Change Your Image
impactdown
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
A spy movie that's really worth watching
Nope, the speech isn't going about the black old man named Ben whose smiling face I used to see on rice packages or ketchup bottles back in 90's. The man from U.N.C.L.E is a spy, either the Russian or the American one. I was born in Russia so I prefer the first variant (kidding). Strangely but to eliminate ambiguities for Russian movie goers the original name was translated into "The Agents from U.N.C.L.E." Well this story goes about special agents again.
Guy Richie's spy comedy comes from the half-remembered eponymous series. Two hours picture is about two high profile agents from the USSR and the USA who had to bury the hatchet to cooperate against the well-off fascist remnants elaborating mysterious atomic bomb of a new kind. In the early 60's we walk from misty Eastern Berlin to sunny Rome to the soft Italian pop music of those days and watch a very stylish image of many subgenres. Henri Cavill (you know that Man of Steel) as a natty con artist Napoleon Solo, representing himself a mixture of James Bond and Archer, working for CIS and his colleague from KGB, smart man machine Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer, if you remember Lone Ranger) mocking each other for their differences in methods or technical equipment during the mission. The humor which Mr. Richie has been never lack of is witty, sometimes dark but always relevant and fills almost every frame so you have no time to get bored.
Hats off to Richie for the Russian character free from stereotypes widespread in the most of other Hollywood movies. The Russian man from U.N.C.L.E. has even more common with Steve McQueen than with the odious pseudo Russians such as Ivan Drago from Rocky or Ivan Danko in Red Heat. Richie consolidates all his knowledge and feelings about Russians who he showed in most of his filmography (don't you forget Boris the Razor?!) and made a real KGB Russian man of the past. It's significant that Richie equitably depicts two men of different nationalities and ideologies so we can empathize with them both equally. During the well-directed action scenes one character completes another and when it comes to help each man reveals compassion and bravery to save his partner. However it's not only around two heroes in the movie. Here we have a young and pretty British undercover detective Gabi (Alicia Vikander) who has to play a role of Kuryakin's charming wife according to their plan. Don't reckon to see a bed scene between fake marriage partners. Russian and British agents just attempted to kiss whereas the hotter part is given to Napoleon Solo and vamp woman Victoria (Elizabeth Debicki), lady boss. The small part is taken by Hugh Grant who's like the icing on the cake with dark sheds. Among the other actors you will also meet posh speed cars, nice suits and lots of Italian moustaches.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is the vivid image with the smell of vintage. Style is ubiquitous throughout the plot. The director elaborated every detail down to the bits, each item corresponds to the time shown on the screen: attire, weapon, cars, bugs and spy technics. The movie is relaxing. You know that at the end everybody will be alright so sit back and enjoy the movie. Watching it is like savouring the wine. Red as the opening titles.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. reminds John Sturges's or Robert Aldrich's men-on-a-mission classics. With Richie's recognizable dynamic montage the picture stands out from the stream of spy movies. Brisk, funny, dynamic – it makes you laugh or keep a breath or even think a minute that it doesn't matter who you are, a bolshie or a cowboy. The truth is that someday here will come a real enemy you can knock down only together.
Shoping-tur (2012)
Somewhere far away...in Finland
Shopping Tour is a unique case in the Russian cinematography. Regarding the lack of "genre film" notion as such in the Russian film industry, Mikhail Brashinskiy's product is one of a kind. This is a low budget movie written, sponsored and shot by Mikhail in association with his Finnish friends. We deal with the genre of horror done in the style of found footage on a camera phone. The movie didn't get high ratings among Russian viewers. It was simply underrated. This horror is not something outstanding but definitely fresh.
