VolkStudio Blog

Der Hauptmann (The Captain) is a recent German movie about the real-life deserter who impersonated an officer and ended up building a team of psychopathic underlings for murdering (mostly) prisoners. Excellent acting, good visuals, poor special effects.

The Homesman is sort of a Western, but a very unconventional one. Even stranger than Unforgiven, it’s well acted, beautifully filmed, and the story is anything but predictable. Highly recommended, as is Unforgiven.

Lawless is a pretty well acted and filmed gangster movie with a decent degree of realism to it. Special effects are realistic but rather tame when it comes to showing blood.

Dead in a Week or Your Money Back is a cute but eminently forgettable British comedy saved by charismatic actors.

Girl King tries but fails to make a convincing portrait of a very interesting historic character, Queen Christina of Sweden. Her Wikipedia entry is better than the movie.

April and the Extraordinary World is surprisingly good for a kids’ cartoon, mainly thanks to unorthodox world building with the alternative history forking in 1870. 

The Immigrant wins on the quality of acting, the unpredictable story and the excellent period atmosphere created. Recommended.

The most recent iteration of Mowgli flops badly, with the script diverging from the book and with cartoon characters of animals presented with humanoid features that make all of them look rather creepy. Avoid.

Riphagen, another movie based on a real historic fiend, is well done and acted despite minimal budget. Highly recommended.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a typical Coen Brothers movie: interesting in parts, uneven in pacing and storytelling. Worth watching once if you like Westerns.

The Road to Calvary is a much better adaptation of the book than the several previous attempts, and better than the book itself as well. Well worth watching for the excellent acting and a convoluted, detailed drama. 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society tried to be quaint but ended up formulaic despite an interesting premise and reasonably competent actors.

Run, Boy, Run is an epic biographical film presented from the perspective of a kid in WW2 Poland. Much like The Painted bird, it pulls no punches. Highly recommended.

Tulip Fever A 17th century setting populated by characters with entirely modern mindsets doesn’t come across credibly. Excellent lighting and visuals, but flawed storytelling.