EvilPhoEniX

A perfect historical romp that takes us back to 753 BC and tells the story of the brothers Romulus & Remus, the original founders of the Roman Empire and the birth of the first king! A piece of mysticism and history wrapped in a very authentic setting with beautiful locations and brutal close-combat fights where gore is not spared. I was surprised with how well the Italians serve up gritty, raw and uncompromising action and the atmosphere of the time is wonderfully portrayed. A solid affair that every history fan should see. 80%

The most interesting thing in the film is the hysterical Ethan Hawke and the fact that the term ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ was coined because of this event, but otherwise it's nothing special. It's not very suspenseful or funny, the film avoids violence and it's not downright entertaining either, so it works at best as a bedtime heist movie. 60%

A commercial German comedy with lots of stars, starring Til Schweiger. There are a few jokes to laugh at, the action is good, but otherwise it's typical mainstream stuff with nothing special. 60%.

The anticipated failure turned out to be a commercial hit, praised by audiences and critics alike, and apparently no one expected that. Guy Ritchie has the direction firmly in hand and serves up the fairy tale of my childhood with an excellent Will Smith as the Genie (quite possibly the best performance of his career), a beautiful Princess Jasmine with a voice like Adele, and a very likeable Aladdin. It's beautifully colourful, suspenseful, fun and most importantly for the whole family. The dance numbers and songs are reminiscent of the best of Bollywood. Disney is making me happy this year. 80%!

Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler is a great duo where you can trust their chemistry. Although it's not the typical comedy I would expect from these two, it is a very entertaining Agatha Christie parody. The humour works a few times, but the murders are much more entertaining and especially the final twist with the reveal of the killer, whom I didn't guess and that's where the film scores points. I enjoyed it. 65%

An appealing premise in a dull, boring and unfunny comedy with very unlikeable characters. I don't think I've ever seen a British comedy this tedious. I didn't laugh once and I haven't seen a worse film this month. 20%.

Movies aren't doing so well this year, but 2019 definitely belongs to series! After Chernobyl and Deadly Class, this is another affair that will fulfill fans' wet dreams. Jonathan Tropper, responsible for Banshee, now brings us to the second half of the 19th century in San Francisco's Chinatown, where the wars of three Chinese Tong gangs are going on. Inspired by Bruce Lee, the main character comes to San Francisco from China to find his sister, but is forced to join a local gang in order to survive. Perfect in almost every way, the series is very much driven by great characters. Two well-known martial arts stars, Joe Taslim from The Raid and The Night Comes for Us, and Dustin Nguyen from the Vietnamese gem The Rebel appear in the rival gang. There's also a group of Irishmen, led by Irish mobster Dean S. Jagger. The corrupt police, politicians and brothel moms are also cool. Action-wise, the series is flawless. First of all, it is very brutal and blood is not spared and the fights have dynamic and effective choreography. Episode 5 is a nice Western detour with shootout in a saloon that would be the envy of many a Western. Great period atmosphere, great soundtrack, decent plot and twists, great characters that the viewer will like and plenty of action. 100% This like a series version of The Raid!

The sexy Olivia Wilde makes her comedy debut with what could be described as a modern-day chick flick for women, and it's very refreshing. For a teen comedy, the film is very creative in terms of ideas, strange not-so-typical characters for the genre, decent dialogue, decent acting, and for the most part, it manages to avoid the typical cliché and fleshes things out beautifully. In terms of the humour, it could have been funnier, but it's still great fun and a pleasant surprise.

This year is ruled by "the lower the expectations, the bigger the bang", and Hotel Mumbai is a fine example. The film focuses on the Mumbai terror attack of 2008, where a group of young terrorists broke into a hotel to perform Jihad in the name of Allah. What I really like about the film is that it gets to the point right from the start, so we watch a literal two hour terror and carnage where guests and staff are executed in cold blood and mercilessly, and that there were not a few. Authentic, chilling, uncomfortable and atmospherically very dense. The greatest horror is often reality itself. I recommend it!! 85%

Netflix delivers an Australian post-apocalyptic sci-fi film with robots in the style of Ex Machina and it's a more than enjoyable spectacle that carries a hidden message and demands plenty of attention to the details. Humanity has been destroyed and we follow a robot inside a ship that uses an embryo to create a little girl who is supposed to be a new beginning, but things get complicated when an uninvited guest arrives at the ship. Pleasantly intimate, superbly acted, with a chilling atmosphere that benefits from the viewer's uncertainty of who to trust, and believe me, you won’t know how the film will end until the last moment. I also liked the unexpected twists and turns and the suspense, so a pleasant surprise for me. 70%