Mustanaamio7's Movie Diary 2022

30.12. 2022

"La giornata balorda" by Mauro Bolognini tells about a young and irresponsible man who needs to find a job in order to support his family but he mostly just wanders around the streets of Rome chasing a woman who works as a prostitute. The main character pretends to be a responsible father although he is also ready to cheat his wife anytime. His life just like lives of the other characters is controlled by banalities of everyday working class life. The director doesn't show pity towards his characters but he acknowledges frustrating conditions that provoke people to act certain way. The film doesn't offer overly melodramatic scenes but just slightly crude and honest depiction of its main subject.

25.12. 2022

Humans are trying to survive living among dinosaurs but immoral businessmen and scientists are trying to bring even more chaos into the already chaotic world. The newest film in the series isn't any better than two previous films. "Jurassic World: Dominion" is almost like an endless action sequence. Apparently the filmmakers thought that the film isn't going to bore anyone if it offers non-stop action, but the fact is that even an action film needs some slower and more peaceful moments because otherwise the film can become tiresome to watch.

24.12. 2022

"Almost Christmas" doesn't seem to have any purpose. The film just introduces a group of uninteresting characters, let them talk nonsense for a while, and then the film is already over. "Almost Christmas" could've have been a bit more tolerable without some disruptively sugar-coated scenes. Especially the end sequence is hard to watch because of how sappy, cliched, and generic it is. I'd advice people to watch something else than "Almost Christmas" during Christmas time. Christmas is supposed to be time for joy, not time for boredom.

12.12. 2022

A sailor played by Humphrey Bogart just wants to do his job and avoid politics but he changes his attitude after he meets a beautiful woman (Lauren Bacall) and ends up in the middle of political scheming. "To Have and Have Not" is quite standard but solid entertainment film from the turbulent times. Almost every line of dialogue in the film is funny or memorable in some other way so it is kind of a film that is hard to resist. Bogart as a quick-witted sailor, Bacall as a beautiful wanderer, and Walter Brennan as a loyal drunk are all classic roles. The film could've been longer but in the other hand, all good films always feel too short.

5.12. 2022

"Elena and Her Men" is another aestethically pleasant and colourful film by Renoir. Just like "French Cancan" and "The Golden Coach", it takes inspiration from impressionist art. I'd watch this film just simply to see wonderful and captivating Ingrid Bergman in the main role, but Renoir and Bergman together bring otherwise ordinary subjects like romance and politics truly to another level. The film doesn't have any obvious messages to tell but it is unique in a way how it celebrates its ideas. The film never stays still but something is always happening and characters seem to be full of life. "Elena and her Men" is a tribute to Ingrid Bergman and it is also refreshing film for the people who take romance and politics too seriously. These two things have always been somehow connected to each other and in the end humans tend to forget petty political issues when they start thinking about love.

3.12. 2022

Kikka was a Finnish pop star who rose to fame in Finland in the late '80s with her song "Mä haluun viihdyttää" ("I Want to Entertain"). An indie film director Anna Paavilainen decided that it was about time to make film about this unique artist. Paavilainen isn't a very big name yet but her experience from directing small budget short films is clearly an advantage because she avoided some harmful mainstream film cliches. For example, when the artist is performing we only hear her performing while camera is focusing on other things like her dressing room.

Biopics are always hard to make because the director basically have to tell the whole life story in only two hours. Paavilainen fortunately manages to focus on exactly the right things: she tells how Kikka became famous, how audience reacted to her, how Kikka reacted to audience, and how society reacted to her.

The film doesn't hide uncomfortable facts like the fact that in the '80s and still in the '90s Finland used to be still quite conservative, sexist, and all-in-all narrow-minded place. Women weren't allowed to act like men. If women wanted to be publicly sexual, joyful, and carefree like men and stand out from the crowd, they were punished and mocked. The film tells about these issues with all the necessary details.

"Kikka!" is the best Finnish biopic ever. It feels like a combination of a biopic and a musical. It is not officially a musical but it has definitely some musical elements. Unlike many other biopics the film, just like its main character, never feels boring since pacing in the film is as tight as some of Kikka's famous outfits. Of course, the film also offers great music that stands test of time and it is also a reminder of an era when our society wasn't quite ready for artists like her yet.

20.11. 2022

Douglas Trumbull certainly knows how to create impressive special effects but he can't really direct a movie. "Silent Running" has somewhat interesting scenario but the film doesn't have a gripping story. It hardly has any story at all. It tells about a lonely scientist who desperately tries to protect precious plants saved in a gigantic greenhouse. The film tells that the Earth has become some kind of a weird dystopia where all the original nature has been destroyed. You'd think that destruction of the whole nature of the Earth is so important that film would actually tell what really happened but it doesn't explain anything. The film doesn't tell much about the main character either. Why exactly is he so passionate about his job? Why he is the only one who cares about nature? The film presents more questions than it answers and this makes it really frustrating to watch. Incredibly slow pacing and one of the most banal and boring theme songs of all time doesn't help either.

