Welcome to the macabre world of the novels of Mo Hayder. THE BEAST (DE BEHANDELING in the original Belgian title), currently being released in European theaters, is a screen adaptation of a thriller written by Hayder, a British novelist whose recurring crime procedurals have captured the imagination of the genre’s amateurs. Struggling with his own demons police inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is looking

In rather surprising turn of events French film producers have lost their exhibition license for the film LA VIE D'ADELE this week. It's surprising because this is France we're talking about, not Dark Ages Saudi Arabia. Granted, the film’s exhibition cycle is long over so who cares? But the fact of a Parisian judge striking at the heart of both cinema's cultural preeminence in France, and freedom of expression, is jarring. For now it is illegal for any movie theaters in France to show this film. LA VIE, a film which features frank depictions of saphic loving’ and earned the Palme D’Or in 2013 (in my decade in Cannes, this is one of the rare films that hands down deserved the top prize)

Ever since his Silver Bear win earlier this year at Berlin Jayro Bustamante's IXCANUL (pronounced eesh-kanool) has garnered about fifteen different awards and distinctions. This good year gave Bustamante, a filmmaker from Guatemala, some much-needed exposure and, hopefully, even-better means to make another film soon. In IXCANUL Maria, 17, lives on the slopes of an active volcano. An arranged marriage is

KILLING THEM SAFELY, a new documentary (100 min.) out in theaters since yesterday, paints a controversial picture of the taser gun industry--namely, one industry since all of the world's taser guns are manufactured by one outfit called Taser International. The film, written and directed by Nick Berardini, raises the proverbial question of whether taser guns are safer than traditional guns. Berardini looks at safety

Entrenched in a small village in Italy's Umbria region, under the close supervision of her protective father, young Gelsomina sees little of the outside the world. She doesn't ask too many questions, either. On the farm where she lives with her young and sisters and her parents she helps out in the family's beekeeping business. Her fate appears sealed. And yet, two events will soon inject some much-needed chaos: her family hosts a young man who's right out of juvie, as part of a social rehabilitation program, and a reality show comes to the area to do an on-site taping.

PARIS - The upcoming film VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (2017) has a bang up cast (Cara Delevingne, Dane DeHaan and Clive Owen), will employ a twelve-hundred-person crew, take six months to shoot (with principal photography starting in January) and has been in the preparatory phases for two years. From a Frenchman's viewpoint, at least, it's a big deal. And yet, instead of being able to shoot

Fortissimo Films announced today that it has acquired global sales [...]