dtomek Reviews

xXx (2002)

Film location Prague

[12 January 2004]

One funny detail: when the Czech Police attack the mafia headquarters, they arrive in the cars bearing the sings and name of the Municipal Police. It is funny to see Municipal Police with bazookas shooting to the mafia; in reality Municipal Police have only competence for minor offences - they mainly give tickets for wrong parking or they help school children to cross the street on the way to school.

But on the whole: I was glad that this was one of the few movies where Prague locations represent Prague, and not another city, as the case is in many other cases:-)

Bowling for Columbine (2002)

Sharp question, unclear answer

[9/10 · 20 March 2003]

The question of this film is just fascinating. After leaving the cinema, my girlfriend and I were sitting for about two hours discussing the issues. This means, the subject is great.

However, I have troubles in telling what answer is given in the film to the question. Maybe this(?): there is an upper class, i. e. the whites, the politics and the weapon producers who oppress the lower class. But I did not see any clear connection leading from the class/racial struggle to the murders.

The problem may be that no more statistics was shown than just the mere number of murders. Who is the typical murderer? Who the typical victim? This was not explored in the movie in more depth. Just one case of mass killing was chosen. Is it typical or rather an exception? No information on this. I tend to assume that that was not the typical U.S. murder.

The good thing is that the movie is entertaining and intelligent, despite the serious subject. The best part of the movie for me was the director's trip to Canada.

Overall: fascinating question, clearly put. But no real answers.

Let me argue a bit with the film, because some details were really ridiculous to me, when the maker tried to put his leftish ideas at any cost, whether they are relevant for the weapon issue or not. Coming from a country with a mostly state run health care, I could not help smiling bitterly over the scene, where a man coming from a doctor proudly declares that he has not paid anything for the medical treatment. Neither do I often. The other side of the "free" health care is that (1) you are no customer for the doctor, just a beggar and (2) for such "free" state "services" I pay about 45% tax on income, 22% VAT on everything and many other excize taxes...

And the oh so moving scenes, how people have to go by bus to work and earn just 8,50 USD per hour? In most regions of my country people are happy to get some job for 1,50 USD per hour and they have to pay for land, houses, cars and consumer goods basically the same price as everywhere else. And they do not kill anybody because of it, they are happy to earn the money. So, this was not impressive at all!

Rok dábla (2002)

No all time best, but why not to have a nice homage to Nohavica and Plihal?

[7/10 · 28 March 2002]

Just seen this movie. The most striking thing about it was that it is almost a copy of the previous Zelenka's film on musicians - Happy End (Mnaga a Zdorp): large part is spoken in English by a foreigner who serves as an independent observer of the described Czech artist. I am not a fan of Nohavica or Plihal, but this was a pleasant movie. Nohavica is a folk star for masses of people without much presence in the media. Therefore, we will be grateful to Zelenka in the future to have this as a memory on the excellent artist.

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Great movie

[23 December 2001]

I do not remember all the details from this movie after several years after I saw it the last time. On the other hand, I am quite sure what I do remember: the impression from Dunbar (the main hero) meeting Kicking Bird remains strong even after years. How two enemies, both being very proud fighters, but also tired by live, become friends - these scenes of "Dances with wolves" have something archetypal about them. Their first "discussions" about bulls (how was the word for bull? Takanka?) etc. belong to my favourite moments in cinema at all. Beautifully done, it inspires to thinking about many aspects of their stories: is not the intelligent Kicking Bird also alone among his people as Dunbar among his? Isn't it the ridiculous shyness and helplessness of the Kicking Bird that make the viewer understand his real authority? Conclusion: very sentimental, but I cannot remember anything disturbing in this movie.

Taxi 2 (2000)

The soundtrack is much better than the movie

[6/10 · 12 December 2001]

I like many French comedies and it is good that there are new ones made. But the jokes in Taxi 2 are silly. This film is in fact no stand-alone piece of cinema, rather just a longer advertisement for Peugeot. OK, this is an all-European cliche: good guys drive home-made cars, the bad guys drive foreign cars. But here, it just goes too far. Only one question is really interesting: has Petra her pants on in the final fighting scene or not? Check your slow motion button... Forget the movie: go rather for French hip hop on the soundtrack.

