michalgill Reviews

Hello! Tapir (2020)

Depressing yet very heartwarming

[8/10 · 3 December 2021]

I'm really not sure if this film was the best choice to kick off this years festival of Asian films in Prague. It's very depressing for most of the time but also very heartwarming at the same time. But in the end it will pick your mood up. But thanks to the Taiwanese representation for the welcome anyway.

Story of loosing close ones, the inevitability of death, mystery and coming to terms with the reality, however sad it may be. Introduction by the director, who disclosed it's partially based on his life, was a cherry on top. Highly recommendable. 8/10.

Childhood Freedom (2019)

Interesting theme

[7/10 · 15 November 2020]

An intersting theme has been chosen for this short film; caring for our elderly family, something that happens to most of us in our lives. Good camera, good music, the audio wasn't that good (some microphones a bit closer to the actors certainly would've helped), but all in all, a sweet piece. I wanted to give it 6*, but to see Willem smile at the end deserves at least one more in itself. :-) 7* it is.

Arkitektene (2008)

Quite an Interesting Start to Herman Tømmeraas' Career

[5/10 · 12 October 2020]

Story of three kids who built themselves quite a nice tree house at the edge of the woods. Then, one day, some contractors arrive to demolish it. The boys put up a fight but ultimately lose, only to find out their cool tree house got replaced with a lame playground. They immediately get to work, utilise help of their friends and the final shot of this short film is of a lame playground slide being somewhat hastily and not very effectively turned into a new epic fortress, with our three protagonists standing proudly on the top of it. Quite a strange career start for the popular actor Herman Tømmeraas is today. And you can easily find it on YouTube.

Corpus Christi (2019)

9/10 - Expected a dark comedy; got a very funny drama instead

[9/10 · 12 October 2020]

I very much loved everything about this film. Going to the cinema, I expected something entirely different though. Based on brief annotations, it looked like a dark comedy. Instead I got quite a dark plot based on real life events, but the way it was filmed - simply a pleasure to watch. I was chuckling most of the time. Sometimes Daniel was a heretic, sometimes he was very out of place, sometimes he was just the funniest. But all in all, extremely enjoyable. I'm glad I chose it for an ugly Sunday afternoon instead of Tenet. I can recommend it with pleasure.

An Affair (2018)

Kinda disappointing

[4/10 · 24 December 2019]

Unless you're a fan of Tarjei S. Moe or like to watch a bland story of two sociopaths hooking up, this movie isn't for you. I'm the first case (fan of TSM) but even I didn't like it. The story is weak and even good actors can't save it. I can't really give you a reason to waste 90 minutes of your life on this

Ad Astra (2019)

Anticlimactic Disaster

[3/10 · 27 September 2019]

If I were to summarize this film in one sentence, it would be "a devastating loss on all fronts." I always repeat the same thing: screenplay is what makes a movie; the rest can help but will never save it if the screenplay is this bad, full of holes and most anticlimactic I've seen in years.

There are three fight scenes in this film, none of them anywhere towards the end. It started quite well, the visuals were great, but you can't slowly build a drama and then just stop halfway through. You might want to go for an artistic effect but it surely isn't what most of the public will expect and they'll be very disappointed. I certainly felt like I lost two hours of my life in one of the most meaningless ways possible and judging by the absolute quiet when the end titles rolled, so did the rest of the nearly empty IMAX cinema. And trust me, the Academy won't give out Oscars for this kind of "artistic effect" either.

Now, to some of the plot holes I mentioned: Why the hell does a trip from Moon to Mars take 20 days and the following one from Mars to Neptune just some 80 days? If there is some reason behind it it surely wasn't explained. Earth is 1 AU from the Sun, Mars is 1,5 AU from the Sun and Neptune is bloody 30 AU from the Sun!

And that's just one instance of the crazy timeframe and bent laws of physics. Also light seems to travel at very different speeds in this film when needed. You send a message from Mars to Neptune at a speed of light and expect answer within seconds? How? It will take over four hours for any beam to get there and the same for the response. How does an astronaut expect a reply within seconds and then, lo and behold, gets it?!

