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The film was made in the early 60s and represents, in both good and bad, a reflection of the war genre in American cinema in the 50s, and forms its imaginary peak for that decade. It is highly ambitious, has a large budget, and is able to create a magnificent spectacle full of war techniques, thousands of extras, and big film stars of its era. I understand the high, even the highest, ratings by many users, but it was never an emotional matter for me. What bothered me about it, and still bothers me, is the use of humorous moments that are meant to gain additional sympathy from allied soldiers and officers and entertain the audience. It is paradoxical that from a cinematic perspective, the German side comes across better because it is portrayed more soberly, without humorous detachment. In a film that, on one hand, tries to portray a realistic depiction of a grand battle, there are "cool" scenes on the side of the allies, which we would now call out of place, and try to aim for a different genre. In a tense situation, a choir of nuns suddenly marches in, and it feels like I've been hit between the eyes with an axe. In a dramatic moment of landing, the camera plays with a bulldog who faithfully stands by its officer and indifferently watches the battle frenzy around. Or, you can be amused by the clumsiness and impracticality of the field priest, etc., etc. I don't deny that the film has several very well-crafted war scenes, such as the clash over the Ouistreham casino, the fights over coastal fortresses, or the paratrooper stuck on a church tower, but as a whole, the film is far from reaching the highest standards for me. Overall impression: 65%.

With Robert Altman's films, I usually don't have any problems, even though they don't hurry anywhere and require patience and an eye for detail. However, Altman's peculiar approach to Chandler's material goes beyond this experience. I have nothing against placing the story in a different time frame, I wouldn't even mind if the plot took place in the present. I wouldn't mind certain character and plot modifications either - if I didn't have the feeling that Altman thoroughly drained the novel and turned Marlowe's character upside down. The tough, cynical detective who used to spout dry remarks has become a creation similar to Woody Allen's characters - but unlike them, lacking a significantly smaller degree of irony. I don't share the enchantment with the atmosphere of the seventies, Altman uses superficial references for his modernization, and he doesn't even come close to what, let's say, Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice possesses - where the 70s don't just scream at you through women's hairstyles and outfits, but through all the contradictions of that time. The Long Goodbye is not a genre parody, but it's not a film you could believe in either. Altman's films usually don't bore me, but with The Long Goodbye, I really perceived its length unpleasantly. I don't have problems with the characters' motivations, but the way they are fulfilled is dysfunctional and untrustworthy. Overall impression: 45%.

If you reach the top of the power ladder, in addition to a number of undisputed advantages, your social position also means one unpleasant fact - that every move on the power pyramid will only mean a descent downward. Harold was once able to rise from an insignificant thug with a tendency toward violence to the boss of the London underworld through a combination of self-confidence, determination, and ruthlessness. Thanks to his influence, the metropolis has been calm for ten years. An agreement with representatives of the American mafia is supposed to enable him to launch new bold investments and it promises dazzling profits. But returning from overseas does not mean triumph but rather the shocking realization that he suddenly faces something that goes beyond his previous experiences and threatens to destroy his life's work within a few hours. What has helped him so far, namely persistence and toughness, is turning against him and leading him to the edge of the abyss. The Long Good Friday is a quality genre film set in the world of organized crime that doesn't serve everything to the viewer on a silver platter, it's not cheap or pandering, and it doesn't rely on exaggerated unrealistic action. Its script relies on a believable plot, interesting characters, and a 70s atmosphere. The film would reliably receive 4 stars even without Bob Hoskins, but his presence is the proverbial icing on the cake and compels me to give it the highest rating. In my opinion, this is Hoskins' best performance on the big screen - he was possibly born for the role of a straightforward, mercurial guy who thinks the world will forever be at his feet. And the final scene, when the camera captures a close-up of Hoskins' face, is simply delightful. Overall impression: 90%.

A well-filmed psychological drama about dealing with one's past, parental and societal expectations, and social differences in the conservative society of the Southern states of the USA. It is superbly cast, and Paul Newman showcases an incredible amount of charisma, acting talent, and all the ingredients that have made him one of the greatest stars of American cinema. I was thinking it deserved 5 convincing stars until the last 15 minutes, starting from the premature dramatic climax in the form of a conflict at a burning barn, which concludes with a contrived and contextually unconvincing gesture of forgiveness leading to a typical American happy ending that undermines the previous effort. Overall impression: 80%.

If something positive can be said about action films of the 90s, it is that they represent a certain craft improvement from the dull action B-movies with muscular men from the previous decade. They have better effects, are more action-packed, and have better actors. However, The Long Kiss Goodnight does not confirm this trend. It could be subtitled as "the dumbest film of the 90s all in one". If Die Hard 2 came from Renny Harlin's workshop and represents a very decent above-average (although not a top-notch) genre film, then The Long Kiss Goodnight is its opposite. Davis does not fit into the role of a super agent to the extent that it feels like a lack of judgment on the part of the producer. A possible solution could have been a shift towards acknowledged genre parody, but this option evidently did not occur to the creator. Although the film is lightened by funny lines and does not take itself completely seriously, as was customary for action films of this era, the laughter that it evoked in me clearly missed the expectations of the creative team. This film is so naive and silly that it simply does not deserve a better rating. Overall impression: 25%.

Everyone has their own taste boundaries, so no one needs to despair if they like this mess. As for me, I can say I had a better time even on the toilet after catching dysentery... This is one of those worse teenage comedies, embodying scriptwriter and acting incompetence. It's especially baffling why the actresses playing the girl protagonists spent all their allowance on clothes and hairstyling instead of paying for at least a week's acting course. Overall impression: 10%.

