Unacknowledged (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Michael Mazzola
	Actors: Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian), Steven M. Greer, Carl Sagan
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 10.08.2020, VOD, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: This Documentary focuses on the historic files of the Disclosure Project and how UFO secrecy has been ruthlessly enforced – and why.
Review: After watching too many videos about the Flat Earth phenomenon (like the documentary Behind the Curve), and the movie Capricorn One linked to the conspiracy theory around the Moon landings, I wanted to get updated on the status of UFO and Aliens sightings. My latest information was that there were much less sightings now that everybody has a camera in their pocket than 30 years ago when such sightings were recorded on blurry grainy films. This was to me a strong argument that all those proofs were fake. Unacknowledged is revolving around a man called Steven M. Greer, founder of the Disclosure Project, a project which seeks the disclosure of allegedly classified secret UFO information, from the American government and Military. His project has gathered an incredible amount of evidence (films and testimonies) that not only Earth was visited by an Alien spaceship which crashed in Roswell in the 50's, but that there are many many more of such visits, that they are kept a secret (even from governments) or discredited by the industrial-military complexes of the World, in order to keep on making profit from oil, staged wars, and ultimately faking an Alien invasion which will result in the maximum benefit for them. Waw, this seems far-fetched but Greer (who they keep on insisting is a Doctor) looks like a sane guy and has organized proofs, not like the deniers who believe the Earth is flat. The problem a little bit is that I don't know how much one can trust the poor-quality leaked scans presented as proofs, and even less the testimonies of humans. It is known that many people would tell tons of lies if it gave them some celebrity. Also, how are some of those people allowed to talk about such secrets, as they were or still are employed by governments (like high-ranking military or CIA former officials)? Technically the Documentary is well-done and conveys its message (and the voice of Giancarlo Esposito is a plus), although it clearly takes the side of the conspirationists. Steven M. Greer is co-producing it after all. Sure, it would be great to know of Aliens visits if they were true but I am still not convinced. Maybe I would need to see a study of video proofs, showing possible Earth-based explanations for many of them, but also a list of the ones which cannot yet be explained.
Rating: 5 /10

The Berlin Bride (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Michael Bartlett
	Actors: Taylor Baldschun, Michael Bartlett, Brynmor Jones
	Country: USA, D
	Genre: Drama, Thriller, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 02.07.2020, FANTASPOA2020, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: Two oddball Berliners discover the abandoned appendages of a mannequin. Separately, and with grotesque consequence, they come to terms with their disjointed mate.
Review: From the synopsis and the poster of the movie, I was expecting more of a Giallo (or something like Anguish) and didn't get much of it apart from the strange mannequin fetishism and the setting in the 80's. Those are also the two best things in this movie. I am in particular amazed at how the director could recreate the Berlin of 1986 in its exterior scenes, in spite of a probable low budget. It is also remarkable to see this kind of production in Europe and I can only encourage it. Finally another characteristic of the movie is that it is almost without dialogs, apart from a few lines in German or English, which makes it easy to watch for anybody even without sub-titles. The rest of the movie feels sometimes like a psychedelic trip, as we see the mannequin taking a more and more important part in the life of our two protagonists, both weird in their own way. A movie unfortunately not as rich and memorable as I thought it would be.
Rating: 5 /10

