In 1902, a Russian army expedition is assigned to explore Siberia under the command of Captain Vladimir Arseniev (Yuri Solomin). He befriends the Goldi (Nanai) hunter Dersu Uzala (Maksim Munzuk) and invites him to guide the explorers through the stark forest up to Khanka Lake. Along their journey, Arseniev discovers that Dersu Uzala is a man with a beautiful soul and they become close friends.

One of the most beautiful cinematographies I have ever seen. The camera work is impressive, with awesome angle and locations that seems to be of pictures in movement, and the music complements this insanely well. The story needs no words, as it’s based on the life of the real Dersu Uzala(spoilers!). It’s no wonder the perfectionism of Akira Kurosawa made production last 3 years, but the result is amazing. Seven popcorns and goes into the Movie Vault. Bonus style points for the hunter who scolds a campfire.

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A night. Dozens of stories. A city. Lica, a taxi driver, is an all knowing guy, while Liviu, his friend, also a taxi driver keeps a lot to himself. They are completely different and their ideas about life and people only meet when they are eating and drinking at the bar. They are frustrated with their jobs. For Lica money is the most important thing, while Liviu thinks that a happy and fulfilling life represents more. They are trying to rediscover who they are and what they can do with their life, all while being on an on going adventure on the streets of Bucharest where they cross paths with all kinds of clients who end up having an impact on their lives, for better and also for worse.

So basically this is one of the best Romanian movie of the last few years. It markets itself as a comedy, but feels more like a drama. Grounded in reality, the movie tells some small stories of passengers and interactions of the bigger stories, the ones of the two drivers.

Mad props for the performance of Alexandru Ion as Lica, the classical taxi driver we all know, and also to Maria Popistasu for another great role. The writing was nice, the music didn’t stand out in particular, and the camera work was good. Also the sound is surprisingly flawless, shitty sound was usually an important part of any Romanian movie. All in all, a solid five popcorn for a pretty realistic movie about life.

nu poți să joci toată viața la 0-0

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An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converge on a Georgia forest where a huge black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine.

This is a stupidly stupid movie based on an absurd premise. It’s saved by good humor, nice locations and good casting from the “I know this guy from somewhere” almost A-list (Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family, Alden Ehrenreich the young Han Solo, O’Shea Jackson Jr. AKA the son of Ice Cube). This is also one of the last movies starring Ray Liotta before he sadly passed away in May 2022. It’s so dumb, stupidly gory, and funny, it gets four popcorns. The kids are fucking hilarious.

Let’s sell drugs together!

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While visiting his family in Mexico, teenage Alex gains an unlikely companion when he discovers a young chupacabra hiding in his grandpa’s shed. In order to save the mythical creature, Alex and his cousins must embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

It’s refreshing to see a movie that explores a culture other than Best Country In The World United States of U.S.A. and does it right. It’s a simple movie that the entire family can enjoy, it makes you root for the cute creature, while giving good roles to Demian Bichir (The Hateful Eight, Weeds) and Indiana Jones’ evil twin, Christian Slater. The kids manage to be funny enough and not very annoying, resulting in a good performance.

All in all, it’s a solid fun watch for a rainy Sunday afternoon for the entire family, away from way-too-woke agendas and shit political discussion, just like any kids’ movie should be, not Disney’s Lil’ Mermaid. Four popcorns and I’m fairly sure I will see this again with my niece.

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Five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a widower and veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe.

In the plains of Texas, he crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel, System Crasher), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Johanna, hostile to a world she’s never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will.

Kidd agrees to deliver the child where the law says she belongs. As they travel hundreds of miles into the unforgiving wilderness, the two will face tremendous challenges of both human and natural forces as they search for a place that either can call home.

Excellent movie, the writing, the scenery and the music are excellent, Tom Hanks is doing one of his best roles, but everything gets overshadowed by the great acting and presence of Helena Zengel (Johanna).

All in all, an excellent road movie for the family, gets six popcorns and jumps into the Movie Vault.

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Handsome John Hughes High jock Zack bets his friends that he can turn nerdy Janey into the most popular girl in class. With the help of Zack’s sister, Catherine, Janey ditches her ponytail and glasses and turns beautiful. Zack falls in love with her.

