3DD!3

A rather icky confession of one generation. In his director’s debut, Don Joe speaks to the masses who sit every night by their computers with a pack of tissues. He paints Scarlett as a tough bitch and we are presented in the right (well, still a bit twisted) light. Nice debut piece. Keep up the good work.

A slightly better than normal (slightly) more modern day fairytale. It’s true that you often find yourself bemused by the decisions made by most of the characters here, but I was sincerely intrigued to find out how things were going to pan out. But my dislike of Budař’s acting increases with every movie or series he appears in.

A powerful drama assembled from three interconnected lives. A raw, realistic story and precise directing highlighted by great acting. The movie loses its oomph a little when Ryan Gosling disappears from in front of the camera, but it still has a lot to say. The fourth star is for the great cross-country chases in the first third.

Not completely... but still very promising. Humorous and dark stories from life are sometimes shocking, as some comparisons can be. Von Trier by the way explains the secret of good fly fishing. Maybe it’s due to heavy producer’s cutting, but Nymph()maniac doesn’t (yet) seem like an over the top erotic movie, but a study of female sexuality presented in a fresh and entertaining way. The audience at the movie theater laughed at the right places (situations that are funny if they aren’t happening to you) and jumped in shock several times, but during the nympho scenes, nobody was offended, on the other hand they probably weren’t disappointed, either. The acting can’t be faulted at all. A top-notch cast dominated surprisingly by the young Stacy Martin (who looks exactly like a classmate from college) rather than by Charlotte Gainsbourg, but it’ll probably be the other way round in part two. In the supporting roles, Uma Thurman draws attention with her flawless creation of a perfect wife and Christian Slater in the role of the kind daddy. So far intriguing and it looks like it’s going to get even more so. Zwei Bilder nur ein Rahmen... Ein Körper doch zwei Namen... Zwei Dochte eine Kerze... Zwei Seelen in einem Herzen...

Awesome Redford under the modest and precise direction of J.C. Chandor. An intense ride from start to finish, when even the viewer descends into deep despair, face to face with the bleakness of the situation. The golden adage “things could always be worse" applies here too. Maybe it’s a bit of a shame that the creator didn’t cross the imaginary line, but it’s true that everybody would have left the theater in a really gloomy mood. One of the movies of the year doomed to be trampled (but unrightfully) by the strong competition.

Tasted good. A mountain of gold and a dragon to boot, who wouldn’t like it? The second part of the story unfolds in a more lively and considerably darker tempo. Jackson enjoys his freedom and introduces a new storyline (that he could have easily left out) bringing minor items of news for those who have read the book, too. Comely Tauriel with the face of Evangeline Lilly has one of the most beautiful theme tunes that Shore has ever composed. Bilbo and his gang tumble through one disaster to the next, most impressively the confrontation with the bug, the barrel ride and the final encounter with the lord beneath the mountain. This year, Cumberbatch appears in negative roles (and this is the most powerful of them). I was delighted by Smaug’s dwelling which exceeded my expectations, like the dragon itself. The playful conversation, the action. Only interrupted by Gandalf’s preparations for the finale, but only very slightly. Really effective, accepting that it’s slightly drawn out. The ending provoked disgruntled silence, mumbling and finally “You must be joking!", but honestly they couldn’t have cut it short at a better moment. Next year all it’ll all work out I suspect that episode 3 is going to be a real massacre.

The massacre in Gallipoli with excellent direction by Peter Weir is a perfect example of how old Britain despised its colonies. A classic story through and through about friendship, just enhanced by the environment where it takes place. Sand everywhere, whether in Australia or Africa, gets under your skin. Young Gibson is excellent, as is his mate Mark Lee. The First World War isn’t the subject of many films, especially not the Australians’ part in it, so just for information it’s a must watch.

