Film-Forward

Foreign

Mammuth

Written & Directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern Produced by Jean-Pierre Guerin Released by Olive Films French with English subtitles France. 92 min. Not rated With Gérard Depardieu, Yolande Moreau, Isabelle Adjani & Miss Ming At this point in his storied career, it’s difficult to see Gérard Depardieu on screen as anyone other than […]

The Women on the 6th Floor

If the comedy goes down more smoothly and cheerfully than it should, it’s primarily due to Fabrice Luchini, who has great chemistry with his two leading ladies.

1911

Directed by Zhang Li & Jackie Chan Produced by Wang Zhebin & Chan Written by Wang Xingdong & Chen Baoguang Released by Well Go USA/Variance Films Mandarin with English subtitles China/Hong Kong. 125 min. Rated R With Jackie Chan, Joan Chen, Lee Bing Bing, Winston Chao & Jaycee Chan A historical Chinese epic about the […]

New York Film Festival 2011

The New York Film Festival has gone back to a basic rule: you gotta have a splashy opening night. For programmers, more thought is often put into the selection of this event than any other selection—it sets the tone and defines what the program represents. The status of last year’s opener, the edgy, big-budget The […]

Happy, Happy

  Directed by Anne Sewitsky Produced by Synnove Horsdal Written by Ragnhild Tronvoll Released by Magnolia Pictures Norwegian with English subtitles Norway. 88 min. Rated R With Agnes Kittelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Henrik Rafaelsen, Oskar Hernaes Bradso & Ram Shihab Ebedy   The title of Norwegian filmmaker Anne Sewitsky’s debut deliberately sounds like an […]

Weekend

Edited, Written & Directed by Andrew Haigh Produced by Tristan Goligher Released by Sundance Selects UK. 86 min. Not rated With Tom Cullen & Chris New   Two young good-looking guys in their twenties hook up, exchange numbers the morning after, meet that same afternoon and then again that night before one of them has […]

There Was Once …

  Directed by Gabor Kalman Produced by Kalman & Gabor Garami English & Hungarian with English subtitles USA/Hungary. 103 min. Not rated There Was Once … starts out like a teacher’s history lesson about a vanished past, but turns into a detective story as memories collide, old photographs and documents link to living witnesses, and, […]

Silent Souls

Written & Directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko Produced by Igor Mishin & Mary Nazari Written by Denis Osokin, based on a novel by Aist Sergeyev Released by Shadow Distribution Russia. 75 min. Not rated With Igor Sergeyev, Yuri Tsurilo, Yuliya Aug & Ivan Tushin   There are some beautiful moments in Silent Souls, a self-serious account […]

The Last Circus

Written & Directed by Álex de la Iglesia Produced by Gerardo Herrero & Mariela Besuievsky Spanish with English subtitles Released by Magnet Releasing Spain/France. 105 min. Rated R With Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, Sancho Gracia & Juan Luis Galiardo When I was in Spain last December, I found it funny that […]