FILM REVIEWS

Alice & Jack, 2024, ★★★★ - 4.0

It's no secret that I cry easily at any tragic film – sometimes even the not so tragic ones are able to free some tears from their dark and lonely existence behind my eyes. But there's crying and there's crying. And this wonderfully acted mini-series made me ugly cry so many times that I'm not sure why I even watched or if the blurriness in some scenes were intentional by the directors or just my tears running down my cheeks. First of all it's no Normal People – Rooney's masterpiece has this teenage angst added to it that makes them even more vulnerable. And Alice and Jack sometimes loses itself in its ideas instead of purely indulging in the one thing that makes this series work so fucking goood: Its acting. Gleeson and Riseborough destroy the watcher with so much subtext and so many unsaid lines that are just told with little smirks, stares and slow and tender touches. I just adore them both in this series and they bring so much life to these two characters that you believe every word and every action even if it's another romantic cliché. It's their performance that brings to a completely different level than most of the other romantic dramas. And I surely will think a lot about this fictional couple... and maybe there are some tears left to cry after I finished to write this review.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, 2024, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I remember when I first saw Fury Road that I was sitting in the cinema and just sweating from the stress and my heart was racing just from the pure adrenaline that this film was directly injecting into my nervous system... after Furiosa I was sitting in my chair and I couldn't believe what I just had experienced. George Miller could have done the same thing twice and everyone would have been happy. Just do Fury Road 2 and we are done... but no. It looks like Fury Road, it even has some of the same characters and locations and still this is a completely different kind of film. While Fury Road was an action rollercoaster this one is an emotional one. I can't count the number of times where my heart stopped beating because of the emotionality of the things that were happening on screen. And surely Fury Road had a lot of subtext but this one goddammit... BUUUUT the freakiest thing: This story is a lot more complex than fury road's from a to b and back – and still I was sitting there and every shot seemed to work without a goddamn sound. There was a blood and chrome version of Fury Road and I just want one for Furiosa because I'm so goddamn sure that I would learn so fucking much about blocking and composition just by watching and rewatching the scenes just with the score and the narrator... nothing more. Shiit I just want to rewatch it instantly.

The Menu, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

The menu surely isn’t a film for fans of subtext.. but fuck that pretentious pieces of shit! I love my class critique meaty, funny and entertaining… and man did I eat good! The menu does this cinema of classes that has found a lot of traction in the last years in such an overwhelmingly over the top hollywoodian way that I’m even surprised it was produced. It’s so damn cynical of its own artform and everything it represents that it’s even more funny to have such star-filled cast playing out something like this. Some might say that it’s classicism to even present the critique in this way… I say it’s fucking hilarious.

Sting, 2024, ★★★ - 3.0

So, I saw this at a sneak preview and my first reaction the moment I understood it was this film: Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck… the fucking spider film fuck fuck fuck.
So, you might understand my enthusiasm towards this film. The creature work is great even if it disturbed me deeply… it has a pretty 90s premise. Yeah I hate spiders and this one surely won’t change…

Golda, 2023, ★★½ - 2.5

If you are telling the story of one of the most interesting and discussable figures of world history you should at least try to tell it interestingly and not like every war film ever directed… a missed opportunity for something greater that could have presented this conflict in a less political and more humanist way.

Challengers, 2024, ★★★★½ - 4.5

If I could rewatch this one instantly I would do it… the whole homoerotic tension the constant edging the whole teasing but never showing to Trent Reznor’s and Atticus Ross’ soundtrack was just fucking superb… these are three completely disgusting and disgustingly hot people that see just everything as a fucking game even their relationships… it’s all just a fucking match and while you would think that the tension just happens on the court it’s the complete opposite, every dialogue, every smirk and every little side eye is a move and if you move it wrong the game ends and you lose. And while every one was awaiting this film about a threesome… what you get is this fantastic portrait of masculinity in its purest form – and in every possible aspect. And shit did Guadagnino shoot them boys with sexual intensity… and while everyone was playing in this completely overstylized extravaganza – I was winning every second of it!

There’s Still Tomorrow, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Just yes! This might be one of the most important films for Italy right now! For the world! A reminder what you should be fighting for! Fuck it it’s an important film for the whole world now! Loved it and I will make everyone I know watch this masterpiece! ❤️

Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer, 2024, ★★★★ - 4.0

I watched it for the laughs and stayed for the subtext. While every other “edgy” comedian has difficulty to find HIS place in modern society Jimmy Carr does what he does best: Rush through hundreds of jokes in high-speed. But this time he brings something to the stage I wouldn’t even dared to expect from him: Life lessons. Even the dirtiest, most disgusting joke has its place to hide some well thought agenda behind it – in a positive way. He doesn’t question transgenderism, pronouns or gender roles. He respects them in his own way: Making fun of everything. The interesting part is that this time his one liners feel like they have a certain urgency – gun violence, American politics, knife crimes, etc. There’s no recent topic that he doesn’t put an opinion on display hidden behind a very well written one-liner!

Talk to Me, 2022, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Simple horrific idea done with style… what’s really great is that the directors weren’t afraid to just go through with their idea – even if it meant to go completely insane. It was hardcore but not only in a gory way… making every scene the consequence of the one beforehand. Therefore, there was no dumb choices no horror clichés but just pure storytelling… even the twist wasn’t that big of a surprise but felt earned!

Knock at the Cabin, 2023, ★★★½ - 3.5

After Old I really didn’t expect a lot. And yeah it’s a classic Shyamalan and it has it’s interesting twists and turns… but overall what surprised me the most was the cinematography that was creatively playful and interesting. So, with a nice performance by Bautista this could even be the best of Shyamalan‘s latest films. It’s simple, looks great and has some okay story pieces… not really knocking anything out of the park, rather staying in the woods and at the cabin.

Bottoms, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Watched on Thursday April 25, 2024.

Civil War, 2024, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Civil war is a return to greatness for Garland after a short detour involving some anal births. So, when the film started I wasn’t expecting a lot after the last disappointment… I didn’t know that he will take my breath away more than once during its runtime. There were moments in this film in which I just wasn’t able to breath in… let’s not even talk about breathing out. And the thing making this a lot worse is that it feels more zeitgeisty than it should – making it something of a protest piece towards things happening right now around the world. It’s really ballsy, consequently told and shot with precision. The only thing not making it perfect is that because of its quality and its consistency you quickly know where it’s going.

Pearl, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

I could watch Mia Goth going full psycho for hours. The way she plays Pearl is incredibly innocent but completely horrific. While I was not that satisfied by X, I really enjoyed Pearl with its macabre 20s style and its over the top storytelling. It could easily have gone completely wrong… but Mia Goth holds this film together with excellence!

Yannick, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I adore Dupieux. I adore his style. I adore his ideas. I adore his blocking. And what I adore the most about him is that he surprises me with every film he makes anew. There’s no film of his that didn’t present me with something unseen beforehand. But for the first time he surprises me with something I didn’t expect: Deep and wonderful humanism. His films mostly are “dumb” ideas taken compellingly seriously that you are forgetting the joke while watching them – while laughing at every completely bonkers situation. This time he goes bonkers but with an attitude, with a target. He has a mission. A critique. And I love it because it does something that only the biggest masters achieve: Making the absurd emotional.
Chapeau!

The Other Lamb, 2019, ★★★ - 3.0

The other lamb presents you with a shepherd and his flock… let’s just say symbolism is a big part of this film. But instead of building up intrigue it is just to foreseeable the whole time… making the audience more await certain plot points instead of surprising the viewer.

Godzilla × Kong: The New Empire, 2024, ★★★★ - 4.0

So, let’s start with the obvious. If you want anything else from the American Godzilla and Kong than big monkeys and giant lizards punching each other and even worse are expecting something else there is just one simple conclusion: You are a bit stupid! This might be the most fun I had with one of these since Skull Island and damn I love this film. And with this one Adam Wingard finally starts not giving a flying fuck about any logic or even tries to give anything a backstory he just focuses on the one thing I am here to see: Monke punch! Lizard Lazer!
And maybe I am a simple man but how much this film indulges in its own cringe is so fabulous to watch. When Scorsese was talking about fun rides he was surely talking about films like and fuck me did I have a lot of fun.

Ricky Stanicky, 2024, ★★★ - 3.0

Ricky Stanicky needs a bit of time to start off but as soon as John Cena is in front of the camera you just can’t stop at least smiling. It’s pretty stupid humour but sometimes you just need something like this to get you through the day: The fast food of cinema – stupid, sweet and fun.

Die Passion, 2024, ½ - 0.5

Another year another passion. I’m still waiting for the moment when German tv decides to make this a bit more for the young people and uses trappers, rappers and influencers as Jesus and co. But more importantly they all have to sing their own songs. Just the imagination of UFO361 as Judas singing Final Fantasy while a drone flies around him and Jesus bein played by none other than Julien Bam or something is making my Easter great.
So, this is nothing like this – and still so much fun that I’m still not sure if I haven’t just watched the new season of LOL – Jesus edition!

Dave Attell: Hot Cross Buns, 2024, ★★★★ - 4.0

Warhol once famously said: art is what you can get away with. And for a long time I haven’t seen a comedian better indulging this saying than Dave Attell. You don’t even have time to say something might be in poor taste because that’s already the punchline of the next joke he’s telling. He races through this 40 minutes worth charm and humour and fill it with as many jokes as possible – being more entertaining than 80% of other comedians with 2 hour specials. It’s short, it’s funny and it’s strangely but wonderfully old-school in its format.

Life of Brian, 1979, ★★★ - 3.0

So it’s this time of the year again when I as a law-abiding citizen do something completely illegal in my country… watching Life of Brian on the Friday before Easter. It’s sacrilegious and still a fun watch. I always find it a tad too long and some jokes land better than others but as a whole it will always work – even more if it’s a little piece de resistance.

Shithouse, 2020, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Cooper Raiff is pretty fucking good – as an actor, writer and director! Leave some talent for other people! Shithouse presents honest and real characters with real and honest emotions in real and honest conversations with real and honest problems… and yeah it hit quite close to home! This discomfort and angstiness you feel the first time you leave home and start “your own” life for the first time so many miles away is showcased perfectly. The cringiness of the overflowing emotions, the sadness of the loneliness, the missing of things that you might even never thought you’d miss… it has everything and it tells this wonderful sweet and caring story that. And now I have to wipe away the tears and go out and get some air.

57 Seconds, 2023, ★½ - 1.5

One of my most watched films is a little sweet timetraveling gem called ABOUT TIME by the wonderful Richard Curtis. 57 seconds is also about timetraveling. And this is the only thing they both have in common. Because while the one is a sweet romantic comedy with some dramatic twists the other one stars Morgan Freeman. This film neither takes its audience, its characters, its story or even its blocking seriously. It looks like shit, it sounds like shit and the worst thing: it’s not even entertaining while doing it. It’s bland and sad to watch – even more because there are actors in it that are surely capable of more decent things than this… Walmart Discount Film. And if you don’t believe me how bad this film is: Watch its first 57 seconds… they’re enough!

Morvern Callar, 2002, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Lynne Ramsay is a genius monster. She creates these disturbingly human characters and hurts them so badly that at the end of her films they’re never the same as in the beginning. And Morvern might be the best example for this – pushing this young, naive and lovely character through the meat grinder of pain, acceptance, rage and the hauntingly real feeling of just being lost in all this chaos… with a giant urge just to flee from whatever.

The Fifth Seal, 1976, ★★★★★ - 5.0

What is morality and at what point would you be able to lose it or even to throw it away? These questions are asked throughout The fifth seal – presenting the audience with the strongest weapon the fascists were able to use: Fear. And fear changes everything – even more when you’re confronted with your own personal apocalypse, when the trombones have played and all remains is the judgement of oneself. This film achieves this narrowing feeling of being presented with a choice – that will make you question your own humanity.

The Devils, 1971, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Already in the first seconds Ken Russell doesn’t hide his disgust towards the actions he will roughly and rawly showcase in the next two hours of runtime. The Devils which was banned in various countries is a testimony for the bigotry of the church’s own history. Instead of accepting, acknowledging or even rejecting their past sins they continue to deflect their eyes on their past hideous and shameful actions – even towards their own believers. Let’s not even start to think about the things they’ve done to the “non-believers”. And for what? For religion? For their god? Surely not because like nowadays religion is just a vehicle of political violence and an excuse for things that everyone knows to be wrong. But back to the Devils… Just release the whole damn cut!!!

The Heroic Trio, 1993, ★★★½ - 3.5

This film is just over the top. Every single second of it is completely over the top. Every character is completely bonkers. Every story beat introduces some new crazy shit to it… and it only gets crazier the longer this film goes. But it’s so entertaining, because the humour is over the top as well and you can just feel that everyone from the writer to the colorist were having fun. Let’s be honest it’s a trashy film but it indulges in it completely and I love it…

American Fiction, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Not what I was expecting but nonetheless something special. I was looking forward to a political satire and I got some nice pieces of human experience – loss, love and regret. All nicely suited in a fun and entertaining tuxedo made with jokes, tearjerkers and some political commentary. And surely it’s fiction, but damn does it hit!

