A man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.

Excellent documentary showcasing life at the end of the 1920s. A masterpiece from a cinematographic point of view, as it was pretty much non existent by then, it features techniques used by the director, or invented by him, like multiple exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, match cuts, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, reversed footage, stop motion animations and self-reflexive visuals. The music complements the daily life in a wonderful way and although it’s only a bit over an hour, it’s an entertaining, educational movie, a window to a world gone now. Six popcorns and it jumps into the Movie Vault.

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A Spanish actor disappears during the filming of a movie. Although his body is never found, the police conclude that he has suffered an accident at the edge of a cliff. Many years later, the mystery returns to the present day.

Slow burning European movie, with a lot of talking that very slowly unfolds a great story. The cinematography is great, the music is great and the acting is excellent. Four popcorns.

PS: I will never make fun about the Romanian movies where they eat soup for 20 minutes, seems like it’s an European thing. The movie is still great.

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An inventive crime thriller told backwards reversing day by day through a week following a local sheriff’s quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.

Simple straight story told in reverse, highlighted by great casting and great acting. Honestly, I only picked this up because Rainn Wilson is in it, and boy does he deliver! I loved how you get to know things and then slowly learn in reverse how it happened. I also liked the recurring themes, like the deputy always riding in the back of th police car. All in all, it’s a good movie, has a decent re-watch capability and slowly unfolds through some backtracking, all this while being slowly paced, but not boring. Definitely worth at least one watch. Five popcorns.

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When a 13-year-old is accused of the murder of a classmate, his family, therapist and the detective in charge are all left asking what really happened.

Good interesting story, keeping the mystery well in check and unfolding really well. I loved how each episode is one continuous take with no cuts, in a great achievement of cinematography. Otherwise, the pacing is fine, the mini-series is four episodes, not too long nor too short, making this a great watch for an evening. Six popcorns and it goes into the Movie Vault.

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An executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.

When you add together Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, you’re bound to watch a masterpiece. What starts as a good drama about moral compass turns soon into a brilliant procedural investigation movie that puts the likes of CSI shit to shame. Excellent movie and while I know I put quite a lot of movies on the Movie Vault, this is one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. Seven popcorns.

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A man spends a summer day swimming home via all the pools in his quiet suburban neighborhood.

Neddy Merrill reappears at a friend’s pool after having been away for most of the summer. As they talk, he notices that pools span the entire valley, and he decides to jog from pool to pool and swim across the whole valley. As he stops at each pool, his interactions tell his life story.

Starring the great Burt Lancaster in what is most likely one of his best movies, this will keep you at the edge of the seat and always keep you wandering what is actually happening until everything makes sense. Six popcorns and goes into the Movie Vault.

You’re the captain of your soul, that’s what counts.

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A family on the brink of splitting up becomes the owner of a cutting-edge robot wanted by a corporation, homicide investigators and terrorists.

Loosely respecting Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, it feels close to blending shows like the Swedish “Real Humans”, the British “Humans” and the movie “I, Robot”, but telling its own story. It’s Russian-made, and it comes from the new Russian schohool of cinema, which blends good writing, high budgets, great VFX and very good looking cast. And while it looks Hollywood-ish, it’s better without the diversity checkboxes in place. Three popcorns, as the premise is good, but the plotholes are so big, an android could fly a jumbo jet through them. Like one dude somehow surviving after getting shot from 2 meters in the back and getting buried alive.

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A swinger on the cusp of being a senior citizen with a taste for young women falls in love with an accomplished woman closer to his age.

Jack Nicholson is Jack Nicholson, Keanu is Keanu, everything else is as you’d expect. Great romantic comedy with a pinch of drama, all in all a great movie that was released at the turn of the century. Six popcorns and it goes into the Movie Vault.

Guess you can say I’m an expert in younger women, given the fact I’ve been dating them for over 40 years

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Costica, an aimless man, runs for president inadvertently backed by a corrupt party planning to lose and continue embezzling funds, all while he naively seeks to secure his neighbor’s parking spot.

Great X-ray of the political scene in Romania (and all other countries). Love the funny jokes and the tongue in cheeks and while it’s low effort, it’s also high-yield humor. Four popcorns for an easy comedy.

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In an era filled with danger, deception, and intrigue, Cassian Andor embark on a path that is destined to turn him into a Rebel hero.

Another good story from the Star Wars universe, this one follows Cassian Andor and his (mis)adventures. Excellently made, it’s a joy to look at it, and Diego Luna does a great job of filling the role. Six popcorns and I can’t wait to see the next season, which is set to drop in about a month. Six popcorns and goes to the Movie Vault.

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A documentary about the catastrophic floods that hit Romania in 1970.

A hybrid between documentary and “poetic” essay, this commissioned film of the present day paradoxically feels like an outdated family album. The most frequently used technique in this “art film” involves lingering shots—whether of a row of old women staring at the camera or a group of children. A good documentary showing the reality of Romania at the crack of the 1970s. Good documentary directed by a plethora of young directors, some of which who turned out to become legends, like Stere Gulea, Dan Pita, Mircea Veroiu, Pierre Bokor. All in all, great cinematic documentary, five popcorns and goes into the Movie Vault.

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A genius architect is losing both professionally and when it comes to matters of the heart. A film about internal turmoils surfacing, about freedom of thought and action, originality, non-conformism and everything that opposes these things.

Directed masterfully by Mircea Saucan and written by Horia Lovinescu, it brings together on the set Margareta Pogonat, Mihai Paladescu and Dan Nutu, as well as Anna Szeles and Ernest Maftei. Great new age movie, even better than Goddard

Nimic nu e mai groaznic pentru un om decât să creadă că tot ce face el e grozav și tot ce e rău vine de la alții.

Nothing is more terrible for a person than to believe that everything they do is great and all that is bad comes from others.

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