News

Newen Connect will head to AFM with four fresh French features: trans-continental comedy Off To India,romance Match Made In Heaven, sisterhood comedy drama Better Days and family adventure Marius & the Treasure Hunters.

Newen Connect is the TF1-owned film and TV distribution arm of French media group Newen Studios. The new films continue the outfit’s push into more commercial, comedy-driven, local-language fare produced by TF1 Group production companies and third-party producers.

Ali and Redouane Bougheraba’s Off To India (Delocalisés) stars the latter co-director as a mattress factory worker relocated to India who convinces his French girlfriend to...

French filmmaker Laurent Tirard, known for films including Little Nicholas, Molière and Asterix & Obelisk: God Save Britannia, has died aged 57 following a long illness, his agent announced on Thursday (September 5).

Tirard directed several features across two decades. His most recent film was 2022’s Oh My Goodness! (Juste Ciel!) about nuns competing in a bicycle race, while The Speech was selected for the pandemic-year Cannes Label in 2020; the filmmaker also served on the Un Certain Regard jury in 1999.

Two of Tirard’s most successful films were his 2009 adaptation of well-known children’s book series Little Nicholas, which sold 5.6 million tickets in France,...

A decade after “La Famille Belier,” which was remade as the Oscar-winning “Coda,” another comedy featuring protagonists with disabilities, “A Little Something Extra” has stormed the French box office. It’s not only the year’s biggest hit so far, but the highest grossing French movie since before the pandemic.

Released May 1 by Pan Distribution and modestly budgeted at €6.1 million ($6.55 million), the feel-good movie (called “Un p’tit truc en plus” in French) has grossed an estimated €50.7 million ($54 million) from 7.2 million tickets sold as of June 16 — two times more than Warner Bros. tentpole “Dune 2” starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya.

It’s a mighty feat, considering that that unlike “La Famille Belier,” in which the deaf and speech-disabled characters are played by bankable European stars — Karin Viard and Francois Damiens — “A Little Something Extra” has an ensemble cast of young non-professionals with different types of disabilities.

The movie, produced by Pierre Forette...

Admissions to French cinemas plummeted by 35.5% in April 2024 compared to the same month the year before, according to figures from the Cnc. Ticket sales year on year from January through April were down 17% compared to the same period in 2023.

Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4 was the top film of the month, followed by Warner Bros’ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Ugc Distribution’s local family franchise film Ducobu Passe au Vert!, Sony’s Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire, and French comedy drama Meet the Leroys, released by Apollo Films.

The dip is not unexpected, owing to a lack of...

Sales and production company Other Angle is hoping to drum up remake interest for upcoming French comedy A Little Something Extra with a screening at the fourth edition of its French Comedy Club in L.A. this weekend.

Actor and comedian Artus directs and co-stars with Clovis Cornillac as father and son bank robbing team, who infiltrate a bus taking a group of disabled youngsters to a holiday camp, in a bid to escape the police. The cast is made up mainly of youngsters with different types of disability.

Other Angle co-founder Olivier Albou suggests the comedic storyline, the disabled cast and sensitive storytelling makes for a rare combination.

“Even if the pitch is not the same, the film has similarity with the Spanish movie Campeones (Champions) which sold really well as an original film and as a remake as well,” he says, referring to Javier Fesser’s drama about...

Paris and Los Angeles-based sales agency has boarded films by Nicolas Benamou, Artus and Christophe Duthuron

Paris and Los Angeles-based Other Angle Pictures has boarded three French comedy dramas: Nicolas Benamou’s We Should Have Gone to Greece, Artus’ A Little Something Extra and Christophe Duthuron’s Happiness Therapy.

The company will launch sales for all three films at this week’s Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris in the French capital.

We Should Have Gone to Greece is the latest feature from Benamou, known for co-directing local and international hit comedies Babysitting and Babysitting 2 with Philippe Lacheau, 2020’s Mystery in St. Tropez,...

Snd will kick off sales for marriage thriller at Rendez-Vous in Paris.

Snd has taken on international sales for Anne Le Ny’s psychological thriller Out Of Control (Histoire d’Un Mariage) starring Vanessa Paradis, Omar Sy, José Garcia and Elodie Bouchez, ahead of Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

Set in Brittany, the story follows a couple whose marriage is threatened when the husband’s first love returns to town.

It is produced by Bruno Levy’s Move Movie, with Snd releasing in France later this year. Snd is the film arm of France’s M6 Group.

“[Out Of Control] is a...

The company has boarded star-powered French features ‘Take Me Home’ and ’Under The Rainbow’.

Newen Connect, the international sales arm of the Tfi Group’s Newen Studios, has snapped up rights to star-powered French features Take Me Home and Under the Rainbow and will kick off sales in Cannes. Both will be released in France by Ugc Distribution.

