The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

	Also Known As: Verblendung (Germany), Män som hatar kvinnor (original)
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Niels Arden Oplev
	Actors: Michael Nyqvist (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus)
	Country: D, DK, N, S
	Genre: Polar, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 10/12.12.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Awaiting for a stay in prison, the editor of a political newspaper (Nyquist) is hired by the head of a powerful family to investigate the dissapearance of his niece 40 years before. An outcast young female hacker follows his tracks.
Review: I know several people who have seen the three Swedish movies that compose this adaptation of the acclaimed Stieg Larsson novels, and even though they have different tastes and sensibilities, they all told me they were very good. Each of the three movies is composed of two parts of one and a half hour, and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first movie. What I liked most about this movie is its slow pace, and that you don't really know where it is going. Actually when it started to be more clear, I started to loose interest. But until then, it is an intense investigation movie, very well played and in which you recognize the usual qualities of the Nordic cinema. The very first scene (camera following an outcast character walking in an urban area) immediately reminded me of Pusher by Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive). What could be seen as a weakness is that the movie sometimes looks like a TV-film (which it was at first), but when it does it actually reminds me of the Rigel TV-series by Lars Von Trier (a.k.a. Kingdom Hospital, later remade by Stephen King), which is not a poor reference. The investigation around an apparently innocent girl in a rural little town reminds of Twin Peaks, and to a lesser extent to the Giallo/Thriller What have you done to Solange? I didn't give it a higher ranking because of the ending, slightly dissapointing to me compared to the rest of the movie. I am looking forward to watching the following movies nonetheless!
Rating: 7 /10

The Green Hornet (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Michel Gondry (Human Nature, The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind)
	Actors: Seth Rogen (Zack & Miri make a Porno), Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), Cameron Diaz (Charlie's Angels 1-2, There's something about Mary), Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica), Edward Furlong (Terminator 2), James Franco (Spiderman 1-3)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 09.12.2012, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: The lazy son of a millionnaire inherits a renouned newspaper when his father dies. He will team up with a coffee-maker, car-fixer Martial Arts expert to fight Crime.
Review: This improbable team of a real action hero and a useless uneducated silly rich party dude (only here to provide the money) is obviously a good source for comedy. The baseline story adapted from a Comic book series is quite original in the contemporary landscape of super-hero movies, and is closer to a Kick-Ass or Super than to a Batman, although the latter has some influence on it. In overall it is not as bad as I thought it would be, given the catastrophic reception by both the public and the critics when it was released. I was expecting something at least visually interesting from director Michel Gondry, and I got it. Beyond that, the story is indeed sometimes chaotic and confused, the reactions of the characters unbelievable and towards the end it becomes "du grand n'importe quoi", i.e. pure nonsense. But it is still interesting once you accept that you are watching a Comic book transposed to live action.
Rating: 5 /10

Le Mans (1971)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1971
	Director: Lee H. Katzin
	Actors: Steve McQueen (Sand Pebbles, Bullitt, The Great Escape), Siegfried Rauch, Elga Andersen, Louise Edlind
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 05.12.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Michael Delaney (McQueen) is back on the circuit of the famous race of the 24 hours of Le Mans, one years after being involved in a deadly acident.
Review: This movie is 40 years old and I had never seen it. It is difficult to categorize as it was mostly shot during the Le Mans race of 1970, so there is a strong documentary feel to it, which was actually wanted by McQueen as I learned when watching the making-off. I was most impressed by the realism of the car race, and not surprised that it has been well prepared during the 1969 race. The crew actually managed to mount cameras on real race cars, entered them in the competition and at some point they were even in the top 10! The introduction of the character of Delaney is very well done and we understand all about him without a word being said by the main actors in the first 35 minutes of the movie! This is in particular quite typical of McQueen who preferred to convey feelings with one shot of his blue eyes rather than with many lines of dialogs. The introduction of the race is also well done by showing us all the activities revolving around it (police preparations, arrival of the spectators at the train station, organization of the parking places...), and the background (origin and rules) of the race is given by the commentator over the speakers, like if we were in the public. The tension then rises to the sound of an increasingly fast heartbeat until it becomes almost unbearable when the lights go green. Then the movie finds a different rythm, alternating between the race, character developement, accompanied with a very nice jazzy music. The down side of the movie is that the story is utterly simple, so much that it was a problem when the producers wanted to finish and sell the movie. But this doesn't bother me so much.
Rating: 8 /10

