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Roman Holiday
Roman Holiday (1953)
9/10
Hollywood at its best
27 July 2012
One of the best things about Roman Holiday is its cast. Alongside Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Pack, and Eddie Albert's incredible acting, all of the Italian actors in supporting roles act with so much heart and soul that they add great energy and juice to the film.

Some of the details like the wonderful silent banter with the florist guy, or the music loving agent who is "crowned with" the guitar were just heartwarming.

The scenario works so well that while you feel the uplifting romance in the escapade, you also feel the joy of a paparazzi in every picture taken. The two man's later on mental construction of the news story with the pictures spread on the bed was priceless.

In so many aspects Roman Holiday is Hollywood at its best.
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Tatarak
Tatarak (2009)
7/10
An ode to the fragile beauty of youth
7 May 2012
The bleak dark room where Krystyna Janda recalls the illness and death of her husband is the root of the sweet rush lurking in the dark, muddy bed of the river - the reality. The contrasting nectar of life given so well and poignantly through the beautiful imagery, the light, the lush nature, the music, and the wonderfully naive scenes of Bogus and Maria, you can't help loving this film above its flaws. It feels like the Krystyna Janda real life scenes were made for the actress rather than for the audience. And though heart breaking it is, these monologues are a bit too long and too raw and end up like a dull paraphrasing of a poem. Probably this is intended, but still, I would rather see that time used for more on the characters, on the story and its questions.
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Garden of Bones
Game of Thrones: Garden of Bones (2012)
Season 2, Episode 4
3/10
A wonderful adventure turns into what
30 April 2012
The first season of Game of Thrones was an incredible, wonderfully crafted fantasy adventure that made us addicted to the series. But this season the air is very different. The good story is sacrificed to the shock effect. This episode we had to watch ten minutes of torture. Not gory, but still, was it necessary? Game of Thrones got us with its witty dialogue and well drawn characters and its story, not with this kind of tricks. Creating emotions with torture and sadism belongs to cheaper productions who can't create emotional reactions through its story. I don't want to be left feeling dark and disgusted after each episode, I want to be left feeling the satisfaction of watching a great adventure crafted with art, just as I felt after the season 1 episodes.
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Conquest 1453
Conquest 1453 (2012)
4/10
An insult to Turks, an insult to filmmaking
10 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This film is an insult to Faith Sultan Mehmet, to Ottoman history, and to the intelligence of any audience. It is the very example of how western orientalizm can be internalized. The reason why the conquest of Constantinopolis was a matter of survival for the Turks -the economical, political reasons- were totally non existent. Mehmet II, a well educated man, is nothing more than a religious zealot in this film. Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, who is well respected by the Turks, is a caricature.

Suicide bombings, only a phenomenon of late 20th century, is a common theme in the film: all Ottoman soldiers behave like suicide bombers! What is this? What are they trying to imply? This is a part of the recent series of superficial films and TV shows which seem to aim de-educating Turkey, constantly attack reason, and play at Turkish people's feelings of being under attack of western contempt, orientalizm and memories of WWI defeat.

The side themes fail as hard as the main theme: an absurd love story, a wife with no dialogue, unexplainable motives of Urban, and so on...

This film is harshly criticized in Turkey. I can't imagine why it is being defended so eagerly on IMDb. Because it fails in stirring any feeling of satisfaction of national pride as well. No character study, no context, no wit, not even a propaganda, just the first depiction of the conquest with a relatively big production, a way to imagine how it was, and that's why people go to see this movie in masses. One can't deny the production of war scenes is an improvement for Turkish film industry, but unfortunately, that's all.
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Tangled
Tangled (2010)
9/10
Back to the Core of Fairy tales
14 December 2011
Unlike many fairytale animations of today, Tangled manages to go back to the deep roots of fairy tales. The mother-daughter relationship between Rapunzel and the witch, and the naiveté of the Rapunzel during her years in the tower is dark and eerie in rudimentary levels. Unlike bogeys, monsters and exaggerated evils, it touches to an inexpressible cord inside us. But that darkness doesn't make you feel depressed as well, as the goodness (even in Gothel to some extent), the sunshine of the tower's pretty dweller and her positive spirit reflected on the life and decoration of the tower balances it.

Fairy tales indeed touch to the very deep cores of humanity, family relations, the boundaries of childhood, pain of growing up, the good and evil.. that's why they survived for centuries. Tangled is more successful in delivering the true soul of a fairytale than many animated adaptations, especially in the first part.

The tower and its hidden small valley is quite atmospheric; and all the other settings are well designed. They deliver the feeling of a fairytale and an ageless style well. Rapunzel is a very likable heroine. The film also has a fun but forgettable bunch of side characters like a horse with exceptional mimics and a surprising Eros.
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