In 1969, an old Indiana Jones, broken by the death of his son in the war and separated from Marion, is finally retiring from his teaching job. He is visited by Helena, the daughter of his friend Basil Shaw, who seeks an artifact that Indy and Shaw took from some looting Nazis in 1944 and that Indy had promised her father that he would destroy: the Dial of Destiny (or half of it). However the artifact falls into the hands of an old Nazis (somehow helped by the CIA). Ensue a long chase through New York, Morocco and Greece to recover the artifact, finds clues to the location of its second half, recover it and prevent the ex-Nazis to change the course of history.
Meh. If the movie offers good action and is quite faithful to the character, it has nothing really new. My greater complain is that, of course, the Antikythera mechanism (the so-called dial of destiny) didn’t looked like that in reality when it was found, but it is nevertheless a very good plot device for the movie. There are also too many chase and fighting scenes to my taste. I would rather have had more scenes with Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse. The effects for the “de-aged” scenes (in the intro) are quite impressive — but no wonder that the advent of A.I. in movies are worrying the Actors’ Guild as they might not be needed anymore in a near future. Too bad it will also likely be the last Indiana Jones movie.
Over all, if it is not a very exciting movie (rated only 6.6 on IMDb or 69 % on RT), it is still quite enjoyable and entertaining.
“Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
It has been a while since I’ve been surprised by a movie with a really original story…
A CIA agent find himself involved in a temporal war. I don’t know how much more I should say about the story without giving any spoilers… Consider yourself WARNED[just highlight to read]. People in a future earth ravaged by climate change try to save themselves by destroying their past — with a time f*ck up. Obviously they don’t believe in the Grand-Father Paradox. But another faction don’t want to take that risk and try to stop the plan. All is fought in our now…(END OF WARNING!).
It is a great movie with good action and an interesting story. The storytelling is obviously complex and I am sure that there’s holes in the storyline — you really have to pay attention — but at some point I don’t really care. I just want to be entertained and to enjoy the movie. It makes the most beautifully fascinating use of the Sator Square ! It was great and it is really worth watching.
Spring is not just the time to do some maintenance around the house. It’s a good time to do it for the blog too. I haven’t updated the Bibliography and indexes of Book reviews as well as Movie & TV series reviews in over a year! It’s a lot of work but it helps the readers to find their way around the blog.
It’s also a good time to look back at statistics. In those fifteen months I have posted 417 posts (an average of 27.8 per month) and received 7068 visitors (an average of 471.2 per month). This includes about 90 book reviews and 45 movie & TV series reviews — that’s a good ratio 2/1 of books vs media reviews! Overall, since its beginning in late 2017, this blog has produced 1041 posts and has received 24,110 views, 11,655 visitors and 141 followers. It’s good as the blog is getting better, but those numbers are no where near the stats I was getting with my previous hosting service. I don’t know what WordPress is doing, but it’s doesn’t reach as many people. I guess I’ll have to pay more to get more exposure…
In this list, I have left out the blog entries that were mostly pictures or short reflection — it’s worth mentioning if it’s over fifty words. Check it out after the jump >>
“Crazy Rich Asians follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore and meets Nick’s family for the first time. It soon becomes clear that the only thing crazier than love is family.”[Text from the DVD cover]
“(…) Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick’s arm puts a target on Rachel’s back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick’s own disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh) taking aim. And it soon becomes clear that while money can’t buy love, it can definitely complicate things.”[Text from the official website]
This Rom com, based on the best-seller by Kevin Kwan, is a very funny — but still touching — movie about how unhealthily rich some Chinese have become and how some of them like to rub it in your face! It also has all the romantic imbroglio very typical of the genre.
Despite being a rare Hollywood movie with an all-Asian cast (and directed by Jon M. Chu, a dance-loving chinese-american), it was criticized for selecting bi-racial actors or actors from other Asian origins to portray Chineses or for not including actors from non-Chinese Singaporean ethnic groups (like from Malay or Indian origins). Who cares? It was a great box office success (earning eight time its budget) and received favourable reviews (ratings of 6.9 on IMDb, 91% / 76% on Rotten Tomatoes and 74% on Metacritic). For my part, I greatly enjoyed it. It is a must see.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
“Society matron Norma Carlisle (Elizabeth McGovern) volunteers to accompany future Jazz Age star and free spirit Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) for a summer in New York. But why does she want to go? It’s a story full of surprises — about who these women really are, and who they eventually become. Written by Julian Fellowes and based on the beloved novel by Laura Moriarty.”
In the mid-1920s, Wichita resident and apparently meek housewife Norma Carlisle agrees to chaperones a fifteen year-old Louise Brooks to New York City, where she will study dance at the famous Denishawn school. Brooks, free from her overbearing parents, wants to experiment and explore, while Carlisle appears austere. However, they will finds common grounds as they both have their secrets and wounds to heal. It appears that Carlisle has her own agenda in going to NYC as she also seeks freedom…
I found this movie nearly boring, as it lacks excitement. It is a little drab and bland. The acting also shows little spark and emotion. The most interesting part of the movie is its biographical aspects. I learned a lot about Louise Brooks who will move from dancer (first with the Denishawn school troupe and later as a chorus girl with the Ziegfeld Follies) to actress (first in Hollywood with Paramount mostly for silent movies from 1925 to 1929, then in Europe in 1929-30, and back in Hollywood with talkies from 1931-38). She was the quintessential flapper. After falling into oblivion and hardship, her movies were rediscovered in the mid-50s and she reinvented herself with a writing career.
