The place beyond the pines (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Derek Cianfrance
	Actors: Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling, Dane DeHaan, Ray Liotta
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 10.06.2013,Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: A motorcycle stunt rider turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for his lover and their newborn child, a decision that puts him on a collision course with an ambitious rookie cop navigating a department ruled by a corrupt detective.
Review: The movie has been awaited by many co of Ryan Gosling. Well, his role is small and really good. But the movie offers much better and I am not speaking about Eva Mendes. No, the storyline is interesting, with the different phases, so that it looks more like a small series than like a movie. The acting of Dane DeHaan was really good for a complex and multiaspect role. Thescenery had nothing special, except that we see a couple of times pines and think: "Now I understand why the title is..." But no, thesevisible pines have nothing important. I would like that the title is coming from the aspect of a personality hiding beyond the surface and the appearances. Many roles reflect this idea.
Rating: 4 /10

The Punisher (1989)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1989
	Director: Mark Goldblatt (editor of The Terminator, Starship Troopers, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys 2, ...)
	Actors: Dolph Lundgren (Universal Soldier, Rocky 4, The Expendables 1-2), Louis Gossett Jr., Jeroen Krabbé
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 05.06.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: For five years after his family was murdered by a criminal organization and he was left for dead, Frank Castle (Lundgren) has been hunting the crimials under the nickname of The Punisher. The head of that organization comes back to town.
Review: One of the few comics book (this one from Marvel) that was adapted in the 80's, long before the wave that started in the years 2000 with Spiderman in particular. I saw The Punisher years ago and had the memory of a cheap 80's polar. It still looks like this on the brand new Blu-ray edition, but with a nice high definition image. The sound however is very poor and high pitched, probably since the original recording: gun shots and explosions miss some bass. But beyond the cheap 80's feeling, there is a dark story of a man dispatching his own version of Justice, a vigilante (not unlike Batman). The tall and muscular Dolph Lungren seems like the perfect cast, he never smiles and is dead focussed on his objective: the guilty will be punished. I find it a very good choice to stage the action years after the trauma that created the vigilante, and not to spend the movie describing this phase, like it is done in almost every "super-hero" comics adaptation. An interesting detail is the role of Japanese groups slowly taking over America, which is typical of some movies of he same period like Die Hard or Robocop 3. Even if it looks cheap, I found this movie much stronger than the 2004 remake with John Travolta. I heard that the 2008 version (Punisher: War zone) is not too bad, I should try to get it.
Rating: 7 /10

X-men: First Class (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Kick-Ass)
	Actors: James McAvoy (Wanted), Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds, Prometheus), Kevin Bacon (Stir of Echoes, Friday 13th), Rose Byrne (Knowing)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 30.05.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: In 1962, the future Professor X (McAvoy) and Magneto (Fassbender) will first meet to fight a common ennemy in the person of Sebastian Shaw (Bacon). Mutants will for the first time fight against or alongside the rest of the humans.
Review: A prequel to the successful X-men trilogy by Bryan Singer could have been a flop, when we see how the Wolverine spin-offs turned out (well, let's see the new one soon). However it is not the case, mainly thanks to a solid story that plays the card of "how it all began". The connection with the trilogy is well done. The three main characters and even the secondary ones are interesting (maybe to the exception of some Mutants) and well played. The parallel with real History (the crisis of the Cuban missiles) is funny, and helps a lot making us believe in a world in which Mutants exist. The ending is in line with the classical theme of the X-men mythology: how do humans behave in the face of the unknown other. On top of all, the image and sound quality are crystal clear. I am now looking forward to X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
Rating: 8 /10

English - Vinglish (2012)

	Also Known As: Englisch für Anfänger
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Gauri Shinde
	Actors: Sridevi, Adil Hussain, Priya Anand
	Country: IND
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 03.06.2013, Schauburg, OV Sneak preview
Synopsis: A quiet, sweet tempered housewife endures small slights from her well-educated husband and daughter everyday because of her inability to speak and understand English. Until the family goes to Ney-York for the wedding of her niece.
Review: The story line might be light and simple, but the topics are modern and important, like the segregation of migrants in Western countries, like the respect within the family, like the classes generated by different education. Even if the music makes it digestible, these topics are brought to the right point. As half European half South-American, I encountered these often for me and for my family. The movie is full of clichés, but these are not exagerated so that the goal of the story-line is reached.  The scenery and acting are ok. In total, a very pleasant comedy.
Rating: 7 /10

To the wonder (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Terrence Malick
	Actors: Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, Tatiana Chiline
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 02.06.2013, Atlantis, German
Synopsis: Neil comes back from France with Marina, a sudden love. In Oklahoma, the love is disturbed by other love stories.
Review: This movie about love, how it feels, how it comes, how it breaks. All from the feeling point of view. Malick does not show a story, he shows the essence of the love stories. At least he tries. The falling in love, the joy and the missing physical love by Olga Kurylenko, the doubts on love by Rachel McAdams, the love of mankind by Javier Bardem. The difficulty is that all is very abstract and not much information is flowing. The position and angles of camera views are very creative. The lack of choregraphy and movement are very arty. The movie seems to be an experimental movie done by a student. But where a student would have stopped after one hour, not only for financial reasons, Malick continues over almost two hours.
Rating: 4 /10

