John C. Reilly was a triple threat at Cannes, costarring in Lobster and sharing screen time with Salma Hayek in Tale of Tales, two films in the competition. He also popped out of nowhere in a cameo in Thomas Bidegain’s debut, the French-language Les Cowboys, one of the most ambitious films in the entire festival. […]
French actors did very well at Cannes 2015, and it was definitely the year of Emmanuelle Bercot. Standing Tall, a drama she co-wrote and directed, opened the festival, and she went on to share the best actress award (in a tie with Carol’s Rooney Mara) for starring in fellow actress/director Maïwenn’s rowdy hothouse drama Mon […]
The classy thriller Maryland singlehandedly jolted me from encroaching jet lag during my first full day at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. (The not-as-elegant English title is the blunter Disorder.) The screening was in the early afternoon after lunch, making it particularly sleep inducing. The movie’s initial slow pace and the often dreamy, bordering on […]
We’re right in the thick of summer, and usually what that means, as far as movies go, is Hollywood throwing billions of dollars at us in bombastic Dolby surround sound, 3-D, and outsized spectacle at the multiplexes. But here in New York, if you’re willing to look beyond the realm of dinosaurs, revived Terminators, and […]
In one of the most diverse and compact film series that New York City has to offer, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema makes its annual late-winter trek to the Film Society of Lincoln Center, bringing with it films that have made the rounds in France’s awards season. (The top prize winner at the César Awards, Timbuktu, […]
With 41 French (co-)productions debuting at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, the event has evolved into an important platform for the country’s film industry, offering premieres that outnumber French debuts at Cannes. Just as Toronto kicks off the awards season in North America, it also serves the same purpose for the French films. Many […]
The Fun Starts Here Who would have thought that the funniest moments at the Toronto International Film Festival would revolve around climate change and activism? Ten years ago, the message-delivering pranksters, the Yes Men, first spread their alarming messages in their eponymous documentary. Instead of staging street protests, they pull off media stunts to the […]
After more than a week seeing 41 movies (in addition to the 21 seen earlier), I found few obvious outstanding discoveries at the Toronto International Film Festival compared with last year, whose standouts included the beautifully made Ida, the raucous We Are the Best!, and a stronger sampling of art films. Overall, the best selections […]
My last screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the 34th in eight days, was a rewarding way to wind down, ending the festival on a rich, resonating note. Director and writer Olivier Assayas smoothly makes his first (mostly) English language foray, buoyed by the strong performance of Juliette Binoche. While Assayas’s new film has […]