The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2003
	Director: Stephen Norrington (Blade)
	Actors: Sean Connery (Goldfinger, Highlander, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), Stuart Townsend, Peta Wilson (Superman returns), Jason Flemyng (Snatch, X-men First Class)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 28.11.2012, SD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: End of the 19th Century. While Europe is on the brink of war, the hero Allan Quatermain (Connery) is called back from Africa to lead a group of rather extraordinary characters in defeating the evil plot of the Baron.
Review: I haven't read the comics by Alan Moore (who also did Watchmen) from which the film is adapted, but I guess that the best ideas come directly from it: characters, vehicles, uchronical story. I think the movie didn't have a big success at its time, but it is actually not that bad. I noticed the influence from The Lord of the Rings (released two years earlier) in the aeriel shots. There are also some common grounds with future movies: Captain America, Sherlock Holmes 2 for the story and 19th century pre-war setting, The Hulk for the ressemblance with Mr Hyde. The rest of the movie is quite classical.
Rating: 6 /10

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Jason Eisener (The ABCs of Death)
	Actors: Rudger Hauer (Blade Runner, The Hitcher), Gregory Smith (Small Soldiers), Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey
	Country: CDN
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 29.11.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: A Hobo or homeless if you prefer (Hauer) arrives in a town ruled by Drake (Downey) and his sons, and where murder is commonplace. At the local pawn shop, will he buy the lawnmower he dreams of to start a business, or a shotgun to free the city from all the scum?
Review: What is good about this film and why did I want to watch it? The title, the movie poster and Rudger Hauer. The rest is more or less what I was expecting: simple story, cheap filmmaking, relatively poor acting (except for Hauer). What I didn't really expect is so much gore and violence!! Finally it is a good Z-movie, a bit more original and with higher image quality, although the colors in many scenes are over-saturated. It could have been a Troma production like Toxic Avenger or Terror Firmer, with as much excess but less talent. Still there are some nicely exagerated scenes (first massacre after he gets the weapon) and good lines ("He delivers justice one shell at a time!").
Rating: 4 /10

Zoolander (2001)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2001
	Director: Ben Stiller (The Cable Guy, Tropic Thunder)
	Actors: Ben Stiller (Mystery Men, Meet the Parents), Owen Wilson (Armageddon, Cars), Christine Taylor (Dodgeball)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 27.11.2012, DVD, 40" TV
Synopsis: It is a troubled period for fashion designers: the prime minister of Malasya is about to increase the minium wage for their factory workers there. Derek Zoolander (Stiller), three times male model of the year, might help them solving their problem.
Review: Classic Ben Stiller comedy, revolving around the strange and ridiculous world of male models and their day-to-day life. It turned out that I laughed less then while watching Dodgeball, contrarily to what I remembered, maybe because the movie is a bit more often serious. There are still some unforgettable moments like when Stiller shows us his famous "looks", or when he goes back to his roots and meets his family working in the mines. The character of Hansel (Wilson) is completely different but very funny in his style too.
Rating: 6 /10

Skyfall (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead)
	Actors: Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Cowboys & Aliens, The Aventures of Tintin), Judi Dench (Quantum of Solace), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Ralph Fiennes (The Avengers, Harry Potter 1-7, The Hurt Locker), Naomie Harris (28 Days Later, Ninja Assassin)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 26.11.2012, CINEMA theater, digital projection
Synopsis: The british secret services MI6 have lost a list of undercover secret agents. They need their best agent 007 (Craig) more than ever, but have to fight their own bureaucracy at the same time.
Review: This movie privileges characters to action, and takes care of developing the character of James Bond in particular, a bit like it was attempted in Casino Royale. It is my favorite of the three Daniel Craig Bonds, and sometimes feels like a homecoming, back to the roots of the Bond franchise (references to old episodes are multiple). I had a bad feeling at the beginning when it starts with excessive car/motorbike chases and stunts, Bond gets shots but doesn't flinch, he starts to massively destroy cars and trains... But this excess (a transition from Quantum of Solace?) is only to underline the contrast with the rest of the movie. During its 2h30 duration, there is a lot of talking and sparse action, but Bond is still impressive when need be, and I didn't find him tired like some people say. I don't know if the screenplay was influenced a lot by the director Sam Mendes (American Beauty), but for sure the way of filming was: there are many shots that last several tens of seconds, not only monologues but also fight scenes, and I like this better that when the camera is shaky and the fights unreadable. I found that some of the special affects were poorly done (the scorpion on his hand, or the compositing of the background behind him when he rides the motorbike), but otherwise the image quality is impressive, especially during the aerial night shots of Shanghai. My reference on the topic is The Dark Knight, in which the aerial views of Hong-Kong are breathtaking, but the night ones are dissapointing. In Skyfall, none of this: the sharpness of the images is impressive day and night.
Rating: 7 /10

