Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind)
	Actors: Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!, Twixt), Woody Harrelson (Ed TV, Zombieland, The Hunger Games 1-4), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones TV-series, Terminator: Genysis)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 18.09.2018, in-flight entertainment 8" screen.
Synopsis: The adventures of a young Han Solo (Ehrenreich), dreaming of escaping his planet to become the galaxy's best pilot and smuggler.
Review: On we go with Star Wars spin-off movies that Disney will keep on feeding us in the next decades until they have sucked the last dollar they can out of the franchise and we are sick of it. But I was so wrong with Rogue One that I am inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt for a couple of more movies. They may once in a while hit the jackpot with a good combination of writer and director that will make me remember why I loved Star Wars. Solo is definitely not it, and I am not the only one thinking it, as it turned out to be the least profitable Star Wars movie (adjusted for ticket price inflation, source Box Office Mojo). Even the Special Edition re-release of the first Star Wars made more money! Of course it was tempting to show the origins of this beloved character (expect by the actor who played him, Harrison Ford), but it is disturbing to grasp the time elapsed between this movie and A New Hope, it seems so short and Han Solo must have lived so much in between...  As expected the mandatory fan-service is provided, showing us his introduction to Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian (well incarnated by Donald Glover) and the Millenium Falcon. More subtle details are included and I rather enjoyed those, like the long-debated meaning of the Kessel Run done in 12 parsecs (a unit of distance, not time), or how Han learned to shoot first. All those details are nicely listed in this YouTube video. But the satisfaction of seeing this origins-story didn't compensate for the fact that the movie is rather flat and didn't excite me at all. Maybe because it is too detached from the Star Wars Universe ; what links it the most at the very end of the movie was probably long debated on the internet, and requires watching the season 4 and season 5 of the Clones Wars TV-series. Where is the Empire while it should be omnipresent? And the fan-service is sometimes heavy, like is the use of trendy actors (Emilia Clarke, Paul Bettany). The movie is obviously well-done visually but nothing screamed "Star Wars", like even Millenium Falcon scenes in The Force Awakens, except for one image of an Imperial Cruiser blocking a cloud vortex (see picture below) than made me open my eyes wide. December 2019 will see the release of Episode IX, and the next "A Star Wars Story" solo movies are rumored to be about Obi Wan Kenobi and then Bobba Fett.
Rating: 4 /10

Deadpool 2 (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: David Leitch (Atómica, John Wick)
	Actors: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, Buried, Green Lantern), Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War, Men in Black 3), Morena Baccarin (Firefly TV-series)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Black Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 15.09.2018, in-flight entertainment 8" screen
Synopsis: Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool (Reynolds), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Cable (Brolin).
Review: As far as sequels go, Deadpool 2 brings you more of the same that you liked in Deadpool, but nothing else. The character is talking even more to the camera, takes even more ridiculous poses and mocks even more ... everything. The fourth wall is broken, shattered to pieces and Deadpool leisurely walks through the opening, asking again the studios to spend more money to show other actors of the X-men franchise (and they do!), calling Cable Thanos (both played by Josh Brolin if you didn't follow), and other crazy ideas in the post-credit scenes that I will not spoil for you. At least in the first movie there was a love story a bad guy, a purpose. This sequel mocks so much everything that in the end I didn't feel involved as audience. Don''t take me wrong, it was OK to watch, but not really useful.
Rating: 4 /10

Breaking Bad - Season 4 (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Creator: Vince Gilligan
	Actors: Bryan Cranston (Drive, Argo), Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris (Total Recall, Starship Troopers)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar, Black Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: August-September 2018, VOD, 11" tablet screen
Synopsis: Our favorite methamphetamine cooks Walter & Jesse (Cranston, Paul) make the life of their boss Gus hard.
Review: I found this season quite in line with the previous one, i.e. pretty slow and banking on characters, a tone, black humor and actors that we like. But I found again the pace to be far too slow, and it took me a while to find the motivation to go through it all. Some characters evolve a little but most don't. Their are some surprising turns like the series got us used to but only a few, like what Walt does in S4E7 Problem Dog, or the ending of S4E11 Crawl Space. But the most intriguing in this season is the backstory of Gus, an audience's favorite character played by Giancarlo Esposito, developed in S4E8 Hermanos and meeting a dreadful conclusion in S4E10 Salud. And of course the season finale in S4E13 Face Off is awesome, but not enough to make me forget the relative boredom of watching some episodes. I will definitely watch the fifth and last season, expecting all hell to break loose.
Rating: 4 /10

Paradise PD - Season 1 (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Creators: Roger Black, Waco O'Guin
	Actors: Sarah Chalke, David Herman, Kyle Kinane
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: September 2018, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: Young Kevin is bent on joining the Police force of the small town of Paradise, led by his own father Randall.
Review: This Netflix original series is rated "16+ for language, nudity, sex, substance, violence", and it delivers on all those promises! I was looking for more adults TV-series after Final Space and Disenchantment and found this one which doesn't follow in the footsteps of The Simpsons or Futurama but rather South Park and Family Guy in that it has almost no taboos. In fact the family issues and more obviously the talking dog relate it a lot to the latter. For some reason I like to watch Family Guy episodes but I got very quickly uninterested and bored by American Dad although by the same creator. And I also kind of liked Paradise PD, I think because of its unconstrained excesses. Be very careful that it is not the kind of animated TV-series to show to your kids, as you will notice within minutes into the first episode. Most of the action is vastly exaggerated as are the characters: drug-addict dog, black cop not using guns, gross police chief who got divorced by the woman now mayor after he lost his masculinity because of a son who now wishes to enter the force! Also a violent female cop attracted to her obese partner, an elderly cop with doubtful sexual preferences, and for some episodes a tiger team including a Stephen Hawking ersatz and head-Siamese twins. If you are adult and distant enough not to be outraged and revolted by the series, you can find it entertaining and tension-releasing.
Rating: 6 /10

