News

Like most folk, I’m a sucker for alien invasion films; I’m also down with conspiracy flicks, and I love seeing beautiful photography in foreign lands. If only there was a horror film that combines these somewhat disparate elements into a cohesive, satisfying whole. I honestly can’t think of one; but there is Alien Predators (1985), a pretty damn fun and nonsensical trip through Spain.

Filmed in ’84 and released on video in the U.K. in August of ’85, Alien Predators saw a very brief theatrical U.S. run in February of ’87 before being dumped onto video shelves for curious horror fans…like myself; as that’s when I first saw it, and I remember digging its pleasant nature and sparse but effective effects. A recent revisit however disclosed its greatest asset: a make-it-up-as-we-go willingness on the part of writer/director Deran Sarafian (Terminal Velocity) that results in a freewheeling travelogue with Nasa espionage,...

There may not be a ton of genre-related home media releases coming out this week, but the films that are coming to Blu-ray are an impressive bunch all the same. Universal has both Unsane and Pacific Rim Uprising on tap in a variety of formats, including 4K Ultra HD, and Scream Factory has a double dose of classic terror coming your way this Tuesday with Night of the Lepus and Alien Predators. And rounding out this week’s Blu-ray and DVD offerings is the indie thriller The Hollow Child, which comes home courtesy of Lionsgate.

Alien Predators

When Nasa’s Skylab fell to Earth the threat was over ... but five years later the horror is just beginning.

Three American teens on a European holiday are about to experience their worst nightmare. They are about to be trapped in a quaint Spanish town infested with a parasitic alien virus that drives...

The Selfish Giant | Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa | Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs | Ender's Game | Wolf Children | One Chance | Closed Circuit | Le Skylab | Muscle Shoals

The Selfish Giant (15)

(Clio Barnard, 2013, UK) Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas, Sean Gilder. 91 mins

In the tradition of Kes, or Fish Tank, this offers a child's-eye view of poverty that's too strong for real-life kids of the same age. Despite the fairytale origins, miracles are in short supply in this Bradford suburb, where two drop-out mates scavenge for opportunities. But the balance between harsh realism and mythical lyricism is beautifully struck, and the two leads really are miraculous.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (15)

(Jeff Tremaine, 2013, Us) Johnny Knoxville, Jackson Nicoll. 92 mins

Old-suited Knoxville and his "grandson" take to the road for Borat-style pranks.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (U)

(Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn, 2013, Us) Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte. 95 mins

Food/fauna surrealism part...

Earlier this summer fans of independent film were generally wowed with the third movie in director Richard Linklater’s walking and talking trilogy, Before Midnight, which was a project that saw him sharing a writing credit with his two stars, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, for a second time. True Delpy-philes know that helping flesh out her character in Before Sunset and Before Midnight isn’t the only writing experience she has though. It’s true that she’s known primarily as an actress, but lately she’s been dipping her toes more and more into the world of writing and directing, which has led to her creating features like Two Days in Paris, its sequel Two Days in New York, and the French comedy Le Skylab. And now Deadline is reporting that Delpy has again been hired to put pen to paper, this time to adapt Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s memoir “Cancer Vixen: A True Story...

Actor with a natural and rebellious style, she helped to launch the French New Wave

Bernadette Lafont, who has died aged 74, could have claimed to be the first female star of the Nouvelle Vague. François Truffaut chose the sensual, dark-haired, 18-year-old Lafont and her new husband, Gérard Blain, to play lovers in the director's first professional film, Les Mistons (The Mischief-Makers, 1957). In this charming short, shot in Nîmes one summer, a group of pubescent boys spy on Lafont and Blain's lovemaking in the fields. Blain and Lafont were also picked to appear in arguably the first French New Wave feature, Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge (1958). In this film, about a young man returning to his childhood home, Lafont played the "village vamp".

Lafont's fresh look and performance style crystallised the movement's ideological and cinematic ambitions. Truffaut and his colleagues found mainstream stars inadequate to their needs, using instead unknown and non-professional actors,...