Take Me Home is the first feature from directing duo Karine Blanc and Michel Tavares and stars Clovis Cornillac, alongside Eyé Haïdara in a story about a struggling country singer who moves with her children to a mountain village and turns the...

Studio went ahead with theatrical release despite misgivings over windowing laws.

Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has dominated the French box office in its first week in release, grossing Euros 15.1m (15.6m) since opening on November 9 and garnering 1.79million admissions to become the biggest opener in France this year.

The opening week knocked Top Gun: Maverick with 1.53million admissions and Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness’ with 1.44million tickets off the top slots.

Despite threats from the studio to pull the film from French theatres ahead of its release to protest current windowing laws, Disney opted to launch...

“Game of Thrones” star Michelle Fairley is set to appear in Bouli Lanners feature film “Nobody Has To Know.” Lanners will write, direct and co-star in the project.

Fairley, who has also appeared in “Suits” and “Gangs of London,” plays Millie MacPherson in the film. She takes care of Philippe Haubin, a middle-aged man suffering from memory loss following a stroke. Millie tells Philippe that they were secretly in love with each other before he suffered his stroke – the only problem is it’s not true.

Julian Glover (“The Crown”), Cal MacAninch (“Downton Abbey”) and Clovis Cornillac (“Chefs”) round out the cast.

Jacques Henri Bronckart is producing the film with Ciara Barry and Rosie Crerar set to co-produce. “Nobody Has To Know” is a Belgian, Scottish and French co-production between Versus Productions, Barry Crerar, Playtime and Prime Tim with Screen Scotland.

Parkland Entertainment are set to distribute the film in the U.

Arna Media, the Russian distribution company run by Nadezda Motina, has secured the rights to “Brother and Sister,” “The Tank,” “Little Allan – The Human Antenna” and “The Colors of Fire” for its theatrical pipeline.

Arnaud Desplechin’s family-drama “Brother and Sister” stars Marion Cotillard, Melvil Poupaud and Golshifteh Farahani. Cotillard and Poupaud play the titular siblings who, following the death of their parents, reunite after decades of silence. It is a companion film to Desplechin’s 2004 César award-winning movie “Kings and Queen.” The project is produced by Why Not Productions and is in post, set to be completed by May. Arna acquired the rights from sales agent Wild Bunch.

Clovis Cornillac’s “The Colors of Fire” is the female-powered thriller based on Pierre Lemaitre’s bestseller. The film, which stars Lea Drucker, Benoit Poelvoorde, Olivier Gourmet, Fanny Ardant and Cornillac, follows Madeleine (Drucker) through 1920s Paris on a journey to...

Other Angle is launching sales on Melissa Drigeard’s “Hawaii” with Berenice Bejo and Jeremy Guez’s “Kanun” at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris which is happening this week as an in-person event in the French capital.

“Hawaii”is headlined by an ensemble cast including The Artist” actor Bérénice Béjo. The movie follows nine friends who gather every year in their friend Thomas’ hotel in Hawaii. Following a nuclear attack alert, they believe that their last moments are upon them and their friendly annual meeting turns into shouting match. But after finding out the nuclear threat was a false alert, they have to spend the remaining eight days of vacation together. The movie is produced by Romain Legrand and Vivien Aslanian at Marvelous Productions. Warner Bros. will release it in France.

“Kanun” is a thriller directed by Jérémie Guez whose credits include “Brothers by Blood” and “A Bluebird in My Heart.

Gaumont is set to unveil sprawling period thriller “The Colors of Fire,” based on Pierre Lemaitre’s international bestseller.

Directed by Clovis Cornillac, “The Colors of Fire” is headlined by a prestigious cast, including Lea Drucker (pictured), the Cesar-winning actor of “Custody,” as well as Benoit Poelvoorde (“Sink or Swim”), Olivier Gourmet (“Karl Marx”), Fanny Ardant (“DNA”), Alice Isaaz (“Elle”) and Cornillac.

Set for delivery in the second half of 2021, “The Colors of Fire” is budgeted at $16 million — a big budget by French standards — and is being produced in-house by Gaumont, as part of the company’s recent mandate to fully finance and produce select films. The movie is in post and shot entirely in Paris.

Lemaitre, author of “The Colors of Fire,” previously wrote “See You Up There,” whose film adaptation directed by Albert Dupontel won five César Awards and sold more two million theatrical admissions in France.

“Although...

UniFrance, the organization in charge of promoting French cinema worldwide, is set to showcase nearly 70 completed movies, including 30 market premieres, at the virtual 23rd edition of its Rendez-Vous With French Cinema (Jan. 13-15), a key market for the export of French movies.

