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Reviews
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Exceptional! Phenomenal! Legendary! Sad. Underrated?
Everything in this film oozes class. Storytelling, performances, opening scene, final scene, action, memorable dialogues, everything. It's kind of a shame I didn't know about this movie for the longest of time. I actually got interested from a trailer of the upcoming movie in the franchise. I knew a bit about the movies but never watched or cared enough to know where it all started from. Well, now I know and I am absolutely hooked! The thing about this movie is it's not boring for a single second. A lot of stuff happens, I am not spoiling anything, but that ending could well be in top 5 endings in cinema history, wooow. I don't know why it's not talked about more honestly. Now I see it has less than 200k ratings here. I seriously believe it is something comparable to all those movies people still talk about today like Alien or Star Wars. Probably it has been done dirty by not having good enough sequels, but that could change, the new movies are pretty popular and from what I know are pretty decent too. I'm probably going to watch them in the next few days. I'm a fan now! 100% recommend this magnificent movie.
The Zone of Interest (2023)
Nothing happened? Nothing!
Look, I see the high grades and I can kind of see why. But come on!!! Is it normal to look at a movie that has absolutely no plot? I guess it's creative, it's clearly not badly made per se but it just does nothing. I can confidently say I learned nothing from this movie and I will forget it in a couple of months. I will give it one thing though, I think I got the main idea at least - the hypocrisy in absolutely everything seen. That's very very well portrayed. But should I lie to myself that I enjoyed this one just because of that? No! A movie without a plot has to do something truly mesmerising to be considered a masterpiece, this one doesn't. There were a few good performances especially by the leading lady but it's just not enough. To be honest the more I think about this movie the more I like it but that doesn't change the fact that I fought to stay awake midday. Not bad but not my cup of tea, sorry.
Chappie (2015)
Chappie is so wholesome and a Real G!
Look, there are movies that have something special helping them overcome their imperfections. I was so pleasantly surprised with this movie and I actually don't understand a lot of the low ratings. Yes, the gangster characters look very shallow at the start, there are other flaws too not worth discussing. But OMG what a star Chaplie is! In the scenes where he stole the cars and talked like a gangster I genuinely laughed so much, it was hilarious. There were all types of moments - sad, wholesome, funny, everything you need really. Chappie not understanding why people hurt each other and being upset and furious about it hit deep in my opinion. And for once, FINALLY A HAPPY ENDING, honestly I really feel like good old happy endings have become fewer and fewer ( not always a bad thing but sometimes you just miss them ). If anybody deserved a happy ending it was certainly Chappie, I'm proud and happy with him. Also, don't forget y'all can't mess with my homeboy cuz he a real G! One last thing, putting gangsta chains on a robot is probably the silliest and most hilarious thing I've ever seen, thanks for reading, bye!
Napoleon (2023)
Sadly a disappointment...
I thought to just rate it a 7/10 but I looked up my list and found out that I loved the movies I rated a 7 more. So what's wrong with this film? Well, quite a lot of things when I really think about it. What have you done, Ridley? At first I thought surely Ridley Scott of all people will massively step up on a theme such as Napoleon. Spoiler alert - he didn't. Josephine? Come on man, of all things we could have seen? This is freaking Napoleon, one of the greatest generals ever, a megalomaniac, the Ceasar of France!!! Some of the greatest battles happened under his rule. The fighting scenes were truly disappointing. What were you thinking, Ridley? "Surely nobody will care about some of the most glorious battles of all time such as Austerlitz and Vaterloo, or the road to Moscow, EVERYBODY WANTS TO SEE FREAKING JOSEPHINE, BROTHER!" Another problem was Joaquin Phoenix, he was lost, that was not his role, it should have never been him, it just didn't work, no disrespect to his genius of course. The worst thing of all though, the pacing of this damn thing. Almost 3 hours. That's alright, the theme of the movie allows it. But you dragged some of the most boring stuff to go through the most important things about Napoleon in mere minutes. I don't get it, I never will. I don't hate the movie by any means... it's just not what it should have been! It should have been a tour de force! It should have been glorious and mesmerising! It should have been like Gladiator! It should have been a masterpiece! It wasn't! A movie which we should have been talking about for decades is ultimately... a disappointment!
