Mandy (2018)

The simple, isolated and idyllic life of a couple is shattered by the brutal attack of a religious cult.

This film is exactly what I would imagine a film directed by David Lynch, co-written by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, in the 1980s to be like.

With a mix of styles, it will not be a lot of people's cup of tea. Filmed in an 80s camera style, using a very prolific theme at the time (slasher / revenge), but interwoven with audio-visual artistic effects that are very uncharacteristic to the genre, it engages the viewer almost unknowingly through an abundance of difficult moments whether they're emotionally loaded or filled with disturbing actions.

All the protagonists are superb in their interpretation, with the subtle Andrea Riseborough impressing the most.

You've seen Linus Roache in Vikings and The Wings of The Dove, Andrea in Birdman, Black Mirror and Welcome To The Punch. Richard Brake is The Night King and Bill Duke can often be seen in John Carpenter's films.

Directed by: Panos Cosmatos
With: Nicholas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Richard Brake, Bill Duke

Mandy (2018)

Viața simplă, izolată și idilică a unui cuplu este dată peste cap de atacul brutal al unui cult religios. 

Acest film este exact cum mi-aș imagina un film regizat de David Lynch, scris în colaborare de Robert Rodriguez si Quentin Tarantino, in anii '80.

Cu un amestec de stiluri, nu va fi pe placul multora. Filmat cu o cameră in stilul anilor '80, cu o temă foarte prolifică tot atunci (slasher/revenge), dar întretaiat cu efecte artistice audio-vizuale foarte necaracteristice genului, captează aproape pe neștiute printr-o abundență de momente apăsătoare fie prin încărcătura emoțională fie prin acțiuni șocante.

Toți protagoniștii sunt superbi în interpretarea lor în frunte cu subtila Andrea Riseborough. 

Pe Linus Roache l-ați mai văzut în Vikings și The Wings of The Dove, pe Andrea în Birdman, Black Mirror și Welcome To The Punch. Richard Brake e The Night King și Bill Duke poate fi văzut adesea în filmele lui John Carpenter.

Regia și scenariul: Panos Cosmatos
Cu: Nicholas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Richard Brake, Bill Duke

Also read in English

The Hangover (2009)

Three friends investigate what happened on their night in Las Vegas for a bachelor party which ended with a missing groom and their collective temporary amnesia.

Unpretentious comedy, ingenious at times but overall a little bland.
I can understand the appeal with the public if I think about how much Transformers 2 entertained the group next to me (and no ... they did not laugh at the ridiculousness and childishness of the film).
It causes moments of genuine bursts of healthy laughter, but kept far apart from each other by certain monotonous and slightly empty periods of time, giving you just enough of a break for your mind to jump to the rest of your shopping list for the day. Truth be told, what else should such a comedy be really, but an opportunity to relax the mind, without having to focus on the endless enigmas of humanity, on the hideous hidden places of the human psyche, or on some complicated plot with a multi thread of tangled action that will make you get out of the movie theater more troubled, grumpy and depressed than when you entered.
The film succeeds in its relaxing task, however it does so differently to other .. examples of the genre (take ... The 40 Old Virgin for example) at the end of which you are left with a smile on your face and a sudden symptom of optimism. Instead, at the end of this one, you leave almost instantly forgetting what you've seen, whatever happened, whatever plot you witnessed, just like after a complete pause of your mind in which you didn't gain anything, in which you simply just .. vegetated. (on a different note - while waiting for the movie to start I watched the trailer for The Proposal - promising, can't wait to see)

Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Zack Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Ed Helms, Heather Graham

This is a translation of an older post, see it here

The Alienist (2018)

A psychologist, a news journal illustrator and a secretary are teaming up to help the New York police investigate a series of gruesome murders.

Inspired by actual history for some of its elements (for some of the details of the murders - unfortunately - or for some of the characters such as Theodore Roosevelt or JP Morgan), the story focuses on the the gripping events that surround the main characters who are each on their own interesting and charismatic, with each representing a trend which was gaining importance and popularity around that time (forensic psychology in Laszlo's case, feminism in Sara's case, forensics in the case of the 2 brothers Marcus and Lucius, thus portraying the period in a highly detailed, credible and intriguing way. Slightly melodramatic every now and then, this series manages not to get boring by the complete lack of monotony.

For fans of Hannibal Lecter, Mindhunter, Penny Dreadful or The Killing.
There are rumors that there will be a second season, but nothing else new for now.

