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The late work by Ben Travers, "The Bed Before Yesterday" (1975), is truly a delightful late collection by an author who, at the end of his life, reflects on questions of sex with very high quality. The story is set in the time of Traverse's youth, but the author is already informed by life and the post-war sexual revolution. He deliciously observes the awakening of a mature woman who has denied herself sex her whole life due to several childhood and youth mistakes. Victorian morality and a rape on her wedding night convinced Alma that sex is wrong. A second chance did not come with her second marriage, but the third marriage brought Viktor. Hana Maciuchová and Milan Lasica have been a great pair several times, and here they are wonderful too. The circumstances of Alma's awakening are complicated, with several characters from the demi-world and a sophisticated actor teaching Alma French kisses... but one thing is certain, this production is an experience, and it is, of course, a shame that it had a minimal number of performances.

The modern Berlin operetta "Ball im Savoy" by Hungarian composer Paul Abraham premiered on December 23, 1932, literally at the last moment, as Abraham, being Jewish, emigrated in 1933. Therefore, today the operetta is performed with a considerable dose of piety. The play is charming, playful, tender, and entertaining. My favorite hit is, of course, "Känguruh": So, what about the film version? It was produced in an Austrian-Hungarian co-production and offered an opportunity for the entire exile diaspora, led by Gustav Fröhlich's Jewish wife Gitta Alpar. The choreography easily outshines the big shows of Busby Berkeley. The studios were filmed at Hunnia Film Studios in Budapest. The English-language version was created the following year as With Pleasure, Madame.

Formally, it is an interesting conversational film, but unfortunately, the work with the main topic is written very amateurishly. Instead of a real study of situations that the world of open relationships, swingers, and associated emotions may offer, there are a lot of clichés, whether in the view of introducing the issue by one sexually aggressive couple (of course, the alpha male is played by Martin Hofmann), through the presentation of an apparently polyamorous polycule (headed, of course, by Hynek Čermák...) to the typically simplified reactions to the given situations. Hana Vagnerová plays Hana, who dares to discover her sexuality with mutual agreement, her partner is Petr played by Matyáš Řezníček, who does the same until the moment when his partner confesses that she experienced something new with another man. The vain Petr cannot handle this, but at the same time allows Hana to continue with her experiments. While Hana still invites Petr on further adventures, Petr grows disgusted by Hana and finds a new closed relationship. It couldn't be more cliché. The film's promotion almost promised full-length porn, but Tomasz Wiński only made a typical chauvinistic anecdote.

Certainly, of course, even Xena needed an adaptation of Charles Dickens and offered up his "A Christmas Carol" as A Solstice Carol. In the second season, the concept of solitary episodes still prevailed, so it was not a problem to introduce occasional horror episodes (replacing vampires with maenads), a parody of Indiana Jones, a parody of the Miss Universe pageant, something classic from biblical times (the story of David and Goliath from the 1st Book of Samuel), or conversely, classical antiquity (Homer's Odyssey). And so, a Christmas episode set during Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem also had to be included. Xena and Gabby are classically in a good mood, planning gifts, and doing good deeds... There is also a reference to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in the form of an action figure. The wooden sheep that Gabrielle receives from Xena plays a certain role in the episodes Gabrielle's Hope and Maternal Instincts. The parallel Christmas episode from the series Hercules is A Star to Guide Them.

An Afro-American disco version The Wizard of Oz. It may seem somewhat daring, but considering the enormous phenomenon that the original 14 novels by L. Frank Baum and other subsequent works and adaptations have been since 1900, it's totally fine. Baum's world set a precedent for American children's literature, the main series was published until 1920, and even during the author's lifetime, the first Broadway musicals, film adaptations, radio plays, comics, and short story books were created... After his death, Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote another 21 novels about the Land of Oz. Similar success awaited Dr. Seuss or E. B. White after World War II, but even their now-classic children's books did not surpass the magnitude of The Wizard of Oz. This is how one can view the modern The Wiz as an integral part of a successful series of adaptations that simply respond to the needs of the time and change with it. Schumacher's script is daring, Lumet's direction is creative, and Scarecrow became Michael Jackson's best role in his entire career.

Vorel's trilogy sank into such a film form that it is pointless to come up with any defense for it. It's formally weak, the content unclear, and the screenplay unfinished. Not even the recasting of Linhartová with Šteflová helped at all, as she is not at all as fierce as needed. Out of the City was a dynamic response to the overly technological age. To the Woods found its theme in young love. The Way Home wanted to offer several strong themes and depict the departure of some characters, but instead of a strong statement, only a bitter aftertaste remained. What a shame.

A simple fairytale. Nothing exceptional and nothing fundamentally problematic is to be found here. Among Janák's fairy tales, this one is definitely more acceptable. Similar projects having ambitions to entertain the whole family are long gone, but kids can definitely handle the simple messages, logically following situations, the duo of cunning villains, and the slightly emancipated princess together with the characterful water sprite. Meanwhile, adults can contemplate the meaning of a heavenly gate in today's times.

The most beautiful Christmas stories from the Stone Age. Hanna-Barbera at its best. Fred works at Macyrock's store, which refers to the real Macy's store. It's a follow-up on the Christmas specials:  A Flintstone Christmas (1977), A Flintstone Family Christmas (1993) and A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994).

This thriller from BBC One takes place in the environment of the 62 Committee group, which fought against neo-Nazism in the 60s and 70s, specifically against Colin Jordan's National Socialist Movement party. This is an attractive theme, but unfortunately, it is an adaptation of Jo Bloom's popular novel, and therefore the result is a hesitant miniseries that doesn't know whether it should primarily entertain or appeal to basic moral values. The ending is unfortunately a clumsy parody of anything from CI5 to 007. It's not surprising that there is not much interest in such a mixture.

A major documentary saying goodbye to the legend of the porn industry with Rocco Siffredi. How does the work of a porn actor resonate with Italian Catholicism? Can work and family be separated? Is it possible to find redemption if Rocco chooses a submissive role in the final film of his career? It is good to think about porn in today's world. It has never been possible to ignore porn, but when else to make documentaries than at a time when the boundaries of the mainstream are once again being blurred.