The Expanse - Season 2 (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Creators: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
	Actors: Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea), Steven Strait, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper, Shohreh Aghdashloo (X-men: The Last Stand, Star Trek Beyond, 24 TV-series)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: September-October 2017, VOD, 40" TV screen
Synopsis: Since the discovery they made on Eros, the crew of the Rocinante led by Jim Holden (Strait) regroups with their Belter friends on Tycho Station and devise a plan to save a Solar system in which Mars and Earth are on the brink of war.
Review: If you haven't watched the first season recently, it can be difficult to remember everything that happened then in order to enjoy the start of the second in the best conditions, so I recommend watching a recap online, like this one on YouTube that includes photos, especially since Netflix unfortunately doesn't offer this option like it does on other series. I was glad I didn't have to wait too long to watch this second season after the open ending of the first. The main characters that we learned to like are still here (I especially like the detective Miller), but the season has a different structure: instead of showing different investigations in parallel, we now have our characters fighting towards a common goal together. That is something that disturbed me about this season: the fate of the whole System seems to be in the hand of the crew of that ship, a mission unrealistically big for them. Another element that disturbed me is that handling of time periods: the editing is done so that travelling between planets seem to take hours only, which was less disturbing in the first season. Finally the filming of the effects of gravity that I managed to overlook in the first season now disturbed me more. However, besides those few flaws I still find many qualities to the series that resurface around mid-season: the politics are intriguing, the special effects always so good, and new characters and locations can only capture my imagination: Martian Marines, farms on one of Jupiter's moon and a giant spaceship built to travel across the stars (inspired by Arthur C. Clarkes' Rendezvous with Rama).
Rating: 6 /10

Luke Cage - Season 1 (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Creator: Cheo Hodari Coker
	Actors: Mike Colter (Million Dollar Baby, Men in Black 3), Simone Missick, Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy TV-series), Mahershala Ali (House of Cards TV-series)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: September 2017, VOD, 32" TV screen.
Synopsis: Luke Cage (Colter), a man with impenetrable skin who tries to live a discreet life in Harlem, cannot help but intervening when he sees how the neighbourhood is corrupted by the businessman called Cottonmouth (Ali) and his politician cousin.
Review: With this series I am now up-to-date on what proposes Netflix as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character of Luke Cage was already well-introduced in the first season of Jessica Jones and it also appears in the gathering of The Defenders. I wrongly watched Luke Cage after that one, but I can confirm that it doesn't matter much, except that it gives a bit more background on the character and allows understanding some more references. Note that the character of the nurse Claire played by Rosario Dawson (Deathproof, Clerks 2) is much more present that in other series of the Universe, and for a good reason when you see the growing relationship she has with Luke. Out of the four characters in The Defenders, Luke Cage is the one that fights injustice on the smallest scale: no super-enemies, no secret organization or global villain, but more crooks in the neighbourhood. Thus the series can be seen more as a Polar than a Super-hero adventure. The story is rather OK at first although slow, but then I found that after the semi-climax of Episode 7 The Manifest, things get even slower and both story and dialogs get poorer, to the point that I kept on watching just for completeness. It improves a bit towards the end of the season but it is mostly thanks to more Action. I criticized the story and fight scenes in Iron Fist but I found Luke Cage even worst. A few things I liked: the Origins story told on Episode 4 Step in the Arena taking place in the Alcatraz-like jail called Seagate and the actors playing the characters of Shades and Cottonmouth seen in respectively Sons of Anarchy and House of Cards.
Rating: 3 /10

Logan lucky (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Steven Soderbergh
	Actors: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig,
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 21.08.2017, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, English version
Synopsis: Jimmy Logan (Tatum) lost again his job. He and his brother Clyde (Driver) want to organise a robbery during a NASCAR race in North Carolina. They plan it with the Bang brother, Joe (Craig), Fish and Sam.
Review: The main interest of the movie, to me, is the observation of the people and the region that almost never appears in any movie and has actually a lot to tell. The story itself is entertaining. A typical robbery movie with some humour during the cast of the robbery team, some thrill during the coup itself. Unlike other robbery movies (Soderberg is not getting bored by them!!!), there is no high-tech, the fast cars are not used to escape. Nice idea is the perfect alibi of escaping from jail just for the robbery and come back, like in the Korean movie The Prison. The view on North Carolina and Georgia country side lifestyle is cool because it is often forgotten by Hollywood filmmakers. The slow life, the heat that you feel all along the scenes, the rivalry from family to family, the village parties, the creativity for problem-solving, the appreciation of modest life.  The acting is quite good, especially Adam Driver (Hungry hearts, While we're young) and Riley Keough (Jack & Diane, Dixieland).
Rating: 5 /10