Promised land (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Gus van Sant
	Actors: Matt Damon, Hal Holbrook, Rosemarie DeWitt
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 27.05.2013, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview
Synopsis: A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources using controversial fracking.
Review: The topic is incredible modern in Europe, as fracking is a method that some big companies try to push in Europe while civil groups and environmentalists try to ban it. For people interested in the topic, this movie is very good, as this shows not much the technology in the background but more the mentality of affected people. All this is based on and inspired by real stories from the USA. Hopefully, this movie will have a major impact in Europe, as it is lead by well-known director and actors. The story keeps some tricky surprises using the same weapons as the criticised entity. The quiet and controlled soundtrack allows focusing on the peaceful people and landscape to enhance its nature and honesty. Rosemarie DeWitt shows also a promising talent.
Rating: 6 /10

The Great Gatsby (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Baz Luhrmann (Australia, Moulin Rouge, Romeo+Juliet)
	Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, The Beach), Tobey Maguire (Spiderman 1-3), Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton
	Country: AUS, USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 26.05.2013, Schauburg
Synopsis: Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.
Review: The movie shows more the love in Gatsby and less the gossip of the NY society and the weaknesses of Daisy than the book, according to my remaining traces of the novel. Carey Mulligan does not make much, but she looks beautiful in the 20s style. The scenery had one brilliant idea. Using modern party pop music to show the atmosphere in parties of the jazzy 20s. The dialogues and the scenery show this way a bit the message of the movie on the acceptance of new rich, of new success stars in the establishment. After the two and half hours, I did not feel bored, and this is already something valuable.
Rating: 6 /10

Willow (1988)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1988
	Director: Ron Howard (Apollo 13)
	Actors: Val Kilmer (Red Planet, The Saint, Twixt), Joanne Whalley (Navy Seals, Twixt), Warwick Davis (Harry Potter 1-7)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 28.05.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Fulfilling a prophecy, a little girl is born that threatens the rule of evil queen Bavmorda. The child will end up under the responsibility of wannabe-sorcerer Willow (Davis) and he will be helped in his dangerous journey by the bandit Madmardigan (Kilmer).
Review: After Who Framed Roger Rabbit, another movie I hadn't seen in a long time, and actually from the same year 1988. A bit like Space Operas, Heroic Fantasies are too rare for any to be ignored. However there is no need for special indulgence to watch Willow, it is one of the best of the genre, after Conan the Barbarian (1980) and in the same spirit as Dark Crystal or The Neverending Story but without the puppets and more mature. I was surprised to see how much it takes from the Bible (the prophecy child abandonned in the river like Moses) and the original story of The Lord of the Rings (a small person becomes unvoluntarily the bearer of a task that will take him on a journey to defeat evil). Interesting choice to give the leading role to a small person, and to show a hundred of them in their own village! The defects of the optical special effects are clearly visible on this Blu-Ray edition, but they were very ambitious for the time  and I was specially amazed by the tiny persons that walk around and are visible in people's pockets, and some morphing effects that were groundbreaking at the time. The story in the second half lack a bit of ambition but that doesn't affect the global good opinion I have about this movie.
Rating: 7 /10

The Hangover Part III (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Todd Phillips (Starsky & Hutch, The Hangover 1&2)
	Actors: Zach Galifianakis (Due Date), Bradley Cooper (The A-team), Justin Bartha (National Treasure), Ed Helms, Ken Jeong (Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon), John Goodman (The Big Lebowski)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 02.06.2013, CINEMA theater
Synopsis: The wolf pack is back... again. They agree to bring Alan (Galifianakis) for a day in a special institution, but those plans will be disturbed by Marshall (Goodman) looking for Chow (Jeong) who recently escaped from his thai prison.
Review: A nice conclusion to the trilogy, but the weakest of the three. Changing the basic concept was a good intention (looking for clues to find Chow instead of clues to find what happened last night), and it brings a bit more depth to the movie compared to the two previous. But apart from a few classic moments, the rythm is quite slow and the fun not really up to the expectations. Too bad.
Rating: 5 /10

The grand master (2013)

	Also Known As: Yi dai zong shi
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Wong Kar Wai
	Actors: Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang
	Country: CN, HK, USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 20.05.2013, Schauburg, OV Sneak preview
Synopsis: Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family.
Review: After having seen Ip Man by Wilson Yip as a real action movie with historical background, Wong Kar Wai shows an historical movie with action background. But inversely to other Chinese epos, the conflict is shown as purely North martial art school against South martial school, without explaining why, nor the importance of this type of school in China. This way, the storyline may be understood by Chinese people, but not really by others. The fight rivality or the love story could have been also shown more to pepper the story. Very boring story. The picture composition and the light are brilliant as it sometimes focuses on the important things and sometimes enhances the meaning of the story. But this is the main gift of Wong Kar Wai, as his previous In the mood for love and 2046.
Rating: 4 /10