The entrance to the Palais in Cannes was closed briefly Saturday afternoon after a bomb scare due to a “suspicious” item.
The Cannes press office confirmed that there was a suspicious package found on the street but not inside the Palais.
Police officers shut down part of the Croisette, the street that runs in front of the Palais, and prevented pedestrians from crossing in either direction. A specialist police unit was observed inspecting a rucksack in the middle of the crosswalk. Both La Croisette and the Palais entrance were reopened at 3.10 p.m. local time.
“There was something they thought was a bomb, but there was no bomb,” a woman manning the Information Desk at the Marche told Variety. “They closed the street when I was going to lunch, but then I heard it’s open again by the time I came back.”
Another woman working for the festival’s security office said,...
The Cannes press office confirmed that there was a suspicious package found on the street but not inside the Palais.
Police officers shut down part of the Croisette, the street that runs in front of the Palais, and prevented pedestrians from crossing in either direction. A specialist police unit was observed inspecting a rucksack in the middle of the crosswalk. Both La Croisette and the Palais entrance were reopened at 3.10 p.m. local time.
“There was something they thought was a bomb, but there was no bomb,” a woman manning the Information Desk at the Marche told Variety. “They closed the street when I was going to lunch, but then I heard it’s open again by the time I came back.”
Another woman working for the festival’s security office said,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Leo Barraclough, Tatiana Siegel and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film Forum
A retrospective on New York movies is underway, featuring Polanski, Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Hitchcock; Fellini’s early masterwork I Vitelloni continues screening; The Muppets Take Manhattan plays this Sunday.
Film at Lincoln Center
“The World of Apichatpong Weerasethakul” brings films directed and curated by the Thai master (who we talked to about the retrospective), among them work from Oshima, Kiarostami, Cassavetes and more.
Museum of Modern Art
A Rialto Pictures retrospective offers a smorgasbord of classic films, including Grand Illusion, Army of Shadows, and The Conversation on 35mm.
Museum of the Moving Image
Steven Spielberg’s greatest film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, plays on 35mm this Friday and Saturday while a series on summer movies continues with The Omen.
Japan Society
One of Japan’s greatest directors, Shinji Somai, is subject of a retrospective that continues with...
Film Forum
A retrospective on New York movies is underway, featuring Polanski, Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Hitchcock; Fellini’s early masterwork I Vitelloni continues screening; The Muppets Take Manhattan plays this Sunday.
Film at Lincoln Center
“The World of Apichatpong Weerasethakul” brings films directed and curated by the Thai master (who we talked to about the retrospective), among them work from Oshima, Kiarostami, Cassavetes and more.
Museum of Modern Art
A Rialto Pictures retrospective offers a smorgasbord of classic films, including Grand Illusion, Army of Shadows, and The Conversation on 35mm.
Museum of the Moving Image
Steven Spielberg’s greatest film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, plays on 35mm this Friday and Saturday while a series on summer movies continues with The Omen.
Japan Society
One of Japan’s greatest directors, Shinji Somai, is subject of a retrospective that continues with...
- 5/12/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Jean-Pierre Melville’s film is a harrowing look at life in the French resistance during World War II. Starring legendary actors Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, and Jean-Pierre Cassel, the film was a political football during its initial release in 1969, but has been reappraised and, more importantly, restored for safekeeping.
The post Army of Shadows appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Army of Shadows appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 8/15/2022
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
One Shot is a series that seeks to find an essence of cinema history in one single image of a movie. Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (1969) welcomes the unhappy memories of Vichy France. The movie unfolds like a living diary, mostly from the perspective of the sturdy Phillipe Gerbier (Lino Ventura), a member of the French resistance. It puts before us, among other things, the individual costs that are meant to be paid to the collective. Paul Dounat (Alain Libolt) is a traitor who is to be punished for his treachery. On the face of it this punishment is a righteous act performed by the committed heroic forces. But his murder by the resistance sequence flips that notion. When La Masque (Claude Mann), a young member of the execution party, berates the traitor for his actions we realize that Dounat is but a kid who hardly fits his coat.
- 4/4/2022
- MUBI
Mubi has unveiled its streaming offerings this April in the U.S. and leading the pack is a special spotlight on Franz Rogowski, star of their recent theatrical release Great Freedom. Selections include Christian Petzold’s Transit as well as a pair of underseen offerings, Luzifer and Aisles.
Also in the lineup are a number of recent releases, including Dominik Graf’s Fabian: Going to the Dogs, Alice Rohrwacher, Francesco Munzi, and Pietro Marcello’s Futura, Mario Furloni and Kate McLean’s Freeland, and Sion Sono’s Red Post On Escher Street. Timed with her new documentary Cow, a trio of shorts by Andrea Arnold will also arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
April 1 | Battle Royale | Kinji Fukasaku
April 2 | Mood Indigo | Michel Gondry
April 3 | Army of Shadows | Jean-Pierre Melville
April 4 | Wasp | Andrea Arnold | Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold
April 5 | Tracks | Henry Jaglom | Method in the...
Also in the lineup are a number of recent releases, including Dominik Graf’s Fabian: Going to the Dogs, Alice Rohrwacher, Francesco Munzi, and Pietro Marcello’s Futura, Mario Furloni and Kate McLean’s Freeland, and Sion Sono’s Red Post On Escher Street. Timed with her new documentary Cow, a trio of shorts by Andrea Arnold will also arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
April 1 | Battle Royale | Kinji Fukasaku
April 2 | Mood Indigo | Michel Gondry
April 3 | Army of Shadows | Jean-Pierre Melville
April 4 | Wasp | Andrea Arnold | Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold
April 5 | Tracks | Henry Jaglom | Method in the...
- 3/31/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Jean-Pierre Melville in 4K? That’s an inviting idea. All of Melville crime pictures are memorable, and this is one of his best-remembered, a traditional caper drama with a wordless heist scene that lasts almost half an hour. The color production stars three big French actors and one Italian. Alain Delon and Gian Maria Volonté are the career thieves, joined by the conflicted Yves Montand as an alcoholic ex-cop. Comedian Bourvil is enlisted in a surprise role as the completely serious and less-than-ethical police inspector on their trail. We have to admire producer-writer-director Melville’s skill — he achieves a high-budget sheen with a minimum of production resources.
Le cercle rouge
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 218
1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / The Red Circle / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 15, 2022 / 49.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volonté, Yves Montand, Francois Périer, Ana Douking, Paul Crauchet, Paul Amiot, Pierre Collet,...
