Lost in Karastan (2014)

	Also Known As: Welcome to Karastan
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Ben Hopkins
	Actors: Matthew Macfadyen, MyAnna Buring, Richard van Weyden
	Country: GB, GE, D, F
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 20.04.2015, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: Emil Forester (Macfadyen) is a filmmaker without ideas. As he is invited to a movie festival in Karastan, the president Abashiliev (van Weyden) asks him to make a movie in his country. And soon he falls in love with Chulpan (Buring), one assitent of the president.
Review: One dialogue of Chulpan is that she likes movies whenthe end is not clear and after the last image you say What! This is such a movie. A plot quite funny as Borat but without the heavy jokes under the belt. With actually almost not many jokes. For a comedy it makes it no so easy. But some ideas: the president looks like Hamid Karzai (ex-president of Afghanistan), many aspects of the classical dictature are shown (forcing people to work for the president, forcing people watching movies selected by the president, hiding that there is a rebellion in the national media). But I do not see the goal of this movie. Actually it looks more like a caricature, as if the movie had been indeed ordered by the president of Georgia with European funding and that the director tried to turn the movie into a farce. I do not know.  At the end even if Macfadyen tries his best, he might be the only actor who is not looking ridiculous. Whether this ridicule is searched is a good question. I found by casualty the official British poster making an almost serious movie and the German version rather ridiculous. Hmm...
Rating: 1 /10

Cowspiracy (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Kip Andersen, Keegan Kuhn
	Actors: -
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 14.04.2015, https://mrmondialisation.org/cowspiracy-the-sustainability-secret/, Original english version
Synopsis: The World's largest environmental organizations are failing to address the single most destructive force facing the planet today. Follow the shocking journey of an environmentalist inspired by Al Gore. He confirms with the help of several researchers and NGOs that the main enemy of the climate change and of sustainability is the meat consumption.
Review: I had been inspired to watch this movie by one follower of JoRafCinema as she knew me as an environmetalist and wanted my opinion on the movie.  The movie starts rather aggressively against American NGOs which either refuse to answer (e.g. Greenpeace USA) or answer wrongly about the main contributor for the climate change, which is not the direct energy consumption by human, but the indirect energy consumption via meat (ca. 40%), especially beef. This is indeed an outcome of a study (Livestock’s Long shadow) done for the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) in the UNO in 2006 and supported by many institues, by the GIEC and by OCDE reports. Since then a clear policy would be to stop or to reduce the meat consumption. And this is what the author collects arguments for. On top of it, as in the study, all the consequence of livestock agriculture on water, on pollution, on biodiversity. The study is followed very well and gets even more references from other studies. On the form, the author insists a lot on the fact that NGOs are hiding the livestock problem. And after the first thirty minutes this becomes boring. Even if he is right in that fact, he diverges from his purpose which is to convince that meat consumption shall be avoided. It is the classical plague of progressist movements preferring to fight one against the other than against the common enemy. The way the questions are settled is not positive. Although the issue is not new (2006 to 2014), the author makes as if he was the first guy discovering the issue and its solutions. This was also not very pleasant. Some NGOs actually point out this problem. Indeed not strong enough compared with the efforts developped for planting trees or against oil drilling in the Arctic regions that aims at the same goal to limit the climate change.  Worldwatch: http://www.worldwatch.org/  Greenpeace Germany: http://www.greenpeace.de/presse/publikationen/landwirtschaft-und-klima-deutsche-zusammenfassung Nothing on Greenpeace France nor on Greenpeace International.
Rating: 4 /10

