Pasha's Film Reviews Etc.

7/10 When Annie’s mother passes away Annie is stricken with surprising grief. She always had a love-hate relationship with her mother, but now a strange sense of guilt is descending on her. This is just the beginning of a chain of tragic events that seems to follow her family through generations... HEREDITARY was hailed by critics as the best horror movie of this decade. But does it deliver on the expectations?  There’s a lot to be grateful for. Hereditary is intelligent measured film making,each of its sucker punches delivered with focus and precision to the best effect. A hybrid of PET CEMETERY, ROSEMARY’ S BABY and sprinkled with the sickly paranoia of the WICKER MAN it has all recognisable elements for a horror fan, but still has a unique look and feel. When I watch a horror movie I always ask myself a question - would my 13 year old self love it. In regards to HEREDITARY the answer is NO. Would it scare me - hell yes. Would it bore me to sobs? That too. Would...

6/10 A father and a son are trying to reconnect during the trip to a remote shack when unexpected guests arrive in the face of drug traffickers. They had hidden the drugs in the shack thinking it was abandoned and now asking for what is theirs. There’s only problem with that - they will not leave witnesses. Father and son have no choice but to fight back.  Jason Momoa has his time in the spotlight with his big blockbuster AQUAMAN coming to us this year. This much smaller, almost Arthouse, effort take us back right into early nineties. This is a B action thriller with charismatic protagonists, creepy villains, and where not much makes much sense (and it’s for the better).  Don’t try to analyse it - you get handful of invaders who are going to be dispatched in various fashions, they are so hopeless that sometimes one wonders who is the real victim here. The stakes are never too high and every protagonist seems to have some superhero skill (mostly it involves b...

9/10 Some unions are made for reasons other than love. The marriage of Zhenya and Boris   is falling apart. Boris is having a baby with another woman and Zhenya has a rich older lover who can provide for the life she has always dreamed of. The only inconvinience is their son Alyosha. One night the boy hears his parents fighting and disappears the next day. When Zhenya and Boris start a frantic search for their son their conflict deepens, wounds are opened and the final masks are torn off.  How does one carry on in a LOVELESS world? Russian director Sergey Zvyagentsev is a contradiction. Russian viewers claim that he makes films for Europe and they are very un-Russian with their cold style and unfavorable characters, while the rest of the world sees Russia through the prism of his films. LOVELESS definitely hits the mark while describing Russian middle class, the type of conversations people have, the interests and values. While in LOVELESS all the characters ar...

10/10 In this busy diner there is a table where a man with a black book sits. In fact, he never seems to leave THE PLACE. People come and go. Some sit at his table. Usually the ones who have something to ask for. The man with a black book can make any wish come true. But will you be ready to pay the price? There’s one thought that occurred to me when I started watching THE PLACE – its set up is so simple and effective, why didn’t I think of it? But with one great idea at its core it’s the writing that makes THE PLACE a great movie.  Written and directed by Paoblo Genovese, whose latest movie PERFECT STRANGERS (read my review here ) made a big splash last year, is interested in the psychology of his characters, their set of values and how they distinguish right from wrong with their backs against the wall. With the fantastical premise of THE PLACE it's amazing how relatable the situations and the people of the movie are with their daily problems and grievances. ...

7/10 This small farmers’ community in Normandy is under attack. The price of milk plunges, government support dries up and banks are knocking at the doors. Is there a way to turn the situation around? George Balbuzard, the mayor, believes that nation-wide exposure would help his little town back on its feet. The arrival of American photographer Newman, who makes the crowd photos of nude crowds, may be just the opportunity he needs to put his town on the map of France. But will he be able to break through the stubbornness and prejudices of the town’s people in time for the photo session? The simple and familiar premise of NORMANDIE NUE lies heavily on the charisma of the film’s lead Francois Cluzet. Here he is a down to earth, trustworthy and sympathetic mayor who has to deal with little grudges and dramas of his fellow citizens who just refuse to see the big picture. If you have seen Full Monty and Calendar Girls you will know what to expect from NORMANDIE NUE. The...

9/10 “To be number one in life a man should have three things. Power, money and sex. No one ever has all three.”  This is declared in the film by one of the male characters. But what does it mean to be NUMBER ONE for a woman in a corporate world? The original name of the movie NUMERO  UNE  is feminine (it would be   UN  for masculine) and really should be translated LADY NUMBER ONE, but the producers probably thought it too long.  For the main character Emmanuelle (Emmanuelle Devos) to be successful means to realise her potential. Losing her mother in a drowning accident when she was just a child (was it suicide?) she worked hard to build a successful career and never played the feminist card. But as she is offered a position to be the first ever female CEO in the history of France she realises she will not be able to get where she wants to be without some female solidarity. Struggling with psychological problems, her husband’s tantrums a...

7/10 Pauline (Mylene Farmer) and her two teenage daughters arrive at a creepy house in the country they inherited from their aunt. On the first night there they are attacked by some creepy intruders and vigorously fight back…  then the story jumps 20 years forward, where one of the girls, Beth, is living in New York with her husband and son, and is a successful horror novelist. One night she receives a call from her sister begging for help. It seems that after all these years she is still being tormented by someone or something. As Beth returns to the house of her childhood she needs to figure out if the horrors that still haunt her sister are real. I am a big fan of Pascal Laugier, who created MARTYRS – one of the most terrifying, but also meaningful, horror movies of our time. While the story of GHOSTLAND is hardly original Laugier feels at home here with a familiar plot of two women confined in a creepy house, going against each other and the world and ultimat...