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Reviews
Sedmikrásky (1966)
Stylistic no plot pieces of celluloid
People who admire this film as a feminist, anarchist, experimental masterpiece of cinema proves that the majority knows nothing about feminism, anarchism or film making.
This movie surprisingly caused the Czechoslovakian state authorities and some well known film critics like John Simon share similar ideas. John Simon is right when he condemns the film as 'disconnected', 'silly', 'uneventful', 'uproariously unfunny', 'unconscionably dragged out', and a derivation of the 'dregs' of silent comedy, Godard, Warhol, Richter and underground cinema, with 'its idiot yearning for Western beatnikdom'.
The 'visual effects' that are limited with the technical possibilities of an analogue era that were used for the sake of being 'experimental' gives us an example of the vanity of focusing on the formal and technical elements of cinema that become outdated in time.
Formalism or art for the sake of art is the main cause of the crisis of European cinema, as in the other creative industries. Films with no narrative like Daisies are one of yhe factors that facilitated the dominace of the mostly banale Hollywood films throughout the world.
The Mentalist (2008)
Mensplainist
The show is good at creating an image as if the "mensplainist" Patrick Jane is very cleverly solving the most intriguing criminal cases, using the most unlikely methods and clues just like a blonde Sherlock. But a stereotypical blonde one in fact, like in "dumb blonde".
As in many other crime and mystery shows, the screenplay is a far cry from the real world, so that sometimes the storyline and dialogues create kind of a parody of the show in itself.
Another flaw of the show is the "hidden ugly face" of patriarchy as mansplaining, although it's atempted to be disguised by giving women some roles as managers or leaders. Why does CSI agent Lisbon have no "agency" and just drifts along wherever Jane takes her mostly with a dumbfounded look on her face with her mouth open? She has to, because a woman can't have any agency even if she is the team leader of a crime scene investigation unit. She always has to be guided by a man and mansplained even though he is a narcissist and a former fraud "psychic" turned investigator. Se has to be saved by a man, despite she clearly states she doesn't need to be saved. No matter how unrealistic the way the storyline develops in every episode, he has to be right and get the case solved magically in the end.
I am sure police detectives/inspectors or people who work as crime scene investigators who solve criminal cases in real life, especially women, can't watch these kinds of shows or movies without laughing out loud, sometimes nervously. In real life, "crime solving" demands coordinated work of many specialists in different departments. This takes more than the effort a team, and definitely more than a "one man show".
The "magical realism" of the show becomes irritating from time to time, as the showrunners are too obvious trying to fool the viewers that the show is about a "mentalist" who solves the criminal cases that demand an extremely high IQ. Also nobody can bust the criminals, even if they are trained and exprienced state agents in the field of forensics, but a genius fraud psychic turned amateur supermentalist alone.
Hukkle (2002)
Nothing is worth killing or torturing a sentient being
I hate animal abuse in every form. Be it for the sake of art or science, nobody can justify killing and torturing animals. Especially animal life is regarded as worthless by many directors.
This is a sickening film as two animals are killed, one of them, a cat, is murdered by being poisoned and suffering a horrible death. The director thinks they have the right to kill or torture an animal to shoot this stupid movie. They did not really need to harm animals in reality to express their ideas. They could have implied killing without actually murdering an animal. Nothing is more precious than life. Nobody has a right to torture a sentient being for shooting another sicko so called "art film".
Le goût des merveilles (2015)
Romantic Idyll
Mediterranean nature, with French style provincial homes, fruit gardens and idyllic country roads, is an actor in this film although we don't see his name in the casting.
How can Romanticism and Asperger's syndrome exist together in a most unlikely love story? This movie is an answer with a subtile French humor. Although some may think Asperger's syndrome is a bit idealized in this scenario, and there is a logical mistake in the story, the beauty of the scenery, cinematic narration and the sophisticated reflection of the relationships by showing some details seemingly mundane and ordinary, are enough for compensation. The ordinary and mundane things are reflected as if (and as some of us experience, indeed) they are miraculous.
Ludwig II (2012)
Mediocre biography and character portrayal
The eccentric and naive personality of Ludwig II and the conflicts caused by his royal duties is reflected in the first part of the movie. The second part that is about the seclusive life he led seems to be based on the reports prepared to prove he is insane in order to abdicate him. As the diaries of Ludwig II were damaged during World War II, we don't know much about the real experiences he had in his seclusion. But his naive and sensitive personality does not match some of the behaviours depicted.