sergepesic Reviews

Fanfic (2023)

Quirky and imperfect

[7/10 · 11 September 2023]

Poland has been living under right wing Catholic government for last 8 years. There even some towns in rural areas that proudly claim the status of gay free places. This kind of repression never works in the long run and it's starting to show. There are less than half Catholic priests ordained these days then even a decade ago. This quirky, imperfect flick brings a fresh view at the digital generation that seeks information and guidance from social media. Stodgy, dour, ultra conservative officials are losing their malignant influence and there isn't much they can do about it. Quick paced, original movie for the new era.

I Am All Girls (2021)

Human depravity

[7/10 · 10 September 2023]

Children trafficking and abuse are horrors of human depravity. They rightly belong to the darkest recesses of evildoing. Movies usually deftly avoid this topic, unless it goes to the tired premise of a revenge movie that serves no other purpose than to give us an empty satisfaction that justice somehow prevails. And yet, does it really? "I am all girls", gritty and unflinching South African movie avoids the familiar albeit trite path. The protagonist, detective tethering on the brink of exhaustion, is too real and wounded to become an action movie ass-kicker. Her successes are few and far in between and the shocking fact that only 1% of victims are found and saved in the end, makes her obsession overshadowed with destructive doom. Will she be the next victim that this monster devours?

The Invitation (II) (2022)

Why bother

[2/10 · 28 May 2023]

One would assume that people make a movie with the expectation of reaching the stars. More often than not it doesn't happen, but at least there was a good will. This unfortunate mistake of a movie leaves this viewer flabbergasted. How could anybody with even tenuous relationship with reality expect this mess to work. It might've been scary, but it isn't at all, it could've been a parody but it's only unintentionally funny, it isn't thrilling or creative nor smart nor fresh. So, why bother with this cheaply made, trite concoction? Perhaps because the streaming beast needs endless supply of new product, and quality be damned.

We Have a Ghost (2023)

What a mess!

[3/10 · 23 April 2023]

There has to be a minimum of expectations even for a commercial entertainment. Watching this mess of a movie was a trial in patience. What was the idea? Is this a comedy, horror, horror-comedy, father and son issues movie, car chase thriller, mystery? It seems that whoever had this flash of brilliance decided to throw in every possible cliche of trite moviemaking and hope for the best. Well, what a surprise, it didn't work. Two hours and seven minutes dragged switching from one genre to another and ended up with big dud. The actors were doing their best to make this watchable, but alas some things just can't be saved.

Mudbound (2017)

Dark and unforgiving

[9/10 · 27 March 2023]

Deep south, Mississippi Delta, dry land, hard life. Jim Crow, poverty of minds and poverty of hearts. Even the lowest of the low has a desperate need to feel and rate himself better than someone else, lower on the ladder. Story is told from multiple perspectives in stark, cruel poetry. There are no winners in this hellish world. Lowlifes in hoods stomp and get stuck in the same unforgiving mud as their innocent victims. Hatred never brought release and salvation, just the opposite, it stains the soul darker than soot. And there they go, same mud, same unescapable maze till they finally perish. Dark, relentless movie that grabs you and squeezes you and makes you grateful to visit this hellhole just for couple of hours.

You People (2023)

Posing questions

[7/10 · 26 March 2023]

It certainly seems that this movie stirred up the hornet's nest of disgruntled reviewers. I confess to be somewhat puzzled by this overreaction. Romantic comedy genre is probably one of my least favorite pastimes, but in all honesty this flick is trying something different than usual " I love you, we break up, we are together happily ever after" drivel. This seems to me to be an honest attempt to pose some questions and make fun about race, religion and just possibly alleviate the hard to ignore tension that plagues our country and our world. So, perhaps all the easily offended and even more easily bored people could lighten up a bit. If you can't do this even while watching a romantic comedy that becomes your own issue and the rest of us are not getting involved.

Loving Adults (2022)

Fresh and surprising

[8/10 · 6 March 2023]

In the last decade Scandinavian mysteries took the world by storm. And now comes this surprising and twisty crime flick. Thrillers and crime dramas are dime a dozen. Many of them desperately try to infuse their tired and often trite plots with artificial twists and turns. Trouble is that the only twists that come with a logical explanation make sense and really manage to awe. This is a story told indirectly, slowly opening and unraveling the convoluted machinations. Strong cast and creative direction make this film a standout among the hundreds of mediocre movies churned every year. Fresh and surprising Danish thriller.

