Space Jam (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Joe Pytka
	Actors: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park, Dirty Dancing), Theresa Randle (Bad Boys 1-3), Bill Murray (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 29.06.2020, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: When aliens try to kidnap the Looney Tunes as attractions for a theme park, the cartoons convince them to settle it with a basketball match, and force real-world Michael Jordan to help them.
Review: In the need for something easy to watch, I wanted to revisit this old live action / animation mix to see how it aged. The answer is : badly. It pales in comparison to the master in this sub-genre: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 8 years older. While Roger Rabbit was not really aimed at kids, or at least with a different level of viewing, Space Jam is very straightforward slapstick humor banking on the main characters which are the Looney Tunes and which, it turned out, don't make me laugh. The cartoons look better (more in 3D) than when they are on TV, the live/animation mix is well done and Michael Jordan doesn't even act so bad for a non-actor, those are not the problems. I just couldn't stand the humor (and the loud music), either from the Toons or from the live characters. Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park, Dirty Dancing) is over-acting as usual but that's his character, and Bill Murray, as himself, can't save the rest. You should rather see him in that other live/animation, the underestimated Osmosis Jones. A very short-lived success, down to its dated soundtrack (R. Kelly's I Believe I can Fly).
Rating: 2 /10

Maximum Risk (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Ringo Lam (Full Contact, Replicant)
	Actors: Jean-Claude Van Damme (Bloodsport, Cyborg, Kickboxer), Natasha Henstridge (Spieces, Ghosts of Mars), Jean-Hugues Anglade
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 31.03.2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: French policeman Alain Moreau (Van Damme) discovers he had a twin brother when this one is found dead in the streets of his city of Nice. He will use his likeliness to travel to the New York and find out more about his lost brother.
Review: It's been a while since I watched a 90's classic featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, since Kickboxer in fact, and Timecop before that. In the past years I watched more of his recent work which are more cameos and/or self-reflection on hit cult personality: Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Welcome to the Jungle, The Expendables 2, JVCD. In Maximum Risk, the Belgian actor uses his Martial Arts skills a little (ah, the famous rotating kick is shown a few times) but this is not at all central to a story in which he is more a policeman and a brother looking for explanations and then revenge after his blood brother. Accompanying him is the very cute Natasha Henstridge in her only second role after her revelation in Species. In this movie we do get to appreciate her charms as well, but she gets much more speaking time that in that other, and I found her to act pretty well. What disturbed me a bit in this international movie is how languages are handles: on one hand Moreau tries not to speak when taking the place of his brother so as not to be betrayed by his accent (well thought), but on the other hand all characters speak English all the time, which is weird when it is between Moreau and his partner, among Russian mobsters and worst of all between Moreau and his own mother! I guess in the 90's the audience was not accepting to have to read sub-titles in an Action movie... But in general I liked the movie: the action scenes are welcome, the change of location (Nice - New York - Nice) is refreshing, the story is not predictable and cinematography and soundtrack are appropriate. It is not a masterpiece of Art, far from it, but a worth-watching 90's Action flick if you feel nostalgic about that period.
Rating: 6 /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

Eraser (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Chuck Russell (The Blob, The Mask, The Scorpion King)
	Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Predator), Vanessa Williams (Shaft), James Caan (Elf, Misery, The Godfather), James Coburn (The Great Escape)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 23.12.2016, VOD, 42" TV
Synopsis: John Kruger (Schwarzenegger) is a US Marshall helping people under witness protection program to relocate, and protecting them. He is assigned Lee Cullen (Williams) who just helped the FBI get information from a company that is suspected of selling arms to foreign countries.
Review: For me that last good Action movie by Schwarzenegger, released after James Cameron's True Lies and before End of Days, The 6th Day and the cursed Collateral Damage. Even though it was released after the Genre's golden period of the 80's, it contains all the ingredients for that: Arnie as irreproachable (and indestructible) cop, crooked partners, a conspiracy, a woman to protect, semi-futuristic weapons, and a bunch of bad guys henchmen around for arm twisting, neck breaking, throwing to crocodiles or just shoot at. Many death are by the way pretty brutal to loook at. This chase is just fun to look at although the characters and situations are sometimes (very) far-fetched, and the special effects in some scenes are too poorly done (the parachute and crocodiles scenes). But hey, one cannot ask too much from a movie in which our favorite Action hero at the top of his shape shoot at cars that go flying over his head while everything else around explodes as well. Action you wanted, Action you have.
Rating: 6 /10

