News

With the release of Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve has cemented himself as one of the best directors in Hollywood. He's shown complete control over all aspects of his medium and has proven himself in a variety of genres, showing a particular aptitude for science fiction.

In his nearly 30-year-long career, which has seen him direct 11 feature films, it's hard to point to anything Villeneuve has done wrong. From his early days directing films in his native Québec to his transition to English language films and now his blockbuster dominance, all of his films are good in their own way, and each builds on the last to expand his talents.

Maelström is a Surrealist Journey Close

Rt Score

Letterboxd Rating

Where to Watch

79%

3.3

Available to buy/rent

Villeneuve's second feature, Maelström, is probably his most polarizing. The film is narrated by a fish as it prepares to be killed by a fishmonger.

[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in October 2017. It has since been updated with additional entries.]

Few filmmakers of the 21st century have risen to prominence and prestige with the forcefulness of Denis Villeneuve, whose seemingly unstoppable career has been bolstered by a steady balance of critical respect and commercial success. In fact, Christopher Nolan is the only other person who comes to mind, and the similarities between the two of them are hard to ignore.

For one thing, these men are both men, and that tends to be a more crucial detail than it should. For another, they’re also genuine auteurs, each committed to a clinical brand of Cinema (with a capital “C”) that’s muscular and intellectual in equal measure. Nolan is a bit more rigidly defined by his own rubric, but Villeneuve shares his gift for sublimating big ideas into even bigger spectacles and has likewise honed his skills by fluidly moving between massive blockbusters and idiosyncratic passion projects. For Nolan, those...

Denis Villeneuve At Worldwide Box Office (Photo Credit – Facebook/IMDb)

Denis Villeneauve’s Dune: Part Two is about to hit the screens in just a few days, and this month, the first part was re-released in the theatres. The film has done well again, adding a few more million to its global collections. But besides the Dune franchise, Villeneuve has done other films as well, and today, we have brought to you a least to the best-ranked list of his movies, per their global collections.

The French-Canadian filmmaker is known for his sci-fi movies like Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and more. He received an Oscar nomination as a director for his film Arrival. In 2021, his movie Dune came out with Timothee Chalamet in the lead role, winning six Academy Awards, including Best Sound and Visual Effects. The sequel’s early reviews have been positive, and the critics only praise it.

French seller will also market premiere ’Magnificat’ and ’All Because Of The Cat’.

Orange Studio will unveil exclusive first footage from Léa Domenach’s Bernadette starring Catherine Deneuve as former French first lady Bernadette Chirac and from Philippe Lefebvre’s star-powered comedy New Beginnings at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.

Set to be released via Warner Bros. France later in 2023, Bernadette has been one of the French film world’s buzziest titles in recent months since the legendary Deneuve took on the role.

The film follows a fictionalised Bernadette Chirac as she navigates stepping out of the shadows of her husband,...

Yvan Attal, the popular French actor-turned-director, has directed “Breaking Point,” a seductive thriller in which he will star opposite Guillaume Canet, Marie-Josée Croze, Maïwenn and Alma Jodorowsky.

Snd, the film arm of French commercial network M6 Group, has landed French distribution rights and worldwide sales to the film. The company will introduce the project to buyers at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, which kicks off Jan. 10.

Currently in post-production, “Breaking Point” is produced by Curiosa Films, the well-established banner behind Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon” and Xavier Gianolli’s “Lost Illusions,” with the outfit Films Sous Influence.

The movie revolves around two best friends, Vincent and Mathieu, who lead very different lives. Vincent is constantly having affairs that Mathieu, a convenient alibi, is always there to cover up. Mathieu, a rather loyal husband who leads a tranquil life with his wife, feels obligated to protect Vincent because he saved his life years ago.

The Alliance, which brings together European broadcasters France Télévisions, Italy’s Rai and Germany’s Zdf in a commissioning partnership, announced the development of a new series “The Kollective” at Rome’s Mia Market on Wednesday.

France Télévisions, Rai and Zdf decided to join forces back in 2018 to develop and co-produce high-end TV dramas aimed at a broad audience. To date, they have produced nine series, ranging from thrillers to science-fiction, including historical drama “Leonardo,” pictured above.

“The idea was to bring together three public broadcasters who are really on a mission to show our audience programs that resonate. Programs that otherwise none of us could afford,” explained Simone Emmelius, senior VP international fiction-coproduction and acquisition at Zdf. Also mentioning that these days, the Alliance is focusing more and more on younger viewers.

“We have a common heritage and common understanding of stories that should be told, even though we...

The Forgiven Review — The Forgiven (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by John Michael McDonagh, written by John Michael McDonagh and Lawrence Osborne and starring Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Abbey Lee, Caleb Landry Jones, Christopher Abbott, Alex Jennings, Marie-Josee Croze, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Said Taghmaoul, David McSavage, Mourad Zaoui, Ismael Kanater, Imane [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: The Forgiven (2021): Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain Are in Top Form in a Stylish Dramatic Thriller...