Dumplin' (2018)

Fairytale

[7/10 · 5 March 2023]

The nature of words. Formula comes from chemistry and assumes a concise way of expressing information symbolically. Formulaic usually means predictable. So, yes, this movie follows tried and well-known formula, and is somewhat formulaic, but which feel -good movie doesn't suffer from the same malaise? So, if one is in a mood to temporally escape the drab and exhausting, this movie will do the trick just fine. We can run away from many things except from ourselves, hence the conundrum. So, we may as well embrace the good parts of who we are and skim over the others, better ignored. This charming Southern fairytale does just that. And boy do we need it.

My Policeman (2022)

"Good old times"

[8/10 · 27 February 2023]

The good old days were not so good for everyone. Right mold, right gender, right color and the future was all yours. If you happened not to be so lucky... Happily, we live in different times, but they are still dangers on every corner. For every step forward, the outrage of the ever so always wronged ones among us seems to get shriller. All the characters in this crushing story are victims in their own way. Nobody benefitted from this insane oppression. The movie is devastatingly sad, because it has to be. Anything else would be silly and inane. Happy endings are few and far in between. So, good old times be damned.

A Man of Action (2022)

Decent

[7/10 · 26 February 2023]

The first word to come to mind after finishing the movie is decent. That might not be the desirable outcome of anybody's moviemaking, but we've all seen much worse. The story is loosely based on a real person, anarchist and rebel Lucio Urtubia. We follow back and forth his path for 40 years. Nobody seems to like banks anymore, so in my book if anyone can make fools of bankers, more power to them. Unfortunately, the ultimate price is always paid by people like us, nickeled and dimed to death by them. And when all the dishonesty and greed catches up with them, we save them with generous bailouts. Decent movie, workmanlike, predictable, but not much more.

Blacklight (2022)

Embarrassment

[2/10 · 5 February 2023]

God knows one doesn't expect much from a revenge thriller. Strong, silent guy, quiet rage, huge arsenal of weapons at disposal and testosterone galore. Still there has to be a minimum of an effort to retain some sense of logic. This movie looks like a parody, an unintentional mockery. The jaw-dropping stilted dialogue, acting like reading from a teleprompter and not often succeeding, the script that someone wrote while nursing a major hangover. Did anyone closely associated with this mess really believe that this is a good movie? Whose idea was to drop $43 millions on this embarrassment? Liam Neeson must have made enough at this point to spare himself and us from this ordeal. I certainly hope so.

Don't Worry Darling (I) (2022)

Missing

[7/10 · 26 December 2022]

Secluded compound, 1950's, men provide, women serve, for some good old days, for many others a living nightmare. Reality is drab, grueling experience without many selling points, except one, important one. We are only alive when we struggle, when we fall and rise again. This stylish take on "The Stepford wives", masterpiece of feminist horror written by Ira Levin, holds on its own. Filmed beautifully, well cast, but somehow woefully fails to make its own clear mark. This viewer was left with the frustrating feeling that something crucial is missing, that some masterstroke never happened. It all fizzled in the aura of tepid disappointment.

A Very Sordid Wedding (2017)

From funny to preachy

[6/10 · 11 December 2022]

Now and then we all could use a feel-good movie. Reality is deeply overrated, especially when shoved down our throats on daily basis. "A Very Sordid Movie" is not so sordid, quite the opposite. It's hilariously funny, smartly paced, poking fun at the homey, down South baloney. It's all fun and games until the script got to the potholes no car should drive on. It got kind of preachy, that works only on previously converted (hence no point to it at all), schmaltzy and frankly cloying. It is a damn shame that a person who wrote all of those funny lines got stuck on the most predictable and trite plot line. Not everything has to have a happy ending to feel good. Sometimes just stirring up trouble does the trick.

