The Eagle (2011)

Marcus Aquila is the son of Flavius, commander of the legendary 9th legion of Roman empire. His father and his men disappeared a few years ago as they entered into the unknown territories of North England. His family reputation vanished and now Marcus as a new commander arrives in England in order to restore his father's name. After a battle, he will get wounded and the army will award with an honorable retirement. But he decides to return back to England along with his slave, Esca and confront together its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. An alternative proposal at the Roman empire wars, dedicated to the cost of human lives. Not the classic one but a very interesting film though.

Les chiens isolés (2011)

A short film but actually a big sensual experience. An old man who works at a fuel tank platform feels alone when his best friend tells him that he is going to quit. He gets drunk and let his emotions explode. A bittersweet story about loneliness and rejection. Nice colors and an impressive result as well for this cool animation!

Les chiens isolés from CRCR on Vimeo.

Kak ya provyol etim letom aka How I ended this summer (2010)

Pavel is a young guy who works at a desolate island near the Arctic territories. His daily duty is to receive and send radio signals through the transmitter. Alongside with his colleague, Sergei who is a weird guy, born and raised at this difficult environment, they are trying to do their best at work. And survive of course. One day, an important message arrives and Pavel has to give it to Sergei. But because he is afraid of his reaction, he decides to delay to transfer the message. Things get complicated and soon the atmosphere gets poisoned with lies and fear. Are things as bad as they seem actually? A spectacular Russian film with stunning photography and great acting from just two actors. This is the great Russian school of cinema where you can picture emotions at every move of our heroes.

Oasis Terminal (2009)

Another beautiful experience from Colombia this time. Ruben Fernandez directs a short film where emotions are so strong. Our civilization has been collapsed one more after a nuclear war. A young man looses his father into the battle and soon he remembers his childhood as he also dies slowly, wounded from a bullet. He will meet his friend who now belongs to the enemy camp and he will give his eternal goodbye. The music is amazing and so emotional, the plot was good even if the direction was a little bit slow. But again it is a great work!

Oasis Terminal (english subtitles) - short film from Ruben Fernández on Vimeo.

Atrocious (2010)

I used to be a fan of Spanish horror movies (check 'Rec' or 'Tombs of the Blind Dead') but this film was so disappointing. I was expected something supernatural or maybe a bigger taste of terror. It was an awful experience though waiting for nothing. A family arrives at their villa, at the countryside near Sitges in Spain. There are rumors about a ghost girl who helps whoever gets lost inside a labyrinth who is located near their home. The two youngsters, Cristian an Debora want to search the place and find the truth. But they will regret it soon. Actually this film is much worst than 'Paranormal activity'. The editing sucks, there is no serious direction, especially when you spend three minutes just looking on the ground with infrared light and the whole thing is a total disaster. Go out for a beer instead!

See piu fung wan aka Black Ransom (2010)

Detective Mann is the leader of the A team at the police investigations bureau. This time he has to search about the loss of various leaders of the Chinese Mafia, better known as the Triangle. Sam is a former cop who lost his brother due to Mafia boss, Ice and he seeks for vengeance. For that reason, he forms a special squad and they illegally active against the mobs. They kidnap them, take the money and then kill them. Sam also was in love with Eva, a relative of a former mobster and this cost his job. His new lover is so jealous and tries always being on his side. Things get more complicated as Ice is in love with Eva and Mann knows that Ice is the responsible for the death of his ex wife. Now he and Sam have a common enemy instead of their critical game of survival. A very interesting action film including drama and suspense that keep you stuck in your chair. Enjoy!

It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

This is a smart and bittersweet film to watch. A young guy, Craig faces psychological problems that make him feel depressed. He wants to commit but he can't do it finally so he ends into the psychiatric ward of a hospital as he looks for a cure and an observation. He has to stay five days and hang out with other patients. One of them is Bobby, a sensitive man who is ready to leave the hospital but still has many problems with his family. Craig also meets Noelle, another tired soul who found a shelter in the hospital and they are going to feel something big between them. He will realize how beautiful life can be and there is no space for anxiety actually. A tender film, with a great cast, nice direction and lots of emotions. Cinema for the hearts!

Laundromatik - Jeroen Swyngedouw (2011)

An excellent stop motion animation from the Krank animations team. Can you imagine a fantastic world behind our laundries? Could it be a magic power that moves the washing machine or an industrialized mechanism?

LAUNDROMATIK from Krank Animations on Vimeo.

Clock dj - Musikame (2010)

A very interesting experimental audio project from Spain. Enjoy!

Clock DJ from David Salaices on Vimeo.

Trolljegeren aka Troll Hunter (2010)

Thomas and his mates are students who investigate a series of mysterious incidents where bear killings happen near Oslo. They follow a hunter,Hans who seems to keep a tremendous secret about the existence of mythical creatures, better known as Trolls. They are two main categories of these, the mountain trolls and the forest trolls. So the brave team will fight against both of them. They use infrared light as a weapon to kill every beast who stray from their territorial boundaries. It is a difficult mission and soon the three youngsters will loose faith and have casualties. It is a strange, new stylish film that didn't impress me so much actually. I would like it more dark and efficient. The acting was just fine, there was also fun but I expected something more serious maybe. But you have to try that if you like adventurous fantasy films!

