Filmmaniak

Maybe it's a revolutionary teenage comedy that ignores the rules of the genre and serves the viewer everything and tells it how it is. Maybe it's a revolutionary film about problematic adolescence in a dysfunctional family. In any case, these two genres do not work in combination. I haven't been so torn about a movie in a long time, because on the one hand it's an excellently acted and excellently filmed comedy, during which I laughed and actively said WTF in many places, but I also shook my head in many places and didn't understand what was happening and why. On the other hand, I've never seen a movie in which four guys masturbate over a pizza, squirt sperm in slow motion, during which a waltz on the beautiful blue Danube river was playing.

Verbo is a very bizarre and unprecedented film, unfortunately unsuccessful. The film would like to be an intellectually extensive and epically fantastic story about the protagonist fighting to save his life and, at the same time, a generational statement rich in meaningful interpretations containing many transcendental messages. At the same time, however, the film has an insufficient budget, inexperienced creators and an embarrassingly naive screenplay full of banal monologues, which were supposed to contain a lot of deep philosophical ideas, but instead act as excerpts from a leaflet from a youth drug addiction center.

The debatable methods of the quirky "mobster" businessman do not bear the desired fruit (the film continuously follows the five destinies of different clients), which obviously was not ideal for the filmmakers and the film is carelessly ended by at least one happy ending. Some of the fringe comic characters and the desolate environment of the Croatian countryside entertain even more in this film than the central owner, operator and sole employee of a Croatian dating agency.

A cheap horror comedy about a rectal monster that climbs out of a man’s ass (which, however, is part of his subconscious and arose from accumulated stress) and kills people toward whom the main protagonist feels negative emotions. This is C-level bullshit has its fun parts (the quite funny Peter Stormare in the role of the therapist), but even the occasional hilarious joke does not cover up the terrible failure, terrible screenplay and plot, and unfunny fecal humor.

Starring the absolutely excellent, brilliant and disarming Michael Douglas as a famous, extravagant and homosexual pianist who starts a relationship with lover who is many years younger (the excellent Matt Damon). Brilliantly shot, great visuals, excellent makeup, great gay humor. Towards the end it gets a little weaker, but Soderbergh should definitely film other things for HBO, because this is quality.

An Icelandic drama about a chauvinistic obese pig who has money and charisma and can afford a lot of girlfriends and wild parties. At the beginning of the film, the anti-hero is advised to have alcohol addiction treatment, to which he responds with even wilder parties with even more perverse sex. Fragments of a random, incoherent plot are lost in epileptic collages of alcohol parties, naked bodies and memories of the past. I appreciate the directing and the intelligent screenplay full of sophisticated dialogues, but unfortunately they do not lead to any point.

A Spanish drama that takes place in a single shot - an hour and a half of film completely without any cuts. An interesting experiment, but this does not guarantee a quality film. It's all about a man walking around town selling his things. The journey by car takes five minutes, climbing the stairs two minutes, walking down the street four minutes, driving in a taxi six minutes…it’s extremely boring, and the final revelation of the hero's motivation does not help.

The film looks as if its creators were trying to make a B movie thriller from the 1990s, which does not go hand in hand with Hřebejk's poetics of humorous supporting characters. This special comedic-dramatic mix survives thanks to the camera and great actors. However, a strong story, a meaningful plot construction and, above all, focus, are all missing. This is rather a disappointment due to the missed opportunity.

This Israeli drama about the complicated relationship between a father and his son is brilliantly filmed and written, the acting is great and the almost-mystical-story about the life journey of a strong but arrogant personality of the main protagonist and his completely different, pious son, is full of emotional scenes. The pace fluctuates at times, but you may learn something new about the little-known culture of Orthodox Jews.

Four stories from China about violence, prostitution, corruption and the power of money. The film includes simple symbolism, slight perspective, but all four parts are too long. The protagonists are sympathetic only when they pick up a shotgun/pistol/fruit knife. In addition to the excessive length, the film also has a problem with not knowing when (and how) to end.