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Petzold crafts an interesting story about identity and finding solace through it, but most of the runtime is spent on delivering painfully obvious revelations about its premise. And while I admire how he avoids going into genre extremes which could easily be imagined about a weird family harboring secrets, this leaves a void being left unfilled. We barely get to know the characters or their inner world, and everything we find out about them is deeply dull, most of their interactions are numb, just as if the movie is suffering from depression too. In the end, it all becomes a thin parable that would've easily fit into a 20-25 minute short.

At first sight, Whiplash seemed to me as another talent movie, which features the same clichés, no matter it's about music, dancing or sports. But the great reviews made me really curious about it, and I can honestly say, that it's nothing like your usual film about music.

Damien Chazelle's work, like every beginner director's is full of raw power and energy. Every moment of Whiplash has so much dynamics and tension. You wouldn't expect surprising twists from these kind of movies, but Whiplash has the quality to show you something unexpected in every minute. The director incorporates a few small, but clever twist in the narrative, and these aren't twists for the twists' sake. Chazelle is unlike any other young director: his work is unbelievably calculated, there's not a single unnecessary frame in this picture, and he can always capture the essence of the moment or the actors' performances.

And that's a good thing, because Whiplash relies hugely on those actors. Simmons' presence rules every scene he's in, he has clever lines, but the actor is doing most of the work. Miles Teller is a bit shadowed by him, but the young actor also does a great job, and the chemistry between the two of them is the absolute highlight of this movie. And with that, Chazelle can achieve that the songs are not just some promotional material, but important storytelling devices in the conflict of the main characters. The director is also great at capturing emotions through these song.

Which takes us to my only problem with Whiplash: the scenes of the rehearsals or the musical performances are so intense and strong, that they make every other scene disappoint you a little. That's exactly the case with the storyline of the love interest or the middle part of the runtime.

Whiplash is not the film of great words, act or emotional effects. But I think, nobody's going to care about that, because Chazelle's perfectionist storytelling is going to compensate everybody for that. It's not an flaming improvisation, it's not a shitty, but catchy pop song, but it's an artistic symphony. It may not be a classic, but it's brilliant cinema.

Hercules wants to follow the footsteps of the self-proclaimed "historically accurate" movies like King Arthur or Kingdom of Heaven: it strips down the legend of the mythical-creature-fighting demigod to a skilled mercenary, who uses the help of his fellow warriors creating his fame. But at the same time the movie has a similar design to a 300- copycat: cheap dialogs, cheap sets, cheap costumes, weak characters, horrible acting (I mean, what the hell was Joseph Fiennes doing???) and pretentious slow-motion. Most of the battle are like they're from the pages of a comic book (of course, it IS a comic book adaptation, but still...): every swing of Dwayne Johnson's sword kills two or three of his enemies, one of his warriors can shoot 3 lethal arrows at the same time, and most of these things are just simply laughable. Although I must admit, while Brett Ratner's action scenes might not be the most creative, they look cool, and they deliver a little fun in this weak film.

So the main problem is, that while the movie wants us to take it seriously, and not to look like an immature fable, that's exactly what it turns out to be: a shallow, dumbed down, generic fantasy-blockbuster.