Do you (somehow, in this day and time) feel happy, joyful and just wish to be down? Have you ever wondered how it would feel like to experience the war through child’s eyes, and to see many horrors, some of which, you didn’t want, or didn’t even think of seeing, happening to said child? Well, look no further, because I do have this Czech movie to tell you about, full of… *shuffles card deck* made-up, European language… (elaborate choice of the director, he made up a language as he “did not want to associate the film with a specific country”)?

Yes, The Painted Bird is a Czech movie I have heard a lot about, it made more waves than any other Czech movie in recent memory and… yeah, it’s definitely talked about for a reason. This movie is beautifully shot, it deals with heavy themes and topics, BUT… If you happen to be a sensitive soul or if you (especially now, in early 2021) don’t want to experience plenty of unnecessary depression, you might just want to skip this movie altogether. As it’s definitely one of those “great, but probably once in a lifetime watch” kind of movie.

The main story deals with a boy, who wonders around Europe, as the World War II is happening. And he meets variety (and that’s putting it mildly) of people, most of them really bad. I have already read an opinion, saying the movie is painting the wrong picture of Europeans being savages living in huts, which is true, but at the same time, not the point of this movie…? Plus, during the WW II, there definitely were people living in really poor conditions, and more importantly, I don’t think the movie was saying these people were savages, but we will get to that later.

The Painted Bird is split up into “chapters”, and each chapter is named after a different person, whom our protagonist meets. As I mentioned earlier, most of these people don’t treat the kid nicely. Some even properly abuse him and… well, imagine the worst thing that can happen to a boy who is about 12 years old. Now imagine, what you wish it wouldn’t happen to that boy. That thing you imagined? That probably happens to him in this movie and then some. And I think the movie is exploring two themes here.

The first one is the war – I felt like the movie begs the question “were these people so horrible prior the war, or did the war make them like this?” That is why I believe the point I read someplace about “Europeans being savages” is invalid, as you are not focusing on the cause of why they act like they act. As this movie shows in some of these chapters, desperate people do desperate things, which is true and not just in war times.

The other, and I would argue the main theme of this movie is bit more “poetic”, and it focuses on a soul. Specifically, can you loose your soul? If you go through hell and back, can you ever get back to “normal”? You will probably never be the same person, but can you be a good person? Even in the face of everything that’s been done to you, can you keep a bit of humanity left? Or once it’s gone, is it gone for good? I found the movie’s answer (and I believe the very end does give you an answer to this question) satisfying. Is it satisfying enough to justify the torture the movie puts you through for almost 3 hours…?

I would have to say… kind of…? My biggest problem with this movie is definitely its length. I understand you need the boy to go through a lot, but with certain scenes I had a feeling the director was making “art for the purpose of making art”. In another words, I don’t think the story justified the length. But I also need to say, I don’t think you’d have to cut out a lot. Maybe 10/20 minutes…? Because this film needs to put the kid (and therefore you) through something, you won’t forget, otherwise the ending and what the movie is trying to say, wouldn’t work.

Overall, The Painted Bird is definitely not a movie for your usual moviegoer. It’s more of “brace yourself, because you will see some things you have never even thought of before” kind of movie. And it’s not easy to get through. But the story is interesting (luckily now proven to be mostly fictional), the camera work is stunning (as a Czech, trust me, this is not how 99% of our movies look like, this is some next level camera work) and the black and white only adds the bleakness to the already bleak, sinking feeling you will have once the movie is over. It’s been a while since I have seen a film I would want to recommend to everybody, but at the same time, would not want to recommend to anybody, because yeah… It’s a tough watch, but (for me) it was worth it. Absolutely one of those “glad to have seen it, but (probably?) never again” movies.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