Chronicle (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Josh Trank
	Actors: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 25.22.2012, SD VOD, 32" TV
Synopsis: Three high-school friends film themselves as they learn to use super-powers they have recently acquired.
Review: There are so many super-hero movies thoser days, it was an intereting idea to present this one from the point of view of the heroes themselves, as they discover their powers. Its structure reminds me a lot of Cloverfield, as when it starts you quite don't know what will happen later. The targetted audiance is obviously high-school students as it corresponds to the age of main characters, and teenagers can identify with what the heroes do with their powers at first (impress girls, scare kids...), they probably would have done the same. Actually the story is well told but quite predictable, and doesn't go further than the day-to-day preoccupations of those kid, which makes that it will not remain in memories as a great film.
Rating: 6 /10

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Brad Peyton (Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore)
	Actors: Josh Hutcherson (The Kids are All Right, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Hunger Games, Detention), Dwayne Johnson (The Mummy 2, G. I. Joe 2), Michael Caine (Zulu, The Dark Knight 1-3, Harry Brown), Luis Guzmán (Traffic, Snake Eyes), Vanessa Hudgens (Sucker Punch, Machete Kills)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 23.11.2012, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Sean Anderson (Hutcherson) is a Vernian, i.e. believes that the stories told in Jules Verne's book happened for real. After receiving a radio message from his grandfather (Caine), he will team up with his step-dad (Johnson) to go look for him on a mysterious island.
Review: This movie should not be taken seriously. From the beginning when they solve the riddle for locating the island in thirty seconds, through the whole film with poor special effects, bad jokes, unbelievable discoveries... It is obviously made for kids, who don't ask questions. "The Rock" Johnson is sometimes funny but otherwise useless. There is also an obvious intend to seduce an older audience by continuously showing Vanessa Hudgens in tight shorts running, crawling or with a wet T-shirt. A succession of predictable action scenes and cheap father/son psychology. As I said, it is OK to watch if you don't take it seriously.
Rating: 3 /10

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1984
	Director: Rob Reiner (When Harry met Sally..., Misery)
	Actors: Rob Reiner (Ed-TV), Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Fran Drescher (TV-series The Nanny), Patrick Macnee (TV-series The Avengers)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Documentary, Music
	Conditions of visioning: 21.11.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Documentary director Marty DiBergi decides to follow the world-famous rock band Spinal Tap on their latest USA-tour in 1982. He will catch more than a imple rock band on film, much more...
Review: Sold as the best Rockumentary ever made, it actually belongs to the rare genre of Mockumentary, which is for me different from the found footage or hand-held camera movies that are now quite numerous. It is not only filmed as a documentary (for better viewer's immersion) but is trying to trick you into believing it is real, for a greater offbeat comical effect. Two other movies I would put in this category are Forgotten Silver by Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings) telling the story of a famous Kiwi inventor and film-maker, and the improbable Japanese-Finnish Ski Jumping Pairs that tells us about this obscure sport which is ski jumping with two people on the skis! But back to the movie. The dialogs an situations are very well written, with a kind of second-degree British humor, although the film is american but depicts a rock band from UK. Just when you see the band with their long hair, moustaches and tight pants with cucumber in them, you cannot help laughting. This Blu-ray edition contains a lot of special features. I watched only the 45-minute documentary, but it is already great to have a better idea of how the movie was received by people working in the world of rock music (bands, producers, critics...). You learn that the stories depicted in the movie are often sadly true and happen to most aging bands.
Rating: 7 /10