The Last Airbender (2010)

	Also Known As: Avatar: The Last Airbender (working title)
	Year of first release: 2010
	Director: M. Night Shyamalan (The 6th Sense, Signs, The Visit)
	Actors: Noah Ringer (Cowboys and Aliens), Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, Chappie)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 17.09.2017, VOD, 32" TV screen
Synopsis: The young Aang, successor to a long line of Avatars, must master all four elements and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom.
Review: From The 6th Sense (1999) to The Happening (2008), M. Night Shyamalan has successfully delivered movies that undoubtedly bear his mark. This has been working because he could apply his style to stories that were appropriate for it, and we have to admit that towards the end we were tired of those slow movies with a final twist. The story in the latest ones like Signs (2002) was different but the filming style was the same. Then came this project based on a very successful TV-series, and that had to be renamed because the name Avatar had already been taken the previous year by a small other project. And Shyamalan applied his style to it, which in combination with a Fantasy story makes a movie annoying to watch, without being able to pinpoint why. It annoyed me when I watched it in the cinema and it still annoyed me this time. It was a great disappointment for me in 2010 because I was expecting better from the director, from the story which gave me a shock when I realized it was only the first episode in a trilogy (that never even came) and from the trailer which I found awesome at the time and which doesn't transpire in the movie. That's a pity because the Fantasy world is interesting (I love the Fire Nation's boats), the special effects good and the Martial Arts choreography very original and well executed by the actors. But it doesn't prevent the movie from being flat, I don't find another word for it. Shyamalan's excuse is that he has always honestly said that he only knows how to shoot in one style: his own. So people shouldn't have expected something different from what he delivered. The movie was a big failure, the sequels never made and Shyamalan even had troubles to direct in Hollywood after that (After Earth didn't help), so that now he is back to independent cinema like with The Visit, maybe for the best.
Rating: 2 /10

American made (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Doug Liman
	Actors: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 28.08.2017, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, English version
Synopsis: Barry Seal (Cruise) is a well paid TWA pilot and lives with his wife Lucy (Wright). CIA agent Monty Schafer (Gleeson) recruits him to smuggle drugs and weapons abroad for the U.S. government. Seal has a lot of fun as a pilot via his undercover operations and amasses a fortune in cash when he starts working also for the Colombia's Medellín cartel. Later he gets involved in other scandals of the 80s such as Iran-contra.
Review: For a Tom Cruise movie, this one is not so bad and especially not centered on his ego, apart from several scenes. The story is based on a true story of Barry Seal and therefore the movie goes through most of the conflicts in Central America of the 80s in which all President of the USA involved their services.  And although this sounds good to talk about these organised criminality, but the movie only goes through and make fun of it. It gives even the impression that the whole drug trade from Colombia to North America and the Iran-Contra gate was organised by a small group of persons under their only responsibility. Ok. I guess, this was not the intention of the author who may have tried bringing some fun in this kind of story without loosing the viewers with too much complexity.  Acting is remarkable for Domhnall Gleeson and the multitude of secondary roles, either the other pilots, the people of the Cartel.  But nothing that will remain.
Rating: 4 /10

Review of the FANTASPOA 2017 Festival in Porto Alegre (Brazil)

Continuing to run the limited circuit of Fantastic Film Festival in South America, JoRafCinema was present for the second week of the FANTASPOA that took place from May 19th to June 4th 2017 in the coastal city of Porto Alegre, capital of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

We had a great time there, have seen and reviewed 22 movies, participated to some events and discovered the city and its surroundings. We will share all of that with you in this Article.

