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A Sudden Case of Christmas has Danny DeVito and his daughter Lucy leading a folksy ensemble in a spirited holiday romp about the value of family during the holidays. The rub here is that Christmas takes place in August because of an impending divorce. Shenanigans predictably ensue as the likable characters hide big secrets and juggle various relationship problems while a precocious girl documents the festive fray. The film avoids being overly sentimental with a few naughty bits meant to spike the eggnog.

Jacob Randall (Wilmer Valderrama) and his wife Abbie (Lucy Devito) sing Christmas carols with their young daughter Claire (Antonella Rose) as the family drives towards Italy's picturesque Dolemite Mountains. Rose's father, Lawrance (Danny DeVito), owns a boutique hotel where everyone usually congregates for Christmas. Jacob's parents, Rose (Andie MacDowell) and Mark (Jos Ziga), are also en route to join them. We quickly learn it's not December but...

Exclusive: Shout! Studios has snapped up North American rights to the holiday family comedy A Sudden Case of Christmas, starring Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Andie MacDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral), from Notorious Pictures and Riverstone Pictures in association with WME Independent. The film will roll out across multiple entertainment platforms later this year.

As we were first to report, Vmi Worldwide holds international sales rights and is currently presenting the film to buyers at Cannes.

Directed by Peter Chelsom (The Space Between Us), A Sudden Case of Christmas centers on Lawrence (DeVito), who runs a grand hotel in the mountains of Italy. Every winter, he hosts the extended family for Christmas — but this year, his daughter (Lucy DeVito) and her husband (Wilmer Valderrama) are bringing their 10-year-old, Claire (Antonella Rose), to visit in August.

The young couple comes with shocking news: They are divorcing and...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the 2005 drama Shadows in the Sun, starring Harvey Keitel and Joshua Jackson. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Written and directed by Brad Mirman, Shadows in the Sun has the following synopsis: Jeremy is a book editor in a London publishing company and is sent on a pointless mission, in Jeremy’s opinion, to a small town in Tuscany, Italy, to sign up Weldon, who hasn’t written anything in 20 years. He eventually finds him and gives him his pitch – getting nowhere. But at least he gets to meet his cute,...

Croatia’s 4Film has joined France’s Ciné Sud Promotion and Italy’s Kineofilm on Italian director Rodolfo Bisatti’s next feature film, “On Life,” starring Andree Ruth Shammah and Paolo Bonacelli.

Bisatti, who co-wrote and helmed the acclaimed 2020 drama “To the Unknown God,” will direct “On Life” from a screenplay he his writing with actress-producer Laura Pellicciari.

The film, which is set to start shooting in northeastern Italy on Aug. 7, centers on an aging countess (Shammah) who sets up a new type of school with a group of disenfranchised yet gifted children in her spacious villa.

Palazzo Panigai-Ovio in Pordenone

The producers have found an ideal 17th-century villa — the Palazzo Panigai-Ovio — in the northeastern province of Pordenone, about 100 kilometers west of Trieste, where Kineofilm is based. Bisatti also plans to shoot outdoor scenes in nearby Veneto.

The film’s cast includes Valeria Cavalli and Pamela Villoresi as well as Pellicciari.

With costs rising dramatically and people feeling the pinch across the board, you might be struggling to find a cost-effective and beautiful vacation.

Well, we have good news.

You can get away to colorful Brittany, France, without ever leaving your living room with Hallmark Channel's delightful movie, Moriah's Lighthouse.

Rachelle Lefevre stars as Moriah, a talented woodworking artisan hoping to make enough money to achieve her dream -- to own and refurbish the lighthouse that had belonged to her family for generations.

Moriah was orphaned at a young age and raised by her beloved aunt Catherine (Valeria Cavalli), and the two share a wonderful friendship, but Moriah still suffers in the wake of such a tremendous loss.

With her heart set on recapturing the glory of the family's history and her fear of losing love, Moriah, who lives in one of the most romantic countries in the world,...

