Dark Phoenix

Back in the early 2000's we didn't really have many good CBMs. We had stuff like Daredevil and Fantastic Four, and we never dreamed that the genre will be truly successful one day. But there were also the X-Men movies, the first two parts of which, along with Sam Raimi's Spiderman, proved that CBMs can be genuinely thrilling action adventure flicks. The franchise then evolved, delivering few stinkers in the process and changing its cast. Then in 2017, triumphantly, came the best entry in the X-Men franchise and entire comic book movie genre -  the masterful Logan. They should have just quit while they were ahead. But as always is the case with 20th Century Fox, they didn't.

Dunkirk

(spoilers!)

Every Christopher Nolan's movie is an event. In the world were practically every big, spectacular movie out there is a part of a franchise, Nolan is one of the few who still manages to do something unique. And while Dunkirk is yet another huge movie event that surprises, it surprises in more than one way. Nolan often works with complex stories and world building- the magnificent magic tricks he pulls on the audience throughout The Prestige with the film's multiple twists and misdirections, the complex way to unlock the film's mystery rooted in the infliction of protagonist of Memento, the layered world of dreams in Inception - here the story is simple. Soldiers are in need of rescue. Other soldiers and ordinary people are trying to help them. Meanwhile the enemy is trying to kill them all.

Dolores Claiborne

The story goes that when Stephen King came to visit the set of Misery he was so impressed with Kathy Bates that he wrote the character of Dolores just for her. The book was quickly adapted into a wonderful film, with Bates in a lead role, the film that is sadly very underrated and didn't get the acclaim it deserves. Unlike most of King's work, Dolores Claiborne is not a horror film dealing with supernatural. However, the themes featured in the film - of domestic violence, abuse, growing old and dying are universally horrific.

Dark Places

Gillian Flynn's books are a dream material for movie makers. At least they should be, but for some reason the hype and the fame in Hollywood that accompanied Flynn when Gone Girl was released last year appears to be something  that sparkled too much, very briefly and intensely, and died. She is reportedly doing HBO series with Fincher, but what of her other books? The most cinematic one, called Sharp Objects was rumored to be in the works to become a TV series but there are no news, there isn't even one casting tidbit.  And what about Dark Places?

Dallas Buyers Club

There's been a lot of movies about survival in 2013. In All is Lost Robert Redford was trying to survive on an open sea. In Captain Phillips Tom Hanks was abducted by Somali pirates, who were hoping for ransom. In Gravity Sandra Bullock was floating in space and desperately looking for ways to return to Earth. In 12 Years a Slave Solomon Northup had to endure the terrors of slavery in order to stay alive. Nature, greed, space, hatred. All as relentless and vicious as a disease. But at this time - 1985, in this place - Dallas - this disease was also something those four things weren't - unbeatable.

Don Jon

I like Joseph Godon-Levitt. I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a fan of his, but he is a talented guy and he seems to be a likable, cool person. He has given us a lot of good performances in many great films - just recently in  Looper, The Dark Knight Rises and 50/50. And now he is trying his efforts in a new endeavor - writing and directing.

The Dark Knight Rises

94/100 (2012, 164 min)
Plot: Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (screenplay)
Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman

There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne.

If you told me a week ago that I will give The Dark Knight Rises Christopher Nolan's follow up to The Dark Knight, the movie I like but I consider to be incredibly flawed, 10 /10 I'd laugh. And if you added it will turn out to be better than Prometheus I'll probably cut off my own arm because that would make more sense to me than this statement becoming the reality.Well, fetch me the machete.

I love stories about Batman not just because he is pretty messed up hero, with all his issues and the obvious ramifications that hide behind the fact he dresses as a bat, but also because they are really entertaining - I never watch animated series on TV, but I watched Batman every time it was on. Not only did most of those stories had really cool, noir vibe to them, the villains were always my favorite part. From The Joker through Poison Ivy to Bane they were all different, unique and scary in their own way.

Drive

89/100 (100 min, 2011)
Plot: A mysterious Hollywood stuntman, mechanic and getaway driver lands himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbour.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writers: Hossein Amini (screenplay), James Sallis (book)
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston

"There is always some madness in love. 

But there is also always some reason in madness."

— Friedrich Nietzsche 

 "Whatever is left of me, whatever is left of me...I'm yours."

"Drive", the movie sensation of 2011, has swept away most of the people who have seen it. Why? Stylistically the movie is just amazing - from the very first minutes the pictures just flow into the night, with shining, blurred lights in the distance and you get the feeling as if you were driving along with the main hero. The film never loses its dreamy, evanescent quality - the camera movements are steady and the takes are long, the images just flow before our eyes creating one breezy atmosphere which is curiously contrasted with the violence and the gore that we occasionally see in the movie.