La vingança (2016)

	Also Known As: El revenge
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Fernando Fraiha
	Actors: Daniel Furlan, Felipe Rocha, Leandra Leal, Adrián Navarro
	Country: BR, RA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 22.09.2018, Schauburg, FFB2018, Brasilian/Spanish version with English subtitle
Synopsis: When Caco (Rocha) finds his girlfriend Julia (Leal) having sex with a rich Argentinian Facundo (Navarro), he goes to his friend Vadão (Furlan). Together they hit the road to Buenos Aires aboard an orange Opala 72, with a mission: be with as many women as possible. Well Vadão's plan...
Review: The plot sounds very cheap Hollywood comedy but the writing makes it all! The trip is triggered in such a way that it does not look like the two buddies think seriously in having a hot trip. And each encounter is very funny, whoever they meet. The girls at the bar, the mechanic, the girl in the washing room, the musicians in the van.  The dialogues are killing me! The slaps that Caco is getting and that are necessary to wake up and SPOILER really cut from his ex-girlfriend. These are not just crude and direct, these are really things that everybody who listened complains from a good friend not stopping talking about an ex would like to say. It is never sliding to the burlesque or ridiculousness. Every step is thought to push either Caco into freedom from his ex or to push Vadão into freedom from his quest for lust.  The fact that all the Brasilians of the story are going to Argentina brings also some other humor that is enriching the comedy, even if the football theme is recurring and omnipresent as soon as the guys in the van are met. The actors are matching very well the normal characters. The buddies are at the same granularity in their description. This gives more depth to the story and this is really interesting. This movie feels like (500) days of Summer for its authenticity in treating a difficult situation of the sentimental life. Really fine book and script!
Rating: 7 /10

Filmfest Bremen 2018

JoRafCinema attended the 4th edition of the Filmfest Bremen, Northern Germany. This took place from September 20th to September 23rd 2018 in the Hanseatic city of Bremen.

JoRafCinema shares with you this festival and shared with the festival one short film in the frame of the section Klappe! that is of course referenced. As usual we report also the movies, the venues, some side events. And this might motivate you to go to this young and small festival. 

JoRafCinema is six years old!

This summer, we celebrate one more anniversary for JoRafCinema by publishing a summary Article about the past year and the past years. Things are changing in our lives, and we don't watch movies like we used to six years ago. Less cinema, less Festivals, less Home Cinema, more VOD and series on smaller supports.
This is why this Article will be focused on comparing the first two years of JoRafCinema with the last two. Here is what happened until July 20th 2018. Feel free to click on the plots to enlarge them.

Movies per genre

Disenchantment - Season 1 (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Creators: Matt Groening, Josh Weinstein
	Actors (voices): Abbi Jacobson, Eric André, Nat Faxon
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Animation, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: August 2018, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: The medieval misadventures of a hard-drinking princess, her feisty elf, and her personal demon.
Review: After the parody of the modern American 80's family with The Simpsons and a crazy future in Futurama, Matt Groening takes us this time to a Fantasy past. One can recognize his creation style in the drawings and the humor, also in the fact that if the three main characters have original voices, the five following ones can be recognized from characters in Futurama. This first season (obviously open to a second one that is in production) starts by the obvious introduction of characters and Universe, continues with episode that seem to be independent from one another (like a stand-alone series), but that in fact converge towards a continuous story, something new compared to Groening's previous creations. Another surprise to me what that the last two episodes take a more serious tone, almost sad and dramatic, of course intertwined with some comedy but still. The Animation looks good and both foreground and background are very detailed which makes the series look serious and not flat. The characters are all a bit goofy which makes in the end a happy mix. So I easily watched the ten episodes, but didn't really laugh like I would have expected. Maybe this kind of humor is now outdated, and doesn't work anymore like it used to. Maybe it is OK because it is just the first season and the series still has time to find its marks (hard to appreciate the first season of The Simpsons for example), if it is given time in the current very competitive market for TV-series. A nice addition to the world of animated TV-series, but not one that I can watch compulsively like, again, Futurama.
Rating: 5 /10

Shrek 2 (2004)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2004
	Director: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon
	Actors: Mike Myers (Wayne's World 1-2, Austin Powers 1-3), Eddie Murphy (Coming to America, The Nutty Professor), Cameron Diaz (Charlie's Angels 1-2)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Fantasy, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 18.08.2018, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: Princess Fiona's parents invite her and Shrek to dinner to celebrate her marriage. Their ogre nature will spice things up.
Review: As in a good sequel to the big success of Shrek, this movie offers you more of a grumpy Shrek (this time not because he wants to stay alone in his swamp but because he wants to stay with his wife in his swamp), a Far Away Kingdom after the one of Duloc, a tenacious Charming Prince instead of Lord Farquaad, misunderstandings, more hijack of famous Fairy Tale characters, an annoying Donkey (still my favorite character thanks to Eddy Murphy), and an happy ending following the rules of Fairy Tales after a whole movie mocking them. A bunch of new characters complete the adventure, including Puss in Boots voiced by Antonio Banderas and that will get his own movie made (I like Donkey's remark: "the role of annoying talking animal is already taken"). So it was OK to watch in spite of the still dated Visuals, but then I felt even less enchanted than in the first movie. I often saw a too obvious succession of jokes and comedy situations rather than a story development with feelings, which is present but too thin.
Rating: 4 /10