Lima

The first half is better than the second. Boris Karloff's entrance is exquisite. He was an extremely charismatic guy, and the filmmakers knew that, that's why the close-up of his face – the same one – is repeated several times, even with those glittering sinister eyes; it’s beautiful to watch (I had to save that evil look as a wallpaper on my PC :o) The second half is terribly rushed, as if the filmmakers were trying to cram it into the shortest possible runtime. One of the main characters dies, but nothing comes of it, no one seems to care much. Things happen too fast and Edward Van Sloan plays Dr. Muller awfully. I love old movies a lot and that's the only reason I don’t give them a hard time. The whole thing is pretty naive, next to the likes of Frankenstein it doesn't really hold up in comparison. On the other hand, the long silent flashback is impressive, and there's Karloff, he keeps it afloat, a stud, a true icon.

I've written this before with another of their films, but I'll say it again: cursed be the day Lou Costello believed he was a good comedian, or that he had any acting talent. Here again, he's awkwardly goofing around, constantly throwing direct glances at the camera as if to highlight the "joke" he just made. He's a real pain to watch. His partner is much better, his speech is rather subdued and as if it was beyond the business of which of the duo is the smarter one. Otherwise this wannabe slapstick Laurel and Hardy type, like Costello, isn't very funny, though there are two or three good ideas. But I can't completely condemn it, it has beautiful, classic, old-fashioned Egyptian sets (the whole thing was filmed in a studio), and my eye was captivated by them. But until next time, I'll think twice about wasting my time with the Abbott-Costello duo. Perhaps just to understand why they were such a big phenomenon at the turn of the 1940s and 50s.

Throughout all six episodes, there are four amazingly composed action scenes, twists and turns like on a treadmill from the third episode onwards, and the main villain was for me only on the last line in the list of suspects, I really didn't guess him (but maybe I'm just dumb). The long scene with the explosive vest in the last episode is something, something so bizarrely suspenseful that you almost can't believe your eyes. But in a good way, it had drive, I had a great time. Richard Madden was incredibly good at it, a pro in every way, the minister's lapdog and a bundle of nerves all rolled into one. He was fantastic! I’m not giving it five stars only because at the very end I didn't believe at all the sudden transformation of one of the characters into absolute evil, given the previous course, the way she presented herself, what I felt from her (those who have seen it, will probably guess). The filmmakers simply overdid it with trying to surprise.

Scripts were never Fulci's forte, but his execution of visually captivating scenes was masterful. The story is such a melodramatic soap bubble, a bit naive and a bit psychedelic (yeah, LSD was so hot back then :o). The conspiracy around which it all revolves is a bit of a head-scratcher, and the final reveal lacks narrative power, but otherwise the film offers enough bizarre moments to hold the attention. All the optical games, great timing of the scenes (the organ!!), sometimes pleasant erotic stuffiness (the sexual revolution was at its peak then), plus Fulci was perfect with women and the female body, most of his films had a strong female lead and it's similar here. The rating is on the borderline, it was nice, but in six months I'll probably forget about it.

It has some magical moments that prove that Svěrák Jr. is a really good director. I appreciate the view of the war through children's eyes, but the story is too disjointed; it needed a unifying line. The story of Uncle Wolf, which was supposed to cement the narrative, isn't enough to pull the whole film together. It's a shame, I really wanted to love this film.

The flashy title and synopsis promised a lot, I was looking forward to a high-octane thrilling spectacle and what I got was, well, snail-paced conversation, with one short minute chase and one car explosion. A seemingly insignificant Arthur Ripley film, but actually solidly directed by Robert Mitchum, who also wrote the story and once again showed what a badass he was (no offense, he was a real badass), next to which his real brother looks more like a teenage son, at least 25 years younger, with a bit of a wry expression. The acting ability of one, next to the acting "incompetence" of the other was like a punch in the face, you wouldn’t even say that they are siblings. But otherwise nothing against it, it was nice to watch, but I expected a lot more, considering how successful the film was in the States. The most interesting thing about it is the fact that Bruce Springsteen himself paid tribute to it in his son “Thunder Road”.

Very weak Coens, hopefully they pick the weaker moment for the future. The stories are completely without a twist, there is only the adorable finger-shooting in the first one, the beautiful scenery in the one with the charismatic vagabond Watts, and here and there a typical Coen joke, but there are so few of them that they could be counted on the fingers of one hand of a sawmill worker. What I admire most about the Coens is the biting, caustic, ironic humour, which here is almost non-existent. Then the fifth and longest story is almost unbearable, it doesn't go anywhere, it's just such a cry into the wind and I have to repeat it again, without a single twist.

Or as Tomáš Hajíček from Krucipüsk once said: man is the mould of the World, a weed and a parasite on nature, which he only smolders and tears to pieces, without bringing anything to it. Someday it’ll happen, it's slowly showing.

It's probably going to get snubbed at the Oscars, given the audience ignorance and the politics the Academy has set in recent years, but for me, this is the Movie Of The Year. A technically extremely precise piece of work and at the same time an emotional ride that gives you goosebumps in the last act. In fact, I can't remember the last time a film with a scientific basis has grounded me like this. Perhaps Zemeckis's Contact, twenty long years ago. Gosling as a man who has to suppress his emotions and think coldly and rationally, otherwise he couldn't do his job, is totally accurate as an actor. At the other pole, Claire Foy is a geyser of emotion, and Hurwitz's music is energetic and intimate at the same time. This is going to be the pride of my blu-ray collection. PS: Unfortunately, there are mental gimps among us, such as the "greatest horror expert" Psychor, who vulgarly disparage human agency bought with sweat and blood. I don't know, couldn't these individuals just die so they don't poison our air?

As you can see, not everything Val Lewton touched was remarkable. This is just a parasite on a great prequel. It proudly wears the name of the Cat People, but they're not even mentioned, they're only in the title to help sell the film. It has continuity only in the main characters, but the plot doesn't seem to reflect the previous events at all, even the setting is completely different. It's nice to look at times (impressive narration by the old lady, beautiful camera shots of the snowy landscape created in a soundstage), but otherwise, unlike the prequel, it lacks atmosphere and camera games with light and shadows. And the little girl – her acting is so mechanical and unnatural that it completely ruins the experience.