The Past (Le passé) Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on RottenTomatoes.com Grade: B+ Director: Asghar Farhadi Screenwriter: Asghar Farhadi Cast: Bérénice Béjo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Babak Karimi, Valeria Cavalli, Eleonora Marino Screened at: Sony, NYC, 8/21/13 Opens: December 20, 2013 If this were one of the abundant numbers of sitcoms about family dysfunction, the moral might be something as vacuous as “Don’t mess with married men.” But “The Past” is a serious drama written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, whose previous entry, “A Separation,” looks closely at a family that must make a [ Read More ]

The post The Past Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Title: The Past Director: Asghar Farhadi Starring: Tahar Rahim, Bérénice Béjo, Ali Mosaffa, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Babak Karmi, Valeria Cavalli. ‘The Past’ is Iran’s official selection for the 86th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was officially selected in 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival. The female protagonist, Bérénice Béjo won the Best Actress Award in Cannes. Just like in Farhadi’s Oscar-winning ‘A Separation,’ his latest film is a bewitchingly sculpted family melodrama in which the end of a marriage is solely the trigger that leads to old and new crossroads. After four years [ Read More ]

The post The Past Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Sony Pictures Classics has new clips for 2 of its releases in The Past and Tim's Vermeer. The Past is a drama is directed by Asghar Farhadi from the script by Massoumeh Lahidji and Farhadi, and stars Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Babak Karimi and Valeria Cavalli. The Past follows an Iranian man who deserts his French wife and two children to return to his homeland. His wife sparks up a new relationship, the reality of which hits her husband when he receives a request for a divorce.

A second poster has arrived for The Past directed by Asghar Farhadi of A Separation. The drama stars Tahar Rahim, Bérénice Bejo and Ali Mosaffa. The Past (Le passé) follows an Iranian man who deserts his French wife and two children to return to his homeland. His wife sparks up a new relationship, the reality of which hits her husband when he receives a request for a divorce. Also in the cast of the film written by MAssoumeh Lahidji and Farhadi are Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Babak Karimi and Valeria Cavalli.

Director Olivier Marchal continued to build his reputation as France’s master of thrillers and his fourth film A Gang Story looks to be heading to U.S. art houses. Variety reported that The Weinstein Co. continued talks to acquire domestic theatrical distribution rights to A Gang Story, to be released in France as Le Gang des Lyonnais. Marchal co-wrote the film with Edgar Marie and follows gang leader Edmond Vidal (Gérard Lanvin) nicknamed Mormon, as he reflects back on his younger days, the rise of his Lyon-based gang and his frequent clashes with police. Marcal shot his fourth film in Lyon with Gérard Lanvin, Daniel Duval, Dimitri Storoge as the younger Vidal, Valeria Cavalli, Stéphane Caillard, Patrick Catalifo and Tchéky Karyo in the cast.

Director Olivier Marchal continued to build his reputation as France’s master of thrillers and his fourth film A Gang Story looks to be heading to U.S. art houses. Variety reported that The Weinstein Co. continued talks to acquire domestic theatrical distribution rights to A Gang Story, to be released in France as Le Gang des Lyonnais. Marchal co-wrote the film with Edgar Marie and follows gang leader Edmond Vidal (Gérard Lanvin) nicknamed Mormon, as he reflects back on his younger days, the rise of his Lyon-based gang and his frequent clashes with police. Marcal shot his fourth film in Lyon with Gérard Lanvin, Daniel Duval, Dimitri Storoge as the younger Vidal, Valeria Cavalli, Stéphane Caillard, Patrick Catalifo and Tchéky Karyo in the cast.

Director Olivier Marchal continued to build his reputation as France’s master of thrillers and his fourth film A Gang Story looks to be heading to U.S. art houses. Variety reported that The Weinstein Co. continued talks to acquire domestic theatrical distribution rights to A Gang Story, to be released in France as Le Gang des Lyonnais. Marchal co-wrote the film with Edgar Marie and follows gang leader Edmond Vidal (Gérard Lanvin) nicknamed Mormon, as he reflects back on his younger days, the rise of his Lyon-based gang and his frequent clashes with police. Marcal shot his fourth film in Lyon with Gérard Lanvin, Daniel Duval, Dimitri Storoge as the younger Vidal, Valeria Cavalli, Stéphane Caillard, Patrick Catalifo and Tchéky Karyo in the cast.

On Wednesday the Sundance Film Festival unveiled the films competing in late January 2010. Yesterday they announced the rest of the line-up of independent films vying for attention for industry types and the curious public.

The entire list of 53 films is below, but here are a few that stood out to me from the premieres alone:

Mumblecore directors the Duplass Brothers, have a new, untitled movie starring an unusually high-profile cast compared to their usual improvisational crew. John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener. Reilly and Keener are actually in two films at the 2010 festival.

The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Rosemarie DeWitt about corporate downsizing.

Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds as a man buried alive in a coffin. I’ve read the script and its great. More on that as soon as I can.

The Runaways, the...

