HeroMgmt

A truly fascinating journey in the first years of the Music Television. This gave me a very different perspective and helped me connect the dots in my favourite music era. It was thorough and detailed, a lot of speakers both from the board as much as the rock stars themselves. We've got Sting, Doctor Dre and the creators of the idea to tell how MTV lived and needed to change to apply to their audience. The best thing was - how self-aware it is. "I Want My MTV" isn't only the praise of the idea but the learning process and understanding of its slow yet irrepressible demise.

I went to see Arctic for only one reason: Mads Mikkelsen. I could be called a fangirl, to be honest, I don't mind. He has an incredible skill and even better personality (or at least "public personality"). He is humble and gives his whole heart to each project he participates in. No matter if it's a small film by an unknown director or a huge blockbuster from Marvel or Star Wars franchise. And when you hear him talking about it, the perception changes completely.

I used to love Mads for his Hannibal, but my true appreciation came after The Hunt and knowing how much he differs from both of the characters. And what was very important to me, he decided not to go into method acting. He wanted to stay himself for his family. So no matter how he loves his job, he didn't want to make the choice between that and the life of a husband and a father. After the introduction, I feel obliged to say why I made this fangirl's ode. Arctic is a one-actor film. Apart from a very small role of an unknown Thai actress, Mads Mikkelsen was the only face we follow for over one and a half hour. I couldn't have thought of any better choice for that challenge. Mads' face can show volumes of feelings which I don't believe mine can. He can tell everything without words and this was the magic of Arctic.

The story focuses on a pilot whose plane crashed somewhere close to the North Pole. Through his routine, he wants to establish a connection with civilization. He clears his SOS sign, he catches fish and tries to charge a radio with the strength of his muscles. He spends every hour doing exactly what he planned to increase the chances of being rescued. But then his survival routine changes because of yet another plane crash. A Thai woman survived it but she got an ugly wound and is now sick. She can't leave the bed, she's barely conscious so he decides to save her by any means necessary.

The film itself couldn't differ much from any other survival one. Human survival in difficult habitat isn't a very broad subject and I strongly believe that cinema explored all of these emotions at least a thousand times. The art lies in expression and creating the atmosphere of empathy. Thoughts of what I would do in such a situation bugged me for the entire film and long afterwards. The reflection of humanity and our ethics was told by almost silent film and it stuck me with questions I believed I'd known answers to.

Meanwhile, it made me appreciate the beauty of the icy landscapes. The cinematography work was very thorough, especially since they were shooting while the snow was melting. All these icebergs were magnificent and mesmerizing. They composed perfectly with the music by Joseph Trapanesse (known from The Greatest Showman, Oblivion or Straight Outta Compton).

To be honest there's nothing more I could say that won't feel at least blunt. It is hard to describe feelings, especially the ones which are shown, not told. This film has the magic of the story about how to be true to oneself and how to love one another, no matter how hard the situation becomes.

After 14 years, Disney decided to make the sequel to their Oscar-winning superhero animation (it was that or Shrek 2 so there was barely a choice). I have to say that Incredibles never stole my heart, even when I was a kid. It was a fun film, I even had a VHS (I am old, I know). Nonetheless, I barely remember it and it didn't give me the excitement plenty of people are expressing now. It wasn't my superhero debut nor I fell with any character or the story. Sure, there is Frozone but who does not love Frozone. And with this more or less bitter taste, let's return to the sequel. I watched it because I had no strength to see anything more complex that day. Just for fun. So don't tell me I had any expectations at all. Leaving the cinema, I was content, not excited nor pissed, I was "okay". It basically does not say anything good about the film. Recent fashion of reboots and sequels of everything that 90's kids loved slowly drives me crazy. And here we are again. It might be the problem I had with that. Disney probably wanted to make money from reselling the goods to the new generation. I wouldn't be surprised. About the film itself, it catches when the previous one left off and to be honest I'm not sure if it was a good idea. Because as a viewer I could feel the difference. Not sure if it was because I am more mature or because I saw it ages ago or there was indeed some difference in character writing. No damn idea. But I felt like all of them are older although they allegedly haven't aged a day. The main focus however continued. The lawsuit against superheroes is still on and the whole family got blamed for all the disastrous crap that happened because of Underminer. And the story goes, of course, someone wants supers to return. Who would have thought, eh? The idea of the plot wasn't so bad, but the whole plot twist was so obvious. It was Pixar, after all, and their films aren't usually crappy. And Incredibles 2 wasn't crappy, too. It was just a content type which may be exciting that 14 years ago but is not anymore. I loved that they kept the original design ideas. I loved that Edna hasn't changed (but had barely one scene, sadly). There was no magic I usually feel while watching such films. It was lost somewhere in that 14 years and Brad Bird couldn't have found it.

What I enjoyed the most was the whole daddy story. It was a classic thing, no surprises or anything, but it stole me. And the racoon, too. Jack-Jack was supposed to be the new hit and I believe my problems with him was simply because of the hype. But come on, a baby with like 10 powers. No wonder they wanted to extend that idea. Furthermore, I really appreciate all of the "new" superpowers. It was smart and to be honest I didn't expect they would go that far with these. Oh, and there's also Screenslaver. This name is neat. I don't mean the guy, I mean the name itself. ScreensLaver. Amazing.