A killer spider terrorises a New York apartment building in a tonally messy horror with some great creature effects. Our review of Sting:
Odd name for a killer spider movie, Sting. For that we can thank Tolkien-loving 12 year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) who chooses it as the nickname for the arachnid she finds scuttling around her dimly-lit New York apartment building. Sweeping the critter into a jar and intent on keeping it as a pet, Charlotte is blissfully unaware that Sting is capable of escaping from its glass prison and, as it dines on other living things roaming around the building, will soon grow to a frightening size.
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner, Sting is an eclectic mash-up of styles and influences. Its snowbound apartment setting, every floor filled with eccentrics, immediately recalls Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s Delicatessen. Roache-Turner seems to relish in the little...
Odd name for a killer spider movie, Sting. For that we can thank Tolkien-loving 12 year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) who chooses it as the nickname for the arachnid she finds scuttling around her dimly-lit New York apartment building. Sweeping the critter into a jar and intent on keeping it as a pet, Charlotte is blissfully unaware that Sting is capable of escaping from its glass prison and, as it dines on other living things roaming around the building, will soon grow to a frightening size.
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner, Sting is an eclectic mash-up of styles and influences. Its snowbound apartment setting, every floor filled with eccentrics, immediately recalls Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s Delicatessen. Roache-Turner seems to relish in the little...
- 4/12/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
Cannes rejected it. The Oscars ignored it. But “Amélie” lives on, as everyone’s favorite crème-brulee-cracking, stone-skipping Montmartre mischief-maker and romantic go-between is back in theaters come Valentine’s Day, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
“Amélie,” directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and written by the French filmmaker with Guillaume Laurant, remains one of the 21st-century arthouse’s most imaginative confections, the rare film perhaps more misunderstood now than it was when it came out in 2001. Make no mistake that “Amélie” was huge then. There was the box office, the awards, the infectious swells of composer Yann Tiersen’s music in the air (at least in my headphones), and then came the imitators. I remember in college a close friend had a poster of the film pinned to her dorm room wall, a bemused Audrey Tautou upright in bed flanked by framed pictures of an Elizabeth-collared dog and a white-feathered fowl, and...
“Amélie,” directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and written by the French filmmaker with Guillaume Laurant, remains one of the 21st-century arthouse’s most imaginative confections, the rare film perhaps more misunderstood now than it was when it came out in 2001. Make no mistake that “Amélie” was huge then. There was the box office, the awards, the infectious swells of composer Yann Tiersen’s music in the air (at least in my headphones), and then came the imitators. I remember in college a close friend had a poster of the film pinned to her dorm room wall, a bemused Audrey Tautou upright in bed flanked by framed pictures of an Elizabeth-collared dog and a white-feathered fowl, and...
- 2/1/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Studiocanal are proud to release Delicatessen the wonderfully dark, critically acclaimed surreal comedy from directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, in a sumptuous new 4K restoration, and making its Uhd debut.
Directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro dazzling fantasy adventure The City Of Lost Children was released earlier this year by Studiocanal.
Delicatessen is set in a distant, apocalyptic future, conventional society has reached a state of collapse. Grain is now used as currency and meat has become a rare commodity. Meanwhile an unemployed clown finds work as a maintenance man in a squalid apartment block situated above a butcher’s shop.
Having fallen in love with the owner’s daughter he soon discovers the sinister truth behind the ominous landlord’s unsavoury intentions. Between blossoming romance and disappearing tenants his only hope for survival could be the members of a subterranean militia of vegetarian freedom fighters. Or is it too late already?...
Directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro dazzling fantasy adventure The City Of Lost Children was released earlier this year by Studiocanal.
Delicatessen is set in a distant, apocalyptic future, conventional society has reached a state of collapse. Grain is now used as currency and meat has become a rare commodity. Meanwhile an unemployed clown finds work as a maintenance man in a squalid apartment block situated above a butcher’s shop.
Having fallen in love with the owner’s daughter he soon discovers the sinister truth behind the ominous landlord’s unsavoury intentions. Between blossoming romance and disappearing tenants his only hope for survival could be the members of a subterranean militia of vegetarian freedom fighters. Or is it too late already?...
- 10/19/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
To celebrate the sumptuous new 4K restoration of the wonderfully dark, critically acclaimed surreal comedy Delicatessen – out 16th October on 4K Ultra HD Edition, Blu-ray & DVD – we have a Blu-ray up for grabs!
With its iconic, surreal imagery, gallows humour and its cast of warped characters, Delicatessen marked the breakthrough collaboration between celebrated directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro (Dante 01). Equal parts horror, comedy and dystopian fantasia, Delicatessen is still one of the most original and influential films of its time.
A deliciously dark one-of-a-kind black comedy, beautifully and intricately filmed, featuring uproarious slapstick, an endlessly inventive script, and it even manages to add a sweet romance to the mix. Variety calls it a ‘startling and clever debut’, and Empire says it is a ‘delightfully original picture, poised perfectly between farce and horror’.
Order today: https://amzn.to/3E5BO95 or win a copy on Blu-ray by answering the following...
With its iconic, surreal imagery, gallows humour and its cast of warped characters, Delicatessen marked the breakthrough collaboration between celebrated directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro (Dante 01). Equal parts horror, comedy and dystopian fantasia, Delicatessen is still one of the most original and influential films of its time.
A deliciously dark one-of-a-kind black comedy, beautifully and intricately filmed, featuring uproarious slapstick, an endlessly inventive script, and it even manages to add a sweet romance to the mix. Variety calls it a ‘startling and clever debut’, and Empire says it is a ‘delightfully original picture, poised perfectly between farce and horror’.
Order today: https://amzn.to/3E5BO95 or win a copy on Blu-ray by answering the following...
- 10/16/2023
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
To celebrate the release of Delicatessen available on 4k Uhd, Blu-Ray, DVD and to Download from 16th October, we are giving away a 4k Uhd!
Delicatessen, in a sumptuous new 4K restoration, and making its Uhd debut, is a wonderfully dark, critically acclaimed surreal comedy from directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.
Delicatessen is set in a distant, apocalyptic future, conventional society has reached a state of collapse. Grain is now used as currency and meat has become a rare commodity. Meanwhile an unemployed clown finds work as a maintenance man in a squalid apartment block situated above a butcher’s shop.
Having fallen in love with the owner’s daughter he soon discovers the sinister truth behind the ominous landlord’s unsavoury intentions. Between blossoming romance and disappearing tenants his only hope for survival could be the members of a subterranean militia of vegetarian freedom fighters. Or is it too late already?...
Delicatessen, in a sumptuous new 4K restoration, and making its Uhd debut, is a wonderfully dark, critically acclaimed surreal comedy from directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.
Delicatessen is set in a distant, apocalyptic future, conventional society has reached a state of collapse. Grain is now used as currency and meat has become a rare commodity. Meanwhile an unemployed clown finds work as a maintenance man in a squalid apartment block situated above a butcher’s shop.
Having fallen in love with the owner’s daughter he soon discovers the sinister truth behind the ominous landlord’s unsavoury intentions. Between blossoming romance and disappearing tenants his only hope for survival could be the members of a subterranean militia of vegetarian freedom fighters. Or is it too late already?...
- 10/11/2023
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
For the third year running, Annecy’s artistic residency program accompanied three selected projects on a six-month adventure, beginning with a three-month script workshop before moving to Annecy’s Papeteries Image Factory for a similar bout of tailored mentorships and visual experimentation. At the end, the filmmakers launch their development titles at the MIFA market.
“Often when filmmakers start a project, they are expected to advance too quickly, without the necessary time for reflection and experimentation,” said coordinator Géraldine Baché. “They have to rush into production because time is money, so we wanted to give them that time, to offer three months to come and explore, to test things and find a kind of visual identity for their project.”
These are the three projects from this year’s selection.
‘The Bird Kingdom’
“The Bird Kingdom”
Set in a fantasy version of the Brazilian Sertão where men can transform into birds,...
“Often when filmmakers start a project, they are expected to advance too quickly, without the necessary time for reflection and experimentation,” said coordinator Géraldine Baché. “They have to rush into production because time is money, so we wanted to give them that time, to offer three months to come and explore, to test things and find a kind of visual identity for their project.”
These are the three projects from this year’s selection.
‘The Bird Kingdom’
“The Bird Kingdom”
Set in a fantasy version of the Brazilian Sertão where men can transform into birds,...
- 6/17/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
As diverse in style and content as they are, Álex de la Iglesia’s films do share a few notable characteristics: an adrenaline-rush narrative propulsion, a penchant for startling left-hand swerves in their storylines, and an almost gleeful willingness to offend more delicate sensibilities when it comes to depictions of sex, violence, and religion. This holds true from the start of his career. De la Iglesia’s feature debut, the scrappy sci-fi satire Acción Mutante, revels in the chaos of his anarchic sensibilities, even if its critique of religion is mostly limited to a hysterical takedown of the sanctity of marriage.
In a future society dominated by the cult of health and beauty, the disenfranchised have been forced underground, turning to acts of terrorism against the ableist establishment. The most notorious of these bands of brothers is the so-called Mutant Action group, whom we meet in the middle of the...
In a future society dominated by the cult of health and beauty, the disenfranchised have been forced underground, turning to acts of terrorism against the ableist establishment. The most notorious of these bands of brothers is the so-called Mutant Action group, whom we meet in the middle of the...
- 5/8/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
To celebrate the release of The City of Lost Children – released on 4K Uhd, Blu-ray & DVD 3rd April – we have a 4K Uhd up for grabs!