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Joss Whedon (Serenity)
	Actors: Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four 1-2), Scarlett Johansson (Match Point), Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane), Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek), Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 28.04.2015, 3D, CINEMA theater
Synopsis: After the Avengers defeat a Hydra base and recover Loki's sceptre, they enjoy a well-earned rest, but Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is designing an even more ultimate weapon: Ultron.
Review: The action scene in the first ten minutes of the movie is as impressive as the climax would have been in any other movie ten years ago, and that sets the mood. I really feared I would be disappointed by Age of Ultron after appreciating The Avengers, or that I would be bored for 30 minutes in the middle of the 2h30 movie (like I did during Transformers 4) but fortunately that was not the case. I did sat back in my seat at some point but that break was welcome to anticipate the climactic last hour. The Special Effects are very good but the action confused sometimes, and the final weapon over-the-top. It is still only a Super-Hero movie (watch Birdman for a criticism of the genre), but I found that as in the first one the characters all have their specific temper and the dialogs are well written. I may appreciate it even more when watched in Blu-ray with sub-titles so that I catch all the jokes and details (Robert Downey Jr. does speak fast...). After an alien army in the first movie, it was a good idea for the screenplay to keep the story on Earth and vary the enemies. The fact that Ultron was created by Stark creates tension of course that feed the story. It is well integrated in the rest of Marvel Universe (including The Guardians of the Galaxy) and keeps on bringing consistency to it. It now seems to me pretty complete, but Marvel has already announced The Avengers 3 in two parts (money money...) as well as Thor 3, The Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Captain America 3, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and many more. We will never see the end of it...
Rating: 6 /10

Daredevil - Season 1 (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Creator: Drew Goddard
	Actors: Charlie Cox (Stardust), Vincent D'Onofrio (Men in Black), Deborah Ann Woll, Rosario Dawson (Deathproof), Elden Henson (Deja Vu)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning:  25-28 April 2015, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Blind since he is nine, Matt Murdock (Cox) is a freshly graduated lawyer during the day, vigilante at night. In both tasks he is helped by his friends Foggy (Henson) and Karen (Page), in order to counter the plans of the Kingpin (D'Onofrio).
Review: Twelve years after the disliked Daredevil movie with Ben Affleck, the blind vigilante is back in a series produced by the VOD giant Netflix. It actually takes place in the same Universe as the Marvel blockbusters (Iron Man, Captain America...) some time after the events of The Avengers. The partial destruction of New York is in fact what triggers a fierce competition for rebuilding the city and making the most money out of it. I have often read the description that "The Avengers save the world; Daredevil saves the neighborhood", and find it fitting. Indeed I cannot imagine the Gods and Superheroes of that elite team getting interested in the fate of one NY neighbourhood: Hell's Kitchen. This is Daredevil's job. The series format is interesting but defeats a bit the purpose of getting addicted and waiting for the next episodes, as the whole season was released in one shot. This is telling something about the way people watch series nowadays, and that is not on TV at a fixed time. The series is well executed although it sometimes look cheap. I noticed that the first few episodes are especially dark, maybe to force us to focus less on images and identify with Matt Murdock, but that made it difficult to watch them on a projector during daytime. It was in particular hard to appreciate the otherwise impressive stunts: Daredevil is using a fighting style of his own that I have never seen before (a mix of some Muay Thai, Kung-Fu and Parkour), although it is sometimes exaggerated (doing a flip to jump a 50 cm step...). Charlie Cox (that have recently discovered in Stardust) is a good cast for the role, partly because I find he has an expressive mouth, important for a character wearing a black mask down to its nose, or even sunglasses during the whole day. That might have helped giving him the role. The character of Matt Murdock and his duality is interesting, and his vulnerability (he often gets beaten up and comes back home bloody) makes it easier to identify with. The best actor in the series is without a doubt Vincent D'Onofrio playing brilliantly the bad guy. I wouldn't be surprised if  he received an Emmy award. He really gives life to this character so that he becomes quite lovable in a way, and several times I had to remind myself why we was indeed a bad guy. Another good character in the series is Vanessa: it is indeed not often that you get to spend so much time with the bad guy's companion (he usually even doesn't have one). The Kingpin's right arm Wesley is not bad either. On the contrary, I didn't like much Leland nor Foggy, especially during his courting of Karen in the episode #6: Condemned. As remarkable episodes I could mention #2 Cut Man for its incredible corridor fight as in Old Boy, and the flashbacks of Matt's youth. In episode #7 Stick, the meeting with Matt's mentor brings a nice B-series feeling far from the A-grade of the Marvel movies. Episode #9 Speak of the Devil starts a religious discussion that will continue until the end. I like in particular the before-last #12 The Ones we Leave Behind and the small part of Fantastic it adds (#7 did that also), while I found the season finale #13 Daredevil a bit disappointing although it brings a nice and expected (predictable) closure. Looking back at the series I find that in contrast to all the good things mentioned above, that first season contained too much character development, discussions (as in all series) and not enough lawyer stuff. This will probably be corrected in the second season that has already been announced for 2016.
Rating: 7 /10

