Stanislaus

Being part of the generation that grew up on the Harry Potter books, I'm always excited for every return to the world of witchcraft and wizardry (not just) at Hogwarts. However, I have mixed feelings about Fantastic Beasts even after the third installment. On the one hand, I'm glad that the mythology of the wizarding world is expanding, but on the other, this series reeks of milking a famous brand for profit. The Secrets of Dumbledore has more than one remarkable (and nostalgic) scene, but at the same time I felt that more than one well-intentioned or imaginative scene was lost in the tangle of the awkward script. The line with the qilin was great, though I couldn't help but think of the poor unicorn from The Philosopher's Stone at every mention of its purest purity. The depiction and reinterpretation of the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald was perhaps a little too literal in places, but I quite welcomed the casting of Mads Mikkelsen (Johnny Depp may be my favorite actor, but he just wasn't a good casting choice). With the magic duels, I felt like the creators were inspired by the MCU, especially Dr. Strange, and I don't really know if that's a good thing or not. The character of Queenie was finally tolerable to me, while Credence didn't sit well with me this first time around. Thanks to the setting of the story in Berlin, among other places, the film features several German actors, which I welcomed, and I would especially single out Oliver Masucci (known from the series Dark). I'm obviously curious about the next (and hopefully final) sequel, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the third Fantastic Beasts in the cinema, yet as a viewer I it left me with a sort of bad aftertaste from the obvious plot overkill and disjointedness. Better three stars!

Shadowplay lured me to the cinema mainly thanks to a good trailer, a decent cast and a genre that, according to the previews, smacked of a dense crime-thriller. After watching it, I have to say that they did not make full use of the potential that lay dormant in the premise. If it had ridden a similar wave as the opening sequence, Shadowplay would have been a solid representative of its genre, but I had the feeling that the stiffing prologue was followed by scenes that skimmed the surface instead fo really digging into the core, which wasn't helped by the grimly stylized visuals. Of the actors, I was most impressed by Hynek Čermák and Vladimír Javorský, I had rather mixed feelings about Milan Ondřík, and Leona seemed a bit out of place. Weaker three stars!

Six years ago, the creators of Perfect Strangers certainly did not count on the fact that the premise of their film would be translated into many languages. After the Italian original and the German remake, I went to the cinema to see the Czech-Slovak version, which has the unfortunate fate of being the umpteenth of the same theme. Perfect Strangers sticks more closely to the source material than the German version, yet that unpleasant chill at the end of the Italian film will probably remain undiminished. Conversational and intimate films rely largely on the performances of the actors, and in Perfect Strangers they handled their parts reasonably well – I would single out the Martin Hofmann-Petra Polnisova duo in particular. On the one hand, it is true that the umpteenth (and in many ways literal) variation on a theme is unnecessary, but on the other hand I don't regret going to the cinema. A weaker four stars! PS: I missed the short but all the more powerful scene with the old people on the balcony.

I found the second outing of the blue hedgehog comparable in quality to the first one, in fact I could write almost the same thing about the sequel as I did about its predecessor. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is entertainment with all the trimmings, aimed mainly at a younger audience, yet it manages to appeal to an adult viewer as well. Jim Carrey as Robotnik may have changed his moustache, but his (at times annoying) ticks remain. The alien family has grown to include two more characters (Tails and Knuckles), but they were not as entertaining as Sonic. A good portion of the humour was again provided by Natasha Rothwell as the very bad-ass bride. In the last third, the films winks at the MCU – Magneto and Captain Marvel. The kids in the theater were laughing out loud, I was more just inwardly amused. But I'll gladly go to the next sequel, which the ending this one beckoned. Better three stars!