Shi er jin pai aka The twelve gold medallions (1970)

Miao Lung is a mighty swordsman. He decided to intercept twelve gold medallions from reaching their intended destination. These medallions are actually messages to General Yao Fei that instruct he and his followers to cease their resistance to a Tartar invasion, sent by Prime Minister Qin Hui who is the traitor. He charges Jin Yantang with the delivery of this medallions. Jin is Maio's master and father of Jin Suo who was engaged with Miao. So their happiness is going to end as Miao rejects her in order to fight with her father. But Miao doesn't know that Jin Suo shares his patriotism, and works against her father secretly. So they join forces again, along with some other heroes and will confront the traitors in a deadly battle. A great story as long as a retro kung fu spectacle. Dramatic but also entertaining it was another amazing production from the unremarkable Shaw Brothers studio!

Priest (2011)

In the future, the human civilization has collapsed. The eternal war with vampires weakened our kind who now lives behind armored cities. The church is controlling everything and whoever disobeys the order of the holy men will be in trouble. Priests used to be the special assassins who helped to exterminate the vampires at last. But a new menace from the past appears and when our hero's niece gets abducted, he will not follow the rules but manage to save her at all costs. He will find allies at the faces of a sheriff who seems to be the boyfriend of his niece and a former Priestess friend. An interesting film with dark atmosphere, nice action scenes, a good cast and maybe a sequel?!

Última Parada 174 aka Last stop 174 (2008)

Sandro and Ale-Sandro are two boys growing up at the tough suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Sandro witness his mother cruel death while being robbed in her small restaurant. His dreams have been destroyed and he can't forget that. He tries to live with his aunt but finally he escapes to Copa Cabana to find a new life. But he messes with poor children who steal for a living and use drugs as well. Alessandro brutally kidnapped by a drug dealer who raided him as a criminal. His life was violent and he managed to escape when his father died at a battle with another gang. These two youngsters will meet in different situations and the will become best friends. But they will separate again. Alessandro's real mother still seeks for him but she will be cheated by Sandro who appears in front of her as her real child. And soon things will be out of order as Sandro gets more and more violent, lost in the world of paranoia and drugs. A marvelous but also sad film that is realistic and dramatic due to the actor's excellent performance and powerful direction, based on a true story.

Bionic Ninja (1986)

A secret conspiracy happens to Hong Kong once more. The top technical secret film is being stolen from Gordon who is under the services of Mr. Smart?. The attacks continue by two individual gangs even he doesn't have any more the parcel. In the meanwhile, a clan of ninja who cooperates with Russian KGB follows him and observe the whole story without interfeering. CIA sends Tommy, a tough agent to take back the film at any cost. When he will be attacked by the Ninjas, he will go and take some Ninjutsu lessons from a Japanese master. By the book as we way. This thing was actually ridiculous. As Godfrey Ho uses two separate movies to complete the story, the whole thing becomes finally horrible. There is no acting at all, but lots of nude scenes blended with action and numerous fights and the classic bad dubbing who completes this crappy work.

Paul (2011)

A very humorous touch in a special story as well. Two comic freaks, Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings visit the States for the famous festival of Comic-Con and decide to continue their trip and go to New Mexico and Roswell in order to have fun. But they will accidentally meet an alien, Paul who needs their help. The reason is that he escaped from the government and he plans to return to his planet. But agent Zoil and his partners are looking for him and their order is to capture him dead or alive. So the cool couple of friends will help him finish his earth trip. Another woman, Ruth who was working at a parking and also accidentally found out the existence of Paul will accompany them to this dangerous trip to freedom. A cool film, with some real action shots but also full of clever and very funny quotes.

Nordkraft aka Angels in fast motion (2005)

What a great film. Three different personalities mess into the game of fate. Each one fights for survival though drug addiction. Placed in the grey Aalborg in Denmark, these three individuals are looking to upgrade their lives. Maria is a drug trafflicker, living with her boyfriend Asger who looks to live in his fantastic world, trying to be a tattoo artist unsuccessfully. She wants a better life for her and she is adored by Hossein, a mysterious Persian guy who has business with Asger. Steso is a junkie. He is so fucked up with drugs and he can't deny that. He loves Tilde, a girl who is a clinic patient. She can't stand him any more and so they break up. Allan seems to be the toughest guy among our heroes. He worked as a sailor and his face got injured at an accident where he got burned. He has to payback his former friend Frank as the last one didn't rat on him while police arrested him and sentenced him to jail in place of Allan. All these characters will be part of a game of life and death. A realistic process to the drug problems and their consequences through life. Beautiful and inspiring!

Djinns aka Stranded (2010)

A special force is landed in Algeria during the 60s. Their mission is to find a destroyed airplane at the desert and seek for a important suitcase. They don't know what it contains though. They will fight against rebels and they will find a shelter at a secret village in the middle of nowhere. Soon they will confront more serious enemies, the spirits of the forgotten people known as Djinns. These evil visitors full their minds with madness and paranoia and make them kill each other. I liked the claustrophobic sense around this tale. Modern heroes fighting for survival against ancient cultures. Where hides actually our greatest fear? Well done.

Frog crossing - Denimrock (2011)

Very cool animation about the dream of a frog while crossing a street. A nice, effective and so creative idea with a cool soundtrack. ENJOY!

FROG CROSSING from DENIMROCK on Vimeo.

The island (2005)

Lincoln Six Echo lives an ordinary life in the near future. As a survivor of an unknown incident he thinks a lot about his past but he can't remember exactly what has happened. He likes Jordan Two Delta, another survivor. But when she wins a place in the paradise on earth, calles the island, he will investigate and search everything about this Utopian land as he supposes that everything is a huge lie. Soon he will find out that reality is not as it seems and they both are victims of a bigger plan, being clones and kept as a source of replacement parts. They both escape from the facilities and trying to survive in an environment they couldn't even imagine, facing a real nightmare. A magnificent film with suspense in high levels, it reminded of me another older one, THX 1138.