Pasha's Film Reviews Etc.

3/5 A young girl agrees to play a strange game for 500 dollars. An ambitious realty agent discovers an evil presence in the house she is ready to sell. A young artist is chasing after her sister's killer. The destinies of the three women connect  through time and though a curse -  a demon in search for a new home. The original name for AT THE DEVIL'S DOOR was HOME, and although it is less pretentious it is better suited for this creepy chiller that defies expectations. The only problem with the film is that it cannot decide between non linear narrative and a simple one. It is a bit confusing to make sense out of all the happening, especially considering that the story itself is extremely simple. The movie has some genuinely creepy moments and the acting of all three heroines is top notch, but there's a feeling that the film only pretends to have fresh ideas, instead it serves a familiar dish under different, but less glamorous sauce than it deserves....

3/5 Hazel is a middle aged little town detective who loves with her mother, drinks too much and having trouble dealing with a loss of her baby many years ago. When a particularly gruesome murder happens with one of the elderly town residents she is hot on a trail of a man who she believes to be a serial killer. What is the culprit's motivation? And what is the connection between the victims who are all of a different ethnicity and age? Hazel, who had little direction in her own life, will have to face an unlikely killer, who has more faith in the goodness and order of the world she had ever had? The calling is a very slow movie, and this is probably it's biggest flaw. It has an interesting premise, some unusual twists and turns and a colourful heroine - Susan Sarandon had done a great job. Unfortunately, in many ways, it looks like a pilot for a TV show, and TV shows being of such a great quality these days it simply cannot compete. The calling is based on a book a...

3 1/2 /5 A young student Justine is left alone on campus during the thanksgiving holiday. She spends her days enjoying the solitude and sharing jokes with two security guards. But one night, when she was out buying snacks at the petrol station, something had followed her back to the empty campus. Then Justine is being stalked by a group of masked killers who are calling her Kristy. Now our victim to be will have to figure out the way to survive. And the only thing that is left for her is to fight back. One does not need much to satisfy a horror fan and Kristy is exactly that - it is not much. It has a cliche premise and typical villains, but who can stay away from a film about a fragile heroine fighting back some masked psychopaths? I guess it also helps that the director Oliver Blackburn takes time to introduce us to Justine (Haley Bennett) and spend with her some suspenseful moments at the empty campus grounds, moments that have no action, but are incredibly atmospheric ...

* * * * * Go Geon-So is a corrupt cop, but he is not a killer. One rainy night, being late to his mother's funeral, he runs over a man with his car and kills him. With no witnesses in sight he hides the body in the boot. The events start to escalate when his car is stopped for breathalyser check and his office is raided by internal affairs. Insure which problem to solve first our hero goes deeper into the web of lies until he puts in jeopardy himself and everyone he knows. When someone starts to blackmail Go Geon-So, he has no other choice but to face it all in one bloody and grotesque showdown. Let the Hard Day begin! The direct translation of this film is "Take it to the End" and is better suited to this relentless thriller that will captivate you from the first opening shots. Every separate element of A HARD DAY is not original, but together they come as unpredictable and terrifying patchwork, making it a very unusual film. You may not feel sympathy fo...

* * * * * T.S. Spivet is a ten year old boy who lives at the farm in Texas with his parents, his twin brother and older sister. T.S. is  a young prodigy who is obsessed with science, but generally misunderstood by his parents and teachers. When he wins a prestigious award for creating a perpetual engine model, TS runs away from home to Washington to receive it and make a speech. But there's also something he is running away from. On an incredible journey of healing and adventure he meets different people who aid him in his quest, the true meaning of which is the reunion with the family that has stopped noticing he was there. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is one of the few cinematographers whose unique vision is always recognisable from the first sight. Short scenes with quick witty comments, quirky static shots and optimistic look at the world is his signature card. He likes making movies with the first person narrative and TS Spivet is not an exception. The style of the film ca...

* * * * Since  the world changing incident young Patema and her family had lived underground. But Patema  dreams of the outside world and  determined to uncover what is beyond the passages of the tunnels. One day she goes too far and finds herself falling into the sky. Saved by the young boy Age she discovers herself in the land of inverted gravity. The boy and the girl strike an incredible bond, even though their worlds cannot coexist together. Will the love conquer all? And will they be able to uncover the mystery of the catastrophe that had befallen the world? PATEMA INVERTED could have been a perfect Ghibly movie. It has a great premise, wonderful characters and fast pacing script. Entering the outside world, Patema faces the realm of danger where nothing can hold her on the ground and the beautiful blue sky is the abyss that can swallow her any minute. Clever  camera angles and  inverted shots make you see the earth through Panema eyes and th...

* * * *  A girl meets a boy. They like each other. They have sex.   Sometimes summer romance leads to a broken heart. But for 19 year old Jay it’s a beginning of a deadly nightmare. Her lover had given her a personal monster through sex. And the only way to get rid of it is to sleep with someone else… Here comes the first horror movie about a sexually transmitted curse! Ever since the RING there had not been a film with such simple and effective premise. The plot crunch could be laughable, if it wasn’t so terrifying.   And there hadn’t been a soundtrack so effective since Goblins’ Suspiria. The music was composed by a band called DISASTERPEACE, and it plays a huge part in this atmospheric movie about the randomness and unpredictability of death. IT FOLLOWS is a second full length feature of director David Robert Mitchell and is an inspired one. He has the ability to show you nothing at all and make you feel terrified. Turning a genre on its head he po...