Fried Barry (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Ryan Kruger
	Actors: Gary Green, Brett Williams, Joey Cramer
	Country: ZA
	Genre: Horror, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 29.07.2020, FANTASPOA2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: Barry (Green) is a low-life heroin-addicted father of one. After a party evening he is abducted by aliens and then takes a backseat as an alien visitor assumes control of his body and takes it for a joyride through Cape Town.
Review: Again, after Precarious, I am thankful for a Film Festival (the Brazilian FANTASPOA) to show me this kind of movie which I would otherwise see nowhere else. South African productions are also pretty rare, but we all remember the great District 9. Fried Barry looks cheap in comparison, but they are not made to be compared. It is thrilling and hilarious to see Barry go from one incredible adventure to the next, all of them filled with drugs, sex and violence in the suburbs of Cape Town. It keeps on getting crazier until a relative pause and then the final chapter. The actor playing Barry is great at transmitting the feeling of a guy already lost in the first place but in addition controlled by an alien. The whole movie reminds me of the craziness in The Greasy Strangler but less disgusting. I also love the cinematography, mostly at night and in streets or clubs illuminated by bright colorful neon lights. This sets a nice atmosphere. Extravagant until the end. Recommended if you need some craziness in you life, at least for one hour and forty minutes.
Rating: 6 /10

MARS - Season 2 (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Creators: André Bormanis, Mickey Fisher, Karen Janszen
	Actors: Jihae, Alberto Ammann, Clémentine Poidatz
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary, SF
	Conditions of visioning: July-August 2020, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: 2018: Experts discuss the challenges which await a permanent Human base on Mars, in particular the collaboration with private companies. 2042: terraforming progresses on the Red Planet, but living there is not easy and gets more complicated when the company Lukrum lands and start exploiting the planet's resources.
Review: I loved the first season of this series for its original mix of up-to-date Documentary, mostly interviews of people having something to say about the conquest of the solar system, and Science Fiction, not blockbuster-level but realistic and anchored in a probable Future. The second season is basically more of the same, except that this time the focus is not anymore on the motivation and means to reach the Red Planet, but the effects (on people) of staying there and even more present: the relationship between government-led agencies and private corporations. This is the heavy topic of the season, and quite timely I would say in those years when NASA has successfully sens astronauts to the International Space Station using the private company SpaceX's rockets. Of course its CEO Elon Musk is still part of the interviewees in the series. The Documentary/interviews parts are informative, but nothing you couldn't find on YouTube. The Fiction parts project the audience in the Future and make the predictions more palpable. We get to see the characters we learned to love in the first season and meet new ones. By the way I advice watching a recap like this one on YouTube if you have forgotten about the details of the first season. The Fiction is of course dramatized with coincidences and extra tension build-up, but it is still very facts-based and you can watch it like a Documentary of the future, not like pure SF using technology which doesn't make sense. I hope they keep on with a third season, maybe taking place when the population has really started to grow, and parallels made with the settling of the USA in the 1800's and at some point the will for independence. Well that comes later in the future and is already the topic of The Expanse.
Rating: 6 /10

Beuys (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Andres Veiel
	Actors: -
	Country: D
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 07.10.2018, arte.tv, German/English version
Synopsis: Who is Joseph Beuys, seen via his art?
Review: Since yesterday and the viewing of the great Werk ohne Autor, I am longing to know more about this German artist who I pigeonholed in the early 2000s. I may have been too narrow-minded at that time. Therefore I want to give Beuys a second chance. The documentary reveals from Beuys unstructured information. First some of his experiences during WWII, then some of his major artistic pieces such as "I like America and America likes me" and his tendency for performance, and finally his political engagement. What I got from this is more curiosity for the artist as this documentary only gives few hints here and there about the artist and person without giving a clear picture of him. The movie is a mix of sources. From the cut and story-telling it seems rather a summary of the media life of Beuys than really a documentary on him. Some interview of key persons of his life would have been great. Therefore to be continued...
Rating: 6 /10