Despite its very average rating on FilmBooster, I had the feeling for quite a long while that I was watching a three-star film, not one that would get you ecstatic, but one that wouldn't bore you and had nothing blatantly wrong with it. However, as the minutes went by, I got the impression that Raymond's story was fading out. The screenwriter seemed unsure of how to approach this material. It's not so much a biographical film because we don't follow Raymond from the moment he tried to make it in the industry with a few dollars in his pocket, and we don't see his artistic beginnings or his initial successes. We only get to know him when he is already brimming with confidence, with both millions and mistresses and nothing significant really happens in his life - unless we consider the exchange of life partners significant. From a dramatic perspective, the film simply doesn't work. It can be considered to some extent as a picture of the free sixties when sexism was rampant and the golden era of pornography began, but the film doesn't work with that systematically either. The designation "a glimpse into the lives of one family that got rich" would suit it the most in the end. In the last third, the film starts to take on dangerously sentimental positions when it addresses drug addiction and the daughter's illness. The Look of Love is watchable, but it's just a run-of-the-mill spectacle that will easily slip your mind afterward. Overall impression: 45%.

The cult work of J.R.R. Tolkien remained outside filmmakers' field of vision for a very long time, basically for two reasons. Firstly, as a typical conservative, Tolkien was distrustful of media other than those he knew intimately and worked with. He simply did not want to vulgarize and massify his work, entrusting it to a film studio to handle the story according to their will and regardless of the author's intentions. Secondly, and above all, grand epic fantasy was regarded as unfilmable for a long time. As we know, modern technology buried this prejudice long ago. Today, the limit is only the budget and human creativity. However, even in the distant past, there was an escape route in the form of an animated film, which managed to bypass most of the obstacles. But when someone finally took up the challenge, it resulted in only a skeleton of the tale, which does not even have exceptional visual aspects (especially the hobbits rather repulsed me instead of sympathizing with them). This Lord of the Rings simply did not make a mark on the world and the second part was never made. After Jackson's grandly filmed trilogy, except for fans of film history, there is no need to revisit Bakshi's film. Overall impression: 40%.

Andy Garcia's life project, through which he expressed his love for Cuba, where he comes from, and expressed his relationship to the Cuban revolution, the past and present of Cuba, and a bit of Cuban culture. The dramatic storyline of one family and the conflict between three sons divided by political opinions work very well, especially the unfulfilled love relationship of the main character when politics once again separates the lovers. I was a bit disappointed by the relatively unremarkable use of the environment of the best Havana cabaret, as I expected the film, where the main character is a cabaret singer and artist, to be full of musical numbers, and distinctive dance and music creations. I was expecting a new Cabaret. Surprisingly, it is quite lacking, as the Fico Fellova club only serves as a background for displaying fateful political events. Andy Garcia in the lead role acts reliably, but I still get the feeling that compared to his early films, he has lost a bit of his spark. Overall impression: 80%. The political dimension of the film is interesting, somewhat limiting the result. Andy Garcia proves that as an immigrant, he simply does not understand certain events and characters of Cuban history because he cannot even understand them. He does not understand the essence of the Cuban revolution, its roots, and the motivation of its participants. His characters are members of the Cuban social elite, and dissatisfaction with the Batista regime is mainly perceived as dissatisfaction with the lack of political rights during the dictatorship period. The Cuban revolution was motivated by social inequality and anti-Americanism typical for Latin America as a whole. The interference of the US government in the internal politics of the continent's countries was simply highly unpopular, and Garcia, as a successful American citizen and well-positioned member of the upper-middle class, does not admit it. For example, his portrayal of Che Guevara as a cynical murderer is one-dimensional, and it is essentially a negative caricature that greatly flattens this character. Che Guevara was not only a Jacobin revolutionary who could put his defeated enemies against the wall without blinking an eye but also a brilliant intellectual, and unlike Castro, who was a power manipulator and practical politician, he was a person who truly believed in the ideals of the revolution.

I admit that I enjoy similar movies to this one. Ones that are elaborate, technically precise with great camera work and soundtrack, and that attempt to convey a message while providing space for the viewer's imagination. The Lost City of Z is a film about human courage, the desire for knowledge, and the obsession to achieve a set goal. It tells a story from a time when explorers had to be adventurers and men, and when it truly mattered to push one's limits and consciously calculate that one might be saying goodbye to loved ones for the last time. In terms of genre, it combines adventure spectacle (without the beloved action and fantasy elements) with the biographical story of Major Fawcett, whose task was to map the region known as the "green hell" in the Amazon basin. A generation later, travelers were already using planes and motorboats, while Percy Fawcett resembled the renowned 19th-century adventurers equipped only with a compass and immeasurable determination to fill the vast blank spaces on the map. I like The Lost City of Z because it is a mature film in every sense, making no concessions to family audiences or teenagers, and not relying on emotions and sentiments. If I had to dwell on something, it would perhaps be the film's idealism of Fawcett's relationship with indigenous cultures, which corresponds to the opinions of modern urban liberals of Euro-American civilization and does not fit into the mindset of the British officers raised with the civilizational superiority of the white man and the elitism of a member of the British Empire at the height of its power. The film also could have been more atmospheric in the Latin American part, with more focus on magical realism elements. There could have been more scenes like the expedition's entrance into the opera straight from the jungle or the hallucinogenic scene of being captured by an indigenous tribe. Nevertheless, I give it an honest 4 stars and an overall impression of 80%.