The Defenders - Season 1 (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Creators: Douglas Petrie, Marco Ramirez
	Actors: Charlie Cox (Stardust, Daredevil TV-series), Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones TV-series), Mike Colter (Luke Cage TV-series), Finn Jones (Iron Fist, Game of Thrones TV-series), Rosario Dawson (Deathproof), Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, Alien 1-4)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: September 2017, VOD, 32" TV screen.
Synopsis: The secret organization known as The Hand and led by Alexandra (Weaver) has sinister plans for the city of New York. The path of four characters with abilities will cross in an attempt to defeat those plans.
Review: First a warning: you probably have to be a hard-core follower of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and TV-series to come any close to appreciating this show. (Un)fortunately I am, and I binge-watched the only eight episodes of this series with a deep knowledge of the Marvel movies (although you don't need to know much except for the basic background story of the characters in The Avengers), after watching the two seasons of my favorite Daredevil with Jessica Jones in the middle, and right after watching Iron Fist which even if not very good acts as a good introduction to The Defenders. I hadn't watched Luke Cage at the time but it seems to be the most dispensable series (you already get a good introduction to the man in Jessica Jones). Or maybe you don't want to spend the time to know the characters and just want to see the best of them, so the series is also for you then. So the four main characters, let's say it Super-heroes, of the four TV-series are uniting to defeat a great enemy than the usual neighbourhood villain they face. This story has a definite Avengers feel to it and the threat is at the level, to the point that one can wonder why the more famous heroes don't do anything about it, before remembering that they are more busy usually with national threats when they are isolated, and global threats when united (like in Age of Ultron). A threat to a single city is thus still handled by TV-series heroes. The four characters share more or less equally the screen time and each bring along one or two "side-kicks" from their respective series, which is a lot of fun when you know them all! Note that character of the nurse Claire (Dawson) which has been present in all their individual adventures and acts like a glue in their time of need. If the series had been produced like a traditional TV-show, the first episode (pilot) would have shown more action and already the gathering of heroes, but with the modern production scheme in which a series is shot and released in a block, it can afford to make us wait for about two and a half slow, introductory, tension-building episodes before showing the long-awaited meeting in Episode 3 Worst Behavior, a structure which then has the effect of making it even more awesome to see the four of them fighting alongside. I also loved the following Episode 4 Royal Dragon named after the place where they spend the whole time arguing about teaming-up. Very well written and exactly what was needed to solidify the alliance. If you know their background you will not be surprised that Jones and Cage are the two that struggle the most to justify their joining the fight. The rest of the season contains a fully-satisfying lot of twists, self-questioning and ass-kicking, and was over all too quickly.
Rating: 7 /10

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2, Devil's Pass)
	Actors: Thomas Jane (The Expanse TV-series), Saffron Burrows (Frida), Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers, Pulp Fiction), LL Cool J (Mindhunters)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 16.09.2017, VOD, 322" TV screen
Synopsis: Onboard a scientific lab off-shore, genetically-modified sharks show a highly-increased intelligence. When a storm hits and the animals take advantage of it, the crew composed of a doctor (Burrows), shark specialist (Jane), a cook (Cool J) and an investor (Jackson) among others, will fight to survive.
Review: This shark movie doesn't even try to compete with Spielberg's Jaws, and although it starts like a teenager slasher in the line of Friday 13th it turns out to be infinitely better that Shark Night and displays much better effects than any SyFy or Asylum more recent production like Sharknado or Dinocroc vs. Supergator. The story is also better built and the actors more believable, even if in the end it remains a survival movie against monsters in a confined environment: it displays the unavoidable conflicts, false hopes for rescue, one-path to the exit, bravery... But the movie is noticeable for the nervousness of its monsters brought to life by decent special effects for the time, and the fate it reserves to its main cast including Samuel L. Jackson (what a surprise the first time I saw it!), not unlike in the 2000 Pitch Black. Quite entertaining and fun to watch.
Rating: 5 /10

The Rock (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Michael Bay (The Island, Armageddon)
	Actors: Sean Connery (Highlander), Nicolas Cage (Knowing, Face/Off), Ed Harris (The Truman Show)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 14.09.2017, VOD, 32" TV screen
Synopsis: General Francis X. Hummel (Harris) takes hostages on the island of Alcatraz and threatens to launch poisonous gas missiles to the near city of San Fransisco if the death of fallen soldiers is not honored. Tech specialist Stanley Goodspeed (Cage) is called on site and has to team-up with former convict John Patrick Mason (Connery) to infiltrate what was the most secure prison on Earth.
Review: After vising the famous former prison of Alcatraz in San Fransisco, I wished to watch again the two movies I know it for: the 1979 Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood based on a true story and The Rock, second movie directed by Michael Bay after Bad Boys and that undoubtedly bears the mark of the style this blockbuster Master would impose to Hollywood in the two decades to come including helicopters shots in front of the sun, ultra-low-angle shots, pigeons flying in front of the camera, a patriotic music that furiously resembles the one of Armageddon, a mix of Comedy and Action delivered by likeable characters (even the bad guys). This may be a brainless movie, it provided me with a guilty pleasure to watch and as I mentioned in my review of Independence Day (released the same year) it is not as bad as what we got used to in the recent years (see Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles or the latest Transformers!). There is patriotism, action, comedy... but I find it all relatively well-balanced and delivered by good actors (Sean Connery rules), of which one should not forget to mention David Morse (Contact, 12 Monkeys), Tony Todd (Candyman) or Michael Biehn (Aliens). The island of Alcatraz is well-used in the movie as an impenetrable fortress and I was glad to recognize the familiar settings I have visited. I didn't remember though the Indiana Jones-style scenes of underground race in mining carts like if the island was ever used for that. A pure invention. A movie definitely over-the-top, but that I was glad to see again.
Rating: 5 /10

