Gran casino (1947)

	Also Known As: Le Grand Casino
	Year of first release: 1947
	Director: Luis Buñuel
	Actors: Jorge Negrete, Libertad Lamarque, José Baviera, Mercedes Barba
	Country: MEX
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 05.12.2014, DVD, OV Spanish
Synopsis: After the mysterious disappearance of an oil field owner, José Enrique Irigoyen, two workers are hired. Gerardo (Negrete) endorses the team management and sees he is blocked due to Fabio, the casino owner (Baviera), who would like to get control of the oil fields. Soon, the owner's sister Mercedes Irigoyen (Lamarque) arrives from Argentina, and, believing that Gerardo killed her brother to keep the wells for himself, she starts working as a singer under a false name in the same casino her brother disappeared, in order to find out what exactly happened.
Review: The idea and the desertic location is a kind of classical for a Western, but there is no cowboy here. Every turn in the story is announced well in advance so that there is no surprise. Negrete is presented as the charismatic and fine guy especially with light and camera effects. There are several songs locating the movie far from the Western. I knew from Buñuel only Los olvidados from his Mexican period and the rather his French period involving Michel Piccoli and Fernando Rey. I may have to come back to these to show the best of Luis Buñuel.
Rating: 4 /10

Love Actually (2003)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2003
	Director: Richard Curtis (Notting Hill, About Time)
	Actors: Hugh Grant (Cloud Atlas), Liam Neeson (Taken, Star Wars Episode 1), Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Galaxy Quest, Harry Potter 1-8), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Keira Knighley (Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3), Bill Nighy (Shaun of the Dead), Martin Freeman (The Hobbit 1-3)
	Country: GB, USA, F
	Genre: Comedy, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 20.12.2014, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: About the affective life of several apparently disconnected characters starting five weeks before Christmas.
Review: This movie is already ten years old and I had never seen it, not being my favorite genre. But with Christmas approaching, I got into the spirit and decided to watch this "ultimate romantic comedy". I thought the story would be classical, but I was in fact surprised by the approach of showing not only the journey of one couple but of many! That idea is original, was hinted by the movie poster and looking at the posters of other romantic comedies made since, was probably copied. This gives the opportunity for the famous (mainly) British cast to shine. I liked in particular Hugh Grant in his role of young Prime Minister, and Bill Nighy who in the end will display another kind of love, with a broader meaning, like the preamble of the movie led me to expect. On top of the main cast, the cameos are numerous: Rowan Atkinson (the Mr. Bean), Denise Richards, Elisha Cuthbert, Billy Bob Thornton... But if the fragmented rhythm is appropriate for most of the stories (the ones with Martin Freeman, Hugh Grant or Keira Knighley), for some others it is handicapping. I am mainly thinking about the one with Colin Firth which is going too fast to look true, and in the end is overly exaggerated. And talking about the endings, some other stories conclude on an overly romantic tone (the son of Liam Neeson, the story with Hugh Grant), the kind that it out of this world and makes your girlfriend complain: "why can't you be more romantic like in this movie?!!" So what started like an original concept ends up in the pure tradition of romantic comedies. But a good one. Researching for this review made me find out the more recent movie by the same director: About Time, that I will try to watch soon.
Rating: 7 /10

Fargo - Season 1 (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Writer: Noah Hawley + others
	Actors: Billy Bob Thornton (Armageddon, Bandits), Martin Freeman (The Hobbit 1-3, Sherlock TV-series), Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks (King Kong)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar, Black Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: December 2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Strange murders follow one another in the northern town of Bemidji. Lester Nygaard (Freeman) meets the strange character Lorne Malvo (Thornton), while police officer Molly Solverson (Tolman) tries to solve the cases.
Review: A TV-series inspired by the atypical movie from the Coen brothers, and produced by the VOD provider Netflix. I heard some good about it, so I pre-ordered it in Blu-ray some months ago, not knowing that I would be a Netflix customer by now and could get the series for free. I kept the Blu-ray anyway for the better image and sound quality. At first it looks like the series tries too hard to copy the successful elements of the movie: rural town in the frozen North, simple folk not so good looking and wearing unfashionable clothes, local accents and vocabulary, a pregnant woman, remarkable bandits (one if deaf), violent murders intruding in an otherwise peaceful town, ... Fortunately after the introductory first two episodes that feeling disappeared, probably helped by the remarkable performance by Billy Bob Thornton as a psychopath, and the lovable Marting Freeman (although his play reminds me too much of Bilbo in The Hobbit, I am curious to see how he plays in Sherlock). The series also keeps entertaining because of the unpredictable events in it (like in many modern series): bad things happen not only to the good guys but also to the bad guys! The summun is reached at the beginning of the fourth episode "Eating the Blame", when we understand the connection with Fargo the movie. Episode 7 "Who shaves the barber?" is not bad either when it shows Malvo it full swing. A second season is announced. If the episodes are shown in Germany on Netflix at the same time as they are released in the US, I will undoubtedly catch them.
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