* * * * * Ben and George had been together for 39 years before they decided to get married. Their marriage has unexpected consequences. When George loses his job the couple decides to rely on friends before they find a new more affordable home. What happens next is a separation that takes a hard toll on both men and an uncertain future which lies ahead. Life is unpredictable and strange, just like love. LOVE IS STRANGE received a universal acclaim. This little movie had not had a bad review. It is simple, but elegant, a love story that addresses social issues without preaching and above all praises life and love. The plot introduces a handful of characters, mainly focusing on the family of Ben's nephew who took him temporarily under his wing. Ben's life in their household can be summed up with one phrase he shared with his partner: "Sometimes you learn about people you live with more than you care to." Growing old and becoming a burden is a hard i...

* * * * Three boys run away from school to spend the afternoon at the abandoned film studious. Getting into trouble is nothing new for these three thirteen year old delinquents, but they are going to get into a kind of trouble they never even dreamed of. When the kids uncover the traces of some terrifying presence they are mocked by the local police and punished by their parents. But when the evil follows them home a true night of terror begins. The new film from Julienne Maury and Alexander Bustillo is more atmospheric treat than a gore feast. I guess in many ways it is dictated by the young age of the cast and it is not fun to watch children die in terrible ways even for the hard core horror fans. The script is well structured and the suspense is oozing from every scene to keep your eyes peeled. The film is full of wisely used cliches and some inventive kills that come in the second part of the film are spectacular. AMONG THE LIVING is not for faint hearted and the bel...

* * * * * A wealthy woman in search for fulfilment. A greedy man in search for easy profit. A young girl who had fallen in love for the first time. And a lone bicyclist is pushed off the road and left for dead. The story features three chapters, each retelling the same events from the point of view of one character. A clever reflection on Italian society, with its top notch performances, HUMAN CAPITAL never falters. It's is both story and character driven and is full of details that keep the key to the ending. The revelations are never over the top, unlike many films of thriller genre these days everything is kept real. We get a glimpse of different worlds of modern Italy: a Middle class, an art community, those who are at the bottom and at the very top, but keeping the balance all the way. HUMAN CAPITAL is thought provoking, dramatic and unpredictable. A near perfect movie experience.   In the society where a kiss, a lie and an expression of love can...

* * * When six couples in Yorkshire learn that their best friend George Riley has only six months to live they invite him to take part in the amateur play in order to take his mind off his gloomy fate. George's illness, and the agitation that surrounds it, opens the can of worms. Secrets are revealed, passions are re-ignited and friendships are questioned.  How well do we know our partners? And how well do we know ourselves? Life of Riley is based on the play of the same name by English playwright  Alan Ayckbourn, but the French name of the movie has direct translation as "LOVE DRINK AND SING". The film is a great way to see the play, but it doesn't deserve a wide screen release. Shot in a very stylised decorations, it is really a video recording of a stage production. The outside scenes look like stock footage and the static camera work places us at a point of view in an imaginary theatre, where we can see characters only from one boring angle. The e...

* *  Young cop Redji never though he was particularly good at his job, so it doesn't come as a surprise when he is fired from police force. What comes as a surprise is an offer to become a police informant - to infiltrate yakuza and stop the trafficking of a deadly drug. On his way up in Japanese mafia hierarchy Reidji meets weird friends, acquires deadly enemies, looses virginity to the girl he loves and never forgets to wear his leopard coat. Here comes one of the most bizarre movies about yakuza you would ever see on a big screen! Based on a popular manga, which spans more than 40 volumes, MOLE SONG is an acquired taste. Takashi Miike is one of the few directors who still manages to truly surprise and manipulate - the comedy is never too far away from tragedy in his films. Not trying to smooth the sharp angles, his film is a raw sketch - partly modern trash, partly stand up comedy. With his boasting colours and ridiculous dialogue THE MOLE is the one for the f...

* * * * One morning Maude (Isabelle Hupert) wakes up in her bed - left side of her body paralysed. Thus begins a road to recovery. Some time later we see our heroine leading seemingly full life. Also never completely recovered from a stroke she is a successful director with many plans for the future. When she casts notorious con man Vilko Piran as a protagonist in her new film, their friendship makes a strange turn which leads  Maud towards self destruction. Director Catherine Breillat is a legend of European cinema, known for deep exploration of sex and violence in her works. Even though she is almost prudent in this very personal account of her own story, ABUSE OF WEAKNESS is still a very hard film to watch.  Catherine herself experienced a stroke in 2004 and had been forced into giving large sums of money to a real life con man, whom she later sent to jail. The movie is a harrowing account of the heroine's first physical, then emotional suf...

* * * * * Five unlikely heroes - a loser, a killer, a talking raccoon, a walking tree and a green woman unite to save a peaceful planet from a terrorist's plan. Sounds crazy? It is. And it is also crazily entertaining. Guardians of the galaxy tests out taste buds. What do we really want from a perfect film? The originality, the laughter, the tenderness, plus the thrills. Against all odds Guardians  manage to deliver all of the above and even more.  It is a hallmark of what we really should be asking of modern blockbusters. And Hollywood studious, no matter how corrupt and cash oriented, can still deliver. I was cautious approaching this little tacky, mostly comical space opera, until I was totally hooked after the first five minutes. The Guardians is here to stay. It's an instant classic to be  reviewed and rediscovered. Here is why: Say whatever you will about comic book heroes. They are cliche. They all have super powers, they are predominantly ...