If the vision of Jessica Chastain in a sleek Lbd sniffing coke and then vigorously bedding Christopher Abbott during a bacchanal in Morocco stokes your flames, then John Michael McDonagh’s “The Forgiven” is the movie for you. “I wish I wasn’t so worried,” she says before jubilantly downing another line of white powder. She wishes she were more worried about her husband, played by Ralph Fiennes, a selfish doctor who, during their now-derailed vacation stay at an old-time friend’s deliciously depraved party in the desert, has run over a Muslim child and failed to cover it up. She wishes she cared that he’s now been carted off to the boy’s Berber village in middle-of-nowhere North Africa to do penance by the kid’s father, and where he could possibly be hung and quartered. Will she miss him at all?

Working from a novel by Lawrence Osborne,...

The Forgiven

Produced by Elizabeth Eves, Nick Gordon, Trevor Matthews, John Michael McDonagh

Directed by John Michael McDonagh

Written by John Michael McDonagh

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes, Abbey Lee, Matt Smith, Caleb Landry Jones, Christopher Abbott, Saïd Taghmaoui, Alex Jennings, Marie-Josée Croze

Cinematographer: Larry Smith

Release Date/Prediction: Focus Features will likely aim for a fall release and perhaps a TIFF premiere.

…...

We’re finally at the point where filming is starting to wrap up on productions that were postponed or halted due to Covid-19 back in March. Studios have been able to work within the new safety protocols to finish films that can possibly be released in 2021, including the forthcoming drama “The Forgiven,” which is set to star Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain.

Read More: ‘The 355’: Jessica Chastain Responds To Casting Backlash Regarding Penélope Cruz

With the film having just wrapped up its production, after being shut down in March, Focus Features is ready to shed some light on who else stars in “The Forgiven.” So, now, according to Deadline, we know that Chastain and Fiennes are joined by Said Taghmaoui (“La Haine”), Caleb Landry Jones (“X-Men: First Class”), Matt Smith (“The Crown”), Christopher Abbott (“The Sinner”), Ismael Kanater (“Queen Of The Desert”), Marie-Josée Croze (“Munich”), Alex Jennings (“The Crown...

Exclusive: Focus Features has pre-bought worldwide rights excluding North America to Ralph Fiennes-Jessica Chastain starrer The Forgiven, which has finally wrapped shoot.

Joining the previously announced Fiennes, Chastain, Said Taghmaoui (La Haine) and Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class) in the drama are Matt Smith (The Crown), Christopher Abbott (The Sinner), Ismael Kanater (Queen Of The Desert), Marie-Josée Croze (Munich), Alex Jennings (The Crown) and Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road).

John Michael McDonagh (The Guard) directs and adapted Lawrence Osborne’s novel, which explores the reverberations of a random accident on the lives of an Anglo-American couple, their friends and the local Moroccans, who all converge on a luxurious desert villa during a decadent weekend-long party.

Below and above are two first look images from the anticipated project, which has been on quite a journey thanks to the pandemic.

In the first half of 2020 the picture shot...

A sense of dread permeates every frame of Disappearance at Clifton Hill, a noir type tale that evokes an hypnotic mood from start to finish. Now, this isn’t your traditional film noir, trafficking in cliches and men gritting their teeth. No, this has a female centric true north, making the investigator/protagonist a woman, and it pays dividends. Whenever you can upend a genre, even in a small way, it matters. Plus, when you have a high quality lead performance to latch on to, that helps as well. Hitting theaters this weekend, the movie is an independent effort that has large ambitions. To its credit, they mostly pay off. The film is a mystery/thriller, though largely content to be a character based drama with ominous moments. After an intense prologue, we move to the present day. Returning to her Niagara Falls hometown after the death of her mother,...

"Now you're lying to the cops?" IFC Midnight has debuted a trailer for an indie psychological thriller titled Disappearance at Clifton Hill, which first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last fall. The film follows a troubled young woman returning to her hometown of Niagara Falls, where the memory of a long-ago kidnapping overwhelms her. What happened to the young boy she saw being violently abducted in the woods? "Bristling with an air of surreal menace, this mood-drenched thriller is a tantalizing psychological puzzle box that unfolds in the hallucinatory realm between reality and perception." Starring Tuppence Middleton, Hannah Gross, Marie-Josée Croze, Eric Johnson, Andy McQueen, Noah Reid, Dan Lett, with David Cronenberg acting in it, too. This doesn't seem like anything worth writing home about. Here's the first official trailer for Albert Shin's Disappearance at Clifton Hill, direct from YouTube: After the death of her mother – Abby...

The Alliance, the new partnership formed by leading European pubcasters to counter the growing power of Netflix and other players, is revving up with two new international dramas, “Around the World in 80 Days” and “Mirage.”

The Alliance was formed last year by France Televisions, Germany’s Zdf and Italy’s Rai. The partners unveiled their two new ambitious shows Wednesday at Series Mania in Lille, France.

For France Televisions in particular, the series are part of a wider move into high-end international drama that also includes French series like “Germinal,” based on Emile Zola’s classic novel, and the adaptation of Guillaume Musso’s bestseller, “La jeune fille et la nuit,” both of which France Televisions is developing outside of the Alliance.

