I am Mother (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Grant Sputore
	Actors: Luke Hawker, Rose Byrne, Maddie Lenton, Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
	Country: AUS
	Genre: SF, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 16.07.2019, VOD, 32" TV-screen.
Synopsis: In a bunker, a robot prepares an embryo for growth and birth. It takes care of the girl, alone, until she becomes a young adult.
Review: After movies like The Titan and Io, Netflix continues with the formula of producing SF movies with a scope bigger than Earth, but with a story reduced to a few individuals and locations for cost-effectiveness. I don't dislike the idea, it just has to be well-done. The basic idea of I am Mother is good and reminds me of Isaac Asimov's Foundation stories in which spaceships are sent across the galaxy by humans to conquer it, first containing cryogenic bodies, then embryos to be raised by robots in their first generation, and finally pure digital codes of DNA to be 3D-printed. I found the life in isolation to be well represented, although I was expecting the child to be much more biased (and with less empathy) after being raised by a robot however intelligent it may be. One predictable revelation comes early enough, but the story still managed to surprise me with another, and a welcome opening in its third act from the chlostrophobic rest of the movie. Some details don't add up and the character's reactions are sometimes senseless, but in general the movie is pleasant to watch. Nice acting by Hillary Swank whom I hadn't seen in a while.
Rating: 6 /10

Black Mirror - Season 4 (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Creator: Charlie Brooker
	Actors: -
	Country: GB
	Genre: Thriller, SF
	Conditions of visioning: VOD, 10" tablet screen, July 2018 - July 2019
Synopsis: This SF anthology series explores a twisted, high-tech near-future where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.
Review: This season made me the exact same impression as the previous one, and in the same way I made a very long pause between episodes 4 and 5 because the endings are often too depressing to watch in the evening. Like cinema, more and more the series uses the idea of consciousness transfer as I recently pointing out after watching Replicas. As for the previous seasons it is possible to rate the episodes individually. S4E1: USS Callister. A funny way to introduce some cheesy Star-Trek-like Space adventure into a realistic series in which mankind is definitely staying on Earth and staring at its feet. Funny and as usual, not so much for one character in the end... 8/10 S4E2: Arkangel. A lesson of morale against over-using technology to monitor your loved ones with the idea to protect them. As usual in Dark Mirror, it doesn't end so well for our character. 7/10 S4E3: Crocodile. A down-spiral guilt trip, somehow a classical polar story enhanced by the technological gimmick used. One of the most depressing of the whole series. 6/10. S4E4: Hang the DJ. A love story and how it can go wrong, or go well. Thanks for the ending. 6/10 S4E5: Metalhead. A Black and White post-apocalyptic world, a woman facing a machine. Simple and efficient. 6/10 S4E6: Black Museum. As done in season 2, this one concludes with an anthology within the anthology. Two stories plus many winks to other episodes in the same Universe wrapped by a third. Starring Letitia Wright (Shuri in Black Panther). Spine-chilling if you put yourself at the place of the victims. 7/10 I have the feeling that the series now start to renew itself, at the risk of losing its audience. I will keep on watching it but as usual weary of the depressing endings.
Rating: 7 /10

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: John Watts (Cop Car, Spider-Man: Homecoming)
	Actors: Tom Holland (Captain America: Civil War), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Big Game), Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, Enemy)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 17.07.2019, Cineplanet Costanera Center.
Synopsis: Re-united with his high-school friends, Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man (Holland) is looking forward to a Europe school trip and firmly plans to leave his super-hero suit behind. In Venice however a water monster, a new hero dubbed Mysterio (Gyllenhaal) and Nick Fury (Jackson) turn his plans upside down.
Review: I may have been harsh by rating 3/10 the first Spider-Man: Homecoming (now raised to 4/10). I found it better on second viewing, mostly thanks to a convincing acting by Tom Holland. Now that the character was better established in the MCU with Avengers: Infinity War, I found this sequel better even though still nothing fantastic. Forget a comparison with the super-fresh animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but it is nice to get a first look at what may come in Marvel's Phase Four, i.e. what happens after Avengers: Endgame. On the positive side, Spider-man having adventures in Europe is a nice change of Scenery and the events ocuring in all the cities he visits are half-justified. Mysterio is a nice villain although if you start to think too much about it, a villain is always the same in the MCU and as the others this one gets defeated (no spoiler here). But in this case he leaves a surprise for the post-credit scenes, true to one specificity of Spider-Man to never get a fully happy ending, as much as one characteristics of Iron-Man it to create his own demons, as pointed out by Kevin Smith in his heart-felt (as usual) movie recap on his news Youtube channel "Silent Bob speaks". The special effects are as good as usual with Marvel (well, flawless in this case not like in Endgame) and the high-school humor follows the same pattern as the first one. As usual for a nice full breakdown you should watch the New Rockstars Youtube channel. But for me the great thing in this movie is Tom Holland, and how he plays a Spider-Man who just wants to be a high-school kid. The Actor is now 23 so he starts to be too old for the part, but still nails it when it comes to express the difficulty of the choices he has to make (of course helped by a good director and the rest of the cast and crew). This seems to be a trait of the character as well, and we have seen such struggle in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, in particular Spider-Man 2 when Peter Parker wants to be the hero no more. Oh, another great thing about this movie is the shadow of Iron Man. Between a few flash-backs, memorials and shared memories with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), the mentor role that Tony Stark had is ever more felt. I can't pinpoint something specific to criticize about this movie, except that it is yet another Marvel super-hero one... Thinking back about it, and after watching Kevin Smith's recap, I feel that it is not bad at all, relatively to its genre. I may need a second viewing.
Rating: 6 /10

