OL’ SCHOOL DRAMA

When you combine Billy Wilder behind and Gloria Swanson and William Holden in front of the camera you can not get a mediocre result. Semi-autobiographical story about the fallen star of silent movies that struggles to catch up with the moving industry perplexed with a love story and a crime mystery, you get a really decent movie with some dramatic depth.

On the other hand, the praise it received were mainly due to the moment it appeared, thus being really up to date with its display of the changing cinematography.

”Sunset Boulevard” is a good ol’ school drama, but with a somewhat obsolete subject.

SUNSET BLVD – 5/10

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CLASSIC AGATHA

Agatha Christie is one of the most adapted writers for the big screen, but also rarely managed to deliver a bad movie script. Her crime mysteries were just too good in their core, offering endless plot twists, as did one of her first adaptations, ”Witness for the prosecution”.

William Wilder’s movie brought Marlen Dietrich’s charisma to the big screen, but also managed to keep the tension of a murder trial all the way through the entire movie, climaxing in a really unexpected and well hidden final twist. On the other hand, the acting and the development of characters won’t be revolutionary.

If you are into crime/mystery/trial movies you should not miss ”Witness for the prosecution”, a classical genre mainstream.

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION – 6/10

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EMPTY POSTCARD FROM NORWAY

Michael Fassbender is in some serious trouble when it comes to role choosing in this decade. A whole plethora of poor choices („The Counselor”, „Prometheus”, „Alien: Covenant”, „Assassin’s creed”, „The light between the oceans”) led once very perspective young actor into some serious doubts whether will he ever find the right way to stardom and critical recognition he rightfully deserves.

The last one  of his flops is an unfinished, messy and totally flat lined script about a detective trying to catch a serial killer that leaves his future victims a snowman before he mutilates them. Set in picturesque Norway, it shows off some spectacular empty landscapes, reflecting the vast emptiness of the storyline, at least a decent plot or some sufficient acting.

Fassbender is looking dazed and confused through the entire course of the movie, like he himself can not believe what he just filmed, wondering why he took the job in the first place.

„The Snowman” isn’t movie at all, it’s just an unfinished first take of a really poor attempt to squeeze the life of the Scandinavian neo-noir thriller.

THE SNOWMAN – 2/10

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CLASSIC SPANISH CRIME TWISTER

Spanish cinema makers really like to intertwine stories, especially when it comes to crime related scripts. „Contratiempo's” director and writer, Oriol Paulo, uses that very vessel of overlapping to build itself into a really complex script.

In the center of this plot twister are two murders and potential scenarios of their conduction. Every single story aspect and script path will be covered, leading the viewer to a somewhat expected finale. Besides that very ending, all of those classic crime movie tricks will be there, bringing us back to the Golden era of the genre.

If you are into old school Poiroesque crime stories, you should definitely watch „Contratiempo”.

CONTRATIEMPO – 7/10

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CONFUSING

Bacall and Bogart are always a welcomed pairing when it comes to big screen, so „The big sleep” must've represented a huge box office hit in its time.

However, the very script tends to confuse the viewer with an overelaborated murder scheme inside a love triangle that draws the private investigator into its charms. The outcome will be just too schematic and without any surprises, following the era's standards.

„The big sleep” is an average achievement in every one of its major elements.

THE BIG SLEEP – 4/10

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Alfred Hitchcock tried to widen his perspective with this flick, making one of the more philosophical movies in his creer with „Rebecca”. The bride to be being tormented by the memories of her late husband combined the mystery and thriller sequences that made the famous director, by in a non conclusive and persuasive way.

Those attributes went to the cast (Fontaine, Olivier) and the final outcome as well, making „Rebecca” one of the weaker movies of that era.

REBECCA – 3/10


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SCREENWRITERS TRYING TOO HARD

There are Hitchcock flicks that stood the test of time and then there are the ones that didn't. „Dail M for murder” is one of the latter ones, being the huge innovation when it came to script writing in its era, but sadly succumbing to their vast ambition to create one of the most complicated murder stories in the entire history of cinema.

The basic plot would go on to suffocate the stellar Grace Kelly, so the final outcome would be below the very high standards made by the famous director himself.

„Dial M for murder” is one of the more overrated Hitchcock's movies.

DIAL M FOR MURDER - 4/10

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THE BIRTH OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

Alfred Hitchcock basically invented the thriller, creating the postulates of tension on the big screen long before the golden age of the genre itself. He did it in  a old school fashion, with minimum on screen violence and blood, tangling with the viewer's mind.

„Rear window” brings us the original concept of photographer (immortal James Stewart) strapped to a wheelchair that begins to suspect his neighbor is a murderer. Suspicion is the backbone of the script that is placed in a small inner courtyard of the building and it succeeds to drag every person living there in it, including the lead character's girlfriend (Grace Kelly). Things are getting more and more complicated as the dilemma grows, leading to a final crescendo.

The major flaw of the script is the production uncapable of visually presenting the final showdown as well as certain naïve explanations and action sequences.

„Rear window” is a great old school thriller and a role model in the decades that followed its appearance.

REAR WINDOW – 7/10

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BANAL SOFT PORN

Chan Wook Park gave us some really powerful and quality movies in the past and his every next flick is the one being closely monitored. And so ist the story about the Korean con trying to hussle his way into a wealthy Japanese family with the help of his protege, a handmaid.

Besides deceit, love will form the second backbone of „The Handmaiden”, this time focusing on the emotional relationship between two women. Unfortunately, that lesbo moment will overtake the entire flick and almost completely diminish Park's trademark mystery twists.

„The handmaiden” is just too erotic and banal for a mystery movie.

THE HANDMAIDEN – 4/10

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ART OF DARKNESS

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Alejandro Gonzales innaritu is the man of the cinema. Every single one of his flicks is a small masterpiece and ”Biutiful” doesn’t fail to achieve the greatness of its predecessors.

This time, the main role goes to the back streets of Barcelona and its inhabitants, Chinese and African immigrants fighting for survival. Amongst them is the terminally ill man (fantastic Javier Bardem) with the rare gift of seeing the dead ones before they go to the heavens.

Photography is just plain amazing and as with every good Mexican director (Del Torro, Cuaron), moments of horror are there as well. Script is just too heavy for a reiterative watching of this quality flick.

”Biutiful” is just another one of those Innaritu’s ”biutiful” movies.

BIUTIFUL - 8/10

FAILED SCANDINAVIAN NOIR

Desolation, brutality, dark humor. Basic ingredients of every successful Scandinavian noir thriller, when skillfully mixed together.

„In the order of disappearance” has all the above mentioned, but not in the right amount and scale. Brutal crime is there, motif of father’s (Stellan Skarsgard) revenge as well. Humor is where the script tends to deviate into banality, only to totally collapse after the appearance of the Serbian mobsters led by Bruno Ganz and Sergej Trifunović.

From then on and all the way to the tragicomic finale, „In the order of disappearance” is just begging you to „disappear it” from your hard drive/player due to its shallow and caricature unfolding and acting.

Heavy failure, despite the great atmosphere of desolated Norwegian snowy landscape.

IN THE ORDER OF DISSAPEARANCE - 3/10