Film Diary 2023

31.12.

31.12.

30.12.

30.12.

I am terribly sorry, I didn't like this film at all. The art looks like a crappy ps2 game, the plot is full of cliches and the so called "personality" is very superficial when you really think about it. Even the hairstyles are more "gen Z" cliche than anything else. Then there's all the distracting in your face politically correct stuff, they didn't hold anything back and it's neither smart nor subtle. I don't want to watch stuff like this

28.12.

28.12.

25.12.

The best Shrek film. They took massive risks here and it paid off, like they immediately move somewhere else, introduce whole new characters and even change the old for the most part. Then there's a reference to OJ Simpson and other genius jokes you probably didn't get the first time.

25.12.

25.12.

24.12.

This is a neat compilation of news footage showing Fascism in action. People have said that this was the first time they ever understood what was going in the Socialist block, so maybe Romm sneakily selected the footage and edited it to show the reality of his home country.

24.12.

24.12.

One of the greatest and most meaningful Soviet films of the 70's. It's another story of art and an artist in the midst of all controlling political system. Freedom of expression, human creativity and state controlled art were serious issues back in the Soviet Union, there were lots of persecuted underground artists who didn't submit to the system and paid the price.

This film was banned for a decade for addressing some serious issues deemed highly dangerous and taboo for the time.

24.12.

I cannot for the life of me understand what people see in this film.

23.12.

This is one silly horror film about some killer rabbits. The marketing team was so embarrassed they decided to change the name and keep the posters vague so people wouldn't get the silly premise that quickly and actually paid to see the film.

21.12.

This is excellent Christmas special. They originally planned this to be released theatrically, but the plans ended up scrapped due to time and budget constraints.

20.12.

This is a great, cinematic short film.

17.12.

Not a major classic, but I like it. It has that 90's feel that doesn't exist anymore. Like people aren't confused or addicted to their phones, but there's actually social stuff and it's all considered normal.

16.12.

I love the story and the atmosphere, but I think the film is 10-15 minutes too long and there's at least one character they could've just left out.

10.12.

9.12.

Another re-watch. I can't even remember how many times I've watched this classic.

6.12.

6.12.

6.12.

Re-watch. Still one of the best.

25.11.

This film has a lot of historical value, but beyond that it's really not good.

25.11.

This is a war propaganda film, so you have to excuse some lecturing. Aleksandr Dovzhenko was one of the greatest film directors during the silent era, but Stalin struck him down and everything fell apart in the 30's. This film here still showcases some of his vision, that is his idealist view of war and Ukraine. From his point of view war is not just crime against humanity, but it makes the nature bleed as well. Ukraine isn't just bunch of people with certain identity, but the soil as well, and everything was being attacked and murdered by greed and violence.

25.11.

Back in the 30's there was a huge surge of anti-fascist films and political activist documentaries. It's a very interesting subject with lots of hidden gems, even some of the bigger names such as Jean Renoir and Orson Welles took part in the movement.

This film was made by German political refugees in Soviet Union. You might have heard of the director, Gustav von Wangenheim, who used to be a fairly prolific actor during the silent era, he did Nosferatu, Schatten, etc.

This film however is more interesting on paper than what it is to actually watch. For one thing, it feels too old fashioned even for its time. But interesting it is, and that is something.

20.11.

Considering this was Fritz Langs's very first film in Hollywood, Fury is actually very spot on crime flick.

20.11.

Watching this classic again reminded me how innovative and huge it was at the time of its release. Take the use of sound for example, no music was used, but the silence sets the mood and the murderer's presence is made known only by whistling. The camera movements are so subtle and well made you'd think they were common back in the day, but nope. That because the silencing technique at the time was so new and poor they usually couldn't use any cranes or other machinery but stand still, so this was very, VERY cutting edge camera work by the maestro Fritz Arno Wagner, one of the greatest and most influential cinematographers ever.

11.11.

I read a review where the author didn't actually say anything about the film but only ranted about misogyny and incels, so I knew this was going to be bland, crappy and boring. This is one of those films that feel like were written by an AI: the dialogue is filled with cliches, the characters suck and you probably don't even know them unless you have consumed every MCU related thing available. What a dumpster fire!

Don't worry, I didn't pay to watch this. I don't support crap.

9.11.

A deeply meaningful film with lots of symbolism and allegories.

6.11.

One of the most beloved films of all time and for a reason. The subtle political messages don't actually hurt the film at all. Among many other classic Hollywood films (like Citizen Kane for example) are also about US joining the war against Hitler.

4.11.

There's this story from WW1 where soldiers refused to fight and instead celebrated Christmas together for a day. That is the power of an idea that transcends time and matter.

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse takes the premise and twists it into something vile and evil. The mighty Mabuse dies at the beginning, leaving behind him a testament of a sort full of wicked and evil ideas meant to destroy all of morality and the best of humanity. The story was inspired by Hitler.

4.11.

1.11.

Take a subject matter as boring as ballet, add in old-school special effects and the art of editing and what you get is a world of fantasy.

1.11.

This is some of the best South Park in years. This time they laugh at the cheap plot device that is multiverse and the stupid pandering Disney and other big companies are doing these days, like just take something and put multicultural lesbian women in it and there you go. Any criticism is just misogyny and homophobia while the films just suck.

30.10.

29.10.

I think Grigori Kozintsev was one of the most talented of the Soviet directors, but was sadly kept down by the political system that deemed his works too "arty". Luckily Stalin eventually died and the system got more liberal, so the man had few years time to show what he could create. This is one of his best films.

29.10.

A classic Capra film.

27.10.

The Vow is actually a sequel to the "Diadi gantiadi", but this one was made after the WW2 and the renewal of the personality cult where they implemented a lot of religious imagery to the propaganda. Here Lenin is depicted as a John Baptist who paved the wave for the true Chosen One, that is Stalin.

I love this garbage.

27.10.

This film is a part of the personality cult of Stalin, who at this point was depicted as a friend and acolyte of Lenin. This is actually a very interesting stuff to study, since technically these films aren't necessarily that bad even if the subject matter is.

26.10.

The mass scenes are still nice to look at, but the poor narrative sucks the life out of the film. I think it is good that the Italians at least had decency to keep it short enough: this is barely longer than 1h and 40 mins, which is just right.

20.10.

Gets better every time I watch it.

19.10.

This film is boring as balls, but highly interesting material for anyone interested in the psychological side of holocaust and totalitarian state. For example, this is not subtle in any way, but very preachy,because that's pretty much how authoritarian psychology works: people don't and can't have any thoughts of their own, but they must be told what to think by the leader or some expert under his command. Compare this to the Triumph of Will for example, which was made at the beginning of Nazi era when most people hadn't accustomed to that kind of thinking.

17.10.

A visually stunning film with poor story and characters.

13.10.

My god how beautiful this film is, still the most beautiful ever in my opinion. This is a legit classic.

20.9.

1.9.

27.8.

8.8.

Unbelievably funny short parody of film noir. This is the most violent Disney cartoon ever made, they rarely show this even to this day.