When you say “spaghetti western”, the first name that flashes in my mind is Sergio, but not Corbucci, who directed this movie, but Leone, who (for me) defined the genre (and to this day, is still one of my favourite directors of all time). And Django is a decent copy of a copy (as Leone’s films were “inspired” by Yojimbo (1961)), but ultimately, this movie doesn’t compare with the “big boys”, and you can tell the way they were shooting this, they really wanted Django to be in the same league as films such as A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or For a Few Dollars More (1965). And while Django is interesting, nicely paced, and “short” (only 88 minutes!) movie, it just proves that just because your name is Sergio and you cast somebody, who resembles young Clint Eastwood, that won’t automatically elevate your movie.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad movie by any means, it’s just… fine. From Franco Nero‘s performance, to the story, the coffin (and the reason behind it), everything is… fine, but not outstanding. Only thing this movie has truly going for it, it’s the main theme song. I am not going to lie, that “Djangoooo” tune will get stuck in your head for a while, that is for sure.

What I found slightly weird, which is no fault of this movie, was the American dubbing. I tend to watch all my movies in their original language with subtitles and not dubbed, just to be perfectly clear, but Amazon Prime (where I watched this film) only had the dubbed version available, so it brought me back a bit to my childhood, when I would watch everything dubbed in Czech language, as I haven’t learned “proper” English till I was about 18/19 years old. I don’t know, whether it was cheaper for them to get “just” the dubbed version without any other options, but it is definitely weird to watch a movie, where you can not only see, what the actors are saying is not matching their mouths, but more importantly, hear that the sound quality is a bit different (better) than the picture and it doesn’t match.

But I don’t think (or I would hope so) that this influenced my rating in any way, as the biggest thing I’ve struggled with, while watching Django, was the feeling this was made purely because the two films mentioned above were so good, beloved and the spaghetti western craze was in its peak. At times, I felt like this was filmed while the director was watching the other two movies for… let’s say a bit more than inspiration.

The other thing I liked, but I also struggled with a bit, was the main character of Django. I appreciate the fact they made him into almost a villain with a good character/heart, but since he does not talk much and his only motivation we get is the story about his wife, that just was not enough for me to flash his character out properly. I know, I know, it was the 60’s and these westerns don’t necessarily must have properly flashed out characters, but at the same time, I don’t think that approach worked/works for your main character, who acts like your stereotypical “good guy” for most of the movie, just to kind of “flip” towards the end. Maybe a hint or two, that something like this would come at some point would be helpful…?

Overall, as I have mentioned before, Django is not a bad movie by any means, and if you like spaghetti westerns, I don’t think you will have a bad time with this film. It’s just a bit predictable, and there is no one scene that would stand out. There are at least couple scenes from each of Leone’s movies I still remember, and with this film, I am afraid only thing that will stuck with me, is the really catchy main theme and that… is pretty much it.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Before I go into this review, let me just explain the heading – this movie has two different titles, depending on where you are. In most of America, it’s called Ford v Ferrari, and pretty much everywhere else it’s called Le Mans ’66. I don’t know the reasoning behind this, whether the producers believed Le Mans (the actual race) has such a pull, that it would bring more people to the theatres than names of two (arguably) biggest car brands in the world, but I don’t like it. I understand, especially being from non-English speaking country, that movie titles get translated, which is fair. But here we are, talking about two different titles for the same movie and that just confuses everything. Just imagine trying to have a conversation with somebody, who is not such a movie fan, and trying to explain to them, that you both have seen the same movie, but since you are from two different places, it’s titled differently… What I am trying to say, it’s needlessly confusing. Now, with this rant out of the movie, let’s talk about the movie (I will be calling it Ford v Ferrari as personally, I prefer that).

I will be the first to say I am not into moto sports at all. Doesn’t mater if it’s Le Mans, F1, F2, F365, F42069, it never grabbed my attention. But, strangely enough, I do enjoy movies from moto sports, as they tend to be great (perfect example of this would be Rush (2013) that was pure joy watching in the cinema and a movie, that’s still not talked about enough) so I was looking forward to watching Ford v Ferrari. And sure enough, it didn’t disappoint.

