Throughout 2012 I found myself drawn more toward world cinema--particularly European films--and less to American ones. Reasons are numerous, among which the number of rote big-budget efforts, repeated from one movie to the next, totally predictable, with nothing to surprise viewers, let alone engage them. Full disclosure: I don’t live on the planet where audiences flock to the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" franchises, nor Pixar-created

In an op-ed published on December 28 in the French [...]

2012, you were very kind to me. I got to do more of what I love--saw over a hundred movies this year, many of them entertaining. Sure, the superhero franchises weren’t as great as their predecessors and 2012 had its share of overrated lightweights, and I had to sit through another "Twilight" movie. But on the plus side, there were a lot of really creative, character-driven efforts (“Silver Linings Playbook," “Looper," “Cabin in the

Charles Durning left us today. With appearances in over a [...]

How do you say "can't we all just get along?" in French? The infamous expression would fit perfectly. A week ago we ran the letter that French actor Gérard Depardieu had published in a French daily in response to that country’s prime minister calling him “pathetic” for emigrating to Belgium over the excessively high tax rate which was imposed on his revenues. Depardieu, who’s been a well-loved

The latest film by Wong Kar Wai, “The Grand Master,” an epic costume film inspired by the life of Kung Fu master Ip Man, will open the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival which is to take place during February 7-17. Wong Kar Wai is also this year’s president of the jury, his film therefore will be presented out of competition. "I am truly honored by Dieter (Kosslick, director of the festival) and by the fact that he selected

Since Screen Comment (an American publication) is headquartered in Paris we would be remiss not to cover the latest blowup concerning cinema, politics and civil society here. Actor Gérard Depardieu ("Green Card") recently took up residence just across the Belgian border so as to avoid France's excessively costly ISF ("impôt sur la fortune") tax, imposed on the rich. Depardieu is not the first to expatriate himself,