Precarious (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Wes Terray
	Actors: Juliana Frick, Dashiell Hillman, Andrey Pfening
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 29.07.2020, FANTASPOA2020, 14"computer screen.
Synopsis: After being shot with arrows by a mysterious woman, Henry (Pfening) is held by the Police at the Doctor's office from where he then escapes.
Review: I had a good feeling when deciding to watch this movie and was not disappointed. The opening credits put you right in the mood for it: slowly moving camera over pieces of props with the crew's names on it, and the title made out of folded pages of a book, as shown on the photo below this post. Who nowadays makes the effort to design such a sequence? In Precarious, it was the director Wes Terry and his Art director Louise Franco who both did a fantastic job at giving the movie this special 60's atmosphere, sometimes reminding of an episode of The Twilight Zone. I found an interview on Filmink where the director tells you what you need to know about the genesis of the project, and how he could make it happen with just a fixed idea and a reduced crew, albeit it took him seven years to do so. Other members of the crew making the movie what it is are the motivated actors and the composer Ben Eshbach who wrote the melodies which carry the audience along the adventure. You have to love the attention to details in the movie and the perfect framing. Hard to believe the sets were all built in the director's apartment! There are a few moments throughout the movie that give it away however, and hint that it was produced with limited means: the acting at some moments, the cheapness of some set pieces, the lighting and the sound recording. But this is easily forgiven for a first full-length feature, and in comparison with the richness of other aspects. I love that the movie takes its time to reveal the characters and what this is all about, this practice has become far too rare in modern cinema where you are usually thrown into the action by fear that you wold zap to another channel, because who watches full movies in a (home-)cinema nowadays? The way the mystery slowly unravels reminded me of movies by David Lynch, also maybe partly because of the resemblance between the main actor Andrey Pfening and Lynch's favorite Kyle MacLachlan (in Blue Velvet for example). A nice discovery which makes me ever more happy to follow movie Festivals.
Rating: 7 /10

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Kevin Smith (Clerks 1-2, Tusk, Dogma)
	Actors: Kevin Smith (Live Free or Die Hard), Jason Mewes (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), Harley Quinn Smith (Yoga Hosers)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 27.07.2020, VOD, 14" computer  screen.
Synopsis: Small-time drug dealers Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) learn that a reboot movie is being made from their characters (again) but this time to the point that their are robbed of their names. They can't let that slide and head to Hollywood to stop the production.
Review: Legendary independent filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks) doesn't direct much anymore those days, except when he chooses to because he has some something to say (like in Red State in 2011), a great idea (like for Tusk in 2014) or wants to go back to his favorite characters like in Yoga Hosers in 2016, this movie or the announced Clerks 3. Jay and Silent Bob Reboot looks a bit cheap and has the same feel as his most recent Yoga Hosers, i.e. a movie which doesn't want to waste time with details perfection but rather focus on characters, dialogs and winks to the audience. And that's fine with me. The beginning especially feels odd, too much directed towards the camera, but once the story gets going I was not distracted anymore. In fact, the movie gets better and better with a third act similar in scope to the one in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. There are tons of reference throughout the movie, from obvious winks by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to their previous movies (funny the one by Affleck about his Batman roles), to more obscure references to characters in past Smith movies ("Fifteen bucks, little man, put that shit, in my hand!"). Indeed, all movies from the View Askewniverse are quoted and part of the story, but all other movies by Smith as well except maybe for Red State, his only "serious" one. Even though the movie has ups and downs, I will gladly watch it again to catch more of those details. Past movies are mentioned but past characters are also present, some of them I had forgotten which reminds me that I haven't seen some of his movies in a long time and I should correct that. There are also cameos by plenty of new friends of the director, like Val Kilmer. A must-see for any Kevin Smith fan.
Rating: 6 /10