Strangely enough, not the driving/racing scenes, but the actors are the best part about this movie – both Matt Damon and Christian Bale are great as their characters, but more importantly, they have great chemistry between each other. You trust the fact these too have been friends for some time, especially when you see them argue about technical things that, unless you are a mechanic, you will probably not understand. I also need to highlight Caitriona Balfe as she wasn’t just “Bale’s wife”, even though she didn’t have plenty of scenes, the ones she was in, she delivered and made us, the audience, understand exactly what kind of relationship her and Bale’s character had. And that’s not easy thing to do, especially in the fairly limited time she had. Definitely somebody I need to watch out for.

My only issue with this movie and the only reason I am not giving it the highest rating – there was something about it that didn’t pull me into the story properly. I don’t know how to explain this, so let me try it this way… Do you know the feeling, when (sometimes) you are watching what you know is a great movie, with great performances, everything feels properly done and great, and yet, there is something that’s not clicking for you? As if something, some invisible hand is pulling you back slightly, so you can’t “absorb” yourself in the movie fully? No, just me? Ok then. Because that is how I felt while watching Ford v Ferrari. Technically, this movie is great, I had no issues with the story, casting, soundtrack, even the length didn’t bother me too much, but… there was something that didn’t grip me.

And it’s not even the fact the movie is about something I have no interest in outside of it, as I have loved (and still love, even though I haven’t seen it since the 2013 cinema screening) Rush the moment I left the theatre, saying what a great movie it is. Don’t get me wrong, Ford v Ferrari is definitely a movie worth watching, I don’t think you would have a bad time with it, I sure didn’t. There was just something, that either wasn’t there, or something that subliminally bothered me…?

I do have a list in my head, that’s full of movies just like Ford v Ferrari, where I might have liked the movie, but I didn’t “love” it and want to go back to them in some time, to see whether I change my opinion, whether I might grow and appreciate a different aspect I might have missed the first time… this movie definitely goes on that non-existing, yet very real list, as it’s 100% worth your and my time.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Let’s be blunt about this – Ava is your typical, (below) the average action movie, that’s trying so hard to ride on coattails of (mainly) John Wick‘s franchise. Except they have spent much less time and energy on any kind of world building (you know, the thing that made John Wick franchise as successful as it is) and that leaves us, the viewers with… this boring action (?) movie, with surprisingly great cast.

And that is the main advantage of this movie and realistically, the only reason I might even consider recommending this film to anybody, as the main cast is great. Colin Farrell is always a welcomed addition, even though in here, he doesn’t really have much to do, same for Geena Davis, who I like, but in this movie, she’s also acting on “auto-pilot”. John Malkovich‘s character does have more scenes, so he’s actually turning in pretty decent performance, and he’s a great mentor to Ava. This is where I need to stop and acknowledge the main character, star, and by far the best thing this movie has got going for it – Jessica Chastain. Do I have a weakness for her? Sure, but let’s not talk about that right now. As she’s the only reason (for me) to watch this movie. Don’t get me wrong, Jessica and the other great actors I’ve just named all had much better performances in much better movies throughout their respective careers, so it’s not like you’d have to watch Ava to see something spectacular from either of those actors, but mainly John and Jessica make this movie somehow watchable.

The main issue with this film is the script – we literally have seen everything in this movie not only done before, but done much better. It’s almost like somebody pitched this movie along these lines: “What if John Wick was a woman and the movie wouldn’t be as great? Everybody sold? Perfect, let me get Netflix on the phone”. Then, on basis of that pitch, they somehow got pretty great cast, and because they’d spent most of their money on those actors, didn’t have that much money left to spend, everything else was done as frugally as possible and voila, Ava was born!

What frustrates me the most is this movie could have been done differently, if only it didn’t feel the need to follow exactly the same storyline as literally every single movie in this genre for the past almost 10 years now. Only while watching this film, I had a realisation that in these movies (assassins, who are basically invincible ghosts, living double life, much smarter than your average Joe, or in this case, Jane) we have been getting only one type of story – this super duper assassin getting betrayed by their own agency/government/organisation and they have to fight the people they know to survive, go against the system that raised/train them. And with most of the other movies, they tend to be enjoyable enough, that I had not only never noticed, but was never bothered by that! But with Ava, I was bored halfway through the movie, so I started to think, why? I love this genre, I love Jessica and she’s great in this, why am I so bored? And then the realisation hit me harder than puberty hit my face some time ago – because I have seen this before, way often than I care to admit.

