Reviews

Highly entertaining and educating! I think youotube has a version with english subs, but I suspect lots would be lost in translation. But since I am fluent in russian, I really enjoyed the series

Brilliant and clever! And funny! Smack on parody on Hollywood culture, weird feminism - "men hating", traditional roles reversal, obsession with celebrities and social media. It is SHARP, not stupid! I highly recommend.

I also recommend Russian series "How I became Russian" (Kak ya stal russkim ). An American journalist is sent to Russia by his employer on a long-term assignment. Highly entertaining and educating! I think youotube has a version with english subs, but I suspect lots would be lost in translation.

Spanish cinema rarely disappoints. Acting is almost always superb! I am still thinking about this film, several hours after I finished watching. The ending has left me deeply emotional. The acting is fenomenal. Highly recommend. Everyone would have their own perception of the film. For me, it was about a gentle soul behind his burly appearance and a senseless tragedy.

Someone got disappointed with IMDB community for rating this movie above 1. How about developing a healthy respect for people whose opinions differ from our own? When we do not understand someone's perspective often times what they say sometimes sounds a bit 'bizarre' to us. A person interprets things according to individual perspective, biases and sensitivities. So, except of couple of scenes, which I "didn't get", I enjoyed watching this movie.

Mark Twain had said "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness". Movies like this one helps to learn about different cultures and that in turn helps to understand that there is not much difference in how people live around the world. If you have prejudices to any country, its people, watch movie like this one.

This is not a documentary made for a mass market. Pearl Jams songs says " I don't question our existence, I just question our modern needs." By Western standards of living, these people live in poverty and manual labor must be exhausting. While they don't have many choices, they seem to have everything they need. Are they happy? That is the main question, but the documentary is too short to answer it.

I really liked Top of the Lake, Season 1. Not a single word, dialogue, character or scene were out of place. A fascinating story and superb acting. So how out of such perfection a trashy season 2 could be born? It seems like everything in season 2 is absurdous, forced, fake and ridiculous. Acting, dialogues, characters, scenes and the story itself. Nicole Kidman was a miscast, she is too known, overexposed, to relate to her movie character; besides, her make up and acting were atrocious. Simply unbelievable.

The film is based on an essay by Nikolai Leskov "Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uezda", written in 1864. The story name contains an allusion to Ivan Turgenev's story "Hamlet of Shchigrovsky Uyezd" (1849)

I liked this move. Great performances by a young and talented actress Florence Pugh and Cosmo Jarvis. Not sure why feminism was brought into discussion of this film, mostly by those who did not like it. Imagination gone wild I guess. Leskov himself called his story a gloomy story in strict tones of a strong and passionate feminine character. The story was to be the beginning of a cycle about the characters of Russian women. So it has nothing to do with feminism.

There is a Russian version of this movie, Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uezda (1989) (Леди Макбет Мценского уезда (1989), Director: Roman Balayan. You might want watch it on one of the Russian sites kinobanda dot net for example. It is in Russian language though.

I deeply disagree with the plot summary written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I guess this is just an opinion of a south-American male. I can clearly see that respect and dignity for women is lacking in Latin America. European and American/Australian viewers will have a different perception. I enjoyed watching this movie. Great actors, acting, and the story is original. It is clever and funny. Lots of love making scenes with semi-nude Monica Bellucci, but nothing is vulgar. So what this movie is about? I think everyone will come out with their own opinion. In my view it is about role of sex in people's lives, about loneliness and human emotions. And it is shown in a funny way.

The meaning is in the eye of a perceiver. I liked this movie. The acting was superb, which is expected from french actors. Louis Garrel is a very talented actor. I disagree with the reviewer from Oklahoma in regards to "actors dress and personal hygiene " and "The woman in the film regarded as an outstanding beauty would not be so to most American viewers". I am not French, but have European upbringing and I find this opinion as arrogant and stuck-up. There is nothing in this movie suggests that the actor"s hygiene is poor and they dress like slobs. Hollywood movies actors are so fake, so polished , so unrealistic and talentless, that I stopped watching it long time ago. As for the Monica Bellucci's beauty, once again, American standards are fake beauty of over-groomed people, while Monica Bellucci is a classic beauty. I can't name one single modern American actress that is a real, classic beauty. There are few young Hollywood actresses that are natural beauties, but they are not born American (Natalie Portman,Kate Beckinsale,Charlize Theron).