What adds to the film is another reason for its popularity - the amazing soundtrack consisting of original score by Cliff Martinez, which for some reason brings to mind driving on the empty streets during night. The album also contains great synthpop pieces that feel very old school and may as well be something which Quentin Tarantino would love to use in certain scenes in Kill Bill Volume 2. From the beginning to the very end, the movie never betrays the amazing climate it established, pulling as deep into the story as if it was a dream.

The Debt

82/100 (113 min, 2010)
Plot: 1965, three Mossad agents cross into East Berlin to apprehend a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, the secrets the agents share come back to haunt them.
Director: John Madden
Writers: Matthew Vaughn (screenplay), Jane Goldman (screenplay), Peter Straughan (screenplay), Assaf Bernstein (film "Ha-Hov") & Ido Rosenblum (film "Ha-Hov")
Stars: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Tom Wilkinson

The cost of lies

"The Debt" is a skillfully and elegantly shot film about the mission to apprehend "the surgeon of Birkenau"- Doktor Bernhardt, criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. The mission is a task ensured to three people - Stephan (Marton Csokas and Tom Wilkinson), David (Sam Worthington and Ciarán Hinds) and Rachel (Jessica Chastain and Helen Mirren). We see the story of how their mission turns out and then we jump ahead 30 years to the moment Rachel's and Stephan's daughter writes a book about her parents heroic mission. From the very first moments we sense there is more to the story, something that remained unsaid for three decades. Now Rachel, David and Stephan will have to pay the prize for what they did.

What makes the movie very interesting is that it shows more then your usual "catch the bad guy" movie. Yes, a good portion of the film is spent on agents' efforts to apprehend their target, but once they have him the best part of the movie begins - the part where the criminal tries to manipulate and break his captors. Since the three assigned to the task are so young and mostly inexperienced it's very easy for him to do. The best part comes when while being forced fed by David the prisoner tells him that the reason he thought Jews deserved to die was because it only took four guards to line them up and lead them to death, nobody resisted, not even when they took their children. The film is filled with strong moments like that, but the unimaginable cruelty of those words and the amazing ability Jesper Christensen has to stole the movie with just one scene really made the movie memorable for me.

Don't be Afraid of the Dark

37/100 (99 min, 2010)
Plot: A young girl sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own.
Director: Troy Nixey
Writers: Guillermo del Toro (screenplay), Matthew Robbins (screenplay)
Stars: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison

I have a strange feeling the ghost of Lovecraft is following me. I go on trivia site for this one and it says "Appropriately set in Providence, RI as that was the home of H.P. Lovecraft who wrote the story "The Rats in the Walls" which apparently inspired this film.". I start watching "Masters of Horror" and the second episode is based on his story. I read a little about Alien design by Giger and guess what? He had an artwork published in...book called "Necronomicon". That's all on the side note but I assure you - this is way more scary than the film I'm reviewing here.

It's 2012. You don't expect cheesy CGI anymore. But the CGI in "Don't be Afraid of the Dark" is so bad and laughable it actually manages to ruin the movie. Things aren't perfect before we actually see the monsters as Pearce, Holmes and Madison are just horribly miscast as ensemble and have no chemistry together, despite efforts on Holmes's part. But there is climate, suspense, potential for a good movie here. And then when we finally see what it is that endangers protagonists...it all goes to hell.

A Dangerous Method

56/100 (2011, 99 min)
Plot: A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.
Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: Christopher Hampton (screenplay), John Kerr (book)
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen

Dangerous method? Empty outcome.

I was waiting so eagerly for "A Dangerous Method". But then I read this little piece of trivia which said that David Cronenberg told Keira Knightley that if she won't want to do any nudity, there will be none in the movie. Why would such a great director compromise his vision because of an actress? If it was a very talented actress, I could maybe understood his actions. But Keira Knightley, even if it was a great movie, would managed to ruin it with one of the worst performances I've seen in years.