That could have been (alongside the casting) the saving grace Ava needed – if we did not follow in the footsteps of other movies so closely, if the filmmakers showed us more interaction (maybe even some training from the past?) between John and Jessica, this could have been much better. I can imagine it right now, half the movie would have been about how Jessica ended up with John’s character, how he trained her to be the great assassin she is now, the other half might have been about her getting ready for some important job, to show us how smart she is, what planning goes into what she does…? To me, that sounds much more interesting, we could have focused on those two characters mainly and the movie might have been at least been a bit different. I am not saying this would make Ava better by any means, but at least it would stand out.

Overall, if you are fan of Jessica Chastain (and if you are not, what is wrong with you, you monster!?! :-D) and you have watched everything else she is in, you might, just might, give Ava a shot, just to complete her filmography. Don’t expect too much though, as without that great cast, this movie would have barely been worth the piece of SD card it was filmed on.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

If you are not familiar with the works of Franz Kafka, I would seriously encourage you to read a thing or two about him before watching this movie, as The Trial is quintessentially movie based on his book, rather than a movie made by THE Orson Welles. What I mean by that is even though you can definitely tell it was directed by Welles as his unique director’s eye really compliments the insanity of the story, but it’s the insanity that ultimately seeps through this film, that you either accept and let if frustrate you, or don’t and you are in for a bad time, just as our main protagonist.

The Trial is everything but a conventional film, as it deals with a man, who one day wakes up to him being on a trial for… something. Nobody can tell him what did he do, nobody can give him more information. What I really liked is how you can see the evolution of Anthony Perkins‘ character (if you only know him from Psycho (1960) you should definitely watch this film to see he definitely wasn’t one trick pony, his performance is great!) as when the movie starts, he’s afraid, he wants to cooperate as much as he can, but once he realises the absurdity of the situation, he’s the pretty much the only one who stands up against “the system”. And that is ultimately the message here, if you don’t stand up for yourself, nobody else will.

This film might be one of the only ones I would recommend with a big caveat – get ready to be frustrated. And try (?) to enjoy it. As Orson does really well with the absurdity of… well, everything. Being on a trial and never knowing what for, trying to navigate the convoluted system that is setup for you to fail, the judges having all the power, therefore becoming the most powerful and most feared people in the system… Honestly, I don’t know how else would you go about filming something like this, as The Trial ultimately feels like a really bad fever dream, but you can’t look away, as you are hoping to crack it, to make a sense out of the nonsense presented to you.

But this movie is not just about the nonsensical story or great visuals, we can’t forget the casting! From already mentioned Perkins, to Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider, you can tell Orson knew how to pick his actors, as they all fit perfectly in this crazy narrative. Both of these actresses are strikingly beautiful, especially in the way Orson is shooting them… there was something about black and white, where some directors made it look so great, you won’t even mind the lack of colour.

The Trial is really hard movie to review, as it’s so abstract, so frustrating, yet so beautiful, it needs to be seen to be… understood? No, I’ve seen it and I am still not sure whether I got everything the movie wanted me to get. But do I regret the time spent watching this? Not at all. And I would hope you won’t either.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Thinking about this now, would it be more sensible for me to write about this movie right around the Christmas period, while people are more likely to read reviews for Christmas movies to watch…? Yeah, probably. Oh well… Last Christmas is a weird movie for me, as it’s perfectly watchable, but ultimately it feels like that one friend, who’s trying so hard to be your best friend, he becomes irritating. That’s how this movie ultimately felt like to me, except in this instance, it’s trying to be way to clever.