“Alpha is an epic adventure set in the last Ice Age. While on his first hunt with his tribe’s most elite group, a young man is injured and left for dead. Awakening to find himself broken and alone, he must learn to survive and navigate the harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Reluctantly taming a lone wolf abandoned by its pack, the pair learns to rely on each other and become unlikely allies, enduring countless dangers and overwhelming odds in order to find their way home before the deadly winter arrives.” [Promotional text]
This is an interesting action movie which is not only entertaining but can also be educational. Through its storytelling it tries to teach us two concepts: first, how our distant ancestors were living and also how the domestication of the wolf might have happened. It is a nice movie with a beautiful photography (and lots of CGI!) and a very simple story: boy gets hurt and left for dead, boy make friend with a companion of misfortune, and boy tries to survive and come back home. Unfortunately some scenes lack realism and are rather unbelievable.
The movie did well at the box-office (doubling the production cost) and was relatively well received by the critics (with ratings of 6.7 on IMDb and of 80% / 71% on Rotten Tomatoes). It was slightly less appreciated by the audience and what might have hurt it was probably that the viewers had to suffer not only through the “fake” language spoken by the protagonist and his family (we have no idea what kind of language those people were really using) but also the necessary subtitles (the American audience tends to dislike having to “read” a movie).
The people portrayed in this movie are “the solutreans” (which was originally supposed to be the title of the movie). They were early modern humans (Homo sapiens also called “Cro-Magnon”) living in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic (c. 20,000 years ago) and using a sophisticated flint tool-making “industry”. The movie certainly took some artistic license but it looks rather accurate to me.
The movie is quite loveable and entertaining but, personally, it is above all this effort to depict a prehistoric culture that made it interesting. It is worth seeing, mostly for dog lovers and if you are curious about the solutreans.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
“Visionary filmmaker Peter Jackson presents a startling new adventure unlike any you’ve seen before. Hundreds of years after our civilisation was destroyed, a new world has emerged. A mysterious young woman named Hester Shaw leads a band of outcasts in the fight to stop London — now a giant predator city on wheels — from devouring everything in its path.”
In an improbable but quite beautiful steampunk future, cities made themselves mobile in order to gather more ressources and survive the man-made apocalypse. Not much of the technology displayed seems realistic. I doubt that putting the city of London on wheels would be physically possible as the mechanical parts of the engine would crumble under its own weight… Despite the very simple and unoriginal story (young rebels, full of love and thirsty for vengeance, trying to defeat evil and power hungry madmen) the superb background settings and great special effects make this movie very entertaining. Unfortunately, it seems that it was not enough for the audience as it failed at the box office and received low ratings from the critics (6.1 on IMDb, 27% / 49% on Rotten Tomatoes). Interesting facts, the movie is directed by Christian Rivers but has the marks of Peter Jackson all over it (as one of the script writers and producers, sfx by Weta). It is also based on a series of YA novels written by Philip Reeve.
Some critic called it a “steampunk Star Wars”. I see it more as an allegory alluding to western societies which consume (in both meaning of eating and destroying) everything in their path, as opposed to more peaceful and nature-friendly eastern societies. Mortal engines is an intriguing movie that will feed your imagination and provide great entertainment. It’s certainly worth seeing.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
“JJ, aka John Shaft Jr (Usher), may be a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, but to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death, he needs an education only his dad can provide. Absent throughout JJ’s youth, the legendary lock-and-loaded John Shaft (Jackson) agrees to help his progeny navigate Harlem’s heroin-infested underbelly. And while JJ’s own FBI analyst’s badge may clash with his dad’s trademark leather coat, there’s no denying family. Besides, Shaft’s got an agenda of his own, and a score to settle that’s professional and personal.”
JJ Shaft (Jessie T. Usher) is an FBI analyst. When his childhood friend Karim dies in strange circumstances, he decides to investigate despite his boss opposition. He has no choice but to ask the help of his estranged father, former NYPD detective and private investigator John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) — which greatly displeased his mother (Regina Hall). With the extra help of his girlfriend (Alexandra Shipp) and his grand-pa, John Shaft, Sr. (Richard Roundtree), they will attempt to solve the murder and avenge Karim’s death…
This is a funny movie with a high (very high) count of bullets and profanities. It offers a thin and rather unoriginal story wrapped in a series of very entertaining and quite violent action sequences. It is a sort of hommage to a classic blaxploitation legend (four previous movies — three in the 70s with Richard Roundtree [1971, 1972 and 1973] and a 2000 remake with Samuel L. Jackson — and a TV series). That’s it.The movie was not profitable and was scorched by the critics (32% on Rotten Tomatoes) but the viewers seem to have liked it (rated 6.4 on IMDb and audience score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes). Brainless comedy or outdated reboot, I found it entertaining. Check it out and be the judge — but watch it at your own risk, motherf**ker.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
“Brad Pitt gives a powerful performance in the “absolutely enthralling” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone) sci-fi thriller set in space. When a mysterious life-threatening event strikes Earth, astronaut Roy McBride (Pitt) goes on a dangerous mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father (Tommy Lee Jones) and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.”
In a “near future”, astronaut Roy McBride is told that his father — Clifford McBride, lost in a failed intelligent life-seeking mission around Neptune and presumed death — could still be alive. Powerful particules’ flares are hitting Earth and causing dangerous power surges and the authorities think that his father could be creating the flares with the “Lima Project” ship propulsion system which is using dark matter (!). He is sent to Mars, via the Moon, to record a secret message for his father but discovers that the authorities intentions are far more nefarious than he was told. Despite the lack of trust on both side, he manages to board the Cepheus on its way to Neptune in order to find his father and resolve the situation…
The movie is very slow and has little action (mostly when he falls from the “tower” (space elevator?), when he is attacked by pirates on the Moon, when he boards the distressed Norwegian biomedical research space station and when he tries to escape the “Lima Project” ship). It is also filmed in a very theatrical way, with little dialogues as most of the movie is narrated in voice-over by the main character. Therefore it feels a lot like 2001: A Space Odyssey with some influences from Philip K. Dick (the use of mood altering drugs and the constant psych eval — like seen in Blade Runner 2049).