Cologne, Germany – James Franco, Julie Delpy, Fernando Meirelles and Andrea Arnold are among the VIP filmmakers set to attend this year’s Munich international film festival, which kicks off this Friday. Delpy will present two new features she both directed and stars in: the Sundance comedy 2 Days in New York featuring Chris Rock and French-language laffer Le Skylab. Franco will screen three of his most recent art house projects that he directed. Brazillian director Meirelles (The Constant Gardner) will present his latest, the drama 360 starring Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins and Rachel Weisz, while Arnold heads to Munich

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The 16th Annual City of Lights, City of Angels (Col•Coa) film festival will run April 16-23 in Los Angeles . Sponsored by The Franco-American Cultural Fund (Facf), the festival will present 34 features and 21 shorts, including 10 North American and U.S. Premieres, and 14 West Coast Premieres. “The historic triumph of The Artist (Isa:Wild Bunch) reflects a remarkable year for French cinema and we are glad to introduce a broad spectrum of new films to Hollywood that reveal both the quality and diversity of recent French productions,” stated François Truffart, Col•Coa Executive Director and Artistic Director.

Col•Coa will open with the North American Premiere of My Way (CloClo) (Isa:lgm), a biopic about French pop star icon Claude François, directed by Florent-Emilio Siri, co-written by Siri and Julien Rappeneau and starring Jérémie Renier. Recently released in France , My Way is already a critical and commercial success.

Several U.S. distributors will present their films at Col•Coa before their U.S. release: Cinema Guild – Step up to the Plate (Isa:Jour2Fete); The Cohen Media Group – Farewell My Queen (Isa:Elle Driver): Kino Lorber –The Well Digger’s Daughter (Isa:Pathe); Mpi Media – Americano (Isa:Bac Films); Sundance Selects – Goodbye First Love! (Isa:Films Distribution) and Polisse (Isa:Wild Bunch); Strand Releasing - 17 Girls (Isa:Films Distribution); The Weinstein Company – The Intouchables (Isa:Gaumont), A Gang Story (Isa:Gaumont) and War of the Buttons (Isa:Wild Bunch); and Screen Media for A Happy Event (Isa:Gaumont) from co-writer-director Remi Bezançon, also in competition at Col·Coa for his animated feature Zarafa (Isa:Pathe).

Closing film on Sunday, April 22nd will be a special presentation, in association with The Weinstein Company, of the already third most successful French box office success: The Intouchables (Isa:Gaumont) Starring François Cluzet and César winner for Best Actor Omar Sy, this hit comedy marks the fourth film from writer-directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano presented at Col•Coa Cannes Jury Special Prize winner and 13 César-nominated drama, Polisse (Isa:Wild Bunch) co-written and directed by Maïwenn, will be presented at Col•Coa, one day after its U.S. Premiere at Tribeca. Berlin International Film Festival opening film, Farewell My Queen (Isa:Elle Driver) co-written and directed by Col·Coa 2011 Critics Award-winner Benoit Jacquot, will have a special presentation at Col·Coa before opening the San Francisco International Film Festival. Other highlights include César multi-nominated and critically acclaimed film, The Minister (Isa:Doc & Film Interntional), written and directed by Pierre Schoeller; the 3D presentation in English of A Monster in Paris (Isa:EuropaCorp), an animated feature co-written and directed by Bibo Bergeron, starring Sean Lennon and Vanessa Paradis, and produced by Luc Besson; the anticipated thriller, 38 Witnesses (Isa:Films Distrubution), written and directed by Lucas Belvaux; as well as The Art of Love (Isa:Kinology), the new comedy from writer-director Emmanuel Mouret.

Several French high-profile titles will also be introduced in the U.S, such as Early One Morning, (Isa:Les Films Du Losange) written and directed by Jean-Marc Moutout; Cesar winner for Best Documentary Leadersheep (Isa:MK2 S.A.) by writer-director Christian Rouaud Silence of Joan, from writer-director Philippe Ramos; as well as the North American Premiere of Another Woman’s Life (Isa:Kinology), co-written and directed by Sylvie Testud and starring Juliette Binoche.

The program will feature several directorial debut films, including the North American Premieres of Love Lasts Three Years (Isa:Eurocorp), co-written and directed by novelist Frédéric Beigbeder; The Adopted (Isa:Studio Canal), co-written and directed by actress and freshman filmmaker Mélanie Laurent; Freeway (Isa:Sesame), co-written and directed by Christopher Sahr; the West Coast Premiere of Louise Wimmer (Isa:Films Distribution), written and directed by Cyril Mennegun; and Americano (Isa:Bac Films), starring Salma Hayek and co-starring writer-director Mathieu Demy, the son of Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy.