The French pubcaster’s push has been spearheaded by Nathalie Biancolli, an industry veteran who helped created Snd, the commercial division of M6 network, and worked at...

Exclusive: Tuppence Middleton and Hannah Gross are starring in Canadian indie Clifton Hill, a drama from In Her Place director Albert Shin. The psychological thriller hails from Rhombus Media and Elevation Pictures with Elevation distributing in Canada.

The story centers on Abby (Middleton) who, after returning home following the death of her mother, becomes obsessed with fragmented memories of a kidnapping she claims to have witnessed as a child. Gross is Abby’s younger sister Laure, whose tense relationship with her sibling is put to the test as Abby’s obsession grows out of control.

Andy McQueen (Fahrenheit 451), Noah Reid (Schitt’s Creek), David Cronenberg (Alias Grace), Eric Johnson (The Knick) and Marie-Josée Croze (The Barbarian Invasions) also star in the film, which has been shooting in Niagara Falls.

Shin says, “My parents settled in Niagara Falls as new immigrants to Canada and much like the film, bought a...

John Krasinski, as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, leaped into action this Friday with his first eight-episode mission for Amazon. Halfway through the already-renewed series’ freshman run, do we spy a new line of work for the onetime Office wonk?

Jack Ryan opens with the title character’s “meet cute”/near-collision with Jim Greer (The Wire‘s Wendell Pierce), the CIA vet who is about to be revealed as his new supervisor in a number-crunching, paper-pushing division. Greer, we learn through his “welcome back” from honcho Nathan Singer (Timothy Hutton, pulling from the weaselly corner of his repertoire), is rebounding...

Roberto Andò on Connie Nielsen's character Claire: "I based her on someone like J.K. Rowling but also on others who have become hugely wealthy through their writing" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At his hotel on Central Park South, director Roberto Andò discussed with me the connections to Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess and Torn Curtain in his latest film, which character was inspired by Jk Rowling, the majestic location where he filmed, and how "evil serves no purpose."

The Confessions (Le Confessioni), co-written by Angelo Pasquini, shot by Maurizio Calvesi, and starring Toni Servillo (Paolo Sorrentino's Oscar-winning The Great Beauty and Andò's Viva La Libertà) has an exceptional ensemble cast including Connie Nielsen (Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman), Marie-Josée Croze (John Michael McDonagh's Calvary), Daniel Auteuil (Michael Haneke's Caché), Moritz Bleibtreu (Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run), Lambert Wilson (Jérôme Salle's L'Odyssée), Pierfrancesco Favino (Roger Michell...

Few filmmakers of the 21st century have risen to prominence and prestige with the forcefulness of “Blade Runner 2049” director Denis Villeneuve, whose seemingly unstoppable career has been bolstered by a steady balance of critical respect and commercial success. In fact, Christopher Nolan is the only other person who comes to mind, and the similarities between the two of them are hard to ignore.

For one thing, these men are both men, and that tends to be a more crucial detail than it should. For another, they’re also genuine auteurs, each committed to a clinical brand of Cinema (with a capital “C”) that’s muscular and intellectual in equal measure. Nolan is a bit more rigidly defined by his own rubric, but Villeneuve shares his gift for sublimating big ideas into even bigger spectacles, and has likewise honed his skills by fluidly moving between massive blockbusters and idiosyncratic passion projects.

The Confessions (Le Confessioni) director Roberto Andò with Anne-Katrin Titze: "So Toni Servillo and I both read this book about Italian monasteries ..." Photo: Michael Moore

Roberto Andò, the director of Long Live Freedom (Viva La Libertà with Toni Servillo, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Valerio Mastandrea) met with me at his hotel on Central Park South for a conversation on his latest film The Confessions (Le Confessioni), co-written by Angelo Pasquini, shot by Maurizio Calvesi, and starring Servillo with an exceptional ensemble cast including Connie Nielsen (Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman), Marie-Josée Croze (John Michael McDonagh's Calvary), Daniel Auteuil (Michael Haneke's Caché), Moritz Bleibtreu (Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run), Lambert Wilson (Jérôme Salle's The Odyssey), Pierfrancesco Favino (Roger Michell's My Cousin Rachel), and Johan Heldenbergh (Felix van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown).

Toni Servillo is Carthusian monk Roberto Salus

A luxury resort with unfading allure and...

"You're the only one who can disrupt their plans." October Coast has debuted a new trailer for an Italian political thriller titled The Confessions, from Italian director Roberto Andò. Described as a "refreshing suspense thriller", the story is set during a G8 meeting being held at a luxury hotel on the German coast. One of the guests is a mysterious Italian monk, invited by Daniel Rochè, the director of the International Monetary Fund. He wants the monk to receive his confession, that night, in secret. The next morning, Rochè is found dead, and off we go. Toni Servillo stars along with Connie Nielsen, Daniel Auteuil, Lambert Wilson, Pierfrancesco Favino, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johan Heldenbergh, Richard Sammel, Togo Igawa, and Marie-Josée Croze. This film looks like a heavy political thriller, might be worth watching. Here's the new official Us trailer (+ poster) for Roberto Andò's The Confessions, direct from YouTube: A G...

