Stanislaus

The Goddess of Fortune has an almost horror-like beginning that immediately puts a bug in your head. The film mixes dramatic and comedic lines in an artful way, on the one hand you are amused by scenes from everyday life, on the other, it tackles topics such as serious illness or partner crisis, and both lines work and feel natural. Even though the film is almost two hours long, I was not bored at all, and I was eagerly awaiting to see which way things would turn out. There are a few issues, but this Italian tragicomedy really won me over, so I rate it full marks.

"So suprise him. Go out of your comfort zone. Invite him to an orgy." Breaking Fast manages to blend elements of relationship drama and romantic comedy in an endearing way, resulting in an enjoyable and believable film that entertains while offering some timely topics to ponder, such as family and partner relationships, the loss of a loved one, and the question of religion. The character of Sam was annoyingly funny and the funeral scene was, ironically enough, quite possibly the funniest. A truly enjoyable ninety minutes spent with a film that is certainly not first shallow!

This year, I saw And Then We Danced, which would fall into a similar category as Five Dances, but the former was a bit more appealing to me. Five Dances feels more like a TV movie, which of course I didn't mind, but I was expecting more tense and powerful scenes. It's filmed in a nice and likeable way, with good music and nicely done dance numbers, but I felt that it was missing something, something that would make me think about the film even in a week.

Where Are You Going, Habibi? may not bring anything new to its genre, but it deals with some interesting topics like the perception of sexual minorities in traditional families and society, the status of Turks in Germany or the issue of crime and punishment. Personally, I was most impressed by the scenes with Ibrahim and his uncle and aunt, while Ib's sister was really annoying.

(Possible spoilers) Window Dressing is a film full of contrasts: a dark warehouse with mannequins vs. a colorful clothing store; a young assistant vs. an old saleswoman; naive helpfulness vs. raw coldness. While I'm not entirely sure I got the meaning right, the makers managed to serve up a decently creepy one-off. Dave Bundtzen, to some extent, retreads the horror plot from his previous film, The Devil's Passenger. P.S. Elaine Partnow gives a truly chilling performance in such a small space.

The Devil's Passenger is a mildly scare short that builds tension in an artful way and offers a rather unexpected and chilling conclusion. The hints and strange sounds can also be unpleasant. "Curiosity killed the cat."

Label Me is the story of two men who couldn't be more different, yet somehow found their way to each other. While the film has a strong theme and more than one raw scene, it didn't get under my skin as much as I would have expected, which is a shame. But I was satisfied with the conclusion.

Faraz Shariat’s film captivates with a story that tackles several equally topical issues at the same time: interpersonal relationships (family and partner), the search for identity in a "foreign" country or the issue of refugees. (spoiler) I find the German title, “Futur Drei” very appropriate given the film's outcome, as there are only Future I and II in German. (end of spoiler) In the end, this is a successful confession from a truly young director who will hopefully give us other similarly strong films in the future.

Dating Amber has a very funny start, which gradually turns into a relationship and family drama, but it didn't appeal to me as much as the initial comedy level. The stone-throwing for attention really had its charms, and the sex education instructional video was very bizzarre. I was intrigued by the hillbilly atmosphere of the school, where the height of perfection was telling each other about your (un)real love experiences. While the film offers a strong story on the whole, it didn't get under my skin that much and the ending itself didn't quite work for me. A stronger three stars!

The Perfect Date offers an interesting premise with a dating app, which gets somewhat lost in the execution and turns into a bland affair, but the film is played in such a sweet and relatable way that you can forgive the cliché and let yourself drift for ninety minutes on a cheesy but still believable high school story. Even though I knew from the beginning how it's all going to turn out, I still wasn't bored and I was rooting for the main characters.