The Rendez-Vous will kick off with Eric Besnard’s 18th-century-set drama “Delicieux” (pictured) from Snd, along with market premieres of other anticipated releases, notably Valerie Lemercier’s “Aline,” Gaumont’s film inspired by the life of Celine Dion; Christophe Barratier’s feel-good film “Fly Me Away” from Pathé; Clovis Cornillac’s “C’est magnifique” from Orange Studio; and Nicolas Cuche’s “Spoiled Brats” from Other Angle.

Other potential highlights set for market premieres include Kike Maíllo’s thriller “A Perfect Enemy” from Pulsar; Nine Antico’s sexy drama “Playlist” from Playtime; Naël Marandin’s “Beasts” from Kinology; Benoît Jacquot’s 1960s set romance drama “Suzanna Andler,” with Charlotte Gainsbourg,...

Orange Studio has boarded Philippe Lioret’s “16 ans,” a coming-of-age love story that recently began shooting near Paris.

The movie stars Teïlo Azaïs and Sabrina Levoye as Nora and Leo, two teenagers who live in the same town and attend the same high school. Despite different social and religious backgrounds and everyday lives, they fall in love at first sight. But their love story is tested to its limits after accusations of theft bring their families into conflict.

Headed by industry veteran Kristina Zimmermann, Orange Studio will launch sales on the film (pictured) at the Mia Market in Rome, which kicks off Wednesday.

Filming on “16 ans” began Oct. 6 in the Paris region and will wrap Nov. 23. “16 ans” is produced by Marielle Duigou at Fin Août Productions. Orange Studio is handling international markets, while Le Pacte is distributing the movie in France.

A high-profile French auteur, Lioret’s track record includes...

Domestic violence drama earns four prizes in Paris.

Xavier Legrand’s domestic violence drama Custody (Jusqu’à La Garde) was named best film at the 44th Cesar Awards in Paris on Friday (23).

Legrand’s feature directorial debut and Venice 2017 Silver Lion winner began the night on a field-leading 10 nominations alongside Gilles Lellouche’s comedy Sink Or Swim (Le Grand Bain), and also won awards for Legrand’s original screenplay, best actress Lea Drucker, and editor Yorgos Lamprinos.

Jacques Audiard was named best director for The Sisters Brothers at the ceremony in the Salle Pleyel, presided over by Kristin Scott Thomas.

France’s Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma unveiled its nominations for the César Awards this morning in Paris. The races for the country’s Oscar equivalent are led by Xavier Legrand’s feature debut Jusqu’à La Garde (Custody) and Gilles Lellouche’s Le Grand Bain (Sink Or Swim) with 10 mentions each. They are followed by Jacques Audiard’s English-language western, The Sisters Brothers, and Pierre Salvadori’s En Liberté! (The Trouble With You) with nine a piece. All four are in the Best Picture and Director categories.

There’s a noticeably lighter edge to the nominations this year with Le Grand Bain a sort of Full Monty à la française that sees a group of middle-aged men form a synchronized swimming team. The movie debuted out of competition in Cannes and became the 3rd highest grossing local title of 2018 with over 5M tickets sold.

Also out of Cannes,...

Already the 2018 film festival circuit has yielded two high-profile titles that both deal with the trauma of childhood sexual abuse: Jennifer Fox’s Sundance sensation “The Tale,” and Cannes discovery “Little Tickles,” the debut film from Andréa Bescond, co-directed by Eric Métayer and based on Bescond’s autobiographical one-woman play. The films bear many similarities: Both are from female filmmakers and based on their own experiences. Both use the protagonist’s creativity as the conduit to investigate their trauma. Most strikingly, both employ a device in which the protagonist as an adult can interact with herself as a child, allowing them to wander in and out of memories as if they were adjacent rooms in the same house.

Bescond further complicates her tricky, occasionally clumsy past-and-present-colliding motif by making the adult Odette (played by Bescond herself) into a less-than-reliable narrator. Sometimes what we see did not happen at all, or not in that place,...

The winners from Series Mania Lille/Hauts-de-France were presented tonight during the closing ceremony at Nouveau Siegle in Lille, France. The international competition ran from April 27 through this evening, honoring the cream of contemporary drama series.

Leading the way was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which won the Audience Award as the crowd favorite among new titles screening their first series, with votes collected after each screening. The series was created and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (USA), with production by Picrow and Amazon Studios. Its France broadcaster is Amazon Prime Video

The international jury, presided by Chris Brancato and composed of Maria Feldman, Maria Schrader, Clovis Cornillac and Pierre Lemaitre, gave four awards among the 10 series presented in world premiere.

The Grand Prize went to On The Spectrum, created by Dana Idisis and Yuval Shafferman (Israel), with direction by Yuval Shafferman and production from Sumayoko Mtd. The jury called it “a superb,...

Winners were announced on Saturday night for the 9th edition of France’s Series Mania, the first held in the Northern France city of Lille, and Israel’s “On the Spectrum” took home the top Grand Jury Prize, making it the second Israeli series in as many years to claim the award.

