D.Moore

A smart, entertaining, daring, surprising film that, like Nolan's Tenet, is begging for a second viewing, a more thorough examination, and therefore more audience enjoyment. And I'm happy to oblige because Matrix: Ressurections is not a redundant film at all, but more than an amazing conclusion to a great trilogy. On the one hand, it mocks the audience, on the other, it gives them exactly what they want (even if they didn’t know it). Lana Wachowski teamed up again with David Mitchell, who I think is an absolutely brilliant multi-genre writer, to write the screenplay, and the result is such a joy to watch, not just because of the production design, but because of everything that happens in the film. From the cast, apart from the amazing Keanu Reeves (no, he's not playing John Wick, although he looks it, he's just Neo) and Carrie-Anne Moss, I would like to highlight Jessica Henwick.

My favourite example of a source material vs movie adaptation is Jurassic Park. Crichton's book is brilliant; Spielberg's film is brilliant. What do they have in common? Cloned dinosaurs, characters, an island… And that’s about it. If I approached this series like the almost zealous Sapkowski fans here, I would have to send Spielberg to burning hell. But, why would I do that? If the film was stupid, perhaps. But what if it is great? It’s the same with The Witcher, I love the books, the game (the third one) is one of the best I’ve ever played. The original Polish series was a massive event back then, and the first season of this new version won me over more than I’d expected. The second season carries on with that. It may have abandoned that slyly entertaining narrative in several timelines, but that wouldn't have made sense here anyway. What's especially great is how the creators keep capitalising on the first series, revisiting various things that happened in it and went away, and forging a pretty interesting story that – and this is important – still has that Sapkowski in it. It's easy to get upset about the departure from Slavicism, to spit on all the different races that show up, to shake your head at the fact that something is different than it was in the book and to throw a tantrum, but when you get so into it all that you forget to have fun, you pout, you don't give the show a chance, and you feel like the great critics who understand it all; that’s just sad. I don’t know what I would give to be able to watch the third season right now.

Oh boy… I loved the Polish series too, which back then in high school kept us up late week after week to discuss what we'd seen and how different it was from the books. Even then, we scoffed at some of the changes, the effects, Merigold, but we didn't mind because the show was just fun, it had a great atmosphere and Geralt was our hero. This is actually pretty much the same case, except that the new Witcher with the excellent Henry "Mhmmmm!" Cavill entertained me much more. It has a better Merigold, better effects, and is much better told – the clever interweaving of the three timelines felt original and fresh, and I enjoyed it whenever the series subtly reminded me which timeline I was in. The last time I read Sapkowski's books was fifteen years ago or so, but they were so excellent that I still remember a lot from them, and I especially remember their atmosphere, which Netflix, despite its departure from Slavicism, has managed to revive nicely. I probably liked the Striga and Hedgehog episodes the most, but each had something to it. And the music is beautiful!

Objectively, I should probably say that No Way Home is the weakest of the new Spider-Man movies, but subjectively, there are so many great moments that I rate it as I do without even blinking. Spider-fans will be in seventh heaven at times, Jon Watts and Tom Holland have simply done it and concluded the trilogy with the promise of great things to come. Of the non-spoilers, I have to single out Michael Giacchino's music and literally every scene in which Spidey meets Doctor Strange.

An original idea, definitely, yet I watched Fatman with the fear that Mel Gibson would go the way of Nicolas Cage or Bruce Willis and that it wouldn't be rubbish. And it’s not rubbish! First of all, I'm happy that the Nelms brothers didn't write and film the story in the style of Rodriguez's Machete (although that would have been very easy), but went about it in a different way. And so, surprisingly, the multi-genre Fatman has a really interesting and impressive, but hard to describe atmosphere, and waiting for the mandatory action finale certainly didn't bore me.

All the time I was wondering if this solid story with such well-developed main and secondary characters was based on a book, but it’s actually based on a TV series. It’s one of best Netflix movies (and not only of this year). It stands on an interesting story, but also on the utterly brilliant performance of Sandra Bullock. I guess I will have to watch System Crasher some day, because Nora Fingscheidt is a surprisingly good director.

A wonderfully sharp comedy, much better than its modern remake, mainly because Alastair Sim is (unlike Rupert Everett) great in the female role, and because the girls' school is populated not just by precocious, sexy students in short skirts, but mainly by small, shaggy-haired girls with bows and glasses, whose appearance contrasts much better with their behaviour ("Oh dear. I told Bessie to be careful with that nitro-glycerine!"). It's just a pity that the story gets a bit lost in the barrage of all those jokes, and although I was still having fun, I didn't really care how it would end.

Since the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Steven Spielberg has been waiting for his dream to come true and make a musical. And we waited with him, continually reassured by his impeccable sense of the fusion of image and music, that when it happened, it would be something. And finally, here’s West Side Story, And, of course, it is something. A firework of colourful directorial ideas that do not draw attention to themselves and, hand in hand with Bernstein's brilliant music, dance, rejoice, celebrate life and love for two and a half hours. A joy to look at, a joy to listen to. Any changes from the previous film are only for the better in my opinion, as many of the characters are more fleshed out and virtually no slightest plot line goes to waste. The biggest change is the Rita Moreno’s new character, but even she has her place in the plot, and is incredibly vital and sings like an angel at almost 90 years old. Ansel Elgort's acting reminded me immensely of a young Harrison Ford, his Tony is – again thanks to the script – much more interesting than Beymer's, and I think it was a great idea to put so many jokes in the song "Maria", even though it might seem that it doesn't fit. I hope we get to see Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose in future films because they are both adorable. This is certainly not the last time I’m watching West Side Story in the cinema.

It pretends to be a classic detective movie, but – and I have nothing against classic detective movies – fortunately this is something completely different, more interesting, better. Don't find out more, watch it and be surprised. Alastair Sim gives a great performance that underpins the atmosphere of the whole film. P.S: Arthur Young, who plays Mr. Birling, bears an uncanny resemblance to Bohuš Záhorský!

A few days before the premiere of Spielberg's version, I wanted to remind myself of a film I once enjoyed very much. Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it again. After all, Leonard Bernstein's music is still just as brilliant, Sondheim's lyrics are still so entertaining and to the point, the choreography of the dance numbers is amazing and well thought out, the commitment of all the actors/singers/dancers is infectious (yes, Tony is still the least interesting, but that's the fate of this breed of heroes) and Wise's direction, though it feels more theatre and studios than actual film, is still very engaging. But I noticed something I had never noticed before. After each number there is a pause in the film, a quieter moment perfect for a well-deserved applause. I wondered if that was intentional. And it was. Reportedly, people in the cinemas routinely rewarded West Side Story with thunderous applause as if they were in a theatre, and I wonder not only if there will be room for applause in Spielberg's version, but more importantly, if there will be clapping as well. I hope so, so that the contemporary viewer, transported back sixty years, can have that kind of fun. We’ll see.