The Gentlemen, 2019, ★★★★ - 4.0

I still can’t understand why guy ritchie doesn’t shoot a film like this every two years. No one else is able to create something so wonderfully intricate, English and violent that you are entertained in this way. I’m not even saying that he mustn’t direct Aladdin or King Arthur but just give me these English gangster films every now and then and I’m a fucking happy man.
So, let’s see what the series has to offer… maybe that’s the solution just give me ten episodes of this English fuckery.

Masel Tov Cocktail, 2020, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Maseltov Cocktail might be the right catharsis for this time… the right film for a Germany that is slowly drifting back into far worse times. And even worse sometimes with the worst possible excuses – antisemitism remains antisemitism. And if all you see in a conflict is the religion of either part than you’re in the wrong whether you’re for the ones or the others. And the worst thing is that you’re still asking yourself as an immigrant, with every possible religion, what is the right way to react to any kind of racism and hate… and Dima’s answer might be clear – and sometimes I just think the same.

Infinity Pool, 2023, ★★★★½ (contains spoilers) - 4.5

This review may contain spoilers.

What happens if death becomes irrelevant… what would you do? What desires would you finally realise? What pain would you deliberately endure or inflict? Infinity Pool presents the viewer with an answer to all these questions – that surely a lot of people won’t like. But even when this is a science fiction film, the human nature is portrayed quite realistically – with all its disgusting details!

De Humani Corporis Fabrica, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

I’m not completely sure about this film… because thanks to my medical girlfriend who gave me something like a director’s commentary throughout the operations and more I was able to understand and further examine what was currently being shown. And it was wonderfully and fantastically disgusting… but because of the non-existence of any explanation or any contextualisation I would have stopped watching this one if I would have been alone… without context this would have been one of the most naturalistic depiction of things that I really really don’t want to see ever again. It’s beautiful and unique and has its fair share of moments that make you think and maybe even cry but the intensity is so overbearing that I just have to recommend to get a medical girlfriend to really e joy this one.
Chapeau to all the masters of medicine… I would vomit just at the thought.

Hercules, 1997, ★★★★ - 4.0

I forgot how adult this film is and how the emotional story works a lot better the older you are. I had it a lot worse in mind but it worked really nicely! I’m looking forward to the musical.

Damsel, 2024, ★★★ - 3.0

Damsel feels like a rape-revenge exploitation film without the rape and for twelve year olds… with all the mannerisms and crucial character evolutions from victim to perpetrator. And it would have worked a lot better If they marketed this thing in another way than just telling everyone the fucking twist of the film. So, that thing was gone, but even worse is that they neither celebrate the finale enough nor do they they celebrate the evolution of the protagonist. And maybe in this it has the most in common with its “hardcore” exploitation cousins the shock value and the action set pieces are more important than the characters… this could have been easily a lot greater but yeah it was an entertaining watch.

The Zone of Interest, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

The horror of Zone of interest is the profanity and mundanity of the human race towards the horrors it creates… and while we are still just spectators of past atrocities the profanity with which we react to the unimaginable is still there.

Spaceman, 2024, ★★★★ - 4.0

I hate meditations about anything… because most of the time they are neither meditative nor have any meaning. But surprisingly Spaceman – a meditation about love and loneliness – achieved both for me. Adam Sandler’s sad and lonely existence in a “prehistoric” spacecraft, floating around and discussing life’s meaning with a giant spider to the sounds of Max Richter… put me in trance. I was just watching it and indulging in every single soapy emotion that it wanted to showcase… and yeah it might be cheesy, strange and over the top – it might even be a little pretentious… but fuck did it work for me.

Dune: Part Two, 2024, ★★★★★ - 5.0

It surely might be a simplified and simplistic version of the whole Paul Messiah Arc but dammit it’s fucking good. It works so fantastically in the same way the first one worked… creating parallels and differences that will follow me throughout the rewatches that will happen for sure. I can’t wait to rewatch it!!!

Dune, 2021, ★★★★★ - 5.0

It was great. It is great. It always will be great. Desert power.

The Devil's Backbone, 2001, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Del Toro creates a haunting fable full on the backdrop of the Franco dictatorship… which he revisited in Pan‘s labyrinth. But in this one there’s no hope for safety or dreams of a better future… In this Fabel everything you have is the loyalty, the love and the pure will to live a life of freedom. and every frame of this film is filled with this pure humanist idea – even when no human is being shown.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, ★★★★½ - 4.5

The visual finesse and playfulness of Gondry combined with the sick mind of Kaufmann create this fantastic emotional classic that travels through love, time and the meaning of relationships in general… making this a film for eternity – even when some jokes didn’t aged that well.

Die Unsichtbaren, 2023, ★★★ - 3.0

The case is surely exhilarating and the private sounds are pretty exciting but the reenactments and forced „happy“ ending ensure that you leave the cinema with a strange taste. Because you just really want to have some Katharsis towards the crime, the work of this wonderful woman and the victims – and all you get is a retelling instead of an introspection. My biggest problem with this film is that the invisibles stay invisible in the end – you don’t know, understand or feel more than before the film. You just hear their voices… and it would have been enough.

All of Us Strangers, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Can someone please stop Paul Mescal from making me ugly cry every fucking time! This is another heartwrenching film that takes a simple plot, develops it consequently and destroys you emotionally. So, entering this film with the expectation of a lovely gay love story that overcomes trauma is maybe the wrong way to approach this film but it made it hit even harder… While the first half hour is really damn slow and even a little boring the rest just uses its time effectively to fuck you up.. yes I love Scott and Mescal and yes they might be my gay crush but first I have to wipe away all the fucking tears running down my face.

Amanda, 2022, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Amanda might be my generation‘s Frances Ha. Why? Because it perfectly captures the melodramatic emotionality of your mid-twenties with all of its glory, pain and fun. The loneliness you feel while slowly finding your circle and how every friend is a treasure you just don’t want to share. Only another film was able to capture such a peculiar moment of adolescence with grace and respect – and that film was by none other than Sorrentino. So, to be able to create this atmosphere that resembles this moment when you have to be an adult but you really don’t feel like one is fantastic – and as a debut it’s spectacular. And maybe I’m just a bit envious… of the film and the youth it’s representing.

Pachyderm, 2022, ★★★ - 3.0

While the topic is presented with such tenderness and attention to not exploit the tragedy… the style doesn’t help. It stays tame not breaking out of its own limitations making the audience just a listener of the story – not being able to engage with the story or the emotions shown.

Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love, 2023, ★★★ - 3.0

The worst thing first: I loved the beginning and the end – and they really made me miss the Sarah Silverman show. But throughout her special I was missing the point or let’s say a point. The fluidity that her old programs had jumping from one gag to the next without hesitation and making everything feel so easy for lost this time. Some of her bits were great some were meh but they seemed just like thrown together. Or maybe I just miss the consistency of her show 🥲

ted, 2024, ★★★★½ - 4.5

When they first announced a new TED series by Seth MacFarlane I wasn’t expecting a lot… to be honest I was sure to get disappointed. But I was wrong. It’s stupid simple humour but it’s my cup of stupid humour. A little teddy cursing and coming up with the most fucked up ideas is a gag that never gets old. But this series has something that I didn’t expect at all – neither from TED nor from Seth MacFarlane. It has heart. The family dynamics are over the top but you feel with them and want them to succeed even in the most bullshitty things. I never hoped for a second season of something so much.

Letter to a Pig, 2022, ★★★ - 3.0

The artstyle of this short film is really wonderful taking the metaphor it’s presenting serious while being able to be overly artistic. The story itself radiates around the empathy of a girl towards the pains of an elder – telling his past experiences. This allows the film to be vague but also quite direct.

Dream Scenario, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Dream Scenario showcases Nicolas Cage‘s talent with a story that allows him to present every corner of his over the top acting but gives him at the same time moments that make his tenderness shine. It was a far more humanistic film than I was expecting that used its premise for far more than just laughs, horror or weirdness. And this hearty moments made this film really special in my opinion and elevated it to more than just a strange idea.

Rush Hour, 1998, ★★★★ - 4.0

It still fucking works and it still has the right amount of buddy action and comedy! It’s so sweet and simple… films like these aren’t made anymore. Maybe I miss the old days when you could blow up stuff, make a joke and blow up some more stuff and action wouldn’t take itself so seriously…

Saltburn, 2023, ★★½ (contains spoilers) - 2.5

This review may contain spoilers.

Let’s start with the obvious: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Alison Oliver are brilliant. Alison Oliver as Venetia is a character I just couldn’t get enough of! And these three are the pillars of this film… for each of them I give half a star. The rest of the film is fantastically style over substance. But while Fennell let the fantasy of the audience work in Promising young woman… Saltburn doesn’t take chances to be sure that the audience really really understands the underlying critique of the upper class – which surely isn’t hidden away! So, while every set piece is wonderful to look at I couldn’t be more bored by its story. And the worst thing is that the film feels just like what it’s criticising: Simple unsubstantiated Hollywoodian classist revolutionary kitsch. And it would love to be really revolutionary but stops at the discourse to present you with an easy solution – a mix between Ripley and Pasolini’s Theorema (and I surely didn’t understand the later one but at least it went completely bonkers).
And let’s please not talk about the overhyped “shocking” moments… really? period blood?! Are we really that prudish?
I love the acting, I love the set pieces but this could have been a conversation starter a real mindchanging, revolutionary film discussing the nonchalance of the bourgeoisie… but it’s just another thriller!
So, while you’re still shocked by this little cunnilingus… I’m going to rewatch Promising young woman to watch something that really wanted change!!!

Foe, 2023, ★★★½ - 3.5

I’m quite unsure about this film. I was changing the rating from two stars to four stars for at least a minute before I stopped at 3,5.
Why? Because the three main actors are terrific! The premise is really interesting! And I could watch them interact for another hour.
But the story focuses on the “least” interesting parts or to be honest on the ones you’re expecting the most. And worst of it all it rushes through the most interesting part to arrive at a really great ending… that doesn’t feel deserved.
This could easily be a five star film with such wonderful talent if they would have focused less on the twist and more on the emotional aftermath of it… leaving the audience grasping for the answer for the one question: Who is friend and who is foe?

Threads, 1984, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Threads doesn’t shock because of its images or its topic… it shocks because of one simple idea: What if! And instead of taking it to completely extreme levels, it descends slow and steady towards pure hopelessness. This isn’t a post-apocalyptic film. This is an apocalyptic film. And there’s no room for emotionality when the world ends… even when we’re connected by invisible threads.

The Marsh King's Daughter, 2023, ★★½ - 2.5

Okay first of all I have to say that watching this film‘s trailer fucks the experience completely up… so, if you want a 3-star experience don’t watch the trailer. If you watched it, I have great news: It just fucks up a meeeeh film. It’s too long, too cliche, too boring… and there even was a little potential to be better.

Rome, Open City, 1945, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Antifascism is not a choice. Antifascism is a duty. And this might be a testament to this duty! Some might say that this is an historic film or a film that talks about the past but to be honest it should be a reminder! A reminder that with every vein and every breath we have to fight nationalism, fascism, racism and nazism! There’s no applause, no medals awaiting you in the end… because it’s not hard to die a good death, it’s hard to live a good life!

On-Gaku: Our Sound, 2019, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Animation has the ability to create and do things that real film isn’t able. It can distort, rearrange and completely redefine its own reality. But even greater is that it can represent emotions in a much more liberating way. Whenever I think about food I have this one scene from Ratatouille in mind when Remy tries to explain how tastes are created and fusioned. It changes the style it adds a new layer to the animation and is able to transport taste in a visual medium. On-Gaku does the same for music… the emotions of every tone, riff or beat drum are directly translated into the animation. The animation itself feels performative as if it was drawn by playing the music… the strokes, the movements, the styles have no rules they are just the emotional support for the sound. And the story is a sweet little tale about friendship, love and expectations. It just felt right watching them find their sound… in such a genuine way.

Heaven Knows What, 2014, ★★★½ - 3.5

The safdie brothers create a tense and desolate atmosphere filled with broken characters in Heaven knows what. One more despicable than the other – all driven by the next high, the next kick or even just the next kiss… and the roughness is great and lets you know from the first seconds that this won’t end well… but while good time and uncut gems accelerate their pace throughout their runtimes this one slowly drags itself through the story – like the junkies it’s depicting.