Also announced at the Series Mania Forum, the festival’s industry event, France’s Federation Entertainment is teaming with Donna Wiffen and Paul Marquess to create Long Story TV, a European drama series production company. The new outfit will look to create commercial content that is cost-effective, popular, and maintains a British sensibility. It’s one more example of Pascal Breton’s Federation pushing further into English-language programming.

Everything about this year’s edition spoke to the growth of the festival, the most immediate difference being the shear geographic scale. Whereas previous editions were held at the Forum...

Launched six months ago, Orange Studio’s international sales division will be hitting Cannes Film Festival with three movies across various selections, including a pair of new acquisitions, Guillaume Nicloux’s Directors’ Fortnight player “To the Ends of the World” and “Rafiki” (pictured), Wanuri Kahiu’s Lgbt love story slated for Un Certain Regard.

“Rafiki” has just been banned by authorities in Kenya where homosexuality is illegal. Adapted from “Jambula Tree,” a short story by Uganda’s Monica Arac de Nyeko, the film tells the story of two teenage girls whose developing romance put them at odds with their families and community.

Météore Films will release “Rafiki” in France. Andrei Kamarowsky, who heads up Orange Studio’s international sales division with Emilie Serres, pointed out “Rafiki” will be the first Kenyan movie to be presented at Cannes Film Festival.

Orange Studio has also acquired international sales rights to...

At the start of April, a spattering of American and French journalists gathered, Champagne in hand, at the home of French consul general to Los Angeles Christophe Lemoine for the lineup announcement of the 22nd City of Lights, City of Angels film festival, which kicks off tonight with Eric Barbier’s Romain Gary biopic “Promise at Dawn.” It was the perfect setting to announce a film about the French writer, a former Los Angeles consul general himself, who managed to keep one foot in his native land and another in Hollywood, through both his diplomatic appointment and his marriage to Jean Seberg. Colcoa has been striving to strike a similar balance for the past two decades.

Initially commissioned as the flagship project of the Franco-American Cultural Fund — a joint project among the MPAA, DGA, WGA and France’s Sacem — Colcoa provides a week’s worth of French film premieres in the middle of L.

Includes world premieres of Succession and The Split.

The world premiere of the 60-minute pilot episode of HBO’s Succession, written by Jesse Armstrong, the UK creator of Peep Show and Fresh Meat, and directed by Adam McKay, whose credits include The Big Short and Anchorman, will open the ninth edition of Series Mania in Lille on April 27.

Brian Cox, Hiam Abbass and Matthew Macfadyen head the ensemble cast of Succession, which follows the travails of a dysfunctional media dynasty.

Additionally, the Official Competition is comprised of 10 world premieres of original global TV series. They include BBC and Sundance TV series The Split,...

City of Lights: City of Angeles. The largest French film festival in the world and one of the largest festivals in L.A.!

Colcoa French Film Festival, “9 Days of Premieres in Hollywood” takes place April 24 to May 2 in the prestigious theaters of the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood (3 theaters (600, 160 and 37 seats), a 210 capacity lounge and a 1,500 capacity lobby).

Colcoa is the acronym of “City of Light, City of Angels” the original name of an event celebrating relationships between filmmakers from two capital cities of cinema. In 2015, the festival’s name was officially changed to Colcoa French Film Festival. Colcoa was founded in 1997 by The Franco-American Cultural Fund, a unique collaborative effort of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, the Writers Guild of America West, and France’s Society of Authors Composers and Publishers of Music (Sacem). Colcoa is also supported by l’Association...

Donald Trump repeatedly said President Obama is the founder of Isis during a campaign rally in Sunrise, Florida on Wednesday night. “Isis is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of Isis. He’s the founder of Isis. He’s the founder. He founded Isis,” Trump said. “I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.” Trump campaign national co-chair Sam Clovis echoed the sentiment Thursday morning on MSNBC. Also Read: 'Don'T Bite!!!': A Mystery Warning From the New York Times, Explained “I think that the foreign policy of this country for the last seven and half years...

Donald Trump’s campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis wasn’t happy with Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, and he let CNN’s silver fox know it. “I don’t appreciate this at all,” he said when the anchor asked him about the Gop frontrunner flip-flopping on the Afghanistan War. “I didn’t have any indication that this was where we were gonna be going with this,” he continued. “I thought we were gonna be talking about policy and where we are in the campaign and our polling.” Also Read: Anderson Cooper Does Awesome Donald Trump Impersonation: 'She's a Loser!' (Video) Cooper...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund has announced the dates for 20th anniversary edition of the festival.

The showcase of French films will run from April 18-26 at the DGA theatres in Hollywood and for the second year will offer a competition of programmes made for television in addition to the selection of features and shorts.