The City of Lost Children, in a spectacular new 4K restoration, and making its Uhd debut, is a dazzling fantasy adventure from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, creators of the critically acclaimed 1991 cult hit Delicatessen. They bring their surreal vision to the story of Krank, a tormented scientist who sets about kidnapping local children in order to steal their dreams and so reverse his accelerated ageing process. When Krank’s henchmen kidnap his brother, local fisherman and former circus strongman One (Hellboy’s Ron Perlman) sets out on a journey to Krank’s nightmarish laboratory, accompanied by a little orphan girl called Miette (Judith Vittet).
With stunning visuals from Oscar-nominated cinematographer Darius Khondji, costumes from Jean Paul Gaultier (The Fifth Element) and a haunting...
The City of Lost Children, in a spectacular new 4K restoration, and making its Uhd debut, is a dazzling fantasy adventure from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, creators of the critically acclaimed 1991 cult hit Delicatessen. They bring their surreal vision to the story of Krank, a tormented scientist who sets about kidnapping local children in order to steal their dreams and so reverse his accelerated ageing process. When Krank’s henchmen kidnap his brother, local fisherman and former circus strongman One (Hellboy’s Ron Perlman) sets out on a journey to Krank’s nightmarish laboratory, accompanied by a little orphan girl called Miette (Judith Vittet).
With stunning visuals from Oscar-nominated cinematographer Darius Khondji, costumes from Jean Paul Gaultier (The Fifth Element) and a haunting...
- 4/5/2023
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
28 years after its original cinema release, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's fantastically imaginative dark fairy tale has been restored in Ultra-hd quality for home viewing. Having attracted a cult following over that time, and boasting a star (Ron Perlman) who is now much more famous, it's bound to appeal to genre fans, and it's also a good choice for kids who like their entertainment a little on the scary side, despite the US choosing to give it an Nc 17 certificate.
Some of the extras included her are pretty old and haven't been given the restoration treatment, so whilst the film looks beautiful, they're a little rougher on the eyes. The Jean-Paul Gaultier interview, which might be better described as a Jean-Paul Gaultier quote dressed up with some archive footage on either side, has a seriously unpleasant flicker in places, but if you can handle that, you'll still find it.
Some of the extras included her are pretty old and haven't been given the restoration treatment, so whilst the film looks beautiful, they're a little rougher on the eyes. The Jean-Paul Gaultier interview, which might be better described as a Jean-Paul Gaultier quote dressed up with some archive footage on either side, has a seriously unpleasant flicker in places, but if you can handle that, you'll still find it.
- 4/1/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
To celebrate the release of The City Of Lost Children – released on 4K Uhd, Blu-ray & DVD 3rd April – we have a 4K Uhd up for grabs!
The City Of Lost Children, in a spectacular new 4K restoration, and making its Uhd debut, is a dazzling fantasy adventure from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, creators of the critically acclaimed 1991 cult hit Delicatessen. They bring their surreal vision to the story of Krank, a tormented scientist who sets about kidnapping local children in order to steal their dreams and so reverse his accelerated ageing process. When Krank’s henchmen kidnap his brother, local fisherman and former circus strongman One (Hellboy’s Ron Perlman) sets out on a journey to Krank’s nightmarish laboratory, accompanied by a little orphan girl called Miette (Judith Vittet).
With stunning visuals from Oscar-nominated cinematographer Darius Khondji, costumes from Jean Paul Gaultier (The Fifth Element) and a haunting...
The City Of Lost Children, in a spectacular new 4K restoration, and making its Uhd debut, is a dazzling fantasy adventure from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, creators of the critically acclaimed 1991 cult hit Delicatessen. They bring their surreal vision to the story of Krank, a tormented scientist who sets about kidnapping local children in order to steal their dreams and so reverse his accelerated ageing process. When Krank’s henchmen kidnap his brother, local fisherman and former circus strongman One (Hellboy’s Ron Perlman) sets out on a journey to Krank’s nightmarish laboratory, accompanied by a little orphan girl called Miette (Judith Vittet).
With stunning visuals from Oscar-nominated cinematographer Darius Khondji, costumes from Jean Paul Gaultier (The Fifth Element) and a haunting...
- 3/31/2023
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Since 1999, the reputation of "Stir of Echoes" — based on the book by science-fiction writer Richard Matheson — has continued to improve with age. It remains a standout in the long line of gripping ghost stories that came before it, and it helped set the stage for more mainstream paranormal hits down the line like "The Conjuring," in a time when meta-slasher films had taken over in a post-"Scream" horror landscape. Kevin Bacon gives a tortured performance as a man forced to solve the mystery behind the death of a local girl after she begins haunting him. After his New Age sister-in-law (Illeana Douglas) hypnotizes him, Bacon's character Tom can't stop seeing horrific visions, including one memorable scene where he pulls out his own bloody tooth.
"Stir of Echoes" was released in the wake of the huge success of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense," and was completely overshadowed by it.
"Stir of Echoes" was released in the wake of the huge success of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense," and was completely overshadowed by it.
- 12/4/2022
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
It is fair to assume Criterion could plunder the world of licensed film to build an ultimate noir playlist; credit, then, for focusing sharp and nabbing deep cuts. The Criterion Channel’s November / Noirvember program will be headlined by “Fox Noir,” an eight-title program with Otto Preminger deep cut Fallen Angel, three by Henry Hathaway, Siodmak, Dassin, Kazan, and Robert Wise, and while retrospectives of Veronica Lake and John Garfield will bring some canon into the fold, I’m mostly thinking about that potential for discovery.
Following “Free Jazz,” Bob Hoskins, and Joyce Chopra programs, the other big series is a 30-year survey of Sony Pictures Classics: Sally Potter, Satoshi Kon, Panahi, Errol Morris, Almodóvar, Haneke, Mike Leigh, just a murderer’s row. Streaming premieres include 499 and A Night of Knowing Nothing, two recent epitomes of I Wish I Had Seen That; Criterion Editions comprise Cure, Brazil, Sullivan’s Travels,...
Following “Free Jazz,” Bob Hoskins, and Joyce Chopra programs, the other big series is a 30-year survey of Sony Pictures Classics: Sally Potter, Satoshi Kon, Panahi, Errol Morris, Almodóvar, Haneke, Mike Leigh, just a murderer’s row. Streaming premieres include 499 and A Night of Knowing Nothing, two recent epitomes of I Wish I Had Seen That; Criterion Editions comprise Cure, Brazil, Sullivan’s Travels,...
- 10/26/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Jean-Pierre Jeunet put his stamp across the 1990s and 2000s with a unique blend of zany personality, thoughtful character portraits, and sharp, multi-dimensional humor. So much was running in films like Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, both co-directed with Marc Caro, that they could have boiled over, yet somehow remained focused works that played completely as the ownerships of their creators. After a brief misfire when stepping into the world of Hollywood blockbusters with 1997’s Alien: Resurrection—an early forebear of the “indie director to studio tentpole” pipeline that gobbles up every promising young filmmaker these days—Jeunet found his peak as a solo director in the early aughts: Amélie and A Very Long Engagement brought his particular style into a new era with remarkable sophistication and retention of his characteristic charm.
Then a curious thing happened. Despite being a beloved international director arguably at the height of his career,...
Then a curious thing happened. Despite being a beloved international director arguably at the height of his career,...
- 2/11/2022
- by Mitchell Beaupre
- The Film Stage
As the first film from the director of “Amélie” in nearly a decade, “Bigbug” is kind of a big deal. Sadly, it’s also a big disappointment — easily the most obnoxious Netflix original in some time, owing to the company’s trust in a director whose overactive imagination demands some kind of boundaries.
At precisely the moment pandemic-confined audiences want to get out and breathe fresh air, Jean-Pierre Jeunet gives them a suffocating scenario in which a squabbling French family is trapped in their retro-modern home with several android assistants. The result is an aggressively unfunny look at human-robot relations in a garish, cartoonishly rendered future — one in which all the houses look exactly the same on the outside, but are maintained by eccentric AI indoors (where the film spends 98% of its time).
In “No Exit,” Jean-Paul Sartre surmised that “hell is other people.” In this zany sci-fi riff on that idea,...
At precisely the moment pandemic-confined audiences want to get out and breathe fresh air, Jean-Pierre Jeunet gives them a suffocating scenario in which a squabbling French family is trapped in their retro-modern home with several android assistants. The result is an aggressively unfunny look at human-robot relations in a garish, cartoonishly rendered future — one in which all the houses look exactly the same on the outside, but are maintained by eccentric AI indoors (where the film spends 98% of its time).
In “No Exit,” Jean-Paul Sartre surmised that “hell is other people.” In this zany sci-fi riff on that idea,...
- 2/11/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
With fears our winter travel will need a, let’s say, reconsideration, the Criterion Channel’s monthly programming could hardly come at a better moment. High on list of highlights is Louis Feuillade’s delightful Les Vampires, which I suggest soundtracking to Coil, instrumental Nine Inch Nails, and Jóhann Jóhannson’s Mandy score. Notable too is a Sundance ’92 retrospective running the gamut from Paul Schrader to Derek Jarman to Jean-Pierre Gorin, and I’m especially excited for their look at one of America’s greatest actors, Sterling Hayden.
Special notice to Criterion editions of The Killing, The Last Days of Disco, All About Eve, and The Asphalt Jungle, and programming of Ognjen Glavonić’s The Load, among the better debuts in recent years.
See the full list of January titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
-Ship: A Visual Poem, Terrance Day, 2020
5 Fingers, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1952
After Migration: Calabria,...
