The ides of March (2011)

	Also Known As: Tage des Verrats
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: George Clooney
	Actors: Ryan Gosling, Philipp Seymour Hoffman, George Clooney
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 30.06.2013, DVD
Synopsis: Stephen Meyers is a young idealist who's brilliant at communications, is second in command of Governor Mike Morris's presidential campaign, and is a true believer. In the middle of the Ohio primary, the campaign manager of Morris's opponent asks Meyers to meet; he offers him a job. At the same time, Morris's negotiations for the endorsement of the man in third place, a North Carolina Senator, hit a snag. A young campaign intern, Molly Stearns, gets Stephen's romantic attention. Republicans have a trick up their sleeve.
Review: After the first scenes sounding like the hopefull Obama campaign, the reality of politics comes out, with all the tricks to get power today and later by each level, to defeat the competitor by all means, affairs, destroying teams. The concept is not bad, but some cliches (pregnant intern) are heavily set and there is no rythm of a thriller developping suspense, even if in the story there are some facts that could have make this possible. By focusing too much on the political message, Clooney misses making a good movie, when the actors are good. For the first time, Ryan Gosling is changing his faces, as if he had some feelings. Better than Drive, etc. for this point.
Rating: 4 /10

Savages (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Oliver Stone
	Actors: Benicio del Toro, Salma Hayek, Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 29.06.2013, DVD
Synopsis: Entrepreneurs Ben, a peaceful and charitable marijuana producer, and friend Chon, a former Navy SEAL, run a lucrative, homegrown industry - raising some of the best weed ever developed. They also share a one-of-a-kind love with Ophelia. Life is idyllic in their Southern California town... until the Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them. When the merciless head of the BC, Elena and her enforcer, Lado, underestimate the unbreakable bond of the three friends, Ben and Chon - with the reluctant assistance of a dirty DEA agent - wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills.
Review: The movie shows cruel acts and is a conventional thriller with Mexican drug dealers and American heroes, where the Mexican look first as huge maffia but are set into pieces by the clever surfers. Behind this conventional movie, Oliver Stone explains at the end only what he meant with savages. Not the brutal Lado (excellent acting of Benicio del Toro), but the surfers and their junky girlfriend O. Savage is not to be mixed with the idea of Bon sauvage, noble savage. The idea behind is not so bad, but the movie completely misses this goal.
Rating: 4 /10

Shaun of the dead (2004)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2004
	Director: Edgar Wright
	Actors: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
	Country: USA, GB, F
	Genre: Comedy, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 27.06.2013, DVD
Synopsis: A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.
Review: Shaun of the dead is one of the reference in terms of horror comedy, together with the older Brain dead. The originality of the movie is that the zombies are part of the daily life and handled like normal persons. Then the normal humans are full of weaknesses that make them funny. This movie is hilarious. The dialogues, the talks coming from the TV, the situations with the friends of Shaun and of Liz, the situations between Shaun and Liz. Plenty of stuff with which one can identify and laugh about. The scenery is well done, matching perferctly the story, with the typical views on the streets, in the appartment to enhance that it is daily life.  I remember having compared Zombieland with Shaun of the dead. It was a mistake. Shaun of the dead is an order of magnitude better than Zombieland. I do not know why not to give a 10/10... hmm...
Rating: 9 /10

The call (2013)

	Also Known As: Leg nicht auf!
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Brad Anderson
	Actors: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Michael Eklund
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 24.06.2013, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview
Synopsis: When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.
Review: The pitch being original but not easy to imagine, I have been surprised not to get bored during this movie. The rythm is actually good having new events and surprises. Until the end scenes, where the credibility of the protagonists built all along the movie is just destroyed. As this allows a funny controversial end, why not? The acting is not really convincing, except the killer (Michael Eklund).
Rating: 4 /10

Now you see me (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Louis Leterrier
	Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Mélanie Laurent
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 17.06.2013, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview
Synopsis: An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.
Review: The story starts very well introducing the magician team. Then the police team. By showing that some things can happen only caused by the Eye, kind of unnamed god, and in parallel showing that all is manipulated by one guy, the movie becomes a bit confused. Nevertheless it is a very good entertainment. Nothing extraordinary except the introduction of the protagonists, becoming along the movie kind of Robin Woods. This idea of robbing banks and insurances to give the money back to people always works. This is the type of movie calling for a number 2, but that you can forget also quite easily.
Rating: 6 /10

