Regular web surfers and other online movie fans probably know about this feature with very little media coverage, which owes its reputation only to the buzz made by journalists and other specialized forums. Unlike its counterpart The Road also happening in a post apocalyptic world, The Book of Eli did not need much advertising to raise genre cinema fans’ curiosity with a much interesting synopsis and very attractive released extracts. Realised by Allen Hughes and Albert Hugues, this dusty long feature staring Denzel Washington, relates his travel across a ravaged America to protect from savage hordes a sacred book supposed to save humanity. No less! Be there on January 15th in movie theatres, should you wish to know whether From Hell’s directors have achieved a new blockbuster or just a small firecracker…

The story of a lone hero who must fight his way across the wasteland of postapocalyptic America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving the future of humanity.

England’s most famous private detective in literature, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, will be entitled to a new live adaptation of his adventures! Under Guy Ritchie’s direction (Snatch and Lock, Stock and two smocking barrels among others), Sherlock Holmes and his dear friend John H. Watson will come alive with the respective feature of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. According to the first available extracts on internet, the movie tends to rejuvenate the English detective into a modern version, very 21st century like. But will the investigation genius’ class be enough when confronted to such an evil crime genius as Lord Blackwood?

Director Terry Gilliam loves to mess up with rationality and narrative spatiotemporal rules. Though a little less evident on this one, we still find this trademark in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, to be discovered on Friday, December 25th! With a three-star worth cast (last performance from the late Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp and Jude Law among others), the audience without any doubt should be charmed by Twelve Monkeys director’s new magical world (each scene seems unusual and quirky). Visually coloured in a Burton-style, Paranassus’ ramblings make up for the few scenario and emotional weaknesses of the screenplay. Though sometimes a little dull, this new feature from former Monty Python is still an excellent way to spend two pleasant hours watching a rather unusual feature in a visually charming off-beat universe!

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this ‘coming of age’ milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all…

Christmas has come early at Evolution Store! Now available for a few days already, our gift to you this X-mas should be nothing else than the great trailer from the much awaited Iron Man 2… Beware, be ready to be flabbergasted! Can’t say I didn’t warn you…

With a 318 million dollar score in the USA, the initiation of a possible continuation to Iron Man was no great surprise. Already responsible for the very pleasant first episode, Jon Favreau was assigned the task of realising a follow-up to the adventures of the coolest billionaire on earth, Tony Stark alias Iron Man. Of course, better stick with a winning team, so fans won’t be surprised to find out that Robert Downey Jr. should be wearing the same gold and red armor of Stark Enterprises’ director. Regarding the bad guys, once more Scarlett Johansson plays the sexy part of Black Widow and Mickey Rourke will be playing… Whiplash ! The fight is expected to take place on May 7th and promises to be hot and difficult for our billionaire playboy…

This is it, this month’s movie peak, or should I rather say this year 2009’s apogee is finally arriving, already way acclaimed by specialised reviews here and there on the net. For months and even years now, movie fans have been waiting for it, and eventually, the Avatar phenomenon is now on its way.  From tomorrow December 18th, North American viewers will be able to fully admire Pandora’s planet, a dream come true thanks to James Cameron. The precious project has required no less than 15 years of preparation for Titanic’s director, mostly due to the technological barriers from post Titanic times (1995), stopping Cameron from achieving this project right after his multi-oscarised one. Indeed back then, no special effects studio was able to technically accomplish this future masterpiece. In the way of George Lucas who directed a second Star Wars trilogy 20 years after the first one, James Cameron had to sweat it out and invest significant amounts of money for the development of stereoscopic cameras in order to fulfil his ambitious project. In the view of many, the possibility of a “before” and “after” Avatar seems more and more obvious…

The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Navi, a sentient humanoid race that are more physically capable than humans, although considered primitive. Standing three meters tall, with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Navi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora’s forests in search of valuable minerals, the Navi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence. Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Navi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human “driver” through a technology that links the driver’s mind to their Avatar body. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora’s jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora’s beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Navi female, Neytiri, whose beauty is only matched by her ferocity in battle. Over time, Jake integrates himself into Neytiri’s clan, and begins to fall in love with her. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Navi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world.

