kaylin

A Czech film and noir? That's not quite the connection you think of when talking about this genre. But the film A Step into the Darkness proves that it is possible, even if it is in the classic Czech way, and therefore with humor, which is something I don't really like in noir. But it's not bad and I'm glad I discovered this Czech gem for myself.

A Return to Salem's Lot was not a success and there is no reason to return there. The first film was good and worth watching, but this is not to be taken as a meaningful sequel. The vampires aren't scary, the atmosphere isn't suspenseful, it just drags on, and the main trio is essentially toothless, although they somehow manage to survive surprisingly long. A failed film.

The film builds up and escalates quite well, but after a while, you realize it's been building up for too long. Verbinski probably realized that too, hence he inserts drastic, often really gruesome scenes into the film A Cure for Wellness, which appropriately affect you. Especially those dental scenes are exceptionally well executed and extremely gruesome. And then there are the eels... Good scenes, nice atmosphere, but without really managing to captivate you as much as you might expect. I didn’t like the ending.

Polish cinema, and not just the older films, is still worthwhile. The film The Christening is proof of this. A film about friendship, but also about how life can change us, yet even more about how our past, which never sleeps, catches up with us. Every action has consequences, it's just a matter of when they happen. They cannot be avoided.

It’s got a good theme, but I can't help feeling that I just didn't believe in the characters' destinies. The cuts between the present and the past seemed kind of boring to me, and it would almost have been better if the film had just focused on the past. The aftermath itself isn't particularly interesting. It's like the film wanted to say a lot, but said almost nothing.

I was very surprised by the Poles. They also deal with the specter of the communist and informant past, and they do so in a very successful way in this film. On the one hand, it could have been an American-style thriller, and it almost comes close to that, but in the end, it's still a human story that shows what we are willing to do for our families.

It's Chinese craziness that could have been a pretty good gritty sci-fi, but in reality, it's presented as a loose special effects comedy, with the effects not being anything great, which is a shame because it could have been built on them. The characters aren't very interesting, the jokes aren't good, and overall the film doesn't work.

I confess that it was the film Elle that showed me how interesting of an actress Isabelle Huppert is. The Lacemaker showed me again how great she was back when she was around twenty-four years old. Confident, though seemingly unremarkable, the performance is mature and clearly stands out above her fellow acting colleagues.

It's a pity that films that pretend to be comedies can't bring out the basic thing - a smile on the viewer's face. Amy Schumer definitely has the potential to be funny, but here she doesn't showcase it; truth be told, she just stylizes herself into a character that suits her the most. She's basically a redneck. Goldie proves that she can handle comedy much better than her younger colleagues.

It has a lot of colors, it is very shiny, the humor that is here is very childish and only here and there does something flash that is also intended for adults, but in the end it is just a kitschy joke that tries to expand the film mythology around the Smurfs a bit. However, it doesn't even come close to being a comic.