A pure-blooded genre piece, for the current times untraditionally languid. The casting is great and Darabont’s steady hand can be felt. Let’s see what else the cards reveal... So in the end they maintained the quality, even though nothing had me absolutely gobsmacked. Jon Bernthal is flawless, and the entire acting ensemble was perfectly cast. Knepper is on better form than he has been in a long time, Burns too. In story terms, rather flat, faithful to the old genre with an emphasis on detail (the nail in the window), that only becomes surprising if the viewer accepts the genre game and absolute trueness to a time when you could lie and killing was much easier to keep secret. I wouldn’t mind at all if they served us up another six-episode portion.

So far an excellent series. Interesting environment and time and the casting is first-rate. Cillian Murphy proudly walks the line of the anti-hero and Sam Neill commands respect. I can’t wait for their confrontation... Best series of the year by far. Cillian Murphy is a perfect (positive) swine and he gives the character of Tommy Shelby the right, iconic contours. In terms of story, no complaints, everything is running smoothly, sometimes along familiar, sometimes along altered rails. The charged ending could be a great conclusion or cliffhanger. We’ll see what side the producer’s coin lands on. Season two: The scenes with Tom Hardy are worth playing again and again. His Alfie gives the Blinders a stamp of uniqueness. A great continuation of the already excellent first season which again goes a little further. The whole show has incredible style enhanced by a top-rate soundtrack. I would go as far as to say that you won’t find a better British serial on the box right now. Season three: An incredibly hyped ride, spiced with Russians, a seductive but depraved princess (almost Joker caliber) and great music again. The precisely chosen cast runs at one hundred percent. Amazingly written. Tommy taken down a few pegs. A surprising ending. Season four: Flirting with The Godfather... Italo-Americans arrive to perform their vendetta and Tommy at last has his hands full. Certainly one of the best series, also thanks to the fantastic build-up of tension in the finale. Tom Hardy is awesome. Alfie is certainly the best and least predictable character of the entire series. It really makes you think about blindness. Season five: Steven Knight trumps himself again and again with each new season. This time round, Peaky Blinders flirts with Nazism. The political flavor of this season thickens the atmosphere adding to the brew erratic elements such as the “strong young generation" = junky clever-clogs Michael and junkie idiot Finn. First-rate acting and at the end we are treated to one cameo that I hadn’t imagined in my wildest dreams. The zenith of British drama series. Why not?

I think that people today won’t get this movie. It’s intended to be deep, but it’s terribly superficial. Which results in tense friction between both surfaces. The Counselor demonstrates just how Hollywood Scott’s style is. McCarthy wrote an incredible screenplay that breaks all the rules, unfortunately he didn’t make sure that the director applied the necessary parable to the movie. For something like that, I think someone else would be more suitable, Nicolas Winding Refn seems to me to the best choice. Personally, I like Scott’s style, so I was able to get over this point. The cast that he put together is admirable, but it maybe goes against the type proportions of the actors themselves. Fassbender is unusually nice, the evil that they talk about consists of just greed and snobbery. Pitt is fine, although a bit forced in places. Reiner is completely wrong for Bardem, he doesn’t play the role badly, but he’s simply the wrong type. Penny Cruz should be younger and more crazily in love, but she doesn’t make much of an appearance. And then there’s Cameron Diaz as Malkina. A monstrous, calculating bitch and probably the second most important character. McCarthy has probably never written a stronger female part. And Diaz took it on with flying colors. She’s good at swines, but Angelina would have suited better. And now we come to the biggest problem, which is the age rating. The Counselor hovers cleverly along the edge of the 15 rating, but this makes all the murder and sexual tension too sterile. The scene with the Ferrari is special and well delivered, but it doesn’t have the necessary shock effect that the characters talk about. Any torture in this movie is just talked about. It could be due to the artistic intention, but this takes away the credibility, the chilling edge of the picture. What’s the point of polished dialogs about death and doom if we see almost none of it? The Counselor isn’t a bad movie, it’s just too strange to like.