Basket Case (1982)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1982
	Director: Frank Henenlotter (Frankenhooker)
	Actors: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 30.10.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: 20-years old Duane Bradley settles in a hotel downtown New-York, always carrying a large basket. In it, his monstrous Siamese brother from which he was separated at the age of 12.
Review: This is the kind of movie I was watching in VHS when I was a big Horror fan 15-20 years ago. When I found out about this Steelbook limited edition (distributed by Second Sight, cover displayed at the end of this review), I bought it more for collection than for the will to watch the trilogy again. I have now watched the first of the three, the more cult one. The first third of an excellent 1h20 documentary confirmed what I suspected after watching the movie: the director Frank Henenlotter was young and very enthusiastic about making movies for the thrill of making them, not thinking that anybody would ever see them. Basket Case was shot in 8 mm film during a year for a  cost 35000 dollars, a very modest sum even at that time. You can see it in the quality of the settings, lighting, actors, special effects... The director, who supervised the Blu-ray edition, said the renovation was not supposed to make the movie look much better, but to make it look like it was on the first copy they printed back in 1982, and he says he succeeded. Indeed the images are not beautiful but quite sharp anyway, and I think true to the original film. The HD format reveals even more the "amateur" quality of the project. But this is one thing I like about the Blu-ray format: directors take it seriously and use it to release versions of their movies that look like they did when originally released. Then when you watch a movie like Basket Case, you have to be able to set aside the cheap aspects (the stop-motion animated sequences for example), project yourself into a cinema room of 1982 and appreciate the movie for what it was then: a gore comedy, as the director likes to present it. There are indeed splatter moments but they are never to be taken seriously. Also take the name of the doctors: Kutter, Needleman! One thing I didn't like on this Blu-ray is the sound mixing. OK the recording methods used at the time were likely poor (few bass, saturated screams), but what bothered me is that I had to continuously increase the volume to hear the dialogs, and decrease it when there were screams so as not to awake the whole neighbourhood! I found the balance not well done, and it is also the case in the documentary: the movie excerpts are much louder than the interviews. Following this good experience, I have ordered the "ultimate" Blu-ray edition of other classics of that period: Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988, Arrow Entertainment), The Blob (1988, Twilight Time) and Street Trash (1987, Synapse Films).
Rating: 6 /10

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2005
	Director: Ang Lee (Hulk, Life of Pi)
	Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid (Independence Day), Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Romance, Western
	Conditions of visioning: 28.10.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Unknown to each other, Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) are hired to protect a flock of sheep from wolves high in Brokeback Mountain. A strong friendship will be born.
Review: It surprises me that this movie is already nine years old. I heard about its critical success, bought the Blu-ray some years ago and watch it only now. I was curious to see if it was the story of the strong friendship between two friends, or really a movie about "two homosexual cowboys eating pudding" like they say in South Park. Well, they indeed enter a romantic and physical relationship, in a quite abrupt way I would say, so it may startle you if you watch the movie without knowing anything about it. But void of the usual clichés about gay couples, Brokeback Mountain focuses on the troubled and contradictory feelings of our main characters. If the story was about a gay couple in a modern European big city, it wouldn't be remarkable. But the setting is very different: the Texan countryside of the 60's, in which there was no other path than the traditional one of getting married and founding a family with a different sex partner. Anything else was so badly seen that it could be punishable by death. Our characters try to fit into that tradition with different levels of success, but the movie is very well done in that it conveys extremely well the feelings the two young men have for each other. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the actors are very good and amazingly natural. Besides, the landscapes are beautiful, the music scarce but sufficient, and I like how we follow the evolution of society around our characters from 1963 to the late 1970's: we see clothes changing, cars, habits, and their social situation that influences the furniture in their house (at some point a TV appears in the living-room). In particular when the two friends meet when they are older, they are better equipped and can enjoy a better comfort during their excursions (real tent, chairs, kitchen tools, better food...). This seems like a detail but it is what makes the movie look so real. One could criticize that the story is a bit elliptic and that we witness only some critical key moments (snapshots) in their lives, without enough continuity, but it is the price to pay to have a movie that spans 20 years without lasting 3 hours. It is hard for me to rate this movie as Dramas are not a genre I watch too often, but there is no doubt that it deserves a high rating.
Rating: 9 /10

