ilustra-neuropixel Reviews

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021)

The road to being screwed by society

[9/10 · 14 February 2023]

As a fan of Radu Jude I can say I am not disappointed. The movie is fool of what I would expect from a crazy, free, cinema lover director like him. As a student and Romanian, I am happy and proud to see a Romanian filmaker being shown in our film lecture, selected for our film program, in a University of top 100. The movie deserves it. First I thought that the teachers could have selected any other movie that is as good as this one but then I have seen the peer students of my program and I can say that this was indeed the best selection, from Radu Jude. But enough with the bias.

As a movie goer myself I would have not gone out of the cinema having to see everything that I have seen. I would have set in the chair trying to analyse everything that is presented to me, on the screen. The explicit, the pedantic, the realistic, truthful, satirical, self-ironic content. Because this movie, over all it is not hard to be understood. Not at all. And this is what makes it efficient. That the movie is on point making fun of everything that screams of (cultural) arrogance in the Romanian society. It is a mirror. And this is what art should be. Otherwise there is no chatarthic effect. And I thing this movie brings one. I mean you either stop the movie in the first minute or you get to see the end. Period.

I don't think there is more to say here without making spoilers and I don't like at all the spoiler alert system here on IMDB cause I always struggle to find the button that always me to see the text, if I want to read something about a movie that I have seen that I can safely go though/ with a couple of spoilers.

Some say this is not comedy. I have seen the students having fun at the beginning and definitely laughing out laud at the end. I can safely say it is a comedy. With smart good comedy.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

A never ending script writing movie

[10/10 · 23 August 2019]

I've seen all all QT movies. I started with Kill Bill and never stopped since then watching his movies. And am am not a violence thirsty person. I can't even watch blood on screen and my eyes gets shut or I turn my head. But QT knows narrating movies.

And he enjoyed every word of this script. Every dot and every letter. Writing them one by one. When I realized I was in front of a feel-good I am a movie maker movie type I just sat on the chair and enjoyed the master enjoying himself. This is not a movie anyone can enjoy. If you haven't seen QT until now you don't deserve to be in that chair. You know why? Couse you won't like it. If you've seen his movies for the violence ques what? You won't like it. If you don't enjoy life...ques what? You won't like it.

The Bruce Lee moment comes like a drop of water in the middle of the desert.

And then the actors: they understood what their doing, that is their mission.

The camera does what QT camera does it its best: it s alive.

And then the music: who better to introduce the music in movies other than QT. There is good movies for cinema and there is cinema for music. QT is a combination of both.

Thank you, QT

Lemonade (I) (2018)

Lemonade - a reasonable way to look towards immigration

[10/10 · 28 October 2018]

I've watched this great movie at "Les filmes de Cannes a Bucharest", the Romanian Cannes retrospective and I have to say, I am pleased to see that a subject like immigration in an era where this illness is spreading very quickly, is so sincere discussed on a screen. And when I say sincerely... there are lots of things to pay attention to, lines, characters or image.

We watch the story of Mara, a Romanian immigrant who is trying to offer to her child the best life possible, in America.

Only that there is a lot more to this image of America that America itself struggled to make us believe into. And the adventure of Mara becomes very quick since here arriving in America, a lot more dramatic than it was and could possibly have been... in her birth country.

This is a solid script that has some comic inside built also strong dramatic plots. The acting is high and that helps a lot the audience to believe that this can happen in real life as well.

The cinematography tho is so well crafted that you forget you are watching the work of a man who was handling the camera and keeps you there for the entire experience.

This is Ioana Uricaru's future movie debut and I for one looking forward for more great and sincere storytelling coming from a great cinematic mind.

Alex Strangelove (2018)

More like Truelove and less like strangelove

[10/10 · 21 October 2018]

I've seen lots of movies about love and self-discovery and self-accepting. Of course, lots of them involved teenagers and rarely adult persons. Indeed it's a sad thing to accept yourself and who you truly are only when you are 40 or 50. So, with all these movies that I've seen in my mind, I will say about Strangelove that this is a story about true love - the form that true love can have and can happen. And true love is when you love your best friend (without even involving sex for example).

Rarely I get the chance to see good teenager character and true acting in regards to how credible these teenagers are on screen. And this film has lots of talent inside. It is incredible for me but not only that you see great acting. you also see and understand content about this characters. Most of the characters are indeed alive on the screen.