The biggest strength of Last Christmas is without a doubt, its casting. Henry Golding is (and I am saying this as a heterosexual man) really good looking and charismatic, to the point he makes me jealous as to why I can’t be like him, Michelle Yeoh was fun and her story line with her man I mean Boy (played by Peter Mygind) was actually sweet and charming and Emma Thompson playing a Croatian, first feels slightly out of place, but I liked her performance and her place in the movie, as it belongs there (I will talk about that in a second). But the best performance by far and the reason I am rating this as “high” as I am, is Emilia Clarke. On the first glance, you might think she’s just playing real-life version of herself (as she is as adorable as a basket full of puppies and kittens mixed together) but her performance has layers. She’s got some scenes in this movie, where her character is all over the place (as her character makes one bad decision right after another) but she plays it in a really relatable way and she’s not over the top. Plenty of actors in other comedies would have chosen to play character like hers more comedically, even in the moments where it wouldn’t fit. But not Emilia, she wasn’t afraid to be all over the place emotionally, as that made sense for her character. So it’s much easier for us to root for her throughout the film, because we want to see her succeed, as her character feels real. Honestly, I don’t think people give her enough credit.

As mentioned before, this movie ultimately feels bit more needy, in two aspects. First aspect was, and I need to warn you here, this will get a bit political, how Brexit influenced the mood in the UK. And I didn’t mind that as much, as I am also a foreigner, living in the UK. Luckily, Scotland seems to be a bit more welcoming and a way less “get back where you came from!” place, as 99% of all Scottish people I have met throughout my almost 10 years living here, were friendly, smart and kind people. It’s a brave move to make a “feel-good” Christmas movie, but you also feel the need to include Brexit, and how the toxicity surrounding it affects people (and not just the foreigners/immigrants, but the English people and their attitude towards “others”) living in the UK and that is why I did eventually liked the fact Emma Thompson’s character was a Croatian migrant. Yes, it is a bit of downer, and yes, it is a bit (ok, a huge) of political statement, but wouldn’t it be more harmful to make a Christmas movie based in London in 2019 and completely ignore something as massive and life-changing for so many people? Anyway, this aspect felt strange, but I would be able to “cope” with it better, if it wasn’t for the second aspect, and the ultimate reason I struggled with this film.

I am not going to go into spoiler territory, as I think I can discuss it vaguely enough for people to understand my point. From the very beginning of Last Christmas, it’s strongly hinted that Emilia’s character went through something bad (medically) not that long ago, but we don’t know what it is, until we are about 70% into the film. Fine, seems interesting. But you can tell there will be more linked with this, you can feel there is a twist coming up. And there was. I am not going to claim that I predicted THAT particular twist before it happened, as I didn’t guessed it right. But you know what’s even more disappointing, when watching a movie, knowing there is a twist, and it’s not something you were expecting? The fact once the twist is revealed, it does nothing for you. Honestly, Last Christmas for me will be that one movie with a twist, that literally didn’t have to be there, as it didn’t add anything extra. I understood everything they were trying to do/say with this, I honestly do, but it felt shallow, empty and false. Especially with the constant foreshadowing, I expected something different, more impactful and when it happened, when the twist was finally revealed, I just said “Wait, that’s it?”. Honestly, it didn’t work for me.

And that was ultimately the biggest let down for me – if this movie didn’t feel the need to have some sort of twist and focused more on the relationships they already had established (Emilia and Henry, Emilia and her mum, Emilia and her sister, “Santa” and her “Boy”) and flashed them out a bit more, this could have been an interesting Christmas movie, that might have led the way for others. It could have been a great example of “see, Christmas movies don’t have to be just all happy, they can touch on complicated relationships or even politics” but instead of that, Last Christmas will be remembered as the movie with a twist, that leaves you colder than Santa’s balls throughout the toughest winter on North Pole.

Overall, I think Last Christmas is a decent movie, that could have been even better, had they focused on the right areas and weren’t trying so hard to surprise the audience. But, if you are a fan of Emilia Clarke (and who isn’t?) it’s definitely a must see, as she carries this movie on her tiny, elf shoulders. 😉 I am not being funny by the way, if she wasn’t part of this movie, my rating would have been way lower.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke