Anthony Zimmer by Jérôme Salle, 2005

with Sophie Marceau, Yvan Attal, Sami Frey, Gilles Lellouche (Tell No One - Ne le dis à personne, Little White Lies - Les Petits Mouchoirs), Daniel Olbrychski, Samir Guesmi (Granny's Funeral - Adieu Berthe, Tell No One - Ne le dis à personne), Dimitri Rataud, Nicky Marbot, Olivier Chenevat, Alban Casterman

Anthony Zimmer is a genius career criminal who is wanted by police around the world. He has used ingenious methods to launder money legally, such as creating a dummy corporation and filing a lawsuit against a firm outside of France. In addition to the police, Zimmer is wanted by the "White Collar Barons", a powerful Russian Mafia Zimmer was working for. Zimmer is an elusive character, and no known description is available as he has apparently had drastic plastic surgery to alter his appearance and voice. A standout detective, Akerman (Sami Frey), is ahead of others in the race to catch the criminal mastermind. Akerman knows that Zimmer will risk everything to see the lover he left behind, Chiara Manzoni (Sophie Marceau).

Have you seen "The Tourist", yes, ok, now watch Anthony Zimmer, no, well don't and certainly watch Anthony Zimmer. I saw it when it came out, and I found it amazing. It is not the French movie you expect, it is closer to the movie "tell no one" ("Ne le dit a personne") in the way that it is a thriller using American codes of filmmaking. But still with the french touch. Which mean, the actors are impeccable, the cinematography and editing excellent and dynamic, but there is a lot of subtlety, nuances, charm that makes it work. Which couldn't work in the American version based on the spectacular, the cascades, the passion and the - in a way - fast food kind of industry blockbuster they make, and I am not anti-American movies at all. On the contrary. I am actually now thinking about watching "The girl with the dragon tattoo" American version and I will hope they did a better job on that one. Same thing, they should be careful about subtlety, because the Swedish version was all about details and that made it excellent.

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White Material by Claire Denis and Marie NDyaye, 2009 (PG)

with Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, Ma Mere, Amour), Christopher Lambert, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Isaach De Bankolé, William Nadylam, Adèle Ado, Ali Barkai, Daniel Tchangang, Michel Subor
From the director of Trouble Every Day

A tale of a country torn apart by civil war, as African soldiers force French nationals to abandon their land. At the center of the story is Maria (Isabelle Huppert), a white woman who ignores her family's fears and steadfastly refuses to leave her coffee plantation. Isaach De Bankolé and Christopher Lambert also star.

I read a book named Trois Femmes Puissantes (prix Goncourt) from Marie NDyaye, two years ago, that I loved. A year ago I watched a movie from Claire Denis, "Trouble Every Day", that I hated, maybe too strong/gore for me. And I watched this one feeling the same strength that occurs in the book of Marie NDyaye, and discomfort of "Trouble Every Day", in a blend that was going beyond both of them. And Isabelle Huppert is perfect in those both aspect, isn't she?

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Making Plans for Lena (Non Ma Fille, Tu N'iras Pas Danser) by Christophe Honoré, 2009 (NR)

with Chiara Mastroianni (Un Conte de Noel), Marina Foïs (Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra), Marie-Christine Barrault, Jean-Marc Barr (Côte d'Azur - Crustacés et coquillages), Fred Ulysse, Louis Garrel (Ma Mere, The Dreamers), Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, Alice Butaud, Julien Honoré

Deciding to leave her unfaithful husband (Jean-Marc Barr) behind, 34-year-old Léna (Chiara Mastroianni) travels from Paris to her family's country home to gain some emotional refuge and restart her life. To her dismay, Lena discovers that family members have their own plans for her. The first of these comes from her high-strung sister, Frédérique (Marina Foïs), who's arranged a surprise appearance by Léna's ex-husband.

The cast is impressive, this could be the perfect French movie about family drama, such as "Un Conte de Noel". Except the director is Christophe Honoré (Ma Mere), and everything turns out overacted, slow, painfully boring and dramatized, where there is in fact not much to be dramatic about... Definitely very fashionable, and definitely to be forgotten soon.