I did not like this film. Nauseatingly boring, predictable, clichés, poor acting, miscast. Yeah, Sophie Marceau is hot, but was not impressed with her performance. Francois Cluzet did not quite fit for this role, especially after seeing him in The Intouchables. Did not feel real chemistry between them. All children in this film were acting poorly. "What if" passages were rather annoying. Everything seemed so pretentious in this film. Lots of empty dialogues. Another recent french cinema disappointment was Un homme au pair (2013). I hope they do not start following Hollywood path of making real garbage, just like Un homme au pair.

I would not call this movie "a waste of time". While the younger audience might not like or understand it,the more mature one might resonate with it. This movies is about aging,loneliness,the inescapable burden of taking care of ailing parents, loosing connection with grown up children and finding again life's purpose when there seems to be none. It is about letting go and letting in. The performances were great. I liked the plot. Someone has mentioned that it had been explored many times before, -I can't recall any. The ending was surprising and somewhat unrealistic since nothing in this movie had led to it.

My attention to this movie only lasted 27 min,quite a long time to attract one's interest to continue. So what did it show in the first 27 minutes? Empty, pointless and dull dialogues that have nothing to do with developing of the story. That verbal exchange between Adam and Phoebe in a park was annoying and meaningless. Josh Gad's character was quite absurdous and did not go well with me. The scene where he talked to a doctor and some sort of device fell out of his sleeve was the point where I decided to stop wasting my time. Tim Robbins could not be associated with his character. The group "sharing" part was very bad,especially Dede's (Pink).Well, I could only last through her introduction. And above all,we have seen it all many many times before-the 12 step program.Nothing is new or original here-not a material for a movie.

I enjoyed watching this movie, but overall have mixed feelings about it. Alicia Vikander again impressed me, but I want to see her in different roles. She is very, very talented. The film attempts to explore a different approach to group therapy. Erika is behind the idea of becoming somebody else, whilst temporary, in an attempt to overcome depression. While the idea seems interesting and plausible, it did not unfold well in the movie. Some scenes were not believable; some characters were too grotesque. It left some questions unanswered. It is impossible to know the extend of brain damage of a newborn. Why the child remained in the hospital? The Peter's story line is not believable at all. I give it 7 for the great performances and original screenplay.

The original name of this film is "интимные места". I am sure this film would be misunderstood, misinterpreted by many, especially in its country of origin- Russia. This is because for generations Russian people pretended that sex doesn't exist, that it is something dirty and to be ashamed of. For decades everything even remotely suggesting sex was cut out of foreign films. You would not see a simple kiss on a big screen or TV. One would say that things have changed in Russia, including its "acceptance" of sex as part of people's life. Things might have changed, but it appears that majority of Russians still see it as something dirty. Where one would see an art in a beauty of a naked human body (of any shape), a Russian person most definitely would see a porn. The word "porn" dominates many Russian critics reviews. However,there is absolutely nothing in this film, even remotely, that would classify as porn. In my opinion this film is brilliant and worthy of the international exposure. I can't categorize it, but it is definitely not a melodrama or comedy. It is closer to a documentary exploring sexuality of several very different people. I don't know how much will be lost in translation, but in its original language, the film is outstanding- the music, colors, dialogues (not many), slow moving camera, general mood deliver what it was intended by its director- exploration of what is happiness and true freedom through sexuality. This movie is about hidden sexual frustration and unfulfilled sexual fantasies of the average people. The film has won a prize for Best Debut in 2013 Russian film festival Kinotavr and DIPLOMAS OF THE GUILD OF FILM CRITICS AND FILM SCHOLARS "White Elephant".

I did not click with this movie or this movie did not click with me. As much as I like French movies, this one disappointed me. The performances were good,Fanny Ardant is beautiful, but...nothing new in here and everything is so predictable. In my opinion, in this film was no connection on any level (physical or emotional) between two main characters . At least I did not notice. Fanny Ardant' character, so self- conscious of her age, so insecure, so needy of assurances or clarifications of what is next, of knowing how she is going to be "dropped", looked rather pathetic and out of place. It also did not show why the young man was attracted to her in the first place. It is usually class and self-assurance that attracts younger men to older women; this movie is silent about it. Love scenes were rather dismal. Overall, the film did not convey what the book it was based on might have done. I did not read the book.