Seven psychopaths (2012)

	Also Known As: 7 Psychos
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Martin McDonagh (In Bruges)
	Actors: Sam Rockwell (Moon, Iron Man 2), Colin Farrell (Phone Both, Total Recall, Horrible Bosses), Christopher Walken (The Dead Zone, Wayne's World 2, Catch me if you can), Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers, EdTV), Olga Kurylenkoi (Quantum of Solace, Hitman, Max Payne), Tom Waits (Mystery Men)
	Country: GB
	Genre: Black Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 26.11.2012, Schauburg, OV
Synopsis: -
Review: The story is very original and the cut is very well done. Even if Colin Farrell's role is again quite boring, both Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken have good roles and play them very well. The story telling to come to the number 7 and explain the title of the movie is also a good point. After In Bruges, it is another good writer and director that is getting better, Martin McDonagh.
Rating: 7 /10

Paul (2011)

	Also Known As: Paul, ein Alien auf der Flucht
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Greg Mottola (Superbad)
	Actors: Simon Pegg & Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), Kristen Wiig, Jason Carroll Lynch, Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses), Seth Rogen (Zack and Miri make a Porno)
	Country: GB, USA
	Genre: Comedy, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 22.11.2012, DVD, OV
Synopsis: Two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51. From then on, they make their way with the alien, chased by the police and special services.
Review: The writer of Shaun of the dead continues having very good ideas for comedies. This time a cool alien speaking English, who likes humans and tries to help them. The special effects are there only to increase the comic effect. All along you have references to all the SF literature and movies. Until the end, there are surprises and some big names are present in the movie as well, which makes it really funny for SF fans. The actors play very good, in particular Jason Bateman and Simon Pegg.
Rating: 7 /10

Killing them softly (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Andrew Dominik
	Actors: Ray Liotta, Brad Pitt
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 19.11.2012, Schauburg, OV
Synopsis: Three dumb guys who think they're smart rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Brad Pitt plays the enforcer, hired to track them down and restore order.
Review: The originality of the movie and its only interesting thing is the parallelism of the story with the news on TV about the US president election. This reminds me a bit Good night, and good luck, by George Clooney. The idea is not bad, but the realisation is not. The movie tries sometime to make like Tarentino or Guy Ritchie, but misses everytime the right moments, rythms, etc. The story is not interesting. The story is cut for the role of Brad Pitt, but not to catch the viewer. The one very good scene is the last one, at a bar, where the contract killer played by Brad Pitt explains his customer that all the speeches about equality, about solidarity are bullshit, and comments "This guy wants to tell me we're living in a community? Don't make me laugh. I'm living in America, and in America you're on your own. America's not a country. It's just a business. Now fuckin' pay me. ".
Rating: 2 /10

Cloud atlas (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Tom Tykwer, Ansy and Lana Wachowski
	Actors: Tom Hanks, Hale Berry, Hugo Weaving, James d'Arcy
	Country: D, HK, SGP, USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 18.11.2012, Schauburg, OV
Synopsis: An 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific; letters from a composer to his friend; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii. All the stories are linked together.
Review: The originality of the movie is to place on screen stories over time having something in common. This can be linked to the buddhistic topic of evanescence, but all the stories show a struggle between groups of rather good people against rather bad people and in each group people ready to switch sides, which sounds like the communist topic of class struggle. Anyway, stories are like independent movies. Therefore also different directors. The smooth transitions (the sound of the last scene on the image of the new one for a few seconds) increase the impression of linked worlds. Some actors performed specially well, being travestied or playing very different roles for instance. I did not read the book of David Mitchell, but now I am very curious.
Rating: 8 /10

