hudini669 Reviews

Locke (2013)

What life is all about

[9/10 · 1 August 2014]

We all obsess about what means most to us and no one wants to give up on their obsessions when they are told to. We struggle to keep the reins of our lives firmly in our hands and the more they begin to slip the harder we clench. We all make mistakes sometimes and when cracks begin to appear there is no turning back; they can only spread. We can not undo our faults, we can not close our eyes and pretend they're not there. We can only choose between doing what we believe is right and running away, but whichever way we choose life will still go only forward. Our actions are what defines us, but either way we go there will always be others affected. There is never an easy way out of life. That's what it's all about.

A deep, meaningful, strong and very sad and beautiful film.

9/10

The Zero Theorem (2013)

The best Gilliam film so far

[10/10 · 20 March 2014]

First of all, I must state that I've been following Terry Gilliam since the 1990s and that I have seen all of his films in retrospect. Most of them I liked instantly, some required multiple viewings to completely grasp but some were quite disappointing though. In my humble opinion, ever since 'The Fisher King' every new Gilliam film was either better or at least on par with the previous (with the exception of 'The Brothers Grimm' which was a dud). Having said all of that, I feel as if I still just wasn't prepared for 'The Zero Theorem'.

I usually don't make decisions about films to watch based on reviews (especially when it's a film by an author I admire), but I've read some very negative reviews on this one. What most of them had in common was that 'The Zero Theorem' was a shallow copy of 'Brazil' and/or 'Blade Runner'. Honestly, after seeing the film I think such superficial remarks are as fair as calling 'Saving Private Ryan' "a shallow copy of 'The Dirty Dozen'".

Although set in the future, 'The Zero Theorem' is a subtle but harsh critique of modern society much like the two aforementioned films it supposedly "copies", but it covers a completely different main subject. While 'Brazil' was a satire focused on a struggle between a small man and the bureaucracy, 'The Zero Theorem' touches much wider ground and asks some more important questions: Who are we? Why are we here? What is our purpose? What's great about 'The Zero Theorem' is that it refrains from answering and lets the viewers find the answers themselves, and as such it not only succeeds to convey the message that life is too short to waste on waiting for some divine call but also touches on the very meaning of our existence more than any film I have ever seen.

On the technical side, the film is beautifully crafted, astonishingly decorated, marvelously acted and masterfully directed. This is a work of a great author in his prime and had it been made earlier in Gilliam's career it would have no doubt been remembered as his defining masterpiece. Almost thirty years after 'Brazil' it draws inevitable comparisons and is unfortunately labeled as lesser by people who obviously and sadly miss its complete point.

It is hard to judge 'The Zero Theorem' just as a film, because it is so much more than just a moving picture. Seeing it only for entertainment will most certainly leave the viewer dissatisfied. Watching it as an art form but also a philosophic treatise, it becomes some sort of a Nietzschean abyss staring back at you: it is deeper than imaginable but a fully cathartic experience as such.

A full and perfect 10 out of 10.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

A mediocre film on an important topic

[6/10 · 20 January 2014]

'12 Years a Slave' is just one of those films that tries too hard to make a point which could be made much more effectively with less effort. The only reason it's being rated so high is probably the fact that there hadn't been a film about slavery made in many years.

First of all, any film about slavery shouldn't be made to be enjoyed and '12 Years a Slave' at first does succeed in making a viewer uneasy. However, once the plot really unravels the film becomes plagued with feelings of self-importance, overacting and stereotyped and caricatured characters, and that's where it loses all the credibility it had to begin with. It's a decent film at best, but not one that should be remembered or highly praised, especially for acting. It was particularly painful to watch female slaves cry, because every single one of them (and I literally mean, every single one) portrays crying on a pre-school play level.

It is obvious that '12 Years a Slave' is aiming for awards and recognition, but it simply isn't enough to cover a serious topic to make a film worthy of high recognition. Although, I believe that it will achieve both (undeservingly so in my opinion), if for nothing more than because the Academy probably doesn't want another slavery film bashed like 'The Color Purple'. However, it is irrelevant whether it wins any awards or not, '12 Years a Slave' is destined to share the fate of 'The Color Purple' - it will be marked as important and then completely forgotten.

