Oliver_Rizmanoski Reviews

Ouaga saga (2004)

Truly a very enjoyable surprise

[5/10 · 2 October 2008]

The story centres around the daily "struggles" of a group of boys and young men, who live in the Bobo-Quarter in Burkina Fasos Capital Ouagadougou. From the very beginning it is obvious that the aspects of life are in their disfavour. Nevertheless the group manages to overcome the daily obstacles full of wit.

The core plot of the movie begins when they manage to gain a significant sum of money. Soon after that their so called neighbour, who always spies on them, sets his eyes one the box where they hide their money. They succeed in teaching him a lesson, which is not the end of their troubles.

It was a pleasure to watch the movie till the very end. It was full of comedy and a little bit of suspense. It may be that this is the first African movie that I have ever seen. I kind of regret that fact. Since this movie was very good I am sure that I have already missed many good movies from Africa. That won't happen again.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Nothing really new, but still a solid comic movie

[4/10 · 4 September 2008]

I have to admit that I am writing this comment, just because of pure amazement. I am baffled, I am sorry. But the reason for the superb ratings, this Batman movie has received, is beyond my imagination.

In my opinion it is a good comic movie, not a great one and definitely not a masterpiece.

The acting is almost non-existing. That does not mean that the actors are bad. It just means that there was no space for acting.

Christian Bale does his best, but his performance as an actor is just a faint shadow of what he can actually perform. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are simply wasted.

Heath Ledger is offered more freedom when it comes to acting. He does the Joker in a nice way, crazy at times, funny at times and sometimes he looks like a guy who protests against the WTO. He is good, but does he surpass Jack Nicholson? Definitely not, and the same applies if you compare this batman edition with the first Burton Batman.

There are still too many flaws and weak points in the movie. The list would easily crack the word limit.

Nonetheless it is still a good, sporadically a very good comic movie. So if you are a die hard-comic fan, then you will probably like it. If you think that comic movies are the masterclass of movie making, then you can call this movie a masterpiece.

From my point of view, if anybody asks me which good movie I have seen recently, then I can easily name two or three better films, that I have watched during the last month. And even those are far away from being called great.

The Happening (2008)

I really liked it

[4/10 · 7 July 2008]

All of the reviews are read were pretty bad.

After I had watched the movie I had to ask myself: Why? I liked the scenes, especially in the beginning of the movie.

Towards the end I lost some interest but it was still entertaining, and not boring at all.

It is true though that Marc Wahlberg doesn't deliver a good performance. The same applies for all the other actors. Somehow it didn't stop me from enjoying this movie.

To be honest I was never a fan of "The Sixth Sense" or any other of Shyamalan's movies. I always thought that he was over-rated. In my opinion his previous movies couldn't live up to the hype.

So, the opposite is true for this movie. From my point of view it definitely proved all harsh reviewers wrong. It surpassed all my expectations to the point where I had to question their seriousness. It almost felt like they were fulfilling some kind of a personal vendetta.

The Departed (2006)

Not really a waste of time, but nothing special

[3/10 · 27 May 2008]

For a start, I have to say that I had already watched the original movie "Infernal Affairs" before I saw this one. As the story is pretty much the same, the characters almost identical and even the takes are sometimes shot from the same angle, I am forced to compare both movies, which might not be quite fair. It is not fair because I was not looking just for a good story, but for a better one. Of course this is much more difficult to accomplish since the original was pretty good.

It would be overstated to say that I was disappointed. Not really, that would be to harsh. I definitely even enjoyed watching the movie. But...and it's a big, big "but". But, I wouldn't miss something if I haven't watched the movie.

Still, there are some positive things. Marc Wahlberg performed pretty well. In my opinion he outshone Di Caprio and Matt Damon. Jack Nicholson did his best to play a role which was at times implausible.

There were a few changes compared to the original. One of them, namely that the good and the bad guy were sleeping with the same woman was unnecessary and over the top. It was like a void twist that didn't add anything to the movie.

I even think that Scorsese got the Oscar because of his previous works. This one can't match his best.

When Father Was Away on Business (1985)

Simply good

[7/10 · 27 May 2008]

First of all, I have to admit that I am a big fan of almost all movies directed by Kusturica. I have lived in former Yugoslavia for six years, so there is always more to a movie from Yugoslavia compared to an ordinary or let's say Hollywood-type-of-movie.

There's something magical about this movie. And for me, it is difficult to say exactly what. All I can say is that it makes the movie special. The scenery is beautiful, the acting so vivid, that it looks natural. Maybe it can be a bit confusing if you do not know enough about time and place of the plot.

I also liked that the movie does not depend too much on dialogues, there is no trash-talking at all. And although I like trash-talking very much, it would have spoiled this movie. The way the story is told is rather picturesque. Almost fairytale-like! Having said that, it is not that easy to understand the idea of the movie. But maybe that's because of me :-) Each time I watch the movie, I discover something new, that draws my attention. And I still have not reached the stage where I can say: OK, now I have seen enough. As it is I am looking forward to watching this movie again and hopefully again. There's not much more to say, really. In times when movies are almost only designed to be chewed and swallowed instantly, this one provides a real opportunity to dig deeply.

300 (2006)

Not too inventive

[3/10 · 6 April 2007]

First of all I did enjoy watching the movie, but maybe my expectancy was too high. With hindsight, I think that it's one of those movies you won't have to feel sorry, if you don't watch it.

The way the story is developing it just reminds you more of old Schwarzenegger-movies than e.g. Sin City. The visual effects are borrowed from the latter, but it lacks the tension, excitement and darkness that could've made this movie more enjoyable.

The characters are portrayed in a way that you don't care about them at all. I don't think it has contoured a picture of the old Sparta like "Gladiator" did regarding old Rome. For a comic adaptation it just doesn't feel creative enough. I mean it's solid, when a bit more creativity would have done wonders.