Time Bandits (1981)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1981
	Director: Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys)
	Actors: Sean Connery (Highlander), Shelley Duvall, John Cleese (Life of Brian, Die Another Day), Ian Holm (The Lord of the Rings)
	Country: GB
	Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 26.10.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: In the near future, a boy is forced to join with a bunch of time-travelling dwarves in their attempts at becoming rich.
Review: I have seen a few Terry Gilliam movies, but I only heard about this one recently in an article entitled "The Best Dwarf Movies That Are Not Willow" that I found after watching For Y'ur Height Only, and already knowing Willow. In this movie one can feel the touch of the director at a crossroads between the pure parodies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) or The Meaning of Life (1983), and more personal movies that however share some similar topics: time-travel in Twelve Monkeys (1995), anticipation in Brazil (1985), fantastic medieval times in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and the aborted The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.  As often with his movies, the story is crazy and he obviously tried to put on screen some visions he had, with more or less success. So the movie is a succession of (sometimes abstract) scenes that look interesting, but this variety makes that rhythm is missing, and I had a hard time watching the movie until its end. Examples of such scenes are: the future family obsessed with kitchen-ware, the ogre living on a boat, itself located on the head of a giant, the meeting with Napoleon obsessed with his height, Evil fascinated by technology... It could look like a movie for children if it were not for some violent or disturbing scenes that would give them nightmares. A very special movie indeed, I am glad to have seen it but cannot really recommend it. As for the recently reviewed Knightriders, the Blu-ray edition of Time Bandits by Arrow is beautiful (see newly commissioned cover below), the image quality very good, and it contains many interviews, making-of documentaries and a booklet.
Rating: 3 /10

In the mood for love (2000)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Wong Kar-wai
	Actors: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung
	Country: HK, F
	Genre: Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 28.10.2014, DVD,
Synopsis: Set in Hong Kong, 1962, Chow Mo-Wan (Leung) is a newspaper editor who moves into a new building with his wife. At the same time, Su Li-zhen (Cheung), a beautiful secretary and her executive husband also move in to the crowded building. With their spouses often away, Chow and Li-zhen spend most of their time together as friends. They have everything in common from noodle shops to martial arts. Soon, they are shocked to discover that their spouses are having an affair. Hurt and angry, they agree to keep their bond platonic not to commit similar wrongs.
Review: The story is moving and sounds like Cyrano de Bergerac story about a love that is not realised. The main originality of the movie is the directing as a whole. The picture composition focuses on both main characters and uses mostly warm colours. The camera often starts at the feet of the character and then goes to the face or the face enters in the field of view. The scenery is very common (HK appartments, street corner) but the way to take it is very special. If the half is blurred or not in the light, it is on purpose to enhance the romance. The spouses are never shown because Wong Kar-wai wanted even to remove them completely from the picture. Instead we listen to them a couple of times. The selection of old songs (Nat King Cole) and new compositions (by Japanese componist Shigeru Umebayashi) emphasises the dramatic romance. And the scenes taken in slow motion enhance the romantic feeling and sensuality of both partners.  After the release of the movie in 2000, papers claimed the style being "Chinese school" although it was definitely the Wong Kar-wai style. And the movie is from Hong-Kong. I guess that nowadays with the efforts done in Europe via Asian festivals like FEFF there is no much chance to read this kind of thing.
Rating: 9 /10

Fading gigolo (2013)

