Stanislaus

Mogul Mowgli is an acting tour de force by Riz Ahmed, who apart from rapping also handles dramatic film roles. The film deals with several themes – family relationships, finding one’s roots and coming to terms with one’s past, confronting health issues – which it mostly succeeds in doing. The story is purposefully interspersed with dream sequences that keep the viewer from knowing what is real and what is not, what is a memory and what is merely a figment of the imagination. The Zed-father storyline caught my attention the most because it had the strongest and most emotional charge.

Luxor captivates at first glance with its theme: the relationship of two people who meet after many years and who are connected by a romantic episode from the past is nothing new under the sun in terms of scriptwriting, but in this case it’s highlighted by the mystical setting of Luxor in Egypt and the many metaphorical allusions to the relationship between Hana and the Sultan. But I still think it lacked some stronger messages that would have made me reflect more on the story I saw and left a deeper mark on me.

It may sound a bit embarrassing, but this German version of Lassie is my first ever encounter with the most famous collie on the big screen. I didn't have high expectations for the film as such, but I like dog movies, so I decided to go see Lassie in the cinema. Story-wise, the film reminded me a lot of last year's A Dog's Way Home, which was actually a bit better and had stronger plot twists. I had a pretty major problem with the child characters, who were terribly annoying for most of the running time, and since they were at the forefront of the story, they were quite distracting. On the other hand, I'd like to mention the likeable Jana Pallaske and the villain Christoph Letkowski, who impressed me the most out of the cast. I found the over-sensitive butler more embarrassing than funny. But I mustn't forget the very main character, Lassie, who together with more than one nice shot of the German countryside was the brightest point of the film. Better two stars!

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a feature film about the most famous music competition in the world, and it's basically a very dumb comedy with the typically over-the-top Will Ferrell and the endearingly goofy Rachel McAdams, but it does have some noteworthy scenes and moments that are both casually entertaining and pleasantly surprising. The basic structure of the story couldn’t be any more cliched, but it's spiced up by the Eurovision setting and the beautiful landscape of Iceland. The running time could have been a little shorter and some scenes could have been cut, but I was really glad for the cameos from previous Eurovision winners, the line with the elves and Demi Lovato. Besides that, the film takes a humorous shot at European countries, like the "zero" incidence of the 4%-people in Russia, the hatred of Europeans towards Americans, and the mention of the Eastern Bloc. The musical numbers were good and the audience could actually enjoy Eurovision at least in a sense, since it was cancelled this year.

Artemis Fowl reminded me in many ways of Arthur and the Invisibles, which was qualitatively a little better. Kennet Branagh's latest film offers a few interesting plot moments (the time capsule), but the rather bizarre scenes predominate, all wrapped up in an unpleasantly chaotic script. I found the protagonist exceedingly unlikeable (I'm not a fan of too-clever kids who like to show off), while the villain lacked charisma (and space, for that matter). The other characters didn't interest me in any way either. The two exceptions were Mulch Diggums, who was hilariously weird, and Commander Root, although I found the casting of Judi Dench a bit off. In the end, it's a very odd piece that at times lacks any sense and feels terribly stilted. A weaker two stars!

The Coma could be seen of as the Russian version of Inception with a smaller budget and a weaker story, but it is still a noteworthy film with some interesting ideas and a few audiovisually captivating scenes. I liked the visuals of the reapers, the look of the comatose world, and the rules in general. The film has a somewhat slower start, which changes about halfway through, after which the plot goes full speed. All the time the film has been hovering over the seemingly old-fashioned, but still rewarding question: What would we be willing to sacrifice for a perfect world in which practically anything is possible? In the end, a pleasant surprise from a Russian production.

Invasion is in many ways qualitatively comparable to its predecessor. After the open ending of the first one, I was quite curious to see what direction they would take and I must say that they managed to serve up an audiovisual spectacle that could stand comparison with some Hollywood pieces. If you don’t know the first film, you will definitely not enjoy the sequel and the plot will probably seem very confusing – I saw Attraction last year, so I was in the know. I found the sequel to be more action-packed and spectacular, while the romantic-humor line was quite neglected, which was perhaps a bit of a shame. Alongside the thematically popular invasion from outer space, the film makes a sharp reference to the power of electronic media and the age-old battle between reason (advanced technology) and emotion (humans). I would again criticise the longer running time, which could have been easily twenty minutes shorter, but I was still mostly entertained throughout. A weaker three stars!

How do you punish someone for making a homophobic remark on live TV? Hand him the position of coach of the gayest team ever to play water polo in France! The Shiny Shrimp should drama and road movie in the genre column along with comedy, as it offers several serious lines along with plenty of humorous scenes, and at times it reminded me a bit of the Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert with its road-trip-character. It's definitely a very crazy ride full of colour, singing and water polo, but without forgetting the importance of friendship, family and the ever-present impermanence of life.

I only saw the original Perfect Strangers only a couple of months ago, so you could say it was perhaps too early for me to go to the cinema to watch one of the other remakes, but I was curious to see how the Germans handled the story. I was also tempted by the great cast, as almost half of the actors (+ director) are from my very favourite Goethe Institute. The German version is eighty percent faithful to the Italian original, so I was quite pleasantly surprised by the slight deviations. However, while Perfect Strangers has a rather chilling ending, The Perfect Secret offers a somewhat more positive denouement, though it doesn't prick the moral conscience as much, on the other hand, I praise the screenwriting variation. The German version is overall more light-hearted, but there’s still that one disturbing question that pops into your mind several times during the film: How much do we really want to know about our friends? A weaker four stars!

Love, Simon certainly had its flaws, but it was still a nice easy-going film, which despite its serious lines radiated an incredibly positive atmosphere. That's why I was curious to see a series version with a similar theme. I've noticed that the older I get, the more distant movies and TV shows from a high school setting feel to me, so I have to look at such pieces with a bit of perspective – at least in terms of behavior and character development. That was just a little interjection to start with. Love, Victor takes the basic skeleton from its cinematic predecessor, but deals with more problematic themes than just self-awareness during adolescence. It deals with marital problems, first crushes and the sobering-ups that come with them, and family and friendship relationships, which are both fragile and rock-solid. But as I said, it's better to look at some of the storylines through the eyes of teenagers. I liked the smooth connection to the original film and the associated smaller roles of the actors from Love, Simon. As is often the case with high school movies and TV shows, the creators went a bit wrong with a couple of the actors, and I don't mean the acting, but the 25+ looks. But watever! The conclusion of the last episode offered a pretty major cliffhanger, so I'm curious to see if we'll see a continuation of (not only) Victor's story – unless the series falls flat with viewers. For me, in the end, a weak four stars! The second season was qualitatively on a similar level in terms of the issues dealt with and the (at times slightly ham-fisted) development and behaviour of the characters, and alongside Victor's storyline I would particularly highlight the one with Felix and his sick mother. The newcomer Rahim is likeable, and it was nice to see a smaller role for "Simon" Josh Duhamel. In the end, the creators managed to get me decently tense again.