Seventy films will compete for the Colcoa Awards to be announced on the last day of the festival.

The Colcoa French Film Festival is presented by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a partnership of the DGA, MPAA, Sacem and WGA West, with the support of the Film & TV Office of the French Consulate of Los Angeles, l’Arp, the Cnc, TV France International and Unifrance as well as 40 sponsors.

Earlier this year Clovis Cornillac’s Blind Date (pictured) won the audience award.

The 2016 Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles will take place from April 6-10 at ArcLight Hollywood.

Oscar-winning actor to return for comedy sequel.

Jean Dujardin has returned to the beaches of the South of France for a reprise of one his most popular French-language characters, the hapless surfer Brice.

Brice 3, a sequel to the 2005 comedy hit The Brice Man (Brice de Nice), kicked off a 10-week shoot in Nice on Sept 14, which will also set down in Bordeaux, Paris and Thailand.

The production reunites Dujardin with James Huth, who directed the original film, as well as his old co-stars Clovis Cornillac and Bruno Salomon in the roles of fellow wannabe surfers Marius de Fréjus and Igor d’Hossegor.

Dujardin, who originally developed the big screen character of Brice from one of his comedy sketches, co-wrote the screenplay with Huth. French comedian and writer Christopher Duthuron also collaborated on the adaptation and dialogue.

The actor - who won an Oscar, Golden Globe and Bafta for The Artist in 2012 - is currently garnering critical acclaim...

Exclusive: WWII spy mistress drama to star Kelly Reilly and Tim Roth launched in Cannes

French sales company Other Angle Pictures has secured a raft of pre-sales on John Hay’s upcoming post-wwii spy drama Lives In Secret, starring Kelly Reilly and Tim Roth.

“We’re very happy with this market in terms of the deals we’ve done and the great reception we had for our new and upcoming projects,” commented company MD Olivier Albou.

Lives In Secret has sold to Australia (Vendetta Films), South Africa (M-Net), Latin America (Cdc United Network), Middle East (Falcon) and ex-Yugoslavia (2i Films) and is in advance talks for the UK, France, Belgium and Japan.

Adapted from Sarah Helm’s A Life In Secrets, the film tells the true story of Vera Atkins, a British intelligence officer who trained and dispatched hundreds of agents to Occupied France.

After the war, Atkins made it her personal mission to ascertain the fate...

Other winners at the French film festival in La include Alix Delaporte’s The Last Hammer Blow and documentary Steak (R)evolution.

Clovis Cornillac’s Blind Date has picked up the audience award at the Colcoa French Film Festival (April 20-28) in Los Angeles.

The romantic comedy, which also stars director Cornillac alongside Mélanie Bernier, received its world premiere at the Los Angeles festival ahead of its May 6 release in France.

Alix Delaporte’s The Last Hammer Blow earned the Colcoa Lafca Critics Award following its North American premiere.

Once In A Lifetime directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar won both the Critics Special Prize and the Audience Special Prize.

The Best Documentary Award went to Steak (R)evolution by Frank Ribière and will be released in the Us by Kino Lorber.

The distributor also handles the First Feature Award winner SK1 by Frédéric Tellier.

The Colcoa Coming Soon Award went to Samba by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, which...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund on Tuesday announced the line-up for 19th Colcoa French Film Festival, set to run in West Hollywood from April 20-28.

The event will kick off with the North American Premiere of Yann Gozlan’s thriller A Perfect Man (pictured) starring Pierre Niney and Ana Girardot and close with a yet-to-be-announced feature and the international premiere of Erick Zonca’s television competition selection White Soldier.

The expanded nine-day event will showcase a record 68 films, of which three are world premieres, seven international premieres, 14 North American or Us Premieres and 16 West Coast premieres.

The feature category includes the world premiere of Clovis Cornillac’s rom-com Blind Date and the international premieres of Emmanuel Mouret’s rom-com Caprice and Elodie Namer’s The Tournament.

Colcoa will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Film Noir Series with Jean Dujardin’s new film The Connection directed by Cédric Jimenez, Frédéric Tellier’s SK1 and Next Time, I’ll Aim...

On Aug. 11, Breaking Bad returns for its final eight-episode run. Before the second half of season 5 premieres, refresh your memory with this handy guide to the series — presented, naturally, in the form of the periodic table.

1. H — Hank: Schrader, Walt’s brother-in-law — a DEA agent who’s the Javert to Heisenberg’s Valjean

2. He — Heisenberg: Walt’s criminal alter-ego, named for Werner Heisenberg — a German theoretical physicist best known for his eponymous “uncertainty principle”

3. Li — Lily of the Valley: A pretty flowering plant found in cool, temperate environments and New Mexican backyards — and what Walt uses to poison Jesse...

