Sunday
Argo:
Directed by Ben AFFLECK
With Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, Kyle Chandler
History, drama, thriller / USA / 2012 / 1h59
20h55 on France 2
Synopsis: On November 4, 1979, at the height of the Iranian revolution, militants invaded the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But in the midst of the chaos, six Americans managed to escape and take refuge at the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing that they will inevitably be discovered and probably killed, a CIA "exfiltration" specialist named Tony Mendez mounts a risky plan to get them out of the country. A plan so incredible that it could only exist in the cinema.
Argo, an ambitious and honest feature film, managed to create the ultimate buzz. Ben Affleck, a talented director, delivers a calibrated film adaptation of this complex exfiltration. This rather amazing true story is a crazy and daring idea to pass off a team of American ambassadors as a film crew… A risky bet, but a real film script already composed for Hollywood. Affleck chooses a simple scheme, opposition between light and funny scenes in America, where all the pre-production of this artificial film is built, and scenes in Tehran, necessarily heavier and therefore much more engaging. Ben Affleck tries to accelerate his pace at the end of his film, but no tension manages to emerge. An interesting feature film, not transcendent, not necessarily deserving of the Oscar for Best Picture and all the fuss that surrounded the feature film. Oscars for Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay. César Award for Best Foreign Film.
Monday
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Directed by Steven SPIELBERG
With Harrison Ford, Shia Labeouf, Kate Blanchett, John Hurt
Adventures / USA / 2008 / 2h03
21:00 on M6
Synopsis: The new adventure of Indiana Jones begins in a desert of the southwest of the United States. We are in 1957, in the middle of the Cold War. Indy and his buddy Mac have just escaped from a gang of Soviet agents in search of a mysterious relic from the depths of time. Back at Marshall College, Professor Jones learns very bad news: his recent activities have made him suspect in the eyes of the US government.
One last adventure that many fans don't even want to hear about. It is true that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg went slightly peanuts by signing a completely hallucinated conclusion of encounters with aliens and spaceship. We will not remember either Indy in his fridge or Shia LaBeouf who thinks he is Tarzan. But if we remove these errors of judgment, Indiana Jones 4 remains a pleasant entertainment, which returns to a certain fidelity to the other opuses of the saga, with a bygone time. The film exudes nostalgia and the 1980s and that it is pleasant to find Harrison Ford in one of his cult roles. A fifth opus should still see the light of day soon.
Deminers:
Directed by Kathryn BIGELOW
With Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, Evangeline Lily
War / USA / 2009 / 2h04
20h55 on W9
Synopsis: Baghdad. Lieutenant James is in command of the best demining unit in the U.S. Army. Their mission: to defuse bombs in civilian neighborhoods or theaters of war, risking their lives, while the local situation is still … Explosive.
Katherine Bigelow, talented director of Point Break, signs with Minesweeper an original and unexpected war film, taking a new point of view. Following the daily life of a demining team, from the opening scene the filmmaker realizes a hair-raising sequence, punctuated by stop motion and heavy tension. The casting ends up accomplishing a high-flying scene that sets the tone for the film: impressive action scenes, elaborate photography, very convincing performers, and a gripping and intelligent political and social message about international mutual paranoia, the difficult struggle of the minesweeper soldiers and today's complex international relations. Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Editing and Best Sound Editing.
Tuesday
Yes Man! :
Directed by Peyton REED
With Jim Carrey, Zoe Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Terrence Stamp
Comedy, romance / USA / 2009 / 1h43
20:55 on NT1
Synopsis: Carl Allen is at a standstill. No future… Until the day he enrolled in a personal development program based on a simple idea: say yes to everything! Carl discovers with dazzle the magical power of "Yes", and sees his professional and love life turned upside down overnight: an unexpected promotion, a new girlfriend… But he will soon discover that the best can be the enemy of the good, and that not all opportunities are good to take…
Before The Dream Life of Walter Mitty we had Yes Man with Jim Carrey , dealing with an approximately similar subject of a man who does not know how to say yes when it suits him the film offers a good dose of spontaneous, refreshing and touching happiness. Carrey tries to be endearing, cute and deep, but the great strength of the film lies above all in the ideal couple that appears to us. A feature film that does not hurt anyone, that will not remain in the memories, and that will not defuse the chronicle, nor the rules, but which has the respectable merit of giving fishing with a certain mastery and especially a certain finesse.