Iron Fist - Season 1 (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Creators: Scott Buck, M. Raven Metzner
	Actors: Finn Jones (Game of Thrones TV-series), Jessica Henwick, Jessica Stroup, Rosario Dawson (Deathproof), David Wenham (The Two Towers)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: September 2017, VOD, 30" TV screen
Synopsis: Danny Rand (Jones), heir to a multi-billion dollar company, was thought dead for 15 years. Back to New-York, he has trouble getting people to recognize him, including the closest friends he had, and his stories of monastery in which monks taught him to become the legendary immortal Iron First warrior don't help.
Review: Netflix is producing more and more series taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the one in which The Avengers evolve). After Jessica Jones and my favorite Daredevil, I was not too tempted by Iron Fist but it sounded like it could have some nice martial arts action scenes and mythology so why not. The series takes time to start (2-3 episodes) and show Danny's potential. Even after the show is well-started, I was disappointed not to see more use made of the Iron Fist power, which is I guess what everyone wants to see. There are a decent number of fights, but I found them most of the time badly choreographed, filmed and edited. And that's really too bad. I could say that billionaire Danny Rand is a bit the Bruce Wayne (Batman) of the Marvel Universe but we already have Tony Stark (Iron Man) for that. Some positive notes about this first season: the excellent performance by David Wenham (Boromir's brother Faramir in The Two Towers), the recurrent characters in the Marvel Universe of the nurse Claire played by Rosario Dawson (Deathproof, Clerks 2) and the lawyer Hogarth by Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix), the fight against the Organization called The Hand and the character of Madame Gao already encountered in Daredevil's second season, and a few nice Kung-Fu moves culminating by the encounter with a drunken Master (exquisite reference to movies with Donnie Yen or Jackie Chan) in Episode 8 The Blessing of Many Fractures. But in general and in addition to the poor fights I found the character of Danny Rand not as interesting as it could have been, but that may have been done on purpose to leave him room to grow in a second season or in the gathering of The Defenders.
Rating: 4 /10

Taken (2008)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2008
	Director: Pierre Morel (Banlieue 13)
	Actors: Liam Neeson (Star Wars Episode I, The Grey, Batman Begins), Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen (The Faculty, X-men 1-3)
	Country: F
	Genre: Action, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 13.09.2017, inflight entertainment, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: While on a trip to Paris, 17-year old Kim (Grace) is kidnapped. Her father (Neeson), ex-CIA, will do everything to come and get her.
Review: The Luc Besson production that launched Liam Neeson (then 55) into a new carreer as kick-ass retiree action hero, and into movies like the sequels Taken 2 and 3, Non-Stop, The A-team... As often in Besson's productions (see The Transporter), Taken talks to the basic moviegoer in us that wants to see an efficient and well-executed revenge story on-screen, like we were getting in the 80's (with Charles Bronson in the Death Wish series for example). We want to see some bad guys' asses kicked! Well, we are now in the 2010's but the recipe still works: a tense father-daughter relationship, despicable bad guys, an exotic setting (well, as much as Paris is for Americans, the target audience of the French-produced movie), a race against time, an investigation under duress, and most importantly a driven character seeking revenge and administrating it violently. In the same style but more realistic and less entertaining you may want to watch Death Sentence with Kevin Bacon. I have to admit that I fell for it and enjoyed watching Neeson's character leading his own investigation, breaking bones, pressuring human-trafficking (= very despicable) suspects with nails and bullets and driving like a Madman through Paris while getting closer to his daughter. Quite a nice movie to let off steam. Surpisingly the sequel was also good, but not the third movie. A TV-series now exists.
Rating: 7 /10