6/10

Don Jon (2013)

A journey into a man's psyche

[8/10 · 11 January 2014]

Ever since '3rd Rock from the Sun", Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been proving himself as a serious actor, and this time he's proved himself to be a serious writer and director too. 'Don Jon' is probably one the most sincere and unpretentiously great films I have seen in a while.

I expected to see a romantic comedy with a slight twist, but what 'Don Jon' ended up to be was a real character study of a contemporary young adult male of today, riding through different genres with ease and ending with a real moral of the story (which is kind of a rarity these days). What started out as a self indulgent mild-shock-flick on the verge of porn (during the first ten minutes or so, I really thought I'd hate the rest of the film), soon turned romantic comedy, then drama and ended up as an accurate and a very colorful portrait of a young man today sorting out his issues.

Though it may seem sexist and over the top, I honestly found myself in a lot of situations JGL displays in 'Don Jon', and I believe many men will. For such an unpretentious feature, it made me think about myself more than most other films recently, and that certainly can't be a bad thing.

It might not be the best film ever (it may not even be the best film of the year, for that matters), but I can honestly say I really loved it. Kudos to JGL. I'm eagerly waiting for the next one.

8/10

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Over-hyped but mediocre at best

[6/10 · 9 January 2014]

With all the hype surrounding 'The Wolf of Wall Street', I went to see it expecting something mind-blowing, but what I've seen was a mediocre biopic at best.

It is clear that Scorsese's intention here was obviously to make the new 'Goodfellas' or even the new 'Godfather', but most of the time 'The Wolf' runs flat and fails to engage. I couldn't really tell whose fault that was, because the the pacing was pretty solid for a three hour flick and the balance between comical and serious bits was just about right, but I somehow failed to care about pretty much anything going on in the film.

Everything that happens on the screen seems to just happen; there is no real plot, there is no real suspense and there is no real development of any kind. All character development happens in the first 15 minutes or so, and from that point on 'The Wolf' is just a steady flatland ride filled with gang bangs, drug abuse, cock jokes, cursing and generally bad taste, most of which serves the story itself in no way, but has somehow managed to create enough hype to be listed among 100 best films of all time here at IMDb.

I can understand all the hype about Leonardo DiCaprio, because he was really good, but the sea of mediocrity surrounding him might have made him look a bit better than he actually was. What I don't understand is the general word about this film being the best Scorsese's work ever. In my opinion, this one doesn't come even close to 'The Departed', not the mention the real classics as 'Goodfellas', 'Casino' or 'The Taxi Driver'. What I especially do not understand are the stories about Matthew McConaughey deserving an Oscar for supporting role... for a mere three minute long Christopher Walken cameo impersonation?! I mean, come on, people!

All in all, 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is not a bad film, but it's far from good and it's far from being a classic. It has its moments, but most of the time it's far from excellence once made by Martin Scorsese. I wouldn't go that far to call it forgettable, but I have a strong feeling it won't be talked about this much in just a year or two. Time will tell.

6/10

Gravity (2013)

A very beautiful bad film

[6/10 · 7 January 2014]

I am simply amazed how nowadays people can't tell the difference between a good film and a visually compelling bad film. But, in an era of CGI being valued over talent on screen, I guess it's not that surprising at all.

In my book, 'Gravity' definitely falls into the latter category. Visually, it is breathtaking, an astonishing accomplishment, but what I value the most about a moving picture - the story - is so unbelievably thin and there is no CGI that can mask that.

The premise itself is not bad, and I take it that the environment is represented fairly accurately, but when a story depends on so much national stereotypes as plot devices, it leaves me simply scratching my head in wonder was it really the only way to get the story going. Or maybe I'm simply wrong and Russians really do destroy satellites for fun and keep vodka in emergency modules, American astronauts really do crack stupid jokes and dance the 'Macarena' in outer space and Chinese radio amateurs really can reach outer space when neither Houston nor any other ground control can... I was almost expecting a Mao Tse Tung portrait hanging at the Chinese station, for that matter. The Buddha figurine and the ping pong paddles were already there.

All in all, 'Gravity' is a film that can keep a viewer on the edge of their seat, but most of the time only in disbelief. It is by all means stunning from a photographic point of view, but falls flat short below the surface. Luckily it barely exceeds 80 minutes, unlike most pretentious wanna-be spectacles today, and that adds greatly to my rating, which is otherwise rather generous given my overall impression.

