Posts by Agata Olbrycht

Cinema Movie Review: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

Feb

2013

Wicked It may be the state of mind I’m currently in, but despite the crushing critique coming from all directions, I actually really enjoyed watching Tommy Wirkola’s Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013). I first saw the trailer without knowing anything about the movie, and I was quite amused by the simple idea of it ...

Cinema Movie Review: Django Unchained (2012)

Jan

2013

Way-out-there West with Tarantino I’ve never had a clear position on Tarantino’s works. I enjoyed Pulp Fiction (1994), Reservoir Dogs (1992) and loved Kill Bill (2003-2004), but I had mixed feeling about Inglorious Basterds (2009). I was thus very happy to find that Django Unchained (2012) was good, really good, although not as good as ...

Movie Review: Looper (2012) 2

Nov

2012

Looping the loop In 2074, it’s hard to kill a man and get away with it. It’s even harder to dispose of a body. But the mob of 2074 finds a way to deal with its victims – in the same year, time travel becomes a reality, so the mob then sends whoever they want ...

Movie Review: Electrick Children (2012) 3

Nov

2012

Pregnant by music? After Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), another take on the alternative reality of spiritual outcasts is presented by first-time director Rebecca Thomas in Electrick Children (2012).

DVD Movie Review: Clueless (1995)

Oct

2012

Outdated teenage drama? As if! The mother of all teenage comedies, the funniest of them all, Clueless (1995) is both witty and sweet in an kitsch, oversugared, Barbie-like way. Alicia Silverstone, who, as far as I remember, was a big hit in 1995 when Clueless was produced, plays Cher – way over-privileged, spoiled daughter of ...

Elles (2011)

Aug

2012

Straight or street life? Juliette Binoche is the core and a pillar of Małgorzata Szumowska’s fictional reportage about student Parisian prostitutes. Binoche plays a journalist for Elle magazine who’s exploring the subject – she conducts two long, detailed interviews with Charlotte aka Lola (Anaïs Demoustier) and Alicja (Joanna Kulig). Alicja, a Polish student who moved ...

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

Jul

2012

Happy endings? You’re distressed, tired of the unwelcome surprises that life brings you, you’re sometimes lonely and reaching the age when you do not have much hope left for better things to come – so what better way to overcome the blues than an escape to India? Seven retirees seek refuge from their problems in ...

Detachment (2011)

May

2012

Overplayed pathos After his skinhead drama American History X (1998), director Tony Kaye introduces us to even more depression – Detachment (2011). Adrien Brody stars as Henry Barthes – a talented teacher with the gift for befriending even the most difficult students. Henry’s life decision is not to take advantage of this talent, however – ...

Cecil B. Demented (2000)

May

2012

Deviously demented John Waters is a name that is unmistakably associated with kitsch and trash cinema. Obsessed since early childhood with violence and gore, Waters still manages to combine such elements with playful irony in his low-budget, always Baltimore-based films. Having started as an underground artist, he was noticed by Hollywood after the success of ...

The Hunger Games (2012) 1

Mar

2012

Games without frontiers Now that the fame of wizards, vampires and werewolves is starting to fade, it’s time for a new saga – more futuristic and less fairy-tale. Ladies and gentleman – The Hunger Games (2012) hit the big screen! Originally a ‘young adult novel’, The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins first gained popularity ...

My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Mar

2012

Waste of talent In 1956 Colin Clark, who is now a British documentary film-maker, spent some time with Marilyn Monroe while she was working on The Prince and Showgirl (1957) in England. He later published a book, which has now been brought to the screen by Simon Curtis in My Week with Marilyn (2011).

About Agata Olbrycht