Le cercle rouge
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 218
1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / The Red Circle / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 15, 2022 / 49.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volonté, Yves Montand, Francois Périer, Ana Douking, Paul Crauchet, Paul Amiot, Pierre Collet,...
- 3/26/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Claude Chabrol’s ‘minor’ wartime drama is one of the best movies of its kind I’ve seen. A French town under German rule lies on a river straddling occupied and Vichy territories, and becomes a hotbed of intrigues. Yes, there’s resistance activity, but we also see that most people avoid involvement — and some find ways to profit from the desperation of refugees fleeing the Nazis. It’s a case of small town, everyday terror. The stellar cast is subordinated to the powerful, non-exploitative drama: Jean Seberg, Maurice Ronet, Daniel Gélin, Jacques Perrin & Stéphane Audran. Samm Deighan’s informative commentary is a big +Plus.
Line of Demarcation
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date February 25, 2020 / La ligne de démarcation / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jean Seberg, Maurice Ronet, Daniel Gélin, Jacques Perrin, Stéphane Audran, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Claude Léveillée, Roger Dumas, Jean Yanne, Jean-Louis Maury, Pierre Gualdi,...
Line of Demarcation
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date February 25, 2020 / La ligne de démarcation / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jean Seberg, Maurice Ronet, Daniel Gélin, Jacques Perrin, Stéphane Audran, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Claude Léveillée, Roger Dumas, Jean Yanne, Jean-Louis Maury, Pierre Gualdi,...
- 7/31/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s French! It’s hot! Jacques Deray’s most unusual film is an intimate, minimalist murder story that digs deep into the affairs of four very superficial people. Among the wealthy set are four pleasure seekers with a laissez faire take on relationships, that think they’re above basic drives — jealousy, possessiveness, resentment. The movie also makes book on the fame & notoriety of the off-on show biz couple Romy Schneider and Alain Delon — the film’s opening seems to celebrate their bigger-than-life glamour and beauty. A notable extra is a 2019 documentary with Delon and his co-star Jane Birkin, plus the film’s famous writers.
La piscine
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1088
1969 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 122 min. / Available at The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 20, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin, Paul Crauchet, Suzie Jaspard.
Cinematography: Jean-Jacques Tarbès
Production Designer: Paul Laffargue
Film Editor: Paul Cayatte
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Jean-Claude Carriìre,...
La piscine
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1088
1969 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 122 min. / Available at The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 20, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin, Paul Crauchet, Suzie Jaspard.
Cinematography: Jean-Jacques Tarbès
Production Designer: Paul Laffargue
Film Editor: Paul Cayatte
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Jean-Claude Carriìre,...
- 7/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
‘Bait’ and ‘Knives Out’ lead BFI Player charts.
UK streaming platform Curzon Home Cinema (Chc) has reported a record digital opening for Safy Nebbou’s Who You Think I Am.
The romantic drama, starring Juliette Binoche, delivered the platform’s biggest three-day opening for a premium VoD title to date.
It benefitted from Curzon bringing forward the release of the film from May 8, implemented as part of a larger reshuffle to bolster its online offering while cinemas remain closed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The performance helped Chc record a 630% increase on the equivalent weekend in 2019 and revenue generated from...
UK streaming platform Curzon Home Cinema (Chc) has reported a record digital opening for Safy Nebbou’s Who You Think I Am.
The romantic drama, starring Juliette Binoche, delivered the platform’s biggest three-day opening for a premium VoD title to date.
It benefitted from Curzon bringing forward the release of the film from May 8, implemented as part of a larger reshuffle to bolster its online offering while cinemas remain closed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The performance helped Chc record a 630% increase on the equivalent weekend in 2019 and revenue generated from...
- 4/15/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Jean-Pierre Melville’s most accomplished, most personal movie gets a new reissue. Ignored in 1969 and released in the United States only 37 years later, this somber, ultra-realistic look at the French resistance has never been equalled. Forget thrilling adventure tales with daring escapes, patriotic oaths and beautiful spies; Melville presents resistance activities in the Occupied territory as a fearful grind leading in one direction only. Criterion’s extras include an interview piece with historical operatives, who still argue points of strategy.
Army of Shadows
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 385
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 145 min. / L’Armée des ombres / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 7, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Claude Mann, Paul Crauchet, Christian Barbier, Serge Reggiani, André Dewavrin.
Cinematography: Pierre Lhomme, Walter Wottitz
Film Editor: Françoise Bonnot
Original Music: Eric De Marsan
Written by Jean-Pierre Melville from the novel by Joseph Kessel
Produced by Jacques Dorfmann
Directed...
Army of Shadows
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 385
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 145 min. / L’Armée des ombres / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 7, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Claude Mann, Paul Crauchet, Christian Barbier, Serge Reggiani, André Dewavrin.
Cinematography: Pierre Lhomme, Walter Wottitz
Film Editor: Françoise Bonnot
Original Music: Eric De Marsan
Written by Jean-Pierre Melville from the novel by Joseph Kessel
Produced by Jacques Dorfmann
Directed...
- 4/7/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As handsomely assembled as one of Le Général’s impeccable military attires, and just as glorifyingly dull, the new biopic De Gaulle shows the infamous Gallic leader juggling personal and professional duties during a pivotal moment in his career: the moment he entered history just as his country was capitulating to Germany in World War II.
It’s certainly a subject worthy of big-screen treatment, especially for a major 20th century figurehead who’s rarely been fictionalized onscreen save for cameos in films like Army of Shadows and The Day of the Jackal, or leading roles in a handful of French ...
It’s certainly a subject worthy of big-screen treatment, especially for a major 20th century figurehead who’s rarely been fictionalized onscreen save for cameos in films like Army of Shadows and The Day of the Jackal, or leading roles in a handful of French ...
As handsomely assembled as one of Le Général’s impeccable military attires, and just as glorifyingly dull, the new biopic De Gaulle shows the infamous Gallic leader juggling personal and professional duties during a pivotal moment in his career: the moment he entered history just as his country was capitulating to Germany in World War II.
It’s certainly a subject worthy of big-screen treatment, especially for a major 20th century figurehead who’s rarely been fictionalized onscreen save for cameos in films like Army of Shadows and The Day of the Jackal, or leading roles in a handful of French ...
It’s certainly a subject worthy of big-screen treatment, especially for a major 20th century figurehead who’s rarely been fictionalized onscreen save for cameos in films like Army of Shadows and The Day of the Jackal, or leading roles in a handful of French ...
