Filmmaniak

An emotional documentary about enthusiasts who have embarked on the reconstruction of a cemetery in Spain, where the finale of the western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly takes place. The idea, effort and determination deserve full praise, because the film looks great, and even the documentary is engaging, even though it contains for the most part what you would expect from this sort of theme. However, all of this is done extremely sympathetically and honestly. In addition to the several years of hard work of the main actors, the film also captures the community of film fans (volunteers, crowdfunding for graves), and there is also commentary from members of Leone's crew (Eastwood, Morricone, extras-witnesses...), who spice up the film from time to time with a story from the filming.

An outrageously entertaining parody of crime show from the 70's, which also draws on the Kung Fu genre, zombie movies, Mexican action movies with wrestlers and horror movies with occult themes. An off-the-wall bag packed with multi-level humor, riddled with all sorts of gags, using period and genre clichés to create unsuspected parody layers, and shot intentionally cheaply and like a B movie, with a grainy image, perfect retro stylization, cute sloppy background projections and actors intentionally overacting. Not all of the jokes land and are sometimes repeated, but with its cadence it almost doesn’t matter. The purposeful creators are consistent from start to finish on all levels. Similarly refined pastiche like Black Dynamite or The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

This action thriller about the toughest gangs of the Asian underworld balances on the border between bloody entertainment and unpleasantly violent cruelty, when imaginative and technically perfect action shootouts and trick-based, make-up and choreographically embellished contact fights change from a juicy attraction for the hardy to an extremely brutal mutilation show. In terms of recent films it is perhaps comparable to The Raid 2, but it goes a bit further (the director was officially allowed to have free reign by Netflix, which he made exceptional use of). In the first half the story is a slightly chaotic jumble of constantly dying characters fighting each other on two sides of a barricade, between which they run all over the place and undercut each other, to the extent that the viewer loses interest in the protagonists and stops caring about how the film is going to end and is just looking forward to the next action sequence. Fortunately, this settles down in the second half. Who is against who is clearly defined, and the rest is a feverish massacre with physically intense action passages, which there are not that many of, but they are long and hellishly dense.

A slow but genuinely nice, empathetic and gentle thriller about an aging professional assassin who likes his daily solitary stereotype and work rituals and lives at his own pace. He is suddenly surprised by the chances of spending his twilight years living with a woman by his side. The film is basically like Ron Perlman himself. He is old school, a little tired and partly retired, but he still has it in him - black humor and style, the ability to impress with a correctly chosen grin, and being able to credibly portray the character of a rancher with an accurate line of sight. The film is directed a bit subtly by a director who is practically only capable of doing a gray routine, but it is surprisingly suitable for this material. The film is consistently above average, doesn’t rush and can impact in the right places.

An honest, bizarre festival film, combining dark Scandinavian crime and bestial romance with fantasy mythology. Despite many WTF moments, the film is clearly rooted in our reality and based on multi-layered motifs reflecting current world events, especially regarding the issue of gender and sexual identity and approaches to minorities in society. This genre mix is directed with a firm hand, but in parts it deserves a brisker pace. Nevertheless, its originality, courage and uniqueness are definitely appreciated. And the great masks and acting performances of both title characters.

A warm, bitter-sweet human drama with great Israeli music. The unobtrusive, almost conflict-free and slow-moving plot is enlivened by unusual local motifs, such as the question of orthodox religion and the theme of social conditions in Israel, and it also helps a lot that it's very well acted and filmed.

Watching Gaspar Noé's films is like discovering new forms of communication. The opening dance scene is hypnotic perfection and pure ecstasy, while everything else is mainly about how far you are willing to go and how far your spectator endurance reaches. A spectacular cameraman show and epileptic choreography accompanied by techno on a trip; or in other words, Noé knows how to mix a tailor-made sangria. He collected his most frequent trademarks, scattered them at a dance party and purposefully created a hallucinogenic apocalypse with zero plot, but maximum efficiency. A wild and predatory experimental ride, incredibly progressive and, at the same time, narcissistically immersed in itself. But what else would you expect from Noé?

Comedic genius Williams could not have gotten a better film portrait. It is surprisingly comprehensive, coherent and devoted to his work and private activities throughout his life. Excellent editing work, done quite obviously with love and respect, accompanied by Williams's colleagues, friends and family members, who were well-chosen. Sometimes the film stands still for too long and wastes time unnecessarily by showing more and more photographs with Robin's sympathetic face, but on the other hand, the recordings of his comedy performances and films are practically sure to keep your attention (and sometimes these are incredibly unique shots). In the end, the director of course couldn't help but feel a little sad, but she still conceived the conclusion very sensitively and without going all out. It rarely happens that I laugh out loud so often during a documentary. We will always miss this great actor.

A pleasantly fast-paced short story comedy whose individual, loosely intertwined stories have a solid basis in well-constructed situations and even consistently escalate, but they are not always brought to a satisfactory point. As a result, this a fun mix, entertaining through funny events soaked in stress and gradually escalating pressure.

Adam Sedlák is at the top of Czech cinema with a precisely created film on the European level. This is a perfectly escalating drama/thriller/horror with a clear artistic vision and an original and well-thought-out concept. The film also excels through an excellent musical component, which makes the film an even fiercer ride rather than being firmly directed. The film has strong acting and a gradual pace of storytelling, painfully as intense as a day's cycling after a night spent in an oxygen tent. Too bad it didn't keep going, and too bad it couldn’t have been even harsher.