They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Lord of the Ring 1-3)
	Actors: -
	Country: GB, NZ
	Genre: War, Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 15.06.2019, in-flight entertainment system 10" screen.
Synopsis: Original footage from WWI combined with vocal testimonies of surviving soldiers bring to life what it was to be on the front lines 100 years ago.
Review: As of 2019 this is the only movie directed by World-famous director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Ring trilogy) since the Hobbit trilogy that ended in 2014. Well, he deserved a break. I have recently watched and praised the colorized WWII Documentaries Bombing War and WWII in Colour, and I have to say that this one is a notch above. First of all, it is directed by someone who wanted to tell a story instead of being factual about events and you can feel it when watching the movie: the images guide you from recruitment to a day in the life of a conscript to the front line and the horror of a frontal assault. The audience is guided all along by audio recordings of more than 100 soldiers who gave testimony. Those recordings were extracted from archives as well as 100 hours of never-seen-before footage that were restored and colorized by Jackson's team. And you can tell the difference with respect to what was done by commercial companies for the aforementioned TV-documentaries, and this time based on much older footage. In fact since I knew Jackson directed it, I though he had mixed original footage with re-created scenes shot with actors in High Definition. Remember that he was behind the Mock-umentary Forgotten Silver and a recreation of a lost scene from 1933's King Kong. But it was not the case: all images are original except from the colors, the added sound effects and for a very few awesome shots, voice acting matching the soldier's lips. I found that Jackson gave the best justification for colorization: "[The men] saw a war in colour, they certainly didn’t see it in black and white. I wanted to reach through the fog of time and pull these men into the modern world, so they can regain their humanity once more – rather than be seen only as Charlie Chaplin-type figures in the vintage archive film." Deeply researched, technically wonderful but at the same time humane and telling a story as only such a talented director with a vision could do. In fact all that I noticed was missing from the WWII in Colour Documentary. Well done.
Rating: 8 /10

Mortal Engines (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Christian Rivers
	Actors: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix 1-3)
	Country: USA, NZ
	Genre: SF, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 09.01.2018, Cine Hoyt Puerto Montt
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic future, the survivors have put their whole cities on wheels to avoid annihilation. What has become of London captures smaller cities, while Thaddeus Valentine (Weaving) is planning something ominous.
Review: The trailer released long before the movie looked very exciting, particularly thanks to good special effects well-rendering massive rolling cities. Those effects also show in the full movie, but unfortunately they are juxtaposed with some other of much more mediocre quality, which really spoils this kind of movie. The concept reminds a lot of Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's moving Castle, but in fact the novel from which this movie is adapted pre-dates the Japanese anime (2001 vs. 2004) so I don't know what to think... The advertisement around the movie banks a lot on the name of its producer - not director - Peter Jackson who may have had an relative influence on the project. One may also link him to it via the actor Hugo Weaving who was playing Elrond in The Lord of the Ring's trilogy (and The Hobbit). In the end, apart from several nice Special Effects scenes, I didn't find too much excitement in that movie, in particular the story is quite unsound, and sometimes doesn't make much sense apart from taking us to nice new places (wow, a flying city!..). Worst of all I found was the relationship between Hester and her mentor Shrike (although he is well incarnated by Stephen Avatar Lang), including his motivation and its anti-climactic revelation. And as I said the Effects are not always the best, especially towards the ending, an ending which is not very satisfying either.
Rating: 4 /10

Turbo kid (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: François Simard, Anouk Whissell
	Actors: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Edwin Wright, Aaron Jeffery
	Country: CDN, NZ, USA
	Genre: Action, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 20.05.2018, Streaming, French version
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic future, the Kid (Chambers) survives alone and hidden in a room with comic books and gadgets. A girl named Apple (Leboeuf) imposes herself as his friend. When she gets kidnapped, the Kid armed with an ancient turbocharged weapon starts a quest against Zeus (Ironside), the sadistic and self-proclaimed leader of the Wasteland.
Review: Following the experience of one Godzilla I continued to look for some rare movies on youtube and found Turbo Kid. The story is as basic as Mad Max. Rescue the girl from the bad guy who has something to do with the heroe's tragedy. The originality lies on the creativity for the scenery, the costumes. Reminding me the Filipino movies such as Resiklo and a range of Filipino cheap movies. The main villain Zeus is supported by a greatly designed villain, Skeletron (Wright). The Kid and Apple are supported by the Solo-looking Frederic (Jeffery). The constellation of characters has some parallel with Star Wars. Zeus/Emperor and Skeletron/Darth Vador for the dark side of the force. The Kid/Luke and Frederic/Han Solo for the other.  The effects are indeed cheap, but compensated by the camera movement and the cut, so that the BMX bikes look seldom ridiculous. And that is good because the remaining scenes have gore or 80s touch. Globally I found the the effects cheap but clever implemented and giving not only the nostalgy of the 80s but also a funny effect. For the fans and the curious, you can also watch the original short called T is for Turbo here.
Rating: 6 /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