Extraction (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Sam Hargrave
	Actors: Chris Hemsworth (Thor 1-3, Avengers 1-4, The Cabin in the Woods), Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, War
	Conditions of visioning: 23.07.2020, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: Tyler Rake (Hemsworth), a fearless black market mercenary, embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he's enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son (Jaiswal) of an imprisoned international crime lord.
Review: Another Netflix Original production. They are getting better at delivering those movies for a niche audience. This one's particularity is that it is produced by the Russo brothers (Avengers: Infinity and Endgame), durected by the stunt coordinator on a bunch of Marvel movies, and stars the beloved actor playing Thor in those movies. The story is exciting and exotic, confronting India and Bangladesh drug lords and taking place in the capital of the latter: Dhaka. Another characteristic of the movie is that it is brutal: executing children, showing the worst of society and a total body count in the 200, most of them shot in the head. That would then be my first problem with the movie: it is shot like a video game, enemies appearing slowly and unprepared in the hero's field of view just to be shot. On the other hand, the shooting style is very immersive, in particular the 12-minute shot looking like one long continuous take the movie is praised for. That is something I like to see. My other problem is still with the enemies. It is hard for filmmakers to find bad guys in the movies that we don't mind watching die. It usually helps when they are thugs, hired bad guys (like in the recent Rambo: Last Blood which displays a similarly high kill count), aliens or members of the opposing military. For example I would hate to see in an undercover cop movie the hero let another cop be shot to protect his cover. Some filmmakers are very aware of that, like Josh Wedon, showrunner of the TV-series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as from the first episodes he insists on equipping his agents with non-lethal weapons. In Extraction, the guys shot by our hero are mostly soldiers doing their job, and it only helps a little that it is in a far-away country and we don't see their faces under helmets. It still disturbed me and took me out of the movie. But if you are simply looking for change of scenery in a violently satisfying action flick with immersive scenes, go for it!
Rating: 5 /10

Capricorn One (1977)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1977
	Director: Peter Hyams (2010, Timecop, The Relic)
	Actors: Elliott Gould (Friends, Ocean 11), James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, O. J. Simpson (The Naked Gun)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 28.07.2020, VOD, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: About to be launched on the first flight to Mars, the team of astronauts is discreetly evacuated and led to a hidden location in the desert while the mission goes on without them.
Review: I had heard about this movie in the past, but now that I stumbled on it again while watching YouTube videos and reading Wikipedia entries about the conspiracy theory around the 1969 Moon landing, I had to see it. Released eight years only after Apollo 11, the movie is indeed quoted as it "might have given a boost to the hoax theory's popularity". Regardless, I found it a great and original topic for a Space Exploration movie, like I found with the vaguely similar twist in the 2014 mini-series Ascension. In the Cold War times where failure was not an option, it is interesting to see a movie exploring the question of faking success. And I found that the political and scientific context are well represented in the movie. The secret being kept by very few people is also more credible than a NASA-wide conspiracy which would be impossible to keep under wraps. What I found not so well done in the movie is the lack of excitement by the people on Earth for the first step on Mars. The tension of getting there and the culmination of the trip are not very well shown. The action on Earth is also not very exciting, the helicopter chases too choreographed and the music too present. And I found the image quality to be poor, not from the movie transfer to digital format, but apparently from the camera optics themselves (like I noted in The Final Countdown for example). But this is balanced by the more thrilling investigation by the journalist played by Elliott Gould, even though his near assassinations are strangely downplayed. An imperfect movie, but one I had to see.
Rating: 5 /10

The Old Guard (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
	Actors: Charlize Theron (Monster, Mad Max: Fury Road), KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 27.07.2020, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: A covert team of immortal mercenaries are suddenly exposed and must now fight to keep their identity a secret just as an unexpected new member is discovered.
Review: If there is a hype around this new Netflix movie, I don't understand it. OK it is a nice Fantasy story a-la-Highlander but where the Immortals are few and save others, while avoiding being discovered. The movie is well-made, Charlize Theron's performance is carrying it and there is enough action and violence to please the audience. The bad guy is also very antipathetic as head of a Big Pharma company, something which nobody likes either so it is easy to take sides. The Universe building is nice and complete but a bit too obviously pointing towards sequels. For some reason the movie left me unsatisfied. Maybe I was expecting too much of it. I didn't get as attached to the characters (and the adventures they went through) as I could have, except for the story of the loss of a former Immortal which left me having nightmares. The Old Guard is better than other Netflix failed attempts, but I didn't find it exceptional.
Rating: 5 /10