With the exit from Iraq and the draw-down of troops in Afghanistan, the numbers of Americans killed continues to drop. Still, loved ones are mourning 311 lost, and as of Dec. 17, the wars' toll since 2001 now stands at 6,656. Edward Joseph Acosta, 21 Trevor Brandon Adkins, 21 Ahmed Kousay al-Taie, 46 Erica Paige Alecksen, 21 Tobias Christoph Alexander, 30 Joseph James Altmann, 27 Mabry James Anders, 21 Joshua Ryan Ashley, 23 Bradley Wayne Atwell, 27 Daniel Benjamin Bartle, 27 Jon-Luke Bateman, 22 Jonathan Batista, 22 Rayvon Battle Jr., 25 Taylor John Baune, 21 Jordan Logan Bear, 25 Clayton Ross Beauchamp, 21 Genaro Bedoy, 20 Bryan Richard Bell, 23 Russell Ryan Bell, 37 Jose Oscar Belmontes, 28 Kenneth Wade Bennett, 26 Keith David Benson,...

Rock Of Ages (12A)

(Adam Shankman, 2012, Us) Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones. 123 mins

Doing for 1980s hair metal what Mamma Mia! did for Abba, this glossy musical gives you the broad pleasures of pantomime rather than rock'n'roll danger, with theatrical star turns and a playlist of power ballads hung around an archetypal tale of a smalltown girl and a wannabe rock star boy on La's Sunset Strip. You can stop believin' now.

Cosmopolis (15)

(David Cronenberg, 2012, Fra/Can/Por/Ita) Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon. 109 mins

Don De Lillo's prescient novella makes for a cool Manhattan odyssey, centred on Pattinson's jaded banker and the Occupy zeitgeist.

Polisse (15)

(Maïwenn, 2011, Fra) Karin Viard, Joey Starr, Marina Foïs. 128 mins

A Wire-like approach to a French child protection unit reaps dividends for this docu-style procedural.

Red Lights (15)

(Rodrigo Cortés, 2012, Us/Spa) Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro,...

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Though Mélanie Laurent might be best known to English-speaking audiences for her head-turning femme fatale in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, she’s still not the first face you’d pick for a genre-keen thriller like Requiem for a Killer. Oddball casting aside – given that Laurent, much better suited to character-driven drama, tries hard to convince – Jérôme Le Gris’s elegantly-shot hit-woman procedural falters due to rote plotting and an almost complete lack of tension.

On the plus side, Gris doesn’t hang about. Right from the opening scene, assassin Lucrèce (Laurent) is on the job, staging a meticulously planned murder by poisoning a ceremonial wafer during a church mass. When it threatens to wind up in the mouth of an innocent, she has to spring into action. It is a markedly suspenseful scene with which to begin a film, but unfortunately one which makes each subsequent exchange,...

Michel Hazanavicius, Thomas Langmann, Bérénice Bejo Accepting the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for The Artist is Thomas Langmann at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA on Sunday, January 15, 2012. Standing behind Langmann are The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius and one of the film's stars, Hazanavicius' wife Bérénice Bejo. The Artist's competitors in the Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category were Jonathan Levine's 50/50, with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Paul Feig's Bridesmaids, with Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy; Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, with Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Marion Cotillard; and Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn, with Michelle Williams (as Marilyn Monroe), Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh (as Laurence Olivier), and Julia Ormond (as Vivien Leigh). Upon accepting the award Langmann remembered his father, filmmaker Claude Berri, who died in...

"Dogtooth" (2009)

Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos

Released by Kino

"Enter the Void" (2010)

Directed by Gaspar Noé

Released by Mpi Home Video

Somehow it's fitting that two of last year's most dangerous films will be hitting DVD shelves the same week, both being favorites of the IFC.com staff. "Dogtooth," Lanthimos' much-debated Un Certain Regard winner from Cannes, concerns the lives of three culturally isolated children -- two daughters and a son, who range from mid-teens to early 20s -- fenced in by their parents' country home, who receive a reeducation when their lone connection to the outside world, a female security guard for their parents' business, introduces them to the joys of sex and Sylvester Stallone films. Meanwhile, "Irreversible" provocateur Noé's latest is a wildly ambitious 155-minute extravaganza set inside the mind of a drug dealer told from the first-person perspective. Nathaniel Brown and "Boardwalk Empire" star Paz de la Huerta...

Inspector Bellamy

Directed by: Claude Chabrol

Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Marie Bunel, Clovis Cornillac

Running Time: 1 hour 50 min

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: January 21, 2011

Plot: Vacationing Police Inspector Paul Bellamy (Dépardieu) becomes involved in the case of a man who faked his own death, while on vacation with his wife and brother.

Who’S It For? Fans of Agatha Christie-style mysteries would enjoy this film.