Cobalt Blue (II) (2022)

Bright colors of India

[8/10 · 5 December 2022]

Poetry and filmmaking could be strange bedfellows. At first sight at the opposite ends of a spectrum, or not... It all depends on clarity and skill. Kerala, India, 1996. Young, talented writer seeking his place in an oppressive, traditional world. Fearful stirrings of forbidden desire promptly awakened by a handsome, secretive stranger. Lover or predator, friend or foe, only time will tell. Being alive should always trump the fear of being hurt. No pain, no living, no living, no purpose. And there it goes in this poetic, beautifully filmed movie in bright colors of India. Saris and spices, lush plants and even an elephant. Worth the suffering just to experience lustful joy, damn the consequences.

21 Bridges (2019)

Pleasantly surprised

[8/10 · 4 December 2022]

Watching this thriller after the tragic, far too early, passing of Chadwick Boseman, inevitably colors the viewer's experience. It is hard to miss how skinny and almost frail he seems during his private battle with cancer. "21 Bridges" is a smart, bullet opera that brazenly uses some of the highly predictable ploys of this more than a bit-tired genre, and deftly rises above the yawn inducing, repetitious cliches. A movie doesn't always have to be a masterpiece to make an impression, quite the opposite. In a trite tidal wave of predictability, a spark of creativity goes a long way. One would suppose that would make the job easier, but sadly it often doesn't. It is nice to be pleasantly surprised.

The Outfit (2022)

Lesson in acting

[9/10 · 20 November 2022]

Sometimes it seems that movies are forgetting about actors. Robots, computer generated creatures, never-ending action sequences, remake of a remake that was remade long time ago, etc... And then, when one almost gives up, comes this beautiful exercise in moviemaking that solely relies on acting. Little, dinky tailor-shop, dark and suffocating during bleak Chicago snowy winter, older, stooped man meticulously creating perfect suits in almost religious reverence. This magnificent homage to 50's gangster flicks, discreetly introduces menacing characters into this haven of isolated escape. And then Sir Mark Rylance, whose craft is precise and void of manneristic vanity, carries the whole story with his quiet and mesmerizing presence. Lesson in acting and class.

After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020)

Assault on truth

[8/10 · 13 November 2022]

The assault on truth is an attack on common sense, on basic decency. Without some minimal understanding between different political stands, we are inching towards violence and, perhaps, towards a point of no return. Watching few of the amoral shysters that shamelessly peddle pure lies under the guise of free speech, one has to feel deep unease with the reckless and evil disregard for common good. Burkman, Corsi, Wohl, are just a few of despicable alt-right manipulators who prey on the vulnerable. This is well done, hard to watch documentary, that would, I have to confess, frighten me more if I didn't see it after the outcome of the midterm elections. It seems that people like living in democracy. God bless them for that.

Lou (I) (2022)

Amazing heroine

[7/10 · 6 November 2022]

There is, seemingly never-ending supply of middle-aged men on a rampage vengeance movies. Ask Kevin Costner or Liam Neeson. Now we have something a bit novel. Older woman with murdering skills taking on a kidnapper. There isn't much original about this endeavor, these days required twist and turns that come out of nowhere abound. But so what. When you have such an amazing heroine as Allison Janney many shortcomings are easily forgiven. She brings to this, many times visited party, true grit and mysterious charisma lacking so much in so many of our plastic movie stars. Letting yourself be who you are and of your own age liberates and allows you to do what you are meant to do. Act. Is that too much to ask?

Blonde (2022)

Exploatation

[2/10 · 31 October 2022]

What a manipulative, sadistic faux-artistic nonsense of a movie. We'll try to tell a tragic, cruel story about abuse and exploitation of a movie legend by using every disgusting and deprived ploy to abuse and exploit her even more. Great job, buster. In the meantime, we'll portray her as mindless, mentally unbalanced moron, who somehow managed to do a bunch of movies, learn lines, songs and choreography and do a pretty decent jog advancing her career. Why let facts and respect get in the way of ruthless exploitation. Shameful, amoral, unnecessary assault on a tragic icon who is not able to defend herself.

Barney Thomson (2015)

Not interesting enough.