Five popular series will return in 2012, Col•Coa docs will include Michel Petrucciani (Isa:Wild Bunch) written and directed by Michael Radford. After 10 will highlight Best Adaptation César winner Guilty (Isa:Films Distribution), co-written and directed by Vincent Garenq. Col•Coa Classics will pay tribute to actor Yves Montand with a rare presentation of the restored Call me Savage from co-writer-director Jean-Paul Rappeneau. For this year’s Carte Blanche program, writer-director Alexander Payne selected Hotel du Nord directed by Marcel Carné, screenplay by Jean Aurenche and Henri Jeanson. The Film Noir series will include the West Coast Premiere of Paris by Night (Isa:TF1), co-written and directed by Philippe Lefebvre. The Focus on a Filmmaker, this year honoring actress writer-director Julie Delpy, will take place on Thursday, April 19th and will include her new film, Le SkyLab (Isa:Films Distribution).

Col•Coa Educational Program will offer four High School Screenings, one student screening and one Master Class in association with Elma (European Languages and Movies in America). The program will host 3,500 students from over 70 high schools, colleges and universities in California .

To celebrate the announcement and recipients of the 2012 Col•Coa Awards, the festival will close on Monday, April 23rd with the screening of two winning features and two winning shorts.

City of Lights, City of Angels is funded by the Facf, a unique partnership of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music and the Writers Guild of America, West with the vital support of L’Arp (France’s Association of Authors, Directors and Producers), the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the French Embassy, and Unifrance.

All screenings are in French with English subtitles or, in the case of the family-oriented animated films, dubbed in English. Tickets are available for advance purchase online at www.colcoa.org (cash or checks only). Please visit www.colcoa.org for box office hours. Ticket prices are $10 for adults; $7 tickets for seniors (62+), disabled, and members of American Cinematheque, Asc, Icg, Film Independent, Lacma, SAG or Women in Film; $3 for students and under 21. Tickets are complimentary for DGA and Wgaw guild members. The Happy Hour Talks are free on a first come, first served basis.

For film and press information, including hi-res photos, log onto www.colcoa.org. For public information, call (310) 289-5346.

City of Lights, City of Angels (Col•Coa) was created in 1996 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). Col•Coa is also supported by l’Association des Auteurs-réalisateurs-Producteurs (Arp), the Film and TV Office of the French Embassy in Los Angeles and Unifrance.

Col•Coa is committed to promoting new French films in the U.S. and to showcasing the vitality and the diversity of French cinema in Hollywood: comedies and dramas, box office hits in France and specialty films, first features and films from established writer-directors, art house movies as well as mainstream films.

In 15 years, 231 new feature films and 140 new shorts have been selected. Col•Coa has constantly developed to become a showcase of at least 50 films, with a capacity of 20,000 in 2011 and an occupancy rate of 88%.

Its exclusive program has made of Col•Coa an anticipated date in the industry calendar and one of the largest French film festivals in the world. Scheduled a few weeks after the Academy Awards® and one month before the Cannes Film Festival, Col•Coa has become a prestigious event in Los Angeles.

Since 2004, the selection is exclusively composed of premieres. Several high-profile features are presented at Col•Coa for the first time in North America or in the U.S. Col•Coa is also known for presenting successful films a year before their commercial release in the U.S., raising the event’s profile among U.S. distributors who now use the event as a platform to launch and promote their film in Hollywood.

Col•Coa has substantial representation by leading industry professionals, including distributors, exhibitors, directors, writers, producers, Academy members, agents, press members or public filmgoers, as part and parcel to the festival is the cultural exchange involved, as well as the introduction of films that may not have been available to the industry. Col•Coa has developed partnerships with organizations like Ifta, The Cannes Film Market, Film Independent, Women in Film, The American Cinematheque, SAG, and since 2008, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Col•Coa “A Week Of French Film Premieres In Hollywood”

Col•Coa is more than a film industry event. Many screenings are reserved early due to the festival’s reputation and increased visibility.In 2008, an educational program was also launched to promote foreign films among young American audiences in association with E.L.M.A (European Languages & Movies in America). Close to 7,500 high school students and 70 high schools in Los Angeles County have participated in the program since 2008. In 2010, a master class was introduced for colleges, film schools and universities.

