Diagonaldi Very well executed

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Sandy Petersen Years ago I saw Alex de la Iglesia's film, Accion Mutante, and I really liked it, despite the poverty-row budget. It had interesting, though unsympathetic characters, whose antics were fun to watch and an amazing artificial world full of surprises. Witching & Bitching is an absolutely terrible title for a movie. I blame de la Iglesia's unfamiliarity with English. In any case, it is clear from the start that Mr. de la Iglesia's style in this film is the same as Accion Mutante. He has his signature whacked-out, borderline insane, outside-the-law bunglers, alongside seemingly minor characters that turn into major pillars of the plot line. He has his lame running jokes that rarely work, but are somehow comforting nonetheless, and, just like Accion Mutante, the movie has enough plot twists for three or four more conventional films. Accion Mutante kept you surprised every minute. Witching & Bitching (man, I HATE that name) can't do quite as well, because the title, as well as the title screens both give away the fact that, at some point in the film, witches figure prominently. I was thrilled by the fact that the film managed to mingle fairy-tale witches with earth-goddess shenanigans. Some of the scenes were spectacular. Many directors, when they get money, don't seem to know how to spend it to get the best results. But de la Iglesia sure did. You got to see every penny on the screen, and as a result, this movie was, in my opinion, superior to my beloved Accion Mutante. I love the way that his films attack both the status quo as WELL as the revolution. He subverts the subversives. His witches are (obviously) aggressively feminist, but it is clear that if they controlled more of society, the world would not be a better place. If you've not seen Accion Mutante (which probably most people haven't), then perhaps the closest "type" of movie to Witching & Bitching would be something by Terry Gilliam, or perhaps City of Lost Children. If you like that kind of anarchic, fantasy semi-comedy, this might be for you.

carbuff A really freaky, really unconventional, Spanish film. "Witching and Bitching" is an offbeat mash-up of comedy, thriller/action, fantasy, and horror. To me it plays like a much more intelligent "From Dusk to Dawn", trading some outright gruesomeness for a lot smarter script, which consequently makes it more psychologically disturbing. Some women (obviously) have commented that they consider this film to be very anti-female, depicting the fairer sex as being brutally castrating; however, I would guess that these no doubt extremely dour, stone-faced, feminists don't just read Jezebel.com, they probably also write for it. I'd allow that it wouldn't be shocking if the creative force behind this movie was a heterosexual guy who had recently exited some kind of highly dysfunctional relationship, but the perceived negativity towards women is obviously satire and/or just plain and simple humor, and, most importantly, it's pretty damn funny. These narrow-minded critics also don't seem to have noticed that the male characters don't exactly come across as bright and shining examples of their sex either, so they should just lighten up, and you should ignore them. This movie is perfect for people who are looking for something other than the same old, same old. The plot just keeps chugging along in entertaining, unexpected, and often nightmarish directions, although it starts to come off the rails as it approaches its final destination. Fortunately, at the end, it finds its way back on track and finishes strongly, albeit pretty creepy/funny.

JvH48 I saw this film at the Imagine (SF/horror/fantasy) film festival Amsterdam 2014. I had mixed experiences (see www.imdb.com/title/tt1572491/reviews-14) with the previous film Balada Triste De La Trompeta (aka The Last Circus) from the same director. The short version of my review at that time: After a beautiful 1st hour, the remaining ¾ hour disappointed completely. It was not a complete waste of time, however, so I decided for a second chance and booked tickets for Witching & Bitching (at least the title is a nice find).You can imagine I had no high expectations for this movie. So I may be prejudiced, but I still don't know what to think of Witching and Bitching, that was scheduled to close the Imagine film festival 2014. A bit of humor, but not specifically the category of humor that I like. Many stereotypes about man/woman relationships, and many more stereotypes about witches and their magical powers, also something that I don't specifically like. Technically it is not a bad movie, all things considered, but I did not find any interesting contents to admire. In other words, this whole movie is lost on me.In other words, the second chance that I allowed this director, can be considered a failed experiment. I speak for only myself, of course, since it received a 19th place (out of 43) for the audience award with average score 7.54. Controversy is an inherent feature of this film, given the mixed user reviews that I have seen until now (I've waited half a year before submitting above text, while I was distracted due to other business).

kosmasp While I did like Angelina Jolie in Maleficent, there is a witch right here, that I'd die for. All puns and jokes aside though: This is a comedy and it does start with a Bang (not Carolina, a literally one) and does not stop from there. It works because it is funny, but in an adult kind of way. No joke or poking fun is too low to go there (and while I'm not a fan of "toilet humor", there is one here, that I think is really good and nicely shot).It is predictable obviously, but the actors make the whole thing work and you will have "sacrifices" that have to be made (no pun intended), for the inevitable outcome. The effects are really good and while you might argue about characters and their moods, this all get "explained" ... at least in a fashion, that is sufficient enough for a comedy