The director, James Gray, said that he wanted a movie with a “realistic depiction of space travel” but I think he was not very successful. The movements of the characters seemed sometime a little odd and often the laws of physics were broken: a twenty-day trip to Mars? Eighty days to Neptune? You can sure have ships with bigger acceleration but I doubt that human would be able to survive them (and they didn’t look like accelerating a lot in the movie). Also, no matter what kind of radio communication you are using (even with a laser beam) you are limited to the speed of light and transmitting a message to Neptune would take some time (certainly over three hours in each direction), therefore you cannot get an immediate response !
It is said that the movie is set in the “near future” and that also is doubtful. Space elevator, significant bases on the Moon, a base on Mars, all this cannot happen in a few decades. Maybe in a couple of centuries, considering how slow humanity has been doing space exploration lately. Also, the world in which the movie is set seems quite interesting — even if it is barely glimpsed at. Everything looks computer controlled, people are kept on a tight leash with constant psych eval and mood altering drugs to keep them “happy” and well behaved. It is maybe a 1984-style dictature? Everyone seems to have strong religious belief, so maybe a very conservative and fundamentalist world? The movie doesn’t offer enough clues to say so with certainty. Or maybe the Millenials / strawberry generation needed this level of protection and control to survived and feel safe in a “difficult” future?
However, despite its slow pace, technical flaws and lack of action, Ad Astra remains a beautiful movie, with great photography, excellent special effects, good actors and acting (Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland) and a very interesting subject (solitude, family bonds and commitment). The movie made a slim profit at the box office and was well-received by the critics (with a rating of 6.6 on IMDb and 84% on Rotten Tomatoes) but was not as well appreciated by the public (audience score of 40% on Rotten Tomatoes). People probably found it not as exciting as they were expecting because it feels more like a psychological drama than a sci-fi action movie. It is stimulating to the mind, but only mildly entertaining…
All in all, I found Ad Astra disappointing but still worth watching. Anyway, catch it on TV or on DVD (maybe from the library) and be the judge yourself.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
Battle Angel (銃夢 / Ganmu [Gunnm] / lit. “Weapon dream”) compiles two OVAs released in Japan in June and August 1993. An English subtitled version was released by A.D. Vision on VHS in September 1993 and on DVD (with both dubbed and subtitled versions) in December 1999. The first OVA, “Rusty Angel”, introduces us to Gally and Scrapcity, and tells of the combat against Grewcica. The second OVA, “Tears Sign”, focuses on her friendship with Yugo and his dream to get to Zalem. [It was reviewed in PA #27: 37]
For the early 90s the quality of the animation was excellent, but unfortunately it looks disappointing by today’s standards. It still looks good though and offers excellent production value (nice storytelling and music soundtrack). However, one point that really bothers me is the editing which annoyingly and constantly cut the action to switch to scenes with other characters and then to cut back into the action.
The storytelling succeeds to condense the first part of the manga into two 25-minute OVAs and still manage to smooth the story so it is easier to understand. The manga had the advantage to have several graphic novels to tell the story (the first OVA covers the first volume and half, while the second tell the story up to the end of the third volume). The numerous battles— which felt a little sketchy and tedious on paper — look much more realistic and entertaining in the animation (although the Alita live-action movies does an even better job at rendering the battle sequences). Lastly, the anime has a better success in giving life and expressing the emotions of the characters. It makes the drama much more tangible.
It is a nice anime that deserves to be seen. Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to find now-a-day. Hopefully, with the success of the movie, it will be released again on DVD.
When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control. If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love. — (Promotional text)
This movie is based on the manga series Battle Angel Alitaby Yukito Kishiro (which I recently commented). James Cameron had been interested in the story for a long time (he optioned the titled in 2000 and used it as inspiration for his TV series Dark Angel) but, being too busy with Avatar and its sequels, he passed the directorial torch to Robert Rodriguez. It is a good thing that Cameron and Jon Landau waited to produced Alita because it gave them the time to perfect the motion-capture CGI technology with Avatar. The type of fast action combat scenes needed to adapt the manga would not have been possible otherwise. It also gave them time to work on the script to make it shorter.
It’s an excellent movie, with superb special effects and great storytelling. It is both entertaining and compelling. They succeeded to tell the story within two hours while keeping enough elements of the manga to be faithful. I was afraid at first that they would not be able to adapt the story properly, but all the essential themes are there: the identity quest, the love story, the desire to protect the weak against evil, the dark post-cataclysmic world, the hopeful cyberpunk technology, the fabulous combat scenes, even the social comment about the stupidity of war and social inequity.
The only major changes are that they explain early in the story the cause of the Earth’s destruction (the war between Earth and Mars — in the manga they just mentioned that Earth was hit by a meteorite without saying, at first, that it was intentional) and the nature of Alita (a martian soldier/berserker). Hugo (Yugo in the manga) also appears in the beginning of the movie (while he only appears in chapter eight in the manga). Most of the changes are minor and without consequence: Ido names Alita (Gally) from his dead daughter (instead of from his dead cat), his ex-wife Chiren doesn’t appears in the manga (that character was created for the anime), his assistant is different (she looks more like Myra, the doctor who replaces Yugo’s hand in chap. 10 of the manga), the Berserker replacement body is not found by Alita but by Ido, the speech in the “Kansas” bar to try to get the Hunter-Warriors’ help against Grewishka (Makaku) is made not by Alita but by Ido (who still has his Zalem symbol on the forehead in the manga), etc. The movie also adds the fact that Nova can see and speak through Vector. Despite those few differences, the movie seems quite similar (even more if we compare to the anime version, Battle Angel).