You might remember Daniel Bruhl from the wonderful Good bye, Lenin! Dakota is the former child wonder who has appeared in many films (I am Sam or Man On Fire) and who still does not disappoint as an adult actor. You've seen Luke Evans in Dracula Untold, Immortals and many more. Ted Levine was unforgettable in Silence Of The Lambs and almost unrecognizable in everything he did after that.

Director: Jakob Verbruggen and others

Cast: Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning, Ted Levine, Michael Ironside

The Alienist (2018-?)

Un psiholog, un ilustrator și o secretară ajută poliția New York-ului să investigheze o serie de crime zguduitoare.

Inspirată din realitate pentru unele elemente (pentru unele din detaliile crimelor - din păcate - sau unele dintre personaje ca Theodore Roosevelt sau JP Morgan), povestea pune accentul pe evenimentele cutremurătoare ce implică personajele principale care sunt fiecare de ajuns interesante și carismatice, fiecare reprezentând un curent ce prindea puteri și creștea în importanță și popularitate în perioada respectivă (psihologia criminalistică în cazul lui Laszlo, feminismul în cazul lui Sara, criminalistica în cazul celor 2 frați Marcus și Lucius, astfel făcând portretizarea vremii extrem de detaliată, credibilă și intrigantă. Ușor melodramatic din când în când, reușește să nu plictisească prin lipsa completa de monotonie.
Pentru fani ai lui Hannibal Lecter, Mindhunter, Penny Dreadful sau The Killing. 

Sunt zvonuri cum că va fi un al doilea sezon, dar nimic sigur momentan. 

Pe Daniel Bruhl poate vi-l amintiți din minunatul Good bye, Lenin! Dakota e fostul copil minune ce a apărut în foarte multe filme (I am Sam sau Man On Fire) și care încă nu dezamăgește ca adult. Pe Luke Evans l-ați văzut în Dracula Untold, Immortals și multe altele. Ted Levine a fost de neuitat în Silence Of The Lambs și aproape de nerecunoscut în tot ce a făcut după. 

Regia: Jakob Verbruggen si altii
Cu: Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning, Ted Levine, Michael Ironside

Also read in English

Velvet Goldmine (1998)

A journalist studies the life of 1970s glam rock stars in 1984, stars that also influenced his life at the time.

From the "hate it or love it" category, this film is a fictional portrait of the glam rock era that uses some real figures as inspiration for the main characters (Brian Slade - David Bowie; Curt Wild - Iggy Pop - as far as I can tell). Constructed on the basis of an Oscar Wilde quote, to whose personality allusions are made throughout: "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."

The film presents the brilliance of those times, with all the illusions, promises, fascination, vices, addictions, disillusions, emptiness, disappointment both in the lives of those who created that world and in the lives of those fascinated and influenced by it.

Christian Bale shines as a former "addict" of those times, who felt his idols close, and experienced and lived alongside them and through them, now disappointed, resigned with some taste of regret, who put those times behind him and buried them deep, that life, that desire now forgotten not because of what it represented but because of the unfulfilled illusions. He is now tasked with the difficult job of bringing painful truths back to light.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers portrays one of these idols, extremely credibly. He's artificial and almost cold, the most memorable of them, a seemingly lively colorful personality, bursting with needs for attention, adoration, success, always in search for the perfect mask, jealous when someone is the living portrayal of that mask in an effortless and natural way while Ewan McGregor's character - his precious and unforgettable trophy - is lively, vicious, fascinating and repulsive at the same time, sincere and direct and almost innocent.
This past world is portrayed very faithfully, the personalities are defined subtly and in great detail and it's all done on a fascinating and delicious musical background. Amazing!

Directed by: Todd Haynes
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Toni Collette, Eddie Izzard

This is a translation of an older post, see it here

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Two brothers plan and rob their parents store and it triggers a series of unfortunate events.

Gripping drama with a dazzling back and forth action which sometimes captivates, sometimes bores, and then it captivates again and then again ... it bores. It culminates with a tense ending which makes you sit uncomfortably in your chair.
It's lead by a series of characters that you have to alternatively love, hate and condemn but you end up sympathizing with and pitying anyway. It succeeds in reaching out to the viewer through unsettling performances from all the actors involved. We get an immature and helpless Ethan Hawke, defeated by powerlessness and the cruel reality, a seemingly powerful and invincible Philip Seymour Hoffman, vicious but also full of regret, whose weakness is precisely the confidence and reliance of those around him in him and his self-control; Marisa Tomei is frustrated, childish and eager for adoration, attention and a good life; Albert Finney - memorable as usual -gives life to a character who can only generate endless controversy. Everything that happens, all that the characters live, decide and do is unforgivable but also somewhat excusable.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney

This is a translation of an older post, see it here

Jarhead (2005)

Recent war operations are shown through the eyes of a young marine, struggling due to girlfriend troubles.