	Also Known As: Apprenti gigolo
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: John Turturro
	Actors: Woody Allen, John Turturro, Sharon Stone, Sofía Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, Liev Schreiber
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 27.10.2014, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: In Brooklyn, the bankrupted owner of a book store Murray (Allen) is forced to close his family business. His dermatologist Dr. Parker (Stone) dreams of having a threesome and would pay a thousand dollars to have one with her friend Selima (Vergara). Murray tries to convince his friend florist Fioravante (Turturro) to consummate the deal. While Fioravante is at first hesitant at the prospect of being Murray’s “hore,” he also needs the cash. When Fioravante meets the Jewish Avigal (Paradis), who is the widow of a rabbi, they fall in love with each other. But the Jewish Dovi (Schreiber) loves Avigal and will make life difficult for Murray.
Review: The comedy looks like the good Woody Allen comedies of the 80s-90s taking characters slightly stereotyped of New-York in a web of relationships. The actors played their stereotypes very well. Sharon Stone almost repeated her famous leg gesture of Basic Instinct. The casting fits to the stereotpyes, having Sofía Vergara as gorgeous threesome friend for Stone, and Vanessa Paradis as fragile woman. Many dialogues are extremely funny. In this I had the impression at the end that Turturro was intending to become the new Woody Allen. The humour made also fun of the segregationist of any kind, such as the NY Jewish society here but in a way reminding dialogues from The Godfather and affecting then Italian-Amercian and all these groups.
Rating: 7 /10

Pure (2002)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2002
	Director: Gillies MacKinnon
	Actors: Harry Eden, Molly Parker, David Wenham, Keira Knightley
	Country: GB
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 27.10.2014, DVD, English version
Synopsis: Paul's mother Mel (Parker) comes to rely on an old friend, Lenny (Wenham), who is also a dealer. Soon Paul (Eden) must take care of both his mother and his younger brother. When Mel's friend and fellow user dies, Paul must confront the fear that has been gathering in the pit of his stomach: having lost his father, his mother too may abandon him. Paul befriends a waitress Louise (Knightley) who helps him cope with the tough situation
Review: The story is very touching. The lies of the mother about her medicine, the trial for desintoxication, the confrontation of Paul with Lenny, the death of Mel's friend. In this only comes the light of friendship between Paul and Louise until an impressive U-turn.  From the directing it looks like a Ken Loach movie, with realistic lead of camera, realistic lights. But unlike Ken Loach there is not much of a political or social message. Just the facts of the story. The author of the story, Alison Hume has been working exclusively for TV series since this promising debut. The acting of Molly Parker is remarkable and Harry Eden is impressive in a couple of scene.
Rating: 6 /10

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2003
	Director: Patrick Gilmore, Tim Johnson (Antz, Over the Hedge)
	Actors (voices): Brad Pitt (Fight Club), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Entrapment), Joseph Fiennes
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 26.10.2014, SD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Manipulated by Eris the goddess of Chaos, the thief and pirate Sinbad (Pitt) is wrongly accused of stealing the book ensuring peace in the twelve Kingdoms. He will face many perils to get it back.
Review: I have seen many Sinbad movies in DVD, usually attracted by the wonderful and revolutionary special effects by the master of stop-motion Ray Harryhausen: The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1977), and I still have to watch Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977). So I was curious to see what a Dreamworks animated production could do of this universe. The movie incorporates the expected elements like sea battles, mythical monsters, wrath of the gods and mixes them with a little humour and some romance to deliver a never-boring story quite nicely illustrated. The only bad-looking part is the first attack by a Kraken-looking creature made in CGI, poorly integrated in the rest of the 2D drawn scene. The movie is otherwise entertaining, even if completely unrealistic (what can one do with a boat: race through the waves at incredible speed, go down waterfalls and even fly!) which removes part of its interest. Also the love story is a bit too much and the ending very predictable. At least and unlike in The Road to El Dorado, there are no songs, some jokes are destined to adults, and the mythical universe and original inspiration belongs to an adult genre.
Rating: 6 /10

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Bibo Bergeron, Will Finn, Don Paul, David Silverman
	Actors (voices): Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda), Kenneth Branagh (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), Rosie Perez
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 26.10.2014, SD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Petty thieves Miguel &Tulio (Kline & Branagh) accidentally board a ship en route to the new world with Cortez. To their advantage, they possess a map leading to the legendary golden city.
Review: Looking for an easy-to-watch animated film, I selected this Dreamworks production. It disturbed me a little that all characters speak English, and that no mention is made of the massacre of the local population by the conquistadors. But OK, this is a movie for children and this is almost the only thing it is: I was disappointed that there is no second level of meaning so that adults could enjoy it differently. The movie is nicely done (I am sure kids love it) and a good mix of adventure, humour and animal action, but I will quickly forget it.
Rating: 5 /10

Festival San Sebastian / Donostia Zinemaldia 2014

After a short preparation for the Latin Amercian section of the Festival San Sebastian (with Zona Sur), I [raf] placed all my reviews in JoRafCinema (filter with FSSDZ2014) and now I would like to share my impressions about this Festival. 
It took me almost the full day to go from home to San Sebastian (10h30 to 22h). The closest medium airport is Bilbao and from there I took the bus to San Sebastian. I planned to go by train but at the train station the vendor told me that nobody takes the train to San Sebastian, because it is longer and more expensive than the bus.  

