Pethushka

This is the most beautiful of all beauty, no one could ever possibly get tired of it. It's good to be reminded of what a beautiful planet we live on while we deal with the joys and worries of our everyday world. Fascinating shots, lovely music, and David Attenborough's charismatic voice. His concerns for planet Earth are not at the very forefront of this series, but he does of course mention them. And I think that's only fitting.

Lately, my reviews have been even less in line with others than usual, so I'm not surprised that my satisfaction with the film will be more of an exception in this case. While I don't seek out this kind of subject matter, and indeed I wasn't too keen on watching it, my curiosity got the better of me. And I have to say, compared to what I expected, it wasn't that awkward or unnatural. It's quite open-minded and actually quite bold for a Korean. While the setting of superiority and inferiority is a favorite in Korean culture, this is just different. At the very least, I'm glad that nowadays a famous Korean actress can confidently take a role like this without being widely condemned and even driven to suicide afterwards. It’s not completely smooth, but still... 5 stars

I have reservations about the story, it also didn't have to go on so long, and there could have been more logic to the characters’ actions. And yet a whole day has passed since I saw it, and for me the nice feeling I had after watching it has settled into an even nicer one, the theme song is ringing in my head, I keep replaying some of the scenes over and over again, and I'm actually realizing that seeing anime in the cinema is priceless in its own way. That's why, in the end, I'm bumping my rating up to four stars.

After the first movie, things went from ten to five with Fantastic Beasts. The second one was a real letdown for me, which I had just gotten over. The magic of Hogwarts has worn off, I got lost again for quite some time in the confusing and less than imaginative story of a group of unmatched characters. It was a completely unfortunate role for Mads. It's very nice that they cast him, but how about writing a role for him so he can actually act in it? So the lightest scene in the film for me remains Eddie's dance with the crabs and animals.

There's no question that The Worst Person in the World has cinematic value. At certain parts, I even felt like I was watching something so amazing that I wasn’t even sure I could fully grasp it in the moment. The deft use of music, sound, and silence was just perfect. So was the cinematography and the visuals of the film. Some of the conversations, the moments – my God – are so incredibly good and pleasantly uninhibited. The choice of actors fantastically complements the visuals I mentioned. And yet there were so many times I was wishing it was over already. I wish the chapters had gone by faster, and that they would never lose their original freshness. So they wouldn't sink into suffocation. I was literally craving even the smallest joke so I could drop the weight from my shoulders for a bit. A film in which I can see fragments of genius, but also feel an almost torturous lack of comprehension.

For this film I can understand and perhaps even agree with any rating of any kind, because I went through maybe the entire scale while watching it. There's not enough humor, but what is there is great. There's a lot of atmosphere, it's weird and dense, but I enjoyed being in it. The story doesn't quite make sense and it's crazy, but that's how art is sometimes. So yeah, check it out, it's a treat.

How else can I rate the enchanting Táňa, the charismatic Hofmann, and one of my favorite screenplays? Fine, I was a little worried and silently praying it wouldn't be a total bust, but that turned out to be unnecessary. The Czech version sticks to the original, and in my opinion it only made it better. Compared to adaptations from other countries, we are in the better half. Just to put in my two cents, I would have given a bit more focus to the food served, since it nicely shows the differences between the different countries, but that's just a small detail.

So this is how it feels... My TV crisis seems to have had a breakthrough thanks to Beauty Inside. And I'm really glad for that, because I was missing that feeling where you just have to finish watching something, even if you sorely need sleep or have things to do the next morning. I honestly don't remember much of the film, even though I saw it as part of a festival, and I know I enjoyed it a lot at the time. I guess it made it that much better since I didn’t have to draw comparisons. There were many things about the series that I was happy with, from the well-written script to the great cameos to the extraordinary soundtrack. Min-ki Lee has always been good, but I was still a bit thrown by how mature he’s gotten. For me Hyeon-jin Seo will always be Oh Hae Young, but I have to say that she brought a charisma I hadn’t seen before and I noticed a great shift in her as well. She's fantastic at playing a strong woman who doesn't let herself get swept away. The second couple moved me at times perhaps even more than the first. Likewise the life struggles and loneliness of Da-hee Lee and her relationship with her brother. She brought me to tears at one point right at the beginning of the film during a rather non-exploitative scene, so I'll definitely remember her performance. And I'm reconsidering my dislike for Jae-hyeon Ahn after this performance. Although there were several subplots, I still don’t consider this a show that asks too much of the viewer and instead gives you what you want. That may be an advantage, or vice versa... I’m wrestling with that, but I'll still give it 5 stars.

When it comes to Oriol Paulo, I don't know why, but I still can’t shake the feeling that he can get predictable after you’ve seen a few of his films. I guess I'm just selling him short, because while his work has very distinct handwriting and his style is always the same, I have yet to skip through anything he’s done. On the contrary, he always knocks me on my ass and forces me to talk about his films and recommend them to my friends. The Body is no exception.

After quite some time I started getting the urge to watch some fantasy, and I'm glad that in the process of satisfying it I came across this particular film, which I've had saved here for ages. It has almost everything a viewer could want. Aside from the story being suspenseful and not lacking in action, it also knows how to move you and make you laugh (more than even I would have expected). I also thought the editing was exceptional and they did a great job interweaving two stories taking place at the same time in two places. I enjoyed it so much I plan to see the next installment.