Rendezvous in Belgrad (2013)

	Also Known As: Prakticni vodic kroz Beograd sa pevanjem i plakanjem
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Bojan Vuletic
	Actors: Julie Gayet, Marko Janketic, Anita Mancic, Jean-Marc Barr, Nada Sargin, Baki Davrak, Hristina Popovic, Leon Lucev
	Country: -
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 23.06.2013, City46
Synopsis: Four couples with mixed nationalities meet in Belgrad and live the usual stories of within love stories. Five choirs make the intro, conlusion and transitions between four episodes.
Review: The four stories are quite basic, but the environment where these play are well thought and they cover a large society without being caricatural. Many kicks on the people of Belgrad and even more on the visitors: artist, worker and commercial. But all kicks done with love. After two decades of war and political desasters, Belgrad shows a different face where everything is possible. The choirs are also greatly selected, the songs and the singers! All the time matching greatly the previous and the next stories and their environments. The last story is for me the best one and could even have become a movie itself. A Croatian guy marrying a Serbian women having to cross the border for the wedding. Extremely funny and maybe also the only one with a very good acting. The rest of the acting being from acceptable to very bad. Compared to Parada, other recent Serbian movie, this one does not show at all the violence, the racism that seemed to be remaining in the whole country in Parada. This way it makes a good ads for Belgrad, even if nobody believes this completely. 70% of the tourists felt safe. Well it makes 30% of the tourists that felt unsafe! Neverthless, it makes it interesting. The movie had been finished in 2011 but has been released in April this year only.
Rating: 6 /10

La estrategia del caracol (1993)

	Also Known As: Die Strategie der Schnecke
	Year of first release: 1993
	Director: Sergio Cabrera
	Actors: Frank Ramirez, Florina Lemaitre, Delfina Guido
	Country: CO
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 07.06.2013, City46, OV
Synopsis: After many years of quiet living, the owner of a house in a big city of Colombia wants the people out. They try legal ways to keep the house without success. Until one has a terrific idea: discretely move the house to another place!
Review: The idea is really funny and the many characters are so funny and typical that  one feels immediately a binding. The way the actors speak and act is also really fun and genuine. Maybe it is because it is spanish from South America. My opinion might be a bit biaised for that. Then the idea to turn ridiculous a rich guy without seeing the consequences makes it a very popular movie. The characters are also very typical, covering all the popular adjectives: religious, anarchist, straight, honest. The movie shows a big message of solidarity and the force this can give. The scenery, the image  and the handling of camera are not very good otherwise, the mark could be one or two steps higher.
Rating: 5 /10

The Blade (1995)

	Also Known As: Dao (original)
	Year of first release: 1995
	Director: Hark Tsui (Once Upon a Time in China 1-3, Black Mask 2, Seven Swords, Flying Swords of the Dragon Gate)
	Actors: Xin Xin Xiong, Moses Chan, Wenzhuo Zhao
	Country: HK
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 15.04.2013, DVD, Home cinema
Synopsis: After working in a sword factory, a young man goes on a quest to avenge the death of the factory's owner.
Review: I had heard some good about the latest Tsui Hark at that time, but unfortunaly I acquired The Blade thinking it was Seven Swords. I watched the first half hour in Original version, then stopped, then some days later tried to continue in French hoping it would at least be funny, but then I gave up. I usually don't like criticizing a movie before watching it whole, but I think I have seen enough. The story is confused, the fighting scenes as well, the motivation of the characters is not clear, the image quality is very poor especially when shot at night, and the high-pitched soundtrack is painful to listen to. I had seen Black Mask 2 which was confusd as well but it was fitting with the chinese super-hero theme. I didn't like at all the recent Flying Swords of the Dragon Gate. I still have Once Upon a Time in China to watch in DVD in my collection, and maybe I will give a last chance to Tsui Hark with Seven Swords, but until now I don't see him as a good director.
Rating: 0 /10

Lady Snowblood (1973)

