Wag the dog

Wag the Dog, 1997
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson

Stage: Home theatre, lovely Saturday evening



Wag in short: After being caught in a scandalous situation days before the election, the president does not seem to have much of a chance of being re-elected. One of his advisers contacts a top Hollywood producer in order to manufacture a war in Albania that the president can heroically end, all through mass media.

Preps: It is a recommendation from a side I really appreciate. I have never seen a bad movie with such recommendation. Plus, a claim that every person that works in mkt should see this. Hence.. am anxious with expectation.


Reality: Well, it's always good to see and hear what the president team has in their sleeve. In this case, I am just bursting with laughter. First, do you get caught with a scout days before the election? (you don't). Still, this is the case here and the team needs to wrap it up before the years of preps go rotten.
In any case, I seriously doubt now (after seeing this) in every war, every little thing the media produces, every announcement ever made by government. I see in this movie, how rotten it might be, behind the scenes, on a place we don't see or hear about. Even the closest to the president in this case don't know bits of scenario that is driven to the masses.
For a person living in the balcan region, it's highly amusing, how other countries (us in perticular) abuse the names of foreign yugoslaw republics and use it as a "terrorist" country. May it be Bosnia or Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia or in this case, even a southern country, Albania. What did Albania do to us, the chieftain asks.. What it didn't do to us, is the real question, De Niro answers. And creates a stunt war, made in studio. Was the Gulf War really directed in studio? Maybe not, but it made me question every bit of information I received about the event.
The power of marketing, if driven with intelligence and style, is amazing. The movie depicts real drama you can setup with mere imagination. At the end, how convenient, the director gets shot/killed for trying to speak up. How american!
This piece is one of the brightest I have seen lately. Even though it doesn't have the scenes, the photography, the music, or anything really obvious, it has a strong story and a direction. How convenient it is to have Hoffman in the role of the producer, fighting for his rights :) I could just burst in laughter again. His imagination inside the piece and intercapturing the role he's playing is spectacular. President wants a white kitten? We will give him the white kitten.
Last, but not least. Bringing in the fallen hero (making a mistake and afterwards, having him killed and watch the whole US cheering for his fallen return, with a super dog behind, wagging his tail).. it reminds me of some scenes I really admire in Monty Phython. If you are a fan, you will love this piece. If you are more average, romantic comedy type of movie fan, you won't really get all the fun parts there are here. Because some of them are just beneath the average skin.


My personal rating: 9,0 (absolutely brilliant. I loved it and laughed long afterwards)


Wag the Dog on IMDB

Patch Adams, 1998

Patch Adams, 1998
Director: Tom Shadyac
Cast: Robin Williams, Daniel London, Monica Potter



Stage: Home TV, late night selection


Patch in short: Patch Adams is determined to become a medical doctor because he enjoys helping people. Unfortunately, the medical and scientific community does not appreciate his methods of healing the sick, while the actual patients, medical professors, and hospital nurses all appreciate the work *he* can do, because they are unable to do it.


Preps: Home, nothing more important to do. I have seen this several times and love Williams in this role


Reality: How much is our life worth to a bunch of degrees in medicine? I mean the board you trust your health to, when you are in the hospital. Do you ever wonder how they are trained and if the right persons got the job? In Slovenia, medical university is one of the most demanding ones (if you dragged a poll of this, you would surely get the feeling it's the most demanding one and not just among those). Compared to an average study (in years), it takes twice the effort, and after that you get a job in a place you never heard of, etc.
Patch Adams sees other alternatives, challenges the ways medicine has always been taught the doctrine itself and the ways to address the patients. He reminds us that the patients are human beings and makes us filled with faith that most of the doctors in the world have seen this and will make it their way.
Enough with vain expectations. The hospital the piece is showing, is a surreality. No way in this world, with the existing politics, bribaries, governments.. this couldn't happen in my opinion, even though I am a strong supporter of all the systems that could work like this. The movie shows the good sides as well as the downsides. It is a good thing it doesn't demolish the image of the existing system, because we need it and I believe it also brings good with all the bad, that is exposed in this piece. Patch Adams challenges everything and almost gets expelled, which leaves the viewer with fulfilled expectations. In sense, that Adams is fighting for a greater cause, for something the complete medical section has forgotten in long years of training. Sometimes people need talk and compassion, instead of high medicine. And if they need high medicine, it should be delivered professionally, which means, with soul. This is a part of training that was left behind because all the obstacles medical world is facing. I believe it's beneficial for both parties to see the piece. The medical staff, as well as the patients. To understand and maybe build a bridge somewhere inbetween.
The movie will touch your soul and won't leave you empty. It could make you cry, because it gets deep within your soul, especially with the death of the only student that gets in Adams's skin, despite her true dedication. Lovely scenes, lovely scenario. A sight to see, especially if you are in a romantic spirit.


