marko_cro1 Reviews

End of the Century (2019)

A flop...

[2/10 · 19 December 2020]

One start for the movie. One additional star for cinematography. That's where my positive impressions stop.

See You Up There (2017)

French cinema at its finest!

[9/10 · 23 September 2020]

"See You Up There" is a beautiful and deeply moving story. I could not take my eyes off the screen from the first minute until the last scene. Everything about this French masterpiece is simply perfect: music, cinematography, costumes, directing, photography and acting. A must watch!

Giant Little Ones (2018)

Thought-provoking and inspiring!

[8/10 · 7 July 2019]

A great thought-provoking movie about what appears to be a series of little things in life, which turn out to be giant milestones that redefine our relationships, who we are, and whom we love. Excellent soundtrack, too!

God's Own Country (2017)

Even better Yorkshire version of Brokeback Mountain

[9/10 · 19 January 2018]

Finally a gay-themed movie with a plausible story and decent ending! Well developed characters, excellent acting and deep emotions. I loved it!

The Master (2012)

Disappointing

[5/10 · 8 December 2015]

I gave it 5 stars because I managed to watch it from the beginning until the end. What kept me watching were good performances of the two main actors and a beautiful photography. Other than that, the movie was slow, without direction and without any deeper message. Many long scenes with almost no dialogue are probably meant to be thought-provoking, but I could not detect any meaning in any of them. There is no real plot and nothing much happens throughout the whole movie. Even if it was loosely based on Scientology, the focus of the movie was nowhere near the cult itself; and we are repeatedly subjected to the main character's issues and his relationship with the Master. Really disappointing.

Horns (2013)

How did Daniel Radcliffe ever agree to be in this movie?

[1/10 · 13 October 2014]

The beginning of the movie is very misleading. It appears charming for a brief moment, with a mystery in the air. After 5-10 minutes you start asking yourself: 'Did I miss something at the beginning?'; 'Was I listening to the opening dialog carefully enough?'; or 'Should I rewind it and watch again?' This confusion keeps your attention for the following 30 minutes, but then strange things start to happen, and I don't mean strange in a good way... Rather strange in a 'what-the-heck' kind of way. Slowly, the movie starts going downhill... The plot, the characters, the music... you name it. The closer the end -- the more confused you get, asking yourself 'How did this movie turned into a horror, sci-fi, fantasy, gore... all mixed up, and badly at that?' I watched the last 10 minutes of the movie purely because I could not imagine how will they untangle that joke of a plot; and wrap it up. They did not disappoint me. The ending is spectacularly terrible and disappointing.

Release (I) (2010)

Painfully slow, amateurish and full of stereotypes

[1/10 · 26 June 2013]

This movie offered a promise of an unusual plot. That is where it stops. Even if you convince yourself that such a combination of characters and events could exist in real life, you will soon be disappointed with stiff acting, slow pace, unwanted scenes of symbolic dreams and too many flashbacks, jumping forward, more flash backs and more dreams. It all gets mixed up to the extent that you are not sure are we 'now', before, or before-before. All the stereotypes are there: a gay priest, butch female prison chief, an orphan with a history of sexual abuse, sadistic inmates, a hypocritical bishop, a dying brother, several shower scenes and a bloody ending. You get bombarded with improbabilities every step of the way: a boutique prison with less than 20 inmates, a love story between a prison guard and an inmate with regular sex in a prison cell, unexplained resurrection of a guy beaten to pulp whose skull was smashed against a solid ceramic sink, breaking it in two pieces, mysterious injection which knocks you out for two weeks and you wake up perfectly fit, a prison chief firing her staff on a request of an inmate janitor, and so on. I could not help myself thinking that most actors are gay friends of the movie directors/scriptwriters. If they were not effeminate, they were certainly too soft and unconvincing in their 'butch' roles. The main villain is simply boring. The only original moment in the movie was mercy killing by the priest. Hey, why use readily available lethal dose of morphine, and euthanize your dearest one quickly and painlessly, when we can drown them by force in a very unpleasant way and extend their agony? Finally, the ending -- famous ending of almost every gay-themed movie that I have ever seen... you guessed! It was not a happy one. However, there were plenty of scenes featuring dreamy green meadows, sunshine over idyllic towns and white clouds flying in the blue blue sky forever...