Expectations: I had no idea what this film was about, only that it was directed by Claude Chabrol. I don’t think I’ve seen any of his films.

Scorecard (0-10)

Actors:

Gérard Depardieu as Paul Bellamy: Perhaps France’s most famous living actor plays a well-known Parisian police Inspector on holiday. He’s sought out by a man who faked his own death. Unlike most contemporary police movies, Bellamy takes his time solving the case. He goes to see the various suspects, then goes home...

More announcements today from Tokyo: two Hollywood films will bookend the festival, which will open with director David Fincher’s The Social Network and close with Ben Affleck’s The Town. Both films are slated for a Japanese release in 2011. Ten films have also been announced for the World Cinema segment of the festival, including Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut Jack Goes Boating, and Roman Polanski’s Ghost Writer. Visionary French director Claude Chabrol, who passed away earlier this month, will be honored posthumously with a screening of his 2009 film Inspector Bellamy. Look for more news as the Tokyo International Film Festival swings into high gear in advance of its October 23rd opening. Full press release after the jump.

Here’s the press release:

The 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival to open with

“The Social Network” and close with “The Town”

Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) announced today that “The Social Network,...

Whilst messrs Brody and Fisburne having been do battle with Predators on alien worlds, France has been wrapping up a great looking jungle based action adventure- starring acting veteran Clovis Cornillac - of their very own titled 600 Kilos Of Gold. No invisible creatures in this one, Gold is a straight up action flick, with some crime caper shenanigans thrown in for good measure. The Full trailer has just gone live on the official site and you can check it out, as always, at the link. Synopsis: A group of adventurers band together to buy a gold mine in the heart of Guyana, but the deal goes sour they are forced to flee the scene by helicopter crash-landing in the middle of the jungle. With them is six hundred kilos of gold...but trapped in a very hostile environment their spoils soon start to become a burden. Deep into the jungle…...

Whilst messrs Brody and Fisburne having been do battle with Predators on alien worlds, France has been wrapping up a great looking jungle based action adventure- starring acting veteran Clovis Cornillac - of their very own titled 600 Kilos Of Gold. No invisible creatures in this one, Gold is a straight up action flick, with some crime caper shenanigans thrown in for good measure. The Full trailer has just gone live on the official site and you can check it out, as always, at the link. Synopsis: A group of adventurers band together to buy a gold mine in the heart of Guyana, but the deal goes sour they are forced to flee the scene by helicopter crash-landing in the middle of the jungle. With them is six hundred kilos of gold...but trapped in a very hostile environment their spoils soon start to become a burden. Deep into the jungle…...

Buoyed by its nine Oscar nominations, "Avatar" reigned as the boxoffice champ in its eighth round on the foreign circuit, grossing $79.4 million on the weekend from 10,298 screens in 120 markets.

Its record-setting overseas gross now stands at $1.585 billion, the polar opposite of the anemic foreign tally (less than $3.5 million) amassed to date by "Avatar's" chief Academy Award competitor, director Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker."

Opening at No. 10 in Brazil over the weekend at 41 screens, "Locker" grossed $128,792. In Argentina, it opened No. 5 with $194,201 collected from 48 venues.

Record global tally for "Avatar," director James Cameron's blockbuster spectacle in 3D released by 20th Century Fox, now stands at $2.214 billion.

"Avatar" will be challenged for the top spot on the foreign circuit next weekend when Universal opens its much-hyped "The Wolfman" in 37 offshore markets simultaneously with the film's domestic debut on Friday. The overseas run actually begins Wednesday in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

I've never seen The Untouchables and I didn't like this film. While the performance of the cast was okay, I just didn't like the idea to have a film that briefly documents what the Mobile Brigade did without much context and explanations. Hopefully, Diane Kruger plays in the film.

In 1907, a new wave (and kind) of crimes becomes part of the France's from the Belle Époque. This is why Georges Clemenceau, the French Minister of the Interior, creates the mobile brigades. However, the public opinion calls them the Tiger Brigades. In Paris, Inspector Constantin must fight a group of anarchists and corrupted civil servants and Constance (Diane Kruger), the wife of a Russian prince, in 1912. As his investigation progresses, Constantin will come to wonder if the signature of the Triple Alliance will contribute to France's national security.

Honestly, many won't have a problem with the fact that Les brigades du tigre...

The complete lineup for the 23rd edition of the American Film Institute (AFI) Fest presented by Audi has been announced. Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” has already been announced as the opening night gala. The Weinstein Company’s “A Single Man” will have its Us premiere at the festival’s Closing Night Gala. Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” has been selected as the Centerpiece Screening Gala presentation.

The film festival, which will debut it’s groundbreaking “See a Film on Us” initiative featuring complimentary tickets to all films including a limited number of seats at each Gala Presentation, will be headquartered at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel between October 30 and November 5. AFI Fest will then move to Santa Monica for the final two days of screenings presented in association with the American Film Market (Afm).