In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the “Basterds”, a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl’s plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

Both editions will present their share of bonuses, giving the opportunity to fans and amateurs to learn more about this bloody movie. Other than cut scenes and a different version to the Nazi’s propaganda feature (Nation’s Pride, realised by Eli Roth), the various editions will of course also offer a making of, an audio comment and some additional extras (The original Inglourious Basterds, Rod Taylor on Victoria Bitter, Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel…). Nazis deserve no mercy!

After venturing into highly entertaining cinema (with substantial budget), Peter Jackson seems to have felt the urge of moving back to humbler and more intimist cinema. Indeed his next feature The Lovely Bones seems to have more in common with Heavenly Creatures than with King Kong or The Lord of the Rings. Beware though, this new movie coming out on December 11th is not for general viewing. Indeed, the movie based on Alice Sebold’s novel will tell us how Susie Salmon -a teenage girl who’s sad story was to be raped, murdered and cut into pieces by a serial killer- follows from the beyond the consequences of her missing as well as the police’s investigation.

This is the story of the last few years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger. He loved what he did and could imagine little else that would make him happier. Living openly in 1930s Chicago, he had the run of the city with little fear of reprisals from the authorities. It’s there that he meets Billie Frechette with whom he falls deeply in love. In parallel we meet Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent who would eventually track Dillinger down. The FBI was is in its early days and Director J. Edgar Hoover was keen to promote the clean cut image that so dominated the organization through his lifetime. Purvis realizes that if he is going to get Dillinger, he will have to use street tactics and imports appropriate men with police training. Dillinger is eventually betrayed by an acquaintance who tells the authorities just where to find him on a given night.

Now let’s have a quick overview of the various available video editions. The basic one comes with a small feature called Larger than Life: Adversaries, as well as an audio comment. The special edition offers a making of and three documentaries concerning Dillinger’s life and the Blu-ray one will provide on top of that many interactive bonuses. Though fans might be a little disappointed no to find any other version of the movie (there has been rumours of a director’s cut existence), still the many extras should make up for it… at least while waiting for more??

Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire are going to be brothers in crisis, starting off this Friday on all North American screens! Indeed, Jim Sheridan’s next feature will have Donnie Darko and Spiderman’s performers being put side to side in the promising movie Brothers. In this comedy drama remake of Susanne Blier’s feature, the cast has been perfectly completed by the fabulous Natalie Portman, whose talents and reputation make no more doubts. Hence, though the movie has remained up to now rather discrete from a promotional aspect, it still strongly arouses our curiosity!

The film tells the story of two siblings, Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and younger brother Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal), who are polar opposites. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters, Isabelle and Maggie (Bailee Madison, Taylor Grace Geare). Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who’s always gotten by on wit and charm. When Sam goes missing, Tommy moves in to take care of the family, and eventually begins a relationship with Grace. Sam eventually returns home, however, beginning a confrontation with Tommy and Grace.

Does fiction actually inspire reality or should it be the opposite? While movies and videogames are frequently accused of being responsible for some current events (most discussions focus on violence issues), this twist of fate could definitely reopen the debate. Indeed, a few weeks ago in France, a cash escort made it out with his van that was holding some 11 million euros! The incident struck a chord with this week’s release of Armored from Nimród Antal (Vacancy), which relates how cash escorts…disappear with a van worth of 10 million dollar. What a coincidence! Anyway, Armored presents a very interesting cast: Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Skeet Ulrich, Amaury Nolasco, Milo Ventimiglia, Fred Ward… all share the bill in this tough and exploding feature! That being said, the French escort guy seems to have been even cleverer, as he happened to be on his own to succeed his robbery!