The Arrival (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: David Twohy (Pitch Black, Riddick)
	Actors: Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men TV-series), Lindsay Crouse, Richard Schiff
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 23.12.2016, VOD, 42" TV
Synopsis: Zane Zaminsky (Sheen) is a radio-astronomer looking for extra-terrestrial life. He looses his job after detecting something, and then becomes obsessed with finding answers, an obsession that will lead him to Mexico.
Review: Not to be confused with the recent release Arrival, this movie is 20 years old and features Charlie Sheen, but probably the title and main actor motivated me to watch it, on top of the fact that it is an Alien Invasion story, a sub-genre that I like. Indeed even though the story sounds at first like the one of Robert Zemeckis' Contact with Jodie Foster, it is treated very differently, more like an Action Thriller than a mystical quest. In 1996 Charlie Sheen was far from his debuts in Red Dawn and his very serious role in Platoon, but not yet the comedy monster of Two and a Half Men although he had already starred in the two Hot Shot! movies. I have been watching a lot of his TV-series lately so I found it hard to take him seriously in the movie at first, but then his convincing acting made it work. He is in fact quite at ease in this semi-serious role. As already mentioned, the story approach is a kind of Action-SF Thriller, meaning not much reflexion about our place in the Universe but more investigation and plenty of discoveries and twists that keep you well entertained through the almost two hours of the movie. A bit like John Carpenter's 1992 Big Trouble in Little China but with more outdoors and less ass-kicking. After all Sheen plays a scientist. Screenplay writer / director David Thowy is probably more than partly responsible for a movie well put together. Four years later he went on to deliver the cult B Pitch Black and create the action hero Riddick at the same time (embodied by Vin Diesel). I have yet to watch his directing debut Timescape (1992).
Rating: 6 /10

Everyone says I love you (1996)

	Also Known As: Alle sagen: I love you
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Woody Allen
	Actors: Drew Barrymore, Edward Norton, Goldie Hawn, Julia Roberts, Tim Roth, Woody Allen, Alan Alda, Natasha Lyonne
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 05.09.2016, DVD on TV, German version
Synopsis: Holden (Norton) and Skylar (Barrymore) are in love with each other. Skylar lives with a large and extended family on Manhattan. Her parents, Bob (Alda) and Steffi (Hawn) have been married to each other for many years. Joe (Allen), a friend of theirs, who has a daughter, DJ (Lyonne), with Steffi. After yet another relationship, Joe is alone again. He flees to Venice, and meets Von (Roberts), and makes her believe that he is the man of her dreams. However, their happiness is fake all the way, and she returns to her previous husband. Steffi spends her time with charity work, and manages to break up Skylars and Holdens relation when she introduces Skylar to a released jailbird, Charles Ferry (Roth).
Review: The story starts with a lot of dialogues and may seem hectic but it does not stop. Woody Allen builds a story with some music-hall and dancing elements and a very dense series of dialogues. Some of them are really funny but it must be seen in a language that you understand perfectly to enjoy it. The story itself is quite vaudeville à la Georges Feydeau.  The fun is the pace of the dialogues and the dialogues themselves. The acting of Woody Allen and Goldie Hawn is very funny. It is also funny to see Ed Norton dancing in a movie.  The movie is entertaining.
Rating: 5/10

Chain Reaction (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, Above the Law)
	Actors: Keanu Reeves (Matrix 1-3, Ronin), Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact, The Dark Knight trilogy, Oblivion), Rachel Weisz (The Fountain, The Mummy), Kevin Dunn (Transformers 1-3), Brian Cox (X-men 2)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 19.11.2015, SD VOD, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: Member of a scientific team working on a project of clean renewable energy, Eddie (Reeves) discovers that his lab has been sabotaged and barely escapes a massive explosion. Together with physicist Dr. Lily Sinclair (Weisz) he will continuously evade the FBI and a trained team that wants to make him take the blame.
Review: Not such a bad action movie from the 90's, with the then-trendy Keanu Reeves just after Speed and before The Devil's Advocate and The Matrix. The topic of an American corporation fighting to keep control of energy resources if ever-actual. The non-stop chase is well executed by Reeves although it is a bit too much a times (no time to rest for our heroes) and thus the movie is well described by its French title Poursuite. As the story revolves around scientists, an interesting choice was made to show to the audience a tour of several nice locations: a large lab in an abandoned factory, a particle accelerator, a Natural History Museum and the photogenic Yerkes Observatory. We also get to see chases on a draw bridge and a frozen lake. By the way it was original (although probably difficult) to shoot this movie in winter close to Chicago. The snowy landscapes look good and the actors do not have to fake being cold in their heavy jackets! Other filmmakers would have followed the easier choice of shooting in L.A.
Rating: 6 /10