Wing Commander (1999)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: Chris Roberts (producer on the video games Wing Commander 1-3 and on Lord of War)
	Actors: Freddie Prinze Jr. (I know what you did Last Summer 1-2, Scooby Doo 1-2), Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby Doo 1-2), Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue See, Troja), Tcheky Karyo (Dobermann, Bad Boys), Jürgen Prochnow (Das Boot)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 20.11.2012, DVD, 32" TV
Synopsis: During a battle between humans and the Kilrathi, the ennemi has managed to retreive the coordinates to Earth. It then rests on the hands of the young pilot Blair (Prince Jr.) and his best friend 'Maniac' (Lillard) to deliver an important message to the fleet and take part in the action.
Review: Space Operas are too rare for this one to be ignored. It is inspired by a famous video game of the same name and stars actors who were well-known for playing in the wave of slasher movies popular at the end of the 90's. Back then they were the equivalent of the actors of Twilight nowadays. I guess the screenplay writer had to extrapolate a lot from the basic plot of the videogame (basically shoot everything you can with your space fighter!). The result is not too bad actually. The movie has aged but is not to be laughed at. Actually it sometimes reminded me of Starship Troopers or the TV-series Battlestar Galactica. The special effects are acceptable when watched on a TV, except for the aliens which are clearly big green rubber monsters. Fun fact: the design of the inside of the starship Tiger's Claw is clearly inspired from WWI sub-marines, so that you feel at ease when you see Jürgen Prochnow wandering in those corridors like he did in Das Boot!
Rating: 6 /10

Heartless (2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Philip Ridley
	Actors: Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas), Luke Treadaway (Clash of the Titans), Clémence Poésy (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
	Country: GB
	Genre: Drama, Thriller, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 17.11.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: A young man (Sturgess) with a heart-shaped birth mark on the face goes through life not understanding the evilness of the world around him. The king of the evilness will propose him a pact: beauty against some hand-work.
Review: It is not easy to describe this movie. It is really close to its characters and their daily life in the suburbs of London, so you are really taken aback when the horror kicks in. The movie doesn't stop taking you in disturbing ways, sometimes mixed with a dark cold humor or the naiveness of the main character, who by the way is playing wonderfully. It was a big success in the festivals of 2009 and I am glad I have finally seen it. A beautiful and terrifying movie indeed. Well summarized on the Blu-ray cover by an extract from Moviescope magazine: "Intelligent, gripping and stunning".
Rating: 8 /10

Timecop (1994)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1994
	Director: Peter Hyams (Sudden Death, End of Days)
	Actors: Jean-Claude Van Damme (Cyborg, Universal Soldier), Mia Sara, Ron Silver, Bruce Mc Gill (McGyver TV-series), Gloris Reuben (E.R. TV-series)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, SF, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 19.11.2012, SD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Security agent Walker (Van Damme) sees his wife killed while he was about to enroll as officer in a new agency regulating time travel that has just been invented. Ten years later he discovers that some people are above the agency's law and use time travel for bad deeds.
Review: A good old JCVD movie, not around martial arts this one but it doesn't prevent him from giving some good kicks and showing off with leg-splits. The time-travel story is quite classic of the genre, with bad guys who want to make money from it and become powerful. There is a lot of action in this movie but it also spends time making us feel sorry for the main character who lost his wife. A nice movie in the end. I think I had already seen it, but maybe fifteen years ago as I didn't remember anything. Note that there is a scene in which Van Damme drinks heavily while watching old films of his lost wife and anticipating his dialog lines, very much like Tom Cruise does it in Minority Report, the only differences being that he is taking heavier drugs, that he is talking to his wife and son, and that they are in 3D.
Rating: 6 /10

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer)
	Actors: Andrew Garfield (The Sodial Network), Emma Stone (Zombieland), Rhys Ifans (Human Nature, Mr Nobody), Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now, The Dead Zone)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 16.11.2012, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Peter Parker is a regular high school kid. He is brought up by his aunt and uncle since his father mysteriously dissapears. While looking for answers, a visit to the bio-engineering branch of the Oscorp company will change his life.
Review: It is well known that this movie was done in a hurry because the major which owns the rights would have lost them otherwise. Less than ten years after Sam Raimi's vision of Spider-Man, we are shown a reboot of the vigilante's origins, first love, first fights, uncle' death... I thought the movie was useless on the principle before seing it, and I still feel the same after. The version from Sam Raimi (Evil Dead 1-3) was very caricatural, but when you see this other version you realize it was the right choice for a comics book adaptation. For example Sam Raimi believed Peter Parker had to be a regular kid that receives all those incredible powers, including the ability to throw webs, while in the comics he is a bit more of a genius and builds his own web projectors at the age of 16! This approach is followed in the Amazing Spider-Man, and I have to say I preferred the other one. All the actors are good (nice to see that old Martin Sheen!) but something is missing. For me it definitely feels like I have been told the story before. The main attraction in this episode is the villain, a one-armed professor that turns into a big strong nasty lizzard, and I have to admit it is quite well done, and I enjoyed its apparitions and fights with Spider-Man.
Rating: 4 /10

