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Alcarràs (2022)
A deranged family
The movie is one of the most boring pictures I've ever seen. The movie looks like a prologue to itself. For the whole two hours I was just waiting when there will finally be a conflict, some event which will be the beginning of a story, but there was nothing. There isn't even a cohesive story - the director shows how a stubborn Spanish family lives trying to rescue what is meant to die and that's all. The end of movie happened unexpectedly.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said: "That which is ready to fall, shall ye also push!", the family from this movie does exactly the opposite. I don't understand how anyone can sincerely enjoy the movie - there is no an interesting story, there are no bright characters, there is no outstanding acting, and there isn't even a good music.
So, the author really should concentrate much more on a thing which they are trying to convey, instead of wasting resource on such an insipid mess.
La grande bellezza (2013)
A tortuous trick
The movie is very well captured, but not so well written. During the whole film you are watching it with bated breath waiting for something, but the critical moment happens at the very ending. There are many episodes acting as anchor points the transitions between which is not smooth enough. That makes an impression that a lot of material has been cut. Many questions asked by the characters remain unanswered, instead there is a plenty of nonsensical dialogs.
The music is very nice, ranging from classical motives to more modern ones. And in general the movie covers some profound topics concerning culture, religion and human relationship.
In general, the movie is a rare combination of masterfully created separate visual and audio sequences on important questions connected in a slipshod way. So it is worth watching to at least broaden your scope of interest and common knowledge. The movie would be perfect if it was less abstract and more cohesive.
Infinity Pool (2023)
Disgusting madness
This movie looks as an attempt to produce a compelling surreal horror for adults. However, this was rather a miss than a hit. The most similar thing I can recall is pompous 'Gorgeous vortex', released as an appendix to the 'VHS: viral'. The similarity is that, first, both films seem unconventional in the bad sense, and, second, they lack any conceivable idea behind. It is hard to say that close-ups with blurred background make the picture better (if it is not a new smartphone's camera demo), as well as throwing random frames to the user. The problem is that these frames are too random, they don't make a cohesive sequence, like they do, for instance, in 'Neon Demon' or remake of 'Suspiria'.
Nonetheless, there are two features that I noticed to be crafted very well, but not enough to carry the whole product - these are opening and closing credits, which are done in an ingenious way, but still not better than in Gaspar Noe's films.
As a result, watching the movie was rather a waste of time.
Natten har øjne (2022)
Shudders is meeting Netflix
It might be a surprise for the director, but having a Jewish lesbian as your main character does not make a film good automatically, as well as making your main character a person of color. Actually, the movie is extremely tedious. The flow of events looks inconsistent, the major story turns are artificial, and as a result the whole atmosphere is ruined. Concerning the core of the story, it is extremely simplistic and ordinary, though there is indeed an interesting twist in the concluding episode.
The two good qualities of the picture is amazing font applied for title and opening credits and music in the first half of the movie.
Wouldn't go watching it in the cinema nor see it at home.
Empire of Light (2022)
A bleak story of a slutty hag
The movie is extremely boring and naive. There are hardly any surprising turns, most of which exist to barely connect the dots for the story, which is unrolling in a very predictable way. Some episodes, especially in the beginning look unnecessary. The music is awful, the acting is mediocre, the general atmosphere is normal. The main idea of BLM was maybe interesting, novel and important to talk about a few decades ago but now it is so ubiquitous and obvious, that all major filmmakers produce movies about it, why should it also be in the indie segment?
As a result, I wouldnt say that film worth watching, but if you are interested in the problem of xenophobia you may give it a shot.
The Offering (2022)
The most ridiculous horror I've ever seen
There is an expression in Russian "Skazochnyi dolboeb", which means "Fabulous idiot". This expression is used to characterize a person with a highest degree of stupidity. After watching the movie, I assure that this expression concisely describes the main character, which hasn't done a single smart move during the whole movie.
The other characters are bleak and underdeveloped. They appear and get lost in random moments so it's hard to follow the thread of directors idea. The plot itself is quite simple and unpretentious - it doesn't even manage to solve a task of killing some time because everything happens in one location and is very boring.
Screamers are everywhere. Every single moment of silence is literally followed by a screamer. Sometimes the sound becomes too strident so it is pain to watch the movie in headphones.
As a result, this picture is bad as a parody to a horror movie and as a horror movie itself. Its a shame that such horror movies are produced, if I were the director I would consider conceiving something more original and entertaining for the next work.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)
Why don't they just swim to New York
This movie is a caricature of what we enjoyed in the first part of the franchise. The most notable thing is that the plot is extremely fragile - it is holding up only due to crutches and does not follow it's own logic. The most stupid event happens after a few minutes after the beginning, when the viewer is shown that the animals are capable of moving from Africa to Europe, but not able to move from Africa to North America. It doesn't make any sense.