Two years after his breakout in “Call Me By Your Name,” Timothée Chalamet continues to benefit from a public fixation on youth. The baby-faced 23-year-old has the allure of a major acting talent even though, by any measure, he’s just getting started. At the 2018 New York Film Critics Circle awards, Chalamet made much of the room feel old by citing 2008’s “The Dark Knight” as the movie that made him want to act. Now, with the release of the Netflix-produced “The King,” Chalamet has another reason to remind people of his precious age.
“I grew up watching Netflix,” the actor said, in an interview ahead of the release of director David Michod’s Shakespeare mashup, which finds him playing King Henry V. As a teenager, Chalamet said, Netflix’s library provided him with the opportunity to watch films and television shows that earlier generations would have watched in other ways.
“I grew up watching Netflix,” the actor said, in an interview ahead of the release of director David Michod’s Shakespeare mashup, which finds him playing King Henry V. As a teenager, Chalamet said, Netflix’s library provided him with the opportunity to watch films and television shows that earlier generations would have watched in other ways.
- 10/2/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Celebrated French cinematographer Pierre Lhomme has passed away aged 89.
The veteran DoP was well known for a string of French classics including Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army Of Shadows (1969), Jean Eustache’s The Mother And The Whore (1973), Bruno Nuytten’s Camille Claudelle (1988) and Gerard Depardieu pic Cyrano De Bergerac (1990).
Lhomme’s career as a cinematographer spanned five decades, beginning in 1953. He was nominated for seven Cesar Awards, winning two for Cyrano De Bergerac and Camille Claudelle. The former also saw him garner a BAFTA win and a technical grand prize at Cannes.
Lhomme also worked with directors Chris Marker, Robert Bresson, Patrice Chéreauon and on several Merchant-Ivory features, including the James Ivory-directed Quartet, Maurice, Jefferson In Paris and Le Divorce, which was his last credit in 2003.
According to the Lumiere Institute in France, Lhomme died yesterday.
Grande tristesse. Pierre Lhomme s’est éteint hier à 89 ans. Il était le cinema français. Formé à Louis Lumière, engagé dans les combats de son temps et de son métier, il a été aussi aux côtés du @festlumiere dès 2009. @afcinema_com pic.twitter.com/5lULCMmIzi
— Institut Lumière (@InstitutLumiere) July 5, 2019...
The veteran DoP was well known for a string of French classics including Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army Of Shadows (1969), Jean Eustache’s The Mother And The Whore (1973), Bruno Nuytten’s Camille Claudelle (1988) and Gerard Depardieu pic Cyrano De Bergerac (1990).
Lhomme’s career as a cinematographer spanned five decades, beginning in 1953. He was nominated for seven Cesar Awards, winning two for Cyrano De Bergerac and Camille Claudelle. The former also saw him garner a BAFTA win and a technical grand prize at Cannes.
Lhomme also worked with directors Chris Marker, Robert Bresson, Patrice Chéreauon and on several Merchant-Ivory features, including the James Ivory-directed Quartet, Maurice, Jefferson In Paris and Le Divorce, which was his last credit in 2003.
According to the Lumiere Institute in France, Lhomme died yesterday.
Grande tristesse. Pierre Lhomme s’est éteint hier à 89 ans. Il était le cinema français. Formé à Louis Lumière, engagé dans les combats de son temps et de son métier, il a été aussi aux côtés du @festlumiere dès 2009. @afcinema_com pic.twitter.com/5lULCMmIzi
— Institut Lumière (@InstitutLumiere) July 5, 2019...
- 7/5/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Pierre Lhomme, the French cinematographer behind such films as Army of Shadows, The Mother and the Whore, Camille Claudel and Cyrano de Bergerac, has died. He was 89.
Lhomme died July 4 in Arles, France, the French Society of Cinematographers told The Hollywood Reporter.
Lhomme received a César award in 1989 for his work on Camille Claudel, which was directed by former cameraman Bruno Nuytten. He received a second César in 1991 for Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac, which also won a technical prize at Cannes.
Among his 60-odd credits are films by Chris Marker (Le Joli Mai, which Lhomme co-directed, and A bientôt,...
Lhomme died July 4 in Arles, France, the French Society of Cinematographers told The Hollywood Reporter.
Lhomme received a César award in 1989 for his work on Camille Claudel, which was directed by former cameraman Bruno Nuytten. He received a second César in 1991 for Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac, which also won a technical prize at Cannes.
Among his 60-odd credits are films by Chris Marker (Le Joli Mai, which Lhomme co-directed, and A bientôt,...
Pierre Lhomme, the French cinematographer behind films like Army of Shadows, The Mother and the Whore, Camille Claudel and Cyrano de Bergerac, has died.
His death was first reported in a tweet from the Institut Lumière in Lyon. He was 89.
Lhomme received a César award in 1989 for his work on Camille Claudel, which was directed by former cameraman Bruno Nuytten. He received a second César in 1991 for Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac, which also won a technical prize at Cannes.
Among his 60-odd credits are films by Chris Marker (Le Joli Mai, which Lhomme co-directed, and A bientôt, j’...
His death was first reported in a tweet from the Institut Lumière in Lyon. He was 89.
Lhomme received a César award in 1989 for his work on Camille Claudel, which was directed by former cameraman Bruno Nuytten. He received a second César in 1991 for Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac, which also won a technical prize at Cannes.
Among his 60-odd credits are films by Chris Marker (Le Joli Mai, which Lhomme co-directed, and A bientôt, j’...
Given the allusions to literal and thematic Trojan Horses that pepper its third act, one probably shouldn’t be surprised that “Captive State” — which opened cold on March 14 after Focus mysteriously canceled screenings for critics — actually is something of a purposefully camouflaged interloper. Although the TV ads and other promotional material appear to promise a megaplex-ready thrill ride about space invaders and rebellious Earthlings, this rigorously intelligent, cunningly inventive, and impressively suspenseful drama plays more like a classic tale about a disparate group of resistance fighters united in a guerrilla campaign against an occupying force.
The big difference here, of course, is that the occupiers are extraterrestrials, not German troops or British colonialists. But, truth to tell, director Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) and scriptwriter Erica Beeney (“The Battle of Shaker Heights”) don’t seem terribly interested in those intergalactic beasties, which appear only fleetingly on scattered occasions,...
The big difference here, of course, is that the occupiers are extraterrestrials, not German troops or British colonialists. But, truth to tell, director Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) and scriptwriter Erica Beeney (“The Battle of Shaker Heights”) don’t seem terribly interested in those intergalactic beasties, which appear only fleetingly on scattered occasions,...