There will be many who will foolishly be expecting a strong action movie. They will instead receive - with a disappointed face - a true story about camaraderie and the strong imprint of war. Although that was kind of to be expected as the director is none other than Sam Mendes.
With an excellent cast (with a few surprising choices), this film manages to impress through naturalness, freedom of expression, the characters immaturity or the opposite - the irrefutable evidence of a strong forced early maturity, through humor, through experience, through wounded hearts that show a strong desire to matter and to not be just another wheel in the social machinery, by acknowledging equality and the belonging to a "brotherhood".
Jake Gyllenhaal plays a memorable role - not that it would surprise anyone anymore - but it's also worth mentioning the few shorter parts of Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx and Lucas Black as well as a very brief but memorable cameo by Dennis Haysbert.

Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Peter Sarsgaard

This is a translation of an older post, see it here

Drag Me To Hell (2009)

An employee of the lending department in a bank refuses to approve a mortgage for an old woman of Roma descent just to prove her boss she can make harsh decisions and this triggers a series of negative events due to the subsequent curse.

After flirting with other genres, in attempts which are more (see A Simple Plan) or less (the Spiderman series) successful, Sam Raimi returns to the genre that launched and forever propelled him into the cult authors category. With his taste for gore pushed to the extreme to almost bad taste, yet so brilliantly combined with irony and dry humour that you manage to forget and dismiss that (or not, but you still love it: D), with well-dosed and unexpected suspense, with grotesque and somewhat caricaturistic fantastic elements, brought to life through special effects that might seem a bit rudimentary but are not just because they come hand in hand with the said irony and are part of what the appeal is, Sam Raimi made use of his strongest weapons and managed to deliver a horror-comedy worthy of his reputation. I'm looking forward to The Evil Dead in 2010 now that I see that he has returned to his old self.

As for the performers: Justin Long is a regular in the comic genre, although here he is more of a background character, but what I find more surprising is the choice of Alison Lohman as the main character and her agreement to appear in such a role, which is not always flattering and is quite a risky one.  However it proved to be a winning ticket, because she played her part honourably.

Direction: Sam Raimi

Writing: Sam and Ivan Raimi

Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Adriana Barraza

This is the translation of an older post, see it here

Venom (2018)

A failed journalist comes into contact with an alien life form that can survive on Earth only if it manages to establish symbiosis with a compatible host. Eddie is of course the perfect host and incredible adventures begin for him.

This film has had many negative reviews and I honestly do not know why. The CGI is well developed, there are fantastic heroes and enemies, and Tom Hardy delivers a delightful performance in portraying a neurotic possessed by a superpowered entity. Even if only this last point is taken into consideration, the film deserves more attention and praise. It's fun, funny now and then and visually impressive. Plot holes have been seen before and did not bother anyone then.

Venom (2018)

Un jurnalist ratat ajunge in contact cu o forma de viata extraterestra care poate supravietui pe Pamant doar daca reuseste sa stabileasca simbioza cu o gazda compatibila. Eddie este desigur gazda perfecta si aventuri incredibile incep pentru el.

Acest film a avut parte de nenumarate critici negative si sincer nu stiu de ce. CGI-ul e bine pus la punct, exista eroi si dusmani fantastici, iar Tom Hardy ofera un spectacol delicios in portretizarea unui nevrotic posedat de o entitate cu superputeri. Doar acest ultim punct luat in considerare si filmul merita mai multa atentie si lauda. Este fun, funny din cand in cand, si impresionant vizual. Intriga cu ceva gauri s-a mai vazut si nu a mai deranjat pe nimeni. 

Regia: Ruben Fleischer

Cu: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed

Also read in English

Time Lapse (2014)

Three friends discover a camera that photographs the same window every day, 24 hours in the future and decide to use it for personal advantage.

