nikxatz Reviews

Happiness (1965)

The quest for happiness

[8/10 · 2 April 2020]

So,Agnes Verda is considered a legend of filmmaking and I guess after enjoying Fces Places quite a lot... her films shall be interesting. So, I watched "La Bonheur" and I have to say that there a lot of things that are beautiful in this one. At first, the story is really interesting and it's theme is clear, its about craving happiness and feeling happy and when you do... more happy. How can we difine we are happy?Isn't happyness just a state of mind that goes away after a while?How much happyness can we get till we fall into sadness.

At first, we view the family's every day life. It's gorgeous, almost ideal, seems like The American Dream coming true. Children, nice house, good work, beautiful town and trips in the countryside, cinema nights and dance clubs. We start as plain observers of this family and I started wondering if it's about thec whole family or if it will give emphasis on one person, if it will have a main character to follow. And it did, the father of the family, is a happy, with capital h, working man who enjoys living, nature, his wive's love and his children's chreerfulness. He looks like a complete man and he might be, if anyone has ever reached perfection or completion of the soul. But, his happiness turns double when he meets another woman and instantly falls into her arms without even questioning the ethical choice behind it or his wive's emotions. It sounds mean, I know. But, there's the cool part about it. The whole film makes the character really fun and nice and kind of reletable.

The actor is charming and his sympathetical and joyful presence is enough to make us avoid critisism about his bold choices. Also, it's not that he is extremelly reckless or mean or evil or dump or anything. The story establishes that he just view life from his one, tiny window of thought. To him happyness is all we want and all we ever ask for. We want a perosn to love and be loved by, a tasty meal, a life with nature and peace, children to give as life and joy, a job to make us forget and provide us a steady life and then we are complete. That is a human and undresndable thought. The thing about the character though, is that this idea about happiness is the only one he believes in and even if he manages to have it, he wants more of it. Because if he can be more happy, why shouldn't he?

It is a pretty pleasant and simple way to live life, but underneath it lies an unctrollable ego, one that blinds the man and makes him ignore thec ethos in his acts. He never really thinks abour others, but only about his sole enjoyment and if others are happy too, he just keeps doing what he does. To him his life is a simple and big quest to personal happiness.

He also makes no total discrete between his love's. Yes, he loves them in different ways, the one is more passionate and new and exciting and sexy and the other is more pure nad understanable and common, it's like a love he always had been feeling and never faded. His love and care is of equal amount and that makes him kind of more of a nice guy.

Verda also hinges on sex rights and how interchangable women were. Their lives might be happy and full of life and people, but their chances in life and the space to express themselves and show themselves was minimum. A woman couldn't love a lot of men, she had to be devoted and Verda never loses her feminstic character.

The look of the film gives it another layer. The colors attack the screen and fill it with emotion and tone. We get lush greens, minimal and moody blues, flaming reds, sweet yellows and they give the film a life of its own. It really looked like a happy life.

Also, Verda pays attention to keeping clear that humans and nature share both a story of joy and bitterness and are entwined in this vast quest. From the huge and dream-like countryside that the family casually visits to ease, to the consant shots showing colorful flowers in pots, natue is everywhere in reality. The best example would be the dance sequence where our hero shares a dance with both of his love's and and the camera moves fastly from one side to the other to show the romantic moments they all share, while a tree trank splits the two dance groups into two sides.

Another great touch is Verda's desire to match the colour's of nature and flowers and trees and seasons with the character's clothes and by extension to their mood and emotions.

Verda also loves fade outs fade ins and with them she resonates dream-like quality, like the film blends the reality of loving and living everyday life with the immersive and ephemeral feeling of a memory or view fading away in time... It is true but it has a farytale's viewpoint too anf that makes it a film too good for its time.

Some of the edtiting, especially those really fast edits in the apartment, seem way too much and kind of weird for no reason and i would prefer a more clear portrayal of the main character in the last act, although he is still a greatly developed one. This film might often feel like it's going nowwhere, but it really knows what it's doing. Also, how many times do they mention the word happyness in them movie? Need to do a countdown now.

In the end, I feel like it is a movie thst tells us to love life with what is given and if we want more, we might lose a lot in the end, even if we manage to rise again. You can't have everything in life, it's too short and hard to manage to live it at its fullest. I don't know something like that.

Watch it ,hope you enjoy it and please don't cheat your love's unless the paramour is waaaay too hot.

byeeeeeee!

Marona's Fantastic Tale (2019)

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT???

[6/10 · 28 January 2020]

Our teachers organized a school trip to TIFF (Thessaloniki International Film Fesitval) and I was already visiting it every afternoon ... so going in the morning too did not sound bad at all. We got the chance to watch "Marona's Fantastic Tale" ,a sweet story about a dog that recalls her owners and their shared experiences, I already new about htis film and looked interesting enough to watch, especially from an animation standpoint.

And yes... the animation is gorgeous. So many different styles and colors and ideas in one film and it never feels dizzy or lame. Every person or building or enviroment felt detailed and creative and expressed a certain emotion. It It is a feast for the eyes and I bet the animators were really creative and vivid people, because as a visual journey the film definately did it for me.

The story is fine...it offered a critique of the society and times we live in, with the joy and biterness, the tough working life, the bizzare human relationships, the strange quarels and fights, there were happy people, dad people, men of greed and women without a heart and amongst them a dog searching for compassion, love and acceptance, a place to belong, a hug, a reason to exist. It is a story that never felt really new or deeply moving, but it formed a certain connection and in the end I cared for the characters so even if I was not overwhelmed by it's thematic or message (i do not really get why every animation film has to have an emotional massage, but whatever).

Overall, this film is far more mature than what DIsney is doing right now with the sequels and meta stuff ( it is so dissapointing )... and it deserves a watch. The music is also sweet and charming as far as I can recollect, although it's been some months since I watched it, so I really am not sure what it sounded like. Great, mesmerizing visuals and presentation, an okay story and lots of FUURRRRRR!!!!!

Sorry We Missed You (2019)

Sorry I Loved It

[8/10 · 28 January 2020]

I took a break while being in the TIFF (Thessaloniki International Film Festival) and went to watch this movie because I was really excited. Sure it looked realistic and sad and bitter and it would probably ruin me, but who cares. And yeah, it was kind of heart-breaking and it is the most raw film of the year. It's realism is just beyond compare.

The film is a look at a family struggling to make a living in an England of taxes, generic working enviroments and inhumane job conditions. It is about financial struggle, humanity and the industriliziation of our era and about labour exploitation and how ideas like love and the values of democracy have faded out.

The family members feel like real people and their struggles and problems are so understandable because we also have to face them everyday and everything about this film is so grounded and righteous. It never tries to produce a certain emotion, it is just there and it hits because of its presence, the struggles feel ral and the sotry is so organic and even if it is such a sad story, it never made me feel totally devasted - maybe i should have.

Even its look does not have a cinematic quality,. It really feels like the most true way of documenting reality and everyday struggles between this family. The camera is like a human eye, an observer, it does not want to look stylish or make a movie to show off and that's why this film has a really bold and interesting cinematic trait of portraying things in a way so honest it does not look like cinema but like life itself.

And I still do not get how people manage to live their lives under such an unfair and mechanical way of working. It is like we have become souless and have no further purpose except of serving as workers. There is no space for feeling tideous or taking a step back to think or choose to be ethical instead of practical. Life is like you are running in a labyrinth because you are chased by a beast and if you pause for a second to rest or enjoy the view or have a chat- you're gone. NAd it's sad and bitter and it hurts, but it's true and human and I appreciate this movie a lot.

Great job and please let's start to feel the other people around us and undrstand that some things like family, love,togethereness and the human life is more important than completing a lame delivery. We are not robots- we have souls and we feel pain and sadness and that's why our working enviromntens as well as our family members should be more compassionate and show a level of respect and try to help.

Wake up

As Charlie Chaplin once said in The Great Dictator : " We live in a world that thinks too much and feels too little!"

Think Less. Feel More. That's what we Miss.

Winona (2019)

The sun, the laughs and the tears

[9/10 · 13 January 2020]

I really wanted to watch this one. The Boy (the director, acotr and the man behind the soundtrack is Alexandros Voulgaris, who is also a Greek singer called "The Boy". I learned about his songs the summer that past and I started taking a good look at his recent work and although it is totally weird and alienating, it was so fascinating and captivating, underneath the quircky lyrics and complex melody, there lied an honest person with a vision and a heart. That was what I got from his recent film, Winona, a story about 4 girls that spend their day in the beach doing what 4 girls usually do-tlak, play, sing , enjoy, swim, laugh and do dump things. I love this film. It just...it's such a lovely and easy-going film to seat through and it is a unique emotional journey.