Some of the episodes are completely insane and psychodelic, in others the animals give unconvincing talks, which may seem adequate only to someone who is watching the movie without sound. Furthermore, there are too many of additional characters, which are outlined too poorly. The music is dumb and unmemorable - the authors just borrowed a couple of meager pop-songs.
In conclusion, the picture as a whole is not cohesive - it is falling apart torn by lack of logic and creativity. The plot doesn't have a main idea, is awful to the point of being hard to guess at every episode is it the ending of the film or the beginning. Speaking figuratively, the movie just lacks soul, it is made for profit, not for the viewer.
The Skeleton Key (2005)
It doesn't work if you don't believe
The movie is a near-perfect thriller, because it looks very different from other movies in the same genre. It presents a unique, unpredictable story, the ending of which remains ambiguous until very end, there are not too many characters, and not too few, so it is easy to feel the terrifying atmosphere.
The music is pretty nice, the flashbacks are just brilliant - not too long though absolutely clear, the non-verbal symbols explaining everything, not too hard to decipher. The crew is also very good, the roles are played amazingly.
In general, the picture is one of the best thrillers I've ever seen and it would be good if there were more movies like this in a sense of novelty and atmosphere. There were minor stupid turns, mostly in the beginning, but they are rather insignificant and don't spoil the overall impression.
Shrek Forever After (2010)
Pathetic imitation on the first two movies (the credits prove it)
This part of the franchise is not very different from the previous one, in a negative sense. It doesn't contain any miniscule funny details, serving as an addition to the main story, but instead tries to amuse the watcher with commonplace jokes as the other modern animated movies do. It seems to me that this movie is a mere fanfiction of the first installment, an adequate pastiche of the second, and is supposed to be a replacement for the third.
The first and second parts were good, but the third one drifted too far apart from the initial idea and started to look completely different. It is not anymore a parody of well-known fairy tales, but instead a boring story with fantastic elements. The third film was not very successful, and probably that's why the creators not only ignore it here, but introduce contradictions and plot holes - the main villain looks totally different to himself from the previous movie. No need to say that there are no similarities in appearance of the bounty hunter inc comparison to their own look in the first movie.
Many tv-series don't survive their main heroes marrying and having babies, this time the death has happened with an astonishing speed. The franchise was doomed to failure since the second part, when creators refused to change the flow of the story and continued its' linear development.
As a result, the picture is pretty mediocre, it's a pity that such an amazing story has turned into mess and I don't see any perspectives for it's reborn unless the authors condescend to think a bit when writing a plot and stop stealing ideas from other studios.
1899 (2022)
Brain fog
The creator of Dark has fabricated another piece of cryptic work, which is difficult to understand not only from the point of the story, but from the point of answering the question of the picture advantages in general. I would say that the movie is boring and elongated, it consists of two thirds of the stamps and another third of disorganized wandering we've seen in Dark.
The story is dull and uninspiring. Instead of masterfully weaving the appealing discussion of human thoughts, feelings and knowledge into the plot, the director just throws them into the watcher as it has been in Dark. The music is plain, ordinary and forgettable. The ending is the realization of the most anticipated outcome since the half of the show. The characters are superficial, there is not enough description given to the viewer to empathize them. In general the director is so afraid of giving the watcher any explanations of what is happening so I was sitting and thinking either I am obtuse either the director is moron.
After watching the whole season, I am thinking about what's the point of making such a series which may be framed as a mediocre sci-fi movie? Perhaps because they want to repeat the success of Dark.
Aftersun (2022)
An insipid tale of a summer vacation
This movie depicts is a story of relationship between a lighthearted girl and her weird papa. The most notable aspect is that there seems to be no plot at all. There is no drama, comedy or thriller in most parts of the picture, and the main idea can be expressed in 15 minutes, but not in a full-length damn 1.5 hours. There isn't even any conflict in moments when you are waiting for it (in the second part of the picture, in the first part literally nothing happens, just a cut of random episodes from a standard holiday).
The actors are emotionless, especially the dad, the music is listless, and the concept of found footage style does not give the movie any additional points. The movie aspires to seem smart and philosophical, but it fails. The director want the viewer to be emphatic to the characters, but does not explains anything happening on the screen. It feels like playing dark souls, where you need to scavenge and put together all the bits of information yourself to get the overall picture of the family, and if you are lucky you manage to do this by the end of the movie, which is too late. Overall, there is totally nothing exciting or thought-provoking here, and It is really hard not to fall asleep during watching.