The House of Yes, 1997, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Long live the Queen… long live Parker Posey!!! The house of yes is just another proof of how she is able to bring depth and grace to every character she plays – even the most fucked up ones! This black comedy could easily been branded as distasteful and too cynical but she takes it to another level creating this second layer of pure honesty that makes this film so much more than just a little sick joke. The only problem is that she outshines everyone else who are playing great but she is just a scene stealer! It’s just a yes and a yes and a yes… a full house of yes!

Keep an Eye Out, 2018, ★★★½ - 3.5

Dupieux showcases his talent for the surreal by presenting a crime story in his own completely deranged way… with fantastical and absurd characters that create this whimsical world of complete nonsense. This might not be his best but it surely has some really funny moments.
He just has an eye for stories like these.

Theorem, 1968, ★★★½ - 3.5

Maybe I was too tired or maybe this one just didn’t click but Pasolini‘s Theorema is wonderfully metaphorical… and sometimes I even thought I understood what was happening on screen… but only some times. And surely the Marxist ideas shine but there are so many questions in my head after this that I’m really not sure what this film wants from me. From a completely simple perspective it’s a kind of Ripley situation of a guy trying to get into a whole family’s head… but as soon as he succeeds everything happens. Maybe I need to rewatch in future to fully grasp it but for now I don’t unterstand why the church had its problems with it… just making it more successful, idiots.

And I nearly forgot: Visually it’s a fucking masterpiece!

The Iron Claw, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

To start the year with such a heartfelt, painful and well-shot film reminds me of last year… when Aftersun was the first film I saw in cinema that year. And both broke my heart and will stay with me for a little longer. The story of the von erichs is told with delicate and wonderful cinematography that never overplays but showcases the things that aren’t said. The inner turmoil that slowly boils and boils until it explodes… and it explodes in such heartbreaking ways that is always shown instead of told. If this is the benchmark for this year.. Good luck to the other films!

Nimona, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

At first sight Nimona is a simple animated film that tells a story with some minor twists and it slowly evolves to something more political, gigantic and even heartwarming. Maybe Spiderverse has opened a new door in western animation but they finally use animation to do things that you aren’t really able to do in normal films… for example representation (just kidding Hollywood just doesn’t want to do it right). Because it’s never the main topic it’s just a love story like every other with heartbreaks, fights and overly dramatic kisses. Furthermore, every character that is walking around on screen has more than just one layer – and develops throughout the story. There’s only one little thing that doesn’t make this film perfect… but let’s just say Hollywood doesn’t stand sadness.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, 2023, ★★★½ - 3.5

Fun little action comedy that made the right decision to make a bard the main protagonist! The action is fun, the dialogues are fun, the characters are fun. It doesn’t do anything super special with the IP but it’s just a sweet action comedy. I hope there’ll be a sequel that has as much fun with it as this one.

No Hard Feelings, 2023, ★½ - 1.5

WTF is this film… at first I thought this could maybe even work if they just completely embrace the stupidity of the premise. But nope they really thought that it might work – and even worse it started to take itself seriously. Why would you even think for one second to make this an emotional romantic comedy with weird life lesson at the end and not a complete utter joke. Why? I really don’t have any hard feelings for this film… I have none.

Bottoms, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

The surrealism, the emotions, the honesty, the horniness and the mere pubertarian humour make this just an instant classic and masterpiece and I just can’t stop thinking about this… I really really can’t wait what emma Seligmann is going to do next. I surely will rewatch this one a third time!

Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Shit it’s like hot rod… it gets just better everytime… I was really missing films like this one. Stupid, simple and hilarious.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

At first I wasn’t sure about the style expecting a cheap spiderverse knock-off but in the end it had the courage to use it to its own advantage… creating something very unique in its own way. Mutant Mayhem retells the origin story of the Turtles in a nice, heartwarming and even cozy way – making them feel more human than ever. This approach gives the characters more meaning than just: Hey we are mutant ninja turtles. It focuses a lot on the fourth word in their name and the one thing a lot of the other films forgot to accept: Teenage. They are stupid, jealous, not very confident and just want to have fun… and thanks to the wonderful voice acting it feels like it. It’s just the finale that gets stretched a little bit too long that hinders this film to be a 5/5… but let’s be honest: There are just four turtles what were you expecting?

Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, 2023, ★★★½ - 3.5

It’s stupidly funny and completely deranged and I really loved it… it might be this decade‘s HOT ROD. And I’m looking forward to their next projects.

How to Have Sex, 2023, ★★★½ - 3.5

How to have sex tells a very important story and presents its message with such rawness that half the time you are feeling the pressure stomping you into your seat… to the pumping bass of some real bangers. And while it creates this wonderfully hurtful atmosphere it loses all its credibility by the end by leaving the audience with some spark of positivity and hope that makes the rest of the film lose urgency and harshness.

Wonka, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Wonka creates a wonderful story about a young Wonka that resembles Gene Wilder‘s interpretation a lot more than Burton‘s… luckily. Because it has heart, fun and isn’t cynical… which could easily happen in postmodernism. Therefore, I am more than happy that King took the character seriously and let him live through an adventure that warms your heart – without going the kitschy way. This film surely has some problems. Mostly that the most catchy songs are the ones that are reinterpreted from the old film, while the new ones are nice but never achieve the quality of Pute Imagination… and some story beats feel a bit rushed. Don’t understand me wrong: This is a fantastical film and I surely will watch it again… but Paddington 2 is still his masterpiece. And only imagination can tell you what’s going to surpass that… but until then I’m going to oompa-loompa my way to Christmas 🎄

Love & Peace, 2015, ★★★★ - 4.0

What happens when one of the most creative but fucked up directors of our time directs something that might resemble a film for children… here you have your answer. Sion Sono creates this super ridiculous atmosphere that goes completely crazy to just punch you in the feels out of the blue. The music is fantastic the story is solid and the cinematography as always completely bonkers… and still this might be quite a good entry point to his filmography. I mean you can decide between Japanese Bowie or Suicide Subways… his filmography has everything you can wish for.

Bottoms, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

This is fucking genius… it might be one of the funniest films of the last years… It’s just a hyper violent booksmart and I just love it!!!

Patriotism, 1966, ★★★★ - 4.0

How far would you go for your ideals and your love? Mishima presents his ideas of righteousness and true love in an unapologetic way – deconstructing the heroism with the blatant realism but contrasting the violence with peaceful music. There are not a lot of films that feel like poetry but this one might be it for me. His actions after this film make it even more interesting – creating a sort of testament and “explanation” for what he was going to do.

Belly, 1998, ★★½ - 2.5

Belly has some really great qualities:
It’s visually stunning, the casting is great, the acting is great, the characters are interesting, the pacing works… but it has one giant flaw: The dialogues and the voiceover are just shit. And it made me so damn sad… You have fantastically creative shots using light in such ways that Nicolas Winding Refn would be proud, the visual storytelling is great everything is perfectly presented and then suddenly you have the most mediocre voiceover ever. They are just telling you either what you are seeing or what you would have understood in the next second. Dammit why don’t they shut up and let the nicely shot things talk for itself.
I was nearly taking the film and re-editing it just for me – because I’m more than sure that if you leave every voiceover out of this film this would be even greater. Right now it’s a classic because of the casting, topic etc. But it could have been a masterpiece.

Napoleon, 2023, ★★½ - 2.5

Throughout Napoleon there was just one question in my mind: Why the fuck would you direct a biopic about a person you really don’t give a shit about? And during the whole film I looked for answers… is it just to direct the big battle sequences (to be honest they are shot and choreographed quite nicely) or is it to make fun of one of history’s most controversial figures or is to tell one of the most famous love stories of all time… and I didn’t find an answer. But like Nolan with his Oppenheimer, Scott was more preoccupied with his idea and concept of Napoleon than the characterisation of his main figure – and like in Oppenheimer beforehand I know Napoleon not a single bit more than before I watched these 2,5 hours long retelling of his whole life. So, for the second time this year I ask myself why do you need a real figure to tell a story that you want to tell… and not the story of this historic figure? Maybe it’s Napoleonic arrogance…

Bajirao Mastani, 2015, ★★★★½ - 4.5

There’s a really thin line between epicness and kitsch… this film doesn’t really give a shit about this line. Everything is completely over the top, every emotion, every colour, every twist and every fight… I mean where have you ever seen slo-mo fight scenes like in 300 next to love triangles forbidden by religion… and let’s not forget the songs that are thrown into the mix. It’s genius and the 2,5 hours passed by in seconds. It’s a wonderfully simple but pompous film that doesn’t care if something seems to much it just wants to tell a story of epic proportions – and it does everything it can to do just that!

The 400 Blows, 1959, ★★★★ - 4.0

What hasn’t been written about 400 blows? Not much. The raw depiction of adolescence and its sometimes bad manners creates these moments of misunderstanding… Antoine doesn’t understand the rules, the school, the adults and worst of all the world. And while he is looking for his limits and how far he can go, he slowly goes too far. But what I liked even more was this subplot about the classicism of the teenage delinquency told through his friendships… here you are able to see that the limits are different for every child and the consequences are always subjective… and 400 might be a big number in the eyes of a child…

In the Mouth of Madness, 1994, ★★★★ - 4.0

To create something lovecraftian is always hard because you want to present madness and things, creatures and sicknesses beyond reasoning and beyond the limits of imaginable… a lot of films fail this gets pretty near. In the mouth of madness tells a wonderfully deranged story that inspired a lot – and I understand why now. It presents itself as just a little piece of a big big world that you are never going to grasp – putting the idea in your head of asking yourself how the things look that you haven’t seen?

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, 2004, ★★★★½ - 4.5

This might be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. The whole concept is so completely over the top and there’s not one second in this that isn’t used to its full trashy potential. Even from a technical standpoint they went too far and used every possible technique to fuck this up – and it worked so wonderfully.
Garth Marenghi is just the best author, actor, director, writer and whistler ever!

Child's Play, 1988, ★★★½ - 3.5

It still holds up to this day but the later ones take it less seriously and make it a lot more enjoyable. This has some nice and fun moments but is still child‘s play to everything that happens in the other more convoluted and surely dumber but a lot funnier sequels!

1985, 2018, ★★★★ - 4.0

Yen Tan presents the alienation of returning home with having lived a life no one else can understand with such delicacy that it breaks your heart more than once. The performances are sweet, simple but heart wrenching. You can feel the anger, sadness, hopelessness lurking behind every corner and the everyday fight to maintain the façade. It might be telling a story from another time but the feels are still the same.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, 2023, ★★★ - 3.0

The super Mario bros. movie is a sweet little film that achieves the right balance between nostalgia, fun and some creative ideas. While it celebrates Mario and its heritage it never goes beyond the expected – but does what’s expected really good. I smiled and laughed sometimes but didn’t made me wonder like the games… with their always completely creative way of renewing this franchise! Yeah it’s nice but nothing more…

Killers of the Flower Moon, 2023, ★★★ - 3.0

I love Scorsese’s films. Silence is still one of my favourites of all time… but this time my love for him might save this film. I like his directing, his respectful views of the topic and his way of showing things. But he is just telling too much this time. He doesn’t leave you any room to understand, to imagine, to see for yourself or even to feel anything. All I wanted to see was Molly’s perspective and every time he jumped to her husband showing the things he did in detail he lost my interest – even if it was filmed masterfully! And this might even be my problem with this film, while he used his coldness in Irishman to represent how De Niro’s character slowly loses any compassion for his victims… and you still understand him somehow. This time it misses the point for me because Di Caprio’s character is just a dumb boy – and his wife is the far more interesting character. So, yeah it’s a wonderful that everybody should see but it could have been a lot better in my opinion if he stayed with her the whole time. And Lily Gladstone would have pushed this to the next level…

Dark Harvest, 2023, ★★★ - 3.0

Purge meets the Village meets Jeepers Creepers… this horror film by David Slade has a pretty interesting premise but doesn’t use its full potential. The twist is quite foreseeable, the characters really exchangeable and the arcs not convincing. Visually there were some really nice ideas and the gore made it a bit more interesting but at all it was a nice watch… but there was nothing more to get.

You Won't Be Alone, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

How do you describe a film that makes you rethink humanity and the approach to humanism itself – by being a folkloric witch tale. YOU WON’T BE ALONE surprised me with its roughness, its honesty and even more its joy. I was expecting a lot but nothing like this… and this won’t leave my side for some days.

Trouble Every Day, 2001, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Bloodthirst has never been sexier… and more disgusting. The less you know entering this world the better. Slowly you start to understand who is who and the acting is fabulous from Gallo to Dalle – perverted, horrible and disturbingly sexy! Claire Denis does what she always does and presents the human body in all its glory and puts you as close as possible to an experience that creates the urge to look away but doesn’t let you… troubling you for more than one day.