Chips (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Dax Shepard
	Actors: Michael Peña (Ant-Man 1-2, Extinction), Dax Shepard, Vincent D'Onofrio (Men in Black, Daredevil TV-series)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 19.07.2019, in-flight entertainment system, 10" screen.
Synopsis: To solve a case of multiple robberies, super FBI agent Ponch (Peña) goes undercover in the California Highway Patrol where he teams up with newbie Jon Baker (Shepard).
Review: Somebody seems to think it is a good idea to remake 70-80's Drama series with an investigation background into modern comedies with dumb humor. Fortunately, Chips is closer to Starsky & Hutch than 21, Jump Street or Baywatch from which I could watch only 10 minutes. I don't know why but I remember that the series CHiPs was fun to watch in the afternoon coming back from school: some crime solving but nothing dreadful, some motorbike riding... In this adaptation a lot is added to fill in the 90 minutes of runtime and give the audience more than a police crime solving story, most importantly a complex background to the two main characters so that they can have many exchanges around professional as well as private life. Indeed they are not just two guys in the Police but they have strong (conflicting) motivations to succeeds while living opposite sex lives. To complete the cast is a Vincent D'Onofrio playing so differently than he does in Daredevil (I noticed that first by the voice) that it confirms how good an actor he is. The story is hard to follow which is not a good sign, in particular I had trouble identifying the bad guys. The dialogs and funny situations are everything in this kind of movie, much more important than the story and bad guys. In this case we find a lot of dick and fart jokes, but somehow less than I was expecting and I found them funny, I don't know if because well placed or thanks to the good actors in Michael Peña and Dax Shepard. Thanks to that and saved by it, I had a good time watching Chips until the mandatory cameo by the original Ponch. Good for a pizza evening with friends. Better for a younger audience than me. Best with alcohol.
Rating: 6 /10

Alita - Battle Angel (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk till Dawn, Machete 1-2)
	Actors: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly (Requiem for a Dream, Noah)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 18.07.2019, in-flight entertainment, 10" screen.
Synopsis: On a post-apocalyptic Earth where only the flying city of Zalem and its ground-based dependencies survived, Dr. Ido (Waltz) discovers the remains of a cyborg that he brings back to life in a body he had planned for his deceased daughter Alita (Salazar).
Review: I almost went to the cinema to see this movie, and for the visual experience that would have been great. Even watching it compressed and on a small screen, I have no doubt that it is very well done (the digital effects I mean), from the cityscapes to the fully or partly robotic characters. Plenty of details, colors, and all well-animated. The movie doesn't hide its obvious Japanese Animated origins (cyborg ninja girl...) but adapts the story to the Western tastes and pace, sparing us the 30-minute monologue about how war is bad. All the above is likely the touch of producer James Cameron, long-time Japanime fan (remember the Mecha in the 1986 Aliens?) and whose name helps selling the film. Robert Rodriguez at the direction did a good job I find at shooting the thing and I felt his actors better led than usually in his films. But what is failing is this movie is how that same story is told (due to a group effort?). The futuristic Universe is easily understood and exposed at an appropriate pace but the city of rich people in the sky is nothing new in Cinema (Elysium). The war with Martian colonies reminds too much of The Expanse TV-series (and probably others before) so it is as well that they don't spend too much time on it (maybe on purpose). The Bounty Hunter thing is borderline (if Police doesn't exist anymore why not using cyborgs and those Centurion war machines?), but what really feels out of place is the love story, not because it is between human and cyborg I don't care, but because it really feels out of place. Also I find that the Motorball game doesn't bring much to the story, it is mentioned here and then until in the end Alita participates for a show of stunts, and we are told that it's the only way to reach the city in the sky. After we learn about so many lies, why would that even be a motivation anymore?? It feels more like The Island in the movie with the same name. And after all, the pace of the movie is weird too: it starts slow enough and after 90 minutes I thought we wouldn't see any motorball because we still had to understand who the heroin was and see her get to Zalem, while in fact she stays on the ground and the ending is open for the audience to think, or more likely open to a sequel. I definitely want to know more about the past war than about the woes between Alita and Nova (Edward Norton) that we barely saw, but I felt cheated by not getting that in the first movie. So, visually stunning but a proof that this is not enough.
Rating: 5 /10