French actress Marie-Josée Croze (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is set to recur in Amazon's upcoming Jack Ryan series, from the Lost duo of co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and writer Graham Roland, Platinum Dunes, Skydance Media and Paramount TV. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is a reinvention with a modern sensibility of the author’s famed hero, starring John Krasinski and Abbie Cornish. It centers on Jack Ryan (Krasinski), an up-and-coming CIA analyst thrust into a dangerous…...

Juan Antonio Bayona, David Mackenzie and John Michael McDonagh among directors with films in Gala strand.

Zurich Film Festival (Sept 22-Oct 2) has unveiled the titles that will make up its Gala section.

In addition to previously announced titles Snowden, Florence Foster Jenkins and Deepwater Horizon, Zff will screen the latest films from directors including Juan Antonio Bayona, David Mackenzie and John Michael McDonagh.

American Honey

Director: Andrea Arnold

Cast: Sasha Lane, Riley Keough, Shia Labeouf

Star (Sasha Lane) is trapped in a life far from perfect. Then she falls head over heels in love with Jake (Shia Labeouf), before embarking with him and a band of misfits who live by their own rules on an adventurous journey to freedom. The start of a quest to find the boundaries of a powerful young love and a road trip into the heart of America.

A Monster Calls (Sieben Minuten Nach Mitternacht)

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona

Cast: Felicity Jones, [link...

Japanese director Naomi Kawase led the jury at the 69th Cannes Film Festival.

The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury headed by Naomi Kawase and including Marie-Josée Croze, Jean-Marie Larrieu, Radu Muntean and Santiago Loza, has awarded the 2016 Cinéfondation Prizes during a ceremony held in the Buñuel Theatre, followed by the screening of the winning films.

The Cinéfondation Selection consisted of 18 student films, chosen out of 2 350 entries coming from 548 film schools around the world.

First Prize:

Anna

directed by Or Sinai

The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School, Israel

Second Prize:

In The Hills

directed by Hamid Ahmadi

The London Film School, United Kingdom

Joint Third Prize:

A NYALINTÁS Nesze

directed by Nadja Andrasev

Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Hungary

Joint Third Prize:

La Culpa, Probablemente

directed by Michael Labarca

Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela

Cannes Film Festival allocates a €15,000 grant for the First Prize, €11,250 for the Second and €7,500 for the Third.

The winner...

Juries revealed for Un Certain Regard, Short Films & Cinéfondation and Caméra d’or.

Swiss actress Marthe Keller is to preside over the Un Certain Regard jury at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22). Keller is still perhaps best known for her role opposite Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man (1976) and will next be seen in Joachim Lafosse’s After Love, which will play in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.

The jury, which will consider 18 films in competition, includes: Mexican filmmaker Diego Luno, who stars in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Rogue One; Ruben Ostlund, the Swedish director of Un Certain Regard jury prize winner Force Majeure (2014); and French actress Céline Sallette, perhaps best known for roles in Rust And Bone (2012) and TV series The Returned.

The winners will be announced on May 21.

Un Certain RegardInversion, Behnam Behzadi (Iran)Apprentice, Boo Junfeng (Singapore)The Stopover, Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin (France)The Dancer, Stéphanie Di Giusto (France...

Title: Le Confessioni (The Confessions) Director: Roberto Andò Starring: Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil, Connie Nielson, Pierfrancesco Favino, Marie-Josée Croze, Moritz Bleibtreau, Lambert Wilson. The story takes place in Germany in a luxury hotel where the Italian monk, Roberto Salus (Toni Servillo), is invited to the European G8 summit. The unexpected invitation is done by the powerful Daniel Roché (Daniel Auteuil), chief of the International Monetary Fund, who asks him to confess him during a mysterious night that leads to Roché’s suicide. Consequently the international legislators start to wonder: Was the conversation between the two men about the scheme that is about to be approved? Getting an answer from the holy [ Read More ]

The post Le Confessioni (The Confessions) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Wim Wenders’ 3D car crash drama will receive its North American premiere in Toronto and stars James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams and Marie-Josée Croze.

Bjørn Olaf Johannessen wrote the screenplay about a car crash that connects a struggling writer, his girlfriend, a grieving mother and a publisher.

IFC acquired Us rights from HanWay Films and will distribute on December 4.

Read More: Why Wim Wenders Thinks His Older Films Would Be Flops Today IFC Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Wim Wenders' "Every Thing Will Be Fine," starring James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams and Marie-Josée Croze. The film had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and will have its upcoming North American premiere at Tiff in the Masters section. The official synopsis reads: "In this 3D drama, a tragic car accident links the lives of a struggling writer (Franco), his long-suffering girlfriend (McAdams), a grieving mother (Gainsbourg) and a publisher (Croze)." "We are thrilled to once more be working with Wim Wenders – a legendary filmmaker who brings great sensitivity to all his work," said Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films. "In 'Every Thing Will Be Fine,' he delivers a compelling and beautifully shot examination of grief." The...