Shooter (2007)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2007
	Director: Antoine Fuqua (Olympus has fallen)
	Actors: Mark Wahlberg (Transformers 4, Ted, Pain & Gain), Michael Peña (Battle Los Angeles), Rhona Mitra (Doomsday), Kate Mara (Transcendence), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon 1-4)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 23.04.2015, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg), expert army sniper, retires after loosing his partner. He is contacted by a shadow governmental organization to prevent a presidential assassination attempt.
Review: In a phase of watching many SF movies, I was missing some good old spy thriller / conspiracy movie in the line of a Jason Bourne or a Jack Ryan. The ambitions of Shooter are lesser but it delivered what I was looking for, although the story is not very surprising nor subtle:  the ex-military set up and left for dead (like in Machete) coming back to get his revenge on the crooked politician and government official. Mark Wahlberg is good and Danny Glover is showing off. I haven't seen Clint Eastwood's American Sniper but I guess the approach to the two movies is very different. In Shooter we just expect the guy to kick ass and deliver his own justice at the end, and this is what we get. I liked it.
Rating: 6 /10

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2002
	Director: George Lucas (THX 1138)
	Actors: Hayden Christensen (Pusher), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 22.04.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Anakin (Christensen) has been the Padawan learner of Master Jedi Kenobi (McGregor) for ten years when he is assigned to the protection of Padme (Portman).
Review: It is interesting to notice that both central episodes of the two Star Wars trilogies end rather negatively, but while The Empire Strikes Back was the best of the original trilogy, this Episode II is the worst of all. There are some good moments like the water planet of the cloners, the whole backstory around them (i.e. the generation of a Clone Army) and the battle on Geonosis between the droid army and tens of Jedis: it is indeed a kid's dream to see such a scene showing the Jedi order at its peak. But none of those nice scenes can compensate for the embarrassment of George Lucas trying to show us Anakin and Padme falling in Love. It reaches heights of ridiculous when although she refuses to get involved with him, they end up one evening near a fireplace, her dressed in an arousing leather outfit. On top of that, the actors don't look very motivated (even less than in Episode I), and for most of the outdoor scenes it is too obvious that they were shot indoors in front of blue screen. It unfortunately became a characteristic of the Prequel trilogy and I think I have read that Episode III was shot 100% indoors. This gives a "studio look" difficult to describe but that I don't like. The lack of interest George Lucas seems to give to the way his actors play look more and more like if for him the dialog scenes were just fillers between CG shots of landscapes or battles.
Rating: 4 /10

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: George Lucas (THX 1138)
	Actors: Hayden Christensen (Pusher), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Liam Neeson (Batman Begins)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 21.04.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: In a Galaxy far far away, the peace in the Republic is threatened by the Trade Federation. Two Jedi knights (Neeson & McGregor), keepers of the peace, are sent to negotiate an end to the blockade of the planet Naboo ruled by princess Amidala (Portman).
Review: As I have know the original Star Wars trilogy all my life, I remember vividly the excitation around the release of a new movie by George Lucas in 1999. I remember reading the announcement of a new trilogy in my Mad Movies magazine around 1995, watching in loop the very appetizing teaser and trailer, queuing at midnight in front of the Gaumont cinema in Reims to see the movie first, and finally loosing one contact lens halfway through the movie thus seeing the end with one eye only! I can't believe that was more than 15 years ago. I keep a fond memory of the first 15 minutes (until the Jedis land on Naboo) as it was a comeback to a Universe I had wanted to see again in a long time. I liked the movie at that time, and watched it many times since in VHS mostly and once in DVD. I think it works better when you don't know what follows in the two next episodes. Jar Jar Binks didn't bother me as it did many fans (he DOES exaggerate the comedy sometimes), I was just too happy to see Jedi knights in action, spaceships with nice new designs, loads of droids and alien creatures, and the boy that will become the terrifying Darth Vader. The encounter with R2D2 and C3PO seems a bit out of place but had to be expected. An there are some very good things too: Qui Gon Jin, Kenobi's mentor and played by Liam Neeson who may be the best actor in the cast, the final space battle has a limited scope and stakes but looks good when you ave been waiting 15 years for such battle, and finally the duel with Darth Maul and his double light sable is exhilarating, in particular thanks to the great musical choice of using male choirs but also because of a dynamic fight choreography, sorely missing from the two following episodes. On the down side most actors don't really look motivated (and this will get worse in the next movies). For the Blu-ray edition George Lucas has extended the Pod race scene (already quite lengthy) with several stunts and conflicts between the racers, all of them with special effects that don't even looks finalized, and an embarrassing lack of music and sound effects. I had a lot of trouble setting up my projector to get good colors for the scenes on Tatooine and during the final duel, and I have now read that the colorimetry of the movie was indeed changed. One change that was welcome is the replacement of the creepy-looking Yoda puppet by the same digital character that will be used in the following movies. Not such a bad Star Wars movie in itself, but I think it is often despised because it announced a whole disappointing trilogy.
Rating: 6 /10