Replicas (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
	Actors: Keanu Reeves (Speed, The Matrix 1-3, John Wick 1-3), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness), Thomas Middleditch (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
	Country: USA, CN, GB
	Genre: Thriller, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 08.07.2019, in-flight entertainment, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: Researcher William Foster (Reeves) is at the verge of transferring the consciousness of freshly deceased soldiers into robotic bodies. When his family dies in a car crash... well you can guess the rest.
Review: More than 20 years after Point Break, Speed and The Matrix, the latter still has the most influence on Keanu Reeves' acting career as he still is often caster for futuristic thrillers. Or he just is a good actor well fitted for those roles. In Replicas he doesn't do any Kung Fu, he doesn't fight at all in fact so we get to see him as a brilliant man driven to succeed. There are several things over the top and/or that doesn't make sense in this movie, like when he alone survives without a scratch the car crash that kills everybody else, that he so insists on re-creating his family all at the same time and that he tries to hide it from everybody. Also how he manages disk space is weird. Otherwise, it is a nice development of a story that could have as well been the topic of a 30-minute Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits episode. A story about transfer of consciousness, a very trendy theme nowadays, see for example Transcendence or many episodes of the Black Mirror TV-series. But Replicas has the budget and actors to be well-done. The best thing about it is its third act: the movie spends two thirds of its time being predictable and giving fake hints of where it is going to end, only to go somewhere else and surprise us with, after all, a satisfactory ending.
Rating: 6 /10

Blue Thunder (1983)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1983
	Director: John Badham (WarGames, Short Circuit)
	Actors: Roy Scheider (Jaws), Warren Oates, Candy Clark, Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange, Caligula)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Polar, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 07.07.2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: Vietnam War veteran now working for the Los Angeles airborne patrol, Frank Murphy (Scheider) is asked to test an experimental helicopter and while doing so, learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.
Review: I love those 80's movies which don't try to get you to think too much, as I did when I watched them as a kid even though I was probably too young for it. Give me a custom helicopter, a pilot good guy, some action and bad guys that will get in the end what they deserve, add the 80's touch and I am happy. The 80's touch may be the most difficult ingredient to define and achieve properly. In this movie it includes an excellent Roy Scheider with a simple but efficient backstory for his character. His lifestyle is realistic (reminds me of Steve McQueen in Bullit), including his on and off female relationship. The helicopter is definitely futuristic (even though the movie introduction states the technology was in use at the time of making) and aged at the same time, but the special effects are decent and even the numerous night shots look good. Murphy is of course in conflict with his hierarchy. I like how his partnership with the newbie Lymangood works. And Malcolm McDowell plays very well the despicable adversary/villain. The soundtrack is uneven. Note that this movie led to a TV-series with the same title, but has nothing to do (except inspiring the idea) with the more successful Airwolf series (Supercopter in the French version) starring the recently departed Jan-Michael Vincent. I don't think I have yet managed to described why I like it, but that may just be the personal experience of watching it when I did. Anyway, a good movie from the 80's, as are the two other by the same director: WarGames and Short Circuit.
Rating: 7 /10

Jumanji (1995)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1995
	Director: Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park 3, Captain America: The First Avenger)
	Actors: Robin Williams (The Bicentenial Man, One Hour Photo), Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides, Spider-Man 1-3), Bonnie Hunt
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 06.07.2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: When two kids find a board game in the house they move in, they accidentally continue a game started 20 years before by another kid (Williams) that spent all this time trapped in the game world.
Review: I hadn't seen this movie in an eternity but I was tempted to see it again after the release its "sequel" Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and the announcement of the Jumanji: The Next Level. I remember to have loved it as a teenager: board games, adventures, protagonists of my age... everything to make a success, and it was. Also thanks to a status of family Entertainment blockbuster, the presence of funny Robin Williams and again an adventure story illustrated by state-of-the-art digital effects two years after Jurassic Park. Let's get this out of the way: those effects have aged, badly, and remind me more of the space monkey of Lost in Space. What is worse is that the practical effects also look fake and plasticky. But I am ready to overlook that on account that it is just a support to tell a story. What is really good in this movie (apart from the adventure) are the characters: from the kid in an adult's body fantastically played by Robin Williams, including his relationship with his father, to the two kids who lost their parents and the woman taking care of them, the comedic relief cop... everyone had a backstory and all the actors are great in telling it. Special mention to kid star Kirsten Dunst which I didn't know was playing in there, but in which you can already recognize a future good actress. And the director doesn't hesitate to show those characters in close-up to focus on their acting and reaction, even when facing plastic spiders. A movie I can easily see myself showing my son when he will be 5-10.
Rating: 6 /10