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to Wim Wenders' Every Thing Will Be Fine, the pic that stars James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams, Marie-Josée Croze, Robert Naylor, Patrick Bauchau and Peter Stormare. IFC plans a December 4 release date after the film makes its North American premiere in Toronto next month in the Masters section. It had its world premiere earlier this year in Berlin. The 3D drama centers on a tragic car accident links the lives of a…...

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to Wim Wenders‘ 3D drama “Every Thing Will Be Fine,” which stars James Franco, Rachel McAdams, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Marie-Josée Croze. The film will make its North American premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival in the Masters section. IFC Films will release “Every Thing Will Be Fine” on Dec. 4. The story follows a tragic car accident that links the lives of a struggling writer (Franco), his long-suffering girlfriend (McAdams), a grieving mother (Gainsbourg) and a publisher (Croze). Peter Stormare co-stars alongside Robert Naylor and Patrick Bauchau. Also Read: Bryan Cranston Joins James Franco in Comedy.

After seven years of making short segments and documentaries, filmmaker Wim Wenders is returning to features once again in his next film.

Titled Every Thing Will Be Fine, the film now has a new trailer. Wenders takes on only directorial duties for the feature, working from a screenplay by Norwegian screenwriter Bjørn Olaf Johannessen. The German director works with a cast that includes Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams, Marie-Josée Croze, James Franco, and Peter Stormare.

The film’s synopsis is as follows:

While driving aimlessly after a quarrel with his girlfriend, a writer accidentally runs over and kills a child. The accident and its aftermath deeply traumatizes him. Over the next 12 years, he struggles to make sense of what happened and continue on with life, but when he looks in the mirror, he sees a murderer.

This will mark Wenders’ first feature film since 2008’s Palermo Shooting. Wenders, however, has been...

Every Thing Will Be Fine Movie Trailer. Wim Wenders‘ Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015) movie trailer stars James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams, and Marie-Josée Croze. Every Thing Will Be Fine‘s plot synopsis: “One day, driving aimlessly around the outskirts of town after a trivial domestic quarrel, a writer named Tomas accidentally hits and kills a child. Will he be […]...

You might think that a movie featuring an international, ensemble cast including James Franco, Rachel McAdams, Charlotte Gainbsourg and Marie-Josée Croze would have a little bit more interest or fanfare behind it, particularly when its Wim Wenders behind the camera. But his latest feature "Every Thing Will Be Fine" didn't create much of a rumble when it premiered earlier this year at the Berlin International Film Festival, and has yet to pick up U.S. distribution. But north of the border, the movie is coming, and a new trailer is here. Read More: Berlin Review: Wim Wenders' 'Every Thing Will Be Fine 3D' Starring James Franco, Rachel McAdams & Charlotte Gainsbourg Actually, it's exactly like the first German one, but now you can hear it in English instead of dubbed. So you'll be able to fully dive into the 3D drama about a car accident that changes the life of a young writer forever.

Every Thing Will Be Fine is the latest film from Wim Wenders, with James Franco starring in a film about a man whose life is thrown into disarray after a car accident. Marie-Josée Croze, Rachel McAdams, and Charlotte Gainsbourg also star in the slow-burn drama, and there’s a good Every Thing Will Be Fine trailer to check […]

The post ‘Every Thing Will Be Fine’ Trailer: Wim Wenders Gets Solemn With James Franco appeared first on /Film.

"Is there nothing that can get to you?" A trailer has debuted online for Wim Wenders' very heartbreaking, somber, moving film Every Thing Will Be Fine. The film stars James Franco, following him across 12 years as he tries to cope with the weight of a fatal accident one snowy night on a quiet road. This trailer gives away pretty much everything, so don't expect to be surprised, just expect to learn where the story is going - and that's the whole point. It's about actually feeling the emotions over years, not just the shock of what happened. I saw this at Berlinale (read my review) and liked it, despite being so somber. Also starring Rachel McAdams, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marie-Josée Croze and Peter Stormare. Give it a look. Here's the first official trailer (+ a poster) for Wim Wenders' Every Thing Will Be Fine, via YouTube: While driving aimlessly after a quarrel with his girlfriend,...

Steven Spielberg and daughter Destry Spielberg on the Oscars' Red Carpet Steven Spielberg and daughter Destry Steven Spielberg and daughter Destry Spielberg arrive at the 83rd Academy Awards, held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Spielberg has taken home two Best Director Oscars: Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Schindler's List also won Best Picture, but Saving Private Ryan lost to John Madden's Miramax-distributed Shakespeare in Love. There was quite a bit of animosity at the time, as some felt that Miramax, owned by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, overdid its Oscar campaigning – while still managing to sway enough Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members to vote for its film. Somewhat ironically, at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony Steven Spielberg presented the Best Picture Award to The King's Speech. Toplining Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, and Claire Bloom, this British production was...

'Munich' movie cover 'Munich' movie review: Steven Spielberg tackles political time-space continuum in wildly uneven but ultimately satisfying thriller Alternately intriguing and irritating, thought-provoking and banal, subtle and patronizing, the biggest surprise about Steven Spielberg's Munich is that it – however grudgingly – works. The film, which Spielberg himself has referred to as a "prayer for peace," follows five men contracted by the Israeli government to avenge the massacre of that country's athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Sizable chunks of this political thriller with a Message (capital "M") are simplistically written, clumsily acted, and handled with the director's notoriously heavy touch, but the old adage – blood begets blood – even if somewhat muddled, is too timely not to make an impact. Complex 'Munich' movie plot Based on George Jonas' 1984 book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team, whose veracity has been questioned in some quarters, Munich begins as...

