Sherlock - Season 3 (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Creators: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat
	Actors: Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit 1-3), Martin Freeman (The Hobbit 1-3, Fargo TV-series), Una Stubbs
	Country: USA, GB
	Genre: Polar
	Conditions of visioning: January 2015, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Sherlock (Crumberbatch) is back, but London has changed since he left, in particular Watson (Freeman) learned to live his life without him.
Review: Another excellent season for the series, with better stories than in season two, and a visual/sound identity finally well-defined. The duel with Moriarty was not the end, and the famous detective has in this season to face challenges which are not of the same nature as the ones he is the most familiar with. In The Empty Hearse he has to face his few friends and realize that their feelings were strongly affected when he was gone. The terrorist threat in this episode, although massive (and reminding a lot of V for Vandetta), serves only as background for the reunion between Sherlock and Watson. The Sign of Three is maybe the most original episode in this series to date. The challenge of being best man at Watson's wedding is for Sherlock more insurmountable that most of the mysteries he solved in his life. His speech is used to display he talents in the course of some short investigations that would not have deserved a full episode. And ultimately, the detective will end up on known grounds. Finally in His Last Vow we are introduced the terrible foe Charles Augustus Magnussen that I think to remember from the novels. In parallel, some revelations lead to major changes in the lives of the detective duo. Unfortunately I found the ending too predictable and long to arrive, with the clear message that Sherlock finally acknowledges Watson as his best friend. I enjoyed watching the three seasons of Sherlock back-to-back, especially since there are so few episodes, it feels like watching movies. It has some defects and limitations (due to the TV format) but after nine episodes I still think like I did during the first 10 minutes: it is an excellent and clever adaptation of the novels to modern times. Now I am maybe longing for more classic investigations in the fourth season.
Rating: 7 /10

Blue Streak (1999)

	Also Known As: Der Diamanten-Cop (Germany)
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: Les Mayfield (Encino Man, Flubber)
	Actors: Martin Lawrence (Bad Boys 1-2), Luke Wilson (Scream 2), Peter Greene (The Mask, Pulp Fiction)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 20.01.2015, SD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Before being arrested, Miles Logan (Lawrence) hides the diamond he just stole in a building under construction. When he is set free two years later, this building has turned into a Police station.
Review: Martin Lawrence seems to be stuck in this role of comic policeman. Four years after Bad Boys he is at it again, but this time the comedy comes from the fact that he is a criminal pretending to be a cop to get back his precious diamond. In that case, the diamond is like Hitchcock's McGuffin, an excuse for comedy instead of suspense in that case. We get to watch Lawrence dancing around and talking loud in his involuntary but successful attempts to be a good cop. His "side-kick" the simple detective played by Luke Wilson is not put forward enough, so the movie is a one-man show and doesn't reproduce the effect of Bad Boys. Easy to watch but didn't get good laughs out of me.
Rating: 4 /10

The Wicker Man (1973)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1973
	Director: Robin Hardy (The Wicker Tree)
	Actors: Edward Woodward (Hot Fuzz), Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings 1-3), Diane Cilento
	Country: GB
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 16.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Ultra-catholic Seargent Howie (Woodward) flies to a remote island to investigate a dissapearing. He will be tested in his beliefs when facing the population and their pagan rituals.
Review: Some years ago when I started to read about The Wicker Man as reference in cinema articles here and there, I acquired the DVD of the newly re-discovered director's cut. On this DVD the scenes from the short version were in OK quality and the extended scenes in rather bad one. This 40th Anniversary British Blu-ray edition is an upgrade to the DVD one, and I pre-ordered it as soon as I learned about its release more than a year ago. Since I received it, I have been listening a lot to the movie soundtrack which is provided on CD in the box-set. I remembered that it was a good soundtrack from my original visioning and I still enjoy it a lot. It even motivated me to write an article about my collection of movie soundtracks. The two Blu-ray disk provide the "Final Cut" of the movie, supervised by its director, and tons of making-of material, interviews, commentaries... This "Final Cut" is I think the same as I saw on DVD but restored from a better copy (obtained from Roger Corman in the USA), so that the whole movie now looks much better than it did on DVD (but it is still quite fuzzy due to its old age), and the extended scenes are only marginally of lower quality. So what is this movie? I decide to classify it as Drama but it is often sold as Horror, Musical, Exploitation, Black comedy and it is indeed a bit of all. The whole interest of the movie is in the dramatic contrast between the catholic Police officer and the pagan population of the island, illustrated by some nude scenes (for the Exploitation label) or chanted ones (thus the Musical). Sometimes this contrast is so strong that it makes laugh (the Black comedy part) and finally only the ending is slightly Horrific. There are also parts of Thriller and Police investigation. It is definitely a Genre movie because the story is not told in a classic way. The atmosphere is unique  and I enjoyed in particular the chanted scenes which are actually fully part of the action (I didn't remember that) and for which I could now fully appreciate the lyrics thanks to sub-titles. This whole mix made it difficult to sell and distribute the movie in the 70's, and it also makes it difficult to describe it to you. But it quickly attained Cult status and I can confess I regard it like that. It had a strong influence on a generation of movie directors as shown in the Blu-ray extras: Eli Roth (Hostel, The Green Inferno), Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers), James Watkins (The Woman in Black), ... After visionning I can also notice the influence on Edgar Wright and his Hot Fuzz, police investigation taking place is a small isolated village whose inhabitants follow different rules to ensure the survival of the community, a movie that includes in its cast... Edward Woodward.
Rating: 9 /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