Mahana (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Lee Tamahori
	Actors: Temuera Morrison, Akuhata Keefe
	Country: NZ
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 08.08.2016, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview
Synopsis: A piece in the life of the Mahana Maori family in New-Zealand, ruled by the patriarch (Morrison) in the 60s. The family is torn by rivalry with the neighbour Poata family. When the young Simeon (Keefe) starts questionning the life in the farm, the patriarch's anger collides against his wife's kindness. The family understands then slowly the story of the family and of the rivalry.
Review: The charism and power of submission of the patriarch is impressive and settled from the first scene, also having peaks of humour. The first scene settles also the characters of the family that we will follow. In general the construction of the book and scenes is very efficient to explain the family story and the big changes appearing within 103 minutes.  I liked the tensions in that family and the fresh questions of Simeon. Even if the white landlords are depicted as nice persons, the scene in the court shows that the discrimation that is nowadays discussed in the USA or in European countries, that the colonial-like behaviour of white people is not new. And with an example from the antipodes.One big negative point to the movie is that the Maori dialogues were not subtitled! I found the acting very good for the roles.  The whole movie gives some interesting views in the Maori culture, how the families or clans are built, how the communication within the clan works, and also between clans. And also on the way colons and in general white people treated the Maoris in the past. What is the situation now? Is this movie aims at giving a parallel with the current Maori situation? If anybody knows, please comment this post.
Rating: 6 /10

Slow West (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: John Maclean
	Actors: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Caren Pistorius, Ben Mendelsohn
	Country: NZ, GB
	Genre: Western
	Conditions of visioning: 20.07.2015, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview
Synopsis: Jay Cavendish (Smit-McPhee), a young noble Scottish man travels across America in pursuit of the woman he loves, Rose (Pistorius). Rose and her father are hunted. This attracts the attention of an outlaw who is willing to serve as a guide, Silas (Fassbender) and of many bounty hunters.
Review: The story sounds interesting at a glance. There are some scenes with a funny absurdity mainly driven by the anachronistic Jay or daily-life scenes where both Jay and Silas are turned ridiculous. But the style used all along seems very serious and this contrast is a bit strange. When someone known dies by mistake, there is no thought about. Thus the characters seem to have no feelings at all. This might be the West imagined by the Kiwis or here by the Scottish director and writer? This makes difficult to have a demanding acting. All the characters are a caricature and follow this all along the movie, without much evolution and this is what I miss. The supposed North American scenery is from New Zealand, what makes is very new and beautiful. When Jay tries to express his romantism in front of the starry sky, the stars do not fit at all with the spelled constellations. This might be disturbing only for me and the few astronomers and astrophysicists around the world, therefore I do not account it.  I liked the costumes of the bounty hunters and in the Scottish scenes.
Rating: 5 /10