View on the Festival San Sebastian main location, the Kursaal

Spaghetti story (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Ciro de Caro
	Actors: Rossella D'Andrea, Valerio di Benedetto, Cristian di Sante, Sara Tosti, Xueying Deng
	Country: I
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 29.09.2014, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: Four Italian young adults longing to change their lives. The encounter with Mei Mei, a young Chinese prostitute, shines a light on the truth: the gain of one's freedom is, above all, an inside job.
Review: The story is the modern daily life of people trying to get jobs, looking for affection. But there is nothing dramatic and not much to increase the suspense. One thing was good and even excellent. The role and acting of Cristian di Sante. A Roman proud of being Roman, proud of his dialect and taking life in his hands.
Rating: 3 /10

The salvation (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Kristian Levring
	Actors: Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eric Cantona
	Country: DK, GB, ZA
	Genre: Western
	Conditions of visioning: 06.10.2014, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: In 1870s America, a peaceful American settler (Mikkelsen) kills his family's murderer which unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader Delarue (Dean Morgan). His cowardly fellow townspeople then betray him, forcing him to hunt down the outlaws alone.
Review: The story is the classical plot of a Western starting with a link to Denmark, the Danish migrants. The heroe is the lonely cowboy, ranger or whatever the name he got or does not. I loved the photography, not giving the warmth and weight of the arid West, but giving the tragic contrast of lights when the clouds pass by. The story was quite suspenseful. The acting of Mikkelsen and the directing do not show much originality. Well the originality being that the director is Danish. Is this a Danish intention to start the Danish style of Western, kind of Western Smørrebrød? At least it could be cool because of the great photography and the next movies could show something more Danish. The question of migration has potential.
Rating: 6 /10

Vertigo (1958)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1958
	Director: Alfred Hitchcock (The Birds, Torn Curtain)
	Actors: James Stewart (Rear Window, Rope), Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
	Country: USA
	Genre: Romance, Thriller, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 22.10.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: A retired detective John Ferguson (Steward) suffering from acrophobia is hired by an old friend to follow his wife Madeleine (Novak) who is since recently not behaving like herself.
Review: I guess I had higher expectations from what is sold as Hitchcock's masterpiece. The suspense part is actually rather small, to the profit of an extended Romance story. I don't say this is totally bad, just unexpected and a bit lengthy. The mystery in the first half of the movie is intriguing and I loved the atmosphere created by the slow drifts in the street of San Francisco with a nice discreet music. This is also helped by the image quality of the Blu-ray edition: it ranges from stellar in the first 10 minutes (the best I have seen in this Hitchcock box-set and and one of the best of all the Blu-rays I own) to simply excellent in the rest of the movie (I don't know why the small drop of quality) with some worst moments when the lighting was bad, flickering or not constant. I like in particular the scene at the foot of the Golden Gate bridge, but throughout the whole movie I could appreciate the quality of the cinematography: low-angle to high-angle shots, close-ups, composition, without forgetting the famous "Vertigo effect" (compensated travelling). The directing is good as well: scenes like the one in the sequoia park are full of meaning, and I start to like the style of James Steward which is definitely not common. And the structure of the movie is original: it never goes where you would expect it and the resolution of the crime is not put forward, it is only the context to the meeting of two persons. I also liked the graphic design of the opening credits and of the amazing dream sequence by Saul Bass. I have to get for myself a copy of the book Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design. After all this praise, why didn't I like Vertigo more than that? Well the more I think of it, the less downsides I can find, it is just a general feeling that I didn't get intrigued as much as in other Hitchcock movies, and the romance feels completely unrealistic nowadays (love at first sight). But the idealised part of the romance is balanced by some hints that the director gives only because he could not show more in a movie of that period. I have three examples: after John rescues Madeleine from the waters, he keeps on insisting that it was a pleasure to meet her, with the hint of a smile. Is it to remind us constantly that he undressed her while she was unconscious, and that seeing such a beautiful woman powerless and naked would be a solid reason to fall in love at that period? Then during the Sequoia scene, Madeleine is terribly excited while day-dreaming, and her hand wanders towards her legs before the camera cuts to a face close-up. Finally, when John meets Judy she says that she has been on blind dates before and that she has been picked-up by men, and after the first date she indeeds welcome John very close to her apartment door, meaning that she is accustomed to have sex on a first date, something unthinkable at that period. Those three examples make me wonder: was Hitchcock ahead of his time and anticipating the sexual revolution? In any case, I am not surprised that Brian de Palma wanted to shoot his own version of Vertigo 20 years later, he will be able to show more then. I was waiting to watch Vertigo before Obsession and I will thus soon be able to appreciate it and compare both movies.
Rating: 7 /10