Firslty, the visual storytelling. The movie was shot with a kodak 16mm film using film and it looks gorgeous. This movie manages to master the art of portraying a certain time at a certain season with certain people. This film IS summer anc I have not seen any other film portraying the colours and the melancholy of summer so vividly before ( ok , maybe Call me by your name). The sun, the sand, the sea, the clouds , the flowers, its texture is so soft and beatiful.

The dialogue is pretty lose from start to finish, but that's not bad at all. It's point is to portray a summer day and the relationships of the characters. It feels really playful and fun evne if there is no actual order of events or a clear view of the story, but that offers for a more relaxing movie experience. The dialogue blends fantasy with reality and it's vastly humorous and funny. It is an astonisihngly new way of blending hypothetical fantasieswhile telling a story. But, under the fantasy-based dialogue lies a sadness and this applies to the film in general. It is fun and has the summer shine, but it is also a melancholic pitcure and a haunting memoir of conversations, laughs, sadness,wonder and loss.

I wathced this film at Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the director and the cast were there to share their experience and answer to our questions. He said that the film has plenty of music because he really loves musical adn he lasways wanted to make one and although this movie is not a musical, musc is always present and adds a certain feeling to every scene. The songs are great and the score is magical. Also, the director is actually a really humble and cool guy. I asked for an autograph and he was so humble that he did not want to sign and I had plenty of conversaitons with him and he is really authentic and true and interesting. I look forward to experiencing more of his films- I actually watched Pink and it was really good and personal- and to his music and I believe htat Greek films should become more known to the public because there a lot of inspiring voices out there that need to be heard and The Boy is no exception. What a perfect day!

Winona is shiny, gorgeous, crispy, melancholic, salty and sad See it with sun-glasses and while making castles on the sand

I Lost My Body (2019)

You will lose your minddddd!!!

[7/10 · 3 January 2020]

I just wathced this one and I have to say, I really liked it. The overall concept of a hand searching for the rest of the body really interested me. It can be such a fun idea and I have to say, the hand is my favourite part of the film. Its journey is so beautifully portrayed in the screen and conveys so many emotions. For me both the hand and the characters suffer from the same human issue, being and feeling complete. They are torn apart both literally and metaphorically and they search for a connection, a home, a life.

The hands journey is so entertaining and trppy. I would really love to see more of its wacky urban adventures and misfits, but of course the film has another sotry too and that is the life of the hand's owner, a boy who has suffered a lot in the past and still has a severe childhood trauma. We see how he finds an absurd connection to a stranger's voice as they chat for a while and sets out to meet her because he has nobody and he craves for a voice to understand him and be compassionate and nice.

I really did not love this part of the story, although it actually was far mroe present in the second have than the hand's journey. It overall felt like a typical coming of age short story and even if i did not hate it I have seen the same events take place before. The conclusion of the sotry is really great though and it feels like its own thing. It manages to surpass every lame romance cliche and have a more mature narative as it deals with themes of sadness and loss as well embracing the past and finding meaning in moments. The last scene made feel a sense of clarity and relief, of pure gaze over the absolute and the feeling of accepting and lastly, moving forward.

Now, the presentation was really another thing. The look and camera work is great, the still frames and the black-and-white scenes-it's like experiencing Alfonso Cuaron's Roma in animation. And it really felt like an experience- every object felt tangible and that made me like the movie even more. It is obvious that the crreators really cared about managing to create an enviroment that feels really alive and realistic but dream-like too. It is a gorgeous film to look at and it feels like a wave that crashes against the shore in a manner of peace and harmony.

The score and soundtrack are marvellous. I really like that there is a variety to the music used and that it feels like a film for these times. It is a film that brings up the magic and atmosphere of the world we live in right now and i really liked this.

"I lost my body" is a movie about pigeons, flies and hands. Hope it gets you. It got me, that'f for sure. And when it was over, I gave a big hand to to Jérémy Clapin and all of the others that made this tender and sweet film.

(I will be uploading my reviews of the resrt of the films I watched in TIFF (Thessaloniki International Film Festival) really soon so stay tuned!

Pain and Glory (2019)

Passsionate, sentimental, comapssionate, tender

[8/10 · 27 December 2019]

Pedro Almadovar is considered a master of cinema. After I learnet that he made a new film that was merely autobiographical, I set out to explore some of his filmograhy. I had already watched Julieta and as far as I can remember I liekd the film's vibrant look and colours and its intersting characters. I managed to watch

"Mujeres al borde de un ataque de "nervios", a funny and really entertaining comedy and "Todo sobre mi madre", a really sentimental journey of grief, pain andcompassion. His newest film, which I watched in the cinemas, skipping Thessalonki International Film Festival for a little while, is a sentimental and heartwarming ride about memories and human emotions like ...

"Dolor y gloria" (Pain and Glory)

The film is about the life and times of a film director, his realtionship with an actor he has worked before, his health condition, the love and bitternesss he has experienced and its a look at his joyful and dream-like childhood in comparison to his gloomy, messed up present life as a strugglying individual. Lonelinsess and melanxcholia are immersively explored in the movie and its flow feels so sweet and heartwarming. It is a beautiful story told in a true, bursitng-with-emotion and humorous manner by a director who seeks for a way to tell his humane story- and the best way to express life is of course his art.

The presentation is glamorous, the blues and reds and yellows are beautiful and every frame is a direct explosion of life and passion. The protagonist feels like a real person and that is due to Andonio Bandera's acting (he is present in every second) and the nicely written script. The film is basically a series of events the director experiences during a certain period of his career and meanwhile we get to view his far more beautiful and simpler yet more complete life as a sharp and lively child gorwing with his caring mum and dad in a cave-like house.

The music and amtosphere is great and the tone is a balnce of sweet and bitter memories that lead to a greater realisation about life and human experiences,- it is tender and by embrasing both depression, aging and love and growth it feels as a work of life by a director who is so mature that he is able to take bits of his life and create a puzzle of memoirs, a ritch canvas of human relationships but also of the inevitability of loneliness and the portrayl of a common between the past, present and future- that is the human soul.

There is only one thing about the movie and it's actually not an actual problem but a fact. I am 15 years and even if my everyday life is full of tender and sad moments- everyone expreriences pain and glory in their own ways- I have not yet reached that point in my life were I want to look back at a certain era so that I feel better. Nostalgia and the desire for the innocence and the tangible feeling of childhood and memories of pure joy has not yet a situation I experience or I am not yet ready or old enough to completely grasp and empathize with, because, to put it simply, I am still a kid. So, at certain points I was unable to fully feel what the character was feeling, though I managed to sympathize and live in his world. I get that because of my age, this should happen in most of films were the protagonists are adults, but the experiences and instances in the film were really specific and exact, so there was a certain and obvious gap between me and the protagonist and the moments that he experienced. So, I vastly enjoyed the film, but was not fully commited to it because of my age and experiences.

But this is of course one of the many beauties of film and art in general. I have formed a certain opinion about a piece of art now but in 2 or 10 or 30 years my opinion will change and grow in analogy to my experiences and ways of perceiving life. I actually am of the belief and we don't really change, but hte way we view certain matters does or in a way can. So, art stays the same, but we perceived in a whole different.

And maybe I will grow and start to view things form other angles and I may suffer more than I already do and I may want to take a step back for a while and remember the times where I did not think that much and just let things flow...

Pain and Glory is painful and glorious, as you'd expect from a direcotr who lives, suffers, enjoys and jogs his memory to find the small and grand moments of his human existense.

Fire Will Come (2019)

It looks great but feels incomplete as a whole

[6/10 · 27 December 2019]

This film won the Golden Alexander at Thessalonki International Film Festival and I had the chance to watch it there. It looked great, so why not give it a shot?

After watching it my thoughts are mixed. Yes, if you are a cinematography freak, you will adore this one. The shots are really natural and provoke a sense of awe for the pure and unprocessed beauty of nature and it is a great portrayl of the nver-ending love-hate realtionship between humanity and nature and how this two great forces will always collide and crush onto one another. We depend on nature and nature depends on us. I really loved some of the images and I have to say that this film is a great example of tone consistency, even if the tone of the film is not for everyone. I don't have a problem with slow films, because there's usually something intriguing to watch in those like, a character study or in this case a variety of shots of the nature. A lto of films have a tendency to loose their tone and to become meaningless and messy but this one never forgets its goal and that's why it got my interest. That and the fact that around that time I was really hyped up for a reason and even if I tried to sleep, it would a lot of effort. The sound and images serve for a visual feast of gorgeous shots of trees, lakes, animals and people gazing at their greatness and scale.