My personal rating: 8,5 (this piece came to my heart every time I watched it. Bullet point. )


Patch Adams on IMDB

Le Concert, 2009

Le Concert, 2009
Director: Rado Mihaileanu
Cast: Aleksey Guskov, Melanie Laurent, Dmitri Nazarov



Stage: Home theatre, early morning on a morning I couldn't sleep, cultural holiday. Maybe the best beginning of such a day with some culture in the piece.


Le Concert in short: Thirty years ago, Andrei Simoniovich Filipov, the renowned conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra, was fired for hiring Jewish musicians. Now a mere cleaning man at the Bolshoi, he learns by accident that the Châtelet Theater in Paris invites the Bolshoi orchestra to play there. He decides to gather together his former musicians and to perform in Paris in the place of the current Bolshoi orchestra. As a solo violin player to accompany his old Jewish or Gypsy musicians he wants Anne-Marie Jacquet, a young virtuoso. If they all overcome the hardships ahead this very special concert will be a triumph.



Preps: Heard many great reviews about this piece, yet never came to its place on my perfect night. Now I have a perfect morning, the dawn of our national cultural holiday to celebrate with this piece.



Reality: An extraordinary piece, touched me to my heart and soul. Besides miraculous music, also great interpretation and great story. Reminds me somehow of a hungarian movie I saw a while ago, however that piece consisted on the dancing (maiden danced to death .. ). This one consists on music and bringing back virtually dead people to live again on stage.

The real story is about revealing real parents to a young talented violinist and telling her the story about her life as it really is. The parallel story is about getting some rusted russian players (concert players, artists) to perform again, with a real attitude, in Paris, the centre of culture (up to a russian standard, obviously also to the rest of the world). Numerous funny scenes happen inbetween, the russians somehow manage to assemble themselves and fly to Paris, however once they are in the city, they get loose of their strings, per se. Which means they act less serious than ever and don't really have in mind they came here to perform to a crowd of critics and eager people.

The movie has a genuine depressive drama mode, accompanied with the mindset of a true russian, as presented here - some would say even balcan way of thinking (we would call it "lako čemo" or we will get by). Which means that the real artists like this violinist would never perform with such a crowd of sheep for the lack of respect and interest in such barbarians. Still, somehow, the dramatic effect of the first subtle story about someone reaching to the parents and this clown artist story on the other hand, somehow collide in a superb concert they manage to deliver at last.
The final scene is breathtaking and makes it worth staying behind the screen until the movie lasts. It touches your innerself and makes your body shiver. The music collides with the feelings and the confession or the real story, which is told inbetween. Brilliant piece, in term of seeking something that touches you deeply.

Now, can IRL some people just go to the airport and print some passports, or on the other hand, can they deliver an excellent concert without practising at all? I really doubt. The movie is also filled with subtle hints how russian (or eastern) people are supposed to be and brings a dark spotlight upon them. I doubt things are really like this, however, if we see too many movies on this topic made in the same way, we might consider this to be the truth. Similar with our prejudice towards some US citizen (because of some movies that show them more stupid as I really think they are). So in some sense, this movie is humiliating the attitude towards russian nation and some eastern nations as a whole. Still, I got to laugh quite a bit. You will, too.

Some hindback for me; it's a russian movie, I saw it with spanish subtitles. I am not as fluent in spanish as in english or german, still, I got it all. But do yourself a favour and download english subtitles. Most of the jokes will be funny instantly, not after one minute (once I got them :)


My personal rating: 8,0 (a splendid piece, worthy seeing on a cultural holiday. I love the story and I love the outcome. the music will rock your bones).


Le concert on IMDB

The way back, 2010

The way back, 2010
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Ed Harris, Colin Farrel, Jim Sturgess


Stage: desktop theatre in a nice hotel room in Sarajevo


The way back in short: In 1941, three men reach India from Tibet, having walked 4000 miles after escaping a Siberian gulag. The film tells their story and that of four others who escaped with them and a teenage girl who joins them in flight. The group's natural leader is Janusz, a Pole condemned by accusations secured by torturing his wife; he knows how to live in the wilds. They escape under cover of a snowstorm: a cynical American, a Russian thug, a comic accountant, a pastry chef who draws, a priest, and a Pole with night blindness. They face freezing nights, lack of food and water, mosquitoes, an endless desert, the Himalayas, and moral questions of when to leave someone behind.


Preps: just a good recomendation, I am not aware of the content nor the cast. Therefore a lot of expectations, I give a lot to this person's opinion.


