Legendary action-cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992 classic HARD BOILED in RED CLIFF, the epic historical drama based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. RED CLIFF opens as power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeks permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush the two troublesome warlords who stand in his way, Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). As the expedition gets underway, Cao Cao’s troops rain destruction on Liu Bei’s army, forcing him into retreat. Liu Bei’s military strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) knows that the rebels’ only hope for survival is to form an alliance with rival warlord Sun Quan, and reaches out to Sun Quan’s trusted advisor, war hero Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). Vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s brutal, fast-approaching army, the warlords band together to mount a heroic campaign unrivaled in history that changes the face of China forever. A massive hit in Asia and the most expensive Asian film production of all time, RED CLIFF is a breathtaking war epic that marks the triumphant return of John Woo.

This is a great history movie, based on the legendary battle in 208 that marked the end of the Han Dynasty. The setting is great, the movie uses a ton of extras and is generally very pleasing to the eye. The story, as Woo himself said, is only about 50% factual, but it’s still gripping enough to hold you close to the chair for a whopping four hours and 37 minutes. Five stars for an excellent movie.

View Trailer and 9 images in the gallery

A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling on a collision course toward earth.

The master of catastrophe blockbusters, Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow), is back with another cookie-cutter movie: space bad happens, hero is not believed and sent to the gutter, some years later space bad happens again, everyone comes back to hero. So basically this is ID4 with better special effects, with still resilient palm trees, more conspiracy theory and, of course, ALIENS!

The cinematography is great, the story is kinda predictable, all the classic cliches are there (estranged father-son, daddy rebuilding old car/bike/something for ungrateful kid, end of the world which comes in 3 months, but actually weeks, but actually the day after tomorrow, the dramatic inspiring speech, the whole thing). I thought the flying, warp-speed, panorama roof Lexus product placement was cute, but Kaspersky? Heh. “What would Elon do” and “Ludicrous Mode”? Ayy LMAO. Apparently the flight from New York to Aspen takes a cut (a few minutes? something like that), and after the all the disasters that took place, cell phones and satellite phones still get reception.

It looks beautiful, the visual effects are well done (just like in any Emmerich movie), the music is okay, the acting is decent, but the story is … something. All in all, this gets two popcorns because the world can end and/or saved so many times before it becomes a re-heated primordial soup.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

Two brothers in 1910s California struggle to maintain their strict, Bible-toting father’s favor as an old secret about their long-absent mother comes to light.

Based on John Steinbeck’s bestseller, this movie is masterfully directed by Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront). The story is great, well-paced and grips you from the first minutes, but the chemistry between Julie Harris (Abra) and James Dean (Cal) is amazing. Five popcorns and goes into the Movie Vault.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

2038: George Almore is working on a true human-equivalent AI. His latest prototype is almost ready. This sensitive phase is also the riskiest. Especially as he has a goal that must be hidden at all costs: being reunited with his dead wife.

Moon meets Ex Machina meets Chappie meets Black Mirror. Slow burning but not too slow, good cinematography, decent acting, good soundtrack by Steven Price (Gravity, Fury, Suicide Squad) all coming together by the writing and directing of Gavin Rothery (head graphic designer for Moon). The robots are excellent.

Five stars and it goes into the Movie Vault.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

The film tells the story of Ion Creangă, who charmed generations with his fairy tales and stories, and his relationship with Mihai Eminescu, the great national poet. Creangă considers his stories a simple source of amusement, devoid of depth, but Mihai Eminescu tries to convince him that he has a special talent. The poet has his own problems, being involved in an impossible love affair with Veronica Micle.

Good movie, filled with popular quotes, a nice pacing and some funny bits. All in all, a good Romanian movie, Four popcorns.

PS: Couldn’t find a trailer, so there’s the full movie after the jump.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

After a woman’s at-home DNA test reveals multiple half-siblings, she discovers a shocking scheme involving donor sperm and a popular fertility doctor.

Documentary about one of the most fucked up crimes anyone committed, some shit that requires new laws. Unbelievably true story that impacted a lot of lives.

Four popcorns.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

Classic cartoon craziness meets an interactive quiz in CAT BURGLAR. In this Tex Avery inspired toon from the creators of BLACK MIRROR, the viewer helps Rowdy Cat vex Peanut the Security Pup and break into a museum with the goal of making off with a priceless prize. With an average runtime of ten minutes, and over an hour and a half of animation to choose from, the viewer could play CAT BURGLAR a hundred times and never view the same cartoon twice!

While the cartoon is a good throwback to Tex Avery toons (Looney Tunes, Droopy, Chilly Willy), but the creative part is ruined by the “gameplay”. Trivia questions, most of the time pretty complex or mind-benders, that you need to read, think and answer in packs of three in about 4 seconds. I tried playing it a bit, but the complexity of the trivia part ruined it for me. I would have loved this if it had a more “Bandersnatch” approach, where you’d choose the action that the cat will take, rather than a “pass/fail”. 4 stars for the cartoon itself, zero stars for the implementation.

Two popcorns. I put on some Looney Tunes instead.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

A behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon (1999).

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton is a fantastic documentary about how Jim Carrey became Andy Kaufman. Featuring never-seen before footage and interviews. If you haven’t seen Man on the Moon (1999), drop whatever you are doing and watch it.

Six popcorns.

View Trailer and 3 images in the gallery

It follows the rise and fall of the American financier and ponzi schemer: Madoff.

Ponzi schemes, fraud, Wall Street shenanigans, taking from the rich and giving to other rich. A good four part documentary about greed and the dream of making easy money and getting bit in the butt. Four popcorns.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

Yorkshire-based crime drama centering on the personal and professional life of Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood.

Amazing TV series produced by the BBC. Just as they usually do, each season has a few episodes (six) and is released a couple of years apart. It’s a gut-churning, heart in the throat crime drama. The plot squeezes the characters so hard that it’s sometimes unwatchable because you relate so intensely to the psychological pressures they’re under, both the good guys and the bad.

Two seasons are already out in 2014 and 2016 and the last one is being released weekly over 6 weeks.

Six popcorns and one for the Movie Vault. Excellent drama.

View Trailer and 6 images in the gallery

Biography of Ben Carson who grew up to be Dr. Ben Carson, a world famous neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins.

Not much to say. Very good TV movie based on the true story of Dr. Ben Carson, great acting by Cuba Gooding Jr., great dramatisation of the facts and solid emotional responses triggered throughout the entire movie. Four popcorns.

View Trailer and 3 images in the gallery

With his two friends, a video-game-obsessed young man finds himself in a strange version of Tokyo where they must compete in dangerous games to win.

So The Cube meets Squid Game. A lot of brilliant special effects, pew pew, Japanese girls in swimsuits, blood, gore and violence. Five popcorns and a deck of cards.

Season two trailer here, but beware, it contains spoilers from Season 1!

View Trailer and 12 images in the gallery