Lore (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Cate Shortland
	Actors: Saskia Rosendahl
	Country: AUS, GB, D
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 18.11.2012, Cinema am Ostertor
Synopsis: As the Nazis loose the second world war,a group of children of a Nazi family has to cross Germany and be mixed with the population.
Review: The movie shows the destruction of the Nazi faith inside Lore, who has been educated as such. This destruction is at least in the eyes of the viewer, not necessarily real. The post-war is as absurd as the war itself. Other hates, other enemies, other friends, but the same absurdity in the acts. It is a rare movie focusing on the vision from the Nazi point of view, but not from any military. Saskia Rosendahl is very convincing as young Nazi ready to handle with the post-war crisis and shaked in her believes. There are not much dialogues and therefore the body and face have to speak more and do. The other actors were not at the same level, but it is for sure not easy. Great actress and good and original movie.
Rating: 8 /10

The 13th Warrior (1999)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard 1-3, The Hunt for Red October)
	Actors: Antonio Banderas (Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Philadelphia), Vladimir Kulich, Dennis Storhøi, Omar Sharif (Doctor Jivago), Diane Venora (Heat)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 03.12.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: An Arab poet and ambassador (Banderas) is fated to accompany twelve Vikings on a mission to save a northern kingdom from the attack of an ancient evil.
Review: There is a strange fascination from cinema lovers about this movie. Maybe because of its director and the unexpected place the movie took in his career. Indeed, before he was more known as the master of 90's Action movies (Predator, Die Hard...). Or maybe it is because of the uncommon story, based on a book by succesful author Michael Crichton (Jurassik Park, Twister, Sphere). I didn't have any special memory of it (only remembering the beginning and the end), but the release of this French Blu-ray was the chance to correct that! The Blu-ray is delivered in a nice black cardboard package, and with an interesting booklet relating the background of the movie and the conflicts when it went out. Note that this release is exclusive to France, and from what I understood the reason is that it is in this country that the movie was the most successful. The image quality is good but not great for a Blu-ray, but I agree this is not easy to look good for a movie so dark and showing many gray landscapes. What I prefered in the movie is the uncommon story. There is not so much action but instead you get to spend time and like the group of warriors, and appreciate the odd place the poet takes in it. Some scenes are very strong in this Historic movie, at the limit of Fantasy and sometimes even Heroic Fantasy (leaning towards Conan the Barbarian). I am not totally fond of the movie but I appreciate the originality and the efficient storytelling and filmmaking by director McT.
Rating: 7 /10

The Polar Express (2004)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2004
	Director: Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future 1-3, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Contact)
	Actors: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, The Green Line, Saving Private Ryan), Leslie Zemeckis (Beowulf), Chris Coppola, Michael Jeter
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 02.12.2012, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: On Christmas Eve, a little boy starts to be skeptical about the whole Santa Claus thing, until he is invited in the middle of the night to board an express train en route to the North Pole.
Review: A snowy December week-end evening is the perfect time to watch a Christmas movie. I have been wanting to watch this one for some time as it is a kind of precursor in the category of full motion capture movies and led to Beowulf, Avatar, Tintin and many more as time goes. The human characters are not yet fully photo-realistic like in Tintin, but the spirit is there. The technique allowed Tom Hanks to play several roles, from a small boy to a middle-aged train conductor to Santa himself. The train trip sometimes feels like a roller-coaster ride, and it must be a lot of fun to watch in 3D. However I didn't really feel involved in the story, maybe because I am not a child anymore (although it is true that I collect books about dinosaurs). Still, it contains all the ingredients to make a nice Christmas movie for kids: animation, adventure, Christmas songs, friendship, life lessons, and of course the Christmas spirit!
Rating: 5 /10