After this, I feel that mentioning the Pitt's magic body, that can withstand G forces nobody else can so the plot can send him floating through space and be unharmed by stuff moving at very different speeds, from spaceships to rocks, is nearly a waste of time.

Anyway, final verdict: good intentioned sci-fi with a great hype build around it deflated by incompetence of those in charge of making it. Two hours of my life lost, some ten dollars as well and I probably have to go see Downton soon to keep staying open to the prospect of wasting money by going to movies. 3/10

Under the Sun (2015)

Not a propaganda film with footage between the scenes; rather a documentary about shooting a propaganda film - bravo!

[9/10 · 8 September 2019]

Mansky deserves every possible praise for this piece. To make this movie despite DPRK's restrictions necessitated a lot of courage. If they were caught smuggling the footage out of North Korea, the harshest sentence wouldn't have missed them.

This film is a testament to the horrible conditions the North Korean people must live in and portrays a perfect behind the scenes look to the inner workings of the North Korean propaganda machine. The people in the DPRK's government coming up with this idea mustn't have really been the sharpest tools in the shed, inviting a foreign respected director to shoot stupid propaganda piece I could've shot.

I'm proud that the Czech Republic had its hand in financing the film and thus helping to open the eyes of the world to the mental abuse of every single North Korean citizen taking place every single day. Bravo to the three crew members and their courage!

Empire (2005)

Fun to watch, yet every single thing is historically false or inaccurate

[4/10 · 21 July 2019]

It's not really a bad way to spend four hours, but if you know a bit or two about ancient Rome and the civil wars, you'll be cringing all the way through: Legio III Gallica never fought in Gallic Wars; there is no such thing as general in Roman Republic; vestals can't be touched, not even to be punished; Caesar's signet ring sported a sphinx, not his own profile; people shouting "hold the line" amidst horribly inaccurate very non-Roman fighting sequence - if Caesar fought the Gauls like that, there would be no French language today; everyone talking about a thrones, rulers, eperors, princes - utter nonsense; Atia was Caesar's niece, not sister; "I was a senator then..." - like if it wasn't a lifetime membership; there was no such thing as "constitutional law"; there are not supposed to be any swords within the Pomerium; Augustus' first name is Gaius, not Octavius; Octavian wasn't in Italy at the time of Caesar's murder; non-Gauls wearing pants; Lepidus was elected Pontifex Maximus after Caesar's murder, cartainly not Brutus; the actors can't even pronounce Bibracte for god's sake!

There's so much stuff so wrong about this show I'd prefer they'd push it a little bit further, made up all the character names and set it in an alternate universe. Then I wouldn't be cringing so much and could enjoy it. 4/10

Prayers for Bobby (2009 TV Movie)

A Very Strong And Touching Story

[10/10 · 18 April 2017]

As I always say - a good script is all that's needed and there are no better scripts than those the life writes itself. When one hears a story of a real struggle like this one, it can get personal very quickly. This film struck me just the right way and I'm getting the book right away.

When you hear such life stories from people who had to live through them (e.g. D. L. Black when accepting an Oscar for Milk), you feel the need to do something about the current status quo and must help to change the world /spoiler coming up/, just like Bobby's Mother did.

But to also mention the film itself - as said - brilliant script based on a very real tragedy but also great acting, especially the two main characters, Sigourney Weaver, who is brilliant in any film, and Ryan Kelley, just a few months my senior, a great talent and one of my favourite actors of my generation. Without them perhaps I wouldn't give it 10 stars but when great script meets great actors, I just can't help myself.

I absolutely recommend this to everyone, especially to any religious parents whose chances of having a gay kid are way higher than they might like - just remember - goodness (or the opposite) of a person is what counts, not some stupid rules written in some books pretending to have the patent on holiness.

