POMO

Contract killings, cheating, a load of money, a corrupt sheriff, a dangerous femme fatale, a psychopathic hitman... and a young guy who got caught up in all of this against his will. Very well written and directed by John Dahl, Red Rock West tells a Coen-like story, but it stays within the confines of a pure American thriller genre movie, without any “artsy” double meanings and allusions that the Coen brothers would have lent to it. Dennis Hopper fits the role of a crazed killer well, but sometimes he is too much of a redneck to be taken seriously. A darker and more dangerous goosebump-inducing killer would have taken the movie up a notch.

Escape from New York gives us the excellent atmosphere of post-apocalyptic Manhattan and a great group of actors from the golden 1980s, including Kurt Russell at his best. The movie remains a very pleasant hour and half even today, decades later.

This was made by a bold filmmaker who’s not afraid to go his own way and is able to take a light approach to talking about serious matters. Protector is a little miracle among contemporary Czech films.

Surrogates is to some extent a B- movie with a grade-A budget. It is based on an interesting idea that aptly allegorizes the artificiality of contemporary peroxide-and-shopping culture. However, it needed a more ambitious screenwriter who would write something more than an action-packed forgettable flick made marketable thanks to Bruce Willis. In the film, we find motifs familiar from Children of Men (“dreadlocked guys” on the margins of society) and the attractive high-tech visuals of I, Robot, and it wants to be deadly serious like Spielberg’s Minority Report. However, unlike those movies, Surrogates does not dare to take a single step in its own direction and prefers to work with proven twists, tries to look clever by being unnecessarily contrived and at least in one (the final) scene, it is even ridiculous due to the futility of its screenplay. The character of the dreadlocked “Prophet”, played by Ving Rhames, is not well executed; Willis himself is alright as the only link between the viewer and the real world of living people, but unfortunately without any cool lines or humor, which could have provided some needed comic relief.

The Proposal perfectly exploits the potential of a formulaic, family-friendly Hollywood romantic story with irresistibly likable actors and a dog in the garden. It is a great example of a perfect commercial product / drastically limited possibilities of any filmmaking creativity. I like both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, but this was a bit painful. Why don’t the filmmakers of the 21st century copy the formula of Love Actually instead?

This apt, open, straightforward and cynical conversational film about relationships is proof that it’s not us humans who change, but the environment around us. The characters here face the same problems, achieving the same results as we do today. In other words, Carnal Knowledge is brilliantly timeless. It is also necessary to see Mike Nichols’ conversational movie Closer, filmed thirty years later, which seems to be an unofficial remake of this film set in a modern, even more cynical environment.

Jánošík did not choose the wrong direction and did not make any fundamental mistakes, but unfortunately it runs at half speed and has nothing to offer in terms of story. The script is inexpertly cooked up from legends, often insignificant events and presumptions pulled out of someone’s ass. It lacks a dramatic arc and the ability to engage the viewer (the same goes for the uninterestingly shot action scenes). That is really not a good thing, considering the film’s 140-minute running time. Why then, however, did I find this film pleasant, if a little boring? It has powerful intimate moments that the highwaymen spend with their spouses, you can feel the interplay of the characters with the beautiful Slovak countryside, and the music is more than good in places (not only the poetic melodies, but also the adventure ones). In short, it has the right shape and smell, but a weak framework. And Václav Jiráček might have the right looks, but as for personality, he fails to fill the shoes of the national Slovak hero. Jánošík’s stabbing with a hook is brutal, but it won’t move you like Gibson’s “Freedom!” scene from Braveheart. Three stars, because I gave two to the much worse Bathory.

This brilliantly written and directed “small” thriller offers up surprises and a message. All its filmmaking elements are subordinated to Sam Raimi’s directorial talent and there is no need to point them out one by one.

I, Robot was a pure studio movie – expensive, spectacular and bombastic, but also shallow and superficial. Knowing is a smaller, more modest film but also more personal and sensitive. Too bad that the not-very-original subject matter and weaker ending overshadow the otherwise perfect screenwriting and editing work, where everything from the detailed depiction of the characters and action dynamics to horror elements is delivered in precisely measured doses. Not to mention the fact that the special effects are not just self-serving eye candy, but are subordinate to a story with a soul. And I haven’t seen Nick Cage in such a well-fitting role for a while. Knowing is a high-quality small film that I’m rating higher than I expected.

To have a two-and-a-half-hour Tarantino movie with only two characters portrayed in detail with a proper backstory (Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent) while none of them belongs to the titular “Basterds” is unforgivable. The “Basterds” are there just to give the film some sort of a weak framework; their potential started in the trailer and ended in the cutting room. All of the other elements of this flick are, however, *Cinema Paradiso*.