As for the characters, well the main character was really interesting and by the end of the film his story feels complete yet sad and tragic and I felt really bad for him. His character serves as a storng remind that the past will always haunt us and will affect the present. the way the society and our realtives treat us and our view of life. It is a true struggle to prove to others that things have changed and you actually end up being followed by your wrongs.But people that really love you, also forgive you and care for you and accept you. It is a great concept for a film and it was pretty well done.

The thing about the film is that it felt kind of all over the place and I assure you that evne if I watched 2 months ago, I remember really little form the film. Yes, everything looked great and there was a sense of interest and empathy for the main character, but the film lacked a drama, a tension, a sense of events taking place. It feels like the first 1 hour we view beautiful shots and then the last act is the plot.And the parts were characters interact feel great. I loved the scene where the main acotr talks to a woman and Leonard Cohen's mesmerizing "Suzanne". The song fits so much to the scene and I got a sense of authentic immesuarble beauty and warmness in my heart from this scene, even it was just about two characters driving will this song plays. The images are perfrect, the song is beautful and I loved how hte scene feels like a breath of freshn air compared to the more moody dark tone of the film. I guess if you realllyy get into the film's atmosphere and themes you will love it. It is defenately a gorgeous experience, but if it had a more present structure and we got5 to meet the characters more and observe hteir conversaitons, I would probably have apprecieted the story and characters more. It is powerful and expressive ,though, but it lacks a clarity and order which would help me to feel it more.

6 or 7 not sure

Swallow (I) (2019)

Well, the ticket had a fine taste!

[6/10 · 22 December 2019]

Swallow was the 3rd film I got to check at the 60th Thessaloniki iflm Festival and I really wanted to watch this just because its concept is so interesting and creative. I was looking forward to seeing a great stylisitc horror film weith some disturbing images and bits of political critique. All of these stuff are there, but in wrong portions.

The first half feels that is really building to a crap story. By the time the character statrs this brand new mania of swallowing sharp objects i was really interested to see where that could go. But the film does not really fully embrace this idea. Instead, we are seeing the main actress under surveilance and it nver explodes to a horrendous masacre that could have easily come out of such an over-the-top mania.

As the film goes on though, it becomes obvious that this is not a gorry horror film but instead a kind of a disturbing take on the meanipulative relationship between this couple. The man is the paradigm of a dump rich, so much that it feels really cliche and courtounsih and kind of annoying that she really thinks he really loves her. She just cares for his images and shirts and house. The main actress is more of a housewife that has to do the hosue chores and she is badly treated by her husband. So, to me swallowing htings works more as a metaphor for the fact that she has to swallow al this mean behavior because societry says htat women ido the work in the house and men are the ones in charge. I reallyl liked that idea, it's clever and really makes the film more mature, but the chancee for a maginficent horror with over-the-top humour and disturbing context is nver really there.

The entire 3rd act is about her journey to find her family and get away from her husband and his family who are pretending to love her and treat her right. And then we have the geniously done scene were she just opens the tv and is watching sth while eating soil, a metaphor to pop-corn of course. This scene brought me so mutch laughter and joy because it played with this idea in a hillarious way. If only the film had more of such scenes that portray how too-much the whole scenario feels like, it would be a far more enteraining and memorable ride. Insead, from a point and on the film becomes a drama about women trying to find a place in a world that mistreats them. And yes, the message is great and the connection to her mania is quite clever. It shows how harshly women have been and our trreated by weathy, dump people and families and how inprisoned and lonely their life feels like. But, I wanted so much more form such a bold idea. It's like the film had a chance to blend splatter horror, disturbing images, clever comedy and political and social critique about how the society shapes women's lives and puts us in tiny boxes. Yes, it sounds like a difficult feat to do, but if it just tried to be less safer and do more creative stuff in the end... damn... it would be a dream! It's becomes your usual faminine drama, which is fine, but c'mon i wanted more.

After all, besides my desires, the fiolm did not dissappoint. It had a bunch of disturbing moments, the social and political messages work fine for the story and the direction and presentation are great and feel really atmospheric and well-thought. The performances are great and Haley Bennett was amazing in this one. The soundtrack is great too, gives quite an energy to the film.

Swallow has a great texture, but, by the time I've swallowed it, I wanted it to be a little more pointy, a little more on the edge.

About Endlessness (2019)

Comedy and existensialism have never been a greater couple

[9/10 · 11 December 2019]

This movie is a thrill, trust me. I really wanted to watch this one because i loved its look and how unique and gloomy it is. The storyline seemed also really promising, something about human connection and our desire to understand life and explain its power and darkness and infinite but absurd beauty always gets. It is what makes "Synedoche, New York" or "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" so great. They are sad, but lead to a greater realisation about humanity or left things and questions to digest. I personally expected something of the same feel, but what I got was... a comedy? Now, now wait a minute.

This film is one of the most funny films of the year and what is so striking is that it magages to poke fun at people and situations but at the same time it is so consistent in its sad tone and it feels so clear and to the point. Its flow is unbeatable. Yes, its basically a series of short stories, two of which are exlored more. Some moments are everyday simple moments that we give zero attention, but they are presented i nsuch a poignant way that we see how we sometime miss the overall beauty of simplicity and nothingness, bercause we have the idea that the big moments matter and are of great importance and we are often so blinded by our sadness and everyday issues that we don't allow ourselves to take a step back, look afar and see that everytihng hides a beauty, from a historical moment ,like war images, to a walk to school.

Personally, I feel like I've missed so many good moments becauseI was stuck in small problems and rubbish and I forget that a conversation or a kind gesture might be what we need to feel so that we can deal with our sad and torubled lives. Maybe looking from afar at anything and stopping to try to deal with every single thing we feel or suffer from, can lead to a small taste of salvation.

The film talks about faith, religion, bureaucracy,politics, existence, identity, the desire to feel and love and experience and find importance in true beauty and search for a way to feel complete, but its tone is sad and funny and I really loved her voice as the narrator.

The sad blues, the stylish browns, the dark reds and finally the hopeful yellows create a brand new world so distinct but so familiar to ours. The consistency in the framing and presentation, the delicate and socially and politically active script with tons of funny and satirical dialogue and coscepts and the truly entertaining storytelling, lead the viewer to a significant, enlightening and kind of cathartic and profound experience about the human struggle and joy.I don't want to analyse or dig any short story up. Just definatley watch this one and experience it.

It's like the most fullfilling and beautiful poem cmae to life to tell its story in the most interesting and hillarious of ways.

The Souvenir (2019)

A really gentle, heartfelt and personal film with a lot of emotion and gentleness.

[7/10 · 4 December 2019]

"The Souvenir" was the first movie I got to watch at the 60th Thessaloniki Film Festival, which tok place from 31st of October till 10th of November at my hometown, Thessaloniki in Greece. I had a great time and form now on I will start reviewing each film I had the chance to watch. "The Souvenir" is a really personal film that is able to create authnetic emotions through its performances, its magestic cinemotgraphy and atmosphere, its gentle asthetique and its realistic and memoir-like story. Its basically about the life of a woman as she goes to film school while having a relationship with a troubled and ethically-questionable man.

The whole film has a great asthetque and style. It is filled with astounding shots of England and the lighting is really stylish and gives a comfy feeling. Plus, cigarettes are immesurably cinematique and I feel that the whole film is really detailed and well done when it comes to its look. The collection of 80's tracks add to the film a lot and give a more energetic note, I obviously wanted more songs.

The interesting hting about the script is that it is more or less the sotry of the director's (Joanna Hogg) early years, when she strugled to balance her passion and work for the film school and the feeling of love and care she has for a mysterious but elegant man. We really get to feel how the character/director was feeling at those time and his lover for her is always questioned. He is a really sweet and sympathetic guy on the surface and I felt like I got why the main character liked him so much, but at times he is also really manipulative and he self-destructive and their relationships takes interesting turns.