[6/10 · 30 October 2022]

Sometimes I wish that I like the movie I watch better. I was wholeheartedly rooting for Robert Carlyle's debut. "Barney Thomson" is a dark comedy wannabe, trying to walk on a tightrope between two skyscrapers, without a safety net. Well, the good news is there was no tragic accident and the bad news that somehow arriving to the other side isn't really much of a success. Dark, macabre comedy is a hard genre to get right. The movie had magnificent cast, somewhat interesting story, but apart from every scene stealing Emma Thompson it all falls very short. Not funny enough, not gory enough and sadly, just not interesting enough. And that is the most painful insult one can give to a filmmaker. Sorry.

The Giant (2017)

Heartbreaking

[8/10 · 17 October 2022]

XIX century Spain, Basque country, endless wars need endless fodder, and who else would serve that purpose better than poor and destitute. Age old story repeating cyclically to these days. Surviving the war was hard enough but coming home in one piece was even more important. Crippled peasant was no good to anybody, just one more hungry mouth to feed. This heartbreaking movie filmed in harsh, almost unreal terrain tells this saga almost like a fairytale with a giant and a cripple in its center. Two brothers dealt the worst cards in the game of life plod through faraway lands as a part of a cruel freak show. Even having a choice makes one privileged, our heroes have none, just bare-knuckle fight for survival, till the bones break and all mercifully ends.

I Came By (2022)

Not for the faint of heart.

[7/10 · 16 October 2022]

London, the financial capital of the world, those who have and those that want to have. Not the most original premise, perhaps, but hard to dispute. Strange, darker than most, thriller, refuses to skirt on the edges of predictable and bravely branches into the risky realm of macabre depravity masked as altruistic do-gooding. All of that is well, but the movie drags a bit too long and loses some of it punchy, edgy sharpness. That could be easily forgiven, but the unfortunate tendency to carelessly discard its leading characters is harder to understand. It all seems a bit rushed with the unintended effect of a smart idea that got mangled and mistreated. Still, worth viewing, but not for the faint of heart.

I Care a Lot (2020)

Meandering

[6/10 · 10 October 2022]

Again and again, we get reminded that novel idea for a script stays novel only if it manages to keep its focus. " I care a lot" has a very intriguing premise. Our, youth obsessed culture is petrified of old people, doesn't know what to do with them and prefers to put them out of sight, and often out of mind. Dark, over the top comedy, played with gusto by Ms. Pike and Ms. Wiest, starts strong and takes no prisoners. Alas, in its overblown two-hour format it starts to lose its footing and meanders to a non-sensical Wonder Woman parody. And it seems to forget what it wanted to say. The terrifying everyday reality of monsters prospering and winning, while decent get stomped on is balanced with vigilante "justice". Dystopian worldview doesn't take well to unfocused artistic vision.

Mad to Be Normal (2017)

The Reformer

[7/10 · 9 October 2022]

Mad, liberating 60's. Peace, love, sex, grass, time of hope for a different world, the hope long extinguished and barely remembered. Here comes Dr. Laing, the reformer, trying to change the cruelty of mental health treatment. Or to be precise the maltreatment. Treatment would presume decisions that benefit the patient, the maltreatment was perpetuated to make it easier on society to remove the suffering mental patients from public eye and concern. In this jerky, meandering flick Dr. Laing comes off as a troubled man who could have used some TLC himself. Sadly, we still don't know what to do with mental illness, apart from medicating. Fifty plus years later we are overdue for a new Dr. Laing, perhaps one with less personal baggage, thus harder to dismiss and remove.

Say Your Prayers (2020)

Doesn't spare anybody

[7/10 · 2 October 2022]

Rural Yorkshire, literary festival, two bumbling Christan hitmen, obnoxious snob who happens to be an atheist, innocent victim, foul-mouthed detective, a whole of lot of ingredients that shouldn't mix in together, but somehow do. Quirky, eccentric short flick peppered with a Capella singing, thick accents, dozens of creative turns (some working out, some fail miserably). It is hard not to get taken in by this unexpected dark comedy that doesn't spare anybody. Churchy, hateful fanatics and pompous money grabbing drawing room atheists belong to the same sewer of use and abuse. Dark comedy it is, and it ends on a dark note. Depressing, but fitting.