We are 49 days out and counting down to Sundance 2010. Yesterday, we unveiled the list of competition films for the upcoming festival. Today, we have your list of out-of-competition films which include Premieres, Spotlight, New Frontier, and, my personal favorite, Park City at Midnight, which has featured past entries like Black Dynamite, The Descent, and Saw.

Check out next year’s lineup for the out-of-competition films:

Premieres

To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.

Abel / Mexico, USA (Director: Diego Luna; Screenwriters: Diego Luna and Agusto Mendoza)–A peculiar young boy, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes the responsibilities of a family man in his father’s absence. Cast: Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza. World Premiere

Cane Toads:...

Yesterday we got the list for the films playing in competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and today we get the rest of the films that will be featured and there are quite a few that make 2010 look much stronger based on pedigree alone than I have seen in quite some time. Variety has a big write-up detailing the categories and more on the festival right here, but I am just going to offer up the titles and let you sort it all out.

The titles already in the RopeofSilicon database are linked.

Premieres

All films are from the United States unless otherwise noted Abel (Mexico-u.S.), the directorial debut of actor Diego Luna, written by Luna and Agusto Mendoza, about a peculiar young boy who, as he blurs reality and fantasy, takes over the responsibilities of a family man in his father's absence. With Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi,...

In addition to the competition titles which were announced yesterday, Sundance has announced the remainder of their line-up and it includes some titles we’re already familiar with along with a huge number of premieres.

Also on the docket are two new series: Next which showcases low/no budget films and Spotlight which highlights films which festival programmers deem worthy of extra love including Enter the Void (review) and Lourdes (the trailer for which I really liked).

I’m particularly excited to see some of the titles in the New Frontier program but overall, the line-up is an impressive one but the Kristen Stewart fan in me is excited to see her turn as Joan Jett in The Runaways and I think it’s fair to say we’re all dying to see Vincenzo Natali’s hotly anticipated Splice (trailer).

In the Midnight section, Adam Green's Frozen is sounding mighty find,...

Sundance released their slate for 2010. It includes:43 documentaries on the Middle East12 films about friends who 'discover' something33 movies about people you've never heard about1 comedyHopefully the lineup this year is strong but it doesn't look that way compared to last year. Last year we had Push (Precious), that Lil Wayne documentary that never went anywhere, Mystery Team which might make my top ten, Moon, Mike Tyson documentary, Cold Souls. Just so much last January that was excellent. I hope I don't go out therer and freeze my tail off just to see...I don't know, a documentary about a former Pakistani prime minister or something silly like that.Here's the lineup so far: Premieres To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.

The Sundance Film Festival's competition lineup for 2010, announced Wednesday, might demand that audiences wear their serious caps. But the out-of-competition selections allow programmers and viewers to cut loose a little.

The 53 films that populate this year's Premieres, Next, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier sections run the gamut from the cosmically experimental to the star-studded and silly. There is indeed something for everyone at this year's event, which runs Jan. 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

As usual, Premieres collects work involving the industry's higher-profile talent, none more so than John Wells' feature directorial debut, "The Company Men," which stars Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper. Mexican actor Diego Luna's directorial debut, "Abel," will screen, as will Philip Seymour Hoffman's "Jack Goes Boating."

Michael Winterbottom has the rare distinction of having two films in...

Mother of Tears Starring Asia Argento, Moran Atias, Daria Nicoladi, Valeria Cavalli and Udo Kier Produced by Medusa Film, Myriad Pictures, Opera Film Produzione Written by Jace Anderson, Dario Argento, Walter Fasano, Adam Gierasch and Simona Simonetti Directed by Dario Argento Score: Technical: 100, Story: 90, Acting: 90, Overall Score: 93 I have been waiting for this movie to come out ever since I heard it was written, and boy, it was worth the wait! The third installment in Argento’s Three Mothers series (Suspiria and Inferno are the other two), Mother of Tears was gory, suspenseful and, above all, a great movie! Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) lives in Rome, studying art resortation and archeology, when one day a mysterious urn is brought into the office, her [...]...

Dimension Extreme recently released the DVD artwork and details from the upcoming horror film “Mother of Tears” aka La Terza madre from cult director Dario Argento. Actors: Asia Argento, Cristian Solimeno, Adam James, Moran Atias, Valeria Cavalli, Philippe Leroy, Daria Nicolodi, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Udo Kier, Robert Madison, Jun Ichikawa, Tommaso Banfi, Barbara Mautino Synopsis: An ancient urn is found in a cemetery outside Rome. Once opened, it triggers a series of violent incidents: robberies, rapes and murders increase dramatically, while several mysterious, evil-looking young women coming from all over the world are gathering in the city. All these events are caused by the return of Mater Lacrimarum, the last of three powerful witches who have been spreading terror and death for centuries. [...]...