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1979
	Director: Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry)
	Actors: Clint Eastwood (The Beguiled, For a Fistful of Dollars, Gran Torino), Patrick McGoohan (Scanners, Braveheart), Roberts Blossom
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 03.09.2017, VOD, 42" TV
Synopsis: Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is impossible to escape from it, until three men led by Frank Morris (Eastwood) start to plan it, under the nose of the Warden (McGoohan).
Review: Three days only after I visited myself the famous former prison now tourist attraction in San Fransisco, I wanted to watch again this classic with Clint Eastwood that I have seen many times in my youth but not anymore for a long time. There is much more to the prison visit than a movie set: the former fort, wildlife, the view on the SF bay, the Indian occupation, but I have to admit that the movie played a big role in my decision to visit the island. Once there I could remember scenes from the escape and its planning (and learn about many other escape attempts I never heard about), but watching the movie soon after really improved the experience. Not much happens in the movie, Clint plays like Clint (apparently cold but with a heart) which made me think the character was adapted to fit him. I also learned that the relationship with the Warden was enhanced in the movie. And some coincidence and good timing were also modified to increase the tension in the movie. Ignoring those adaptations of the real story for the screen, I enjoyed a lot the slow pace, the cold acting by Eastwood, the discussions about prison life that I could relate to what I have seen there including an exhibition of paintings by inmates. And even though I knew the ending, the ambition of the escape plan and the increasing tension kept me on edge for the whole duration of the movie. Watching it as a kid when discovering Clint Eastwood with my father, or now after visiting the set, Escape from Alcatraz is still a simple movie that makes me appreciate the Art of telling a story on a Cinema screen.
Rating: 8 /10

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
	Actors: Johnny Depp (The Ninth Gate, Transcendence), Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Skyfall)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 02.09.2017, in-flight entertainment 10" screen
Synopsis: Helped by the son of his old couple of friends, Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) searches for the trident of Poseidon while being pursued by an undead sea captain (Bardem) and his crew.
Review: Already the fifth movie in a franchise initiated in 2003, and Johnny Depp has been in all of them as Captain Jack Sparrow! As well as Geoffrey Rush in fact. Depp still plays the eccentric character at the center of the story, this time accompanied by a young pair, including the son of the couple played by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knighley who was also leading in the first three movies, and that can here be seen in cameos. In Dead Men tell no Tale, the pursuit of Poseidon's trident is in line with the mythology instated since the first movie The Curse of the Black Pearl. The visuals of the movie also follow the tradition, this time with yet a new way to show the undead: after see-through skeletons and half-fish men this time they move like under water, captivating to watch in fact on the actor Javier Bardem. I liked to see the kind of "Origins story" for the character of Jack Sparrow, in which Depp was granted a digital rejuvenation like Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Michael Douglas in Ant Man, Robert Downey Jr. in Captain America: Civil War or Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. That's always fascinating to watch known actors play a new role with their face of 30 years ago. All in all, Dead Men tell no Tale contains enough novelty and is well built so that it manages to revert the descending quality trend of the previous episodes, especially the catastrophic On Stranger Tides. The music is less annoying and the gags more acceptable, although some are unavoidably repeated since movie #1. A sixth movie is expected for 2019-2020.
Rating: 5 /10

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman)
	Actors: Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, The Avengers), Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano (Zatoichi)
	Country: USA, IND, CN, J, HK, GB, NZ, CDN, AUS
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 02.09.2017, in-flight entertainment 10" screen
Synopsis: In the near future, Major (Johansson) is the first of her kind: A human is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.
Review: I dreaded to watch this remake since I heard about it at least a year ago. In fact the live adaptation of the revolutionary 1995 Anime Ghost in the Shell by Mamoru Oshii (that we love on JoRafCinema, and we even liked it sequel) with the trendy Scarlett Johansson in the leading role. Many things are wrong with this movie, the actress far from being the worst. What was revolutionary in 1995 may be less now more than 20 years later, and it is not that special affects only allow now to show this future in a live-action film, it could have been done ten years ago (but they are reasonably well done). So why waiting so long? Then about the adaptation work: the dialogs are more tuned to the Western sensibilities and the story is more linear and in fact providing answers instead of leaving you thinking like the original did, which makes the movie accessible for a larger audience which was the goal I guess. The music from the original movie, a character in itself and definitely acclaimed by the fans, is not re-used in this remake, but the soundtrack does try to mimic the same tones and spirit, in vain. Note the presence of Japanese legend Takeshi Kitano in the cast (as Major's boss) which brings a welcome oriental touch. In summary: a cult animated movie modernized and simplified to entertain a young audience but that will be very quickly forgotten.
Rating: 3 /10