Hot Fuzz — Silly, witty, hilarious action comedy — 9*/10

• Overall: You can't go wrong with this flick, it's tightly done and so funny.
• Who is it for? Anyone looking for some witty silliness mixed with some nice action.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112/
• Known actors: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent and Timothy Dalton.
• Cameos: Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Cate Blanchett, Steve Coogan and Peter Jackson.
• Setting: Sleepy country town, UK.
• Style: Silly caper with serious cop action.
• Pacing: Varies, lots of quiet moments cut with intrigue, some action and snappy repartee.
• Intro: Love it! You really a solid grip on the main character.
• Story: Its goal is to twist you around until you can't tell up from down, make you laugh with witty remarks and silly situations as well as captivate you with incongruous characters.
• Ending: Very surprising. Hilarious. Totally out of the left field.
• Epilogue: Nice and short. Well done.
• Dialogs: Witty, silly, funny, plenty.
• Characters: Lovable, quirky and well built.
• Acting: Great in a very silly way.
• Afterthoughts: Awesome entertainment. I highly recommend.

Awake — Excellent intrigue and a nice simmering suspense — 8*/10

• Overall: It's not perfect, but the intrigue will easily get you going and the suspense will then pick up.
• Who is it for? Those looking for a nice intrigue with a bit of suspense. Nothing scary there.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211933/
• Known actors: Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba and Terrence Howard.
• Cameos: Christopher McDonald.
• Setting: Very rich.
• Style: An intrigue that hides everything from you until each reveal.
• Pacing: A very nice crescendo.
• Intro: Pretty much straight to the point.
• Story: At first glance, it looks like a romance, but it turns into something else halfway through. Feels realistic. Nice tension. Good twists. First time around, you really get caught up in the intrigue.
• Ending: The last line is lame or badly delivered, I don't know, but it's really annoying.
• Characters: A bit simple, but you can really feel them.
• Acting: Nice performance on the part of everyone, but Hayden Christensen is probably showing the limit of his capabilities.

Les 3 p'tits cochons — De tumultueuses relations et des situations bien comiques — 7*/10

Drôle, bien pensé, avec d'excellents acteurs ce film vous fera réfléchir sur les relations amoureuses à long terme. La majeure partie du scénario semble nous faire la morale. Toutefois, à la fin, on s'aperçoit en fait qu'il ne reflète que ce que la société dicte en ce moment. En fin de compte, il nous offre une panoplie d'adaptations aux diverses situations que les personnages vivent.

Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762142/

Très bon travail de directeur de la part de Patrick Huard, mettant en vedette Claude Legault, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Paul Doucet, Mahée Paiement, Julie Perreault, Isabel Richer et France Castel.

Reign Over Me — An excellent drama that has its lighter moments — 9*/10

• Story: Captivating, touching, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always great. It's a drama that's not always trying to crush you with sadness or catastrophes. Full of great ideas.
• Setting: The usual New York upper class.
• Style: Very frank, realistic and human.
• Ending: Well done.
• Dialogs: Excellent.
• Characters: Well developed, realistic, easy to understand and empathize with.
• Acting: Superb. Definitively a very strong point.
• Known actors: Adam Sandler (easily his best role ever), Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Mike Binder and Jonathan Banks.
• Music: Great.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0490204/
• Entertainment value: Very good.
• Who is it for? Those looking for a human sized drama that's still an entertaining story and has some lighter moments.

The Jane Austen Book Club — A little on the light and easy side — 6*/10

• Scenario: The story itself is captivating with lots of nice turns, even if none of them are really surprising or even novel. The unfortunate thing is the way the old marriage or must-be-with-someone-at-all-cost mentality is explained (the worst part being the first third of the film). It feels like we're reading a For Dummies book. Because of that, it seems antiquated, like Austen movies rarely do or at least are given the benefit of being a period piece. The acting is good, except for the philandering husband who is pretty bad as well as being an extremely annoying character. Beyond that, it's light and entertaining.
• Known actors: Emily Blunt.
• Visual & sound: Nice.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0866437/
• Who is it for? For Austen fans or those looking for something light and vaguely romantic.

