Malarkey

For me, Jakub Gierszal is simply a world-class actor. All of a sudden, he took the Polish cinema by storm and now, wherever he appears, he shines. The culmination of his acting activities is the role of the sick Dominik in this film. His role is an ingeniously constructed psychological confession of all those who live in well-off families (but it does not necessarily have to be the case), where the parents do not have time for their children, making them escape to the world of computer. They play online games and live more in the virtual world than in the real one. They just run away from reality to the only place where they feel good. I was surrounded by so many such kids when I was growing up that the fingers of my both hands wouldn’t be enough to count them all. When someone is unstable or not strong enough to fight depression, then the downward spiral is very fast. At first, Dominik looks like a totally spoiled brat who doesn’t know what to do with his life. In the second half of the film, however, he undergoes a perfect transformation into a sick boy whom no one knows how to help. It is a pity that the film is shot in a slightly audience-unfriendly way. It is not anexactly classically narrated drama. In addition, the moments when Dominik is at his computer are very good, but then there scenes from the computer game that were rather distracting. But they are necessary for the film. As a whole, however, I must say that this is a great Polish drama, moreover dealing with a pressing issue and sending a current message.

The series was definitely helped by the Czech touch in the form of Prague locations and Karel Roden. Thanks to this, I found the story much more interesting than it actually is. Without it, it would’ve been just an average, almost academically made British series without a hint of emotion but with a clear vision and some sort of message. However, why would I care about some criminals living in the spirit of McDonaldization? It’s just another proof of who rules the world these days. Some call them freemasons, some just those with money because the people with money have also power. We can call it any way we want, but this series is a clear proof of how our world works. Anyhow, I must say that if nothing else, James Norton convinced me for the second time in a short while about the quality of his acting skills.

This is really something – an American made a movie about another American in Iceland and used the most classic national stereotypes of them all. So the main character is dumb as a rock. Even though he is supposedly an intellectual. On the other hand, the movie delivers quite a flattering portrait of the Icelandic nation, whose love for their country, traditions and local mythology I really dig, so I must say that all in all, those eighty minutes were not spent in vain. Even though it was really wacky in places.

Nice set designs, gorgeous dresses and a great Cate Blanchett unfortunately does not a good movie make. The script is still quite crucial, and if it is not exactly simple in terms of the historical events portrayed, then it is very important to consider to what detail the creators want to go here. And they decided to go into such detail that I was emotionally absolutely detached and the only moment where one of my eyelids moved a little was the ending, where Clive Oven would have made even a statue cry. At the first glance, the viewer may think that the film may not be so bad a period drama, but unfortunately all that glitters is not gold.

I’ll be honest here. This movie was a pleasant surprise. I started to watch it while keeping in mind that I didn’t laugh much at the first instalment, plus the premise itself is bullshit, so I thought it’d be nothing but a way to kill some time before going to bed. However, I was very surprised because the movie turned out to be a great fun. Maybe it’s a proof that you have to be in the right mood for watching comedies with this type of humor. Or that this humor is an acquired taste; it’s hard to tell. In this particular movie, I found the humor exactly to my tastes. It was properly vulgar and nerdy in the right kind of way that makes you laugh your head off if you get the reference. And the Czech dubbing is also very good. So when you take all of this into account, I must say that I haven’t laughed so hard in a while.

I can’t help but think – even though it might be due to the fact that I was a kid then and perceived such movies differently – that Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey about two dogs and a cat who had to cross the Rocky Mountains to get to their family, wasn’t as filled with American patriotism and didn’t attack the audience’s emotions as forcefully as this movie. The story is of course nice, milking your emotions in various ways, and because we live in a digital era, the creators use CGI tricks to make things easier for themselves, which we see quite often in today’s numerous family films revolving around animals. Unfortunately, it makes these movies lose a little of that soul older similar movies used to have. Anyhow, I have to admit that this movie is still nice enough to make most of the audience cry, so it fulfills its purpose.

A nice documentary about a girl who quit her office job and went to New Zealand to get to know a different way of life and meet a couple of locals. On the other hand, let’s be honest here – if there were no dialogues in a similar documentary, New Zealand would easily make do with just the shots of its landscapes, and you would bateyour breath while watching them. Sometimes, I was irked a bit by the naïve approach of the main character, but on the other hand it was rather unique. I enjoyed watching it to the end and the episode I personally like the most was the one about filmmakers. The main character’s enthusiasm for movies was a real balm for my soul. Let’s hope she will have better luck with the kiwi bird next time :).

The Norwegians came up with a new, unusual topic. And they don’t bother to explain much. They just introduce you to the reality where the icy waters of the fjords around Oslo (and actually around the whole world) spit out people from the past, some of them from the Viking era, some of them from the times of the Industrial Revolution. No one knows why and no one really tries to find out the reason because there is no way to do it. But the creators showed some linguistic prowess in brushing up Old Norse, gave some thought what the clash of old and new cultures would do to people and connected all this into a story about two investigators where one is from this world and the other from say, the 10th century. And seeing this contrast in Oslo is really cool. Let’s ignore the fact that what is going on in the series has no logical explanation; the work with language and character psychology is just great. I enjoyed myself and I’m curious whether there will be a second season. The ending of the first series clearly suggests it. Moreover, the premise is so unpredictable that basically anything could happen.

I was a bit afraid of the idea behind this film. The thing that worried me the most was the fear of seeing the same old, overused story that would bring nothing new. However, the film got lucky in respect of its cast. Jiří Langmajer and Anna Polívková are simply fantastic. Anna’s facial expressions were perfect. Her transformation was incredible. Moreover, the script does not skimp on cool lines and everything is decently fast-paced. However, it remains a shallow Czech comedy co-produced by TV Prima. Anyhow, I must acknowledge that as far as commercial TV channels go, Prima is quite good in this type of movies.

As gangster films go, this belongs among the weaker examples. Especially since the movie lacks a more distinctive action and suspense. Even though it is more than obvious than Matthew McConaughey is an actor from a completely different dimension. For the sake of this film, he was able to transform himself into an American red-neck from Detroit with everything it entails. He changed himself in every way possible and took on this role in his own unique way, that is delivering a high quality performance. Everyone else is just tagging along and whenever there is a scene without him, the quality of the movie drops considerably. I was able to watch it till the end, but it’s totally mediocre.