zaurjamilov Reviews

Skinamarink (2022)

Childhood nightmares come true

[10/10 · 6 January 2024]

It feels unbelievable that I decided to watch a movie with 4.8 grade on IMBD but I still gave it a try as it seemed to gather rather polarized reviews and I wanted to have my own opinion. Some call this movie pure crap, some perceive it as a new word in horror genre. And I don't believe that I am saying that... but I actually belong to the second category. Yes, I enjoyed very much the film with 4.8 grade on IMBD.

First of all, if you are into mainstream, story driven movies, don't even bother to try "Skinamarink". The film is pure impressionism on a screen with a very thin plot. Ever tried to define secret meanings of abstract figures on Malevich or Kandisnkiy paintings? This is pretty much the experience movie provides you with. Repetitive, hypnotic shots of lurking shadows spiced up with some Lynchian vibes from "Eraserhead". This, on a surface, tiring experience of observing dream like sequences with nonlinear plot provides with some serious pay off as you are falling down the rabbit hole towards nightmarish culmination. It is the matter of question whether the audience will have patience to reach it to the end, making this trip not for everyone. However, hate it or love it, you can't deny how atmospheric this experience is.

On a surface it is the story about demon tormenting kids in locked house. Sublimely it is also story of anxiety from alienation, inability to control events around you and even abuse. Torments grounded in more relatable horrors of real life where supernatural exists as a coping mechanism in fractured children minds. The degree of abuse is left to audience's imagination which is gut-wrenching as disturbing imagery particularly towards the end of the movie doesn't leave much space for anything hopeful.

Most of us have been there at least at least mildly at some point in life. Parents having an argument in the next room, sounds of TV in your bedroom are suppressing the shouts. You lay on a bed covered up with the blanket and the shadows in the corners start to feel more alive and real than anything around you. Kyle Ball nailed this feeling so well and atmosphere of nightmarish sequences from old, forgotten childhood are crafted to such skillful extent which even experienced directors often don't reach in their cinematic techniques. From directional perspective, this film debut is surely a success.

Its only sensible drawback is, as many mentioned, the length. As much as I adored experimental style, even I couldn't help but feel that the movie was stretched in the middle. I am sure director would be able to defend every single shot, however the cinematic style he picked suited badly for a full feature movie. The film dangerously balances between hypnotic and repetitively boring. For me it mostly didn't cross the edge, but for many it did.

With a 40 min length the movie for sure would get a much warmer welcome from general audience. I also think that a bit more variety of camera work here or there would shake the things up without spoiling movie's concept. Nevertheless, this $15k film from amateur director stirring some serious noise within horror fan community means something.

I can only hope that "Skinamarink" will follow "Eraserhead" not only in style but in fate as well - being the first film in long filmography of new successful movie director. Because talent of Kyle Ball, his ability to manage experimental imagery and effectively portray on screen challenging material are obvious.

For me it is 7/10 however, as the movie is severely underrated, I will mark it as 10/10.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Solid but still doesn't match potential

[8/10 · 18 November 2016]

"Fantastic beasts and where to find them" was, for the most part, a fantastic experience indeed. Bright, colorful, with the magical world probably more fleshed out than in any previous Harry Potter movies. Probably the best film about HP universe since "Prisoner of Azkaban". They really had to deviate from boring Harry (sorry Daniel) and his repetitive confrontations with Voldemort to make the story shine again. Instead of Voldemort we have Grindelwald now. Luckily Johnny Depp didn't lose any charms since his Mad Hatter and Jack Sparrow roles. He is a persuasive antagonist and I am very excited to see him more in future movies. But J.K. Rowling proved us on numerous times (with the first 3 books) that she doesn't need any concrete villain to make the story worth to be told. With Grindelwald having only a cameo appearance, there is still barely a scene in the movie which will make you stay bored. The last battle is spectacular – luckily much better than average Harry Potter and Voldermort fight scenes in the eights movie. Plot holes are present but forgivable.

