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Reviews
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
Are you prepared?
I am surprised by all high votes for this movie, because I like this genre yet I couldn't stand this particular movie. I am not professional soldier, but in my opinion in every area preparation is key to success. What we have here is bunch of military guys on a "vacation", and then when they have to defend CIA station "real" action starts -- oh, surprise, how do we turn the lights off, oh wait openwork walls are not the best protection against the bullets, so maybe we should put some shield there. Pure luck they had some guns, because they would have problems with delivery at night.
Either the movie is a big lie, or those guys in real life came to battle unprepared, I don't judge whose fault was it, but the end effect is this -- "13 hours" is a painful experience for anyone who knows how to pack his/her backpack.
Inception (2010)
Monty Python seriously
The trailers of this movie were great, especially the second one (look for it on youtube). Great, dark score, mysterious story, superb special effects, and two great actors.
The problem with the movie is, the trailer lasts little longer than 2 minutes, the movie lasts over two hours, and the time is wasted -- there is no mystery here. All good parts are in trailer already, the movie adds only "surprising" twists, but they are not surprising, they are just like deus ex machina alterations. The characters could even speak foreign language, it wouldn't matter because there is no cause-effect chain here, most events are incoherent.
The movie repeats itself (how this can be interesting?), the moral struggles of the characters are rather shallow and predictable, and with constant shifts (now let's try something completely different) it is so unreal (not in sci-fi sense) that I didn't even care. Sure, unreality works for Terry Gilliam because he uses tale scheme, it worked for The Matrix because it was futuristic message with ancient background, it worked for Monty Python because it was comedy. But here? What it is? Monty Python seriously?
Speaking of The Matrix, it was 11 years ago, when my mind was simply blown away. Inception didn't even manage to get me interested. You want a fast paced action thriller, watch The Kingdom (2007), want a masterpiece of suspense you cannot wait for solution, see The Ghost Writer (2010), you want an insight of the mind, see The Matrix, again (1999).
Inception just will make you yawn. It is not even the execution, there was not any good idea for a full feature movie in the first place. The Matrix succeeded because it explained the whole mechanism and all pieces of the puzzle fit. Trailer of the Inception explains the mechanism well enough, there is nothing left to explain in the movie (and additionally, because of the nature of those two movies, there had to be a lot of similarities, and there are).
I rate it so high (4/10) because I like main actors (yes, Ellen Page is cute). Every movie rating is a matter of taste but anyway I am totally surprised Inception is #3 at the charts, my advice -- look for something maybe not that fresh, but really solid, the one I mentioned above or Nothing but the Truth, or Syriana, or Body Lies, or The Departed, or (if you prefer something lighter, for summer), The Shooter, or... ;-D
Street Kings (2008)
Almost a remake
Watching this movie is like deja vu -- I already saw this plot filmed at least two times, the same scenario (even the "team in the restaurant" scene was familiar). What is "screenplay" today means if it is just the same thing going on and on?
Well, I can't tell I was bored because good actors and nice pace delivers entertainment but there was nothing fresh or surprising here. The story starts familiar, it ends in predictably and the way it unfolds is way too obvious.
My advice: pick another movie because you will just waste almost 2 hours on stuff you know already.
Cloverfield (2008)
Headache
If you saw the trailer already you saw it all -- shaking camera and a lot of "oh my god". Unfortunately that does not make a great film.
It is like cheap version of Godzilla (which was disaster), a bit of Alien feeling and Blair Witch Project (I believe, because I didn't see it) -- hand-camera artsy-style.
Surprisingly, this movie gets only high rates, well, then, good for producers. If you want to save your money, shake your head a lot, scream, and bang it from time to time against the wall.
Overall, it is a pity, because I would like to see some new great sci-fi thriller, but unfortunately every attempt is bad clone of something. I hope we won't see Cloverfield 2.
Katyn (2007)
Feel nothing...
This movie is a shame especially considering Andrzej Wajda is not an amateur, but professional director. However this movie fails to deliver anything you could expect.
First of all -- I am Polish, so I can tell all the background story, because I read books. But how can you tell there is even a war from this movie -- bunch of people are going back and forth, some soldiers are shouting... This is really The Second World War or soldiers are on vacations?
Acting and dialogs -- poor, miserably poor. A.Żmijewski, D.Stenka, M.Komorowska, W.Kowalski, A.Chyra fit in their roles, the rest of (Polish) cast is out of the place (most notably M.Ostaszewska, one of the leading characters, what an unfortunate choice). 99% of the dialogs are not spoken, they are just put there, actors had difficulties to perform and it is no surprise considering what odd things they had to say.
And this leads us to the most disappointing issue -- you can't feel it. Everything is so theatrical, artificial. There is no real life, there is no feeling in it. There are a lot of original footage from the WWII and, guess what, the material is much more powerful, dramatic, than what A.Wajda did.