- 3/15/2019
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
Captive State could very well be set in an alternate timeline of Arrival, one where the communication tactics of Louise Banks (Amy Adams) failed and the aliens stayed put to govern over humans. While this has happened worldwide, Rupert Wyatt’s grounded new sci-fi thriller specifically hones in on Chicago, where top government officials work with the alien forces in hopes of eventually getting off the “dying rock” that is Earth. Meanwhile, nearly-eradicated factions of the resistance aim to hold on to a semblance of hope that humanity will prevail as they fight back.
We spoke with the director–who broke out in Hollywood with another sci-fi film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes–about crafting this sci-fi world, being influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville and Gillo Pontecorvo, how the film looks at timely issues, some ingenious casting, the film’s unusual structure, and more.
The world-building in this film is impressive.
We spoke with the director–who broke out in Hollywood with another sci-fi film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes–about crafting this sci-fi world, being influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville and Gillo Pontecorvo, how the film looks at timely issues, some ingenious casting, the film’s unusual structure, and more.
The world-building in this film is impressive.
- 3/13/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Jean-Pierre Melville’s tale of an emotionless killer is distilled to a narrative minimum. Alain Delon stars as Jef Costello, an imperturbable, ultra- slick hit man who follows a strict personal code. When a contract goes bad, he’s caught between irreconcilable compulsions. Following this Zen-like assassin through the mean streets of Paris never seems to get old.
Le samouraï
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 306
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 14, 2017 / 39.95
Starring Alain Delon, Francois Périer, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier, Jacques Leroy.
Cinematography Henri Decaë
Production Designer Francois de Lamothe
Film Editor Monique Bonnot, Yo Maurette
Original Music Francois de Roubaix
Written by Jean-Pierre Melville, Georges Pellegrin from a novel by Joan McLeod
Produced by Raymond Borderie, Eugène Lépicier
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Le samouraï has survived the Quentin Tarantino years Looking better than ever, and with its reputation intact, which is not a minor...
Le samouraï
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 306
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 14, 2017 / 39.95
Starring Alain Delon, Francois Périer, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier, Jacques Leroy.
Cinematography Henri Decaë
Production Designer Francois de Lamothe
Film Editor Monique Bonnot, Yo Maurette
Original Music Francois de Roubaix
Written by Jean-Pierre Melville, Georges Pellegrin from a novel by Joan McLeod
Produced by Raymond Borderie, Eugène Lépicier
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Le samouraï has survived the Quentin Tarantino years Looking better than ever, and with its reputation intact, which is not a minor...
- 11/11/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Recommended Viewinga stunning trailer for the 4k restoration and re-release of Legend of the Mountain (1979), an under-seen, contemplative action masterpiece by Come Drink with Me and A Touch of Zen director King Hu.Hong Sang-soo's On the Beach at Night Alone gets a wry and incisive new trailer for its imminent U.S. release. We wrote on the film in February, and later interviewed the director about it.For De Filmkrant, Notebook contributors Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin investigate in a new video essay the virtuous modulation to be found in Howard Hawks' and Barbara Stanwyck's talents in Ball of Fire.Commissioned by Renzo, Le CiNéMa Club has premiered three inspired short films from Mati Diop, Eduardo Williams, and Baptist Penetticobra all loosely interpreting the theme "Inhabit the earth".Recommended READINGIn...
- 11/8/2017
- MUBI
Born 1917, as Jean-Pierre Grumbach, son of Alsatian Jews, Jean-Pierre adopted the name Melville as his nom de guerre in 1940 when France fell to the German Nazis and he joined the French Resistance. He kept it as his stage name when he returned to France and began making films.
Melville at 100 at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood is showcasing eight of his films made from 1949 to to 1972 to honor the 100th year since his birth.
Americn Cinemtheque’s historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood
The American Cinematheque has grown tremendously sophisticated since its early days creating the 1960 dream of “The Two Garys” (for those who remember). Still staffed by stalwarts Barbara Smith, Gwen Deglise, Margot Gerber and Tom Harris, and with a Board of Directors of Hollywood heavy hitters, it has also been renovated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which has spent more than $500,000 restoring its infrastructure and repainting its famous murals.
Melville at 100 at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood is showcasing eight of his films made from 1949 to to 1972 to honor the 100th year since his birth.
Americn Cinemtheque’s historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood
The American Cinematheque has grown tremendously sophisticated since its early days creating the 1960 dream of “The Two Garys” (for those who remember). Still staffed by stalwarts Barbara Smith, Gwen Deglise, Margot Gerber and Tom Harris, and with a Board of Directors of Hollywood heavy hitters, it has also been renovated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which has spent more than $500,000 restoring its infrastructure and repainting its famous murals.
- 8/7/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” what is the best war movie ever made?
Read More‘Dunkirk’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Monumental War Epic Is The Best Film He’s Ever Made Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker
Howard Hawks’ “The Dawn Patrol,” from 1930, shows soldiers and officers cracking up from the cruelty of their missions — and shows the ones who manage not to, singing and clowning with an exuberance that suggests the rictus of a death mask. There’s courage and heroism, virtue and honor — at a price that makes the words themselves seem foul. John Ford’s “The Lost Patrol,...
This week’s question: In honor of Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” what is the best war movie ever made?
Read More‘Dunkirk’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Monumental War Epic Is The Best Film He’s Ever Made Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker
Howard Hawks’ “The Dawn Patrol,” from 1930, shows soldiers and officers cracking up from the cruelty of their missions — and shows the ones who manage not to, singing and clowning with an exuberance that suggests the rictus of a death mask. There’s courage and heroism, virtue and honor — at a price that makes the words themselves seem foul. John Ford’s “The Lost Patrol,...
- 7/24/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
“Isn’t it like France here?”
By the late 1940’s, the cityscape of New York seemed to be solidified as a well-trodden noir trope in and of itself, if solely due to the fact that being the supposed ultimate symbol of the post-war Free World made it ripe for subversion; criminal networks and the misdeeds of average citizens crawling under the surface of the booming metropolis. The city’s cinematic presence came even greater by this period’s emergent trend of noir films shooting on-location as opposed to embracing the artifice of a Los Angeles soundstage simulacra of the Big Apple; realism imparted on Hollywood as if a way of making the escapist medium of the movies taken more seriously as an art form.
Yet even the burden of verisimilitude could be flipped on its head by an outsider looking in, as by the end of the 1950s, the metropolis...