AFI Fest 2009 will mark the return...

Science-fiction serves as a vehicle for telling parables about modern problems without sounding preachy. A common theme (used in Resident Evil, Serenity, etc.) which seems to pervade science-based zombie films comes down to “don’t mess with nature”. In Resident Evil, mass experimentation with genetics and pharmaceuticals leads to a planet-wide epidemic turning all living things into monstrous mutants. The government terra-forming ventures in Serenity go terribly wrong creating mindless, cannibalistic Reavers who terrorize ships in a vast strip of space. Eden Log follows a similar route which plays well in the “energy-crazed” culture of today; seeking to generate power for a city, a corporation taps into an enormous tree only to find its employees transforming into disfigured mutants.

An unnamed man (Clovis Cornillac) wakes within a series of caverns to find cryptic messages, mutants and soldiers with no explanation for any of it. As he wanders through the dark expanses,...

Chicago – Welcome back to the Round-Up, a safety net to catch the DVD titles that fell off the mainstream tightrope. The titles this week have virtually nothing in common other than coming in two waves from two studios - a pair of classics from Paramount’s Centennial Collection and a trio of indie films from the great Magnolia Pictures.

All five titles were released on May 19th, 2009.

“Centennial Collection #8: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”

Photo credit: Paramount Synopsis: “”This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” Behind the camera? John Ford, a director whose name is synonymous with “Westerns.” Gathered in front of it? An ideal cast – James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles and Lee Marvin. Now presented on two discs, with all-new special features, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance rides into town as classic entry in the Paramount Centennial Collection.

I once spent a summer during which I watched about 250 films, and have been watching films steadily throughout the better part of my twenty-three year life. That may be pitiful to many of you (I know that there are many people who have bested whatever claims to film-watching glory I have made here), or you may think that I’ve all but totally wasted my life. But the point is, I’ve seen a lot. Not everything, but a lot. And I can state beyond the shadow of a doubt that Eden Log is in the bottom five five films I have ever seen in terms of watchability, coherence, and entertainment value. I hate this movie. I hate it.

The plot, as best as I could tell, involved a man (Clovis Cornillac) waking up in the middle of a cave, breathing heavily into the soundtrack in a way reminiscent of...

Director: Christophe Barratier

Writers: Christophe Barratier, Pierre Philippe, Julien Rappeneau

Cinematographer: Tom Stern

Starring: Gérard Jugnot, Nora Arnezeder, Clovis Cornillac, Kad Merad

Studio/Run time: Sony Pictures Classics, 120 mins.

As entertaining as it is sappy

With 2004’s well received The Chorus, Christophe Barratier established himself as a director sensitive to the impact of music upon the soul of a child. In Paris 36 he has extended that sensitivity to the soul of a 1936 Parisian community. The result is a gladsome success. Gérard Jugnot, who played the music teacher in The Chorus, teams with Barratier again—this time as the soft-hearted Pigoil, life-serving stage manager of Chansonia music hall in the Faubourg suburb of Paris. Jugnot’s world comes crashing down when his wife leaves him, taking his only son just as the theater closes its doors. If that’s not enough, fascist influences of Hitler and Mussolini are clashing with the country’s financially strapped citizens.

Paris 36

Directed by: Christophe Barratier

Cast: Gérard Jugnot, Clovis Cornillac, Kad Merad, Nora Arnezeder

Running Time: 2 hrs

Rating: PG-13

Plot: A craftily shot French drama about a fledgling theater in the heart of Paris that falls under hard times and must succumb to a tyrant of a landlord who attempts to bring it to its demise. However, once an astonishingly alluring young actress arrives on the scene, hope returns to The Chansonia. An uncanny mixture of dramatic scenes coupled with visually stunning musical numbers enhance the plot by giving audience members a chance to sing along to the twisted tale of love, deceit, and deception.

Who’s It For?: As with 2008’s The Class, this film requires a tremendous amount of reading as the French-language format requires the subtitles to come a-flowing. Those of you unfettered by this systematic requirement needn’t worry. Though the film takes a hop,...

A shamelessly melodramatic series of romantic, financial and politi cal crises embroil a rundown music hall in "Paris 36," a gleaming hunk of French period schmaltz expertly rendered by director Christophe Barratier.

Will the heartbroken manager (Gerard Jugnot) attempting to reopen the theater finally reunite with the accordion-playing son whisked away by his ex-wife? Will the gorgeous young chanteuse (Nora Arnezeder) choose the leftist stagehand (Clovis Cornillac) or the venue's sleazy

middle-age owner (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) with criminal connections?

Will the bill-topping comedian (Kad Merad) regret embracing the landlord's anti-Semitic fascist pals?...