MuffinMan747 Reviews

The Promised Land (1975)

When your ultra rich see what's wrong with the nouveau riche...

[10/10 · 6 July 2022]

This film follows a land owner who wasn't happy with the changes the, late by many accounts, industrialization in easter Poland brought to the society.

Buckle up for a heavy ride, where you cannot give up watching for a moment to chill out.

Oh, did i mention that the author was a land owner, whose family never had to work, and said family supported arts "by default"? That is right, commies only picked up a topic started by the ultra rich, who saw the social changes as wrong. Watch the film on *how* wrong the society was.

If you don't like my heated up social commentary, just watch it for the scenes of 19th century factories. "To the machines", screams the foreman after an accident that "dirtied a very valuable cloth with worker's blood".

My Blood, Your Blood (1986 TV Movie)

Priceless insight, quality material

[8/10 · 15 June 2021]

A priceless insight into a music festival behind the Iron Curtain long before anyone could predict that it all would collaps in three years. IT shows the music as it is quite close, yet may seem so far. Spiler warning: if you don't like subtitles, go elsewhere: subtitles are provided for lyrics of the songs featured, whcih can give you an intersting insight into the phenomenon as a whole.

From the technical point fo view, The documentary really doe pay attention to little details, there are no corners cut, in shoirt: good filming job.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

If you still think that Tarantino's got the talent, you may watch this.

[5/10 · 3 April 2010]

I am trying to find anything in this guy, but fail to find it from film to film. This one is not the worst one, but just the usual teenage flick he is able to produce.

Watch it for fun, but don't expect anything spectacular. A couple of people trying to do something to Germans in France - my god, how original. Please, save your money and see something else, unless you're really bored. Your date may like it though, because it has Brad Pitt.

Tarantino is still riding on the popularity of Pulp Fiction. A disgrace. I am trying to find anything in this guy, but fail to find it from film to film. This one is not the worst one, but just the usual teenage flick he is able to produce.

Czterej pancerni i pies (1966– )

Bad communist propaganda

[3/10 · 13 June 2006]

Face it, you may have a sentiment towards this series, but ... A Polish tank team being friends with Russians, four years after Russians invaded Poland, that's weird... Something isn't right, and it's only one example. Another one: Janek trying to overcome the age limit to join the army, that's supposed to be a good example for young viewers? The crew seems to be little dependent on their commander, they seem to go wherever they want, how realistic is that?

On top of that, the series is filled with shameful pro-soviet propaganda, which always made me feel like I was watching just another "wonderful" Mosfilm production.

As for me, the sentiment won't help - this film is simply BAD.

Jancio Wodnik (1993)

Magic and wonderful

[8/10 · 7 April 2006]

Magic realism. Reality mixed with weirdness. a Normal story intertwined with strange elements. (but not "strange" as defined by "The Eraserhead" etc.). Nice altogether. Someone wrote "wonderful" - that's it (but of course not the Disney "wonderful").

I would like to recommend it, but would not know what to compare it to. Strange but funny and real at the same time. Not too 'artsy', actually, not 'artsy' at all. Lots of funny clashes between the protagonist and the reality outside. "Oh, Jesus crucified.". "No, welded".

Slightly in the style of what GG Marquez could have written (less magic though).

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Look for the unusual

[10/10 · 17 September 2005]

I rarely give a film the maximum 10 points, but after seeing The Big Lebowski probably close to ten times I'm sure it deserves the 10. You might wander what is really going on in that film and why do so many people praise it when to you it seemed boring, didn't it? The film didn't really seem interesting after the first viewing, but when I saw it the second, third time (repeats on cable TV), I realized I was expecting some kind of a plot. But there's hardly any in the film. Instead, the film is full of brilliant dialogs, comic situations, "the female form" and sree lingonberri pancakes. Actually, if I was to quote my favorite lines from the film, it would probably take half a page.

And the film doesn't fail to entertain after the first viewing, because there are so many hidden comic situations that one must really see the film a few times to notice. If you This is not the usual type of comedy, though. Can't tell more, or I might spoil your fun.

Brilliant, really brilliant, and in my opinion very unusual as for an American film. Pay attention to the dialogs and small details.

Love Stories (1997)

Definitely worth your attention.

[9/10 · 14 February 2004]

Stuhr has been a famous actor for years, but this is only the second film where he is on both sides of the camera. The film depicts stories from lives of 4 people. I'd like to say "love stories", but you might think this is a melodrama. It's not. It's a very fresh and unusual view of life problems. Men in their 40's facing important choices that may influence their lives or careers.

What I like most about the film would probably be considered a fault by "cinema lovers". The film uses simple techniques and avoids overblown form. It's rather a prose of life than artistic poetry. It also say what I always thought: the simpler you are, the smaller your problems. The Thief's problems are the least complicated. He's the only winner, the three other men are losers.

Summarizing, the film has a few faults, but it's original, and personally I see those faults as advantages. I give it a promising 7/10.

Our Folks (1967)

Horrible

[3/10 · 8 February 2004]

This movie glorifies the worst stereotypes of migrants from eastern Poland: lazy, argumentative, unable to find consensus even with the closest neighbour. I myself cannot find anything funny in this kind of behaviour. What's real is not funny. Comedies rely on exaggeration, which Mis (Poland, 1980) is the best example of, but this one is not so much exaggerated. Fortunately there are better examples of Polish culture.

Suggested solution: recycle all copies.

Bowling for Columbine (2002)

No, it doesn't NOT deserve five stars!

[7/10 · 7 February 2004]

Yes, Moore talks about guns. Yes, he finds good arguments. But it's supposed to be a documentary, not a Moorecentric show! As much as I agree with Moore's views, I cannot stand the fact that Bowling for Columbine is horribly biased! Be it biased on my side or on opponents side, it's not a proper documentary.

As for the show, Moore deserves five stars for finding new and more original arguments about the gun culture in the US. It also gives us, on the other side of the ocean, a view on the problem. It's scary to see that one can (could?) easily buy ammo in a grocery store.

The Cruise (1970)

Exceptional by mistake (but not a mistake itself!)

[10/10 · 7 February 2004]

How to write about a film seen by almost everybody and one that has many legends around it?

(Slight spoilers ahead)

The film is hilarious, because it manages to operate on several levels. What you see is a simple plot, but the film manages to fit simple, funny scenes with something deeper and more thought provoking. You may be laughing at a scene/character, only to realize after that what was originally shallow humor turned into a trip of a drunk writer. Haha, now the crew is laughing at you.

And the drunk side is very present in the film. No, it's not day of a drunk bum. It's rather the feeling of a drunk writer. You have characters that appear once, not to be seen again (were they forgot?). You have sudden digressions about ancient Greek aspects of physical exercises or Dutch painters by the Professor, or comments about sport by the sportsman... who repeats his line twice, because the actors were amateurs who were told what was being shot was was just a trial, not the final version. But don't worry, the film is not a documentary about a village theatre group.

This is not a typical comedy with a single star or a duo. The film makes fun of most of its characters. The Professor is almost boring (yet his digressions add another dimension to the film), the Engineer is full of his degree (always introducing himself as 'engineer Mamon'), his wife is pompous (because her husband is an Engineer!), the Worker pretends to understand more difficult words, and the Art & Entertainment Officer is the last to know anything about art, let alone management skills. The only one who seems normal is the Capitan. Yet they are all hilarious.

This is probably one of a few Polish films which could be translated. It does rely on Polish reality, and quite a lot on communist reality of 1970, but not as much as to view it as a 'relic' or 'political'. It's worth seeing, but if you understand French and have access to the French version, I'd suggest it. As with anything translated from Polish.