By the late 1940’s, the cityscape of New York seemed to be solidified as a well-trodden noir trope in and of itself, if solely due to the fact that being the supposed ultimate symbol of the post-war Free World made it ripe for subversion; criminal networks and the misdeeds of average citizens crawling under the surface of the booming metropolis. The city’s cinematic presence came even greater by this period’s emergent trend of noir films shooting on-location as opposed to embracing the artifice of a Los Angeles soundstage simulacra of the Big Apple; realism imparted on Hollywood as if a way of making the escapist medium of the movies taken more seriously as an art form.
Yet even the burden of verisimilitude could be flipped on its head by an outsider looking in, as by the end of the 1950s, the metropolis...
- 7/8/2017
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider in Max Et Les Ferrailleurs - Bertrand Tavernier: "I see Claude Sautet as the son of Jacques Becker."
In the third and final installment of my conversation with Bertrand Tavernier on his Journey Through French Cinema (Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français) he discusses his dedication to Jacques Becker (Casque D'Or, Édouard Et Caroline) and Claude Sautet (Max Et Les Ferrailleurs), Mireille Balin's dress in Jean Delannoy's Macao, l'Enfer Du Jeu (Gambling Hell), Jean Gabin, not forgetting Jean-Pierre Melville's Army Of Shadows (L'Armée Des Ombres), Léon Morin, Prêtre or Le Silence De La Mer, Jean Paul Gaultier and Falbalas (Paris Frills), Mila Parély in Coco Chanel, Jean Renoir's A Day In The Country (Partie De Campagne), Joseph Kosma, Sylvia Bataille and Jacques Lacan, Howard Hawks's Red River and Only Angels Have Wings, and not having to see Rio Bravo ever again.
In the third and final installment of my conversation with Bertrand Tavernier on his Journey Through French Cinema (Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français) he discusses his dedication to Jacques Becker (Casque D'Or, Édouard Et Caroline) and Claude Sautet (Max Et Les Ferrailleurs), Mireille Balin's dress in Jean Delannoy's Macao, l'Enfer Du Jeu (Gambling Hell), Jean Gabin, not forgetting Jean-Pierre Melville's Army Of Shadows (L'Armée Des Ombres), Léon Morin, Prêtre or Le Silence De La Mer, Jean Paul Gaultier and Falbalas (Paris Frills), Mila Parély in Coco Chanel, Jean Renoir's A Day In The Country (Partie De Campagne), Joseph Kosma, Sylvia Bataille and Jacques Lacan, Howard Hawks's Red River and Only Angels Have Wings, and not having to see Rio Bravo ever again.
- 6/16/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Above: French poster for Le silence de la mer (Jean-Pierre Melville, France, 1949). Design by Raymond Gid.Many great filmmakers never got the posters their films deserved. Some of my favorite filmmakers—I'm thinking Yasujiro Ozu, Jacques Rivette, Mike Leigh, and Jean-Marie Straub, to name just a few—for one reason or another, whether it be the vagaries of distribution, the particulars of time and the place, or just the fact that what is so extraordinary about their filmmaking doesn’t translate to still images, have very few posters worthy of their reputation. Jean-Pierre Melville is not one of those. Undoubtedly, the archetype of Melville’s cinema—the trench-coat and fedora sporting, pistol touting tough guy—lends himself beautifully to graphic invention. But Melville made other kinds of films too, and somehow the posters for his entire 13-film oeuvre are an embarrassment of riches. It didn’t hurt that the great French poster artist,...
- 5/6/2017
- MUBI
Jean-Pierre Melville in his own film, Two Men in Manhattan“A man isn't tiny or giant enough to defeat anything”—Yukio MishimaA voracious cinephile in his early youth, Jean-Pierre Grumbach's daily intake of films was interrupted by the Second World War when he enlisted in the Ffl (Forces Français Libres) and adopted the nom de guerre by which he's still known to these days: Jean-Pierre Melville. A tribute to his literary hero, Hermann Melville, and his novel Pierre: or the Ambiguities, the director would have his name officially changed after the war. The latter was to shape and inform many of his films and arguably all of his world-view, characterized by a sort of ethical cynicism where anti-fascism is understood as a moral duty rather than an act of heroic courage. Profoundly anti-rhetoric and filled with a terse dignity, his films about the Resistance, Army of Shadows (1969) above all,...
- 5/1/2017
- MUBI
The thing about fascism is that it forces people to figure out who they are; it’s us vs. them, and anyone who tries to feign indifference or bury their head in the sand is only ceding ground to the armies of violence. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing,” goes Edmund Burke’s famous maxim, but how — in the face of such monstrous villains — could men who do nothing possibly be thought of as good?
Perhaps it’s a matter of semantics, but the movies would seem to argue that it’s more accurate to say “All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do something.” Oskar Schindler, to pick but one famous example, was not a good man until the empirical reality of genocide goaded him into becoming one. A more subtle (though perhaps more...
Perhaps it’s a matter of semantics, but the movies would seem to argue that it’s more accurate to say “All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do something.” Oskar Schindler, to pick but one famous example, was not a good man until the empirical reality of genocide goaded him into becoming one. A more subtle (though perhaps more...
- 2/9/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Episode Links Past Wish List Episodes Episode 63.9 – Disc 3 – Top Criterion Blu-ray Upgrades for 2011 Episode 110 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2012 Episode 136 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2013 Episode 146 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2014 Episode 154 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2015 Episode 169 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2016 DVD to BluRay Wish Lists Aaron: The Shop on Main Street Pickup on South Street Arik: Cleo from 5 to 7 Berlin Alexanderplatz Mark: Taste of Cherry Sisters David: Do the Right Thing Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Ld to Blu-Ray Wish Lists Aaron: Blue Velvet (Announced as Ld Spine #219 but never released) Early Hitchcock Box (Sabotage, The Secret Agent, Young and Innocent, The Lodger, The Man Who Knew Too Much) Arik: A Night at the Opera Singin’ in the Rain Mark: 2001: A Space Odyssey The Producers David: I Am Cuba Letter From an Unknown Woman...
- 12/30/2016
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
"Two strangers are about to meet. In one hour, one of them will be dead." Ripe with paranoia, the new thriller If There's a Hell Below comes out on Digital HD and DVD today from Dark Sky Films, and we had the chance to catch up with writer/director Nathan Williams to discuss the making of his first feature film, including shooting in seclusion, cinematic influences, and a bean bag chair named Joe.
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Nathan. When and how did you originally come up with the story for If There’s a Hell Below?
