nnenok Reviews

The Lake (2019– )

First Slovenian crime noir series

[9/10 · 22 January 2020]

When Tadej Golob wrote the crime book Jezero/The Lake, he dove into the untapped market that is crime noir on Slovenian ground. There aren't many, if any at all, detective/crime/police dramas being written about this particular part of Europe, so his first try should be commended, and hopefully there will be many more to follow.

The production is excellent - I haven't seen a Slovenian tv show of this high quality before, it is obvious that everyone involved felt confident in what they were working on. All the details, from the general bleakness and colour scheme, the intro, the scenery ... Especially the scenery. Slovenia is well known for its beautiful nature and landscape, as well as the teeny tiny villages in the middle of mountains (the word "zaplankan", its literal translation being "living behind the hills", generally means "narrow-minded, provincial"). These small villages offer both a tight-knit group of people where everybody knows everybody, narrow-mindedness and scepticism about outsiders and visitors from "the big city", as well as the very literal small physical area, making the whole experience feel very claustrophobic. In this show, tensions arise from the small space and its limitations. This show offers interesting character studies (the main detective is, fittingly with your usual crime noir protagonist, a gloomy, grim person), likeable side characters, sprinkles of true Slovenian personality characteristics that make us unique (spying neigbours, beef soup, envy anyone?), and - most importantly - lot of insanely beautiful scenery that will make every Slovenian proud of our tiny nation.

Yesterday (III) (2019)

The most wholesome film of the year

[9/10 · 8 July 2019]

I was super-excited about this film from the second I'd seen the trailer in February. From then on, I would just come back and rewatch the trailer at least once per week, if only just because even those three minutes cheered me up so much. This last year has already been a blessing with two other fantastic films about musical legends (Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman), but as someone who was thoroughly obsessed with the Beatles in my high school years (which only ended 15 years ago), this one I was most excited about. The Beatles' songs are the one of the few ones that can get covered and remade and never lose their charm - that's why I predict that even in 200 years time, there will still be a young person with a guitar pluckin' on Let it be or Yesterday near a bonfire.

Even though this film is not a biopic at all, it's a beautiful homage to the Beatles music, and about how bleak the world without it would be. The sweet love story and the hardship of stardom are presented well, and the cast is top notch - Kate McKinnon is always a win though.

Also, my fear was that they were going for a cliche ending of "waking up from a coma and realising it was all a dream", and I was very very pleased that they opted for a much more intelligent end. Perfect summer flick!

Black Mirror: Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (2019) Season 5, Episode 3

Not really a Black mirror episode

[4/10 · 25 June 2019]

As a standalone psychological drama, this would be perfectly decent movie entertainment. However, it most certainly *isn't* the Black mirror we know and love. Black mirror is all about the faceless evils of modern technology which affect the everyday person. This episode, however, has a clear villain, it isn't relatable, as the only person really affected by it isn't someone like me and it doesn't make me feel like this could ever happen to me. And instead of the gloomy dread that usually comes with a BM episode, we are given action sequences and flashy entrances, and a conclusive ending where the technology that was a problem in the beginning isn't a problem (or a thing at all) anymore.

Secondly, the actual peace of technology in question was such a missed opportunity. Appliances and software such as Siri and Alexa terrify me to my very core, so I was very much looking forward to seeing how they will tackle it. And it was so disappointing, because it was completely glossed over. Surely, a better episode could be written with a product that is constantly listening in every conversation in the room, picking it up, and storing it. I hope the next season will get us a more satisfying take on "cloud based voice services".

As I said, as a standalone film, this was a perfectly decent entertainment. However, it did feel much more like a therapeutical project for Miley Cyrus (and I'm not mocking her here - she had a wild period in her life a few years ago as a consequence of being a celebrity which had an effect on her life, so channeling this was probably helpful to her growth). It didn't make me feel like how it should have though.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)

Nicely directed, but what's its point?

[6/10 · 13 October 2018]

Throughout the film, I was trying to figure out what's the reason behind making this film now. It's about gay Christian conversion camp set in 1993 and tells us what absolutely everyone (or at least people who this film is aimed at) in 2018 knows - conversion doesn't work. It would make more sense if it would be set in this day and age and would be showing conversion camps that still exist; but a 25 year-old-story is at the same time not old enough to be showing a piece of history, and not recent enough to be relevant to the current state of society.