Special notice to Criterion editions of The Killing, The Last Days of Disco, All About Eve, and The Asphalt Jungle, and programming of Ognjen Glavonić’s The Load, among the better debuts in recent years.
See the full list of January titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
-Ship: A Visual Poem, Terrance Day, 2020
5 Fingers, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1952
After Migration: Calabria,...
- 12/20/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist Review Video — Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist (2021) Video Movie Review, a movie directed by Pascal-Alex Vincent, written by Pascal-Alex Vincent, and starring Darren Aronofsky, Marc Caro, Jeremy Clapin, Megumi Hayashibara, Mamoru Hosoda, Junko Iwao, Masao Maruyama, Masayuki Murai, Mamoru Oshii, Rodney Rothman, and Aya Suzuki. Crew Théo Chapira created the music for [...]
Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Satoshi Kon The Illusionist (2021): Very Compelling from the Moment It Begins...
Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Satoshi Kon The Illusionist (2021): Very Compelling from the Moment It Begins...
- 10/19/2021
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
This article contains spoilers for Dark City (1998).
Back in the late 90s, UK cinemas were still running an annual promotion where you got to see as many recently-released films as you liked for the tidy sum of £1 each. The promotion was usually only set up for one day, so movie buffs used to plan that day with extreme dedication. You had to line up the screening times just right to make sure no film overlapped, but if you had nerves of steel and a butt lining to match? Yeah, you could squeak through five major releases for £5 and feel insufferably smug about it.
Alex Proyas’ Dark City was one of the movies caught in the net of that promotion in 1998, and I remember being bowled over by how surprisingly weird it was. Clearly influenced by Metropolis, Brazil, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s The City of Lost Children, the...
Back in the late 90s, UK cinemas were still running an annual promotion where you got to see as many recently-released films as you liked for the tidy sum of £1 each. The promotion was usually only set up for one day, so movie buffs used to plan that day with extreme dedication. You had to line up the screening times just right to make sure no film overlapped, but if you had nerves of steel and a butt lining to match? Yeah, you could squeak through five major releases for £5 and feel insufferably smug about it.
Alex Proyas’ Dark City was one of the movies caught in the net of that promotion in 1998, and I remember being bowled over by how surprisingly weird it was. Clearly influenced by Metropolis, Brazil, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s The City of Lost Children, the...
- 8/13/2021
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist Review — Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist (2021) Film Review from the 25th Annual Fantasia International Film Festival, a movie directed by Pascal-Alex Vincent, and starring Darren Aronofsky, Marc Caro, Jeremy Clapin, Megumi Hayashibara, Mamoru Hosoda, Junko Iwao, Masao Maruyama, Masayuki Murai, Mamoru Oshii, Rodney Rothman, and Aya Suzuki. Legendary Japanese [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist: An Informative Look at the Work of an Anime Legend [Fantasia 2021]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist: An Informative Look at the Work of an Anime Legend [Fantasia 2021]...
- 8/3/2021
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
In Claire Denis' High Life, a group of criminals accept a mission in space to become the subjects of a human reproduction experiment. Things go from complicated to worse to hallucinogenic when a storm of cosmic rays hit their ship. Wild Bunch has released the first trailer for Denis' (White Material) latest outing and the film is already sparking divisive debate following an early screening at Tiff. Based on the first footage here, it seems like High Life will be a slow-burning and thought-provoking science fiction film for those with a tolerance for artsy space movies bordering on the incomprehensible (also see Marc Caro's Dante 01). Beside Robert Pattinson, the cast includes Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin, Mia Goth, Lars Eidinger, Agata Buzek, and Claire Tran....
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/12/2018
- Screen Anarchy
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France, has cemented its position as a favorite event for generations of leading international filmmakers with its showcase of classic films and tributes to legendary cinematic heroes.
Launched in 2009 by Bertrand Tavernier and Cannes topper Thierry Frémaux, the president and director of the Institut Lumière, respectively, the event has become one of the largest international festivals of classic cinema.
Last year 171,000 festivalgoers attended, up from 160,500 in 2016.
This year’s honorees and guests at the event, running Oct. 13-21, include such luminaries as Jane Fonda, who is receiving the Lumière Award, Peter Bogdanovich, Stephen Frears, Liv Ullmann, Javier Bardem and Jerry Schatzberg.
In addition to a retrospective of her work that will include such films as “Coming Home,” “The China Syndrome,” “Klute” and “On Golden Pond,” Fonda will bring the festival to a close with a tribute to her father,...
Launched in 2009 by Bertrand Tavernier and Cannes topper Thierry Frémaux, the president and director of the Institut Lumière, respectively, the event has become one of the largest international festivals of classic cinema.
Last year 171,000 festivalgoers attended, up from 160,500 in 2016.
This year’s honorees and guests at the event, running Oct. 13-21, include such luminaries as Jane Fonda, who is receiving the Lumière Award, Peter Bogdanovich, Stephen Frears, Liv Ullmann, Javier Bardem and Jerry Schatzberg.
In addition to a retrospective of her work that will include such films as “Coming Home,” “The China Syndrome,” “Klute” and “On Golden Pond,” Fonda will bring the festival to a close with a tribute to her father,...
- 10/12/2018
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Mike Dopud, Jane Badler, Jochen Hägele, Maximilien Poullein, Kaya Blocksage, Petra Silander, Nicolas Van Beveren, Elie Haddad, Emilien De Falco, Eric Kailey, Zoe Corraface, Melissa Mars | Written and Directed by Guy-Roger Duvert
The year is 2047 and the world has gone virtual. Most of the world’s population are plugged in and gaming online, lost in virtual worlds where your wildest dreams can become a reality. As to be expected, terrorism is rife with people known as Necromancer’s killing off gamers and extorting corporations. In Paris, it has reached critical level and a private investigator by the name of Nash (Mike Dopud) has been contracted to seek out those behind some of the attacks by high flyer Dina (Jand Badler) on behalf of the Synternis, one of the many corporations involved in the business. Will this hardened private eye be able to get the job done or will he...
The year is 2047 and the world has gone virtual. Most of the world’s population are plugged in and gaming online, lost in virtual worlds where your wildest dreams can become a reality. As to be expected, terrorism is rife with people known as Necromancer’s killing off gamers and extorting corporations. In Paris, it has reached critical level and a private investigator by the name of Nash (Mike Dopud) has been contracted to seek out those behind some of the attacks by high flyer Dina (Jand Badler) on behalf of the Synternis, one of the many corporations involved in the business. Will this hardened private eye be able to get the job done or will he...
- 6/14/2017
- by Mondo Squallido
- Nerdly
Few master cinematographers working today are more associated with a classical approach to shooting on film than Darius Khondji. The very look of his movies has the feel of celluloid – the “China ink” blacks, the shadow detail, the softness and uniquely rich, but not sharp color palette, along with a density of image that comes from literally putting the silver back on the film in a special lab process.
It’s not surprising then that Khondji hasn’t been shy about his distaste for shooting digitally.
Read More: Cannes 2017 – Here Are the Cameras Used To Shoot 29 of This Year’s Films
“I felt we left film for digital too early, not in the right way and not for the right reasons,” Khondji told IndieWire in a recent phone interview from Cannes, where his new film “Okja” premiered. The great cinematographer’s opinion was not changed shooting Michael Haneke’s Palme...
It’s not surprising then that Khondji hasn’t been shy about his distaste for shooting digitally.
Read More: Cannes 2017 – Here Are the Cameras Used To Shoot 29 of This Year’s Films
“I felt we left film for digital too early, not in the right way and not for the right reasons,” Khondji told IndieWire in a recent phone interview from Cannes, where his new film “Okja” premiered. The great cinematographer’s opinion was not changed shooting Michael Haneke’s Palme...
- 5/24/2017
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
In 1997, a film cynic was born.
Seeing Star Wars ruined should have been a sign that 1997 would be the worst year ever for blockbusters. George Lucas’s Special Editions, intended to “improve” the original trilogy but mostly doing the opposite, started arriving in January. By the time of the release of the new version of Return of the Jedi in March, my anticipation for anything ought to have been demolished. But I couldn’t have imagined that was only the beginning.
Actually, the first steps towards the end of an era were made in the early ’90s. That just wasn’t a great time for big movies compared to the prior decade. Some of my biggest letdowns of all time included Hudson Hawk in 1991 and Death Becomes Her in 1992. Jurassic Park wasn’t good enough for me, having read the book. Independence Day put me to sleep in the theater. Beloved...
Seeing Star Wars ruined should have been a sign that 1997 would be the worst year ever for blockbusters. George Lucas’s Special Editions, intended to “improve” the original trilogy but mostly doing the opposite, started arriving in January. By the time of the release of the new version of Return of the Jedi in March, my anticipation for anything ought to have been demolished. But I couldn’t have imagined that was only the beginning.
Actually, the first steps towards the end of an era were made in the early ’90s. That just wasn’t a great time for big movies compared to the prior decade. Some of my biggest letdowns of all time included Hudson Hawk in 1991 and Death Becomes Her in 1992. Jurassic Park wasn’t good enough for me, having read the book. Independence Day put me to sleep in the theater. Beloved...
- 4/25/2017
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
To celebrate the new Blu-ray & DVD Double Play release of The City Of Lost Children — out 14th March — we have a copy to give away. This dazzling fantasy adventure is directed by Marc Caro (Delicatessen) and Jean-Pierre… Continue Reading →
The post UK Readers: Win a City of Lost Children Blu-ray/DVD Combo! appeared first on Dread Central.
The post UK Readers: Win a City of Lost Children Blu-ray/DVD Combo! appeared first on Dread Central.