Southbound (2015)
Unsound pseudo-philosophical story
There are not many components of this picture which are good - the visual are pretty nice, but could be better in a few episodes, the bloody scenes are disturbing enough for a horror, the music is adequate and the transitions between segments are pretty smooth and unnoticeable.
Howevr, there is a lot of negative stuff as well. Firstly, the movie seemed too boring for me - there are just too many scenes in which nothings happens relevant to the main idea. The methods for horrific atmosphere création and support are too widespread and overused, so you often can foresee what happens in the following couple of seconds. The picture has a couple of easter eggs, but it relies on them too heavily, and it is hard to notice them during watching. All the segments seem incomplete, which leads to loosing any interest in watching further approximately in the middle of the picture.
As a result, the film is rather weak and superficial for being able to satisfy a person who watches at least a dozen of contemporary horrors.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
Cabinet of cringe
All the stories are predictable, boring and stupid like the most of other Guillermo del Torro's works. The characters are ridiculous and very unrealistic. Their actions are illogical and unexplainable, like in other mediocre horrors. If there is a second of silence, then the next second there will be a screamer, if an entity is trying to catch someone, the victim will make haphazard motions but not trying to escape or kill the opponent.
Allegedly bad VHS anthology is much better than this rubbish. Even the music, and especially soundtrack sucks, the only part which is good is certain visual effects.
Men (2022)
Sick movie creatus est
Getting right to the point, in my opinion the movie's director is a sick bastard and this picture is disgusting. The plot looks like garbage - it doesn't manage to even explain the personalities of the main characters. The visual component is dull and poor - the number of different locations shown in the movie can be counted with fingers of one hand. The music is atrocious - I didn't like neither the main soundtrack neither other music played in the movie. The conclusion feels ambiguous and unfinished, so I didn't caught what the creators wanted to say aside from discrediting themselves.
In general, there are three kinds of movies. The movies of one, perfectly defined genre. The movies, which target to multiple genres, and do it amazingly well (not movies actually, because it is hard to switch multiple genres as fast as movie duration dictates and softly transition focus, but rather computer games and tv series), and there are movies that dissipate their energy on attaining of multiple goals and failing to reach any of them. The 'men' is a perfect example of the last group - it has elements of comedy, but it isn't funny at all, it has elements of drama, but the flow of events is too weak and boring, and there are moments of horror, but the movie in a whole is not frightening nor thrilling.
Talking about horror in particular, I detest with all my heart the contemporary director's love of body horror and their ignorance to other forms of scary movies. It seems to me that suspenseful atmosphere and proper storyline design allows to create immeasurably better pictures than showing ugly views of a bleeding body, which is always the easier way. Unfortunately, this is exactly what the movie makes its cornerstone, and that's where the most hate from me is directed towards.
If you would ask me, why am I so critical and how the movie could be done better, I would argue that, let's take the movie 'Watcher', which recently came out,. In comparison to the 'Men' the movie proposes a viewer not only a larger portion of the positive visual experience due to richer set of memorable situations and locations, but better sense of drama in general. That is because, despite of 'Men' it doesn't stand on the same point the whole story, and there is always the developing of the main characters' state of the mind, which is totally missing in the 'Men'. Let's take another example - the company A24 a few years ago created a 'Midsommar', which shares a lot of features with the 'Men', but which is slightly better because of higher number of vivid episodes and larger number of characters, which smoothed the property of the story to be overextended.
Finally, I would note that almost everything that I said here is clear even from the trailer, but yet I still decided to watch the movie. My decision is based on the highest degree of uncertainty among all the other movies that are demonstrated concurrently and the higher hope for the indie directors to make a movie, the spirit of which could not be understood just from the trailer. Unfortunately, these assumptions were unfounded and the movie failed to be not only a masterpiece, but even a picture of a meager quality. I'm sorry that instead of movies like 'Neon daemon' we get more and more pictures like 'Men', and these pictures are welcome to the international festivals and to the cinema theatres.
Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
Boring mix of feelings
The movie seems extremely slow and uncertain about what it wants to say to the viewer. Is it something about war, or is it something about love, or something about people's lives in post-war cities? The movie fails to concentrate on either of the questions and just seems like a disconnected story of two people suffering from their own preoccupations. The man seems overly intrusive, and the woman just seems to overact and talk nonsense. However, I would notice that in the very beginning there were some important thoughts concerning the war, that should never happen again. And we as humans must remember it.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Overeated picture
Movie seemed to me very boring, banal and predictable. The story unfolds very slowly without any exciting turns. The soundtrack is disgusting. There are better movies created by the director.
