Isherwood

A joyfully and vigorously filmed abomination that should not have seen the light of day if standard critical standards were applied. But on the other hand, it's not as terrible as it's rumored to be. It's a cheesy C-movie that's not about anything. It's so woefully boring even despite having Coolio, eager to smoke a pound of weed a day, sprinkling one catchphrase after another. As well, Casper Van Dien continues to build his own pedestal as king of shit, and the adorable Baywatch rescue swimmer Erika Eleniak still looks amazing even after so many years away from her red bathing suit. It's unfortunate that Darrell Roodt lacks the right amount of perspective, which, if he had spiced up his passion, would have made this work of his brilliant. As it is, it's just a standard ultra-cheap failure that nevertheless makes you smile in amusement even though you shake your head in incomprehension the whole time. There are tons of worse and more entertaining films.

Although Michael Mann is better known as "Mr. (Crime)intellectual," in his early days as a director he already clearly showed signs of his distinctive trademarks, which have followed him throughout his filmography. Despite its lack of originality, the plot is typically lengthy in Mann’s style. The story of the fortress with the mystery is told at a slow pace, where the emphasis is mainly on the dialogue unraveling the mystery. Yet it all, unfortunately, comes at the expense of the horror atmosphere, which the director builds to perfection in some moments, despite the rather primitive digital effects and the incredibly crazy music, aided mainly by the precise camerawork and, last but not least, the sympathetic cast, led by the charismatic Jürgen Prochnow. It's a B-movie, but that's what the 1980s were like.

An hour and a half of skilled horror craft built on the most hackneyed genre clichés of a family lost on an unknown journey. It's shot with such elegance and focus that one can't help but wonder if everything that was supposed to work here is also working to its full potential. The gradation of tension is textbook, and together with the editing the cinematography adds a few moments when it is necessary to have a cardiologist ready to provide first aid. What does it matter that there are too many cracks in the family ties on one Christmas Eve? After all, the most surprising gifts are also given at the end of this happy day. The ending is far from happy and in terms of logic even a pedant would perhaps gnash their teeth, yet the effect of the "mouth-opening moments" is really strong, so why not tip my hat to the current representative of this genre by giving it a perfect review?

Art in its most crystalline form, an eccentric romp, or the author's black-humored trap for the audience? Perhaps a bit of each because capturing the basic human need for the beginning and end of the digestive cycle has some significance. Yet in the quick inter-cutting of five static shots, the idea of the film somehow escapes the average viewer and the whole short becomes just a boldly directed pose against the standard limits of taste and conventions of the film image.

A compelling sci-fi whodunit on the edge of the noir genre. Kathryn Bigelow has a way with L.A. at night and never once leaves the seedy alleys of corrupt life on all sides of the law. Ralph Fiennes, another very unpredictable protagonist, is very much at home and gives another of his excellent performances. James Cameron's screenplay is a superior work until the very end, which is an unpleasant concentration of all the genre clichés, including the final denouement, which could have broken down the fact that the killer is a gardener even better. Still, thanks to the strange mood of the Y2K scare (by the way, probably one of the most realistic variations on this haunting theme in its time), Strange Days is as impressive as it can be, despite the exorbitant runtime, and much can be forgiven in terms of the film’s negatives.

This comic adaptation lacks logic and the plot is too simple. It tries in vain to hide behind the cool visual coat of a long music video, which loses its impact after only a few minutes due to confusing editing and routine camerawork. A big budget doesn't make a good film, and the polished city of 2415 feels too cold and the costumes seem to have fallen out of a more extravagant boutique of contemporary fashion rather than reflecting the times. It's unfortunate that Charlize Theron successfully reaches for the title of the silver screen's sexiest comic book heroine and that Marton Csokas will one day be more than just "the guy who fought Matt Damon in The Bourne Supremacy" if more directors become interested in him, simply because neither of them raises the quality of the film any higher. However, the ending that paraphrases one of the first chapters of the Bible really is quite funny.

With big glasses, a mismatched jacket, running shoes, a guitar on his back, and a katana in his hand, the lone warrior wanders the post-nuclear wasteland to Lost Vegas to become the king of rock 'n' roll when Elvis calls it quits after 40 years. Fans of Tarantino's samurai epic should rethink their perspective because Buddy's journey in the company of a mute little man is an odyssey worthy of a Greek hero. You'll tend to forgive the inspiration it takes from Mad Max and the few scripting and logical flaws because they are amply made up for by the ultra-cool facade of not only the main character but the film as a whole. The cameraman doesn't skimp on the views from below, the fight choreography is great even without blood splatter, and the dry vision of the post-apocalyptic world is so evocative that you'll also feel like you're standing in an endless desert. The costume designers obviously went through a lot of looks from both rock ‘n’ roll and metal bands to find the right pieces to fit the protagonists. And when you add in the excellent musical score with its clear message that Elvis is alive, this is one of the most original spectacles that has somewhat incomprehensibly remained hidden from the eyes of the wider viewing public.

Vladimír Morávek has taken up the standard trend of Czech cinema, i.e., the tragicomic dissection of human fates, for the second time. While Boredom in Brno had a good theme (loss of virginity), in this film, together with co-writer Jan Budař, they cruelly overdid it. For the first twenty minutes, the relationship between two mentally simple individuals using humorous lines like "You're a dick!" more or less works, but halfway through the film, the reality show criticism falls apart for Morávek. The plot then stagnates, and those individuals who can endure the boredom are treated to an impressive ending in a Prague crematorium, but even that is somewhat insufficient. There are no further breakthroughs in the history of film, but rather a sad confirmation of the established rule that nothing other than films like this can be made in the Czech Republic at the moment. The crisis of Czech cinema in full swing!

Carpenter lays down some pretty solid arcs here in his unmistakable style, making Prince of Darkness into another great serving of what horror has to offer. The suffocating atmosphere created by the simple masks, the artful work with the unknown evil descending on the earth, and the brilliant horror music can be felt throughout. In addition, the more than solid script, interestingly working with the "clichés" of the Satan cult, works alongside this, which makes me almost give it the best possible review. However, in the end, it's still standard Carpenter, with no proper innovation in the formal procedures, and the sense he occasionally steals from his past works is very evident to more knowledgeable viewers, and some things can be predicted ahead of time (such as the kill list). Despite this, the most important thing (the viewer's emotions) remains, and so I give it four stars with a clear conscience.

Ed Wood feat. Uwe Boll Once upon a time, Pterodactyls appeared in Turkey. No one knows how they got there, but it is certain that somewhere in those forests (which, by pure coincidence, look exactly like Czech forests, particularly the picturesque village with the little church on the hill is a real mystery in a Muslim country) there was also a group of about ten rebels, which the Turkish army couldn't handle, so they had to be subdued by "black-op" American troops, and they were helped by a bunch of enthusiastic pundits in the field whose idiotic behavior and bullshit are only the beginning. The direction is tiresome, the cinematography messy, the music is terrible, the effects are lame, there’s no logic, and this film is definitely the biggest piece of shit in the last however many years. But you definitely have to see it!