The Bucket List — It's a solid touching sentimental film with a few flaws — 7*/10

• Scenario: There's nothing particularly innovative about this movie and, a little bit past half way through it, it even gets predictable and somewhat downright boring. However, the secret is in the superb acting, as well as the details contained in the first half and, to a lesser extent, the ending.
• Known actors: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman and Sean Hayes.
• Visual & sound: Good, however all the CG work to make the scenes look even more special are really annoying. I've seen the pyramids, the site is not that pristine, you can't climb them, it's full of tourist all the time, and that's just one scene.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/
• Who is it for? Those wanting to shed a few tears in an uplifting kind of way and any Nicholson or Freeman fans.

No Reservations — An easy and basic romantic story — 6*/10

• Scenario: This is the type of romance that is straight out of the mold. There aren't any real flaw in it, it's easy to watch, but has little substance.
• Known actors: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Clarkson, Bob Balaban and Celia Weston.
• Visual & sound: Nice, beautiful at time.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481141/
• Who is it for? For those feeling romantic but not expecting too much, just enough to appreciate.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End — A great conclusion to the trilogy — 8*/10

• Scenario: I was disappointed in the second chapter of the series (read its review here), because the original was so great (read its review here). However, this recent conclusion makes up for it, up to a point. It doesn't have as lousy an ending as its predecessor, but it doesn't have the luster of the first one, mainly due to a few scenario mishaps including a weird insanity scene. That being said, the entertainment value is excellent, the action and fight scenes are stupendous, making you forget everything else and the story is engrossing.
• Dialogs: Funny and well crafted.
• Characters: Simple, but well done.
• Actors: Very good work overall. Cast members include Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Bill Nighy and Stellan Skarsgård.
• Photography: The sets and decors are magnificently breathtaking. They are the best of the series without a doubt.
• Sound: The music and score are incredible, they just take you right into the action and keep you there.
• Special effects: Astounding.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449088/
• Who is it for? Those looking for a good action flick. A must for the fans of the series.

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan — A deep dive into mongol life — 8*/10

• Scenario: Very slow development, unusual amount of set backs, and very quick passes over achievements. Don't watch it for a sense of victory or for the conquests, there are almost none. It's really just about the rise, the very early parts of it. The way it plunges you in the era, though, is without par, very realistic. Captivating, once you get past the hardships.
• Dialogs: Solid, even if it's difficult to say since it's in a foreign language.
• Characters: Well developed for the most part.
• Actors: Good acting, even though it's not easy to tell in a foreign language.
• Photography: Solid, often beautiful.
• Sound: Very good music and score.
• Special effects: None.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416044/
• Who is it for? Those wanting to get an understanding of what the early years of Genghis Khan might have been like and life on the steps. Just don't take the events as historical facts.

Michael Clayton — A realistic legal embroilment about a big company's dirty secrets — 7*/10

• Scenario: A story of lawyers and a big company with its secrets. The premise isn't new, but the treatment is unusual, it's from the lawyers' point of view. It presents us with a few nice unpredictable turns here and there. It's low key and it feels very real, without fluff. Unfortunately, it also feels little empty and without focus.
• Dialogs: Very realistic.
• Characters: Well developed and with nice depth.
• Actors: Great work on the part of everyone. Cast members include George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson and Sydney Pollack.
• Photography: Nice.
• Sound: Good music and score setting the perfect mood.
• Special effects: None.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465538/
• Who is it for? Those looking for a realistic legal suspense without embellishment and close to no action.

Ocean's Thirteen — Better than the second but not as good as the first — 7*/10

• Story: This third chapter concludes the trilogy pretty well. It was better than the second one (review here) with a smoother and more interesting story, but not as good as the first one (review here) simply because they tried to make it slicker and more complicated and failed by mostly confusing the audience.
• Characters: Same as before.
• Dialogs: Funny. However, they tried to make them feel more like inside chatter and just made it garbled most of the time. 
• Scenario: A number of nice surprises making the whole thing very interesting, even if nothing was really out of the ordinary.
• Actors: Solid work overall. The notable cast members are George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, and Carl Reiner.
• Photography: Beautiful.
• Special effects: Solid.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496806/
• Who is it for? Those looking for a good flick with a star studded cast or a slick intrigue with a funny dialogs.