My only concern is as always: yes, David Yates is still directing the movies. I don't know why producers keep calling him but he certainly does NOT know how to make a good fantasy movie. He neither feels "Harry Potter" nor can add life to the story and make it special. He is not a bad movie director but not a particular talented one as well. Fantasy is just not his genre and his limited directory skills prevented this movie (and all 4 previous ones he directed) from becoming something truly special. We have a talented story told by not quite talented storyteller. But the truth is – spectacular world created by J.K. Rowling deserves so much more. Given that, we stay with enjoyable but unfortunately easily forgettable picture. We have all technical elements (graphics, special effects, plot, acting) on a superb level. But bad directing prevents it all from tying together into something which could ultimately become a new benchmark for any new upcoming movie in fantasy genre.

I cannot help but to remember recent "Miss Peregrine's peculiar children" by Tim Burton. Without any explosions and significant special effects, Tim Burton once again made me believe that magic is real over and over again with every single scene. Not sure what cocktail we would have with mixing Tim Burton (who can also make disappointing movies sometimes - Alice in Wonderland, Mars attacks) and Harry Potter universe, but I do think that director of "Miss Peregrine", "Big Fish" and "Edward Scissorhands" could add charm, magic and heart to "Fantastic Beast" movies – something that this movie lacks.

Despite of another fail from David Yates, pretty much the whole team making this movie did a great job. Special thanks to J.K. Rowling for a wonderful script.

Solid 8 out of 10.

Ali and Nino (2016)

A small story with big heart.

[10/10 · 8 November 2016]

Strong story, beautiful directing, talented team of actors. This is a very solid historical drama which will appeal not only to patriotic Azerbaijanis but to all genre lovers.

Historical Baku was really well recreated. The shots of historical part of Baku and Caucasus mountains are gorgeous- this paired with splendid costumes make "Ali and Nino" visually a very beautiful movie. Asif Kapadia is an Oscar winning director and you can easily feel it in the movie as directing quality certainly above the average.

The cast is very multinational: Palestinian Arab Adam Bakri seems believable as a son of Azerbaijani khan. Spanish Maria Valverde is charming as Nino and easily evokes from viewers sympathy.

The culture of the East was well shown in the movie, revolution and fight for independence scenes, despite of low budget, are well executed- impressive and tragic as they should be. The last scene on the bridge is wonderful and definitely will burst a lot of people to tears.

My only concern is that movie is really short- only 1.5 hours. Way too little to show such a complicated time period of Azerbaijani history (overthrowal of monarchy and fight for democratic independent republic). You just cannot help but wish for story to slow down and take its time to show more details, maybe add more characters and make it much more than just Ali and Nino story.

But that little what was shown was great as well. Hopefully BBC will watch this movie one day and extend it to miniseries because story still has so much in it and it is definitely too good to be told in such fast and general manner.

It potentially could be a second "Gone with the Winds". But it wasn't due to short length and somewhat shallow portrayal of Eastern culture and historical background. But it is a very strong historical drama movie anyways. Beautifully shot and most importantly- it has a heart. It will bring you smile, test your nerves, brig tears- and sometimes all at once in one scene.

If you are familiar with Azerbaijan only via Eurovision and recent European Olympic games, I definitely recommend to watch this movie. It is a great opportunity to get familiar with early stages of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic formation and to grasp heart and soul of the nation.

10 out 10

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013–2014)

Doesn't shine as its parent's premier did but still promising

[8/10 · 15 October 2013]

Of course it is early so far to say in confidence yet but based on this episode premier: this is the first more and less decent Alice in Wonderland adaptation since my all-time favorite version of 90's with Tina Majorino and Martin Short. This is a sequel to the original book, so not a direct adaptation just like recent Tim Burton's version was. It is OUaT's version of Wonderland but I am glad that so far this spin-off is more Alice Wonderland rather than Once Upon a Time.

