Stanislaus

Marry My Dead Body is a truly bizarre and unprecedented genre mash-up that has the potential to thrill, entertain and move, but as a whole, it is hampered by a somewhat overlong running time and a few wtf moments like car chases with bad CGI, which are not unusual in Asian cinema. Story-wise, the film more than once evoked Ghost, but driven by the typically excessive Asian acting. The character of Mao (like Patrick Swayze's Sam) had a poignant backstory, and it's a shame that they push the emotions unnecessarily at the end (the ambulance scene was great, however). If the film had been twenty minutes shorter, I would have easily given it a higher rating, still, it's a better three stars for me.

Gyeongseong Creature was my first big encounter with South Korean series production and after watching the first season I can say that it was certainly not the last. Genre-wise, it is a strange blend of romantic drama and war sci-fi with many horror and comedy elements – an unusual combination that may be a stumbling block for many viewers. For eleven hours, we dive into a world of twisted human experimentation, rescue operations, and lots of slow motion shots that managed to thrill, amuse, and move me. The look of the monster is not that good, here the creators could definitely have invested more. But I praise the musical score – well, except for the k-pop episode closers. Overall, the series could certainly be trimmed in a few places, but I still enjoyed it as a whole and looked forward (thanks to the purposeful cliffhangers) to each new episode. The last episode set the stage for the next season and I'm curious to see what direction the creators will take.

Anyone But You could easily be confused with any American romantic comedy, of which there is a plethora in the cinema every year. It's predictable cliché, with some outrageous overacting (the characters of the parents, for example), yet I quite enjoyed this (with its now almost mandatory LGBTQ, multicultural cast) in the cinema, partly due to the humorously parodic winking at Titanic or the sped-up version of Chris Hemsworth from Wish.

Another little short from the Minions universe will neither offend nor amaze. Vector's annoying arrogance and incompetence didn't quite work for me, while the yellow banana lovers were reliable in the field of humour – even if they are recycling of something we’ve seen before.

At its core, Migration doesn't tell a particularly original story - themes like the importance of family and the lessons of wandering are central - and relies on largely prototypical characters. Despite this, I really enjoyed watching it, and this was mainly due to the humour, which has the potential to appeal to both younger and older audiences. Apart from the central line with the duck family, I enjoyed the inclusion of smaller episodes in the form of encounters with other members of the bird kingdom – I had a royal laugh during the scene with the gerontosaur herons. The main villain was, er, odd, but I definitely appreciated that she didn't talk. A low-key, sweet and humorous surprise!

The Last Aristocrat 2 impressed me in much the same way as the five-years-older first film: it's a fun comedy, in which I was again more entertained by the trio of sidekicks than the main trio, and the newcomer Simona Lewandowska also had a certain humorous charm – perhaps elementary, but functional nonetheless. I really liked the wedding line – whether it was the preparation of the vows or Mrs Ticha's touching story about Helena.

Dream Scenario benefits mainly from the novel premise and the performance of Nicolas Cage, whose character, Paul, becomes the target of both unprecedented admiration and cruel hatred, with both completely contradictory emotional levels based not on the real world, but on the dream world – which makes the ending of the film all the more absurd. Kristoffer Borgli plays with the theme of cancel culture in an unconventional way, and by incorporating dream sequences, his satire takes on fantasy, even horror, dimensions. There are a few humorous sequences, but the feelings with the film as a whole are rather chilling. A truly unconventional piece that, despite the somewhat questionable ending, makes you think.

I was quite curious about Anatomy of a Fall due to the positive reviews and its success at all kinds of festivals, and after watching it I can agree that it is definitely a noteworthy film. It skillfully mixes relationship and courtroom drama and thanks to the suspenseful story, in which the pieces of the puzzle are gradually and efficiently put together, it manages to keep the viewer extremely interested for almost the entire duration. Anatomy of a Fall is first and foremost an acting tour-de-force by Sandra Hüller, whose character is incredibly plastic, you don’t really doesn't know which "judgement" (guilty or innocent) to lean towards for most of the time. Among the other performances, the young Daniel and the slick Antoine Reinartz also deserve praise. I would criticise the film for its somewhat tedious conclusion and also the form of the decisive testimony in the case – I guess I was expecting "something more". But if you look at it from a certain point of view, the film can seem ambiguous and open at the end, which can certainly be assessed positively. Either way, Anatomy of a Fall is definitely worth a watch. P. S. (Spoiler alert!) Poor dog!

Dan Levy decided to sit in the director's chair for the first time and make a film about (his?) life. The film exudes a certain creative ambition as well as directorial inexperience: it's clear what Levy wanted to say, and some of the scenes were quite good (I enjoyed the line with Arnaud Valois), but I still felt that it skimmed the surface with its message and premise rather than going deeper – to the core – which is what one would expect from a film with a similar subject matter. As a result, Good Grief is not downright boring, but it doesn't resonate in the mind for long after the screening.

This takes us on a tour into the world of Godzilla and co. It has a good start and an even better finish with an open door for a second season, but the whole project is brought down by five or six middle episodes that could have easily been merged into one or two without the series suffering story-wise. The quality of the Godzilla films of recent years is not dizzying, but they do have a lot of action despite the clichéd splash. The same can not be said for some of the episodes of Legacy of Monsters, which feature too much talking and aimless flying back and forth without any significant advancement or enrichment of the plot and the world of the titans. I liked the time-jumping line and it's a shame it didn't kick in until almost at the end of the series. Personally, I didn’t like the casting of some of the characters, but that's my subjective problem – though it quite spoiled my impression. However, despite the negatives, I am curious to see what direction the creators decide to go in next – if the project gets the green light.