Der grüne Bogenschütze (1961)

	Also Known As: The Green Archer
	Year of first release: 1961
	Director: Jürgen Roland
	Actors: Karin Dor, Klaus-Jürgen Wussow, Gert Fröbe
	Country: D
	Genre: Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 30.11.2014, DVD, OV German version
Synopsis: During a guided tour of Garre Castle, a man is killed by an arrow. Mr Howett and his adopted daughter, Valerie (Dor), move into Lady's Manor, next door to the castle. Valerie is looking for her disappeared mother. Abel Bellamy (Fröbe), Valerie’s uncle, is the owner of Garre Castle and his past is investigated by Inspector Featherstone (Wussow).
Review: Edgar Wallace is a reference name for many German Krimi like this movie and also for the genre Giallo (mostly 60's and 70's). Several precursor signs of the Giallo are visible: the murder scenes, the gloved hands, the woman in difficulty, the misogyne bad guy.  The story is suspenseful and humourful as well. Especially all the visuals lacking of realism or credibility (e.g. looking for a secret door on the outer wall of a building).  Gert Fröbe is a reference German actor who played many roles in the 50's and 60's and the legendary figure of Goldfinger in the James Bond movie. He is also amazing in this movie. Karin Dor plays perfectly the roles that will be acted later by Edwige Fenech in the Gialli. The woman with a strong will and a clear goal and put in difficulty by adversity. The casualty of having found this DVD increases my curiousity toward Giallo movies. I may continue with a couple of Krimi before switching to the Gialli.
Rating: 6 /10 As expected, these movies have very well designed poster. Here another one.

Blue ruin (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Jeremy Saulnier
	Actors: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Kevin Kolack
	Country: USA, F
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 01.12.2014, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: As Dwight (Blair) is informed that a double murder gets out of jail, he comes out of his outsider life to start a vengeance.
Review: The story is not that extraordinary. The cut and the photography (camera position, light) are very good and are done so that for each scene I had enough time to feel something was strange in this revenge. The slow rise in violence is done without long explaination and neither clearly. But it is done so that I felt the suspense. Slowly I was caught in the spiral of absurdity that is the story of both families. A bit like Locke, the atmosphere is the major strength of the movie, involving the cut, the rythm, the few dialogues. But the suspense is not as big as in Locke, maybe because the story is not explained enough.  The chronology of the dialogues reminded me the argumentation of Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore. That US Americans have many weapons at home but not as the Canadians. But that they are actually more violent. In the movie we see that for the anybody, even people apparently normal really the average man, the violence and the revenge is accepted as a normal fact. Tit for tat.
Rating: 5 /10

Sous le sable (2000)

	Also Known As: Under the sand
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: François Ozon
	Actors: Charlotte Rampling, Bruno Cremer, Jacques Nolot
	Country: F
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 29.11.2014, DVD, OV French version
Synopsis: Marie (Rampling) is a professor of English literature in a Paris university. She has been happily married to Jean (Cremer) for 25 years, although they have no children. During their summer vacations in the southwest of France, Jean leaves Marie sunbathing on the beach and goes to swim in the sea. When Marie turns back, she cannot find Jean. Has he left her? commited suicide? drowned? With no clue and no body to mourn over, Marie acts as her husband was still alive.
Review: The story is not only extremely moving but this is done without spectacular drama. Everything is done very subtlety. The acting of Charlotte Rampling and the directing of François Ozon are beautiful from authenticity and reality, even in the scenes that are not the physical reality. There is no exageration, no directing trick to let it become a melodrama. Very fine and subtle. I love it. The way not to accept the disparition of a loved one is moving. It is a feeling that most of us may have seen or may see in our neightbour, our families or our friends, and that is so difficult to describe by words. The rest of the movie, the secondary characters, the rest of the production are fine and just there to serve the role of Rampling.  Another movie about dead of loved ones even more touching from my point of view is La stanza degli figlio, by Nanni Moretti. Watching Sous le sable might be a motivation to watch that one too, at least to share my impressions.
Rating: 8 /10

