Usa on Movie & TV Reviews

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Review: four trips to the cinema in Ukraine

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 11:28:16 +0300

I Watched Avatar: The Way of Water Four Times Because Ukraine Kept Losing Power

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) — my review, and the strange story of finally managing to watch it from beginning to end in Ukraine during the winter of 2022.

Most movie reviews follow a familiar pattern: you go to the cinema once, watch the film, go home, think about it for a few hours, and write down your thoughts. My experience with Avatar: The Way of Water was nothing like that. I ended up seeing it four times—not because I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop watching, but because the electricity kept disappearing. I finally managed to watch the entire movie on December 20, 2022. That date matters to me because, under ordinary circumstances, watching a Hollywood blockbuster is one of the simplest things in the world. You buy a ticket, sit in the dark for three hours, and leave. In Ukraine at the end of 2022, almost nothing felt ordinary.

The Reader (2008) Review: Love Is Apparently Not Very Logical

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:42:16 +0300

In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which I wrote about before, there was this idea that some people simply aren’t meant to stay together for their whole lives. For whatever reason, they meet at one particular point, cross paths, and then go their separate ways. To make that idea work, Benjamin Button needed three hours of fantasy melodrama. The Reader, thankfully, doesn’t need nearly that much fuss to say something pretty similar. Because really, where else are a lonely woman approaching 40 and a 15-year-old boy supposed to find someone to satisfy their intimate needs if not in each other’s arms? Especially in the 1950s. Society obviously wouldn’t approve, but I have a feeling the police wouldn’t be knocking on the door either. And what are the chances that this little intersection in their lives will turn into some long-lasting shared path? Well… probably not great. While you’re still wondering whether this whole thing is supposed to be about love or just good old-fashioned sexual attraction, the movie suddenly takes a couple of turns. And those are best discussed without spoilers, because, surprisingly, The Reader actually has some pretty damn effective twists. Which is not something I necessarily expected from an Oscar-y historical drama. And the interesting thing is that the twists don’t just move the plot along. They completely change what the movie is about. Suddenly you’re no longer just watching a complicated relationship between two people. You’re watching a movie about guilt, responsibility, morality, law, shame, and the uncomfortable question of whether understanding someone means having to forgive them.

Frost/Nixon (2008) Review: A Brilliant Duel of Wits, Even if Hollywood Gets the Final Say

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 08:15:16 +0300

What strikes you most about this film is the unfiltered outrage of the American public over the fact that Nixon resigned but NEVER APOLOGIZED to the people. To be honest, this leaves a mixed impression. On the one hand, a plot device like this feels a bit like cheesy, over-the-top Hollywood melodrama. On the other hand, it makes you stop and think: could it be that years spent living in a democratic tradition change people’s self-awareness to the point where they are genuinely outraged by such seemingly minor details? Or could it be that, with my distrust of this narrative trope, I am simply a representative of a society that hasn’t yet fully learned to respect itself and is mostly willing to let far worse things slide? If that is the case, we still have a lot of work to do on ourselves and our own national self-respect… But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Review: Beyond the Clock - A Critical Analysis of Time, Romance, and Human Identity

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:37:16 +0300

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s original short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a sharp, satirical fable. At its core lies a hyper-exaggerated critique of societal norms—specifically, the absurd lengths to which ordinary people go to enforce conformity. A standout moment in the book captures this perfectly when Benjamin casually mentions to his wife, Hildegarde, that people are telling him he looks younger than ever. Her reaction is immediate, cold, and dripping with social anxiety:

Dune (1984) Review: A Beautiful Failure Caught Between Lynch and Hollywood

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:28:16 +0300

Dune (1984): A Beautiful Failure Caught Between David Lynch and Hollywood

There are two fundamentally different ways to approach David Lynch’s Dune. The first is to see it as an ambitious artistic blockbuster—a rare studio film from the 1980s that wasn’t trying to entertain teenagers as much as provoke philosophical reflection. Many viewers were willing to project Frank Herbert’s ideas onto Lynch’s extravagant cosmic imagery, overlooking the obvious differences between the novel and its adaptation. The enormous sets, practical effects, and vast visual landscapes encouraged audiences to search for deeper meanings behind every frame. Whether those meanings were actually there almost didn’t matter; Lynch himself would likely have welcomed such subjective interpretation.