She, from the other side, is really caring and does everything she can to satisfy his needs, but at certain points in the film she is so blind and feels like she is the wrong one, shile she has actually done nothing. I actually felt that this trait of her was really far-fetched, so that she was really reckless at times that she was saying sorry for no reason and it felt kind of funny. i amn I get that it is her story, but it is difficutl to believe that someone has to be so nice to forgive everything the other does. Okay, it is understood, but still it is weird.

Their bond is toxic and the man hold the balance of power, but it finally makes for a bittersweet ride with my favourite moment the one where they have a lovely quarrel about the space each one has in the bed.

I also really liked the dialogue in the film. The whole movie is a a combination of short conversations about a variety of themes. The characters feel real and I love the energy their exchanges have. I liek when the couple talk about why she wants to become a director and he says if she ever feels that she must become that and sher just wants to find a way to express herself or other conversaitons about film schools and I can go on and on... they really immersed me in the story.

The last act feels like a fading memory, it gets more gloomy but offers for a great cinematic experience about love, life, death, the realisation of being able to express, understand and control emotions. Its execuiton is one from the heart of Joanna Hogg, who was present in the screeening and got to share what was it like turning her life into film. I disagree to this film being self-important and narcissistic, but i can see why soem found it so. If you let yourself to be a part of the universe, then i you will probably enjoy it.

I myself found it a little bit too long, I would probably prefer it to be 20c minutes shorter, but that doesn't mean I was bored by it at any meeans. i wil definately check out the sequel and I am excited to watch what else Joanna wants to explore. She seemed like a really kind and honest person and i cannot wait to see more her life unfold.

Brilliant performances ( Tilda and her daughter who plays the protsagonist shine and Frankie Wilson was really good and consistent), great cinematoghy a vivid soundtrack and a moving, honest story from an honest person.

Parasite (2019)

"Call me by your Name" meets "The last of the Mohicans" - a brilliant cinematic acievement

[9/10 · 20 October 2019]

"Parasite" is freaking awesome.It is a comedy, a family drama, a thriller, a horror, a political comentery, a social drama, a an action piece, you have to watch it to believe it. It is just every cool, fun and clever movie shrinked into 2 hours and 15 minutes of pure and unstoppable laughter, some masive and engaging thrills and a story about the distinctio of classes and th edynamic of a family trying to make ends meet.

The cinematography is really distinct andI like that Asian films have a reather common but unqiue look and tone and creates a magical atmosphere and tone. The way the camera moves is so sweet and subtle, the framing, the long shots, it is just so fun to watch. The lighting is beautiful, the way certain rooms are lit give a darker or lighter tone. It never tries to show off and everytihng feels so organic that at one point you forget you are watching fictional characters and a made-up story.

The soundtrack is another thing to praise of. Most of the tracks are classic music and although it often feels so contradictory to the film, the result is so great and so much personality was added to the movie.

The great thing is that despite that the characters have not such a deep arc or are given any major traits, I was able to connect with them in the end and the whole film feels like a big family struggle. You grow with them and graually start to care, in site of their anethical and cheaty choices and actions. Evey actor gives such an appealing perormance and some of their reactinons are really on spot.

The humour is there mostly during the first hour. It is seet and it feels genuine, it what family members would talk and joke about. It creates an intimacy and a fun time. Then we get a lot of shifts in the tone and the twists come and go and the great thing is that the film is constalnty on the go, it is always moving forward and does not waste any moment...and in the end the Parasite is a great story toold in the best way possible.

The political comentary is perfect. There is actually a film that was released last and I vastly enjoyed... "Burning". Biurning was about a trouble guy feeling mad that his friend is dating a ritch successful man and he has nobody and actually talks about class discretions in a fascinting way. Parasite does the sam thing but in a different way. In the movie, we see a poor family trying to work together to scam some narrow-minded ritch family that live in a huge house with their luxuries and all. It is what "Us" went for but done in a more clear nd subtle way. The ritch use the poor and the poor try to become the ritch. You either leave in a fancy house with a garden and a maid or in the ground floor with insects and a smell. It is like two different words that slowly destroy each other.

I will not say more. Watch this film and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I laughed, gasped, fell into thoughts, I was moved and always wanted more. It is a genius fraud, it has several "peach scenes", a crazy artistic kid, a birthday party and just make a plan and go watch. In fact, don't make a plan. Just watch it.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

A truly beautiful movie

[8/10 · 14 October 2019]

This film is a luxurious feast for the eyes. Even single shot is fantastic, the colour choices were amazing, there is a great balance between the primary colors and the red and green dresses of the protagonists really bring a lot of power and life to the movie. The wide shots of the sea are gorgeous and the sound design is so well-done, The sound of the waves and the footsteps add so much to the experience. The camera work is brilliant. The way they director has set the camera in the drawing sequences is really clever and aesthetically nice, as it is maintained in the whole film. The whole film has a great personality and atmosphere, one that made it really interesting to watch and I definitely want to rematch it.

The actresses did a really great job. Their expressions and reactions feel so real and there is the protagonist's eyes are gorgeous and so captivating, It is not a plot-oriented film, but the plot actually manages to be really good, though it is probably the films weakest element,

The dialogues, especially during the first half, were so cleverly written and brought out both emotion and things to thing about, It is a film that is basically a love story, but manages to talk about the position of women during that particular are, how their whole life was designed by others so they want to meet other ideas and emotions, like how does music feel or what is love, what is freedom, is freedom a state of living that we can have forever?

My only bag with the film would be that the actual story is kind of a ripoff of other films that talk about love? For instance, I felt that it actually had the same story with Call me by your Name, a film which I really really love. Two strangers meet and fall in love, they keep it as a secret and time is the story's enemy. There is an actual scene where the characters say they lost time and should have been together earlier and there is a similar piece of dialogue in CMBYN, so I felt that it was not such a breathtaking story, although i was never really bored and the relationship between the character was explored nicely.

There are a lot of beautiful shots and scenes in the film, one of them is in the poster and really brought a sense of joy to my heart, there is a scene where the characters are playing cards and it feels so real and fun, the painting scenes were lovely and the last scene is actually perfect and the acting in this scene is phenomenal.

Watch this film, it has a beautiful scenery and tone and I give it an 8/10 I might give it a 9 but that is not the point

This is a beautiful film

Joker (I) (2019)

"I respect those who tell the truth, no matter how hard it is!!!"

[7/10 · 7 October 2019]

Hi, everyone I just checked out "Joker" and know I get why this one is so divisive. You see, Joker is already a thing. It is in the news, people love it for its message, others say it's political garbage and me:

Joker is... actually pretty good.

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. Joaquin Phoenix is spectacular, mad, chaotic, out of this world. "Joker" is a great addition to his monumental collection of gorgeous performances, among with "The Master", "Her", 'Walk the Line", "Sisters Brothers" and I could go on for days. He is a moving force, an unstoppable dynamite and there is a reason why I keep saying that he is the best actor ever. He is so committed and into the role, laughs like Eddie Murphy(actually far better), dances like John Travolta, he truly becomes the Joker. A huge Bravo from me to his majesty!

The movie is actually really well-shot, the framing and the subtle camera movement, the stylish lense flair or the atmospheric, blurry in and out of focus, all add a lot of personality to the film, make it a feast for the eyes and distinguish from the everyday "box-office fan flick". The soundtrack is insane, the score, the energy that movie brings, wow. And yes the credits do nail it.

Ok, and know the story. Joker is honest,true,realistic,risky and bold, but also has its cliches and dump stuff, plus i can see the haters boing on this one a lot. But trust me, I think its risks are for the better.

Joker is a depiction of the social and political situation we are living in this moment. Gotham is a dark place, full of unkind and selfish people, fake news, "happy" shows and "glamorous" politicians who aim at changing things. And I really mean it, Gotham an our world don't really differ. I think about it and see it everyday, people just doing their thin, ignoring the lives of others, we have lost a part of our humanity through the years, we avoid greeting, we ignore the poor and beggars, we have built a wall of classes and politicians never do anything for that. I am not such of a politics guy, I hardly read any articles about politics, but I cannot avoid the fact that the world has turned into a ark and lonely one, one in which is ruled by the important and famous ones, the ones that "matter", it is a black hole, a rubbish dump, as the film suggests . Joker is a person who has suffered form his childhood and is bullied, lied by the others, he has never really felt actual joy for something, he is suffering and in it not even his fault. The socieiety judge him and makes fun f him, he is barely noticed and the only relationship he shares is the one with his mother. He is a product of this cruel society and he is treated so badly, so the society makes him the Joker, a insane man. He decides to become important, to change things to beat cruelty with chaos and this is his world and even I don't approve his actions, well they are understood. Hate provokes hate, violence leads to nothing but violence. Joker was just Arthur, a dude who wanted to be a comedian and bring joy to people, but his pathisis and .the people around him turned him into Joker. And Joker wants to show that that the world is wrong. That it's the world that insane and he is the sane one. He faces a world full of mean and gridy people, who want to make everything look happy and nice through the telly and the shows and the ads and we must hide our porblems and sadness and ignore the sadness and despair around us, because the ones in the high place will fix it and everyone says "DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY", "KEEP CALM", "JUST DO IT", like it is an easy thing to do, but no it isn't. And you know, I kind of agree. He is the monster the world created. The world has to pay for the mistakes of every person and system that never cared for anyone, that made everything an "industry" and left the humanity behind. We are a mad, unfair, cruel and a self-destructive for sure. We deserve everything and we must face the awful truth. It just takes a clown to do that.