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1984
	Director: Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Porco Rosso)
	Actors (voices): Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda
	Country: J
	Genre: Animation, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 15.10.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: A thousand years after a cataclysmic event, humanity survives in small states avoid the toxic jungle populated with giant insects. Nausicaä is the princess of one of those tribes and she seems gifted to communicate with the insects.
Review: In the past months I have watched quite a few movies directed by Miyazaki and/or produced by the Ghibli studio, so it is logical that I now watch the first one coming out from this studio. It definitely bears the mark of its director as the main topic is the conflict between Man and Nature, and the movie contains a large amount of flying scenes (he loves that since his father worked in a plane factory during WWII). I could notice the age of the movie and fewer experience of its animators because of some less good-looking drawings here and there, and some less-than-perfect animations, but in general it is very impressive (the flying scenes in particular). However, I may start to get less attracted by the style and universe of the Miyazaki movie which is, let's face it, constantly the same (young heroin, steam punk technology...). This is why my rating is not higher. The next Ghibli movie on my list? Princess Mononoke which has a similar topic, and is also the first one I ever saw by Miyazaki back in 1997 and in a theater.
Rating: 6 /10

Kickboxer (1989)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1989
	Director: Mark DiSalle, David Worth
	Actors: Jean-Claude Van Damme (Welcome to the Jungle, JCVD), Dennis Alexio, Dennis Chan
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 16.10.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Eric Sloane (Alexio) flies to Thailand with his brother Kurt (Van Damme) to defend his Kickboxing World Champion title. He will loose badly to Tong Po and Kurt will endeavor to avenge him.
Review: Now that is a good classic shameless Action movie of the 80's. I loved it as a teenager, like I did most of this kind of movies. For sure the story is not very sophisticated, but this simplicity is exactly what one wants to see in such movie: good guy seeks revenge, trains and wins. The setting in Thailand is quite original as at that time Action movies were mostly taking place in the USA, so this offers some nice view of that country, in particular the temple in which Kurt trains. And the fight scenes are well choreographed, by JCVD himself I learned, except for the final one that I found to be not so well balanced (the bad guy looses too easily) and strangely cut, so that I even though it was censored but a specialized website (link here) states that the edition I bought is not censored... I still have my doubts. The video quality was surprisingly good for a Blu-ray I bought new for 6 euros! One bad element in this movie (apart from the sometimes cheesy dialogs) is the 80's soundtrack, typical illustration that one should not use the trendy music at the time to score a movie because it ages so quickly. On the contrary the accelerating Thai music used during the combats (reminding me of the one in the video game Street Fighter) fits very well.
Rating: 7 /10

Nueve Reinas (2000)

