Gotta burn the rest of 'em

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) is one of the greatest horror films of all time. Perhaps only Ridley Scott's Alien films have managed to create the same kind of magical claustrophobic horror as this one. A group of scientists in Antarctica encounter an organism from outer space that snatches human souls like candy from a store shelf!

Ants in the red mist

A realistically made film about young people partying. But unfortunately that's where it ends. Once you strip away the drunken antics and wallowing in self-pity, there's not much left of the film.

It's not tragic to die doing what you love

This hasn't stood the test of time very well. Point of Break, by Kathryn Bigelow, is a movie about cops and bank robbers and somehow the antics of both are very amateurish. The robberies themselves are the most exciting part of this, but they are mostly only mentioned in passing sentences and the focus is on the characters' mutual competition, banter and interaction. 

Hopes to burn

In this thriller, none of the characters were particularly smart. That's why it was a little uncomfortable to watch. But otherwise, it's quite easy on the eyes and has a lot of excitement. Visually, it really looks great with the winter forest and lake scenery. But even that doesn't save the terrible script. 

Nothing wrong with peace and respite

This was pretty damn awesome in its own way. A wildly brutal but confusingly entertaining survival film about people who can't get along with each other and, on top of that, unpredictable zombies are a constant nuisance. The Bone Temple is the second part of the 28 Years Later trilogy and this chapter of the story is, in places, even magically beautiful to watch. And damn, Ralph Fiennes is on fire, one of the strongest acting performances of the year for sure. Directed by Nia DaCosta.

Climbing the mountain of conflict

Hilariously funny. A truly insanely witty fireworks display of humor. Armando Iannucci's In the Loop (2009) is a titillatingly funny political satire whose content is very relevant to modern times. You can immediately see that the actors are clearly enjoying what they're doing and a lot of it is based on improvisation. A bit like a standalone full-length episode from the director's series The Thick of It (2005-2015).

Pimps run free and good men die like dogs

Better and more fun than the reviews suggest. Fictional but apparently based at least in part on the screenwriters' and filmmakers' own experiences. A peek behind the scenes and how capricious and stressed out Hollywood stars and background people behave at their worst. By overdoing the narrative a bit, the film could have been even more shameless and ruthless, but it's still good. 

It's quite a bomber

A black comedy mocking the Nazis. And just like Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940), Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942) was completed while Adolf Hitler was still in power. Very sharp, intelligent and fearless satire. A masterpiece of sorts.

Vow of morbid curiosity

Frank is a man of awkward situations. He behaves very childishly and strangely for his age. You can laugh at his clumsy nature with shame. But even then, when he oversteps his bounds, his behavior does not deserve sympathy, so in that sense the fun of the film undoubtedly suffers.

Truth is for suckers

One of the most crazy and imaginative but also most entertaining and funniest films. Unemployed puppeteer Craic Schwartz finds a new job as a file clerk on the 7 1/2nd floor of a Manhattan office building. On this strange half-floor, he falls in love with his colleague Maxine and discovers a portal behind the file desk that takes him inside the head of actor John Malkovich. A wonderfully ingenious and original comedy!