Push (2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Paul McGuigan (Sherlock TV-series - 4 episodes)
	Actors: Camilla Belle (Jurassik Park 2: the Lost World), Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds, Man of Fire), Chris Evans (The Fantastic Four 1-2, Captain America 1-2), Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 19.01.2015, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: The agency known as Division kidnaps kids with special abilities (fortune telling, telekinesis, ...) in order to increase their potential and build an army. Three of them (Evans, Belle & Fanning) end up together in a scheme that could change the future.
Review: I was expecting a kind of super-power movie for teenagers like I am Number Four but the actors in this one are not that young except for Dakota Fanning who actually plays the best. When I see I gave 2/10 to I am Number Four, I can't give more than 1/10 to Push because it doesn't haven have the nice display of special effects that the other one has. This kind of movie was common some years ago (see also Jumper, and in a different style Hancock) but this one is really a failure and underuses its plot and actors until the flaccid ending. To be avoided.
Rating: 1 /10

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest Hotel)
	Actors: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis (Die Hard 1-5), Edward Norton (Fight Club), Frances McDormand (Fargo), Harvey Keithel (From Dusk Till Dawn), Bill Murray (Groundhog Day)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 18.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: 12-years old scout Sam (Gilman) flees his camp and is joined by Suzy (Hayward) who left her family. The whole island will be looking for the two young lovers, from their parents (Murray & McDormance) to the police (Willis) and the scout masters (Norton & Keithel).
Review: After loving The Grand Budapest Hotel, I was definitely interested by watching Wes Anderson's previous movie. In Moonrise Kingdom I could recognize many characteristic elements: caricatured roles, exceptional setting (a tropical storm vs. the World War), many known actors, mathematical framing and camera motions, offbeat humour. The style is very similar (although not as colorful) but the topic is very different. Here we deal with a young couple precociously entering adult life, displayed in some scenes slightly disturbing when played by 12-years old actors (intimacy scenes). The whole movie looks like a prelude to the style Wes Anderson ultimately mastered in The Grand Budapest Hotel, but less good on all counts: not as funny, colorful, mathematical.... I wonder if his other films also look the same.
Rating: 6 /10

Drive (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher 1-3, Valhalla Rising)
	Actors: Ryan Gosling (Crazy Stupid Love, All Good Things), Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby), Bryan Cranston (Godzilla), Ron Perlman (Pacific Rim)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 16.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: He is a gifted escape driver (Gosling), living a simple life outside of that. He gets closer to his neighbour Irene (Mulligan), until his routine live unexpectedly changes.
Review: I know of Nicolas Winding Refn (or NWR) since I watched and loved his Pusher trilogy at a period when I discovered Danish cinema, so I was curious to see his first American movie after the two British co-productions Valhalla Rising and Bronson, rather disappointing to me. There was a lot of talk around Drive when it went out but in the end I think people didn't really like it, probably because there were expecting something more in the line Fast & Furious. And the is understandable: there are indeed very few car chase scenes in the movie. Instead, there are (very) long introductory scenes in which the hero barely utters a word, and some shock scenes which may have startled the ones not accustomed to WFR's style (just watch Pusher 3: The Angel of Death to see how far he can go). But there are a few chase scenes, in particular the opening one, which are very well done and with an amazing soundtrack and sound mixing. The 70's-80's soundtrack across the whole movie is pleasant and the Blu-ray rendering of it is one of the best I have ever encountered. No wonder Drive got nominated at the Academy Awards for best achievement in sound editing. I also liked the beautiful aerial night shots of Los Angeles, something very hard to achieve in good quality, even the night Hong-Kong scenes in The Dark Knight Returns don't look that good. It is nice to see Ron Perlman (I like this actor) in a role of bastard that ressembles his one in the Sons of Anarchy TV-series. So definitely a good movie for me (and I like the unexpected excesses of violence), but slow and quiet outside of the action scenes. Maybe because Ryan Gosling does not show his best side when he speaks. We have seen him in other productions from around or after that time (Crazy Stupid Love, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Ides of March, Only God Forgives, All Good Things, not bad for the former Young Hercules) and he is indeed not talking much in some of those roles, but not all. In Drive it was also part of the Driver character.
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