Low budget film, quite interesting, in the style of Primer trying to emphasize the human aspect of the consequences of trying to control time. The characters become greedier and more paranoid by the minute without actually having a strong enough reason, for the sole reason that the most recent picture taken shows them in a particularly intriguing circumstance. The cause becomes the effect and vice versa. The actors manage to make the transitions as credible as possible and the screenwriters manage to introduce some unexpected surprises. The film shows very little science and a lot of human weakness.

The ending reminds me of the common confusion during daylight saving time, when your mind can't adjust properly and you can't decide whether you need to wake up earlier or later.

Directed by: Bradley King
Cast: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn

Rating: 8/10

Time lapse (2014)

Trei prieteni descoperă o cameră foto care fotografiază aceeași fereastră zi de zi 24 de ore în viitor și hotărăsc să o folosească pentru avantaje personale.

Film de buget redus, interesant, in stilul lui Primer care încearcă să pună accent pe partea umană a consecințelor încercării de a controla timpul. Personajele devin tot mai lacome și paranoice fără un motiv de ajuns de puternic, doar pentru ca fotografia cea mai curenta îi arată într-o anume circumstanță intrigantă. Cauza devine efectul si viceversa. Actorii reușesc să facă tranzițiile cât de cât credibile si scenariștii reușesc să introducă și surprize neașteptate. Foarte puțină știință, multă slabiciune umană. 

Finalul îmi amintește de confuzia comună din ziua cu schimbarea orei, când nu poți judeca dacă consecința e că te trezești mai devreme sau mai târziu.

Regia: Bradley King

Cu: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn

Rating: 8/10

Also read in English

Winchester (2018)

Un doctor blazat este însărcinat cu diagnosticarea capului companiei ce produce arma Winchester, act necesar pentru a face posibilă preluarea puterii de către asociații acesteia. Pretextul folosit este ciudatul obicei al doamnei în cauza de a construi într-una noi camere în casa sa, camere ce nu urmează prea des normele vremii.

Interesant până la un punct, și asta deoarece Sarah Winchester a existat cu adevarat, și pare-se a fost pasionată de arhitectură în așa fel încât și-a folosit propria casă pentru experimente arhitecturale, experimente pe care le abandona fără a le demola oricând o idee nouă o pasiona și necesita o alta schimbare.

Între timp moștenitorii ei au schimbat narațiunea încercând sa facă bani din povestea ei transformând casa rezultată într-o așa zisă casă bântuită. Lucru la fel de tras de păr ca și filmul de față. 

Helen Mirren apare într-un rol slab și neverosimil, ceva ce nu prea o caracterizează. Singura persoana care se simte ca acasă este Sarah Snook, deja veterană a genului, aici în rolul firavei (sau nu?) nepoatei mamă. 

Slăbuț, neconvingător, încearcă să sperie prin clișee horror.

Poate fi potrivit pentru maratoane horror cu un grup de prieteni care adoră să râdă împreună.
Pe Sarah Snook ați văzut-o în Jesabelle, Predestination și Black Mirror

Regia: Michael și Peter Spierig

Cu: Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Jason Clarke

Rating: 5/10

Also read in English

Den brysomme mannen/ The Bothersome Man (2006)

A man has doubts and asks too many questions in a town/world where everyone else seems weirdly happy and content.

An aggressive look into the mirror of today's consumer society. Obsessed with being fit, fashion trends, showing off the marks of one's socially achieved/desired level, people tend to bypass the pleasure of simple things, they take shortcuts to what's easily accessible, avoid what's not trendy, and they implicitly educate their senses in such a way that they can only detect and react to that which has society's stamp of approval.
This amplified tendency leads to the numbness of real senses and of deep feelings to such an extent that it gives the superficial impression of real happiness and of reaching Nirvana - a thing that could not be more false, a fact of which the main character seems well aware from the start, at first in a shy and doubtful way, reacting to the cold and tasteless surrounding reality with a feeling of some sort of alienation from what he sees around and does not recognise, mixed in with a fear of rejection.
However he gradually becomes more and more convinced that the alienation was in the opposite direction, and the rejection came from him, directed at the unrealistic, plastic and unimpressive society.
The so called awakening happens in a brutal, but actually natural way nevertheless when comparing the lack of a meaningful reaction to anything which characterises this so called society to the aggravated and urgent desire to reach the world of real experiences, whether that's the taste of a simple pie in the oven or the terrible stings of frost. That desire is ever so strong even as that world is barely perceivable through a small and insignificant ... crack in the wall, a mere symbol of the flaw that was so difficult to detect in that which seemed perfect to everyone else.

This is a translation of an older post, see it here