District 9 (2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Neill Blomkamp (Elysium)
	Actors: Sharlto Copley (The A-team), David James, Jason Cope
	Country: USA, NZ, CDN, ZA
	Genre: SF, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 20.02.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: 20 years after an alien spaceship sets over Johannesbourg, the refugees that it contained cause more and more trouble with the local population.
Review: What a surprise it was back in 2008 to see this south African production by Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), lead by a first-time movie director after his short on the same topic, and that did cost half what it would have if done by Hollywood. And this time, seven years later, I looked closely during the HD projection at the details of the special effects (creatures, weapons, ships) and they still look amazing. Like the first time I saw the movie, I still loved the different take at the alien invasion movie: they are not here to fight us but they are refugees, and have to be hosted not by the richest country in the world. But then although the structure of the movie is different, the end fulfills our expectations. This time more than before I notice the humour in the movie, often offbeat. I had already enjoyed the character of Wickus van der Merwe (his name, accent, behavior, stupid smile...) played by the then relatively unknown Sharlto Copley than we have since seen in Europa Report, The A-team or Elysium. I have now noticed many more details and character traits from secondary people: Wickus' father-in-law, his trainee, and in general all the humans working for an organization that is supposed to regulate alien activities but that treat them like dirt. There is a strong social message in District 9, as in Neill Bloomkamp next movie Elysium but that didn't work as well that time.
Rating: 9 /10

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2003
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Feebles, The Hobbit 1-3)
	Actors: Elijah Wood (Maniac, Open Windows), Ian McKellen (X-men), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Carribean 1-3), Sean Astin (The Goonies), Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence), Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man)
	Country: USA, NZ
	Genre: Fantasy, Epic
	Conditions of visioning: 27.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: After the victories at Helm's Deep and Isengard, will men unite to fight Sauron's armies at the doorsteps of the city of Mias Tirith? And will Frodo survive in trying to destroy the One ring?
Review: While watching the third movie of the trilogy, I realized that its image quality is a little better than the second, and much better than the first. Surprising as they were shot at the same time an release only one year apart from each other. I also remembered the times when I was watching The Fellowship of the Ring in VHS (it is one of the last I bought before switching to DVD) on a tiny TV screen. How greatly has home entertainment technology evolved since! In Blu-ray I appreciate the epic action scenes like I didn't since watching the movie at the theater. And I could notice some details I had never seen before. But the image quality made also visible some limitations in the special effects, like the face of the main actors playing Hobbits not well pasted on the body of small persons, the shadows below CGI characters, or the details on Gollum's face. It is however funny that I am still annoyed by the same details: to save some money, sometimes the Hobbit actors play together with the human ones, but they are put closer to the camera, or on their knees to match the height, but it is for me always obvious that their heads and upper body looks too large in such scenes. The only convincing scenes to realize the size of Hobbits are when they are digitally shrunk, but I understand the money constrains. My pleasure in watching again The Lord of the Rings definitely grew when going from The Fellowship of the Ring to The Two Towers and The Return of the King, as shown by the increasing ratings of 7, 8 and 9/10. The latter is without a doubt (at least to me) an Epic conclusion to the trilogy. There are many heroic scenes that still give me the shivers: Gandalf entering Minas Tirith, the lighting of the beacons, the view of the armies in front of the city (much more impressive than in The Battle of the Five Armies), "Become who you were born to be", the arrival of the men of Rohan and their charge, the attack by the Oliphans, the crowing of the King and his bowing to the Hobbits... And contrarily to what is often said, I find it OK to have multiple endings lasting an hour, as it makes you appreciate even more the twelve hours you have just watched in that world you don't want to leave so soon. All those precious moments following the tune of Howard Shore's symphony. What a great soundtrack. I enjoyed it even more when I went to watch it played live at the Gasteig in Munich, for the three movies. I am definitely glad to have watched The Lord of the Rings in Blu-ray, but keep in mind that to appreciate it, you have to like Fantasy in the first place...
Rating: 9 /10

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2002
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Feebles, The Hobbit 1-3)
	Actors: Elijah Wood (Maniac, Open Windows), Ian McKellen (X-men), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Carribean 1-3), Sean Astin (The Goonies), Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence)
	Country: USA, NZ
	Genre: Fantasy, Epic
	Conditions of visioning: 22.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) moving towards Mordor encounter Gollum, while Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom) and Gimli enter Rohan.
Review: This second movie of the Trilogy was a difficult exercise, lacking the introductory scenes of the first and the conclusion of the third, and is considered as the weakest. But watching it again, I realized that I liked it better than the first! I attribute this to the first encounter with the kingdoms of men (the Rohirrim horsemen and the people of Edoras) to which I could better identify, and in particular their king Theoden played by Bernard Hill who delivers for me the best acting performance of all the stars in the three movies. I find the scene in which he regains his strength the strongest one of the movie, surpassing in intensity even the climax. Acting aside, I can also praise the quality of the editing, a most complex job knowing that we follow many different groups of character and that at no moment the viewer is disturbed by the changes, remind me of such a difficult exercise in Cloud Atlas. This dispersion (already present of course in the original books) is very well illustrated in that chart on the xkcd website. The ending is definitely epic and together with hints in the last quarter of the movie (Faramir, Gollum, Saruman, war with Orcs) places the viewer in just the right mood for watching The Return of the King.
Rating: 8/10