A Time to Kill (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Joel Schumacher (Flatliners, Phone Booth)
	Actors: Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe), Sandra Bullock (Speed, Gravity), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Kevin Spacey (American Beauty), Donald Sutherland (Space Cowboys), Kiefer Sutherland (Flatliners)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 04.04.2015, SD VOD,11" computer screen
Synopsis: After his daughter is raped and left for dead by two White Trash young adults, Carl Lee Haley (Jackson) seeks advice to Brigance (McConaughey) in the case he would commit self justice.
Review: I learned only recently (thanks to Netflix again) that the novel by John Grisham that I had read and liked had been adapted to a movie twenty years ago, and the cast looked promising. What I liked in the novel, although it is a bit easy, was the depiction of the usually taboo conflicts between White and Black people in the southern USA. I also liked the whole trial story, and the relationship between the young inexperienced white lawyer defending against all odds a black father guilty of (spoiler, highlight to read) a double homicide in front of witnesses. In his movie Joel Schumacher managed to distillate exactly the same atmosphere as I remembered from the book, for a large part thanks to its two main actors: a great Matthew McConaughey in one of his early roles and Samuel L. Jackson that was showing real acting talent long before becoming Nick Fury in the Marvel movies franchise. And also thanks to a solid bunch of secondary roles: Sutherland father and son (one as mentor, the other as hate-driven delinquent), Ashley Judd as the loving wife, Sandra Bullock as a prodigy lawyer, Kevin Spacey (pre-American Beauty, wonderful) and Patrick McGoohan as District Attorney and Judge respectively. The sets in a southern American town also look good, and the general visual aspect of the movie is pleasant even if not particularly original. So the movie is a quite literal adaptation, but a good one.
Rating: 7 /10

Fargo (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Joel & Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski, True Grit)
	Actors:  William H. Macy (Mystery Men, Jurassik Park 3), Frances McDormand (Transformers 3), Steve Buscemi (Con Air, Armageddon), Peter Stormare (Jurassik Park 2), John Carroll Lynch (Crazy Stupid Love)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar, Black Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 12.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Jerry (Macy) hires hitmen (Buscemi & Stormare) to kidnap his wife but when things turn wrong, the increasing number of deaths is investigated by police officer Marge Gunderson(McDormand).
Review: After watching the first season of the recent TV-series Fargo produced by Netflix, I was eager to watch again the movie by the Coen brothers from which it is inspired (and that it follows in some ways). The concept is original and typical of the Coen brothers: showing regular people in extreme situations, for example what would a desperate car salesman do when faced with murderers... The atypical setting in the Northern end of the USA plays a great role in the success of the movie I guess, it is indeed not often that you see you cast most of the time covered in heavy jacket and boots. Another excellent aspect of the movie is the display of those regular "American middle-class" folks in their day-to-day life, for example some easy-going policemen than never investigated murder before, or the loving husband of the policewoman, a simple man that doesn't look very attractive and never looks to people when they are talking (almost like if he is bored) but that takes good care of his wife. The habits of those people are also very "true life", like the quantity of fat food they ingest (I noticed that already in the TV-series). But I think what is the most likable in Fargo is the offbeat humor that derives from awkward situations. Unexpected things can happen to anybody: man, woman, police officer, criminal... And those awkward moments are also very funny thanks to some actors perfect in their role: Macy, McDormand, Buscemi, Stormare. A real treat to watch. I could also confirm the large number of elements that have been copied from the film to the series in order to keep the same atmosphere: weak-willed man in a bad marriage, snowy landscape, a pregnant woman, a strong woman police officer, a couple of bandits with special characters, money scams, simple people (including and especially the policemen), awkward moments, ...
Rating: 9 /10