Monster Trucks (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Robots)
	Actors: Lucas Till (X-men: First Class), Jane Levy, Thomas Lennon, Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon 1-4)
	Country: USA, CDN
	Genre: Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 26.06.2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: A young man (Till) working at a small town junkyard discovers and befriends a creature which feeds on oil being sought by a fracking company.
Review: The movie poster looks very 80's, and in the end the story is very similar to the one of E.T. but with older protagonists, an oil company as the bad guy and the monster truck of the title for more visual entertainment. I didn't expect much from that movie apart from some car chases and dumb humor but I was positively surprised and I kind of liked it. It is no masterpiece but I think what I like most is how straight-forward it is: the stakes are clear even though simplistic and the evolution of relationships between the young man and the monster on one hand and him and the girl on the other are also clearly presented (even though very predictable). You just know at every moment of the movie what is going on and why. This is very relaxing to watch compared to other movie when I keep on thinking: "OK they did that to please that age group, or because it looks like that other movie, or because we need an action scene every 10 minutes". Again Monster Trucks is no masterpiece but a simple honest family entertainment. That's rare enough to be appreciated. A few characters are a bit over-the-top (like the step-father and his precious car that predictibly get destroyed in the end), but it goes with the rest.
Rating: 7 /10

Skyscraper (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, We're the Millers)
	Actors: Dwayne Johnson (San Andreas, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Neve Campbell (Scream 1-4, House of Cards TV-series), Chin Han (The Dark Knight, Contagion, Independence Day: Resurgence)
	Country: USA, HK
	Genre: Action, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 25.06.2019, VOD, 40" TV screen.
Synopsis: Charged with inspecting the safety of the new tallest building in the world, an ex-military (Johnson) has to survive the building on fire when his family gets trapped inside after a criminal attack.
Review: Yet another Action blockbuster featuring the prolific Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, not so long after San Andreas, Rampage, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and a series of Fast and Furious that I haven't seen... Him playing the hero fighting the elements starts to feel repetitive, but the comedies he does in between are not much better (Central Intelligence or Baywatch that I couldn't watch past 10 minutes). "The Towering Inferno meets Die Hard" is an easy nickname for this movie, but it doesn't live up to any of those two references. The best in this movie might be the design and daytime views of the magnificent tower which I could appreciate even on a less-than-optimal medium. Unfortunately they are gone to quickly when the plot focuses more on a convoluted revenge story that leaves the audience on the roadside. The family drama is supposed to do the link with us but it is so far-fetched that it fails at that too. It is nice to see Neve Campbell in a supporting role though. The ridiculousness of the villain's plot, the mystery around the tower owner and the super-human feats performed by the main character (like jumping from a crane to a window in the tower in spite of a synthetic leg) makes you forget anything that could have been a good idea in this movie. Very forgettable.
Rating: 3 /10

The Mule (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino, Space Cowboys)
	Actors: Clint Eastwood (Two Mules for Sister Sara, Dirty Harry, Gran Torino), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix 1-3), Bradley Cooper (The Hangover 1-3, The A-team), Michael Peña (Ant-Man 1-2, Extinction)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 20.06.2019, in-flight entertainment, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: A 90-year-old horticulturist and Korean War veteran (Eastwood) turns drug mule for a Mexican cartel.
Review: In a nutshell: well directed and acted by Clint Eastwood as usual, but for me contains too many clichés and is far too predictable. This is not the Clint Eastwood of Gran Torino. But he keeps on exploring stories in which he can still act at almost 90 years-old. The true story on which the movie is based is probably intriguing and I can understand one would want to adapt it for the cinema. And the reactions of the main character are quite human and realistic (well we are not in a SF movie but an Earth-based drama), both in how he treats people and himself. In the list of clichés the worst may be the FBI boss (Fishburne) pushing his new employee (Cooper) to get results and busts. In the end, OK to watch.
Rating: 5 /10