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2001
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Feebles)
	Actors: Elijah Wood (Maniac, Open Windows), Ian McKellen (X-men), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Carribean 1-3), Sean Bean (Game of Thrones TV-series), Sean Astin (The Goonies), Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence)
	Country: USA, NZ
	Genre: Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 17.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Frodo the Hobbit (Wood) is entrusted the Ring of Power that could help its Master Sauron enslave Middle-Earth. He sets on a journey to destroy the Ring helped by his trusted friend Sam (Astin) and Gandalf the Magician (McKellen).
Review: Back in 2001, I knew the director Peter Jackson from his debut Kiwi Horror movies Bad Taste, The Feebles and Braindead. Thus I was surprised that he was given the control of such a huge project that is the adaptation of Tolkien's supposedly non-adaptable masterpiece, although I had never read the books (they were not really known in France at that time). In 2001 I was very impressed by the whole story and couldn't wait to know the ending, so I quickly read the three-part book. So I am neither one of the fans that can criticize the movies for being unfaithful to the book, nor one that doesn't know the book, I am in a situation in between so I was not disappointed by the missing bits (Tom Bombadil etc...).  After recently watching The Battle of the Five Armies, I have been thinking about watching the LOTR trilogy again but I was not too excited by the first movie, partly because as it is the oldest of the now six-part adventure (including The Hobbit), it is the one I have seen the most. But I had to start with it, although I am more looking forward to the battles and heroism of the two next movies. I liked watching it again but it doesn't have the same impact as it did the first times I saw it. I will not spent too much time reviewing such a known movie, but I can say I am still impressed by the story-telling capabilities of Peter Jackson: direct, efficient and every shot being immediately identified as a Fantasy painting (the now famous "PJ shots", like the complex aerial views). Actually I had never watched the three movies in Blu-ray since I bought the collector box-set, but I had noticed that the image quality was not as good as I had expected. I spent time trying to adjust my projector for better contrast, resolution and colors but with limited success only. I can't tell if this image quality is due to the film medium used at the time (vs. digital shooting for The Hobbit), or to the fact that the box-set I own was released without the supervision by the director. In any case, it is far from looking as good as any of The Hobbit blu-rays that I own. I am anyway looking forward to the two next movies in which I will look for details that link them to The Hobbit movies like I did in this one (for example the closing scene of The Battle of the Five Armies is one of the first of The Fellowship of the Ring but shot through another viewpoint, very clever and satisfying for the fans).
Rating: 7 /10

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Lord of the Rings 1-3, Lovely Bones).
	Actors: Martin Freeman (Hot Fuzz, The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy), Ian McKellen (X-men 1-3, The Lord of the Rings 1-3), Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness)
	Country: USA, NZ
	Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Epic
	Conditions of visioning: 15.12.2014, CINEMA theater, 3D, High Frame Rate
Synopsis: After having awakened the dragon Smaug (Cumberbatch), the company of Dwarves and Bilbo (Freeman) will have to protect their new fortune, while the King under the Mountain (Armitage) is changing.
Review: At last, the final chapter. I can still remember the day I went to see The Fellowship of the Ring in the theater back in 2001. I was not really looking forward to three new movies in the same universe, actually I haven't watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy in years, maybe because I have seen it too much. But in the end I got caught by the stories of Middle-Earth and had no problem watching An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug several times. Actually I am more motivated now to go back to watch the story of Frodo and the Ring again. The ending of The Battle... puts you in perfect disposition for that. I am definitely not expecting a third trilogy in the years to come, but we never know. So what of this third movie? As I commented after watching the extras on The Desolation of Smaug Blu-ray, I learned that there were supposed to be two movies only, which explains the kind of anti-climactic start of The Battle of the Five Armies, and the lengths I felt in the rhythm. Those lengths especially spoiled a bit my viewing experience, as they sometimes took me out of the movie thinking: "OK guys let's move on now!". Not that I got bored (there is enough going on the screen to avoid that), but after watching all three movies I am definitely convinced that two would have been enough. It would also have been a more refreshing experience to have Guillermo del Toro directing instead of the same Peter Jackson. Again, not that he did a bad job, but some more new ideas and views could have been welcome. I put a lower rating to the third movie because of the reasons mentioned above (lengths), although it is hard to rate them separately. Still, I think the second is my favorite, unlike in The Lord of the Rings where the third is really the culmination. I will definitely watch that trilogy again in Blu-ray in the near-future.
Rating: 6 /10