This is undoubtedly a very fine brick in terms if what self-discovery means on the screen and by the looks of it, great stories are yet to come to life.

First Man (2018)

Humanisation of the first extraterrestrial human

[7/10 · 17 October 2018]

Whiplash meant the discovery of a new very talented filmmaker and ... what a talent. Then La la land happened. Having Whiplash in his filmography, I thought... "gush, what a great musical will emerge from this one" and it did. But then the Oscar's came and... "gush, what a shame". A shame not for the fact that "La la land" did not win but for the entire Oscar thing and what it means. And it means a lot for many people. Moonlight was a great winner. Well... Damian had that face that says "this is not happening" as in a trauma thing. And indeed it would've been a trauma for anyone. A complete nightmare. Even so, I think the guys did manage to act as normal as possible. And now "First man" - Neil as a human. An extraterrestrial human. A lot of moments where feelings are trying to come to life but very few manage to reach a certain degree of life. And having children dying in a story would make anyone have some feelings - Damian thought of this. Of course. But I am talking about the other ones, not the obvious ones. And with this Nail fails to make me follow him in his trying to get on the moon. I was astonished by the amount of information that should've come to me as a viewer (to help me remain with the story)... did not do that in the end. In this regards, I felt that Damian is trying to defend a lie that he (himself) didn't find the strength to believe in. Or couldn't find it. I have a feeling many scenes were cut at the editing table. If the president of America can talk about an important moment in the movie and not realizing that he is not doing any favor for the movie then I can talk about it here as well: the flag moment. Or the absence of it. Having saying things about not having the strength to believe in a lie... the flag proves it clearly that... Damian couldn't defend himself from looking ridiculous in front of the people that understand what a possible truth means, if he would've inserted the moment. And there are many people like this out there - Americans or non-Americans. The presence of the absence of a moment like this made him credible in his trying to truly be sincere to his way of saying a story - the documentary style that he chose for the movie. But they made it clear when asked by the media what is the directorial reason behind the absence of a moment like it and the answer was more than reasonable - "Armstrong did not say '....a giant leap for America'" He said indeed humanity. And humanity it was indeed: the entire world was watching the way America was becoming great! So what is about this movie about the "First man" on the moon? Felt like I am watching lots of documentary stile shots, where a man doesn't have to try to look human at all because he is human by default. It's not the fact that I can't believe in the movie out of disrespect of what America became with Trump in office (and I am not saying Trump who is a Republican, I am saying Trump as someone who doesn't have the slightest idea how much harm he can do saying stuff that can hurt people and make people lose hope), I am not saying it from the angle of a reasonable human being that finds hard to believe we never been to the moon (it's not my job to question the reason of such a big lie[tho, the republicans that will read this will find hard to believe me not because they CAN'T but because they don't WANT)... I am saying it from the angle of a man who thinks Damian lost his genius, having as proof everything that happends on the screen, because of a moment like the Oscar moment. Not because he didn't win. But because the moment happened. That very wrong moment of two old people that couldn't understand how to read a piece of paper. Great acting, would've expect more from Hollywood in terms of music (especially for the fact that Spielberg is executive for this one), wanna-be-strong script. I am giving 7 stats out of respect for Damian. I will continue to follow this great filmmaker in search of all the great emotions he brought doing Whiplash and of course... La la land. This means I will buy next time a cinema ticket as well. And yes. I went to see this movie in the cinema out of respect for Damian and his previous work.

Passengers (I) (2016)

Unexpectedly good/enjoyable with some SF clichés

[10/10 · 24 December 2016]

I have not much to say about this movie. It was a SF movie and I had not that many expectations from it. I saw a nice acting performance from Pratt and a cool one from Lawrence.

Not so reach Universe images but enjoyable journey trough it. The image overall was good towards very good.

The barman was enjoyable as character and was well written, very well integrated into the final idea and message of the movie and for the turning point of the build-up of Pratt character.

A nice suspense script that keeps one connected.

Worth the cinema ticket for sure!

The Accountant (2016)

Affleck's role. The Role! The movie!

[10/10 · 6 November 2016]

I was delighted to experience all I needed to, in the chair of a cinema room - the screen called my soul and made more aware and in care for issues shown, made me aware of the importance of life and of course... it had the 'come to cinema element' which is... what it is for every one of us.

Also important: the role of a man who managed to pass the great test of the psychological issues just suits Ben, without mentioning the fact that he did a great job as an actor.