	Also Known As: Nine queens
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Fabián Bielinski
	Actors: Gastón Pauls, Ricardo Darín, Leticia Brédice
	Country: RA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 19.09.2014, DVD, Original Spanish version
Synopsis: An experienced small delinquant Marcos (Darín) meets a younger one Juan (Pauls). They decide to work together and get involved into the reselling of old stamps via information of Marcos' sister (Brédice), Valeria.
Review: The story developps very well and we get more involved in the relationship of brother and sister as well as of brother with his colleagues. We slowly learn Marcos. SPOILER until a very surprising end, the revenge of the sister. I have been directed to believe one story and finally the story is a totally different one. As amazing as The Spanish prisoner in 1997. A few indices on the recent history of Argentina provide an original view on the Argentinian financial crisis taking place in the early 2000's. The dialogues are sparse and poor but do not avoid the actors Darín and Pauls to show their talent even if it is to play normal people and small delinquants. The poor dialogues break the interest in the movie and brake its rythm. The sound and photography are of low quality.I think that because of the really good story, the movie has become cult in Argentina, so that La salada show people watching it on TV.
Rating: 6 /10

Lügen (2014)

	Also Known As: Lügen und andere Wahrheiten
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Vanessa Jopp
	Actors: Florian David Fitz, Jeannette Hain, Alina Levshin, Thomas Heinze, Meret Becker,
	Country: D
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 16.09.2014, Schauburg, German version
Synopsis: A couple is going to get married. People around them (the best friend, the yoga teacher) and themselves encounter doubts about their beloved.
Review: I did not expect much from this German comedy using a plot more usual in French comedies. And finally it is not bad at all. The comic is coming more from the situations than from the dialogues. The five main characters are brilliant in their roles especially Alina Levshin. I did not know her although she plays in many TV series. The image quality is not so good or it might be the light being not very flattering to some characters. Nothing very original but an entertaining movie. France will get some competition...
Rating: 6 /10

The homesman (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Tommy Lee Jones
	Actors: Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank
	Country: USA, F
	Genre: Western
	Conditions of visioning: 08.09.2014, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: A woman Mary Bee (Swank) who is too clever and unemotional to attract men in her wild western region has to bring three other women having psychological problems to an institute. The travel is long and she takes the support of George Briggs (Jones).
Review: The goal being to show the daily life in the rude west is met. But the interest is small for me. Or not this way. I felt like in the Polar Museum in Tromso where I saw how life was (cold, hard, lonely) for the trappers in the XIX century. Taking this movie like this museum, it was interesting even the information flow is much less as everyone in the movie is a no-name. But for a movie, there was almost no rythm, no much visible evolution in the characters except at the very end. The acting is very sober, almost too much as Swank role shows a single aspect of a straight woman. The choice of locating the story in a region not much filmed for Westerns is also original and shows the distance taken with regard to classical Westerns. In brief, original Western but quite boring.
Rating: 4 /10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Jonathan Liebesman (Battle Los Angeles, Wrath of the Titans)
	Actors: Megan Fox (Transformers 1-2, Jennifer's Body, Will Arnett (The Lego Movie), William Fichtner (Contact, Elysium)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 16.10.2014, Mathäser Kino, 3D
Synopsis: When the Foot Clan and his leader Shredder increase they control over New York, four mutant vigilantes try to restore order, while journalist April O'Neil (Fox) is looking for a scoop.
Review: I really thought the movie was directed by Michael Bay, but so shortly after Transformers 4? He is actually only producer, but this TMNT heavily bears his mark and the style is very close to the one of the franchise with robots: basic story, advanced technology, cool good guys fighting for justice, evil bad guys, teenager humour, bloodless violence. And the worst of it all for me: fights shot in close-up (I already complained a lot about it in the Transformers movies, especially the third), so that they are rather confused and you cannot appreciate at all the effort put in the special effects and the choreography of those scenes. But it there even a choreography? To remind myself of what that is, I actually watched Kickboxer with Van Damme right after TMNT. The movie is a succession of action scenes like you would expect, but at least it doesn't drag the story to 2h30 like Transformers 4 did. On a positive note, it is nice to meet those characters of my childhood on a big screen, the heroes' Teenage aspect is quite well rendered, and I was in love with April O'Neil as a kid (that well-filled yellow overall...). Megan Fox is not quite up to the task, even if she is shot most of the time from waist height. I like the design of the turtles and of Schredder's armor, and learned something about photographing a face with a long rat's nose (you can't get everything in focus). The story has been modified to get O'Neil closer to the Turtles, but this is not a bad idea I found. In conclusion, an easy brainwash entertainment with plenty of explosions and Ninja Action.
Rating: 4 /10