Last year, Canadian auteur Denis Villeneuve released Enemy, which is an elusive and polarizing piece of cinema but believe it or not, it is not his most elusive film. Yes, the same filmmaker who gave us the final shot of Enemy, actually had a film that was more disorienting: That film was Maelstrom (2000). While Maelstrom may not be his best film (Disclosure: I love Prisoners, it was my favorite film of 2013), 15 years later it is still his most confounding work to date.

Maelstrom, through not-so-direct plot terms, follows Bibi (Marie-Josée Croze), a young model and daughter of a fashion icon who falls into disarray after getting an abortion. After one drunken night she ends up hitting a man with her car, and after plunging her car into a river, she sets out to find out who the man she killed was. Evian (Jean-Nicolas Verreault) has returned home to sort out...

"I did work a lot in 3D and I still believe in it, but I'm sort of shocked how unexplored it still is," Wim Wenders told us in a recent interview. Indeed, the trailblazing filmmaker latched onto the format even before James Cameron made it de rigeur in Hollywood thanks to "Avatar," but Wenders believes the technique has barely been exploited. Perhaps he'll prove that three-dimensions can work just as well for drama as it can for explosions via his upcoming drama "Every Thing Will Be Fine." Starring James Franco, Rachel McAdams, Charlotte Gainbsourg and Marie-Josée Croze, the story follows how aftermath of a tragedy affects the lives of those involved over the years. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where our critic called it a "slow-ass" movie that never "cracks a joke and potentially melodramatic moments (a fairground ride collapse, the initial accident, a.

March is definitely a big month for Wim Wenders. The German filmmaker is currently celebrating a long overdue retrospective of his work at Moma, which will lead to a passel of new Criterion Collection releases of his films later this year, and his Oscar-nominated doc “The Salt Of The Earth” (his best work in some time) comes out in theaters via Sony Pictures Classics later this month. Not too shabby. But Wenders isn’t slowing down even as he approaches 70. His 3D drama "Every Thing Will Be Fine," starring James Franco, Rachel McAdams, Charlotte Gainbsourg and Marie-Josée Croze just premiered in Berlin last month and now a new international trailer has arrived. The movie is a domestic drama about a tragedy that irrevocably affects several families (here’s our review from Berlin). Here's the synopsis: A winter's evening. A country road. It is snowing, visibility is poor. Out of nowhere,...

In today's Berlinale Diary: First impressions of Wim Wenders's Every Thing Will Be Fine with James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams and Marie-Josée Croze—plus beautiful work in 3D by cinematographer Benoît Debie, but also one of the most saccharine scores yet from Alexandre Desplat. Then there's Alexey German Jr.'s Under Electric Clouds, "saturated with references to Russian history, politics, art, literature and social issues," as Lee Marshall writes in Screen. Plus a recommendation: Moritz Krämer's Bube Stur. » - David Hudson...

In today's Berlinale Diary: First impressions of Wim Wenders's Every Thing Will Be Fine with James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams and Marie-Josée Croze—plus beautiful work in 3D by cinematographer Benoît Debie, but also one of the most saccharine scores yet from Alexandre Desplat. Then there's Alexey German Jr.'s Under Electric Clouds, "saturated with references to Russian history, politics, art, literature and social issues," as Lee Marshall writes in Screen. Plus a recommendation: Moritz Krämer's Bube Stur. » - David Hudson...

There's something amiss in the opening moments of "Every Thing Will Be Fine." Set to a mildly spooky strings-and-piano piece by Alexandre Desplat, the sequence suggests an old-fashioned murder mystery to such a degree that when the film's title finally fades in, it feels like a false promise. Despite variations of the eponymous phrase being uttered no less than three times in its opening ten minutes, everything isn't fine in Wim Wenders's latest feature, in which a fatal accident connects and haunts a number of people across the decade that follows. Tomas (James Franco) is a novelist who, driving home from work one snowy afternoon, knocks down and kills a boy out sledging with his brother. Surviving a suicide attempt soon after, Tomas ends his childless relationship with long-suffering Sara (Rachel McAdams) and, years later, moves in with Ann (Marie-Josée Croze) and her daughter Mina. Returning to the site of the accident,...

World premieres of Wim Wenders’ Every Thing Will Be Fine, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Elser (13 Minutes) and Pablo Larraín’s The Club added to programme.

The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5-15) has unveiled its full Competition line-up.

Some 21 of the 23 titles will be world premieres, and 19 features from across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia will compete for Golden and Silver Bears.

New additions include Wim Wenders’ Every Thing Will Be Fine, which will play out of competition. The film, shot in 3D, stars James Franco as a writer who accidentally hits and kills a child while out driving. Co-stars include Charlotte Gainsbourg and Rachel McAdams.