Hit Man, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Linklater gives us one of the sweetest filmcouples of the last years. And fascinatingly without taking himself or the story too seriously. It’s a fresh nice and really funny film that entertains for its runtime and never overstays its welcome – even when you think that some things are not needed like the Voiceover. But I just hope that this might be a hit, man!

Priscilla, 2023, ★★★½ - 3.5

Priscilla might be the best thing that Sofia Coppola has directed in the last past years… but surely it’s her most divisive. This biopic goes great ways to emphasise the toxic mess that Priscilla’s and Elvis’ relationship might have been… but doesn’t go far enough in my opinion. Most of the red flags are between the lines or showcased in such a speed that you can’t feel the slow evolution of sadness and bitterness that grows between them. And it would be the first film in a long time that I would call too short because it jumps so much between times that it feels rushed a lot of times.
It is a nice counterpart to Lurman’s Elvis but I miss the boldness that he had with the editing and blocking…

Un amor, 2023, ★★½ - 2.5

Un amor starts out interesting and chooses to go in different directions just to get lost in its own arcs… while you’re asking yourself all the time why does the main character do what the fuck she is doing. Firstly it’s interesting then it’s disgusting then it tries to be… un amor… but it just breaks hearts along the way.

Perfect Days, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I’m normally not a fan of films that are called meditations on something… No Malick, no Hamaguchi, no Fricke (except Koyaanisqatsi) and a lot more. So, when the film was introduced by saying it’s a really slow meditation on life inspired by the toilets of Tokyo, I was ready to have the worst two hours of my life… and then the film started.
It just kidnapped me into the mind of this lonely men and his daily life – but most importantly it threw me directly into his philosophy of life. He doesn’t have to say a word to understand his meaning, his character, his way of living and how he sees the world – and therefore, Wim Wenders makes him silent for most of the film.
This surely is a film you either are able to feel or not… and as I’m a giant fan of Camus all I was thinking about was his idea of sysiphos.
He says you just have to imagine this guy pushing this giant rock up a mountain so it can fall down again and he can restart – smiling.
It might be the most fun, happy and sad I’ve been in a cinema for a long long time… I mean I didn’t have a lot of work today, then I could make a good friend happy with a little something, I went to eat pizza with my friends and I watched a wonderful film… it was just a…

Cat Person, 2023, ★★★ - 3.0

Cat Person is a great conversation-starter and an interesting comedy and a nice piece of strange zeitgeist… but subjectively it goes too much out of its way at being apologetic towards men’s behaviour towards women. And surely they even say it in the film: it’s not all men. I mean her best friend tells her that she is always saying sorry to men… but she’s the one learning a lesson in the next ten minutes.
If this film would just be about two people that didn’t work out with each other and it got toxic okay… but no it does something that I feel as extremely problematic and uncomfortable it creates an atmosphere of You made me do it. Because she’s not communicating her limits or stopping as soon as she saw a red flag! WTF! It puts the responsibility for the whole situation into her hands making it something of an antithesis to promising young woman that took the same topic of false and toxic masculinity and the price that women have to pay and showcased one simple thing: It’s all men! It’s internalised – and no cats will ever change that!
As long as we are not going to change. And cat person tries to do the same but ends at: Hey in the end we are all alright and have our problems let’s take more care of each other then everything will be okay… instead of: yeah listen to your red flags next time!

May December, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

May December is a wonderful cat and mouse game between a fantastic julianne Moore and an even more fantastic Natalie Portman. And while you observe, think and try to read between the lines just to think what may… up to the end.

The Beast, 2023, ★★ - 2.0

The beast by Bertrand Bonello was less a monster of a film and more one that hid under my bed and that should have stayed there. The premise feels seen, the dialogues written and the acting stiff in some places… and while you are awaiting the big twist everything is pretty foreseeable. So, I had to leave the cinema quite quickly after 2,5 hours of beastly torture… to avoid becoming a beast myself.

La Chimera, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Rohrwacher explores masculinity, belief and culture in La chimera with such a delicate voice that sometimes you expect to be presented with a documentary Voiceover explaining the specialties of the region. It’s such a homey film that it takes on a journey to these landscapes, these people and their desires – without ever judging them for anything they do. And it does this by putting the alien view of things next to traditions… you could say creating a chimera of foreign wonder and anchored beliefs.

The Night Logan Woke Up, 2022, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Dolan created a cinema of stares with this wonderfully tense, energetic and creative mini series. This allows the audience to become a part of the family in the Center of the story… because you don’t talk using words with your siblings but with your eyes. he gives you time to read every little blink, every little stare, every little moment of silence. And while you are looking into the souls of this group of people you slowly get lost… until the one night you’ll wake up.

Anatomy of a Fall, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Uncertainty is something that follows you throughout Anatomy of a fall… every minute that passes you are least and least secure that your initial thoughts were right or wrong. Furthermore, Sandra Hüller is one of the reasons for it – playing her character with an emotional ambiguity that gives this type of character another unseen layer.
And after you’re indulging in the credits you just ask yourself– who’s falling now…

Poor Things, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Poor things presents the idea of sexual liberation in the most Lanthimos-way possible – well-acted, surprising and fucking crazy!
Every time I thought to know where the story was heading I was surprised by some interesting and unexpected turning point – mostly driven by the superb acting of the main cast! While Emma Stone’s interpretation shocked me or maybe even irritated at first during the whole length every movement, very strange behaviour made sense and gave her character and wonderfully well rounded arc! And Lanthimos didn’t stop at his main character! Every character while playing his/her part in Bella’s (Emma’s character) story had an arc – of which some are better concluded than others. But throughout the film you felt this creative voice that is telling this wonderfully controversial story… and we, poor things have to endure such a masterful creation.. so poor.

Inshallah a Boy, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Inshallah a boy does some great things… and most importantly showing that a political film can be humorous and have its light and tender moments – even in pure direness! I just try to forget for two seconds that this is a debut making it even more exceptional but it induces political cinema with a breeze of fresh air. While the societal cinema always shows the pain and the hard moments in the lives of people that are treated very badly by society – this one isn’t scared to show the hard truth but also the lightness that pride and bravery can bring into a harsh situation like this! You can smile and fight against every situation and protest just by being yourself and not giving up to the bad emotions, ideas, feelings… and maybe inshallah in the end it might work – or not!

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

It’s not often that I’m sitting in front of a film (long or short) and can’t close my mouth. As much as I was disappointed by asteroid city I’m in awe and wonderfully surprised by this short film and cannot wait to see the other three that are coming. But now to the short film:
It might be his best thing to date… it combines Anderson’s tragicomic storytelling with visuals that are filled with eye-filling childlike wonders that create such a unique experience that can only be achieved by pure naive love for your own work. You feel the respect towards Dahl’s words and the sheer unaltered imagination flow into these 39 minutes that are filled with every human emotion possible from wonder to sadness, from despair to hope, from greed to love. The true story of Henry Sugar is wonderfully filmed by a true master and I just hope that he will just do everything he does with this wonderful love for the craft he is so damn good at… film!

Suspiria, 1977, ★★★★½ - 4.5

As much as I like Thom Yorker’s soundtrack… Dario Argento’s Suspiria still works in such wonderful ways – even when everything is too much. Or maybe because everything is too much. Too much colour, to mich distortion, too much screams… it’s deliriously over the top and I adore it. I even liked it more than I remembered it to do… if horror films would just be this colourful again.

The Exorcist, 1973, ★★★★ - 4.0

It’s a horror masterpiece and it deserves its reputation… because it still works! The deeply lingering and slowly rising horror makes this still a unique experience. It is so fucking slow that for a long time you wouldn’t even believe that this is a horror film but as soon as it starts it tears at you… emotionally, visually and auditory!!! The film slowly starts to possess you until you cannot look away… and then it has you in its power! And all that could help to stop you continuing to watch this tour de force is just an…

Streetwise, 1984, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Even documentaries most of the time feel unreal… this didn’t for a second. You feel the pain, the sadness between the spoken words, the hope that some of these kids have and the despair that lingers behind their eyes. They are left alone in a world that doesn’t give a shit about them with no one and nowhere to turn to…and as an audience you are constantly asking yourself why? It surely is a product of its time but nowadays maybe the problem has changed but hasn’t been solved! So, you keep on watching not knowing how to react to the closeness this documentary achieves… because sometimes it feels like you’re eavesdropping into their conversations and it would be a lot wiser to just walk on… if you don’t want to get beaten up.
But in the end they are just kids… so who’s going to be wise for them!

Rhinegold, 2022, ★★★½ - 3.5

This could have been Once upon a time in Bonn! But instead it failed in the end to be more than a kitschy biopic and it’s just because of two things:
The design of the lettering and the ending. It takes all urgency and every tension that has been built up beforehand and stops it completely to present the audience with an easy way out.
And I don’t understand why… because everything up to this moment was not scared to be unforgivingly radical… it felt raw, energetic and full of power and anger like its protagonist… so why end on such a strange note… the symphony was playing beautifuly…
But it’s the last note that send you home with a smile or a… punch into your face that breaks your nose on the way out – in the worst way possible.

Past Lives, 2023, ★★★ - 3.0

I would be lying if I’d say that nothing about this film resonated with me… but it never hit me! While the ideas and even the presentation were great for a debut and felt genuine – the way the story was told left me emotional disconnected and with a strange discomfort. It felt wrong. There were surely 8000 ways to tell the story why choose the most right and direct one that leaves no room and just flies by. I will forget this film in the next two days… and it’s a disgrace. Because what it has to say about disconnecting to your home country, missing something indescribable and even just the topic of unrequited love that doesn’t leave you alone makes this a pretty interesting story. But the way it is told it’s nothing more than blank kitsch that feels discomfortingly romantic about something that is quite aromantic: Negation!
But maybe it’s just the first touch to something far far greater in the future… all the ingredients are here it’s just the recipe that feels wrong.

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

While watching this I was thinking a lot about Big Daddy and how genuine Sandler felt in this lovely film… and now there are four of them on screen. The chemistry of the Sandler girls with their dad is fascinatingly wonderful and takes this kitschy teenie comedy from meh to ooooh sweet. If Sandler would just produce films like these in the future I would be happy… but luckily he also tip toes into some indie gems in the future! But the mix will be wonderful as long as he doesn’t go back to ridiculous six vibes.

Bodies Bodies Bodies, 2022, ★★★½ - 3.5

Bodies bodies bodies is a wonderful witty horror satire with great writing and acting that has fun with its premise. The problem I have is that it’s focusing more on its satire than on its horror parts – creating a fun but not creepy watch. By creating this atmosphere of a whodunnit it also loses its horror completely because you focus more on understanding who the killer is than indulging in the horrific things happening on screen. And it surely is on purpose but this makes this film a lot weaker than it could have been – screaming bodies bodies bodies just for fun.

Barbie, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Just three words: I am Kenough!

But I'm a Cheerleader, 1999, ★★★★ - 4.0

But I’m a cheerleader uses over the top comedy to tell a tender and sweet first love story. The whole film is a great exercise in making fun without disrespecting the topic it wants to present. The cast is great and has fun with the subject and showing a middle finger to the prudery of the American middle class. And while everything is over the top it takes every character serious in its own way – because in the end everyone’s just what they are! Even if it means to be a cheerleader…

The Doom Generation, 1995, ★★★★ - 4.0

If teenage edgy angst was a film it would be this… but at the same time it surely would miss the point completely like edgy teenagers do. Gregg Araki creates a surreal world filled with drugs, violence and sex. Our anti-heroes feel lost, alone and misunderstood… and during the film they encounter people that just further emphasise these emotions creating situations that slowly derange further and further. This results in a film that starts pretty cynical but turns quite hurtful the longer it goes… as if this doomed generation is going directly to hell and we are watching them preparing their own funeral… just to turn from masters of their own actions to victims of the society that has no room for their lifestyle.
But if we are honest: They were doomed from the beginning!

P.S. How the fuck can Parker Posey be such a scene-stealer in just 5 seconds.

Oppenheimer, 2023, ★★ - 2.0

I’m not a fan of Christopher Nolan and still this might be the film that I could rewatch the most of him… or to say it more correctly: This might be the last hour of his work that I’ll watch the most. Everything up to a certain point feels incoherent, inconsistent and incomplete. How shall you care about people you don’t know? And surely Nolan is not interested in the people, in the histor, in Oppenheimer, his emotions, his thought… he is interested in the bombasticness of this story. From the first seconds on he doesn’t lose a second to make it clear that this film will be giant. And everything from that moment on is focused on making the biggest boom… without urgency. Yes they are saying that they are in a race against the nazis but you don’t feel it. And when the bomb finally explodes you feel like a catharsis that this shit show of incoherent storytelling that jumps through time without meaning will finally end… and then something interesting happens. Nolan finally shuts the fuck up and lets the characters talk… in a small room without any big boom or any bigness at all. And suddenly there’s a film, something interesting, something that you could build on. Just to lose himself in big moments again that aren’t needed. You don’t need to see the inner over the top thoughts of Oppenheimer if you understand him…
This might be his best from the last years in my opinion… but also the one that makes me the angriest because it could have been so much more than just “Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer or How he learned to love the bomb.”

