The town (2010)

Ben Affleck, in the Town, has done a great job.  A good, original story, convincing characters, a lot of action plus a romantic story. It has it all! Sometimes, you even forget it is an american movie (for me, it is a plus!).

My rating: 08/10

Im Schatten (In the Shadows) (2010)

In the Shadows is about a convict is released only to try to settle his score and try to get his next jobs moving. A classic film for characters who break the law as well as those working with or against them. Corruption depicted with the clearest colours and at the end, although the protagonist is far from being a saint, one likes him because he is the cleanest of them all!

If you want to see a good movie with suspense, with no hollywood-like exaggerations, this is your movie:)

My rating: 07/10

Chronique d’un été (Paris 1960) (1961)

“Chronicles of a Summer” is a film I did not know it existed. More than that, it is astonishing, to say the least, that such a film was created fifty years ago (!) and is still so fresh, so revealing, revolutionary during our time. “Are you happy?” is the question asked to people passing by the roads of Paris the film’s participants. Some do not reply at all, some say a couple of words, some go in the trouble (?) of sharing a discussion. A revealing discussion where one finds out that there are philosophers among every day people, others who shared the same problems with us, have a similar or different point of view but they can justify it. It was a snapshot of the truth at that time. What is even more revealing is the point of view of the participants in the film for other participants.

If you can see it somewhere do NOT miss it. It is a different kind of film but worth seen not only because of its differences but for many other reasons.

My rating: 10/10

Some Days Are Better Than Others (2010)

“Some Days Are Better Than Others” describes in the world of the shuttered American dream, four entirely different people live a life which is far from the average way of life. Each one with its own problems, routines, hopes and hardships. A realistic and sensitive look from four different perspectives on the individual vs. society theme.

Acting is superb, the stories are original, the workings of the American system are presented in a cause-and-effect manner explaining the paradoxes encountered in previous points of the plot, hiding an intelligence instead of bragging about it.

My rating: 07/10

L’arbre et la forêt (2010)

A person thrown during the war in a concentration camp because of its sexual preferences. The pressure from society forcing him to live a lie for decades. The ever going struggle between the inner self (L’arbre, i.e the tree) and what society (la forêt, i.e. the forrest) expects one to be: within its norms. A family which has felt the impact of these events in a multitude of ways.

In “L’arbre et la forêt“, acting is good, characters are convincing, the story is good. It has a non-trivial message to convey. However, given the story of  it could have been much better.

My rating: 06/10