Independence Day (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Roland Emmerich (Stargate, 2012)
	Actors: Will Smith (Bad Boys 1-2, Hancock), Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum (Jurassik Park: The Lost World)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, War
	Conditions of visioning: 11.10.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: On the 4th of July, alien ships take position above the world major cities. The US president (Pullman) attempts communicating with them.
Review: It is nowadays custom to make fun of and despise this movie, regarded as stupid and overly patriotic. I remember I loved it when it went out around my 18th birthday, I watched it twice and even bought the soundtrack at a discount. People tend to forget that it was revolutionary at that time: alien invasion, massive city destruction, the mix of SF and humour, without forgetting the establishment of Will Smith as funny Action Hero (one year after his cinema comeback in Bad Boys). All the modern disaster movies I can think of (including humor and/or city destruction and/or patriotism) came after it: Volcano (1997), Air Force One (1997), Godzilla (1998), Armageddon (1998), The day after Tomorrow (2004),  Transformers (2007), 2012 (2012), by the way many of them coming from the same director or his equivalent Michael Bay. After the now cult Stargate (1994), Roland Emmerich and his buddy Dean Devlin were still at the top of their game for Independence Day ; for me it all went down only after. Yes the movie contains some "ridiculous" ideas (the US president flying a jet, using a simple virus to defeat the enemy) and coincidences (the wife of the jet pilot hero rescues the wife of the president), but when compared to the movies that follow in the same genre, I find it to be rather well balanced: actors are good, the story simple but solid, the music (by David Arnold) fits, the myth of all-powerful POTUS is present but not as much as in Air Force One, and more importantly the humour is light and not dumb or heavy as it can be in Bad Boys, Armageddon etc. Digital Special Effects were young, so many live mock-ups were still being used (in particular the buildings to be destroyed). When you look closely (and despite the rather poor Blu-ray transfer), you notice that the amount of details in the city destruction shots is not as big as it is nowadays thanks to CGIs, but it is still a hell of a job! So shoot me if you like, but I defend Independence Day. It deserves a better Blu-ray edition. The sequels ID Forever part 1 and 2 (a working title I guess) will be released in 2016-2017.
Rating: 7 /10

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet Terror)
	Actors: Harvey Keitel (The Grand Hotel Budapest), George Clooney (Up in the Air, The American), Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers), Quentin Tarantino (Planet Terror)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 19.08.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: After a bloody courthouse escape and bank robbery, the Gecko brothers (Clooney & Tarantino) rush to Mexico to find refuge, with a family as hostage.
Review: Nothing beats the first viewing of From Dusk Till Dawn, when after 45 minutes of Tarantino style (although filmed by Rodriguez), you enter a completely different movie. It is quite a treat if you don't expect it. This mix of genres is the most interesting characteristics of this movie. I saw the movie many time when I discovered it around 1998, I even had the poster hanging in my bedroom, but last time I did was on an old VHS about 10 year ago. The recent Blu-ray release was the opportunity to appreciate the show one more and at its best. The soundtrack I remembered well because I bought the CD at some point and listen to it regularly. I realize that I love the movie as much now as I did 10 years ago, it is probably the highlight of the Tarantino/Rodriguez collaboration, not equaled ever since. The two main actors are fantastic in roles perfect for them, and the rest are also good in ultra-caricatured roles: the pastor who lost faith, the shy teenage daughter that will become a woman, the biker Sex-Machine, the ex-marine, the bartender (played by a young Danny Machete Trejo). The atmosphere is, as I said, characteristic of a movie influenced by Tarantino: strong characters (outlaws) to which one could get attached, punch lines, crude but realistic description of a part of the USA (in that case Texas). And then the second part is excellent if you like this kind of movies. It contains all one could expect, and is shot in a funny yet mastered way. The Mexican rock is great and the dance scene with Salma Hayek unforgettable. Only in Blu-ray could I notice many details I never saw before, in good (the bloody special effects) or in bad (actors not always giving a good performance, which can be understood when you know that Rodriguez don't usually record many takes of a scene). After two cheap sequels, I heard there is a TV-series now with the same title. I wonder if it's any good...
Rating: 8 /10

Jingle all the Way (1996)

	Also Known As: La Course au Jouet (French)
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Brian Levant (The Flintstones, Beethoven)
	Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator, Predator, Twins), Sinbad, Phil Hartman
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 07.12.2013, SD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: As a last chance to show to his son that he can keep his promises, an absent father (Schwarzenegger) goes out on a race to find a special toy on Christmas Eve. It will take him to the most unlikely places in town, where he will meet special characters.
Review: It is now December, and what better than to watch Christmas movies on a grey hangover Saturday afternoon. Jingle all the Way is dumber than I remembered and Schwarzenegger, then at the top of his comedy period, doesn't act very well. The situations he puts himself in are also exaggerated but that's part of the fun. It is interesting to see the future Anakin Skywalker Jake Lloyd as Schwarzenegger's kid, especially when his masked father almost tells him: "I am your father" making Schwarzenegger indirectly Luke Skywalker's grandfather (if you follow my drift). By the way, have you ever wondered what this cute little kid has become? Stupid toy race aside, what I will remember form this movie are the underlying jokes for adults. One of them is the warehouse filled with cheap fake Santa Clauses selling counterfeit toys. The other is the absolutely dumb super-hero Turbo-Man and all the characters from the children's show. The Turbo-Man joke is at its best when during the parade Schwarzenegger is dressed up as the super-hero and has to fight a postman (Sinbad) dressed as Turbo-Man's arch-enemy. It becomes really crazy when they start to use super-powers!
Rating: 5 /10