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1977
	Director: George Lucas (American Graffiti)
	Actors: Mark Hamill (Sushi Girl), Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones 1-4), Alec Guiness (The Bridge on the River Kwai), Carrie Fisher (The Blues Brothers)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Adventure, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 18.11.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Young Luke Skywalker (Hamill) will join the rebellion to save princess Leia (Fisher) and the entire galaxy from the tyrannic rule of the galactic Empire. For starters: eliminate the treat of the Death Star, a weapon that can destroy planets.
Review: It is difficult to analyse this movie that is THE classic of Science-Fiction in general, Space Opera in particular, and I know that many people have even written their PhD thesis on it. I give it a very hight ranking but it is difficult to explain why. One of the reasons might be that I have seen it young (and many times since) and that it did influence me and my vision of cinema. I wonder which impact the movie has on a young audience nowadays. In fact the story is not particularly good, neither are the actors, the special effects can look outdated (even in the Special Edition with new effects) and the characters' reaction are sometimes not appropriate (my uncle and aunt die.. OK let's leave the planet). But something (the Force?) glues everything together and makes it attract fascination over and over. For the first time I watched it in the recent Blu-ray edition, so I will focus here on what stroke me this time. I noticed many details for the first time (background, special characters...) that made me realize it is not the cheap movie we usually think: there was a consequant budget for locations, costumes, good cameras... Then there is the character of Darth Vador which is a terrible villain: mean, merciless, that will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I think he was elected one of the best villains of all times. He is imposing whenever he is on screen in spite of his outfit that could seem ridiculous, and the deep voice of James Earl Jones (Conan the Barbarian) adds to it. Also I realized how uncommon is the character of R2-D2: it is just a tin can but we can identify what it "feels" thanks to his movements and noises, and it turns out to be a fully developed character. His relationship with C3-PO (one of an old couple) is also odd but works perfectly. Finally the ending always brought me a great satisfaction and made me want to see the movie all over again, or the folowing episodes.
Rating: 9 /10

Hot Fuzz (2007)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2007
	Director: Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)
	Actors: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy (all in Shaun of the Dead)
	Country: F, GB, USA
	Genre: Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 14.11.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Nicholas Angel (Pegg) is the best cop in London. As a "reward", he is transferred to a small countryside town where he will meet quiteness, lazy police officers and apparently good town folks. But could those be only appearences?
Review: After the huge success of Shaun of the Dead, a romantic comedy with zombies, I was glad to see that this second creation by the trio Wright/Frost/Pegg is also original, full of references and very funny. The contrast between the hyperactive officer Angel and the rest of the town people, especially his partner (Frost) is hilarious. The whole movie is shot in this same snappy and efficient style as Shaun...  I love the character played by Nick Frost: he entered the Police force just to follow his dad but in fact he is longing for some action, like in movies like Point Break or Bad Boys II, as he is a big fan of action films and has a vast collection of DVDs at home (well... a bit like me). I remember reading an interview of the director, saying that one of his favorite scenes in action movies is when after two hours of movie in Bad Boys II, you think it is over but the heroes learn that they have to fly to Cuba to rescue their friend! He wanted to stay true to this spirit in Hot Fuzz, but with added (british) comedy.
Rating: 8 /10

The Hangover Part II (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Todd Phillips (Starsky & Hutch, The Hangover)
	Actors: Zach Galifianakis (Due Date), Bradley Cooper (The A-team), Justin Bartha (National Treasure), Ed Helms
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 13.11.2012, Blu-ray, 32" TV
Synopsis: It happened again. The wolfpack is reunited for the wedding of Stu (Helms) in Thailand. Of course no wedding without a proper bachelor's party...
Review: Same story as in the first movie, and new jokes. Still very funny for an evening between friends. I found it a good idea to locate it in Thailand, keep the three main characters of the pack, and bring back the character of Mr. Chow for more "Motherfuckaaaaaaa!". My idea for the third movie (currently in the making), would have been that the wolfpack is faced with a terrible challenge, they need to become superhuman to accomplish it, and the only way they know to do it is... to get wasted, take roofies, and not remember anything on the next day.
Rating: 6 /10

