Potiche — Une belle comédie qui nous pousse à l'égalitarisme — 8*/10

Drôle, très bien pensé, légèrement intellectuel, c'est une belle pièce qui nous mène à penser à la place des femmes dans notre société patriarcale. J'ai adoré.

Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu et Fabrice Luchini.

Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521848/

L'arnacoeur — Comédie surprenante avec une histoire fort divertissante — 7*/10

Un petit film fort intéressant avec un scénario aux développements parfois inattendus. À prendre à la légère un soir de pluie.

Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1465487/

Iron Man 2 — A very worthy sequel to a solid superhero film — 8*/10

• Overall: It's rare you see a second chapter as good as the first one (read my review here). Another touchdown by director-actor Jon Favreau.
• Who is it for? Anyone who even remotely likes superhero flick. It's great sci-fi too.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228705/
• Known actors: Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, Jon Favreau, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson and Paul Bettany.
• Cameos: Kate Mara, Leslie Bibb, Clark Gregg, John Slattery, DJ AM, Stan Lee and Elon Musk.
• Setting: Marvel universe.
• Style: Superhero action fun.
• Pacing: Intense.
• Story: Here, we can feel the more anti-hero side of Tony Stark. It's still a light action flick, but with a slightly darker edge. The comical part comes more from his business nemesis who pulls us in a different direction giving us a multi-tiered challenged.
• Ending: The final touch is a bit easy.
• Epilogue: The usual.
• Dialogs: Witty, intelligent and well done, except for the Russian bad guy. Personally, I think they made him just a bit too inarticulate.
• Characters: Well developed and with nice depth, especially for a superhero flick. The Russian bad guy again draws the short straw and gets heavily stereotyped.
• Acting: Great.
• Visuals: Nice.
• Special Effects: Great.
• Afterthoughts: Excellent entertainment. Very surprised at the evenness of the quality.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time — A fantasy film that could have been so much more — 6*/10

• Story: Interesting, if predictable. The intrigue will get you going for a little while. Solid action with moves that tend to be a bit too much.
• Setting: The sands of time is an extremely good idea, even if it comes straight from the video game. However, it was, unfortunately, poorly exploited.
• Pacing: Fast. Action based.
• Ending: Very weak.
• Dialogs: Simple.
• Characters: Unidimensional, with overly simple motivations and reactions that sometimes do not make sense.
• Acting: Some good, some poor.
• Known actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina.
• Visuals: Beautiful.
• Special Effects: Very well done.
• Costumes: I'm not sure if they are realistic, but they sure look like they are, for the most part.
• Music: Good.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473075/
• Entertainment value: Good, more if you like fantasy.
• Who is it for? Those looking for their fantasy or special effects fix.

Valentine's Day — Sweet light and easy to watch romantic comedy — 6*/10

• Scenario: Well, sometimes the story lines are a bit rushed, they feel a bit empty and the whole production is pretty fluffy. However, there are no big problems with it, it is well acted and interesting with a nice pace. You'll easily get attached to the characters as well as the overall positive mood. Often the quality of a movie is define by its watchability, so it means that you'll find here a good entertainment value even if it isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a masterpiece.
• Known actors: Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Topher Grace, Queen Latifah, Kathy Bates, Julia Roberts, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Patrick Dempsey and Taylor Lautner.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0817230/
• Who is it for? Those looking for something light and sweet without any annoying flaw.

Inception — A superb sci-fi of incredible proportions — 10*/10

• Scenario: Incredible setting with mind-blowing concepts. This story takes you on a roller-coaster ride of action and mental gymnastics. A perfect ending. A sci-fi master piece by Christopher Nolan.
• Known actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite and Michael Caine.
• Visual & sound: Absolutely astounding on both counts.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/
• Who is it for? A must see, unless you truly can't stand sci-fi.

TRON: Legacy — A thing of dreams a crucible of imagination — 10*/10

• Scenario: Picking up over twenty years after the original TRON (read my review here), it's still a movie to make anyone dream. The intro is a bit jarring, I'll give you that and it takes a little while to get used the son character, but the rest is extremely imaginative, the story captivating with luscious details, the action intense with a solid ending.
• Known actors: Jeff Bridges (great performance, better than the first one), Olivia Wilde (touching in a strong performance to say the least), Garrett Hedlund (a bit of over acting, but still appreciable), Beau Garrett, Michael Sheen (just amazing) and Daft Punk (great cameo).
• Visual & sound: Absolutely astounding on both counts, especially if you saw it in IMAX 3D with full bass. The experience is so good, it's difficult to describe. The only flaw I'd point out is the face of CLU or the younger Kevin Flynn which is far from perfect and at times can be distracting.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/
• Who is it for? Those seeking action in a great fictional world, any geek or sci-fi fan.

I'm really happy, in a geeky way, that they rectified the command line mistake of the original.

Fair Game — Not bad if you're interested in the subject and like true story flicks — 7*/10

• Scenario: This is a smear campaign and media battle scenario, not a spy flick, although it does have some undertone of that. Like most scenario based on a true story, it's a bit of a let down, even if in this case, it is pretty well built.
• Dialogs: Strong.
• Characters: Interesting, well built.
• Actors: Naomi Watts delivered a good performance, but Sean Penn, whom I don't really like much, made the par without trying to do any better.
• Photography: Nice.
• Sound: Nice.
• Special effects: None.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0977855/
• Who is it for? Those who want to hear more about the Iraq War, WMDs, and like a film based on true events.