More than 100 French writers, directors and producers have presented their film(s) at Col•Coa. Among them are Costa-Gavras, Alain Corneau, Claire Denis, Michel Hazanavicius, Claude Lelouch, Claude Miller, Bertrand Tavernier, Olivier Assayas, Laurent Cantet, Arnaud Desplechin, Anne Fontaine, Bertrand Blier and Mathieu Kassovitz.

Whereas Col•Coa is not a celebrity-driven event, many artists attend as it is a showcase for their work, a chance to mingle with other artists in a professional, yet relaxed and cordial environment, the true basis of cultural exchange. Among past Col•Coa guests are actors and actresses Rosanna Arquette, Nathalie Baye, Bérénice Bejo, Marion Cotillard, Julie Delpy, Jimmy Jean Louis, Helen Mirren, Gena Rowlands, Sharon Stone, Charlize Theron and Lambert Wilson, as well as prominent American writers and directors: Wes Craven, Taylor Hackford, John Landis, Michael Mann and Alexander Payne.

The 16th Annual City of Lights, City of Angels (Col•Coa) film festival will run April 16-23 in Los Angeles . Sponsored by The Franco-American Cultural Fund (Facf), the festival will present 34 features and 21 shorts, including 10 North American and U.S. Premieres, and 14 West Coast Premieres. “The historic triumph of The Artist (Isa:Wild Bunch) reflects a remarkable year for French cinema and we are glad to introduce a broad spectrum of new films to Hollywood that reveal both the quality and diversity of recent French productions,” stated François Truffart, Col•Coa Executive Director and Artistic Director.

Col•Coa will open with the North American Premiere of My Way (CloClo) (Isa:lgm), a biopic about French pop star icon Claude François, directed by Florent-Emilio Siri, co-written by Siri and Julien Rappeneau and starring Jérémie Renier. Recently released in France , My Way is already a critical and commercial success.

Several U.S. distributors will present their films at Col•Coa before their U.S. release: Cinema Guild – Step up to the Plate (Isa:Jour2Fete); The Cohen Media Group – Farewell My Queen (Isa:Elle Driver): Kino Lorber –The Well Digger’s Daughter (Isa:Pathe); Mpi Media – Americano (Isa:Bac Films); Sundance Selects – Goodbye First Love! (Isa:Films Distribution) and Polisse (Isa:Wild Bunch); Strand Releasing - 17 Girls (Isa:Films Distribution); The Weinstein Company – The Intouchables (Isa:Gaumont), A Gang Story (Isa:Gaumont) and War of the Buttons (Isa:Wild Bunch); and Screen Media for A Happy Event (Isa:Gaumont) from co-writer-director Remi Bezançon, also in competition at Col·Coa for his animated feature Zarafa (Isa:Pathe).

Closing film on Sunday, April 22nd will be a special presentation, in association with The Weinstein Company, of the already third most successful French box office success: The Intouchables (Isa:Gaumont) Starring François Cluzet and César winner for Best Actor Omar Sy, this hit comedy marks the fourth film from writer-directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano presented at Col•Coa Cannes Jury Special Prize winner and 13 César-nominated drama, Polisse (Isa:Wild Bunch) co-written and directed by Maïwenn, will be presented at Col•Coa, one day after its U.S. Premiere at Tribeca. Berlin International Film Festival opening film, Farewell My Queen (Isa:Elle Driver) co-written and directed by Col·Coa 2011 Critics Award-winner Benoit Jacquot, will have a special presentation at Col·Coa before opening the San Francisco International Film Festival. Other highlights include César multi-nominated and critically acclaimed film, The Minister (Isa:Doc & Film Interntional), written and directed by Pierre Schoeller; the 3D presentation in English of A Monster in Paris (Isa:EuropaCorp), an animated feature co-written and directed by Bibo Bergeron, starring Sean Lennon and Vanessa Paradis, and produced by Luc Besson; the anticipated thriller, 38 Witnesses (Isa:Films Distrubution), written and directed by Lucas Belvaux; as well as The Art of Love (Isa:Kinology), the new comedy from writer-director Emmanuel Mouret.

Several French high-profile titles will also be introduced in the U.S, such as Early One Morning, (Isa:Les Films Du Losange) written and directed by Jean-Marc Moutout; Cesar winner for Best Documentary Leadersheep (Isa:MK2 S.A.) by writer-director Christian Rouaud Silence of Joan, from writer-director Philippe Ramos; as well as the North American Premiere of Another Woman’s Life (Isa:Kinology), co-written and directed by Sylvie Testud and starring Juliette Binoche.