The film spoofs a variety of teen movies, including “The Breakfast Club,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “Bring It On,” “American Pie,” and “She’s All That.” It also pokes fun at common tropes found in these types of movies, such as the nerdy girl who takes off her glasses and becomes beautiful, the popular jock who falls for the less popular girl, and the various cliques found in high school.

“Not Another Teen Movie” is a lighthearted and humorous take on the teen movie genre and is sure to pul out laughs from viewers who are familiar with the films being parodied. It’s probably one of the best parodies out there and definitely a classic. This gets 6 popcorns and jumps into the movie vault.

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Trying to hold the lead in the Space Race, the Soviet Union is preparing two cosmonauts for the first spacewalk.

The Age of Pioneers (“Time of the first ones”), also known as Spacewalk or The Spacewalker, is a Russian historical drama film about cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to perform a spacewalk. Leonov himself served as a consultant for the film, it was directed by Dmitry Kiselyov and co-produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Yevgeny Mironov, the latter also starred in the leading role.

The movie is very well made, stays pretty close to the real events of the time, has a good tensionate mood and will glue you to the chair. The acting is great, the story itself is fantastic (those men had a shit ton of luck to be alive), the CGI is great and all in all it’s a great movie. It bombed at the box office, so that makes it an even better movie. Five stars for the movie and another good hit from the Russian cinema.

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The travels of a lone bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic.

Something something Pedro Pascal, something something Starbuck, something something ~Baby Yoda~ Grogu.

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic. It’s nice, because it’s a trip of the redemption of Din Djarin, but some episodes are simply sidequests, where he just goes and helps someone because something happens somewhere at some point.

Four popcorns because it looks cool, but it’s pretty slow burning, so it’s gonna make you fall asleep now and then.

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Not gonna say too much about it, or give any plot points. Just. Fucking. Watch. This. Don’t wait for the overly-Americanized version that’s currently in production at Netflix by none other than Dumb and Dumber. Just watch this.

It’s based on the bestseller by Liu Cixin, which itself is based on the three-body problem in orbital mechanics.

Not gonna say much about it, but I like the slow burning unfolding of the story, the great cinematography, the acting and the very good music (I think every episode ends with an excellent song). Also I like that while it does feel a bit made in America (because of the mood, setting, camera-work, etc), it’s has a style of it’s own and people actually use their brains and discuss stuff, rather than starting to shoot at everything that’s moving.

The series has 30 episodes and covers the entire book, so you don’t need to worry about cancellations mid-story (looking at you, Netflix and HBO!) and you’re definitely going to enjoy a full story. I’ve only watched a couple of episodes, but it got me hooked and curious, so it gets six popcorns for now and teleports into the Movie Vault.

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Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

Great artistic movie, it’s more about how they feel rather than what it happens. The movie it’s filled with symbolism and myths, and while it has an ending, it will make you keep wondering about the meaning of it. Besides the great cinematography (reminding me of Ingmar Bergman) and the great sound score, what makes this movie stand out is the incredible acting done by both lead actors, Willem Dafoe playing the weird crazy guy we all know and love and the great transformation of Robert Pattinson. Five popcorns.

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Romulus and Remus, two shepherds and loyal brothers, end up taking part to a journey that will lead one of them to be the founder of the greatest nation ever seen.

Excellent movie about the legend of Romulus and Remus. The movie is intense. it’s gorey, it’s violent, just as those times were. The fact that the spoken language is pre-roman latin makes it even more awesome, gives it a realistic feel, and puts this movie up there with Apocalypto. The music is great, the pacing is also pretty fast, with some great pauses here and there to fully immerse yourself in the story. Six popcorns and it goes into the Movie Vault.

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A father’s wish magically brings a wooden boy to life in Italy, giving him a chance to care for the child.

Nice rework of the original Pinocchio story, Guillermo del Toro really knows how to set a mood. The graphics are beautiful, the music is nice, but be aware, this is not a movie for kids. It has its good share of sad parts. It gets three popcorns, but could have gotten five if it wasn’t so fucking depressing.

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