Housebound (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Gerard Johnstone
	Actors: Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru
	Country: NZ
	Genre: Comedy, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 11.09.2014, CINEMA theater, MFFF2014
Synopsis: A young delinquent (O'Reilly) is condemned to home detention for eight month with her mother (Te Wiata). The occurrence of strange events in the house intensifies with the girl's come back.
Review: Yet another horror comedy, actually not as funny as I thought it would be but this doesn't mean it is a bad movie. I was tired when watching the movie and feared its 109 minutes, but the succession of events makes it pleasant to follow (with the right amount of twists), the mother-daughter relationship at the heart of the story is nicely put in place, and the comedy moments (often around the funny mother) arrive always just in time to relax the tension. Not extraordinary but a new view at the haunted house myth, Housebound won the H.R Giger "Narcisse" Award at the NIFFF20214.
Rating: 6 /10

What we do in the Shadows (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
	Actors: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh
	Country: NZ
	Genre: Comedy, Horror, Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 11.07.2014, Cinema Temple du Bas, NIFFF14
Synopsis: The daily life of four vampire friends sharing a house in New-Zealand.
Review: Let me get this straight: What we do in the Shadows is not a masterpiece of filmmaking because of the simple way it is directed, shot and acted, and the unimportant music. But you will definitely laugh your ass off when watching it, preferable between friends or in a full theater room like I experienced it at the NIFFF. By coincidence I was wearing the T-shirt of the Espoo Film Festival 2011 displaying a character from another mockumentary about the vampire community, Belgian this time: Vampires by Vincent Lanoo (also responsible for the excellent In the Name of the Son). Can you believe there are already two movie of this exact same sub-genre?! There were so many good and funny ideas around the original concept in the first 10 minutes that I feared this well would dry long before the end. But it does not, and we only notice a slight slowing down of the laughing rate. The movie is a bit bloody but not scary at all. It is shot in a documentary style but there is no interaction with the crew, it is more just a gimmick to have the characters speak to the camera for more comic effect. Four vampires from different epochs struggle to find food, get invited in order to enter bars, get dressed without seeing their reflection, and decide who is going to wash the dishes. There are so many hilarious moments in the movie but I cannot describe any, you have to watch them to understand. What is amazing is how the writers (also playing two of the vampires) could come up with funny ideas around simple events like a vampire in love, being friend with a human, meeting a gang of werewolves (this bunch is also incredibly funny). I can only repeat this to conclude: the movie will probably never hit the cinema screens in Europe, but find it in DVD and watch it, or go see it as Centerpiece of the Fantasy Filmfest, I guarantee you will have a great time. It won the prize of the public at the NIFFF14, definitely not a surprise when I heard the bursts of laughter during the projection.
Rating: 9 /10