I give this one a 10, because it deserves it. It took me awhile to get back to reality after watching this great french movie. La robe du soir is slow burning and intense film,very touching and heartbreaking, buoyed by terrific performance by the little girl,a child actor who is so good she doesn't seem to be acting. One of the things I really liked about this movie was that it didn't need to have every moment filled with dialog like a lot of movies. If you like this film, there's a good chance you'll like these 2 french movies "Tomboy" (2011) and "Water Lilies"(2007). The other 2 movies with terrific child-actors I recommend are "The Return"(Russian) ,"Last Ride" (Australian).

If i am to compare this movie to the book, it would be like comparing a chicken broth made of grass fed chicken to a broth made of a concentrate. In my opinion it is impossible to make a movie of this book, as certain things just can't be reflected in a movie. That is why I am not surprised that so many hated this movie.So many could not understand the Liz" character. After reading the book, which i loved and am reading it again /4years later/, I could not force myself to finish watching the movie. Everything is "lost in translation". On top of that Julia Roberts is just not the right person for the main character. Not her look, not her acting were right for the movie. I stopped seeing characters behind Julia'face. Now that I am reading this book for the second time it has much deeper meaning for me. I am Abraham-HICKS teaching "student" and everything in this book is making sense now. Those who has no idea who abraham or hicks are would not understand. And that is OK.

I love french movies especially comedies. But this one I did not like. I am not sure why I actually finished watching it. Sucked from the finger story failed to deliver anything other but nonsense. Nothing in this movie is believable including characters. It is hard to believe that a wealthy uncle can possibly be that dumb. The "family" is shown as a bunch of real idiots. I never figured out the "childhood accident" story. Nothing is funny either. The acting is not bad, but nothing special. The only scenes in this movie I enjoyed was the view from the uncle's house. I think IMDb should cut a slack for a first reviewer who can't come up with 10 lines.

I liked this movie even though it is not a masterpiece. The acting is great, the story may be not exactly original but believable, even though I was a bit skeptical about it when I read this movie information. Also, you can't go wrong with Isabelle Huppert-she is agelessly beautiful. I liked the absence of female hysteria when it comes to male-female relationships, that dominates most Hollywood movies and TV shows these days. I love French movies and gave up on trying to find one worthy Hollywood movie- they are all the same-terrible performances , soap opera content. I don't find it amusing when males, as species, being degraded to disposable sperm donors. The other French film that i really liked-The big picture (2010)- Oscar worth performance by Romain Duris.

I agree with the previous comment about this movie. The film is easy to watch, good performances. I found it authentic and realistic. All in all, the movie contains themes that many of us can identify with and will leave you inspired. In more than a few years I could not find a single Hollywood movie worth watching. There are some exception of course, one of them is "The Sessions (2012)", or some independent movies. Acting in Hollywood movies is so bad these days, even the famous actors seem to lose their groove. Movies are being written using the same formula. It is nauseating. So this Italian comedy, while not a masterpiece, is definitely a feel-good movie for a rainy evening. Thanks for the internet where I can watch excellent foreign movies.

As much as I wanted to find something, anything worthy of watching in My Awkward Sexual Adventure (2012) movie, I could not. Never the less I finished watching this movie even though I came very close to turning off several times - I had very hard time keeping my eyes open. It's a different version of 40 year old virgin-which I hated. I would not call this movie a comedy. There is absolutely nothing funny in this movie. The performance is very, very poor, the main main character is unbelievable, no idiots like that exist in real life; his lines are so boring, made up utter nonsense. All other characters are equally unrealistic and the performances are poor.

I absolutely loved this movie. This is a story of an emotional journey of a young man with a little boy, his son, whose life had changed abruptly and without a warning. It is not easy to cope and adjust after a loved one dies. It is not easy to find your way in a "new" reality, not easy to understand why others don't understand. I could not figure out how this film was made, since it is impossible for a two years old child to "act", until I read that The End of Love was filmed with a small digital camera to minimize intrusion. The acting is superb, the little boy is adorable. The other reviewers called Mark a struggling and dissolute single father and that is all this movie about-I strongly disagree. I saw none of that. He is trying to get back on his feet, find some sort of normalcy under the circumstances. Grief comes in different forms and length.