It also doesn't put a new spin on the story - if anything, it feels like almost the same plot as But I'm a Cheerleader (made in 1999). If the latter would be made today, it would be presented as a parody of Miseducation of CP, as it is a very campy comedy, however, it hits most of the same plot points. My only guess to why this film was made now is that films like this are able to get famous names and thus a more mainstream audience (like with Love, Simon earlier this year), allowing telling stories that were previously aimed at - and seen only by - a narrow group of people; and that someone wanted to do some nice sex scenes in a Christian environment. Now those were worth seeing!

Kickoff (2011)

sweet gay-flick

[6/10 · 28 April 2015]

Even though the movie is quite amateurish, with not much production value, it has heart. It is very adorable and the diversity of characters gives a lot of flavour to the story. My only problem with the movie was that as English is not my native language and I didn't have subtitles, I've had a really hard time understanding large portions of dialogues. The accents are pretty heavy, so a lot of time, I tried to guess out of context. I would probably give the movie a higher vote if I would know what it was about ;) I found the gay team very funny and even the most neurotic, paranoid character (the team leader) was quite adorable. Another thing I liked - without spoilers - is a very unexpected twist in the terms of bullying. That was very refreshing. All in all, a very cute movie.

Fixing Frank (2002)

Amazing script

[8/10 · 9 February 2015]

This is one of my favourite indie and gay-themed movies. Do not get turned off of watching due to the low quality of photography; for the acting and especially the script, it is worth of several viewings.

As the description of the movie says, it's about a gay journalist trying to expose a supposed conversion therapist. The beauty of this movie it's in its cleverness. It makes all the characters human, with their positive and negative traits and it doesn't judge. Despite the controversial topic, it manages to stay objective and present pro and con arguments instead of running into childish scapegoating. It's smart and it makes you think about life decisions. The main part of the movie are dialogues and the actors deliver them perfectly. I've seen it several times and I still find new depths in the story.

Humpday (2009)

Don't get fooled by the title

[8/10 · 5 February 2013]

When I decided to watch this movie, I was in the mood for some stupid American jackass film and Humpday, with its title and the poster picture appeared spot on. I was in for an unexpected (but very pleasing) surprise. This movie is actually slow, indie and, put simply, nice. It strips off all the douchebagy nonsense someone would expect out of a movie where two straight dudes decide to get down on each other and instead offers talks, discussions and ideas on what brings someone to get to this idea and to go through (or not) with it.

Apart from this, all the three leads are absolutely great. I'm pretty sure more than half of the movie is improvised, you can literally feel the nervousness and tension and chemistry among the cast, and I wish I could have a relationship like the one between Ben and Anna.

BearCity 2: The Proposal (2012)

Worth the wait!

[7/10 · 3 February 2013]

If you were like me, who after seeing BearCity 1 and learning about the sequel spent the whole 2012 checking online when it will be out, you will be more than pleased. The sequel is exactly what you could expect if you've seen the first movie, just with more Brent and Fred (who deserve all the screen time they got and more, since they're still fantastic). I don't know how realistic is the whole bear scene description, since I'm a lesbian, or even if the awesome parents like those of Brent and Tyler even exist in a natural world, but it is definitely a feel-good, lighthearted movie with a lot of eye-candy if you're into bears. I'm not giving the movie the highest vote, let's face it, it's not The Godfather, but I will definitely rewatch the best scenes a few times more. (Btw, the movie's official page has a really cheap offer for streaming and downloading the movie, check it out!)

Another Gay Movie (2006)

Disturbing and fantastic!

[9/10 · 28 July 2012]

This movie is in my top 3 favourite gay movies. I generally don't handle parodies well because I dislike mocking other people's work, but this movie goes beyond all of it and makes an absurd, disturbing, over-the-top, hilarious masterpiece. You shouldn't watch it with children, you shouldn't watch it with grown-ups, you shouldn't watch it with close-minded people, but if you're not any of these, you should definitely see it.

The story is very fluent even though it covers literally dozens of movies, going from teenage comedies to all types of gay films. I still tend to find new references.

Finally, even though the movie is so crazy, Michael Carbonaro's acting really stands out. It's a big shame that he is still getting only one-episode roles in TV series, because he really has potential for much more.