The Elephant Man (1980) Review: When Compassion Becomes a Spectacle

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 04:28:16 +0300

David Lynch’s second feature film, like Eraserhead, was shot in black and white. This time, however, the cinematography is far more refined. Rather than relying on harsh contrasts to create an unsettling atmosphere, Lynch carefully balances light and shadow to guide the viewer’s attention. The monochrome palette is used to emphasize facial expressions and emotional nuance rather than simply creating visual surrealism.

In the opening scenes, we barely get a clear look at Joseph Merrick himself (although modern restorations reveal much more of the Elephant Man’s appearance). Instead, Lynch focuses on the reactions of those around him. The expressions of Dr. Frederick Treves or the terrified nurse entering Merrick’s room for the first time become the emotional centerpiece. The director wants us to experience the full dramatic range of the story through the faces of those confronting the unknown.

Eraserhead (1977) Review: David Lynch's Nightmare of Fear, Fatherhood, and Guilt

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 01:28:16 +0300

One of the many stories surrounding David Lynch’s Eraserhead claims that the film was inspired by a single verse from the Bible. As always, Lynch never confirmed which one. Throughout his career he avoided giving definitive explanations for his work, preferring to discuss broad ideas or his creative process rather than handing audiences a ready-made interpretation. Eraserhead is a film that demands viewers find their own meaning instead of following a map laid out by its creator.

Lost Highway (1997) Review: David Lynch's Nightmare of Escaping Yourself

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:28:16 +0300

Lost Highway marked the beginning of an entirely new phase in David Lynch’s career. After several years away from directing following Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me—a period spent producing other filmmakers’ projects, working in television, and serving on festival juries—Lynch returned with a film that reflected on the creative crisis that accompanied the height of his commercial success.

Fire Walk with Me effectively closed Lynch’s “classic” period: films built around vivid, chaotic imagery wrapped inside detective stories. Lost Highway opened his late period instead, one dominated by subjective psychological thrillers. The hallmarks of this era would become unmistakable:

Twin Peaks (2017) Review: Nostalgia, Trauma, and the Fracturing of Reality

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:28:16 +0300

In the final episode of Twin Peaks Season 2, Laura Palmer delivers the now-famous line, “I’ll see you again in 25 years.” Looking back, it almost feels like Mark Frost and David Lynch had been planning the continuation all along, as if they knew the series would become a cultural phenomenon that would linger in viewers’ minds for decades. More realistically, it may simply have been a remarkable coincidence, with the rise of streaming platforms and Hollywood’s hunger for established intellectual properties eventually giving television executives a reason to return to a series that had experienced both enormous acclaim and a painful downfall.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Review: When Middle-earth Finally Comes Alive

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:28:16 +0300

Oscar nominee for Best Picture (2003)

If The Fellowship of the Ring was mostly about setting the stage, The Two Towers is where everything finally comes alive.

The Fellowship is broken, the safety net is gone, and every major character is thrown into their own dangerous journey. Instead of one straightforward adventure, the story splits into three separate plotlines that gradually build toward the same conflict, making Middle-earth feel much larger and more politically complex than it did before.

There Will Be Blood (2007) Review: A Portrait of Ambition, Greed, and Isolation

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:28:16 +0300

If you’ve seen even one film by Paul Thomas Anderson, you already know you’re not walking into a conventional movie.

His films are difficult to describe because they rarely fit neatly into familiar genres. Magnolia starts as a collection of seemingly ordinary stories before evolving into an intricate web of connections—and eventually ends with frogs literally falling from the sky. Anderson has never been interested in making the audience comfortable.

The Departed (2006) Review: A Brilliant Thriller That Doesn't Survive Scrutiny

Tue, 26 May 2026 11:28:16 +0300

Here’s a piece of advice:

Don’t rewatch movies you absolutely loved.

Especially if it’s been ten years.

Especially if they left a huge impression on you the first time.