- 3/9/2016
- by Gareth Jones
- DreadCentral.com
Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.
The Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray)
Although it premiered 60 years ago this week at the Museum of Modern Art, Satyajit Ray‘s Pather Panchali remains among both the most accomplished of debuts and cinema’s most universally relatable experiences. Accentuating the basics of human emotions to result in the most complex of reactions, Ray’s subsequent trilogy of films follows the hardships of a Bengali boy as he passes into adulthood, a delicately powerful tale of transition that’s now been gloriously restored.
The Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray)
Although it premiered 60 years ago this week at the Museum of Modern Art, Satyajit Ray‘s Pather Panchali remains among both the most accomplished of debuts and cinema’s most universally relatable experiences. Accentuating the basics of human emotions to result in the most complex of reactions, Ray’s subsequent trilogy of films follows the hardships of a Bengali boy as he passes into adulthood, a delicately powerful tale of transition that’s now been gloriously restored.
- 11/17/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
In a slightly odd but welcome move Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will finally release Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s cult classic The City of Lost Children as an Amazon-exclusive Blu-ray release on October 13. The release is timed with the French film's 20th Anniversary.
Though it wasn't their first film, the visually striking City of Lost Children helped to launch the careers of Jeunet (Amelie) and collaborator Marc Caro (Dante 01) as well as Ron Perlman. The film was incredibly influential and a progenitor of the "steampunk" aesthetic in film
Synopsis:
A scien [Continued ...]...
Though it wasn't their first film, the visually striking City of Lost Children helped to launch the careers of Jeunet (Amelie) and collaborator Marc Caro (Dante 01) as well as Ron Perlman. The film was incredibly influential and a progenitor of the "steampunk" aesthetic in film
Synopsis:
A scien [Continued ...]...
- 8/21/2015
- QuietEarth.us
The last time Jean-Pierre Jeunet made a film in English, it didn't work out so well. Hot off cult hits "Delicatessen" and "The City Of Lost Children" (co-directed with Marc Caro), Jeunet was picked by 20th Century Fox to helm "Alien: Resurrection," the fourth film in one of the most important franchises. The result was the worst entry in the series, one admittedly hampered by studio interference, but also one that seemed to prove a uniquely poor match to Jeunet's particular skill set. The Gallic helmer bounced back, next going on to make the most beloved film of his career with "Amelie," but it's taken him seventeen years to return to the U.S. for another English-language picture, and this time, it's much more on his terms: an adaptation of Reif Larsen's acclaimed "The Selected Works Of T.S. Spivet," variably retitled ""The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet." The results,...
- 7/31/2015
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Available for the first time in the Us on Blu-ray and DVD is Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterful directorial debut, 1949’s Le Silence de la Mer (The Silence of the Sea). Based on a famous underground novel published secretly in 1942 by author Jean Bruller, written under the pseudonym Vercours, the exceptional debut precedes the brooding themes that would grace Melville’s later noir and gangster films, as well as the continuation of period pieces concerning Nazi occupied France. Understated and elegant, it’s an incredibly haunting first title from the self-made auteur, an actual member of the French resistance (he adopted his surname for his love of author Herman Melville and it remained his pseudonym after the war).
Opening with a statement that the film has ‘no pretensions’ as concerns the relationship with France and Germany (whose people were complicit with the Nazi’s rise to power), we hear the omniscient narration of an elder Frenchman,...
Opening with a statement that the film has ‘no pretensions’ as concerns the relationship with France and Germany (whose people were complicit with the Nazi’s rise to power), we hear the omniscient narration of an elder Frenchman,...
- 4/28/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The Lunchbox (movie)
It’s almost a given that a love for Indian cinema will eventually lead to a love of Indian food – so it’s no surprise that the Tiff Bell Lightbox has chosen to open their Food on Film series – a six-film event exploring food through film — with Ritesh Batra’s delightful 2013 film The Lunchbox. The film is lovely and funny and incredibly touching, and shows how a mis-delivered tiffin (lunchbox) brings together two seemingly disparate people — a neglected housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and a gruff widower (Irrfan Khan) on the verge of retirement from his civil service job — together.
Added to the joy of seeing a film is the fact that the series features a line-up of culinary experts who will engage in discussion of the films culinary themes, led by Toronto CBC morning host Matt Galloway.
Indian-born chefs, cookbook authors and restaurateurs Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala...
It’s almost a given that a love for Indian cinema will eventually lead to a love of Indian food – so it’s no surprise that the Tiff Bell Lightbox has chosen to open their Food on Film series – a six-film event exploring food through film — with Ritesh Batra’s delightful 2013 film The Lunchbox. The film is lovely and funny and incredibly touching, and shows how a mis-delivered tiffin (lunchbox) brings together two seemingly disparate people — a neglected housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and a gruff widower (Irrfan Khan) on the verge of retirement from his civil service job — together.
Added to the joy of seeing a film is the fact that the series features a line-up of culinary experts who will engage in discussion of the films culinary themes, led by Toronto CBC morning host Matt Galloway.
Indian-born chefs, cookbook authors and restaurateurs Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala...
- 3/8/2015
- by Katherine Matthews
- Bollyspice
40. Empire Records
Directed by: Allan Moyle
Ah, the coming-of-age story. There was no sub-genre more hijacked for a quick buck in the 1990′s. In between the good ones (“Dazed and Confused,” “Boyz in the Hood”), the cheesy ones (“She’s All That,” “She Drives Me Crazy”), and the under-appreciated ones (“The Man in the Moon,” “Angus”), there were the middling ones that, if anything, boasted a cast that would go on to bigger, better things. Enter “Empire Records,” which is not only a coming-of-age story, but one that takes place at a record store, no less. Talk about the double dip. The entire film takes place over the course of one day, focusing on the employees, played by Anthony Lapaglia, Ethan Embry, Renee Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, and Liv Tyler. The independent record store is in Delaware – the hot spot of American music – and sees Joe (Lapaglia) allowing night manager Lucas...
Directed by: Allan Moyle
Ah, the coming-of-age story. There was no sub-genre more hijacked for a quick buck in the 1990′s. In between the good ones (“Dazed and Confused,” “Boyz in the Hood”), the cheesy ones (“She’s All That,” “She Drives Me Crazy”), and the under-appreciated ones (“The Man in the Moon,” “Angus”), there were the middling ones that, if anything, boasted a cast that would go on to bigger, better things. Enter “Empire Records,” which is not only a coming-of-age story, but one that takes place at a record store, no less. Talk about the double dip. The entire film takes place over the course of one day, focusing on the employees, played by Anthony Lapaglia, Ethan Embry, Renee Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, and Liv Tyler. The independent record store is in Delaware – the hot spot of American music – and sees Joe (Lapaglia) allowing night manager Lucas...
- 1/31/2015
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
The first time I recall Terry Gilliam‘s name being used to sell me on a movie it was City of Lost Children, but that was through a critic blurb making a comparison between the Brazil director and City‘s Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. Prior to that, though, he’d actually lent his name as a presenter for their Delicatessen. I might not have discovered those movies without the endorsement. Later, Gilliam also put his name in a similar manner on Bill Plympton’s Idiots and Angels. As a Gilliam fan, I fell in love with Jeunet’s work immediately, while I’d already been into Plympton and now had more reason to appreciate the animation legend. I don’t know that Gilliam attached his name to anything before, between or after those two — I’m not counting the BBC TV adaptation of the book The Last Machine: Early Cinema and the Birth of the...
- 9/3/2014
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Some of my favorite movies are about Paris! How I loved “Funny Face” which made me love everything Audrey Hepburn did. How I loved “American in Paris” and Gene Kelly forever after. And the classic French films of Paris, from René Clair’s “The Rooftops of Paris”, “Modigliani of Montparnasse”, “Elevator to the Scaffold” to “Amelie”…oh la la!
Now a new Paris classic is in the making! If only they would change title to reflect the love of Paris transforming a couple of sad victims of their scandalously delicious parents’ love affair into lovers. Kevin Kline, a luminous Kirsten Scott Thomas and a decrepit but spirited Dame Maggie Smith star in a film, to be released September 10, which I only hope will come out with a different title.
Now entitled, “My Old Lady” (what’s that supposed to mean?) Dame Maggie Smith as Mathilde belongs to no one. A free spirit who had a dalliance with no less than …., at 92 she cannot be evicted from the apartment Kevin Kline comes to Paris to sell, an apartment hidden behind walls in Paris we wish we could penetrate and which Kevin Kline, in the character of Mathias Gold, cannot see, so intent is he on selling to procure some filthy lucre. I kept waiting for Kevin to embody his Academy Award winning hilarity in “A Fish Called Wanda”, but he played it straight, an unhappy, intellectual with great talent on the piano, three unpublished novels, three divorces and not a cent in his pocket. Angry, self-righteous Mathias Gold discovers that real-estate and relationships send him into a turmoil that he never imagined.
Adapted for the screen and directed by Israel Horowitz from his 2002 of-Broadway production, “My Old Lady” the property was further developed into a screenplay with Kevin Kline himself who dropped by the playwright’s Greenwich Village residence for intermittent readings as the film script branched out from its theatrical roots.
Dame Maggie Smith read the script and was the first actor to officially sign on to the film version. Israel Horovitz traveled to London to meet with her and she accepted the part amid 25 competing scripts offered to her at the time. Horovitz recalls Smith joking during the meeting that it was the only script in the stack that didn’t end with her character dying. Adds Horovitz: “To my knowledge, it’s the first time Dame Maggie’s done a movie in which she doesn’t wear a wig.”
