gudaulin

A comedy that neither offends nor impresses. The central theme is the sudden greed aroused by the prospect of unexpected inheritance. Additionally, it takes place in a country that has been consumer-starved by the long-term construction of "real socialism" and the resulting impoverishment of the middle class. It is respectable in terms of the acting, but it is not a film that will stay in your memory for long. Overall impression: 55%.

A grim story from a grim world, where the viewer realizes that the living can envy the dead. It is a matter of interchangeable computer animation, where individuality disappears, and in the space of a short film, characters cannot fully develop. But in my opinion, the creators were able to extract the maximum emotions from the short story. Tragedy can be felt in every gesture of the character and every moment of the story. Overall impression: 80%.

The good aspects are the interesting visuals and ultimately the subject itself - if you can call it that - because the atmosphere is clearly inspired by cyberpunk and visions that authors like William Gibson present to their readers, a society decayed by the underworld, an incapable government, and powerful corporations, where implants and cybernetic systems have long become an inseparable part of civilization. However, all of this is only hinted at in the film, which lacks a screenplay, a story, and a point. It's just a bunch of noisy sounds as if the authors wanted to confirm all the prejudices that conservative consumers of art have about comics and anime. It is intellectually stupid, but if someone wanted to play around with it, a lot could be extracted from it. Overall impression: 25%.

Summer Storm belongs to the same category of German films as The Wave, i.e., films primarily intended for teenagers that combine entertainment with a certain message. While in the case of The Wave, it was a warning against political extremism and fascination with authoritarian charismatic figures, here it is a lesson about sexual identity and coming to terms with one's own and others' differences. Similar to The Wave, it is presented in a somewhat sentimental but tasteful way, so that even a teenager can relate to the matter. On the other hand, this leads to some simplification and adaptation of reality to fit the needs of the story. For example, the way the screenwriter and director depict the atmosphere in the rowers' camp - a relaxed atmosphere, like in a summer camp without excessive rivalry and coaches instigating. Or how much attention is focused on a small community of gays at a particular moment. The whole idea of a rowing team based on a homosexual principle, openly competing in public, seems somewhat exaggerated to me. The director simply needed a group of sexually diverse individuals and included them in the story. Some sentences or reactions seemed like they were trying to be overly intellectual, and I would keep some things to myself or react differently, perhaps like the girl who offers herself to her chosen one and he emotionally admits his homosexuality to her. Despite these reservations, it is a reliable three-star film, but I won't go higher considering the points I've mentioned. Overall impression: 60%.

Metropia is an ambitious film that wanted to use experimental techniques and original visuals to create a feature-length animated film. Both of these aspects are fulfilled and together they create a world of an unpleasant dystopia, reminiscent of the famous science fiction novel "The Space Merchants" by Frederick Pohl, which depicts a world controlled by ruthless giant corporations, manipulative techniques, and ubiquitous advertising. However, the problem lies in the fact that it seriously lags behind in what makes an animated film what it is, namely the animation itself. Audiences have become accustomed to a truly dynamic development of animation techniques in the last 15 years, thanks to family animated films and phenomena like The Simpsons, considering animation simply as a matter of course. Perhaps this was the intention, but in that case, it is completely wrong and rather reflects a lack of skill. The film is slow, with an underdeveloped world and characters. I ultimately give it three stars for its certain exclusivity and originality because this production did not have significant competition in the past, nor does it have it today. Overall impression: 50%.

Many people are giving this 5 stars, but fortunately, I am down-to-earth enough to resist this attack on the vanity of the art viewer. The Aerial is a peculiar film that works with the motif of an authoritarian and manipulated society, built on the monopoly of information controlled by Mr. "Television," a magnate who controls the monopolistic television company. It is a vision of a totalitarian state like that of the 20s or 30s, fulfilling the dream of state propaganda that has a monopoly on the truth. Moreover, in one scene, a Nazi swastika clearly appears. Many other elements, such as uniforms or generally military elements, correspond to the reality of dictatorships in Argentina or Brazil during Hitler's era, where local leaders imitated their totalitarian European model. This is, of course, an interesting topic, but the director also wanted to play with high art and processed The Aerial as a silent expressionist film in the style of Metropolis. Whether it is the costumes, scenery, or camera work, it has a distinct stylization in which the theme and story get lost. Of course, anyone who agrees to this game and considers it captivating in and of itself can be very satisfied, but I only see it as a self-serving matter. Cinema has come a long way since the 1920s, and when I want a silent film with naive scenery, I reach for the proven classics. My two stars are for the atmosphere of long-lost silent film glory, but otherwise, the film didn't do anything for me emotionally. Overall impression: 40%.

Even though I like French conversational comedies, this film lacks truly funny dialogues, and even the situational humor was quite empty. In fact, the whole thing was like the approach of retired actors, who are slowly becoming fading stars like Clavier, Villeret, or Lhermitte. It's like they had several theater performances in a row and then went to shoot a movie. Seriously, I would only give this film stars for its merits. Overall impression: 45%.

I really like certain comedies from the 80s, even though they don't have ambitions bigger than simply entertaining, for example, both Ghostbusters films, but this pseudo-comedy has one problem, one that is crucial for me: Its attempt at humor doesn't work at all, and it's shallow and terribly forgettable. If I had to give it any stars, then it would be only for the charms of Kim Basinger and the likable performance of Dan Aykroyd. Overall, that seems insufficient to me. Overall impression: 25%.

The third part in the series about the uncompromising policeman Callahan may not differ in quality from the first two parts in a significant way, but it still deserves only one star "as a reward" because even a relatively mild decline in the quality of the screenplay clearly exposes the problematic construction of the whole series. Besides being a gritty detective story, it also attempts to criticize the softened liberal administration, bureaucracy, and rampant protection of human rights, which later evolved into so-called political correctness. There is a rational foundation for such opinions, even if they don't resonate with me, but it's all presented so blatantly, half-heartedly, and naively that it's almost unpalatable. The screenplay contains a number of logical gaps and deficiencies, such as the old man in uniform by himself guarding a warehouse full of dangerous weapons, whose existence in the middle of the city doesn't make any sense, and logic is also lacking in the behavior of the criminals or the police officers who behave like a bunch of idiots, and only because both sides do so, the plot somewhat functions. And precisely because most of the characters behave like fools, they also lack the necessary charisma, so the film relies solely on traditionally macho Eastwood. However, he doesn't have as many memorable lines here that are the spice of the series, and his performance is rather routine. Overall impression: 25%.

I feel that this project was a waste. In this mishmash, it's not so much the actors who play a role, but rather the director and screenwriter who are trying to create a new Magnolia, but because they lack sufficient experience and probably abilities as well, they remain at the level of posing and intellectual kitsch. The film only plays at being a deep social commentary and where it tries to escalate situations and human emotions, it becomes extremely untrustworthy, sentimental, or even pathetic. What works is the cast. I don't know how Jieho Lee did it without connections and experience, but he managed to gather a group of either quality (Garcia, Whitaker) or at least popular (Gellar) actors who try and are able to create the impression that there really is something going on. Otherwise, Lee didn't direct anything worth mentioning before The Air I Breathe, and even though four years have passed since then, he still has not directed anything, which seems characteristic to me. Overall impression: 35%.