	Also Known As: Shurayukihime
	Year of first release: 1973
	Director: Toshiya Fujita
	Actors: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon
	Country: J
	Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 21.06.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: A young woman sees her husband and son killed before being raped. She will conceive another child to avenge her twenty years later.
Review: I remember Lady Snowblood as the fist movie I ever saw at the Far East Film Festival in Udine. We were late, had bad seats and watched the movie in original version with German subtitles, not ideal. The recent Blu-ray edition allowed me to watch it in the best conditions: pristine image and sound quality. This movie is one of the main inspirations of Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill. He took from it the revenge story, the scene in the snow garden, some visually intereting shots and the soundtrack, interpreted my the main actress Meiko Kaji. The story revolves around the status of the main character as instrument of revenge ; indeed she was conceived only to that purpose. While it could have been boring in any other Japanese movie, here it is told in an credible and interesting way, thanks to the non-linear story, made of flahbacks and flash-forwards that force you to stay awake. The fighting scenes are also well choregraphed and always surprising. Another nice aspect is the confrontation towards the end of the movie of the traditional Japan with progress coming from Occident. The end of the 19th century was indeed a key period for Japan's opening to the world. One still has to be an amateur of Asian cinema to appreciate this thirty years old movie but it is clearly a masterpiece.
Rating: 8 /10

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2004
	Director: Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Avalon)
	Actors (voices): Akio Ôtsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Kôichi Yamadera
	Country: J
	Genre: Animation, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 23.06.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Section 9, composed of humans and cyborgs, investigates recent murders apparently commited by the latest model of robots.
Review: I bought this Blu-ray after reading a good review about is quality, and waiting for an edition of the first movie still not available in Blu-ray. At the very beginning I found that it was abusing of CGIs, and not good quality ones. But then as the movie goes I forgot about it and got hypnotized by the images, the music and the slow rythm of the movie that lets you the time to contemplate the scenes. All of this is done in a very similar fashion as the first Ghost in the Shell, so it is a good sequel. You don't always know what the characters are talking about but it is part of the mythology so you just go along. There are plenty of philosophical questions in the background: about artificial inteligence, cyborgs, information sharing, hackers... Had I been more awake, I may have thought more about it, but that's another level that I can explore the next time I watch the movie. I may now be tempted to watch the TV-series Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex which is not bad from what I read.
Rating: 7 /10

RED (2010)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2010
	Director: Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, The Time Traveler's Wife)
	Actors: Bruce Willis (Die Hard 1-5), Mary-Louise Parker (Red Dragon), Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact, Robin Hood), Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings 1-3, Dredd), John Malkovich (Transformers 3)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 23.06.2013, Blu-ray, 32" TV
Synopsis: A retired CIA agent (Willis) is attacked in his home but defeats his opponents. He will travel the country with a woman he just met (Parker) to meet other former agents (Freeman, Malkovich...) in order to understand who wants him dead.
Review: It seems fashionable nowadays to make a movie with ageing actors in action roles (The Expendables 1-2, all recent Stallone and Schwarzenegger movies). I guess it is just the time to use one last time the 80's action heroes. The character of Malkovich is the funniest and the others play well and generate a few comic situations, but why oh why is the only way to kill someone to shoot one millions bullet into the building/car/house in which he is hiding? That was not really adding anything to the otherwise interesting relationship between the old super-agents. The ideas on where to bring the heroes were pretty thin as well, and we end up seeing a road-movie, hopping from town to town with no really good reason expect to change a bit the lanscape, not even too much. The story and motivation of the characters is also confused at times. It is nice to see Karl Urban in something else than an SF epic (The Lord of the Rings, Riddick, Star Trek, Dredd) and he has a good role. By the way RED stands for Retired: Exremely Dangerous.
Rating: 4 /10