Barbie, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach do the impossible and create a big franchise Blockbuster that feels strangely artsy and indie – and has a clear political agenda. This Could have been its complete demise, feeling like feminist propaganda and losing the storytelling and the fun by becoming an agit-prop piece… but it feels a lot more like a piece of resistance that was sponsored by the ones you’re resisting against. This makes this film even more subversive and strange but fabulously interesting creating something completely unexpected and pretty ballsy for everyone involved.
But I almost forgot the most important thing about this film: It was fucking funny! Some jokes surely work better than others but the kitsch and the expectations are used in a great way to create wonderfully poignant gags.
She might surely be just a Barbie girl in a Barbie world – but you haven’t seen her like this before!

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, 2023, ★★½ - 2.5

Mission Impossible‘s biggest problem might be that it always has to improve on itself… mostly with the stunts. And this time I was pretty disappointed. I wasn’t expecting a mindblowing story but what was sold as a modern action story felt like something that could have been written in the 90s and would still be nothing special. But the worst thing… I wasn‘t sold on the action. The hits didn’t connect, the shooting felt too easy and the choreography felt… too choreographed. Maybe I’m just not the guy for this kind of action… this could be possible.

To Be or Not to Be, 1942, ★★★★★ - 5.0

In a time when fascists are winning elections – it’s wonderfully to be reminded how delusional they are. And Lubitsch achieves just that but without ever losing the urgency or the dangers that his characters are living through. It’s a monument for antifascism and a wonderful film that never loses its hope, smile or even laughter – not even in the most dire of situations.
I might watch this one very soon again and it might even become one of my all time favourites!!! It‘s genius – and more timely than ever. Because if we as a theatre group don’t work together to fight with love, passion and creativity the fuckers will have it quite easy!

Hitler's Folly, 2016, ★½ - 1.5

I adore Plympton‘s Guns on the clackamas… so, I was expecting a lot just by reading the synopsis. And it started even quite funny just to get less and les funny with time because this time instead of having a new joke every 5 seconds and completely losing itself in surrealism Hitler‘s folly takes one and the same joke and tells it 500 times. There are moments when it works and it really gets funny again but most of the time you are sitting there and just saying to yourself: Yes I got it, he likes to draw ducks! A lot of Plympton‘s work is repulsive or offensive taking every joke too far… but this one doesn’t even do that. It could have been a wonderfully antifascist satire of the stupidity of Nazis but instead it became just a pretty boring one hour long joke that doesn’t know when to stop… maybe this is more like Plympton’s Folly.

The House by the Sea, 2017, ★★★★ - 4.0

Like the sea that can just goes around and comes around this film showcases the ups and the downs in the life of three siblings – at their house at the sea. Their dreams, their hopes, their past lives, loves and hopes – all clash in these four walls.
But what fascinates me even more than the simple but precise dialogue, are the words that aren’t said… because they fill every corner and maybe even every loss!
So, you are looking at the sea and wondering where the journey goes…

Afire, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Petzold’s Phoenix might be one of the best German films of all time – in my opinion. Petzold’s Undine might be one of the most overrated German films of the last years – in my opinion. So, I went into Afire with mixed feelings – and I left the cinema with mixed feelings. Never have I ever seen the egocentrism of creative work shown with such precision and mercilessness. The fear, the complete ignorance towards the world around oneself and the small-mindedness during the “process”. Everything could break your creation! At the same time I have to say that the film had to grow on me… when it got me I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.
But the end… I don’t know. No worries I won’t Spoiler anything. I have to think about it and maybe I’ll change my rating in some days I don’t know but right now it feels right – I’m just not sure why!
It lit some fire in me… and I dunno where it goes.

This World Can't Tear Me Down, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

While the first mini-series focused on the interpersonal connections someone has and how they change throughout time and how lives impact each other and the importance of friendship, Zerocalcare’s second mini-series focuses more… on the same things. This might sound boring but while the first focused on mental health this time political opinions and activism are added to the pot – and this might lose some non-Italian people for sure but the fight against fascism and its suction are Italian problems for years… and in a time where Meloni, a known and proud neofascist, is the prime minister every stand against fascism is the right step to go. But what’s even more fascinating is that he tries to go one step towards the people that are being sucked into this xenophobic bullshit just out of misery and desperation – without excusing their decisions! And this political sleight of hand is something pretty unique because everyone in this big political discussion never loses their humanity!

Asteroid City, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

Asteroid City might be the culmination of Wes Anderson‘s aesthetics which might surprise some of French Dispatch‘s fans (like me).
He goes back to his old style with his old shenanigans. But it wouldn’t be Wes Anderson if he wasn’t adding something new to his formula and this time it‘s between the lines… or to be more clear he shows what’s between the lines by presenting the writing process in such a lovely way that you are never sure if you’re already watching the finished product or the work in progress-version. So, he has another element to use and there’s where he lost me a little bit because the tragedy on stage loses its weight by becoming staged while the tragedy between the lines is so swiftly hinted at that you might miss it at the blink of an eye.
It’s still a great film and an interesting and fun watch but it surely isn’t the next step I was hoping to see after french dispatch.
But when asteroid city hits the tone… it hits it with perfect precision – bringing something new to the desolate Hollywoodian scenery.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I went into this thinking that they would try grab some hype from the first and do the same thing once again… yup they didn’t. They evolved, let the characters, their style and the story grow and when the credits rolled I sat there wanting more and more and more… I love films, I fucking love animation and this might be one of the few films that use its medium to the fullest – and I can’t stop thinking about every single shot and how it was composed.
And furthermore, it wasn’t even just eye candy and fanservice… it had heart, balls and went to places I didn’t expect it to go… so, if you watch just one animated film this year I hope it’s this one… because there’s surely just one of them in our universe ❤️

Crimes of the Future, 2022, ★★★½ - 3.5

Should we stop the evolution or make art out of it? Cronenberg constructs this wonderful broken world, fills it with very interesting characters and… ends right in the moment when everything is starting to get interesting. I would have loved to have another hour with these people and to watch the consequences of this film’s final act unfold. But instead he leaves me with a lot of open questions and some unresolved conflicts. It’s an interesting film that just ends too soon for me.
This surely isn’t Cronenberg’s strongest endeavour but it might grow on us.

Ratatouille, 2007, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Everytime I rewatch this film another emotion overcomes me… sometimes it’s inspiring, sometimes it’s sweet agony, sometimes it’s just a drop of ambition… but it’s always homey. No other film gives me this warmth this heartiness and this feeling of everything will be okay like this one. And therefore, it is and it will always be a film I return to with love and happiness whenever I don’t feel that great. It’s like this short moment of peace this moment when you’re overwhelmed by emotions and you have this small tingly feeling running down your neck as soon as soon as you hear EGO’s review.
It’s medicine for the soul… it’s like a great dish from your childhood that you haven’t eaten for years. It’s like ratatouille.

The Teachers' Lounge, 2023, ★★★½ - 3.5

This great german film showcases the problems in the german schoolsystem wonderfully… but misses the punch. I loved how it portrayed the daily life of a teacher with ideals that slowly breaks under the system… but does she? I liked the camera work the characters were great even when sometimes they felt a little bit too cliché, but I just have one problem with the film: While it feels that it wants to critique the system, and it has every right to do it, it fails to do it consequently because of the protagonist.
First of all, I liked her a lot as character and how she was talently portrayed. I just have my problem to push the blame on a faulty and reformable system while presenting a figure that doesn’t play by the rules of the system. You can’t blame a system if you don’t showcase what’s wrong with it and that’s my biggest problem because this film enters this ambiguity because you lose the focus of the big problems and end on this deeply personal story.
But while you are concentrating more and more on the small picture you lose the big picture.
Like the moment you write and write on your chalkboard and just at the last second you take a step back and see how much you’ve written.

We Own This City, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

The fascinating part of We own this city is not how it uses the genre of docufiction to get its points across but how it could have easily be a pure anti-police show… and it isn’t! It showcases that the police work is the symptom of a bigger sickness: The system that doesn’t and can’t change – until things aren’t said out loud and reforms are done in a righteous way. It’s really eye-opening how they dance around the simple fingerpointing and are able to present the case and the situation in its entirety. Because as long anyone thinks that he/she/they owns the city… the city will stay this way!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, 2023, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I remember when the first guardians came out and I watched it 5 times in the cinema… 5 freakin’ times and not because I was so eager of this film, yes I liked it, but because I had to see it with all of my friends and loved ones. Some are still there and some have gone their ways. That’s life. But this film always had a special place in my heart and furthermore in my perception of the MCU.
I was so looking forward to this film because of a little known director called James Gunn that made SUPER – a superhero film like no other. And I just wanted to see what the fuck he would do with a Disney-produced Marvel superhero film… and he made one of the best and the he did it again. And now? Yeah now he made a finale worthy of its trilogy.
I’m sad to go out of this cinema knowing that Disney let one of their best go. No other achieved to insert so much creativity, heart, fun and action into a comic book film! Even if this might be the last good Marvel film… it was fucking worth it!!! Word!

Dillinger Is Dead, 1969, ★★ - 2.0

I love absurd films and I can understand and appreciate how influential this film might have been in its time… but it’s really not my cup of tea. This nearly neorealist approach to an absurd concept creates these far too long shots that create a unique atmosphere of slow derangement – and slow it is! Maybe my brain is too fried by all the tiktoks and YouTube shorts – I might paint it red!

Branded to Kill, 1967, ★★★★ - 4.0

This film is purely style over substance – but it has sooo much style! It feels like a fever dream that doesn’t want to end. Every black and white shot uses the darkness in such a ballsy way that you’re never sure what’s even real. The worldbuilding is fascinatingly simple and you are just thrown into it – without hesitance or even time for an introduction. And with the same power Suzuki just throws one visual idea after the other constantly at the audience with an exhilarating pace – to the point that you just want the final shot to happen… because you know that in the end everyone’s branded to kill!

The Piano Teacher, 2001, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I could say how disturbing this film is and how passive aggressive every conversation feels in its two hours of runtime, but it’s a film by Michael Haneke… I could also say that water is wet. But what always surprises me in all his works: He respects his characters – even if they’re the “sickest” of people. And the piano teacher is no exception gracing us with a stone-cold Huppert that transcends every scene. You are disgusted, invested and scared of her from the first minutes – genius!
And while you’re watching the chaos and the pain evolve – you have your own personal lesson in filmmaking by one of the masters – and you can be sure that he wants to hurt you!

Infernal Affairs, 2002, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Another one of these films that I’ve seen too early in my life. It’s a wonderfully nuanced thriller that doesn’t care about black and white but indulges in a fascinating moral grey – even in its colour palette. It’s a little masterpiece.
No wonder Scorsese was inspired by this… after watching it I would never direct anything else than thrillers like these.

The Legend of Billie Jean, 1985, ★★★½ - 3.5

Never have I smelt a film… but this one smells of teenage angst, cheap perfume and first love. And it is accompanied by a soundtrack filled with young female rebel hymns of the eighties! Everything about this film feels wonderfully kitsch – everything but the topics because they will never get old: Misunderstood teenagers will always be in the world! And while Billie Jean might be a legend of old times there surely will be some modern legends that will take her feminist torch.

Beau Is Afraid, 2023, ★★★★ - 4.0

This Film might be a comedic masterpiece in disguise… and I can completely understand everyone who hates it. But the awkward over the top world building, the nearly mundane horror and the pacing were all my cup of tea. There were some little things that threw me out but in its entirety I was laughing my ass off from the first second to nearly the last… before he left me in complete disbelief and confusion.
And at the last moments I saw this film and understood that I was expecting an Hereditary or a Midsommar… but what I got was something that would fit better next to Dupieux’s filmography.
So, we have arrived at the final verdict:
I loved it, but I’m afraid to love it!
I would recommend, but I’m afraid to recommend it!
I am simply afraid!

The Startup: Accendi il tuo futuro, 2017, ★★ - 2.0

So, we have arrived at capitalist propaganda presenting the neoliberal wet dream of a down to earth entrepreneur that lived the Italian dream… everything about this film was either screaming telenovela, cliché or classist propaganda. I mean to present the uprising from the working class to the upper class by letting our protagonist fall into the sinful advancements of his bourgeois classmates is pretty ridiculous in itself… but everything he does has no consequences. If they were really trying to create an Italian Social Network they really really really need to rewatch Fincher’s masterpiece… because the Italian Zuckerberg is an asshole like the American one – but only one of them was presented this way!