You Should Meet My Son! (2010)

Hilarious :D

[8/10 · 10 June 2012]

I didn't have high hopes for this movie since in looks low-budget, the female protagonists are all very loud and everything is shown very stereotypical, but boy was I wrong. They use all of these "disadvantages" and make them work really well together.

The idea behind this movie is brilliant and the realization is very successful and funny. To me, it was like a combination of Absolutely Fabulous, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Birdcage. Everyone was pleasantly annoying and chaotic and Bryan does well in being the most stuck-up character in the bunch.

I definitely recommend it as a evening-relaxing movie!

Shame (2011)

Wanted: resolution.

[6/10 · 26 May 2012]

After hearing several positive reviews of this movie, I decided to see it myself and I ended up being extremely biased towards it. The movie is good for someone who never felt like Brendon or Sissy, because it offers a trip into their head and shows the pain they're struggling with. However, for someone who is going through something similar they are, this movie brings frustration. After seeing their problems exposed on the big screen, the viewer would want at least some consolidation, at least some suggestion on how to deal with them. But this movie doesn't resolve anything, doesn't offer any solutions. Maybe this wasn't even the point of the movie. But I was expecting the type of film like Shortbus for example - if it has to include such a huge amount of rawness and sexuality, it's usually used at least to make a point. But here it doesn't, which makes me think that Steve McQueen just wanted to make a movie with a lot of sex and erotica, that would still pass as indie and "artsie".

But apart from the (lack of) story, the actors are brilliant and the camera is great. I especially liked the long, uncut scenes using only one shot because they really showed tension, anxiety, the parts of life that are always skipped in usual Hollywood movies.

Pregnant in Heels (2011– )

Your typical reality show about crazy people with a fresh breeze of honesty

[8/10 · 20 May 2012]

I've started watching this series because I like shows with crazy spoiled people, they're always fun. This is why I give the show a high vote, it gives a viewer exactly what s/he came here for. The clients are bizarre as in any other this type of show, though for enjoying this show it may help that the viewer isn't very fond of children. Since I'm not a particular fan, I find the stories amusing, but someone who likes them very much may become offended and taken aback for some of those parents' behavior.

What I was particularly impressed with in this show is the attitude of the hostess. Rosie Pope is the most honest "show host" (I'm not sure this is the right name) I've ever seen. She is not posh and classy as the people in the most pricey part of Manhattan are and she is well aware of that. She notices most of her clients are insane and isn't afraid to say it. And most importantly, she also talks about her life and allows herself to be emotional about it. All this traits are probably not safe in the cruel world of yellow magazines and gossip, but I appreciate it a lot because it's a fresh breeze of true honesty (and not the fake, loud, screaming one) in reality shows.

Straight Story (2006)

Very well made

[8/10 · 16 April 2012]

When I first read the premise of the movie, I thought it would be similar to the film "Almost normal", which had a great idea but a not-at -all good realization. That's why I was really pleased with "Straight story".

The writing is excellent and very funny, and it does include basically every aspect of what makes homosexuality problematic in the current society - the homo/heterophobia, the bars, the hiding, the violence ... Since the film is technically a parody, the acting is funny, especially Sofia stands out.

All in all, a very good and relaxing movie.

The Art of Being Straight (2008)

Let's repeat it all together: bi-sex-u-a-li-ty

[5/10 · 16 April 2012]

In general, this movie is pretty cute. It's not overly dramatic and quite realistic. The cast is likable: the lead Jon is convincing in all his awkwardness towards men and relaxation towards women, the best friend Andy, the "weird" friend Maddy and her neighbour are all really cool characters. The story is really simple - a group of people exploring their sexuality and love.

The only thing that really bothered me is the apparent lack of the word "bisexuality" in the movie makers' dictionary. If the movie would promote itself with this term, the lead character's dilemma would be much simpler and the LGBT community would get a good enough representative in cinematography. Because what is usually perceived a problem with bisexual people is that they are supposedly perverse and regularly hopping in beds of everyone. This movie nicely shows the feeling of being bisexual (Jon's quote "Some days I know I'm completely straight. Some days I don't") and people who discover they're not (Maddy). But since they don't mention bisexuality, the lead is left wondering whether he's gay or straight - even though it's pretty obvious he likes both.