Produced by the writer-director’s own daughter, the well-known-in-our-circles- from-her-days-at-New Line (and later at Revolution Studios), who began her career as a publicist of Dino De Laurentiis on the film “Blue Velvet” which I happened to foster as the acquisitions executive at Lorimar when we acquired it: Rachael Horovitz (“Moneyball”, HBO’s “Grey Gardens”) and Gary Foster (“The Soloist”, “Sleepless in Seattle”), got the script to Kristin Scott Thomas who immediately signed on to play Mathilde’s confrontational daughter Chloé. The main casting was complete.
Chloé takes the story away from the developing and deepening relationship between Mattias and Mathilde and makes it her own…thus the misplaced title of the movie. It is no longer Mattias and “his old lady” Mathilde’s story but the threesome’s, and what a great story it is.
Complex and compelling, the story of two people who have been destroyed by the same love affair understand each other’s problems better than any fourth party could ever understand, and we, as the fourth party, are given access to their journey towards love…in Paris. Only in Paris could these events unfold with such panache.
The other supporting actors are those veteran French actors you have seen and loved in other Parisian settings. Dominique Pinon as the helpful real-estate agent Lefebre who explains the complex codes of the “viager” system” appears like an old friend to those of us who saw and loved Jean-Jacques Beineix’s “Diva”, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Amelie” and “A Very Long Engagement”, “City of Lost Children” and Jeunet’s and Marc Caro’s 1991 film “ Delicatessen”. Noémi Lvovsky, the writer-director-actress who plays Mme. Girard’s physician, actor-director Stéphane Friess (“Welcome to the Sticks”) and the rapacious property developer Francois Roy who wants to buy Mathias’ apartment and turn it into a sleek hotel – as his father tried to do a generation earlier (how French!) -- round out a great supporting cast.
But without Paris, this familiar and yet totally unfamiliar Paris, the film would never have played out with such love. As a Paris habituée of many years, I kept searching for signs to tell me where this apartment was located. Was it a hotel particulière of the Marais?
Here is a little known secret of Paris: It was shot in la Manufature, located in les Gobelins in Paris’s 13th Arrondisement, operated and maintained by the French Ministry of Culture. A vast complex comprising several main buildings and a slew of apartments (now used to house government functionaries), la Manufacture is the historical site of tapestry manufacturing for French royalty dating from the 17th century to the present day. Because there is no longer a huge demand for artisan tapestries in France, la Manufacture doubles as an ersatz soundstage for film and television productions, in this case standing in for the more central and tourist trod Marais, where Mme. Girard and Chloé reside. The Girard’s sprawling residence, overlooking a verdant garden came to life. Israel Horovitz and his crew jumped at the opportunity to film there.
He says, “Almost the entire movie was shot inside the compound. At one point in its history, la Manufacture was its own city within the city, with a thousand people living there. We could park our trucks inside the gated compound and shoot in a way we never could in the busy Marais. Finding the apartment we used, with its creaky floors and general disrepair, was really what made the movie possible. It was like having our own little studio.” The film shot in Paris for 24 days in autumn 2013.
At 75, Horovitz -- a veteran playwright who wrote “The Strawberry Statement” which won the Jury Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival and who collaborated with István Szabó on the 1999 historical drama “Sunshine” about a Jewish family living in Hungary during the turbulent first half of the 20th century –decided to direct this, his first, film as he wrote the screenplay.
How was it working for your father? One might ask Rachael. Her answer: “He was the most prepared director I’ve ever worked with.” She praises Horovitz pére for his professionalism, sense of humor and grace under pressure, each one a boon for the intimate, familial-themed “My Old Lady”. “There is real humanity in this film thanks to those factors, “ she concludes. “Working with a family member is always a pleasure because there is the shorthand of communication you have with very few others.”
Producer Gary Foster also praises Israel Horovitz for his human touch, including his considerable grasp of human nature and conflict. “This movie is at its core about family and how people deal with the many challenges of their lives, “Foster states. “Everyone has harbored secrets at some point. ‘My Old Lady’ examines how people with secrets reveal themselves emotionally in order to locate truth. What’s special about Israel’s craft is how organic and truthful it feels. So much of this movie depends on the actors working with dialogue-rich scenes set inside cramped rooms with little action and no special effects – you have to buy into the dimensionality of these characters. Israel is at his best writing and directing scenes that feel real, al though you were a fly on the wall amid the revealing of this family’s secrets. He’s not afraid of being overly sentimental and open with emotions, and I think that’s hugely valuable.”
I completely agree. This is a marvelous movie, filled with marvels of France and family.
The Jewish side of this film is never touched on, but I must touch on it here because in these days of turmoil over the Jewish state and the state of the Jews living in the Diaspora, those in France are also in fearful flux. But this shows a France at its splendid best today and I think it is because of the love the filmmakers have for the story, the craft and the country. Producer David C. Barrot produced “ Eyes Wide Open” the 2009 Cannes’ Un Certain Regard film that dared open the subject of homosexuality in Jerusalem’s Orthodox community. I cannot speak of the provenance of Daniel Battsek the Executive Producer who between 1985 and 1991, was managing director of Palace Pictures where he was involved in all aspects of marketing, distribution and acquisitions in the U.K. and Ireland. He began his industry career at The Hoyts Film Corporation in Sydney where he quickly rose through the ranks to general manager in Victoria State overseeing distribution.
Battsek was first introduced to Disney in 1991, when he was asked to start up a U.K. Company as part of the worldwide distribution network for Buena Vista International. In 1992, he officially joined The Walt Disney Studios. Battsek was quickly promoted to vice president/managing director where he handled all aspects of theatrical film distribution in the U.K. He was later promoted to vice president, managing director and European acquisitions director of Bvi (U.K.) Limited. His responsibilities also included involvement in the acquisition of distribution rights across numerous territories for such films as “Muriel's Wedding”, “Shine”, “Central Station”, “Kolya”, and “ Ice Storm”. In 1998, he was promoted to senior vice president, Bvi (U.K.) Limited where he oversaw approximately 35 films per year from the Disney, Touchstone and Miramax labels. With his expanding role, Battsek began acquiring and developing British film projects for worldwide distribution. He created the Bvi U.K. Comedy Label which produced four films, likeHigh Heels and Low Lifes,Hope Springs,Calendar Girls, and Kinky Boots.
On 24 July 2005, he was named President of Miramax Films, after Harvey and Bob Weinstein left the company, due to creative and financial differences with Disney exec, Michael Eisner. Since he took control of the company, Miramax released such films asThe Queen,No Country for Old Men or Doubt, refocusing on producing films of high quality but low budget and was instrumental in acquiring, green-lighting or distributing such renowned and award winning films as “Tsotsi” winner of Best Foreign Language Oscar, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”, “There will be Blood” among others. On 20 January 2010, Battsek became President of National Geographic Films where he brought in the Oscar-nominated “Restrepo”. He is now President of Cohen Media Group where he plays a key role.
Nor can I speak authoritatively of Producer, Nitsa Benchetrit, and Executive Producers, Raphaël Benoliel, Russ Krasnoff, but I have my suspicions. Certainly the Executive Producer, President and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, one of the country’s most important commercial real estate owners/ developers s well as an influential patron, innovator and visionary of culture and the arts, Charles S. Cohen (also founder of The Cohen Media Group in 2008, on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art (Moca) in Los Angeles, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, The Lighthouse International Theater, The Public Theater, the Stella Adler Studio and the Film Society of Lincoln Center) is living up to his name.
Even Kevin Kline suddenly seems to land inside this charmed circle of Diaspora Jews whose development and dedication to the finest
arts of the 21 st century must be praised and seen as a flowering of culture today.
While this is in no way a film which may ever be shown in the Jewish film festival circuit, it should be remarked that it is, in its way, a Jewish film because of the credentials of the filmmakers, because of the loving treatment of the neurotic family members and because it shows the natural habituation of people allowed to live in freedom in a society which values life.
I bring all this up in light of the reevaluation occurring today in the worlds of gender and religions and I want to go on record as pointing out that this film is an example of the flowering of culture; this is part of the culmination of centuries of developing a humane, forgiving and civilized way of life.
I say this as I contemplate the state of the world today to remind myself that art, not war, is my choice for my life and I believe the film is an affirmation of life above all.
Chapeau, Hats Off to the team that brought this film to life. Just change the title if you want to attract more people!
Now a new Paris classic is in the making! If only they would change title to reflect the love of Paris transforming a couple of sad victims of their scandalously delicious parents’ love affair into lovers. Kevin Kline, a luminous Kirsten Scott Thomas and a decrepit but spirited Dame Maggie Smith star in a film, to be released September 10, which I only hope will come out with a different title.
Now entitled, “My Old Lady” (what’s that supposed to mean?) Dame Maggie Smith as Mathilde belongs to no one. A free spirit who had a dalliance with no less than …., at 92 she cannot be evicted from the apartment Kevin Kline comes to Paris to sell, an apartment hidden behind walls in Paris we wish we could penetrate and which Kevin Kline, in the character of Mathias Gold, cannot see, so intent is he on selling to procure some filthy lucre. I kept waiting for Kevin to embody his Academy Award winning hilarity in “A Fish Called Wanda”, but he played it straight, an unhappy, intellectual with great talent on the piano, three unpublished novels, three divorces and not a cent in his pocket. Angry, self-righteous Mathias Gold discovers that real-estate and relationships send him into a turmoil that he never imagined.
Adapted for the screen and directed by Israel Horowitz from his 2002 of-Broadway production, “My Old Lady” the property was further developed into a screenplay with Kevin Kline himself who dropped by the playwright’s Greenwich Village residence for intermittent readings as the film script branched out from its theatrical roots.
