Isherwood

A lobotomy at which the more hardened may laugh, but I refuse to wallow in "guilty-pleasure" intoxication because it offended me from the first digital battle to the end that comes from the gaming industry. I don't mind Nick Cage’s medieval knight, as he’s backed up by the badass Perlman and Thomsen, but I was annoyed by Sena's attempt to be cool at any cost. It's obvious that he blew his modest budget at the beginning, so there’s mostly blabber going on, then it's digital wolves, and you want to turn back time and let the bridge fall a few seconds earlier. This is the first film this year that made me feel ashamed.

It's not a pessimism of life; according to Cormac McCarthy (probably the best living writer in America), that’s just the way the world is. It's seen through the lens of two aging men who have made their way through it, only to meet in the apartment of one of them and engage in a conversation about how it's not easy to remain here. For some, it is perhaps a cheap lament and (cinematic) disappointment but for me, it is the honest confession of a man whose age allows him to become a philosopher in this particular way, and it’s also an experience of a spiritual dimension.

An undying zombie. I’m not a fan of the original, but I was expecting a better upgrade with this film. West will clearly never again come out of the shadow of his own first film, even though it does have both swing and plenty of blood in certain moments (though I have to wonder if its digital form is the definitive standard for contemporary cinema). The biggest problem I see is mostly in the motivations of the main characters, which I find, no matter how categorically I look at it, incredibly demented. Even the traditionally good "stone-faced" Statham and the speedy handsome Foster can't save it from the resulting implausibility. 2 ½.

Anti-advertising for iProducts. The message is convoluted - that's how everybody feels about social networks and we all share ourselves there anyway - but it is beautifully filmed. It’s definitely no home video. It features professional cinematography with excellent filters and a great lighting environment. It’s very well done for someone my younger sister's age. It just needs to be a bit more grown up or be a little smarter. The white mask is just too much kitsch. ;-)

The Green Zone of bureaucracy. After the jump tragedy, Liman has returned to effective direction that fully serves the story, with this one earning points especially in the moments when both spouses are under maximum pressure from everywhere. Watts and Penn are great. Nowadays, not many movies are made that are smart, resolutely commenting on recent political decisions. Thumbs up.

The Rock, the silent god of vengeance, wreaks vengeance for his brother's death without blinking an eye. That phrase excites every fan of proper action films, which turned into massive horniness after the trailers. Yet the result is the biggest fucking-over of the audience since cinema began. Where is the anger, the lack of compromise, the roughness, the stylishness,... everything?! Something so desperately boring, despite the minimum of words, and overall incredibly "I don't know what to do" style hasn't been made here for years. The Rock doesn't fit the role (he looks like an idiot!), O. J. Cohen is a terrible killer (I want Ian Somerhalder!) and... it’s all bad. My heart has never bled with disappointment like it did after watching Faster.

This film has a ton of pathos but at the same time a fantastically filmed whirlwind of fire and stunts, supported by a plethora of excellent actors and a spectacular heroic score. Hollywood has perhaps never spoken more reverently of a profession than it has deservedly done to firefighters.

The chewed-up first film, costing less than three million more, has been given a prequel that doesn't offend because there’s no way it can. The rules are still the same, with the actors being more in character and more likable for it. Yet Williams' tedious stretching of every shot, which inevitably has to end with the slamming of a door (admittedly, at one point it's absolutely grandiose!) is quite annoying. And did the filmmakers really have to think of Balaguer and Plaza when creating the ending?

This is a typical macho action film, with the traditionally stony Charles Bronson, in particular, being good. It has been gnawed a bit by the ravages of time, which leaves the plot dragging a bit, but it makes up for it with perfect action (even the "stealth" stuff) and a great anti-feminist joke, where the female characters are portrayed as total idiots during their two minutes on screen; still, scissors should have been used both on Bronson's head and to cut the film's runtime. 3 ½.

The Unbearable Lightness of Royal Being, or the first film that allowed me to understand the power and meaning of the monarchy. Tom Hooper may be accused of "academic coldness" by some sensitive folk, but in my opinion, he directs in an economical style that allows the actors' charisma to shine through, placing The King's Speech amongst the ranks of engagingly chatty films like Howard's Frost/Nixon or Fincher's The Social Network.