BearCity (2010)

A great journey into the bear world

[9/10 · 30 January 2012]

This movie is a fine example of a project, made for a specific subgroup. Considering how much fun everybody's having and how unbelievably relaxed all the actors are, it could easily be a project among friends. And a well-done one.

The story is simple: young Tyler finally comes out of the closet for the second time when he admits he likes bears, and starts exploring the bear scene with all its positive and negative sides. And, of course, falls in love on the way.

The movie is full of inside jokes (by not being on the bear scene, I probably missed quite a few), but that's great, considering it was made for that specific group and not so much for the general public. It's a movie for bears and bear lovers to feel better in their own skin (and for open-minded others).

My only negative remark would be about the script (the text) - it often tends to be really forced, it doesn't flow and seems unnatural. However, this doesn't go for the role of Brent. According to IMDb, the actor Stephen Guarino is a professional comedian and this is really obvious from the movie. It seems like the writers didn't write the words for him because they assumed he will be much better improvising everything on the spot anyway. He is definitely the most hilarious character in the movie.

Conclusion: a really really funny movie. Apparently #2 is coming out this year and I'm hoping it will be at least as funny as the first part.

The Parade (2011)

Amazing work.

[10/10 · 2 January 2012]

I find this movie ground-breaking and beautifully made. I will slightly base this writing on the review of the user "mmajstor", who - as a Serbian - knows the situation in the country best, but I want to share my view on the problems he exposed. I'm a gay from Slovenia, which is the most gay-friendly of the ex-Yugoslavian countries. Pride parades take place regularly for the last 11 years and we always experience sadness when hearing the unpleasant stories of parades in Croatia and Serbia, the latter being one of the most homophobic countries in Europe. Making a movie about homosexuality is already the reason to bow before Dragojevic (the director), who experienced homophobic attacks while making this film. And even more, made a really good one.

Of course, the movie is a bit idealistic, that was the point. Gay movies are depressing as it is, there's no point in just showing gay bashing, because in the case of Serbia that could be a simple documentary. This movie was made to give hope to people. I admit that the characters are a bit stereotypical, not all homosexuals are like that, but some of them ARE and they should be allowed to walk freely outside as anybody else. And as mmajstor said "I don't think that gay population would be satisfied with the presented picture of them", in the case of me and my friends, we were laughing the loudest in the cinema because we got the inside jokes. And already like this, the movie was very provocative, so I wouldn't tease the local public with harsher topics for the start, because I think the movie was made mainly to educate. If this was the primary goal, I believe it did well. It showed that gays as well as straights can get beat up for the same reasons, for love. It showed that people can change and that giving a chance to somebody can result in personal growth. It had to show the situation to the locals from the Serbian point of view, because only this way people can relate to it and not think "it's just another one of those American Sodoma-and-Gomorrah movies" - it's something that happens in your country, in your town.

And finally, the idea of teaming up ex-enemies to protect Serbian gays is pretty far-fetched, but absurdly hilarious and slightly nostalgic.

Basically, my opinion is that this was a wonderfully made film and I hope it will made people think. Really think.

Letters to Santa (2011)

Love Actually goes East-European

[9/10 · 28 December 2011]

Ever since the British succeeded in making a recent but so memorable holiday movie as the already-classic Love Actually, Hollywood is trying to make their own version of this kind of romantic comedy with a fusion of life stories that come together during some special day (from the top of my head "Valentine's day" and "New Year's eve"). However, they all appear typical - a bunch of famous names and forced stories, just into making profit and not caring about the message much.

But now, the European cinematography strikes again, with the beautiful movie "Listy do M.". The biggest advantage of this movie is its credibility. Of course, it does have some twists that probably wouldn't happen in real life (but okay, it's the magical Christmas time) but the unknown actors and the language that it's not English (which we're used to hear all the time in the cinema) make you believe that these stories also happen to normal people and not just in movies - while obtaining top quality in the technical part of filmmaking.

Also, before seeing it I was afraid the stories would be the same old ones. I like how the creators thought outside the box and had some interesting twists. So all in all - fantastic work and I'm hoping to see more work from this director!

Romeos (2011)

Excellent!