In the center of the story there are single mother and her teenage son who is given a mobile phone as a present on which he records events taking place during the development of the action. Relationships between mum and her offspring are not so good, so she decides to take a trip to Finland by touristic bus in order to reach a compromise with her kid. At the outset of the movie all things go smoothly and nothing horrible is in the view. Mother and son have often arguments revealing their family problems on the way to Finland. Soon the pace changes, when after having crossed the board they call at the department store which is according to the guide open for tourists only one night a year. This store has special offers and reductions on all imports. The Russians love squandering money, so they happily scatter along the vast store in search of bargains. Hardly anyone of them guess this building is a trap and they all are prey for a horrible feast. The point is that only one night every year prior to the old national tradition the Finnish of all genders and ages hunt for foreigners in order to eat them. So the feast breaks out right in the store, and mum with son must run to save their lives. No one knows how strong can be a woman and brave a 15 old boy and what both can do against the cannibals. Escape from the feast will not be easy but worth to be seen.
One of the peculiarities of the movie is that there no rivers of blood shown. Mikhail doesn't focus on visual effects. The thing which makes you blood freeze is suspense. You never know whether man speaking Finnish gibberish is an ordinary human or a cannibal going to fall on the main characters with roar. Take as an instance the scene where a bent cop (this pun is relevant) drives the duo in an unknown direction to the Finnish punk rock. It has to be said that you can not but empathizing mother as if she were your own in the grisly conditions. Emotional effect is achieved by the changing in relationships between mum and son. The extraordinary conditions have them stick together and they especially change the boy who begins feeling compassion on his mother.
Shopping Tour is a mixture of horror and drama with an open ending. Some scenes of violence really thrill. Besides there is something to laugh at. You should be ready for everything. And if you are ready to watch this movie and have an opportunity for it, take it right away!
The Possession of Michael King (2014)
Devil is under your skin
Since The Blair Witch Project mockumentary horror movies are getting more popular every year. Today documentary is part and parcel of the horror and both of them likely guarantee box office hits. Here are overt reasons of the tendency: mockumentary is the best way to impact through the prism of reality. Simple HD camera is able to help achieve this effect. And it's cheap and easy, especially for debutants such as David Jung, director of the new horror mockumentary The Possession Of Michael King.
The story goes about a handsome widower named Michael King living in the City of Angels, who doesn't believe neither in angels nor in demons, atheist in brief. Once upon a time driven to anger after death of his wife he decides to prove that religion and black magic are both no more than opiate of the masses and of course he sets a goal to make a film about that. He takes his camera on and starts experiments with his body, mind and soul. We follow him through interviews with weird people calling themselves demonologists, necromancers and exorcists. Michael wants to prove the absence of God and Evil in a strange way - by submitting himself to terrible satanic cults and ridiculous rituals of demon evocation. Drugs and body cuts seem to be funny and Michael grins. At the beginning our hero treats all his experience sarcastically making us sure that spiritual powers are really bullshit. You do believe his reasonable arguments until first indications of Michael's possession by an ancient demon
And it ain't funny anymore.
The movie is not original. During the run of the picture you might conjure up many horror films from your childhood. The picture itself from soup to nuts represents a collage of the classic horrors you know. Here are references to the movies like Chainsaw Massacre or Exorcist. It's not a secret the last one is a stem of almost all devil-in-body movies for the last 40 years. But The Possession absorbed all well-known clichés up to the finale. And it's the greatest weakness of the whole project.
Though the picture has many exploitation moments that may sicken you or even make you close your eyes for a while. Jung doesn't apply galore special effects. At least you don't meet any monsters and other ghastly creatures. He just tries to thrill with sounds, visual distortions, crazy Michael's monologues on his camera and levitation around the room at times. But all these tricks are less impressive than the perfect performance of Shane Johnson. His acting scares more than even bloody hand hanging from the ceiling in the child's room. Johnson's character goes through all stages of mental and physical degradation in the way you can feel with you skin. Any other characters have no values. All of them including the dog are just prey or rascals like the priest who refused to help possessed Michael.
The Possession of Michael King is good to watch with friends for once only. Scary thing to refresh your memories of all you have seen before. Will they watch Jung's movie in a year or 10 years? What life expectancy do such found-footage films have in general? Let's take a breath and wait till another one. But now you should learn the lesson – never play with the devil.