Nathan Williams: I conceived the film with my brother in the summer of 2013. We had talked for years about a chamber piece thriller set entirely in a single car. We didn't end up precisely there, but we used that impulse and gave ourselves hard restrictions (two vehicles,...
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Nathan. When and how did you originally come up with the story for If There’s a Hell Below?
Nathan Williams: I conceived the film with my brother in the summer of 2013. We had talked for years about a chamber piece thriller set entirely in a single car. We didn't end up precisely there, but we used that impulse and gave ourselves hard restrictions (two vehicles,...
- 12/6/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
John Huston’s primal heist film is an almost perfect movie, with a score of unforgettable characterizations. A solid crime noir, it concerns itself with the human ironies in the ‘left handed form of human endeavor.’
The Asphalt Jungle
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 847
1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 13, 2016 /
Starring Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, Jean Hagen, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Dexter.
Cinematography Harold Rosson
Art Direction Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor George Boemler
Original Music Miklos Rosza
Written by Ben Maddow and John Huston from the novel by W.R. Burnett
Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Directed by John Huston
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Talk about a film that becomes only more enjoyable with each viewing… John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle is the Singin’ in the Rain of noir masterpieces.
The Asphalt Jungle
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 847
1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 13, 2016 /
Starring Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, Jean Hagen, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Dexter.
Cinematography Harold Rosson
Art Direction Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons
Film Editor George Boemler
Original Music Miklos Rosza
Written by Ben Maddow and John Huston from the novel by W.R. Burnett
Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Directed by John Huston
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Talk about a film that becomes only more enjoyable with each viewing… John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle is the Singin’ in the Rain of noir masterpieces.
- 11/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Craig Keller and Uncas Blythe continue our series of film dialogues. Isiah Medina's 88:88 is having its exclusive online premiere at Mubi, playing through April 17, 2016.Craig Keller: We're going to talk about Isiah Medina's 66-minute film from 2015, 88:88. It's a challenging movie: polyphonic, polypictorial, but not confrontational, in fact pretty chilled-out; if it were featured on Top Gear the hosts might praise its speed, dynamic facility, and stability of suspension. 88:88 presents Medina himself and a group of friends or characters from university in and around the neighborhoods of Winnipeg.Now I'll refrain from synopsizing any more. I had a hard time with the film, but like any complicated work revisitations in whole and in part yield stronger comprehension; accordingly, new insights rise to the surface. Going back through it again the other day I started by watching only the first ten minutes, which provide an overture,...
- 4/5/2016
- by Craig Keller
- MUBI
The Eighth Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-produced by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema.
The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations, and we’re especially pleased to present Jacques Rivette’s long-unavailable epic Out 1: Spectre Additional restoration highlights include Jean-Luc Godard’s A Married Woman and Max Ophüls’ too-little-seen From Mayerling To Sarajevo. Both Ophüls’ film and Louis Malle’s Elevator To The Gallows – with a jazz score by St. Louis-area native Miles Davis — screen from 35mm prints. All films will screen at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (47- E. Lockwood)
Music fans will further delight in the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra’s accompaniment and original score for Carl Th. Dreyer’s...
The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations, and we’re especially pleased to present Jacques Rivette’s long-unavailable epic Out 1: Spectre Additional restoration highlights include Jean-Luc Godard’s A Married Woman and Max Ophüls’ too-little-seen From Mayerling To Sarajevo. Both Ophüls’ film and Louis Malle’s Elevator To The Gallows – with a jazz score by St. Louis-area native Miles Davis — screen from 35mm prints. All films will screen at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (47- E. Lockwood)
Music fans will further delight in the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra’s accompaniment and original score for Carl Th. Dreyer’s...
- 2/16/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Le silence de la mer
Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
France, 1949
Nearly every mention of Jean-Pierre Melville’s cinema inevitably alludes to his crime films, and for good reason. Of his 13 features, nine fall under this general heading, and for the most part, they are his best and most admired. Amongst the rest of his filmography, slightly varying and further distinguishing his career, are his occasional forays into the war film—or, more precisely, the wartime film, for typical battleground scenarios are negligible. This is the case with Léon Morin, Priest (1961), with The Army of Shadows (1969), his extraordinary ode to the French resistance, of which he was a member, and this is the case with his debut, Le silence de la mer. (His 1950 feature, Les Enfants Terribles, defies generic categorization.)
“The war years were the best years of my life.” Such comments from Melville often got a rise out of those around him,...
Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
France, 1949
Nearly every mention of Jean-Pierre Melville’s cinema inevitably alludes to his crime films, and for good reason. Of his 13 features, nine fall under this general heading, and for the most part, they are his best and most admired. Amongst the rest of his filmography, slightly varying and further distinguishing his career, are his occasional forays into the war film—or, more precisely, the wartime film, for typical battleground scenarios are negligible. This is the case with Léon Morin, Priest (1961), with The Army of Shadows (1969), his extraordinary ode to the French resistance, of which he was a member, and this is the case with his debut, Le silence de la mer. (His 1950 feature, Les Enfants Terribles, defies generic categorization.)
“The war years were the best years of my life.” Such comments from Melville often got a rise out of those around him,...
- 5/13/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
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
Qui aime les films français ?
If you do and you live in St. Louis, you’re in luck! The Seventh Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series begins March 13th. The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1930s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations.
This year features recent restorations of eight works, including an extended director’s cut of Patrice Chéreau’s historical epic Queen Margot a New York-set film noir (Two Men In Manhattan) by crime-film maestro Jean-Pierre Melville, who also co-stars; a short feature (“A Day in the Country”) by Jean Renoir, on a double bill with the 2006 restoration of his masterpiece, The Rules Of The Game, and the...
If you do and you live in St. Louis, you’re in luck! The Seventh Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series begins March 13th. The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1930s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations.
This year features recent restorations of eight works, including an extended director’s cut of Patrice Chéreau’s historical epic Queen Margot a New York-set film noir (Two Men In Manhattan) by crime-film maestro Jean-Pierre Melville, who also co-stars; a short feature (“A Day in the Country”) by Jean Renoir, on a double bill with the 2006 restoration of his masterpiece, The Rules Of The Game, and the...
- 3/4/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
One of the major pleasant surprises at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, ’71, a gripping and thoughtful drama set in Belfast during The Troubles, hits theatres this Friday. The film stars Unbroken‘s Jack O’Connell as Gary Hook, a British serviceman trapped behind enemy lines during a night of intense sectarian unrest in Northern Ireland.