Dame Maggie Smith read the script and was the first actor to officially sign on to the film version. Israel Horovitz traveled to London to meet with her and she accepted the part amid 25 competing scripts offered to her at the time. Horovitz recalls Smith joking during the meeting that it was the only script in the stack that didn’t end with her character dying. Adds Horovitz: “To my knowledge, it’s the first time Dame Maggie’s done a movie in which she doesn’t wear a wig.”
Produced by the writer-director’s own daughter, the well-known-in-our-circles- from-her-days-at-New Line (and later at Revolution Studios), who began her career as a publicist of Dino De Laurentiis on the film “Blue Velvet” which I happened to foster as the acquisitions executive at Lorimar when we acquired it: Rachael Horovitz (“Moneyball”, HBO’s “Grey Gardens”) and Gary Foster (“The Soloist”, “Sleepless in Seattle”), got the script to Kristin Scott Thomas who immediately signed on to play Mathilde’s confrontational daughter Chloé. The main casting was complete.
Chloé takes the story away from the developing and deepening relationship between Mattias and Mathilde and makes it her own…thus the misplaced title of the movie. It is no longer Mattias and “his old lady” Mathilde’s story but the threesome’s, and what a great story it is.
Complex and compelling, the story of two people who have been destroyed by the same love affair understand each other’s problems better than any fourth party could ever understand, and we, as the fourth party, are given access to their journey towards love…in Paris. Only in Paris could these events unfold with such panache.
The other supporting actors are those veteran French actors you have seen and loved in other Parisian settings. Dominique Pinon as the helpful real-estate agent Lefebre who explains the complex codes of the “viager” system” appears like an old friend to those of us who saw and loved Jean-Jacques Beineix’s “Diva”, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Amelie” and “A Very Long Engagement”, “City of Lost Children” and Jeunet’s and Marc Caro’s 1991 film “ Delicatessen”. Noémi Lvovsky, the writer-director-actress who plays Mme. Girard’s physician, actor-director Stéphane Friess (“Welcome to the Sticks”) and the rapacious property developer Francois Roy who wants to buy Mathias’ apartment and turn it into a sleek hotel – as his father tried to do a generation earlier (how French!) -- round out a great supporting cast.
But without Paris, this familiar and yet totally unfamiliar Paris, the film would never have played out with such love. As a Paris habituée of many years, I kept searching for signs to tell me where this apartment was located. Was it a hotel particulière of the Marais?
Here is a little known secret of Paris: It was shot in la Manufature, located in les Gobelins in Paris’s 13th Arrondisement, operated and maintained by the French Ministry of Culture. A vast complex comprising several main buildings and a slew of apartments (now used to house government functionaries), la Manufacture is the historical site of tapestry manufacturing for French royalty dating from the 17th century to the present day. Because there is no longer a huge demand for artisan tapestries in France, la Manufacture doubles as an ersatz soundstage for film and television productions, in this case standing in for the more central and tourist trod Marais, where Mme. Girard and Chloé reside. The Girard’s sprawling residence, overlooking a verdant garden came to life. Israel Horovitz and his crew jumped at the opportunity to film there.
He says, “Almost the entire movie was shot inside the compound. At one point in its history, la Manufacture was its own city within the city, with a thousand people living there. We could park our trucks inside the gated compound and shoot in a way we never could in the busy Marais. Finding the apartment we used, with its creaky floors and general disrepair, was really what made the movie possible. It was like having our own little studio.” The film shot in Paris for 24 days in autumn 2013.
At 75, Horovitz -- a veteran playwright who wrote “The Strawberry Statement” which won the Jury Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival and who collaborated with István Szabó on the 1999 historical drama “Sunshine” about a Jewish family living in Hungary during the turbulent first half of the 20th century –decided to direct this, his first, film as he wrote the screenplay.
How was it working for your father? One might ask Rachael. Her answer: “He was the most prepared director I’ve ever worked with.” She praises Horovitz pére for his professionalism, sense of humor and grace under pressure, each one a boon for the intimate, familial-themed “My Old Lady”. “There is real humanity in this film thanks to those factors, “ she concludes. “Working with a family member is always a pleasure because there is the shorthand of communication you have with very few others.”
Producer Gary Foster also praises Israel Horovitz for his human touch, including his considerable grasp of human nature and conflict. “This movie is at its core about family and how people deal with the many challenges of their lives, “Foster states. “Everyone has harbored secrets at some point. ‘My Old Lady’ examines how people with secrets reveal themselves emotionally in order to locate truth. What’s special about Israel’s craft is how organic and truthful it feels. So much of this movie depends on the actors working with dialogue-rich scenes set inside cramped rooms with little action and no special effects – you have to buy into the dimensionality of these characters. Israel is at his best writing and directing scenes that feel real, al though you were a fly on the wall amid the revealing of this family’s secrets. He’s not afraid of being overly sentimental and open with emotions, and I think that’s hugely valuable.”
I completely agree. This is a marvelous movie, filled with marvels of France and family.
The Jewish side of this film is never touched on, but I must touch on it here because in these days of turmoil over the Jewish state and the state of the Jews living in the Diaspora, those in France are also in fearful flux. But this shows a France at its splendid best today and I think it is because of the love the filmmakers have for the story, the craft and the country. Producer David C. Barrot produced “ Eyes Wide Open” the 2009 Cannes’ Un Certain Regard film that dared open the subject of homosexuality in Jerusalem’s Orthodox community. I cannot speak of the provenance of Daniel Battsek the Executive Producer who between 1985 and 1991, was managing director of Palace Pictures where he was involved in all aspects of marketing, distribution and acquisitions in the U.K. and Ireland. He began his industry career at The Hoyts Film Corporation in Sydney where he quickly rose through the ranks to general manager in Victoria State overseeing distribution.
Battsek was first introduced to Disney in 1991, when he was asked to start up a U.K. Company as part of the worldwide distribution network for Buena Vista International. In 1992, he officially joined The Walt Disney Studios. Battsek was quickly promoted to vice president/managing director where he handled all aspects of theatrical film distribution in the U.K. He was later promoted to vice president, managing director and European acquisitions director of Bvi (U.K.) Limited. His responsibilities also included involvement in the acquisition of distribution rights across numerous territories for such films as “Muriel's Wedding”, “Shine”, “Central Station”, “Kolya”, and “ Ice Storm”. In 1998, he was promoted to senior vice president, Bvi (U.K.) Limited where he oversaw approximately 35 films per year from the Disney, Touchstone and Miramax labels. With his expanding role, Battsek began acquiring and developing British film projects for worldwide distribution. He created the Bvi U.K. Comedy Label which produced four films, likeHigh Heels and Low Lifes,Hope Springs,Calendar Girls, and Kinky Boots.
On 24 July 2005, he was named President of Miramax Films, after Harvey and Bob Weinstein left the company, due to creative and financial differences with Disney exec, Michael Eisner. Since he took control of the company, Miramax released such films asThe Queen,No Country for Old Men or Doubt, refocusing on producing films of high quality but low budget and was instrumental in acquiring, green-lighting or distributing such renowned and award winning films as “Tsotsi” winner of Best Foreign Language Oscar, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”, “There will be Blood” among others. On 20 January 2010, Battsek became President of National Geographic Films where he brought in the Oscar-nominated “Restrepo”. He is now President of Cohen Media Group where he plays a key role.
Nor can I speak authoritatively of Producer, Nitsa Benchetrit, and Executive Producers, Raphaël Benoliel, Russ Krasnoff, but I have my suspicions. Certainly the Executive Producer, President and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, one of the country’s most important commercial real estate owners/ developers s well as an influential patron, innovator and visionary of culture and the arts, Charles S. Cohen (also founder of The Cohen Media Group in 2008, on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art (Moca) in Los Angeles, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, The Lighthouse International Theater, The Public Theater, the Stella Adler Studio and the Film Society of Lincoln Center) is living up to his name.
Even Kevin Kline suddenly seems to land inside this charmed circle of Diaspora Jews whose development and dedication to the finest
arts of the 21 st century must be praised and seen as a flowering of culture today.
While this is in no way a film which may ever be shown in the Jewish film festival circuit, it should be remarked that it is, in its way, a Jewish film because of the credentials of the filmmakers, because of the loving treatment of the neurotic family members and because it shows the natural habituation of people allowed to live in freedom in a society which values life.
I bring all this up in light of the reevaluation occurring today in the worlds of gender and religions and I want to go on record as pointing out that this film is an example of the flowering of culture; this is part of the culmination of centuries of developing a humane, forgiving and civilized way of life.
I say this as I contemplate the state of the world today to remind myself that art, not war, is my choice for my life and I believe the film is an affirmation of life above all.
Chapeau, Hats Off to the team that brought this film to life. Just change the title if you want to attract more people!
- 7/30/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Horror is really the only genre that has entries that, while “good,” may not necessarily mean “recommended.” So, how does that affect what is “definitive?” A recent conversation brought up the nightmare of a movie A Serbian Film (great review here from Justine) which, by all accounts, is a horror film. But, while everyone in film circles knows about the film (many have even seen it), I can’t imagine anyone actually recommending it. It’s made impact, sure. But at what cost? The best horror films aren’t simply there to scare and disgust viewers. They’re there to serve as metaphors for other issues, however big or small. But the best ones are those that do it in a way that, while still may scare and disgust you, will also make you think and reevaluate your situation.
40. À l’intérieur (2007)
English Title: Inside
Directed by: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury...
40. À l’intérieur (2007)
English Title: Inside
Directed by: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury...