Economics of happiness (2011)

	Also Known As: Ökonomie des Glücks
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Steven Gorelick, Helena Norberg-Hodge, John Page
	Actors: -
	Country: Plenty of countries contributed
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 04.11.2012, Ostertor, OV
Synopsis: The movie explains the meaning of the globalisation and proposes the localisation as alternative. Then alternatives to Gross Domestic Product are shown that represent a kind of progress or happiness index, including also quality of life, environmental parameters.
Review: It is basically positive to explain a human way of evaluating the progress other than with growth. The view on localisation is too focused on agriculture, while cities concentrate the most population. The alternative should be based on the steps to be done there, in the cities. The introduction of the Genuine Progress Indicator is quite revolutionary, even if the idea is from the 1990s. It opens other ways of argumentation.
Rating: 5 /10

Dans la maison (2012)

	Also Known As: In ihrem Haus
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: François Ozon
	Actors: Fabrice Luchini, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Ernst Umhauer
	Country: F
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 29.10.2012, Schauburg, OV
Synopsis: A 16 year-old boy writes for his French teacher stories that are so voyeurist, that the teacher gets addicted.
Review: The story is very good and the duet of Luchini and Ernst Umhauer is superb. The manipulation on both sides. The voyeurism on both sides. The disconnection from the reality on both sides. And both actors can show it greatly and with nuances. Ozon shows that once again that he can involve the viewer in the story so that it is impossible tolook away. The picture, the sound have nothing special, and this does not disturb the story-telling.
Rating: 7 /10

Pieta (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Kim Ki-duk
	Actors: Jo Min-soo
	Country: ROK
	Genre: Melodrama
	Conditions of visioning: 22.10.2012
Synopsis: A loan shark, who uses row violence, is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother.
Review: The movie uses symbols at the second degree. Pieta is the classical figure of Maria protecting her dead son. The connotation misleads the spectator, but not in an intersting way. The meaning of the brutal acts is very melodramatic, like in a Lars von Trier movie, but with minimum dialogues. A couple of scene are very well filmed, but I never wondered the question "What is going to happen?", not because it was foreseeable, but because I did not see any sense in this movie. It has been applauded a lot for the whole career of Kim Ki-duk, but I cannot believe that this movie was the reason. When Asian movies are so rare, I would have prefer a good one. This is a good motivation to visit the FEFF in Udine next year.
Rating: 3 /10

Robot & Frank (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Jake Schreier
	Actors: Peter Sarsgaard (Orphan), Frank Langella (The Ninth Gate), Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), Liv Tyler (The Lord of the Rings 1-3), James Marsden (X-men 1-3)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 15.10.2012, Schauburg, OV
Synopsis: Set in the near future, an ex-jewel thief receives a gift from his son: a robot butler programmed to look after him. But soon the two companions try their luck as a heist team
Review: Do not watch the trailer!!! Go directly watch the movie. The strength of the story is the surprises that arespread all along, within the main story but also in the secondary stories. The relationship between the old man and his children is very funny. The old man is anyway a great ply, full of tenderness, shyness, sincerity and omissions. The complicity that binds the robot and Frank is opposed to the unsatifaction of the binding to his children. On top of it, an acid comment on the modern rich couples and the modernity of paper books.
Rating: 8 /10

Gnade (2012)

	Also Known As: Mercy
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Matthias Glasner
	Actors: Jürgen Vogel, Birgit Minichmayr, Henry Stange. Ane Dahl Torp
	Country: D, N
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 17.10.2012, Schauburg, OV
Synopsis: A nurse kills by accident a girl, involves her infidel husband and is destroyed by the regrets. They do not tell the police and strengthen each other.
Review: Gnade works on the expectations we have from the human being. Are we good or bad, when we can benefit from a situation? What decision do we take, when we know we can be nasty against somebody? Strangely, we expect the worst coming from the secondary roles. The main roles are so supiscious that the spectator do not feel much compassion to them. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau defended, the human being is naturally born to be good, to which Matthias Glasner adds also mercyfull and forgivenessful. The movie states human beings as ready to forgive and to live with others, to recognize the good in others and accept mistakes. There is a big lack of rythm and photography, although the surroundings of Hammerland, in northern Norway look great.
Rating: 6 /10