Reality: Hm. a true story indeed. If you aren't under sheets or somewhere warm, you will get cold in the first 20 minutes. Siberian gulags are places like german lagers in the WW2. Not a place you would want to be in, nor the place you could imagine to survive. There are many thoughts in my mind while watching the beginning of the movie, especially means of surviving in those conditions as those men fought against.
Stalin made sure he had the workforce, namely people that were tagged as the enemies of the system, country, its people (pick your favourite) and put into so called gulags. Treated as animals, without food, conditions to live in, at approximately 40 degrees minus, well, a treat truly. Plus, these were working troops, they built several tunnels for the russians, catered the wood, chopped down forests, made railroads.. a free workforce, you might think of them this way. Most of them were taken because a plain thing they did (and it caused their conspiracy to the mother Russia), even though in some cases it was a plain example of a person taking a photo, or someone just looking at an institution. Before put into those starvation cabins, they were tortured (or their families) until they "admitted" they caused some crimes.
In any case, a truly sad and honest story about gulags, in the first third of the movie. To be honest, the movie isn't about gulags at all. It is about surviving. Some men jump out of their fence and escape. Their enemy, as their watchers so vividly express in the beginning, isn't the dogs or the guardians, it is the nature. Surviving in these conditions, having 1000 km of plain forest and snow in front of them, this is the challenge they are facing. And it's not a light challenge. In my opinion, the movie doesn't really show the way how they survived. I doubt I would be able to survive one single night without freezing to death. Therefore I was interested in what the director might show me. And was dissappointed, because they just skipped the part. The same thing happens at the end. Skipping the long walk through Himalayas. What did Weird think when skipping this part? It would add some content to the whole and it would add credibility. Luckily they didn't touch the long walk through Mongolia, which is as hard as the walk through Sibiria. There they made me a believer again.

The main topic in my opinion touches the frames of one's will to survive. If you want something badly enough, you will get to that point, in this sense, India and reunion with the wife you left behind. There will be casualties, but we are looking at the main character, brilliantly played, who took this long journey. I admire the cast of Mr. Smith (the American)- Ed Harris, that comes all the way to Tibet and stays there. Beautiful. Plus, the connection he makes with the woman, astounding.

There is no way many people could have survived, barefoot in the sand and snow. The power of will is magnificent. And this piece shows it directly, in the bloodstream. It will make you admire the will to live and the will to survive.


My personal rate: 8,0 (remarkable piece on how to live because you really really want to).


The way back on IMDB

One True Thing, 1998

One True Thing, 1998
Director: Carl Franklin
Cast: Meryl Streep, William Hurt, Renee Zellwegger






Stage: home TV selection, on a nice Sunday evening.

One True Thing in short: When a tough New Yorker's mother is stricken with a serious illness, she is forced to quit her job and her relationship with her boyfriend to take care of her, finding out a lot of things she didn't know about her mother and father and her life along the way.

Preps: none in perticular. When scrolling along TV channels, I figure this is the piece with an extraordinarily good cast. Therefore worth at least checking out.

Reality: One true thing is one good thing. For sure, a touching drama that will win the hearts of all the members in audience that have similar experience. The hardest thing I guess is watching someone you love, die, or die away, as it is vividly shown in this piece. I have IRL experience in quite similar field, therefore I was amazingly touched by individual scenes that horrificly reminded me of mine back at my home. I conclude that the director or the scriptwriter (or both) have done their homework and proposed the real thing instead of some guessed drama effects that would pack in the seats in movie houses.

Furthermore, not only the cast is brilliant per se (in terms of who is acting in the piece), their live impressions of the characters are amazing. Once again Streep is the Star with a capital S, her act is beyond excellent. The same goes for Hurt and Zellwegger. Although Zellwegger found her niche in characters that are either goofy, romantic, oh-so-american-hollywood-wedding - like, she is strong also in dramas. One for sure is this one. Overtaking responsibility for your sick mother, when you should have be doing something for your career and future, is a great burden and can consequently lead to the state Zellwegger so brilliantly exposes. The rage, lifting up her skirt every time she finds a "situation" - and she finds them a whole bunch, is not only very real, but also so sad to take in - from viewer's perspective. Obviously, everyone has his/her own truth and the reality is in the eyes of the observer. Nevertheless, in my opinion, if someone that hasn't had similar experience, really wants to see, how it is, this is definitely a must see.


My personal rate: 8,0 (a good, strong, solid piece. One of better dramas on family tragedy I have ever seen).

