Jak svět přichází o básníky

If it hadn’t been for František Filipovský, I would have given this movie a three-star review, but thanks to him I decided to knock it up a notch and it’s actually him that Kříž and Matásek have to thank, because without him, this movie would be half of what it is. The scene where he chugs three beers at once is pretty much legendary. I would love to see him drink all the three beers in three ordinary shots today. There’s no way I could’ve done that… (10/21/2014)

A series of immortal humor in a unique package of illustrations by Stanislav Holý. Every scene is a gem. Every idea is a golden fund of typical Czech absurdism. It would be a sin to mess up cramming Filipovský, Somr, Císler, and Navrátil in larger roles into one film, and to always complete their etudes with something as automatically apt as the presence of Kořínková, Kretschmerová or Štěpánová. Fortunately, however, it’s co-directed by the Klein-Pecháček duo, who have extracted a successful hexalogy from the original idea from "Amatéři." (02/17/2009)

I never really gave this pentalogy a proper chance, and I'm watching this film properly for the first time today as I write this brief review. Surprisingly, I was enthusiastic about the film. Well, maybe it's not so surprising. Compared to today's comedies, this one is smart and entertaining, and it manages to cleverly delve into both human behavior and society. Excellent performances by both young actors and old veterans. It's really a shame that I avoided these films for so long. (04/16/2014)