Annoyingly, the movie ends on a sort of cliff-hanger: will Alita succeed to reach Zalem and get her revenge from Nova? That’s what we will know in the sequels — if they are ever produced. It all depends on the success of the first movie. Despite mixed reviews, it seems that it was well received (the sales more than doubled the budget and ratings were good enough on IMDb [7.4] and Rotten Tomatoes [60% for the critics but 93% for the audience]). For my part (but I was already an Alita fan), I think it was an excellent adaptation and I enjoyed it greatly. I warmly recommend it.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
Perché sur son fidèle Ptéroïde anti-gravité (où rien de grave ne peut l’atteindre), Arzak explore le Désert ‘B’, un monde parallèle peuplé de créatures étranges, situé aux frontières du rêve et d’une réalité au-delà du réel. Mais Arzak ne rêve-t-il pas d’un univers qui est en lui…ou en chacun de nous ?
Ce dessin animé est une série de quatorze capsules de 3:30 min. chacunes qui offrent un dessin minimaliste qui est terriblement animé. On y retrouve différentes aventures (et mésaventures) du célèbre guerrier solitaire et (généralement) silencieux alors qu’il parcours le désert B, affrontant l’herbe-serpent ou diverses autres créatures. C’est un peu sans queue ni tête mais les récits sont étoffés par une narration et Moebius donne, pour la première fois, la parole à Arzak. Tout comme les planches de Moebius, ces capsules sont un peu inégales en qualité (et en intérêt). L’univers d’Arzak est un peu tourné en ridicule avec des personnages clownesques (où l’on pourrait peut-être discerner une influence de Winsor McCay?).
C’est mauvais mais tout de même amusant et intriguant. À la défense de cette curiosité décevante, il faut admettre qu’elle est définitivement produite pour un public jeune alors que la série originale s’adressait aux adultes. On s’attendrait néanmoins à mieux de la part d’un créateur comme Moebius. C’est trop court et plein de potentiel inexploité (quoique le graphisme s’améliore avec les derniers épisodes). Cela aurait pu être tellement mieux…
Il est intéressant de constater que l’on voit déjà le début de la convergence des différents univers (et styles) de Giraud / Moebius avec des éléments qui rappellent Le Garage Hermétique, d’autres qui font définitivement partie du monde SF déjanté et imaginatif de Moebius — parfois hilarant et absurde, parfois mystique et obscure (avec des allusions au Arzach original ou à Edena) — et même des relents d’atmosphère western à la Blueberry. Cette série d’histoires nous laisse donc présager la suite — L’Arpenteur…
À voir par amusement ou par curiosité.
Arzak Rhapsody: France, 2002, 51 min., série télévisée d’animation (14 episodes); Dir., Scr., Des.: Moebius; Dir. Art.: Alexandre Brillant; Ass. Réal.: Francois Narboux; Mus.: Zanpano; Studio: Millimages Online; Prod.: Wolfland Pictures, Carrere Group, France 2.
Pour en savoir plus vous pouvez consulter les sites suivants:
Is this a comedy or an action flick? A little of both, I guess… It has great action scenes, although not always believable. In a nutshell, it tells the story of a group of misfit soldiers fighting against an alien monster in pursuit of another alien monster. They get help from an unsuspected genius and one of the bad guys is not what it seems. The story is not really original but it is entertaining enough. In fact, the whole movie is just setting up the ground for the next one (or two — but no release date has been announced yet). It might push the Predator franchise into superheroes territory ! Powersuit, yeah! I can’t wait to see that!
The movie did relatively well at the box office (returning nearly twice its investment) but disappointed the fans of the franchise and the critics (getting only a 5.4 on IMDb and a 32% / 35% on Rotten Tomatoes ). It’s an average sci-fi action movie which remains nevertheless fun to watch.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
I never considered myself a fan of Queen (but my wife was one), however, as I was watching this movie, I realized that I knew (or had heard) all the songs featured in the movie. Bohemian Rhapsody is, of course, a biopic about the music band Queen — telling us how would-be graphic designer (lead vocalist & songwriter Freddy Mercury), electronician (bass guitarist John Deacon), dentist (drummer Roger Taylor) and astrophysician (guitarist & songwriter Brian May) got together to make musical history. It seems a relatively faithful depiction of their collective life — or at least its highlights in fast-forward — focusing on the dynamic of the group interaction, the fact that they created music that allowed the audience to participate in their live performances, and giving some interesting insight on the genesis of some of the most iconic songs. As it is to be expected, the movie is centred mostly around Freddy Mercury and his bisexuality.
The choice of actors is excellent as they really look like the part. The acting is also good and their stage and musical performances are particularly remarquable. This movie will certainly get an entirely new generation to discover Queen’s music. It is rather uneven, far from being perfect, but it is well-made and the musical number makes it quite entertaining. It was well received (with a 8.1 rating on IMDb — although there is an interesting discrepancy on Rotten Tomatoes between the critics’ rating, 61%, and the audience’s rating, 86%). In any case, it certainly deserves to be seen, wether you like Queen or not.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
“From acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda (Wolf Children) comes a daringly original story of love passed down through generations. When four-year-old Kun meets his new baby sister, his world is turned upside down. Named Mirai (meaning “future”), the baby quickly wins the hearts of Kun’s entire family. Kun becomes increasingly jealous of her, until one day he storms off into the garden, where he encounters strange guests from the past and future – including his sister Mirai, as a teenager. Together, Kun and Mirai go on a journey through time and space, uncovering their family’s incredible story, in this magical and emotionally soaring adventure about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are.” (From Universal website)
Mirai (未来のミライ / Mirai no Mirai / lit. “Mirai of the Future”) is a beautiful story about good parenting and loving our siblings or family. Kun is a young boy who is jealous of his newborn sister Mirai. However, the genealogical tree that sits in the courtyard of their small house in Yokohama shows him scene of past and future life of his family members (his teenage sister, his mother, his great-grand-father, even the family dog!) so he can relate to them and learn to appreciate them better. Or this is a boy with an extraordinary imagination!