- 7/12/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Sony Pictures Classics honchos Michael Barker and Tom Bernard have been feted up one side and down the other lately. The duo celebrated 20 years of Spc in 2012 and have received awards from the Museum of the Moving Image and the Gotham Awards as of late. Tonight they will receive the Los Angeles Film Festival's Spirit of Independence Award as the love keeps pouring in. Given that we recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of Fox Searchlight — another crucial entity in the indie film space — it seemed like we were over due for a similar appreciation of Sony Classics' 22 years of output. The interesting thing, though, is that unlike Searchlight, there isn't necessarily anything outwardly identifiable about Sony Classics films as, well, "Sony Classics films." They all have a strong whiff of good taste but they don't have the heavy marketing footprint of some of the studio's contemporaries. Barker and Bernard's cinephile passion is always evident,...
- 6/16/2014
- by Gregory Ellwood, Guy Lodge, Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Jean-Pierre Jeunet: "I think of a film as being like a toy train."
He has a small but perfectly formed body of work (seven films in total) although Jean-Pierre Jeunet is best known to most as the director of [fiilm id=8803]Amelie/film]. There was also a sortie to Hollywood for Alien: Resurrection. More recently he offered up the satirical comedy about weapons merchants Micmacs.
Jeunet was born in Roanne in the Loire valley. He bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer and comic book artist who became his long-time collaborator and co-director. Their first live action film was The Bunker Of The Last Gunshots (1981), a short film about soldiers in a bleak futuristic world. He also directed numerous advertisements and music videos.
Jeunet and Caro's first feature film was Delicatessen (1991), a black comedy set in a famine-plagued post-apocalyptic world,...
He has a small but perfectly formed body of work (seven films in total) although Jean-Pierre Jeunet is best known to most as the director of [fiilm id=8803]Amelie/film]. There was also a sortie to Hollywood for Alien: Resurrection. More recently he offered up the satirical comedy about weapons merchants Micmacs.
Jeunet was born in Roanne in the Loire valley. He bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer and comic book artist who became his long-time collaborator and co-director. Their first live action film was The Bunker Of The Last Gunshots (1981), a short film about soldiers in a bleak futuristic world. He also directed numerous advertisements and music videos.
Jeunet and Caro's first feature film was Delicatessen (1991), a black comedy set in a famine-plagued post-apocalyptic world,...
- 6/13/2014
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Nearly every month, Netflix adds new films and TV shows while its licensing deals for others lapse. We recently listed all of the movies coming to Netflix this month, but here's a curated look at indies that are new to the streaming service -- including Academy-Award winner "Boys Don't Cry," music doc "Muscle Shoals" and Banky's "Exit Through the Gift Shop." They're listed below in alphabetical order, along with their average Criticwire rating. Perfect weekend viewing! Boys Don't Cry (Dir: Kimberly Peirce, 1999) Average Criticwire Rating: N/A Charlie Countryman (Dir: Frederik Bond, 2013) Average Criticwire Rating: C City of Lost Children (Dir: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1995) Average Criticwire Rating: N/A Don Jon (Dir: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 2013) Average Criticwire Rating: B Exit Through the Gift Shop (Dir: Banksy, 2010) Average Criticwire Rating: A- Instructions Not Included (Dir: Eugenio Derbez, 2013) Average Criticwire...
- 5/9/2014
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
Each week we take a look at what’s new and what’s essential viewing on the various VOD and movie streaming services. There is a dose of Superheroes and sci-fi this week, along with a very silly comedy indeed and a couple of films with a very different take on the cop thriller genre.
Oblivion (2013)
Joseph Kosinski jumped head first into the CGI ocean with his 2010 revisiting of the Tron franchise, and despite a critical slap the film was an enjoyable updating of Disney’s neonclad world. Once announced that Kosinski was to return to sci-fi for his next film, with Tom Cruise no less, the hype train for Oblivion was building despite the ostensibly similar After Earth joining it in a crowded summer season.
The result is a fun film, with Cruise and Morgan Freeman bringing some gravitas to a fairly light story set in a beautifully realised world.
Oblivion (2013)
Joseph Kosinski jumped head first into the CGI ocean with his 2010 revisiting of the Tron franchise, and despite a critical slap the film was an enjoyable updating of Disney’s neonclad world. Once announced that Kosinski was to return to sci-fi for his next film, with Tom Cruise no less, the hype train for Oblivion was building despite the ostensibly similar After Earth joining it in a crowded summer season.
The result is a fun film, with Cruise and Morgan Freeman bringing some gravitas to a fairly light story set in a beautifully realised world.
- 8/28/2013
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Pierre Etaix is much on my mind, you could say, since I've just written about 9,000 words on him (to be trimmed down considerably, I assure you) for the forthcoming Criterion Collection box set of his cinematic works. Though his last film for the cinema (as director: he has continued to act in films such as Micmacs and Le Havre), Etaix had a brief burst of activity directing for TV in the 1980s, which included one feature, L'âge de Monsieur est avancé, a filmed play which bursts its bounds and includes the audience and stagehand in the drama. It looks delightful, but as my French is at the level of your average two-year-old (and not even a French two-year-old), I can't really write about it.
But See Rank Le cauchemar de Méliès (The Nightmare of Méliès), produced the next year for a TV compendium tribute to Georges Méliès (also featuring contributions...
But See Rank Le cauchemar de Méliès (The Nightmare of Méliès), produced the next year for a TV compendium tribute to Georges Méliès (also featuring contributions...
- 2/4/2013
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
This week we're after clips from films that star Nasty St Nick
Father Christmas is one of the most popular characters in popular culture – at the time of writing he has been portrayed on film more than 800 times (for reference, Jesus racks up just 360). And while depictions have been mostly sympathetic, a few film-makers have felt the need to explore his dark side. Block your chimney, board up your windows and grab a glass of wine as I run through my favourite bad Santas.
A Christmas Story
Ralphie Parker, the film's child protagonist, isn't particularly likeable, so it's easy to sympathise with the Santa in this clip. That said, neither he nor his elves are really delivering customer service at an acceptable level (traumatising kids, and booting one in the forehead, is generally frowned upon).
Reading on mobile? Watch clip on YouTube
Bad Santa
Billy Bob Thornton's misanthropic alcoholic...
Father Christmas is one of the most popular characters in popular culture – at the time of writing he has been portrayed on film more than 800 times (for reference, Jesus racks up just 360). And while depictions have been mostly sympathetic, a few film-makers have felt the need to explore his dark side. Block your chimney, board up your windows and grab a glass of wine as I run through my favourite bad Santas.
A Christmas Story
Ralphie Parker, the film's child protagonist, isn't particularly likeable, so it's easy to sympathise with the Santa in this clip. That said, neither he nor his elves are really delivering customer service at an acceptable level (traumatising kids, and booting one in the forehead, is generally frowned upon).
Reading on mobile? Watch clip on YouTube
Bad Santa
Billy Bob Thornton's misanthropic alcoholic...
- 12/19/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
The first time Jean-Pierre Jeunet made a film in English, it was not a great success. The director, then best known for his work with Marc Caro on "Delicatessen" and "The City Of Lost Children," came to Hollywood to direct "Alien: Resurrection," back in 1997, but the film was widely derided, and the filmmaker returned to France, where he made a triumphant comeback with "Amelie." Now, fifteen years after his first English-language picture, and nearly four years after his last film, "MicMacs," Jeunet has returned to the U.S, for "The Young & Prodigious Spivet." Based on the best-selling novel "The Selected Works Of T.S. Spivet" by Reif Larsen, and following a young amateur cartographer, the titular Spivet, who travels cross-country on a freight train to visit the Smithsonian Institute, the film stars Helena Bonham-Carter, Callum Keith Rennie, Judy Davis, Kathy Bates and Jeunet mascot Dominique Pinon alongside...
- 11/14/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Cinematographer Darius Khondji has worked with some wildly divergent and distinctive talents: David Fincher (“Se7en,” “Panic Room”), Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro (“Delicatessen,” “The City of Lost Children”), Bernardo Bertolucci (“Stealing Beauty”), Danny Boyle (“The Beach”), Wong Kar Wai (“My Blueberry Nights”) and Michael Haneke (“Funny Games,” “Amour”) among them. His next film in release is Woody Allen’s “To Rome With Love” June 22 – the film has its North American premiere to kick off the Los Angeles Film Festival tonight – and it’s yet another opportunity for the Oscar-nominated Dp to show off what he can do with a location. (Yes, he shot Allen’s romance-drenched “Midnight in Paris,” too.) Khondji, a Frenchman born in Tehran, is currently on a rare professional hiatus after the Palme d’Or-winning Cannes...
- 6/14/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- Indiewire
Famous French director/visualist, Marc Caro (Dante 01, Bunker of the Last Gunshots, City of Lost Children), is producing an ambitious animated 3D feature adaptation of Alain Damasio's popular book, "La Horde du Contrevent," which is about a world savaged by great gusts of wind and a group of survivors struggling to reach a safe haven.
Though still in the early development stage, there appears to be a package put together which includes director Jan Kounen whose recent Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky starred Anna Mouglalis and the great Mads Mikkelsen (Valhalla Rising, Pusher) and a whole bevy of producers and media partners from publishing to gaming.
Continue reading...
Though still in the early development stage, there appears to be a package put together which includes director Jan Kounen whose recent Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky starred Anna Mouglalis and the great Mads Mikkelsen (Valhalla Rising, Pusher) and a whole bevy of producers and media partners from publishing to gaming.
Continue reading...