The Number 23 — Jim Carrey is the only reason the movie is any good — 6*/10

• Story: Will pique the audience's curiosity, but it unfortunately is a slightly awkwardly rendered and doesn't do much more. Maybe it's because I was expecting too much.
• Characters: Shallow. Difficult to accept their motivations as valid ones. Their reactions seemed unrealistic to the point where suspension of disbelief was impossible.
• Dialogs: To scripted.
• Scenario: Nice pacing, but the intrigue was rather flat, you just couldn't feel it.
• Actors: Jim Carrey was very good. At the time, it was a nice departure from his earlier roles. The rest of the cast was acceptable, but no more.
• Photography: Acceptable.
• Special effects: Well done.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481369/
• Who is it for? Carrey fans or those badly in need of an intrigue or mystery.

Fred Claus — A slapstick Christmas comedy for all — 6*/10

Fred Claus is funny in a very goofy way and its story is very predictable. However, it can be touching and it has its moments. Paul Giamatti and Kevin Spacey both deliver a solid performance, especially considering the type of movie. Overall, it's a good Holiday flick, just beware the end, it is extremely sirupy, and the Brother Anonymous scene, it is really awkward.

Only if you're ready for the antics of Vince Vaughn.
6*/10

Dan in Real Life — Had a good potential, but turned out as light entertainment — 6*/10

Dan in Real Life starts with a very good introduction, however, after a while it degenerates into a series of easy clichés. The acting is very good, the story interesting, if predictable.

Very light entertainment.
6*/10

Charlie Wilson's War - Sarcastic, funny, and irreverent - 8*/10

Charlie Wilson's War is a frank and irreverent view of politics and the American view. If you put it side by side with a movie like 9th Company, it will make you think twice before passing judgement. Funny, with strong performances.

Not perfect, but great piece, very interesting point of view.
8*/10

Planet Terror - Funny gory exploitation homage flick - 7*/10

Planet Terror is not for everyone. True to his style, Robert Rodriguez is gory as hell. It's a good homage to the old exploitation movies of the seventies.

A must for Rodriguez fans, it's a hit or miss for the others.
7*/10

AVPR: Aliens vs Predator Requiem - A little better but not by much - 5*/10

AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem is the sequel to the first AVP and is just a little less mediocre. The story is a bit more involved and detailed, but the acting is worst. You also get more Predator technology and more Alien ecosystem variations.

Do no watch if you aren't a fan of Alien or Predator.
5*/10

Death Proof - An exploitation flick in much better - 8*/10

Death Proof is an incomparably stylish flick by the avant-garde Quentin Tarantino. The music is extremely catchy and puts us right in the mood. The first part has a great film pellicule style like a 70s B movie. The first part has a great setup for the characters, the situation and the end result comes brutally quick. The second part is more about the action and satisfaction... such satisfaction. All the girls give us great performances, and Kurt Russell one of his best.

Those who like simple yet well made story with action, solid dialogs and car chases, this is for you. A must for any Tarantino fan.
8*/10

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer — As likable as the first one — 6*/10

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a fitting sequel to Fantastic Four.

The good. Better A story, with sensible B and C story. Incredible Galactus effects.

The actors. The same.

The bad. The humor is not as good, if still present and done on the same tone. It lacks a bit of polish and the best example of that is that it tells a larger story in much less time.

The ugly. Nothing really obvious.

The result. If you like the first one, you'll most likely like this one too.

6*/10

Shoot 'Em Up — A firefight with a scenario to prop it up — 6*/10

Shoot 'Em Up is a cavalcade of bullets. You have to go past the veil of smoking guns to find an interesting style of dark humor done in a nonchalant and gory way.

The good. Lots of action. A beautiful woman. An unstoppable good guy.

The actors. Clive Owen, though a limited actor, is at his best here as the stoic effective killer with a good heart. Paul Giamatti's ruthless and cunning bad guy could not have been played by anyone else, that's how good he is. Monica Bellucci is again consecrated as the impossibly seductive femme fatale with the charming accent.

The bad. Seeing through a body. Not realistic enough body part props from time to time. And the film's intro is too abrupt and seems a bit flimsy or clumsy compared to the rest. The audience could have benefitted from being easy into this world of blood and violence.

The ugly. The skydiving fight.

The result. A brain dead action flick with its own sense of style. Not everybody will like the way it's built, though. However, the exchanges between Owen and Giamatti as well as those between Owen and Bellucci are elevating this film enough to make it watchable multiple times.

6*/10