Todos lo saben (2018)

	Also Known As: Offenes Geheimnis
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Asghar Farhadi
	Actors: Penélop Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín
	Country: E, F, I
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 27.08.2018, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, Spanish with German subtitle
Synopsis: Laura (Cruz), a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her two children to attend her sister's wedding letting her husband Alejandro (Darín). However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open.
Review: A movie with these famous actors arises many expectations. The story does not have the same panache. Indeed it is a kind of quest about the daughter of Laura. But it is obvious to any viewer (at least the ones I discussed with after the screening) what will be revealed at the end. I do not know whether it is a question of acting or of dialogue or of pictures where Laura is depicted at the beginning. And if the answer to the big question is clear from the beginning, what is then keeping my interest in the movie?  In the town of rumours and gossip, the main protagonists do not know what everyone else knows.  By luck the acting of Ricardo Darín sounds very authentic. The acting, camera and directing of family scenes are well done. I may have had too much expectations on Asghar Farhadi since the very moving of Le passé.
Rating: 4 /10

Incredibles 2 (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Tomorrowland, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol)
	Actors (voices): Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 03.10.2018, in-flight entertainment 10" screen
Synopsis: The family of Mr Incredible and Elastigirl is contacted by a private entrepreneur on a venture to rehabilitate super-heroes.
Review: I have always loved the first The Incredibles for its mix of children story and adult spy movie, for its several levels of viewing. This sequel comes far too late and with far too few great ideas like the first one had. But I had seen the uninteresting trailer and was ready for it. The movies starts right when the first finished 14 years ago, and it is funny that the quality of the special effects barely improved since the original masterpiece. It was maybe partly done on purpose for continuity. The story includes everything that was to be expected: a new villain of course, manipulation, the kids using their powers, more supers, more Jack-Jack fun, and the continuation of the reflection on work vs. family. Indeed this time Elastigirl takes the lead while the father stays at home to take care of the kids. But I didn't get caught by the movie like I was by the first, and for example I have no memory of its soundtrack while I still surprise myself humming the tune of the theme from the first movie. In the end it was easy to watch, but contrarily to Toy Story 2 which was so good it was upgraded from direct-to-video to theatrical release, Incredibles 2 would have been fine in video only.
Rating: 4 /10

Rampage (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island)
	Actors: Dwayne Johnson (The Rundown, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Naomie Harris (28 days later, Skyfall), Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 03.10.2018, in-flight entertainment 10" screen
Synopsis: In an animal preserve near San Diego, an albino gorilla is beginning to grow after contact with a space station fallen debris. His caretaker Davis (Johnson) tries to protect him while he meets Dr. Kate Caldwell (Harris) who pretends to work for a company that engineered the mutation.
Review: A bit like Battleship, this is a free adaptation of a game (video- in that case) which has a simple backstory that was vastly expanded to fill a Hollywood blockbuster. I like this kind of big action movie with the Rock Johnson like San Andreas, but you really have to not take them seriously. You rather have to take them like Eight Legged Freaks of Evolution even though they don't pretend to be comedies, for me they are the same kind of creature features but with an excessive budget. Not even that excessive as I found the special effects to be generous but not state-of-the-art. The story doesn't make much sense obviously, the character's reactions are not believable, and like in the first Transformers there is no justification for the massive destruction of a city except for being able to show it. But I enjoyed watching the animals in action (yes there is more than one) and even replayed the reveal scene of the last one so much it is over the top but a delight for a fan of the sub-genre. Fun Action flick if you don't take it seriously.
Rating: 5 /10

Den skyldige (2018)

	Also Known As: The guilty
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Gustav Möller
	Actors: Jakob Cedergren
	Country: DK
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 03.09.2018, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, Danish version with German subtitle
Synopsis: Alarm dispatcher at 112 and former police officer, Asger Holm (Cedergren), answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman. When the call is suddenly disconnected, the search for the woman and her kidnapper begins. With the phone as his only tool, Asger enters a race against time to save the endangered woman. But soon he realizes that he is dealing with a crime that is far complexer than he first thought.
Review: On a similar pitch as the great Locke with Tom Hardy, Den skyldige is almost a one man show with an amazing acting by Cedergren. The story line is full of surprises. As one is guided by the only sound track and the voices heard on the phone by Asger, it is easy to get tricked or to misunderstand many things depending on the expectations toward men, women, young people, elderly, etc. The acting of Cedergren is really good. Even if I don't get a word of Danish, his voice and his face told a lot about the feelings, the doubts and the surprises he experiences. It is difficult to speak about acting but the voices used to play all the interlocutors provide a very good atmosphere about the felt emotions and the emotions one wants to transmit. Or maybe it is only the fact that without the image, I focused my senses on the voice. It is not the first time I notice this. This could be a good question for a linguist or communication expert... Anyone?  The movie impressed me from an actor and a director that I did not know at all. Promising!
Rating: 7 /10

BlackkKlansman (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Spike Lee
	Actors: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 13.08.2018, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, English with German subtitle
Synopsis: Ron Stallworth (Washington), a rookie African-American police officer from Colorado, infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white surrogate, his Jewish colleague Flip Zimmermann (Driver).
Review: Whether the story is true or not is quite irrelevant. The story starts with a full bucket of positive and liberating crazyness and it continues. It feels like a fresh and warming wind out of a WASP supremacist environment. So good! I felt something similar on Django unchained. BlacKKKlansman is in a more modern world, the 70s.  The story is just amazingly funny by mixing people in one situation that becomes then full of tension and irony. The dialogues and the eloquence of Washington and Grace are blowing! All along it feels like it is a game, in which kids are playing policemen or kind of justicer, a Robin Hood. And this teases the child in myself.  The photography and image composition is rather classical for a Polar and well done.  The script could be adapted very well to the theatre as the dialogues can be great by becoming very theatrical.
Rating: 8 /10