- 3/8/2012
- QuietEarth.us
Penelope Ann Miller, The Artist As mentioned in my previous post, French president Nicolas Sarkozy has named Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company (TWC), a recipient of the 2012 Légion d'Honneur, or Legion of Honor. The honor is "in recognition of Weinstein’s contributions to cinema and his decades of work producing some of the most highly regarded films of our time," according to a TWC press release. Weinstein will be inducted with the rank of Chevalier. Although Sarkozy himself nominated Weinstein back in late July 2011, the nomination was made public only today, five days after the Weinstein Company-distributed The Artist, a French production directed by Michel Hazanavicius, won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Jean Dujardin). As per the TWC press release, Weinstein had requested that the honor be kept private until now "to avoid any conflict of interest" with his company's Academy Award campaign for The Artist.
- 3/3/2012
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
Day 4: La Cité des Enfants Perdus (1995)
Written by Gilles Adrien and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
What’s it about?
A little girl, Miette, and a carnival strong man, One, team up to look for One’s brother, Denree, who’s been kidnapped by a mad scientist attempting to steal children’s dreams.
Review:
This strange, surreal film is unlike anything many will have seen. Certain comparisons to Jeunet’s Amelie are apt, but for the most part, La Cité des Enfants Perdus is a film all its own. It opens disconcertingly, with a young child visited by Santa. Then another comes down the chimney, followed by another and another. The room begins to spin, the numerous Santas grow increasingly distorted and threatening, and the music becomes increasingly ominous before cutting out to the boy and a strange man strapped in to a machine, large helmets attached to their heads.
Written by Gilles Adrien and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
What’s it about?
A little girl, Miette, and a carnival strong man, One, team up to look for One’s brother, Denree, who’s been kidnapped by a mad scientist attempting to steal children’s dreams.
Review:
This strange, surreal film is unlike anything many will have seen. Certain comparisons to Jeunet’s Amelie are apt, but for the most part, La Cité des Enfants Perdus is a film all its own. It opens disconcertingly, with a young child visited by Santa. Then another comes down the chimney, followed by another and another. The room begins to spin, the numerous Santas grow increasingly distorted and threatening, and the music becomes increasingly ominous before cutting out to the boy and a strange man strapped in to a machine, large helmets attached to their heads.
- 12/4/2011
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – There’s a beautiful irony in the clever comedy/fantasy/thriller “Rare Exports” in that the majority of the action of the piece is begun by kids acting naughty. Remember who knows when you’re naughty? Why, Santa knows, of course. This wonderfully unique Christmas tale reimagines the legend of Santa Claus as a decrepit, immortal killing machine, one that has been buried for years and only recently unearthed and happened upon by some unlucky hunters.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Rare Exports” began life from a pair of short films (both of which are included on yet-another stellar Oscilloscope Blu-ray release…this company is second only to Criterion in terms of worthwhile bonus material and memorable packaging) and, while I admire the final product enough to recommend a viewing, the film’s origins are clear. Even at 82 minutes, it feels a bit long as there’s not quite enough material here to support a feature-length film.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Rare Exports” began life from a pair of short films (both of which are included on yet-another stellar Oscilloscope Blu-ray release…this company is second only to Criterion in terms of worthwhile bonus material and memorable packaging) and, while I admire the final product enough to recommend a viewing, the film’s origins are clear. Even at 82 minutes, it feels a bit long as there’s not quite enough material here to support a feature-length film.
- 11/1/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
There's something incredibly exciting about the phrase "anything is possible." Waiting for something that could be anything is an exercise for your imagination. That infinite possibility, coupled with wild speculation and prediction, is ninety percent of the fun of Mondo's Mystery Movies. Mondo, as you may know, is the ever-growing poster boutique associated with the Alamo Drafthouse. In April Mondo began a project called Mystery Movies. People buy a ticket for a movie that won't be announced until they're in the theater. That is coupled with a limited edition poster that will only ever be available at the event. So imagine buying a ticket to one of these things and speculating what it could be. You throw out suggestions with your fellow attendees, laughing at wild ones and nodding at more likely ones. Finally, you sit down for the film and all is revealed. Does it live up to your expectations?...
- 10/10/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
Chicago – “Interpret as you wish,” invites narrator and filmmaker Jean Cocteau prior to his contemporary retelling of the Orpheus legend and the second installment of his Orphic Trilogy, which also includes 1930’s “The Blood of a Poet” and 1960’s “Testament of Orpheus.” Cocteau’s 1950 masterwork, simply titled “Orpheus,” is one of his most emotionally complex and deeply personal projects. It’s also a lot of fun.
Unlike other avant-garde filmmakers, Cocteau sports a immensely playful spirit that causes viewers to wholly embrace his onscreen abstractions rather than dissect them for their intended meaning. The titular protagonist in “Orpheus” is told by another character that the “dreamer must accept his dreams,” and Cocteau expects his audience to follow suit. This results in a picture of unforgettable images as whimsically absurd as they are dramatically resonant.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Jean Marais stars as Orpheus, the poet famous in Greek mythology for journeying into...
Unlike other avant-garde filmmakers, Cocteau sports a immensely playful spirit that causes viewers to wholly embrace his onscreen abstractions rather than dissect them for their intended meaning. The titular protagonist in “Orpheus” is told by another character that the “dreamer must accept his dreams,” and Cocteau expects his audience to follow suit. This results in a picture of unforgettable images as whimsically absurd as they are dramatically resonant.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Jean Marais stars as Orpheus, the poet famous in Greek mythology for journeying into...
- 9/6/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In recent years France has been among the front-runners in pushing the boundaries of modern horror. With such offerings as Frontier(s), Inside and High Tension, French filmmakers have been making us seriously squirm. It is with this reminder of the quality of their filmmaking that we at Dread Central bring you an announcement of the film list from the 17th Annual L'Etrange Festival, France's biggest horror film festival.
With over 70 films being screened and more than 17,000 attendees expected to descend on Paris, Le'Etrange Festival
Below we have the Complete listing of the festival's events:
From the Press Release
L’Étrange Festival – a unique event bringing filmgoers a fascinating roster of provocative and eye-opening films – is thrilled to announce the line-up for its 17th edition, September 2 – 11, 2011 in Paris, France.
The 2011 line-up continues the tradition of highlighting emerging talent, paying homage to independent-minded filmmakers and featuring a truly diverse program that includes cutting-edge works,...
With over 70 films being screened and more than 17,000 attendees expected to descend on Paris, Le'Etrange Festival
Below we have the Complete listing of the festival's events:
From the Press Release
L’Étrange Festival – a unique event bringing filmgoers a fascinating roster of provocative and eye-opening films – is thrilled to announce the line-up for its 17th edition, September 2 – 11, 2011 in Paris, France.
The 2011 line-up continues the tradition of highlighting emerging talent, paying homage to independent-minded filmmakers and featuring a truly diverse program that includes cutting-edge works,...
- 8/25/2011
- by Doctor Gash
- DreadCentral.com
I’ve often struggled with the question of how to find meaning in my Flickchart rankings. I obsessively compile them and look over them repeatedly, but I also want to know how to use them to learn more about my own movie-watching tendencies.
Toward that end, on my own blog, I’ve begun a project to examine my top ten films using certain filters. Not necessarily the filters Flickchart makes available, such as my favorite comedies of all time or my favorite horror films of all time, though I will probably do those eventually as well. What I really want to do is choose a category that interests me, then drill on down through my rankings to see the first ten that satisfy the criteria of that category. Some of these may be excessively quirky categories — I won’t give any examples here, in order to keep the element of...
Toward that end, on my own blog, I’ve begun a project to examine my top ten films using certain filters. Not necessarily the filters Flickchart makes available, such as my favorite comedies of all time or my favorite horror films of all time, though I will probably do those eventually as well. What I really want to do is choose a category that interests me, then drill on down through my rankings to see the first ten that satisfy the criteria of that category. Some of these may be excessively quirky categories — I won’t give any examples here, in order to keep the element of...
- 7/26/2011
- by Derek Armstrong
- Flickchart
Late last year, Fox put out the Alien Anthology Blu-Ray set. The price tag was hefty, especially if you didn’t like the last two films. While you can purchase these individually for $15, you can get this nice box set – which I believe has extras not found on the individual releases – for $53! Click beyond the break for the full details & where to buy it.
Disc 1: Alien
**1979 Theatrical Version
**2003 Director’s Cut with Ridley Scott Introduction
**Audio Commentary by Director Ridley Scott, Writer Dan O’Bannon, Executive Producer Ronald Shusett, Editor Terry Rawlings, Actors Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt
**Audio Commentary (for Theatrical Cut only) by Ridley Scott
**Final Theatrical Isolated Score by Jerry Goldsmith
**Composer’s Original Isolated Score by Jerry Goldsmith
**Deleted and Extended Scenes
**Mu-th-ur Mode Interactive Experience with Weyland-Yutani Datastream
Disc 2: Aliens
**1986 Theatrical Version
**1991 Special Edition with James Cameron...
Disc 1: Alien
**1979 Theatrical Version
**2003 Director’s Cut with Ridley Scott Introduction
**Audio Commentary by Director Ridley Scott, Writer Dan O’Bannon, Executive Producer Ronald Shusett, Editor Terry Rawlings, Actors Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt
**Audio Commentary (for Theatrical Cut only) by Ridley Scott
**Final Theatrical Isolated Score by Jerry Goldsmith
**Composer’s Original Isolated Score by Jerry Goldsmith
**Deleted and Extended Scenes
**Mu-th-ur Mode Interactive Experience with Weyland-Yutani Datastream
Disc 2: Aliens
**1986 Theatrical Version
**1991 Special Edition with James Cameron...
- 6/9/2011
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
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