Jim Jones went down in history as the fanatical leader of a sect that numbered almost a thousand so-called sheep, and a good third of them were children. In 1978, after killing a visitor, he convinced his followers to commit mass suicide with him. If the degree of manipulation is omitted, many suicides by drinking poison were due to coercion, under duress, torture or shooting. A number of fictional stories were created about the so-called Jonestown mass suicide (e.g. Sanctuary of Evil by Ti West) and documentary works (e.g. Jonestown – Life and Death in the Human Temple whether Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle). However, none of them are as innovative in their approach as Á-BCD-é-FGH-CH-í-JONESTOWN.
The experimental work of the Czech filmmaker Jan Bušta was presented at the Jihlava Documentary Film Festival last year, in the main competition section Česká radost, from which he won the prize for editing. Critic Marie Barešová considers the work to be “strong, intense, uncompromising”, but warns that “it is not suitable for a middle-of-the-road audience, and that is because it is difficult to categorize”. “An authentic audio recording of the reverend’s sermon before his death served as the basis for the bust, but together with it, an audio and visual component is layered, which reinterpret the audio recording. A very elaborate film works with repetition and variations, it is cleverly staged, because it constantly points out that it is not just a re-staging for the purposes of a documentary,” said Marie, who was the only one to see Bušt’s feature-length cinema debut. It has a very limited use in cinemas, especially in metropolitan areas (Prague, Brno).
It was for Maria Barešová Á-BCD-é-FGH-CH-Í-JONESTOWN an intense spectacle she would rate 80 %.
A killer android
However, Marie otherwise avoids scary pictures, because she doesn’t like to be scared, but she still went to see them M3GAN. The American horror film with elements of comedy was produced by the Blumhouse studio, which focuses on horror, and James Wan, otherwise the director of a number of horror films (Insidious 1 a 2, Captive of Demons 1 a 2). M3GANstands for Model 3 Generative Android, is very well attended in overseas cinemas and according to foreign review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it is the best-rated January horror film in the last few decades. And this despite the fact that based on the decision of the producer of the originally inaccessible film, anything really violent was cut out, so that in the United States people over the age of thirteen (unaccompanied by parents) could also come to the cinema.
Marie believes that a production decision regarding the cut and release may have led to the fact that M3GAN “it’s not even really a horror film, because you don’t get scared with it, at most – literally, not more than once – you get scared a few times. The craft is solid, but the result is uninteresting, seen many times, closer to science fiction than horror or a good comedy”. Marie points out that “he has already submitted the topic Terminator James Cameron: warns of artificial intelligence that sooner or later may lead to the destruction of the world because it gets out of control”.
M3GAN. (2022) | CinemArt
Marek on Maria’s mention regarding Terminator continues and elaborates on it: “M3GAN is not only technophobic like Cameron’s science fiction, but also draws on other eighties cults and/or classics.” And he further compares and contrasts: “He inserts satirical advertisements and takes shots at corporate culture, as was the case in The RoboCops Paul Verhoeven, but he does so quite late. It deals with the mother-surrogate daughter relationship as well as Aliens, paraphrasing their conclusion on a smaller scale, but not having sufficiently fleshed out characters. It also reminds of A deadly trap whether Child’s play, but it will be better to look again at any of the mentioned titles,” says Markovi from the comparison. Producer James Wan should stop playing with dolls, he’s old enough for that,” he concludes disappointedly.
Marek and Marie have nothing against protective and murderous dolls, but s M3GAN is less fun than the campaign and the Anglo-American reviews promised, so they both deliver 40 %.
Self-conscious chick
He pleased Maria and Mark more AMAZING MAURICE, albeit for other reasons. The adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s book, based on his children’s series, won Maria especially for its unconventional protagonist. “She’s a short-haired, adventurous, amateur storyteller. It thus reflects a trend that can also be seen at other large studios such as Disney,” Marie states the reasons why she was enchanted by the protagonist. But she was less fond of “the animation, which is too conventional” and also that “the target audience is somewhat unclear, also because of how self-aware the film is”.
Marek values self-awareness and self-reflexivity the most, because “the protagonist is also the narrator, while commenting on her position, and she familiarizes the audience with procedures such as frame narration, memory passage, anticipation of future events, the functions of the characters and their eventual transformation…”. Marek judges that “I wasn’t even interested in WHAT the story was about, because the mystery surrounding the mystery is obvious, linked to the villain, and getting an item that helps eliminate the villain is sloppy. But I really enjoyed HOW it is told, although it leads to certain problems, for example, the series of motifs and themes – the question of social hierarchy and democracy, polemics regarding faith, etc. – do not quite fit together,” criticizes Marek, for whom the recent Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a bit better after all. And not only thanks to the animation.
Amazing Maurice. (2022) | Bontonfilm
Animation Amazing Mauricewho will especially enjoy the tutorial and advanced/tutorial and advanced, is average for Maria because of the animation at the end (60 %) and slightly above average for Mark (70 %).
Why is COPENHAGEN COWBOY the best and worst of Nicolas Winding Refn’s filmography? For what reason there is no point in the existence of French comedy FULL TIME LIAR? And how she (failed) to succeed PIARGY, another attempt at art from Macedonian director Ivo Trajkov? You will find out if you listen/watch the Ball Lightning pod/vidcast.