18.11. 2022

"Hævnens Nat" by "Häxan" director Benjamin Christensen is an intense melodrama about injustice and human relationships. An innocent man who tries takes care of a litte baby is accused of a serious crime and he is sent to jail after trying to hide from authorities inside a house of a bourgeouis family. After spending 14 years in jail he is finally released but when he tries to find his lost son he only finds despair and sadness.

The main character isn't presented as a flawless but rather realistic character so understanding his motivations for his actions is easy. Connection between individual tragedies and corruption in society is the most fascinating aspect of the film. People like the main character might be scary but we more fortunate people often tend to forget they are just merely victims of circumstances.

24.9. 2022

Robin Hood returns home from the Crusades and he is excited to meet his true love, Marian, once again. Robin soon has to face unpleasant reality because everything has changed and he isn't a young man anymore. Richard Lester's adventure film is slightly more interesting than more calculated films of its kind but it isn't just imaginative enough to be a true classic.

22.9. 2022

The premise of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" isn't exactly original: A young man wants to find a true love. One day he meets a fascinating woman but he isn't sure if he can trust him or not. I've got no idea why this film is so praised because it is about as predictable as a standard '90s romantic comedy can possibly be.

10.9. 2022

Everyone in Finland knows Uuno Turhapuro. He is a careless and irresponsible man who either amuses or causes misery to people around him. Some critics say that he represents moral decay of the Finnish society and that's why he is so popular. Uuno is constantly fighting with his beautiful wife and his father-in-law vuorineuvos* Tuura truly despises him because of his irresponsibility. "Uuno Turhapuron menettää muistinsa" ("Uuno Turhapuro loses his memory") has two plotlines: another one involves Uuno getting a divorce and the other tells about Uuno's repairman friends who are for some reason obsessed with becoming genuine peacekeepers. The film probably tries to be a clever satire but the director barely manages to connect the two clumsily written plotlines. Certain individual scenes in the film are slightly amusing and the best part of the film.

*vuorineuvos is a honorary title granted for lifetime by the President of Finland for people with remarkable merits in industry. There are no accurate English translations for this term.

9.9. 2022

You can't really expect a film like "Ghostbuster II" to be that smart or logical but this sequel doesn't even follow its own inner logic. Ghostbusters are being accused of several crimes and for some reason no one believes that they are seriously fighting against ghosts. So, apparently everyone in the film just somehow forgot all the ghosts and the giant marshmallow man from the first film. "Ghostbusters II" is just a special effects show and not much else. The special effects still look surprisingly good today but that's the only actually impressive thing about the film. Mostly it just repeats the jokes from the first film and adds only a few new ones.

27.8. 2022

Suzanne's boyfriend Guillaume constantly acts like a jerk and his friend Bertrand doesn't really do much else but witnesses stupidity and unstability of their chaotic relationship. Although Guillaume isn't especially nice guy Bertrand isn't much better and they are also both sexist in their own ways. Guillaume is just more open about his immorality than Bertrand. Suzanne has ability to surprise the male characters by being more confident and cleverer than them. Rohmer's early film isn't especially profound in any way and it seems amateurish compared to his later works but it still manages to evoke some thoughts regarding roles reserved for both men and women.

27.8. 2022

Mr. Hulot and his collaborators have to drive a new unique car from Paris to a car exhibition held in Amsterdam but there are endless amounts of obstacles in their way. Tati tells us about hastiness of modern life but he isn't that judgmental about it. One especially amusing scene shows us Hulot presenting his car to a group of border inspectors and surprisingly the inspectors become very interested in Hulot's invention. A snobby PR woman complains about everything and she is constantly upset about something but in order to proceed she can't really do much else and that is also really funny. Just like always, Tati isn't necessary against progression but he is only against pseudo-progression. In the end the car exhibition is just one among many others and there are many more important things in life than being in time and faithfully following some rules.

21.8. 2022

Fritz Lang's swan song "The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse" wasn't any worse compared to his other satirical and critical thrillers. It is rarely boring and it feels only slightly awkward at times. Lang's film is simple and straight-forward but that is exactly why it is so powerful. A good director doesn't waste time and that is something modern directors often seem to forget. The film tells us mostly standard crime story with some fascinating twists and critical viewpoints. Even though Mabuse died long time ago he is still haunting paranoid and frustrated people living in the modern capitalist system, almost like he is meant to remind all the foolish people of their foolishness.

16.8. 2022

"Singin' in the Rain" is a classic musical about making a musical. The film has traditional romance plot that is nothing special but it fits well with other aspects of the film. The musical scenes are of course very impressive but equally impressive is the story that examines challenging transition from silent cinema to sound films. The film also exposes corruption in the film industry by showing how certain characters are misusing their almost unlimited power: an influential film star can easily ruin careers by just making some phone calls to other influential people. "Singin' in the Rain" defies conventions. Traditionally rain has been used as metaphor of sadness and despair in the art of filmmaking but this film shows us how rain can also express feelings of joy and love for living.

14.8. 2022

With "Mon oncle" Jacques Tati avoids all the typical cliches related to comedy genre and recreates atmosphere of the silent cinema. There's hardly any dialogue in the film and the whole film is compiled of series of charming and curious moments. Tati was a pretty humble guy because his character often just leaves the screen and lets the side characters to entertain viewers. Hulot usually tries to follow the rules but adapting into any modern system is usually almost impossible task for him and when he makes mistakes and causes accidents he often also exposes stupidity of modern society.

