J*A*S*M

I felt downright disappointed immediately after the screening. Unlike other films with unsatisfactory and unclear endings, Enemy woke in me a desire to know what is really hiding in the back. And the more I think back about it, the better I find it. In any case, it’s been long since a film messed with my head so much.

For a moment I considered a third star, but that would have been for the Alps rather than the film itself … and we have other experts for that. Technically, it’s pretty well made, and some of the moments with the monster are also good, but after some time it begins to get more and more unintentionally funny, mainly due to the utterly absurdly overacted interactions among the members of the scientific team. Kren’s previous film, Rammbock: Berlin Undead, was better.

If it was an original film, I would give it a weak three stars, but it’s a remake of Thai film from eight years ago and I’m not giving it more than two. When the film is true to the original, it’s terribly weak (the intensity of some of the tasks), and the occasional differences go mostly in the wrong direction (for instance, unforgivably leaving out the task with the unpleasant food). The creators try to explain a bit more the background of the “Game”, but unfortunately, they squeeze it into the story in a clumsy way. And then… when it comes to the nonsense, it’s better not to even try to explain it. 13 Sins basically weakens what was good about the original movie and strengthens what was bad. So, a pointless film.

I’m not a Sionist :), I’ve watched a couple of his films and never gave them more than three stars; and I almost didn’t survive Guilty of Romance, but this one was good. It’s an incredibly fun meta joke that at times will make any film enthusiast smile like an idiot. Needless to say, it’s really insane, but this time also somewhat accessible for western audiences. 9/10

An irrational and tense thriller that unnecessarily throws sticks at its own pokes with regularly occurring WFT moments and the unconvincing, and often incomprehensible, behaviour of the characters. The male lead is such an idiot at times that I began to suspect that the creators wanted the viewer to suspect whether he isn’t actually the villain. But in none of those hints, weird decisions and incompetence could I find any sensible system. The climax fizzles out quickly without any interesting outcome. Yeah, the atmosphere and the tension are effective, and the cinematography is good, but I can’t say it left me with a satisfactory impression.

LOLhouse.

I envy the colleagues here who’ve enjoyed this low-budget chase in a tower. I like monsters in horror films, and I also like derelict buildings, but this one didn’t make it for me. It was an utterly unscary stroll around a carousel of terrors with a monster jumping out at every corner. You can appreciate the decent make-up, but I can’t say I felt even a hint of tension or atmosphere. The script is almost non-existent and the performances not only are weak, but also downright irritating. Compared to the low-budget Irish-British production Citadel, this tower comes out as a clear loser. And that’s not due to financing, but due to its inability to tell a story and the important fact that it’s just a monotonous series of gimmicks. For me it feels like 1 star, I’m giving it the second one out of goodwill for the make-up. But I understand the others. It reminded me of that time when at a certain Asian restaurant I spent about 120 crowns on a “fried ice-cream fruit mix” and then I tried to convince myself that it was actually quite good, strange and untraditional. But it wasn’t. It was inedible, actually.

On the one hand, Cheap Thrills looks quite familiar (a desperate person competing for an increasing amount of money, like in this Thai film) but on the other, this film is always fun enough and also refreshing because, instead of one, the desperate souls are two and they are competing against each other. To some extent, it’s predictable and you don’t need much intellectual effort to figure out what the final station will be like, but it doesn’t matter. The fun never stops and the ending is pleasantly sharp. 8/10

A 180° turn and the first Bulava's film that I can say I liked without any “buts”. I really dig this type of serious, depressive and unsettling philosophy that doesn’t care too much about what the viewer says and goes its own way. A guy hits a tree with an axe for almost five minutes, if it was only 30 seconds, it would be more viewer-friendly, but I like the longer version better. The black and white really helps the atmosphere, its very suitable for the topic. The cinematography is great, some of the shots (the silhouettes on the heap, the descent into the water) are simply brilliant. The story is quite minimalistic, which I don’t mind, on the contrary, I think that after the previous two films (with too much narrative), this is a step in the right direction – you don’t need that much dialogue to explain and move forward a relatively complex plot structure, which leaves more room to create an atmosphere, etc. To summarise: I prefer these minimalistic artsy parables over, for instance, splatter-fests like Oči starého Kostelníka, or homages to the old Giallo movies, like Šest prstů v zeleném. Many people (most, I reckon) will think the opposite, and they won’t have it very easy with this film. In any case, I’m rooting for it.

An excellent idea about how to have an original take on the zombie apocalypse. The creators don’t get all the juice out of it,though, which is a pity, but The Returned has its strong moments. It’s very well made and the climax even managed to arouse some emotions (though the ending maybe is trying a bit too much). A pleasant surprise from the director of the below-par The Possession of Emma Evans. 7/10