Big eyes (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Tim Burton
	Actors: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz
	Country: USA, CDN
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 13.04.2015, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: In the 1950s, Margaret (Adams) was a woman trying to make it on her own after leaving her husband with only her daughter and her paintings. She meets Walter Keane (Waltz) and after a soon marriage, Walter is selling their paintings and quiet Margaret is painting more children with big eyes. But Walter's actually selling her paintings as his own. A clash of financial success and critical failure soon sends Margaret reeling in her life of lies.
Review: The story let me think about the equality of men/women rights as well as about the types of slavery, here a man/master and a woman/slave. This is a modern hot topic as many countries claim to do it but only with hypocrisy, where even recognized women are still paid much less than men for the same job. In the movie one reason for that is her extreme shyness and his real estate character. I liked many things in the directing. The landscape and town pictures looking like paintings; the close-ups on the stereotyped 50s housewife Margaret and the theatrical leader Walter; the casting with some people having indeed big eyes; the light SFX with big eyes in times of trauma. The relationship mother/daughter is not much developped although I felt there a lot of emotional tension. Amy Adams is great as passionate woman containing her emotions and Waltz is using again his theatrical verb as in Django.
Rating: 7 /10

Elser (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
	Actors: Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaußner, Johann von Bülow,
	Country: D
	Genre: Drama, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 13.04.2015, Schauburg, Orginal German version
Synopsis: Elser (Friedel) nearly would have changed the world. 1939, when Hitler tricked millions of people at the height of his power, one said a radical No: Georg Elser, prepared a bomb attack on Hitler in Munich and is one of the greatest resistance fighters.
Review: This part of the German history was new for me and I have been very surprised of that. And I am very happy that my father tought me about the "esprit critique", the critical thinking. Because it is exactly the way this average Georg Elser seing his German society changing under Hitler's will builds his own meaning about the government.  The structure of the Nazism is presented closely, especially the questioning and tortures. The daily life in a small village and the conflicts brought by the polarisation of the society is written and filmed very well. It reminds me the polarisation in many parts of Latin America. You are either for us or against us. The movie starts with the bomb attack. This way the suspense can be focused on the life of Elser and his critical thinking rather than on the question will he manage it or not. The acting of the militaries Nebe (Klaußner) and Müller (von Bülow) is excellent.  The photography and cut for the daily life scenes are very well done. Actually the only thing I could have missed is the soundtrack. In the wood furniture workshop there is almost no noise of the workshop. Some scenes could have been enhanced by light music. The choice of the director is already great, so no complain.
Rating: 7 /10