The program will feature several directorial debut films, including the North American Premieres of Love Lasts Three Years (Isa:Eurocorp), co-written and directed by novelist Frédéric Beigbeder; The Adopted (Isa:Studio Canal), co-written and directed by actress and freshman filmmaker Mélanie Laurent; Freeway (Isa:Sesame), co-written and directed by Christopher Sahr; the West Coast Premiere of Louise Wimmer (Isa:Films Distribution), written and directed by Cyril Mennegun; and Americano (Isa:Bac Films), starring Salma Hayek and co-starring writer-director Mathieu Demy, the son of Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy.

Five popular series will return in 2012, Col•Coa docs will include Michel Petrucciani (Isa:Wild Bunch) written and directed by Michael Radford. After 10 will highlight Best Adaptation César winner Guilty (Isa:Films Distribution), co-written and directed by Vincent Garenq. Col•Coa Classics will pay tribute to actor Yves Montand with a rare presentation of the restored Call me Savage from co-writer-director Jean-Paul Rappeneau. For this year’s Carte Blanche program, writer-director Alexander Payne selected Hotel du Nord directed by Marcel Carné, screenplay by Jean Aurenche and Henri Jeanson. The Film Noir series will include the West Coast Premiere of Paris by Night (Isa:TF1), co-written and directed by Philippe Lefebvre. The Focus on a Filmmaker, this year honoring actress writer-director Julie Delpy, will take place on Thursday, April 19th and will include her new film, Le SkyLab (Isa:Films Distribution).

Col•Coa Educational Program will offer four High School Screenings, one student screening and one Master Class in association with Elma (European Languages and Movies in America). The program will host 3,500 students from over 70 high schools, colleges and universities in California .

To celebrate the announcement and recipients of the 2012 Col•Coa Awards, the festival will close on Monday, April 23rd with the screening of two winning features and two winning shorts.

City of Lights, City of Angels is funded by the Facf, a unique partnership of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music and the Writers Guild of America, West with the vital support of L’Arp (France’s Association of Authors, Directors and Producers), the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the French Embassy, and Unifrance.

All screenings are in French with English subtitles or, in the case of the family-oriented animated films, dubbed in English. Tickets are available for advance purchase online at www.colcoa.org (cash or checks only). Please visit www.colcoa.org for box office hours. Ticket prices are $10 for adults; $7 tickets for seniors (62+), disabled, and members of American Cinematheque, Asc, Icg, Film Independent, Lacma, SAG or Women in Film; $3 for students and under 21. Tickets are complimentary for DGA and Wgaw guild members. The Happy Hour Talks are free on a first come, first served basis.

For film and press information, including hi-res photos, log onto www.colcoa.org. For public information, call (310) 289-5346.

City of Lights, City of Angels (Col•Coa) was created in 1996 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). Col•Coa is also supported by l’Association des Auteurs-réalisateurs-Producteurs (Arp), the Film and TV Office of the French Embassy in Los Angeles and Unifrance.

Col•Coa is committed to promoting new French films in the U.S. and to showcasing the vitality and the diversity of French cinema in Hollywood: comedies and dramas, box office hits in France and specialty films, first features and films from established writer-directors, art house movies as well as mainstream films.

In 15 years, 231 new feature films and 140 new shorts have been selected. Col•Coa has constantly developed to become a showcase of at least 50 films, with a capacity of 20,000 in 2011 and an occupancy rate of 88%.

Its exclusive program has made of Col•Coa an anticipated date in the industry calendar and one of the largest French film festivals in the world. Scheduled a few weeks after the Academy Awards® and one month before the Cannes Film Festival, Col•Coa has become a prestigious event in Los Angeles.

Since 2004, the selection is exclusively composed of premieres. Several high-profile features are presented at Col•Coa for the first time in North America or in the U.S. Col•Coa is also known for presenting successful films a year before their commercial release in the U.S., raising the event’s profile among U.S. distributors who now use the event as a platform to launch and promote their film in Hollywood.