Sherlock - Season 2 (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Creators: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat
	Actors: Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit 1-3), Martin Freeman (The Hobbit 1-3, Fargo TV-series), Una Stubbs
	Country: USA, GB
	Genre: Polar
	Conditions of visioning: January 2015, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: The inseparable duo Sherlock Holmes and Watson (Crumberbatch & Freeman) are getting known thanks to Watson's blog and they get to work for more and more important cases, including for the government.
Review: All the generalities I wrote in the review of the the first season are still valid (excellent adaptation to modern times, great actors that bring life to their roles), with some improvement of music and editing (seeming to converge to a stable identity) so I will jump directly to the episode detail. The first one A Scandal in Belgravia takes its time to develop a complex story between several characters and their many interactions and exchanges of superiority. Sherlock meets the only person that ever left him defeated (according to the novel), and a woman on top of that (Irene Adler) who gives him a hard time. Then comes The Hounds of Baskerville adapted from one of the most famous Sherlock stories, and which already led to a movie (in 1959) with Christopher Lee which terrified me when I saw it as a kid, and which DVD has been in my Amazon basket for a while (I definitely need to see it again). That story was modified a lot and we are very far from the gothic horror of the 50-60's, which makes this episode one of my least favorite although it contains some good moments. Finally the Reichenbach Fall's title reminds to the reader of a location that will have a critical impact in the life of Sherlock Holmes. The episode deals with the same thematics (the confrontation with Moriarty, also shown in the poor movie version A Game of Shadows) but is unfortunately restricted to the London urban environment. Because of relatively weaker episodes in terms of story, although the technical quality is improved, I like this season less than the first (also the surprise effect has passed).
Rating: 6 /10

Sherlock - season 1 (2010)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2010
	Creators: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat
	Actors: Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit 1-3), Martin Freeman (The Hobbit 1-3, Fargo TV-series), Una Stubbs
	Country: USA, GB
	Genre: Polar
	Conditions of visioning: January 2015, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Crumberbatch) takes Doctor Watson (Freeman) as flatmate and involves him in his crime-solving passion.
Review: I started to watch this series because it is proposed on Netflix (and was produced by them) and features two actors that I often see those days (in The Hobbit, Fargo and/or Star Trek). I didn't really know what to expect, so I was at first surprised to see that the series is a transposition of the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective into the 21st Century. As mentioned in my previous review of the animated series Sherlock Holmes, I have been reading the original novel so I am quite familiar with the stories. My second discovery was of the talent with which the transposition was done by the creators, film-makers and quite importantly the actor: brilliant Benedict Crumberbatch and no-less perfect casting for Martin Freeman. I was indeed amazed to see how well the classical investigation stories were relevant to our time as well. A hard-to-solve murder will always be one. And the means used by the hero have not changed: deduction, deduction and more deduction. Crumberbatch is definitely perfect for the role, and he managed to give life to this peculiar character thanks to odd habits (reminding of the modern Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory) and quickness of speech (very hard to follow for a non-native speaker). Many fine details from the novel are present and are infinitely better reproduced than in the American movie versions starring Robert Downey Jr. (see the review of A Game of Shadows for example): the addiction to cocaine is cleverly replaced by one to nicotine, Sherlock is overly bored when he has no case to work on and overly excited when people die, telegrams are replaced by SMS, Sherlock always jumps in a cab when exiting his apartment (motor replaced horses), the novels by Watson are replaced by a Blog.... All of them excellent ideas. What annoys me a little is the music (too present) and the editing (often too fast for no reason). Also I found Moriarty too young for the part, but all in all he was very well introduced and the actor (Andrew Scott) brings something very special to the role. Sherlock's brother Mycroft is more present than in the novel but that's alright. Each season is composed of only three 1.5-hour episodes. In this first season one can see A Study in Pink the necessary introduction episode that baffled me, The Blind Banker a well-shot investigation that deepens the relationship between the two heroes, and The Great Game in which we truly see Sherlock at his best (he is solving mystery after mystery) and he gets to meet his archenemy. Definitely a great first season and a cliffhanger that forced me to watch the second season right after.
Rating: 8 /10