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1983
	Director: Richard Marquand
	Actors: Mark Hamill (Sushi Girl, Body Bags), Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones 1-4), Carrie Fisher (The Blues Brothers), Billy Dee Williams
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 20.04.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: While the Galactic Empire is building a new Death Star capable of destroying planets, Luke (Hamill), Leia (Fischer), Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian (Williams) attempt to rescue Han Solo (Ford) from the lair of Jabba the Hut.
Review: As in The Empire Strikes Back, this conclusion to the original Star Wars trilogy contains many classic SF moments. The first half hour on Tatooine is a movie in itself, culminating with the destruction of Jabba the Hutt and its barge, and the splitting up of Luke from the rest of the team. Everything converges to make this moment a highlight: heroism, justice, sword and gun fights, Leia is her slave outfit (a fantasy for generations of Geeks) and of course the music that carries it all beautifully. You literally have to take a breath afterwards. The second visit to Yoda thus comes right on time, and provides the right amount of magic, mysticism and revelations for those who were starting to miss those elements. In general throughout the whole movie, I found that Mark Hamill appropriately plays a more mature Luke Skywalker and I appreciated that. Then comes the weaker part of the movie that involves the Ewoks, hated by many. I don't have that strong antipathetic feelings against them but admit that their apparition slows down the rhythm of the movie. I have learned by watching a making-of documentary on the Blu-ray that Georges Lucas wanted on purpose that the Empire would be defeated party thanks to the help of a primitive civilization ignoring technology. Fortunately, this slower section is soon interleaved with scenes of Luke facing Vader and then the Emperor, the highlight of the movie. The last half hour is brilliant in many aspects, revolving around the Emperor's plot to bring Luke to the Dark Side by confronting him with the simultaneous demise of both his friends and the Rebellion Fleet. The editing of those scenes is perfect, and include the best space battle of the whole saga, if not of the History of cinema: the one involving The Millennium Falcon and the Rebel Fleet against the Death Star (I had already noticed the improvement of special effects quality from Episode IV to V, but this time another leap was taken). And the ending is fully satisfying, so much that when I was often watching the trilogy 15 years ago, after this ending I immediately wanted to start over again with the three movies. This brings me to the modifications made by Georges Lucas to the movie in the Special Edition in particular (I have discussed this process in more detail in the review of Episode V). The ending contains new scenes of celebration of several planets like Naboo and Coruscant (that we actually discover in the new trilogy) and a new music that I actually like. I have seen the original ending and it was already good, but this one works even better I find. In the end scene we also see a young Anakin Skywalker as played by Haiden Christensen in the new trilogy, a modification that I find useless. And the one that disturbs me more is when (spoiler for the few who haven't seen the film, highlight to read) Vader defeats the Emperor. While it used to be a silent moment by Vader, emotionally strong nonetheless, it is now accompanied with a shout of No, Noooooooo! that spoils a bit the scene for me. Watching again Return of the Jedi also made me connect the original trilogy to the new one more and more, and I am thus looking forward to link the two by watching the episodes for which a review is missing on this blog: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (in spite of the too long pod race) and Episode II: Attack of the Clones (in spite of the cheesy romance).
Rating: 9 /10

Ex-machina (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Alex Garland
	Actors: Alicia Vikander, Domnhall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac
	Country: GB
	Genre: SF, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 06.04.2015, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: Caleb (Gleeson) is software programmer at a large internet company and wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan (Isaac), the reclusive CEO of the company. Caleb has been chosen to test the world's first true artificial intelligence, called Ava (Vikander).
Review: In camera in a luxurious house lost in the mountains. After ten minutes it is clear that the test will turn into a romance and that Caleb will be used. The question with suspense is: used by whom? The dialogues Ava with Caleb are developped as expected as well with some suprises for Caleb but not much for the viewer. I guess that after Her it was a bit short time before making a new romance human-machine. The suspense coming from the tripartite or soon fourpartite romance and makes the story surely more interesting than Her. The acting of Isaac (seen a lot of times this year!) is again good. Gleeson plays a bit ingenuous. Vikander plays very straight her cold role, with such a beautiful face that it reminds me the cold beauty of Blade Runner.
Rating: 6 /10

A most violent year (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: J.-C. Chandor
	Actors: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 09.03.2015, Schauburg,OV sneak preview
Synopsis: In New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city's history, Abel Morales (Isaac) and his wife Anna (Chastain) are trying to expand their oil transport business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.
Review: The story of a self-made Latino in the USA could support the myth of the American dream if only his whole environment did not look like Gangs of New-York. Latinos and Americans are all corrupt in a certain way. The multicultural city and trades are also interesting to enhance that there is no stereotype valid. You can expect anything from making business in NY. The movie lives from its contrasted characters. The clean Latino and the corrupt and sneaky White. The Black politician lawyer and the White clan bosses. Also the way Isaac contains his feelings and makes this visible. SPOILER Also when he breakes his rules in violence. This is great acting. The same for Chastain whose talent I have seen for the first time in Miss Julie and playing again a character with many aspects.  The rest of the directing is just right and the locations show a great diversity in the underground city which makes it also interesting.
Rating: 7 /10