The animation is excellent and offers very realistic background illustrations that you would think it’s CGI but they are actually hand-drawn (although there is CGI in the movie). In fact, it is so crisp that it feels a little cold. For such a story about family I would have preferred a style that evoke more warmth. I particularly like the design of the modern house, conceived by the father (who’s an architect), that takes advantage of the narrow space and the hill to build in several level, with lots of steps.
This is a very depressing movie mostly about sacrifice and loss. The sophisticated and over-the-top special effects are not enough to make you really appreciate this over compartmented story which is a literal who’s who of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as they pit almost EVERY Marvel superheroes against Thanos in order to try saving the universe. It is just too much (too much non-stop action, too many character killed). And it is also “To be continued” ! ;(
Of course, it was greatly appreciate by the Marvel Universe fans (score of 8.5 on IMDb and critic/viewer ratings of 85% / 91% on Rotten Tomatoes), but for me it wasn’t enough to prevent me from feeling bored (beside the occasional “what? Those characters are part of the same universe” or “oh no, they didn’t dare going there” or “you means, he’s dead, dead?”)—although I almost sympathized with the supervilains who has a very gordian way of solving the universe’s problem (who knew? Earth is not the only place with an overpopulation of idiots!). It might have helped to have watched some of the one shot movies (like Spider-Man: Homecoming,Ant-Man or Doctor Strange) as well as some of the TV series. Now, they will really need new characters (oh, yeah, that’s probably why they dug out Ant-Man, Black Panther and Captain Marvel !). However, I am curious to see how the heroes will manage to find their way out of this dire situation… Which we will know, of course, with Avengers: Endgamecoming out next month !
It is an entertaining movie, the kind you watch with friends, beer and chips, or that you distractingly watch while fiddling with your phone.
To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:
This movie from the Marvel universe is far more darker than the comedic Deadpool movies I commented earlier. Here, an aging Logan (aka Wolverine) is taking care of an Alzheimer Charles Xavier (Prof. X) along with Caliban. The X-men are no more–as mutants has been chased into near extinction. Although Transigen, under Dr. Zender Rice, is trying to create and weaponize new mutants. A compassionate nurse helps a bunch of mutant kids escape, but they are separated. With only one kid left under her care, she seeks Wolverine to help bring them to a sanctuary in the north. He first refused but grudgingly takes up the task when the nurse iskilled and he realizes that the young mutant girl, Laura (aka X-23), has the same powers as he and that his own genes were probably used to create her. It is the end of a generation and the birth of another…
The obvious comment about this movie is that it is very violent. It is even quite troubling to see such a young girl committing extremely violent acts (and even more having such a young actress performing it!). However, the story is very reflective and rich in emotions. You wouldn’t think that those could go well together. It works only because the acting is quite excellent as the actors give superb performances (particularly the young Dafne Keen, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart) in expressing a nuanced range of feelings : angst from not seeing the path forward, rage for being somewhat “powerless“ over their situation, regrets from bygone days and past mistakes, longing for a normal life and family, etc. Also it is clear that the director, James Mangold, has put lots of stylistic research into this movie (notably taking inspiration from film noir and old westerns like Shane, which is featured into the movie).All this makes of Logan a surprisingly good superheroes movie. And indeed it was successful, both at the box office (earning five time its budget) and in reviews (with ratings of 8.1 on IMDb and of 93% / 90% [critics/audience] on Rotten Tomatoes). It is well worth seeing.
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It was unavoidable: the bad guys kill his girlfriend. The anti-superhero tries to redeem himself to be worthy of her but he remains a jerk. It offers the usual thin story (this time about family and friendship), senseless violence and teenage humour, but even worse than the first movie. Although it IS amusing to see the Marvel universeNOT taken seriously. It was a success at the box office (earning seven times its cost) and it got a surprising rating of 7.8 on IMDb and 85% on Rotten Tomatoes! Again, it’s mostly the performance of Ryan Reynolds that sustain the film. For myself, I would say that it was an entertaining movie but only if you are a hardcore fan (which I’m not).
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A comedic take on the superhero movies (and particularly the X-Men). It offers the usual plethora of stunts and special effects, as well as the usual story [¡SPOILER! although it’s all in the trailer…]: mercenary boy is madly in love with girl, but has to leave her to go seek a cure for his cancer which turn him into a super-healing anti-hero with a new ugly face so he cannot come back to her but instead seeks revenge against the vilain who did that to him however in counter-action the bad guy kidnaps girl therefore he has to save her and they ends up back together in a happy ending but the guy remains a jerk.
It’s all rather ordinary but what’s distinguish this movie is the dialogues (actually, mostly the monologues, performed by Ryan Reynolds) which are rather funny. Frankly, the movie should have been titled “deadpan”… It’s another brainless action movie. Nothing serious (the good thing is that it doesn’t take itself seriously at all) but it offers some twisted entertainment. A fan-boy movie.
It is based on a Marvel comic book set in the X-Men’s universe. Despite being called vulgar, infantile, obnoxious, irreverent, etc., it was well received (mostly bythe comics book fans) with ratings of 84% / 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.0 on IMDb ! Rated R…
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This reboot of the video gameadaptation is neither better nor worse than the previous one with Angelina Jolie. Unfortunately, the story is not very inspiring, but it offers good action (despite the impossible stunts typical of Lara Croft), as well as very nice acting from Alicia Vikander and Daniel Wu. I was quite annoyed by the fact that all the aspects of the supposedly Japanese ancient culture presented in the story is completely bogus and actually looks more Chinese than Japanese. (WTF!?) However, [SPOILER ALERT] I like that the ancient curse turned out to be a disease [SPOILER END]. It offers a nice breath of realism in the movie. Unfortunately, to make it cinematically palatable they had to make the disease’s symptoms completely, absurdly improbable.