One True Thing on IMDB

The Source Code, 2011

The Source Code, 2011
Director: Duncan Jones
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga


Stage: Home theatre


Source Code in short: Colter Stevens, a US Army helicopter pilot whose last memory is flying in Afghanistan, wakes up on a commuter train. However, he discovers that he has assumed the identity of another man. 8 minutes later, the train explodes and Stevens finds himself in some kind of pod. He then talks to someone named Goodwin, who tells him he has to go back and find out who the bomber is. He is sent back to go through the whole thing again and attempts to find who the bomber is but fails. The bomb goes off and Stevens finds himself in the pod again. He is sent back another time, yet still cannot find out anything. When he returns, he asks what is going on. Goodwin and Rutledge, the scientist in charge, tell him that he is part of a project that can put someone in another person's consciousness during the last 8 minutes of their life. Stevens then asks why he cannot just stop the bomb.


Preps: some recommendations + a hot thing at the theatres a while ago


Reality: What would you do if you only had one minute left? Made it count? Burn a bridge you left behind, or build it?
Waking up in the "groundhog day" - in this case, groundhog eight minutes, just before a big explosion of a train, trying to figure out where the bomb is and who the assassin is, this is the reality of a soldier, that keeps going back to this train, searching for the villain. To imagine that he's a sort of an avatar that can have as many lives as possible, is the first obstacle in trying to get into this piece. After all, we aren't meant to be a leading actor in a video game. Furthermore, does he play himself or the character he obviously has overtaken in physical sense? The idea you linger quite a long upon, before you see him changing his mind constantly.

The game is simple - retreave the enemy and let us know who he is. In the mean time, get killed as many times as you like, but get us the information. The governmental programme Source code is abusing leftovers from a soldier, whose mind is still functioning, although he's missing more than a half of his body. With the use of technology, they drive him back again and again to that train that only has eight minutes before the explosion takes its place. And every time he's back in the train, he is making a completely new story. Somehow very similar to the Groundhog day guy - it is so obvious to make parallel assumptions, although the topic of the movie is quite different. This, being an action movie, tries to play mind trick with the audience, because even though he is a soldier, the body of the man he possesses, isn't or hasn't been in a combat before. So the question is, if you possess one's body, does this include also the upgrade/downsize of the skills that are in this mind? In this sense, the cute guy, he now is, doesn't know how to be a soldier, yet alone to fight. And there are many fights in this movie. In some sense, when you are playing your avatar, you can also influence his skills, whereas we aren't really in the avatar world here, nothing is played on the computer and noone but the people in the train can see the actions.

The fact, that the government abuses people's trust in order to receive their service (and hide it behind the "do it for the country, son" phrases), isn't something extra new. What is one guy if there are millions of lives at stake? Nothing to the country. In this piece, they try to give him the background so you could develop emotions to him. But fail, because this side story isn't strong enough to survive. The last time he's on the train, he calls his father and speaks with him. And kisses the girl, he continously sees across his seat, whenever he wakes up. And makes people in the train laugh. Because the last minutes should obviously count.
In some strange fiction, this parallel world is continuing without the accident. Now just think how many duplicates could you have with the usage of such a device and how many parallel worlds would exist?

My personal rate: 7,0 (a good way to think about your time and things you care about. And an anti-commercial pointed to the country and its deeds).


The Source code on IMDB

Transporter 2

Transporter 2, 2005
Director: Louis Letterier
Cast: Jason Statham, Amber Valetta, Kate Nauta



Transporter in short: Frank Martin is the best in the business. The ex-Special Forces operative hires himself out as a mercenary "transporter" who moves goods--human or otherwise. Very simple, he delivers, no questions asked. Frank has relocated from the French Mediterranean to Miami, Florida, where as a favor to a friend, Frank is driving for the wealthy Billings family. There's very little that can surprise The Transporter, but young Jack Billings has done just that; Frank has unexpectedly bonded with Jack, age 6, who he drives to and from school. But when Jack is kidnapped, Frank must use his battle-tested combat skills to retrieve the boy and thwart the kidnappers' master plan to release a virus that will kill anyone with whom it comes in contact.
Stage: Home TV selection of a casual Friday


Preps: None in perticular. Don't even remember the first part. But I am a fan of Statham.



Reality: Is as clear as any well done action movie. It has all that recent movies from Jolie for instance, have. The action, the lady with the guns and shooting all around, the fuss around a chase or two (making an hour long chase and a superfiction of this chase as a multiplier of what we all used to dream of (driving this, getting chased, chasing someone, escaping).. the movie has all the entities of a good action movie and a good result to follow.
The plot is easy to follow and the story is well handled. Like we are used from others, like MI, or Matrix, or some cop drama movies. However, it is not really special in any other department but music. The music reminds me of the daring pieces in the Matrix, really strong and supportive to the action scenes. They will make an impression on you too, regarding the energy, the velocity and the impact they need to keep to keep the pace with the tempo the viewer desires.
But.. nothing more in this movie. We can all stand an hour and a half of watching a decent action. This is a decent action, nothing more. And nothing less.





My personal rating: 5,0 (decent action, but nothing really remarkable)


Transporter 2 on IMDB