Artem & Eva, 2023, ★★★★½ - 4.5

This personal look behind the scenes of one of the most famous pornstars of the world shows its subjects in such fragile moments that makes films like PLEASURE feel like a feel good film. What you’re seeing here is not the story of the rise of a pornstar but how this sudden stardom completely overwhelms this young couple. The realness of its protagonists takes this film to another level – not being scared of showing moments of gaslighting, sadness and even depression. This film is shot by a friend – and you can feel it. Because nudity is normal in their world – the fragility isn’t!

The Pink Panther Strikes Again, 1976, ★★★★ - 4.0

Whenever someone talks about films that aren’t made like this anymore all I think about is Peter Sellers‘ Closeau. This slapstick that works everytime and makes nearly everyone laugh at some point is wonderfully universal. But the saddest thing about this film is not that films like this aren’t made anymore… but they won’t ever be. Because this kind of comedy isn’t modern anymore.. I just hope that I’m wrong… like closeau most of the time.

Werckmeister Harmonies, 2000, ★★★★★ - 5.0

To call this a Film would be an Understatement. This feels more like a hypnotic political experience that presents you with a nihilistic view on humanity’s slow fall into madness. And while “normal” people either decide to become part of the madness or its victim – the upper class is able to use even that to their advantage. All we are seeing as an audience is the pawn that stumbles across this slowly changing world… just asking ourselves if we are focused too much on the halftones to not see how the “real” tones are changing!

Queen of Earth, 2015, ★★★★ - 4.0

This film is pure tension. You are always expecting that something jumps out from the next corner or something happens… and you wait and wait and wait until you understand what‘s already going on but it’s too late and the film already has you in its claws. The two main actors are fascinating and create such a toxic passive aggressive atmosphere that you’re asking yourself if there’s going to be any relief…
while both of them are constantly begging to be the Queen of this castle of misery!
Let’s compare scars and see who had to suffer more!

The Ghost, 1982, ★★★★½ - 4.5

A film that attacks the three most important Bavarian values: Religion, Prudishness and the Bavarian Police. And this does this with some of the most bizarre, over the top and laughingly dadaistic scenes I have ever seen. I don’t want to tell too much about this film because the unforeseen experience of some of these moments make this an unforgettable trash-gem! It reminded me a lot of the first films by Schlingensief – having the same political energy full of disgust for the old values.
But behind all the obscenities there’s always this little piece truth – that surely hurt the most when it was first shown. The sad thing is that a lot of the topics that are presented are still a problem today! So, while we are waiting for the next Gespenst to walk through the world… we have to change something!

The Merchant of Four Seasons, 1972, ★★★½ - 3.5

There are no saints in life! Throughout the film Fassbinder presents the viewer with characters that first look like victims of their circumstances until he turns every single one of them into pigs! This dry and cynical social satire just presents you with the idea that everyone has his/her baggage and there should be no judgment from the outside! Because in the end you never know what happened before that… To be honest I like the ideas and the way it tells its story but Fassbinder’s dry and cold directing shines through the whole film – making it a really hard watch. But if you make everyone a pig and the viewer is just looking into a mirror it’s hard to feel instead of just observing. And while you’re watching the social misery unfolding, all you can do is to feel sorry – for everyone!

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, 2000, ★★★½ - 3.5

I saw this film a lot of years ago and forgot the most of it… but some things stayed in my mind and I know why now. The setting, the characters and the style are wonderfully unique and great. But the story is so bland that even the rest can’t save it. Therefore, I remembered every one but couldn’t remember what they were doing because it had no meaning at all… the problem here is not the bloodlust but the missing heart.

The Swimming Pool, 1969, ★★★★ (contains spoilers) - 4.0

This review may contain spoilers.

Sex and murder has been a wonderful combination – since ancient times! So, when you put some of the sexiest people of all time into a french villa during a hot summer and create so much sexual tension that you get horny just by breathing during their stay… murder can’t be far away. So while you’re still awing the looks there’s already something luring under the water…

P.S. Don’t look at the poster! It might be the worst of all time!

Possession, 1981, ★★★★ - 4.0

Isabelle Adjani is sickening good in this nervewrecking, braindistorting film. It would be a lie if I’d say that I have understood everything but what I’ve understood and what I’ve seen might be some of the most fucked up shit ever filmed… and I love it. No one stopped Zulawski and you can feel it! This piece of horror is made with the intent to disturb! It feels as if the film itself is possessed!

Stuck with You, 2022, ★★½ - 2.5

Simple Rom-Com with some interesting set-choices. The premise is nothing special and quite foreseeable but there are sweet ideas between all the clichés. The only problem is that because of that ideas the dialogue was slowly getting worse throughout the film. While the cynical tone was slowly leaving the scene the true nature of the film became clearer: A really uninspired little romance with tragic backstories. And the only thing that stuck in the end was the aftertaste that this could have been better…

Fuelled, 2021, ★★★★ - 4.0

I always have mad respect for shorts that are able to tell an engaging story without dialogue. This is one of them. I like the style, the story and even more the bleakness that is contrasted by everything else. It transports emotions with such ease that I’m really looking forward to this director’s next projects. Hoping that they’re fuelled by the same ambition as for this one!

My Little Goat, 2018, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Most of the time short films start a story and don’t finish it… they just want to transport a vibe. This one tells it’s dark and twisted story to the end and does it with precision and horror. It doesn’t just ask the questions but answers them in its 11m runtime. I don’t want to spoil anything but it’s surely disturbing but also pretty different than the normal “viral” horror short films. Its style perfectly contrasts its topics and creates an even more horrifying undertone and vibe – that cuts pretty deep!

Ford v Ferrari, 2019, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Some might say Damon and Bale are the main actors of this film. Others say the races directed by Mangold. Others could say the cinematography by Papamichael. But to be honest in my opinion there’s one star that outshines them all… Beltrami’s and Sanders’ score turn this film into something more than just the next racing biopic. Their music is the pacemaker of the whole film, they turn the engines, they put the foot on the brakes, they let the tears run down the cheeks and the heartbeats go 7000 rpm. It feels like the racetrack is their orchestra and they are conducting it with such a finesse that this film might not even deserve… but it makes it so much better!!! It’s pompous, it’s emotional and it’s fascinatingly rich… this score has a race to settle and you can feel it from the first turn.

Mononoke, 2007, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I’m not someone who uses the following sentence quite easily, but: I’ve never seen anything like this before! It’s fascinatingly unique and fantastically eye-widening! I’m not even sure if I want to call this an anime… because it would create the wrong expectations. But firstly let’s start at another point: Animation is sadly used with limitations most of the time. Breaking the rules of reality, storytelling or even animation itself to convey an emotion or to create an atmosphere is something that I miss a lot of the times… I mean you have all the possibilities why would you stay in something so realistic. And don’t get me wrong, I love Shinkai’s work but this story here can just be told in Animation, while your name etc. can easily be transported into another medium. But Mononoke uses every inch of its frames to take the viewer into this world of horror… and it has its own reason, its own truth and even its own shape!!!

Flee, 2021, ★★★★½ - 4.5

The approach to tell a documentary with the help of animation to emphasise emotions reminded me of Waltz with Bashir… for the first two seconds. While Ari Folman indulges in the possibilities of animation and creates emotional but surrealist moments that take the viewer on an extreme journey of war and guilt. The difference here is that we are told a story of a victim – someone completely innocent and his journey. A victim of his time, country and political circumstances – that could still have repercussions for our main protagonist. And therefore, I can understand that the animation is here mostly used to picture memories and anonymise the shown persons. But while the story is engaging, heartbreaking and sometimes undeniably hard… the animation stays mostly the same. So, I surely understand the intentions and it creates a wonderful, unique and fantastic documentary that might become a future classic… but I can’t say the same about the animation. And please don’t understand me wrong it looks stunning but it doesn’t use the full potential of animation…

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, 2019, ★★★½ - 3.5

Don Lee is a force of nature and makes every scene even greater… his presence as a charming but deadly and prideful gangster is wonderful. So, we are already talking about the positives: the interactions between the characters. They are always over the top entertaining and the bond between the three main characters is used nicely! The only problem I have with this film is its look. Sometimes it feels cheap even if it is perfectly choreographed… but these moments are so minuscule in a film full of action pieces! Then let’s celebrate and be part of the ménage a trois:
The gangster, the cop, the devil and…
You!
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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

The last wish presents its anime-influences right on the spot. The camerawork that makes every static shot feel like a break has more in common with attack on titan, ping pong the animation and Japanese animation in general than with its predecessor. This creates a wonderful surprising joyride with memorable baddies and friends – allowing the puss to shine in a new light. The style reminds a little of Spiderverse but uses its watercolour-fairytale in some new and unique (for western animation) ways! In the end it was a nice and simple film with a lovely message that could have been made better with the addition of some more shrekstyle cameos (which were always scenestealers)… this might be my last wish for the film.

Blazing Saddles, 1974, ★★★ - 3.0

This might be the most boring Mel Brooks‘ film I‘ve watched and I really can’t understand why… I was expecting so much more. The jokes were slow and didn’t hit as good as they should. The punchlines were cheap and there weren’t enough of them… yeah in the end it was a bad western with some bad jokes in it. I missed the quick, witty and never stopping comedy of Brooks. Only Gene Wilder was fabulous from his first to his last scene… sorry nothing blazing in here for me…

Withnail & I, 1987, ★★★½ - 3.5

The tragedy of the anxious and unsuccessful actor played for laughs… and most of the time it works. The over the top language sometimes makes the scenes hard to laugh at but when it lets it’s characters clash with the rest of the world (the junkies, the farmers, the rich men) you see through their absurdity of lifestyle. And while Withnail indulges in it, we as the audience just like the narrator look with awe and sadness at him and ask ourselves: Can we flee from his intoxicating personality?

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 2006, ★★★★ - 4.0

How the fuck does he do it… let’s start with the obvious: This film is fucking stupid – but it has such a big heart! And it has so much fun with its characters. With full-speed it races into your heart and drives around tingling you and having as much as fun as possible with its premise.

Birth, 2004, ★★★★½ - 4.5

So, here’s another reason to adore Jonathan Glazer! What the fuck is this monster of a psychological film? I don’t want to spoil anything but dammit this is a tour-de-force that breaks your heart, your mind and everything you have. It eats you just to spit you out. And in the end Glazer even sits in the Credits and laughs right into your face! If I’m lucky I’m going to be reincarnated as him in my next life – that would be such a wonderful birth.

On the Silver Globe, 1988, ★★★★ - 4.0

This film is hard to watch, to rate and to understand… and all because of the same reason: It’s unfinished! It might be the best sci-fi film of all time but so many key moments are missing that it is really hard to follow what really is happening. So, why am I giving this 4 stars if it feels like a strange mess… because it’s a fantastic mess. The atmosphere is unique, the storytelling ambiguous and the characters completely fucked up. Visually it’s stunning and it does something that we sometimes forget in modern sci-fi: if it’s foreign we as humans don’t need to understand it. The world is inhumane and neither created nor inhabited by humans… and the ones that live there have to pay the price. Sadly a masterpiece that to this day would be praised as a classic might have been destroyed… or maybe it would be something worth silver and not gold.
We’ll never know!

Argentina, 1985, 2022, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Never Again.. two simple words that are worth fighting for. And this film is a testament for the necessity of an antifascist democracy. At first this film sounds boring and like the next best Aron Sorkin copy… but while Sorkin focuses on processes, moments and mindsets, this film focuses on the humanity behind the victims and the legislators who are doing their best to prosecute the perpetrators. This film took me with strength and never let me go, I didn’t want to leave the room until the last word was spoken. And even more surprisingly: It had fun. Because it presented people like people and not just as the roles they play in this fundamental piece of history – their struggles, their cynicism and their sadness. This film has some of the best dialogue I’ve heard in the last year. So, while we shout Never Again with all our power – I could rewatch this one ever and ever again!

Corsage, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

Sissi, oh Sissi… Fuck off! Corsage takes the mythical lovingly majesty and lets her out of the cage… a cage of kitsch, bright colours and endless love. Instead we get a Sissi who doesn’t give a shit, who is frustrated, egotistical, angry and wild! She has her flaws but it’s her way to survive in a world that really doesn’t give a shit about her person. Marie Kreutzer surely takes a lot of liberties but creates antithesis to the known princess that was hardly needed – not naive like Coppola’s Marie Antoinette but full of anger, cynicism and depression! Maybe not the Sissi we all wanted but a Sissi that we needed – straight to the point like her corsage!