[10/10 · 28 November 2011]

I've literally just returned from the screening of this movie and it's in my opinion one of the best titles out there dealing with the topic of transsexuality and even homosexuality.

What is important and what this movie does so well, is dealing with the topic so problematic for any transgendered person that was ever attracted to someone of the same gender; which is, how to explain to others that being attracted to a woman doesn't make you a man - but feeling like a man does. Rick Okon does an amazing job - up to googling him I couldn't find out whether he is male or female in real life (the perfectly done breasts confused me) and I'm ashamed that I was focusing on this so much because it just shows once more how binary-minded we are about sex and gender, even though this topic is personal to me. However - for not being transgendered himself, the actor really gets the pain, the frustration, everything that is behind the feeling of not fitting in such a basic category system.

I was also pleased with the development of other characters. In a love story, a view-point (and actually the whole life) of someone's best friend can get easily overlooked and I like how they dealt with it. The role of Fabio was also great and the scene with the trans-girl singing was just beautiful.

Basically, if this movie would go on for another two hours, I would keep staring.

Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)

My new favourite Christmas movie

[9/10 · 5 October 2011]

Make the Yuletide Gay is a movie about Olaf, a proud gay-on-the-campus, who is afraid to come out to his eccentric family due to hearing many stories about good family relationships failing after a member came out of the closet. However, it appears that this Christmas, when his boyfriend Nathan joins Olaf's family festivity and his parents want desperately to pair him up with the pretty neighbour Abby, the truth will have to be told.

I did not have high expectations for this movie, as the production appears fairly low and, at first sight, the acting seems b-class. I could not be more wrong, and once again it shows how so often great works are overlooked just because they are not made on high budget or weren't promoted or stars do not play in them. The script is cool, everyone of the main cast is really strong - actors have great chemistry among each other as well as with their own character - and you can feel their enjoyment of acting in this movie through the screen. The jokes are funny and I haven't laughed like this at a movie for a long time. Definitely worth seeing and more than once!

The Boys of Paul Street (1968)

Ferenc Molnar would be proud

[10/10 · 18 June 2011]

This movie is a beautiful homage to the book of Ferenc Molnar, who died 17 years before it was made). Being one of my favourites, I used to re-read the book many times in my youth and it was a pleasant surprise seeing the movie following it to the word. Acting is also good - William Burleigh as the charismatic leader Boka, Anthony Kemp as the loyal and brave Nemecsek, all other boys as depicted in the book. Additionally, the final battle is hard and worth seeing. As a member of the modern "generation Y", I could never really relate to the spirit of fellowship on the streets, fighting for a piece to claim one's own and that battle showed how that was much more than just a child's play. A game for some kids can mean serious stuff for others, but excluding the unnecessary drama of contemporary movies of this genre.

Going the Distance (2010)

There is still hope for romantic comedies

[9/10 · 16 April 2011]

In the latest years Hollywood served us a long line of romantic comedies, which all follow the exact same pattern to the point where it is possible to describe every story without even hearing facts of it. Going the distance is a pleasant change, like a grown-up version of this genre. When you expect the so-many-times-seen big mistake that screws up the relationship, they avoid it, when you expect an offended storm out, they discuss it as grown-ups. Most of the clichés are avoided and the main twists in the story are positioned elsewhere. All the unnecessary drama is removed, because it is nicely shown life is problematic anyway. The characters are likable and Christina Applegate is interestingly very well suited for a role of a slightly miserable housewife. I guess the point of the movie is that this kind of story can happen to anyone, not just to a certain amount of people with the carefully calculated amount of chance. I'm proud of Hollywood today.

C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)

Life is difficult when you're different

[10/10 · 25 January 2011]

C.R.A.Z.Y. is my favourite movie since the year it came out. Is perfect in every sense, the narration is beautiful and every single scene is powerful. It is a story of growing up in the 70's in Canada and being different. It is not just a story about Zac but a story about Zac and Christian. The parents have five sons; three of them are successful or what society likes to call »normal«. Two stand out. One is too gentle, the other one too rebel. It shows that life is difficult for everyone that cannot be what others wants them to be. And it is difficult to learn how to deal with it and whether to change yourself. It shows all the unsuccessful struggles before finally or never figuring the solution out. This movie does not lie that people can change through night. Every process needs time to bloom. With an addition of Canadian-French culture.