6/10

Now You See Me (I) (2013)

A great illusion

[4/10 · 21 December 2013]

I expected much from 'Now You See Me'. Just one look at the cast was promising enough, but most of all I was intrigued by the film since it seemed to deal with magic. I guess I wanted to be fooled, as they said in another (excellent) movie about magicians. Being fooled was pretty much everything I got out of seeing this one.

'Now You See Me' is all style and no substance, a Potemkin village of sorts. It looks great, has great cast and great special effects, all built to hide the fact there's a key ingredient missing, namely a story. The plot raises a lot of questions which remain unanswered (or get an answer in a "because-I-said-so" fashion), and is generally inconclusive, naive and unbelievable to the point where no great names or great acting can save it from wreckage.

Some people may mistake this film's incoherence for intelligence and I firmly believe that those people are its target audience. I don't take myself to be any smarter than anyone else, but when I watch a film and see half the things from way too far ahead but can't understand exactly why the other half happens, it's clearly either not a film for me or I'm not the right audience for the film. I could be wrong, but I guess it was made primarily for the people who didn't understand the other (excellent) movie about magicians I mentioned previously. I did find some enjoyment in this one, mainly from an aesthetic point of view, but, honestly, the only thing that kept me watching it past one hour mark was simply gorgeous Melanie Laurent.

I read that there is a sequel already scheduled. I don't know if it's going to be called 'Now You Don't', but I for one know I surely won't.

4/10

Inspector Clouseau (1968)

A sad attempt at comedy

[2/10 · 16 April 2013]

A lot of people dismiss this stance in the Pink Panther canon simply because it does not feature the great Peter Sellers in the titular role of Inspector Clouseau. Unfortunately, there's a whole bunch of other reasons this movie is simply bad.

First of all, the story is silly, naive, full of holes and outrageous plot devices and it generally feels as if it was written by a six year old after watching the first two Pink Panther films. I understand that this is supposed to be a comedy (and also that the Peter Sellers Pink Panther films are not IQ bending mysteries either), but I honestly can not believe that the writers thought the audience would buy this.

The acting in general is on a school play level, with a good actor such as Alan Arkin failing miserably somewhere in between the attempts to copy Peter Sellers and to develop a character on his own. The expression "wooden acting" applies here literally - Arkin's screen appearance seems as if he was in fact made of wood or forgot a coat hanger in his jacket, and although somewhat stiff motion was one of the signature traits of Sellers' Clouseau, it simply does not suit a ten years younger and much more physical Arkin here. However, Arkin does manage to extort a few chuckles here and there, but mostly so just by being laughably unconvincing in a role tailor-made for another actor.

All in all, it's a sad attempt at comedy, at if this film was made in its own right instead of being made part of a hugely successful and memorable series, it would have been completely forgotten by today. Which, considering Alan Arkin's otherwise fruitful career, would have probably been for the best.

2/10

Ruski car (1993 TV Movie)

A rare gem

[8/10 · 1 April 2013]

This is a not a very well known film, even considering the fact that it's the final full-length feature of Miodrag Petrovic Ckalja, one of the greatest Yugoslavian comedians of all time. However, it is not just the relative obscurity of the film that makes it a rare gem for all of many Ckalja's fans. Although primarily intended as sort of a love story, the film is packed with subtle yet great humor and Ckalja crafts a masterful portrait of an elderly widower who meets love of his life again after half a century. Mira Banjac also delivers a great supporting performance and the chemistry between the two is simply magic. Although it might not be an absolute must for the lovers of the romantic comedy genre, all Ckalja's fans should see and enjoy it.

Balkan Spy (1984)

A comedy with a bitter aftertaste

[10/10 · 8 October 2012]

As one of the most significant films in the Serbian and Yugoslavian cinematography ever, "Balkanski spijun" is most often regarded as a comedy, which it is only to a certain extent.

The film works on many different levels and it's virtually impossible to judge it after seeing it only once. Serving primarily as a social commentary and a metaphor for a national paranoia towards anything foreign, the film uses its main character Ilija Cvorovic as a vehicle to carry out both humorous and serious situations towards a bitter and somewhat prophetic ending. The great Bata Stojkovic (in one of his best roles here) has masterfully crafted a portrait of a man whose delusions progressively lead him from a state of comical confusion to a tragic crescendo of violence laden with conspiracy theories.

"Balkanski spijun" is a comedy that will make you think before you laugh and a tragedy that will make you laugh before you think.