Regarding the qualities of Morbius, there is a lot of mention of the Venom 2, which was qualitatively on the edge of average and subpar, but at least it tried to be funny and sometimes it succeeded. Morbius doesn't know who and what it could (and should) impress with! Espinosa's film is neither action-packed, nor scary, nor – as I mentioned – funny enough. It has a punishingly short running time, so you watch a sequence of randomly arranged scenes, all without causality or logic. In terms of visual effects, this is a dud by contemporary standards – the vampire look is more creepy than horrifyingly scary. Even the “smoke moves” of Nightcrawler in X2 were better done than Morbius and co. Jared Leto tries his best, but the bad script trips him up every step (or jump), while Matt Smith was downright embarrassing. The rest of the cast was just sort of pointless filler. I'm curious to see if Morbius will appear on the big screen again after this below-average piece, given the (rather) tepid title end credit scenes.

I've never read anything by Murakami, nor have I seen any film adaptation of his work to date, so Drive My Car was my first encounter with this world-famous writer. I was a bit put off from the screening by the three-hour running time, but it didn't matter that much in the end. Indeed, Hamaguchi's film (and fresh Oscar winner) has a gradual but not boring narrative pace. We follow the story of director Kafuku and his driver Misaki, two people who have little in common at first glance, yet are united by guilt and the trauma of having lost a loved one. In hindsight, it could be said that the basic structure of the film isn't really that original – we've seen coming to terms with the past and the struggle with its demons elsewhere – but Drive My Car has several moments and elements that bring it to life – the behind-the-scenes preparation of a play, the blending of several cultures and languages (thumbs up for the insertion of sign language), or even the opening credits almost halfway through the film. PS: Kafuku does bring to mind the name Kafka for a reason (see the author's 2002 novel).

I am not a sports person, I first encountered the story of Hanč and Vrbata only thanks to The Last Race. I was lured to the cinema by the good trailer, the cast and the story from Czech history. I complain about some films needing to be shortened, but I would have welcomed an extra quarter of an hour in Hodan's film, as I found it to be abbreviated in some places, most noticeable in the line with Vrbata. To put aside my criticisms, I was surprised that while the frame story of the late 1950s revolved around Rath, the 1912-3 line was focused primarily on Hanč. Still, this is a quality film by Czech standards, and in addition to a strong (if at times abbreviated) and (literally) chilling story, it is also technically impressive, especially the cinematography and the remarkable musical score. Of the actors, I was most impressed by Kryštof Hádek and Oldřich Kaiser. A weaker four stars!

The Lost City seemed to play out the pages of Loretta Sage's novels on the screen (with a certain amount of exaggeration), you get both action and romance, all spiced up with adventure and a dose of humour, although they perhaps kept the comic level too low-key (the black-humour bit with the dead woman in the car, however, was very funny). In the end, this is a laid-back and predictable one-off with a likeable cast that woefully missed the potential of the characters Coach and Beth.

In Ambulance, Michael Bay may have toned down the explosions, but this is still an action-packed caper, where logic sometimes takes a back seat to an impressive atmosphere. I thought I'd seen this story somewhere before, and it was only in the database that I realised I'd once seen the Danish version. From a technical point of view, I would criticise the film for the camera shots that are sometimes too cluttered – at times it almost looked like the cameraman was high on something. Story-wise, as I mentioned, there is more than one over-the-top moment (especially during the operation of the policeman, who is almost forgotten in the last act), but that's kind of Bay's thing. In the end, the film tries to play on emotions quite blatantly, pushing the envelope disproportionately hard compared to the rest. The cast was overall fine – perhaps only the pompous Captain Monroe was annoying. All in all, it was a slightly overlong but entertaining one-off, with a decent soundtrack (at times some of the tones evoked Interstellar).

With its intimate story, Boy Meets Boy reminded me of the (more sensual) French film Théo and Hugo, which also centered on a chance encounter between two men and their interaction over the span of a few hours. Lopez's film has a slower pace, and it is only in the last act, after having addressed many topics (ranging from the quite superficial to the more intimate), that a more dramatic, and audience-appealing, confrontation between the two men occurs. Boy Meets Boy is a conversational one-off in the truest sense of the word, with the rule that every person has their own (world)view. PS: Having visited Berlin countless times, it was good to go back again, even if not physically.