As previously announced, Wenders will be awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement and will have ten of his films screened as part of the Homage strand.

Also playing out of competition will be the world premiere of Elser (13 Minutes) from Oliver Hirschbiegel, the German...

With under three weeks to go, the Berlin Film Festival has completed its competition roster, adding new titles from Pablo Larraín, Wim Wenders and Oliver Hirschbiegel. In total, 19 of the 23 films in the program will be vying for Golden and Silver Bears. Twenty-one of the titles are world premieres including new addition El Club from Larraín whose 2012 No scored an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. World premiering out of competition is Wenders’ drama Everything Will Be Fine with James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams and Marie-Josée Croze. The veteran helmer nabbed his third Best Documentary Feature Oscar nomination last week with The Salt Of The Earth. He’s also the subject of an homage at this year’s Berlin fest, and will be presented with an Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achievement.

Also in an out-of-competition world premiere is Downfall and Diana director Hirschbiegel’s Elser (13 Minutes...

This year I attended Strategic Partners, a coproduction event held in Halifax just after Tiff. The degree of intimacy and friendliness makes it ideal for networking. There I met Kestutis Drazdauskas, a producer from Lithuania, attending Sp for the third time. Aside from producing, over the last few years as Business Development Director, he has also created the Vilnius Film Cluster.

He has been in film professionally since 1995, when he was 2nd Ad on “Undertow” by Eric Red, working his way up through television, where his fourth film in 1999 was Donna Dietch’s “The Devil’s Arithmetic” which she shot in Lithuania. He was the Coordinating Assistant Director. In 1999, he produced his first short film, “The Officer's Romance” by Vytautas V. Landsbergis and since then he has produced several more shorts. In 2006 he produced his first feature film, “Diring”. Since then he has produced or exec produced five films and is working on his sixth, “2 Nights Till Morning” about a one-night stand between two strangers without a common language which takes an unexpected turn when an ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland prevents all flights from taking off.

As an independent film producer must do, Kestutis wears several hats. Since 2003 he has been producing commercials for his bread and butter. But for his heart and soul,even in the 90s, he produced features. This was a difficult and expensive endeavor in his home country of Lithuania because there was no funding or infrastructure after the collapse of the Soviet film industry. To make movies, one had to bring in all the equipment from abroad. There were no labs so film had to be transported to Prague or Warsaw for processing.

He and his partners began investing in Cinevera - today the largest lighting and grips company providing the Baltic region. Then they moved on to Cinescope, the largest camera rental outlet in the Baltics. And then they went into set construction. In 2011 they formed the Vilnius Film Cluster, which today is comprised of three production companies, several service companies, a film festival Kino Pavasaris (Vilnius International Film Festival) and a film news portal, kinfo.lt/.

Several projects are still in the works, like a 1,100 square meter stage which will include the largest green screen in the Baltics, make up and wardrobe studios, and production offices.

Vilnius Film Cluster is going to digitize 30 screens in small towns throughout Lithuania which will develop new audiences. The country itself has 40 screens which are city-centered multiplexes which show Lithuanian films along with the usual fare of U.S. blockbusters. The average run for Lithuanian films is two weeks. There is no special treatment for Lithuanian films, but there is a need. People like hearing their own language and seeing themselves on screen. Out of 250 films released in a year only 10 are Lithuanian but they account for a market share of 12 to 15%. The countryside has not been totally bereft of films. Theaters and cultural centers in small towns have big venues, but not a lot of content aside from plays and concerts show there. Going digital in municipalities will result in job creation. The Vilnius Film Cluster will supply equipment and content. This project will take three years to complete. Spreading cinema into the countryside will improve the market share of domestic films.

The idea and implementation of this added value for European content network of cinemas was developed with the help of Sofa, a two year-old initiative creating a school of film agents founded by Nikolaj Nikitin (a delegate of the Berlinale). They are building with the European subsidy system which furnishes 50% of the financing. The other 50% is split, 30% private equity and 20% Lithuanian government funding.

European Union structural funding goes in seven year terms. The new, 2014 to 2020 cycle is beginning now for member states. In 2016, the new cinemas will be open for business.

Lithuania is the leader in Baltics. Latvia has a related language, but people from one country do not understand people from the other country. Estonia has an entirely different language, related to Finnish. So the Baltics is more of a geo-political entity rather than a cultural unit.

They don't really share cultures though ideally they do cooperate and share knowledge and initiatives. For example, Vilnius Film Cluster is consulting with Estonian colleagues who are trying to establish a similar cluster. However, there are more coproductions with Germany than with Latvia or Estonia. More productions are becoming international rather than locally centered on Lithuania.

Although there are subsidies to be found for filmmaking, there are no subsidies for distribution. There is much to do in education and audience building.

At present Kestutis is copoducing “2 Nights Till Morning”, a Finnish Lithuanian coproduction shooting in Vilnius, it stars Marie-Josée Croze star of "Tell No One”, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Barbarian Invasions" for which she won the Palme d’or in 2003 and which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Feature.