Bad Taste (1987)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1987
	Director: Peter Jackson (Braindead, The Lord of the Rings 1-3, King Kong)
	Actors: Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Craig Smith
	Country: NZ
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 01.03.2014, DVD, Home cinema
Synopsis: A bunch of government agents fight against a colony of aliens that have invaded a small Kiwi town.
Review: I have discovered this movie in VHS (French version of course) at the same time as I discovered the classic Horror films like Friday 13th or Halloween. It looks so cheap but is at the same time so funny and nuts that it made a strong impression on me and I have watched it many times, usually late at night and with friends. This was 15 years ago. Since then I have found this odd German edition (see picture below) gathering Bad Taste, Braindead and The Feebles, the three first (horror) movies by Peter Jackson. Not unlike Sam Raimi with Evil Dead, Jackson spent three years of his spare time shooting this UFO together with his friends. You can also see him playing several roles in it. Bad Taste is a bit long at times and the dialogs not the best, but it is still extremely impressive, ambitious and rich in ideas for a first film. It does look very professional already. But what strikes me the most is that you can recognize some shots (usually aerial or with a crane, now called Peter Jackson shots) that will will later on see in The Lord of the Rings for example, like when Gandalf arrives at Orthanc to meet Saruman (the camera starts at ground level and rises above the trees the reveal a large structure beyond). The movie is not recommendable to anybody (you have to like bloody horror in the first place), but I rate it high nonetheless.
Rating: 7 /10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Lord of the Rings 1-3, King Kong)
	Actors: Martin Freeman (Hot Fuzz, The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy), Ian McKellen (X-men 1-3, The Lord of the Rings 1-3), Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness)
	Country: USA, NZ
	Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 16.12.2013, CINEMA theater, 3D, High Frame Rate
Synopsis: The company of thirteen Dwarves led by Thorin (Armitage), one Hobbit (Freeman) and a Magician (McKellen) continue their journey towards the Lonely Mountain where the Dragon Smaug (Cumberbatch) stands guard.
Review: After watching twice An Unexpected Journey on Blu-ray and liking it more and more, I was really eager to see this second part of the trilogy. In the second movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Two Towers), not much was happening while we were introduced many new characters, which was a difficult exercise to show. On the contrary in The Hobbit trilogy, all the introductions were done in the first movie and quite some action happens in the second, including the first encounter with Smaug the Dragon. As we are used to with Peter Jackson movies, everything is visually perfect and the scenes at the Lonely Mountain are great, but the way the movie ends makes it really frustrating to have to wait one full year to see the conclusion. The rest of the movie is good as well, but sometimes feels like only a succession of action scenes and encounters with particular characters whom role you don't really understand if you are not a hard-core Tolkien fan. This feeling was reinforced by the HFR 3D which as in the first movie put me ill at ease (I had the feeling to watch TV), especially since the cinema in which I was has a problem of cross-talk between the left and right images of the 3D (the already disturbed me when watching Gravity). Some characters are also annoying like Legolas (Orlando Bloom is back) and his father Thranduil, although I like his looks, and some scenes are a bit out of place (with Tauriel the female Elf). The Dwarves are very pleasant to watch now that I knew well all of them. In spite of my reservations, The Desolation of Smaug is still a great show and contains some memorable scenes (in the Lonely Mountain, the escape in the barrels...). I currently like it less than the first movie but I guess I need to wait to see all three before making my final rating of the trilogy.
Rating: 7 /10

King Kong (2005)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2005
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Lord of the Rings 1-3)
	Actors: Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive), Jack Black (Tropic Thunder), Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Andy Serkis (The Adventures of Tintin), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot)
	Country: USA, NZ, D
	Genre: Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 12.03.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: In the 1930's, an ambitious movie director (Black) hires a young actress (Watts) and escapes from the American depression in the search for Skull Island.
Review: Peter Jackson's modern version of the 1933 classic, forgetting about the cheap 1978 version. The storyline is very close to the one that was already a success 80 years ago, in particular the whole second act on the island, meeting dinosaurs, giant insects... After seeing this movie in 2005 I watched the original and found it very good (straight forward story, great special effects for the time), then I watched The most Dangerous Game (Les chasses du Comte Zaroff in french) shot in 1932 by the same crew and on the same sets as King Kong, and it was also pretty good. Another recommended video: The lost spider pit sequence, a recreation by Peter Jackson of a scene of the original King Kong movie that was shot but from which the film was lost. This scene is back in the screenplay of the 2005 version. Now about this movie itself. It is visualy impressive, and came right at a time when digital special effects were mature enough to create a believable giant gorilla. The story is still as strong as in the original movie, and I like a lot the restless chase during the second third of the movie: as soon as Ann is kidnapped, it is a race against time and many ferocious creatures to get her back. The third part of the movie, sensational as it takes place in Manhattan but also the most touching, is not neglected. Actors are also good, in particular Jack Black in the best role I have seen him in, playing very well the director ready to do anything to succeed. I was impressed by how good, funny and subtle he can be when properly directed.
Rating: 8 /10