J*A*S*M

I have only one problem with The Lodge and it’s very similar to the one I had with the directorial début of the duo Franz-Fiala, Goodnight Mommy, I also found it predictable. Though not after five minutes, like the previous one, but somewhere around the middle, at most, it was already clear what was happening and where it was going. And again, I’m not entirely sure whether the directors expect that the viewer already suspects the point (some of the clues are way too obvious!), or the way the cards are shown in the end is really meant as a surprise. Nevertheless, it is better than the previous film conceptually, and the horror aspect also works better; for most of the run, the psycho-horror-winter atmosphere is firing on all cylinders. On the other hand, the uncompromising fifteen minutes in the end are worth five stars. I enjoyed it, but for the next film I would like the directors to either bluff a little more ingeniously or to show their cards right from the beginning :) #KVIFF2019

Very sexily shot. I like films like this at festivals, that audiovisually look more polished than as if someone had grabbed an ordinary camera for the first time, put it on a tripod and let it stay there, and then they didn’t want to edit much. Monos has beautiful cinematography, vibrant colours, dynamic editing and glorious music. And though the first half was a bit of an existential drag (though very atmospheric, so I rather enjoyed it), by the middle of the second half it has turned into a proper tropical survival flick. That’s not too shabby! #KVIFF2019

A well tuned crowd-pleaser for undemanding audiences. If I wanted to dig deeper, I would find plenty of arguments to tear it apart (like the total lack chemistry between the two main characters, or the morally problematic starting point and consequences), but I decided that I don’t want to. In any case, I will probably forget it before the festival is over. #KVIFF2019

Awfully long artsy onanism where the first signs of the announced “plot” appear after exactly 50 minutes of shots that could have been cut out. The kind of film that you can with rate five stars on Filmbooster and look like a connoisseur. #KVIFF2019

Very good work. The fast pace and the quick presentation of about a billion characters with unmemorable names was a little scary at first, but as soon as the attention focuses exclusively on Buscetta and the trial, it was a winner. Surprisingly nimble given the length and topic. #KVIFF2019

Nicely playful and refreshing mystery-horror-comedy forest fairy-tale that suffers from wanting to be something more than a playful and refreshing mystery-horror-comedy forest fairy-tale. Cut the beginning, cut the animated scenes, make the attacks scenes harder and it would deserve at least 4*. #KVIFF2019

It screamed a hole in my head, but that quality! #KVIFF2019

Finally a music biopic that’s not afraid to playfully and creatively use the possibilities of the media, without unnecessarily tying its hands with what most viewers want and expect. And that’s why it’s not just a lazy, slavishly unimaginative farce like that overrated music biopic from last year 😇 So I'm a rocketman!

Unfortunately, my fears that Yarovesky isn’t a good director have been confirmed. He was incapable of turning an attractive premise into something more than an average film. The plot arc is exactly what you can imagine when you say “the horror version of Superman”, and that’s all there is to it, Brightburn never deviates from the line you expect. Fortunately, the creators where able to deconstruct the classic structure of the super-hero origin story, but not able to surprise the horror fans. The director couldn’t create any bond with the positive characters that would really interest the viewer, and, as a result, the film never gave me the impression that the creators “want to tell the story of this family”. Throughout, the film just felt like “we want to play with the idea of an evil Superman, and we must have a human mum and a human dad”. But Brandon’s rampage starts relatively late, and only a couple of moments are truly memorable, and what can you do when you are uninvested in the human heroes? When you don’t believe they are viable characters? Brightburn is watchable thanks to its premise, which is cool, really. But what prevails in the end is the feeling of a wasted opportunity. It could’ve been great in many ways: taken more seriously or tragically or, on the contrary, totally bonkers. But this final form is pointless, and shouldn’t have been like that!

I was expecting a lot more. Shazam is a nonconflicting, easygoing comic book for kids and I can’t understand how Sandberg could accept in this form. With the monsters, the film doesn’t do anything that would be really scary and the humour never deviates from the track of the predictable. I was also monumentally pissed off with the discrepancy between the human and the magical person of the main character. It feels as if, together with the magic powers, the personality of the hero changed, loosing a couple dozen points of IQ. If understand correctly the concept of Shazam on paper, the humour should be based on an unruly teenager getting superpowers and, since he doesn’t know what to do with them, he starts fooling around; until the circumstances force him to assume responsibility. But in the film, Billy isn’t unruly at all! Quite the contrary, he behaves in a relatively mild and asocial manner, while also being more mature and independent than his peers. And BAM! When he gets the superpowers, he suddenly becomes this self-confident cool guy who wants to show off? It doesn’t work at all.