Dirty Wars (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Rick Rowley
	Actors:  Jeremy Scahill, Nasser Al Aulaqi, Saleha Al Aulaqi
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary, War
	Conditions of visioning: 15.04.2015, HD VOD, 11" computer screen
Synopsis: Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars.
Review: The topic is obviously sad and scary: in order to fight terrorism, the USA use methods which are further and further away from traditional war between two armies. In fact a special division called JSOC is in charge of hunting down and killing the people on a list of known terrorists hostile to the USA. But in doing so and with many collateral casualties, the net effect is that the list is ever-growing and the process seems endless. It is interesting to follow the investigation work by Jeremy Scahill, driven by small clues here and there and chance encounters that change the direction of his searches. In the end the journalist seems to be caught up by the events when Osama Ben Laden is reported killed by the until-then "secret" JSOC division. An interesting documentary on the work of a war journalist that tries to find the truth behind the events, but nothing revolutionary.
Rating: 4 /10

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1980
	Director: Irvin Kershner (Eyes of Laura Mars, Robocop 2)
	Actors: Mark Hamill (Sushi Girl, Body Bags), Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones 1-4), Carrie Fisher (The Blues Brothers), Billy Dee Williams
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 16.04.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The fleet of the Galactic Empire led by Darth Vader finds the rebel base hidden on the ice planet Hoth. Luke (Hamill), Leia (Fischer) and Han Solo (Ford) will go their separate ways to meet their destiny.
Review: Craving Space movies after watching 2001: A Space Odyssey and misled by the title of Stardust, I came to watch this Star Wars to start completing the set of reviews for this saga that already includes Episode IV: A New Hope and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. As much as I like Episode IV for setting up a incredibly rich Universe, it is this Episode V that really uses its potential to the maximum. What I find amazing with Star Wars (at least the original trilogy) is that it could have looked completely ridiculous and quickly outdated like most of the other SF movies of the time, but for a reason I cannot fathom it does not. Come on: Droids that sometimes look like garbage cans, teenage heroes, the plastic costumes of the Empire troops and of the leader Darth Vader, the 70's haircut, a princess, a mentor in monk's robes, aliens with improbable anatomy... I really don't understand how this all works, but it does. A bit like the Elves in The Lord of the Rings could have easily looked like a bunch of tree-hugging hippies, only they don't. One of the reason why it works is maybe that the movie displays scene after scene instant classic SF moments. Just by listing them I justify my choice of giving Episode V the highest rating: escape from the planet Hoth, imperial walkers, the Dagoba system, Yoda, the Millennium Falcon in an asteroid field, bounty hunters, Lando Calrissian in Cloud city, Han Solo in Carbonite, "I am your father". I would be curious to know what a 20-25 year-old thinks of those old movies, because as I was born with them and I started to watch them in the 80's, I am biased and may not judge the quality of those scenes objectively. Another reason why it may work is the music, deliberately orchestral at a period when this was not done much anymore (since the golden age of the 40's). I often praise Basil Poledouris' soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian as the best existing, forgetting this fantastic one composed by a John Williams at his best, and that culminates with the imperial March. It still gives me shivers. Finally an important contributor to the perenity of this movie is the story. In Episode V the characters have strong motivations for going where they go: The Millennium Falcon crew trying to escape from the clutches of the Empire during the whole movie while Luke is aspiring to become a Jedi. The movie cleverly puts in parallel Luke's Quest (for the mystical aspect) and the Millennium Falcon's fleeing (for the action), and all of this is very well balanced. At a time when we start to discover trailers of the upcoming Episode VII: The Force Awakens, I was glad to learn that its screenplay has been written by the same Lawrence Kasdan that wrote then ones of Episodes V and VI. A word about the story of modifications that Georges Lucas did to its movies since they originally went out. I discovered the movies on TV as a kid, i.e. in their original edition but with an extremely poor quality (I remember that at some point Episode IV was not even shown anymore because of too poor image quality). Thus I welcomed the Special Edition that I bought in VHS back in 1997 (waw, almost 20 years ago already!), and in the midst of the debate about the changes (mainly new scenes and new special effects) I was quite content with the movies, I found this Edition refreshed them. Then when I bought the Blu-ray box-set I learned that more modifications were done to improve continuity with the new trilogy and that bothered me more. Actually when reading the dedicated Wikipedia page you find out that the modifications have been numerous over the years. In the end, only one modification really bothers me in Episode V: it is when Darth Vader communicates to the Emperor from near the asteroid field, and the original Emperor has been replaced by Ian McDiarmid (playing this role in Episodes I-III), which I find overplays it a lot. When watching Episode V I also realize how much this Star Wars movie in particular has influenced the pop culture. I am thinking about the funny short Georges Lucas in Love for example, the animated TV-series Robot Chicken and its three Star Wars special episodes, or the Star Wars Kinect video game, in particular the Dance Off mini game that keeps creeping into my mind as soon as I see Lando Calrissian.
Rating: 10 /10

