Malarkey

Sandra Bullock and Zoe Kazan have made this, at times mediocre, film into something that is fun to watch. I remember mostly Sandra’s bare butt plus nice views of Bolivia and La Paz.

I am not really aware of the number of biopics that appear like the usual biopic but simultaneously feature actors from the given background who actually play themselves. It is a strange combination of reality and filmmaking craft, which is possible because the story is still fairly topical. The authors made great casting choices so the film was a pleasure to watch. Florence Pugh was phenomenal in the leading role and her parents played by Lena Heady and Nick Frost were so amazing that their lines should be put in some Bible of catchphrases.

Jiří Strach chose a great psychological theme and together with the quality filmmaking it even overcame the fact that I am not really a fan of Jiřina Bohdalová after her political escapades, which would probably even involve shaking hands with Gustav Husák, if he were still alive. She performed excellently in this film and was complemented by Kryštof Hádek, although I have had higher expectations for his performance than for Bohdalová’s. The cute Kryštof has demonstrated what a great actor he is, and I have to admit that at times he was really scary. I have had a bit of an issue with how he, spoiler alert, in one scene suddenly changed into the good and mature one. Nevertheless, he left a great impression. A nice psychological small-scale film and another proof that this director can make even a TV film into a great experience.

Hats off, it takes guts to shoot a film like this one. While Will Smith is a great choice for this role, this world was so crazy that it took me a while to accept that elves, ogres and god-knows-what exist in our real world. Somehow, for me, the Middle Ages would be a better fit for that than our time. However, I have to pay tribute to the creators. To shoot a film like this and not fall among the B-listed is a real challenge.

I love these films where a character’s life turns upside down after discovering something new, undiscovered until then. Kelly Macdonald as Agnes is a total outsider, destroyed by herfamily life, who does not even want to live and just survives. She suddenly discovers puzzle and her life turns upside down, which is great, as she finally starts to realize that life isn’t just about making sacrifices for someone else. Agnes’s husband was an exemplary American boor. He was not really mean, but he always had his sixpack at hand and with that hisself-centered world views that there is nothing more important than that sixpack. The word redneck doesn’t even begin to cover it. It’s a pity that Agnes did not express emotions just a little bit more. I’ve spent the whole film thinking how happy I am for the turn in her life and that I would obviously award it 5 stars. Towards the end, however, I grew annoyed by her behavior, so we finished on nice 4 stars. A small-scale American film with a strong dramatic story that could happen to anyone of us.

I am sad that screening of a film like Green Horse Rustlers was so limited in the Czech cinemas. Not only in number of cinemas that it showed, but also in the number of screenings. It’s a pity. The theme is interesting and the acting performances of Pavel Liška and Jenovéfa Boková are truly phenomenal. The problem is that the whole thing is just too ordinary and basically from everyday life. The film lacks any stronger plot line and it ends the same way it begins. The ending is more realistic than film-like, which certainly doesn’t hurt. Only it made it into a small Czech film revolving around moldavites instead of a great Czech drama.

What is nice about this film is the fact that the main character is played by Andrew Scott, who seems truly mentally unstable and really relishes his part. It is not usual in drama. But his behavior may not be your cup of tea and while watching you may get mad about it the same way as his daughter does. That is the only thing that might annoy you about this film so much that you may even condemn it. But that would be a pity. Steel Country is a magnificently dark film experience from a classical boor American setting with a nice climax, which convinces you of the film’s qualities in the final scene, which when it comes to drama isone of the best I’ve seen lately.

Who would have guessed that the creators can make a prehistoric story into one of the nicest films about the friendship of a man and a dog. A nice surprise, where the bar is unnecessarily lowered by its beginning, but once a young boy and a wolf enter the stage, then every scene features a beautiful shot and brings you a dose of emotions.

If I was riding on a wave of French humor à la Alain Chabat, I would perhaps appreciate it more. The police station that seemed like a madhouse was the best and I have to admit I’ve had trouble trying not to laugh. But the Taxi series should be about something else. The main character, the bald guy, who even directed this instalment, was quite okay, it was his wingman who was a total loser. Similarly, also the car shots were really bad. It did not have the dynamic of the first instalments. Everything car-related looked extremely cheap. If not for the humor, which was at times unnecessarily toilet and made all characters into a bunch of idiots, which was not also not a good thing and does not really fit in with this series, I would even say it was a total garbage.

Until I saw An Officer and a Gentleman, I thought that Richard Gere is type-cast as a lover who never really showed his acting skills, but enjoyed an enormous amount of erotic scenes, even though you would not think of him as the type. However, after seeing this film I have to say he performed probably the best role in his career. At first glance the film appears as that kind of a mix between romance, comedy and drama, which it actually is. The romance plot did not ruin it, quite the contrary. It’s not as bittersweet as might seem. Even a commander of an infantry regiment appears in the film – the actor Louis Gossett Jr., and I totally understand why he got an Oscar for this part. I wouldn’t think that this actor from the Stargate has such an acting history – hats off. I really enjoyed this film. After all, it has a kind of a male spirit that the films nowadays lack so much.