And I just imagined gathering all the presidents and kings and political party's and showing this film in a special screening or something. Just think if their reactions. They would hate to see the truth in front of their eyes, they would hate it. And apparently,so does every big critic's website and newspaper. "Social commentary at its worst", "Political junk", they call it. I call these critics what Venom called Eddie Brock in that elevator scene. It is funny, isn't it? The film has actually bedcome what it represents. People love it, consider worth of thinking and discussing, while the industrial sites and websites boo it and give it a negative glance. Just like Joker himself.

And I cannot wait to find what the big award shows, like the Oscars, will think of this film. Will they give it any nominations or ignore it because of its political ideology? From the one side, the film is really well-received and it has had a huge appeal, but from the other side its political and social ideologies are far too big and honest for American Tv.

Okay, still it is not perfect. There some really cheesy shots and sequences, but in order to fully express my bags with I need to go to spoilers, which I won't. I am actually going to post a spoiler review for the film to get in-depth.

Joker is a really good movie. It is brilliantly shot and directed, it has a distinct personality, especially when compared to other "superhero films", it is works perfect as character study and the political and social commentary makes it quite tasteful. And, last but not least, Joaquin Phoenix proves for one more time that he is a monumental "performer".

Call me mad, but I think that this film is quite prophetic and might also have to a small but important change and for the better. a world where we will have a reason to laugh, live and

Smile

But, the true question is... is it better than Venom?

Only time will tell

Midsommar (2019)

It's tough to forget this one

[8/10 · 29 August 2019]

Well, summer never looked weirder.

Midsommar is the new nightmar by Ari Aster, who did a solid job with Hereditary. To me, Hereditary nver felt really scary or deeply disturbing, but it was definately entertaining and worked really smoothly as a family drama with Toni Collette giving a powerhouse performance. Midsommar, is a different film in a lot of ways. One thing is sure, though. I 'll never go to Sweden during the summer. So, the film basically is about a group of friends visiting this society who live by their own rules and who are currently having this big event. In the group there is a girl who, after a tragedy, lives in pain and her boyfriend is trying to make her feel better.

The best way to describe this film is that in the end it is more of a feeling, it stands as an emotion and a disturbing one indeed. The main reason I wated to watch the film except of Ari and A24 was its undiniably visual presention. It looks so colourful and beautiful. The sun, the trees, the flowers, all feel so immersive and tranquil and cinemaography geeks are going to love this one. Noth only the actual sets and locations are blessed with joy and colour, but the camera movement, the way Ari draws the camera to reveal more information, the upper shots, the dizzy feel in the "tripping" sequences, MIdsommar is a visual fiest. The amount of detail in the houses and walls and paintings all make the world feel alive and real. And all these beauty... in a horror movie. The apporach is just a new look at the genre of fear.Also, I am a huge "Radiohead", so as soon as I see these gorgeous pictures of nature, I got a lot of "Burn the Witch" vibes.

The story is solid, though it has some issues. The first 1 and a half hour are mostly buildup , no problem with that and the third act might make somepeople feel disappointed and confused, but I kind of liekd it. Sure, it does not go to full extremes or uses every information we've gotten before, but we get 2 or three really disturbing and out of this world scenes and the thematic of the film about manipulation of the weak and sad and also the theme of family and bonds are explored beatifully.

Till the end, we get some great scenes with characters interacting with each other, some intentionally hillarious scenes with a guy frm the group working as really funny comic relief and I kind of loved how this iflm respects its audience.

The perfromaces are in most parts really good, the soundtrack is so atmospheric and dear lord, the ending scene is the most beautiful and horrific scene I've seen in a while. This is actually the best way to describe the film Beautiful and horrifc at the same time.

Okay, it is not for everyone. The pacing is slow, it could be shoerter for sure, nobody will ever really get it, but that's not to say I did not enjoy it.

It is disturbing and a magifisently looking film for sure and even though my feelings for it are weird, I know I'll have a hard time getting tihs one out of my mind.

Let my hullicinating nightmares about flowery Swedish blonds and bears in cages begin.

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

As real as a donut

[9/10 · 27 August 2019]

Whenever I go to watch a Tarantino film, I know that something huge is coming. He is one of those filmmakers that made me love cinema and understand its value and force. I remember the first time I watched "Kill Bill". I was home sick, sitting in the coutch and I thought: "Well, if the medicines can't make me fine, something has to!". And eventually he did. "Kill Bill" fixed my mood and made me revalue art. It was creative, took risks and it was lots of fun. And now, Quentin makes his 9th film and boy, oh boy, isn't it a blast.

"Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" is one of Quentin's mosot intellligent, detailed and fun films to watch and also serves as insant love letter to film and to this crazy world called Hollwood, Let's dig into it.

Firstly, the world. Right form the first 15 minutes of the film it is visible that Quentin has given life to the 69' Hollywood era. Everything feels so real and the whole film looks like it is set that exact time, even if I never lived there to see what it is liked. The funky streets, the pop-up graphittis, the clothing, the cafeterias and cinemas, the shiny billboards, the 69' cars and lastly the car radios that play constantly during the film and ads are included. Quentin used all of the tracks included in an old radio station "Boss Radio" and he actually remembers that during that time people would not switch from one radio station to the other, but keep it there for their whole drive, even if they disliked a song or the adverstisments started playing. That's a nice touch.

Also, Quentin created made-up films for the film and also reshot of these films with new actors. His team crafted posters, mugs and turned a whole street into 69' Hollywood. Now that demands your attention.

OF course, there is no Tarantino film without Tarantino characters in it. And he manages to birng out one of the most dinamic and fun to watch duos in cinema history. We got famous actor Rick Dalton, known for his presense in westerns and other films and his stuntman Cliff Booth, who, as they both agree to, has the job of carrying his load. Rick is at the ends of his career, he has been playing the bad guy in TV series pilots for the past years and his good, shiny days are gone. He feels like a nobody and in his face we see a faiding star who desperately tries to shine again. Cliff, on the other hand, is more calm and controlled. He just finds driving Rick to his jobs and bein his buddy fun and does not really care that his career is ending. Their story takes place during the infamous Hollywood scandal of the Sharon Tate murders ( 9 of August, 1969) . We also get to see the life of Tate before these events, as she enjoys the goods and luxurys of being a pretty actress in the Hollywood world.

As I see it, the whole film is centered around the friendly bond of Rick and Cliff, even if the story drags them to different paths. Their friendship is what gives soul to the film. Rick keeps trying to be a star again and Cliff is there to remind his that he is Rick-f-word-Dalton. In the two fo them we see a duality of man. We have the worrying actor who fears of his finishing career and the relaxed stuntman who has accepeted his situation and just keeps living. Put these two together and there you have it.

The cast is tremendous. Margot nails non-verbal acting, escpecially at the cinema scene with her really authentic reactions, Leo is has not been more mad and Brat is just... priceless. His performance along with Cliff's easy-going personality and violent-nature all come together and create what might be one of Quentin's most memorable characters. Pacino has a nice role too and Curt Russel hating a stuntman is alreary a hit. Oh, and the Bruce Lee scene is the most funny scene I've seen in a while and those who claim that it is mean to portray him like that are just dump people with no sense of humour.

Now, let's talk about the story's stucture because a lot of people call this film boring and claim that nothing is going on, but the poor ones just don't get it. To beign with, there is a difference between slow-paced and boring. Yes, the movie has a slow pace, but it is not boring at all. To me, it's all about the characters and the world they live in. We get the chance to see and feel what Hollywood felt like during 69' and we actually get to see the life of two really ineresting personalities portrayed by brilliant actors. Yes, the film does not have a certain goal or a narrative whch goes from one point to the other, like Django or Reservoir Dogs. It is more of a collection of moments that come togeher and create such a fun watch. We get western scenes, hippie scenes, a lot of driving scenes... how isn't this fun? I can't say that I got bored in the film at any means.

