Malarkey

Karel Janák has his own distinctive way of storytelling which can in one case come across as stupid and is stupid... and at other times comes across as stupid but is bearable. Lovehunt is the latter, nevertheless I had to think long and hard to form my opinion. And I don’t suppose that I am some kind of nagging critic that looks for faults on purpose in every Czech movie just to make it look bad. On one hand I don’t think that Lovehunt is a successful romantic comedy. There were cringe-worthy moments in which I literally had to close my eyes and wished I would never have to see them. On the other hand, the story itself has something to it. Ester Geislerová and Jakub Prachař complement each other amusingly and when I think about it in the context of a romantic comedy, I even laughed from time to time. But still I wonder why the director, who filmed the teenage comedy Snowboarders about a thousand years ago, would nowadays film this would-be adult romantic comedy in a similar way.

At first I had a feeling that this documentary doesn’t have any conception because it jumped from one castle to another and most of them were situated in Bohemia, as if Moravia and Silesia didn’t exist at all. Later on I got used to this storytelling style because the duo of narrators – layman Jarda Plesl and professional archaeologist Tomáš Durdík complemented each other perfectly. I was nicely surprised mainly by Jarda Plesl, because his enthusiasm for castles made me really happy. He is a great actor with the same interest as me. That, for me, elevates the conception of this document to a higher level. And what’s more, even if I didn’t get why it was situated in Bohemia only, I was glad that he talked of castles that I’m familiar with. I learned a lot of new interesting stuff and what I liked the most were moments when the camera focused on the current state of the castle or a ruin and afterwards the nice drawing of what the castle used to look like was added to the picture. It was unbelievable, especially in the case of the castle of Veliš. Another beautiful series from Czech Television production about medieval history of our lands.

Sometimes I wonder if Steven Soderbergh would ever get out of this trend of mediocre movie production he’s been suffering from lately. The Laundromat isn’t really a bad movie. It isn’t a movie in traditional sense of the word, but two actors are telling you how America is proud of inventing money laundering and how it works. I think it really breaks the rules of a movie conception; a movie is something that should escalate and it should be enjoyable to watch to the end and its climax. Nothing is escalating in this movie, it’s just two actors talking in front of the camera about stories of those who invented money laundering. Sometimes it is funny and I would even say quite interesting, but mainly it comes across more as a documentary than a movie.

I am telling myself that if Netflix wanted to break through in something, it would be the horror genre. Based on Stephen King’s book, directed by a director from the list of Americans who now own this genre, actors with unfamiliar names cast as main characters and what’s more, with Patrick Wilson. I have to admit that In the Tall Grass creates a proper atmosphere. It is a pity that it is such a crap.

There isn’t a more suitable and meaningful ending to one era of directors like Martin Scorsese and actors like Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci or Harvey Keitel. It was really nice that all of the above mentioned had a chance to say farewell to the gangster-movie genre with a movie like The Irishman. Nowadays, gangster movies are rare. But as one of the few directors, Martin Scorsese has a patent to such movies, and therefore he precisely knew what he was doing. And of course he pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Still, 209 minutes is 209 minutes. Moreover, same parts are very nostalgic and melancholic, which had to be taken into consideration. The theme is good, but not good enough for me to rate it with 5 stars, as there had been more essential pieces of this genre in the past. Moreover, this movie brought a novelty – digital alteration and rejuvenation of some actors – which takes some getting used to and always makes me lament that it is not possible to stop the flow of time. I really like those actors so for me to see the differences in their appearance wasn’t something I wanted to see. According to my expectations, The Irishman is a good movie. Maybe a bit too classical for a gangster-movie genre with little action and way too long, but it brings you back to the era that all of those who watched The Irishman partly out of nostalgia simply liked.

An amazing humanization of two characters about which you may hear but it is almost impossible to get a little bit closer to. The closest I was able to get was when Pope Benedict XVI came to Stará Boleslav 10 years ago. But even that is nothing in comparison with this movie, which is humorous, enjoyable, interesting and mainly full of dialogues between two completely different people that have, precisely thanks to their differences, a lot to say to one another. The movie has great dialogues that may be unnecessarily long in the 2nd half; otherwise it would have been good enough for 5 stars.

A totally common buddy comedy the good point of which arethe two main characters, who are quite witty. But due to my lack of any previous relationship to them, it is just and only a quite good chill-out time. Nothing more, nothing less.

I watched the 9th episode of Star Wars while knowing that it has bad ratings on this site. And I have to admit that I must slightly object. This movie doesn’t deserve bad ratings. It is evident that it deserves good ratings. The problem is not with the actors. We have been living with them for a few years already and among the newest ones, the closest to my heart are Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver. We can state that as a fact because the actors are simply good. Moreover J. J. Abrams is a certainty that considering the technical aspects, this movie would have adequate amount of tension as well as action. That I acknowledge with gratitude and I appreciate it. Considering this aspect, The Rise of Skywalker is quite decent. The problem with which everything rises and falls is the script. But what did you expect? I do admit that the screen writers could have omitted a few scenes. Not only do I have the feeling that all stormtroopers are black now, which feels like racism, but moreover I have a feeling that in nowadays Hollywood movies, there must be a black general, which also feels like racism. From time to time I had to close my eyes to be able to finish this movie but eventually I did finish it and I must say that it was more or less a good movie. Let us not lie to each other, this trilogy is not a world-wide breakthrough, so why should we judge it as such? It is just fine for 4 stars.

I do not want to be overreacting but for a long time I was looking forward to someone who would film a story about all those Norwegian Black Metalists who are responsible for all those fires in their churches and for all the disgust, hatred and fear which swept over people during the 1990s. And all of that just because of – although it depends – music. Finally, Jonas Akerlund was the one who achieved it. At first he dazzled me with his great music videos just to eventually film this story. Notorious and just for effect, but the story itself is just a perfect fit. Moreover, he chose the actors brilliantly. Mainly Rory Culkin introduced himself greatly! On top of that it is interesting that the locals still stick to nihilism, and therefore there are not many musical performances where I could listen to those metal gems. On the other hand, it was Sigur Rós who took care of the soundtrack and I would say that those nostalgic tunes of theirs are a perfect fit to the theme such as this. For me it was a musical experience of the year. I am unable to call it anything else. Totally mind-blowing. A lot better than the movie Dirt about Mötley Crüe. I am just unable to decide which of those is more pretentious...

The winner of this year’ Czechia vs. Slovakia race is definitely Czechia – as the more ethically grounded. The Slovaks’ intention was good but it was all talk and no action. Interiors? Good! Exteriors? Good! But those actors? They were making fun of the whole fairy tale movie. It is apparent that the Slovaks are sticking to fantasy motives for the second year in the row. I liked how they played with the effects almost to perfection. Fairy tale locations mainly in the woods look good but what is not so good are the characters. The worst moment is when the little prince enters the scene. And what is even worse is when you watch it with Czech dubbing. And the cherry on top is the elf – little boy – who is dubbed by what is probably a 30 years old man. Moreover, the ecological terrorism would be noticeable even from the Moon… I hope that no oak was cut down during the filming, nor even a smallest twig broken.