Wonderland – the main asset of the original book is the world itself. Considering that it is only a TV show and, judging by OUaT, not the richest one in budget terms, I prepared for the worst but hoped for the best. In terms of special effects, the reality turned out to be… if not quite the second one but still pretty close. I loved almost everything: from deem and gloomy Asylum where Alice's path in the series began (surprisingly, directors didn't try to save money even there: quite many parts of the Asylum are completely CGI made) to the dreamlike surreal landscapes of Wonderland. CGI is not better than it was in the first season of OUaT but in this context, little graphical details only add dreamlike delusional feel to the world Alice appears in. To my taste, Burton's version of Wonderland was way too detailed, it was way too fleshed out. So fleshed out that it lost its "dream" feel which certainly was in the book and was supposed to be in the adaptation. I hope the readers, especially fans of the original book, follow my logic here. Usually I am against bad CGI but here it actually served the dreamy and surreal context of the world.

All in all, I liked the creativity of graphical design, I liked that the amount of special effects in just this one episode is more than in the first 2 seasons of OUaT all together, I liked the carefulness with which the creators have approached this particular book adaptation: they managed to preserve the adventurous feel of the parent show but also didn't lose the overall book atmosphere which I so hoped to see in this story. Even if you don't care about surrealism and the book, if you were fine with the CGI quality of OUaT season one, you should be fine here also.

Actors- to those who say that the acting was bad: I disagree. Sophie Low shows us the finest Alice performance I have seen in a while- definitely better than Mia Wasikowska's performance. Sorry but where the heck was Sophie when Burton was making his movie? Sophie and Mia both perform a mature version of book Alice but in quite similar ways with an exception that Sophie actually acts and her mimics change. Her talking style and behavior is a bit modern, to my taste (I just don't believe that this girl was raised in Victorian London) but maybe I am bit picky here. Overall, solid performance of the main protagonist. Michael Socha, who plays the Knave of Hearts, didn't open up quite yet (neither in acting nor as the character) but it seems that the script writers do have couple As in their sleeve regarding this character for future episodes – and I will be waiting. Peter Gadiot (Cyrus) plays his part in the show well enough but just to the point. His performance is not superb but neither the script so far demands it. Loved the white rabbit (voiced by fabulous John Lithgow), just want to see him more and more. The new version of Cheshire Cat was… odd but I still was glad to see one of my most loved characters right in the first episode. Despite of slightly altered personality, this cat still didn't lose its charm and I do hope we are not done with him yet. More cat and the rabbit!

Emma Rigby as the Red Queen (Red Queen, not Queen of Hearts) is the only one from the cast who slightly disappoints with her wooden acting (in this sense, can't help but compare Rigby to fabulous Helena Bonham Carter and not to the merit of the first one). However, the actress is pretty (so are her dresses) and her character doesn't irritate which is already something. Appearance of Jafar takes by surprise but it was a joy to see Naveen Andrews on a screen one more time. After all, with the wooden Red Queen around, charismatic Jafar is exactly what we needed (well, I needed for sure at least).That it is with the cast. Let's hope together for Hershey and Stan's at least cameo appearances in future episodes. No Alice adaptation is fun without the Hatter and Queen of Hearts!

Story – again, too early to judge yet but so far it seems to be more complicated than the Burton's version. After 2010 Alice in Wonderland, which disappoints terribly with its simplicity, any plot differentiated with at least a bit of creativity will be met with applause by me. And so far the first episode promises to provide us with something special.

Outcome- so far not great but quite decent. Worth attention, worth watching: if you are a fan of the parent show Once Upon a Time, if you are a fan of the original book (adaptation is not perfect but point me the one which is), if you are neither of the first two mentioned but you just like fairy tales. Who knows?- if you didn't like OUaT you still might like this spin-off. It is fun, it is fresh, it is adventurous. It is a new story and more and less meticulous adaptation of the book. For that – thanks to the creators. Seems that it is going to be a fun ride and I, personally, can't wait to see what this roller coaster hides behind the corner.