Stories, whether in film or in literature, generally follow an arc. Things happen to a character or characters that we judge and like or dislike according to their personalities and their choices; situations develop, conversations take place, a certain point is reached, and there is a conclusion. In an Asghar Farhadi film (winner of an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for “A Separation,”) ... more >
NEWS
YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL
The new Ozon is a thing to behold
Four songs and four seasons provide the pace in “Young and beautiful,” (original title: "Jeune et Jolie") the engrossing film by France’s filmmaker Francois Ozon (“The swimming pool”) in competition this year. They provide a neat way to organize the film but also reinforce our oh-so-wrong expectations as we settle into the quaint family vignettes which he tenders in the first part of his ... more >
HELI AT CANNES FESTIVAL | MEXICO
The Reygadas-produced film is unconvincing
There’s a scene in Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante’s film « Heli » in which a young woman returns home to find a pool of blood across the floor of her home and a family that’s vanished. The camera is set low to knee-height and shows her from behind as she enters, and then slowly withdraws out of the room upon making the gruesome discovery, the camera leading the way as she walks backwards ... more >
THE GREAT GATSBY opens CANNES
CANNES - All aboard for the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. "The Great Gatsby" by Baz Luhrmann unofficially opened the festivities this morning at 10 a.m. local time (fest kicks off tonight at 7:15 p.m. with the film's premiere). No need to dwell on the artistic indulgence that befits the director of "Moulin Rouge," we've been down that road before. Luhrmann likes to do things big, ... more >
CANNES you speak French? | FESTIVALS
French cinema props up this year's program
France figures highly this year at the Cannes Festival. As Auréliano Tonet noted in his lead article in the special Cannes edition of Le Monde, out of the 75 or so films competing for various prizes across all official and parallel programs, 33 are French. And that’s a boon for cinephiles, indeed. Because as the American majors have been busy turning out a circus-styled sequel-and-3-D ... more >
Lana Del Rey song released
A perfect teaser for next week's Cannes premiere
The video clip for "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey was just released online. This is the first time the soundtrack for "The Great Gatsby" is heard. The film, which stars Leonardo Di Caprio, will open the Cannes Festival next Wednesday. In a nearly four-minute sequence done with restraint in a 1920s cinematic esthetic the "Video games" singer wonders whether loves can resist the passage of ... more >
DCTV Cinema opens in New York’s downtown
New film center raises profile of documentary filmmaking
The Downtown Community Television Center’s new cinema in Lower Manhattan had its official groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning, at which New York City government officials Kate Levin, Scott Stringer, Margaret Chin, and Gale Brewer met with renowned documentarians Michael Moore (“Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 9/11”), Matthew O’Neill and Morgan Spurlock (“Supersize Me”) to ... more >
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