queen, 21 Funeral, 22 New York.

Favorite songs: I Want To Hold Your Hand, Hot Patootie, Teenage Dream, Singing In The Rain / Umbrella, Sing, Loser Like Me, Raise Your Glass, Friday, Still Got Tonight, Light Up the World, (+ 34 more).

Season 3: It starts out mediocre, but gradually turns out to be the best season of the show, noticeably more balanced than the others. Once again, the new characters fit right in with the others. The relationships, characters and plots have settled down and are more mature. The plotlines reflect this and are all great. "Humanized" Sue and Karofsky's plotlines deserve a big thumbs up. Everything builds up to a moving finale. Glee Club as we've known it for the past 3 years is leaving with glory.

Favorite episodes: 03 Asian F, 07 I Kissed a Girl, 08 Hold On to Sixteen, 10 Yes No, 11 Michael, 13 Heart, 14 On My Way, 18 Choke, 19 Prom-asaurus, 21 Nationals, 22 Goodbye.

Favorite songs: Rumour Has It / Someone Like You, We Are Young, We Found Love, Black or White, Smooth Criminal, Stereo Hearts, Cough Syrup, Glad You Came, What Makes You Beautiful, Edge of Glory, It's All Coming Back To Me Now, Starships, (+ 38 more).

Season 4: There's too much going on, yet the season isn't focused on anything. Everything is just kind of bland, dull. There is an absurd amount of plotlines, but none of them are engaging and even the potentially interesting ones end unsatisfyingly (bulimia, Katie). Whereas in previous seasons the subplots fitted in quite well with the main story-arc, in season four everything feels very episodic. Splitting the plot into two locations/storylines (McKinley and New York) did more harm than good. The new characters are mostly uninteresting and even the original ones are mostly boring. The finale is weak.

Favorite episodes: 01 New Rachel, 04 The Break-Up, 06 Glease, 07 Dynamic Duets, 11 Sadie Hawkins, 14 I Do, 18 Shooting Star, 22 All Or Nothing.

Favorite Songs: Everytime, The Scientist, Whistle, Tell Him, Anything Could Happen, Mamma Mia, Don't Stop Believin' (Rachel), Hall Of Fame, (+ 28 others).

Season 5: Better than last time. The weak points of season 4 (ad-hoc plotlines going nowhere, bad use of characters, split between McKinley and NY) still remain, but aren't as blatant this time. Storylines of old Glee club members are mostly OK, but the newcomers (except for Kitty) are again boring and unispired. The series reaches its peak halfway through, when Glee Club nostalgically ends (and the newcomers are removed without any dignity). Unfortunately, the rest of the series in NY isn't worth much.

Favourite episodes: 07 Puppet Master, 08 Previously Unaired Christmas, 09 Frenemies, 11 City Of Angels, 12 The 100, 13 New Directions, 18 The Back-up Plan.

Favorite Songs: Brave, Mary's Little Boy, I Believe In A Thing Called Love, Vacation, More Than A Feeling, Mr. Roboto / Counting Stars, Raise Your Glass, Don't Stop Believin', Downtown, Story Of My Life, Wake Me Up, Take Me Home Tonight, , (27+ others).

Season 6: Back to the roots. The shorter the 6th season is, the more it tries to wrap everything up, throw in something new and have a bit of fun. Sometimes it works (Rachel and the New Directions reboot), sometimes less so (Rachel and Sam) and sometimes not at all (Beiste). Unfortunately, the new characters, which surprisingly are quite good and likeable, don't have much space, because the show - again - focuses on Glee veterans. In the end, almost everyone returns and with some hint of nostalgia the entire show bids us farewell with solid finale.

Favorite episodes: 04-05 The Hurt Locker 1 & 2, 09 Child Star, 11 We Built This Glee Club, 12 2009, 13 Dreams Come True.

Favorite songs: Home, Take On Me, It Must Have Been Love, All Out Of Love, The Final Countdown, Come Sail Away, I Lived, (+12 more).

I discovered CODA by pure chance, without knowing anything about it. And a few days later CODA won the Oscar for Best Picture :)

The original French film is also very nice, but the American remake suited me a bit more. Apart from the deaf family, CODA doesn't bring anything new to the table and it is a pretty formulaic feel-good "follow your dreams" film. However, CODA uses this formula perfectly - the film is emotionally moving in the right way and at the right moments, the humour is great, the characters are all likable, the cast does a great job, led by the excellent Emilia Jones, whose performance of 'Both Sides Now pleasantly surprised me.

So allthough I'm not blown away overall by CODA, it definitely deserves higher rating.

Listy do M. Is the Polish equivalent of Love Actually, only a little more touching, sad and natural.

The characters and their individual stories are varied, though some are underdeveloped. Two lonely people who fall in love; a son who finds the courage to introduce his partner to his family; an irresponsible womanizer who, thanks to a little rascal, realizes his duties as a father and partner; a childless couple who adopt an orphan (probably my favorite story, especially thanks to the chemistry between W. Malajkat and J. Wróblewska); a dysfunctional family that grows together in the end.

Everything is wrapped up with sweet humour, clichés and other tropes typical to Christmas movies. And I, as a central-European, also felt closer to the film's setting and style which differs from how Christmas movies are done in the Western cinematography.

Listy do M. Is very nice and Poles can be proud of themselves.

Arguably one of the best, most elaborate and most impressive Czech series in a long time. The social commentary (albeit leaning towards sensationalism) regarding Czech educational system is done more or less in an impartial way, in order to start a public discussion.

Well-written characters (apart from the ombudsman himself, especially the "simple" driver played by Reznicek and Plesl as the "éminence grise" from the Ministry of education). The dialogues, direction, editing, acting, music - all great.

At times the plot resorts to clichés, but overall in terms of quality the series is comparable to Western production.

Svatba Jiriho Kary is a record of a ceremony that took place sometime in 2000 in Prague. Jiri Kara, an alcoholic, criminal and former drug addict, married Blanka Divisova. The pair was accompanied by their friends - also alcoholics and drug addicts. The outcome is, well, unlike any wedding that you've seen.

I have only now come across this bizarre gem. I can already hear Jirka shouting one of many catchphrases from the film: "Come ooooon! You should have been here four minutes ago, you moron!" Svatba Jiriho Kary is a wonderfully authentic and tragicomic look into the lives of exactly such group of people that is being used in an anti-drug leaflets.

This wedding, accompanied by completely unparalleled catchphrases, super-humorously breaks down every conceivable related social convention (e.g., the passage at the altar is absolutely luxurious). One example from many - Jirka is waiting for Blanka to arrive so that they could go get married. And when she arrives, Jirka simply tells her "Hey, look, I lost the wedding ring, yeah, bitch." to which Blanka angrily replies "Yeah, but not the beer, dumbass." And I could go on and on...

Overall, while many people don't like this film for many reasons (I dunno, for example being too uptight about it), I think that Svatba Jiriho Kary is rightfully a Czech internet cult.