Red Dawn (1984)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1984
	Director: John Milius (Conan the Barbarian)
	Actors: Patrick Swayze (Point Break, Donny Darko), Charlie Sheen (Hot Shots, Mackete Kills), C. Thomas Howell (The Amazing Spiderman), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future 1-3)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, War
	Conditions of visioning: 18.06.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: When their town and the whole country is invided by communists, a bunch of high-school students finds refuge in the mountains.
Review: I learned about this movie while watching documentaries about Conan the Barbarian, as it has the same composer Basil Poledouris and especially the same director John Milius. I understood that he was not afraid to show things as they are, in particular violence, so I was interested to see how he would tell this story of invasion of the USA in the middle of the cold war. I was a bit skeptical about the teenagers point of view but they quickly grow up as they have to fight the enemy, so it is not a "movie for teenagers" but rather one for adults. I liked that after less than five minutes the action starts, and that later on time is taken to let us know the characters better. This is very well done. There are some good action scenes, but you still feel the limited budget, which makes it hard to tell a story of world war by focussing on only one small town. However this is compensated by the great play of the three main young actors: Swayze, Sheen and Thompson, and the one of Powers Boothe playing a colonel stranded behind enemy lines, and that summarizes for us the status of the global war in five minutes in a believable way. A very interesting movie. From what I read on internet, the 2012 remake with Chris Helmsworth (Thor) and in which North Koreans replace communists is a typical recent remake not worth watching.
Rating: 7 /10

Don't be afraid of the dark (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Troy Nixey
	Actors: Guy Pearce (Memento), Katie Holmes (Batman Begins), Bailee Madison
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 31.08.2011, CINEMA theater, MFFF2011
Synopsis: A young girl (Madison) moves to an old isolated house in the contryside with her father (Pearce) and mother-in-law (Holmes). She starts to see creatures.
Review: Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy (la petite souris), the one that replaces the lost teeth you put under your pillow with a silver coin? Well, you'd better! Don't be afraid of the dark is this kind of "horror" movie where the central character is a child (in this case an 8-year old girl) who sees creatures under her bed, or in the cupboard. Of course for a long time we don't know if what she sees is real or part of her imagination. The movie is produced by Guillermo Del Toro and his influence is clearly seen, from the imagination of a young heroin (Pan's Labyrinth) to the tooth fairy mythology (Hellboy 2). The main three actors are good, the movie is quite nicely made and sometimes pretty scary. After watching it you could be tempted to look under you bed before sleeping with the lights on!
Rating: 7 /10

The Innkeepers (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Ti West (Cabin Fever 2)
	Actors: Sara Paxton (Shark Night 3D), Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis (Top Gun)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 31.08.2011, CINEMA theater, MFFF2011
Synopsis: In a century-old hotel that is about to close, some brutal events happened time ago and the two inn keepers, a guy and a girl at the front desk (Paxton & Healy) try as amateurs to contact the spirits.
Review: I went to see this movie because I read that it was shot in the style of William Friedkin (The Exorcist, French Connection) and of the 70's-80's, meaning it is taking its time to introduce the characters and to develop the action. And I was not disappointed. The beginning of the movie is enjoyably slow and we get to know and like to two main characters, and laugh with them. Then the “events” increase in intensity until it really gets scary. All in all the story is not original (classical haunted house), but is told in a nice way.
Rating: 7 /10

Sons of Anarchy - Season 3 (2010)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2010
	Creator: Kurt Sutter
	Actors: Charlie Hunnam (Children of Men, Pacific Rim), Katey Sagal (Married with Children TV-series), Ron Perlman (Blade 2, Hellboy 1-2), Mark Boone Junior (Memento), Kim Coates (Black Hawk Down), Tommy Flanagan (Gladiator), Ally Walker (Universal Soldier, Profiler TV-series)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: May-June 2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The day-to-day life of the motorcycle club and gang of outlaws known as the Sons of Anarchy in the small town of Charming, California. Following the events of the previous season, the club will have to use all the means available to find their missing member.
Review: Clearly the weakest season so far. It is still pleasant to follow the gang, and there are some nice surprises and developments, but the stakes are not as interesting as they were in the previous two seasons. I learned by watching the short documentary about this season that the creator Kurt Sutter (husband of actress Katey Sagal and who actually also plays Otto) wished a different season, involving us more in the roots of the club. Well I think he did it, but at the cost of a light loss of interest. Also I now understand less clearly the motivation of some characters, because of some confusion at the end of the season. By the way this ending was fully satisfying unlike the one of season two, as if to compensate for the weaker rythm of the whole season, and it gives a pretty good idea of what season 4 will look like. Anoher risky choice, but let us see...
Rating: 6 /10

