gudaulin

The way I like Woody Allen best, i.e., by giving us a conversational tragicomedy dissecting family and romantic relationships. He writes and directs about love, jealousy, rivalry, infidelity, ambitions, regrets, and many other feelings and phenomena that surround us. He relies on excellent actors, to whom he gives believable and high-quality dialogues. His characters are not mere templates and are flesh and blood people who can hold the viewer's interest until the end. The screenplay is lightened with a long series of jokes, Allen traditionally undermines all possible authorities and values ("Child molestation is a touchy subject..., We nev-- We don't name names! We say the Pope."). He doesn't spare himself either, as his hypochondriac television director Mickey is a perfect parody of himself. The positive tone of the film is important - its characters find their way to each other despite all the mishaps and can maintain and expand their family without an overload of pathos, cheap sentiment, and moral speeches so common in American family films. It is a seemingly inconspicuous but all the more impressive film about people and their values. As he has done several times before, Allen divided his film into a series of chapters, separated by headings. And just like before, he couldn't resist framing his two great loves - jazz and New York - in the film. Overall impression: 95%.

Pavel Koutský is probably a follower of the proverb that if you don't do it yourself, you simply DON'T HAVE it, so he embarked on a personal film project on a topic that everyone comes into contact with, everyone has an opinion on, and everyone thinks they understand - school and education. Given the above, he wrote the screenplay himself, drew, animated, and directed it himself. The result is a dynamic and imaginative film that laid the foundation for Koutský's current position in the field of Czech animation. Koutský works magic with letters, numbers, chemical formulas, and artifacts from other subjects, amusingly conveying that all of this may come in handy when you sit down at the table and start crafting your own resume. Overall impression: 90%.

A studio fairy tale that, despite its simple sets, black-and-white picture, and lack of special effects, remains watchable today thanks to its humor and the cast's performances. Overall impression: 55%.

This, probably the most famous film by the top Estonian animator and artist Priit Pärn, bears all the typical characteristics of his work - influenced by surrealism, a combination of artistic styles, experimentation with techniques, and an ironic to sarcastic tone in the message. Two hotel rooms represent a saturated Western society and a communist society experiencing scarcity. They are separated by a door, which one day opens. When the visitors from the dark neighboring room start to overwhelm the occupants of the colorful, luxury room, they give its occupants a worthless trinket and simply lock the door... Due to the fast pace, switching of images, and abstract expression used in experimental animation, it is recommended to see Hotel E several times. It is one of the fundamental works of modern animation, more suitable for animation enthusiasts rather than average consumers of animated family films. Overall impression: 100%.

This is proof that the Russians have not forgotten about animation and can produce feature-length animated films at a very decent craftsmanship level. The world of medieval German Hanseatic cities, where Wilhelm Hauff placed his stories, romantic nature, dark witches, is all beautifully drawn and animated. The creators played with the script, added a number of small jokes, so that for children, the time will fly by with a very reasonable runtime for the film. I just have to sigh about the issue of......... globalization - unfortunately, the whole thing strongly resembles an American Disney production, not only in terms of artistry but also with sentimental songs that interrupt the storytelling. Overall impression 75%.

An archival matter today, this is a television studio fairy tale based on a folk legend about a fearless vagabond, starring Pavel Landovský in the lead role. His robust acting has its limits, the quality of the black-and-white material is mediocre, and the set design is modest. Overall impression: 35%.

A naive story about a reformed Swedish thief, who came to Cuba to rob the local tourists, and was redeemed by his love for the charming daughter of a homeowner. It only excels in the atmosphere of the sunny tropical island and the streets of old Havana. Overall impression: 35%.

Another in a series of below-average comedies in which Eddie Murphy gradually depreciated his talent. The subject is worn-out, the script superficial and unremarkable, and any attempts at jokes usually miss the mark. This kind of comedic production for the thoughtless crowd completely passes me by. Overall impression: 25%.

This film simply got to me with its camera work and atmosphere that resonated with me for a long time. It's a very slow film with minimal dialogue, where the story speaks through images of a landscape scorched by the sun, details capturing sweat on human faces, or emotions emanating from the characters' eyes. This is my second encounter with Walter Salles after his famous Central Station. This guy really knows how to craft a film. Overall impression: 95%. A tragic film about the inability to break free from senseless traditions and blind obedience to the patriarch of one's family.

A comparison with the first film version is entirely appropriate, and the new adaptation unfortunately falls significantly short in many aspects, even though the way the old farmer resolves the situation with two criminal gangs on his property retains its charm. It's not just that Pierre Mondy simply isn't Gabin, and despite all efforts, he doesn't suit the role of a patriarchal, uncompromising farmer. The screenplay of the first version was tighter, more straightforward, and simply cinematic, whereas the new version is more diffuse, talkative, and overly sentimental, almost too reliant on emotions. Overall impression: 50%.