Maybe the Sharon Tate parts felt kind of less interesting compared to the other two stories, especially the first itme I watched the film, and at some points the film goes at weird directions, but it is all about the characters the portayal of the industry.

Okay, the soundtrack is just pure gold. "Hush", "Treat Her Right", "Son of a Loving Man", "California Dreamin'", 'Out of Time", Bring a Little Lovin'"... one of Tarantino's best tracks and it makes the film much more energetic and atmospheric.

The ending is really, really clever and it feels like a huge hug of consolation to Tate and to Hollywood's history from the one and only, Quentin Tarantino. By the end, I just wanted more and more...

"Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" is a cinematic joy. It is powerful, stylish, funny, comfy, clever, atmospheric, melancholic, beautiful and I feel that one day it will be considered of those film's that told history in the most fun and sweet of ways.

See you in the next one, Quentie.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Kubrick's swan song is about human desires and sex- I'm obsessed

[8/10 · 10 August 2019]

"Eyes Wide Shut" is Kubrick's last film and the conclusion to my summer Kubrick Marathon. During those days, that the honour to watch these weird and effective stories come alive from maybe the most influensial director of all time and one of my favorites for sure. Eyes Wide Shut is a weird experience and it differs from any other Kubric film. It is a film which can be seen from many angles and in order to be fully understood and appreciated, it has to be viewed multiple times.

In the film, Kubrick grows deep into our very own human desires for sex, truth, connection, consumerism and creates a "universe" where everything is shiny and we get to take a look to how consumerism and money have changed the world and everyone has become more or less a being that gives full attention to what people think about them and how they look. As I see it, the couple of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman can be seen a mirror to the society that Kubric wants to portray during the whole film. The husband eagerly consumes without giving a second thought, tries to meet new women and engage with them, he cannot stop trying to achieve his sexual goals and money and generally his whole economical and social state is a ticket for completing his desires. Notice that his first line in the film has to do with his wallet or that he does not hesitate to give money even if he does not need do. His consuming nature and desire for more and more are viewed by his long walks from place to place and his whole obsession with that orgy mask party. He goes to gritty extremes and I love those scenes which purely reveal his obsessive nature. Cruise is a blast and let's not forget that 1999 was a blast for him, because he was exceptional is Magnolia too.

The wife is more of a self-lover, a narcissist. She hold the title "of a beautiful lady" and we can see that see always car about her looks and likes it when people call her pretty with flattering words. One of the shots that reveal her nature Is the shot where the couple kisses in front of the mirror naked and the wife looks at her self while she is passionately kissed by her husband. She is also haunted by her dreams of another handsome man having sex with her and the idea of cheat poisons her souls but she actually cannot let it go. The dreams reveal her deep desires for another more free love, an affair out of all this and her inability to escape all this devastates her.

And dreams do play a really important role in this film. I think that in the end this film has an uncertainness to it. A lot of objects and scenes give you the impression that they might be a complete lie, something fake. We are not sure if the crazy and alienating elements are a matter of imagination or a symbolism or even real. Therefore, the film has a dream-like atmosphere.

Kubrick's direction and the style definitely boost this fantasy element. Most of the scenes use colorful lightbulbs hanged in every room and street to provoke that tone (anyways, it is set during Christmas). The slow move of the camera during the walks of Tom Cruise in the night, the blues and reds, the clever choices of switching between steady and shaky cam, the dream sequences...

The technical aspects are great, like every other Kubrick film, though some sequences, especially during the 2nd half feel kind of weirdly shot and this is probably because Kubric's sad loss during the shooting. Leon Vitali, Stanley's loyal sidekick handled the shootings till the end and finished the film, but I think that some sequences felt more of Hitchcock or PTA than actual Kubric. That made the film kind of messy and less captivating

And this is m main bug too. It is not that I hated anything in the film, it is a really interesting film and you can make a lot out of it, but I felt kind of bored and uninterested during some parts , like it lacked a true consistency and core.

Overall, the film is pretty good. Its cinematography, camera and soundtrack are perfect. Great performances. The script is a different thing compared to Kubrick's previous films and I liked that Stanley wanted to talk about humans and the society by using a single couple with a weird relationship. It is about desires, deceit, love, lies and truth, identity and it hinges on the consumeristic and "oriented-by the-looks" society that we are living in. As a fact, I feel that it is a film that I prefer thinking than watching, at least for now. But anyways...every Kubrick film demands multiple watches.

I also want to add that I felt that the story might be a huge reference to Adam and Eve? A man and a woman naked succumbing into cheating and sinnery??? Well that's a bingo. And I appreciate that Kubrick movies are so open to theories and analysis

Kubrick is and will always be one of the most creative and genius filmmakers of all time. His films are crazy and unique and mad and funny and colorful and cool and meaningful and true and "Eyes Wide Shut is no exception.

And I love him

And you know, there is something important that you need to do as soon as possible...

What's that?

Watch this film (or rewatch it )

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Something about the duality of man

[9/10 · 9 August 2019]

Kubrick strikes again with a great, fun and genius film about this wild and nightmarish thing called war. Just like with some of his previous films like Paths of Glory or even A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick is not a director that gives a focus on facts but instead empasizes on the effect on human nature. In Full Metal Jacket, we carefully see how war targets at gradually dehumanizing every bit out of a human being. We want killers!

The first act is a clear example of that, with a private being the tragic victim of the sickness of war. I have to admit I loved the first act, because it is fun and funny but at th same time it rips my heart and challenged my mind. The characters are brilliant to watch, the humour is so spot-on and there is so much meaning behind everything. The introducton scene is probably my favourite Kubrick intro ever. The clever use of the song, the symbolism behind the idea of it, the first look to our characters who lose a part of themsleves even rom the first scene.

Now, the second act might be really slow-paced and kind of all over the place, but it is as meaningful as the first act. Our main character, Joker, though being a soldier, has maintained his morality and personality, he is not cold and still has not become a complete war machine, thuswe have the perfectly placed and written "something about the duality of man" scene. He has a heart, he cares for life. And then we see him fail to keep going like that, he has to comromise to the brutality of war and beocme a killer, a man born to kill, a war weapon and completely lose his individuality and character traits and morals. The second act might be hard to follow, because of the lack of fast-pacing and humour, but it really takes the story to a meaningful finale and we are lead to a realisation about the cruelty of war and how it forcefully transfers a human into a war ultra killing machine. Just take a look at the first and last scene and you can see the transformation

Perect camera move, even greater cenmatography, realistic sets and the soundtrack is a blast.

One of the most meanigful and important war films ever.

The Shining (1980)

The Shining "shines" for sure

[8/10 · 6 August 2019]

I watched this film with a cousin and a friend during a rather cold summer night. The circumstances might not have been the best, but I have to saw that I really enjoyed this film really much and it is for sure a really effecting and important horror film with one of the best performances ever by Jack Nickolson.

The film starts of and the pacing is patient and slow, but clues tha something big will pop out are visible. We are introduced to a looking-friendly writer, his caring and quite naive wife and their young child that has an imaginary friend and faces some phycological problems.

They will have to take care of the grand Overlook Hotel for some months, isolated in these huge place. It does nt take a while till madness visits them.

I love the first sequence when they are introduced to each room of the hotel, we can imagine of the horrible things that might take place to those rooms and we are also introduced, just like our characters, to the main location to which the story takes place.

Then the whole film is a gradual turn to madness and hell...

The shot composition is perfect just like every other Kubrick film. The long takes when characters walk in the halls, the scenes with the kid riding the bike, the way the camera pulls back to reveal the mother and son watching tv in a snowy landscape,the room 237 sequence, the labyrinth parts, the classic elevator scene... Kubrick manages to be at his best during at most of these sequences.

The use of the pre-exisitng music is magnificent. Probably my favourite use of music in a horror film.

Everything that has to do with Jack Nickolson in this film.... my lord! His performance is maybe the best perormance in a film ever....? No words really. He completely transforms into this insane character and adds so much to this experience. Also, the lines written for his characters are just perect too. I love it when he gets completely mad and also when the movie leaves hints of what might happe inside the dialogues and lines of the characters.