Some films belong to the person you were when you first saw them. Revisiting them years later can feel less like returning to an old friend and more like discovering that the magic was partly your own.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to me with The Departed.

Traffic (2000) Review: Drugs, Family, and a System That Never Changes

Wed, 20 May 2026 11:28:16 +0300

Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, inspired by the 1989 British TV miniseries, takes a broad look at the drug trade by splitting its story into three mostly independent plotlines.

1. Javier Rodriguez — the honest cop in Mexico

This storyline focuses on corruption, the blurred line between cartels and government, and the impossible position of decent people trapped inside a broken system.

It also leans into a familiar contrast: corrupt Mexico versus heroic American law enforcement. The film even extends that contrast to attitudes toward addiction, presenting one side as believing drug users are beyond saving, while the other argues that addiction is something that should be treated rather than simply punished.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) Review: The Horror Behind the Mystery

Sat, 16 May 2026 11:28:16 +0300

From its very conception, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me was inseparable from the television series that preceded it. Almost every aspect of the film gains meaning through its relationship with the original Twin Peaks.

Yet David Lynch made an extraordinarily risky decision. Rather than continuing the story audiences wanted to see, he made a prequel centered on two events viewers already knew the outcome of: the investigation into Teresa Banks’ murder—the killer’s first known victim—and the final seven days of Laura Palmer’s life.

Wild at Heart (1990) Review: Love, Violence, and the Dark Side of the American Dream

Tue, 12 May 2026 06:25:16 +0300

Among David Lynch’s films, Wild at Heart stands apart for the sheer intensity of its genre-blending, its feverish atmosphere, and its relentless energy. Lynch had the good fortune of adapting Barry Gifford’s novel Sailor and Lula, written by an author steeped in noir fiction, and that influence runs throughout the film. The novel is often described as hard-boiled crime fiction, with a voice that occasionally recalls Cormac McCarthy.

The film also arrived at exactly the right cultural moment. The 1990s were opening new creative doors, and Lynch embraced every one of them, pushing his characters to emotional extremes while filling the screen with sex, violence, and raw emotion.

Blue Velvet (1986) Review: Beneath the Surface of American Innocence

Sat, 09 May 2026 11:28:16 +0300

After the commercial and critical failure of Dune, David Lynch believed his Hollywood career might already be over. In the 1980s, directors who delivered expensive flops rarely got a second chance. Lynch himself later admitted that Dune was never the right project for him. Large-scale science fiction wasn’t his natural territory—his imagination worked best on a much smaller canvas, where ordinary towns could hide extraordinary darkness.

Fortunately, he still had two original screenplays. Studios rejected the surreal Ronnie Rocket, but Warner Bros. showed interest in another script: Blue Velvet. Producer Dino De Laurentiis, feeling partly responsible for what had happened to Dune, eventually bought the screenplay from Warner Bros. so Lynch could make it under his own creative control.

Mulholland Drive (2001) Review: The Hollywood Dream That Turns Into a Nightmare

Sun, 03 May 2026 06:28:16 +0300

Mulholland Drive is the third David Lynch film that can roughly be divided into two distinct halves.

The first half began life as a television pilot for ABC, and it shares a lot of DNA with the Twin Peaks pilot. It revolves around a central mystery, introduces a large cast of characters, and unfolds at a deliberately slow pace.

The second half feels like pure Lynch—an intensely surreal, dreamlike vision filled with symbolic imagery and distorted echoes of the characters we’ve already met.

The Straight Story (1999) Review: A Quiet Journey of Forgiveness

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:28:16 +0300

David Lynch’s The Straight Story is often described as the great exception in his filmography. Many people argue that it was less a David Lynch film than a project driven by his longtime collaborator and partner Mary Sweeney, who brought him the finished screenplay while Lynch simply embraced the idea. That interpretation is usually tied to where Lynch’s career stood in the late 1990s. After the unfair commercial and critical failure of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, he had become something of an outsider in Hollywood. Years later he returned with Lost Highway, a radical stylistic departure that was itself met with divided reactions. Critics accused Lynch of repeating himself, of relying on familiar surrealist tricks, and even of running out of inspiration.