PARIS -- Claude Chabrol has been making movies for half a century, turning out films with clockwork regularity at the rate of one a year. His favored themes are self-destructive behavior and polished perversity, and customers seeking more of the same will not be disappointed with his latest offering, "La Fille Coupee en Deux", whose literal translation would be "The Girl Cut in Two".

The director's name recognition should ensure decent boxoffice, and the film is boosted by a talented cast and excellent cinematography by Edouardo Serra. But its impact is weakened by a limp ending and a sense that it all adds up to rather less than the sum of its parts.

Chabrol's starting point is the 1906 murder of Stanford White, the architect of Madison Square Garden, whose killing by the husband of his actress mistress gave rise to what was described in its time as the "trial of the century." Transposing the story to contemporary France allows him to do what Chabrol enjoys most -- skewering the mores of the rich and powerful, particularly the moneyed bourgeoisie.

When celebrity novelist Charles Saint-Denis (Francois Berleand) meets at a book-signing ceremony weather forecaster Gabrielle Deneige (Ludivigne Sagnier) -- her name, signifying snow, is intended to herald purity as well as her job -- his urbanity and wit are enough to attract her sexually despite his being twice her age.

His rival Paul Gaudens (Benoit Magimel) is the spoilt, rich and slightly disturbed heir to an industrial fortune. Paul is used to getting what he wants and does not take kindly to losing out to a much older man. Eventually, Charles tires of his conquest and gives her the brush-off, enabling Paul To win her on the rebound.

A society wedding is announced, causing Charles to renew his interest. He shows up as Gabrielle is trying on her wedding dress. She tells him she will give it all up and return to him if he will leave his wife Dona (Valeria Cavalli), but for Charles that would be a real betrayal, or a self-indulgence.

The marriage goes ahead. Paul, realizing where Gabrielle's affections really lie, is consumed with jealously. He shows up at a charity event organized by his do-gooding mother Genevieve (Caroline Silhol), where Charles is to speak, and guns him down as he addresses the gathering.

A postscript deals with Genevieve's maneuverings to persuade Gabrielle to testify in her son's favor. He finally receives a lenient sentence for psychiatric reasons. The movie concludes with a visual metaphor, the cutting in two of the title, after Gabrielle signs on as a magician's assistant.

The borrowed story is a pretext for Chabrol to revel in the incidential details of French social life and its sexual undertones: the publishing world in which Charles moves (Mathilda May is particularly eye-catching as his publicist Capucine); the shallow, predatory world of television in which the pert, pretty Gabrielle is irresistible bait to middle-aged middle management; and the world of refined manners and inherited wealth that turns out monsters like Paul and his siblings.

Ultimately what Chabrol is concerned with is class conflict, summed up by the matriarch Genevieve's dismissal of Gabrielle's mother Marie (Marie Bunel), who runs the bookshop where Gabrielle first met Charles, as "the little book-seller."

Berleand excels as the libertine Charles and presumably Chabrol's spokesman when he confides to a friend, during a visit to a high-class brothel, that he cannot decide whether society "is heading towards puritanism or towards decadence." Berleand appears set to succeed the late Philippe Noiret as the embodiment of weary, surly but nevertheless engaging Gallic cynicism.

As Paul, all strut, sharp suits and cigars, Magimel does nothing to harm his reputation as a promising young talent. However Sagnier is miscast: Innocence is not part of her natural register. She is unconvincing in her portrayal of a young woman falling durably in love with an older man and capable of entering a living-room on her hands and knees with a peacock's fan emerging from her backside as -- as Chabrol would have it -- an expression of purity.

LA FILLE COUPEE EN DEUX

Aliceleo Cinema, France 2 Cinema

Credits:

Director: Claude Chabrol

Writers: Cecile Maistre, Claude Chabrol

Producer: Patrick Godeau

Director of photography: Eduardo Serra

Production design: Francoise Benoit-Fresco

Music: Matthieu Chabrol

Costumes: Mic Cheminal

Editor: Monique Fardoulis

Cast:

Gabrielle Deneige: Ludivigne Sagnier

Paul Gaudens: Benoit Magimel

Charles Saint-Denis: Francois Berleand

Capucine Jamet: Mathilda May

Genevieve Gaudens: Caroline Silhol

Marie Deneige: Marie Bunel

Dona Saint-Denis: Valeria Cavalli

Running time -- 115 minutes

No MPAA rating...