Infidèles (2009)

Empty, pointless and incredibly boring

[1/10 · 26 January 2013]

Being a gay man I am always embarrassed with a huge number of gay 'directors' who made so many bad gay movies. This one is a serious candidate for the top spot on the list of worst gay movies ever made. There is no story, although there are many of pointless dialogs such as ..'I am going to make coffee now. Would you like some coffee?'.. Two (only) actors speak English with annoying accents, occasionally switching to German for no particularly good reason. I am often willing to subject myself to a torture of watching a bad movie if there are some particularly hot scenes in it. Not here! The sex is explicit but lacks any passion, innovativeness or eroticism. If you take it as a porn movie -- it is a very bad porn, too. Half of the movie is dark; or blurry; or both. There are many long scenes of a pitch black screen; or a pitch black screen with small dots of light of two characters' burning cigarettes. There may have been intended deeper 'artistic' effect of these pitch-black-screen scenes; and the director may have wanted to engage us in some special atmosphere through sounds or dialogs... Had the dialogs been intelligent, meaningful or even comprehensible. It all got lost in a terrible quality of the sound; or in lines such as ..'i will have a cigarette first (and sex later)'.. Do not watch!

3 (2010)

Unique, moving, sensual simply beautiful!

[9/10 · 21 September 2011]

Unusual and, at the same time, uplifting story. Great acting and a well-directed movie. I am not sure if everyone who watched it will be touched in the same way I was, but -if people can overcome their stereotypes and simply enjoy the film- it will leave them with positive feelings and make them reflect on it long after the ending credits have rolled up. The story is not about your typical next door married couple that enters their middle-age era with all its fears, frustrations, joys, sorrows and life-changing truths. It is that same story but with an unexpected twist and a touching end. I am a happy gay man in a stable civil partnership. After a long period of a loving, monogamous and joyful 'marriage' we stepped into the same twilight zone of middle age, which evoked many questions, doubts and ridiculous thoughts. At the same time, and by some strange twist of fate, we met our Adam in real life and both developed feelings for him. Ever since we live in our own ménage à trios, which gives us many happy moments, pleasures and helps us to re-discovered ourselves.

One reviewer described it as painfully slow and full of empty self importance. I would say that Tom Tykwer cleverly combined some scenes without dialogue -but with much deeper meaning- with other elements that are very dynamic, colorful, erotically-charged or simply entertaining. The soundtrack gives it a perfect final touch. Brilliant photography.

If people think that they will miraculously skip their middle age in life, they should avoid this movie. Since that is biologically impossible -- watch the movie and you may learn something about the most fundamental issues that life brings half way down the road. Highly recommended!

Dung dot (2009)

Deeply touching movie

[8/10 · 13 January 2011]

This film is unique in its reflection of the war in Vietnam with all devastating effects on lives of people on all sides. It is not your typical black-and-white story of the good guys fighting the bad guys. It is not a Vietnamese version of Apocalypse Now, Platoon or Deer Hunter. Perhaps the nearest comparison is Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth, except Dung Dot (Do Not Burn) does not have as much of a storyline. While watching this film one feels more like listening to a long poem, illustrated by powerful pictures of beauty and horror. It is a true story of a young Vietnamese woman, a doctor who had recorded her thoughts in the midst of the killing, not knowing if she will live to see the next day. Although there is not much of a plot, the director somehow managed to create an emotional story which flows smoothly and grips your attention until the last minute. While the Vietnamese crew did a great job, most American actors were not convincing and looked fairly stiff. This is the main reason why I gave the film 9 stars instead of 10. It must be difficult to find good American actors in Vietnam; and on a Vietnamese budget. However, even that did not spoil the overall experience. Watch the film and you will learn what it must have felt like to be a 27-year old caught in the horrors of one of the worst wars of the twentieth century.