The film marks the feature film debut for director Yann Demange, who cut his teeth on numerous British television series before making the jump to the big screen. We caught up with Demange (and the film’s star, O’Connell) back at Tiff to talk about his transition from TV to cinema, and what separates ’71 from other war films.
Check it out below, and enjoy!
You had a very successful start on TV, what were you looking for when deciding to do your first feature?
Yann Demange: I had been looking for...
The film marks the feature film debut for director Yann Demange, who cut his teeth on numerous British television series before making the jump to the big screen. We caught up with Demange (and the film’s star, O’Connell) back at Tiff to talk about his transition from TV to cinema, and what separates ’71 from other war films.
Check it out below, and enjoy!
You had a very successful start on TV, what were you looking for when deciding to do your first feature?
Yann Demange: I had been looking for...
- 2/25/2015
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
I promise – it wasn’t my plan to have seven of the ten films on this portion of the list focus on World War II. But, if we look back at the biggest international conflicts of all time, World War II is the one that provides the most opportunity. It’s a chance for a number of different countries to look at the same war from different perspectives. In this portion alone, there’s a French film, a German film, a Hungarian film, a couple British/American films, and a few American films – all about varied aspects of World War II.
courtesy of fmvmagazine.com
40. The Killing Fields (1984)
Directed by: Roland Joffé
Conflict: Cambodian Civil War
For all the films made about World War II and larger scale conflicts, the few that depict smaller, more concentrated ones are sometimes more effective. Roland Joffé’s 1984 drama The Killing Fields hones in on Cambodia,...
courtesy of fmvmagazine.com
40. The Killing Fields (1984)
Directed by: Roland Joffé
Conflict: Cambodian Civil War
For all the films made about World War II and larger scale conflicts, the few that depict smaller, more concentrated ones are sometimes more effective. Roland Joffé’s 1984 drama The Killing Fields hones in on Cambodia,...
- 6/10/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: July 22, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $124.95
Studio: Criterion
French director Jacques Demy launched his glorious feature filmmaking career in the Sixties, a decade of astonishing invention in his national cinema. He stood out from the crowd of his fellow New Wavers, however, by filtering his self-conscious formalism through deeply emotional storytelling. Fate and coincidence, doomed love, and storybook romance surface throughout his films, many of which are further united by the intersecting lives of characters who either appear or are referenced across titles.
Six of Demy’s films are collected in The Essential Jacques Demy. Ranging from musical to melodrama to fantasia, all are triumphs of visual and sound design, camera work, and music, and they are galvanized by the great stars of French cinema at their centers, including Anouk Aimée (8 1/2), Catherine Deneuve (Belle de Jour), and Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim).
The six works here, made...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $124.95
Studio: Criterion
French director Jacques Demy launched his glorious feature filmmaking career in the Sixties, a decade of astonishing invention in his national cinema. He stood out from the crowd of his fellow New Wavers, however, by filtering his self-conscious formalism through deeply emotional storytelling. Fate and coincidence, doomed love, and storybook romance surface throughout his films, many of which are further united by the intersecting lives of characters who either appear or are referenced across titles.
Six of Demy’s films are collected in The Essential Jacques Demy. Ranging from musical to melodrama to fantasia, all are triumphs of visual and sound design, camera work, and music, and they are galvanized by the great stars of French cinema at their centers, including Anouk Aimée (8 1/2), Catherine Deneuve (Belle de Jour), and Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim).
The six works here, made...
- 4/24/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
I interviewed William Friedkin back in 2012 (read part one here and part two here) and asked about the status of Sorcerer back then, knowing of the legal issues it was facing as Paramount and Universal couldn't seem to decide who owned the rights to the film. Friedkin was suing both studios in order to figure that out and hopefully get a remastered version of, what I believe is best called a "cult classic" at this point, the film released. Two years later, it finally arrives courtesy of Warner Home Video in all its tension laden madness. While Friedkin doesn't like the term, Sorcerer is a remake of French director Henri-Georges Clouzot's Wages of Fear (which itself was based on Georges Arnaud's novel), an amazing movie and one I've written about before, including my 2009 review of the Criterion Blu-ray. I can understand Friedkin's aversion to the word "remake" as...
- 4/18/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
‘The Wind Rises’ and more Nyfcc 2013 winners (image: Hayao Miyazaki ‘The Wind Rises’) (See previous post: "Cate Blanchett, cross-dresser Jared Leto: 2013 New York Film Critics’ Movie Stars.") Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises, a major blockbuster in Japan ($119.51 million according to Box Office Mojo) despite — or perhaps because of — a right-wing backlash against the film’s anti-war stance, was the New York Film Critics Circle’s Best Animated Feature of 2013. The Wind Rises beat better known U.S.-made fare such as Disney’s Frozen, currently in theaters. Miyazaki has vowed that he has retired from filmmaking; if true, The Wind Rises will be his last film. Via its Touchstone Pictures banner, Walt Disney Studios will be releasing The Wind Rises on February 21, 2014, in North America. Now, how could a 2014 movie (in the U.S.) get a 2013 award from the Nyfcc, better known for honoring movies a year (The Lives of Others...
- 12/3/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Check out this handwritten list of 10 "Greatest Movies" by cinematographer Roger Deakins. Included are titles by Stanley Kubrick ("Dr. Strangelove"), Sergio Leone ("Once Upon a Time in the West"), Michelangelo Antonioni ("The Passenger") and Jean-Pierre Melville ("Le Samourai" and "Army of Shadows"). Deakins' ace camera work is currently on display in this past weekend's box office winner, Denis Villeneuve's "Prisoners," starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. He nabbed his tenth Oscar nomination for last year's "Skyfall." Deakins, a long-time Coen brothers collaborator, has Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" up next (with the Coens working on the most recent pass of the script). Hat tip: @LoSceicco1976. For more Top 10 Films lists from a number of great directors (including Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and more), check out our roundup here.
- 9/23/2013
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Notebook is proud to present this video essay in coordination with Transit magazine, where you can find the Spanish version of the piece.
Lucky 13
13 variations for 13 films, accompanied by the musical theme composed by François de Roubaix for Le samouraï (1967): the cinema of Jean-Pierre Melville condensed into a series of motifs that travel from movie to movie, reiterating and transforming, finding their full meaning only when they are put into relation. A non-exhaustive collection1, but filled with recognisable images that clearly obsess this filmmaker.
1. Jef Costello’s second murder in Le samouraï, Maite’s devastating death at the end of Army of Shadows (1969), the shooting of Mattei and Vogel in Le cercle rouge (1970) or—the most paradigmatic example of all—of Maurice, Silien and Kern in Le doulos (1962). It is the matter of a rule with few exceptions, a pattern that is rarely broken: whenever Melville’s...