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1968
	Director: Stanley Kubrick (Shining, Clockwork Orange)
	Actors: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
	Country: USA, GB
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 12.04.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: After a mysterious alien artifact is discovered on the moon, a mission is sent to Jupiter to investigate where it is sending signals to.
Review: Like Blade Runner, this is a movie I watch every ten years to see if my original poor opinion of it has changed. In fact I discovered them on TV when I was young and couldn't appreciate them at the time. Watching them again later at a time of my choosing didn't improve things much. Now (finally) I may be appreciative of movies enough to enjoy this masterpiece. And yes I did. I think this was helped not only a little by the best conditions in which I watched it: recent Blu-ray release, Full-HD LCD projector, 5.1 surround Home cinema, I even removed the protective cover from my front speakers to enjoy the soundtrack better. Good sound is important with this movie to appreciate the difference between a silence and a whisper, and good image makes you realize how good and immersive are the special effects even fifty years later. The movie can be divided into four parts. The Australopithecus suits in the first scenes look cheap, but the actors in them give a solid performance and Kubrick cleverly shoots them is a way not to show them too much (often in shadows). The symbol of violence just discovered and the match-cut spanning four million years (between bone-weapon and satellite-weapon) are just perfect. The following part shows an apparently routine commute trip to the moon, very realistic, visually superb and beautifully accompanied by Strauss' Waltz The Blue Danube. The spaceship are better done than in Star Wars although ten years earlier, and by watching the Blu-ray documentary I was amazed by the techniques used to simulate zero gravity (the floating pen stuck to a rotating glass plate, simple and super-efficient). Dennis Murren, special effects supervisor on movies like Terminator 2 and winner of 9 Oscars, put it well by saying that 2001 "celebrated the beauty of space travel, the beauty of design and the beauty of motion". The third part deals with the trip to Jupiter and the famous conflict with the Artificial Intelligence HAL. The space experience is again very realistic: a similar ship concept was re-used by James Cameron in Avatar and we see the spacemen using a device that looks very much like a modern tablet! (the design was even used as "prior Art" during a trial between Apple and Samsung). The actors downplay their role a lot which makes their reaction very believable to me, and enhances the feeling of humanity coming from HAL. Finally I am still disturbed by the fourth act like I was 25 years ago: I still find the 10-minutes visual trip too long, but this time I could appreciate it on a large screen, immersed in the soundtrack, and better understanding the meaning of it, partly thanks to Interstellar. One could criticize that the director didn't provide any conclusion to his movie, and indeed he left it open for the audience to imagine what the whole thing means. This is a movie for which the adjective "thought-provoking" is well appropriate. One has to remember that at the time of the release of 2001, never had Science Fiction looked so realistic. It was until then a genre more reserved for kids or teenagers, and filled with monsters and flying saucers. I understand that the reviews were mixed when the movie went out, that people were going to watch it slightly drunk or stone, and that as years passed it gained cult status to the point of often being cited as the best movie of all times (maybe a bit exaggerated). After directing Dr Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick was "determined to create a work of art which would arouse the emotions of wonder, awe, ... even, if appropriate, terror". I think he succeeded: 2001: A Space Odyssey is a movie more to experience rather than to watch. In the end I don't find it to be the best movie of all times, or one of my favorites, but it surely is an incredible experience attempted by a genius of cinema. What next? I will probably watch soon other Kubrick movies starting with A Clockwork Orange which Blu-ray I already own and then Barry Lindon. I may also watch the sequel 2010: The Year we make Contact (directed by Peter Hyams) and eventually read the four novels 2001, 2010, 2061 and 3001.
Rating: 9 /10