I do not know what possessed Cronenberg to cast her. Is he on some charity mission where he takes actors from blockbusters and casts them in ambitious project? I see in his next movie he has Robert Pattinson in a lead role. Knightley is fine in romantic productions like "Never let me go", "Pride and Prejudice" and "Atonement", but despite her Academy Award nomination she really has not much of a talent. Her performance as Sabina Spielrein, Jung's disturbed patient is simply awful. Knightley's way of portraying her character involves trying to speak with bad Russian accent, uncontrollable yelling, hysterical crying and presenting what can only be described as annoying, fake mannerisms. I couldn't believe my eyes as I was watching her. You would think that as Sabina gets better, as the movie progresses,  Knightley would be less annoying, but it's not the case. Everything about her - her voice, her bland expressions, her fidgeting is truly embarrassing to witness. I thought that Knightley was a decent actress until I saw this movie. For her own sake and especially for the sake of the movie goers, I truly hope she will stick to less ambitious material.

Due Date

(95 min, 2010)
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Alan R. Cohen (screenplay), Alan Freedland (screenplay)
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis and Michelle Monaghan

Growing up.

Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) must get to LA in five days to be at the birth of his firstborn. He is about to fly home from Atlanta when his luggage and wallet are stolen, and he is put on the "no-fly" list. Desperate to get home Peter is forced to accept the offer of Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) to hitch a ride with him cross-country. Peter is about to go on a terrifying and agonizing journey of his life.

The movie begins with a scene that is not funny at all. We get to see close up of Peter, lying on the bed, describing his dream. He is talking to his wife, who is miles away from him. This scene sets the tone for entire movie – it suggests we will get to experience something surreal, important and personal. The journey of two strangers who will end up being friends. And who will, finally, take control in their lives.

I had no high expectations, the critics stated in few reviews that the movie is “completely unfunny”. Out of all the things written about this movie, this one is the biggest lie – the film has many incredibly hilarious sequences and fantastic dialogues. Mexico, accidental firing of a gun, crazy beating Peter takes and when he loses it and then tries to patch things up with Ethan are so funny at one point I almost fell off my chair. But hilarious scenes are actually often seen in movies. “Due Date” is especially surprising because never before had I seen a comedy that mixes hilarious scenes with heartbreaking and tender ones, so rapidly and unexpectedly changing the tone of the sequence. At one point I was laughing, 10 seconds later I was covering my mouth in shock and 30 seconds later I was feeling very sorry for the characters and wanted them to be happy again.

Death Race

(111 min, 2008)
Plot: Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Writers: Paul W.S. Anderson (screenplay), Paul W.S. Anderson (screen story)
Stars: Jason Statham, Joan Allen and Tyrese Gibson

Drive!

I heard something about Jason Statham's movies from my friend – that he have made three truly awful movies – Uwe Boll's film, “Revolver” and “Death Race”. I haven't seen first two, but having seen “Death Race” I have to say I strongly disagree about last one. The movie is very entertaining, and as an action movie works well. “Crank 2” was hell a lot worse, to the point I would close the review in two words only - “Jason, why?”

In 2012, amid economic chaos and high unemployment, Americans by the millions watch criminals with life sentences race armored cars on Terminal Island. Two-thirds of the combatants die but the winner may earn his freedom. On the day he loses his job, steelworker Jensen Ames (Statham) is arrested for his wife's murder. Sent to Terminal Island, he's offered an out by the steely and manipulative warden Hennessey (Joan Allen) race as the popular mask-wearing (but now dead) champion, Frankenstein, or rot in prison. Jensen makes the bargain. As the three-stage race approaches, he realizes that the whole thing may be a set up - can an anonymous man behind a mask get revenge and win his release?

The race scenes are amazing – I don't have a driving license myself (because I want to live and had I driven a car a lot of people would surely die) so I'm always impressed by any race/chase scenes. I can't even imagine how some of the scenes were made – after all it's all fake – nobody died, nobody's head was decapitated, but all of those stunts look so incredibly dangerous and realistic you totally forget you're watching a movie. The editing is also very nice and Paul Haslinger's score is excellent.

It's really refreshing to finally see (after all those mindless action films) Statham playing a character you can sympathize with. I liked his character in “Transporter” series, but this could be due to the fact he wore a suit and drove a fancy car, but I hated the one in “Crank”. Here the whole set-up for his character reminded me of “Law Abiding Citizen”, especially the beginning – his wife gets killed and he wants revenge. He also has a little baby girl to whom he wants to return to. That's enough for the viewer to root for him.

Statham also finally got actual woman to play his love interest, not those slutty chicks in “Transporter” movies. Natalie Martinez is very attractive and plays likeable character of Chase, Jensen's navigator. They have very good chemistry and Jason smiles about 10 times more than in all “Cranks” and “Transporters” combined. Hell, I'm not surprised he did, finally having a reason to do that. The ending is also very good and satisfying.