Bone Cage (2020)
Slow and boring
Unfortunately after watching this movie it turned out that this is very similar to some other films that I watched recently. The plot is just boring and full of meaningless actions, reason of displaying which is not apparent. The final scene is rather confusing and incomplete, so after the end you are left with some feeling of dissatisfaction.
A Perfect Enemy (2020)
A brilliant story about coping with your demons
This movie is just amazing - it has everything: an original intriguing plot, good actors, mellifluous music, memorizable details and a little bit of fantasy. It even has a nested story which is actually somewhat coupled with the main flow of events. I personally don't know a lot of movies which are similar to this picture, maybe the closest comparison would be the "Nocturnal animals", which, although, has a more dramatic, convoluted and realistic story. Nethertheless I would definitely recommend anybody to find time for watching this masterpiece - it is just so unique and beautiful like surely worth at least a try.
Beast Beast (2020)
A forceful drama about self-expression
This movie depicts an unpredictably developing story of lives of three young people which are looking for their place in the society. Avoiding any spoilers, I would say that plot is definitely not boring, but sometimes contains unnecessary details. The music is nice, but could be better; loud sounds during the movie make watcher either to use headphones in order to not to disturb everyone around either increase and decrease volume few times during the movie. Screenplay is well-done, but not exceptionally perfect.
As a result, overall impression is positive and I consider this picture as a reasonable candidate for watching at least once.
West Michigan (2021)
A brilliant low-costing drama
One of the best movies I have ever watched. This picture proves that displaying a beautiful story in an amazing way does not require a huge budget. Almost everything here is very close to the optimum and I couldn't really name any significant drawbacks. The movie is simple, light, it is watched on one breath and with all that, it makes a viewer to think about very important, eternal topics such as life, death, faith and family. The ending is just perfect, love the concluding dialog.
Definitely recommend watching this movie before any other item in your watchlist.
The Devil All the Time (2020)
Sick movie about sick people
Expected this movie to be more interesting, dynamic and thought-provoking but after watching I would say that this picture is too slow and overcomplicated. What is important is that the structure of movie is not necessary for conveying its idea (because there is almost no idea) and seems inappropriate. The plot is awful. As a whole, the movie is very similar to the "dark" series, but iin comparison to the latter it has much better ending and no elements of science fiction at all.
As a result I wouldn't give that picture a large score and would recommend to spend time on watching something more inspiring.
Hurt by Paradise (2019)
A peculiar drama about love and poetry
Very beautiful movie though it is not as simple as could be - it seems that some scenes are too abstruse whereas some are easily comprehensible. Actors are nice, the music is mellifluous and the main story itself is fine and clear. The plot is splitted into multiple chapters which makes it easier to watch the movie by parts or even to find a point on which to decide to stop watching.
As for me it is an original pretty picture not similar to anything I have seen previously so I would give it a rather high score.
Like a House on Fire (2020)
An amazing story
Love this movie for amazing, unique story, beautiful picture and music, good actors and unpredictable plot. The flow of events doesn't let the watcher to become bored, but it is not too dynamic as well - it just goes with a perfect pace sometimes slowing down when it is required and sometimes going faster for delivering the main idea. What I didn't like in the movie is maybe not sufficient amount of details which doesn't allow to fully understand feelings of the characters.
Definitely would like to recommend this movie and maybe even myself will watch it again somewhen.
Voyage Into the Night (2021)
Unnatural wanders
This movie is extremely unclear - it is full of aimless movement which is very boring to watch (I almost fell asleep few times during the movie, especially in the beginning), full of overwhelming dialogs about nothing. Music is adorable but it is also too much of it, sometimes it is too loud so you can't even hear clearly what actors say because of music. The picture overall is not very beautiful and seems rather common.
As a result I wouldn't recommend watching this movie to anyone, in this case it is reasonable to search for something more engaging.
Topi (2021)
Slow-starting landmine
The first couple of episodes are not extremely satisfying and rather confusing, but the remaining parts are amazing. The strongest components of the show are definitely actors and environment setup. Can't name another product which resembles the story or visual approaches of depicting it. However as for me it is slightly similar to the "Survival game" and "Call-center" captured earlier by the "TNT" channel production group.
Didn't really liked the music, but fortunately is not played much along the series.
The ending is pretty banal and dissatisfying. As for me it could be more explicit, interesting, logical and systemic. A lot of questions remained unanswered and many references as well as eccentric details of plot seem to be hanging without any clear purpose even after the last episode.