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Much better than I expected

[9/10 · 23 July 2001]

GQ is offered in my local video shop in the lowest rent category (for the equivalent of 0.25 USD/day in fact:-). I thought this would be a cheap stupid parody. But it turned to be an excellent comedy, especially if you are a Star Trek fan, as I am. One point I appreciated was that though a parody, it is not cynical. Everybody has respect for the fans, however ridiculous, stupid, hopeless they might appear.

Gladiator (2000)

Good, if you like Roman history

[9/10 · 15 July 2001]

2 remarks:

1. This is the first time I saw such a great scene about a Roman battle against Germans. You can see the Roman war methods in action.

2. I found the buildings at Forum Romanum a bit different from what you can see there as tourist. The real Senat seemed to me (a) much smaller than in movie (b) and the real entry into Senat did not lead towards the Coloseum, as it is in the movie.

The Smoke (1991)

Great comedy on late socialism

[10/10 · 18 June 2001]

Mirek has graduated from engineering and comes to his first job. It is late 80ies in the Czechoslovakia. Mirek learns the merciless truth about the deteriorating factory and its unbelievable stuff. This movie features the unique humor of the Sklep theatre. Includes some wonderful songs.

Planeta bur (1962)

Ancient, but real science fiction

[7/10 · 18 June 2001]

This is the first real Russian science fiction movie. I appreciated that it includes almost no ideological trash from the cold war, despite the time of its creation. The crew even includes one English speaking person, Mr. Kern. Mr. Kern is not as perfect as other members of the crew, but he is still a positive figure. What I liked was that this is real SF, and no mainstream movie with "magic" elements: there is space flight, there is an intelligent robot, there are fights with (quite funny) dinosaurs and pterodactyles, there are Venusians aliens and there is speculation about one solar race living on various planets but with common roots. It has all a SF fan can wish. (Except for time travelling and cyberpunk).

Citizen Kane (1941)

Technically great, but just an academic study

[5/10 · 11 February 2001]

I have no doubt this film remains an ethalon as the artistic form and technicalities are concerned. However, the idea or message of "Citizen Kane" did not convince me. It is an amazing study on the issue of "unhappy most powerful man". But it hardly is more than a study. I did my best to understand this classic, but still I found the story quite superficial, calculated and cold - too academic in one word. There was no point of the film, where I could really identify myself with the heroes. Maybe the young age of the director was the reason, why he could not get deeper. In my view, it is always a bit "cheap" to demonstrate ideas on lottery winner, millionaires or press moguls. I appreciate more, if values and wisdom are shown in lives of rather normal people, who have to defend their dignity and happiness without having the power of huge cash and media behind them.

Kolya (1996)

Sentimental Comedy

[6/10 · 3 August 2000]

Zdenek Sverák (playing Louka) is the greatest star of Czech cinema as screen-play writer and actor. 'Kolya' is not bad and I cried at certain moments both times I saw this movie. However, 'Kolya' was made by Zdenek Sverák and his son, director Jan Sverák, with the intention to get international success. This caused the film plot is predictable and sometimes embarrassingly didactic. Not only in my view, another movie written by Zdenek Sverák deserved Oscar: I mean 'Vesnicko má stredisková' directed by Jirí Menzel, a film with much better actors than Kolya, less stupid plot, but not less human and touching. If you want to see a really excellent comedy about the situation when somebody has to help, because he is the only one who can help, try to get 'Vesnicko má stredisková'.

Jára Cimrman lezící, spící (1983)

The biography of Jára da Cimrman, a fictive Czech genius

[3 August 2000]

This movie is a result of a mystification, which has been lasting since 1967 and still is alive. It is almost impossible to explain to a foreigner, but I shall try. A group of artists invented the personality of Jára da Cimrman in the late 60ies. Cimrman is a fictive personality, a universal genius, who was active in all branches of science and art in the times before the First World War. Unfortunately, his attempts were not successful. There is a specialized theater developing this idea in quasi-scientific seminars and theatre plays. You may wonder, how such an idea can survive more than 30 years. So do I.