All Quiet on the Western Front, 2022, ★★½ - 2.5

If I want to make a film about a giraffe, I won’t call it Dumbo. And if I want to make a collection of clichés by Hollywoodian anti-war films I surely shouldn’t call my film ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Because either Remarque’s work was deliberately ignored, completely misunderstood or just used for its name. The loss of humanity, empathy and understanding is changed to pure sensationalistic anti-war scenes. Yes, the book was against the war but it was also so much more. It told the story of a lost generation, what power does with people, how war slowly robs even the most innocent soul of its humanity, the madness that enters your mind and never leaves you again and how war does not care about a single soul. And the hardest thing: It was about the boredom of war and the normalisation of violence.
So, what did we get? A film that focuses on special moments of the war, just showing special days in the life of this soldier. Then it goes even further and showcases how the treaty was created and the life of a warloving warchief… Everything is special, everything is over the top… and by this you lose the humanist perspective that made Remarque’s work so special and unique… it never was the story of a special soldier that lived through special “adventures”… it was the story of a normal and lost kid at the brink of madness in the worst hell humanity has ever created – like the other 17 million with him.
So, if you would have called this film The big war or World War 1 or I don’t know… maybe I would have liked it a bit more but this way I would have hoped that you stayed quiet…

Election, 2005, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Johnnie To creates an underworld and fills it with one strange character after the other. What I really loved about this film is that the world really felt like the characters were living in it for years. They have their rules, their parallel society and their traditions. Everyone is not called by his name but just by his nickname – and already that presents you with a life that you just can imagine. Why is Uncle whistle called whistle? It’s never explained but it just feels right. Then the whole silent violence is fantastic… silence from a character is always more than dangerous than when the person is still speaking. There are character in this film that have such a strong presence that not even their open trousers are able to disrespect them. So, when you watch this film and are here to vote… vote wisely because you’ll never know what consequences your voice will have – especially for the next “election”.

Lola, 15, 2017, ★★★ - 3.0

Jennifer Reeder is able to create fantastic atmospheres in a short amount of time. Giving the audience room to feel and interpret what is currently happening onscreen but as always with shorts you just want to have a little bit more context, more understanding of what you’re experiencing. You are left alone with a feeling which is surely intentional but what does she want to tell you with it remains a complete secret…

Shuvit, 2017, ★★½ - 2.5

I always have a problem when short films create a world and then just end… and this one creates a fantastic atmosphere… dangerous, young and rebellious while hunting to something behind the curtains… and then just leaves you alone with it. Interesting but I would have loved to stay a bit longer, just a tiny bit. Now it‘s shoved into my brain – unfinished.

Tuesday, 2015, ★★★ - 3.0

This short film already hints to the emotional devastation that Charlotte Wells will create with Aftersun. In just 11 minutes she creates an atmosphere that others would love to have after 120 minutes. But being so short it doesn’t have the emotional impact that her debut evoked… this is a nice companion piece for a Tuesday afternoon after you‘ve watched Aftersun for the eighth time.

Top Gun: Maverick, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

Dammit, at first I was really disliking this film. I missed Tony Scott‘s ballsiness with the lighting and composition of the scenes… but what got me was the writing. And yeah it’s over the top – maybe even more than the first one but it gets you. It’s so simplistic but you are sitting in there and just holding your breath whenever something is not going the right way. I really have my problems with the colours because you have such a great script and such a fantastic first film that was brave to go beyond realism but the wit and just the loveliness of the characters… damn I really want to give this less but I was entertained in such a good way that not a lot action films are able to… and let’s not forget the soundtrack with Lady Gaga‘s hymn giving me real goosebumps… dammit it worked once again even if it wasn’t what I wanted!

Top Gun, 1986, ★★★★½ - 4.5

I forgot how over the top this film is. Everything is just too much and too kitschy: The romance, the friendship, the brotherhood, the patriotism, the tragedy, the camerawork, the dialogues and even the lighting. I mean there’s not one single shot that has normal lighting in this beast of a film… you jump from orange to blue to red with no hesitation, the shadows are contrasting and the sweat is pearly. Damn, there were shots that were so hooooot I got thirsty for these muscular boys, their moustaches and their sunglasses. The greatest thing about all this: It works. Any less pathos and this film would be some propagandist war fantasy (and yes it for sure is sometimes) but now it’s so over the top that it works – something that I understand just now. The last time I watched it I was a lot younger and looking for any depth and threw it away because it was so simple from a storytelling perspective. This simplicity rushes you through the whole runtime, you laugh, you have fun, you shout and you cry because these are the most simple emotions you can imagine… but that’s no simple task to achieve while being extremely engaging. So, if the first time it crashed and burned, let‘s hope the second looks…

Party Girl, 1995, ★★★★ - 4.0

What starts as an obviously over the top satire of the IT-Girl gets more and more subtle and serious undertones throughout its runtime. At first I was wondering if it would stay this stupid and absurd. Then I was surprised that there was a lot of underlying criticism embedded in the second half of this film: misogyny, classicism and even a critique of the American educational system are just some examples of topics that are presented between the mostly sarcastic lines. The characters are colourful, strange, lovely and seem shallow – at first! And while it never takes its characters completely serious, their actions have real consequences!
The music and the camerawork are nice and create a unique comedic atmosphere… a feast for your eyes and a party for your ears!

Kebab Connection, 2004, ★★★★½ - 4.5

This might be the most unreasonable review that I’ve ever written… but this film has just a big big place in my heart. Everything about this film might surely be kitsch but I love every second of it. The ads are hilarious, the characters are fun, the editing is brave and still feels young. This film is something that I’m missing in so many German films: just pure fun while taking everyone seriously. They all have their problems, their heart, their struggles but all of them are wonderful! It’s a simple and light film that never goes too far but it’s a film that I feel connected to… Kebab connected.

Rafiki, 2018, ★★★★★ - 5.0

The subtle and touching story of a young love in a country that doesn’t accept it. It never feels like voyeurism and it feels honest and true – not romanticising anything. But far more important: This is not just a Kenyan story! I already see people talking about how hard it must be in Africa. Nope this is a worldwide problem that costs thousands if not millions of people their lives every year. So, please don’t watch this just as testimony of the bad things that happen in Kenya but as a testament that acceptance needs to exist everywhere! Because first of all they just need a Rafiki – a friend!

A Stasi Comedy, 2022, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Leander Haußmann might tell the same story over and over again… but he always gets me. And I really love his heartwarming fuzzy nostalgic and a lot of the times naive storytelling. It’s filled with characters that I would love to spend time with just to know them better to experience them in all their glory – even the bad guys. He draws these characters with such energy that you just have to enclose them into your heart. His fantastic realism can easily be understood as unacceptable nostalgia towards a dictatorship but he gives the people on the other side of this wall some humanity and doesn’t just see them as a collective. Therefore, he might be using history to his advantages and showing serious things in a humorous way… but why shouldn’t he. I mean he warns everyone with his title: It’s a comedy.

Commitment Phobia, 2021, ★★★ - 3.0

This German romcom starts surprisingly sweet and fun – but unfortunately it turns quite fast into something mediocre, foreseeable and cliché. The main characters are sweet and toxic, the other ones are just sweet – easy to follow, to understand and to digest. Then there’s a tragic little backstory that no one gives a shit about and the film is done. So, why do I give this mediocre thing 3 stars? I had a little bit of fun and I’m on painkillers! And this was just the kind of film that I needed. On another day this could have easily been a 2-star review. But there are days when you just need these diabetes-inducing unsurprising romcoms. Sometimes you are just scared of the commitment to watch some overhyped classic that makes you rethink your life. Sometimes you just need Boy meets girl and some chocolate!

Gangs of Wasseypur, Part 1, 2012 - 4.0

Bollywood has understood one thing that Hollywood is still trying sometimes but most of the times they are failing: Not giving a shit about genres. While I was expecting some gangster epic like The Godfather or Goodfellas what I got was a gangster epic with comedic and romantic elements that never takes itself too seriously but takes on a journey you wouldn’t expect. But this unconventional way of creating a world makes it even more watchable. And you just fly through the 160 minutes runtim. I’m really looking forward to the second part.

Close, 2022, ★★★★½ - 4.5

Who are the victims of patriarchy? A question that most of the time will be answered by saying mostly women… and yeah they are right but they are forgetting the other 50% of the population. This film is a well presented meditation about the consequences of our societal norms for masculinity and what it does to boys. And yes I know that all these Tate-boys use this topic to be fucking misogynists but that’s not what I’m talking about. I want men to be just whatever the fuck they want to be and this film is proof and a statement that if we don’t do it we have to live with the consequences for the rest of our lives.
So, this might not seem touching at first but look around and see the consequences of these small ideas and gestures and you’ll see how close to home it hits!

A Man Called Otto, 2022, ★★★ - 3.0

I’m really not a big fan of remakes… and even less when they’re american. So, when this film started I was sceptical and already quite narrow-minded towards it. But Marc Forster somehow was able to touch me and give me some really emotional moments – even when most of the times he was too on the nose. But the characters were nice and whimsical and Mariana Treviño is a wonderful force of nature… but between all these whimsical, sweet and strange people might be one of the greatest miscastings the year. And I never thought I would say this but Tom Hanks shouldn’t have gotten this role. He is too young, too soft and too lovely. And he works perfectly whenever Otto is that but because of his personality the character isn’t able to grow as much as he could with some that is more bitter, angrier and less likeable. Even his younger self steals his scenes. It feels like everyone steals his spotlight… which helps the film to give audiences the possibility to connect to them.
But Otto should have been played by someone not called Tom Hanks.

Babylon, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

It could have been so great. It could have been fantastic. It could have been one of the greats…. And then he decided to never end this film. The whole film is a love letter to old cinema that has fun with the history takes its subject seriously and shows the consequences of the old time’s fame. and if chazelle would have stayed true to his story and just focused on them it would have been already really meta… but nope he wants to take his idea one step bigger and instead making it greater he loses completely his focus. In the end you have wonderful 2,5 hours that are extremely well shot, acted, written and blocked. So, go to cinemas and enjoy it… but like its namegiver in the end it fell – gloriously.

The Girl from the Other Side, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

While watching THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE I couldn’t stop thinking about CAT SOUP, ANGEL‘S EGG and Terrence Malick. Because while I really don’t like Malick‘s approach of creating a nearly meditative atmosphere and his usage of emotion driven editing – I adore animation that does this same thing. And I was asking myself why the whole film long? THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE does just the same: Creates a nearly meditative atmosphere and transports you through emotion driven animation – using various styles, edits and forms and sounds. Like the other two animations nothing gets explained and you don’t need it: You just have to accept the world how it is and if you don’t understand it then you don’t! There’s no helping hand or narrator that guides easily through the story. And while you are watching it you start to get into this trance of feeling with them instead of just seeing it. But maybe by losing the human actor completely Malick will finally get me… even if I don’t think that he will ever do an animated film. But to stay with this one and to finally come to a point: This is a very unique piece of animation that I will revisit for some times just to always rethink my own interpretation of it… and I love that.

Aftersun, 2022, ★★★★★ - 5.0

The less you know about this one the better.
Go to your nearest cinema and watch it!

P.S. just one thing: Paul Mescal is a force of nature!!!

Avatar: The Way of Water, 2022, ★½ (contains spoilers) - 1.5

This review may contain spoilers.

So, let’s get the positives out of the way: It looks great. Check.
But it’s not important if I don’t care about a single thing that is happening on-screen. Has James Cameron forgot how to make films in the last 13 years or what happened? Oh my fucking god if I have to hear another Jake sully Voiceover I would catch the next flight to Pandora and make him shut the fuck up. Jesus fucking Christ let me watch this film in peace without the audio commentary explaining every little shit to me… I wouldn’t have been surprised if suddenly we would have gotten a sex scene and he would describe the feeling of his wife seriously to us viewers. And every dialogue is the most bland, most unsubtle thing I’ve heard in a long time. I’m watching a film not listening to an audiobook!
And I really understand the idea of a big family but dammit make them at least so different that you can always understand which one is which.
But that’s not all, why the hell is he just repeating the first film again and just adding plot points from other famous films… really you give me the the-baddie-is-my-daddy plotline – and even without the big reveal you just tell it to the audience. Why???
The pacing is all over the place, the editing jumps as it likes and the solution for everything is a deus ex machina… I mean suddenly they are Dr. Dolittling with the animals then another is doing the Naruto Gaara movements controlling stuff.. I didn’t expect a lot… but to be honest the only thing I want to do with this water is to flush it down… sry.

The Goldfish, 2019, ★★★ - 3.0

A simple and fun film that takes its characters seriously by not feeling sad for them but having fun with them. This is quite refreshing but also quite foreseeable – the actions don’t have real consequences and everything stays quite safe.
And that’s also the biggest flaw… the film does a lot of things greatly but it never becomes great. Like the name-giving fish it stays in its bowl and never leaves the safe space it creates for itself… just Jella Haase goes deeper than the other fishes – as always a delight to watch!

