NinadeL

So how is Matt Groening's new series? Different. It's not The Simpsons or Futurama, and it's actually a medieval satire for Netflix. Is a princess who ran away from the altar, her personal demon, and an elf really going to carry the whole series? Although the animation quality is great, the humor is far from being for everyone.

For lovers of chapters from the history of Czech film, this is an absolute joy. Gajer's The Smiling Country is exactly halfway between The Village Revolt and Holiday with Angel. Learning and celebrating from the early years of the United Agricultural Cooperative has never been such a lovely affair before or since. Otomar Korbelář’s wise and friendly chairman in the lead role gives the impression that the old order is long behind us. After all, it is so easy to fill the acting ensemble with just figures of all those village types that our dear chairman can handle so playfully. All of them will eventually understand that only the United Agricultural Cooperative is the right path forward. Even the former gossips will understand this, and only Baldinka remains plays a villain because she would rather gossip and not build. If Czechs have always counted only from 1943, they don't look at work, but only at money... The motif of young love, the collective forgiveness of the widow of a resistance fighter who fell at the radio station, fits in quite naturally. It's simply unforgivable how many films like The Smiling Country are still unavailable to the general public. Because only if all the films are available can there be justice. Critical thinking cannot be learned from brief scripts; films must first be seen.

Is Lisbeth Salander the most interesting European heroine of the last decade? Maybe she is and maybe she isn't. However, watching all the attempts to adapt her stories for so many years is quite an ordeal. Noomi Rapace had the trilogy and the series, while Rooney Mara unfortunately only had the American remake of the first part, and now Claire Foy is here with the fourth (!) part. The fact that Hollywood doesn't have a second and third part is pretty funny. Personally, I'm even more amused by the fact that in Noomi Rapace's time Claire Foy was known only as Dickens' Amy Dorrit, which really doesn't make for any consistent career work. So what's next? Will there be a next time? And will any other actresses who are just now creating classic series on the BBC be starring in the fifth series? It would be magical because I long ago stopped believing in the pluses Millennium could offer anyway. And yet the potential of this material is so great.

I'm very glad that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's second career is not built only on likable films. After proving that she is back in form with the thriller Passion, she made the drama Sarbjit based on true events and thus received another Filmfare nomination, her eleventh in a row. A drama about the India-Pakistan conflict, it follows the story of the family of Sarabjit Singh, who through a series of unfortunate events is sent from a Punjabi village to a Pakistani jail under the identity of a terrorist. His sister (Aishwarya Rai) and his wife (Richa Chadha) are the protagonists. The film doesn't celebrate an improbable happy ending; instead, it speaks to an unresolved issue after 23 years of hardship and disappointment. Only a small portion of the thousands of detainees being tortured on both sides of the Punjab border have any prospect of being freed. Sarbjit is a film that should not be ignored by anyone who still thinks that the whole of cinematic India is just dancing. In Pakistani cinema, films have dealt with a similar theme: In the Name of God (2007), Ramchand: The Untouchable Pakistani (2008) or Bol (2011). Compared to these films, the message of humanism is just as important, but Sarbjit is also made much more professionally.

Post-apocalyptic AHS? That might not be such a bad idea. We also get to see connections with Murder House, Coven, and Hotel, we are reminded of characters and actors we haven't seen in years (yes, Jessica Lange is back, Emma Roberts is fabulous, as are Taissa Farmiga, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy)... One of the new guests is the immortal Joan Collins, who manages to surprise all those who thought that actresses belong in a retirement home after their 80th birthday. Yes, I watched the continuation of old plots with interest, but the whole thing was very tiresome. I don't like when sci-fi is mixed with horror. The last three seasons have gotten very out of hand and I really don't appreciate more experimentation. Perhaps a return to Freak Show? But there are no more holes in the story. Or maybe Asylum? God forbid.

Yes, it's light on themes and the premise is somewhere else entirely, but I certainly didn't suffer watching the pilot. Lesley-Ann Brandt is now playing the part she has been longing for since leaving Spartacus. Unfortunately, despite all the pros, we get all the cons that go along with the "case of the week" phenomenon. It's an enjoyable series, but you always have to ignore the +- 20 minutes of necessary crime stories to hold it all together.

I really like the development of Julius Ševčík's loose retro trilogy, Normal the Düsseldorf Ripper, A Prominent Patient, and The Affair. I didn't believe in him at first, but few people perceive the period atmosphere in such a high aesthetic quality. Anyone who is going just to see another Roden film will be disappointed, and anyone who doesn't understand that this is an adaptation of fiction from the pen of Simon Mawer will also be disappointed. But everyone else can have a truly extraordinary sensory experience. The idea of following a lesbian romance against the backdrop of the fate of a functionalist villa is simply beautiful. Hanna Alström and Carice van Houten are literally beautiful in their contrasting roles. I will gladly return to the emotions and images of this film.

Norma Shearer's first sound films are incredibly awesome. Great stories, perfect costumes - Norma plays the roles of her lifetime. It must be experienced because words cannot just describe the feelings of the experiences of this watershed time. One can only regret that such a carefully constructed image of an independent woman had to take over after 1934, but that is another story. Pre-code Norma is MGM's brightest star.

The topic of re-education is very important. It is important to talk about the limitations that are still happening, limitations that are destroying the lives of many families even in the 21st century. The mindset of people who still believe that homosexuality must be managed as a disease is a problem. This is also not only about the USA and its religious movements. Still, I don't think Boy Erased is an outright good film, but it is strong in terms of the acting. Nicole Kidman routinely handles the role of a mother in a difficult situation, and this isn't the first time she's chosen a role from a story based on a searing true story. Russell Crowe has matured into a paternal psychological position that suits him very well, and it is only thanks to him that we get a catharsis of understanding. Boy Erased is not a cinematic experience - it is a cinematic manifesto for a modern understanding of family.

With a cast that includes Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne, and Hans Matheson, Tess' story becomes very relevant because they are the faces of today. Thomas Hardy's world has never been an easy one to understand, much less to sympathize with. It is therefore very important to repeatedly face the challenges posed by adaptations of his works. This BBC mini-series is not tainted by the tragedy of Polanski's life, it's just very faithful. Luckily. The ending at Stonehenge was epic. I would love to see a similarly successful adaptation of "Jude the Obscure." #bbc