Col•Coa has substantial representation by leading industry professionals, including distributors, exhibitors, directors, writers, producers, Academy members, agents, press members or public filmgoers, as part and parcel to the festival is the cultural exchange involved, as well as the introduction of films that may not have been available to the industry. Col•Coa has developed partnerships with organizations like Ifta, The Cannes Film Market, Film Independent, Women in Film, The American Cinematheque, SAG, and since 2008, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Col•Coa “A Week Of French Film Premieres In Hollywood”

Col•Coa is more than a film industry event. Many screenings are reserved early due to the festival’s reputation and increased visibility.In 2008, an educational program was also launched to promote foreign films among young American audiences in association with E.L.M.A (European Languages & Movies in America). Close to 7,500 high school students and 70 high schools in Los Angeles County have participated in the program since 2008. In 2010, a master class was introduced for colleges, film schools and universities.

More than 100 French writers, directors and producers have presented their film(s) at Col•Coa. Among them are Costa-Gavras, Alain Corneau, Claire Denis, Michel Hazanavicius, Claude Lelouch, Claude Miller, Bertrand Tavernier, Olivier Assayas, Laurent Cantet, Arnaud Desplechin, Anne Fontaine, Bertrand Blier and Mathieu Kassovitz.

Whereas Col•Coa is not a celebrity-driven event, many artists attend as it is a showcase for their work, a chance to mingle with other artists in a professional, yet relaxed and cordial environment, the true basis of cultural exchange. Among past Col•Coa guests are actors and actresses Rosanna Arquette, Nathalie Baye, Bérénice Bejo, Marion Cotillard, Julie Delpy, Jimmy Jean Louis, Helen Mirren, Gena Rowlands, Sharon Stone, Charlize Theron and Lambert Wilson, as well as prominent American writers and directors: Wes Craven, Taylor Hackford, John Landis, Michael Mann and Alexander Payne.

Over the last decade or so, French star Julie Delpy has been a relatively rare presence on screen. Sure, there have been a few appearances -- Lasse Hallstrom's "The Hoax" and Jim Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers" among them -- but for the most part, when she's starred in a film, it's been in pictures that she's written and directed, like "The Countess," "Le Skylab," "2 Days In Paris" and "2 Days In New York," the sequel which just premiered at Sundance. That film picks up her character, Marion, several years later, no longer with Adam Goldberg, but with a child, and now living with Mingus (Chris Rock), who clashes with her eccentric family. The film has been reported by most, including us, to be a worth follow-up to the charming, hilarious original, but it seems like its most lasting place in the history books might be as one of Delpy's last on-screen appearances.

French star Julie Delpy is considering retiring from acting so she can concentrate on her career as a writer and director.

The Before Sunset star is currently promoting Two Days in New York - her fourth film as a director - at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, and she tells Deadline.com her days in front of the camera are numbered.

She explains, "I think I'm done with acting. Before, I just acted in movies with people I knew. Now I don't want to pursue acting. I will pursue writing and directing."

Delpy received the Special Jury Prize for her movie Le Skylab at Spain's San Sebastian Film Festival in September. She is currently working on a biopic about late The Clash star Joe Strummer.

Julie Delpy’s last two directorial efforts, 2009’s “The Countess” and this year’s “Le Skylab,” have yet to receive U.S. theatrical distribution, but her latest Sundance entry, “2 Days in New York,” should get distributors’ tongues wagging. The sequel to Delpy’s 2007 critical hit “2 Days in Paris,” co-stars Chris Rock and features New York (obviously), a city that can charm the pants off most anyone. The follow-up to Delpy's charming and underrated film will find her character, Marion, relocated to New York with a new lover, Mingus (Rock), and a child; sorry folks, no Adam Goldberg this time around. Things will get a bit hairy as the clash of cultural backgrounds is brought to the fore when her family and ex-boyfriend come to visit. This stress will be compounded by an upcoming photo exhibit as well. If it's half as funny and painful as the first film, we're in.

Actor and director Julie Delpy recently won the special jury prize at the 2011 San Sebastián Film Festival for her comedy Le Skylab, about a family get-together in Brittany and everyone becoming fixated on the Skylab satellite crashing to Earth and wondering where it will land. Delpy, best known to U.S. audiences for her roles in director Richard Linklater’s romantic dramas Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, continued to emphasize her directing work as much as her acting. Variety reported that Delpy signed on to direct a biopic of the late Joe Strummer, the former leader of the iconic English Punk band The Clash.