Zemya (1957)
How greed ruins a man and everything around him!
Let's start with the fact that I am born in 2001. I grew up in a village but the village was way different of course. For me this is such a mesmerising film. Made more than 65 years ago it gives you a sneak peak into a world that for better or worse does not exist anymore. Some absolutely beautiful scenes where you can see authentic houses and landscape. From a technical point of view the movie is excellent. The director is clearly of world class quality. Camera angles were top notch, you can find as good but I doubt better in only the greatest films. I'm stunned because I didn't expect that much and I found an absolute masterpiece. I believe the film is well forgotten and I've never heard or seen anything about it ever which is an absolute shame. Way worse movies are considered Bulgarian classics. Hopefully someone else reads this and watches this glorious film, it's a true work of art!
Identity (2003)
This is how you make a thriller!
If someone told me to show them an exciting and suspenseful movie with great acting and genuinely good structure as a whole this would probably be it. I really don't see any particular weakness in this movie, it's such an all rounder in my opinion. It is not overly complicated which makes it an easy watch. At the same time I believe it has all the qualities of a top notch thriller. It is not "12 Angry Men" but it is just really really great at what it tries to achieve. Real quality and most importantly proper execution of the idea. Having big name actors also helps. To me everyone from the main character to the guys deciding the faith of the murderer were well selected and had strong performances. I highly recommend this one!
Koziyat rog (1972)
Because we deserve revenge, but also love!
Everything starts with a violent act on a family. A little girl is forced to watch 4 pigs raping and murdering it's mother. From then on the girl is raised as a boy from her caring father with the thought of protecting her, but also plotting a revenge. Years go on, Maria is now a young woman, the revenge is in full force. Meanwhile Maria meets a man and falls in love with him, her gentle and womanly nature could not be stopped by her father. Multiple times she fails to kill one of the rapists because she watches in amusement a love between two young souls. After multiple disputes with her father she finally goes and kills the last rapiat in cold blood just so she knows this revenge story is finally over and she could finally give everything to the man she loves. Unfortunately her father wouldn't understand and after she sees Maria with the man, he kills him in his sleep after she goes home. On the next day she goes to the man's house and sees him killed. She sees the goat horn and understands it was her father. She burns the house and walks in it to die together with her beloved one. The father sees it but it's too late, he manages to get her out but she's already dead.
I am torn on this one. It's obviously tragic and obviously a masterpiece. I would put it right next to Citizen Kane in a list of the greatest movies ever, I think it's that good. But should I forgive Kara Ivan? In his way of protecting, he killed his daughter. So many tropes in this one. Slavery, revenge, inequality. I choose to remember this one for the undying, beautiful and gentle woman nature that can endure the toughest of times and put on the greatest of fights. Mesmerising movie! Undoubtedly one of the best, not just Bulgarian, but in the whole world. Watch it!
Trimata ot zapasa (1971)
A story about growth!
The path these 3 men walk to transform themselves from fools to real soldiers and heroes. At the beginning you have 3 fools knowing almost nothing about war, but through struggles and tragedies they become real warriors. Acting was on point, especially from the three main men. Great movie,
I recommend.
Wo hu cang long (2000)
I just don't know
Very hard movie for me to rate. It's both good and pretty bad in my opinion. The plot is the main part of a movie, and oh boy was that dumb for me personally. It was kinda intriguing, yet weird. What saved it for me was everything else. Cinematography was very good, music was perfect and the performances of the actors were decent to good. Overall I feel a bit generous giving it a 7/10 but that's just me. I believe if I was closer to the chinese culture I would have loved this movie, maybe even ignore the outrageously stupid and totally illogical special effects. If that is not a problem for you it will be much easier to watch it, for me personally it was way too much nonsense. My opinion will remain split on this movie but I will never consider it a masterpiece with such a weak plot. Yet, if you are looking for a visually pretty cool movie packed with action it could work for you.