King Kong:
Directed by Peter JACKSON
With Jack Black, Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell
Fantastic / USA / 2005 / 3h00
9:00 pm on France 4
Synopsis: New York, 1933. Ann Darrow is a music hall artist whose career was shattered by the Depression. Finding herself without a job or resources, the young woman meets the daring explorer-director Carl Denham and lets herself be dragged by him into the most perilous of adventures…
Peter Jackson's version has managed to remain in the memories. The director of The Lord of the Rings signs a powerful and muscular Homeric work, which highlights the immemorial icon of King Kong. Naomi Watts is radiant and carries all the romantic character of the feature film brilliantly. Combining touching scenes and violent passages, Peter Jackson signs a high-flying King Kong , whose only possible challenge is its duration as disproportionate as the size of the monkey. Oscars for Best Sound, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.
The Villain:
Directed by Albert DUPONTEL
With Albert Dupontel, Catherine Frot, Nicolas Marié, Bernard Farcy
Comedy / France / 2009 / 1h26
20h55 on HD1
Synopsis: A bank robber, the Villain, returns after 20 years of absence to hide with his mother Maniette. She is naïve and bigoted, she is the perfect hideout. But she discovers on this occasion the true nature of her son and decides to put him back on the "right path". What follows is a duel as burlesque as it is ruthless between mother and son.
Dupontel offers a cartoonish and offbeat comedy rather funny offering its share of effective valves and stamped characters. A comedy of neurotics, totally absurd that is worth its weight in gold in the French comic landscape because of its inventiveness and spontaneity.
Wednesday
We Want Sex Equality:
Directed by Nigel COLE
With Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Rosamund Pike
Social comedy-drama / Great Britain / 2011 / 1h53
20h55 on Arte
Synopsis: In the spring of 68 in England, a worker discovers that, in her factory, men are paid more than women. By fighting for her and her girlfriends, she will simply change the world…
With lightness this English film tells how a group of women rose up to express their disapproval of their working conditions, their low pay and the lack of equality between men and women. With refreshing characters this social drama uses a relatively light tone, punctuated by some sexist valves towards the male sex. A feminist film not excellence.
Slumdog Millionaire:
Directed by Danny BOYLE
With Dev Patel
Drama / USA / 2009 / 2h00
9:00 pm on France 4
Synopsis: Jamal Malik, 18, an orphan living in Mumbai's slums, is about to win the whopping 20 million rupees in the Indian version of Who Wants to Win Millions? He is only one question away from victory when the police arrest him on suspicion of cheating.
Slumdog Millionaire presents a beautiful story of hope, redemption and determination, but Danny Boyle has accustomed his viewer to more original, more powerful feature films, with artistic flights and techniques of high quality. Slumdog Millionaire is based on an atypical and grandiloquent story. Unfortunately the director inserts action sequences not necessarily useful, carries his feature film with some unwelcome clichés. The cast remains quality without being transcendent and the clichés around the Indian civilization reduce the scope of the twists and characters rather attractive. Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Song, Best Music.
Thursday
The Green Line:
Directed by Frank DARABONT
With Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Ducan, James Cromwell, Sam Rockwell
Fantasy, drama / USA / 1999 / 3h09
20:55 on NT1
Synopsis: Paul Edgecomb, a century-old resident of a retirement home, is haunted by his memories. As head warden of Cold Mountain Penitentiary in 1935, he was responsible for ensuring the smooth running of executions by trying to soften the final moments of the convicts. Among them was a colossus named John Coffey, accused of raping and murdering two girls. Intrigued by this candid and shy man with magical gifts, Edgecomb will forge very strong bonds with him.
Frank Darabont, who had already distinguished himself with The Escapees, does not leave the prison environment to deal here with the waiting of prisoners on death row. Death row inmates await their sentences in difficult conditions where only Tom Hanks possesses any humanity. With a fantastic nuanced and discreet contribution, The Green Line also deals with the miscarriages of justice of American justice and especially the racism still present against blacks who remain the first ethnic group in American prisons. Remains the late Michael Clarke Ducan in his greatest role for this touching and profound film, definitely sad and moralizing.
Snowpiercer:
Directed by Joon-Ho BONG
With Chris Evans, John Hurt, Ed Harris, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Song Kang-Ho
Science fiction / South Korean, USA / 2013 / 2h06
20h50 on C17
Synopsis: 2031. A new ice age. The last survivors boarded the Snowpiercer, a gigantic train doomed to circle the Earth without ever stopping. In this futuristic microcosm of ice-splitting metal, a class hierarchy has been recreated against which a handful of men trained by one of them are trying to fight. Because the human being will never change…
Aesthetically flawless Snowpiercer offers impressive and visually very worked action scenes. Carried by a very inspired Chris Evans far from his role of Captain America, the feature film stages a rebellion from the lowest floor to the top of the pyramid. The social vector is edifying, highlighting the system of castes, hierarchical social classes where the best off own the majority of wealth. An epic to regain some humanity and overthrow the power in place, all in a train launched at full speed in a new ice age. The concept is top and well exploited until this final and pessimistic revelation.