It is safe to say that Alicia Vikander comfortably slips into the Lara Croft character (despite not having her exaggerated physical attributes which she thankfully compensate with great stamina and charm) and delivers a performance that saves the movie from a complete wreck. The movie received mixed reviews (6.3 on IMDb, 51%/56% on Rotten Tomatoes). All in all, it’s an average action movie that offers brainless entertainment. It’s worth watching, whether you are a fan or not, but only if you have time to spare.
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As bad as this movie is you cannot but love it if you are a mecha (or giant robots) and a kaiju fan — which I am. There’s plenty of action (although not very realistic and playing loose with the laws of physics), not much story, a hint of human drama, and a bit of humour. There’s not much originality either, but let’s call it an “hommage.” The term Jaeger reminds me a little of Heavy Gear (although it could come from so many other sources: it means hunter in German, could refers to infantry troops, a bird, a car, or several anime or manga), some designs seems inspired by many giant robots anime (Giant Robo, Mazinger, The Big O) and, of course, the kaiju part if inspired by Ultraman, Godzilla and Gamera, but the biggest “influence” is without contest Neon Genesis Evangelion — and this is probably the closest we’ll ever get to an Evangelion live-action movie. The alien monster attacking Earth, using alien technology to develop weapon against them, the synchronization part, the tall slender design similar to the rogue jaeger Obsidian Fury (damn! I love that design!): that’s seems all “inspired” by Evangelion. Although they’ve gutted all the really interesting stuff (mystical bits and human drama) it is still pretty entertaining.
There is plenty of cool stuff in this movie. No transforming robot but instead a combining kaiju. Not a bad idea. And I’ve certainly LOL when the pilots of Bracer Phoenix have to eject and land at the feet of a statue of a… Gundam! Beautiful and really funny. I couldn’t fail to notice the heavy Chinese presence in the cast and crew (not surprising since producer Legendary was bought by the Chinese Wanda Group and some of the shooting was done in a studio in China). It did relatively well at the box office but was not particularly liked (rating of 5.6 on IMDb and 44% / 41% on Rotten Tomatoes !).
All in all, it offers brainless sci-fi action and lots of mecha & kaiju nostalgia. If you are a fan.
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This story literally puts Earth against Cybertron. It’s Megatron versus Unicron. The Transformers have been here since the night of time. They fought with King Arthur, they fought in World War One, and even against Hitler. But we didn’t know about it because their existence has been occulted by a secret society started by Merlin himself, as he was entrusted with a power staff to control them all (or at least the three-headed dragon made of the bot-knights of the round table!). And Stonehenge is a weapon (more or less; maybe more a socket for a weapon…)!
Under the influence of Quintessa, Optimus has become Nemesis Prime! However, Yeager’s Autobot partner, Bumblebee, turns him around and, with the help of the bot-knights, they fight back against Quintessa and Megatron’s plan to destroy Earth. But it is far from over as the fight will continue with yet another movie (no, please, make them stop!)…
This movie offers a few good ideas (transformers in the past, steampunk influences, introduction of interesting new characters like Viviane or Izabella), but they are unfortunately slapped together in a messy way. The editing is horrendous, the dialogues terrible and don’t even get me started with the bad humour! At 2h34, the movie is way too long and the action is going too fast — transformations are just a blur and it feels like you’re watching a movie in fast-forward! Definitely entertaining but also rather annoying (particularly Cogman, the Bot-ler). I guess it is mostly for the hard-core fans.
The movie made plenty of money but it was disliked by viewers (with a mere 15% critic rating and 44% audience score at Rotten Tomatoes and 5.2 on IMDb — strangely the next film, standalone prequel Bumblebee, did very well with a Rotten Tomatoes critic rating of 94%). Maybe it’s time to pause and rethink the franchise…
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The latest Star Wars movie offers us quite an interesting (but simple) story with the usual (improved?) special effects. It’s the story of someone who gets out of the slums, with audacity and a bit of courage, doing what’s need to be done. A story of love and betrayal. It has a moral (hey, it’s Disney after all), lots of action and great humour. It also has a bunch of very interesting characters (and excellent acting to go with it). It’s sort of a growing-up story, about how a slum kid become… well… a kind of accidental hero. For the Star Wars fans it also offers lots of back story: how Han got his name, how he met Chewbacca and, later, Lando, how he got the Millenium Falcon and what makes it such a special ship, and, finally, how the rebellion started.
It might not have the depth of the original movies (although that fame might be due in part to the legend, greater music and fantasized childhood memory) but it is, in itself, a good movie. It might not be THEStar Wars movie but, as the title says, it is AStar Wars movie. However, it is a fact that it didn’t performed well at the box-office, barely breaking-even, and was less appreciated by the fans than the critics with an audience score of 64% versus a critical rating of 70% on Rotten Tomatoes.It’s a little blend, yes, but it’s still quite entertaining and well worth watching.
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This smooth and beautiful animation was produced by the Studio Ponoc, staffed with people who worked at the famous Studio Ghibli. The movie is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (who was a key animator at Studio Ghibli and director of The Secret World of Arrietty [2010] and When Marnie Was There[2014]), with a screenplay by Hiromasa Yonebayashi & Riko Sakaguchi and character designs by Akihiko Yamashita. It is based on Mary Stewart‘s 1971 children’s novel The Little Broomstick (although it is never mentioned in the staff interview included with the Dvd).