Les femmes du 6ème étage (2010)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2010
	Director: Philippe le Guay
	Actors: Fabrice Luchini (P.R.O.F.S.), Sandrine Kiberlain, Natalia Verbeke, Carmen Maura (800 balas)
	Country: F
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 16.06.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: In the late 50's, the life of a rich couple (Luchini & Kiberlain) is perturbed by the group of spanish maids living on the sixth floor.
Review: Nicely done comedy depicting the life of the spanish women fleeing Franco's Spain and finding refuge as maids for rich families in Paris. The key character is the one played by Luchini, who will learn how life is in the outside world. He said himself that he was born in this building and almost never left it. Nice also is the character of his wife who is completely wrong is her suspicions when her husband starts to change. The group of active and very verbose women (often chating in Spanish) is good at making the viewer like them.
Rating: 6 /10

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: J. J. Abrams (Super 8, Star Trek)
	Actors: Chris Pine (Rise of the Guardians), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Karl Urban (Dredd, The Chronicles of Riddick), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Hobbit 1-3), Peter Weller (Robocop)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 15.06.2013, CINEMA theater, 3D
Synopsis: While Kirk (Pine) is releaved from the command of the Enterprise because of not following orders, a new ennemy (Cumberbatch) is trying to weaken the Federation and start a war with the Klingons.
Review: I like the first movie but I could criticize that it was lacking some ambition. I though it was acceptable because it had to spend time introducing the characters. I found this second movie of the new franchise even better, but also lacking something, and slowing down in its second half. Fortunately we start to feel the menace of an all-out war with the Klingons, which will be I guess the topic of the third episode planned for 2016. There are anyway plenty of things I liked in the movie: the same humor as in the first (with Scotty in particular), the relationship Kirk-Spock, space battles, and the bad guy who I thought at the beginning didn't look very menacing but turns out to be. It was also nice to see Peter Weller back in a big role. The massive destruction scenes are impressive, but like in Transformers no one ever cares about the thousands that die during those scenes. I realized that the Enterprise is not a warship but an exploration one and that the role of its crew is to discover new planets and civilizations. Last remark: the first scene reminds a lot of the Star Wars universe: strange planet and people, and especially an alien large animal that would be dear to George Lucas. A way to sensitise the fans to the fact that Abrams will direct the next Jedi movie? In any case, I am now tempted to order in Blu-ray the ten first Star Trek movies (I have seen only Nemesis years ago).
Rating: 7 /10

Dragonball: Evolution (2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: James Wong (Final Destination 1 & 3)
	Actors: Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds), Yun-Fat Chow (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Emmy Rossum (The Day after Tomorrow)
	Country: USA, HK, GB
	Genre: Action, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 12.06.2013, SD VOD
Synopsis: Goku (Chatwin) is taught martial arts by his grandpa (Chow). On his eighteenth birthday, he receives a Dragonball while an evil alien lands on Earth searching for the whole seven Dragonballs.
Review: I remember watching the animated TV-series Dragon Ball as a kid and liking it. The idea of filming nowadays a live version of it nowadays with an almost full american cast seems odd. Some asian characters are kept here and there. The movie is acceptable if you don't take it seriously or look too much for what you liked in the series. It is funny enough to see the same character names and general storyline. The fights are OK and the morale is the usual good guys vs. bad guys, learn to master your fear, be yourself...
Rating: 4 /10

30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2010
	Director: Ben Ketai
	Actors: Kiele Sanchez, Rhys Coiro, Diora Baird, Harold Perrineau (Matrix 2-3)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 10.06.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: After having survived the extermination of her village by a group of vampires, Stella (Sanchez) travels the country to try and convince people vampires exist. She will meet three other believers who are on the hunt for a queen.
Review: I read and liked the successful graphic novel 30 Days of Night (even got it signed by Ben Templesmith!), and the cinema adaptation with Josh Harnett was not bad. I remember it beeing called one of the best Blu-ray edition at that time (four years ago). This movie is adapted from the second novel Dark Days. I haven't read it but I did the third one Return to Barrow, which I realize now follows and complements nicely the first two stories. Although the movie was realeased directly toVideo, it doesn't look too cheap. Apart from some minor inconsistencies in the story, it is quite interesting and the characters are too. The action scenes are nice thanks to the characteristic bloody visual of the vampires. Not too bad for a sequel.
Rating: 6 /10