M3GAN, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

M3GAN could be seen as an intellectual successor of Chucky… and god does it succeed!!! The moment I read James Wan I understood what just happened. But of all the Wan-produced/written-films this might become my favourite. Why? Because this film returns to two horror traditions that I wasn’t sure to see ever again on the big screen: Political and Puppetry Horror. Let’s start with the political: The anti-capitalist agenda that this film follows is everything but subtle. From the first second you are able to understand that money reigns this world!
Together with the puppetry. Every “creature” of this film feels as if it has weight and stature. You’re really feeling that the actors aren’t playing agains blue walls and cubes.
But something I forgot to mention yet: It’s fucking funny. It’s such a great horror comedy – from the first frame on.
So, while the puppet is surely the star of this film…. They really cut her loose and went crazy.
So, enjoy this film with an ice cold cola and some popcorn, you’ll be in for a great time – with no strings attached.

Shotgun Wedding, 2022, ★½ - 1.5

So, first of all: Half a star is for the always wonderful Jennifer Coolidge that delivers every gag like the queen of comedy that she is! But the rest of the film is a weird mess of cliches and gags that really want to work that always miss either the timing or the punchline – by making it as obvious and easy to digest as possible! This could have been a fun Rom-com that doesn’t take itself seriously but this film takes itself pretty seriously even trying to insert a last minute twist etc. Why? Just be fun and don’t care! Because the first 20 minutes are the most lazy introduction into a film I’ve seen in a long time.. this shotgun just shoots blanks, sry.

Strange World, 2022, ★★ - 2.0

The more than fantastic creature designs aren’t saving this lackluster story with characters that I would normally expect from an old Illumination film… but surely not from a Disney film. There’s no subtlety in the whole process of storytelling making this a real bore. The people are clichés and the arcs even more… after being able to tell such sweet and tender stories about motherhood and daughterhood, I was expecting a lot from a new perspective to the whole manliness storytelling etc. But NOPE it’s all just the most simple of simple storytelling.
The only thing strange about this film is the surprise that something this mediocre comes out of Disney!

Athena, 2022, ★★★★★ - 5.0

Nothing beats the simplicity of the ancient Greeks. Love and hate between brothers in the midst of an all-put war that represents surpressed emotions towards the system… told through the eyes of soldiers from both sides of the conflict. It couldn’t be simpler! But it couldn’t be trickier either. If you strip down a story to these bare bones all you have is the vision of the director and this director is a madman. The sequences are exhilarating, stressful and I really don’t give a shit about one-takers etc. But to have a camera in the mid of all this chaos is already a triumph. What the fuck? Who is that crazy? But yeah we wouldn’t have shots that we have and we wouldn’t be as immersed as we are right now… dammit the worst thing about this film is that after its finished I just want to beat up some… you decide who…

Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

Ronald Dahl‘s already fabulous characters achieve a quirkiness, loveliness and sweetness through Minchin‘s songs that I wasn’t expecting at all. Furthermore, these songs weren’t just musical fodder – every song was great, worked for itself and gave the film another layer of personality. This is a combination I would love to see more of in the future… what would James and the giant peach sound if Minchin would write the songs for it. Just so that everyone has read it here first: I book four tickets for the first row!

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

Guillermo del Toro might have created one of the best if not the best adaptation of Pinocchio… without adapting it at all. He takes the core values, ideas, emotions and transports the whole story into his imagination. Creating a pure anti-war, anti-hate and even anti-fascist tale about the sometimes harsh and hard to understand love between fathers and their sons. Surely, some die-hard Pinocchio fans will have their problem with his changes and maybe miss some characters or be enraged by the introduction of others… but this is his Pinocchio and I love it.
The only thing that I didn’t like: You really didn’t need the songs. The music is great but the songs always seemed out of touch and weren’t even that good. Sry. (And I love Musicals dammit!)

The Muppet Christmas Carol, 1992, ★★★★½ - 4.5

I’m a bit late with this review because I’m lying sick in my bed… but that’s the best way to watch this feel good film that will always warm my heart and make me feel a little bit better, every time I watch it. And furthermore, it might be my favourite adaptation of the source material. I mean Gonzo as Charles Dickens is already a reason to love this.. in the past, the present and in the future.

Zola, 2020, ★★★★ - 4.0

Zola tells a crazy story in a really crazy way. The editing is wild and unconventional, the storytelling raw and fun and the acting is over the top but strangely still believable. It’s a wild ride and you should take a friend with you… or better not!

Pickman's Model, 2022, ★★★½ - 3.5

Lovecraftian in the best way but because of that also quite foreseeable… the actors played quite nicely and I’ve missed Ben Barnes but the rest was quite “normal” for a horror film. Not bad but also not overwhelmingly good.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, 2022, ★★★★½ - 4.5

So, James Gunn will obviously be missed at Marvel… In 45 minutes he told the best story in the entirety of phase four… funny, emotional and heartwarming… I’m really looking forward to what he’s going to do with DC and how much Marvel will bite their own ass that they’ve let such a talented creator leave…

Bones and All, 2022, ★★★★½ (contains spoilers) - 4.5

This review may contain spoilers.

So, I went into this with quite low expectations because most of my friends didn’t like this one… sry boys, I love this one! Like Ducournau’s masterpiece RAW, Guadagnino uses horror and the trope of cannibal films to tell something completely different: The emancipation from the sins and mistakes of our parents – overcoming transgenerational trauma. And while the idea of using horror and even the cannibalism surely reminded me a lot of RAW, another film was a lot more prominent in my mind: Hand of God. Why? Because it represents this specific moment between adolescence and adulthood. But while Sorrentino focuses on the loss of innocence by tragedy of the protagonist , Guadagnino creates two protagonists that have never known innocence. They just want to feel normal… in their bones and all!

P.S. The only thing I was missing: TOM WAITS!!!

Romeo & Juliet, 2021, ★★★½ - 3.5

Simple, straightforward and classic. Three things I like about my favourite Shakespearean interpretations. While I love Luhrman’s abundance in kitsch and chic, this really bareboned approach hooked me, as we’ll. It uses the limitations of a real stage for its advantage but also takes its liberties by guiding our eyes towards the essence. And right here is my little problem with this version: I’m not as easily losing myself in their world but not because of the bare one Settings etc. But because I’m feeling the directions, I can feel where I have to look where my gaze shall rest upon… and the flashforwards and the flashbacks destroy this simple version by bringing in cinematic elements that further disarray the whole experience. Sometimes it wants to be a film, sometimes an experience, sometimes an experiment, sometimes a play… but in the end all it has to be is just Romeo & Juliet.

Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel, 2022, ★★★★★ - 5.0

I never thought I would write this: the camerawork in this comedy special is fucking fantastic. Sam Levy that also worked on some of my favourites like Frances Ha, Ladybird and let’s not forget Kanye & Lil Pump’s Masterpiece: I love it! But now jokes aside. This might be the most personal, heartwarming and emotional comedy special I’ve ever seen. And… It’s funny as hell!!! I mean it’s still Jerrod Carmichael with his really dry humour – getting slowly more and more emotional. And the camera that always stays close to him just wants the audience to feel every little movement, every emotion he’s feeling. Burnham’s edit doesn’t give you any space to breath you are there right in front of him. When he’s looking into the camera, he’s looking right into you. There is no inbetween space. There’s no room for escaping his looks, his emotions. There’s no lies anymore. There’s just pure honesty!

Sexual Drive, 2021, ★★★★ - 4.0

While watching sexual drive I was reminded a lot of Todd Solondz’s Happiness – being a tamer Version focused on the various bizarre reasons for sexual awakenings. These three short films that are all connected by an angel of sexual drive that helps to evolve all of the protagonists into lustful people give a great introspective into human lust and sex. But even more it supports one main idea behind sex: Power is a central part of it. And while at first glance this stories are about sex, romance and hidden desires, far more do these stories tell something about power in relationships and how it can affect the passion – and fundamentally your sexual drive!

The Wonder, 2022, ★★★½ - 3.5

This film might have gotten a fourth star if it wouldn’t have started with this pretentious introduction. After that everything was told in a subtle and heartbreaking manner – creating a harsh world dictated by blind faith and sick ideologies and a bit of capitalism. And while the characters and the story were intriguing the introduction didn’t give me the opportunity to fully fall into this world – by making it pretty clear that I’m watching a film. So, I was asking myself why… instead of helping the film it took completely away making me question every scene and every action if there was some hint towards the audience… but all I wanted to do was to care about the figures and the story how I was told at the beginning and this telling might have killed the chance to do it.
This film could have been a wonder in midst of all the mediocre Netflix films… but instead it was just a film.

Slumberland, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

Sometimes it’s the right moment for the right film and this might be another situation like this… I was in need for something simple sweet and heartwarming. So, I tried my luck with Slumberland – scared that this would destroy my surely nostalgic view on the old cartoon that I adore. But nope it takes some elements of the classic and uses them in a modern and entertaining way. This isn’t the next big blockbuster but it tells a sweet little story in an enormous over the top way… and I loved every second of it. It has the feeling of a rollercoaster jumping from dream to dream but it’s an entertaining one. And if you’re not looking for the next cinematic masterpiece you’ll find some lovely two hours of feel good cinema here…
And if you don’t like it just use it as a nice way to slumber away…

El Planeta, 2021, ★★★★ - 4.0

El Planeta does something that I haven’t seen for a long time: it puts quirky characters into an unforgiving world. This contrast between a harsh world and the always positive demeanour of people that you’re not expecting to be happy creates a wonderful and unique experience. Everything from the editing to the camera work further accentuates the quirkiness while the worldbuilding always brings you down to earth – and never lets you forget that actions will always have consequences! Put this on Ribenin’s tab!

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, 2020, ★★★ - 3.0

Sweet little one-taker that uses its big science fiction idea to tell a nice little story about a guy who just wants a date. The characters are quirky and the premise interesting but they take it to a point where it slowly became obnoxious for me. The constant repetition was funny the first time but later on dragged the story – even at a runtime of 71 minutes. It surely does what it wants to do and makes you wonder how they filmed some things but that should never be the main thing I’d like to take away from a film. Technically this is a masterpiece but storytelling-wise it wasn’t my cup of tea for more than two minutes…

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, 2022, ★★★ - 3.0

WAKANDA FOREVER is a sweet and nice tribute to Chadwick Boseman, but fails a lot of the times as a coherent story and film. This surely is one of the better films of marvel’s phase 4… that hides the most interesting story between the lines and that could have been a great political film but chose to be action with a bit of drama instead. And this is the one thing that makes me really mad because everything points towards criticism towards colonialism and the fear that it creates… and how countries fight against each other instead of understanding that the worst enemy is the one watching. And somewhere in the writing, editing and animation process this part of the story was unfortunately lost. And its barebones are still feelable and visible but instead of using its special place to try something really new, WAKANDA FOREVER jumps back into old renowned marvel territory – with all its clichés.
And let’s hope they finally change… and don’t stay like this FOREVER

The Outside, 2022, ★★★★½ - 4.5

THE OUTSIDE reminded me a lot of the punk horrorcomedies by the early Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi. its quirkiness and over the top worldbuilding and characters made the horror even more effective – letting a giant horrific disaster crash into this picturesque life. And while you’re looking inside of your TV for answers… the outside becomes more and more disgusting. Hell Yeah!!!

The Autopsy, 2022, ★★★★ - 4.0

This until now is the one I’ve liked the most. It was different, intelligent and eerie. The idea was simple, the camera work was really great and the suspense was unique. The characters were interesting and intelligent, things that are pretty rare for these kind of horror films. It reminded me a bit of the autopsy of Jane doe and the vast of night – with a little bit of carpenter in it, as well. But in comparison to the graveyard rats this took its inspiration and created something new out of it that broke with expectations instead of going with them.

Graveyard Rats, 2022, ★★★ - 3.0

This Victorian-inspired horror film made more chuckle than it frightened me… but it felt on purpose. As if it was told as a horror black comedy. But I missed the subtlety everything was a bit too much on the nose. The look was great and interesting but it didn’t do anything new with this concept. It felt a bit like a graverobber taking some pieces from various graves… putting them together nicely – but you can still recognise uncle Price’s arm.

Lot 36, 2022, ★★★½ - 3.5

Simple direct horror short that has cheeky black humour on its tongue. The atmosphere was nice and the story was told greatly for such a short amount of time. It was just a bit predictable which is never good for a horror flick that wants to scare you. It was nice to watch but it wasn’t as scary as it could have been. But still a great start to the cabinet of curiosities.

Run Sweetheart Run, 2020, ★★★ - 3.0

What starts as an interesting metaphorical take on the idea of #notallmen turns into cliche… which is really sad because this could have been so much more and so much more effective than for example MEN. But in the third act it completely loses itself in an unnecessary plot that destroys nearly everything that was built beforehand: the tension, the characters and the meaning. Still it’s an interesting take on the genre and has some great ideas… but stays too safe in the end by making it too easy to digest – using nothing more than a trope! So better run…