Mary and The Witch’s Flower (メアリと魔女の花 / Meari to Majo no Hana) offers a good storytelling and quite a cute story but it doesn’t really look original at all. It rather feels like it is a mishmash of every Ghibli designs: the witch part is vaguely reminiscent of Kiki’s Delivery Service, the witch school in the sky reminds me a little of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, a herd of animal fleeing seems similar to a scene in Princess Mononoke, a costume design evokes Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the girl being away from home with some distant family members is similar to When Marnie was There, etc. This could be explained by the fact that most animators learned their skills while working at Ghibli. However, the influences are not limited to this source: Doctor Dee’s design makes me think of Dragonball’s Master Roshi and even Harry Potter makes a cameo appearance in one of the school classroom! I guess it was all intended as hommage or humour.
If I found this a little odd, I was not really annoyed by it. The movie is good entertainment (critical rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes) and, if you don’t feel the same depth as in Ghibli’s productions,I was still quite glad that another major studio (even if this is their first real movie) would continue to produce traditional full length anime. Indeed, with the closing of Studio Ghibli after Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement, I really hope that Studio Ponoc will become its rightful heir… So, all in all, it is definitely worth watching. It is available on Netflix and on Dvd.
In a dystopian future (Is it? It realistically could be just our future or it could be a “trumpian” future), the reality is too tough to take and people are looking to forget their troubles. What was originally created as a virtual reality game become the perfect source of escapism for the people. In virtual reality they can be whoever or whatever they want! It is based on the novel by Ernest Cline.
This is a typical fantasy story where the hero (with a group of companions) must find an artifact to save the world from an evil overlord (or a nefarious corporation plotting to control the world). The only difference is that, this time, the artifact is a legendary Easter Egg in a virtual reality video game. It is also a quest to find the heir to the Halliday’s fortune and ownership of the entire virtual world, known as OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation). The movie improves on the book by providing a great visual: the part inside the virtual reality (60% of the movie) was created with motion capture CGI. It is certainly not very original, but it’s brilliantly written and well orchestrated.
For me, what makes the movie interesting is that it’s a treasure trove of popular culture references (mostly related to movies and video games) from the 80s (including a few anime like Akira, Dragon Ball, Godzilla, or Gundam!) that plays on the nostalgia of a long gone era. In that aspect, it can particularly appeal to two different audiences: those who grew up in that era (the Millenials or Generation Y) or those who grew up hearing stories from their parents and have a glorified impression of the era (the Generation Z or iGen, Centennials). It is so rich in references that you could see the movie a dozen time and still discover new ones!
The movie was well received (with a Rotten Tomatoes critical score of 72% and a slightly better audience score of 78%) and did well at the box office (bringing back in revenue three time its budget of $175 millions). Unfortunately, even if it’s directed by Spielberg, it has the usual flaws of most teenage action movies: it offers an heroic but superficial story (and characters) where the exploding action (full of car races, fights and magic!), a shared cultural trivia, visual overload and an expedited storyline replace the depth and richness that usually make truly excellent movies. However, it remains a great and funny movie that celebrate geek culture. It is entertainment at its best. I enjoyed it immensely and, if you are in the right demographic, you will certainly too.
I am not a big fan of horror movies but I like Helen Mirren. So I watched the movie with the expectation that I would not like it. It is not a bad movie after all. Not a great movie, but a good entertainment nonetheless.
The heiress (Helen Mirren) of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co is cursed and haunted by the spirits of all the people killed with a Winchester rifle. To appease their spirits and help them moving on she built for each of them a replica of the room where they were killed so her mansion is in constant construction, resulting in a huge building that doesn’t make much sense. The board of the company think she’s crazy and hires a doctor (Jason Clarke) to evaluate her mental state. He was himself widowed and almost killed in an incident involving a Winchester rifle and became addicted to laudanum as a result. Of course, the moment of his arrival at the mansion coincide with the appearance of an evil and vengeful spirit seeking pay back on the Winchester family! Will the rational mind of the doctor let himself be convinced and help fight against the murderous supernatural forces at play? Or is it all the result of the convergence of natural events and the power of suggestion of their own minds?
It is quite an interesting take on the legend of the Winchester mansion and of Sarah Winchester. I also like the way they used other events of the era to add to the story, so it is really based on “real” events. After all, the mansion is well known for being the most haunted building in America. The storytelling is good and managed to follow the Todorov definition of the fantastic genre (if the characters seem to believe in the supernatural aspects, at least the viewers are well aware of the possible rational explanations for them). The acting is respectable, and the visuals are good considering that this is a very low budget production (shot in Australia for $3.5 million). So it is nothing to get excited about (besides the cheap scary tactics), but it is still worth watching. Although the reception was not very good (the critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes was 14%, with an audience score of 35%) the movie still managed to make over ten times its production cost at the box office!
In a timeless and fictitious Japan, the dictator of Megasaki — a cat lover — has banned all dogs to Trash Island. A twelve-year-old boy will sneak out on the island looking for his dog and unwithingly start a revolution. The stop-motion animation is amazing and quite stunning. The story is clever and cute — but, frankly, I’m a cat lover myself. The movie was well received (with a critic rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes) — although there was some harsh critics claiming it was succumbing to “the trope of the white savior” as the white foreign-student is organizing the revolt (but lets not forget that the REAL hero is the young boy!) and that it was a prime “example of racial stereotyping and cultural appropriation” ! On this I totally agree: it was a great hommage to the popularity of Japanese culture in the West (anime & manga, Kurosawa’s movies, etc.) and it’s an outrage that they didn’t select real dogs to play the parts! All in all, it’s beautifully entertaining, a great animation that I fuzzily recommend to everyone (although I am quite sure my cats will not like it).