13.8. 2022

Jacques Tati's first film was "Jour de fête" but it is really just a rough draft compared to the masterpiece knows as "Mr. Hulot's Holiday". The film is set in a beach vacation resort in Saint-Marc-sur-Mer where Mr. Hulot is staying in a hotel with colorful group of guests. Tati's film introduces us intellectuals who takes themselves too seriously, people who are obsessed with strict rules, kids who are just enjoying their life, and observers who are just witnessing funny and strange situations around them. Then there is also Mr. Hulot who is bit different than everyone else. He never intentionally cause problems for anyone but he is some kind of an accidental anarchist who sometimes entertains people with his awkwardness but sometimes also exposes ridiculous habits and rules of society. In reality we need people like Mr. Hulot even though he may ruin your holiday because in the end life would be too depressing without people like him.

30.7.

St. Bernard dog known as Beethoven meets a girlfriend but her evil owner treats her really badly and Beethoven can't just accept that. The second film in the series is as generic and unoriginal family film as you can expect. It has unsurprisingly implausible plot involving dogs acting like humans and ridiculously evil characters that impresses no one.

24.7. 2022

"Eraser" is a badly dated film with laughable special effects and generic plot involving modern gun technology and psychotic criminals. Schwarzenegger plays a witness protection specialist who is supposed to protect a woman who possess important information. The main character acts more like a superhero instead of a normal human. There is not much real excitement in the film since the main character can survive any dangerous situation and beat up any bad guy while basically just ignoring all the damage he takes.

21.7. 2022

"Zu Warriors" by the famous action film director Tsui Hark is a movie so contrived that I don't think that even people who made the film understand what in the world it is about. The only thing I understand about this film is that it is set in some kind of mythological world where good and evil forces are fighting against each other or something like that. I'm really not sure and I really don't care. This film is confusing and loud mess that doesn't have any pauses. It is practically impossible to follow because it offers nothing but endless fight scenes and some of the worst CGI effects ever put on film.

17.7.2022

Frederic is a happily married man and his wife Helene is expecting their second child. However, Frederic is still obsessed with meeting other women and avoiding temptations become harder every day. He spends time walking in the streets of Paris and thinks about unknown women. He wonders where they go and what they do in spite of the fact that he doesn't know anything about them. One day Frederic suddenly meets his old friend Chloe and begin to meet her in the afternoons, but Chloe has some erotic plans for them.

Rohmer's "Chloe in the Afternoon" is a fresh take on an old and always so thought-provoking subject. The film asks some simple questions and gives them some powerful answers. Rohmer isn't only interested in infidelity but conflicts between barbaric and civilized behavior in general. Even the most civilized people often have serious trouble with resisting their primal instincts no matter how hard they try to pretend otherwise. It is tragic but somehow civilized people just have to deal with it.

16.7. 2022

An adult man who is obsessed with the girl he met in school hires a private investigator to find her but soon he learns that he isn't the only one interested in her. "There's Something About Mary" offers some moderatively creative crude jokes but other than that it is pretty basic commercial comedy film.

14.7. 2022

A teenage boy from the previous films has grown up and he is going to get married but his immature friends keep harrassing him with all kinds of tricks. The third film in the series doesn't offer anything especially interesting but at least the dance scene was pretty impressive.

24.6. 2022

An old mysterious man gives a young boy magic powder that turns him into an invisible superhero. This simple family film doesn't introduce any new ideas but just recycles the old idea that has been used in countless equally bad and even worse variations.

18.6. 2022

An aged master bank robber is still succesfull in spite of his age but meeting an interesting woman makes him reconsider his life choices. "The Old Man & the Gun" looks like a decent crime thriller in the beginning but the story loses its power halfway through because of old boring cliches.

22.5. 2022

Billy the Kid fighting against Dracula might sound like a fun idea but the film itself is painfully slow and deadly dull. This is not a film worth of many words. It is just so forgettable and pointless. It is not so bad that it is entertaining; it is so awkward that it is frustrating.

21.5. 2022

"American Pie 2" repeats the jokes from the first film in different form and adds some new ones. None of them are any good and that isn't surprising since the only real purpose behind making these kinds of films is to make rich producers even richer.

13.5. 2022

Everyone is familiar with this radically overused story: a group of teenagers decide to take a vacation in a dangerous location where almost all of them get killed expect the girl who is like a virgin or something. Atmosphere is actually pretty nice in the beginning of the film but when the killings start the film becomes mostly just boring. The ending dserves some credit because it is at least better than average.

16.4. 2022

"The Long Kiss Goodnight" is a generic and typically silly Hollywood action film. Its preposterous plot tells about a woman who believes that she is just an ordinary housewife but after crashing her car she learns that she is actually some kind of a secret agent. I don't know how that works but I don't really care either because this is not kind of a movie that you even want to remember. You might want to experience it once if you don't have anything better to do. I personally think you should have something better to do.