Now, I might have some things that did not "shine" so much in this film, but that might be because of my expectations or of a misunderstanding. So, the film introduces is us to a lot of "paranoic aspects" and ghosts and really has a gripping history. The matter is tohugh, that it does not take this paranoia to the extreme level of horror or illness that I would want to. It does not explode so much that I felt sick or really really bas at the end. Yes, Jack Nckolson is in every posible way horrifying to watch, but afar from that the film is not much of an "exploding nightmare" at many terms. Sure, it has a consistency in its characters and story... it just...did not ruin me the way I would want it too.

As an experience, I have to say I enjoyed and felt great of how awosome the film looked and how well Jack perfrormed in this film-he is just explosive. My one and only real issue is a wanted to be as hauting as "A clockwork orange" was, without saying that it does work the way it is.

It shines, but without blinding me.

Kubrick is a genius, anyways

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Viddy well, Stanley Kubrick. Viddy well.

[9/10 · 2 August 2019]

A Clockwork Orange is a haunting and powerful fable told by the unique and foreshadowing eyes of a true creator, Stalney Kubrick.The whole movie feels so exotic and out of this world. The colours, the weird sets and the shiny furnitures, they all create a sense of alienation, but the irony is that this story is really realistic and grounded.

We perceive the film through the view of Alex, the protagonist. Alex is a troubled anti-hero. He has fun with the pain of others and is commited to sex and ultra-violence, but soon he falls into a neverending black hole and he faces the true evil of the movie-the ones who want to turn him into something he cannot be.

Alex is used as a tool to an experiment which turns scoundrels like him into noble men.We have sen that Alex loves his criminal life and nature, he cannot live without it and when they force him to change and pretend to be a good man, he naturally cannot. And they treat him in the worst way possible. He is like a thing to experiment on and he is spit on and I felt that really nobody eserves such a life, even Alex.

The real monters and sinners are the goverment and the men who do these experiments. Kubrick also questions what is considered noble and what not. Alex and his gang go in the same infamous bar with famous singers, the officer inspecting Alex reveals an animalisitc expression when he sees a naked woman, some of the characters just treat Alex with a barbaric way.

It is a really thought-provoking film, but the filmmakin aspect-oh lord. The use of music is sensational. Vivaldi and Bethoven are instanlty mxed with horrific, brutal images and the result is fun and memorable. The colours are also fresh and the clothes, the way the rooms are lighted and decorazed gives th film another feel -one of being at a far-away world, but the simularities with ours are so obvious. The different and crazy vocabulary is so fun to listen to. The way the camera moves when the characers walk to halls, the closeups to the Jesus' schalptures, the fast-forward in the sex scene, the slow motion, hte subtle pull back in the first scene... I can go on an on.

"It's not fair! It's not fair that I should feel sick when I hear lovely, lovely Ludwig Van!"

Not fair indeed

Unforgettable film

Paths of Glory (1957)

"We're living in a world that's blowing itself to pieces as fast as everybody can arrange it."

[9/10 · 1 August 2019]

I just started a Kubrick Marathon this summer and I chose to start with this film and it was a pleasure to experience such a well-presented anti-war film. Kubric is a filmmaking genius and proves it both with his interesting camera work and with the direction he chooses to talk about war and humanity.

At first,we get to see the uglyiness and unfairness of war even without seeing the Germans, who in this case, are the enemy. We get to see how unfair and ust plain stupid and politicly-driven can a war be by watching an insident in the battlefiled of the French army. The soldiers are acussed of cowerdness but they actually could noto do anything because the attack was impossible.And the commander says that 3 random soliders have to die in order to give a lesson the other soldiers.

The men with the most power are so arrogant and cunning hat only seek for their own good and do not care about the human lives. A life t them means nothing and they do not understand that a human is a being with emotions and wants love and care and is not a robot made to please every higher force.

And there we have Kirk Dougles' character who is the face of ethics and truth. He cares for every singl life of his men and rightably argues to any wrong or immoral decision. He is an unstoppable force and craves for the better.

And then we have the three exceptional performaces of the "guilty" soliders who have been chosen to die for a nonsnese. And it hurts to see young men lose their soles for such a wrong and barbarian order. The monlogue of one of the soldiers about him and the insect that by the time he dies the insect will closer to his wie than him is so true and difficult to swallolw. And all this for a stupid order of a stupid arrogant being.

The ending is pure genius. The soldiers desprately cry by listening to a german singer and their sadness and pain and everything that this war has caused to their soles, their longing of family and peace is depicted through their sad and lost faces. And then Kirk Douglas gives a memorable smile, which as I see it, means that he was definately right form the begining. Humans are humans. They can't like a perfect being because being tired and dizzy and not being able to move on are situatin that we all face. And the tears of these soldiers signify that war damages and poisons are nature. War and these stupid men of power torn human nature apart. Humans are afraid and angry and feel pain. We ain't guns, we have a soul.

Kubrick delivers a film which offers so many ideas about war that it is impossible not to keep thinking about the film. His camera work is provoking and we should cnsder that this is a film made in the 60's. Every choice, from technical aspects to the main critic on war and poltiics and religion is bold and it is striking to see a film with such a moral compass.

A glorious film.

The Thin Red Line (1998)

"Wars don't ennoble men, it turns them into dogs, poisons the soul."

[9/10 · 30 July 2019]

"What's this war in the heart of nature? Why does nature vie with itself? The land contend with the sea? Is there an avenging power in nature? Not one power, but two?"

These first lines ar the main theme of this astonishing film "The Thin Red Line". The particular movie is so effective and immersive because of a technique that the visionary director Terrence Malick uses in multiple of his films. In various parts in the film we actually get to hear the thoughts and worries of various characters as they are all faced with the insane madness and cruelty of the nature of war.

They all question about death, their lives and the thing noboody can quite grasp is how this one and only world can be so beautiful and dark at the same time?The war takes place literally in the heart of nature. We get tranquil pictures and astonishing shots of peace and bless. The light of the sun passing through leaves, crystal clear lakes and sees, animals climbing and living in this enviroment, humans being a family...

And then all these heavenly images are torn apart by bombs and bullets. Eveything alive turns into dead in a second. In war there is no sign of peace or life. We see that war turns mosot of the men either into mad killermen or into beings who have lost any hope and war has taken all the love and beauty from their young soles. And our protagonist claims that no-there is a better world, a shining one and human can still be one.

This film is not about events or hisotry dates. It is never informative or aims at telling a historic event with clearness and truth. Rather than that, it astonishes the viewer with its shocking cinematography-both the beauty of nature and the futility of war are shown-its maybe even impossible to answer questions about the start and end of war,love,us.... and it is like a living soul whispering to our ears and sharing the dark truths of a grand universe. Nobody ever won in a war. We all lost a part of ourselves and a part of our world.

"This great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too? Have you passed through this night?"

Beautiful, tender and immersive

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

when Dreams turn into Dust...

[9/10 · 18 July 2019]

"Requiem for a Dream" is one of the most immersive and shocking films of all time and in the end the movie turns into a feeling, an emotion- of unescapable sadness. One can say that it works as a complete drugs-do-bad movie, but the film is far more than that. It is a sad and tragic story of lost dreams and self destruction.

At first, the way this is filmed adds so much to the experience. We get sthe same close-ups and fast transitions (it's like Edgar Wright was in the edit room) everytime the characters consume their "thing".We also get some split-screne sequences and uring the climax the film enters deeper and deeper into the human mind and a couple of sureal sequences are shown.

All these make for an immersive and "ugly" experience that is ment to be desturbing. The only stilistic choice that I found too much was the some split screen moments whixh i think do not add a lot to the experience.

But afar from the tremendous filming endavour...this film tells so much about the human condition and the black holes that a peron can fall into. In the film, all of the four "vicitms" want sometihng, have a strong desire and they all fall in the same pitfall in order to complete their want. A lonely widow who wants to be "someone" and gai happyness by being loved and famous

Her son who wants to find a money, make some money and have a girl His girl who loves modeling and clothes and wants to make her own shop And the man's firend who believes that by being succesful at a field he will make his mother happy and proud.

All these dreams are shattered by their addiction to drugs. They lose their mind, their sanity, their love, their life.And it all eels so tragic and nightmarish.

I mostly loved the more sutle scenes , like the conversation between mom and son about their situation. But the sureal sequences during the climax where pretty affecting too.

