Kaka

Sometimes less is more. With this film, Liam Neeson managed to resuscitate his action career, which had started to drift dangerously into purely B-movie action waters like Steven Seagal and others. In the Land of Saints and Sinners may have a straightforward plot and a predictable scheme, but it's also a beautifully atmospheric film full of gorgeous panoramas of the wild Irish countryside, weaving music and lonely, outwardly rugged but inwardly fragile souls. Brilliant casting and an solid finale.

Formally, there is nothing to complain about. The Apprentice is beautifully seventies/eighties with a VHS patina and authentic footage of New York at the time. It also has great verve and is rich both in information and facts and relatively accurate in the first half. The introduction to Roy Cohn is almost from a Scorsese movie its liveliness. Likewise, the chicanery surrounding the Commodore Hotel and the building of Trump Tower is well described, and there is no shortage of iconic shots of Trump opening his own skyscraper, riding a golden elevator, or of his lavishly furnished penthouse. Sadly, however, we get no further. Ali Abbasi portrays Donald Trump as a ruthless, emotionally flat and narcissistic bastard who uses everyone, drinks alcohol, takes drugs and rapes his wife. Whether or not this is actually the case is impossible to say, but the film does so, and whether it's just for "show" or whether there's some political intent behind it is hard to say. But I don't consider either a happy choice. Had Trump been a slightly better – meaning more plastic and complex – written character, I would have rated the film better, because Jeremy Strong was brilliant as Cohn, but Sebastian Stan was downright terrific as Trump, his gestures and facial expressions are perfect.

A great mix of breezy political satire and a probe into the highest levels of American government, in which we have the opportunity to chart the rise of one of the most controversial and powerful VPs in US history. Adam McKay tells the story with great pacing and oscillates between satirical comedy, drama and documentary biography with near real-time situations. The acting is downright superb, and the atmosphere is great. The film knows how to serve up authentic, realistically rendered moments, but at the same time is not afraid to lighten up many situations with cleverly inserted humorous subtext. Christian Bale is great and so is his make-up. People interested in high politics and the associated string-pulling will rate it higher.

After two phenomenally balanced, carefully constructed and emotionally dense seasons, the third one seems a bit muddled, inconsistent and less suspenseful than we are used to. The frequent twists and turns around Brody's character actually caused him to become quite fundamentally exhausted as a main figure, and the supporting characters weren't all that interesting. Still, some aspects of the previous seasons still apply: authentic locations, a believable probe into the workings of the Secret Service and the various chessboard manoeuvres, and a solid keeping of the viewer's interest in the daunting task of following up the best of the second series. Still a 4 out of 5 star, but just barely.

A recap/extraction of memorable moments from the first four movies with Ripley with the conclusion of Prometheus. The art design is very analogue seventies, giving it a “Scott-vibe”, handled in otherwise top-notch visuals and sound-design. Aside from solid direction and a few extra proficient ideas, however, Alien: Romulus is by no means groundbreaking and doesn't really offer anything new. It's a kind of a reboot for the younger generation, nothing more, nothing less.

Spies on steroids. Everything that made the first season great is either on the same level or even a little better this time. Again, balanced dynamics, compelling characters and fantastically clear and naturally constructed twists and key moments. In addition, the second season has a couple of action passages that bring a proper escalation of the plot.

Zero Dark Thirty meets The Bourne Identity, meets Enemy of The State and maybe something else. A perfectly balanced spy ride that has all the key ingredients. It may have a slightly less lavish technical execution and minimal action, but the content is top-notch. Great pacing, excellent twists and turns, but the main attribute that gives Homeland another dimension is the level of believability and high authenticity of the entire plot. I have some reservations about Damian Lewis’ performance, but he was not in an easy position acting-wise, his role is complex, layered and ambiguous. In contrast, Claire Danes delivers a master class performance as the mentally unstable but brilliant agent.

A skillfully filmed schizo with an excellent performance by Jim Carrey. Most people will remember him for The Mask, but it's in Man on the Moon that he kicks it up a gear and his Tony Clifton is a great caricature. Socially still quite topical, thematically novel, it's just that after an hour the whole farce gets quite tiresome and stereotypical. The dynamics of the film do not reflect the fact that it was directed by a gentleman in his twilight years.

One of the most optimistic and light-hearted films by Woody Allen. Mighty Aphrodite does not lack solid dynamics and relatively short running time. We may be seeing a variation of the same thing, but Mira Sorvino's charming prostitute brings a nice twist. In contrast, the antic elements are downright annoying and unnecessary. Woody Allen has slightly better pieces in his filmography.

Pedro Almodóvar is the Spanish Woody Allen. The core is always the same, just different variations. And so it is with Talk to Her, a sensitive, melancholic tale of oddballs that plays out an unconventional love story and bromance at the same time. The film doesn't stray from the director's artistic standard while bringing nothing particularly new to the table. A must in terms of adding substance, but it’s nothing special.