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Eraised - The Expatriate by Philipp Stölzl, 2012 (R)

with Aaron Eckhart, Liana Liberato, Olga Kurylenko, Garrick Hagon, Eric Godon, Yassine Fadel, Neil Napier, David Bark-Jones, Jade Hassouné, Nick Alachiotis

Ex-CIA agent and current security expert Ben Logan has moved to Belgium with his estranged 15-year-old daughter. But when they're both targeted for assassination, they must go on the run and learn to trust each other.

Taken? Unknown? The Bourne Identity? Ok, no joke... This movie is a thriller, with a decent plot, that works well as a formula, but feels like a formula. Everything match in terms of timing, betrayal, race, music, editing... It is the perfect template. But template anyway, and therefor predictable.

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Take This Waltz by Sarah Polley, 2011 (R)

with Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine, Brokeback Mountain), Seth Rogen (50/50), Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman, Jennifer Podemski, Diane D'Aquila

Filmed in Toronto, this intimate, unflashy romantic drama portrays a happily married woman who experiences a sudden and strong desire for another man. Further complicating the situation, the object of her desire resides just across the street.

You can feel this is not an American production, which is a good change. It is not really a "romantic" drama, in the sense that the way the story is told, the focus on the relationship have little to do with romanticism, it is about the day to day life of a couple which in a way is very ordinary, and about falling out of love over time, the distances you create, the boredom... It is not a very appealing movie, very raw in many way. The characters reminded me of Blue Valentine, Michelle Williams is in a similar mood, which to be honest I wasn't a fan of, and still not now. Seth Rogen is very good, but the movie goes on and on... The only moment I really enjoyed was the time-laps they created to show the history repeating.

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The Call by Brad Anderson, 2013 (R)

with Halle Berry (Cloud Atlas), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Rango), Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, David Otunga, Michael Imperioli (Love in the Time of Money), Justina Machado, José Zúñiga, Roma Maffia, Evie Thompson, Denise Dowse, Ella Rae Peck

When an abducted teenage girl makes a frantic call from the trunk of a serial killer's speeding car, she connects with a sympathetic 911 operator who's dealt with the perpetrator in the past.

The concept is great, for more than three quarter of the movie, there is a woman in a truck, and a woman on the call center, so connected you are buying the story. The suspense is really good, the acting excellent, the little you see is the little you need to see, no more. No flash back, no explanation, just the moment. The bizarre twist of the end was completely unnecessary, but anyway, 3/4 of a movie being excellent is still worth seeing. It reminded me in a less extreme way of Buried by Rodrigo Cortés with Ryan Reynolds.

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Trance by Danny Boyle, 2013 (R)

with James McAvoy (The Conspirator, X-Men: First Class), Vincent Cassel (Adrift (À Deriva), A Dangerous Method), Rosario Dawson (Unstoppable, Men In Black 2, Love in the Time of Money), Matt Cross, Wahab Sheikh, Danny Sapani, Mark Poltimore, Tuppence Middleton, Simon Kunz, Michael Shaeffer, Tony Jayawardena, Vincent Montuel, Michael Fassbender (Prometheus, Haywire, A Dangerous Method, Shame, X-Men: First Class)

Danny Boyle directs this psychological thriller about an art heist gone wrong and the hypnotist who's hired to ferret out the missing masterpiece. Everything is a jumble after an auctioneer gets hit in the head while double-crossing some art thieves.

Inception with amphetamines, right? Well, everything Boyle is always a bit too much. This one doesn't miss. Regarding the initial idea, the search of memory where the brain tried to erase, or perhaps something more, very interesting. The one hour revealing aka eternal ending is absolutely annoying, to say the least. The switch in roles, layers after layers after layers, jumping from reality to hypnoses, ping pong between violence and hysteria and more gets you lost, and found with a barely interesting conclusion.

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