Life as We Know It — Don't expect too much and you'll like it — 6*/10

• Story: Easy, predictable, but enjoyable.
• Characters: You can't help but love them even though they are way too stereotypical.
• Dialogs: Satisfactory, sometimes funny.
• Scenario: Satisfactory, sometimes funny. Never surprising.
• Actors: Katherine Heigl is the one that makes that movie work. Josh Duhamel is good, but the role is so easy. Love Christina Hendricks.
• Photography: Nice and clean as all those Hollywood rom-com are.
• Special effects: None
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055292/
• Who is it for? Those in need of something simple and cute, romantic comedy lovers, or Heigl fans.

Leap Year — Pretty standard romantic comedy with some nice funny antics — 6*/10

• Story: It's a very basic tale of someone looking for what they want and overlooking the underdog. The end is just boring. However, there's a lot of fun to be had along the way.
• Characters: Simple.
• Dialogs: Funny.
• Scenario: Nothing new. Just a bunch of obstacles that lead to entanglements and funny situations.
• Actors: Good work, especially for Amy Adams. Without her, the film would be a bust.
• Photography: Shiny and nice, with a few incredible vista shots.
• Special effects: None.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216492
• Who is it for? Romantics who don't mind the standard Hollywood mold. For fans of Amy Adams.

Father of Invention — Meets the minimum requirements for a light flick — 5*/10

Father of Invention has a great main actor with an interesting idea for a story. However, there stop its list of qualities. It's entertaining, but fails to develop into a good movie.

For Kevin Spacey fans only, and on a slow night at that.
5*/10

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World — Great for a silly time in an uncharted parallel version of our world — 8*/10

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is silly ass movie of independent style with a great overarching metaphor that will greatly be appreciated by geeks everywhere. It's funny, with good acting and nicely done dialogs. It's drawback are not numerous, but I'll spell them out here. 1) It pushes the concept that nice guys are what girl should have but need to be convinced of and that bad boys are what they want and will always go to but should be protected from. 2) Girls don't have a say in the matter of who they should be with, that they can't make a decision for themselves. 3) While having surprising twist here and there in its scenario, the end sucks. It almost made it to the unexpected, but veered off at the last minute. Weak.

For geeks, super hero lovers, and those who love weird flicks.
8*/10

The Company Men - An old subject laid out in a predictable manner - 6*/10

The Company Men talks about a subject that's been talked about a lot without bringing anything new set in a highly predictable scenario. Still, you can enjoy those big name actors each giving us an acceptable performance.

If you're looking for something calm.
6*/10

Hesher - Raw, angry and touching family drama - 9*/10

Hesher is definitively not your average family drama. It's story has a strong sardonic undertone, some dark humor and is filled with irreverent behavior. The captivating plot constantly surprises the viewer because of the violent anarchist antics of the main character. Revulsion, frustration, anger, understanding and tears are on the menu.

Will not please everyone, but should touch almost anyone by the end. Don't expect glamour.
9*/10

Despicable Me - To see it is to enjoy it - 8*/10

Despicable Me is a riot. Lots of silly fun, great dialogs and voice acting, as well as some very colorful graphics. Your kids will love and you'll be just as entertained.

For all, except those who take life too seriously.
8*/10

An Invisible Sign - Very touching but flawed - 7*/10

An Invisible Sign is the kind of movie that had everything to be different and extremely interesting, but its ending ruined it all. Jessica Alba was incredibly good, the characters are deep, the story is touching and full of details. The scenario should have cut it after he crossed the street after he brought the letter back. That's the realistic and real end point.

If you want something different or are a fan of Jessica Alba.
7*/10

Please Give - A strange and uncertain flick worth seeing - 8*/10

Please Give is a low key movie that resembles life a lot: there's sadness, a few laughs, some rudeness, anger, lots of confusion, miscommunication, and questions, without ever finding anything final beside death. It has a strange vibe, but if you don't mind a slow beat, it's an appreciable construct.

Not for everyone.
8*/10

Beginners - Touching and artful - 9*/10

Beginners is about resetting yourself, recalibrating your ideas and how you perceive the world. Solid scenario and structure with great cinematic constructs that really put you inside this moving story right by its great characters. It develops slowly to better move you.

A must, unless you require action.
9*/10

Eat Pray Love - It could have been much more - 7*/10

Eat Pray Love falls short of what it could have achieved. You know what you're supposed to take from this movie, the cinematic is great, the photography quite powerful, but it cuts corner everywhere else and takes the easy paths in the story.

For the romantics.
7*/10

Machete - Great style and violent action - 6*/10

Machete by Robert Rodriguez rides the edge between parody of and homage to B/exploitation movies. Only by laughing a bit about them can you truly praise them, because what people loved about them was the fact that they didn't necessarily try to make perfect films, but really wanted to entertain us by appealing to our baser interests.

For those who love B/exploitation flicks or the style of Robert Rodriguez.
6*/10