Samotári

I've seen this movie three or four times. It's funny, even if some dialogues aren't written optimally. I love two things in this film: the soundtrack, particularly brilliant song "Lucky Boy", and the figure Jakub (Jiri Machacek) - young man, which has almost destroyed his brain by marihuana. His funny quotes as "I'm on fire! Oh, boys, it's really funny!" are already legendary here in the Czech rep....

I have seen this movie a lot of times.

I have to say its really great, perfect soundtrack, really interesting characters, which alike Knoflikari are real-looking, very nice camera and a very good story, storyline divided into episodes, not pushing you to laugh, but very funny, no mega topics, just stories of people who are alone different ways (single, even though having a partner or wife, stranger)... I fully recommend to see this movie.

My second recommendation would refer to Nuda v Brne, also czech movie, very nice, some people liked it more than Samotari, the third would be Knoflikari.

Bravo to Czechs, their once-powerful movie industry seems to awaken from post-Communist slumber.

The Loners is a comedy done with all the elements you would expect to see in a modern "hollywood" production minus the garbage that seems to get attached to the genre over the past several years. Superb soundtrack, excellent visual editing, beautiful Prague cityscape, to mention but a few.

The story is actually comprised of several sub-stories that frequently intertwain and overlap, an is in essence a collage of destinies, fates, desires... It follows a group of urban youth-to-mid-thirties people through a variety of situations ranging from daily life and leisure activities to careers and obsessions. And it IS hillarious. There's actually a point in the movie where the entire theatre I was in (about a 100 people in a small art gallery) laughed non-stop for about 40-50 seconds. How often do you experience that with modern hollywood productions?

Although the entire main cast is excellent (especially the upcoming Macedonian star Labina Mitevska in the role of an immigrant facing the all-too-familiar hardships) I have to single out Jiri Machacek for his superbly believeable portrayal of Jakub, a constantly stoned bohemian whose brain is severely affected by the stuff he smokes landing him in a plethora of funny situations.

Conclusion: don't miss this one! It's got a lot to offer.

This movie is gorgeous. It's real and down to heart, but at the same time totally crazy. The characters are easy to fall in love with, because they have so many different minds, but each of us could refer to at least on. In Canada, we don't have many movies from Eastern Europe, and for the few I have seen, Loners is one of the best. It's very funny, and magic. If you want to see something new and refreshing, go see Loners.

A great story of growing up, relationships, friendships, obsessions and coincidences. Samotari is first and foremost a very very funny film. The film runs around and within ten parallel stories, which, on more than one occasion, stream by one another to great new situations for the characters to deal with. The key to enjoying this move is to watch how quickly everything unravels and then knots back up again. The characters are a hoot to watch as they try to come to terms with their past and at the same time look towards the future. This is the kind of film that can stand along side such independent movies as those by Aki Kaurismaki and Jim Jarmush and be proud of itself. It looks great, sounds fab and makes you laugh so much that more than one toilet visit may accidentally happen while watching it. This is also an Eastern European movie and puts to shame most of what is coming out of Britain and America at the moment. The cast are so functional that when you leave the movie they do not leave you. This is the kind of stuff that people want to see. Not the 95% trash that ends up on video shelves every month. More luck to the film makers.

Do not miss this movie!!

Ben Holland.