Kestutis is also developing two more features. One is by the Italian director, Gianluca Sodaro. They made the short " God's Got His Head in the Clouds” together, and this new film is an elaboration of it, dealing with matters of faith and a priest experiencing a crisis. As he journeys to renew his faith he meets people who have counterparts in biblical characters. It is funny and contemporary. They are finalizing the script now to shoot next year. The feature is called “Solo”.

Another film currently in development is an Armenian film “The Last Inhabitant”, written and directed by Jivan Avetisyan.

His feature, “Tevanik” premiered in May in Armenia. This will be his second. It is situated in the Nagorny Karabakh region which is mostly Armenian, but was incorporated by Stalin into Azerbaijan. After the Soviet collapse the Armenians declared independence. Officially the region is still at status of war, but there has been no military action for 20 years. It is, in fact, protected by Russian forces. Avetisyan was 15 when the war happened. There are lots of stories about people in the war, and the film is very humanistic. His first film was about three teenagers who become adults over night. This new one is about two people, one Azerbaijan, one Armenian who forced to help each other, although one dies in process. The story has resonance today. It has Armenian funding and will raise more through its Lithuanian partners. The films are shot on small budgets; his first was Us $250,000 with lots of equipment, tanks, etc. donated as in-kind contributions. This film will be presented at coproduction forums, like Strategic Partners, East Meets West in Karlovy Vary. It has a larger budget (but is still comparatively small) and requires three or four coproducing partners.

We hope to see this feature and more coming out of Lithuania. We know we will see Kestutis a lot more around the circuit.

Name and focus changes for every section, which are now all competitive, resulting in the festival’s structure being “slimmer’.

The ninth Rome Film Festival (Oct 16-25) has revealed a diverse line-up including the Italian premieres for potential awards contenders including David Fincher’s Gone Girl. the world premiere of Takashi Miike’s As the Gods Will and Burhan Qurbani’s We are Young, We are Strong and European premiere of Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind, Toronto hit Still Alice and Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.

This year for the first time the award-winners in each section of the programme will be decided by the audience on the basis of votes cast after the screenings.

Each section has changed name and focus for 2014 and are all competitive, resulting in the festival’s structure being “slimmer’.

Italian comedies Soap Opera and Andiamo a Quel Paese bookend the line-up.

Full line-up

Cinema D’Oggi

World premiere

• Angely...

Following its release in just four theaters on August 1, Fox Searchlight Pictures is continually bringing its hit indie drama Calvary into more theaters across the country, with another theatrical expansion set for August 22. We have an exclusive featurette from director John Michael McDonagh's drama, which explores the unique relationship between Father James (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Fiona (Kelly Reilly).

Before Father James became a priest, he was married with a daughter. His wife's death caused him to go into the priesthood. Brendan Gleeson and Kelly Reilly reveal new details about their characters' unique relationship in our exclusive four-minute featurette you can't see anywhere else.

Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a good priest who is faced with sinister and troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter (Kelly Reilly) and reach out to help members of his...

Calvary’s Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a good priest who is faced with troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter (Kelly Reilly) and to help members of his church with their various problems, he feels a foreboding sinister force closing in, and begins to wonder if he will have the courage to face his own personal Calvary.

From the director of The Guard, John Michael McDonagh, Calvary opens in St. Louis August 15th.

Wamg invites you to enter to win passes to the advance screening of Calvary on Tuesday, August 12th in the St. Louis area. We will contact the winners by email.

If you are a winner, you will need to head over to FoxSearchLightScreenings.com and register to receive your two passes.

Answer the following:

What profession did Brendan Gleeson leave in order to pursue a career in acting?...

Opening in theaters today, John Michael McDonagh directs the mystery drama Calvary. Brendan Gleeson stars as good-natured priest Father James, who is suddenly faced with a sinister Presence from within his own perish. As he begins to deal with these mysterious forces beyond his control, he also attempts to connect with his troubled daughter, played by Kelly Reilly. In celebration of its release, we have 8 exclusive photos from Calvary that show Father James comforting his Fiona. We also get a look at co-star Chris O'Dowd as the local butcher, and the crisp Irish countryside where all of the drama was filmed on location. Take a look:

Father James is a good priest who is faced with sinister and troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter and reach out to help members of his church with their various...

Calvary director/writer John Michael McDonagh with Kelly Reilly at the Explorers Club: "Well, in Ireland, 'dirty little whore', it's almost like endearing."

John Michael McDonagh's Calvary stars Brendan Gleeson, Kelly Reilly, Chris O'Dowd, Isaach De Bankolé, Domhnall Gleeson, Dylan Moran with The Diving Bell And The Butterfly's Marie-Josée Croze, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, M Emmet Walsh and David Wilmot. Fox Searchlight Pictures celebrated with a luncheon at the Explorers Club in New York with guests including Jimmy Breslin, Dana Delany, Jodi Applegate, Annette Insdorf, Eugene Hernandez, Joyce Carol Oates and Charles Gross.

I spoke with Kelly Reilly and what started out with Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonioni's Red Desert and Tippi Hedren's style in Hitchcock's The Birds, quickly turned to themes of forgiveness which brought us to develop a quick theory of a Holy Female Trinity holding Calvary together, before lunch was served.

Brendan Gleeson...