Actor and director Julie Delpy recently won the special jury prize at the 2011 San Sebastián Film Festival for her comedy Le Skylab, about a family get-together in Brittany and everyone becoming fixated on the Skylab satellite crashing to Earth and wondering where it will land. Delpy, best known to U.S. audiences for her roles in director Richard Linklater’s romantic dramas Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, continued to emphasize her directing work as much as her acting. Variety reported that Delpy signed on to direct a biopic of the late Joe Strummer, the former leader of the iconic English Punk band The Clash.

Actor and director Julie Delpy recently won the special jury prize at the 2011 San Sebastián Film Festival for her comedy Le Skylab, about a family get-together in Brittany and everyone becoming fixated on the Skylab satellite crashing to Earth and wondering where it will land. Delpy, best known to U.S. audiences for her roles in director Richard Linklater’s romantic dramas Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, continued to emphasize her directing work as much as her acting. Variety reported that Delpy signed on to direct a biopic of the late Joe Strummer, the former leader of the iconic English Punk band The Clash.

After we reported that Julie Delpy will be writing/starring in a third film in the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset series, news broke on the Oscar-nominated actress’s next project. Delpy will direct the biopic of Joe Strummer, the frontman for English punk band “The Clash.” The production by Simon Halfon (Sleuth) has been titled The Right Profile after a track on “London Calling,” the band’s 1979 album. The biopic will obviously portray Strummer’s life, but will focus on his planned disappearance from the public eye soon before the release of their 1982 album, “Combat Rock.” Strummer tragically passed away in December of 2002, a month prior to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with “The Clash.” Hit the jump for more on The Right Profile. Variety reports that Delpy may not just direct, but could also star in the biopic. The French actress tends to act...

The 32nd American Film Market (Afm) – taking place Nov. 2-9 in Santa Monica, CA – will be screening 395 films, including 65 world premieres and 295 market premieres – the works of prominent actors and directors including Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Jackie Chan, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Fassbender, William Friedkin, Amy Heckerling, Kiera Knightly, Richard Linklater, Matthew McConaughey, Carey Mulligan, Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Todd Solondz, Aurdrey Tautou and Michelle Williams. The 2011 Afm will take place Nov. 2-9 in Santa Monica, CA.

Films making their World Premieres include A Gang Story, starring Gérard Lanvin and Tchéky Karyo; Bad Karma, starring Ray Liotta, Dominic Purcell and Rhona Mitra; Columbus Circle, starring Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Giovanni Ribisi and Kevin Pollak; Nobel’S Last Will, starring Malin Crépin, Björn Kjellman and Leif Andrée; Snowflake, The White Gorilla, starring Elsa Pataky and Pere Ponce; Special Forces, starring Diane Kruger, Djimon Hounsou and Benoit Magimel; and The Expatriate, starring Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko.

The actor and director – whose fourth film has just won the top prize at San Sebastián – reveals how her own memories furnished the 'light and dark' of her new drama

News reports about the Uars satellite falling to Earth came just a few days too late for the San Sebastián film festival world premiere of Julie Delpy's fourth directing project. That was a shame – it'd have been quite the PR stunt for Le Skylab, her family comedy set around the falling of the titular space station in 1979, which won the special jury prize at the Spanish event on Sunday. The preoccupation with where it might land caused something of a media circus at the time – a San Francisco newspaper offered $10,000 for the first piece of the wreckage to be delivered to its offices – and it clearly played on the mind of the then 10-year-old Delpy.

"A lot of the...

French star Julie Delpy picked up a top prize for her movie Le Skylab as Spain's San Sebastian Film Festival drew to a close on Saturday.

The actress/filmmaker received the Special Jury Prize for the comedy, inspired by her own childhood, from a committee headed by Fargo star Frances McDormand.

Accepting her prize, Delpy told the crowd, "The film is about happy moments, so thank you for another happy moment."

Spanish movie Los pasos dobles was honoured with the top award, the Golden Shell, while British actor Dexter Fletcher was also recognised for his directorial debut, crime drama Wild Bill.

British debut Wild Bill also picks up festival gong.

Spanish/Swiss co-production Los Pasos Dobles (Double Steps) won the Golden Shell for best film at San Sebastian Film Festival.

The film - which I found rather beautiful but utterly mystifying in terms of content - is a poetic, fragmented and impressionistic look at the life of an artist retold and filtered through myth.

The Special Jury Prize went to Julie Delpy's hit and miss family comedy drama Le Skylab.

It was a good day for British...

