Goldbeater

Despite current Czech cinema failing miserably at catching up with European standards, a piece of work happens to stand out once in a while, with at least its own face and something to say. And Droneman is exactly one of them. The movie steps out on a risky slope (that is, anywhere but the mainstream) with Kryštof Hádek in a classic “out there” role and Jiří Mádl who has an amusing lisp, and features a bit of everything—be it social satire, quirky comedy or political thriller. How could I not let myself enjoy such a colourful combination of genres in our dull landscape? And what about you? [LFŠ 2020]

A bizarre satire. It might be seen as warlike, but it's not about war. In fact, I have to admit the only part I was really into was the middle third where I liked all the military irony going on, but the family aspect of the story was not my cup of tea. Besides, when the action follows a closed cycle, it becomes clear in advance for the viewer. All in all, it’s still a high quality effort to which I can’t reproach anything, except that I would have preferred to see more funky incidents from a nihilistic Israeli squad rather than this hyperdramatic story of a poor family locked in a flat, which is somewhat excessive. [LFŠ 2020]

A generally tolerable horror flick with some interesting visual ideas and, most of all, relatively sympathetic central characters (which similar movies often don’t have). It borrows various elements from Fright Night, Evil Dead and Disturbia, except The Wretched does not specify the powers and limitations of the witch, so that new things happen more or less all the time, as if the screenwriters had thrown in anything that came handy. For a while, I wondered if the story twist in the last third of the film made any sense. But I then concluded that it simply doesn’t matter, because the twist is completely irrelevant and futile, doesn’t take the movie anywhere nor does it redistribute the cards—it only creates that instant WTF effect, which dissolves as quick as it came. With a cohesive concept, it could have been very decent.

An opportunistic exploitation that consciously pretends to be a serious documentary. Although several interesting and burning topics of reflection are provided by The White World According to Daliborek, any message is undermined by its choice of creative approach which turns the movie into a made-up joke—a non-funny joke. It lies somewhere in between Cops and Wife Swap, so for me, watching this movie was a real torture. As for the fabricated ending, in which the director heroically throws himself into a self-staged clash, we’ve reached a new low in terms of creativity.

A monumental and epic piece of work which still massively impresses visually today, its technical quality being long decades ahead. A movie of which you wouldn’t have guessed the birth date. Four hours embellished with filmic splendour to the point one wouldn’t reasonably want to miss any minute of it. A genuine old Hollywood with everything this label can evoke!

Now, at least, I know where British Airways’ lost luggage end up! An eccentric British family, based in the outskirts of Heathrow, somehow became expert at owning everything—no matter if it means stealing luggage and home appliances or bluntly kidnapping airport visitors and employees alike. Although Mum & Dad don’t really add anything new to what has been previously seen in movies of that genre, there’s at least this central character, so that one honestly wishes that she succeeds in escaping the infernal house.

An average and forgettable slasher film set in a school campus. Most of the time, the story is about the daily hardships of unpleasant high school students (including a prank that goes too far without any consequence, where its authors would normally go straight to prison) and lasts a while before the killer finally starts to put the students out of their misery—but even then, the show is, to say the least, not very exciting. On top of it, the dull perpetrator, who looks like an ordinary unmasked bloke, kills for a reason that we can’t really get and is not exactly entertaining.

This movie is so stressful that you might well get a gastric ulcer, just from watching it.

As a boy, this movie was one of my favourites, but with the years passing, I basically remembered the armchair scene and nothing more. When, a couple of days ago and after about 15 years, I watched that movie again, I couldn’t help but noticing how strange that movie was at its core and how I was still surprisingly enjoying it, even after all those years. At the time of its release and still holding today, critics about George Lucas’ money-pit fiasco have ranked the movie as one of the worse in History—unfairly so, if you ask me. Granted, this thing is an incredible oddity, which contains a series of really crazy ideas and a whole bunch of dry humour, but on the other hand, it’s such a pleasant vintage adventure that it is impossible to get bored. I like the idea that Howard the Duck was ahead of its time and failed due to that reason; today, when successful comics-inspired blockbusters need to feature a talking racoon and a piece of wood, such a mad story would be refreshing. In my view, however, Howard the Duck still best fits the mid-eighties, mixing its atmosphere with a hint of neo-noir, which is remarkably accentuated by John Barry’s majestic music and the very catchy rock soundtrack (sung for the main part by the leading actress Lea Thompson). In contrast with most of today’s comics-based movies, which fail to satisfy me (including those from Marvel), I’ll be happy to watch this picture anytime soon. Howard the Duck will likely stay one of my little guilty pleasures that I’ll gladly stand for.

After Stir of Echoes, David Koepp and Kevin Bacon are back on the field of horror, however with a somewhat less brilliant collaboration this time. The first half of the movie works very well, the characters are introduced in a subtle manner, the actors perform well and the interaction between the main character and the strange phenomena in the house, as well as with the people who come his way, is quite entertaining. The technical side is also satisfying, but the scenario starts to jolt strongly in the second half, leading to a classic flat ending that won’t surprise anyone. The level is held above average thanks to Kevin Bacon, to whom David Koepp should have provided more substantial material to work with.