The script is 'smart' and has the 'unpredictability' element.

The movie receives another star for speaking about art and for being 'smart'. The writer, on his name Bill Dubuque, really tried to insert all the 'good writer elements' inside.

This is a movie to be seen in cinema. Affleck receives the role of the movie that will most probably pass the test of time.

Bread and Chocolate (1974)

Everyone is an immigrant on this planet

[10/10 · 20 June 2016]

Then it was Italians for the Swiss. Recent it was Romanians for the Italians. And now the Chinese for the Romanians.

This movie talks about the courage and the naivety of becoming a foreigner in the endless search for "the better". In the end...it remains a search and that is because we are not moving from a country to another inside ourselves. We are keeping the same place there: the place called "us- who we really are". The search remains without meaning, without result if we can't understand the importance of looking at us and understand the cultural and spiritual significance of our core.

The story: An Italian becomes an immigrant in Sweetland, in search for what his country can't give to him and his family; financial stability. Here he has to face new and continuous challenges, even greater than the ones he had to face in his country and son... the hero finds himself fighting with destiny itself who seem to have made a job out of the continuous effort of putting Nino down and tryings to show him who he is and that he must not forget what the reason is for his presence in the semi-adoptive country.

A drama full of comic and hilarious situations where the director really knows what is the difference between comic and drama and how to put them next to each other without failing to send the message. But more important, the comic is on the highest standard of intelligence; simple and efficient as you expect from a movie that has cinematic power inside as well as an important theme to explore and expose: immigration.

The acting is incredible and all the actors manage to deliver it to the highest expectations. Nino Manfredi is exceptional and extremely well distributed in this role created with the sensibility for abstract.

A movie to remain in history before and after all the countries will merge into one.

Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (2015)

American Pie - Christian version or 'the bad is coming' syndrome

[1/10 · 18 June 2016]

It seems that Mr. Cone has seen too many movies he liked because he is trying to use camera angles that seem to make no sense what so ever. I mean... interesting they are but that is all about them.

To start a movie with the conversation about the size of the d**k without having anything to start from in the first place, to me is porn. 'Wannabe' art but ends up being porn. And that's bad enough. But when you involve actors or 'wannabe' actors in it then I can only think the director has a hidden message that the only person to have access to... might be just himself. I truly hope this is not true! I truly hope the actors or the team, at least, know about this message. If this is not the case then Mr. Cone does movies to be paid for.

And my questions is: what happened with Mr. Cone we know from 'Wise kids'? Was that a mistaken-art-success? Because we see there as well the 'Mr. Cone wannabe director' but he shows love for the script and for the characters and building of the characters. He shows love for the plots and pure courage in creating them! Where did all that go?

The story of the movie: the birthday of a Christian teenage. The rest of the story is so incoherent that only Mr. Cone might be able to put it here but I am not sure about that either, now that the movie is out.

I have a special sensibility for the collaboration between gay-Christian themes. And of course, there is a certain conservative respect that has to come with this collaboration. Which existed in the aforementioned 'Wise kids' movie. I have no clue what happened with this here either. The respect for the conservative Christianism disappeared.

There is a feeling that covers the movie and is very exaggerated in some small parts of it: that feeling is 'the bad is coming'! And indeed, it comes!

Love Is Strange (2014)

Power and grace!

[10/10 · 17 June 2016]

It is not the best film I ever saw. And of course, this is a matter of subjectivity whether what I see is a best or a worst but quality is quality and a good story is what makes a good movie most of the time.

But I know I cried and I laughed with the story. I know I felt things that not often I was to feel watching a movie. I felt like I was reading a very good book with strong characters, a story with simple but real plots. A story that makes the mind floating along with and taking me to this journey that I felt I need to see the end of.

And then again, the story was not strong. My guess is that the characters make the story. The characters took me alongside the story, with them through the entire movie. So... what makes this movie not so good in the end? This is something to be answered and discovered and discussed... and not something to exist as a criticism because if I felt joy and sadness watching this movie that means that, as it is, bad or good... this movie gives us an experience not many movies has to give. I say 'not many' because I don't know if there is another movie out there to deliver what this movie delivers. I tend to think that it might be the only movie to give such a fine experience of love, truth and music.

Ten starts for not such a good movie; that is for the use of music.I know this much: if a movie combines the language of music in fine quality with the images then that is a movie to be seen.