Zdenìk Svìrák and Ladislav Smojlak, the two directors and main actors behind Cimrman, have become very popular through the years. They both have other artistic projects outside the Cimrman theatre; Zdenìk Svìrák wrote the screen-play and starred in `Kolja', the Oscar (1997) movie directed by his son, Jan Svìrák. Although he always denies such ideas, Zdenìk Svìrák would is widely accepted as a candidate for the Czech president to follow Václav Havel.

`Cimrman lezící a spící (Cimrman laying and sleeping)' consists mainly from independent sketches, where Cimrman meets various personalities of his times and advises them: he tells A. P. Cechov to call his novel `Three sisters' instead of `Two sisters', he advises Gustav Eiffel in conceiving the Eiffel Tower etc. In this respect, `Forest Gump' was in the Czech Republic mentioned as the American form of Cimrman.

Lemonade Joe (1964)

Parody to Wild West movies

[3 August 2000]

"Limonadovy Joe" is part of the golden fund of Czech cinema; it is broadcast every year on TV and you find it in most Czech households on VHS. The fact that this movie was made in the Communist times and that it is a parody to Wild West pictures, does not mean that "Limonadovy Joe" is an ideological trash; I am sure Wild West lovers would not feel offended by this movie. It is a skeptical and self-ironic piece, but in my view, still rather homage to western. 60-ies were the best time for Czech cinema. `Limonadovy Joe' fits into those liberal years of good movies. It is a family comedy with cheerful, but still intelligent humor. Joe remained the only important role for Karel Fiala, but guaranteed him a life-long popularity in his country. Please note excellent performance of actors in episode roles, like e. g. Vladimír Mensik in the role of barman. Also the graphical aspect of the movie is worth mentioning; it is stylized in retro black and white, whereas each scene is colored to another color.

Svetáci (1969)

My favorite Czech comedy about three workers wanting to enter "high society"

[9/10 · 2 August 2000]

A top example of the Czech comedy in the 60-ies and one of the all times best ones in the history of Czech cinema. Three facade-makers (a fat one, a tall one and a small one) from the country work in Prague. They are relatively well paid and want to learn once in life the glamorous world of expensive cafés and sophisticated ladies. They hire a gentleman from old school to teach them good behavior. The gentleman remembers the great social events of his youth, before the Communist took the power and confiscated his property. Oldøich Nový in the role of the old gentleman is wonderful, because it corresponds with his real fate as the star of the romantic movies from 30-ies and 40-ies, who could hardly succeed in the socialist movies about builders of heavy industry as made in the early 50-ies. Female counterparts of the three workers are three women, who earn their money by small crime. The film gets at its top, when the three workers meet the three women, all of them pretending to be artists, scientists or businessmen. I watch this movie again and again, because of its intelligent humor and excellent performance of best artists of that time. The education of adult workers and women in good behavior reminds me strongly of Pygmalion.

Dnes naposled (1958)

Excellent unusual movie about alcoholism.

[10/10 · 3 February 2000]

It is hard to find any drawbacks in this movie, although it is not known and popular. Even after more than 40 years from its creation, it is fresh and not obsolete. Beautiful black and white scenes, nice emotional music. For me and my friends, this is a cult film. It shows the inevitable deterioration of the lives of the main heroes destroyed by alcohol.

What is so special about this movie? It has no educational intention and does not try to judge the persons. Just a calm sad movie, how the life of a few people gets worse and worse. Another strong point are the artists: even episode roles are of the sort that remain in your memory (Vlastimil Brodsky as the jewish trader, Frantisek Smolik as the former factory owner).

Voyage to the End of the Universe (1963)

First serious Czech SF movie. Futuristic attempt to simulate future.

[3 February 2000]

Ikarie XB1 is the first Czech SF movie. It was released in black and white only. The story relies to some extent on one of Stanislav Lem's books. The movie is still appreciated not only among science fiction fans in Czechia, but mainly because of its high ambitions. The movie not only shows a trip to proxima centauri, but it also tried to predict future music and dance.

Due to the time it was created (early 60ies) there are some ideological compromises to the communism and cold war.