I found this action movie rather average and, if they wanted to do horror, well, I wasn’t scared. It is well paced and the acting is good (although Tom Cruise is getting a little old for this, his two female co-stars, Annabelle Wallis & Sofia Boutella, are great), but the story is rather predictable — however, mixing Jekyll & Hyde (Russell Crowe) with it was a surprise! I also like the “Egyptian” designs (the flashbacks, the look of Princess Ahmanet, the tomb & sarcophagus — a little reminiscent of Giger style). It’s interesting that, just in case the movie would be successful enough, they’ve put an open ending to allow for a sequel. I hope not. This reboot of The Mummy franchise offered a nice mindless entertainment but, alas, nothing more (Rotten Tomatoes concurs with a critical rating of 15% !). What’s scary is that The Mummy is supposed to be the first movie in the reboot of Universal’s Dark Universe (Jekyll & Hyde [with Russell Crowe — now the cross-over with The Mummy makes sense!], Frankenstein [with Javier Bardem], Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantomof the Opera, Hunchbackof Notre Dame, Invisible Man [with Johnny Depp], etc.). The next movie in line should be Bride of Frankenstein [dir. Bill Condon, with possibly Angelina Jolie or Gal Gadot in titular role] first announced for Valentine’s Day 2019 but its release has now been delayed!
Another great animation—this time by a less known director (at least in this corner of the world, but Sunao Katabuchi has also directed the TV series Black Lagoon and the movies Princess Arete and Mai Mai Miracle). This is a very traditional Japanese animation which is not drawn in the cute style we usually associate with anime. It is soft, pastel-like, yet a little sketchy. It is also realistic in its concept but yet cute in its own way. However, despite a good dose of humour (through the awkwardness of the main character and how she sees the world through her drawings), the story is quite serious as it chronicles the life and hardships of a young bride in the pre-war and, later, the WW2-era Japanese countryside in Kure. Despite the cartoony style, it is very precise in the description of the everyday life, the clothings, the food rationing, and the military details (warships, bombings, etc.). It is really touching, beautiful, educational and entertaining (although it is a bit long at 129 mins). Like Grave of the Fireflies describes the life after the firebombing of Tokyo, this movie is painting a detailed portrait of the life of ordinary Japanese citizens in the Hiroshima area before the A-bomb and a little after. It is a must-see movie that has been nominated for and received several awards both in Japan and abroad.
« Stupeur et tremblements pourrait donner l’impression qu’au Japon, à l’âge adulte, j’ai seulement été la plus désastreuse des employés. Ni d’Ève ni d’Adam révélera qu’à la même époque et dans le même lieu, j’ai aussi été la fiancée d’un Tokyoïte très singulier. »
-Amélie Nothomb.
Ni d’Eve ni d’Adam, par Amélie Nothomb. Paris, Albin Michel, 2007. 252 p. 13.0 x 20.0 cm, 18.20 € / $11.95 Cnd. ISBN 9782226179647.
Tokyo Fiancée nous offre une intéressante réflexion sur la diversité culturelle, l’étrangeté de l’autre, et particulièrement sur la difficulté des couples mixtes à concilier cette différence qui les sépare.
Si le film en lui-même est assez bon, il est aussi une excellente adaptation du roman de Amélie Nothomb. Il y a bien sûr de nombreuses différences entre les deux (quelques scènes manquantes dans le film, la motivation des personnages expliquée plus en profondeur dans le roman) mais dans l’ensemble tout l’esprit du livre est présent dans le film. C’est non seulement agréable et divertissant à regarder mais aussi très intéressant.
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Cette histoire de couple, que ce soit dans le film ou le livre, est particulèrement intéressante lorsqu’on la remet dans le contexte de l’oeuvre (et de la vie) de l’auteur. Elle fait non seulement partie des titres de Nothomb qui sont en partie autobiographiques (mais ne le sont-ils pas tous un peu?) mais est également l’un des éléments de sa “trilogie japonaise”. Stupeur et tremblement raconte le retour de l’auteur au japon, où elle avait passé son enfance, mais traite surtout de ses mésaventures au sein d’une corporation japonaise et comment l’esprit collectif japonais du jeune travailleur y est façonné par des règles strictes et par l’humiliation afin de le conformer au modèle uniforme et docile auquel s’attend la société japonaise — ce qui est toujours pire dans le cas d’une femme. Dans Nostalgie Heureuse, l’auteur raconte son second retour au Japon dans le cadre d’un reportage tourné pour la télévision française. Ni d’Eve ni d’Adam lève le voile sur la partie de l’histoire à laquelle elle avait mainte fois fait allusion sans jamais donner de détails: la relation amoureuse qu’elle a entretenu au cours de son premier retour avec un jeune japonais.
Ayant grandit au Japon, elle s’était toujours considérée comme japonaise mais son expérience durant ce premier retour lui fera réaliser que la nature nippone est beaucoup plus complexe et profonde qu’elle ne se l’imaginait…
Le livre, quant à lui, offre une narration très fluide, parsemé de l’humour sarcastique et un peu déjanté si particulier à Nothomb. C’est une très bonne lecture (comme la plupart des Nothomb).
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[ Translate ]
“If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you.” ― William Ewart Gladstone
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny : USA, 2023, 154 min.; Dir.: James Mangold; Scr.: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp and James Mangold (based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman); Phot.: Phedon Papamichael; Ed.: Michael McCusker, Andrew Buckland and Dirk Westervelt; Prod.: ; Kathleen Kennedy (Lucasfilm), Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel; Music: John Williams; Distr.: Walt Disney Studios; Cast: Harrison Ford (Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr.), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Helena Shaw), Antonio Banderas (Renaldo), John Rhys-Davies (Sallah), Toby Jones (Basil Shaw), Boyd Holbrook (Klaber), Ethann Isidore (Teddy Kumar), Mads Mikkelsen (Dr. Schmidt / Jürgen Voller); Rated: PG. For more information you can visit: Google • IMDb • Rotten Tomatoes •Wikipedia • YouTube.
Battle Angel (銃夢 / Ganmu [Gunnm] / lit. “Weapon dream”) compiles two 
Clodjee's Safe-House 