The Pianist (2002)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2002
	Director: Roman Polanski (The Ninth Gate, Rosemary's Baby)
	Actors: Adrien Brody (King Kong), Thomas Kretschmann (Immortal, Kong Kong, Valkyrie), Frank Finlay
	Country: F, D, PL, GB
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 01.12.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The story of the talented Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, as the Nazi rule over Poland forces him to worst and worst living conditions in occupied Warsaw.
Review: Probably the most difficult movie I have ever watched, and the worst is of course that it is a true part of our sad History. The first hour is particularly hard, when you see how this happy family gets more and more humiliated. Then the main character is on his own and we are let to appreciate the incredible act by Adrien Brody that got him the Academy Awards for best actor. Polanksi, very involved in the topic (he lived that same part of History in Warsaw), adapted wonderfully the book written by the real Wladyslaw Szpilman about his true story. In particular the locations (from what I read selected in different European countries) give a very realistic image of Warsaw being destroyed as it was at that time. And the excellent Blu-ray transfers transmits perfectly this feeling. Another element of the movie that impressed me is how the passing of time is depicted. Indeed the movie covers about five years, ans the main character usually spends months in a row hiding at the same place. To condense five years in a two and a half hours movie, Polanski shows us the view from the hiding places always towards the same spot (a street, a shop) so that each time we see it we immediately guess how much time has passed thanks to the weather (snow vs. sun), the kind of people in the street (rebels, German army, civilians) and the effect of time (progressive destruction of buildings, decrepiting piles of corpses). Music is scarce throughout the movie but the scenes with piano playing are great to listen to, so much that I removed the covers from my Home Cinema speakers to better enjoy the sound quality, and I liked the fact that the movie ends with a 10-minutes piano play, reminding me of the ending of The Concert. I got the idea to watch The Pianist for the first time in 12 years after reviewing The Ninth Gate from Polanski, and finally I cannot find many common film-making techniques between the two movies, this one being immensely more personal to the director.
Rating: 9 /10

Nordic Film Days Lübeck 2014 (NFDL2014)

After having seen in San Sebastian a few movies from Latvia (filter with LV) and liking some movies from Scandinavia (filter for Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) and Baltic countries (filter for Lituania, and Latvia), I [raf] was curious to see some more. Now I would like to share my impressions about this Festival. 

Still possible to have diner outside in Lübeck, JoRafCinema and Co 

 

Obsession (1976)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1976
	Director: Brian de Palma (Dressed to Kill, Carrie)
	Actors: Cliff Robertson (Spider-man 1-3), Geneviève Bujold (Dead Ringers a.k.a. Faux Semblants), John Lithgow (The Pelican Brief, Interstellar)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Romance, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 30.11.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The wife (Bujold) and daughter of Michael Courtland (Robertson) are kidnapped. The consequences of his decision to pay the ransom or not wil haunt him for the years to come.
Review: I had been waiting to have seen Hitchcock's Vertigo before watching de Palma's hommage to it. I thought it would be closer to a remake and that de Palma would be allowed to show the obsession of the title in a more graphical way than Hitchcock did back in 1958, but I hadn't noticed then that Obsession was one of the first movies of the director, and he hadn't reached his full potential like he did four years later with Dressed to Kill. Actually and as he explains on the informative making-of documentary, he based his script for Obsession on one aspect of Vertigo, not the whole story. I could recognize the influence enough (so that I more or less guessed that the story would turn sour), but it is clearly different enough to be appreciated on its own. The rhythm matches the one of Vertigo: very slow (a bit too much even for me) until the last half hour filled with revelations. I like the 70's look of the movie, but the film looks quite grainy and unresolved, I don't know if this comes from the original copy or from this French Blu-ray edition that could have been better executed. Technically, you can recognize the sure hand of de Palma and his Director of Photography Vilmos Zsigmond. I noticed in particular one "Vertigo effect" (compensated travelling) extremely well executed, travelling backwards while looking down the main character walking up stairs, giving the effect that he was progressing with difficulty or that some forces were pushing him forward and backward at the same time (in the back of the frame we see his associate who plays a major role in the story). A remarkable shot in the History of Cinema. But because of the slow start, the lack of action and the average image quality (there is always a halo around the light, so that I though I had fat on my glasses), I cannot really say I loved the movie althought it contains some great scenes, some of them shot in Florence, a town that I know.
Rating: 6 /10