PARIS -- Claude Chabrol has been making movies for half a century, turning out films with clockwork regularity at the rate of one a year. His favored themes are self-destructive behavior and polished perversity, and customers seeking more of the same will not be disappointed with his latest offering, La Fille Coupee en Deux, whose literal translation would be The Girl Cut in Two.

The director's name recognition should ensure decent boxoffice, and the film is boosted by a talented cast and excellent cinematography by Edouardo Serra. But its impact is weakened by a limp ending and a sense that it all adds up to rather less than the sum of its parts.

Chabrol's starting point is the 1906 murder of Stanford White, the architect of Madison Square Garden, whose killing by the husband of his actress mistress gave rise to what was described in its time as the "trial of the century." Transposing the story to contemporary France allows him to do what Chabrol enjoys most -- skewering the mores of the rich and powerful, particularly the moneyed bourgeoisie.

When celebrity novelist Charles Saint-Denis (Francois Berleand) meets at a book-signing ceremony weather forecaster Gabrielle Deneige (Ludivigne Sagnier) -- her name, signifying snow, is intended to herald purity as well as her job -- his urbanity and wit are enough to attract her sexually despite his being twice her age.

His rival Paul Gaudens (Benoit Magimel) is the spoilt, rich and slightly disturbed heir to an industrial fortune. Paul is used to getting what he wants and does not take kindly to losing out to a much older man. Eventually, Charles tires of his conquest and gives her the brush-off, enabling Paul To win her on the rebound.

A society wedding is announced, causing Charles to renew his interest. He shows up as Gabrielle is trying on her wedding dress. She tells him she will give it all up and return to him if he will leave his wife Dona (Valeria Cavalli), but for Charles that would be a real betrayal, or a self-indulgence.

The marriage goes ahead. Paul, realizing where Gabrielle's affections really lie, is consumed with jealously. He shows up at a charity event organized by his do-gooding mother Genevieve (Caroline Silhol), where Charles is to speak, and guns him down as he addresses the gathering.

A postscript deals with Genevieve's maneuverings to persuade Gabrielle to testify in her son's favor. He finally receives a lenient sentence for psychiatric reasons. The movie concludes with a visual metaphor, the cutting in two of the title, after Gabrielle signs on as a magician's assistant.

The borrowed story is a pretext for Chabrol to revel in the incidential details of French social life and its sexual undertones: the publishing world in which Charles moves (Mathilda May is particularly eye-catching as his publicist Capucine); the shallow, predatory world of television in which the pert, pretty Gabrielle is irresistible bait to middle-aged middle management; and the world of refined manners and inherited wealth that turns out monsters like Paul and his siblings.

Ultimately what Chabrol is concerned with is class conflict, summed up by the matriarch Genevieve's dismissal of Gabrielle's mother Marie (Marie Bunel), who runs the bookshop where Gabrielle first met Charles, as "the little book-seller."

Berleand excels as the libertine Charles and presumably Chabrol's spokesman when he confides to a friend, during a visit to a high-class brothel, that he cannot decide whether society "is heading towards puritanism or towards decadence." Berleand appears set to succeed the late Philippe Noiret as the embodiment of weary, surly but nevertheless engaging Gallic cynicism.

As Paul, all strut, sharp suits and cigars, Magimel does nothing to harm his reputation as a promising young talent. However Sagnier is miscast: Innocence is not part of her natural register. She is unconvincing in her portrayal of a young woman falling durably in love with an older man and capable of entering a living-room on her hands and knees with a peacock's fan emerging from her backside as -- as Chabrol would have it -- an expression of purity.

LA FILLE COUPEE EN DEUX

Aliceleo Cinema, France 2 Cinema

Credits:

Director: Claude Chabrol

Writers: Cecile Maistre, Claude Chabrol

Producer: Patrick Godeau

Director of photography: Eduardo Serra

Production design: Francoise Benoit-Fresco

Music: Matthieu Chabrol

Costumes: Mic Cheminal

Editor: Monique Fardoulis

Cast:

Gabrielle Deneige: Ludivigne Sagnier

Paul Gaudens: Benoit Magimel

Charles Saint-Denis: Francois Berleand

Capucine Jamet: Mathilda May

Genevieve Gaudens: Caroline Silhol

Marie Deneige: Marie Bunel

Dona Saint-Denis: Valeria Cavalli

Running time -- 115 minutes

No MPAA rating...