The film has two actors in it, who you think should feel out of place, but they don't – Ian McShane and Joan Allen. McShame plays one of the guys who help the main hero with the car and along with other men from mechanic crew brings a lot of comic relief. Allen plays icy warden and is great to watch – she's cold, determined and ruthless. I had the same feeling here as when I was watching Bill Nighy's performance in “Underworld”. Those actors know that the movie is just an action film, far from masterpiece, but still manage to do great work and have some fun in addition to it.

The story is very simple, as with most action films. Most of the film are race scenes, but given how they are placed in a futuristic world (I cannot imagine this actually happening any time soon, people racing to death with the approval of prison wardens and their supervisors) it's interesting and quite unique. The visual side works well – everything is dark and grim, movie's pace is very fast – I wasn't bored for a second. Yes, some of the lines are cheesy and some of the dialogue is awful, but the bottom line is that I had a lot of fun watching the film and I'm glad I saw it, despite awful reviews and opinions about it.

64/100

Daybreakers

(98 min, 2009)
Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Writers: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill

 Idea is a tricky thing.

June is my favorite month of the year. Why? Well, for many reasons – freedom, time, no worries, doing the things I didn't have the time for in autumn, winter, spring. And also „True Blood” premieres in June and nowadays it seems like it's the only truly good vampire series we have left.. And I always loved vampires stories – books, movies, series. I was never fond of „Blade” but whenever I got a chance, I watched it either way, I saw „Dracula”, Underworld series, Twilight series, „Queen of the Damned”...and of course the best vampire movie ever made, the unrivaled „Interview with the vampire”, many times. Even if the movie itself is mediocre like „30 days of night” I still enjoy watching it because of the subject. But sometimes the best ideas and the best myths cannot rescue the movie.

The premise of „Daybreakers” is very promising – the vampire „virus” attacks people and they treat it as blessing – no diseases, no death. Soon there are more and more vampires and human race faces extinction – humans are being hunted for blood and vampire doctors look for blood substitute. Worse yet – the blood deprived vampires turn into primitive monsters and create danger for everyone. It's like the cross between “The Matrix” and “Blade”. The promotional materials spoke of the cross between “The Matrix” and “Twilight” which I really don't understand. I think half of Twilight audience would puke their guts out watching “Daybreakers”, actually. It is also like "I am legend" a little bit, if you think about it. Both movies have something else in common - they suck.

The beginning of the film is very good – homages to well known vampire myths (no reflection in mirrors), interesting visual side (fantastic metro scene), omnipresent cigarette smoke, terrific opening credits – definitely the best opening credits sequence since „Watchmen”. But then, somewhere around the scene where Ethan Hawke's character meets humans and escapes with them, the movie turns from promising to utterly awful.

The characters are not only one dimensional, incredibly boring and cliche – joke-throwing leader of the resistance nicknamed Elvis, vampire doctor who refuses to drink human blood and his love interest, who is just so dull and tedious I cannot imagine anyone being bothered enough by her capture to actually go rescue her. No charisma, nothing – had I been on Hawke's character place and someone told me she was taken I'd go “Who?”. The cast must have been embarrassed to be in that film (Sam Neill is also here by the way). although the movie is still step up from „Antichrist” for Dafoe, at least here nobody smashes his penis with a rock and he didn't have any sex scenes (no, just no) or witnessed enlightened foxes. But Hawke? That dude appeared in so many great movies - “Before Sunrise”, “Before Sunset”, “Gattaca”, “Before the devil knows you're dead”, “Training day” and I'm sure I'm forgetting many others. He is not a great actor, in fact he is always the same, but it's a rare case that I don't really mind. I don't know why he chose to be in this movie, money maybe. As for the actress who plays the character whose name I forgot as soon as I heard it, I won't even bother to look her up. She was that bad and insignificant to absolutely everything in this movie.

The screenplay promptly turns into sheer stupidity when we find out that if you actually expose vampire to the sun he is cured and he is human again. I know that recently directors and writers have been looking for new things in vampire stories - the vampires hunt for mountain lions and sparkle, they drink japanese substitute for blood, they even walk around in sunlight. But that idea is so ridiculous I couldn't handle it and I even handled the celibacy idea in Twilight. That reveal and the incredibly dumb ending murdered, in a violent way, any good impression the movie may have made on me at the very beginning.

I'd recommend this film only to the ones who like dark atmosphere (which quickly perishes from the movie), gore (rather ridiculous scenes, but the blood is flowing profusely in this one) and vampires – although here they are no more than gross monsters or lost humans turned immortal. Everyone else – don't bother or watch some of the classic vampire movies, without mad science and new approach, which seems to be the worst thing in modern vampire movies.

26/100