Wolf Watch (2014–2015)

The MTV Teen Wolf's after show hosted by Jill Wagner

[10/10 · 7 January 2014]

This talk show started as an after show of MTV's hit series Teen Wolf since season 3b (episodes 13 to 24) while first airing on January 6th 2014. It's hosted by Jill Wagner, herself also playing recurring character of Kate Argent on the show (although she died on the end of season one - yet Teen Wolf being a supernatural series, there she is again in 3b and I myself love it and love her!). She was also a host of couple after shows for the series in the past yet it never grew into format of regular every-week talk show until now. Since I'm writing this only hours after first airing of the show and have very (none) limited inside intel, I can only hope the format will stay the same (or will grow bigger) as in the first episode > 30 minutes incl. commercial breaks (some 21 minutes of "clean" time), Jill as host, couple guests in the studio (in the first episode Teen Wolf co-stars Dylan O'Brien and Tyler Posey), some fan-guests on the wire and lots of inside talk about the MTV hit series, including previews and teasers. It's just a great thing for a fan of Teen Wolf to also have a show like this. My keep-up-the-good-work to everybody on the team surrounding Jeff Davis - you're all doing an awesome job!

Lincoln Heights (2006–2009)

Simply put? Great show!

[9/10 · 27 September 2013]

Well, all the previous reviews are a lot older than this mine because they're all written by Americans after seeing it on TV during its first (and I believe last) run. It's sad it never got out of States (as far as I know) because I really am enjoying it when seeing for the first time only now when it's off air for quite a few years. It was very (and I mean very) hard to get my hands on it, since only season one is being sold on DVD's, but if you're from a country untouched by most of the classical American production as Czech Republic is, you'll always find a way. Now to the show - from the first episode I was hooked and always wonder how on the end of every episode creators found their way to make a happy end, they certainly don't know what a cliffhanger is. But I'd say for a family show Lincoln Heights is this is exactly the quality that makes it the only rose between the thorns. It's refreshing after all those shows that end only once when you finish the last episode of last season. Concerning casting and the way it's been directed - I'm quite satisfied. I usually don't like shows without at least little portion of sci-fi or something special to make it different from other shows we here like to call "Deutsche Krimis" (German criminal series) for they usually have nothing of the kind, are almost all about daily life of ordinary people etc. and somehow manage to look all alike, a lot alike! I don't know what makes Lincoln Heights so special, but if I like it in it's simplicity, honesty and rough description of what life in the LA suburbs looks like, then I'm sure many would like it too, if it got on air again or if they manage to get it on the internet.

Marley (2012)

The best movie of 2012 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (subjectively)

[10/10 · 20 August 2013]

From all the movies and documentaries i had the honor to see at the 2012 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, this one was definitely the best. Competition was hard, but Marley won my personal competition by ten horse-lengths. On Czech version of IMDb (ČSFD) i called it "the highest movie there is, was and will be" for it's very free and bohemian atmosphere in which it is served. Partially it was probably given by the festival atmosphere and great scene at the old City Theater, but I enjoyed this movie a lot and am not even some big fan of Bob's music (although it's very good in my opinion). During the premiere-screening all theater was laughing most of the time and from what I saw almost everybody gave this piece the highest possible number of points in the viewer award competition. If I convinced you to see this just sit back and enjoy the show!

The Man from Earth (2007)

The best movie judging by the price-quality ratio

[10/10 · 20 August 2013]

To me this is probably the best movie there is and let me tell you why: For those of you who know me (mostly probably from my reviews on Czecho- Slovak alternative to IMDb) it is long time known that the most important thing on every movie or TV show are not the actors, directors, crew and lots of money pumped into the set, but always number one on my list is script, close second is script again and third would be the book by which the script is written (if there is any). This film simply have the best script there is thanks to great work of late Jerome Bixby. It is so short, so simple, written just for handful of actors and yet it's so brilliant in it's originality, complexity and ability to chain one to the screen from start straight to the end, that no other movie can be even compared to it. Not to sound like I underestimate the work of the rest of crew and cast, let me just say that all of these people did a really great job of putting late Mr. Bixby's lines on the silver screen, it surely could have been even better, but there is no eleventh star on IMDb. The casting is simply great, no superstars, but very well known faces that any cinema-geek knows quite well, great director Richard Schenkman and judging by his blog also great crew. Together this film is a cherry on the top of any evening!