With a half dozen titles in the sidebars, the Parisian Sales Agent Film Distribution folks are certainly going to be hosting several parties. At the top of the list they've got Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance. In the waiting, we find the co. pushing Brillante Mendoza's latest entitled Captured - a film that features a Croisette fixture in the popular Isabelle Huppert (see pic above). Here's a ton of stuff in Film Distribution's pipeline: House Of Tolerance (L'apollonide) by Bertrand Bonello - Completed The Slut by Hagar Ben Asher - Completed The Snows Of Kilimanjaro (Les Neiges Du Kilimanjaro) by Robert GUÉDIGUIAN - Completed 17 Girls (17 Filles) by Delphine Coulin - Completed A Burning Desire by Bernard Jeanjean - Completed A Cat In Paris (English Version) (Une Vie De Chat) by Alain Gagnol - Completed Breathing (Atmen) by Karl Markovics - Completed Duch, Master Of The Forges Of Hell...

The Palais des Festivals, which is where I watched all of the press screenings

It seems there have been a lot of articles speculating as to which films will be showing at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival this year, each of them pretty much naming the same films. However, the only film confirmed is Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris which will open the fest. The rest is simply speculation and rumor, but now the most comprehensive and seemingly "in the know" list has surfaced.

Of the films currently expected to hit the Croisette, but obviously in no way confirmed yet seem to be among the most likely, are Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In, Gus Van Sant's Restless and Lars von Trier's Melancholia.

Of course, those are the big name features. The films that draw the...

Wkw is definitely not ready. Pedro isn't feeling the pressure to deliver and according to Screen Daily, Terence Davies, Andrea Arnold and Philippe Garrel would apparently still be stuck in post and would be tipped for a Fall premiere. The trade published their list of possible titles of which you'll find plenty already mentioned on our 60 Predictions list six weeks back (which is worth checking out as there are several titles that Sd don't mention in their report including, Giorgos Lanthimos' Alps). We'll focus on the titles that they mentioned and that we didn't. Judging by the already established relationship that the Croisette has with Kung Fu Panda, I don't think that this is a Pixar year in Cannes (they did show Up). We should see part II of the Panda franchise and not Cars 2 which receives a release a month later (way too early). Depending on the...

#34. 2 Days in New York Director/Writer: Julie DelpyProducers: Christophe Mazodier and DelpyDistributor: Rights Available. The Gist: 2 Days in New York centres again on French woman Marion (Delpy), who has broken up with Jack and now lives in New York with their children. Her Parisian family come to visit her, but the cultural differences between her eccentric father and new American boyfriend will turn out to be explosive. Meanwhile, her sister has had the "good" idea of bringing an ex-boyfriend from Paris and there is the pressure of an upcoming photography exhibition.....(more) Cast: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock and Dylan Baker List Worthy Reasons...: Neurotic characters, cataclysmic situations from a tender point of view is to be expected in this second volume which gos musical chairs on us heading to another mecca. Julie Delpy’s 2011 will first begin with the release of Skylab - a family comedy saga set over...

Actress and filmmaker Julie Delpy will take on both roles in her next project entitled "The Skylab" for Films Distribution says Allocine.

The story is set in France in 1979 during the international media event when there was rampant fear that the decaying orbit of the defunct Us space station would bring the structure crashing down on a populated area.

The action will follow a family gathering and waiting for Skylab to fall. Ultimately the structure broke up during re-entry and scattered debris over the barren deserts of western Australia.

Aure Atika, Noemie Lvovsky, Bernadette Lafon and Eric Elmosnino also star. Michael Gentile is producing and shooting kicks off June 1st in Normandy.

Iron Man 2 may have shut him out, but Terrence Howard is in talks for the high profile role of Marvin Gaye in Cameron Crowe’s planned biopic of the renowned soul singer. Howard commented, “Nothing’s been signed on paper yet. Everybody who loves music will hate me if I get this one wrong.” Indeed we will, Mr. Howard, but there is reason to have faith: Howard was rather improbably nominated for an Oscar for his role in the hip hop tale, the music-heavy Hustle & Flow. Crowe (Almost Famous) has “secretly” been working on the film for three and a half years, somewhat prolonged by the fact that Will Smith reportedly rejected the role. The R&B legend is an obvious choice for a biopic, as Gaye is an icon whose life story has yet to be told on the big screen. [via Deadline]

Hit the jump for details on Jessica Biel...