DaViD´82

I found Lebowski’s “fight for his peed-on rug" really entertaining and I enjoyed myself more than I have for a long time... But then I didn’t see it for a couple of years, and so maybe I idealized it too much, because when I at last got a chance to see it again, apart from a couple of ageless moments, it seemed really rather mediocre to me. Every single actor here is incredible, no doubt about that. It still has more snappy lines per foot of film than any other movie, but somehow it lacks “soul". But maybe in a few years I’ll see it again and it will again convince me that it is entertainment that has no equal.

Funny? Yes! Badly balanced? You bet it is. If you haven’t come across Cohen and his humor and sketches before, you’ll love Borat (if you can stand watching). Unfortunately, if you know him, then you will find that this feature-length offering is rather disenchanting, because it has a lot of dead places, and the scenes that work excellently a mere recycled versions of Cohen’s TV sketches. But at the same time, the whole thing is fine and likeable, and it is certainly no disappointment or failure because, at very least, Cohen’s charisma carries this pseudo-documentary even at its weaker moments.

A movie unworthy of Austin Powers’ quality and potential... The beginning is excellent, takes of well, but then old jokes from the preceding parts begin to get recycled and that just isn’t funny anymore. Proof that you can’t make an entire movie with just two or three hilarious sketches as a foundation. Unfortunately, not the usually charismatic Mike Myers has any chance of pulling this off.

A feeling of déjà vu over and over again. A great idea of combining a criminal thriller about a detective caught in a time loop, when one day repeats itself over and over, again and again and... again and again. It’s hard not to compare the result to a mixture of The Fugitive and Groundhog Day. This series has solid pace, the time games are pretty well thought-out, but the whole thing lacks suspense. It just sort of “happens", it’s good to watch, but not to enthuse about. Thanks to not being successful with viewers, they stopped broadcasting this series sooner than planned and the rest played out on ABC’s website.

A run-of-the-mill movie with an uninteresting story. If it weren’t for that phenomenal creature Miranda Priestly - played by Meryl Streep who obviously really enjoyed herself - then you would most likely forget everything you see in this movie immediately. A harmless and inoffensive movie that, thanks to Streep, gives the impression of being something a little more than a mere romantic comedy about how an American girl learns the right moral values. If the picture had been all about Miranda instead, it could have been excellent.

In all respects an average picture for young kids which, thanks to the “action" scenes and it being relatively short, can be lived through relatively problem free. Only the parts with the wasps are any good. The rest is a harmless or even uninteresting kids’ movie with a very forced lesson at the end. The third * is for the experience I had with the IMAX 3D version which clearly demonstrates what potential the future of movies holds in store.

If Children of Men didn’t have such a simple plot, there wouldn’t be anything to reproach it for. The plot wouldn’t even be a problem, but the end result is merely a patchwork of a bunch of incredibly intense scenes that don't seem particularly consistent as a whole. Even without the long takes, Children of Men would be worth seeing. However, the scenes are there, and they constitute the proverbial icing on the cake, which elevates Children to a clear "must see" affair that we haven’t been treated to in our movie theaters for a long time. And probably won't for a long time to come.

Journey to the West seemed rather weird to me (or, even, very weird) when I saw it as a child. It is complete nonsense, but for some mysterious reason I liked to watch it, over and over. It wasn't until years later that I figured out what the magic of Journey to the West consisted of. It gave me the realization that it's better to watch something outrageously stupid which you enjoy (even at the creators' expense) than a thousand and one uninterestingly mediocre variations of the same thing.

Funny, intelligent, pleasantly paced, well acted, and scored with a magnificent soundtrack. While being an indie, it is accessible to everyone. In addition, it has a large dose of gradually built up sympathy for the individual characters, so in the end you care about them and have a hard time saying goodbye to them... Everything is as it should be and, moreover, in above-standard quality. UPDATE: After Little Miss Sunshine, you will be left with such a great feeling of well-being for much longer than after seeing any other picture recently, and the second viewing has the same effect. That's why I'm adding another *.

Aslan, a witch, a bunch of rascals, some animals, and Santa Claus dealing out weapons... The old TV series adaptation is much better. Unfortunately, this is well-made only in technical terms (but not excellent), without a hint of ideas or invention. It’s boring, and if it weren't for the soundtrack and Tilda Swinton, it would be hard to watch to the end. The naivety of the story can hardly be blamed on the filmmakers, because it is already present to a much greater extent in the original book. But they can be reproached for the casting of the child actors. The children are absolutely unbearable, and some of them (or all?) you truly want to kill. The whole thing looks like perfectly standard consumerist and harmless family-friendly (in the bad sense of the term) Hallmark entertainment.