gudaulin

For the first half of the 1970s - a period of normalized folly - and considering its source, this is a decently made television film for youth, supported by the sensitive direction of Karel Kachyňa and the acting talent of a young Miroslava Šafránková. Overall impression 55%.

For those who grew up on TV series like Beverly Hills, enjoyed Buffy, and have seen movies about Superman, Smallville could theoretically be a good choice. It's a sort of American pop culture mishmash, cooking up a mix of the aforementioned ingredients. It's a youth series with mysterious elements and essential props typical of an American town, featuring a local football team and its fans, loving parents, first loves, etc. Naturally, it features attractive actresses and likable young men. Overall impression: 15%.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a film that everyone must form their own opinion about. It cannot be summed up in just one sentence. Tom Tykwer is an interesting director who made a name for himself in the independent film industry and has a very unique style. Here, he had the resources of a large production company, and a decent budget, and created a captivating blockbuster with excellent casting and appropriate special effects and set design. For a significant part of the film, I was convinced that five stars were not enough, because Paris looked more convincing than I could have ever imagined. The filth of the streets literally crawled off the screen, I could smell the sewers and the fish market directly from the individual shots, and the editing and cinematography were so great that they characterized the individual characters within a few moments. The strong story of an individual rejected by society on the outskirts, raised without love and in poverty, yet equipped with extraordinary talent, was very suggestive, and the visual aspect of the film was so excellent that if I had visited that period, I would probably have been disappointed by reality. However, I simply missed the point of the story, and even if I consider it a metaphor, I still couldn't swallow it. The miracle at the execution site simply bothered me, plain and simple. And even though I understand what the screenwriter wanted to say, I would have chosen a completely different ending. So in the end, I only give it three stars and an overall impression of 65%, which is really a shame for such a film.

Yes, I suffered. And unfortunately, there was no escape. It's a prototype of the American family spectacle designed for the broadest audience, hence the script is written and performed to match the taste of the typical mass viewer. If it had just stayed with the plush chipmunks, it would be somewhat kitschy, yet still tolerable as children's entertainment. However, the presence of busty actresses and sleek hunks clearly aimed at the adult accompaniment - who are presumed to have the taste and mental breadth of a five-year-old child - underscores the issues. This type of mass production is simply not for me. Overall impression: 15%.

Decently written and filmed detective stories for their time, but if we disregard the faces of Czech actors and compare it to today's global genre average, it's nothing special. The film remains in my memory mainly because of the acting performances of Ilja Prachař and Jiří Hálek. Overall impression 50%.

When Hitchcock allowed his protagonist to die in one-third of his legendary movie Psycho and fill the space with other characters, it was considered a revolution in the film industry. The Coen brothers go even further and play with the script, going against all conventions and the expectations of genre fans. In the traditional mainstream film concept, the script has its own rules and is developed almost to perfection. It is known when the first dead body should appear on the scene and how many plot twists should happen to maintain the viewer's attention. The Coen brothers mock their audience and when the climax of the plot is supposed to happen, they make a fool of them. From the perspective of a genre fan, the film lacks any kind of ending. Not just the so-called "open" ending, where the protagonist decides what to do and leaves it up to the viewer's imagination how it turns out. Three-quarters of the film prepares the viewer for the final confrontation between two main unbending characters - and it is tragically and comically thwarted. They introduce characters whose development is in direct contrast to the viewer's expectations (Tommy Lee Jones or Woody Harrelson) and unnecessarily let those with whom the viewer sympathizes die. In this respect, they are original and maybe that was one of the reasons why the academics decided how The Oscars turned out. On the other hand, the film is incredibly captivating with its structure and a series of clever details and individual scenes, but the script is unfinished and some characters are simply untrustworthy. The Coen brothers have never been afraid to depict violence and death, but they went a bit overboard here. Instead of the standard three dead bodies, there is a pile of them and you feel like you are watching a Tarantino film. As Stalin once said, one death is a tragedy, a million then becomes a necessary statistic. The main protagonist is a mass murderer who seems to have escaped from some comic book, and again, I would believe Tarantino more. He doesn't belong in real life. In that battle with the drug cartel, he wouldn't stand a chance by the way. Holding a gas bomb in his hand is too conspicuous and he makes too many mistakes. To truly evaluate the film, it would be good to read Cormac McCarthy's book from 2005, which I have not done. This film is strong in details and individual scenes, but I have quite a few problems with its overall reception. Overall impression: 80%.

A sensitive film from Japan that has thankfully been buried in the past, when the depicted slums of poverty moved to other cities and countries. A kaleidoscope of small stories about the residents of a poor neighborhood, where love, infidelity, arguments, and death are found in droves. Sometimes comical, sometimes slightly sentimental, a little romantic, but above all cleverly filmed. The title of the film is a phrase used by a mentally ill young man, who dreams of being a train driver. It takes place on the outskirts of the city, with heaps of garbage and endless rows of shanties, and he believes that he has a long train of cars and a locomotive with him. Practically every character has dreams and believes in some illusion, even if they don't show it as much as that simpleton. This was Akira Kurosawa's first color film, and his fascination with color is evident as he indulges in playful color composition. For example, the viewer can see the reflection of a rainbow on the ground after the rain. As is tradition with Kurosawa, the visual composition, casting, dialogues, and camera work are all very good. Overall impression: 90%. This is one of Kurosawa's best films for me. The only traditional problem with the director is the pace - Kurosawa is simply slow...

This comedy rides the mainstream wave from start to finish, with a completely predictable story that hardly offers any surprises. It lacks boldness in its scriptwriting, and it's purely light entertainment, leaning on a pleasant cast led by Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush. Despite all efforts by Goldie Hawn, her character too often teeters on the verge of unintended awkwardness. Overall impression: 50%.

This brilliant animated film showcases the collaboration of two top creators. Jiří Trnka as the artist and director, and on the other hand, Jan Werich as an exceptional voice actor, who effortlessly voiced numerous characters and captured their personalities through changes in voice intonation, creating a timeless work. The poetic essence of the film draws directly from Jaroslav Hašek, making its statement much more powerful than all live-action film versions. Visually, the film is inspired by Josef Lada's illustrations of Hašek's novel. Overall impression: 100%.

Maybe it's a shame, but I still haven't read Kafka's "The Trial", and perhaps because I lack a comparison with the literary original, I was quite enthusiastic about the film version, impressed by the absurd dialogues and the atmosphere of crooked Prague streets, balconies, and historical corridors and halls of the Lesser Town, and I initially considered giving it five stars. Later, I compared it with the atmosphere of other similar films and I did lower my rating, but I still have to say that I enjoyed the film, and if there had been more good acting performances in it, I would lean toward giving it five stars. The best from the ensemble cast used in this film was Anthony Hopkins in the role of an uncompromising yet mysterious priest. Perhaps more could have been extracted from the subject, but even so, it deserves a solid 80%.