DaViD´82

The most balanced and the best del Toro movie I’ve seen. And it has the same theme music as in Circus Humberto. A chamber price about war with a big pinch of gloomy, fairytale fantasy. The problem is the length, because especially in the first hour the pace is far too relaxed. On the other hand, it is hard to fault the second half; everything is flawless. It’s a sort of successful concoction containing The Devil’s Backbone and the unmistakable storytelling poetry of Neil Gaiman.

The first hour is a seriously good teen comedy with no toilet humor and several gags that work. Unfortunately, afterwards it turns into something we’ve seen a thousand times already and so you quickly forget the impression it initially makes. But still, thanks to Lindsay Lohan who doubtlessly has a little comic talent, it is watchable without being any health hazard.

Christmastime in Heaven... Doesn’t that sound morbid? Not at all, this is simply an attempt by Czech filmmakers to bring the “fairytale" out of the woods and forests to a different location for a change. The entire thing relies purely on the actors and their squabbling. And that’s where the problem lies; it’s a decent sitcom, but a poor fairytale. Maybe it needed a few more puns for adults, a stronger fairytale storyline and for evil to be punished at the end. And the traditional true love storyline is “a bit weird", doesn’t work much and, mainly, fizzles out.

The first two thirds of this picture are outstanding in all respects, but the nearer it draws toward the ending, the more Déjà Vu suffers from its miserable screenplay which tries to convince you that there is more to it than you think. The subject matter isn’t bad, has considerable potential, even working excellently for quite a while, but the ending trips the whole thing up. Even so, the initial idea could be the makings of a pretty good story perhaps for a series like CSI. What makes it even more of a shame is that otherwise this Tony Scott / Denzel Washington duo collaboration worked out well... Well, almost. This time Scott seems to have taken sedatives and although the directing doubtlessly does have his characteristic idiosyncrasies, compared to his recent movies, you can watch this without risking an epileptic fit. This walks in the footsteps of techno-thrillers such as Enemy of the State, but this has a taste of sci-fi in it and almost zero humor. It’s certainly worth watching, but it might be worth leaving the movie theater when the “operation is called off as successfully solved". That way Déjà Vu could aspire to achieving much higher quality levels and you wouldn’t be left with the feeling that somebody missed a big chance.

A movie with a nice, loopy screenplay by Kauffman, excellent acting, but it loses points for the directing, unfortunately not handled well by Gondry. It’s as if he forgot that he’s not shooting one of his ingenious music videos. This is a feature film and it simply needs a slightly different approach. He incorporated a lot of ideas into the picture, but not all of them help the movie as a whole. In any case it’s such a whacky and unconventional experience, that it’s well worth your while.

Although the directing is excellent, the acting great and the atmosphere perfectly set, there is still a long way to go to complete perfection... Even though Gondry’s screenplay is good, it’s simply incomparable with the spotless perfection of Kauffman’s masterpiece Eternal Sunshine. Of course it wouldn’t be completely fair to compare The Science to Sunshine. Mainly it’s completely different and, above all, very well made. You don’t warm to Stephan and Stephanie as much as to Joel and Clementine, but it’s not due to their acting skills, but instead because the couple in this movie are just genuine nut cases. But they’re cute. The dream sequences are, once again, perfectly evoked and they are what make The Science of Sleep a must see movie.

A solid picture about the beginnings, not just the commercialization, of skateboarding. Good in terms of directing, interesting in terms of visuals, appropriate in terms of casting. It has good pacing, not leaving time for boredom, although I would have liked to had a taste of the atmosphere when these kids were completely laid back and everything was just cool. But still, this is interesting and if you are a surfing and skateboarding enthusiast, this is definitely a picture for you. And, even if these two sports mean nothing to you, you risk no personal harm by watching this. Or not as much harm as if you went outside onto the street to try skateboarding in the flesh.

A great film with excellent actors and the perfect atmosphere of a stage that mean the world. A dramas behind and on the stage during the occupation of Paris, when people went to the theatre or cinema to relax. For me personally, one of Truffaut best.

In the type of role which gets usually bagged by Woody Allen, Scarlett Johansson maybe tries a bit too hard. But the rest is quite good – at last I don’t mind Allen’s acting, Jackman is great, and Scarlett is at very least gorgeous. The screenplay is average, uninventive and completely predictable. It flies by quite smoothly and a couple of funny scenes work well... But it’s more of a put your feet up movie rather than a “masterpiece" in the good old Woody style we know so well.

Incredibly untapped potential. The fact that a seemingly genre film by Bong would not be a monster-movie even for a second, that's what I expected. The would-be satire and mirror-setting of the state apparatus and the security forces too, but I didn't expect it to be so insanely bland this time.