I can see only one positive -- despite historical mistakes (like acronym ZSRR; it was made for post-1945 propaganda purposes, to please Polish that ZSRS was gone, and now there was ZSRR, but in 1940 there was no ZSRR!), luckily it is undoubtedly shown killing in Katyn was done by Soviets (yes, it is a fact, not some controversial gossip). Great, two hours for 5-10 minutes scene.
Anyway -- time and potential wasted. This is tragedy of epic proportions, will to fight in 1939 (barely shown), not declaring war against Soviet Union by Polish authorities (sic! not shown here), imprisonment of soldiers shortly after, living in the outrageous conditions (not shown here), hope and fear what will come next (barely shown) , and then... extermination. Hand to hand with Germans -- Soviets were exterminating Polish nation, aimed at people who constituted the backbone of Poland. Unfortunately they succeed, and the results are still visible to this very day.
The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
Sick mix
It could be absolutely awesome comedy with a little romance, and what's more important, not some fiction-romance, but pretty real-life romance and love troubles. With tons of good dialogs, witty humor and great, smart ending. 8/10 for that part.
Yes, it could. However, Farrelly brothers crossed the line -- they added some "spice" humor too, but they didn't stop there. They added (for a flavor?) some most disgusting, repelling, obscene "jokes" (completely unfunny) I've seen so far (and by all means I wish I will never make a new record) which are hard to watch and make you feel vomiting even day or two after. Lack of sense of humor, what to add and what to keep for themselves. If you are going to see this movie with some friends (don't do it with your family) make sure everybody is drunk in advance.
Pity. Great potential wasted for good, memorable comedy, for which you want to come back and watch it again with pleasure.
Muyeong geom (2005)
Great movie
Well, what can I say -- great movie. The comparison to House of Flying Daggers of course is inevitable ;-) Shadowless Sword is more humorous (but not comedy-fun), there is a bit of adventure theme, the story is simpler (so there is less who-is-who guessing), and has two dazzling beautiful (!) women as leading characters. I almost would say I like Shadowless Sword more if only director didn't made special effects awkward.
Maybe it is just me, but I expect that after hitting objects can explode, but not after cutting. And here some objects fall apart (with great speed and energy) what looks amazing (with proper music) but some... explode, which is not funny, not spectacular, not magical, not mysterious -- it is simply bizarre. It is so out-of-place that it spoils every fight scene when director decided to put explosion after sword cut. Pity...
Interview (2007)
Movie about nothing
When you go to see this movie you could expect good dialogs, good acting, good story -- and it also seems that way. The story reveals more and more details -- why, who and how -- and you get interested how it will go and how it will end. But at the end... quite a surprise, it appears that the time spent was just a waste, because movie was made about, well, literally nothing.
I don't get it why not even to make the movie about nothing, but actually to make a remake about nothing. In retrospect the dialogs looks fake and not believable, the same goes for the story, actors played well but it hasn't saved the film.
Evan Almighty (2007)
touching and heartwarming story about family
It is not a comedy, it is not a fantasy. Where those categories come from?
OK, there is some humour here, but light, few jokes does not make a comedy. It is really great (9/10) movie about love, commitment, trust, and well, it is also about religion. Is your God kept in secret, valid on Sundays only or it is really present in your life. Whole life? However, it is not religious movie, God is mentioned (and well played by M.Freeman) but there is wider context here -- are your beliefs, thinking and acting the same, or you believe in something, think something else, and act quite differently?
What's most important in a gentle way it shows some obvious truths about life -- for example, obstacles are to overcome them, not to despair.
Touching (I admit, in restaurant scene I almost cried), heartwarming movie (beautiful Lauren Graham), with disgusting jokes almost at level zero (rare thing for American movies nowadays), I highly recommend it for watching for whole family. Enjoy!
Train de vie (1998)
escape from Nazi Hell to Soviet Heaven
I am sick when I see such scenario -- Nazis bad, Bolsheviks good. Riiiiight -- it looks like in Western Europe nobody really cares that people were murdered in Soviet Union, and not in one or two death camps. There were established whole "lands" of death camps.
Nobody would survive "the escape", because people coming from German side were treated as spies (even prisoners of war). I realize that the move is a fiction, but it should not insult the memory of the people who died in Soviet Union.
Soviet reality ordeal still waits for its director brave enough to make a movie showing that Stalin, Trocki, Kamieniew, Dzierzynski, etc. were not just politicians, but insane monsters beyond imagination. That there were a lot of Jews in Soviet authorities but also Jews were victims (for example Anti-Fascist Front Leaders, murdered on an order by Stalin).
There is well known story about two trains full of Jews meeting in Brzesc (German-Soviet border in 1939). One train was going from Germany to Soviet Union, the second from the Soviet Union to Germany. And Jews from both trains were escaping and both were laughing of stupidity of the others.
The plot was easy to fix -- train going to Switzerland instead of Soviet Union, believable, more historically accurate... So another attempt of Soviet glorification or just a stupidity of the director?