Lucky 13
13 variations for 13 films, accompanied by the musical theme composed by François de Roubaix for Le samouraï (1967): the cinema of Jean-Pierre Melville condensed into a series of motifs that travel from movie to movie, reiterating and transforming, finding their full meaning only when they are put into relation. A non-exhaustive collection1, but filled with recognisable images that clearly obsess this filmmaker.
1. Jef Costello’s second murder in Le samouraï, Maite’s devastating death at the end of Army of Shadows (1969), the shooting of Mattei and Vogel in Le cercle rouge (1970) or—the most paradigmatic example of all—of Maurice, Silien and Kern in Le doulos (1962). It is the matter of a rule with few exceptions, a pattern that is rarely broken: whenever Melville’s...
- 9/19/2013
- by Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin
- MUBI
*Updated* We have great news for fans of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man. It was recently announced that an extended cut of the 1973 horror cult classic would be released to theaters and on Blu-ray/DVD in the UK. A limited theatrical run in the Us has been announced and we have a list of dates and cities.
Due to the fact that the movie originally screened as part of a double bill, the version that appeared in theaters was shorter than Hardy’s actual cut. While the extended footage has been seen in the past, the original negatives were lost. Here’s what Robin Hardy had to say about the discovery:
via Screen Daily: “StudioCanal contacted me last year in their search for the original materials that have been missing…. I’m very pleased to announce that StudioCanal have been able to find an actual print of The Wicker Man,...
Due to the fact that the movie originally screened as part of a double bill, the version that appeared in theaters was shorter than Hardy’s actual cut. While the extended footage has been seen in the past, the original negatives were lost. Here’s what Robin Hardy had to say about the discovery:
via Screen Daily: “StudioCanal contacted me last year in their search for the original materials that have been missing…. I’m very pleased to announce that StudioCanal have been able to find an actual print of The Wicker Man,...
- 8/26/2013
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
French director Jean-Pierre Melville was one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation, but his reputation in the United States has always suffered. That's partly due to bad timing: While Melville's taut, stylized film noir technique inspired the French New Wave in the late fifties, the legacies of the filmmakers associated with that movement has largely obscured his own achievements, even though they continued into the late sixties and early seventies with the masterfully suspenseful capers "Army of Shadows," "The Red Circle" and "Dirty Money." More recently, however, those late period Melville films have received belated U.S. releases ("Army of Shadows" crept onto several critics' year-end best-of lists when a restored print circulated in 2011); now, with The Cohen Film Collection's restoration of early Melville film "Two Men in Manhattan," the case for a thorough Melville retrospective to make the rounds is stronger than ever. Though it doesn't have the assured,...
- 6/20/2013
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
★★★☆☆ The latest addition to the StudioCanal Collection sees the Blu-ray premiere of director Jean-Pierre Melville's controversial World War II drama Army of Shadows (L'armée des ombres, 1969), starring Lino Ventura and Simone Signoret. Philippe Gerbier (Ventura) is the head of a small French resistance group. Along with his comrades, including the independently minded Mathilde (Signoret), Gerbier must fight danger and treason from both outside and inside his circle, before the volatile situation and ever-present fear of danger reaches a dramatic climax. Is it right to find fault with a film held in such high regard by scholars the world over?
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 4/9/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
0:00 - Intro 7:40 - Review: Killing Them Softly 53:45 - Headlines: Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Play Batman in Justice League?, David Fincher and Jon Favreau Rumoured for new Star Wars Movie, THR Directors Roundtable, A Glimpse Inside Charles Swan III Trailer 1:29:50 - Other Stuff We Watched: Elf, The Muppets Christmas Carol, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Le silence de la mer, Wages of Fear, The Waiting Room, Ted, Ace in the Hole, No Country for Old Men, Sorcerer, Husbands, Gummo, Le cercle rouge, Premium Rush, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Downhill Racer, Maidstone, Army of Shadows, Children of Men, Strange Brew, Alfie, Nighthawks, Mansome, Jersey Girl, Shut Up Little Man!, Sexy Beast, Gooby 2:41:05 - Junk Mail: Internet Archive, Do Modern Comedies Rely Too Much on Cussing?, The Death of Video Stores, Things That Take You Out of a Movie 3:10:...
- 12/4/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
After much media hoopla about "Vertigo" toppling "Citizen Kane" in its poll, Sight and Sound magazine have now released the full version of its once a decade 'Top 250 greatest films of all time' poll results via its website. The site also includes full on links showcasing Top Tens of the hundreds of film industry professionals who participated in the project.
For those who don't want to bother with the individual lists and to save you a bunch of clicking, below is a copy of the full 250 films that made the lists and how many votes they got to be considered for their positions:
1 - Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958) [191 votes]
2 - Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) [157 votes]
3 - Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) [107 votes]
4 - La Règle du jeu (Renoir, 1939) [100 votes]
5 - Sunrise: a Song for Two Humans (Murnau, 1927) [93 votes]
6 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968) [90 votes]
7 - The Searchers (Ford, 1956) [78 votes]
8 - Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929) [68 votes]
9 - The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer,...
For those who don't want to bother with the individual lists and to save you a bunch of clicking, below is a copy of the full 250 films that made the lists and how many votes they got to be considered for their positions:
1 - Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958) [191 votes]
2 - Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) [157 votes]
3 - Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) [107 votes]
4 - La Règle du jeu (Renoir, 1939) [100 votes]
5 - Sunrise: a Song for Two Humans (Murnau, 1927) [93 votes]
6 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968) [90 votes]
7 - The Searchers (Ford, 1956) [78 votes]
8 - Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929) [68 votes]
9 - The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer,...
- 8/18/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
It's that time of year and Barnes and Noble is selling Criterion Collection titles at 50% off (shop here). The problem is, what do you buy? Well, hopefully I can help you with that as I believe there are certain titles from Criterion that are absolute must owns for any cinemaphile and taking into account you are considering buying Criterion Collection titles in the first place, I'm certainly talking to you. So, with that said, let's dive in as I'll give you what I consider to be the top 15 must own Criterion Blu-ray titles as well as a few alternate considerations here and there. 15.) The Thin Red Line Why Should You Buy It? What else is there to expect other than an absolutely gorgeous film from Terrence Malick and that's exactly what you get from The Thin Red Line, but on top of the film you also get a wealth of special features,...
- 7/11/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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