Also, I really do not thing that this film is only about drugs, but cna be seen as a showcase of the consequences of our obsesions and addictions in general. And even the film is centered around drugs, we notice other addictions and obsesions too. Being mad for sex, for money, fame, recognition, love and acceptance, mad for food or for a calm life without worries are all addictions presented in the film and are all dangerous. The film shows that the only one that can destroy us really is our own self and our inability to control our desires which gradually become more and more monsterous.

The characters are nicely written, they feel like real people,tohugh i think the young femal character was kind of underdeveloped and lacked a second layer. The performances are all exceptional, somobody give the actress playing theold womn another slice of grapefruit because she truly deserves it!The score is haunting and I liked that the movie used it corretly.

You have to see this film and i might wreck you o pieces or make you rethink your small, unimportant existance but in the end eveything will be ok.

Just kidding. No one can save youo of your doom except of you.

Mandy (I) (2018)

Rockit

[8/10 · 16 July 2019]

This film is really hallucinating and mesmerising and dizzing experience and whoever likes revenge stories, art-house heavy metal stuff and Nick Cage...well you might love it.

One aspect of the film that makes it even weirder is its really weird pacing and structure. At first it is really slow and we just meet our 2 characters and the villians and we just see a few conversations between the characters. Still, the first have is visuall stunning and has a really unique style. I was interested during the first half but I was stilll waiting for the boom!

And yes as the film goes on it becomes more action packed and feels more grand and action-packed. The second have is a love letter to stylish violence,revenge stories and the film's most dark star...Nicolas Cage. The fights are insane, the cinematography and the stylisitc presentation...just a feast for the eyes. I love ow his character gradually turns into a maniac who mournes for his oved one by smashing heads and stabbing monsters with blades.Cage's acting is of infinite praise too. Pain and madnesss become one on his gritty and bloody face and his smile...a piece of gold.

Most people criticize the film for being more style over substance...and although this isquite the case...that is not certainly bad. Style gives also soul to a film and visual stortelling is really powerful techinque for a film like that.

Also... it bight be a stylisitc extravaganza but substance is present.

As I see it,Mandy is the depiction of a ruined, unfair and corrupted society. The main antagonist believes that he is God but he is actually a piece of nothing and he feels powerful but the truth is that he is a funny minifigure wich fails at everything. The monsters in the film portray the uglyness of human nature. They are people who have become one with sin and that is why they watch porn and do drugs and look so ugly.... Their exterior is as ugly as their interior.

Our hero is a man who seeks revenge for his love's unfair and pointlsss death. He is a tragic character who fell in a black hole for no reason and he rises form his ashes and he takes his revenge even if he loses his mind during this crazy journey. This whole situation turns him mad and leads him to lose his mind. The bathroom scene is a pure depiction of his situation.

This film is nuts It is not crazy as hell. It is hell.

I mostly enjoyed it.

In the Mood for Love (2000)

Love and Pain

[9/10 · 3 July 2019]

Love is a "thing" now. Every commercial, every song, every film... is more or less about it. But, even if love is "everywhere", we live in a society were we "love" everyone and consider love a piece of cake, something simple and easy to obtain, thus something utterly shallow, something like a sweet to feel better and show our happiness. We want to look nice so that they love us and we are loved. In the end we are transformed into that superficial and non-authentic beings that only care about what others "feel" about them and consider that the more they are being loved the more good things they'll say about them, the more famous and likable they tend to become. Alas, though, form time to time, certain films and works of art pop out and make us reconsider what love and emotions and our self truly are. These are films like "Her" by Spike Jonze or "Lost in Translation" by Sofia Coppola and "The Lobster" by Yiorgos Lanthimos or every single song of "Radiohead" or... a sweet and intimate film called "In the Mood for Love" by Wong Kar-Wai.

It's about two people who realize that their spouses are having an affair, so they decide to test how they managed to do that by acting like them and meanwhile they create their own affair and form a strong bond, but choose to follow a platonic relationship so as not to sin like their spouses.

The reflections of the characters form mirrors, the close-ups to their looks and smiles, the smoke of a burning cigarette, a narrow stairway, a look from the window, a walk into the dark streets, a hug to ease the pain, the reds and the blues... all these ARE the film. It is a really astheticly preside film that creates a hallucinating and lovely tone, but never feels too much. It gives attention to the small moments. That glance of happiness, a small for an instant, a look of pain, a tear in the eye, Love is about silence. About speaking and feeling one without even talking, The glares, the touches, the eyes. Love can be transported through all of these.

This film is also really different in its storytelling and that is because of the characters, They are single-layred. They acquire ethos and have a moral code so they never give in to their natural and justifiable temptations and desires to be loved and kiss and make love and be one. They are controlled and also stand up for tragic figures who have found ultimate love but because of their character and loyalty cannot reach it. This is masterfully depicted through the constant denial of the lovers to be like their spouses.

Also, these film serves a story of pain. One of the main characteristics that brings the 2 together is the identical pain they both suffer from. They have been betrayed and trying to see what their spouses' affair seemed like made it even more harsh. The pain of their lost love but also of their inability to form a bond of love now is beating the characters too hard, We see it in their eyes, in their constant and immutable sadness.

The mood and tone are those of love and desire and sadness and pain and it all perfectly depicted on the screen. The directing is spot on, so subtle and stylish. The acting is superb.

I only had one really small issue with the film. First, there is a certain track which is repeated 8 or 9 times in the whole film and although I loved it I felt that they could have used another track in some scenes, I mean, the soundtrack is really great and there is a variety of different types of songs... why didn't they use another lovely track? And the director has said that it is because of the theme of the film to repeat itself and I really respect that, especially during the room sequences but I felt that at times there was no reason to play that particular track.But that is a really tiny bug for which I did not bother that much.

The result is a mesmerizing and heartfelt film about passion, our inner wants and needs, about how complex and weird can love be, about pain and sorrow and lost love and longing for it. It is a secret kept deep in the bole of an old tree. But it's not a secret to us. I will never forget this deeply moving and passionate story and I will always be coming back when I am in the mood for...

Love

Under the Silver Lake (2018)

"Sex, Dizziness and the Truth about Hollywood: the movie"

[8/10 · 30 June 2019]

Well, I actually watched this a week ago and I am still thinkng about it. It is an eperience, that's for sure.

Firstly, the whole film is so weird and dizzing... in a good way. There is a constant move, it is like an nevernending heist about solving a huge secret and new details and characters keep poping up and we get a lot of plolt ploints and new stuff to chew on and there are plenty of sureal sequences ... damn that's a thing. But overall this consant movement and fast pace creeate a thirst foro more and more and suddennly swimming "Under the Silver Lake" turns into a bumpy but joful time.

So, the mood and the tone are unique and the direction is surely innovative. Moreover, this art piece manages to not onl serve as a thrillin mystery story but it also serves as a hillarious and honest satire on pop culture and of the mother of every thing we view today...Hollywood. The crititism is just so fun to watch...it shows how every emotion we ever had, every time we shaked our headswhile listening to a nice beat or every poster we see or every film we watch and love are all nothing more than a product for the mass to consume so that money are made. Nothing personal or sentimental.. just a piece of souless product. And I actually get that point. Every single blockbuster aims at being 'cool', "catchy", "sellable" so we the audience fall in love with it and make it a part of our lives and ignore that all these...is money and that there is a dark aspect to them, a practical one, a "dirty,malicious" side of funky pop songs and old classic films. Boom on you, Disney!

Also, it's about our nature. The protagonist, Sam, is addicted to women. But to every woman .He oversexualises every femle he sees but never wants to show cause deep down there is shame. He is a loser, a sinner, a failure living in a world were he thinks he is a hero.He stinks, he is paranoic and acts weird and dangerous. He is one of us who fight so strong for a cause till they find it and keep going for anotoher one. He is lost. But we don't hate due to one reason...

And that's Andrew Garlfield. What a performance. He brings life to the character. He is more sympathetic and his weirdness feels justifiable. Brilliant acting.

The soundtrack is fantastic. From a blues and jazz 60's Hitchcockian vibe to R.E.M and Jesus and The Brides of Dracula...really loved it It is also obvious that a certain amount of focus was given to the production and the placess to shoot. They look fabulous and make this universe feel real and alive.

These were my thoughts. As you can see this film has lots of things to praise and discuss but it is a diizzing ride and it splits adiences for sure...It's ok if you dislike it, but I actually found it a fun mystery with lots of style and a fitting commentary. After wathcing I was dizzed but I love being dizzed. Need a rewatch for sure. 8/10 Have a nice summer