Star Trek VIII: First Contact (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek IX: Insurrection)
	Actors: Patrick Stewart (X-men 1-3), Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, James Cromwell (Babe, I Robot)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 16.09.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The Enterprise-E is following a ship of the Borg, worst ennemies of the Federation, to a time warp back to before humans made first contact with aliens.
Review: I was afraid the movie would follow the easy option of sending back the Enterprise crew to 1996 (present time when shooting it), like was done in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. But it is not the case, and the story rather sends them to a time critical for future space exploration, and it gave me the same feeling as when I watched Men in Black 3 (when agent J is sent back to 1969, just before Apollo 11 take-off). While the previous movies were quite independent from the TV-series, it is harder to start this one without knowing the background, but fortunately it is well summarized in the first half hour (basically Picard was captured by the Borgs and came back). This new enemy is a cybernetic organism that assimilates every living form or technology it encounters (it reminds me of the parody of such ability in South Park), and that have a collective consciousness. This idea is recurrent in SF movies, and seems to have been for a while the best original idea to describe alien really different from us, although the idea was already present at the time of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The special effects in 1996 stared to look good, so the (few) space battles look nice. I realize I didn't say anything yet about the quality of the movie! Well I liked it, thanks to the space exploration spirit it is filled with (like often in Star Trek movies), and the reflexion on individual vs. collective life. Patrick Steward is really invested by his role, and James Cromwell plays an excellent anti-hero, opening the path for Humanity to a bright Future, and I was touched by the first intergalactic handshake.
Rating: 6 /10

The Battle over Citizen Kane (1996)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Michael Epstein, Thomas Lennon
	Actors: -
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 07-08.11.2012, DVD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Young genius, Orson Welles ends up in Hollywood at the age of 24 with total control given over his next film Citizen Kane, largely inspired by the life of a William Randolph Hearst, publishing magnate of the early century. The meeting of the two will leave scars.
Review: A very good documentary about the genesis of this movie widely considered as the best of all times (see my review). More than that, the documentary makes the parallel between the lifes of Welles and Hearst, separated by 50 years but that clashed just before the movie release. Both were very clever men with huge egos. We learn how much of Hearst's life is copied in the movie, and how much actually comes from Welles' experiences. Crispy detail the name Rosebud, central to the movie, is one Heast had given to a part of the anatomy of his 40-years younger mistress..
Rating: 6 /10

White Squall (1996)

	Also Known As: Lame de Fond
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Ridley Scott (Alien, 1492 Conquest of Paradise, Gladiator, Prometheus)
	Actors: Jeff Bridges (Tron, Tron Legacy, The Big Lebowski, True Grit), Caroline Goodall (Schindler's List, Hook), John Savage
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 17.08.2012, DVD, 32" TV
Synopsis: In 1960 a group of teenagers embarks for a trip around the Americas on a school boat. They will also learn navigation, to work as a team, and eventually the dangers of the ocean.
Review: I bought this DVD years ago for 1 or 2 euros, and it is not at all what I thought it would be! I though it was some kind of maritime thriller like Dead Calm. In fact it is based on the true story of the sinking of the Albatross in 1961 probably caused by the rare meteorological event known as white squall (grain blanc). The story of this group of youngs that are going to discover both friendship and death reminds me of Dead Poets Society. The boat trip can be seen as a transition to adulthood, and the separation from the parents. The movie is well done as you would expect from Ridley Scott, althought it was not a big success, similarly to his previous film (1492: Conquest of Paradise), and the characters well played. One thing I could maybe reproach is that there are somme ellipses in the story, and that the reaction of the characters are sometime difficult to understand, but I have noticed that it is often the case with movies that try to be close to a real story (like Mesrine or Che).
Rating: 6 /10