Isherwood

A story from life. Except for the fact that my "angels" don't wear stylish hats. Plus there’s the excellent Damon, the great Blunt, a good soundtrack, and on top of that the visual fetish of Manhattan. Maybe in time, it will fade, but now it hit harder than anything else in the last year or so. [Spoiler possibility: I'll have to read Dick’s book, if only for the fact that I’m interested to see if the same wave of positive feelings spills over at the end as with the movie. :)]

Without the need to vomit out a commentary full of either glorification or dirt after the first episode, I watched this third season of Rome in peace and quiet. True, the sunny amphitheaters have been replaced by the cool atmosphere of massive castles, but the characters remain. The beautifully ambiguous, non-black and white, well-detailed, and superbly acted characters, once again reinforce the belief that even when guns are blazing in a series (film), there may not necessarily be a battle because there are always enough grey eminences, schemers, and related coincidences that can shift the plot in a different way than we expect. If there is anything not worth praising, it is the direction of the last two episodes because the first one lacks proper gradation and the final one lacks a stronger epilogue resonance. When it's no longer in fashion at the library to take out Martin's books and there’s no queue for them at the bookstore, I'll drop by. I’m really intrigued by this world. [PS: My personal sympathies go out to Ser Jorah and Arya Stark, and now that list also includes Tyrion Lannister since the beginning of the second season.]

I can follow up on the end of my comment for Legion, where I said that the director should throw away the Bible and the special effects software because he’s not very good at either. Priest just adds to that because I haven't seen such misery, which layers desperately unimaginative action scenes (the most annoying series of slow-motion sequences of the year!) into a horribly illogical and uninteresting whole, since... well, since Legion. I feel a bit sorry for Paul Bettany, who goes all in, this time joined by Karl Urban. Yet the rest of the film simply ruins things, which beats even the last drop of the audience’s effort to watch it as a completely dumbed-down post-apocalyptic B-movie with vampires. Pushing such "shit" in theatres in 3D is bold - asking for admission is audacious.

From 24 hours to 60 minutes. A hastily put-together "side story" about a hitman who, after decades, wanders into the church of an aging priest to engage in a philosophical debate on crime, punishment, guilt, and repentance. In the confession area, Kiefer's voice from the phone booth materializes into the form of Jack Bauer, who occasionally cuts a flashback to the uncompromising action. The format of six-minute segments suits it surprisingly well, and it has an unrelenting momentum and several surprising moments. A juicy snack.

Phenomenal! Vaughn brings the series back to where it originally started. As a comic book movie that uses its brain where others flex their muscles, it doesn't for a moment compromise on the audience-appealing spectacle, which doesn't lack wit, exaggeration, and... action. It is mature in its acting, plot, and direction, with no dead spots or lapses in pace. I’ll have more to say (hopefully) after the second viewing. Now I am just reveling in the memories of a film that was satisfying in every way. PS: There is nothing for me to add the second time either. Except that Fassbender rules like nobody’s business. Perfect in every detail.

Unknown doesn't come up with groundbreaking or new. By unraveling the puzzle surrounding the main character's identity(ies), it additionally brings back into play one recent fashion wave, BUT... Jaume Collet-Serra proves once again, after the brilliant Orphan, that his first film was a necessary evil for its time in order for him to enter Hollywood, and only now can he show what all is brewing within him. I won't lament the plot, which again follows a template that has been seem many times. Serra has a way with actors that is absolutely perfect, and his baby works especially when he’s playing the paranoia card. The ending, however, offers something that has not failed to amaze me of late. That something is the current acting position of Liam Neeson, who, on the verge of sixty, has switched to the role of uncompromising action hero who hides under the guise of civilian ordinariness, only to shoot accurately and deliver a hard hits at the right moment. His ruthless charisma permeates the entire film and makes you forget that it doesn't fit the logic in places. PS: The extremely kind Arab sheik and a former Stasti member as positive characters? :)

This extraordinary TV miniseries, charting the CIA's biggest blunders during the Cold War, is surprising firstly in that it was not made by HBO. A superbly woven mosaic of real events with fictional characters seems as if it had come from the pen of the master of political thrillers, Frederick Forsyth. TNT spared no expense on the production design, and skilled TV craftsman Mikael Salomon proves that he has this stuff down pat. The first episode is more of a taster, but the second episode manages to show two messed up anti-Bolshevik revolutions (Hungary, Cuba). The final episode doesn't deal with anything groundbreaking, but it does give way to the most interesting character of the entire series, who is Michael Keaton's "Mother." With a perpetual cigarette, notes plastered on the office wall, and slow diction, Mother will literally charm you. Only the character of the cheerful American agent (played by the wooden O’Donnell) is beyond my ability to stomach. 4 ½.

This is the most honest bit of action in the last couple of seasons. After the demolitions of the digital Englishmen, the real stunt cars began to be destroyed at such a pace that Hollywood insurance people must have jumped out of their skin when they finally saw it. Lin manned up like few before him and fueled the tried-and-true blend of all the previous films, topping it off with the necessary octane by casting The Rock. Luke Hobbs, an overgrown, muscular beast, is brought in by an army transport special, and all hell breaks loose in a way that we would have looked for in vain in films that were originally about tuning, lots of nitro, and asses in tight shorts. Catchphrases can be heard all the time, there are some great action inserts, and then there is the fight we’ve wanted since Sylvester Stallone was rolled up by Steve Austin. The Diesel vs. Johnson fight is a physical bulldozer that breaks tables, knocks down walls, and still manages to exude that manly anger that such duels often lack. It all culminates in an action-packed ride through Rio de Janeiro that will have you running around like you did a year and a half ago in "Modern Warfare 2." An overflowing genre box. A regular aspirant for the Top 5 blockbusters of the year and a compliment to Lin. The Terminator idea suddenly looks very promising.

Haters gonna hate, although in terms of this film, I find the amount of hateful flame quite misguided. Regarding the combination of a war film with an alien invasion, I can think of half a dozen directors who could distill this into the ultimate genre crossover, and yet I still find relative satisfaction with this film. Liebesman drains the budget in the right direction, i.e., with great special effects and the impressive set design of the "American Mogadishu." Unfortunately, he doesn't have enough talent to function in more than just the field of quality craft. In the deluge of pathos, I searched in vain for stronger characters to give it more personal moments, to lighten it up with the occasional catchphrase, and if they did shout, to do so in grandiose style. Liebesman is just skimming the surface of all this but no one is fully into it. Instead, he lets the unit proceed according to the laws of video games until the final fireworks display, preceded by resisting an onslaught for three minutes. Who cares that it’s not logical? I’m giving it a better 3 stars, but after it's pulled from the movie theaters, no one is going to remember it.

Upon entering the movie theater, my Xbox controller was snatched from me and Snyder ended up playing instead. I did actually enjoy just watching it. This is a film I've (unconsciously) wanted since I was a kid. I’m going to install "Painkiller"...