Malarkey

A black guy, two Asians and a Turkish dude take the wheel in Germany and with a kebab in their hand, they are trying to think about how they could make a solid B-list action movie. And in the end they make a movie that only has one aspect that is acceptable and that is the action. Ironic isn’t it?

In this episode, pretty much everybody is insolent to Benno. The episode deals with the topic of hunters, but I liked how Benno’s former friend – Tony Rambold – speaks of Benno as of Fat Berghammer. Even the murderer is poking fun at Benno, sending him threatening letters in which he keeps calling him a fat pig. But Benno doesn’t give a fuck and he hopes to have a proper meal and drink at home. And all that despite his mother sparing him somewhat. One of the better episodes that includes a whole number of standard characters ranging from Pfeiffer to the Prelate.

It took me a while to get used to Kumail. For about twenty minutes, I was even pretty uncertain whether this comedy was actually a comedy, or if it was simply an unusual drama. But once Zoe Kazan made an appearance on the scene (or rather in a coma), a whirlwind of great situational humor started that went so natural for Kumail that it really was a pleasure to watch him. For instance, his first encounter with Emily’s parents is really good fun. And there are plenty more similar scenes in the film. Eventually, the unusual drama turns into an unusual dramedy which managed to put me in a really good mood that didn’t disappear even after I finished the movie. The thing is, I read about the film that it was based on a true story and that the main character is the same Kumail as the one in the film. At that point, the movie reached a whole new dimension.

It hasn’t happened to me in a long time that after watching a movie I would feel that I just saw two different halves of an action comedy that were really different in terms of quality. My excitement over a new action comedy gradually faded as I was watching a story taking place in London that wasn’t too funny and in which the pair (Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds) couldn’t seem to manage to tune in to the proper buddy-comedy wavelength. It took a long time and for a moment I felt that I wouldn’t manage to watch it to the end. For instance, Selma Hayek is so incredibly unfunny in this one and she didn’t fit in her role so much that it was nothing but embarrassing. But about an hour into the movie, something incredible happened. The movie relocated to Amsterdam and it not only turned into a whirlwind of action, but it got pretty entertaining as well. Samuel and Ryan literally found one another and they started shooting catchphrases at each other. In the end, I was so excited about the second half that I had to watch several scenes again. How is it even possible that one film could create so many different emotions?

Mad Mary, who despises everything and everybody, gets an offer from her friend to be a bride’s maid at her wedding. At that point, her friend starts treating her even worse and the entire story, which is at least short, starts getting more absurd to the point that got me thinking about what good I was supposed to take from this film after all.

Pretty rough, non-compromising and brutal. But pretty damn good for a Slovak movie. In our country, we have gangsters such as K. (Radovan Krejčíř) or (František) Mrázek, with whom you still probably feel like forming a relationship, but the Slovaks will show you the most disgusting monsters from the world or fear and loathing. Congratulations. Finally, Slovak cinematography is getting more and more interesting.

I am fascinated by the things film creators are able to come up with. A rather unsightly junkie who is driving a nearly new Porsche with a black guy on a deserted highway very quickly gets into a pile of shit. The boyfriend gets whacked by the one (sic!) zombie, who then chases her across the entire tundra. She then tries to lure the zombie using a tampon soaked in blood and she thinks this will save her skin. I guess I don’t have to add what happens after that. Several more disgusting things happen. Nevertheless, I do agree and understand why this movie raised a slightly positive uproar at some genre-specific festivals. The premise isn’t too bad and somebody who likes a similar style might feel good about it. It’s really interesting to see what some screenwriters have in their heads.

I took me a while to get used to the new partner. I mean the first Danish detective was really nice and quite strange at the same time. With this one, it took me a while, but somewhere half-way through the show, there was a breaking point and emotions awoke immediately. But the murder investigation is at times difficult to follow. And that’s despite the fact that the murders are properly ritual and brutal. They even affect Saga’s personal life, who in this season is getting hit from all directions, and it should be pointed out that in terms of the psychology, the actress Sofia Helin portrays probably the most complicated character in a crime show that I have ever seen. Towards the end, I kept thinking about whether I was more disappointed or pleased with the season. For instance, I kept looking for links to the actual bridge. But the season finale saved everything by becoming the best episode of the season, so season three deserves a solid four-star review from me.

So this older, but still attractive teacher has an affair with a young student and then seems surprised that the young guy’s world starts crumbling apart. I find that really fascinating. It’s not only the guy who is naïve, it’s mainly the teacher who goes all in. In the first half of the film, the plot seems a bit embarrassing and I couldn’t really understand the emotions that kept changing like on a wooden rollercoaster. On top of that, the Germans presented those emotions in a rather dry manner. But the ending brought the heat up and helped the film rise to the level of a decent average.

Sure, there are many things here that would deserve to be criticized. For instance, time flows in a weird way and it seems to follow its own rules. But I have to say that Fairy Tales for Ema is such a pleasant and positive film that you will have no problem forgiving it some of its unclear and illogical points. Ondřej Vetchý portrays a pretty serious character, but you won’t be able to find it believable because you will remember his latest comedy roles, so you will wish him luck from the very start. Nevertheless, Aňa Geislerová fits right in with her insecurity and they make for a very pleasant, yet untypical couple for a romantic genre that we aren’t really familiar with in this country. As I said, there are many things that we could criticize, but if you forget about those, what you will get is a truly human film with a very nice score, good cinematography and little Ema, whom you will wish only all the best.